I had a wonderful time at Escapade. Ahhhhhh it was so fun and casual and relaxing, but went by too fast.

I didn't take notes for a con report per se, but I can say that the panels I modded or co-modded--Age of Sail Fandoms, Con Artist Fandoms, and The Exorcist (tv)--were all sheer delights, every one. The people who attended were interested and had lots of great things to say, and the discussions left me happy and motivated and even more in love with the relevant fandoms than before.

Otherwise I took it easy, made sure to spend quality time just loafing around. And I got to rewatch the first half of season 2 of The Exorcist with the_shoshanna, klia, sakana17, and thevetia, which was sooooo pleasurable. We got through not just the introduction of Peter, but the important scenes with Peter & Marcus out on the boat, and there was a lot to talk about.

I spaced out and accidentally missed the Sherlock Holmes panel--anyone out there who can give me the gist?

WOW. Get this--I received a story and ALSO THREE TREATS this year! The main story is for The Sting, and the treats are The Exorcist (TV) and two for Trapeze! And they are all just what I wanted. Angst, but with happy endings everywhere! Pining! Protectiveness! Realizations! Caretaking! Love! And hot BSOs being hot but also tender with each other. AAAAAAHHHHHHHH.

I tell you, I am just wallowing around in this pile like I'm in a ballpit or a bouncy castle or something. Everything is fun and perfect for me and nothing hurts. \o/

1) First, the gift, for The Sting:

After the movie, Henry went off without Johnny, surely for excellent reasons. JUST KIDDING nope he had a whole other mindset, and in this story Johnny finds him, figures out his deal, and barges in to put a stop to it double-quick. Good job, Johnny:

The Way to Shake a Federal Warrant (5122 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Summary:

Well, that's one way to shake a warrant.

2) A treat for The Exorcist (TV):

Marcus and Tomas sharing beds: it's five times they shared a bed + one, but all of them take place in the same universe, in a gradual build to a warm and wonderful conclusion. Oh, MARCUS, you need so much comfort and luckily you will get (and give) it.

give your sleep a rest (5297 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Exorcist (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marcus Keane/Tomas Ortega
Characters: Marcus Keane, Tomas Ortega
Additional Tags: 5 Times, Sharing a Bed, Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Visions, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

In retrospect, it was a wonder this hadn't happened sooner.

They'd been on the road, what, a month at least? Staying in the cheapest motels they could find, when they weren't put up in people's spare rooms or barns or garages. Not that Marcus was inclined to complain. Any night they weren't stuck trying to sleep in the truck was a good night.

But it still gave him a moment's pause when the motel clerk glanced up at him, snapped her gum, and said, "Just the one room, and it's a double bed. That okay with you?"

(Or: five times Marcus and Tomas shared a bed for various reasons, plus the time it was just because they wanted to.)

3) A treat for Trapeze:

A just-post-movie fixit, with Mike going off into the night and then of course Tino coming after him. Tino is the irresistible force AND the immovable object, so he has a good head start on getting through to Mike, who is futilely trying to protect Tino from (as Mike sees it) Mike himself. NO DICE, MIKE, YOU HAVE TINO TO DEAL WITH HERE.

falling is like this (4401 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Trapeze (1956)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tino Orsini/Mike Ribble
Characters: Tino Orsini, Mike Ribble
Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon Fix-It, Misunderstandings, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

He'd come to a stop a bit to one side of the flow of traffic, since he was far from the only person walking along the Place de la Concorde at this hour—far from the only person who'd paused to look out at the river, either, for that matter. As if from a distance, the sound of hurrying steps came toward him, and he eased out of the way further still; somebody in a rush, sure, and wanting to pass by everybody walking slower, and here he was standing in their road. "Pardon," he said, "j'm'excuse," keeping his head ducked low, wiping absently at his wet cheeks.

Except the footsteps didn't keep on. They scraped to a halt right there by him. And Mike knew, knew, even without looking up, and covered his face with his hand, twisting away, wishing for one grim fierce second that he'd thrown himself in the goddamn river without wasting any time.

"Hey, Mike," Tino said.

4) A treat for Trapeze:

Further down the road, seeing Mike and Tino's established relationship some time after an offscreen fixit. Tino has ambitions, and Mike can yell about it all he wants but will still always be there for Tino. And vice-versa. ♥

The Death-Defying Double Somersault of Love (3672 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Trapeze (1956)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Tino Orsini/Mike Ribble
Characters: Mike Ribble, Tino Orsini
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Sexual Content, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

They soared, always.

I had such an amazing, fantastic Yuletide this year! I can scarcely believe it. Along with my assigned story, I received three (3!) treats, and they are all SO GOOD. Soooo goooood. Tailored perfectly to my interests, all in-character and well-written and well-paced and slashy and so emotionally satisfying.

Honestly, true story, as I was reading them on Christmas Eve, I kept stopping and looking up at the ceiling and just beaming with that inner bubbling feeling of utter squee. They make me so happy!

(And, I've never yet done an actual pimping post for any of these sources, but if you want to see them and cannot otherwise, please do drop me a line!)

1) SINBAD A scattering of pictures on tumblr.
First off, the assigned story, which is a Gunnar/Sinbad story for "Sinbad", the short-lived 2012 UK TV series, a show with a tone that reminds me of the Merlin-Xena-Hercules constellation sometimes...not quite historical, but magical-mythico-folklorish, with occasional purposeful anachronisms. Sinbad is a street urchin who ends up bereaved and cursed, and in the course of trying to save himself, he meets some other outcasts of one kind or another who basically become his found family. Especially the melancholy, protective ex-Viking. :D

The story posits that Gunnar (said Northman) is a literal berserker, a bear-shifter. The spot-on voices and characterizations of the whole crew! The layers of details in setting and worldbuilding! The pining! The mystery of why Gunnar doesn't shift back, and how he does, and the very satisfying answer!

The Beast Within (16058 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sinbad (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gunnar/Sinbad (Sinbad)
Characters: Gunnar (Sinbad), Sinbad (Sinbad), Rina (Sinbad), Anwar (Sinbad), Tiger (Sinbad), Cook (Sinbad), Nala (Sinbad)
Additional Tags: Animal Transformation, Mutual Pining, Nonverbal Communication, Post-Canon
Summary:

There had not been time, Gunnar told himself afterward; there had not been any other way. But it was not true. There was always a choice.

(Or: Gunnar is a werebear. Sinbad has some issues with this; and, as it turns out, so does Gunnar.)

2) REJSEHOLDET A bunch of pics/gifs on tumblr.
A treat of nearly 10K words, if you can believe it, for Rejseholdet aka Unit One, the Danish cop show from the early-mid 2000s perhaps most notable for having Mads Mikkelsen in it (super-hot, natch). Whose character, the ambitious, aggressive Allan Fischer, has such wonderful partner and slash chemistry with the sensitive, secretive empath Thomas La Cour.

This story starts pre-canon and ends post-canon, and follows the entire arc of Fischer and La Cour's relationship, from awkward first meeting through to the finally-settled intimate relationship they had gradually been reaching for but took years to figure out. The characterizations are so so solid, and watching them learn to understand their inchoate need for each other is a sheer delight!

For All This Time (9881 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rejseholdet | Unit One
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Allan Fischer/Thomas La Cour
Characters: Allan Fischer, Thomas La Cour, Mille Fischer, Helene, Victor Fischer, Ingrid Dahl, Ida, Torben Ronne
Additional Tags: Getting Together, Partners to Lovers, First Kiss, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Canon Het Relationships Mentioned
Summary:

1996-2005. Repression, true love, crime, coffee and football.

3) THE STING (1973)
The classic Paul Newman/Robert Redford con-artist movie, if you needed telling. :D One of my very favorite movies of all time, a festival of competence kink, with Newman melancholy and worrying and gravely handsome, and Redford callow and eager and luminous, playing con men who meet and mesh (and make such heart eyes at each other oh god), and prevail over the forces of evil.

You guys I got a Henry/Johnny PRETEND RELATIONSHIP STORYYYYYY. So perfect for two grifters, to have to fake a closeted affair to draw a blackmailer out of the woodwork so they can nab him. And of course, it turns out Henry has a secret that makes the prospect of getting handsy with Johnny no hardship--except for the fact that he knows it's just for the con and will all be over soon. (OR WILL IT. :D ) It crackles with the energy both of the con and of desire, underlaid with secrets sizzling just under the surface.

truth deceived (7047 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Case Fic, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Henry and Johnny catch a blackmailer—by pretending they've got something to be blackmailed about. Except, of course, no one's doing as much pretending as anybody else thinks they are.

4) SHETLAND
The source I fell for most recently, a Scottish drama about a police detective-inspector who lives and works in the Shetland Islands. Jimmy Perez is a thoughtful, kind, determined, melancholy man who lives to protect his communities and look after his daughter Cassie. And he has a fascinating relationship with his daughter's biological father, the more cynical/shades-of-gray figure Duncan Hunter. Jimmy and Duncan get along like grownups, which feels really rare for TV--co-parenting the best they can, communicating with each other, being supportive (even when they conflict).

The story is a quiet, tender scene set after the end of the most recent season, season 3. Jimmy, as could have been predicted, is hollowed-out by serious Empty Nest Syndrome, and Duncan looks after him in a comfortingly bossy, intimate, straightforward, comforting way. Just what I needed, and Jimmy too. ♥

Okay (1007 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Shetland (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan Hunter/Jimmy Perez
Characters: Duncan Hunter, Jimmy Perez
Additional Tags: Sharing a Bed, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, empty nest feels, Feels, Angst
Summary:

Cassie has left and Jimmy doesn't feel okay. Duncan helps.

Good gravy was there a POI season finale last night.

( Read more... )

This season will be a terrific rewatch. ♥

I just read in the AV Club that Justified has been renewed for season 4.

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

FX, you are too good to me.


ETA: And come to think of it, AV Club is too good to me as well, considering the photo they ran with their announcement...

Okay, signup complete, and my letter is full of content now. This year's fandoms, alphabetically, are I Spy, Peacemakers, Rubicon, and Trapeze.

Every year, rolling around in fandoms to write my signup and letter makes me so happy! Just what the doctor ordered.

I've filled in the actual content for my Dear Yuletide Writer letter (on LJ and DW). This year's requests are I Spy, Peacemakers, Rubicon, and Trapeze.

And now I have gigantor cravings to rewatch all of them yet again! Mmmm, happy Yuletide byproduct.