kormantic

I have been twice gifted this Yule!

For Yuletide, I got a Cassie-as-Lexie Undercover story, fizzy and clever and full of the rush that is improv with a metaphorical gun to your head, featuring Frank as a Pretend Boyfriend!!

never learned the knack (4079 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Cassie Maddox, Frank Mackey (Dublin Murder Squad)
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Undercover as a Couple
Summary:

“Lexie, who was that guy you were with at the supermarket? You know. The older one?”

I laughed, Lexie’s first instinctual response to anything I needed a second to think about. Shit. Me and Frank had moved our debriefs off of park benches after we nearly got caught by a classmate; turns out pretending to be strangers who happened to be contemplating the same row of crisps at Tesco wasn’t a good choice either. What the fuck had Anna been doing there? Most of Lexie’s friends lived off takeaway and speed, and barely ever set foot in a supermarket if they could help it.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked, nose in the air, my own smile creeping in at the edges, like I was the one with a secret, and actually, I was pleased enough to share. Delighted, even. “He’s my fella, duh.”

For Fandom Trumps Hate, I got Eames needing a favor, and that need is for Arthur to be... a Pretend Boyfriend!!

This atmospheric and funny work has posted 2 chapters out of 5 for the (already completed) story and I can't wait for the next chapter!!

labyrinthine (9678 words) by missing_fawkes
Chapters: 2/5
Fandom: Inception (2010)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Characters: Arthur (Inception), Eames (Inception)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, art heist, Crimes & Criminals, Getting Together, Pining, Partners in Crime, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Theft, POV Arthur (Inception)
Summary:

"It’s not that big of a deal, I mean it, darling. It’s not dangerous and nothing dramatic is going to happen."

Eames calls in a favour. Fake dating, chaos and a spontaneous heist ensue.

I haven't had any time to dive into Yuletide yet otherwise, so I look forward to reading so many gorgeous things in a thousand different fandoms! If you've got recs, I'd love to see them in the comments. :D

This year I wrote stories for Fandom Trumps Hate, SGA Secret Santa and of course YULETIDE MY BELOVED. Here are the ones I can post as reveals, and recs for Yuletide stories galore!

( so many things to read fr fr )

I am blocking out world events - in this moment, I thank you kindly for coming out to see what I'd like for Yuletide, and hope you are far away from anything that might harm you.

I adore Yuletide, and I adore you and everyone who decides to weave some light into the world by sharing what they have.


NOTE: if you are not current in Return of the Thief or Minx tread lightly for spoilers in the asks.
( Occluded for Your Protection )


Feel free to tweak any ask to make it something you absolutely dig. I am sure to love anything you give me, as long as you like it yourself.

Peace and Love on Planet Earth, OK?

Why hi there. Once again we're at a precipice, so let's just ignore all the Politics and Strife and End of the World stuff, and focus on the positives - fashioning things out of pure love for strangers in the void.

You are lovely, dark and deep and all that jazz - thank you kindly for coming out to see what I'd like for Yuletide!

NOTE: if you are not current in Return of the Thief, tread lightly for spoilers in the asks.

( Occluded for Your Protection )


And that is what I'd like. Something along those lines. Anyway, write what you like best and I'm sure to like it, too.

Happy Velma is Canonically a Lesbian-- I mean Yuletide!!!

This is really just Yuletide 2017's requests again. I have wants and needs, people, and these are they. That's a sentence, right?

Once, when I was just having a total mindblank about what I even wanted for Yuletide one year, I asked Punk what I should ask for, and she gave me these sage words:

"I'm betting you probably want hugs, and maybe some good times. UST. Sweetly awkward first dates. A quest to find the perfect sweater. Followed by a quest to defeat evil. Handholding. Friendship. Make outs in the balckseat of a car. Sharing a soda in the library. Rollerskating. Ice cream socials. CLAMBAKES. Finding a mysterious thing in the closet. Teamwork. A literal roll in the hay."

She is not wrong. Any or all of these things would be stellar additions to any or all of the fandoms listed below:


The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

You know, we have yet to meet any of Gen's brothers and sisters, of which he has more than one of each, as near as I can tell. A little family life? His father? (who loved him enough to try his damndest to kill his son rather than see him tortured to death at her hands...) What must they think of Attolia?

Again, I love any eye on Gen, especially Attolia, Eddis or Phresine, and I am eager to see him loafing around or plotting against other kingdoms.

Also, if you have a little Costis/Aris lying around somewhere, I would like to see it. Those cuties. EXCEPT THAT SINCE THICK AS THIEVES I AM 100% ON BOARD WITH COSTIS/KAMET PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

I love temple stories, so feel free to sing me a song of the gods! Attolia telling Gen a story (in bed in the afterglow), Aris telling Costis a story (that leads to bed), Phresine telling a story to someone's children... before bed. I feel sure Eddis and Sophos will have a million adorable kiddos and Attolia and Gen. Well. That child will have her ears full of tales from the very cradle, won't she?


Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French

Scorcher is so very lonely, and he was clearly genuinely fond of Richie, and Richie was fucking ADORABLE and A+ about being a good mate and second. So. If he and Richie could somehow... have ALL THE HUGS, jesus, Scorcher needs so many hugs. Please write a nice little unlikely fix it for our Scorcher?

Or how about something narrated by Sam? I feel, like, 90% sure that all that late night whiskey and hanging out together with Cassie and Rob ended in at LEAST one inappropriate kiss for/from at LEAST two people.


Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers

I would like a post-Busman's Honeymoon or post-Gaudy Night dinners and banter and sweet make outs. Bonus for mysteries! Or espionage~ Perhaps they lay one of the Wimsey ghosts to rest?

OH MAN OR: a crossover with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries? Harriet and Phryne would get along like a house on fire: Phryne could flirt with Peter [OBVIOUSLY SHE IS AN OLD GIRLFRIEND FROM PARIS WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT] and share smart clothes with Harriet and Phryne would be adrift without Jack of course, but perhaps... Bunter might cheer her nights?


Secret History - Donna Tartt

More background info on anyone, pre- or during the events of the book - anyone except RICHARD. Ugh. Richard. That fuckin' guy. Henry is a great favorite, but Francis would have so many tales, and there’s something darkly funny about poor Charles being driven to drink as “the normal one”; he must have been beside himself trying to be cool while Henry chose which books to carry to make a good impression on the cops. Charles has for sure been on the wrong side of the law-probably for underage drinking, I would think. Or petty theft. He strikes me as a kid who took what he wanted, shortage of pocket money or no. And Camilla, being his look out or his lawyer or his designated liar, promising to keep an eye on him, to keep him out of trouble, when he’s stolen the gum for her, the charm bracelet, the pregnancy test.


Mad Men

Joan and Peggy and Sally and Dawn in 1982. They're all successful, natch, but what are they doing? PLEASE TO DESCRIBE and if you have Peggy and Stan still together I will hug your face and if they're not together and she's not with Joyce (at least as friends drinking and talking shit about people at expensive bars) I will weep many sad tears.


Princess Bride (1987)

Mix it up! Post-movie, Inigo and Fezzik are owners of a ship. I assume they don't feel super piratey, and then ferry a lot of guest stars around. Who finds themselves on the Slaked Vengeance? (It was the Revenge, but it's time for a fresh start, don't you think?)

*

Now, here are some ideas about what I like to find under the tree/in my stocking Yuletide Morn:

How do you feel about crossovers and AUs of various sorts?

I love crossovers. Fusionfic! College AUs. ADORE them! I tend to love them best if I know both fandoms, so there's that, but mostly: <3. I dig an elegant mashup, man. And since characterization is my FAVORITE, and clever AUs can make characters pop, so bring it on! (You may have noticed that I have been plainly angling for a Wimsey/Fisher mystery!)


Do you have tropes/details/kinks you like particularly?

"Happy Ending" is probably my main trope. I don't think that's even a trope, really, but. I love me a good body swap, actually, and maybe above all others PRETEND BOYFRIENDS/GIRLFRIENDS. WILL THEY FALL IN LOVE???? I think that could work in just about every fandom I’ve ever been in.

Well, maybe there's no way Dublin Murder Squad could make it lighthearted. But.

Just think of Frank romancing Scorcher for... important undercover reasons. Say... as dates at a wedding just after marriage equality passes. Bringing him drinks and asking him to dance. SCORCHER WOULD BLUSH FOR SURE. Now make it Richie and they would totally sweetly kiss at the doorstep when Richie dropped Mick off...::props chin on hands and moons about how that would be soooooooooooo cuuuuuuuute::


What do you like about the canon? What do you like about the characters, if you specified?

Lord Peter Whimsey Mysteries

I love how self-aware Peter is, and how invested he is, and how much compassion he has for the murderers. I love how short-tempered Harriet can be, and how she suffers no fools, and how she fights being in love with Peter for ages (for what, isn't it like SEVEN YEARS?), right until she can't anymore and then goes all in. I have always, I should admit, been a little disappointed in her for not solving Gaudy Night before Peter, but then she was handicapped by a threat to her sanity and her ideals and the place she held as a sanctuary and everybody was freaking out, so. I forgive. I do love when Harriet finally admits she loves Peter (and I love how Peter finally REALLY understands why his constant/playful/earnest proposals were maybe kind of inappropriate and even, dare I say it, bullying.) Bunter always felt perhaps a little underdeveloped, his noble devotion to Peter aside, so if you wanted to write something from his POV, I would dig it!

Mad Men

I love it best when the ladies OWN IT. When Joan lets someone know that she’s got their number, when Peggy kills it at a presentation, or loses her shit and lets people HAVE IT when someone’s mean to her. Dawn, quiet but wise to timing, and carving a place for herself with both confidence and competence. I love it when they’re on top of their game, and taking the time to enjoy the moment – like when Sally decided to kiss the scientist kid who had a sense of wonder instead of the sneering hot guy during the moon walk. In that instant, we knew Sally would definitely not grow up to her mother. She would choose for herself.

The Queen’s Thief

I love that Gen GROWS UP. He stops being a brash, willful little self-involved punk (even though his intentions were always good). He BECOMES. I love that Attolia lets herself love him and lets herself trust the world again, even though the threats against her and her nation are probably greater than ever. I love that Eddis is their friend before she’s a ruler. I love that Costis loved Gen ages before he knew he did, and that Gen loves him unswervingly (enough to CHANGE HIS RELIGION), and maybe did (just a little) even before he chose poor Costis as his unwitting linchpin. I love that Sophos is going to blush every time he touches Eddis’ hand for, like, a solid year. And holy oh my gods, KAMET/COSTIS yes please ::grabby hands::


Dublin Murder Squad

The characters are flawed but always well-intentioned. Well. Maybe except for Rob. Fuckin' Rob, man. French's writing is vivid and alluring and visceral and hypnotically good--it's like a sensory hallucination sometimes. I love the characters with crippling self-doubt who power through, trying to fake it til they make it (Rob, Scorcher) and the sweethearts who do dumb shit trying to help someone out (Cassie, Richie), I love the cynical bastards who love fiercely (Frank) and I love that in a dark world, they still try to carry the light, they still search for something to right the wrongs.


What kind of stories do you like/dislike, what you like about these particular fandoms/characters, fandom-specific prompts?

While I have found a cathartic cry both beautiful and satisfying, at the end of the day, I will always prefer a happy ending. I don't care for maiming injuries or major character deaths (drawing room murders and/or ghosts and *ahem* the perils of thieving don't apply to this, natch). I love any kind of close relationship, be it best friends or passionate lovers. I just want everyone to be happy, basically.


What genre (sff/action/romance/procedural/character study, etc) do you like/dislike?

I like everything! I am not kidding. Every time I’m like, eh, that’s not my favorite, then someone will write something amazing and I’ll be all, hey! THAT’S PRETTY GOOD. I would say what my actual least favorite is, but I fear you’d take it as a gauntlet being thrown.


Do you have any squicks/triggers/things generally you don't want?

I don't like humiliation or hate or physical suffering (I would probably make an exception in Gen’s case, since his work is so dangerous/demanding) or misogyny, but I feel like you'd never write stuff like that anyway, Yule Santa!!


How do you feel about het/gen/slash/femslash?

Yes, please! I can be persuaded of poly (por ejemplo, Cassie/Rob/Sam... ::koff, koff::), but in general, I like to keep it to two people (who love each other!) in bed at a time.

OMG, though now I kind of want Peter/Harriet/Phryne... a really lot?


What ratings do you prefer?

I love all ratings, and dig the most modest to the most explicit; sometimes just having someone brush the backs of their fingers against the back of someone else's hand can be infinitely sigh-deeply satisfying – I might find TRIPLE X a little jarring in a Wimsey story or Queen’s Thief, but hey.

*

Godspeed, my beauties. May a blue wave wash every bastard right into jail in the coming year.

xoxo

SO I GOT A ‘PETER HAS TO STAND THERE WHILE PHRYNE FISHER AND HARRIET PREPARE TO VISIT TOGETHER OUT OF EARSHOT’ STORY FOR YULETIDE. Only read if you love rad ladies about to compare notes on a shared lover, while looking smashing and getting smashed.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/13012365

Firstly, I deleted my LJ account (goodnight old kid, you were every good thing for a very long time) and secondly happy 2017 (may it not scald us all alive).

My Yuletide story this year was called: Costis Ormentiedes and the Thief of Eddis. It's a Gen story. (Ha. Very ha, I know.) It's a fusion AU! It is not a dessert topping.

Summary:

“He looks too young to be taking his own class,” Costis continued. “He’s the worst Defense Against the Dark Arts professor we’ve ever had. And that's saying something.”

“You’re mad for him, aren’t you,” Aris teased. “It’s ‘Queen’ Attolia all over again... calf-eyes and mooning and swearing fealty...”

Costis felt his ears go scarlet.

“I do not have a crush on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” Costis insisted.

“Happy to hear it,” Professor Saccularius sang out. “As I understand it, those can be very awkward, for both parties. I’ll expect those scrolls on my desk first thing on Wednesday!” And he breezed past them as if he couldn’t tell that Costis was choking on his own tongue.

*

Or: the one where Costis is exceedingly suspicious of the new DADA professor.

Hello new year babies, I wrote some fic for yuletide and this was it:

Operation Luxembourg  - Bruno inadvertently insults the dukes of the Luxembourg music scene, Cathy is a menace, and Boots blames Beyoncé.

Bruno and Boots from MacDonald Hall are invited to Diane's wedding. NATURALLY, they must attend as PRETEND BOYFRIENDS. For reasons. 


bluebells and a hawthorn tree - We were hardly soulmates, Frank and I, but I did (and still do) feel a tie to him that I can’t ignore.That tie placed me in Whitethorn House, as much as Lexie’s echoing call.

Cassie (and Lexie) and Frank and Daniel, before and during The Likeness (His Dark Materials fusion).


You are all splendid. May 2016 shine on you kindly!

Hello Yule Santa, 

I already love your story, because it's hand crafted especially for me.

Here is some. Additional info? Just in case. I didn't. um. ramble on excitedly for days the other day ha. yes. (Again, spoilers galore for Raven Cycle, so tread lightly if you haven't read them.)


What do you like about the canon? What do you like about the characters, if you specified?

The Raven Cycle

I love how much Gansey loves EVERYONE. I love his focus and his drive and how he wants to be something GREAT, not out of misplaced ambition, but because he feels his life isn’t his own, and that he owes it to the world (and maybe Noah in particular, now that he knows Noah’s dead) to make something good happen. I love Blue’s cluttered little crowded house, and the Pig, as much a character as Noah, really. I love Blue being practical even when she really wishes she wasn’t, or at least didn’t have to be. I love Adam trying to trust the world he has now, letting himself drift closer to the heart of it, no longer on the fringes and feeling unworthy. I love Ronon for the way he loves things: he loves Chainsaw plainly and purely, he loves Cabeswater elementally, he loves his friends the only way he can: truly but through a bitter filter, and he loves his family – probably even Declan. (What would have happened, I wonder, if Ronon had, say, answered Declan’s phone call and come upon The Gray Man meticulously beating his brother half to death? Things, I think, would have turned out very differently. Man, what the hell was the Ronon Gansey knew before Niall’s death even like? Did he already hate Declan? Gansey likely met Niall—what did they think of each other?)

 
The Queen’s Thief

I love that Gen GROWS UP. He stops being a brash, willful little self-involved punk (even though his intentions were always good). He BECOMES. I love that Attolia lets herself love him and lets herself trust the world again, even though the threats against her and her nation are probably greater than ever. I love that Eddis is their friend before she’s a ruler. I love that Costis loved Gen ages before he knew he did, and that Gen loves him unswervingly, and maybe did (just a little) even before he chose poor Costis as his unwitting linchpin. I love that Sophos is going to blush every time he touches Eddis’ hand for, like, a solid year.

 
Lord Peter Whimsey Mysteries

I love how self-aware Peter is, and how invested he is, and how much compassion he has for the murderers.  I love how short-tempered Harriet can be, and how she suffers no fools, and how she fights being in love with Peter for ages (for what, isn't it like SEVEN YEARS?), right until she can't anymore and then goes all in.  I have always, I should admit, been a little disappointed in her for not solving Gaudy Night before Peter, but then she was handicapped by a threat to her sanity and her ideals and the place she held as a sanctuary and everybody was freaking out, so. I forgive. I do love when Harriet finally admits she loves Peter (and I love how Peter finally REALLY understands why his constant/playful/earnest proposals were maybe kind of inappropriate and even, dare I say it, bullying.) Bunter always felt perhaps a little underdeveloped, his noble devotion to Peter aside, so if you wanted to write something from his POV, I would dig it!

 
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Phryne is witty and elegant, but kind and thoughtful. She feels for the people she’s dealing with, and that’s why she’s always adopting the neediest kids. I love her tasteful chapeaus but I love the way she really looks at people, and so humanely, best. I do adore the way she loves Jack, it just glows out of her, and he's so entranced and fighting it so hard, poor fellow. YEARNING!

Mad Men

I love it best when the ladies OWN IT. When Joan lets someone know that she’s got their number, when Peggy kills it at a presentation, or loses her shit and lets people HAVE IT when someone’s mean to her. Dawn, quiet but wise to timing, and carving a place for herself with both confidence and competence. I love it when they’re on top of their game, and taking the time to enjoy the moment – like when Sally decided to kiss the scientist kid who had a sense of wonder instead of the sneering hot guy during the moon walk. In that instant, we knew Sally would definitely not grow up to her mother. She would choose for herself.

 
MacDonald Hall

Gordon Korman must have loved his school. Bruno’s schemes are fundamentally big-hearted, if often misguided (at least back when he was 12). Bruno’s irrepressible spirit, his can-do attitude and his grand plans are the reason MacDonald Hall is so delightful – but Bruno would be half the man he is without his friend Boots. That constant, solid, if sometimes sighing, eye-rolling and reluctant, support made Bruno great. Bruno believes in himself, yes, but without Boots to believe in him, too, he would probably just be... delusional. And maybe even imaginary altogether.  BRUNO/BOOTS 5EVA!!!eleventy!!111!!

What kind of stories do you like/dislike, what you like about these particular fandoms/characters, fandom-specific prompts?

While I have found a cathartic cry both beautiful and satisfying, at the end of the day, I will always prefer a happy ending.  I don't care for maiming injuries or major character deaths (drawing room murders and/or ghosts don't apply to this, natch).  I love any kind of close relationship, be it best friends or passionate lovers.  I just want everyone to be happy, basically.

How do you feel about crossovers and AUs of various sorts?

I love crossovers.  ADORE them!  (You may have noticed that I have been plainly angling for a Wimsey/Fisher mystery!) I tend to love them best if I know both fandoms, so there's that, but mostly: <3.  I dig an elegant mashup, man. And since characterization is my FAVORITE, and clever AUs can make characters pop, bring it on!

What genre (sff/action/romance/procedural/character study, etc) do you like/dislike?

I like everything! I am not kidding. Every time I’m like, eh, that’s not my favorite, then someone will write something amazing and I’ll be all, hey! THAT’S PRETTY GOOD. I would say what my actual least favorite is, but I fear you’d take it as a gauntlet being thrown.

I don't like humiliation or hate or physical suffering (I would probably make an exception in Gen’s case, since his work is so dangerous/demanding) or misogyny, but I feel like you'd never write stuff like that anyway, Yule Santa!!
 

How do you feel about het/gen/slash/femslash?

Yes, please! I can be persuaded of poly (RAVEN BOYS YESSSSSS), but in general, I like to keep it to two people (who love each other!) in bed at a time.

OMG, though now I kind of want Peter/Harriet/Phryne... a really lot?

 
Do you have tropes/details/kinks you like particularly?

"Happy Ending" is probably my main trope.  I don't think that's even a trope, really, but.  I love me a good body swap, actually, and maybe above all others PRETEND BOYFRIENDS/GIRLFRIENDS. WILL THEY FALL IN LOVE???? (por ejemplo: Phryne/Harriet posing to infiltrate a society of wealthy lesbians, to learn who REALLY killed Lady Ladidahblahblahblah! Orla/Adam, or Helen/Adam for realsies pretending as bros to fuck with someone, but RONON/ADAM until oops! they FALL IN LOVE.) I think that could work in just about every fandom I’ve ever been in.


What ratings do you prefer?

I love all ratings, and dig the most modest to the most explicit; sometimes just having someone brush the backs of their fingers against the back of someone else's hand can be infinitely sigh-deeply satisfying – I might find TRIPLE X a little jarring in a Wimsey story or Queen’s Thief, but those modern kids in Henrietta can be all they can be.