Hey Alcy,
Very fast writing there. And fast completion (once we got here). I feel like I'll have to go back and read everything again. Willow becoming the captain corporeal was exciting but a bit unexplained as was Giles's second spell wiping Tara's vampireness as well as memory. Honestly, I would have liked a little explanation of those things but I don't want to be too critical. I feel like Tara will be a severely damaged person to not only learn the truth of what she's missed/done but just the technological and societal advances she's missed. Willow has, now, the advantage of two lifetimes of knowledge while Tara has less than one (in a way).

One aspect I really liked here was the way Faith and Myles had each other's backs. They worked well together and showed their affection.

Well, I can't wait for more from you. Congrats on finishing another story.

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Menorah Tales | Working It Out | Random Bits

Thanks for this story, Alcy. It was extremely entertaining.

I’m also a bit worried about this old/new genteel Tara and how she’ll fit in with new/old monster-fighting Willow. Sure, Willow says she’d be perfectly happy just lying in bed all day, just having sex with Tara instead of fighting vampires, but that’s got to get old at some point.

Okay, that didn’t make any sense, but still. I grew to like dangerous, brooding, angsty vampire Tara. Her demon turned out to have redeeming, noble qualities, and perhaps like Angel in his own series, there was a need for her hard, evil self.

But I’m sure you’ll address this when you whack the sequel out of the park. Looking forward to it, as I do all your stories.

binky

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When you find the good kind of magic, when you find your true partner in casting it, don't let her go into the Nether Realm alone... Interludes.
The rise of the greatest Seeyo in the history of Humanity in the Cosmic. The Coven.
I doodle too. GRAPHICS

We are...

But seriously part of the reason why I read at such times is the fact that I am night worker. I go to sleep after I return home about 5:30 am and wake up a good while after midday. Because of that I don't go to bed early even if I have a night off. My girlfriend on the other hand follows normal sleeping rhythm and there are not many things to do in small apartment when you can't make much noise. Reading fics is quite silent thing to do, i mean, at least most of the time, compared to some of my other activities.

But don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm not dedicated Sorry about the off-topic, but I felt that I had to explain before someone suspects me a total nut case. Now one can be sure of it!

PolarBear

PS
Congrats on the award!

This was a fabulous story and well worth the read! Thank you for such beautiful writing. I cannot wait until the next journey begins!

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Patience is a virtue I have yet to acquire
-- me

I am my beloved and my beloved is mine
-- King Solomon's Song of Songs

Only reality can escape the limits of our imagination
-- Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric Disturbances

Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself
-- Jean-Paul Sartre

Oooh, it was like Dark Willow! All black hair and on the verge of killing her friends - except this time, Tara was around to bring her back. (Phew) Intense stuff!

The battle was very cool and I had a great image in my head of their tiny group being swarmed by vamps and zombie soldiers on this evil decaying wasteland.

Anyway, I have many many questions about how the heck Tara and Will are going to deal with Tara's loss of memory (will she get bits and pieces of it back as the sequel happens?) Is Giles still alive? Is Miles still alive? Will Lara be so excited by being back in the action that she'll rip Faith's red leather off and have her way with her right there on the battlefield? Er, maybe scrap the last question.

So you can see I'm kinda excited to hear there'll be a sequel! Don't leave us hanging too long Miss Alcy

Love Ems x

Dear Alcy,

It took me some time to reply to this wonderful last chapter, an dI'm sorry. I don't like ends. I know it is not finished, and it better ot anyway 'cause eeeeek you're right you can't let us like that!!! But it is still an end.

But it was wonderful. And oh goody Tara's human once again! I wonder how she'll get through this. Poor ting wil surely feel even more guilty than vampire Tara. Or will she? Anyway, it is going to be harsh.

It sure sounds like a great new fic... Van Rosenberg 2...

I am kind of impatient now, bad me I know.

Well, I wish you a good Monday as I think now it is Monday at yours, or it will very soon be.

Friendly,

Julia

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Broken Dolls |The Stadium's Goddesses | Seeds Of Beauty

"Joie est mon caractère, C'est la faute à Voltaire; Misère est mon trousseau, C'est la faute à Rousseau." Gavroche. Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (chap. XV)

Wow just wow finally just got around to finishing the story must it was, no it was great you really did it justice. I must say from beginning to end you had me hooked on this story Willow and Tara are i finally together and everything is alright. You should try to do more movies with Tara and Willow in them.

Like the fifth element or something.

Anyway great story hope you do more great ones.

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I love women. With skin so soft, women are head to toe cashmere.

masterjendu: Tara’s identity will play a large part in the sequel so I haven’t made things easier in that respect. However in saying that while VR was more about internal conflicts, VRII will be more centred around external conflicts. I think this should make for an interesting change.
It’s going to be interesting exploring how Willow and Tara cope with their new situation though. Thanks very much!

JustSkipIt: Hi there Deb, I’m going to go into Giles’s spell in more detail in the sequel, you know how they’re good for mopping up things left unexplained…and I wanted to leave people hanging while at the same time still having the required W/T happy ending (only just!) It is going to be interesting exploring Tara’s pyschi in the next story, there is a lot that she has missed on but it’s also going to put the impetus very much on Willow. Angst all around I say!
Thanks very much for all your support throughout this story and I look forward to having you join me with the sequel.

binky: Entertaining kittens is one of my favourite pastimes of course!

It’s a big worry for our girls and it’s not going to be an easy fix…but I hope you weren’t expecting one! I really enjoyed writing brooding, dark Tara too, but it’s good to have a change from both a writing and a reading perspective. Gotta keep the challenges and the excitement flowing! Thanks very much!

polar bear: lol, thanks for that explanation, I understand well as I was once a nightshift worker myself for quite a few years, although I worked from 5pm until 1.30am so not quite as tough as your hours! Take care!

LittleBit: Hi there Little bit, glad you enjoyed the story, thank you to you for staying with me throught he whole journey and I hope you enjoy the next one too!

EmsinNZ: I frickin’ love Dark Willow, she’s exceptionally cool to write and I’ve used her a couple of times in my fics now and I never tire of her. This was like Dark Willow with a twist and was just as fun. Glad you enjoyed the battle, it was definitely one of the biggest battle scenes I’ve done so I wasn’t sure if it was going to come off alright.
Questions will get answered in the sequel, as they do! Although I think you might have to save Lara ripping Faith’s red leather off for your imagination as the start of the sequel starts several months after Covasna.
I will try not to leave you hanging too long although I do need a wee break!

JujuDeRoussie: Hi there Julia, it is the end…but only a half-end of sorts. There will eventually be more to come!
You are right in saying that Tara is going to be at a definite loss at the start and it will be harsh on her.
Yes, it was Monday here when you posted! We had a public holiday here so I was pleased not to be at work! It’s Tuesday now and I am back at work which is a bit sad! Thanks!

WolfDragonGod: Yep, finally got around to finishing the story, although for 250,000 words I’m sure it didn’t take that long! Glad you were hooked all the way through and I’m sure I can deliver a few more stories! Thanks very much.

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Willow Van Helsing...saving the world since 1777 │ Van Rosenberg II - Lord of Ice and Shadow

Alcy, no!!!

I had left VR with a twinkle in my eye and a spring in my step knowing our gals were devamped/deskulled and alive and well. Sure there’s a lot of stuff they gotta sort out but I thought there’d be a bit of a breather from the VR heartache for them and me, but then you go and write:

in your teaser. Gah! It’s like a knife to the heart!! You’re killing me but you know I love it really and JUST CAN’T WAIT for VRII!!

Moon

Alcy, thank you so much for keeping my thoughts focused on only these words as I devoured the fic in a relatively short span of time – brilliant storytelling; I enjoyed it and am looking gratefully forward to the sequel.

Some of the scenes you wrote were even cathartic in nature. With the foregoing chapters revolving around such an extensive timeline though, surprisingly I hadn’t expected the characters' different experiences to rotate throughout around this one specific concern: destruction of the skull. However, I thought it was a really good portrayal of true love and redemption. Furthermore, Faith and Myles' characterisation touches helped a lot in keeping a balance. Even though it does make sense and is realistic from the points of view of Giles and Tara that the focal point would be the skull...and love, I had been anticipating an elaboration of their personal values as learnt throughout each one's separate course of life as they went through the years together. Ultimately, these values were being enmeshed into one core value though: saving humanity...That coupled with the life lesson on choice created a beautiful ending that I absolutely loved!

Vi'

Moonbug: Sorry for my teaser being like a knife to your heart! And I hope the wait wasn’t too long for the new story to be posted!

nimloth: Hi there, thanks very much for your concluding feedback to VR, you’ve summed everything up so nicely it was a pleasure to read your reaction to the fic. It’s definitely my favourite thing to find that people get so much out of a story. It makes all the time and effort worthwhile.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy the sequel!

Once again, thanks very much for reading this fic everyone…now it can go and live out its life in the completed fics section with all of its friends and predecessors!

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Willow Van Helsing...saving the world since 1777 │ Van Rosenberg II - Lord of Ice and Shadow

OMG!!! I absolutely loved this story! I was hooked from the start and read every day for the past few weeks. What a gripping story, the characters, details and storyline SO well written.
This really was a joy to read and i can't wait for the sequel. The story idea was amazing and i loved the way you wrote Willow's and Tara's lives, the switching back into time and the merging of the 2 Willows.
The emotions and confusions they felt were so real. You should publish this one! I also liked that you chose Faith for this one over Buffy, Faith doesn't get enough credit, so stories like this are nice (and you even gave her Lara ).

Off to the sequel.
R.

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***I will make me a cabin at your gate and call upon my soul within the house... I rush into the secret house. Rage More***

New to the archive. You can leave feedback!

WOAH!

okay..

yay for novel-length fantasy fic by crazy-great writers!
with knowledge of history
and spelling, and grammar
*and* including Buffy characters!

This is amazing. nigh orgasmic. oh... man.

Okay, so I found myself using this story as a... sort of study. about how one might go about writing a novel. And I find myself wondering... you must have planned this out, right? at least a bit, it didn't just flow. but you managed to weave it together, all the way to its conclusion, with proper bits of fluff and all that... patiently done. I suppose; I mean, if it were me I'd be so enthusiastic about it that either.. well, either I'd write it in the time it takes me to read a book, like 2 days, or I'd probably lose interest. or forget what the plan was.

But man! and you put that whole.. random events thing in there, and all the fleshy details, and... you wrote it basically chonologically? it reads to me like you *must* have written some scenes out of order... did you?

*sigh* so okay. you got my gears turning.

a few more things:

Interesting with the Faith Winters/ Buffy Summers thing. Was it deliberate? I didn't think that was canon Faith's last name, is it?
And Faith in this story is very Buffy-ly. I take it you dislike Buffy, yet both your Faith character and Willow Van Helsing are TOTALLY Buffy characters. They're Slayers!

Also, this is early on in the story, but I can't help but admire the whole Dark Willow with the magiks vs. Willow Van Helsing with the gun thing. The only difference seems to be that Dark Willow was more capable. But while in Buffy, Dark Willow's explosion is seen as a kind of "dark side of the Force" thing, and it's a really big deal... whereas Van Helsing's explosion is almost downplayed, and certainly not seen as a downfall of the character. Which is weird... I'd like to say that your characters are very noble and all that jazz, and that it's a good thing, but honestly, just because Willow was in love and sort of mental at that time of life, doesn't really forgive her actions. Dark Willow's murder brought her to a new level, but Van Helsing was *going* to murder Edward... again, only a matter of differing capabilities.
... I have the feeling I might be overthinking this.

Also, one grammarly thing I have to just mention... really hoping you'll reply to this someday, hahah... this is the second time I've read "intensive purposes" in a W/T fanfic (I think last time was Lisa Countryman's work), and I swear it should be "intents and purposes," not "intensive purposes." I mean... I'm almost positive. Am I wrong?

Finally... I just wanted to say, if you went though this one more time, got a really thorough Beta and fleshed out a few scenes, and changed the characters' names.... I really really think you could possibly get this published. It's hella better than a LOT of books I've read... only problem being the female-female action, which you'd probably have to limit. But I have read a fantasy book with lesbian main characters that was, you know.. in a public library. If you found the right publisher..

anyway, thank you so much for gifting us this wonderful creation. J'aime il beaucoup! (my french is bad... but i think that's right)

Faith's name didn't come out until after the series. Joss gave her the last name "Lehane" for the role playing game because, he said, it sounded "southie." (a southie is a person from South Boston).

--->Susan

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The Mystic Muse
Now featuring Elvis in eBook format!

synthwrr: I will second your yay for novel-length fantasy fic, there’s nothing better to read!
I think I’ve explained my writing process in other posts but you’d actually be surprised at how organic it really is. I mean, I plan and stuff but not in any great detail, things just seem to happen and fit together…and given that it is my story I can make them fit! I wrote a few things out of order but generally it was chapter after chapter, one scene at a time.
Susan too, The Faith Winters/ Buffy Summers thing is always deliberate, you’ll pick up that in all my other fics I always use Winters as Faith’s last name. It does set up that obvious juxtaposition between the two of them and I never liked the name Faith was given in canon.
You’re right that both Faith and Willow are slayers, but I think that’s where the similarities with Buffy stops, they’re very much themselves and I think their personal idiosyncrasies really add to the whole slayer persona.
I’m not sure if I ever intended Willow Van Helsing to become Dark Willow during her rage post Tara’s death, her anger was very personally directed towards Edward and herself rather than the whole world, she wanted to kill Edward and she was suicidal…so it’s a much more narrow focus and I think more interesting, especially in terms of who she became. It will always remain unanswered whether she would have been able to kill Edward had Abraham not been there to stop her.
I’m not sure if I would have the stamina to get this published and whether it would actually work. I’ve always thought of each of my fics as being very personal, I write exactly what I would want to read and I think I’ve said it before that it always surprises me that others enjoy reading it too. Then again, a lot of what is written here on Pens is so much better than some of the dribble that gets published out there! Maybe one rainy day…
Anyway, thanks very much for wading your way through VRI and I hope you enjoy reading the sequel.

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Willow Van Helsing...saving the world since 1777 │ Van Rosenberg II - Lord of Ice and Shadow

OK, Unfortunately I came to this story pretty late so I never had the chance to leave you feedback before now. I've loved all your stories, but this one is probably my favorite.

The way you've seamlessly weaved these separate stories in to a new creation is fantastic. The idea of this secret society working beneath the ground to fight demons was intriguing. The romance and angst and suspense was simply amazing.

What struck me throughout the story was your vision of Tara. Her suffering was so palpable in every single word. Even before being turned, she was pained by a different type of demon.

I'm sure others have left far more articulate feedback, but I had to drop by to tell you how much I've enjoyed this. I haven't had a chance to start the sequel quite yet, but hope to jump in soon.

Thanks!

Love this, love all your fics. If you fancied updating the follow-up at any point I wouldn't complain.

Cheers.

BEST STORY EVER READ. It took forever to read but it was WORTH IT. There was so much detail and suspense. I also loved the whole past and present aspects. I look forward to reading more from you.

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BUFFY: Maybe it's time to start a new tradition. Birthdays without boyfriends. It could be just as much fun.

WILLOW: Preaching to the choir here, baby. (smiles at Tara)

I'm just a Tara searching for my Willow ~me

This is a great piece of fic loved Willows and Tara's journey in this. Thanks for this.

This really should be a movie!!!!!!!!!