A Long Pursuit: Psuedo-Hypertext Eureka Fic

[serene_quill]

Title: A Long Pursuit (In 12 Pieces)
Pairing: Jack/Nathan
Rating: PG-13 (For language and suggestive moments)
Word Count: ~13K
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I did try to barter for them once!
Warnings: UST, a whole year of it!
Summary: Nathan knew it would take him some time to wear down Jack when he began the campaign to wear him over, but it turned out to be fortunate that he was the most stubborn man in Eureka, because Jack came in a close second. No one, not even Henry had predicted that it would take a year.

A note on reading the “hypertext”: Each page in Jack’s notebook or Nathan’s desk calendar is an image-link. The images are a link to the story behind the dates/notes on the page. Each image has a separate piece of the story. The story is sequentially lined up to the calendar year, so the links should also be read in calendar order.

Comments

[glam-geek.livejournal.com]

Cool! Fantastic medium, and I really enjoyed Jo's inserts!

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I enjoyed playing with the idea of a mixed medium, and Jo of course would write in Carter's notebook. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[eternalmusings.livejournal.com]

This was really fantastic. I love how you separated it out into the different months with the calendars of the two boys, it was a really unique and cool idea. I also really liked seeing how the boys gradually came together, and how they didn't just fall into each others arms but had some issues along the way. Great job, overall!

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I love doing a gradual buildup, especially since they both do have some issues, being divorced and all. Plus I'm learning a new "photoshop like" piece of tech, so it gave me an excuse to work on something more productive than practice exercises! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

wanna meet Ben

[luxluthor.livejournal.com]

WoW
That was so great:)
Nathan and Jack are so cute!

Re: wanna meet Ben

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Re- meeting Ben? Well, Ben's a bit of an homage to my best friend Ben, who sounds an awful lot like Ed Quinn when he talks and is a scientist with a propensity for breaking things and small explosions Fargo style. Otherwise doesn't look much like Ed, but enough that it planted the idea! ;)

[lazaefair.livejournal.com]

Interesting idea, and I can't imagine how much work went into it. I can't say I agree entirely with the base premise, but leaving that out of the consideration it was incredibly well done and a pleasure to read.

Also, when you mentioned Nathan had a brother, I was so incredibly sure the brother would be Tony Stark. So far I know of only one Iron Man/Eureka crossover, and it's pretty crappy...

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

LOL, I finally went and saw Iron Man yesterday-- I was kind of scared that they would butcher the comics or were going to be heavy into the Avengers part, which I never got into. But I liked the movie! (Bah, brother, we all know Nathan is really Iron Man!) I'll try to dig through some old links, but I remember reading a couple fics that did something with Iron Man and Eureka.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm curious, which base premise didn't you agree with, the hypertext or the story of how long it took for them to come together?

[lazaefair.livejournal.com]

The base premise I disagreed with was actually Nathan. You start right off with Nathan already smitten with Jack and determinedly pursuing him - but there's almost no explanation of how he developed these feelings or decided to take action on them. I guess, in my personal conception of the characters, they're still pretty close to canon (i.e. still mostly rivals, with only the slightest hint of UST), so having Nathan or Jack skip over a period where they are transitioning from canon seems like almost out of character writing to me. It's the reason why I'm not a big fan of futurefic or marriagefic in this fandom, at least not without a solid foundation for it: funny thing, one excellent example of building up a believable transition is Twice In A Lifetime.

I can't emphasize enough that this did not take away from my enjoyment of the fic. I probably would have enjoyed it more if there had been perhaps a bit of a prologue to it, that's all.

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yeah. In earlier drafts, it did start with Nathan figuring things out and the totally oblivious Jack, but it sort of dragged on and the story just didn't want to take off any earlier. =/ So I just went with setting it probably four/five months after the end of the second season, where it seemed to be inclined to flow and work. But thanks, I see where you're coming from, and like I said, was just curious. ;)

[sowilo.livejournal.com]

Really liked the concept with the image links. Great job (and I liked the story too!)

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[azhureheart.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have a smile stuck on my face all the day. I loved it. Long courtships make the best stories.

April (and his fools) broke my heart, Carter's birthday and Humbug Day were the cutest things, Zoe disguised as Buffy at Halloween and everyone scared of Fargo's reaction was really funny. Well I like all the months but these were my favorite.

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I love long courtships as well!

Those are some of my favorite bits too! The worst part of Halloween is that I thought of Zoe being Buffy and then had a moment where I went, uh oh, Fargo!

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[christinchen.livejournal.com]

Cute story, I loved how Nathan never gave up on Jack and *yay* they got each other in the end ♥

I also loved the idea of the calendars with all the little notes =)

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[snarkyandsparky.livejournal.com]

this was really cool - I've never seen anything like it before and it caught my attention one time. The story was really sweet as well. I think if Nathan ever put his mind to seducing someone it would be quite a pursuit :-D

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks- hypertext isn't something you see a lot of, especially in fandom, but I'm in a class with someone working on a true hypertext, and I wanted to try something similar. Her work is all photography and flash, but the idea sort of transfered to this. I agree, Nathan is so determined I imagine the pursuit would be intense! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[coke-monkey.livejournal.com]

Oops! Just realized I didn't give feedback after reading early this morning.

I LOVE THIS STORY! It's creative, angsty, sweet, heartwarming, hott, and most wonderful of all - romantic. I've tagged for many future re-readings and cannot give enough encouragement for you to keep producing great fics like this.

Thanks for writing and sharing!!

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!

[burningchaos.livejournal.com]

I love this. It has a sweet, funny and has a deliciously slow build. Plus the set up is wonderful; I can't imagine how much work went into this.

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! As for the work, it was a using a program I needed to learn anyway, and the training excercises were really ridiculous. So I did this instead, way more fun use of time I had to use on the program anyway!

[nasyu.livejournal.com]

Wow! lovely piece(s), I love them! ^^

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked them!

[lillithschild.livejournal.com]

Honestly I memoried this because of the way you managed to tell the tale in the pics. The stories were cool too though.

Love ya

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I love your icon! Every time I see it, it makes me think of the smart house door, and I just wish somebody would write in a line of Jack or Zoe saying "SARAH, slam the door". Because like revolving doors, you can't really slam the smart house door!

[clarkoholic.livejournal.com]

*wipes tears of joy* First off, that ending was SO unbelievable sweet, it made me tear up!

This whole story was beautiful! I really love the slow, romantic, and frustrating way they got together. It's so refreshing to see Nathan vulnerable and sweet. He's really a big softy under that tough -and HOT- exterior! I liked how Jack was reluctant yet he kept kissing and touching. lol. So sweet!

I just really enjoyed how this all came together. Very good work! I really loved this!

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I definitely wanted to make a change, have Nathan be the one to make up his mind and pursue Jack- not enough fics where Jack gets to be resistant to the idea! And being divorced, he should have some issues... =)

[cherryfeather.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just...wow. This is great, and I'm not normally one for long chaptered stuff, but the whole premise is great. The details in the calendars/planners are fantastic, not to mention how well you've got their voices down. This is just...love. Love, love, love it. Definitely one for my "to reread" archives.

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! It was a lot of fun to do, especially playing with a new program and slowly adding more and more details to the images!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading/reviewing!

[andieshep.livejournal.com]

I only got into Nathan/Jack about a month ago so you can imagine how happy I was when I saw this fic! This story just plain rocks! Loved Nathan going after Jack... how he resisted so long is beyond me, but it certainly made a great story! :D

[serene-quill.livejournal.com]

=D I do love those two! And Jack didn't do too well at resisting, really! ;)

Thanks for reading/reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[xiilnek.livejournal.com]

You are so awesome. :-| (oh, and the ending - )

*continues to rifle through your Jack/Nathan stories*

[molleo.livejournal.com]

I have to say, this is one of my favorite Jack/Nathan stories. I've read it twice, and I'm sure I'll read it again. Just brilliant! Thank you!

[moon-watcher99.livejournal.com]

This is definitely creative. Out of curiosity, that picture on the November 2008 calendar? Where did that come from? Is there some kind of video or interview, or is just a behind the scenes photo?

[crazy4bks]

I really enjoy this fic and I followed from over on liverjournal. But since you moved things from livejournal the links try to go back to the old lj addresses. Just wanted you to know. Thanks for sharing and I’ll be back again a different time to reread once again!