kelleigh: (Default)
kelleigh ([personal profile] kelleigh) wrote2013-06-14 08:51 am

Our Parts Are Slightly Used | Master Post

Title: Our Parts are Slightly Used
Author name: [livejournal.com profile] kelleigh
Artist name: [livejournal.com profile] lylithj2
Genre: J2 RPS AU
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Rating: NC17
Word count: 50,400
Warnings: Scarred/Disabled Character, PTSD, Memories of combat violence. Elements of H/C.

Summary: After three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jared has come home to Texas, working a steady job as a security guard and trying to patch himself back together. His dreams are less than kind, but he copes for the sake of those who never made it back. Jared's not expecting to meet someone like Jensen Ackles - a Dallas businessman with confidence and charisma in spades. They connect over coffee breaks and high-spirited basketball games with Jared's vet buddies, and what begins as friendship quickly deepens into a defining romance. Although Jared's willing to share his physical scars with Jensen, the burden of hiding his emotional wounds weighs heavily on both of them. As Jensen scrambles to put a name to his boyfriend's symptoms, Jared struggles each and every day, and neither of them sees the storm on the horizon until it's too late.

Check out [livejournal.com profile] lylithj2's art MASTER POST and leave her some love! ♥
Written for the 2013 [livejournal.com profile] spn_j2_bigbang



Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Part Four (a) | Part Four (b) | Part Five

Multiple text-only formats available at the AO3.
PDF with art available at MediaFire thanks to [livejournal.com profile] abeautifullie3.
Please let me know if you download the story ♥



notes. This is not a story about war. At its core, it's a story about a relationship growing under tremendous pressure. I purposely left out detailed descriptions of enemy combatants and the language I know most soldiers to use (I have cousins who are the poster boys for gung-ho), because none of it would add to the story I was trying to tell.

I began writing this at least three years ago. At this point, I can’t even remember what the original idea was. It lingered on my hard drive for a long time, pulled out each Big Bang season before being replaced on the shelf in favor of another idea. But I never gave up. This year, I was determined to bring it to the light of day! But I’d started it so far in the past that it needed major updating. Basically, I started writing this before anyone had heard of The Voice (and I eventually changed my original character, Blake, into a young mullet-less Blake Shelton), and before the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That event changed so much about this story. Cindy Sampson was still relevant in Supernatural, but I’d come to enjoy her character so much that I had to keep her around.

thanks. First of all, I want to thank [livejournal.com profile] lylithj2 for choosing my story! You were a blast to work with right from the get-go, and your enthusiasm kept me going all the way up to the end. I'm floored with everything you were able to make, from those AMAZING dog tags to my icons and everything in between.

HUGE thank you’s to [livejournal.com profile] akadougal and [livejournal.com profile] electricalgwen for the beta work! I was a procrastinating procrastinator (and I have a pen to prove it!) with this story, but y’all stepped up at the last minute to bail me out, and I am so grateful! Thank you both for what you’ve done to make this story readable and so much more complete!

Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] ldyghst for helping me with my artist summary during claims. Without your feedback, I wouldn't have been paired with my artist :) And finally, THANK YOU to everyone who provided feedback on this story while it was being written over the last few years. [livejournal.com profile] passing_through, [livejournal.com profile] dugindeep, [livejournal.com profile] matalinolukaret, [livejournal.com profile] secretlytodream...your encouragement throughout this very long process made the story possible. ♥ ♥ ♥

As always, thanks to the [livejournal.com profile] spn_j2_bigbang mods for putting this together again!

[identity profile] cassiopeia7.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
\o/ !!! *runs off to read*

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
\o/ \o/ I am so happy right now, you don't even know!
ext_37250: made by: dhamphir (solider love)

[identity profile] princesslanie.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 01:57 pm (UTC)(link)
omg, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. i can't wait for the kids to go to bed tonite so i can read this.

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Hurry up bedtime! ♥

[identity profile] amberdreams.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the AO3 link - did you know you can include art in your post on AO3? That might be the easiest solution to producing a PDF containing the pics. Though I've used mediafire to host PDFs in the past and it seems to work ok.

[identity profile] quickreaver.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
THIS USERPIC. I swear, woman... :D

[identity profile] goldenboat.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
What a great storyline:)) Can't wait to get started..<3

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I did know! And I have included art in some of my AO3 posts before, but discovered that most people enjoyed having a plain-text version of the story. And when downloading in certain ebook formats, the art wouldn't show up, ending up as a blank space. So I decided this year to leave AO3 for those who didn't want images, and figure out something else for the art PDF :)

Thanks though!

[identity profile] delvalmom.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi. Just wanted to let you know I grabbed the DL from AO3. I'm really looking forward to reading this.

Thanks.

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the story ♥

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent news \o/ I really hope you enjoy the read :)

[identity profile] nazliy.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the ao3! :)

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
You're welcome, enjoy!

[identity profile] batdina.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I"m grabbing a plain text from AO3 for Shabbat reading. (Though if you do have a pdf with art, etc. I'd love a copy of that too.) email at choff at LMI dot net?

very much looking forward to reading!

[identity profile] amberdreams.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh right, sorry - teaching you to suck eggs, eh. :D

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL it's fine! I used to think art needed to be in every version of the story until *I* was taught a lesson :P

[identity profile] blondebitz.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
YAY!!! I am so looking forward to reading this!!!! :-)

Thank you for the AO3 link, a super bonus! (I DL the pdf & mobi formats...Thank you! :-)

...and [livejournal.com profile] lylithj2's artwork is stunning!

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Email sent! Thanks for letting me know :) Enjoy the story ♥

[identity profile] lylithj2.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so happy to see your story up and live!
I know everyone will enjoy it as much as I did.
It was beautifully written, powerful, and romantic.
Oh-- and some of the hotest sex I've ever read!!!

It was an honor to make artwork for you!

[identity profile] abeautifullie3.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey there! This looks really good, and I'll definitely be reading, but I ABSOLUTELY want the PDF with Lyl's art!!!

You can get my e-mail from Lyl, or I can PM it to you, OR if you do want to put up the PDF I've never had any problems with MediaFire - hosting or downloading. If you still have concerns though, I'd be more than happy to host it on my own MediaFire for you. I've loved your stories in the past, and Lyl I just plain love. LOL

[identity profile] minchout.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Downloading this! I can't wait to read it! :D

[identity profile] claricehubert.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course I'm gonna download de AO3 version, but could I also have the pdf version with art - love those - thanks in advance

Email - claricehubert@gmail.com

And I'm very excited to read your story, which I know in advance I'm gonna love (love all your stories) and read over and over and over...

Tks for sharing w us...

Take care,

Cla;}

[identity profile] kelleigh.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! The artwork is all wonderful, and very fitting for the subject matter :)

I hope you enjoy the story ♥

[identity profile] cherry916.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Downloaded the PDF! Will return when done to leave a better comment :D

[identity profile] tcs1121.livejournal.com 2013-06-14 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the AO3 Download. You are next on the "must read" list!

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