OH MY GOD! This is too beautiful. Oh my God. I am actually crying! This is such perfection! It is I who am not worthy of this fic! Thank you so, so much for this! This is everything I want in a J/K fic and so much more, really. Your Jack is seriously amazing--so in-character and so perfect in the way he is split between the cerebral Jack and the pathetic one, the Jack who is cognizant of the fact that this is not a healthy relationship for either of them, at least not anymore, that it doesn't make sense, and the Jack who is deeply in love and can't really care about much else. It's the core of their relationship, at least from his perspective, and the way you capture it is AMAZING.
He asked her if she had ever sewn anything before. She told him a story about curtains. Sometimes he wonders if this was a lie. He’ll never bother to ask.
GUHHHH. And this is where the waterworks started, lol. I know that you don't actively ship them, and maybe that's part of why this is so brilliant--you see them so clearly and you have such a knack for encapsulating these profound truths about who they are as people in lovely lines like this one.
That’s never been a story he liked to tell. It was too vivid, too raw; it tore at him every time he told it. But she was scared and so was he and he was already bleeding so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to open one more wound.
This is such fantastic piece of insight into the way Jack's mind works--and so beautifully done. I love that you point out that this is a strange story for him to be telling--but that in some crazy way Jack's method of fighting pain is with more pain. In some fundamental way he almost needs it. And the callback in the same section to the walkie scene is so gorgeously done. Ahhhhh.
And the section about the appendectomy scar? GOD! Killed me dead! Too beautiful for words! The last line especially.
He’ll always love her. He always has. It doesn’t make any sense. She’s hurt him, she’s left him, she’s broken him and he’s given as good as he’s got. Maybe more. But she fixed him once upon time when it was just the two of them, bloody and bruised, kneeling in the hot sand on an island a thousand miles from anywhere.
Oh, great, now I'm crying again. ;) This is just . . . gah. I want it to be just the two of them again. It's the only way they'll be able to fix what he's destroyed. Such a gorgeous metaphor, such a gorgeous passage. I adore how you sketch their relationship so honestly, not hiding from the frightening parts, and yet this is such a sympathetic piece. This is what I wish every J/K fic was.
And then--The first time Jack saw Kate he was standing in an airport. Eeeee. I thought it was impossible, but you sold me on the memory-less reset, hook, line and sinker!
she’s just a girl. Just a beautiful girl, with a sad face and he can’t imagine that she could have done anything so wrong that it would require her to be led out of LAX with three armed guards.
And this is the fundamental problem with the way Jack sees Kate even now, you know? The lens is so skewed, how they look at each other. Kate is (rightfully) mad at Jack now, but I think she still believes that he has it in him to be the good guy, and he still thinks of her as a beautiful girl as opposed to a murderer. This is so, so fantastic.
And the last line . . . God. Perfect. I really am stunned by the way you cut so beautifully to the core of this situation and this ship, my sad, messed-up ship. Thank you so much, again. Best present ever! :D :D
I am so glad you liked it! And your feedback is amazing, it seriously made my morning. It was strange writing this pairing; it kind of forced me to think about them in a deeper way than I'm used to and I have to admit it was a fun challenge. I might have to revisit them again at some point.
Seriously though, you write this pairing so beautifully and poignantly that I'm honored that you liked this. I was torn between writing you J/J and J/K and finally I decided to stop being a wimp and go for the J/K. ;)
I've always thought that Jack looks at Kate and sees who she could be whereas Sawyer looks at Kate and sees who she is. But I don't think that's necessarily a good thing, I think in some ways Jack's idealization of her pushes her to be better,and I think in her heart she wants to be the good girl that he believes she is. Whereas with Sawyer they see the very worst parts of each other and not much else (which is why I think S/J works so well---she never saw him as "Sawyer" he was always James to her).
I think the problem with their relationship is they both need to find some middle ground. Jack needs to realize she's not this perfect, innocent girl that he wants to believe she is, while she needs to understand that Jack has his own issues, he's not perfect either. And I don't know how I ended telling you all of my detailed thoughts on the quadrangle but here we are. ;)
Anyway, I'm so glad you liked your birthday present! And thank you again for leaving such lovely feedback. It means a lot to me.
OH MY GOD! This is too beautiful. Oh my God. I am actually crying! This is such perfection! It is I who am not worthy of this fic! Thank you so, so much for this! This is everything I want in a J/K fic and so much more, really. Your Jack is seriously amazing--so in-character and so perfect in the way he is split between the cerebral Jack and the pathetic one, the Jack who is cognizant of the fact that this is not a healthy relationship for either of them, at least not anymore, that it doesn't make sense, and the Jack who is deeply in love and can't really care about much else. It's the core of their relationship, at least from his perspective, and the way you capture it is AMAZING.
He asked her if she had ever sewn anything before. She told him a story about curtains. Sometimes he wonders if this was a lie. He’ll never bother to ask.
GUHHHH. And this is where the waterworks started, lol. I know that you don't actively ship them, and maybe that's part of why this is so brilliant--you see them so clearly and you have such a knack for encapsulating these profound truths about who they are as people in lovely lines like this one.
That’s never been a story he liked to tell. It was too vivid, too raw; it tore at him every time he told it. But she was scared and so was he and he was already bleeding so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to open one more wound.
This is such fantastic piece of insight into the way Jack's mind works--and so beautifully done. I love that you point out that this is a strange story for him to be telling--but that in some crazy way Jack's method of fighting pain is with more pain. In some fundamental way he almost needs it. And the callback in the same section to the walkie scene is so gorgeously done. Ahhhhh.
And the section about the appendectomy scar? GOD! Killed me dead! Too beautiful for words! The last line especially.
He’ll always love her. He always has. It doesn’t make any sense. She’s hurt him, she’s left him, she’s broken him and he’s given as good as he’s got. Maybe more. But she fixed him once upon time when it was just the two of them, bloody and bruised, kneeling in the hot sand on an island a thousand miles from anywhere.
Oh, great, now I'm crying again. ;) This is just . . . gah. I want it to be just the two of them again. It's the only way they'll be able to fix what he's destroyed. Such a gorgeous metaphor, such a gorgeous passage. I adore how you sketch their relationship so honestly, not hiding from the frightening parts, and yet this is such a sympathetic piece. This is what I wish every J/K fic was.
And then--The first time Jack saw Kate he was standing in an airport. Eeeee. I thought it was impossible, but you sold me on the memory-less reset, hook, line and sinker!
she’s just a girl. Just a beautiful girl, with a sad face and he can’t imagine that she could have done anything so wrong that it would require her to be led out of LAX with three armed guards.
And this is the fundamental problem with the way Jack sees Kate even now, you know? The lens is so skewed, how they look at each other. Kate is (rightfully) mad at Jack now, but I think she still believes that he has it in him to be the good guy, and he still thinks of her as a beautiful girl as opposed to a murderer. This is so, so fantastic.
And the last line . . . God. Perfect. I really am stunned by the way you cut so beautifully to the core of this situation and this ship, my sad, messed-up ship. Thank you so much, again. Best present ever! :D :D
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I am so glad you liked it! And your feedback is amazing, it seriously made my morning. It was strange writing this pairing; it kind of forced me to think about them in a deeper way than I'm used to and I have to admit it was a fun challenge. I might have to revisit them again at some point.
Seriously though, you write this pairing so beautifully and poignantly that I'm honored that you liked this. I was torn between writing you J/J and J/K and finally I decided to stop being a wimp and go for the J/K. ;)
I've always thought that Jack looks at Kate and sees who she could be whereas Sawyer looks at Kate and sees who she is. But I don't think that's necessarily a good thing, I think in some ways Jack's idealization of her pushes her to be better,and I think in her heart she wants to be the good girl that he believes she is. Whereas with Sawyer they see the very worst parts of each other and not much else (which is why I think S/J works so well---she never saw him as "Sawyer" he was always James to her).
I think the problem with their relationship is they both need to find some middle ground. Jack needs to realize she's not this perfect, innocent girl that he wants to believe she is, while she needs to understand that Jack has his own issues, he's not perfect either. And I don't know how I ended telling you all of my detailed thoughts on the quadrangle but here we are. ;)
Anyway, I'm so glad you liked your birthday present! And thank you again for leaving such lovely feedback. It means a lot to me.
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