It's really hard to pick a favorite oneshot in this glorious fandom, but if I absolutely had to, it would probably be this. Or, at least for now (I do gravitate between several others and this one, based on my mood).

I am in love with this piece. It is unique in many ways, the most striking of which being that, in contrast to absolute majority of works with similar plot (meaning "Jareth gets/tricks Sarah into the Underground"), it deals with Sarah's life in Jareth's kingdom. Her everyday life in the Labyrinth, if you will. Other works I've read, similarly to classic fairytale narrative ending exactly before the "happily ever after", also usually stop right after the evil King gets Sarah into her clutches. We don't get to see even a glimpse beyond that point. And I get it. It's hard to write what transpires in the Underground, how do Jareth and Sarah go on, given their antagonizing relationship prior to that. It's not exactly a routine that's easily established. Most works use "memory purge" as a plot device, which is logical, convenient and fitting, albeit unoriginal. This piece, however, ups the stakes to level infinity by retaining Sarah's memory and full awareness of her predicament. And it plays out brilliantly.

The writing is amazing, as always. Having read the majority of your stories (and reviewed two, if you count this), that is a given. But this one contains my absolute favorite figures of speech that I want tattooed over my body - "that shade of withheld promises" gives me goosebumps.

I love the title of this, though I struggle to exactly pinpoint whether Arcadia is an allegory, albeit reverse, of the orb where Sarah is trapped. If that is so, who is the Death? Or, is it the reverse of Death? Is it Jareth? Sarah herself? The eternal push and pull between them? Oh, the possibilities...

The concept of reverse is very prominent to this story in other aspects as well. I am thrilled to eventually decipher, after having read this for an unholy amount of times, that the titles of sections are names of tarot cards. Before you say anything, I admit that maybe it had been blatantly obvious to all, but myself being a non-native speaker not living in an English speaking country and having absolutely zero exposure to fortunetelling, I really do pride myself on finally ascribing this faint remembrance of mine to a concept and at last dotting all the "i"s that have been irking me in the back of my mind until now. So, given the fact that tarot cards shift their meaning based on whether they are upright or reverse, this "mirroring" and distortion of concepts, ideas, emotions and mutual understandings becomes the leitmotif of this, so I believe.

Another reason why I so love this piece (and I have plenty) is the way it so beautifully presents the eternal push and pull between the light and the dark, which is quintessential to tales of Jareth and Sarah (as well as the mythological archetypes they both represent to a degree). This Jareth is the least evil from the ones I usually seek out, while this Sarah is the least kind. And I think it's intentional. This is how they rub on each other, him infecting her with cruelty and her cracking through his emotional defenses. The embodiment of the beautiful controversy that is "fear me, love me, do as I say and I shall be your slave".

This Jareth is caring - careful to heal any injuries she has inflicted upon herself. He tries to reach out ("come Sarah, must you always fight me?"), to connect... He is insecure ("moodily wondered whether the nights he deliberately abstained from visiting her chambers were arguably more of a punishment to him than to her") and emotionally dependent ("Sometimes I wonder if you do have some magic in you, after all. Because I think that if you ever did find a way to escape me, I should go mad". But he is far from belittled by that, to the contrary, he wants his fire.

It's the strongest Sarah by far that I've seen in this fandom. She is not tricked into the Underground by the Goblin King. She commits herself to it by own will, misguided or not. Oh she'd love to blame him, fight him, reject him to comfort her self-righteous conscience, but she's not fooling anyone. The only one being lied to is herself. Jareth knows - "Tell me honestly. Were you really any happier back at home?". If the King himself is not able to bind you, the Labyrinth will. The magic has a price and for Sarah it is the inability to continue a normal life in aboveground. That is no longer her place, that life is no longer enough for her and it never will be. She cannot be content with the ordinary. Sarah is in zenith of her will, of her potential, when clashing with the Goblin King, so much so that even he is admitting that, almost begrudgingly - "You are a strange thing, Sarah. I have you in my possession, to treat as I please - you cannot escape, nor do anything to hurt me - and yet, sometimes it feels as though you're not really here at all, as though - as though I have no power over you. Your soul is as free as it was the day you rejected me for your squalling infant of a brother. And you endure not because you must, but because you can. I see it in those proud, blazing eyes of yours.".

But in truth, she's not free. She makes herself believe she yearns to be, but that is not true. She is enslaved to Jareth just the same way he is enslaved to her. Something inside her is damaged, making her a make-believe prisoner of her own desires. Even when Jareth, in spite of himself, avoids her, she is crushed with yearning for him beyond belief.

So she burns, and Jareth burns with her. In this beautiful game that never has to end.

Thank you for this amazing story. It is the best happily ever after I have ever read.

Can you please come back?

Wow wow wow! wonderful written! : )

Well, I am not quite sure what to say. The story is beautifully written. The joinings without affection was disturbing. I suppose if one were enthralled with a never ending power struggle with sex as the battlefield, then this story would appeal. I am not of that nature, so must limit myself to admiration for your facility with wordcraft.

Your dark Jareth is very interesting and your writing is very consistent regarding characterization. This is a really good piece. I have a question though. I only know a little bit about tarot and can't see the reasoning behind your segments. Is there a relation behind each part and its related Tarot figure ?

Very, very beautiful. Kind of reminds me of "Deathless" by C. Valente :)

Good lord, that ending. So well-written from start to finish...

You kept me enthralled beginning to end!

Wow. You captured these two so beautifully! This was magnificently angsty and passionate! I loved every second of it!

Hot. Damn. That's all I can say

Ending was fantastic. My favorite part to be honest.

I really enjoyed this story! I didn't want it to end. You brought their relationship to life, with all of their clashing and passion. And it was exciting to read. The smut was good too. But being able to see the push and pull between them was amazing.

This is a fanfic like one I've bever read before and I LOVE IT. You captured the dynamic between these two amazingly well. It was just the perfect balance of angst and romance. I really, really loved it. And their passion near and at the end was very well portrayed. I feel like I could just go on and on and on but for now I'll just say well done!

Howdy!
Good work. The smut wasn't too smutty - not too terribly graphic - which is nice. We readers of "bodice-rippers" do like to have a little something with which to fill in the blanks for our imaginations. I loved the interplay of your characters. Jareth was suitably confused, cruel and a powerful, self-assured, gorgeous, obnoxious, playful twit. Sarah was likewise a suitably confused, stubborn, self-assured, obnoxious, playful twit. They fit well together.

By leaving everything so wonderfully open-ended, you gave rise to thoughts of "What comes next?" which is what I prefer in certain of the stories I read.
You did good.
Thank you.

I've seen better smut but I acknowledge that it can be hard to write. Especially in a story like this that is slightly more abstract. So kudos to you for what you have

Excellent story! Very possessive, frustratingly erotic and power struggle.