The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts (CWRPS, AU) MASTER POST

[cleflink]

Fic title: The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts
Author name: cleflink
Artist name: petite_madame
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 48,000
Warnings: Magic realism, graphic descriptions of medically impossible heart care, serial killers, sex, angst
A/N: Written for spn_j2_bigbang's 2013 round.

Summary: In a world where heartbreak is a literal condition, it's Jared's job to sew, fill and patch the physical wounds left in people's hearts by lost loves, misunderstandings and betrayals. Jared's own love life is more than a little dire, largely because Jensen doesn't date and Jared doesn't do one-night stands, but he's got good friends and a job he loves, so he figures that he can't complain too much.

When a killer attacks Jensen, Jared discovers that a needle and thread, desperation and a sharp scalpel are enough to save Jensen's life, but at a cost that is going to change Jared's life forever and tie them both together in a way that goes far deeper than flesh.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six
PDF | AO3
Art Master Post

Acknowledgements:
Get their own section because they be LONG. Wow, I have many people to thank for helping me get this monster posted.

A million thanks to tebtosca for being there right from the beginning and helping me turn a strange, abstract idea into something with an actual plot and character development and other fun story-type things. Your excitement, good questions and willingness to suffer through sprints with me to get this shit done have been delightful and invaluable, my dear.
Big hugs to dugindeep for sprinting with me and cracking the metaphorical whip when I was whinging about my edits. It's a good thing someone was keeping me on track, hon, because God knows I wasn't doing it myself. I am so happy to have had the chance to get to know you better, as well!
Cheers to oddishly for a fabulous zero hour beta. You're a superstar and I don't know what I would have done without you. Thanks for taking one for the team, ridiculously early morning included!
A shout-out to Laura and Mum for typo hunting with me! They're sneaky things, those typos. All remaining mistakes are my fault entirely.
To all the ladies in the handholding/cheerleading email circle (dugindeep, fiercelynormal, morrezela, tebtosca and zubeneschamali) for, well, all the handholding and cheerleading. ^_^ I very much enjoyed flailing over all of our stories with you!

Of course, I must thank petite_madame for being a) fantastic and b) a wonderful person to collaborate with. I'm still amazed and humbled that my odd (not so) little story was the inspiration for such gorgeous artwork. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your hard work and your willingness to put up with me babbling about grammar. ^_^ You've made this year's bigbang an absolute delight!
And I know that you all went there first anyway, but if there's anyone who hasn't checked out her Art Post yet, make very sure that you do! It's all absolutely stunning (and wonderfully full of blood, organs and cupcakes. As it should be).

And finally, thanks always to thehighwaywoman and wendy for hosting this challenge! You make it so much fun to participate in this challenge and to be part of the Supernatural/RPS community that makes it possible!

Comments

[yohkobennington.livejournal.com]

I remember reading this summary for claiming and going: I WANT TO READ THIS SO BAD.
So I'm happy it's finally here :D

*goes to read!*

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

I sincerely hope you find it worth the wait! It's been a rather long time coming. :)

Enjoy!

[petite-madame.livejournal.com]

Yah! We did it ^o^
I fell in love with your summary the very moment I read it! What a brilliant idea! An heart surgery that doesn't exist, Jared patching up hearts with gears, gold threads, "magic" stuff, it's SO poetic and perfect! I had one or two drawing ideas just after reading the summary.

I LOVED your story, I don't know what I can tell that I haven't already told you in my emails. It's original, romantic (in the good sense of the term) and...GORE (hell yes!!). In addition, I didn't guess who was the serial killer (shhh *spoilers* )

I can't tell you all the fun I had working on this and collaborating with you, you are a sweetheart and it was funny to meet someone who isn't allergic to grammar and linguistics too. It's so rare xD

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Magical realism! \0/! I can't wait to read this, but I want to get it on pdf for my Kindle so I'll have to wait a weeeeee spell. *nudge nudge* :D

Looks gorgeous, and I know you two have made beautiful music together. Sounds something like "lub-dub ... lub-dub ..."

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

I am working on it right now, I promise! Formatting in Word makes me want to pull my hair out.

Working with PM was a sincere pleasure and all I can hope is that this story can live up to the bar set by her artwork. Bonding over pulsating hearts is a great way to make new friends, what can I say? :P

Soon!

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I shall be patient! I swear. *squiiirrrrrms* (I hate formatting too, so I really will be patient.)

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Ask and ye shall receive! (http://www.mediafire.com/?t8bv5j5b1jw3b9j)

Enjoy!

EDIT: Whoops, wrong link! Fixed now.

[minchout.livejournal.com]

This one looks so, so good! Ugh, I can't wait to read it! I DL'd the PDF but will be back to comment!

[jimbobjoe.livejournal.com]

Whoo hoo!! So reading this weekend!!

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Thanks, doll! Gonna read it in the bath right now. :D

[ember613.livejournal.com]

Amazing story and amazing art.

[setissma.livejournal.com]

Completely amazing story and fabulous art to go with it. I knew this would be good when I read the summary ages ago, and I'm thrilled that it was even better than I'd hoped. Thank you so much.

[wotan2008.livejournal.com]

Thanks for a fantastic story. The idea that emotional damage can be seen on the heart and be mended is fascinating. How did you come up with that?
Loved your story!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Such a great concept and I'd definitely read more set in this verse! The whole idea of hearts working in this kind of parallel way to the normal physical workings has so much potential. As for this story, I loved it. Your Jared is so loveable and sympathetic, you had me rooting for him and his hopeless love right from the start. I suspected Jensen was damaged, I hoped the killer wasn't going to be the first suspect and the understated whole romantic happy ending made me cheer. (Very quietly as hubby was watching cricket on telly at the time and would have thought I was nuts).

One to save and read again, for sure.

[ashleylive.livejournal.com]

WOO! I remember reading this summary and being super excited for it!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

*high fives* We totally did it!

This whole story idea started with the mental image of two hearts sewn together and snowballed from there, and it's been brilliant getting to build on that concept AND getting to see you take it and give it life in your artworks. Seems like we made a pretty good team on this one!

I am pretty fond of my serial killer, I must admit. That was definitely a fun scene to write! (Funny thing, I was watching a show yesterday and one of the characters was being operated on and I was all squirmy and grossed out, right after I just posted this story! My brain works in weird ways sometimes).

I am an unrepentant grammar dork, it's true. Thank you for putting up with me and my idiosyncrasies. ^_~ *doffs hat* It's been an honour!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Oh geez, I'd be so worried about dropping my Kindle in the tub. Probably a good thing I don't own one. :P

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

In that case, I sincerely hope you enjoy and I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

This is me, giving people awesome ways to procrastinate. *laughs*

Enjoy!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Thank you! There's nothing quite like writing about blood and cupcakes. And I could just stare at petite_madame's art all day. So gorgeous.

^_^

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you very much! This story's been a rather long time coming (why, hello there, August) and it's wonderful to hear that it lived up to people's hopes. Although, really, blood, heartbreak and cupcakes are a good place to start.

And petite_madame may actually be a wizard. I'm not sure how it's possible for one person to be so talented. :)

I'm so glad you enjoyed!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

If you'll believe it, I came across a photo of a metal wall hanging that was a heart (a valentine heart, not an anatomical one) with a zigzag split down the middle being held together by metal links that looked sort of like sutures, and my brain went 'hey, that's an interesting idea. How could you fix an actual broken heart?'. So I ran with it and it eventually morphed into this story. Because my brain is a special place. ^_^

I'm so glad that you enjoyed it Thank you very much!

[aerynsun5.livejournal.com]

I loved this story! It was imaginative and funny and sweet and is now officially one of my favorite ever. I especially liked the way the magical parts were so matter of fact, and not forced. It was very real, even though imaginary. Great, great job!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Jared is such a warm, loving kind of guy, which is exactly what makes him a good mender and a good match (in every way you want to take it) for Jensen. It also makes him essentially willing to commit delayed suicide to help his loved ones, but we'll forgive him since it turned out okay in the long run.

I think you need to be at least partially nuts to have all the rules in cricket make sense, so he really shouldn't be in a position to judge you. ^_^

Thank you very much! I'm so glad you liked it!

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

Well, I hope that it is worth the wait (especially as it was quite a long wait). *grins*