The Courtship of Jensen's Co-Star - Master Post
Fic title: The Courtship of Jensen’s Co-Star
Author name: qblackheart
Artist name: switch842
Genre: RPS
Pairing: J2, Non-AU
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 112K+
Warnings: Language, Schmoop, Angst, Sex. So, par for the course for me.
Summary: Somewhere in the time between a handshake and a hug, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki went from being reel-life brothers to real-life best friends, and complete strangers to cosmic soul mates, no rhyme or reason to it that either of them could ever see. Jared was everything Jensen was not: friendly, funny, and full of life; one in six-point-whatever billion the Earth’s population currently stood at. Life was awesome. Work was amazing. Everything was fine until Jared kissed Jensen. Everything was peachy until Jensen fell in love. With desperate times unexpectedly calling for desperate measures, Jensen called Chad Michael Murray for relationship advice - because being in love led to temporary insanity obviously - so it really didn't surprise him that he couldn’t seem to win when it came to wooing Jared. Still, Pisces must’ve been in a really good place in the night sky or something because suddenly, right smack dab in the middle of the miserable courtship of his co-star, Jensen discovered that maybe loving Jared was all he needed to do to win his heart. And luckily for Jensen, loving Jared was also the one thing he did best.
Link to fic: The Courtship of Jensen's Co-Star - Master Post
Link to art and soundtrack: [ Here]
| Prelude | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen I | Fourteen II | Fifteen | Epilogue |
| P D F |
(Over 1500 downloads! Thanks, everyone! Let me know how y'all liked it!)
| The Interludes: Epiphany Master Post |
(A series of Outsider!POV ficlets, all set in this 'verse, bridging the gap from Courtship to Romance)
| The Sequel: Romancing Jared's Roommate |
(Coming in 2012!)
| Soundtrack | Trailer |
Author's Notes:
Disclaimer: Jensen and Jared don’t belong to me, and I promise to only use these fictional versions of them for good. And for porn, schmoopy porn, sure, but porn nonetheless. No copyright infringement is intended for any of the images or song lyrics used in this story.
So, last year was my first BB. I was a nervous wreck. I thought it would be better this year, because I’d been there and big-banged that, but no; this time, I’m even more petrified. I think it’s because this story means so much to me. Not that The Play Nice Proviso wasn’t special; it was - you never forget your first time, right? Plus, this is non-AU and how many times can you tell the same story without it feeling repetitive to both write and read? It's a testament to how epic J2 is that we (readers and writers) still love their story. With The Courtship of Jensen’s Co-Star, I’ve tried to keep it as real as I could. I’ve watched endless interviews with the boys (total hardship, I know), watched them at cons, and just tried to get their ease with each other and their banter and their chemistry down pat.
This story starts off with a quote from Jared, talking about how he and Jensen hit it off right away. I like how he draws parallels to a blind date versus a relationship-in-progress, as opposed to two guys just clicking and becoming instant friends, which is also true. I tried to write the entire story keeping that in mind, so that the beginning of the story makes the reader feel like they're already in the thick of things, in medias res, if you will: a beginning in the middle, and no end in sight.
I’m a firm believer that what they show us of their relationship (underneath all the playful jackassery) - their affection for one another, that sweetness when they look at each other, the way they touch each other, the way they tease and taunt each other - is just the tip of the iceberg. I think in private, they’d be…more: more sweet, more touchy-feely, and in my mind, if they were together together, they’d definitely be more lovey-dovey.
Yes, I’m trying to justify the schmoop. And the word count. This is just a really long, sweet, slow-burn romance, okay? I will tell you this, though: if J2 is your OTP, then this just might be the love story for you.
I hope I’ve struck the right balance.
So this is song!fic. The lyrics of each of the songs listed on the soundtrack inspired certain scenes and themes throughout, so the song titles lend themselves to the chapter titles, and relevant lyrics serve as sub-headings. I would suggest reading them (I know, I skip over them whenever I read song!fic, too) but I’ve tried really hard to incorporate them into the story, and to keep them short, so they don't throw you out of the story; I truly think they help set the tone.
I hope I’ve struck the right chord.
Finally, as evidenced by the summary, this fic is told from Jensen’s POV. I usually write switching POVs but this time I felt the story would have more impact if you could only hear Jensen's thoughts. Plus, I have a small sequel planned, so y'all will definitely be hearing from Jared once BB is over. All the “horoscopes” interspersed throughout the fic were based on actual predictions by Sarah Delemere Hurding at the Irish Independent. She’s always bang on with my horoscope, and that’s what made me add it to this fic, just to give Jensen and Jared something to talk about. Plus, every time I needed a fake horoscope, Sarah had a very apt pair of predictions for Cancer and Pisces at that particular juncture in the story; that really threw me, lol - I like to think that maybe this version of J2 was written in the stars. All the other astrological advice was adapted and compiled from various online resources and are true, if you believe that sort of thing, but the "astrologists" are figments of my imagination.
I hope you enjoy the read.
As always, Comments = Love.
P.S. Sorry about having to split Chapter 14. LJ-imposed post-limit was maxed out.
P.P.S. I did the "postcards." I don't consider them art; it's just my original text with a postcard-type pic attached.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to formally declare my deep and abiding love for asher_k . She’s fabulous, she has mad beta skills and I’m almost sorry I have her as a beta because now I don’t get to see her comments on the actual post. Almost. As long as I have her, though, I’m pretty sure I win. Thank you, darlin'!
A big thank you to switch842 for picking this story! You did such a fantastic job with the art, babe, and I absolutely adore everything you did! The banner and headers are elegant and understated and the trailer is perfection! Thank you also for making the soundtrack available to download - I'm totally not tech savvy enough to do it myself. This was a great collaboration!
To 04dreamer04 , thank you for your help and your feedback in the early days of this fic, just when I needed the most support. RL can be a bitch, but we will survive, and we will be happy; that's my wish for you. ♥
Thanks also to honscot for giving the final version a quick read-through at the end - I appreciate your feedback so very much, not to mention your ninja-like ability to catch tiny typos, babe! Love ya!
To wendy and thehighwaywoman, thanks for all your hard work organizing this year's BB - I had a blast! Cheers!
This and all my fics can be found here or join/watch my fic comm: the8threalm
Now, back to baseball boys and the Jays2 ‘verse and all my other J2 WIPs. Yay!
Except... I see you looking at me all smirky and squinty Steve and Danno from Hawaii Five-0; don't even think about it. Seriously. I'm a lot stronger than I *twitches* look.
Fuck.
Author name: qblackheart
Artist name: switch842
Genre: RPS
Pairing: J2, Non-AU
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 112K+
Warnings: Language, Schmoop, Angst, Sex. So, par for the course for me.
Summary: Somewhere in the time between a handshake and a hug, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki went from being reel-life brothers to real-life best friends, and complete strangers to cosmic soul mates, no rhyme or reason to it that either of them could ever see. Jared was everything Jensen was not: friendly, funny, and full of life; one in six-point-whatever billion the Earth’s population currently stood at. Life was awesome. Work was amazing. Everything was fine until Jared kissed Jensen. Everything was peachy until Jensen fell in love. With desperate times unexpectedly calling for desperate measures, Jensen called Chad Michael Murray for relationship advice - because being in love led to temporary insanity obviously - so it really didn't surprise him that he couldn’t seem to win when it came to wooing Jared. Still, Pisces must’ve been in a really good place in the night sky or something because suddenly, right smack dab in the middle of the miserable courtship of his co-star, Jensen discovered that maybe loving Jared was all he needed to do to win his heart. And luckily for Jensen, loving Jared was also the one thing he did best.
Link to fic: The Courtship of Jensen's Co-Star - Master Post
Link to art and soundtrack: [ Here]
| Prelude | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen I | Fourteen II | Fifteen | Epilogue |
| P D F |
(Over 1500 downloads! Thanks, everyone! Let me know how y'all liked it!)
| The Interludes: Epiphany Master Post |
(A series of Outsider!POV ficlets, all set in this 'verse, bridging the gap from Courtship to Romance)
| The Sequel: Romancing Jared's Roommate |
(Coming in 2012!)
| Soundtrack | Trailer |
Author's Notes:
Disclaimer: Jensen and Jared don’t belong to me, and I promise to only use these fictional versions of them for good. And for porn, schmoopy porn, sure, but porn nonetheless. No copyright infringement is intended for any of the images or song lyrics used in this story.
So, last year was my first BB. I was a nervous wreck. I thought it would be better this year, because I’d been there and big-banged that, but no; this time, I’m even more petrified. I think it’s because this story means so much to me. Not that The Play Nice Proviso wasn’t special; it was - you never forget your first time, right? Plus, this is non-AU and how many times can you tell the same story without it feeling repetitive to both write and read? It's a testament to how epic J2 is that we (readers and writers) still love their story. With The Courtship of Jensen’s Co-Star, I’ve tried to keep it as real as I could. I’ve watched endless interviews with the boys (total hardship, I know), watched them at cons, and just tried to get their ease with each other and their banter and their chemistry down pat.
This story starts off with a quote from Jared, talking about how he and Jensen hit it off right away. I like how he draws parallels to a blind date versus a relationship-in-progress, as opposed to two guys just clicking and becoming instant friends, which is also true. I tried to write the entire story keeping that in mind, so that the beginning of the story makes the reader feel like they're already in the thick of things, in medias res, if you will: a beginning in the middle, and no end in sight.
I’m a firm believer that what they show us of their relationship (underneath all the playful jackassery) - their affection for one another, that sweetness when they look at each other, the way they touch each other, the way they tease and taunt each other - is just the tip of the iceberg. I think in private, they’d be…more: more sweet, more touchy-feely, and in my mind, if they were together together, they’d definitely be more lovey-dovey.
Yes, I’m trying to justify the schmoop. And the word count. This is just a really long, sweet, slow-burn romance, okay? I will tell you this, though: if J2 is your OTP, then this just might be the love story for you.
I hope I’ve struck the right balance.
So this is song!fic. The lyrics of each of the songs listed on the soundtrack inspired certain scenes and themes throughout, so the song titles lend themselves to the chapter titles, and relevant lyrics serve as sub-headings. I would suggest reading them (I know, I skip over them whenever I read song!fic, too) but I’ve tried really hard to incorporate them into the story, and to keep them short, so they don't throw you out of the story; I truly think they help set the tone.
I hope I’ve struck the right chord.
Finally, as evidenced by the summary, this fic is told from Jensen’s POV. I usually write switching POVs but this time I felt the story would have more impact if you could only hear Jensen's thoughts. Plus, I have a small sequel planned, so y'all will definitely be hearing from Jared once BB is over. All the “horoscopes” interspersed throughout the fic were based on actual predictions by Sarah Delemere Hurding at the Irish Independent. She’s always bang on with my horoscope, and that’s what made me add it to this fic, just to give Jensen and Jared something to talk about. Plus, every time I needed a fake horoscope, Sarah had a very apt pair of predictions for Cancer and Pisces at that particular juncture in the story; that really threw me, lol - I like to think that maybe this version of J2 was written in the stars. All the other astrological advice was adapted and compiled from various online resources and are true, if you believe that sort of thing, but the "astrologists" are figments of my imagination.
I hope you enjoy the read.
As always, Comments = Love.
P.S. Sorry about having to split Chapter 14. LJ-imposed post-limit was maxed out.
P.P.S. I did the "postcards." I don't consider them art; it's just my original text with a postcard-type pic attached.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to formally declare my deep and abiding love for asher_k . She’s fabulous, she has mad beta skills and I’m almost sorry I have her as a beta because now I don’t get to see her comments on the actual post. Almost. As long as I have her, though, I’m pretty sure I win. Thank you, darlin'!
A big thank you to switch842 for picking this story! You did such a fantastic job with the art, babe, and I absolutely adore everything you did! The banner and headers are elegant and understated and the trailer is perfection! Thank you also for making the soundtrack available to download - I'm totally not tech savvy enough to do it myself. This was a great collaboration!
To 04dreamer04 , thank you for your help and your feedback in the early days of this fic, just when I needed the most support. RL can be a bitch, but we will survive, and we will be happy; that's my wish for you. ♥
Thanks also to honscot for giving the final version a quick read-through at the end - I appreciate your feedback so very much, not to mention your ninja-like ability to catch tiny typos, babe! Love ya!
To wendy and thehighwaywoman, thanks for all your hard work organizing this year's BB - I had a blast! Cheers!
This and all my fics can be found here or join/watch my fic comm: the8threalm
Now, back to baseball boys and the Jays2 ‘verse and all my other J2 WIPs. Yay!
Except... I see you looking at me all smirky and squinty Steve and Danno from Hawaii Five-0; don't even think about it. Seriously. I'm a lot stronger than I *twitches* look.
Fuck.