NEW FIC -- TEMPUS FUGIT (S7)

[tommo]

Although, DMW, if you think about it, Willow's fatal flaw (and I think this is true of most of her actions) is that she wants to "fix" things, and she always tries to find an answer to a problem. Now, whether her problem is physical, or theoretical, or emotional, she's always wanting to find the most direct route from A to B. I think, in some ways, that her intention to dig her heels in probably seemed irrational, but, to her, it was most likely the simplest and easiest way of remaining with her "heart".



Not that I'm daming Willow or anything, because that's one of the complexities of her character that I really love. But I think that what fit so well in this story was that Willow took what she saw as the logical answer, by wanting to stay with Tara. Incidentally, that part just choked me up, when Buffy realises that the only way Willow can do that is to essentially die. And that, again, gets right to the heart of how Willow feels about Tara. I wouldn't be surprised if she would have quite willingly offered to switch places with Tara at the window, and take that bullet.

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of course, I'm saying this like I thought this out beforehand when really it was a complete accident.

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Ah, you see, you shouldn't have admitted to that! Heh. I do know what you mean, though. You'll write something and then realise that it leads to someplace that is entirely different from the one you originally thought it would be. But the place you're in is better. I like happy accidents like that. Perhaps that's because I'm such a crap planner, heh heh.

"To make you a vampire they have to suck your cheese. And then you have to suck their cheese. It's like a whole big cheese thing." ~ Welcome To The Cheesemouth

[JewWitch18]

ay karamba, kids! I'm away from the board for, like, less than a week...busy little beaver that I am, packing up my life in my pretty little orange station wagon in preparation for cross-country relocating fun...and KABLOOIE! there's just no way in heck (or any demon dimension) and I can even begin to throw my two cents into any of what's been said, and anyway it seems like it got pretty OT. so, instead, I'll just reiterate that Tempus Fugit(S7) is my very favorite story ever on the pens board, and raises the bar for all of us. one of the things I love most about it, besides the general brilliance of the prose and the incredible crafting of the denoument (did I spell that right?), is the life breathed into the characters I love. this is the essence of what draws me to fanfic, and I feel lucky as hell to be alive in a time when technology allows us to share this kind of stuff through informal, uncontrolled channels (well, at least, unauthorized, cuz I guess the mods do a pretty good job of keeping this ship running smooth-like...) anyway, my point is, I have been doing this all my life with characters I love, who just won't leave me alone. as a kid I used to lie awake at night imagining the characters from books I'd read in situations I'd create for them...always pushing to see what they'd do, how they'd react, trying to know them better. obviously there is no "right answer" here, there is only what resonates. I know I said this before in this thread: that what I loved about the ending of TF was that I completely believed in the new reality that buffy and willow created; because even though the circumstances had changed, the essence of who these characters are hadn't. that meant a lot to be, for a lot of reasons; one is that I could never really buy buffy and faith ever getting past the events of S3/S4 at all, period. and I desperately wanted them to have a second chance despite this, a chance to go back and take those tiny steps toward trust, instead of away from it, in the beginning when it mattered so much. for willow, I think whoever said it (ruth?) was right that willow's biggest problem has always been her desire to "fix" things rather than just let them be (and hey, welcome to western civilization, right?) this is a tendency she'll probably keep all her life, and there are so many, so many different ways for her to grapple with this, grow and learn from it, and so many different ways for her friends to help her let go of this...like, if giles has sat willow down back in S2 or even S3 and had a serious conversation about what he'd been through with magic use in his youth, what he had learned about power and responsibility (as in your "witchy watchers" development, xomel), then things might have gone very differently.



so, now we have that chance to see a lot of those what if's. and, to me, this is way more exciting than regular uberfic, because it's not a completely clean slate. it's still the same people confronted with the same choices...and some of those choices get to be different. that's why Tempus Fugit rocks my teenage party world.



...thus endeth the pep rally from your resident riot grrrrl cheerleader...



ps-- I seriously cannot wait for The Witches, The Switch and the Slayers. I am completely addicted to the lipkandyverse!

BUFFY: Is this where I'm supposed to be quivering in my stylish yet affordable boots?

--Lisa Countryman, "Unexpected Consequences"

[TexanZeppo256]

Quote: tommo

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And that, again, gets right to the heart of how Willow feels about Tara. I wouldn't be surprised if she would have quite willingly offered to switch places with Tara at the window, and take that bullet.

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And vica versa. I know its only fannon, but do you remember The Dark Rose? Willow wished to Anyanka that Tara wasn't shot, and she wound up dying instead. Tara found out about the wish and smashed Ahn's amulet so that Willow could live again, knowingly taking the bullet in her stead.



Kinda reminds me of a fic called Impetus Viscus: First fanfic I ever read. I sobbed for half an hour when I read that story. [sniff]

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T: Ego tam aberraveram...

W: Te repperi. Semper te reperiam.



(Translated from "The Gift")

Edited by: TexanZeppo256 at: 6/10/03 1:34 pm

[lipkandy]

wow, all the lovely feedback



darkmagicwillow

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I didn't want to read the next chapter only to see them torn apart again, but then they weren't because Willow did dig in her heels and refused to go with the Heart, staying with her heart instead.

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wow, you make me sound like I actually know what I'm doing with this whole writing thing but seriously, that's exactly how I felt. it would have been WAY too traumatic (for all of us!!) to have Tara ripped away from Willow again and again.

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I know what you mean about accidents--I didn't really understand the Heart in my own story until almost the end.

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and the Heart ended up bringing them together (in totally differnt ways) in both our fics...hmmm, same brain? heh.



and your Ockham's Razor musings are twisting my head around in the best ways. is it in Japan that they build crooked paths in gardens because evil can only follow a straight line? I always think about that when I think about matters of the heart, because you can't force it. you can't make it follow that straight path.



tommo yes, I too love problem-solving, activity girl Willow. and I think that's why I love writing her so much, because she creates her own obstacles and story twists with her overactive brain. because, let's face it, with magic (love and the heart), logic just doesn't work a lot of the time. besides, overthink-y Willow is just too cute

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Incidentally, that part just choked me up, when Buffy realises that the only way Willow can do that is to essentially die.

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I always felt like that was really Buffy's second chance -- to reach a deeper understanding of her best friend (and understanding her relationship with Tara was critical to that) and regain what they had lost.

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Ah, you see, you shouldn't have admitted to that! Heh

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yes, I've been informed that my posts will now be beta-ed.

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I like happy accidents like that. Perhaps that's because I'm such a crap planner

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heh. I think that's where the magic happens... or maybe it's just that my inclination is to over-plan and it's only when I lighten the hell up a little that the good stuff happens. so a big yay for crap planning.



jewwitch I swear you have a little book where you keep track of how many times you can make me blush. heh. and I do every time btw. I am so large with the dork. so first off with the thank you's and onto the, I know exactly what you mean about the lying awake at night putting these characters in different situations and that's so great about places like the Pens (and the whole online revolution). you can write this stuff out and people actually want to read it. it's amazing!!

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obviously there is no "right answer" here, there is only what resonates.

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and I think this is so true on so many levels. the show and these two characters 'resonated' with so many people and that really sets the tone for this board overall. and then you have so many different characterizations of Tara and Willow on Pens, some of them work for me, some of them don't. bu the thing I really love is that they all work for someone. I love that on Pens, there's a reader for every writer.

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so, now we have that chance to see a lot of those what if's. and, to me, this is way more exciting than regular uberfic, because it's not a completely clean slate. it's still the same people confronted with the same choices...and some of those choices get to be different.

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see, this scares the crap out of me (in a good way -- is that possible?). I love it, I thank you, and I'm totally freaked about the next episode. heh. but I think I can pull through as long as I have my rebel grrrrrrrrrrl cheerleader. I know I've said it before, but your questions and comments really helped shape this thing. all the Kittens who posted did.



texanzeppo exactly!! The Dark Rose was the first thing I thought of when I read tommo's remarks. that was beautifully done and really illustrated the problem with trying the direct approach, the logical approach to tackling incredibly complicated issues like Tara's death. so kudos to darkmagicwillow again.



um, did I mention how much the Kittens rock? thank you all again.

xomel

[darkmagicwillow]

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and your Ockham's Razor musings are twisting my head around in the best ways. is it in Japan that they build crooked paths in gardens because evil can only follow a straight line? I always think about that when I think about matters of the heart, because you can't force it. you can't make it follow that straight path.

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I've read about that practice and it sounds Japanese. As a wider idea that attempting to follow straight lines causes problems in your life, this fits in with what Ruth says about Willow's fatal flaw of wanting to follow the straight, direct, and simple path to what she wants. In your story, we see this when she tries to stay with Tara no matter what the consequences. Tara gets her to follow a crooked, tangly path that's more complex, with its own good and bad parts, but which leads them to where they need to be. And as you pointed out, you can see this in The Dark Rose as well.



This is the second discussion I've entered about labyrinths and paths on Pens in the last week, which must be some karmic consequence of being in the process of writing a short story about such ideas. It's strange how life, or at least the human mind's amazing ability to find patterns, gives you portents like that unexpectedly.

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wow, you make me sound like I actually know what I'm doing with this whole writing thing

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Well, we know you're brilliant even if you don't believe us. And I know just how you feel being freaked out about writing your next story, so it's not just you that has these worries.



Btw, I've written a fair bit about characterization on the W/T: fandom vs. canon thread recently, which you might find interesting regarding your comments on that topic.

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

[xita]

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blonk, blink, blong

[Mierke]

This fic was absolutely amazing! It's a good thing I don't have internet in my dorm, otherwise I would have been all night up to read this thing (isn't a good thing when you have to make exams...)!

I've read your S4 first, and I liked that one, so I switched over to this one. Since I'm a person who loves to read a little angst, I prefered this one. I was confused at times, but you made everything believable and tangible. I loved how you showed how difficult it was for Willow to let go of her magic - and the Buffy who does care about her friends, and prevented Tara from being shot instead of using her second chance for keeping her own mother safe.

Thank you for this story!

[JustSkipIt]

I reread this story at least once a month. I just reread it this week and again rediscovered how much I love it and why. It is so tender and passionate and everyone gets to be a star. I love Willow's thoughts regarding Tara when she's back in s4 (especially when Tara first show up at her room). Then the entire ending (epilogue?) is just so perfectly written. I love, love, love it.

[Azirahael]

Yup, this is one of the best.

I liked it, not just because it was well executed, but because of it's interlinked-ness and the way i made me think about HOW it happened.

Also I'm a sucker for a bit of Fuffy on the side. It always struck me as obvious what the problem was with all her relationships (besides being incredibly self absorbed) was that they were all guys.
And someone nice for Dawn, with a similar wonky name.

It's nice to see a well thought out story that wraps up all the loose ends without looking forced.

Definitely one of my favourites.

Thankyou.

also, if i guess this right: no more Blessed Wannabe!

[Rauko]

Wow...afther read TFS4 i believe i had read a lovely and amazing story...then i read this one...and wham...blows my mind...the exellent portrayal of the characters, the complex also fluid plot, the final Epic Battle (Tolkien fan here...i love well writen battles, and even here in this wonderful board filled with amazing stories, the epic battles are unusual...)...so, i wont ramble much 'cause even the feedback in this specific thread is awesome and insightful and im not...also im kinda late to that xD...i love your story (is now in my personal top 5 W/T FF), thanks so much for the awesome tale, best wishes and good luck.