Re: New Fic - Above, Between, Below

[The Rose24]

Lovely ending.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[Kalita]

Wow, that was awesome. Poetic and thrilling and romantic and sensual as hell.



But one of my favourite parts...



Dudes! We can get in through the vent, come on!



Just cracked me up... go figure!

"...you can make those two characters as dewey-eyed in love and it would never be too much."

-Chris Golden, on W/T

[RaiStarr]

That was abso-friggin-lutely amazing. I award you my first ever thud.

I do hope that you continue to share your gifts with us. I would love to read more of your stuff.



Rai

[darkmagicwillow]

It was great how you showed us them running from a distance, then brought us close by sneaking through the vents. The rest of the update though...it's poetry, images and metaphors, simply beautiful. I loved it.



Oh, I went to your journal site and discovered through several quizzes that I'm a supervillain nerdslut who would've been Gandalf in Middle Earth (though doesn't Sauron sound better if I'm a supervillain?).

--

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." -- "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."

[Sister Bertrille]

Quote:

---

Some things are not meant to be explained.

---

Perhaps not, but thank you very much for doing so anyway. The lyrically challenged are forever (times infinity) in your debt.



“Ouroboros” was a stylistic and sensual delight. There is a fluidity to your writing that belies the complexity of your language, imagery, and themes. And it is a testament to your skill that not once did I break out in a cold sweat faced with all that math (that was math, wasn’t it?!)



I did have a couple of extratextual questions, though, now that the story is over. You ended with a serious, mystical final chapter, followed by a whimsical epilogue. It reminded me of a comment you made earlier, about how you intended to write something light but soon realized that it was becoming something different, something deeper. Where in the story did you begin to feel that shift?



The second has to do with the dreaded O.J. (Oz Jonathan), both of whom you evoke in these last updates. The way you painted W/T was so original that I completely forgot about the show. When you mentioned Jonathan in the epilogue, it was a bit of a jolt. Do you envision your Willow ("She’d do anything for Tara; she’d care for her if she were sick, she’d wash her hair, make her breakfast what does she like? She’d die for her. She’d kill for her" [now who's making with the Prince references?!]) acting the same way TV Willow did in NMR? I ask only because your Willow seems braver, more decisive.



Fabulous, sexy story,



SB

[SobeitUK]

Hello Twisted Minstrel! I've been lurking for so long now, never left a drop of feedback, such a bint, but I can't keep it shut now.



I've got to start from the beginning, you play with their duality so beautifully! Tara, who stutters, is so shy, can't look you in the eye, but her thoughts are so focused on Willow. She's like this fine edge of clarity, only held in check by Willow herself. Willow is clumsy sometimes, and her words just gushing out of her! Your willow Babble is so amazing, just spot on, but it belies her hesitancy. She rushes in words, not in deeds, and only at the end does she recognise 'forward momentum' leads to Tara. You start off with writing 'Willow Rosenberg had lost her mind,' and you end with her promising 'never to forget.' You make circular motion (in more ways than one) in this fic, they keep going round and round until that moment where everything stops for them. Time 'left them unawares.' Brilliant.



I note too how you use science within your metaphors. You use chaos theory allegorically, breaking down their personalities so that their hesitations become like fractals themselves, in a sense. You write about transformation and alchemy, symbolised at the end, esp. with the image of the Ouroborus, the snake Willow paints on Tara's back. The no-end concept is given an edge with that touch of dark foreshadowing when Willow wonders if she could die for Tara, if she would kill for her. I loved your rendering of the macroscopic narrators aware of everything and commenting on the action.



I got the feeling there was something else going on, and I was trying to put the pieces together, because it was so broad and narrow at the same time and I hope I'm not reaching here and so many of your references are cinematic. Like Good Will Hunting and especialy Gollum. Not to mention just refernces on the show, like Jonahtan's Superstar spell, or the dream sequence in Restless with the body painting. And do I get points for recognising your Hitchhiker's Guide reference?



Fav scene: 'girl bits.' Totally brilliant!

Fav Willow moment: Willow screaming 'Tara' after her first epiphany and tearing off like an elephant.

Fav Tara moment: 'Finish what you start.' Yay Tara!



You are commenting on the very nature of things using their relationship as the metaphor and not the othe way round i think. I love this so much. Thank you for this experience!





Soph

[tkheaven]

that was just beautiful.....



The IMing was hilrious!!

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"...Tk's Heaven

---

"I've become really protective of her. I want to make sure if Tara comes back, it's for good reason." -Amber Benson
Tara ate her, devoured her from beneath. -The Edge of Silence giving new meaning to this season's catch phrase.
"Got it: that's a 'yes' to petals; a 'no' to pricks. I should remember that more often." -On Second Thought

[RalSt31]

What a beautiful finale.



The range and majesty of your language has been a lasting pleasure throughout the whole of this story. The literary and scientific references have also helped to lift the narrative beyond the norm for fanfiction and even where I'm not totally sure of their meaning, I'm left with a sense of what you're describing (if that makes any senese).



Lovely love scene



And the epilogue had me smiling, especially the typo.



I hope you'll grace us with another story, soon.



RalSt

[xita]

Not that the making love wasn't beautiful, but the IM exchange was hillarious. Entirely too familiar and too realistic



I'll miss this fic , so poetic and subtle and loving. What a great tribute to their relationship you've written. Thank you.

If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.

Tallulah Bankhead

[Twisted Minstrel]

Gosh, it’s over. I feel a little lost, not sure what to do without it. I’m thanking you all for your support and feedback of this tale; I simply don’t know where to start. It seems almost silly to keep saying ‘thank you’ and ‘thanks for reading.’ There’s more to it than that and I won’t bore anyone with the same old thing. I kiss you, I kiss you, I kiss you again. As I am most excellent in this department, I assure you, the kisses are no small thing. They are the best of things and I leave all of mine for all of you.



Q: Why the serious poetic/pseudo-science-art-and-love-as-alchemic-poetry-thing?



What’s up with all the metaphors and stuff?



Why no smut?



Is this just a microcosmic examination on the fundamental immutability of microdots?



Why all the run-on sentences, I mean didn’t anyone ever show you how to come to a stop when you’re finished with a thought, or are you just weird or something, maybe you think you’re funny or clever or something?



A: Because love is created through the alchemy of very different individuals translating (and transmuting) the other through shared/combined desire, affection and too many other things to mention, and, mostly that Willow and Tara are both scientist and artist-types with deeply-felt ideas about the other. If the shoe fits, tie those laces, baby.



Everything is a metaphor, couldn’t help it. You say the glass is half empty, I say the glass doesn’t exist. There is no spoon…so sayeth that bald kid in The Matrix. And bald kids don’t mess around, dude. Word.



Didn’t feel like it. Sorry. Actually, it just didn’t fit in anywhere. The language wouldn’t let me.



Yes.



Huh? With the what?



Sister Bertrille- interesting questions. I knew almost immediately that this story would never evolve into a light-hearted, smutty romp. I wanted to be silly, yes, but there were too many possibilities that presented themselves early on, the most important being Tara as an artist. She is someone who feels, and words sometimes fail her. I could see Tara as being comfortable and confident in this arena, and so much led from there.



Another influence was the episode Restless. Willow’s dream was far and away the most interesting (although not all it could have been, no hint whatsoever of the evil to come, wasted opportunity in a sense), and I was struck by the use of Tara – she’s the first thing that greets Willow as she sleeps – who is calm and gentle throughout, the way Willow must see her. This is significant after the stress of the final battle with Adam. Will is tired and her mind has wandered to where it would rather be. To the comfort that Tara gives her. Willow doesn’t want to leave their room, suggesting her need to feel safe and, more importantly, loved. She is writing on Tara’s naked back (in Greek, no less) a fragment of a love poem; a sensual yet intellectual act. In dreams are often fragments of things that have happened to us; I imagined something similar must have passed between them at some point, and since I’m a great believer in dramatic foreshadowing, I wanted to visit the origin of that dream in some way.



As for the inclusion of Jonathan/Oz in the story, that was mere chance. I did set the story within the framework of the canon (prior to the events of Superstar), so the mention there was only meant as comic and Willow being so recently separated from Oz, I thought it likely that she would somehow, indirectly, compare the two experiences. Not that she wants to, but the boy did exist in her life and for Willow, it wasn’t always a negative experience.



SobeitUK – Wow, you found a lot in this. And yes, you do get the points for spotting the Hitchhiker’s reference. If I refer cinematically a lot it’s because I love films, and there’s such an interconnectedness to everything that it’s hard not to tie one thing into something else. Like Gollum. Willow is a lot like him, in many respects. A beautiful person corrupted by a great weakness, by an evil set on them unawares. Gollum is wild and needful, wanting, pathetic, tragic and clever. Mostly, however, he is heartbreaking in his need for the thing he loves/hates most, the thing that has controlled him for so long, deformed him, and swallowed him whole. It’s arguable that Willow’s love for Buffy, and her desire to be like her, to be a hero, to be powerful, was one of the chief corrupting elements in her life. There might be some irony in that, or at least a double meaning (and this is really much ado about nothing).



Well, I went on longer than I intended, and I apologize for not making more personal replies. I’m glad you all liked the epilogue, which was more of me wanting to finish somewhat where I started, lighthearted in some way. I think it’s sweet how many of you related to it. We are silly people and I hope that never changes.



Thank you all so much again!



Piper



*Edited because I'm stupid and posted over this! Ack!*

Edited by: Twisted Minstrel  at: 1/19/03 7:12:18 pm

[Cicca]

I found this story this weekend...

Lucky me!



You've shared a beautiful story. Thank you for it.

invite someone dangerous to tea * look forward to dreams * imagine yourself magic

[tommo]

Minstrel; I think this fic deserves to be on the main Pens board for a little while longer, just so it attracts the attention it rightly deserves.



I got stuck into this today and was lucky enough to read it all in one go, complete. I'm thoroughly impressed with the styles and narrative devices you've used here. There's a wonderful shift in the tone of the story itself from beginning to end and I think that's the beauty of it.



At the beginning of the story, I think what I liked the most was the way you nailed Willow's character. Her little stops and starts within a sentence, the way her mind is always going a hundred times faster than her mouth and the wonderful way her words fall over themselves, matched with her physical clumsiness too. I absolutely loved that. It was so perfect; so adorable and so totally Willow.



The playful manner in which you started the story really pulled me in; it was enjoyable to read and there were a couple of laugh out loud moments too, particularly with the whole internal philosophising that Willow was doing. However, you soon took the reader to a whole new level with your narrative, delving into Tara's mind and her experiences, melding that so very well with Willow's discovery of her own burgeoning sexuality. I loved how you took something amusing and then turned it into an intense participation for both reader and character.



Your presence as the "creator" was always discernable, although never overbearing. I felt as though you were always there, driving on the story, whilst never taking anything away from the actions and reactions of Willow and Tara themselves. The humour apparent in your narrative style, particularly with Buffy's little trademarks and the notion of "The Kiss that Would Never End" or "The Stare" were wonderful little additions to the whole experience of reader participation. I felt included, as though you were sharing a private joke with me, as well as being almost a voyeur of Willow and Tara's growing relationship.



It's been a long while since I've actively enjoyed reading something as much as I did this. You have such an interesting mixture of styles and tones that I'm really looking forward to anything else you write.



Sorry for not commenting on this wonderful story earlier; I've been terribly remiss. I won't be as slow to read your next work.



Thank you so much.

She's the cutest of the Kittens with her tits as warm as mittens and her firm yet supple...tight embrace...

[Twisted Minstrel]

My day? Well, my computer has heaved it's last (my gumball blew, for those of you who know what that means) and the good people at Dell are in the process of building me a new one. Dudes! I'm gettin' a Dell!



Cicca - Sweetly sweet of you to stop by...better late than never, I say.



Tommo - Lucky you, got to skip all the slow build up and false starts and cliff hangers - oh my! That you went away actually having enjoyed the experience is beyond words to me (and that goes for the rest of you as well). I like that you saw the story for it's playful qualities; Willow and Tara, for me, are never more charming or real than when they are simply being themselves, minus the magic and the slayage, just two girls, silly, smart and so very much in love.



This was a quality on the show that I missed; the best moments, for me, amongst all the characters, were the little ones, the ones that spoke so much about their characters with the least amount of action. Willow's background was explored this way almost religiously. I loved that Xander thought his best friend, as a child, burned down the neighbor's house just so he could see a real fire engine. Not that she actually did it, but the idea of Willow, only wanting her friend to be happy, would do something so completely outrageous, was very real to me. And incredibly funny.



Tara's background, of course, was never really explored with any depth and the more playful aspects of her character were only closely revealed in her moments alone with Willow ("Sassy eggs" "vixen") or even Dawn ("Wanna thumb wrestle?"). Largely, Tara (when not being used as a plot device - like a flotation device, only different) was the more serious of the two, calm and reserved in her judgments and deeply sensual and caring in her movements. I mentioned before that a huge influence on this story was the episode Restless. For any particular thematic material, but the purely visual - I wanted to explore the origins of Willow's dream sequence. Why did she feel safe in Tara's room? Why was she drawing on Tara's back? Why did she not want to leave?



In the library sequence, Willow is torn (very briefly) between joining Buffy or Tara. In many ways, this was the struggle Will wreslted with throughout the show; on one hand she wants the love and comfort Tara provides, and on the other, she wants to join Buffy in the fight against evil - a fight in which no one is safe. Her inability to reconcile the two desires would ultimately lead her down a dark path, one that Joss and Co. couldn't do anymore than pussyfoot over.



I wanted to write a smutty story about two girls in love and wound up composing an existential dissertation on the fundamental mutability of microdots.



Who knew?



Once again here's me with the big Thank You to All and Asundry...and to Cath who I miss more than the telling of it.



Piper

"Nunc scio quit sit amor"

-Virgil

[samiamiguess]

Hey there, I read your final update a while ago but read it whilst flying and was completely remiss in leaving feedback when I returned. I don't offer any excuses, just humble apologies. So I wanted to duck back in here before it gets archived to offer my appreciation for writing such a wonderfully layered story that itself developed as the relationship between them evolved. I'm such a geek so I found the way you are able to intertwine science, the universe, song and humour into your writing fascinating, not to mention enormously descriptive. (Although I'm sure the smutty story about two girls in love you eluded to above would have been equally entertaining.)



I sincerely hope you decide to put pen to paper again soon. Good luck with the Dell, mine's always been hugely reliable and is a dear friend to me.

Sonya

By the way:

Quote:

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Willow and Tara, for me, are never more charming or real than when they are simply being themselves, minus the magic and the slayage, just two girls, silly, smart and so very much in love.

---

completely agree.

[Puff]

Oh I am sad to see the end of this fic even though the epilogue was damn funny and very realistic. I have really enjoyed this story. I loved the mix in emotions between funny, romantic, passionate and sensuous (and many more) and I look forward to seeing your name next to another story on the Pens board one day soon...hopefully

---

Grapes. Because who can get a melon in their mouth?

[singgirl]

Wow!! That was awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you write another fic soon, I could easily become adicted!

Pax! -Bev

[lipkandy]

so I'm the last one to the party as usual... (because I'm trying to be a good girl and not 'waste time')

but I got to read it all in one go and I don't even know where to start. hmmm, how do you catalog loveliness anyway? I could start quoting, but it would turn this into a fifty page thread and I'm not large with the volume. and I'm terrible with the feedback, but you with the poetry and the science all beautifully strung together tangled, you deserve a world of articulate 'criticism' and more. so, in this strange equation of y (because why not?) = (love) x (feedback) please enter something near infinity as the result.



so, um, yeah...I think it's time for a second read



xomelissa



edited to add a quote(I know I said I wouldn't, but...):

Quote:

---

She was out for stars.

---

and she (meaning you) delivered.



Thanks!

Edited by: lipkandy at: 1/23/03 2:42:25 pm

[Twisted Minstrel]

To Sam, Puff, Singgirl and Melissa - thank you all so much for your feedback. I wish I could think of something for each of you, but I'm not that talented. Your words are a wonderful strangeness. I don't feel worthy of them. The generosity of the kittens never ceases to amaze me. This community is truly one of a kind.



I wish I could say if I will post again on the Pens, but for now it doesn't seem likely. There are too many reasons why and none of them are very good. If something should tap me on the shouldler, however, you'll be the first to know.



Take care of yourselves and be good to one another; there's simply no reason not to be.



Best wishes to all,



PDM

"Nunc scio quit sit amor"

-Virgil

[tiredsoul]

Wow. I have finally gotten a chance to read this story in its entirety tonight.



It was ... um, I lack an appropriate word ... incredible will have to suffice. I'll also add awesome and fantastic.



Definite page turner. There was a great sense of imagery throughout that had me hooked from page one.



Thanks.



--celia

---------------------------------

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

[Twisted Minstrel]

Celia - thank you for the praise, I'm glad you got to read it in one sitting. Might have been too trying bit by bit ...I hate saying goodbye to this one, it was such fun to do, but time to move on.



I did receive a request earllier from a friend regarding a Valentine's Day fic - I've been pondering this for a while and might just post something for that oh so special day. Schedule permitting, of course.



Barring that, I do update my journal from time to time and you are all welcome to pay a visit.



Love and peace to all,



Piper

http://www.blurty.com/users/moonrain

[xita]

new to the archive And you can still leave feedback!

-----------------
Baby you make my love come down

Oh you make my love come down

Make it come all the way down -
Evelyn Champagne King

[dorksrcool]

Hey Piper, by now you know I love your writing. I'm so in love with it I stayed up for hours (HOURS) reading it and commenting on it and now my eyes are tired, my legs are stiff, and I have some wicked pains in my shoulders because my computer chair is shit....but all of that was well worth it. Seriously, I just think this story was amazing! I could never express to you with words how brilliant it really is.

Obviously I'm a fan, just look at all of my comments from tonight/this morning.

So I'll let the little emoticon say it best....

peace,
amy

[Ressick]

I just found this fic thanks to the Pens Recommendation thread over on DCP, and I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said. This story is... ethereal is the word that goes through my mind, in the 2. definition over at dictionary.com: Highly refined; delicate,.. Your prose is like good wine over the tongue - full of depth, and flowery, and just a bit fruity. Thank you so very much for sharing it. I'm very much in awe. Your characterizations are beautiful, your storytelling exsquisite, and I'm sorry the journey is over, because I so enjoyed it. Please, keep writing.

[Belli Bear]

wow without a doubt THE most beautifully written story i have ever read. Such poetic undertones, soft sentences and simply spiralling woah.. *stops with the alliteration* its really really an amazing piece..

in fact i think i'll read it again

- Bell

[Twisted Minstrel]

I'm way too behind on feedback...

Thank you all again - I am glad you enjoyed!

[Brianna]

Wow!! beautiful!! I love your writting way!!! is awesome!!!

[Mierke]

Ok, I'm really bad with feedback but I just had to say two things:

- Your Willowbabble is AMAZING. I think it's the best I've read here on Pens.

- (I agree with JustSkipIt:) The Epilogue was PRICELESS!