Just exquisite. This was fantastic and nearly made me cry. What a great read.
A favorite part:
She developed a routine just mundane enough to keep her certain no one would be bothered to keep track of it - save one. Same coffee shop each morning, and the same drink. Same Metro stops, same jogging route. It was the same everything and nothing all at once. She had a standing nine o’clock reservation every Thursday at a small Italian restaurant whose owner loved to tell her all about the wife he never saw, and whose bartender loved to quiz her on the knowledge of fine wines that she would never acknowledge getting from the life and lies she had led and left on the West Coast. “It’s the voice in my head that chooses each bottle,” she wanted to tell the graying man with kind eyes. “He’s the one who picks it, he’s the one who decides. And once a week I let the ghost of a phantom of a man I loved for a while get me drunk enough to go back to my apartment and dream of the Victorian cage that we shared and the smell of the ocean air.” Thank
( ... )
Holy fucking shit. Sorry for swearing, but this fic, this work, deserves it in a good way. One of the best angst Sarkney fics that I have ever read, and I'm going to pimp it like no other.
Where do I start? For me, the stand-out wonder of this work is the lyricism and the poetry that you weave so naturally through the story, so that everything is as detached and thrown into sharp relief at the same time. Chapter IX particularly stood out for me, but if I started to quote all the lines I loved, we would have to print the whole thing over again.
I felt myslef breathing and couting with Sydney, felt the pull and the push all because of your words. It is a truly amazing accomplishment and somewhere I hope karma gives you something good in return for this gift.
Now go post this in proclivityfans and let the masses devour!
Thanks so very much - for everything you've written and for pimping it.
so that everything is as detached and thrown into sharp relief at the same time.
This is such a compliment - thank you again. I really wanted there to be a very insular quality to the story - just the two of them in this world, in these moments - and yet, as you mentioned, there is also something very separate in their union, and something within them that keeps them rather separate - detached as you say, and I agree - from each other even in their relationship.
With regard to proclivityfans - Thank you for reminding me! I *knew* I forgot a community to x post to! Thank you again for the feedback and for the good wishes.
I just did a quick read-through (I'm at work), but from what I read, it looks like a really beautiful piece of work! I loved your thanks yous, like the Oscars or something, hee.
I shall return with more feedback, Nic :) Gosh, this makes me want to write Alias fic now!
Oh, this was just... fantastic. Truly stunning. I have no constructive thoughts- just a general "holy crap." Thanks for posting this in proclivity, I'm so happy to have read this.
I also love, love your soundtrack. Those songs are really perfect.
First: It's always lovely to discover someone's still writing this ship.
Second: This was lovely in itself, as well. I liked how they had to just spend some time together--not saying anything, just being--before anything could happen. It's like they had to reacquaint themselves with each other, albeit wordlessly, before they could adjust to the upcoming shift in their relationship. They're feeling each other out, too wary to say or do anything that will commit them until they're certain the other is thinking along the same lines, wanting the same thing. In particular, I liked that even after they've kissed, Sark needs to back away for a bit before he can open himself up to her.
Mostly, though, what I liked was the mood of the piece. Melancholy, with a good dose of bittersweet. The very end, while sad, was simply perfect.
Thank you very much for your kind words. With regard to "stil" writing this 'ship, I suppose that's what happens when something takes so long to finish. Or maybe it's just me, but when I see how far the bar of Alias has fallen, and how much great (Sarkney) material is left out there, it almost makes me want to write the fandom all the more.
Comments 21
A favorite part:
She developed a routine just mundane enough to keep her certain no one would be bothered to keep track of it - save one. Same coffee shop each morning, and the same drink. Same Metro stops, same jogging route. It was the same everything and nothing all at once. She had a standing nine o’clock reservation every Thursday at a small Italian restaurant whose owner loved to tell her all about the wife he never saw, and whose bartender loved to quiz her on the knowledge of fine wines that she would never acknowledge getting from the life and lies she had led and left on the West Coast. “It’s the voice in my head that chooses each bottle,” she wanted to tell the graying man with kind eyes. “He’s the one who picks it, he’s the one who decides. And once a week I let the ghost of a phantom of a man I loved for a while get me drunk enough to go back to my apartment and dream of the Victorian cage that we shared and the smell of the ocean air.”
Thank ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Where do I start? For me, the stand-out wonder of this work is the lyricism and the poetry that you weave so naturally through the story, so that everything is as detached and thrown into sharp relief at the same time. Chapter IX particularly stood out for me, but if I started to quote all the lines I loved, we would have to print the whole thing over again.
I felt myslef breathing and couting with Sydney, felt the pull and the push all because of your words. It is a truly amazing accomplishment and somewhere I hope karma gives you something good in return for this gift.
Now go post this in proclivityfans and let the masses devour!
Reply
so that everything is as detached and thrown into sharp relief at the same time.
This is such a compliment - thank you again. I really wanted there to be a very insular quality to the story - just the two of them in this world, in these moments - and yet, as you mentioned, there is also something very separate in their union, and something within them that keeps them rather separate - detached as you say, and I agree - from each other even in their relationship.
With regard to proclivityfans - Thank you for reminding me! I *knew* I forgot a community to x post to! Thank you again for the feedback and for the good wishes.
Reply
I shall return with more feedback, Nic :) Gosh, this makes me want to write Alias fic now!
Reply
Looking forward to your FB, and yay! Please write more Alias fic - even though Alias itsef isn't so inspiring anymore! :)
Reply
I also love, love your soundtrack. Those songs are really perfect.
Reply
Glad you like the soundtrack - I think it might have been more agonizing work than the writing. Almost ;)
PS - I adore your icon!
Reply
First: It's always lovely to discover someone's still writing this ship.
Second: This was lovely in itself, as well. I liked how they had to just spend some time together--not saying anything, just being--before anything could happen. It's like they had to reacquaint themselves with each other, albeit wordlessly, before they could adjust to the upcoming shift in their relationship. They're feeling each other out, too wary to say or do anything that will commit them until they're certain the other is thinking along the same lines, wanting the same thing. In particular, I liked that even after they've kissed, Sark needs to back away for a bit before he can open himself up to her.
Mostly, though, what I liked was the mood of the piece. Melancholy, with a good dose of bittersweet. The very end, while sad, was simply perfect.
Reply
Thank you very much for your kind words. With regard to "stil" writing this 'ship, I suppose that's what happens when something takes so long to finish. Or maybe it's just me, but when I see how far the bar of Alias has fallen, and how much great (Sarkney) material is left out there, it almost makes me want to write the fandom all the more.
Glad you enjoyed the story! Thanks again!
Reply
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