Willow:  "Um, Tara, are you sure you want to be here?"
Tara:  "Yeah...  It'll be fine...  I mean, I was able to accept you and Buffy... How much more can this be?"

Quite a bit, actually.  We're back, to look at more unconventional shipping in Buffy fanfic...

Faith:  "And it's about damn time!  And, remember, you've gotta do one for me..."
Willow:  "You need to learn patience."
Cordy:  "Oh yeah, that'll happen..."
Buffy:  "Hey, lover..."  (smootch)
Tara:  "Um..."
VampWillow:  "Bored, now..."
Cordy:  "What?!!!  Oh, no.."
Willow:  "Who invited her?!!!"
Dru:  "Two Willows?  There is much confusion..."
Willow (to VampWillow):  "Do NOT embarrass me!"

We'll start, of course, with the conventional Willow shipping.  Willow has three established ships from the show:  Xander, who was her childhood crush...

VampWillow:  "I'm SO over him...  I want new blood..."
Cordy:  "Ewww!  Quit looking at me like that!"
Willow:  "Stop it!  Now!"
Tara:  "That's you as a vampire?  But she's so evil... and skanky..."
Buffy:  "Yeah, yeah, we know..."
Willow:  "Groan..."

...Oz, musician and werewolf, and Willow's first great love...

Faith:  "Did you do it doggy style?"
VampWillow:  "You had a puppy!  Did you play with him?"
Willow:  "Shut...  UP!"

...and currently, Tara, cute, shy, Wiccan...

Buffy:  "And note that she's a blonde."

Yes, Buffy, many B/W shippers have noticed that.

Tara:  "But... I'm not a natural blonde..."
Willow:  "Neither is she...  (catching herself)  Um... I've seen pictures of her when she was younger..."
Cordy:  "And, you've seen her naked many times."
Buffy:  "Don't you start on her..."

Which brings us to our first unconventional Willow ship..

Buffy/Willow...

Cordy:  "Didn't we already do this?"

Yes, so we won't re-cover this in it's entirety, just review the basics...

Buffy:  "I love her, she loves me, we balance each other, she's the great love of my life...  I need my Willow..."
Willow:  "Aww, that's sweet..."
Buffy:  "I love Willow.  I want Willow..."

Yes, and we'll mention a few wrinkles that we didn't last time.  For example, there's VampWillow...

VampWillow:  "Mmmm...."
Willow:  "Do we really need to go there?"

Yes, we do.  In one story, VampWillow had captured Buffy, and did the dominatrix thing for weeks, leaving Willow with a conditioned Buffy to deal with...

VampWillow:  "And does she thank me?  No..."

It's not the only B/W fic with S/M and bondage and submission themes.  There's one where Buffy gets tied up, one, because she likes it, and two, because, with her Slayer strength and passion, it's the only way she feels it's safe to make love to Willow.  There's another, taking place after Graduation, where it is reversed.  Buffy gets upset that Willow has slept with Oz, so she takes what's hers, rather forcefully.  This has been unfinished for a long time, now...

Willow:  "I know!  I've been left hanging all this time... Literally..."

And there was another B/VW story, sort of.  This one was a very dark, romantic piece, involving a newly vamped Buffy paying Willow a visit one night, and explaining to the terrified witch why she's about to develop a taste for leather.

VampWillow:  "I really liked that one..."

Of course, you did.  Of course, if we're going to ship Buffy with Willow's dark mirror, we naturally have to ship Willow with Buffy's, which brings us to...

Faith:  "Yes!!!"

Willow/Faith...

Cordy:  "Oh yeah, those two really get along..."

Well, here, they're not fighting over Buffy.  It's basically a natural extension of B/F and B/W fic..

Dru:  "Completing the circle..."

Yes.  After all, if Buffy has all these feelings for Willow, then her dark mirror would have.  In some cases, as in much B/F fic, the Slayers share...

Buffy:  "Two Slayers, no waiting."
Faith:  "Syncronized Slayer sex."  (High fives)
Tara:  "I... I can't believe you two...  You... You are..."
Faith:  "Aww...  So wigged... shy..."
Buffy:  "And stammering..."
Faith:  "Thinkin' what I'm thinkin', B?"
Buffy:  "Yeah, but I don't know if Willow would go for it.."
Willow:  "Hey, she might!  Um, it's OK, Tara..."

AHEM!!!  If the Slayers can keep their supernatural hormones in check...

Cordy:  "Yeah, right.."

...We'll continue.  In some stories, Faith goes for Willow, solo.  It seems Buffy is too focused on some dark, brooding, vampire guy, so Faith pursues Willow.  Faith is the aggressor, and rather dominant.  She even threatens Willow if she gets physical with Oz, or anybody else...

Willow:  "What is it with you two and Oz, anyway?  'Oh, we're Slayers, we can sleep with who we want, but if you do...'"
Buffy:  "Um, Faith, that doesn't include me, does it?"
Faith:  "No, of course not, B..."

Other writers see Willow with someone else...

Faith:  "What?!!!  Where are they?!!"

Willow/Giles...

The basis here is Willow had a long time crush on the Watcher....

Willow:  "Oh, yes.  He's smart, sexy..."
Buffy:  "Supposed to be amazing in bed..."
Faith:  "Yeah...  B, after we're done with this, ya wanna take Red and pay him a visit?"
Tara:  "Are they always like this?!!"
Cordy:  "They just came in from patrolling.  Slaying gets them in the mood.  You'll have to excuse them..."

...And that Willow is wise and mature beyond her years, thus, Giles can love her.  There was also the idea that Willow was a future Watcher...

Buffy:  "What?!!!  After all they did to me and Faith?!!!  You'd even consider joining them?!!!"
Faith:  "I think we're gonna have to punish her..."
Willow:  "But... but... this was before Helpless..."
Buffy:  "Oh... OK, then."
Faith:  "Um, does that mean we can't punish her?"

There's also Willow/Amy, the idea being that Willow and her fellow witch could do some beautiful spells together...

Tara:  "Hey!"
Willow:  "That was before you came along."

Then, there's the very popular Willow/Spike, based on their interaction in Lovers Walk and The Initiative...

Cordy:  "I thought he was obsessed with Buffy."
Faith:  "Well, y'know, he likes Red, and he knows if he vamps B, the first thing she's gonna do is vamp Willow."
VampWillow:  "Mmmm, Spike's yummy..."

A lot of W/S fic has them having a dom/sub relationship.

Willow:  "Why am I always being dominated?!!!"
Buffy:  "As whipped as Dru had Spike, I'd figure he'd be the sub..."
VampWillow:  "You don't need to be the submissive one...  Here, let me help you...  We'll have fun..."
Buffy:  "Back off!!!"

There's also, as you would expect...

Willow/VampWillow...

Cordy:  "Narcissist..."

Then we get into shipping that seems to have no show related basis, starting with Willow/Puppy... I mean Willow/Angel...

VampWillow:  "I miss my puppy..."
Buffy:  "Grumble..."

And, the very popular Willow/Cordy...

Buffy:  "What's up with that?"
Cordy:  "Oh...   It's like all that hostility is repressed desire, you know, the usual...  Or, we meet again years after high school..."

The second type was popularized by the prolific Kate Brolin...

Tara:  "She's mean to me.  She put me on death row for killing Willow... Sob..."
Willow:  "She only did that because she likes you..."
Cordy:  "Yeah, she does horrible things to all of us..."
Faith:  "Yeah, there I am, with all these track marks..."

Then, there is Willow/Graham, based on the idea that the quiet soldier would be a suitable Oz replacement.  We also have Willow/Doyle...

Buffy:  "At least I met the guy..."

...And Willow/Lindsey...

Willow:  "Oh yeah, that lawyer..."

There's even been some Willow/Jenny.  And, of course, someone HAD to do a VampWillow/Dru...

Faith:  "So, VampRed could look sane by comparison?"
Dru:  "Oh!  We'll have tea and count the stars!"
Willow:  "Um, can we send my counterpart back to her world, now?  I'd rather Dru not be that familiar with me..."
Buffy:  "I'll call Giles..."
Faith:  "Yeah, we'll need him for this..."
Tara:  "GODDESS!!!  Look, I understand you two just got back from Slaying, and that has... that effect on you, but can't you put your sexual plans aside until we take care of this vampire version of Willow?!!!!"
Buffy:  "Um, that's why I was calling Giles...  We need him to send her back. I DO have some self control, you know."
Tara:  "Oh...  I'm sorry...  I just...  I'm so embarrassed..."
Faith:  "Good save, B."
Buffy:  "Thanks..."