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etudes

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S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME

Postby binky » Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:35 pm

Well, here it is. The LAST chapter. I’m pretty confident saying that, though I’ve said it before, and well, here I still am. Right now, though, I’m plum canon-ed out and can’t imagine re-opening this series in the near or distant future. I want to break free! I want to break free-e-e! Apologies to you Freddie Mercury fans out there. I’m feeling a little giddy.

6.2.x – Glamour (posted a week ago)
6.12.x - The Departure of Wicca’d Red (posted last September)
6.13.x – Endgame (this chapter—the LAST installment)
6.18.x – Coming Home (posted last September)

Alright, sobering up a bit, cause, you know, this is a very serious chapter, for the FINAL go. Mwuhahahaha! Get a grip, binky.

Disclaimers and preface notes for ENDGAME:

- This story is rated AO (Adults Only), i.e. NC-17 for graphic sex.
- Setting/background & summary: Set after “Dead Things,” the Warren-murders-Katrina-and-frames-Buffy episode. Willow is in the basement of the Summers house, doing laundry, feeling sorry for herself and thinking about Tara. She reminisces about their first time.
- Warnings: Crazy, creepy, weepy Willow alert. Did I mention I’ve been feeling ambivalent about her character? It really shows in this chapter. Very little humor—what there is is mostly of the dark variety.
- Thank you, Trom and Amy, for betaing. I’ve very much enjoyed and am grateful for the company and the assistance over the last few months.

Remember! I recommend reading Coming Home if you’re left in a black mood after reading this chapter. You can find Coming Home on my website. CLICK HERE.

I’ve got to break free-e-e…! Yeah…

binky

***

Fanfic based on Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Tara and Willow are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I am not making nor will I accept any money from this fiction.

Title: Endgame
Author: binky
Genre: behind the scenes
Rating: AO (Adults Only), for graphic sex
Setting/background: The Summers’ basement, shortly before Buffy’s birthday party in “Older and Far Away.” (S6E14)
Summary: Willow contemplates the consequences of her addiction.
Spoilers: up to and including "Dead Things" (S6E13)
Acknowledgements: Beta-ed by Trom and Amy. Thank you both.
Notes: Emphasis in italics. Strong emphasis/raised voice in ALLCAPS.
Feedback: This is your last chance for the foreseeable future to give it to me, so, uh, give it to me!



ENDGAME
6.13.x

Round and round and round you go. Where it stops, nobody knows.

Tiny bubbles in the wine. Makes me happy. Makes me feel fine… Could use a drink right now. Darn headaches… Head feels like it’s gonna explode. And not in a good, literal, wholesome Gentlemen-go-boom kinda way.

Extra large capacity Whirlpool washing machine, 3.2 cubic feet basket. Tide concentrated laundry detergent with bleach alternative. Safe for colors. One small capful will handle a full load of laundry. That means two capfuls for my double load in our extra large capacity Whirlpool washing machine. Maybe a little more. I forgot to pre-treat Buffy’s blouse. This demon goo won’t come out. Yuck. I hate when they just don’t go poof! This is just gonna stick to the blouse, infecting the rest of the load with its corrupting demonic mojo and quite possibly staining or even corroding the inside of the extra capacity 3.2 cubic feet basket. Perhaps all wearing the corrupted clothing would develop mystical rashes, or maybe even become possessed with said demonic energy. Why, we might be impregnated by wearing such tainted clothing. Even Xander’s got a jacket in here—don’t know why. Mister Looks-like-I-made-it has a Laundromat in the basement of his complex. Huh. He’d look funny, pregnant with some kind of demon spawn. What to do, what to do? Could magick it out, lickety split, like I used to. Send it back to the dimension of evil from whence it spawned. Yeah, they were all fine with that once upon a time. Go Willow, Wicca extraordinaire! Just come up with a spell. You’re the best at what you do! That thing you do. Whatever it is. You can do anything. As long as it saves money on professional dry cleaning… God, what hypocrites.

Too much thinking. Gotta stop that. Off to the side you go, demon-goo-shirt. Hopefully not cleaning you won’t be as fraught with danger as cleaning you seems to be. It’s all a delicate balance. The yin and yang of optimal laundering. Dawn likes all her clothes extra soft, though, so remember, 3 capfuls of fabric softener, definitely.

Round and round… tiny bubbles.

Flash o’ blue. Baby blue. Tara’s eyes. We like to sort sort sort sort sort. Whites whites, darks darks. Uh, delicate? Or a white? How the frilly heck do you go, friend? Tag’s torn out. Buffy’ll have a fit if I ruin it.

Aw, Buffy can do her own damn laundry.

Deep breaths.

“…Approximately one ounce of detergent per kilogram of laundry in ten litres of water…” What the—? You have got to be kidding me. Where the heck did he buy frickin’ metric Tide? Probably had it shipped from Canada, just on principle. Unbelievable. He took off, skedaddled back to the mother country, and left nothing but metric household sundries in the Summers garage where it eventually will disseminate and infiltrate our very American existence. Accomplish what good, proven, centuries-old imperialism and colonialism couldn’t. Well, two can play that game, mister. Your British-slash-Canadian laundry detergent works just as well in our big honkin’ American extra large capacity Whirlpool washing machine. And see? I’m a big enough American jerk to just go ahead and assimilate it without conscience! Like a red, white, and blue Borg! Or, uh, something like that.

In ya go, kiddies! You too, unmatched red argyle sock. Maybe the Powers That Be will be kind to you and the mysterious occasional otherworldly portal at the bottom of the tub will suck you in and reunite you with your long-lost mate. Maybe one of us can be happy again.

Yes, ma’am. I remember. “Don’t overload, the cleaning is really done by the water not the detergent. No amount of extra detergent will help if you overload. Here, let me show you.” You pretty much ended up doing it yourself. Let me try, baby? Just show me and then I’ll do it. You cooked breakfast already this morning. You shouldn’t be doing all the housework yourself.

“Um, sweetie, maybe you haven’t noticed but I’m kind of the homemaker in this family.”

Oh God I wanted to take you right there against the Whirlpool. Pull your sweatpants and boxers down and let you sit on top of it during the spin cycle and eat you out right there, with your thighs shaking and your hips thrust toward me and you coming all over my lips and tongue.

Hm. Too big for Buffy. Maybe Dawnie? Not mine—oh.

Not mine. She must have left it, or…

I stole it. Remember now. It was lying in the chair next to the bed. It was soft and I was cold and it smelled like her. She had left for her morning class and I was still in bed. Made love that night. Woke up, she was gone and it had gotten cold. She’d put a blanket around me, though. But no warm Tara. I stole it, wore it all day. She left for good a… week later? On Tuesday. Her art history class is Monday morning, 8:00AM. She left on Tuesday, so a little over a week later.

Can’t remember seeing her wear it that week. Maybe Dawn found it after. Always borrowing stuff, that one. Can’t find half my shoes these days. Little shoe monster… Or, uh, big shoe monster. Or little shoe big monster. I’ll be happy when the growth spurt finds its way to her feet. Gotta have a talk with her about that… Huh. It kinda smells like Dawnie now.

Ugh. This is just… pathetic.

Just toss it in. Say goodbye for good. There. Close the lid. Wash it clean. Give it to Buffy. She’ll give it back. No scenes. No shouting. No hurt feelings. No feelings at all.

Liar.

Do you still think of me, Tara? Will you give me another chance? Will you wait for me? Can you do that for me? I’m trying so hard, but sometimes I don’t even know what for. Before, I didn’t have anything but school. And Xander, yeah, and Buffy, but it seems like I lost them both some time ago. Or it feels that way. We hardly talk anymore. Xander’s always with Anya, talking about their wedding, and Buffy… God. I can’t even look at her anymore. Not after… But I wouldn’t even care. I still had magic… and you. I’m giving up the magic, but I still don’t have you. I don’t want to be alone again, Tara.

Are you still mine, or am I now all jealous stalker-girl now, ‘cause you’re not, but I still think of you all the time anyway? I wonder what you’re doing, if you’re in class or the library or maybe painting or listening to the radio while you clean up after dinner like you used to do when you were here with me. Do you sleep alone at night, or do you have someone else now?

She won’t love you like I did. Do. I still do, Tara. Does she treat you right? Better than I did? It wouldn’t be hard, I know. But no one can love you more. I tried my best. I really did. Wasn’t it good enough? Can I call you now? Hear your voice? Sometimes I want to call you just to get your answering machine. I want to do that right now. But maybe you’re home, and you told me not to call. I don’t want you to be mad at me anymore. I’d do anything to make it right, Tara. Anything so you won’t have that disappointed look in your eyes, anything…

Anything? Oh God… Didn’t I try that already?

I can see you wearing it. I remember. You wore it the third time we met. To lend me one of your magic books… One of the codecs of God knows what Babylonian mystic that I’d never heard of but sounded good to read ‘cause it meant you’d have to meet me again to lend it to me. Maybe our hands would touch when we exchanged the book, and I’d feel that spark I felt whenever we touched. And then we could just naturally hang out before your afternoon class. You stuttered when you said my name. W’s were always the hardest for you. Ironic, huh? I gave you a hard time from the start. You had trouble just saying my name.

“W-Willow… sweetie…”

Is this alright, Tara? Am I doing this right?

“W-Willow, honey…”

Lover. Call me lover, Tara, please.

“Lover…”

Was this the one? There were no lights, ‘cause we’d taken out the power to break Oz out. And you were sitting alone, waiting, in the dark.

I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry I put you through that. Made you wait. You didn’t deserve that, thinking you weren’t loved. ‘Cause you were. Are. And he ran you down, earlier, hunted you. And you still came to find me? To help him, even after…

It wasn’t that one… It was the other one, my zip-up sweatshirt. You borrowed it from me, when I came to visit you after you saw Oz in my room that morning. It’s how he figured us out. Me, all over you. How ironic is that? That he knew before I did? Or not ironic. Typical. I was so clueless, not knowing before my ex-boyfriend did. And making you wait, too. Alone in the dark.

I said I’d make it up to you, starting that night. But it was hard to see anything. The extra-flamey candle only gave so much light. And I didn’t know what I was doing, but you could probably tell that already. I ran my hands from the top of each flap, down, down, to the middle of your chest, the anticipation building with every inch my hands moved. You were breathing so hard, you brushed against my fingertips every half-second because I didn’t pull my hands away. I remember I thought it was rude of me to keep my hands there after I’d undone the zipper but I really just needed to feel you, even if it was through your bra. I had to draw out the moment just before I’d see you completely revealed and open and knowable to me. Big knowledge woman. Your body is full of secrets. And you know me, super-nerd Willow. I just need to know everything.

“W-Willow?”

Yes, Tara?

“Um, are you alright?”

I slipped my hands under the sweater to your shoulders and ran my hands down your arms. Your skin is so soft and warm. While you pulled the sleeves down, my hands moved from your upper arms to your front, cupping you from the front. Holding position. So you could take off the sweater. I’m fine, Tara. Finey McFine. That’d be me. All fine with the lesbian…

Kissing. Lesbian kissing? Uh, just kissing. Tara-kissing. Starting with familiar ground is good. Oh, yeah. I’m fine with that. Real fine. Very fine. Your lips are so soft, Tara, your breath wet and warm on my lips. Thank you for this. For waiting.

I’ll let go so you can take off your t-shirt, okay? And I’ll do the same.

“O-Okay.”

Gyah! As soon as my undershirt is off, the air is cool against my hot skin. We step back into our embrace to stave off the chill. Now this is something new. The awkward first-time bra un-hooking ritual, times two. Uh, I think Oz was better at it than me. But he had other girls before me. Uh, sorry. That didn’t sting, did it? More kissing. This must be what tying a tie on someone else’s neck must feel like for a guy. Uh, except it’s really not. Completely different point to that… C’mon, snappy plastic loop thingy!

I’m getting impatient. Why can’t I be smooth at this? Isn’t this something I should be good at? I’ve been doing it on myself, like, forever. Or at least a few years. God, when did I become this complete freak, this breast-obsessed… guy-type person? My mouth is watering. I’m actually drooling, trying to get to her boobies… C’mon! C’mon! And…

Oh, wow. Yay for cold air.

I’d dreamed about your breasts so much, so often. Maybe because my breasts are so much smaller than yours. I hope you’re not too disappointed with mine. You’re not? Really?

But I like your hips, too. Let me? Tara? Please? I want to do that…

I love your wide hips and big, soft boobies… You have so much nice, soft padding, in all the right places. Your body was made to be a mother, not like mine. Sometimes I feel—felt… I felt guilty, thinking that’s not something we can have together. You’d be a wonderful mother, I know it. Don’t know how I’d be. When we fell in love, I started to think about that, even though I never used to with Oz. Weird, huh? Kinda got that backwards. But who am I kidding? I couldn’t even take care of your cat. Anya better not expect me to babysit if she and Xander start a family. She can pay Dawn to do it. Mistress Payback, yes, she can be a bitch. Give Dawnie a taste of her own medicine…

Ugh. What is this? What am I?

I’m tired of trying to make everything up to Dawnie. It doesn’t matter anyway. Nothing I do is good enough… And I can’t stand being around Xander anymore. I don’t know when he became Mr. Responsible. It makes me sick. Like he did so much more than I did, with so much less. I don’t know what’s worse, his pity or that I-knew-it-all-along smirk of Anya’s. Thank God it’s almost over. Maybe they’ll move out of town after they get married. I don’t know if I’d mind so much.

God, bitter much?

“Willow… What are you doing?”

I’m having a talk with you.

“Um, baby, whatever you’re saying to me down there, I can’t hear from way up here.”

Well, actually I’m just listening in this conversation.

“Oh Goddess…” Rubbing my ear against you. Freak. “O-Okay.” Later, you’d lick my ear, just like I’d wanted.

Do you wanna freak with me?

Great. Perfect. Now I’m gonna have that fucking song in my head all day.

Bzzzzzzzzzt.

Oh, fabric softener!

Three capfuls for Dawnie. I should just go get my textbook and re-read that stupid Chem chapter already. It’ll take my mind off her.

“Remember, wait for the tub to fill with a little water first, don’t dump it directly on the clothes. It’ll spot.”

Dumped.

Oh GOD, Tara. How could you do this to me? How could you leave me like this? Just when I needed you most, you leave? The first time I make a mistake, it’s “I don’t think this is going to work” and you’re out the door? What happened to always? Didn’t it mean anything to you? Were you leading me on? How fair is that? How fair are you? Do you know what you’ve done to me? Do you know what I’m going through?

Leave then! Better I know now, than when I really need you, that I can’t rely on you. You’re just like the rest of them, always asking for everything, then leaving after you get it… Godammit. Leave me, then, you… you… Oh God.

Your hips are so wide. I slipped your pants off by undoing the button first, pulling down the zipper, and slowly working the fabric off them. In the almost dark, with the extra-flamey candle, I can just about make out the triangular patch of hair down there. Oh God, Tara, I can smell you. Do you taste the same way? Is this really happening? Am I really doing this?

Her arms around my shoulders, my hands all over her body. So much skin. Almost automatically, my hands find their way to her breasts. I cup them, and they’re heavy in my hands. So different from my own when I feel mine, when I touch myself, thinking of Tara, before tonight. Before that night. Before, when I thought about Xander, cupping my own breasts never occurred to me. But this feels right. It feels right, it feels good, holding your breasts, feeling their softness and their weight, squeezing, tracing your nipples. They tighten at my fingertips.

What am I?

Nerd. Brainiac. Jew. Pagan. Witch. Freak. Addict. Dyke. Queer. Honey. Sweetie. Baby. Lover. Yours.

“A-Are you alright, W-Willow?”

I’m fine. Finey Mc… Uh, I’m scared.

“It’s okay if y-you don’t want this, W-Willow… W-we can just keep going the way we are…”

Don’t you want to—?

“Oh yes! Um… I mean, I do, if you want to. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter…”

What do you mean, it doesn’t matter? I mean, holding hands and kissing and the… the feeling, the touching, that’s nice and all… I mean, it’s great, but don’t you want someone who can be, uh, sexual with you? I don’t want to hold you back from someone who’ll…

“But I don’t w-want anyone else, W-Willow.”

Am I all or nothing?

“Y-Yes.”

Which is it? All? Or nothing?

I’m nervous, Tara. I mean, I’ve never… I’ve had crushes, but never anything like this… and I’ve wondered. A whole lot. And there were dreams, before? You know? And I get excited. And… and I want. I want so bad. But I’m scared. If it’s not as good as… or what if I can’t… Maybe I’ve thought about it too much and I don’t really know what I should be expecting. I mean, we kiss, which is so good. Your lips are so sweet and soft. And when it’s not your lips, your skin… I had no idea I liked the taste of skin so much. I mean, yours is so soft and I can taste you under your vanilla soap. And… And I… but what if…

“W-Willow…”

I-I’ve been doing some research? ‘Cause, you know, it’s what I do. I’m Research Gal. So I went online to read a little about it?

“Um, okay…”

And I found this tip.

“A-A tip?”

For, you know, uh, how to… proceed with this, uh, process?

“Okay…”

And basically, it’s something called mirroring. Because we’re, uh, both females? So, theoretically, it should work out between us. Hypothetically, that is. ‘Cause, you know, I’m all big with the theory. Gotta check out the theory before practical application, ‘cause, uh, all kinds of badness can happen by just pushing random buttons…

“Uh, how does it…?”

Well, we do everything together, y’know? I mean, I’ll just do whatever you’re doing to me back to you—assuming of course, it’s alright that you, uh, lead? Since, uh, you’ve been doing this longer? Not that I’m saying you’re some big experienced slut or anything! But… but you’ve… uh…

“W-Willow, it’s a-alright. W-We can try it that w-way? A-Anything y-you w-want, okay?”

That way, we can, uh, figure out what we like to do? And it’ll be a way to let the other person know what we want. ‘Cause, you know, sometimes it’s hard to say what you want. Though for some reason, I can’t seem to shut up sometimes, like now… So eventually, when we figure it out, we can start, uh, improvising more? What do you think?

“I-It sounds fine, W-Willow…”

Uh, maybe, I should, uh, get with the disrobing, ‘cause, hello, there you are, all in your nakedness, and here I am, still in my jeans. I mean, how rude. Of me, that is. So, uh…

Tara’s lips! Oh. Tara’s lips. Soft. They’re pressed, slightly parted, against mine. I guess I need to shut up now.

“W-Well, actually, you did for me…”

Hands! Now hands!

Okay. You can help. Please. Thank God at least one of us knows what she’s doing. My jeans and underwear complete the small pile of discarded clothes.

We’re still kissing and groping like horny teenagers which, okay, we are, as I back her up, steering for the both of us toward her bed. But you know, the word horny just doesn’t do this—this thing, this wanting and aching and absolute needing between us justice. She’s letting me lead again. I’m nervous, but very excited. Her touches are making me more so. I can hear us both breathing hard and little noises are coming from our throats. Oh God, it’s so much sexier than a cheesy porno soundtrack like the one Oz and I rented that one time, on a whim. But maybe I shouldn’t be thinking about that just now. Does it make me a bad lesbian, that my first love was a man? Or is it just the last love that counts? Dammit! Why do I have to be thinking all the time? Pay attention, dummy! Remember this. It’s important. First times only happen once! Uh, obviously…

She’s sinking to the bed, and I lower myself down on top of her. Something takes over inside me, some natural instinct, and I’m breaking from our kiss to dip my head toward her heaving chest. My tongue is out of my mouth, licking her nipple and before I’m even aware of it, I’m sucking at her beautiful breast. Yup, it’s official. I’m a breast gal.

“Sweetie? I-I can’t do that at the same time…”

Huh? There’s a little pop! when I let her nipple go.

“Um, it’s just that you said, w-we’d do everything together?”

Oh. Yeah, that was the plan, wasn’t it? Sorry. I guess I got carried away. At least we can laugh about it. Maybe we should take turns instead? I sit up a little, but my hands are still running all over her chest and sides.

“I-I don’t know if I can keep still w-while you do that.”

I hesitate, thinking it means she doesn’t like me touching her that way. But she actually meant she wants to touch me, too, and she’s not willing to wait. I’d blush with pleasure, if all the excess blood in my body hadn’t already gone south. She pulls me close again, so our breasts mash together. Her nipples are poking into mine, erect and hard. Wow. She’s got strength. I like. Very much. Her hands roam from my neck down my front and sides to my hips. Her breath is hot on my cheek. We kiss. Just lips at first, then my tongue finds its way past her lips to taste her teeth.

We manage to maneuver onto our sides without stopping the smoochies. Kissing and touching like this, I can only breathe through my nose. Oooooh God… I can smell her. Or is that me? I haven’t had sex in so long—not counting all the masturbating I did after Oz left, first thinking of him, then later, of her. I’m really, really wet, so much that I think I might even be dripping. Plus I’m so hot down there, so maybe it’s me. But it could be her. I want to know. My hand moves between us, to between her thighs…

As I’m about to touch her pussy, she kind of pulls away from me, breaking our kiss. But she stays close, her forehead pressed to mine, and we just lean into each other, starting to sweat and breathe hotly into each other’s mouths. I look at her, questioning, even though it’s too dark to see her clearly. She’s trembling.

“I-I’m sorry, W-Willow. I’m just… It’s just that I-I’m… w-wet. And I…”

Is that all? But that’s okay, Tara. That’s better than okay. That’s good. Goody good good, in fact. Wet is what we want… uh, good thing I said that and not you, huh? You know, with your stutter, and all the w’s? Sorry. Inappropriate quipping seems to be one of my natural spaz defense mechanisms against nervousness. But you’ve probably noticed. Uh, here. I’ll show you, okay? Feel me. I take her hand from my waist and guide her between my legs. Her fingertips just brush against my wet lips and my clit and my pussy begins throbbing, wanting to be touched more. I moan and my eyes close.

For the first few seconds, my hand covers hers showing her what I like but then I let her go to hold her hip. Her hand stays, expertly caressing me like she’s been doing it forever. Or at least since I was ten. She moans, as if she’s touching herself. But actually, it’s me. My hand found its way between her legs and this time, she didn’t pull away. She’s wet, too. Very wet. Like me. Our hands are gentle, we use our fingertips lightly, exploring first, then our touches become heavier, more massaging. Her hair is just a little less coarse than mine as I scratch across her mons, then go lower, tracing her slit, sliding easily in all the moisture. All the while, my clit screams every time she touches it as her fingers flutter around my inner lips. There’s so much wetness and it’s so easy to slip my middle finger into her pussy, just to the first knuckle. Little smacking noises join the sounds of our panting and small moans. I circle her clit with my thumb with increasing pressure while I’m entering her, ‘cause I know that’s how I keep aroused and excited when I’m being penetrated shallowly, like what she’s doing now, before my g-spot is found. I hope our fingers are long enough.

Is-Is this alright, Tara? Does it feel okay?

She just nods quickly, her lips pursed together. In the dim light, her expression is illegible. She’s either on the verge of coming, or in incredible pain. The last thought fills me with panic and I slow down.

Tara, breathe through your mouth, baby. It’s okay. Tell me if you don’t like how this feels. Let me know, okay? We can try something else, if you don’t like it.

“I-I like it, W-Willow. I-It feels good, having you inside me? I-It feels really good.”

Good. I like what you’re doing, too, okay? A whole lot.

“O-Okay.” There’s a moment of silence before she says, “I love you, Willow.”

It’s almost enough to push me over the edge prematurely, but I hang on. I want to get there with her. The effort to quell myself keeps me quiet for a second, but I know there’s no anxiety in her at the pause ‘cause we’re in synch by now, and she knows why it takes me an extra second to say back, I love you too, Tara.

The words stop as we concentrate on the pleasuring. She’s panting in short breaths. Mine are longer. I force myself to go slow. Something tells me she hasn’t been penetrated deeply before, so I take my time, using just one finger for a while, until she gets more comfortable. But Oz was of course bigger than Tara’s slim finger, so I need a little more. Tara, baby, can you use two fingers? It feels so good, what you’re doing, but you can press a little harder, too, upwards, maybe, toward you… Oh God, there it is. She found it.

More kissing, more touching. I can’t get enough. We’re gasping for air, but beyond the immediate moment of our hungry touches, something else, some missing piece of a puzzle I didn’t even know I was trying to solve, just falls in place with a small click inside me. It’s not in my brain where I usually try to keep everything, the important stuff and the not-so-much. It’s more in my gut, and between my legs. Before I’m even aware of what I’m doing, I’m leaving her, but just so I can bring my fingers to my mouth and lick her wetness from my fingertips. I’ve tasted myself before. When I thought about her, before, thinking this might happen, that we might become lovers. I wanted to know I could handle it. I mean, I was curious before, when Oz did it to me that one time, but I didn’t have the incentive like I did for this, to make sure… So I tasted myself, to see if I could do it, that it wouldn’t be a turn off and I wouldn’t react badly and hurt her feelings. But I know it’s different, when it’s someone else. Another girl—another woman.

It is—different, I mean, than how I tasted. I go back to her for more.

She actually tastes a little sweet, faintly like the raw honey I tried during our fourth grade field trip to a local apiary.

She’d stopped touching me, had stopped all movement, to watch me sucking her juices from my fingers. My eyes had adjusted better to the dark. I could see her swallow, hard. I’ve cleaned off my fingers so my lips are free to press against hers again. I wonder if she can taste herself on my lips, taste what I would do because I love her. Not that it’s a chore or anything. In fact, I’m feeling kind of greedy. For once I won’t miss out. And I won’t share. I go back to see if I can get a third helping, hoping she’s had a chance to lubricate again.

When she sees that, she hesitates just a fraction of a second before her hand moves back down between my legs. She parts me, enters me, her fingers rub my smooth walls. Then she leaves me, and brings her hand slowly to her mouth. Her lips part, but I don’t want it to be an obligation. It’s no longer a game. You don’t have to, Tara. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, just because I…

She looks me straight in the eye, to make sure I understand that she knows that, and takes her wet fingers into her mouth.

My heart swells. I can’t help it. I moan.

She leans backward as I go forward. Another piece of the puzzle falls into place with an inaudible click inside me, another mystery solved. I push her legs apart and settle myself between them. Her hands circle my waist at first, to keep me close. I’m not going anywhere, Tara. I plant my arms on either side of her chest, pinning her down with my own spread legs. When I start thrusting my hips against her in the classic way, her hands move to my ass and squeeze and pull to let me know how fast she wants me to go. I try my best.

I ride her at first. I know it’s this rather than any other way because the kinky hairs on her mound scratch at my sensitized clit while hers is kissed between my cum-soaked inner lips. Our moans become loud. And my arms start to tremble with the effort of keeping my weight off her.

I make a small adjustment, lengthen the vertical stroke, and feel her hard clit against mine, my cum slipping down into her, to mix with hers. It’s an odd kind of frenching that only two women can do. There’s something about that thought that makes me strangely happy. That there’s part of me, something, that can only be for her. That I saved something for her—something I couldn’t mess up and not save for her.

Her hands leave my backside and go to my small breasts hanging between us. She pinches my nipples and rubs my skin, damp with sweat. The friction and the heat and all the wetness… The feelings are so intense, I’m almost outside my body with love and lust. T-T-Tara…

With the gentlest of pressures on my shoulder blades, she urges me down. My arms are shaking so badly, but I don’t want to let go and violently collapse and hurt her. Our hips are still thrusting in synch. Bending one elbow at a time, I manage to safely lower myself down on top of her. We’re both covered in sweat above the waist and cum below. We start kissing as I come. Or she’s kissing, now at my chin and cheeks and jaw. She had to let my mouth go because I’m panting and gasping and moaning and I need air, my womb contracting and squeezing as I’m coming so hard, as I’m coming all over her…

OhgodohgodohgodTaraTaraTara…

She’s holding me close, kissing at my closed eyes and cheeks and my open mouth. She’s whispering my name, stroking my sweaty hair. “Willow, Willow, honey, sweetie, baby, lover, love you, love you…”

Her hips stopped moving as she comforts me, her arms around me, forgetting herself. But that won’t do. My body hasn’t stopped shuddering. I’m exhausted, like everything liquid’s been poured out of me, like my very soul seeped out from between my legs and was left glistening on Tara’s sex and thighs. But I’m a woman on a mission. I’ve been without real purpose much of my life, but that’s all changed. In the span of twenty minutes, my life has changed, and now I know where I belong. Lie back, baby?

My only regret is that I have to leave the comfort of her arms. But that’s okay. Her legs will do just fine. Her fingers are still running through my hair, pushing damp strands from my face as I descend, and I begin. I start at the top of her mound, using the width of my tongue through her wet curls, cleaning my spendings from her as she patiently lies still. I make my way downward, avoiding her clit as much as possible. It’s still hard, it hasn’t calmed. It’s peeking out from its hood, demanding attention, But I give it just a light kiss, my promise to pay it mind shortly, and move on instead to stiffen my tongue to run down the soft folds of her left side, to the nadir of her sex, back up in a similar manner up the right. I spread her pussy lips with my tongue, then plunge inside to harvest her honey.

“W-Will? Stop a second, please?”

I have to exit her to answer. What is it, baby? Doesn’t it feel good? She might need me to talk again so rather than putting my tongue back into her pussy, my lips latch around her clit and I suck on the pulsing nub instead.

“O-Oh Goddess… It feels w-wonderful. I’m so happy. But I w-want… I want you up here, my first time? Is that okay?”

Her first time? Really? Pride. I’m her first! Joy. She wanted me to be her first! Relief. She doesn’t have anyone to compare me to! I can suck as much as I have to! Not that I’m trying to… uh, suck. I mean be bad at this. I want to be very, very good at this. Very good, for her.

“W-Willow, please. Come up here? I-I don’t think I can hold o-on much more… Y-You’ve got me so close… Please, Willow?”

My baby never needs to beg. I’m coming, Tara. She sits up and moves backward to lie back against the headboard of her bed. I climb up her body, placing my hand between her legs, massaging her. With the other hand I adjust the pillow at her back. We kiss some more but then she breaks our kiss as her face scrunches up. Her eyes close, but I want to see them. She closes her thighs so tightly that I can’t move my hand. I won’t leave you, Tara. Open up, spread your legs for me, baby. You’ll still feel it. I promise. She does, and I do my best to keep my word, make her feel everything. My other hand goes behind her neck to keep her close to me. She’s panting, very, very close. I’ve brought her to the edge. I tell her, I love you, Tara. I’ll tell her every day.

“L-Love y-you, Willow…”

She comes, hard, her shoulders shaking starting waves of shudders through her whole body that I can feel in my fingers still held in place by the strength of her sex. She keeps me for over a minute, still trembling, then lets me go so that I can hold her. I ease us both back down to the bed, sweaty and exhausted and deliriously happy and pull the blanket at the foot of her bed up over us. I’m the happiest I’ve ever, ever been. I’ve found my calling! And I know, now. It’s your last love that counts. Within ten minutes of just holding each other, we’re asleep.

I’m crying. My face is wet with tears. I’ve been standing here, crying for God knows how long. The wash is done, don’t know since when. It could’ve been ten minutes, it could’ve been two.

I blew it. I’ve lost everything.

The phone rings. No one’s here but me. I’m feeling too exhausted to get it and decide whoever it is can leave a message if it’s that important. Probably just a bill collector, or a charity. The door at the top of the staircase is open. I can hear Buffy’s message, then the beep.

“H-Hello? Is anyone there?”

Clothes fly through the air as I literally throw the laundry basket, half-filled with t-shirts from the last load, to the side. I almost trip on the last step, scrambling to get to the phone from the basement, before she hangs up. Hello?

“H-Hello? Willow?”

Tara? Oh God. It’s Tara. How have you been holding up, sweetheart? I miss you, baby. Have you missed me, too? It’s so good to hear your voice. I miss you so much, half the time I feel dead inside. The other half I wish I were. H-Hi. I was just thinking about you. How have you been?

“Fine. I’m fine, Willow.”

Fine. The universal word for ‘no comment, is anyone else there?’ Well, this sucks. But keep her on the line. I wanna listen to her voice a little while. Make small talk… But what do I say? Uh, nobody is home right now, Tara. Dawnie hasn’t come home yet and Buffy’s working. Oh, great, genius! That was brilliant! Remind her that neither of the two people she called to talk to are available—

“Um, actually I was calling for you… Is that alright?”

For me? Huh? What’s this? Huh?

“Willow?”

I-I’m sorry, Tara. Did you say you were calling for me? Maybe she forgot something. Like her sweater, maybe?

“I, um, just wanted to see how you were doing, Willow.”

Really? I’m fine, Tara. WTF? Fine? Didn’t you just say fine was the universal word for ‘no comment, go away please?’ Fix this, stupid! Tell her! I, uh, still have some bad times, but I-I think I’m getting better.

“Good. That’s really good, Willow. I’m happy to hear that—”

I miss you, Tara.

Silence.

Blew it. Too much, too soon. Why the frilly heck do I—?

“I’ve missed you too, Willow.”

You have?

“Um, I don’t know if you think it’s too soon, but, um, did you want to maybe go for coffee? I want to catch up with you, a little. That is, if you’re free? Before Buffy’s party Saturday? Maybe Thursday, third period, before your lab?”

Oh God. Is this happening? S-sure. The, uh, Espresso Pump okay?

“Y-Yeah. That’d be great.”

My chest hurts. I love you, Tara. I’m sorry, baby. Sorry I messed up. So sorry I hurt you. So sorry I… I violated you. It won’t happen again. It won’t ever happen again. I want you to come home. Will you please come home?

“Will? You still there?”

I’m still here! I’ll always be here, for you.

“Well, um, I guess I should let you go.”

NO!

“It was… really good hearing your voice, Willow. I’ll see you Thursday.”

Don’t hang up yet.

“Bye.”

Bye, Tara. But you’re already gone. My chest hurts. Ow. My heart’s racing. Why? Is this a—? Am I dying? Is this a heart attack? I can’t die yet. I have to live until Thursday. I have to see Tara. She wants to see me. She wants to talk and catch up. She called me. She wants to see me. I can listen to her voice again. I can look into her eyes. I can tell her how sorry I am. I can’t be… I can’t be…

It’s my heart. It’s only my heart, breaking and bursting again. How many times can it do that? But I did it this time. I was the cheater. I was the one who didn’t trust her. Who didn’t have faith…

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Feel… See… The fibers knitting back, stronger. It’s stronger. Whatever doesn’t kill you… It’s only getting stronger. I can be strong, Tara. I can be better. I’ll be better…

I’m seeing her Thursday! Yay! I’ll see her Thursday! Thursday, love. I’ll see you then. And you’ll see, too. I can be better. I will be better—for me, and maybe one day, for you.

***
END
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.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby DelWhicker » Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:14 pm

Oh, wow! How beautifully written. I'm dumbstruck right now...I can't even make put order to what's floating around in my head. I'm truly in awe. The range of Willow's emotions that you've so eloquently described, going from the ramblings in her mind to hopelessnes to the bitterness she feels about Tara's perceived abandonment, then ending it with Willow's hope for a better future with Tara. Wow. The way you described their first time as lovers was, IMO, very tender. I love the way you juxtaposed the beginning of their relationship with the promise of a second chance.

I loved every word of this series and I hope I've made some sense here. :D

I'm off to re-read the whole thing again!

Thank you for sharing.

~Del
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby Thianne » Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:25 pm

oh god, that was beautiful....i'm crying like a baby now....so touching....
you're great. you have real talent, you managed to convey willow's anguish, but more than that, their first time sounded so....real. it was so beautiful that made my heart ache in my chest. really, it's wonderful.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby WillowRulez » Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:27 pm

Waaaah, you made my eyes all misty!
“…Approximately one ounce of detergent per kilogram of laundry in ten litres of water…” What the—?

Haha, oh boy am I glad I am European ;) But hey, I know miles and even Fahrenheit too :x
Beautiful update! Poor Willow... next the coffee date? :pray
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"System? It's called the alphabet!"
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby db » Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:44 pm

Hi Binky!

I’d apologize for embarrassing you – but the credit is well deserved and, um, I am going to do it again so…

Thanks for all the exposition about the feedback... and no, you didn't scare me off. See. Here I am again. Leaving more feed back.

Um lots of it?

I originally wrote that I think I may have misled you about the whole talking a lot thing. All I can say is that I haven’t before. But now I have…

Your work, though - it just really needs to be encouraged. I am just so enthused about your writing and art! Please take it as a compliment. At least on the art front I have an inkling of whence I speak.

Speaking of art. On the likeness thing… I think what you are saying is that you are foregoing photo-realism. Which is good. Great even. It doesn’t really mesh with the comic genre. Not that I know diddly about comics – but I do know from art. Plus the whole wiggins factor. That is why I was speaking to the idea of capturing characteristics (and expressions as you so aptly put)… which you do without color. You know, all these stories where the red head does this and the blonde does that and the blue eyes and green eyes. You didn’t have that to fall back on, but you caught it anyway. A half smile here a furrowed brow there. Credit.

Oh. And you gave me pictures! Thank you so so much for the pictures! How cute! What with the just eyes and lips thing… it is so BtVS. I followed the link to your site today and muddled around to take a look at the legos and heads. Cool. Beans. What a creative mind you have. Plus you gave me the idea of having prototypes – yay! I am wiggling in my seat.

T/W psychology. Yeah. Tara’s weakness. She is so very good and empathetic. But it is also her weakness – isn’t that what kept her believing what her Dad said for all those years? …and what kept her silent about Willow’s over use of magic? I guess I always just assumed it – but the show never exposed it the way it did all the other character’s weaknesses (heck, even Jonathan got more). Hrmph. Getting steamed here thinking about it. I mean, Isn’t that at the core of what BtVS did? Show us how very good people are at the core – but at the same time exposing how no one is all good. Not one of us… we all make mistakes & have flaws - Tara included. So yeah. I got that from your comic. Thanks. Really.

Now. On to the story:

Firstly, I have to say that when I went to your site I read every single one of your stories (today). My eyes are tired! They are wonderful… You are a wonderful writer. I wish I had been around to provide feedback earlier. I would now – but this is getting too long, so I’ll stick to ENDGAME for now.

The thing that really sticks out for me is how realistic and true to the character’s feelings this is. I found myself tearing up for willow – ok I admit it. You made me cry... It's good... 'cause in season 6 it got hard to empathize with Willow. You wrote this really heart wrenching perspective that was true to what I see as Willow’s nature (huge heart, impulsive nature, deep fear of failure and willingness to put everything she has into solving a problem). I finally got how it was that she ended up where she ended up (with Tara)… and I was glad to see her range of emotion. Scared, hurt, angry, hopeful. realizing the enormity of what she had lost...

And the remembering of their first time. God. Binky. It was so beautiful (and sexy). All the uncertainty and turned on-ness and the fear … and did I mention sexy? Whoo. Anyway. The point is that you wrote by far and away the most believable first time scenario I have read.

Done yammering (for now).

db
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby DarkWiccan » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:53 pm

Wow.

Okay, I um....

Wow.

Where to begin?

Let's start with "Glamour" page 7. Shnikeys! I know you mentioned in a previous feedback that drawing the "bed" panel was easier than drawing the "happy Tara" panel because the figures on the bed had hidden faces... but seriously... I don't know about anyone else here.. but I sure could tell who was whom in that drawing. If I wasn't sharing this computer with two other people, I would seriously set that 6/7 page as my wallpaper.

Now, to the rest of "Glamour". Ok, you've proven it... not only are you a brilliant writer... you are an AMAZING artist. I'm jealous in that fabulous way that makes me wonder if you're single and in my neck of the woods.

But seriously now, your stories (all of them, not just the comic) should be bottled and sold as premium goods. They should be used as examples for creative writing classes, "This is what a masterfully-written story looks like, most of you can only hope to be this good."

I am very, very rarely moved to say such things. I can only think of one other writer on this board to whom I can (and have given) similar praise of this magnitude.

Don't stop doing what you're doing. It's amazing.

Cheers
DW
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby caz » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:57 pm

This was amazing - I really don't know what to say.

Okay, here goes. I really felt Willow's pain and it hurt so much that I wanted to cry. When a story does that to you - you know it's good!

Caz
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"I'm a bloodsucking fiend! Look at my outfit!" Willow - Doppelgangland
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby dorksrcool » Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:56 pm

:thud

Wow.

I really liked your perspective on Willow's character in this fic. I was late to the BTVS party and I only own Seasons 4-6 for obvious reasons. I know many long-time fans didn't like Season 6 for all of it's darkness and other things I'm not going to mention, but I honestly thought Willow's character development was remarkable. I've been watching Season 3 on FX in the morning before I go to work, and it's just so amazing to see how Willow's character started out. I know she was a selfish asshole at times in 6, but I really did feel sorry for her.

Go Willow, Wicca extraordinaire! Just come up with a spell. You’re the best at what you do! That thing you do. Whatever it is. You can do anything. As long as it saves money on professional dry cleaning… God, what hypocrites.


While watching 6 I was constantly angry with the Scooby Gang for being "hypocrites" when it came to Willow's magic use. They were all fine with it when she could help them out, but as soon as she started to get carried away with the dark stuff they abandoned her. And duh, Giles knew where dark magic could lead, and everyone saw what happened to her after the Buffy resurrection spell. It just really pissed me off and I'm glad you addressed that in Endgame.

Oh God I wanted to take you right there against the Whirlpool.


Damn. That is truly one of the sexiest lines I've ever read. I thank you profusely for the visual.

Liar.


So freakin' sad. While watching 6 I really thought that Willow hated herself. You could see it on screen. That's why I felt for her. That part where she says to Buffy, "If you could be Super-Willow or regular Willow, who would you be?" I get that. I can understand that and I've been there. You've really captured that self-hatred and shame in this chapter and as depressing as it is....I love it.

Leave then! Better I know now, than when I really need you, that I can’t rely on you. You’re just like the rest of them, always asking for everything, then leaving after you get it… Godammit. Leave me, then, you… you… Oh God.


Yes! Willow had every right to be angry with Tara. I hope they had a conversation about that. Willow certainly made many, many big mistakes, but Tara left her without really trying. Willow had a problem, she was sick. I know about the whole "tough love" thing, but I can't believe Tara would give up on Will so easily.

Moving on to the sex scene, I have to say
:drool

Wow. She’s got strength. I like. Very much.


Yes she does, and yes we all like "very much."

I tell her, I love you, Tara. I’ll tell her every day.


I thought this line was so damn sweet and romantic. I'd tell her everday too.

So yeah, I adore your writing. I think you have a truly amazing talent. I definitely like the dark edge to it all, and the way you don't sugar-coat everything about W/T. It makes them seem more real to me. I hope you'll be inspired again soon to write (or draw) some more. There's always the sex they were surely having before the fight in "Tough Love" ('cause Willow was sitting on the bed putting her boots back on and her earring back in) or the whatever was going on when Willow goes to see Tara at the end of "The I in Team." See a pattern here? I'm trying to get you to write more smut. Is it working? :pray

Lastly, I would like to say thanks for posting "Nails" because now I get regular manicures and hope someday I'll find someone like Tara to help me with that.

You rock binky! Thanks for sharing with us kittens.

:peace
amy
Last edited by dorksrcool on Mon May 01, 2006 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As one, they turn to the soda machine. It flies back into the door like a cannonball. Willow looks at it, at Tara. She doesn't let go of her hand.
(from the shooting script of "Hush")
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby spells42 » Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:26 pm

Binky
If Endgame is your finale for this series, it was a glorious finish. You gave us a wonderful insight into Willow's feelings and thoughts after Tara left her. The regret and longing for the broken relationship; her anger at her friends, herself, and even at Tara; along with the conflict and guilt of loving and needing Tara so badly while feeling angry with her, and being angry at herself all over again, for failing. Failing to master the magic and resist the temptations of its power. Failing to be and do everything she wanted to for Tara.

The honesty and rawness of her memories of their first time was very affecting (and extremely sexy). Your use of quoted dialogue for Tara with the (typically) lengthy and busy stream of thought for Willow made it seem as tho' we were in Willow's brain while she was remembering. This made it seem very personal, very intimate.

I'll be very sorry not to have more of these 'inter-canon' gems of yours, and hope you are planning to write more of something in this forum (you are, aren't you? pleeeeeeease.) As gems go, your stories are diamonds.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby badkitty » Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:42 am

Binky, that was absolutely gorgeous. Beautifully written, and so real. Thank you for sharing it with us!

bk
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby watty » Sun Apr 30, 2006 7:25 pm

can I still call you watson?

:lol of course. A couple of other people have also commented on my change of nick, which was done in a moment of ... I don't know why, I wanted a change. Though time will tell whether it's for the better. But call me anything you want, including "hey you!"

I hear what you say about not liking Willow. Yes, we're on a W/T board, but we're also people who are invested in our characters. It's a testimony to the show's producers, directors and AH that there are so many layers to this character. Willow is by no means perfect, but most of us wouldn't want a perfect Willow, for the simple reason that it'll be boring and unrealistic. She is extremely intelligent, yet there are places where she suffers from tunnel vision, or thinks she knows best. Which again is why we identify with her, and want her to recognize these flaws within herself so that she can have a happier life.

With this last chapter, you've brought us to the wretched place that she finds herself in, and the pain of self-recrimination that she is going through. It's almost like she wants to lose herself, to become manic, or to a dark, depressed place, to escape the hurt.

She has always been a master at laying the guilt, sometimes on others, but mostly on herself. It's her way of dealing with her own actions, especially if those actions didn't bring the desired results. The threeway thoughts / recollections are really messing with her head, the
“Willow… What are you doing?”

I’m having a talk with you.

“Um, baby, whatever you’re saying to me down there, I can’t hear from way up here.”

Well, actually I’m just listening in this conversation.

is disorientating, which I think is your intention. Thinking about their first time in Tara's dorm room is another way of not moving on, she needs to take that step outside of the Willow Guilt'n'Pity Palace to move on and try to get Tara back.

It is a fitting season finale. And the phone call at the end gives us hope. Looking forward to the next season.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby FineyMcFine » Mon May 01, 2006 9:29 pm

binky, you've outdone yourself. This is beautiful. And angsty, but I don't mean that with a negative connotation. It's poignant. You said in your fb replies that you were disliking Willow while writing this a bit and I have to say that I have ended up liking her a bit more, paradoxically, through reading this update. I think it's because in going through the journey of self-pity with her I sort of understood her a bit more.

First, the setting - she's back at home, somewhat disgraced, broken up with Tara...and doing everyone's laundry like the household druge doing penance for her bad behavior. Now, I'm all for expiating one's guilt but I don't think that having Willow do all the household laundry is a therapeutic situation - so I identified with her fed-up-ness about that and it gave me a handle to cling to when journeying with her on the stroll down self pity memory lane.

Second, the memory of her and Tara's first time. So sweet, with all of the things that she said that probably made her cringe as she said them (or maybe not, being Willow and being used to it), so heart-wrenching to be experiencing that with her while all the while knowing that she and Tara were broken up, and that sweet memory was nothing but a memory (not really, but for all she knows, it is).

It really isn't the first love that matters, it's the last. I'm on a vacation visiting family and my wife wasn't able to come with me so a lot of things about this update were really hitting home for me. I just feel darn lucky that she and I are together, and not apart like these two.

And the smut - the smut! I feel bad calling it smut, because it's beautiful and romantic and evocative. But it's also hot and graphic and smutty. Truly, you outdid yourself - I think that this chapter despite its bitter and sad overtones is my favorite of all of it - there's something about the writing that just comes alive, and is so three-dimensional. binky - great job. Just wow.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby daiailun » Tue May 02, 2006 12:45 am

My goodness, Endgame is a very sophisticated, skillfully controlled piece of writing. Willow’s internal monologues were brilliantly written streams of consciousness that, even though they seemed to ricochet about, were linearly cohesive in a way that is uniquely Willow. You wrote in a way that pulled me deeper into Willow’s mind and if I was reluctant to go any further, it wasn’t because your writing faltered, but because you made Willow so vulnerable that I almost felt I didn’t deserve, that I shouldn’t be privy , to see her at her rawest. You’re really very gifted at showing us what Willow and Tara only show themselves—and here I’m also thinking of the beautifully illustrated Tara with JBF hair in Glamour, a panel I think you yourself (?) said was almost too intimate to include, as it was a Tara that only Willow was privileged to see.

In Endgame, I also marvel at your ability, through Willow’s unique thought process, to seamlessly link the past and the present. We began with Willow’s internal thoughts about fabric softener and before you know it, we’re back in time at one of the most intimate moments in her life. The past and present were effortlessly linked by that it’s-a-little-busy-up-here chatter, that trademark omnipresent, endearing monologue. But the chatter is never superfluous or gratuitous, and in Endgame it had bite. Your piece made me realise—no, really understand—that while most little children had playmates and stuffed animals to keep them company, Willow Rosenberg had, and used, her mind.

I think this is a brilliant complimentary piece to Coming Home, in which we glimpse how Tara internally reflects: measured thoughts and perfectly ordered, logical, well constructed paragraphs. Two different approaches, one common conclusion: hope isn’t lost, maybe, just maybe, they can make this thing work.

All your writing and illustrations in this series are such wonderful creations. Thank you so much for sharing them.
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby Safuega » Tue May 02, 2006 10:44 pm

Hi Binky:

My deepest apologies for having been a bad reader and never having had the decency to show my face to tell you publicly that your stories are wonderful.

I have read all your stories but I really like "Coming Home" and "Endgame". "Endgame" runs the gamut of emotions and it's a treat to read. You made me laugh, you made me sad, and then you left me with lots of hope. You did all this in a very compact story and with an impressive economy of words. There are many little things that stood out in this story but I only have time to quote the one I found most beautiful and true:

It’s my heart. It’s only my heart, breaking and bursting again. How many times can it do that?


Thanks for sharing your writing and artistic talent with us. I really liked your drawing of their hands. Enjoy your newfound freedom.

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In misery there can be beauty
In death there can be life -El laberinto del fauno-
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Re: S6 etudes - Where the Heart Is, ENDGAME - updtd April 28

Postby binky » Thu May 04, 2006 1:25 am

Okay, before I’m completely cowed by the volume of responses I have to do, because, you know, I like to talk (ssh, don't tell anyone), and it usually takes me a while to get everything out. I know I was grousing earlier about needing the PING!s but to be honest, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at the response to this story. I won’t pull a Sally Field on you, because, really, no one should. Ever. But… shoot. [sniffle]

DelWhicker – Re the first time and the second chance – I’d said in the past that I didn’t think there was any point in writing their first time since in my mind it only happened one way. I was wrong. This worked out really well. Thank you, you’re very kind. And you made perfect sense to me.

Thianne – I’m happy it affected you so powerfully. I normally try to hold back on the language a bit, I’m not one for sentimentality, but I wasn’t so self-conscious with this one. It seemed to have the desired effect. Thanks.

WillowRulez – I’m glad you enjoyed it. There’s a little bit of one of the coffee dates (I always thought they had two, but I might be wrong about that) in the last chapter of the series, called Coming Home. It’s set from Tara’s point of view and is meant to wrap up everything. Check it out, if you have a spare moment.

db – ah, you’re spoiling me. But I’m glad I wrote something that brought out your talkative side. I quite agree with your summarizations of both characters. I was nodding my head as I read your post. That pretty much jibes with how I think of each. This:
Scared, hurt, angry, hopeful. realizing the enormity of what she had lost...
could be the blurb of this chapter.

the most believable first time scenario I have read

I'm kind of curious about that, actually. The timing after NMR, the how it happened, if in fact Tara was a virgin, all stuff people like to debate about. I'm glad you found it credible. I know my details would strike some as kind of conservative, but this is how it made the most sense to me.

You seem to have many interesting points to share, db. I hope you keep doing so with the other fabulous stories on the board. There are so many talented writers on this board, and feedback is like water on Arrakis to a writer (sorry for the geek reference there).

Hm. And that’s three in a row who I’ve made verklempt with Endgame. I hope everyone had their hankies ready.

DarkWiccan – Hi!

I'm jealous in that fabulous way that makes me wonder if you're single and in my neck of the woods.

[deep voice] Well, hey there.

But seriously now

[pout] You weren’t serious before?

I am very, very rarely moved to say such things. I can only think of one other writer on this board to whom I can (and have given) similar praise of this magnitude.

Okay, before I go into stalker mode on you, thanks. I’m trying to not let all this praise go to my head, but you're being so generous with it, I'm a bit dizzy. Thanks very much

Caz – I’m making everyone cry. This hasn’t happened before where it was a good thing. Thank you.

Amy – Hi, bud!

What can one say about season six?

The season was just as tough on the fans as it was on the characters. You’re right, it definitely stirred things up and complicated everything—the characters, but also one’s fandom. In the past when Buffy was on constant loop on my DVD player, some cycles I’d skip 6 & 7 altogether. Still, they comprise 30% of the official story so it’s hard to ignore, and part of that OCD thing I mentioned I have is to acknowledge all the unpleasantness. I knew when I started doing these I’d have to deal with my season six issues. It was pretty easy the first set, I stayed away from the badness. The ones I did were both from Tara’s POV. When I started up again in January, I knew I’d have to deal with Willow. That’s why the last two I wrote are mostly from her POV. Breathe would’ve been another light-hearted chapter balancing between the two of them, if I’d gone through with it.

The funny thing is, the month and a half this chapter was sitting on my hard drive while I worked on the comic, I really have grown fond of it as a writer, plus Coming Home is still my favorite chapter, so the season I disliked the most as a fan is the one that I feel I made the most of as a writer. Maybe it was the whole “leaving it on the field” thing about wrapping up the project, but I didn’t feel self-conscious about the sentimental stuff the way I did in something like Cups.

I often felt sorry for all the good guys in season six, with the sole exception of Spike. Everyone got to play the asshole. The one exception to me was Tara, and you know, no good deed... The overall feel of the season seemed to be tear these characters, who had really been built up through 5 seasons to be heroic and admirable, down to their lowest and see who or what survives into the next season. I don’t think anyone really did. By season 7, they all seemed like imitations of the characters they’d been before Bargaining. It felt like a completely different show. A show I’d still watch, just not the same one I adored and thought on so many occasions was pure genius. It became a mediocre sci-fi action show, like Voyager. But it certainly shook up things.

Strictly as a fan whose favorite characters are WT, I personally would’ve been happy if the show ended with a bang—i.e., The Gift. Then again, I’m sure there are plenty of viewers who thought 6 and 7 were the best seasons because of all the angst and the darkness. But for me, Tara was the only character I consistently liked that season, and she was missing from half the shows. I do think Willow’s offense was pretty awful, so I don’t take issue with Tara leaving. The writing of the whole magic-addition-withdrawal was pretty lame, and Tara looks pretty silly at times, like telling Willow to stop using magic (Huh? Aren’t you two witches? Isn’t that how you met? Wasn’t that how you had pseudo-intimacy before you hooked up?). But, it is a serious thing, even if it wasn’t handled well on the show. Taking away someone’s autonomy is serious, especially if you’re having sex with them. I just find that disturbing. [puts on critic’s hat] It’s another reason why the lack of on-screen resolution on that before the makeup in Entropy is so bad from an artistic point of view. They made it sound like Willow’s offense was she abused magic. Not that she abused Tara. Wrong message, IMO.

And now, about sex. LOL. I like to think you’re spot on and they had a very healthy sex life. An UberSmut kind of sex life, in fact. Darn network decency standards. Always cutting in too late or too early.

Anne – Thank you very much.

The regret and longing for the broken relationship; her anger at her friends, herself, and even at Tara; along with the conflict and guilt of loving and needing Tara so badly while feeling angry with her, and being angry at herself all over again, for failing. Failing to master the magic and resist the temptations of its power. Failing to be and do everything she wanted to for Tara.

Wow. This pretty much sums up very eloquently what I was trying to do. Really gratifying. Thanks.

I feel really good about leaving the project like this. I still have some residual anxiety that I didn’t do 5 scenes for season 6 but maybe I’ll work on it occasionally as my Holy Grail—Breathe, the lost chapter, but never with the intention of actually finishing it. But I’m feeling good, thanks.

As for what’s next, I’m going to catch up some more on reading right now. I’ll probably redo the comic by properly inking and coloring it and adapting it to the web this month, then think about the next fiction project as something to keep me busy for the summer. Actually, I’ve already started mapping a longer uber story that’s WT-centric. I’m going to try to take my own advice and not post anything until it’s half-written, though. It looks like the story pitch/intro chapter will be workable as a standalone short, so maybe I’ll post it just to see if there’s any interest in the whole kit-n-caboodle. Unfortunately it doesn’t start as a W/T fiction in the pitch/intro, so I might have to start it on a different venue until I have enough of the main body to start posting on Pens. I have to check the Pens FAQ more closely.

Anyway, thanks much, Anne. I’ve really enjoyed your feedback. I hope there’ll be opportunity for me to read it again in the context of something else I wrote. in the future (something weird going on with the verb tenses in that?).

badkitty – Well, thank you for reading! Love the nick, BTW.

watty – hey, you.

Re. Willow – I have to say, I hadn’t really thought about not liking or liking Willow as an individual character because in my mind, soon after they introduced Tara as Willow’s love interest, the most striking thing about their pairing is that they really seemed to be made for each other, so the challenges they were made to face were very different than the ones an individual character like Buffy or Faith would face. It was a very unique dynamic. And it looked so naturally done. That’s probably due to good on-screen chemistry between the actresses—a credit to them—but it meant the separation to advance Willow as an individual character seemed artificial and clumsy. And it was. I think that’s where my ambivalence is coming from. I guess tearing her down had the desired effect the show’s writers were looking for, giving her character more depth. I’m just not sure it was their intention to make her less appealing as a character after, ‘cause season 7 wishy-washy Willow—a dime a dozen character in my mind. Then it seemed the show’s creators panicked and threw her into another relationship, and it just didn’t work. But I shouldn’t say any more about that here.

Anyway, it makes me curious as to how other people look at the two as separate characters. I’m reading more fics that are pretty different from canon—where Tara is aggressive (WTTV Loveboat Tara - rrrowr, more, please), or they start out on different ends from each other and have to work at hooking up. Looking at it from the other end of the Uber-AU-canon spectrum, I have to say Tara’s character has more appeal in my mind.

Looking forward to the next season.

You’re kidding, right?

Hi, Sally.

LOL. Actually, I didn’t mean to make it sound like Buffy had her chained to the Whirlpool to wash everyone else’s socks and underwear as punishment. Wait, wait… Okay, it passed. Interesting visual there, for a second. Anyway, I have four siblings separated by about 7 years, and growing up in a middle-class home, doing laundry for the entire household is second nature to me. But Willow was an only child, so maybe she did take it as an insult on top of injury. It would’ve been in keeping with the context. But to be honest, my only reason behind that was, Buffy’s at the Doublemeat, Dawn’s in school, Willow’s home alone, she can do the laundry. She’ll come across an article of Tara’s clothing Tara left behind, and away we go!

Re. “the conversation” – Yeah, I kinda cringed myself at some of Willow’s lines, but I think Tara’s balanced them out as only Tara could, or else either or both of them would’ve died of mortification. They both had to put themselves on the line.

I’ve said it before, I find sexy bits very hard to do. Funny thing is, not in this one. The really hard parts to write were the stuff leading up to and immediately after the sex—i.e., Willow being in a very dark place emotionally. The stop-starting. The ugly thoughts. But the sexy stuff, it was part of the story so much that it was kind of natural writing it. Plus, I had thought up how that night happened well in advance of writing it—actually, I think because of something you said in your feedback to the “other” last chapter last August—about writing their “firsts.” So I already had a general idea about how it unfolded so that it had become part of my take on the canon story as a whole (for example, that it was at the end of NMR, that Tara was a virgin and Willow had to lead, etc.). I just had to work out the details for the execution of this chapter.

Smutty sweet stuff – I get what you mean. The lustiness was just as important as the sweetness. For some reason or another I can imagine Willow being quite at home with the occasional four letter word. Maybe it came from the Vamp Willow episodes. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to titillate or anything. But it was really important to make the physical desire and gratification as evident and raw as possible because desire was, in my mind at least, very much wrapped up in how naturally and quickly they bonded as a couple. So if people find the scene sexy as well as sweet, that’s really nice. It’s very gratifying.

daiailun – Hi. One of the more difficult things for me in writing this chapter technically was precisely the Willow POV, juggling her memories with the present as well as the random out-of-left-field thoughts that are a signature of her character, so your comments are extremely heartening. Thank you.

As I recall, this one more than any of the others I wrote as fragments that I literally patched together. I mean, I’d write a couple of paragraphs, write a one-line summary in a different font color, then go back a few days later and flesh out the place-holder sentence. I’m normally pretty linear, so it was something different for me as well. Then at the very end, I ordered and pared down and tightened and redid the looser, more tangential stuff with the help from my betas, Trom and Amy. So it didn’t start out very tightly structured at all. It has that effect now, as you pointed out, and I’m pretty happy with the final version.

The other difficulty was of course the content. It being the lowest point of Willow’s character to that point in their story arc, it was admittedly a bit depressing to write ‘cause I really do like her character. I got hooked on this show almost from the very first episode because of Willow, and watty’s right. There is an emotional investment and an irrational urge to re-write their story to a Happily-Ever-After. Or at least get to the reunion as quickly as possible, even without preamble or context as the show seemed to do. That was more or less my thematic goal—I wanted the reunion to make more sense, show that they weren’t “just skipping” all the important stuff as Tara’s speech in Entropy implied. Willow messed up. Badly. This chapter was meant as a meditation of sorts, an expiation of the guilt and self-pity. She had to realize just how bad she screwed stuff up in order to get back to rebuilding herself to the point she could start moving again, in whatever direction. So depressing, yeah.

I get what you mean about the intimacy, and maybe that’s why so much of their story took place off-camera. Television isn’t the best media for something this private. But with fiction, anything is possible. I’m convinced we’ll never do away with literature because of this, no matter how visual we become as a culture.

Safuega – Thank you very much. It will be different not working under the strictures of a tightly ordered project like this, but hopefully will still be productive. I’ve become addicted to all the lovely feedback. This is a natural segue into…

Final tally: 60,000 words! Yee-hah! Okay, so it’s not epic Sidestep proportions we’re talking about here, but… Yee-hah!

Thanks again to everyone who read the stories in this series, and in particular those who left feedback. It’s often mentioned but I don’t think it really sinks in and I’m as guilty as anyone about letting RL get in the way of taking a moment or two to do it, but fanfic writers don’t get any external reward for their efforts other than reader feedback. Yeah, there’s personal gain in becoming a better writer, but no one writes in a vacuum. These aren’t diaries that just happened to get posted to the Internet. So again, much thanks for the feedback.

A great big thank you to Trom and Amy for betaing for me the last few months. If you’re a writer, especially one just starting out and you don’t have a beta, I’d definitely recommend you get one.

I hope to be contributing here as a writer again in the future, and of course, I’ll still be lurking and de-cloaking to FB as a reader, cause that's important too. So see you around.

binky
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.
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Re: etudes

Postby bytrsuite » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:34 pm

New to the archive. You can leave feedback! :)
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