Ahh, sorry I told you I'd babble at you and then went away. I didn't realize how late it was, and then the next few days were busy.
Anyway, I had a really mixed reaction to the last part of ITWOS. On the one hand, it was lush and beautiful, and so gratifying to see Kurt so happy and confident, surrendering himself to Blaine's care. On the other -- Blaine seems oddly young and nervous, compared to Kurt. Wanting to be perfect for him; not completely confident that he is. Their communication feels ever so slightly awry. Their kitchen conversation was about Kurt holding back, and now, ironically, I get the impression that Blaine is. All of the above is flawlessly in character, IMO. I love how subtle it is; I can just see it as a reader, but it's also easy to see how Kurt misses it (or, in some places, willfully misinterprets it; boy's just a tiny bit avoidant). It's just...a darned odd note on which to end a novel.
If I may be frank, whatever possessed you to end the story before DWS? You've spent the whole back third of it foreshadowing a meltdown -- in Blaine's comments, and evasions, about his father, in the strange little thread of insecurity running through Blaine's reactions to Kurt -- and then you stopped before you delivered. I would have expected to get the DWS blowout followed by your last sex scene: Kurt intending to let Blaine fuck him, but stuff keeps getting the way and they never quite make time for it, and that feeding into everything else Blaine's getting himself hung up on (he's pulling back, he doesn't really want me, I'm not good enough for keeps...), and then DWS, boom!, and they make the time and it's gorgeous and a suitably big climax/denouement: Kurt and Blaine both, in the afterglow, feel like they've resolved something.
...And that would also handily set us up S4, because they may have tried to convince themselves in the moment that, oh, phew, it was just sex, and resolved by awesomely intimate sex...but relationships (especially long-term, long-distance ones) don't actually work that way. 'Queue Cue novel #2. :P
tl;dr: I adore what you wrote. It just feels perplexingly unlike an end.
Structural puzzlement aside, here are some other things I truly loved about this last sequence:
I thought it was interesting how much finally being penetrated wasn't a big deal for Kurt. One of the story's most powerful scenes, for me, was the conversation about Finn and Kurt's internalized homophobia -- a scene this last one was inevitably tied to. So I was expecting some kind of mirroring or reminder...and didn't get it. And then I thought about it and decided I liked that I didn't get it. It said to me that Kurt is really, truly over that old harm; he's able to do this and have it be about himself and Blaine and their love and nothing else. He's free.
Otoh, I luurved the recollection and demolition of the lilac fantasy. It was a nice way to mark the crossing over from childish fantasy to touchable reality. Also I'm amused by Blaine making sure that Kurt's fantasy of Taylor Lautner is forever obliterated, because he will never smell lilacs again without landing right back in this memory of Blaine.
Effulgent really is an ace word, and I'm sorry I giggled. ;)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that image of Kurt straddling Blaine's lap, sinking down on him and leaning back for a kiss, with his torso all stretched out and his quads flexed and...yeah. That's gonna last me a nice long while. Bless.
(Wanna bet we get shirtless Kurt by the end of this season? It might just be Rachel walking in while he's roaming around the apartment, but after those Hallowe'en pics....Ryan Murphy ain't stupid.)
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Anyway, I had a really mixed reaction to the last part of ITWOS. On the one hand, it was lush and beautiful, and so gratifying to see Kurt so happy and confident, surrendering himself to Blaine's care. On the other -- Blaine seems oddly young and nervous, compared to Kurt. Wanting to be perfect for him; not completely confident that he is. Their communication feels ever so slightly awry. Their kitchen conversation was about Kurt holding back, and now, ironically, I get the impression that Blaine is. All of the above is flawlessly in character, IMO. I love how subtle it is; I can just see it as a reader, but it's also easy to see how Kurt misses it (or, in some places, willfully misinterprets it; boy's just a tiny bit avoidant). It's just...a darned odd note on which to end a novel.
If I may be frank, whatever possessed you to end the story before DWS? You've spent the whole back third of it foreshadowing a meltdown -- in Blaine's comments, and evasions, about his father, in the strange little thread of insecurity running through Blaine's reactions to Kurt -- and then you stopped before you delivered. I would have expected to get the DWS blowout followed by your last sex scene: Kurt intending to let Blaine fuck him, but stuff keeps getting the way and they never quite make time for it, and that feeding into everything else Blaine's getting himself hung up on (he's pulling back, he doesn't really want me, I'm not good enough for keeps...), and then DWS, boom!, and they make the time and it's gorgeous and a suitably big climax/denouement: Kurt and Blaine both, in the afterglow, feel like they've resolved something.
...And that would also handily set us up S4, because they may have tried to convince themselves in the moment that, oh, phew, it was just sex, and resolved by awesomely intimate sex...but relationships (especially long-term, long-distance ones) don't actually work that way.
'QueueCue novel #2. :Ptl;dr: I adore what you wrote. It just feels perplexingly unlike an end.
Structural puzzlement aside, here are some other things I truly loved about this last sequence:
I thought it was interesting how much finally being penetrated wasn't a big deal for Kurt. One of the story's most powerful scenes, for me, was the conversation about Finn and Kurt's internalized homophobia -- a scene this last one was inevitably tied to. So I was expecting some kind of mirroring or reminder...and didn't get it. And then I thought about it and decided I liked that I didn't get it. It said to me that Kurt is really, truly over that old harm; he's able to do this and have it be about himself and Blaine and their love and nothing else. He's free.
Otoh, I luurved the recollection and demolition of the lilac fantasy. It was a nice way to mark the crossing over from childish fantasy to touchable reality. Also I'm amused by Blaine making sure that Kurt's fantasy of Taylor Lautner is forever obliterated, because he will never smell lilacs again without landing right back in this memory of Blaine.
Effulgent really is an ace word, and I'm sorry I giggled. ;)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that image of Kurt straddling Blaine's lap, sinking down on him and leaning back for a kiss, with his torso all stretched out and his quads flexed and...yeah. That's gonna last me a nice long while. Bless.
(Wanna bet we get shirtless Kurt by the end of this season? It might just be Rachel walking in while he's roaming around the apartment, but after those Hallowe'en pics....Ryan Murphy ain't stupid.)
Thanks again for writing this gorgeous story.