Big Bang Masterpost "Open your Eyes, Open your Heart", Jared/Jensen, Nc-17

[icebear_cw]

Fic title: "Open your Eyes, Open your Heart (proud like a god don't pretend to be blind)"
Author name: the_milky_way
Artist name: babycin
Genre: RPS AU
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, hinted Danneel/Sandy
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~ 30.000

Summary: “Times where the band was all over the news and the new best thing are long gone. Sure, they are still on the road, still attract a decent crowd but they haven’t a released anything new in close to three years now. About to lose their record deal Jensen is desperately trying to find new ideas. But writing new songs proves to be much more difficult than it used to be. On a chance night he finds inspiration, only for it to turn out to be a washed up casting star seemingly earning his money out on the streets. That’s not really what he had in mind as his new muse. Jared, though, seems determined to stay around.”




Part I * Part II * Part III * Part IV

***

PDF (with Art)


ART: Masterpost

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Notes:
Please check out babycin's awesome Art Post here and leave comments. Thanks so much babycin for the great artwork and for creating the file, it was a pleasure working with you on this.

My first Thank you goes to my beta readers parka_girl and enablelove . Thank you so much for keeping up with me and reading through it. Your suggestions helped a lot and I'm grateful for your help.
You are awesome. All remaining mistakes are, of course, mine.
Credit for the Band's name goes to kros_21 and morgentau who suggested stuff in long comments and I kinda stuck with that one idea. Thanks girls. :)
Another round of "Thank you's" goes out to those who have been holding my hand through all of this, so basically half my flist. You guys are awesome and I really appreciate all the encouragements and comments.

Thanks to wendy and thehighwaywoman for running this every year.

Title taken from the Guano Apes song "Open your Eyes"

---

Soundtrack:

* There are three links to YouTube videos of the songs within the story, in case someone wants to listen to them while reading.
These are the songs that inspired me during writing and some of them made it into the story.



01. Guano Apes "Open your Eyes"
02. Hurts "Wonderful World"
03. Andrew Belle "In My Veins"
04. Roxette "Way Out"
05. Embassy "Gravity"
06. Lifehouse "Halfway Gone"
07. Hurts "Stay"
08. Guano Apes "Oh what a Night"

Soundtrack in a zip.file re-uploaded

Comments

[babycin.livejournal.com]

YAYAYAYAY!
I'm so happy and excited! Thank YOU and congratulations! <3

[the_milky_way]

YAY!

Thank you.
<33

[kros-21.livejournal.com]

congratulations on posting hun!!!!!!

and hey! I want credit for the name of the band! XD Kidding, I'm glad you called it that, like I suggested. :D

[the_milky_way]

OMG LOL.. I totally forgot that I had this in my notes. Hehe, of course you'll get credited. *hugs*
I'll just have to add the sentence again, don't know how it vanished.

Thanks so much.:)

[morgentau.livejournal.com]

LOL I can't even remember I suggested a band name!

[the_milky_way]

Hehe, well there are comments that prove it. So I totally can blame you.

[vambrace.livejournal.com]

Loved every minute of it.

[the_milky_way]

Thanks so much. I'm glad you liked it. :)

[lady-vader67.livejournal.com]

VerY lovely and I'm a sucker for musicians and lyricists
Oh that scene on the bus was just painful and loved their interaction
with each other after Jensen let himself go. Love the idea of Jared
being a muse for Jensen, but they ended up being inspirations for each other
Enjoyed your story very much

[the_milky_way]

Thank you so much. :)
The scene on the bus was one of the first I had finished and sometimes I wondered where my Jensen!muse would go with it afterwards.

I'm happy to see that it worked for you. :)

[katbcoll.livejournal.com]

Wow! I had a blast reading this. Could not step away from the computer. Snagging the soundtrack too. Thank you for sharing this!

[the_milky_way]

Thank you for reading and the lovely comment. I'm glad to see that you liked it and that it worked for you. :)

[josieb1.livejournal.com]

This looks lovely, right up my street, thanks so much, and thanks for the PDF, its much appreciated

[the_milky_way]

You're welcome. :) Hope you'll like it.
Thank you.

[meesasometimes.livejournal.com]

thoroughly enjoyed that romp!
wonderfuly done!

[the_milky_way]

Thanks so much.
Glad that you liked it. :)

[nightrider101.livejournal.com]

This was incredible! I loved the grittiness of it. It felt so real, you know? The emotions, the friendship, the weight clinging to Jensen's shoulders and his imminent breakdown.

This was a wild ride and I loved every second of it. I snagged the PDF so I can treasure it forever.

Thanks so much for sharing! I adored it. :) It's definitely one of my favorite BB fics.

[the_milky_way]

Wow... Thanks so much, it's so good to see that the mood comes across and that it worked for you.

Thank you for reading and the lovely comment. I'm glad you liked it all. :)

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

It was a real pleasure meeting this band and reading the trials being on the downside of fame offers. The pressure Jensen was under and the grueling schedule of touring and constant scrutiny were all beautifully described and made his long gone panic attacks understandable. He was worn to the bone and he had the fate of the entire band and their staff on his shoulders. Then along comes Jared and even though the terrible pressure is still there, at least Jensen's creative juices are flowing again. Jared being a prostitute just complicated things.

Except Jared was never a prostitute and this misconception tainted their fledgling friendship before it could even get started. It was hard to read Jensen being such a total dick to Jared and still struggling with the attraction he was feeling to the other man. When Jared finally blew a gasket, I was surprised nobody got hurt in the fallout. It was a pretty spectacular mistake to make and it was difficult to come back from such a humiliation.

I was delighted reading the two men becoming real friends and the first scene of them collaborating was really great. Mike immediately jumping on recording Jared was wonderful. I love how the friendship and collaborations finally opened the floodgates for their flirting and touching and finally, finally getting together.

The band ditching their label was a wonderful relief, and now they only have themselves to answer to. The creativity is flowing on all sides, and you've brought everyone into such a happy, centered place, it's made me happy for everyone. It was all a delight to read.

[the_milky_way]

I don't really know where this fic idea came from but the misunderstanding has always been part of it, so I'm really happy to see that it actually worked and that it fits with the whole story.

Thank you so much for your awesome comment, it made me smile and so glad to see that you liked all the parts of this story. It's been a journey for me and sometimes this thingy took me to places I never thought it would. I sometimes wondered where my Jensen!muse was going with all this and why it had to be such a dick but I kinda always knew Jared would the one make it right for Jensen in the end.

Thank you!
<3

[silverraven.livejournal.com]

Congrats on finishing and posting, that's awesome!

I really enjoyed reading this. Something about Jared being Jensen's muse just made me smile. And their first meeting with the grinding and dancing and just unf. Nicely written :)

[the_milky_way]

Thank you. Can't believe it's done now.

Awww, thanks. I'm glad that you liked it. And I don't know but Jared being Jensen's muse was in the fic since the beginning, I seem to have developed a thing for it. :)

[cherry916.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this! I like how down and out Jensen was, that he was tried of the same routine and really stressing himself but somehow Jared, who was just as tired and was thinking of the past way to much, came into his life and no matter if Jensen assumed wrong Jared had a heavy influence on him and changed him for the better in the end. I like how their relationship wasn't instantaneous but a slow sort of thing that was just right for this story. And the Danneel/Sandy little fling that was so obvious yet so normal for the band not to say anything was really sweet.

[the_milky_way]

Thank you. :)
I'm really glad you enjoyed this ride. I always had the idea that Jensen needs a new focus there and I'm glad to see that Jared being this new fic point actually worked and made sense.

[snd-windsor.livejournal.com]

Wow. I couldn't stop reading. This caught me and didn't let me go again. Just seeing Jensen getting caught up in his own misconception and realizing how wrong he was but not really know how to make it right again had me biting my nails.

I loved the lyrics, they fit so well. Well chosen words. I enjoyed this a lot. Thank you.

[the_milky_way]

Thank you so much. I'm really happy that you enjoyed this and that the story had you captured.

Some of the lyrics where first... well the idea was first and the lyics where there as well and then I wrote the story around them. So happy it worked for you.
<3

[(Anonymous)]

Love this. The relationship that develops between Jared and Jensen works so well. I really like that Jared forgives Jensen in the end and that they go from friends to being something more. It was so nice to read that neither of them jumped into it and that they had to fight for what they wanted.

I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing it.

~ Liz

[the_milky_way]

I couldn't let them go without setting things right between them, couldn't have done it to them. I'm glad that the pacing worked for you and that you enjoyed it all.

Thank you so much for reading and the comment. :)

[jolietjones.livejournal.com]

This is really good read, I enjoyed it so much. Jensen's predicament and melancholy weighed me down a bit at the beginning but it just made it all the better when things started to come good for them. Sandy and Danni were lovely too and the supporting characters were excellent in their supportiveness. :D

I hope this comment is ok, I may have had a few drinks with my dinner....

[the_milky_way]

LOL, this comment is totally okay....

Thank you so much for your lovely words. I'm glad that you enjoyed this and that it worked for you. :)
My Jensen!muse had a hard time getting out of his melancholic funk but well he had Jared to help him along. ;)

[sandymg.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic character study. Loved Jensen in this and all the secondary characters. Everyone just breathed with life. Seriously I wish they were my friends! I don't play music but I found myself connecting so much with that dried up creative feeling. It's horrible. And finding one's muse is like a revelation. Comes in many forms, of course, not always a person. Sometimes it can even be a silly little TV show on the CW. :)

[the_milky_way]

Right? Those kind of friends would be seriously awesome.
And yes, I kinda took my own experiences with being blocked creatively as a base for Jensen's problem here. If it wasn't for this silly little TV show my life would lack some seriously awesome things... :)

Thank you so much. I'm happy to see that this worked for you and you enjoyed reading it. :)

[spn-j2fan.livejournal.com]

I loved this story overall, but I especially loved your ability to set the mood in different scenes. You did such a lovely job of creating a believable, but still lovable character in Jensen. And I wanted him to find his way back to his music so badly.

This was so well done and such a delight to read. Thank you so much! :)

[the_milky_way]

Thank you!

It's really good to see that this story works and that you enjoyed reading it. And I'm especially glad that the mood in the different scenes came across. :)

[albalonga99.livejournal.com]

I loved it. Just couldn`t stop reading it. And you used Guano Apes songs. OMG, it`s amazing. I was 15 I think when I went to my first rock concert and it was Guano Apes. You made me happy. And you made Jensen happy. And Jared happy. And The Benders happy. So, you rock I guess. LOL>

[the_milky_way]

Oh yeah, I sort of grew up with Guano Apes as well and their new song was one of the first things that was added to the idea list of this story. I just sat down listened to it and could write some paragraphs.

Yay, happiness all around... :) Thank you so much, for reading and the lovely comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[jennylynneh.livejournal.com]

Well done! I really related to Jensen's character in this. I loved the feel of the panic attacks written into the story. It was realistic and brought the emotion to the forefront.

As a long-time sufferer of panic attacks, I completely understand the hesitancy to use medication. I went for about five years without writing because my dosage was too high and when they lowered it last year, it was as if the right side of my brain suddenly woke up and went into overdrive. ;) It was a startling difference.

Anyway, I really loved this fic. I've linked it on my delicious fic rec list (http://www.delicious.com/jlynne_spn).

[the_milky_way]

Thank you so much.
It means a lot to me to know that people actually can relate to the characters and the situations they are in.

I'm someone hesitant to use meds as well, so I kinda of thought it would make sense to have that there as well. Some small things can make such a difference.

I'm glad it worked for you and that you enjoyed reading this. Thanks so much for the link. :)

[thruterryseyes.livejournal.com]

Really enjoyed this. Very muchly.

[the_milky_way]

Thank you. I'm happy you did. :)

[etrix.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the characters you created and the world they inhabited. The way you described Jensen's mind when the songs are coming easily, like they just appear on the page and he just traces the letters, is very cool. I also liked the way you had their relationship build so slowly and the way Jensen was almost completely oblivious. Awww. Clueless!Jensen is clueless. =]

[the_milky_way]

Awww, thanks so much. I'm happy that the pacing worked for you and that you enjoyed this.

I have often found myself tracing letters when I took notes for fics and actually wondering how the words ended up on that page. :)

Thank you.
<3

[(Anonymous)]

This is awesome. Loved it. Thanks so much for a story I could relate to and could follow. :)

[the_milky_way]

Thank you. I'm glad that you could relate to the characters and that you enjoyed reading. :)

[witchy78.livejournal.com]

Rock'n roll baby !
Me being into music a lot, I was looking for a fic like this in this year's BB.
And finally here it is : it's a about RnR, being on tour in a bus, finding inspiration, and of course friendship and love. The perfect ingredients to create a good fic IMO.
Thanks for your work ;o)

[the_milky_way]

Thanks so much for reading. I'm happy that you enjoyed it and that it worked for you.
I wanted to write something about music for a while now and thought Big Bang was the opportunity. :)

Thank you for the comment.

[princesslanie.livejournal.com]

great story. thanks for sharing.

[the_milky_way]

Thanks for reading.
Glad you liked it. :=)

[madsy73.livejournal.com]

Really well written ....had a certain atmosphere to it .Loved the Js first meeting !

[the_milky_way]

Thanks so much.
It's so good to know that the atmosphere is working for people.
Glad you enjoyed it. :)