Close To Home index post

[iesika]

Title: Close To Home
Author: iesika
Fandom: DC Comics
Rating: R
Wordcount: 65,000
Pairings: Kon/Tim, Kon/Cassie, Kon/OMC
Art by:sammage_art
Summary: A murder mystery at Smallville High drives Kon to brush up on his detective skills – and his undercover work. He might need to call in some help. Good thing his best friend is an expert at both.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Art | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Epilogue

Continuity: This story was conceived and begun between the release of Red Robin #1 and Adventure Comics #1. Some canon after that point was taken into effect, but most was ignored. Consider it AU from that point.

Acknowledgments: The art in this story was done by the glorious and wonderful sammage_art , and I am forever in her debt. I'm also eternally grateful to faile_neume and kirax2 for beta, cheerleading, and hand-holding far above and beyond the call of duty. I can't possibly express how indebted I am for all their help, and how glad I am to have them both as friends (and if you happen to notice their names in the story - it's not a coincidence).

And go tell sammage_art you love her pictures!

Comments

[sammage-art.livejournal.com]

I came by to say that I love this fic and I love Jake. Like whoa-em-gee, love him. :3

You already knew this but I figured my love should be public record. <3

[iesika.livejournal.com]

I love your art and I love YOU!

Also for the record.

SUPERBOY, QUEER AVENGER! TO THE RESCUE!

[not-unwise.livejournal.com]

....

I am seeing the study time.

It's going away in favour of reading this. :/

[iesika.livejournal.com]

It'll keep, you know. :P

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

The level of my excitement here: VIHBKOLPIH{JO()P}MOL"KN:BJ HVYFGOUHIPJ{O}PJ{INK:BJLN

[iesika.livejournal.com]

^___^

I hope I don't let you down!

[faile-neume.livejournal.com]

This story is shit. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would waste their time reading this. They could be do something better, like gouging their eyes out. I mean, it's not like there's a well developed and intriguing plot. Or interesting and unique original characters. Or solid character development for canon characters. And it's not like I still get all light headed when reading Tim Wayne.

Seriously though. This is rubbish.

<3

[iesika.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear that. And here I was thinking you might want a water-fight out-take for xmas.

[ladymirth.livejournal.com]

I squealed out loud with delight when I saw this was up. I've been waiting for it since you started posting excerpts.

*runs off to read*

[iesika.livejournal.com]

^_____^

[darthanne.livejournal.com]

wow it's done. going to book mark it to read it through when I have time

[iesika.livejournal.com]

^_^ I hope you like it!

[macey-muse.livejournal.com]

oh hai I adore this pairing, and it's been so long since there's been new long!fic for them. *dives in* thankyou!

[iesika.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

Was recced this by porntestpilot, but I have exams. *memories*

♥ in advance, as I'm sure it's awesome :D

[chopchica.livejournal.com]

I'm super excited to read this, but I was wondering if it is possible to get the entire story in one file - word or website or dreamwidth or something like that. I like to load stories onto my Sony Reader and cutting and pasting seventeen posts worth of stuff is kind of intimidating.

Again, yay! Super excited! It looks so long and awesome and right up my alley!

[iesika.livejournal.com]

I guess I can send you my word doc if you give me your email. I'm had pdf requests but that will take a while.

[humanconnection.livejournal.com]

This fic is so amazing! I love it so much! Great job, do think their might be more?

The art is superb btw.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

There will be more, yes. ^_^

if you like the art, go tell sammage_art! For she is amazing and wonderful!

[azorxan.livejournal.com]

this fic is great, it is exciting and funny.
i hop you wil write a sequel! (to gain insight in their relationship)
i miss the reactions of the tteen titans , batman and bruce wayne, and maybe conners reaction if he meet dick.

[tightshorts.livejournal.com]

This is the greatest thing ever. Sorry it took me so long to read it and then tell you how great it was. Do you think Conner would mind coming to my school? It could really use it. Or even just Mr. Dalton. Or Chase and Hamilton. Or really any of them. Thanks so much for writing this. It was a joy to read.

[alita-b-angel.livejournal.com]

I JUSSSTTT Finished this, and I have to say it's downright amazing, a great show of complicated relationships and the kind of double life Tim/Kon with a slice of roaring hot that I adore to little bits.

I loved your Kon, he's so charming and fluent in dude language. I wish all Kon/Tim fics could have your Kon, who's responsible and caring and yikes it's like I'm not even describing Kon anymore since typically he's that douchebag highschool frat boy who sleeps around a lot. You made him grow as a character in such a believeable way.

AT THE SAME TIME. My heart craves for more of this universe. Tim and Kon's relationship isn't REALLY resolved yet. And Cassie, poor girl, is being left on the back burner. In a way like how this fic is so slice of life, but the reader in me is like a hungry monster wanting more.

I powered through the entire thing in 4 hours. It was amazing.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

Four hours! Wow! O.o


Thanks so much for the lovely feedback! I'm glad you liked it! Kon was really fun to write, even though he sometimes gave me fits and made me want to break out the kryptonite.

I do intend to write more dealing with the relationships. ^_^ I was...kind of hoping to make people want more, lol.

[e-307.livejournal.com]

Alright, just finished reading this whole thing after having a link to it tossed my way and I just have to say this is an amazing story. One of the best I've read in a long, long while. Great job!

[iesika.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you liked it!.

[brownbetty]

I just stayed up 'till O'fuck thirty to finish this, because I couldn't stop once I started. I fell away from DC when they killed Kon, and I knew he'd come back, but I just couldn't go back when I knew they'd do it to me again the next time they needed a summer event. But this took me back to back when I was madly in love with DC, and Tim, and Kon, and Smallville and Gotham. Thank you.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the feedback. You really made me grin, and touched me a little, too. True, DC does treat us pretty bad. ;_; I keep coming back like an abused girlfriend with self-esteem issues, though.

I'm so glad I made you feel the love again, even if it's only for a little while. And I'm glad you followed me home. *snort* I should have left you comments ages ago. I really love your stuff.

best story ever

[hallowstranger.livejournal.com]

This is seriously the best Kon story I have ever read or found so far!
The characterizations are fantastic and spot on (canon? who needs!) and I can feel the characters that I love. KUDOS!
There are some hints that are dropped here and there in the story (I won't mention them here for fear of spoilers) and I would love to see this story (series?) continue to bring them to fruition.
So, in the end, all I have for you is LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Re: best story ever

[iesika.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it so much!

If you want to talk about spoilery things, feel free to email me or im me - my contact info is on my userprofile.

LOVE LOVE LOVE back at'cha!

[theladymeow.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You've been rec'd!

The Reader's Have Chosen is a fanfiction recommendation community dedicated to finding the best of the best in fandoms across the boards, and sharing them with other authors and avid readers.

Your story, "Close To Home", has been rec'd and is now being voted on in the Monthly Poll: Misc. Fellow fandom-aficionados will vote for their favorites of all the recommendations, and the stories with the most votes will be posted on the front page.

You can find our website at (without spaces): http : // thereadershavechosen . eternflame . com You can find the Misc. Monthly Poll at (without spaces): http:// thereadershavechosen. eternflame. com/ forum/ index. php? topic= 1489.0

[redbird1983.livejournal.com]

I have to say I was very impressed with your story. I found it purely by chance when I typed in RED ROBIN in an image search engine. I'm glad I found it. You did a great job of telling a strong, emotionally stimulating story that really spoke to someone who has gone through the trials of being gay in a mid-western town. Although there was never any meta-human murders, there was the fear of being targeted.

I particularly enjoyed the fact that despite the fact that you took two documented cannon DC straight characters (although if they ever DID come out as gay in the comics, I wouldn't be surprised) and used them as gay/bisexual character, you didn't fall into the problem that I see so often with slash stories. You stayed true to the characters. You didn't transform them into lose mary-sue characters, but instead respected them and followed their histories respectfully. Particularly in regards to Tim as an investigator.

I am disappointed however that you left so many lose plot threads. For example, Kon's relationship with Cassie. Did they keep dating or what? Also, how did all this affect their lives AFTER? I mean, both of them are now outted as gay. Tim, who I assume is bisexual in your story, might be okay with this, but Conner I'm confused about. I mean, he outted himself at high school even though he wasn't gay (at the time) and now he's outted globally. And what of Jake? Did he get over Kon? And Martha seems very unhappy with Tim. Why?

And also I'm very curious about where this thing with Tim was going. I mean, yes, Tim is a manipulative little jerk sometimes (which I love about him), but its never been for personal gain. And with the exception of one incident, he's never been petty, which he seemed to be in some ways towards Jake. He's a very ethical character (another think I love about him), and it seems odd that he would manipulate Kon into being his boyfriend without discussing it with Kon. Tim usually doesn't go into that level of bat-dickery, at least with his friends. Are you planning to do a follow up story to answer these questions?

And my big question is, why didn't Conner admit to Jake that he was straight at the start? I'm not sure why he had to go 'undercover' as gay. There was no reason to lie about it, was there? The fact that a straight guy was so supportive of gay rights would have probably been very much appreciated by everyone in the LGBT Club, and probably would have saved Jake a great deal of heartache. Its one thing for a gay guy to pine over a straight guy. Its slightly easier to move on, because you know it will never happen. But Conner lying and saying that Tim was his boyfriend, when he in truth has a girlfriend, seems almost cruel to poor Jake. Because that put both boys in a somewhat awkward position and now the whole thing with Tim...

Again, this was a very great story, and I'd love to see if you plan to take this further.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to put your thoughts down and share them.

Having come out as a teenager in the deep south, I had a *little bit* of experience to draw on. I'm glad glad I didn't fall into the chicks-with-dicks trap - that's one of the things I hate most on fandom. And Tim...Well, Tim *is* an investigator. ^_^ That's what he does, and in a way who he is, too If I didn't want to write him that way, I wouldn't write so much Tim.

The loose plot threads are so that I can gather them up later for a sequel. You're right that there's a lot left unsaid, and I'm proud to say I actually have plans for most of the questions you raised. The one thing I guess I didn't get across well was my idea of Kon's fluid sexuality - that he *is* queer, and knew that about himself, and just didn't actively think about it much in the early part of the story because he's got a girlfriend... I'm bisexual, myself, and I don't frequently *think* about the fact I'm bisexual - I just am. We've seen Kon hit on beings that don't even look human - I'm pretty sure he's equal opportunity. And I didn't want him to have a lot of soul searching about it, because one of his first teammates (back in the Ravers) was a canon gay character who came out to himself and everyone else in the course of the series, so if Kon was ever going to have a heterosexual crisis, it would have been then...

I'm going to have to beg to differ with you on Tim, because sometimes his sneakiness *has* been for personal gain. He's just very good at convincing himself that's not true. And remember, Kon's the on who asked *him* to play boyfriend. Tim just...did a very good job of it. With or without ulterior motives. ^_~

The real answer for your last question is "because I wanted it that way." I've got a rationalized explanation that will come out in the sequel, though. I did have supportive straights, though! *points at Lilah and the other straight couples at the diner*

Thanks again for taking the time for such well-thought-out feedback! My icon should show you how happy it made me. ^___^

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

Would it be alright with you if I wrote a ficlet set in this unierse? I wouldn't expect you to take it into account for sequels or anything like that, but it's just that there's someone who'd definitely be giving Kon a congratulatory phone call as soon as he saw the story in the news, and I want to write it.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

I am intrigued...do, please, and let me know when it goes up. <3 I just wrote a silly thing in that verse unconnected to the actual arc, and kirax2 has done one as well (with Tim Wayne macking on Jake, and it made my *life*)

[reflectedeve.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. A friend of mine bookmarked this ages ago, so I finally got around to it - no idea why I waited this long. This is fantastic! I haven't read Tim/Kon in ages, and I didn't realize how much I missed them. I particularly love your Kon, here (it's hard not to, spending so much of the fic in his head) ... so earnest and upfront in his way, but not over-the-top dense the way you sometimes see people writing him. And sneaky Tim! (The Tim of my heart!) Also, I have to say, it's a rare thing when I find myself getting this attached to a whole pack of OCs. They're usually not my favorite thing in fic, but Jake and Dalton and the whole GSA were great . . . even the principal was really interesting.

I loved how you worked bits of background canon in throughout. I was particularly delighted by Tim & Kon's creative retelling of their first encounter.

I'm a little twitchy about how much is still unresolved (poor Cassie! she deserves better), which is just right; cannot wait for more in this universe. And . . . hey, I'm rambling, here. At any rate, I'm definitely on the edge of my metaphorical seat, looking forward to the sequel! :) This was brilliant; thank you so much for sharing.

[iesika.livejournal.com]

So glad you enjoyed it so much! ^_^ You hit on a lot of my favorite things about the pairing, and my favorite things to write, too - Tim being sneaky, Kon being earnest, the honest but somewhat modified version of their history... it was all so fun to write.

I'm hoping to get started on the sequel pretty soon. I had to let it sit for a while, but I'm afraid of letting it sit *too* long. ^_^;

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Woohoo Tim/Kon! I will now have happy visions of athletic boys fighting crimes and doing naughty things.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Also, when you post other stories set in this universe, do you plan to tag them with "close to home"? I'd love to track the tag so I can get notified when there's more. (Which, no pressure! But you did talk about writing a sequel.)

[lelola.livejournal.com]

I love this fic! ♥

I love it to bits. Awhile ago, I ended up rambling (http://lelola.livejournal.com/93949.html) in my journal on why this fic struck a chord with me, and when I realized I hadn't left a comment here yet, I knew that had to be rememdied.:3

This fic is AMAZING! Now please excuse me while I use the word "love" about a bazillion times.

I love your take on Kon. The way your write him makes me very happy. I love his narrative and the way you portray his understanding of the world in which he lives. I love how he stands up to meet the challenges thrown his way, and I love how you show how much he genuinely cares about the people he loves. I also love your take on his sexuality. It's not something he has to think too much about. It's simply something that's there.

I would also like to say how much I enjoyed your OCs. I'm not a big OC person, to be honest, but I can't imagine what this fic would've looked like without them. They populated this universe in such a wonderful way. I love Kon's friends at school. I love how Kon slowly develops friends at school. (I love that Kon has friends at school!) And Jake! Oh my goodness, I love Jake! I also liked how you seemingly effortlessly gave each of your OCs depth.

One of the things I adore about this fic is how multifaceted and complicated each and every character is. The world of this fic is populated with dynamic bodies that each have their own understandings of the world stemming from their own unique histories. This makes it really interesting to see how your characters interact with each other -- how each of them bring something to the table and how they complicate each other in many different ways.

I love the plot and the mystery that slowly unfolds. I love how it tackles very real issues and how those issues are, just as they are in real life, tangled up in the lives of the people they effect. As I said above, the plot of this fic hit me close to home in more ways than one. I had similar experiences to Kon (minus, you know, the superpowers and such) in high school, and it was a bit of a bittersweet thrill for me to read many of the scenes in this story. When Kon stands up to the principle about the club, I found myself shouting at the screen, "It's just like real life!" And I won't lie: every time Kon and his friends had a victory, I cheered.

I loved Tim and Kon. And their, you know, everything. Their amazing, intimate, confused, hilarious, awkward everything. I love how much potential there is in their relationship.

There were so many scenes in this fic that stood out to me, from Kon using his TTK in the fields with Clark watching, to Kon picking up the poster off the floor, to Jake's first kiss, to Kon losing it in the gymnasium, to Martha making blueberry pancakes, to Kon almost falling sleep in his potatoes, to Tim making his entrance as Tim fucking Wayne. Gah! ♥ I am struggling with the words to tell you how much I love this fic! I seriously want to keyboard mash with allcaps on because I have so much love for this fic I can't seem to inarticulate.

I am hoping and waiting for a sequel. They say that good stories stay with your imagination for a long time. (One of the reasons this review isn't more detailed is because I read this fic over a month ago. I still felt the need to review, because have I mentioned I love this fic?) Sometimes I find myself thinking about Tim and Kon, about how badly they need to talk and wondering how they could break through their... issues. I also find myself wondering about Jake. And Cassie. Uh... in short, please add me to the list of individuals who would love to see more of this universe! :3

In conclusion, I love this fic! ♥ Thank you for your Kon! Thank you for your world and your characters! Thank you for tackling homophobia and for handling it so well! And thank you thank you thank you for writing this fic! It truly is incredible! ♥♥♥

[favouriteyear.livejournal.com]

Dear Sweet Goddesss.

I don't have enough words to describe how incredibly well written and amazing this story is.

I couldn't stop reading. I love how well you've written the characters. I loved your characterisation of Tim, he's more like Bruce than anyone realises.

It's just utterly fabulous. I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that there's more!

[eamelion.livejournal.com]

I actually found my way over here by way of Sam's art, and I can't even begin to say how much I absolutely loved this story.

I've read a whole lot of fanfiction over the last decade, but I can honestly say without any qualms that this story is easily the best I've ever read. And the one I've absolutely most enjoyed.

The characters were so absolutely in character, the mystery so engagingly done, the story so compelling - I'm half compelled to start all over again.

I don't seem to see the sequel in your journal, so I'm guessing it has not yet been written, but I hope that happens soon as I eagerly await being able to read more.

Thank you so much. :)

[wickedwonder1.livejournal.com]

I stumbled across this story on the mobile fic site and rolled my way through it. I laughed so hard and loved it and and requesting sequels! So good!