Oh, what a wonderful Tarsus fic! Tarsus is one of my favorite tropes and to see it done so beautifully takes my breath away.

I loved how you unfold Jim's backstory on Tarsus with the visuals of the garden. We, as the reader, are privy or suspect what was behind Jim's motives planting the garden. It makes everything he tells his crew doubly more poignant, just that more heartbreaking.


"The snap peas are like candy. I used to steal snap peas out of my aunt and uncle's garden."

Right there, the casual aside, got me sitting up, yelling at Bones to get it. You devious writer you, ;) you snag the readers here, let us know but not the crew what is going on, giving us the inside knowledge that kept us reading in hopes others will catch on.


"Closing the circle, Bones." He doesn't look up.

You truly did close the circle with the best vignette choice, ending the fic back in Bones' perspective, giving us the reveal and bookending the fic perfectly. You've given us a wonderful emotional payoff, ironically by utilizing a devastating visual of the gutted garden to do so.

You didn't overindulged or over worked the reveal and avoided becoming maudlin. What you did instead was rewarded us with a wonderfully bittersweet and comforting fic.

Thank you for writing this!