New Fic - Neverland

[taranwillow4ever]

I have been away too long, and so happy to see you have posted. Just want to know how you had the whole script of my mother's reaction to me when I came out? It was a little creepy. I love how this story is progressing. I love your imagery. Thanks so much for writing.

[fineartsmajor:)]

I realize I am addicted to this story and therefore can not be held accountable for my actions or words. So I say resolutely, update. Update now. Please? I am spoiled because I came upon this fic when rapid updates where happening. And now, well, I am in a state of not so subtle withdrawal. :(. Love you. Love your work. Love you and your work.

-Andi

[JustSkipIt]

I think about this fic and our girls every day. On my way to work I drive past the Frank Erwin Center (sports & concert stadium) and it has a huge (and distracting) LED screen that has had an announcement about the Black Keys coming in December in the rotation for the past few weeks. So everytime I see it I think two things:

1. Neverland - Willow & Tara went to see The Black Keys etc.
2. They are already advertising a concert in December? When do tickets go on sale? And is the center supposed to be standing then? (aside, the stadium is being either changed or imploded and removed to build the new Medical School).

[Wicca Ness]

So I randomly started thinking of Willow and Tara and went through a few scenes of them from the show on netflix when I suddenly remembered Neverland!!!! I was so happy to see there had been a few updates posted!

And let me say, I have been reading this story since I was about 15 or 16 ( I may have mentioned this before). I'm turning 23 soon and I'm not saying that to remind you how long you have been working on it but to tell you I have loved reading it throughout the years. And like the show, I kinda feel like I've grown with your story. Anyways onto the actual feedback. lol OMG They're finally together!!!! the parts with tara painting and then her with Marissa and Michelle. They were excellent. And I am very happy Willow got a call that night. My heart did break for her when she came out to her mom and then buffy. Are you going to have another part between her and her mom? I seriously anxious to get more! Can Michelle and Marissa be any cuter?I love their bickering interaction and their loving goodnight kiss. It shows real love And the Passion scenes between Tara and Willow I can't wait for more. please make it soon. And I can't believe I am saying this but.... not to soon. I want this story to be continued for a long time!

[loislane1]

Just SkipIt - I heard an interview with the Black Keys on NPR a few weeks ago and thought of this fic right away as well. Their new album is apparently doing quite well so I would expect tickets would go fairly quickly for their show. The song Fever has been getting quite a bit of airplay. I may need to go back and read through this story again. I do look forward to at least a few more updates in this story - I would love to see the Buffy/Xander interaction, how Tara meets her painting obligation for the LA show, and the reactions of others as Willow and Tara step out together for the party. For now I will console myself with a little Black Keys on the radio.
-H.

[EndlessDestiny]

I recently had a craving for Willow/Tara, and decided to see how far this one had gotten. I cannot believe, after all this time, that this fic isn't dead. It's been going on for, what, ten years. Wow. Really surreal was finding a a comment I'd made under my previous username from TEN years ago.

I kept shaking my fist, saying, "These two idiots need to get together!" Then cheered when they *finally* did.

Part of me wants to attempt another fic, but I was terrible at finishing them, and now I'm so focused on trying to perfect my original stories.

[jayelle13]

I found this when there were like 68 updates and binge read it and was lucky enough to get exciting new updates without having to wait long. Now I am getting desperate. How has everyone else been able to cope when waiting almost 10 years for this fantastic story to end??

[Archwaykitten]

I binge read the first half of Neverland, and it was glorious. Then I spent a couple delightful years being jerked around by all the false starts and cliffhangers. About four years ago I decided to stop reading until the story was finally finished, though I still checked in every few weeks to make sure the story was progressing and to maintain anticipation. I was very patient, but my resolve broke as soon as I noticed all the comments cheering about Willow and Tara finally getting together. I started the story over from the beginning and read it all. And now I'm stuck waiting again.

I think the waiting is part of Neverland's charm. Willow and Tara waited for years in the story, and we had to wait with them. It's been infuriating, but it's also always been worth it.


This comment is years overdue, by the way. I love this story and it's long been a favorite of mine.

[smileintheether]

These last few updates have been just perfect - I'd been away from this fic for a while, and forgot how gloriously antagonizing it is to watch these characters just miss each other, every time. And now FINALLY it's all out there! Still things to resolve, but I have to say, you've been building up to this for a long time and the culmination did not disappoint

I really love how realistically you portray all these interactions; you show some insight into human behavior that so many writers miss. In particular, your description of Wlilow's discussion with Buffy and then Willow and Tara coming together for the first time (yay! ) reflect what tends to happen in real life so much better than almost anything else I've read. The discussion between Willow and Tara about what works, what feels good and what doesn't, and their respect for (and insecurities about) the whole situation are so true to the characters and true to actual experience. Brava - every time I come back to Neverland, it feels a little like coming home

As a side note, I've been following this fic for years now, and when I first started reading it I was just out of college, not out to my parents, had never had a real relationship and could relate so well to Tara's feelings of crushing on a straight girl and not knowing how the other person felt. Now, I've finished graduate school, met and married the girl of my dreams and my best friend, and can truly understand and relate to this happy, trusting, full togetherness that Willow and Tara have finally found. Thank you for staying so dedicated to Neverland and these characters, and giving us such a magical thing to keep coming back to - we appreciate it more than you know.

And so excited for the next update!!!!!!

[SylverMaki]

Heather... please. I have just re read the story again over this Thanksgiving weekend. I know you have a life and better things to do. But I am imploring you, please don't leave it this way. Resolution for everyone, that is all please. Please.

[Setton]

It seems like this story has only been months in the making, now I find out I'm 24, STILL F'ING SINGLE, and still waiting to read the rest of this!

[ekos]

OH HOLY JESUS.

I was pointed toward this fic yesterday and have been reading non-stop. This whole thing is just amazing (although, wow, I nearly screamed a bunch of times when things were ALMOST GOING TO HAPPEN).

I’m a huge Black Keys fan, and it was so perfect that they saw them at the Fillmore.

I just love this entire thing so much. It made me so happy. It reminds me of how I got together with my girlfriend – we were friends with secret crushes for over two years, and then we were finally both single and we confessed to each other and made out all night and she asked if she could be my girlfriend the next day… Of course I said yes. <3

And? Your Hand in Mine? This song has a huge personal meaning for me. I picked it out as a song to play at my twin sister’s memorial ceremony that I held this year (she died when I was just a kid). So that basically made me cry, a lot. I’m listening to it now (in my Grado headphones, coincidence, I swear) and I’m getting all teary at work.

Thank you for writing this. <3

[ladyluv585]

I recently re-discovered this board and your wonderful fic two weeks ago and wasted no time in getting caught up in this story! When I was in (sometime in 2006 maybe), I was reading Neverland and loved it back then; unfortunately, life (read: graduate school) got in the way, and I lost track of this board. I'm very happy I found this story again and just wanted to say that I appreciate your dedication to your work as well as the characterization, attention to detail and nuance, and emotional depth in your writing and characters.

Thank you for sharing your story.

-Nikki

[truck_driving_magic_mama]

Heather darling,

Almost a year now. Can't believe it's been so long. I've reread the entire fanfic lately, (also I've been rewatching all of buffy with my girlfriend- we're at the end of season 5 and I know what's coming and it's freaking me out, lol) and I'm aching to see Xander and Buffy. I'm aching to see how things will progress. I'm dying to see the gallery party. if not an update, is it possible to get an update for the state of the next update? Being in the dark is the hardest thing.

Thank you once again for this wonderful world which is Neverland.

Melissa

[DaddyCatALSO]

Ditto . bobk (*I* should take considering the state of "Snapshots"....)
In fact, recycling some old printouts of Pens fic pages but not including those form "Neverland."

[catmillakarnstein]

Sorry, this isn't an update, but I really needed to comment!

Heather. Wow. I don't even know where to begin with.

Okay, first of all: I'm still new to the Buffy fandom. I'm 19, which means I was way too young to watch the show when it first aired. But after talking to some people on Tumblr, I decided to give it a try. So I binged watched it on Netflix. And now here I am.

Again, it was thanks to Tumblr that I discovered this story and I’m glad that I did. At first it felt so odd, you know? To be reading this old story on an early 2000s forum. But I was intrigued and it was so good, so I continued reading anyway. And then I noticed the dates of the posts, and I started freaking out because "Oh my god, how long has she been writing this story?? IS IT EVEN FINISHED?". Please, don't get me wrong; I completely understand that you had a lot of real life stuff going on that was way more important, and I actually think it's good that you took your time to write it on your own terms. I was just scared that I was going to reach page 110 and be left hanging. Which happened. But after reading some comments, I decided it’s not a big deal.

There's a lot of people who's been reading Neverland through the years, and you've never disappointed them. Sooner or later, there was always a new update. So now I'm just going to be really patient and wait, because I trust you. I honestly trust that someday, this story is going to be finished. That Willow and Tara will get the happy ending they deserved. Also, like Archwaykitten said: "I think the waiting is part of Neverland's charm. Willow and Tara waited for years in the story, and we had to wait with them. It's been infuriating, but it's also always been worth it."

All that said, I feel like I should thank you. For all the dedication you’ve put into this story and for the love with you’ve treated my favorite characters. It’s crazy, but whenever I’m reading the dialogues, I can almost hear their voices. You’ve done a wonderful job characterizing every single one of them, not only Willow and Tara. And all the details! The descriptions create such vivid images in my head. I don’t even have words. It’s just perfect. I’ve cried reading this fanfic, I’ve laughed. I’ve had to take breaks at times because it was so frustrating, the way they kept missing each other, all those misunderstandings. I’ve felt so identified with them. And it’s made me so, so happy. Neverland is a masterpiece, and probably the best fanfiction I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. So, thank you, Heather. It’s been wonderful.

Will 2015 bring new updates? Let’s hope so!

-V

[CrazyTaraWitch]

(Sorry to anyone who thinks this is an update)

It took me over 6 months, but I have finally made my way through this fic and I am SO glad I did! It's absolutely beautiful. It was such a relief to see our girls finally get together. I was amazed by how much unfolded between them in those last few days before then-- I was a bit angry with Willow about how she handled the almost-kiss, but as a reader I was anxious about it all and just kept thinking, why couldn't this wait two more days?? So I have to imagine Willow's anxiety was much worse than my own, wanting all this for years and then it finally happening *just two days* before she was ready. I read the first 50 or so chapters over several months, but the last 20+ in just a week or so because everything ramped up so much and every chapter I had to know what happened next!

I'm very relieved that at least now that I have to wait for updates our girls are together and (mostly) happy. Both Sheila and Buffy reacted more harshly than I expected (making me feel very thankful for my own coming out experiences!) and I'm looking forward to some resolution on those fronts--though I'm guessing it may be a long time coming with Sheila-- but at least I know Willow and Tara have each other now and they'll be okay.

I feel like this story deserves pages and pages of feedback for how much I've loved it, but I really don't have much intelligent commentary, so I'll just leave off by saying thanks for writing.

[DaddyCatALSO]

Sheila I kind of expected. Buffy, well I've been that tired and it's no telling what you'll fix on in big news.

[bloodynails]

Sorry to anyone who thinks this is an update, but I coudn't help remembering Tara and Willow's "is this what sound looks like to you" dialog when I saw this: http://www.boredpanda.com/i-paint-music/

I love this fic so much... Though I've only grew out of my shyness once (well, now, twice) to leave any feedback, I just wanted to say, I still eagerly await (and will do so for as long as it takes) the next update!

[DaddyCatALSO]

Okay, just thinking about a Buffy-centered reason why Willow confided in Xander rather than Buffy (leaving aside the basics of Xander's having known her longer and that deep emotional bond.)

Buffy, by her very nature as shown on TV, and this story bears it out, feels it's her business to "fix the things I can fix." So, instead of discussing it periodically with Willow, ala Xander, she'd push willow. She'd argue, a nd keep arguing, that Tara is more important in this transaction than Willow's mother. She'd say Willow shouldn't worry about being out to Sheila, and even get practical about it, saying Tara would offer support to Willow in dealing with Sheila, and inevitably Buffy would glide over that Willow doesn't want that.

That's even if Tara wer e just an acquaintance instead of Buffy's best college friend; since Tara is the latter, buffy would also be motivated by personal loyalty to Tara, especially once she sees how upset Tara's getting.

And let's face it, she'd get, well, best word I can use is fan-girly about her two best friends being together. It does improve the chances Buffy will continue to be important to them both as they all age.

Sorry, Buf, technically you have a right to feel hurt. But practically, it never could have happened, and you need to understand that.

Heather- this makes me think; I've pointed out before that the coming-out chapters with Sheila especially and also Buffy would likely to be hard to write so your not doing those too quickly was understandable , even life issues aside. I "kinda-sorta" think Buffy's confrontation with Xander will also be. "Whatevs", it'll be worth waiting for! bobk

PS Sunday I walking past one of several buildings Larry Holmes owns in my city, and saw a patch of lawn with a single tree on it, a tree whose crown turns into a huge ball of pink flowers around this time of year. Lots of the petals fall, nad the grass was mostly covered by them. I saw one dandleion gone to seed on the lawn and looked around for fresh ones. And saw two small ones right at my feet, just barely poking their yellow blooms above the lake of green and pink. For a second i wished it was the 80s and i could capture the colors with my pocket camera.
But then my mind wnet ot this fic, and wondered how Neverland-Tara would react, if maytbe she'd see a possible abstract in the color play, or maybe the whole scene with the Delaware River in the background. This fic *sticks* with a reader.

[AmbeRocks]

oh MY. I don't even know where to start.
I'm going on a trip alone, for the first time of my life, this friday. Has I'll have a lot of free time to spend in airports and airplanes, I thought i should come back to this story. I knew it has been a long time since I reread all of it, (sept 2013!! almost 2 years!), and I didn't thought there'd be some new updates.

But this has been my forever favorite storie. Has in, if i had to chose the most moving piece i've ever read, or the only one i could go with till i die, Neverland would be it.

I'm in love with both your Willow and your Tara, and with all the story. I'm in love with the way you write, you described things, the way you can make me so emotionally involved each time i read this. It's now been almost 10 years for me!

So yeah, yesterday before going to bed, I opened up the Kitten to try and find this back. I look at when I last wrote you feedback, 2 years ago. And i spoiled myself from the last comments, saying they finally were together and all.

So no, i did not sleep until 4 hours later. And woke up 4 hours later to finish this thing up. TEN updates. TENNNNN!!!!!! It's not the first time i stayed up way too late for this story, but never could i have imagine that 10 updates occured more than a year ago. The last part i had read was the first one being set in the 3 years earlier part. I remember my feeling back then, finding it interesting but wanting to know what the heck would happen in the "now" story (by the way, have they aged 11 years too? )

But being able to read new (for me) part 65b through 74 in less than 12 hours, I can't tell you how happy and excited I am right now! Thankfully, it was saturday night and not having to go to work today was needed, but to finish the parts and cause i'll need a nap later!

I even went back and reread some of the last parts I had already read, cause, you know, in 2 years you sorta forget some things. And i was anxious as to read when it'll all happen. I had been waiting for this for 11 years, and "hated" the angst, but at the same time was worrying of when it would be over.

So yeah, i spent 8 of the last 12 hours reading, taking a 4 hours nap only. And i don't regret it a bit!

First, i really appreciated the day at the park story. I remember being annoyed by it 2 years ago, just cause it was just after Willoe flinged and all. But as usual, it was written perfectly. I was happy to learn that Will had those feeling that very night, that she wanted Tara since that moment.

The coming out stories were heart breaking, but i know one day you'll make it all better (just, don't wait 5 years maybe?)

I LOVED the way it finally happened. Willow starting by stating that she loved her. Not wanting to mess up this time, or let Tara take the blame and feel bad another second. And all the stuff that followed was damn perfect. It feels good that they finally learned the things we knew, it explains so much for both of them. And the sex... amazing. I kinda am speechless on this sunday morning. So realistic, so hot, so much true to what they are like, what they wished and hope for for so long. It was love and sex, compared to the dreams where it was more raw. Bref this was way more moving than anything else i've read in here!

so I owe you another big THANK YOU. For not letting this story die. For writing it with such perfection.

i am still planning on rereading all of it later on this week! If anyone happened to have it in a file form (pdf, word, anything..??) it would be much appreciated. I know i had it in a .doc, but i've lost a few computers since, i don't think i'll be able to find it back.

I've been single for 2 years now, after 12 years in 3 big relationships. I suffored so much, that i decided that it would be better to stay single and well, not be happy, but not be sad neither. It has worked ok. But after reading this, i almost feel like i could belive in love again! haha! Or hell, I just wish i was your Wills or Tara. Cause i don't have any true love like this being build up for 3 years, so it could never get that intense! but anyway.


Hope you are doing amazingly well, and that one day i'll be able to purchased Neverland - the book.

I feel like this story is mostly done, wrapped in a way now that they are finally happy, but i know you could keep up 40 more years and i'd be as excited for each new update!

So many many thanks!!!

[fornitking]

I have been reading this story for over ten years. That's crazy! I had to make a new account just to leave a comment, as its been so long since I've logged in I can't remember my information. I just wanted to say that I completely love this story,and I would gladly read it for ten more!! Please never give up on it!!!

[Will's redemption]

I fervently second this plea! Is there any chance for another update this year...maybe as a christmas-present? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! I'd be forever grateful - as well as every other member of the kittenboard, I'm sure of it!

[KnightlyLove]

Hey, soo... is this done? I feel like it is! I love it

[DaddyCatALSO]

From internal evidence I don't think it is. There is still the little get-together, the show, Buffy's talk with Xander, a nd following which I can't see Heather letting just hang unresolved. bobk

[KnightlyLove]

Ok, you're probably right all considered. But I can see why its hard to create an impetus to finish the piece when the main driver is gone. Anyway, we are within 2000 words of finishing a million word saga! Goooo

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[DaddyCatALSO]

Which is a scary number- novels with t hat many w ords are very rare and usually volumized. So even if Heather were interested in "deBuffyizing" it and submitting it to a publisher or agent ( which, to be fair, she has never expressed any wish to do that, which hasn't stopped some of us here form suggesting it) it might be too much. Too bad.

[KnightlyLove]

I didn't actually count the number of words. But that seems about right, right?

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[melschilling]

I joined this board for the sole purpose of commenting on this story. I read this in three days, stayed up late, on my lunch break. This is one of the best stories I have read out there. I hope there will be more updates.


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[melschilling]

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