#and also m/m fanfiction tropes have not changed one single bit in the past two decades

[the1918]

‘video’

Part 1/6 in the series entitled: 

“Lynne Finds Her 2005 Bandslash Livejournal and Changes All The Names to ‘Steve’ and ‘Bucky,’ With Little to No Additional Editing and it Actually Almost Works...?”

Title: “Video” (2.4k Words)

Fandom: MCR MCU

Pairing: Frank/Gerard + voyeur!Bob Steve/Bucky + voyeur!Tony

Rating: NC-17  E (Explicit) - because we go by Ao3 ratings nowadays

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own the members of My Chemical Romance. This never happened. Thank you, Ao3, for existing so that I no longer need to make these statements.

Tags: Top Bucky, Bottom Steve, voyeurism, sex tapes, anal sex, oral sex (blowjobs and rimming), throat fucking, some possible polyamory vibes at the end (that honestly did not translate well from the original bandom text, but I’m keeping it for ~artistic purity~)

Summary: Frank's email has a video attachment.  Bucky’s text has a video.

[A/N: As the series name suggests, I copied my own My Chemical Romance fanfiction from the mid-00′s and changed all the names. For the sake of purity for this little blogging performance piece, I changed little to no additional details, refused beta, and I made almost no adjustments for characterization except where the original details made absolutely no sense. Enjoy—I know 17-year old Lynne certainly did.]

***

When Tony plops down at the desk in his workshop after a long day and opens the text from Barnes, he doesn’t exactly know what he’s expecting, but it’s definitely not this.

It’s a video message. Barnes has sent videos before. Usually they contain footage of his cat—Tony thinks its name is ‘Albert’ or something equally as atrocious—or maybe hidden footage of Banner picking his nose when he thinks no one’s looking.

This is not one of those videos.

Initially, it’s nothing hugely alarming. Unusual, yes, but at first he’s just watching Steve sitting on the edge of what Tony recognizes as one of the beds in the tower—probably Barnes’ bed, if the literal rack of combat knives in the background is anything to go on—and Steve’s looking at the camera with some combination of a beet-red face and an expression like he’s trying not to smile.

Tony hears Bucky’s voice for the first time, apparently from behind the camera (phone, tablet, whatever). It’s low, scratchy, and it does not match the expression on Steve’s flushed and jittery face one bit.

“Tell Tony why you’re here, baby—“

“—You know he’s going to delete this the second he gets it—”

“—Tell him.”

Steve’s huffs and rolls his eyes, but then he’s straightening his face and actually looking at the camera. It’s kind of deadly, actually.

“I’m here because Bucky wants you to see me get fucked.”

He holds Tony’s gaze through the lens, three seconds of bright blue.

The screen goes black.

There isn’t much time for Tony to relearn how to take a proper breath.

When the image returns, it’s not just Steve on the edge of the bed anymore. It’s Steve’s bare back, long and muscular and broad across the shoulders with that unfairly small waist, and then Barnes moves back with the camera and makes sure Tony can see Steve’s full glory on his knees with his hands on the headboard.

Barnes is breathing heavy; Tony can tell. Barnes is making sure to let Tony see every inch of Steve’s skin as he begins running his own hands along it, finally coming to his ass. It’s so small that it’s almost cute, but it’s firm and round like Tony always thought it looked through Steve’s ugly chinos. Barnes suddenly grabs the left cheek roughly, and a moan catches in Steve’s throat.

At this point, Tony’s brain can finally process that he’s watching a sex tape. His cock is way ahead of him, already fighting against the fabric of his sweatpants.

Barnes spends a moment caressing the smooth curves of his husband’s hips, and then rearranges himself and the camera so Tony is staring directly at Steve from behind. His legs are spread, cock hanging between them, full and ready and taut. He can see Steve’s head resting on his forearms, burying his face in his own skin.

Barnes slides a finger down the crack of Steve’s ass, applying pressure to the rose-colored pucker he finds. Tony knows now that Steve is familiar with Brazilian waxing.

“You wouldn’t believe how tight this is, Stark.”

His hand moves to cup Steve’s balls lightly, eliciting a whimper from Steve’s and a twitch from Tony’s own dick.

“He’s so fucking good, especially like this, all spread out so you can see him.”

Tony is helpless but to agree.

At first, he doesn’t comprehend the video switching again, but he sees a flicker and the lighting change that inevitably comes with homemade pornography before he notices the slick look of Barnes’ vibranium fingers as he goes to slide one into Steve’s ass.

Steve keens, moving his hips to take more in.

“Yeah, fuck. Just like that, baby.”

Fuck it, Tony thinks. He begins palming his cock through the restriction of his pants, feeling only vaguely guilty about it at this point.

The movement of Barnes’ finger in and out of Steve is easy and wet and completely obscene. He takes a second one without any struggle, a third with a little whimpering but even more encouragement.

Steve loosens under Barnes’ ministrations. The fingers inside him are crooked to tease but not to satisfy, and Tony is starting to think that he could really fucking get into this when the scene changes—again.

Barnes is holding his own cock in his free hand, which, hey, appears to be about as thick and beefy as his Hydra lab-rat body. Tony is both jealous and wildly turned on at this discovery.

Steve’s head suddenly appears in the frame, upside down for a reason Tony can’t quite determine until he realizes he’s hanging it off the edge of the bed. He looks up at Barnes’ camera, smiles a very secret upside down smile, like he and Tony are the only people that know about it.

“He likes this. Watch.”

Like I could look away, Tony thinks as he fucking finally lets himself touch his cock without any fabric to come between.

Steve wets his own lips and Barnes moves forward, tucking himself down into Steve’s mouth. Tony has never seen it done like this in professional porn, not quite as this angle, and shit.

His mouth is vivid red and stretched beautifully around Barnes as the man holding the camera begins thrusting slow, his cock disappearing and reappearing, going a little bit deeper each time. Steve’s eyes are closed, and the sounds he’s making are enough to make Tony wonder who the one getting their rocks off here.

“He’s always asking me to fuck him like this, too. Wants me in him however he can get me. He’s such a fucking slut, Stark.”

Tony is starting to really, really like way Barnes says his name.

Barnes pulls out completely, and then goes forward again, all the fucking way, enough that Steve almost chokes, but not quite. Barnes is busy telling him what a ‘Good fucking boy’ he is while his balls brush over Steve’s face and eyes, and then the man on the bed is running a hand down to his own blushing cock and—

Homemade porn is dizzy. Barnes is not holding the camera anymore.

Tony knows this because everything he sees is pale legs apart in the air and Barnes’ mismatched hands holding them there, his head between them and sucking lightly on the tip of Steve’s cock. He’s completely nude, looking up at the lens from across the pale expanse of Steve’s rippling torso and chest (pink, pink fucking little nipples that Tony really wants to pinch). He holds the camera’s gaze when he lets Steve fall from between his lips and moves his head down to where Tony can hardly see his face.

He doesn’t really need to see it to know where he’s burying it.

“He tastes amazing, Stark, fuck.”

Steve’s hips snap up off the bed, into Barnes’ face, and Barnes just grabs his hips tight and holds him there. Fantastic wet slurping sounds are coming out of his speakers as Tony wonders if Barnes’ tongue is fucking Steve’s ass or maybe just tracing his opening with it. The thought of either makes his fist pump faster.

The sounds that are coming out of Steve’s mouth, loud this close to the camera, just motivate Barnes to be more aggressive. He does something with his tongue that Tony can’t see but it makes Steve let out a pained moan like a dying man, and his leaking cock jumps where it’s resting on his belly.

“Fuck! God, Bucky! Just fuck—“

The screen goes black for the first time since the beginning of the video. If this is the end, Tony thinks, if it’s over and he’s not going to get to see what Steve practically fucking promised him, not minutes ago, if there’s no more on the tape and Tony’s going to have to finish himself off to thoughts of what it might have looked like—

Steve’s flushed face is looking at the lens, focusing somewhere past Tony, like he might be pushing some buttons on the phone or adjusting some settings. It must be on a surface, or a tripod, Tony decides, because the frame is too still for a human hand to be shooting it. After a moment, Steve stops and walks away, over to the bed where Barnes is waiting for him, sitting up with his legs casually spread out in front of him.

Steve straddles him, his knees on either side and his arms loosely thrown around Barnes’ shoulders. They kiss, for the first time the entire video, and if Tony’s being honest, it’s one of the most intense things he’s seen yet. Their mouths move like they’re trying to consume each other whole, like they’re trying to suck the souls out of each other’s throats. Steve shivers visibly and Tony thinks it might be a bit much for him.

Barnes brings his arms around Steve’s waist and pulls him in tight, so he’s splayed all across his lap and open, open for Barnes to reach down and run his fingers across his boy’s entrance lightly. Tony can see he’s already taken care of the condom when Steve starts rubbing the lube he poured into his hand onto Barnes’ cock, slow and firm in a way that makes Barnes moan and stop him, like if he goes anymore, he’ll shoot too soon.

Tony’s breath catches when finally, finally, he sees Barnes position himself for Steve to sink down onto. Steve’s head tilts back and his mouth falls, shameless and wanting as he lets Barnes into his body.

There’s a period of adjustment, where Steve looks like he’s just savoring the feel of his husband’s cock, full and thick inside him, before Barnes gets a rhythm going. He moves Steve up and down with his grip on his hips, thrusting up into him simultaneously. The light strain in his muscles is gorgeous, his arm glittering in the dim light.

Steve’s moans are all Tony can hear, loud and decadent in conjunction with the look on his face, all slack in ecstasy and eyes shut tight. He’s putting on a show, Tony can tell, but it’s too damn convincing for him to care.

Barnes slows for a second, but he keeps his hips pinned to Steve’s ass, rotating small circles inside him. He sets his chin on his lover’s shoulder and whispers into his ear hot, fucking criminal.

“Look at the camera, baby. Let Tony see your pretty face while I’m fucking you.”

And oh God, Steve kisses Barnes sweet and slow for a second before his head is turning, looking over his shoulder at the lens with most coy fucking look Tony has ever seen. He’s biting his lip and his mouth is still so fucking red and bright and everything about him, from the tight lines of his hips to the sandy blond hair dusting his thighs, takes Tony’s breath away.

Everything from then on is a blur. The video begins cutting more sporadically, and one moment Tony is looking at Steve’s body stretching around Barnes’ wide erection while Barnes holds the camera, and the next he’s watching Steve’s cock and balls bouncing against his abdomen while Barnes drives into him, hard and unforgiving.

Somewhere around, “Fuck Bucky, baby, you fuck me so good,” Tony starts to lose his grip on his own cock, hand sweaty and slippery from exertion. He’s getting close, and Barnes is swearing more often and when Steve said Tony was going to watch him get fucked, he meant get fucked.

The phone camera is settled on the mattress, moving with them, and Barnes is taking Steve from behind, chest and middle touching every inch of skin on Steve’s back. He reaches around to encircle the other man’s cock in his hand, and Steve groans obscenely.

“Stark wants to watch you come, Stevie. You want that? You want to show him how you shoot all over our nice new sheets?”

Steve’s fingers grasp the comforter tightly and Barnes’ hand slows to a steady, dragging pace. It’s the kind of pull that Tony knows is what makes slow and careful sex so intense. Steve is shaking.

“Get dirty for me, baby. Tony wants to see how dirty you can be,” and Steve comes, just like that, thick white ropes falling onto the crisp linens below. He’s swearing and begging and Barnes straightens, just staring and watching with a hand steadying the small of Steve’s back. He’s got an expression on his face like Tony isn’t the only one seeing Steve exactly like this for the first time.

And Tony’s finally letting go, the tight clench in his gut making it too hard to wait any longer. His vision swims, and for a minute he thinks he can’t see, but then he’s watching Steve look like a puddle of exhausted limbs on the bed while Barnes is fucking him within an inch of his existence, using Steve’s body and becoming this growly, animal thing.

Tony can tell when Barnes comes by the expression on Steve’s face, this self-satisfied smile that tugs on his swollen lips. Barnes collapses on top of him, kissing his back franticly and licking the sweat from it. He’s manic, grabbing Steve’s hair a little roughly and twisting his head to meet his lips, both of them a complete hot mess.

Never in his life has Tony seen anything more mercilessly beautiful.

The video cuts once more. Tony’s hand and pants are covered in his own come, and he’s finally starting to get his breathing under control. This time, the camera is on the night stand. He’s looking at the two figures lying twisted together on the bed in the nearly dark room, and he can make out the slow rise and fall of their chests and the sound of soft, moist kisses. This part, he feels like maybe he should look away. Like maybe it’s not meant for him to see.

Steve’s voice is the one that speaks first.

“Are you really going to send it to Tony?”

“I thought you wanted to?”

“I do! I do, I just—I want to know that you’re okay with him seeing me—us. Together like that.”

“He’s Stark, Stevie. Tony.”

“I know. “

There’s a long moment then, and it’s just silence. It’s just two men holding each other and talking without tongues, and it makes Tony feel like he’s never known fear or indifference in his life.

“Sometimes I like to share you with the people we love, Steve—“

—and Tony is closing out the video message before he has the chance to think twice.

*

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(i told you the ending did not translate well from the original)

See [Part 2] of this terrible, terrible art project

my actual steve/bucky work: [x]

[jaygrl22]

Fun meta asks for writers: 2, 4, 5, 6, 19, 20, because I’m a greedy bitch and not ashamed of it :D

@whether-morning-whether-night​ you may be a greedy bitch but I love you for it 💕💕💕

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

No matter what story I’m working on, I always find myself looking forward to certain scenes. For example, I always love when the main character starts to realize that their love interest might... actually... like them... too? Because it’s super fun to play with those intense moments of omg!!omg!!omg!! mixed with that painfully uncertain doubt. I also love any time a character’s walls get to be down with someone they care about (love interest or otherwise) because I love the tender feelings that come out when our guards are down.

For more concrete answers tho, here’s what I’m currently most looking forward to in my 3 current works in progress:

Monsters & Mystics: Amethyst is currently very nervous over how/if things will be able to go back to the way they were before she turned venomous, and I have a scene in mind where Edward does something quite small but it just screams “I want you in my life & I’ll stay by your side no matter what as long as that’s what you want” and it makes Am feel overwhelmingly loved and emotional and asdfghjkl;asdfghj *flailing arms* Yes.

A Devereux Never Forgets: At this point, I just wanna get the second chapter DONE. But I'm most excited for things that won’t happen until a bit later, like Audrey "holding on” to something important that belongs to Harry, hiding an animal in her dorm room, the Malfoys vacationing in/near her hometown during the summer... Just lots of stuff that I have actually get to.

An Affinity with Fire: The great thing about this wip is that it time jumps every chapter, so I can literally write and post whatever I want whenever I want. But I do still want some build-up to certain things (cuz then otherwise there’s no payoff and what's the point?) like certain traumas Elia has experienced, explosions between her and Cullen in the past, them working through it (and failing but trying again), and them being genuine about their feelings. idk the whole thing is just so cute (and painful) to me 🥰

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

Oh gosh... uhhhh... I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. uhhhhh... I was working on An Affinity with Fire last so let me post something from there:

Her fingers trembled as she laced her boots. When was the last time a vision had left her so frightened? Was it the first time she dreamt of the Archdemon flying overhead? The bloodshed at Kinloch Hold? The coming of the war?

All of them shook her to her very core. And yet this one was worse. Far, far worse.

Ash and blood covering the scorched earth. A devoured sky. Millions of deaths across the world playing out in a single instant; each dying scream colliding into one thundering cry. The world in red, bloody chaos. The Fade itself torn asunder. A sea of demons kneeling before a tall, misshapen creature; a dark god, a king of evils, a monster of impossible power.

She shuddered. “One thing at a time,” she told herself. “One foot, then the other.”

Johanna’s advice from all those years ago came back to her. “There’s no sense tripping over your trousers to get to the future on time,” she’d said with a grin.

Elia smiled at the memory until a knock came at the door.

I feel like most of my writing is very... not mundane necessarily but really just focused on capturing what’s happening in the moment. So it’s not very... full of imagery, I guess? but this^ feels very illustrative and I like that. 

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

This is really hard to answer for me because I always start out a character by giving them a piece of myself so that I can identify with them, and then let grow on their own from there. 

So like in M&M, I gave Chris my preteen anger issues, I gave Cypress my desire to have a “normal” life, I gave Dale my childishness & heart on my sleeve, and I gave Amethyst my overthinking & (unintentionally) my depression. But the characters have become their own people now, so even the traits that I share with them are different. My depression and Am’s depression manifest differently, Chris uses her anger while mine just consumed me, etc. etc.

But if you really forced me to pick, it might be... idk maybe Amethyst? Or that might just be because I write from her perspective anyway so I’m already used to wearing her shoes? idk. Honestly it changes every time I think about it haha

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

Dale tends to be a lot of fun because he’s always willing to go that extra mile (because he knows he can get away with it). He’s a total dork and just so fun in general. I love getting to be a little wild with him.

I’m also really enjoying writing Elia in AAwF because she is a fascinating character no matter where I’m at in her story: as a child she’s completely out of her element, as a teen she’s a piss poor mage who's always just barely able to skirt by, trauma for d a y s in her late teens/early 20s, forced to deal with boys/men she once loved but hurt her in different ways, falls back in love with one while Thedas is literally on the verge of collapse. Just fun times all around, really.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favorite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

My characters are always sighing, nodding/shaking their heads, or rolling their eyes 😂 I always have to comb through my rough drafts and ask myself, “Okay, they literally did this TWO SECONDS AGO and THREE TIMES in the last page. How can I change these up but still show what they’re feeling?”

I also think I focus on eyes a lot but I’m a fanfiction writer so what do you expect? at least I generally stick to one shade

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Oh gosh... I know I have a lot of things I could talk about but I’m drawing a blank... uhhhh... 

One thing in M&M that I really like is that readers get to learn as it goes along. I sometimes sprinkle in real-world Wiccan/witchcraft practice stuff into what’s going on and that helps me sort of... ground this supernatural world, in a way? Like it gives me limits and guides with the non-Essence witches and that’s very helpful.

I might go off a little more on some of these answers at some point but right now I’m very hungry and need to get out of bed ahah 😅

Thanks for asking me stuff!!!💕💕💕

[whopooh]

Play it again, Jack – fourth and final post of MFMM fics you love to reread

There is no thing as reading too many times, Dot. And of course I can read this on a public transportation if I want to! 

This post is the fourth and final of “Play it again, Jack” – posts that collect the fics we love to go back to and reread.

It has been so fun to hear about your thoughts and to put these posts together. Thank you to everyone contributing!

First I want to start with a comment from @bumblemama that fits perfectly to the spirit of this collection:

Aaaaand another thing... despite having read literally every story on ao3 with the mfmm tag, I realised I couldn't actually remember them all. So I've just gone back to the very start and am working my way through again. There are some lovely gems, and it's really cute to see requests for a season 3, or even a few 'wonder where s2 will go' comments. A good reminder of how perspectives change and stories evolve. There would be plenty that would fit into one or more of the year of tropes, but they somehow seem less consciously trope-ish, I guess because they hadn't been done in this fandom before. Anyway. No specific recommendations just the generalized advice to find page 82 (!!!!) of the fics and work forwards!

@chrismarieisme sent me several lovely recommendations I felt I couldn’t cut up and mix, so here they are all together:

This was difficult because I love so many of the fics, but here we go:

“Be still” by @flashofthefuse – very sweet glimpse of a moment between P&J the night before she leaves for England. It's exactly how I'd hope that moment would be.

“He Calls Her Beautiful” by @ladyroxie – simply exquisite.

“A Perpetual Feeling” by @missingmissfisher – so romantic! The intuitive connection between P&J.

“The Actor” by @ollyjayonline – Jack & Jane, Pride and Prejudice. What more does one need?

“Merciful Powers” by @scruggzi – Jack, tights, Shakespeare. Ngggh.

“The Wager” by @soupsouffle – fun, witty, deliciously, steamy URST.

@soupsouffle, “The Wager”. Reread by @kanste

A wager between Phryne and Jack about who gives into seduction first makes for great banter and flirting. I love how they both use every trick in the book to seduce the other. This fic has some of the best flirting/banter and some of the hottest smut scenes ever. Do I need to say more?

@omgimsarahtoo, “A Thief in the Night”. Reread by @rubycaspar

This story is just so much fun. I love the beginning, told from drunk!Phryne's POV, and then the lovely moment when Jack wakes up and finds her there in the morning. I love the characterisation of both of them in this fic, and the concept is so cute and so well-executed.

@ladyroxie, “The Sweetest Fruit”. Reread by @kanste

Can I just say I love Peach and this fic has a lot of it. It has no smut but it is sooooo sexy. I love to imagine Jack in the garden, especially on a hot day like today. The banter/feeding is just like them and turns up the heat some notches.

@jackphryne4eva, “Cafe Blend”. Reread by @omgimsarahtoo

I adore the meta nature of this fic – the story is of a female MFMM fanfic reader who needs to find a quiet place to read the latest chapter of a smutty fanfiction. Her anticipation is delicious, as is the small French cafe she finds! There's an element of all of us in how she is struggling against her impulse to hide her obsession with MFMM and its fic, and how she decides to read on, working to smother any shame she's been made to feel. It's got a million tiny moments that evoke the show, and so many spots that could be any one of the Phrack fangirls we know. I just love it!

@aljwritesphryne, “and stealing my heart...”. Reread by @rithebard

.... Sweet story. Jack takes Phryne home to escape her mean father and it is just such lovely touching story.

@evendale, “Finally”. Reread by @scruggzi

Set after “Unnatural Habits”, this was one of the first fics I read and I was fascinated by the exploration of phrack's developing relationship with a much more inexperienced depiction of Jack than in many other fics. Phryne in this is very much the teacher, ushering him into the modern world through their developing relationship. Their characters take on this nice point and counterpoint dynamic, with her representing the age of modernity and him a traditional approach that he's fairly eager to leave behind. It's mostly a very gentle story with some lovely banter and very sweet moments between the two of them and it's very much a comfort fic for me. Something I tend to re-read when I'm grumpy. Although I think I lean towards a more experienced version of Jack's character now, with its setting at the end of season two I think this one works as an interpretation and it fills me full of the happy feels whenever I go back to it.

@firesign23, “Grasping at Shadows”. Reread by @rithebard

Phryne and Jack go back to Paris after the war and are haunted by their past and have a hard time sharing it with each other. This is sweet and special because it touches on their vulnerabilities. And how their love bridges it. It is a lovely tale.

@aljwritesphryne, “A Collingwood girl for an Abbotsford Man”. Reread by @kanste

Phryne and Jack return to the footy field and it turns out very different then in the show. I love the flirting and how determined Phryne is to "win over" Jack.

There is desk sex too.......

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Power of the Feminine”. Reread by @kanste

Another series of fics. I love all the different aspects Sarah put into the fics. There is young Jack having sex for the first time and Sarah manages to make the life of the woman with whom it happens come alive. She also introduces us to all the different women who made Jack the man and lover he is today. Of course there is Phrack sexy time. She gives us a new family member whom I like very much and I hope makes a return sometimes.

What made me especially happy is the Happy End Concetta is getting after Jack. It is such a wonderful heart-warming story for a lovely minor character.

@phrynesboudoir/Sassasam, “Mirrors into Windows”. Reread by @scruggzi

This fic combines all my favourite elements of undercover phrackvestigation and resolved sexual tension. Phryne and Jack have been estranged since her return from London although Phryne doesn't know why Jack's not sought her out since she's been back. After being thrown together on a case involving slaughtered academics they renew their friendship and try to navigate a big change in Jack's life and what it means for their partnership. There are lots of lovely things I could say about this fic but basically Phryne as a professor was a kink I never knew I had and it made me spectacularly happy.

@promisesarepiecrust, “City that works” and "A Whole World in Here". Reread by @balticprincess

These are two of my special favourites. Unusual, but great!

There are three things that I love best in fics I like: Angst, Modern AU and a happy ending. And while the first two are not mandatory, I enjoy other fics as well, the last one is. As I watch only movies with happy endings, of course this goes for reading fic, too. "A Whole World in here" by @promisesarepiecrust is written as a play. Nevertheless you can suffer and rejoice with Phryne and Jack in this one. It is full of suspense and romantic. And angsty. So angsty. The epilogue is lovely AND it is M-rated, as I like it. So, an unusual one, but so good and well written.

"City that works" is a modern AU. Total AU: Jack is the free-spirited rich guy and Phryne the divorced policewoman with PTSD. It works so well, that one. Romance, suspense, will-they-won't-they, sex, love, misunderstandings, fun: all there. So, also unusual, but so worth reading!

lefaym, “Locked Rooms”. Reread by @whopooh​

I have probably read this fic more than ten times. It’s fun and lighthearted, and it captures awkwardness in such a wonderful way. Phryne is sure she is about to die in a cellar together with Jack, and she decides to kiss him, because she “had no intention of going to her grave without ravishing Jack Robinson at least once”. When they are saved by Dot and Hugh, they are found in the most compromising situation, and from this moment on the fic is all about delicious awkwardness, and Phryne not wanting to admit she feels awkward. She tries to push it away as not important but fails spectacularly. Here comes one of the funniest lines I’ve read: “Phryne was not going to be defeated by a small masturbatory lapse in judgment“. Finally, the people around her decides she needs a push in the right direction, and we meet the lovely concept of Aunt P ex machina. 

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Female Gaze”. Reread by @kanste

Why do I like that fic? Well, it has Jack in a shower (a lot). But that is not all. Every single reaction to Jack is spot on and lovely. Especially Elsie has a soft spot in my heart

YouknowmeasJ, “Before the World”. Reread by @scruggzi

I'm am absolute sucker for a fluffy reunion fic and this is one I especially like. Jack catches up with Phryne before she leaves Australia and they scheme together to get the Baron home without Phryne having to fly him because he's driving her up the wall. Some lovely funny banter, a little bit of smut and that nice 'you and me against all obstacles' aspect of their partnership really comes to the forefront.

@phrynesboudoir/Sassasam, “The Nearness of You”. Reread by @rithebard

I love pretty much everything Sassasam writes but I chose this one because it really touched my soul. Jack dies in 1929 on the way to meet Phryne and his ghost finds it attached to her home but no one can see him for years till her a new Phryne Stanley comes along. I love this story because you love Phryne's decedent and you feel so deeply for both Jack and Phryne Fisher's sadness and loneliness. Incredibly touching.

@gaslightgallows, “Creatures of Stillness”. Reread by @rithebard

Again I really love gaslightgallows's stories. But this one just really touches me. Jack becoming a merchant seaman to get to Phryne in a beard and dirty peacoat all he wanted to do was get to Phryne and she was delighted. She loves taking care of Jack and it is a very sexy story but it was what they discover about their feelings that really touches me.

@jeneenp/ CollingwoodGirl, "A Man in Need”. Reread by @kanste

This fic has so much going on. I love the PhrackAngst, how everyone works together to get our two idiots together, and the little glimpse in Jack's live. It has some of my favourite Phrack scenes in it. Phryne convincing Jack to let himself touch (in the train), Phryne being her goddess self and bathing in the forest lake and Phryne teaching Jack how to use his tongue. As a plus you have Dot in detective mode.

@olderbynow , ”Smoke and Fire”. Reread by @zannadubs23

According to my reading history it’s around five hits. I love this for a couple of reasons. It’s light and sweet, but still smoking hot. Phryne who is normally so wonderful at everything, just can’t handle the baking of the biscuits. I like that she wants to try, not because she’s goo-goo eyes for Jack (well, not only that—thought that’s clearly part of it) but because he challenges her. That’s it right there. It hits the essence of what makes them tick and lights our imaginations on fire with these idiots. He challenges her and she loves it. She challenges him and he loves it.

@ollyjayonline​, “For Fox’s Sake”. Reread by @whopooh​

This fic is such a happy place, it’s a fic that kind of sparkles with fun and companionship and teasing and love. Phryne and Jack are bailing out from a fox hunt to instead first save the fox and then ravish each other in a folly. The way they interact has such energy and at the same time lightness in it, Phryne’s teasing about Jack’s slightly higher levels of embarrassment is lovely, and it’s a delightful fic.

@omgimsarahtoo, “Romantic Overtures”. Reread by @kanste 

This is not a single fic but a whole series worth reading. I'm really, really fond of letters and Sarah writes some of the best letters out there. I love how Jack and Phryne get bolder with the letters and how in the later fics they keep up with the letters. I would love to have something like that in my relationship

Comeaftermejackrobinson, “Method in their madness” & Miss Templeton, Twelfth Night series (starting with “A Willow Cabin”). Reread by @rithebard

Reunion in England, "Method in their madness" is another favorite, so lyrical and poetic. It is really a story for romantics which I am and exploring the inner lives of our heroes. I also love Miss Templeton's Twelfth Night series on ff.net. She creates a fascinating arc in their romantic relationship while they professionally solve case after case. Also it is fun. And they both have their vulnerabilities with real understanding and though they don't say it out loud love.

DivineMissP,  "Impact" and "Pure Bliss". Reread by AnonM

Dark, well written hurt/comfort. Jack gets to be a reluctant hero without taking anything away from Phryne's strength.

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Breathings of Your Heart". Reread by @kanste

This is Sarathoo's take on the soulmate trope and one fic I've turned to many times. The concept of one soulmate is troubling but Sarah did it beautiful. I love that Phryne and Jack aren't really convinced of the concept (Jack marrying Rosie, Phryne is doing Europe) but when they need comfort turning to each other.  The picture of Phryne writing over her bruises without the ink gives me so many feelings. To balance it out, the conclusion and especially her last message made me laugh out loud.

@firesign23, “When I Sorrow Most”. Reread by @omgimsarahtoo

This is one of those stories that I go back to when I just need a moment to cry. It's short, but saturated with emotion, and just perfectly painful to read. It's like those movies you watch, knowing that they're going to tear your heart out and you're going to love every minute. It breaks my heart every single time.

@heavyheadedgal​, “Queen’s Gambit”. Reread by @whopooh​

This is only a ficlet, but I have found myself coming back to it agfain and again. Although Phryne and Jack are only playing chess in this fic, there is still so much happening and so much understanding flowing between them. I love the way they talk about themselves and their possibly developing relationship while they seem to be talking only about the game in front of them.

This was all.  Here are the earlier posts in the series: I ; II  ; III.

I hope I managed to include everything that has been sent to me -- if I missed something, please let me know and I’ll remedy it!