New Fic - Neverland

[silverwally]

I'm just sitting here and waiting for more action. want a new update really badly. I love the story you've written. Keep up the good work.

Silverwally

[EmsInNz]

Wowza, another update so soon! Now I feel spoiled *grins*

Their date was very very cute. Loved the part where Tara's mind starts to click about Xander over an olive, and all of a sudden she's the "Big Flirting Woman".

Please please please, for the love of kittens everywhere, let these two kiss.

[Paint the Sky]

Oh wow, another update, and even though there was very little waiting for it was just as sweet!

Again, the depth of your writing pulled me right into the scene. I could feel the crush of the concert crowd, and I shivered in the rain and felt the damp chill of the bus journey home. Lovely.

It was fantastic how you moved their relationship on, Tara's realisation of Xander's status, Willow's shy blushing responses to gentle flirting, the little intimate touches during the concert, Willow reaching out to stop Tara stumbling backwards, but still holding on afterwards. All very subtle, but weighty with importance. I loved it.

I had to laugh when Tara spotted the tallest guy in the room and just knew she would be behind him. It reminded me of being at the Madonna concert at Slane Castle a few years back. There were these two guys, they must have been about 6ft 5 each, and me all 5ft got stuck behind them.

Thanks for the quick update, I hope you make a habit of it

[JustSkipIt]

Wow Heather,
Two updates? I'm shocked and happy to see them. The girls are really forcing themselves to lighten up and open up and that's really helping. I'll be fascinated to see what happens when Morgan shows up. Should be fun.

Keep it coming...

[Kajun]

Heather!! Long time no see, my friend. Oh gosh, where to start? The venue for Fillmore is much different than what I had thought. Much less formal. I turned into a real , Googled it and read some very interesting history on the place. And found some cool ZZ Top stuff! Love their song, “Legs”. Willow’s got legs, and she knows how to use her arms too. (sooo bad.. sorry) Nice recovery by the redhead after her spontaneous request for a dance with out-stretched arms was met with scared stiff Tara. I love the allusions of previous events included in every update: Willow feeling as close to Tara as she had that day in the park, Tara wearing the glass bead bracelet, and especially, the redhead’s love of olives. My Xander. Oh My. A light bulb brighter than Fillmore’s chandeliers is happily dancing around Tara’s head. Will she ever stop over analyzing and just look up? Remember the tall guy, Tara. Putting this little puzzle piece aside for now was a good idea. Not really the optimum time or venue for Willow to explain why, among other things, she hates Anya. Maybe Cute Willow should ply Tara with the spirits more often. Granted, on this particular evening, the teasing, caressing and whispers in the dark had little to do with alcohol and lots to do with being drunk with love. This was a sweet, funny and all around wonderful ‘secret date’ and the night’s not quite over. Love the cliff hanger type ending reminiscent of “Hush.” Willow and Tara face each other and the redhead says,” Xander, My. Look it up.” Ha Ha! Fantastic update, as always. Many thanks for making my day a little brighter, twice. Take care, Heather.

PS: WOW

[nothingtosay]

yay for 2 updates!! woooooooooooooooooooooo

finally an angst-free night. no morgan, no xander.

more updates please, soon, maybe like in a months time and not once in a while in halfyear, but whichever your creativity flow works better on.

[SylverMaki]

Hey, I love you so so so so so much for updating twice. I am glad the date is through and it was awesome! Tara finally realized the biggest confusion of the story. Darn Buffy and her misinformation misinforming Tara. Anyway I can't wait to see what they talk about. Maybe Willow will forget about telling Buffy and her Mom first and just lunge after Tara. Would be awesome!

Please update some more soon because I'm super curious to know what happens next and if Xander will come and if it'll all finally be out in the open. Love You!!!!! Seriously, I'm a super big fan.

[LittleBit]

OMG Heather you astound me with your exceptionally beautiful and detailed writing. I feel like a fly on the wall at times. And other times I feel like I'm one of the characters ... that I'm the one experiencing all the emotions, sights, sounds etc!

Keep up the fantastic writing and thank you for not making us wait 6 months for another update!

[ophelia11]

It occurs to me I don't think I've left FB before which is very bad of me.

I will now pause, briefly, to gush about how much I love this story. Every will they, won't they, when will they moment. No one quite does the teasing the way you do. But seriously? They're in the right direction now, right? Right?

Everything about this update was superb. It only took their subconscious beating them over the head to finally listen. I also like that Xander's advice from 100 years ago about being herself finally sunk in for Willow and with positive results to boot. Yay.

Looking forward to the next update. Is there gonna be angst? The last couple have been fairly angst-free, so I sense you're up to something. Either way, thanks for continuing to update.

Hope all is well with you!

[watty]

Heather, it's been a while since I left feedback, my apologies. I'm still rabidly fascinated by your story. Um, rabid in the enthusiastic, breathlessly anticipatory sense, not in the sick dog sense.

I'm trying to find words to describe how I feel after reading the recent updates and it's all a jumble. It's hard to articulate, with every praise under the sun coming into my head. Heh, someone told me a few days ago that I think too much, may be that is the case.

The overwhelming question, as it has been from day one is, please may we get a kiss soon? Even a tiny brush, a light caress. I don't know if I can hold it any longer!
[br]

[Wicca Ness]

Wooo another update And it was GREAT!!! i loved it!, it was so cute, and I'm glad that out two characters are getting closer even if its only by a little lol I cant wait for the next update, and i hope we are surprised again

[whatmakesyouhappy]

THANK YOU for another wonderful update and just sharing this amazing story with us

[shiraz]

Ya Heather!

Wowzers! 2 in row! Colour me happy

Loved all the touching at the concert. I have been there with the touching and the looking and the wondering and the Sexual Frustration that sometimes goes along with it. Just makes everything sweeter when it happens though


I too found pics on the internet of the Filmore. Those chandeliers are amazing! The whole venue looks great and I even got to see the wall o'posters. Very cool!

I love your Tara's sense of humour. The thing with the posters being on her wall, while her masters work sits in storage - it's just 'her' as I imagine her. Your Tara is awesome. The self-talk...just everything.

The '70s' band. Hilarious and sad at the same time - their reaction was funny but I'm always embarrassed on behalf of really bad performers. I also admire their courage and their spirit for getting up there while I cower on the dark side of the spotlight.

Will and her iTunes (smirk)...I totally understand. Songs for 99 cents? I get all nostalgic sometimes, or I'm in the mood to dance or whatever and I buy the weirdest songs at the spur of the moment. Then I listen to it twice and I'm done. Sigh. And ya can't get the 99 cents back...ever.

Well, it sounds like they're both starting to get that the feelings are mutual. And they already live together so....Can't wait to find out what happens when they get behind closed doors Forget Sheila. Forget Buffy. Forget about staying fully clothed...

Take care and I hope you're on a roll!!

Shiraz

[bessa]

Once again, another excellent update.

I love love love the way you describe The Black Keys' music and the way Tara experiences it.

The sound that emanated from the speakers was thick and dirty, and upon hearing it, Tara felt like she had been slapped in the face with lust.

(I hope I used that quote function right...) Anyway, that sentence was perfect, in my opinion. I love the dirty, unfiltered quality of the Keys' music and I think you captured it really well. By the way, who was the opening band?

I also adored the small touches and whispers the girls shared throughout the concert. Their interactions made me remember falling in love and that exciting time when you start to realize that maybe the other person feels the same way. So, I hope they are starting to realize that too!

Great chapter, I can't wait to see how the girls' post-concert conversation goes. Thanks.

[Sandman78]

Love the update!!! Looking foward to the next chapter as usual, keep up the awesome work!

[Guest]

Thank you for these two beautiful updates Heather ^^.

The scene description language you adopted was really good in writing out subjective emotions – it felt nice to be able to walk in Willow and Tara’s shoes and to actually be attuned to their feelings especially with all the needy touching, discrete touching, casual touching, long and short stares, comfortable silences... I have also never paid so much attention to details in a scene before. Hats off to you for nourishing imagination in that way!

And I loved the whole The Fillmore date...All these intricately linked scenes varying from Willow’s feelings to Tara’s feelings to the emotions coursing in the general background were all being linked to one single reaction and I found that to be very potent.

What made the scene even more realistic I suppose (besides the thorough descriptions) was the fact that you allowed us to follow Willow’s mind’s eye in deciding what to perceive and what to ignore as soon as she and Tara entered the hall. The same thing was applicable for Tara...It’s delightful. I’m also quite relieved that the Xander/Morgan based tensions are slowly diminishing – cheers for emotional numbing dissipation!

Vi’

[histchic]

Whoa...you updated... ...and like...twice

I have to admit, I was seriously wondering what was going to jump out of the shadows during this date...some mundane everyday thing to normal people...but to Neverlanders...the scourge. Thankfully, I am most happily proven wrong. I'm not sure what made me squim with excitement more...getting the update, or that Tara is finally figuring out the whole "My Xander" comment. Definite WOO and HOO!

In the between time, like some (or more than some) of my fellow Neverlanders, I read, read, and reread previous chapters, coming up with all kinds of crazy offshoots for "The Date", the figuring it out timeline, etc. But in all that stewing craziness, I also thought alot about what has drawn people to this story in droves.

Something my mom has told me countless times over my life, usually in relation to writing, is a quote she heard many years ago. "That which is most intimate is also most universal." By intimate I mean the stuff that is in the innermost chambers of the heart, and realizing that what is in my innermost heart is in everyone else's was huge. We all want the same basic things: shelter, food, love, respect..etc.

But somehow, over the millenia from the moment the hunter gatherers decided to settle and farm, it set us on this course of sophistication(pfft) which throws up all these walls. Are those walls necessary? Depends. While they certainly cultivate our interactions with others, they also serve to insulate us. (See Tara's whole "Staring is rude" monologue). So one could further argue that it's not the walls themselves which are bad, its how we use them. I think this is more the case with our girls. But circling back around to the original point(which I have had waay too much time to ponder, hint hint), that is what makes your story so awesome. You tap into the whole "most intimate, most universal" principle as a central plotline.

Anyway, that's why I've been dying for you to update so I could tell you is that I think you are an awesome writer and I am so stoked about this story. Thank you so much for keeping it going, and thank you more for not letting the long pauses discourage you. (I think of them as simmering breaks). Always looking forward to more.

Toodles,
Beth

[WillowRTaraM1]

Amazing. You should see my face right now I'm still grinning like a little kid. This was perhaps my favorite update yet. God! You have it so perfectly! That pulse rushing heart fluttering ridiculous flirty giddiness you get at the beginning of a relationship. Every touch.. every whispered word is just wonderful and torturous all at once. You captured it for sure.. wow I felt like I was right there with them. My heart was pounding reading the paragraph about the stolen touches while the band played.

This story is and will always be so special to me and my wife. Reminds us of when we first discovered our love for each other! Wonderful.. can't say enough about it. Thank you so much for sharing this world you created with us. It means a lot.. really. I hope you are doing well and finding happiness in your own life Take care girl! <3 Jackie

[DC]

I can't even begin to express how much I love this story. Thank you Thank you Thank you for the back-to-back updates. I'm a relatively new reader to this fic, so I wasn't expecting an update so soon. I was so excited when I saw it. I have to say, this may be my favorite update so far. All the stolen glances, subtle touches, smiles and teasing. I'm really, really looking forward to some WT . Now I really want to visit the Fillmore next time I'm in SF.

[sdvny620]

I absolutely love this story. It is making me want to write again. All this weekend while my parents were visiting, I stole away to read the chapters. Looking forward to finding out about Willow coming out to her mom.

[Artemis]

Wow, that was quite a night out for our favourite girls! I know I'm probably just repeating stuff I've said about earlier chapters, but... you have such a gift for conveying the depth of magic in 'ordinary' moments, just a glance between them, or a smile, or that wonderful image of Willow holding onto Tara on the ride back, just being close, physically close, even though in a pretty chaste kind of way. The words you choose, the way you describe these moments, really brings out the weight of them - that just this, this moment between two people that you could walk right past and not even notice, is the most important thing in the world. Bravo

[pipsberg]

H-

First, I am so sorry for the long delay in feedback. No excuse at all, I am just a slouch of monumental proportions!

I loved the last two updates and am so happy to see how easily you picked up from where you left off (as you always seem to be able to do). I loved the dinner date, it was cute and flirty and very warm.

I especially loved the description of the Filmore. Having never been there, but heard lots of good things about it from you and others, it’s really cool to see it come alive in the story. It sounds like a place I would really enjoy hanging out at and experiencing new bands. And while at the Filmore, I really like the ebb and flow of their conversation – it’s flirty and friendly at times, hesitant and awkward at others, but never painful or negative.

I also liked seeing Willow’s confidence grow as she realizes that she’s able to handle hearing about Morgan in conversation without ‘being the green-eyed monster’. The fact that this confidence is bring Willow back to the feelings she had in the park with Tara those years before is a great sign (i.e. being herself, feeling the closeness without freaking out about it).

And of course, one of the best parts of both updates was Tara’s revelation about Xander after Willow pops the olive. Hurray! He’s just a man shaped Willow friend and Tara has figured it out! And the flirting right afterwards was some of the most straight-forward they have ever had… loved it!

"The bartender must have thought you were cute," Tara blurted, before tacking on self-consciously. "Most drinks are pretty w-watered down."

"Is yours?" Willow asked concerned, her heart nearly exploding in her chest at being called a 'cute girl', and Tara just shook her head.

"No, but um, a cute girl ordered it for me, so..." She blushed fiercely and Willow beamed before flapping her hand with an elaborate, 'pfft'. So now suddenly because of one little martini olive you're the Big Flirting Woman? the blonde thought with shaky amusement. Her face still hot, she hazarded a glance at Willow and was rewarded with a toothy grin.

The light touches and close talking during the concert were great and I really felt the chemistry and closeness between them… you write the tension so well I feel like I was there with them, blushing and awkward! Love it! They were so acting like they were on a real date, even if it wasn’t acknowledged. I thought the hand full of shirt or fist full of jacket was an especially nice touch and very realistic.

This was just a wonderful set of updates – long, lingering, languid (all the good L words!). Thank you so much H, you are amazing. I absolutely cannot wait for more!

[Ginner WTluv]

Wonderfully well written stories that make you simultaneously want to yank out your hair in frustration and chew off your finger nails in unbearable anticipation and few and far between. This is definitely one of those. I thought i was going to die by the end of that last update. I don't know how much longer i can take the coy glances, tentative touches and inward revelations with nothing being said! And yet.... i want more of all of those. Does that make me a glutton for punishment? Awesome

As always, can not wait for the next update.

~Jen

[key03grl]

This is a great story. please update soon. ~key03grl~

[shiraz]

Sorry kittens! Just a quick bump (that sounded dirtier than intended) cuz I love Neverland!!

Hea-theerrrr...update please?!

Shiraz

[synthwrr]

WOAHHH.
okay, im new here, and i come upon a 76-page story, this is something new...
so i figure i'll check it out, and so i do, but a RL alternate universe makes me dubious...
but i brave on, and after the second chapter i'm totally hooked, and for the last two days i have dropped commitments, snapped at family, and basically, vegged... reading this TOTALLY AMAZINGNESS.
thinking at first... okay, written in 2004, it's got to be finished by now... "lucky me, it's so nice to read a completed fiction... such... completeness"
and now i find that it was last updated like... last month. work in progress, i hope?

TO BE COMPLETED, I HOPE??

uh, okay, now for my real observations:
excellent characterization, yay for buffy of the non-slayer flavor, still so true to the character though. Xander = wayyy cooler than in the series, let me tell you that. are anya (the perv of the world) and he going to get together? i was sensing hints.

in the beginning, willow was taking BART everywhere, and then somewhere halfway through she got a car. did i miss something there?

and finally, your grammar and spelling are for the most part exquisite, but one thing I'd like to point out, you might have figured this out by now, but just got to say it... when you're writing dialogue, make sure you capitalize the first word of a sentence the *character* says. Let me use an example:

He said, "It was over before it started." -- see, the "It" should be capitalized
"It was over," he said, "before it started." -- this is also correct, since "before" is not the first word of the *character's* sentence.

Hope that's clear...

[edgyqueen]

Well, since it's already been bumped anyway...

I don't think I've ever posted feedback for this INCREDIBLE story; I want to do so now. But my comments come with a disclaimer: I've not read more than a few paragraphs of Neverland.

Before all the Kittens gather 'round to stone me for my insolent behavior, let me explain! I've not yet read it because I'm waiting for it to be finished. I have this thing about reading WIPs. I'm TERRIBLE when it comes to delayed gratification.

So... I've been quietly waiting for resolution and completion... checking for updates... biding my time until the moment is juuuuuust right for me to embark on the Neverland journey.

And the reason I wait -for YEARS, no less- is simple: this story is unequivocally a work of art.

So I join the ranks of all the happy Kittens who wait, enduring the torture-- because it is SO worth it!

Thanks, Heather, for contributing such an amazing and legendary story to the W-T fanfic community, and for continuing to bring these amazing characters to life.

[synthwrr]

see? I knew there were wiser souls than I...

[masterjendu]

I went to see Hawksley Workman in concert last weekend and when he did Smoke Baby, I was reminded (most pleasantly) of your Tara listening to it and thinking of dancing with Willow. And then I remembered I hadn’t yet left feedback! So here I am to remedy that.

The whole evening was perfect; from the awkward silence at the beginning all the way through to the intimate and comfortable silence of the ending. And the best part is that the night isn’t over! Each girl has had a revelation about their respective alleged competition. And although Tara’s bolt of lightning about Xander was much more epiphanous than Willow finding her inner calm with regard to Morgan, both revelations can only mean monster smiles to come for us kittens!

I loved the attempted white-man shuffle prom dance, the idea of revelling in the feel of Willow beneath clothes and, of course, the hand holding! And fantastic homage to Gingerbread with the do the doodle too!!

Thank you for two fabulous updates, Heather.

[MagicPancakes]

I haven't been online in a super long time but today I actually had the opportunity to catch up with one of my favorite fics EVER. Heather, you're incredible!!!!

I'm sitting here at work, using their office printer and paper to print out every update since part 44, since 43 was the last one I was able to read. AAAAAAHHHHHHH I'm thrilled as all heck to have this to read now!!! I should soooo be working right now but screw it...I'll drop anything for this fic. And bet, next time I have a chance, you'll get some fangirl feedback


Thank you, Heather, as always!!!

-Emily