Exchange Fic #6: The Toymaster

[dmacabre]

The actual identity of the writer will remain secret until all the submissions are in and posted.

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Title: The Toymaster
Author: sisterthemoon
Recipient: wiccarowan
Prompt: Sort of a combination of two

Comments

D'aww

[anonymous]

GAH you had me all worried there with Gib snorting at Sarah's hurt sense of importance - there is always that niggling doubt, when shipping JS, that we are deluded little princess-wannabes and that it was all about stealing Toby really and that Jareth's "seduction" of Sarah was all just run-of-the-mill, whatever-works lies and pretense...
... but then we're right back on "but only SARAH won and beat the challenge and is Goblin Queen-worthy" and it is awesome and longingly romantic and tentative and shippy again, yay~~~ay. :D

Not that I don't like the Toby-centric aspects, and the Toymaker and "sibling trap" stuff is a wonderful new concept and spin on the usual Labyfic standards.

Carefully-paced and finely crafted fic.

--
Pika

[outinthestorm]

Fantastic!
I have a soft spot for Toby fics that was kind of squished by the manga, but this is just so much better!

[dmacabre]

That is one kickass toy store-- I would totally want to visit it, too. And kudos for doing such a great job of recalling Sarah's childhood toys from the movie in this story!

[dmacabre]

I wondered if you'd done that! It was great attention to detail. I always liked that opening scene and looking at all of Sarah's toys and books, so it was neat to see all those items reflected in the toy store.

[arynwy]

A sibling trap designed to meet the needs of the Labyrinth and its King - except for the fact that over the centuries, only the Labyrinth itself has benefited from the arrangement. And only twelve times in all of those centuries has Jareth even had a chance at gaining a Queen, with every last one of them nothing more than a selfish, spoiled child. You almost make me feel a bit of sympathy for the guy. Almost.

Then, there is Sarah - she won and turned the whole game on its head. Of course Gib would think that it was all about Toby and nothing else - no other Runner had won to make it more than that. But the inference still stung.

I like the way that Jareth chose not to push her buttons once he realized that Sarah would actually listen and consider what he had to say. I also applaud Sarah for insisting on being courted - on having a chance to see whether she and Jareth would really work.

Please, take a much deserved bow.

[apckrfan]

Very behind with my reading these fics, but kudos to you for a wonderful story. Wonderfully plotted, wonderfully written, wonderfully descriptive. I enjoyed everything.

I admit, I was a little put off initially by a 16-year-old Toby being so intrigued by a toy store, but as another said in their comments it's almost as if he's supposed to be somewhat immature for the magic to work. And well when he admits that he the feeling of belonging, I understand that. His enthusiasm was consistent and again a well-thought out part of the plot.