The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts

Fanfiction
Title:	The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts
Author(s):	cleflink
Date(s):	2013
Length:	47,890 words
Genre:
Fandom:	J2
External Links:	story at AO3
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The Beat of Our Noisy Hearts is an AU J2 story written by cleflink for the 2013 Supernatural J2 Big Bang challenge. The accompanying artwork is by petite madame, who also created a fan soundtrack along with additional art.

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.

Reactions/Reviews

The Story

"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* )"

"This was absolutely wonderful. The concept about mending hearts was stunning in its execution, intricate and complex in it holding the essential part of the story. The complementary manner in which the supporting characters were carved made it all the more captivating - aside from the priceless scenes in which Misha was present - I found myself intrigued by the villain of this story. The details, the thought process behind them, the nuance and subtlety in it...I don't even know what I loved most. Amazing. And if I actually knew more synonyms for "wonderful" and "outstanding" I would use them."

"I loved your fic. I like equally both Jensen and Jared, but in this story your Jared captivated me. He has literally a heart so beautiful and I adored him. The originality of your plot is worth of admiration, because it's different from everything I've read so far in this big bang and very good. Also, like a fan of García Márquez, I thoroughly enjoyed the magic realism. Thanks so much for sharing this gorgeous fic."

"Reading this, my heart ached for Jared! He was so lovely and earnest, so in love, so wanting to do the right thing at all times, how could you not love him? Unless you were emotionally stunted with a barely beating heart—like Jensen—and even Jensen was attracted without realizing it, I think. I loved the whole heart mending thing. It was fascinating the way you described it—so cool and magical the way it worked. It was just such a terrific idea! It wasn't that Jared could perform open heart surgery in a chair, in an office, it was that he could do that *and* give hearts-ease with colored thread and cogs and gears, bits of wood and metal. Wonderful! I can hardly explain to you how much the whole idea just made me feel. It was almost like being a kid again and *knowing* that doing something like Jared did was possible because it just made *sense*—if you had a broken heart, then someone must know how to fix it, right? They should be able to open you up and point out the boo-boo and explain how they were going to physically make it better…ha! I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. And good since the love story made my heart ache!! Poor boys. I'm so happy that everything was fixed at the end because even though it was like a fairytale, the hurt Jensen suffered was obviously so deep, I was afraid that Jared wouldn't survive. But thank goodness, you healed all hurts and paved the way to happily ever after!"

"The idea of a Mender is so steampunky and AWESOME! Seriously, I was utterly intoxicated by that alone. Then came the excellent writing, the perfect pacing, crazy!Misha, a serial killer, and a storybook romance. I truly loved every moment of this story."

"Wow, this is so different from everything that I've read so far. I think it's really... like, the first story where everything is so ... different from our world (if one doesn't count a/b/o but I've read so many stories of that genre by now that it starts to feel normal :D) while being pretty similar to it and I definitely enjoyed it. What is most intriguing about it is the amount of details. We talked about fantasy and the creation of AUs in one of my lit classes. They only work so well because the reader can imagine the things described in them as there is nothing, no inconsistency, no contradiction that could possibly disturb the illusion. You did an excellent job here! The story charmed me right from the beginning. Jared as a mender? I could see that happening. Jensen as the one with the sick heart? Yeah, that as well. I also love Misha for two obvious reasons: first of all, he's Misha and completely weird, and then he was a suspect. You kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time - could Misha take half of Jensen's heart and then take Jared to him? Why would he do such a thing? Is Misha the bad guy? Noooo - until you finally solved this mystery and it was my second most favourite crazy person Sebastian! And he was such an awesome villain! I've got to admit, I also liked Lucifer for all his weird and funny comments (which aren't that funny if he's in your head, probably), so you reminded me of him, in a way. Then the ending (why isn't there more of this universe? That's the only thing I want to criticise here, really) ... it was so sweet without being cheesy! So, hopefully you've written more awesome stories in the meantime (half a year should be enough to come up with more stuff! :D Or you could participate in this year's BB... you do, don't you? Please say yes) ... I'm going to look for them!"

The Art

"I love, love, love all the hearts and thread and the blood (man I love the blood). I know that I've already flailed over your colours ad nauseam, but I seriously can't get enough of them, and I'll never stop being stunned by how well you capture body language and facial expressions. Also, I didn't notice that the gif pulsed until I posted it (properly, this time!) and it's just wonderful and the whole idea falls somewhere between beautiful and creepy. And again with the light source being his heart and the way it pushes his face into shadow is just. Ugh. Perfect."

"Heavens! Your art is absolutely mindblowing.

Here I'm particularly amazed by how you combine gore with sweetness XD Only you, dear! I also like the textures of the gold threads ♥ The Del Montes are always a treat to look at, and this time it's kinda literal X) hehee

Your soundtrack arts are so fun and beautiful! My top favorites in this batch are Candy, Pain, and All I Want is You ♥ I adore the cakes in "Candy", I can't imagine someone eating them! Especially the cute animal buns (man I can never eat those) ^^ Anyway, I love it so much when you draw food! hehe.. "Pain" is a picture that speaks, if that makes any sense. It also makes me stare at Jared's stomach for some reason ^^ ♥ /perv The colors in "All I Want is You" are so pretty and shinyyy! And again with all the food, I love it!

I'm so amazed by how you render hearts (especially the shiny veins), they look so real! Viewing your heart drawings (especially the back cover of the soundtrack) actually makes me wince and put a hand on my chest, lol.

Your "Bonus Art." Y'know, it shocks me how you call these "bonuses" XD They're masterpieces! Like your banners, every single of these is very realistic and well-painted, I love them all! The animation of your BB community banner also looks very neat!

Stellar work, sweetie! You rock."

"Breathtakingly beautiful art! They are all gorgeous, but I especially love the way you did the divider and the banners. I've studied gross anatomy and dissected actual human hearts, and I am in awe of how perfect your anatomy looks. (That must have taken so much work!) And I am totally blown away by your imagination in figuring out where the heart would be divided and how the cogs and thread would need to be placed to make it work again. <333"

"This art is so awesome. It's at turns beautiful, adorable (Jensen with his head on his arms in his bakery!!), and so wonderfully creepy. Everything is so rich and detailed and lush. Your color choices are so vibrant and full of life. I love the way you were able to make some things just glow. I feel like I could look at these pictures forever!"

Gallery

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  poster art

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  animated banner

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  soundtrack playlist. Click to enlarge

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  cover art for soundtrack