Phrack & Blake Addicted

Merry Christmas, @savedher! 🎅

Your prompt was:  Lucien and Jean, 3.5, he says he likes her as a blonde but then takes off the wig and says he likes her best just as she is.

This is what I made of it. It may or may not have gotten a little away from me, but I hope you like it! 🤗

It can also be find over here. 

It was all very unfortunate. The evening was to be a joyous occasion, what with the lovely surprise of Christopher’s visit for Jean’s birthday. Lucien had also been so excited about and so very pleased with Jean’s performance, even as subtle there in the background it had been, and he had been looking forward to rounding up the evening with a small, private celebration at home. Instead, against any of their wishes, everyone was locked up in the club until the investigation into the unexpected death was concluded, and hopefully, the murder solved.

Considering the famous actress had obviously been poisoned, it was with relief that Lucien went looking for Jean once the body was moved to the billiard room. It was a dreadful thought to think about intended targets, misplaced poisons and collateral victims. That it could have been his lovely Jean (because that’s how he’d come to think of her) that collapsed on stage, lifeless before her body even hit the ground…

It was a terrifying thought indeed.

and if you look to your left, you’ll see me, still not one bit over this

because like…..he’s finally outright saying it. he’s absolutely toasted and it’s the worst timing and probably the worst way he could have said it, but he’s finally saying it. it’s a complete mess but he’s finally saying ‘i want to be with you and i’m willing to try and be more flexible about it but i want to be with you and i can’t do that if there’s other men in the picture, i just can’t. that’s not who i am. if we are going to do this and i want to do this, god do i want to it has to be just us. i can handle your flirting and your past lovers showing up and you looking like sex on a sparkly stick every goddamn day because that’s who you are and i love that and i would never ask you to change but i cannot handle the thought of trying to have a go at this while you’re also having a go with other men i just can’t. and if that’s a deal breaker and you can’t do that i understand and i will not be mad i may be a little petty and jealous but i’m a human man Phryne but as much as i want to be i can’t be the kind of man who’s ok sharing you with someone else’ 

Dead Air

Detective Inspector Jack Robinson ~ Nathan Page

October this year was proclaimed as MFMM whumptober – and there were so many lovely fics posted to this challenge. Here, I have collected them all, to help you find your favourites again, or find new favourites!

It was all rather on a whim originally, @firesign23 and me snatched up an idea to have October as Whumptober (inspired by this post). For this challenge, we asked people to write Miss Fisher whump fics, which is fics with a heavy dose of hurt, and then comfort. This is also, of course, a formula that can be played with, and many of our writers have done that and taken a whump prompt to primarily write fluff. 

In the end, we were given no less than 25 fics as a result of this challenge! (and counting)

Thank you all who participated – you are awesome! And to anyone who didn’t finish but is still working on it, please keep on writing! 

In this post I will give an overview of the fic (here is the full collection), and I’ll do it after the level of angst. I know some of the readers have been hesitant to read whump fic because they were afraid to have their hearts broken. Hopefully this guide can help you out!

So, welcome to the Whumptober angst-o-meter. It’ll start on the fluffiest end, then turn to smut, contemplative mood, hurt with proper comfort, and finally end with hurt where there is very little or no comfort.

Fluff and very little hurt

@scruggzi, “Under Changing Star” for the prompt “Poison”, takes the price as the fluffiest whump! Phryne and Jack are in England, after a party, and I think the tags say it all: “tipsy shenanigans”, “in a field”, and “unanticipated hedgehog”.

Patricia_Holm, “Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies” for “Drugged” gives us an alternate ending of “Unnatural Habits” where Phryne and Jack are captured and drugged, and they can’t help but tell each other the truth about what they feel for each other.

@teaandbanjo’s “The Torture of the Everyday” for “Torture” is all about the small, annoying tortures in life, allowing us to follow Phryne on a very crappy day.

In Isingonly4myangel, “He Has A Way” for “Broken ribs” (a first MFMM fic, welcome!), Phryne is hurt on a case, and Jack is right behind her.

@912luvjaxlean’s “She Who Must Be Obeyed” for “Caretaker” tells us about Jack in a bout of illness, and gives him a very unusual, and rather fun, caretaker, before he finally gets to see Phryne again.

@scruggzi’s “The Great Escape” for “Hostile environment” has Phryne down with influenza and being a truly appalling patient. When she decides to make an escape, she is lucky there are people looking out for her.

@parisian-girl1928​‘s “Cards in the Air” for “Showdown” has a stakeout where a poker playing Phryne takes risks, and it is above all focused on the after effects – Jack’s worry about what could have happened to Phryne, and Phryne, Mac and Jack engaging in delicious banter about it all.

Smut

Focusing on the smut aspect is @deverewinterton​’s “It’s raining men” for “Fever”, where a drenched Jack comes to Wardlow, and Phryne makes him stay and also to see the sense in taking off those wet clothes of his.

In @cruzergirl​/propangel’s “Beneath the Surface” for “Stranded”, Phryne and Jack are locked in a cellar, and while they wait for help they decide to indulge in each other.

Contemplative whump

@omgimsarahtoo​’s “Love Me Tender”  for “Bruises” plays with the heat in creating bruises in the act of love-making, and the tracing of the damage afterwards, in a very intimate way.

@firesign23​'s “Half a Pound of Tupenny Rice” for “Severe illness” is a continuation of the Bugle universe, where Phryne and Jack have an adopted child they found on a crime scene. Little Ant has his first severe illness, and this fic is a take on the feelings that stirs up for Phryne and memories from childhood, in a beautiful way.

@aurora-australis-tumbles​’s “Tried and Tested” for the prompt “Betrayed” is a beautiful scene of Phryne and Jack talking, and drinking, after everything that went down in “Unnatural Habits” and George Sanderson’s betrayal. It has such a wistful tone, Jack reluctantly sharing his feelings and both of them giving away snippets of their past. Also, @aurora-australis-tumbles​ proves herself to have a knack for writing advertisment prose!

@preux-chevalier​/boccardo_syllogism’s “where honeysuckle grows” for “Insomnia” (also a first MFMM fic, welcome!) captures a night of contemplation and caring, as Jack has trouble sleeping. Phryne goes to find him and they talk about war, and life, and love, in a beautiful and rather serene mood.

Hurt – and then thorough comfort

@parisian-girl1928’s “Coming Home to Stay” for “Stay” is a very fun fic focusing on the poor (and rather sarcastic) cupid who has got as his final test the daunting assignment to make one Phryne Fisher and one Jack Robinson fall for each other, and to actually admit it. That proves to be quite the hard work, and many of the fool-proof strategies don’t seem to work, so it seems the cupid needs to bring out the whump. 

@aurora-australis-tumbles’s “Friendly Fire” for the prompt “Friendly fire” is a delightful fic about the aftermath after Jack has been hurt by friendly fire, a mistaken shot from Hugh, and in a most embarrassing body part too, poor man. Phryne makes light on the situation in the most helpful, and funny, way, and the reader has to contemplate if the real whump is the wound in the Inspector’s rear or the one in his pride.

@missingmissfisher’s “Towards the other soul” for “No, stop!” is set in Murder and Mozzarella, when Phryne and Jack are almost run over by a car. Everything seems normal, but when Phryne later visits Jack there is something wrong.

@adverbally’s “Breathless” for “Drowning” has Phryne struggling against an attacker who pushes her down into water, until the police comes to her rescue, and focuses on Phryne’s strength.

In @firesign23’s “Defenseless” for the prompt “Kidnapped”, Phryne wakes up disoriented and doesn’t know what has happened. Slowly, she realises that she’s been kidnapped, and that Jack is in an adjacent room. They can speak through the wall, trying to keep up their spirits, but while they can give each other some comfort, Phryne has no idea how badly hurt Jack is, and he doesn’t seem intent to telling her. The hurt is quite thorough, but so is the comfort.

@whopooh’s “A Second Shot” for “I can’t walk” is an alternative version of Unnatural Habits, where Sydney Fletcher manages to shoot Phryne before he himself is shot. After Jack has put pressure on her wound she is whisked away to the hospital, leaving him with the shock and fear. Until the next day, when he can visit her bedside and clear up the details.

@geenee27‘s “Safe Upon the Shore” for “Hypothermia” gives plenty of room for the hurt, as Jack’s ship goes down before it reaches Southampton. Phryne travels to France to search for him, desperately, not knowing what has happened and aching for the reunion she had been anticipating. On top of the whumptober challenge, this fic is also inspired by the band Great Big Sea’s song “Safe Upon The Shore”.

Hurt – no comfort

@teaandbanjo’s “Light and Heat” for “Seizure” is a minor character story, about Saul who is the murder victim in Raisins and Almond. Here there isn’t really any room comfort, but a snippet of his thoughts and aspirations as he faces death.

@omgimsarahtoo’s ”For Good” for the prompt ”Self-sacrifice” is high on the angst-o-meter, even though there is no physical hurt to be seen. Instead it has all to do with Phryne’s and Jack’s relationship, and Phryne setting him free so he can be happy with someone else. Sarah’s story was so heart-breaking it even prompted a fix-it story, so there is a comfort part after all, and it can be found in @aurora-australis-tumbles’s lovely “For the Better” .

Finally

@rubycaspar’s “When covered, fire acquires still more force” for “Abduction” is not finished yet, so the comfort part hasn’t happened – but the writer has solemnly promised she is a comfort girl. This is a wonderfully written and also severe whump, so tense and with so many feelings as first Jack and then – deliberately, to try to save him – Phryne are abducted. They are treated harshly by the kidnappers, kept in different rooms in a basement, managing to communicate between each other, and then Phryne hears all sorts of things happening to Jack without knowing if he’ll survive. We are eagerly awaiting the concluding chapter!

Formally outside of the challenge, but inspired by it, @viikirks/Miss_Ash decided to make a multi-chapter to cover as many of the prompts as possible, “things that go whump in the night” (a third new writer starting to write MFMM – welcome!). Every chapter is a separate story and uses one of the prompts of whumptober. So far it ranges from “stabbed” to “drowned”, and it has a broad range of hurt-levels, from more light-hearted to serious angst; a couple of the chapters also includes character deaths. Look out for the letter “(A)” in the notes to every chapter – those are a heads-up that that chapter has an ending that is angsty and without the comfort part.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the angst-o-meter and if you see the angst levels differently, as well as if I have missed a fic I should have included. I’m also happy that no less than three new writers took this challenge, and I look forward to reading more by you!

Jack: “This is certainly a well-travelled work of art”

Phryne: “A little like me”

Phryne: “Thank you for helping to retrieve it”

Phryne: “You’re blushing”

Jack: “I’m a grown man, Miss Fisher. I’m not likely to blush at the sight of a little bare flesh”

Phryne: “That’s what surprises me, Detective Inspector.  In fact lately you’re full of surprises”

Jack: “It’s all part of the job”

Jack: “I’ve got to get back to the station.  Excuse me”

Phryne: “Goodnight then”

Jack: “Goodnight”

@it-is-bugs gave us the challenge “the wash line”. Word count: too many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a fine Saturday in late spring. Lucien sat, as was his habit, in the white wicker lawn chair in the garden, soaking up the afternoon sun. He brought the sports section of the afternoon paper out though he often dozed off before he got around to reading it. Lulled by the gentle breeze and the whooshing sound of laundry on the wash line, Lucien was soon asleep.

He was brought our of his peaceful reverie but the sensation of something brushing across his brow. Sitting up, one of Jean’s nylon stockings fell into his lap. He fingered it curiously for a moment before he realized what it was and how it got there. He glanced in the direction of the wash line. The wind was picking up. He headed towards the clothes line to put it back but another strong breeze blew a pair of lacy pink knickers off the line and square into his chest. He held the delicate garment in his hand. A thousand questions and ideas flew into his head at once but he forced them down. Clouds were gathering in the sky above. A storm was coming and it would be here soon. Another gust of wind sent half the wash scattering across the garden. If he didn’t act quickly, Jean’s personal affects would be all over the neighbors’ yard.

Lucien tucked his newspaper under his arm and chased up the errant delicates as best he could, as the wind threatened to carry them all away and the rain threatened to do worse. He had chased up the last stocking and was turning for the house when he heard an astonished voice.

“Lucien!”

Jean stood by the wash line, wide-eyed with outrage. Lucien quickly took stock of the situation. His hands were full of slips and camisoles, now crumpled. The pink lace knickers were one of several pairs stuffed into his pockets. A brassiere was hung over his shoulder and a pair of stockings dangled merrily from his waist coat pocket.

“Jean! Right. I can explain…”

“I know men will be men Lucien but honestly I thought better of you.”

Lucien tried to stammer a reply but could not think of a single thing to say. Shoving the handful of camisoles under his arm against his newspaper, he reached into his pocket and helpfully offered Jean a handful of lacy knickers, just as the first drops of rain began to fall. Jean grabbed the clothes from him and clutched them against her chest.

“The least you could have done is waited until you were inside the house. And alone!”