starryeyesxx

Definitely Buffy, Xander, Oz, Tara, Giles & Dawn. I think she cared for the others deeply, but didn't love them.

& as for her parents, I do think she loved them, in the way that she can't help because they're her parents, but not much beyond that....

Charmed Slayer Angel

From what we saw of her parents, plus how Willow described them, I honestly don't think they were involved in her life past high-school. She mentions how her Mom thought being with Tara was a political statement, and when she found out it wasn't, she basically cut contact with her.

starryeyesxx

I don't think she cut off contact with them, I know they weren't mentioned, but they were barely mentioned in the high school years either - plus, I think if she had made a big decision like that, the writers would have addressed it in some way.

tender looks

I agree, I don't think she cut off contact, I'm thinking she just didn't see them much at all. Maybe only on occasions like birthdays etc

starryeyesxx

Yeah, I think she didn't miss them much....but still kept in contact.

Now that I think about it, wasn't it mentioned in Forever that she had been spending more time with them after Joyce had died?

Charmed Slayer Angel

No, no, I meant her parents stopped contacting her. Not the other way around.

starryeyesxx

Oh ok, I think they drifted away A LOT, but I'm sure they still had some contact & that it wasn't a conscious decision on either side.

FuriosityShell

While I think Willow loved her parents (the fact that she came out to them and wanted to spend more time with her mother in "Forever" is evidence of this), it's hard for me to suss out whether they loved her. I think they did, they just had a hard time showing it. Despite their failings as parents, there's nothing to show that they DIDN'T love her.

While I don't think Willow and her parents ever contacted each other much after high school (or in high school, for that matter), I do think they were involved. Willow didn't have a job and I don't remember it being mentioned she was on scholarship, so who was paying her dorm fees and tuition. I do think they lost contact in S7 simply because it was implied that Buffy and the Scoobies were the only people left in Sunnydale by the last few episodes.

I loved the Scoobies' relationships with their parents and you can tell that those strained relationships drift over into their personalities. Buffy has abandonment issues, obviously stemming from Hank abandoning her, Xander's moments of angriness and yelling at Buffy (like in "Dead Man's Party") are obvious signs of someone who comes from an abusive home and his parents causes his fear of marrying Anya. And of course, Willow has fears that everyone will realize that everyone will realize how lame she is and forget her, stemming from her parents' neglect of her. While I hate Willow wiping her Tara's mind, I do get why. Last time she and Tara argued, Tara ended up mind-sucked by Glory. When Willow finally lashed out and spoke against her mother, she ended up tied to the stake and nearly burned up. Even when Willow is mind-wiping in S6, I do think it comes from a place of love (and selfless too, but also love), at least in Buffy's case. The look on Willow's face in OMWF when she found out Buffy was in heaven is heartbreaking, and you can tell Willow is devastated by what she did. We find out in "Two to Go" and in the S8 comics that this caused Willow a lot of self-loathing. And when she tries to mindwipe Buffy in "Tabula Rasa" to make her forget about heaven, I do think that, while Willow was mostly trying to make herself feel better, she genuinely thought it would make things better for Buffy if she did.

I think of Willow's arc as a girl who never had any power growing up, and once she did, she struggled with how to come to terms with it and how to use it well. And though her arc had some hiccups (I'm looking at you, S6), I love it nevertheless.

starryeyesxx

I think they loved her, but I don't think they were very loving parents...

As for the rest, I completely agree that when she started messing with the others' memories that she was doing it for a reason that she thought was good enough, but it was still very wrong. I'm glad that in s8 she seems to understand now why it was wrong & why it hurt Tara so much. I think that part of the reason she lost sight of that was because of the way magic had such a hold on her, & that it's not something she would have done otherwise.

FuriosityShell

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant.

tender looks

I agree, there's a difference between loving and BEING loving, actually displaying that love in a meaningful way. And that would definitely appear to be what Willow's relationship with her parents was.

starryeyesxx

Let's face it, Buffy isn't exactly the show for great parents

Charmed Slayer Angel

Ain't that the truth

starryeyesxx

I know that Joss didn't want to show them, so it's hard to judge sometimes if they all had terrible parents or if Joss just never wanted to show moments with them, even if in his mind they were all good parents...

FuriosityShell

I think the problem might have been that the characters were teenagers and doing so many things (staying out all night, and being injured a lot) that good parents would be very curious about, so it was just easier to make them bad parents so that the Scoobies cold get away with things. I actually heard that Joss didn't want to show Buffy's mom, but then figured it would be too unrealistic if the lead character's mother was never present.