new fic: loving days (belong together), chapter 7 of 15
Chapter eight should also be up tonight, but it got too long to post them together, so...
Title: Loving Days (Belong Together) (chapter 7 of 15) (chapters 4-6 here) (chapters 1-3 here)
Rating: NC-17; see warnings
Word Count: 4,075 for this part
Warnings: fairly explicit sex; probable dubcon (James does say yes, but things’re far more painful and ( Read more... )
Comments 37
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I'd got a bit bored with the other one, and so spent part of today, after I got home, looking around for something with more personality. I normally like more blue/grey color palettes, but...this just felt fun!
Chapter eight up, now, too. Really only split up for length reasons. Ah, LJ.
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I loved their fight here, and how they either skirted the real issues, or if one of them did actually say something relevant and important, it was misinterpreted by the other. I really thought Michael was going to leave with a rift between them, so it was particularly bittersweet when he stayed. "Never go to bed angry" and all that, but nothing got solved.
I was curious if you'd incorporate that interview and if so, how, because this is a quite a dark fic up until the last few chapters, and the interview feels so lighthearted. But I think you did a good job of reconciling the fictional characters with the interview, and explaining James's thought process for joking about something that hurts him.
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Chapter eight up now, too! :-)
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At some point I need to pack for my trip to Argentina tomorrow. Some point after chapter eight.
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...Argentina! For how long? Just for fun, or working trip?
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The ass-kicking commences in chapter eight. Both from others, and from self. And James WILL start acting on his own behalf.
I think (says the authoress) he lets Michael stay because he is trying--and Michael's trying, too, awkwardly and uncertainly, to fumble toward working things out. Nothing will get resolved if Michael leaves. And James DOES want him. So there is that: he's not only giving in to the pressure, he's deciding for himself.
It'll get better, from here! This is only halfway! (But you see why I was worried about tackling this theme...)
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Ass-kicking is good.
I, too, have done the "I think" with my own stories because sometimes they just do things and I'm like "um, okay..." and kept writing.
I guess at the time of reading I felt like despite them both trying, they maybe shouldn't have been because it felt almost like making a bad situation worse.
Totally understand, since I did eventually have to let DSV go because the topic/theme/subject matter was one that was a bit tricky to tackle, especially if not handled properly.
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sometimes they just do things and I'm like "um, okay..." and kept writing. ...oh, yes. Sometimes scenes just turn up, and you think, 'huh,' and then write them anyway and assume your brain has a reason. Or I do, at least! I trust my brain, most of the time.
I felt like despite them both trying, they maybe shouldn't have been because it felt almost like making a bad situation worse. They probably should've talked MORE, in fact. Michael's little 'never mind,' moment...he should've just asked what James DOES want. But he's also realizing that James totally manipulated him, then, that James knew what would happen. And he's angry--but partly because he knows that he's been equally as cruel to James all along, and so he can't really say anything ( ... )
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But seriously, this fic gets better and better and it's soooo goood, I need more! MORE! *runs off to read chapter 8*
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...better and better? Aww. You flatter me. *blushes*
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And then I may have punched the air at this:
After understanding for a while, he gets angry about it anyway.
...because it's about damn time! Totally agreeing with starlady38 in wanting them to have an argument (a real knockdown, drag out one, too!)
He thinks about trying to touch himself, trying to reach for that moment of ecstasy again, but he doubts that it’d be enough, as the rest of him is busy being overwhelmed by renewed tearing and stretching and pain.
And then I think I actually felt despair at this point because it seems like it's all gone backwards a bit. I know James doesn't want to hurt Michael, and wants to give him what he need, because he loves him, but none of that is worth this (even if James thinks it is).
Chapter Eight is going to be a doozy, I can tell! *hurries off to read it*
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It IS about damn time that James gets angry on his own behalf. I tend to think of this chapter as the 'they both know something's wrong but don't know how to fix it' scene. Michael's trying, or more than he has in the past, to make sure James is all right; James is trying to be what Michael needs, and not scare him away. They both kind of make bad choices, though. But they're in the right mentality to listen to the interventions, in the next chapter.
This one was hard to write, though; I had chapter eight done first. Because this one had to straddle the 'not-right but some baby steps in that direction but they can't quite work things out just yet, and also there is reunion sex' lines, and that's complicated. :-/
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That was actually really lovely, and came across really well :) Because you have to admit, there are times in this fic where, no matter how much they (internally) say that they love the other, need the other, want to make the other happy, as I reader I sort of have to wonder if a) they really mean it, and b) why? (especially in James' case, considering how he's being treated). So it's nice to see what elements of their relationship might have actually prompted all the love, want and need!
This one was hard to write, though; I had chapter eight done first. Because this one had to straddle the 'not-right but some baby steps in that direction but they can't quite work things out just yet, and also there is reunion sex' lines, and that's complicated. :-/It did work very well, don't worry! One conversation/fight was never going to sort out ( ... )
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Yep--that's exactly what I was trying to rectify! We got it a little, I think, at the VERY beginning of everything (Michael noticing when James is cold, and giving up his own coat), but we needed the reminder, here.
There was just that one point there where it felt a little like they'd taken one step forward, and then two massive steps backwards (which I suppose is the way these things progress a lot of the time!)Yes...maybe I should've gone with my original instinct and ended it with James telling him he could stay, and cutting the next morning scene...but I did want Michael offering coffee, as a kind of tentative gesture. And maybe, as you say, it's more realistic if it's not a straightforward uncomplicated progression towards better? *sigh ( ... )
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