#and The Sign of 4 from Sherlock and Co

[theanxiousghostartist]

Me, when podcast characters are clearly entering a dangerous situation that could only end badly: Get out! Get the fuck out! What the fuck are you doing???

[corpseri]

Hewwo I'm here to cause a riot 😈 Can you wrote the ikevil characters with a 4 year old MC who's rowdy and chaotic? And I love your content so much, please keep up the good work 💖

𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 | 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐂

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍ ʀᴇx, ʜᴀʀʀɪꜱᴏɴ ɢʀᴀʏ, ʟɪᴀᴍ ᴇᴠᴀɴꜱ, ᴇʟʙᴇʀᴛ ɢʀᴇᴇᴛɪᴀ, ᴀʟꜰᴏɴꜱᴇ ꜱʏʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴄᴀ, ʀᴏɢᴇʀ ʙᴀʀᴇʟ, ᴊᴜᴅᴇ ᴊᴀᴢᴢᴀ, ᴇʟʟɪꜱ ᴛᴡɪʟɪɢʜᴛ, ᴠɪᴄᴛᴏʀ

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: Yeah definitely (defo haven't been gone for over a year lmao). This honestly made me realise how much I hate writing for all characters like it takes so long and my fingies hurt

Also for this one I also made some headcanons for just a general child reader too since I got a bit off track

𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊

#𝐖𝐈��𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐗

He's a perfect mix of indulgence and restraint: he knows how to make you happy by indulging your chaos, but knows when to stop and show you that there are better times to be rowdy

Despite that, he sometimes has trouble keeping you in check, specifically when he comes back from a mission and is very tired, and you're all over the place

But he loves you regardless

He honestly trusts you with any member of the Crown (except Alfonse maybe) and gives them strict instructions not to do anything dangerous that will hurt you (they do the former, not the latter) and he's not surprised when he comes back to see you with a plaster or two on you

Will probably use his free time teaching you how to play the piano since he was also taught when he was young and hopes for you to do the same

Of course when you're older you can choose not to play the piano but he thinks it's a lesson all children should be taught when they're young

Will sing to you or hum a lullaby to get you to force you to sleep, and when that doesn't work he forces Jude to use his ability on you

#𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘

He did NOT sign up for this

But he's here now so might as well

He takes you on missions, only safe ones like gathering intel so you can be his little Watson

You think you're being slick by lying to him about if you ate the last of his mints but you're not and 60% of the time he'll call you out on it

Sometimes he won't because he can't be bothered but realises soon enough he needs to teach you that honesty is the better route than lying because he doesn't want you to end up like him

Will probably chase you around if you're being too noisy but will give up halfway since he's tired and not bothered to run more

He'll let you run around until you get tired then you gravitate towards him, and he'll carry you to your room

He'll most likely give you to Liam, William or Ellis when he's busy since he trusts them the most with looking after a child and they have enough patience to deal with you

Will make you read Sherlock books as literary books to hopefully guide you into the detective world like he once wanted to

Bought you a fox plushie you sleep with every night and smiles every time he sees you cuddling it

#𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌 𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐒

Indulges you to the maximum

Picks you up and takes you anywhere you want to go, and spoils you to the max (which is probably how you got so chaotic)

He takes you to the theatre where he practices for an upcoming play and his co-stars adore you

You run around everywhere when he's saying his lines and they make jokes saying you're the wind or tumbleweed if the play's set in the U.S

Dresses you up in pink so you both can match, or in your own colours with the same design as his

You both play hide-and-seek quite frequently. Whenever you're seeking you don't realise that Liam isn't hiding, he's actually right behind you using his ability to be invisible so he can keep an eye on you

When he feels like the same has gone on for too long he goes into an open room where he thinks you'll go in next and hides poorly so you can find him easily

Tells himself he's gonna teach you how to be more patient and calm and more behaved, even though he knows he won't

Tucks you into bed every night

#𝐄𝐋𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐀

He's not well suited to raise a child, so the responsibility of looking after you won't even fall on him

But you often approach him and pull him wherever you desire and he follows willingly, to make sure you don't get hurt

Is very overwhelmed by you're loud and rowdy nature, he's never met anyone quite like you, for someone so small

But he often buys you small little trinkets he debates on giving you because he might want to keep it for himself

He does buy you anything if you request it, no matter how much it costs. A child like you won't even notice something being way to expensive for what it is, but Elbert will buy it for you no questions asked

He likes it when you hold his hand, he likes feeling the warmth of your fingers and your childlike innocence and would do anything to protect it

You once entered his room and stepped on something sharp, and since you didn't have shoes on (you rarely wear shoes) you started to cry and he awkwardly held you and patted your back

Then after he put the sharp items on the shelves so you won't be hurt again

#𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐘𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀

Also another one who wouldn't be put in charge of raising you

Like seriously have you met him

He's a bit more wary around you and only talks to you when needed, he doesn't actively seek you out

But you're persistent and you yell at him why he doesn't want to talk to you

He then makes an effort to become more playful around you, and doesn't mind too much on your burst of energy

Probably the only one besides Victor who won't have his energy drained by the end of the day hanging out with you

Can and will put you in danger but you're too in the moment to realise

It's not like it too much danger just enough for you to sustain a few injuries (Victor gave him a lecture later)

He hoped for you to realise hanging out with him is not safe and you'll willingly avoid him after that but you're four and a bit stupid so you continue to annoy him

Pinches your cheek and lets you vibe around him

Is now wary of not actively trying to kill you

#𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐋

Can and will teach you medicine idc

Bro has no time to look after you since he's stuck in the basement with his doctor things

So you're around the corridors having fun being your stupid self until it comes to a point Roger genuinely forgets about you and that he's technically your dad

Until one day he finds you walking and asks you how you've been and you ask who he is, it's then he decides he probably should get to spend time with you

And spend time with you he means teaching you how to treat a patient and using Jude as a live test subject

You then start to yell at him that you want to play and you storm upstairs and he doesn't know what he did wrong

Sucks up his pride and plays with you for a full day, not expecting you to run around everywhere and yell at the top of your lungs

He then realises if he made you stay there longer you would have knocked over something important and get rid of three day's worth of work

Starts becoming more present in your life and even lets you wear his glasses for giggles

#𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐉𝐀𝐙𝐙𝐀

Also forgets about you

He has no time to deal with a snotty brat

So Ellis spends time with you and sometimes takes you with him and Jude to the warehouse and you chat to the other workers and help them lift stuff (you do nothing. They sometimes pick you up and put you on the cargo like a princess like that one video)

Occasionally when your energy depletes and you're sleeping probably on top of some cargo, Ellis will take you down and place you on Jude's lap while you sleep

You swore you could have felt someone's head caress your head but when you ask Jude he says something snarky about not knowing what you're talking about

If you ask for something Jude will definitely say no to your face, but then orders Ellis to buy it for you and place it in your room when you're out so it's like a little surprise

On his very very rare day off or on a day when there's not much to be done he will actually check up on you to see if you're still alive and indulges you for a while and plays with you (unless it's running because his weak-ass heart can't take it)

If someone kidnaps you he will kill them

#𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

He genuinely loves you so much

He'll hold you, cuddle you, spoil you rotten and play with you from sunrise to sunset if his work allowed him to (it doesn't)

Has no trouble with you causing ruckus as long as you're safe, he might even partake in it but it's subtle and probably why he isn't such a good influence on you

His main plan is wearing you out to the point you fall asleep by 6:00 PM, sometimes it works really well and sometimes you'll still be up by the ass-crack of dawn

Plays cops and robbers with you and if you're a robber and he catches you he'll bind your wrists together and give you punishment tickles because a bad girl's gotta repent somehow

He does wish for you to grow up and live a happy life but at the same time he does wish to see you at your happiest moment so he can kill you, has debated on taking your life since you seem so happy but can't bring himself to do it because he wants you to live

Knows he probably won't live that long due to his curse and his "tragic end" so he does plan in the future to step away from you slightly so you won't feel too bad when he leaves

But again can't bring himself to do that

#𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑

Also spoils you rotten

We know next to nothing about him curse and past-wise so it's hard to say anything related to that, but his personality is pretty much common knowledge so

Is your #2 partner in crime, will let you try some hair designs on his hair and is genuinely impressed if you do better than he thought a four-year-old could do

Sometimes sleeps in your bed since he loves you too much and needs to feel his baby

You've seen quite frequently how Harrison tends to be a bit dismissive of Victor so as his child you do your best to annoy the shit out of him and now Harrison has a Victor and his mini-me to look out for

Proudly announces he will protect you from all the monsters that roams across London, and the nightmares in your sleep. He's now your hero

One time you unlocked the secret weapon room thing and you took a gun and started pointing it everywhere

Victor thought it wasn't loaded or cocked so he laughed with you but then when he got the gun back it was fully loaded and all you needed to do was press the actual trigger and someone could have died

Bro was mortified after that

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | @nightghoul381 , @serynhe , @kookie-my-little-sunshine , @cy-inky, @aquagirl1978 , @abundance-pathchooser, @lapis-da-lazuli , @ellisgivesmelife013 @surviving-off-ellis-crumbs, @yuan134

[bi-bored]

Mariana from SH&Co

FINALLY FINISHED (and justification in time to hear sherlock say her name AAAAAAAAHHH)

look at this gorgeous woman!

(Also ignore how different the styles are between this one and Sherlock's; I'm gonna redraw his soon b/c this was using a drawing tablet and the other was just using my finger 😑)

*SH&CO Sign of 4 spoiler!

OMG this scene has my heartttt, it took him so long but he did ittt! And I love how every time he mentions one of them by name, they actually take the time to notice that and it's not just smth the listeners notice. Really random but idk it's the sort of tiny thing you'd expect they wouldn't actually comment on.

(And I'm also currently starting a funny little drawing of another scene in this episode ;) cant wait to finish that and show ya'll, tho it might take a week or two)

[comicgeekery]

More Like The Three Gay-bles, Right?

The Three Gables

This was a fun reset into the regular Sherlock & Co. adventures. Something low stakes that also gave John space to show that he’s still grieving for Mary. And Sherlock and Mariana had time to hang out, just the two of them! I was hoping for that!

The mystery was interesting, with the questions about what could be hidden in the hospital that someone would spend decades obsessing over obtaining or destroying. (Though I found the solution a little underwhelming. Yeah, the woman covered up a murder, but you don’t need to out her as a cougar!) Thinking about it now, I really wonder why it was so hard for her to get that evidence. Hire some burglers! Give the hospital a big donation with the condition that you get to dig something out of an unused chimney! There were options!

But this adventure was clearly much more about the characters. John is in mourning and Sherlock and Mariana are doing their best to support him through that. It’s sweet.

But it’s also time for me to once again pull out my Johnlock conspiracy board!

Ok, so one thing I didn’t mention about The Sign of Four was the queer clues (qlues) I found there. I wanted to focus on the objective story and give Mary her flowers. But there were some important elements to note!

Sherlock seemed jealous at the idea of John dating someone. Could just be friend-jealousy, but it was there.

“You have a lovely face. Very warm.” Sherlock to Watson in The Sign of Four, part 4

John pointed out (also in SoF, part 4) that Sherlock had done a case with a romantic interest before, Victor Trevor from The Gloria Scott! And Sherlock acknowledged it! As a reminder, Victor Trevor was an old friend of Sherlock’s from school and the only explicitly gay man we’ve had so far. I knew they had a flirty vibe!

So we know that Sherlock & Co. has an explicitly queer version of Sherlock Holmes! That’s fantastic! It still doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll get together with John, but honestly I’ll stay thrilled either way!

Knowing he’s a queer character also made his interaction with the drag queen really interesting. First of all he knew her, but he also seemed comfortable with the drag performance and her club in a way that felt like he’d been there before. Sherlock isn’t just queer, he’s had experience with queer culture. I doubt that gay clubs are his preferred scene, but I love the implication of a journey of self-discovery. Maybe it was something he experienced while in school with Victor.

Now for some bits that are more theory than evidence-based. I suspect that Sherlock has a big crush on John and has for a while. Not a surprise, as John has repeatedly been so kind, supportive, and actively interested in Sherlock’s passion for crime solving. I also think that Sherlock currently has zero intention of pushing for any romantic intimacy. Even aside from the fact that John only expresses interest in women and now has shown heartache from two major straight relationships, I really doubt Sherlock would be willing to take that sort of risk. He’s been deeply lonely for a lot of his life and John’s probably the best friend he’s ever had. Definitely not something worth risking when it’s much more likely John would be really uncomfortable.

(Doesn’t stop Sherlock from making a big effort to make a good impression on Ma Watson though. That was worth a minute of masking.)

Sherlock would certainly be SUPER concerned about any abilities he might have to be romantic anyway. Romance is a minefield for anyone, with all of the careful dancing around each other’s longings and vulnerabilities. Unassisted, Sherlock’s plans for a date would probably be a stressful mess. Maybe he’s even already experienced it.

But there’s also the issue that Sherlock is actively hiding things from John. In The Three Gables, we learn that Sherlock is super secretive about his family. I was relieved honestly, because I had thought that John had lived with Sherlock all this time and never asked about his past. It’s good to know it was just off-mic non-answers.

Obviously Mycroft is going to come up at some point, in some form. I still think he might be high-needs autistic, brilliant at government sorting, but downright unable to socialize or go anywhere besides work, home, and the Diogenes club. Maybe he’ll even be a sister in this version! That could be fun, and it’s not like Mycroft is an especially gendered name. But I’m sure he’s still going to have a significant position in the British government. Not the puppet-master he was in BBC’s Sherlock, but someone with some power and influence. I also still think he might be involved in cleaning up a few legal messes resulting from Sherlock’s cases and John’s obsession with uploading accounts of all the crimes they’ve committed.

We may also meet the extended Holmes family. I’d like that. Ma and Pa Holmes, maybe a Sherrinford (also a sister?). Hell, give Sherlock aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, whatever! Give us all the family and all the Sherlock background!

However, whoever his family is, I’m certain they’re a big deal. I think they’re super rich and paid for Sherlock to go to a bunch of different schools, to play around as a detective, and to have servants/caregivers. And I think Sherlock is very worried about how John would react if he knew, given how often John has expressed disdain for wealthy people. Sherlock doesn’t want to lie to his best friend, but he also can’t tell the truth. So he’s just saying nothing for as long as he can.

(Sherlock was definitely the one to buy or arrange for Tonga getting those football season tickets in the hospital.)

In conclusion: I continue to think that Johnlock is a real possibility on Sherlock & Co. If it’s going to happen it’s clearly going to be a hell of slow burn, but we’ve got some important groundwork now!

[hot-on-my-watch]

BBC Sherlock as a Specialist Subject on Celebrity Mastermind

In the first episode of the recent Celebrity Mastermind children's TV presenter Abby Cook had BBC Sherlock as her specialist category.

She got through 9 questions in the two minutes allowed, getting them all right! Most of them were pretty easy by our standards but I did go blank on no. 8 and didn't get it in time (i.e. before she did).

For anyone who can access BBC iplayer it's easy enough to find and begins around 9 minutes in.

I've also typed up the questions if anyone fancies it:

1. The first episode, originally aired in 2010, is entitled A Study in what colour?

2. Sherlock was co-created by the actor and writer Mark Gatiss and which Scottish writer, with whom he'd worked on Doctor Who?

3. Which actress, who at the time was Martin Freeman's real-life partner, plays Mary Morstan, John Watson's girlfriend and later wife?

4. Holmes' crucial deduction in The Sign(sic) Of Three hinges on the fact that Watson was persuaded to put his hated middle name on the his wedding invitation. What name is it?

5. In the series two finale, The Reichenbach Fall, Jim Moriarty stuns the police when he breaches the security of three of the most secure places in the country, these being Pentonville Prison, the Tower of London and which other building?

6. What two-word name does Holmes give to the imaginery building where he visualises and interrogates a case's clues in his head, thus revealing all the possible solutions of the mystery to himself?

7. Holmes correctly deduces that Watson has an alcoholic sibling, but mistakenly assumes it's a brother, not a sister, because she has what name?

8. In The Great Game Holmes reveals that an Old Master on display is a fake, having previously been thought to be the work of which 17th century Dutch artist?

9. On one of the headstones outside of the Holmes ancestral home, what Latin word is the first name of a family member who supposedly lived from 1617 to 1822, but died at the age of 32?

Well done Abby Cook if you're reading this! ;-)

And, as a POTS sufferer, I totally rumbled you as hypermobile by the way you sat cross legged on your wheelchair!

In other news, while googling the format of Mastermind I've also formed a new theory as to why Charles Augustus Milverton in the ACD canon was changed to CA Magnussen in The Lying Detective.

More on this later! It's linked to the fact that the first host of Mastermind was journalist and broadcaster (and non-murderer, hopefully) Magnus Magnussen.

[dearsholmes]

1) A Study in Scarlet

(Back to main post)

Originally titled "A Tangled Skein"

Sherlock Holmes was originally "Sherrinford Holmes" with partner John Watson originally "Ormond Sacker"

This is the book that first established the magnifying glass as a tool used by detectives to solve crimes!

Page from the original manuscript:

First Published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual November 1887

Extra Information:

founded by Samuel Orchart Beeton

Beeton’s Christmas Annual was sold to Ward, Lock & Co publishing

ward lock n co founded by ebenezer ward and george lock

Had three works:

"A Study in Scarlet" by A. Conan Doyle, pp. 1–95.

"Food for Powder" by R. André, pp. 96–114.

"The Four-Leaved Shamrock" by C. J. Hamilton, pp. 115–138.

Copy once sold for $156,000 at Sotheby's on 21 June 2007, estimated 75,000-125,000 USD

Original manuscript was rejected by other publishers until Ward, Lock & Co offered and accepted £25 for the copyright

(equivalent to £3,371.95 considering inflation)

he got no royalties, just a flat fee - eventually had to pay two hundred times the original price of sale to get the copyright to that one story back.

Conan Doyle wrote back to ask for a percentage on sales. Here is the publisher's answer of 2 November 1886: Dear Sir, In reply to your letter of yesterday's date we regret to say that we shall be unable to allow you to retain a percentage on the sale of your work as it might give rise to some confusion. The tale may have to be inserted together with some other in one of our annuals, therefore we must adhere to our original offer of £25 for the complete copyright. We are, dear Sir, Yours truly, Ward, Lock & Co.

illustrated by David Henry Friston

this sold originally for one shilling

ward lock n co then republished this outside of beeton’s christmas annual

Lippincott’s magazine commissioned a sequel:

The American editor of LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE read it and decided to commission a sequel. He invited Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to dinner at a London restaurant with the editor and another writer he was trying to court, and during the course of the evening Sir Arthur agreed to another Sherlock Holmes novel and he went home and wrote THE SIGN OF THE FOUR, and the other writer, who was Oscar Wilde, said, "Oh, yeah, sure, I'll give you a short novel," and he went home and scribbled out THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.

A STUDY IN SCARLET sold for (the equivalent of) $2,951.39 and ran 43,704 words. Six and three-quarters cents a word. SFWA rates are five cents a word.

Page 90, line 23 second paragraph fourth line

copies that are lacking the “I” of “I fancy that he suspected…” are the true first edition, first issues of this magazine

Recorded copies

34 total confirmed

21 in libraries

University of Minnesota - 4

Yale - 3

may have had another two previously

11 complete copies with original wrappers and advertisements

one of which is bound

one has a spine

23 lack original wrappers and/or advertisements

some of which have facsimile replacements for the missing original parts

two copies are signed by ACD

one copy had. an unsigned inscription by him but the page was stolen and now missing

page 90 “I”

14 don’t

18 do

2 not available

11 extra excluded copies

either missing, unknown status, no record, or destroyed

one also might be one of the confirmed copies, matching description

link to facsimile (identical yet modern reprint):

Ward, Lock & Co July 1888

Extra info:

Illustrated by his father Charles Doyle

6 of them

Charles Doyle while he was by then confined to an asylum on account of his epilepsy and alcoholism

one shilling

Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincot March 1890

First Edition

American Edition

Ward, Lock, Bowden & CO (formerly Ward, Lock & Co) 1891

Extra info:

Illustrated by George Hutchinson

Some Covers

[sunshine304]

20 questions for fic writers

@chrononautintraining tagged me for this, thank you!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

24

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

162,445

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Almost exclusively for The Untamed/MDZS. Did a little fic for Legend of Fei as well, but I guess that was an exception. XD

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Five Serious Late-Night Conversations & ...

Hanguang-Jun's Flawless Taste in Men

Rumour Twarting, Gusu Lan Style

A More Practical Approach

Sign Me Up For That Full-Time, I'm Yours Which isn't a surprise since those are the oldes ones in that fandom.

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

Yes I do. I appreciate that people take the time to leave a comment and so I want to at least thank them. Then again, I'm not exactly flooded with comments, so it's easy to keep up.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm not much of an angst writer. I guess the angstiest would be Bitter Flies My Longing Soul, which is angrily pining LWJ during Sunshot.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Almost all of them are happy. XD I guess the happiest is likely Five Serious Late-Night Conversations, because it's a fluffy fic in general. I also think that Jade Reflecting the Morning's Glow ends very happily and is overall a very soft fic.

8. do you get hate on any fics?

So far I haven't and I hope it stays that way! But I guess it's far easier to get hate if your fics take off or if you've got "controversial" tags that draw in the haters.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

So far, I've posted one smutty fic. Currently trying to write another one, we'll see how that goes. XD I tend to write T-rated stuff tbh.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No I don't. Or I haven't yet, but I also don't have ideas for crossovers so I don't see one in my near future.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, hopefully not!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

No I haven't.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Also no. (Wow this is exciting XD) But I could see it happening.

14. what’s your all time favorite ship?

I usually have a main ship for each fandom and it would be difficult to decide on my all time favourite! It's usually whoever is the one from my current main, I guess.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I think I'm going to finish all my current WIPs. Or well, the ones that actually have good chunks written which are 4. I don't count the tiny snippets or tentative ideas because those are usually just me wanting to get the idea out and then letting it lie around to see if something happens with them.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at humour and feel good stuff, and also with dialogue! Most of my fic ideas start with an idea for a conversation. Also, I'm good with grammar and spelling.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes, which I haven't even written yet. XD Trying to avoid them. I'm also really insecure about smut but I guess that's one of those things that people are either super sure about or fear. XD

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't mind it? At least if there's a footnote or something to translate.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Sherlock. Which was for a holiday exchange, otherwise I wouldn't have written anything for it at first. And then I liked it well enough to write another fic for it. And then didn't write anything for 8 years or so. XD

But I started at, like, 10 with drawing/writing stuff for The Animals of Farthing Wood. XD I'm sure those comics are still lying around somewhere at my parents' house. It was a whole epic thing. There were so many fox OCs! XD

20. favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh that is mean! I don't really have a favourite. I think everything came together the best in A More Practical Approach, as it came out pretty much exactly as I'd wanted it too. But I'm proud of all the other ones as well, of course!

I'm too lazy to think of people to tag and I've seen a lot of people already do this on my dash. So, if you want to answer this, go for it!

[ncisfranchise-source]

A spate of deals out of MIPCOM Cannes this week indicates there is still life in the global TV market.

Paramount Global Content Distribution inked a multi-year volume deal with beIN Media Group, giving the Qatari-owned group exclusive rights to Paramount’s content library, including acclaimed series like Yellowstone, Billions, new offerings such as NCIS: Tony & Ziva and feature films including Bob Marley: One Love and the Transformers and Mission: Impossible franchises, across the Middle East and North Africa for beIN’s premium Pay TV channels and TOD streaming platform. The deal will see the shows carried in English subtitled in Arabic. Paramount has similar agreements in place with the likes of Streamz in Belgium, MultiChoice in Africa, and JioCinema in India.

Disney-owned Hulu, which on Monday announced its acquisition of StudioCanal’s action series Paris Has Fallen, has also snapped up U.S. streaming rights to Critical Incident, an Australian psychological crime thriller from All3Media International. The series, inspired by creator Sarah Bassiuoni’s experiences as a lawyer in Western Sydney’s juvenile justice system, follows a police officer, played by Akshay Khanna, whose routine patrol takes a tragic turn. Zoë Boe and Hunter Page-Lochard co-star. Critical Incident premiered in August in Australia on Stan. Hulu will launch the series later this year as part of its global rollout.

Over in the U.K., the BBC has acquired The One That Got Away, a six-part crime drama set in Wales, for BBC Wales, BBC Four, and BBC iPlayer. Produced by BlackLight TV, a Banijay UK company, the series was written by Catherine Tregenna (Law & Order UK) and stars Elen Rhys, Richard Harrington, and Rhian Blythe. The psychological thriller follows DI Ffion Lloyd (Rhys) and her ex-lover, DS Rick Walters (Harrington), as they investigate the murder of a nurse in a coastal Welsh town. The case reopens old wounds while raising fears of a copycat killer. The series is an English-language version of Cleddau, an original Welsh-language series for S4C.

Following its successful UK premiere on BBC One, Fremantle has secured global distribution for Nightsleeper, a high-octane drama now set to launch in 147 territories. Key deals include broadcasters like TF1 (France), M-Net (Africa), and Stan (Australia). The series, which has captivated audiences with its real-time thriller format about a sleeper train hijacking, garnered 8.5 million viewers in the UK and strong ratings in France, with episode one capturing a 17.4 percent market share. Created by Nick Leather, the 6-episode series stars Joe Cole and Alexandra Roach.

On the sales end, BBC Studios has announced major deals across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa for back catalog content, with French/German group Arte.TV acquiring free video on demand rights to period dramas like War & Peace and Les Misérables, and series including Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max platform added popular titles including Sherlock, Luther, and Misfits, while France’s M6+ took Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and Sky Italia added crime series like Luther and Death in Paradise. In Sub-Saharan Africa, SABC secured BBC natural history series including Serengeti II and Frozen Planet II.

The Couple Next Door, a hit Channel 4/Starz series, has racked up global sales for Beta Film, with deals announced in more than 55 territories. Highlights include agreements with RTL Germany, RAI Italy, and Amazon Netherlands, with NBC Universal picking the show up for Brazil/Latin America.

The six-hour drama, starring Sam Heughan, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jessica De Gouw, and Alfred Enoch, was Channel 4’s biggest drama streaming launch. Loosely adapted from the Dutch series The Neighbors, it explores suburban claustrophobia and the consequences of pursuing dark desires.

[onthecrosslook]

La Lista de DILF

In case you thought I couldn’t be more deranged, fuck you! I’m making a list (subject to change based on popular demand) of (in my opinion) the top ten Old Tumblr Men™️ in film, theatre, or television.

(Imagine the narrating voice like that girl from WatchMojo.)

1. Martin Freeman

If looks could kill, we’d all be dead. This silver fox may have been a late bloomer, but bloom he did- the man’s only gotten better with age (and greying hair), and I don’t think anyone else could possibly make number one on this list.

2. Hamish Linklater

One might say he’s new in town, but Hamish is here to stay. With his fame as the middle-aged (and, frankly, quite tempting) priest in Midnight Mass taking Tumblr by storm, he’s a relative newbie. He just keeps on comin’- and hopefully, we’ll see more performances (and appearances) by this devilishly handsome man.

3. Misha Collins

How could I make this list without mentioning one of Tumblr’s favourite (and most deranged) sexymen? Misha has caused the most trouble on here since the ball pit™️ incident, and he doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon. But, well, hey- who doesn’t like a tease?

4. Paul Rudd

Who knew, right? But he’s been crowned The Sexiest Man Alive, so this list couldn’t possibly avoid having him on it. Heartthrob in the 90s, he’s aged fantastically well- I mean, look at that beard!

5. Mads Mikkelsen

Truly a testament to the psychotic nature of Tumblr users that we’ve fallen for the man who can’t help but play absolutely gorgeous villains. He may not look the part, but something about that charisma is just so very…appetising. (Pardon the pun.)

6. Matthew Macfadyen

You may know him as Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, but he’s recently gone wild as the absolute jerk, Tom Wambsgans from Succession. Whether people want to shake him around in a Pringles can, or punch him in the face, he’s very quickly becoming a Tumblr favourite.

7. Benadryl Cabbagepatch

(Sorry, did I- is that spelled right?)

…Sorry, folks, I’ve been told it’s actually “Benedict Cumberbatch.” No matter what his name is, we can rest assured knowing that he’s safely made it onto this list- and made it he has, because no matter how odd (or vaguely Dennis Quaid-ian) he looks, his smooth and posh accent and unwavering grace is definitely one to remember.

8. Daniel Craig

This English charmer was sure to make it on this list. (Funnily enough, he’s joining his Casino Royale co-star, Mads Mikkelsen.) Five Bonds and counting, and he’s still got it. And, wow, look at those eyes-

9. Rupert Graves

He’s not very well-known, but you’ve probably seen V for Vendetta, Maurice, or Sherlock- so at least one of his ‘incarnations’. Whatever it is, he’s aged phenomenally and gosh, aren’t we glad for it?

10. Lin-Manuel Miranda

I can explain. Okay, no I can’t. But he’s so adorable and grey-sweatered that leaving him off this list would be a crime. *hums ‘What the Heck I Gotta Do’*

And that’s my ten! Let me know in the notes if you have any other suggestions or replacements!

[ninja-muse]

July was a month of quality, not quantity, reading-wise. I read some truly excellent books, they just largely happened to be thick and take a fair bit of brain power. And one of these months I’ll manage to get to more than a single book off my physical TBR, I swear. Oh well. At least I only bought one book again? (In my defense, it was only $4.) Oh, and my Sherlock Holmes-via-podcast read-through finally did The Sign of the Four! This feels like a milestone, somehow.

Outside of reading, this was a pretty good month! I saw friends for the first time since the fall, I went to outdoor live theatre for the first time in three years and finally got to see Something Rotten!, and I attended my first official Pride event, which went about as well as I expected it too, in that I talked to two people in three hours. I never socialize with strangers and I’ve been trying to build up my people-confidence after two years of “talking to another person could literally kill you”, so this is a big win.

I need to do better about reading Canadian for the rest of the year, though. I feel like I’ve been letting that seriously slide. And I’m very hopeful that a lot of my anticipated new releases will come in for me at the library soon!

And as always, in order of how glad I am to have read them, my July reading list:

Babel - R.F. Kuang Robin was taken from his home as a child to be trained as a translator. Now at Oxford, he’s torn: scholarship is wonderful, but it’s used for all the wrong reasons. One person surely can’t change the system…. - Chinese-British main character, Indian, Black, and East Asian secondary characters, Chinese-American author, #ownvoices - warning: deals with colonialism, racism, and classism; contains death and torture

Queer - Frank Wynne Queer writing throughout history, largely from the 19th and 20th centuries - 🏳️‍🌈 authors, authors of colour, 🏳️‍🌈 editor, #ownvoices - warning: homophobia, transphobia, AIDS crisis, dead gays

Siren Queen - Nghi Vo She’ll do anything to be an actor, including selling her soul to a studio. Films have power, after all, and a certain kind of (dark) magic. - Chinese-American main character, 🏳️‍🌈 main character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, Vietnamese-American author, 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices

Let's Do It - Bob Stanley A history of Anglo-Western pop music, from the early 1900s to the 1970s. - warning: anti-Black racism in a historical context, including slurs

That's Not My Name! - Anoosha Syed Mirha goes to kindergarten, where everyone thinks her name is hard. - Muslim main character, Pakistani-Canadian author, 🇨🇦

Comeuppance Served Cold - Marion Deeds Dolly gets a job as a sober companion for a wealthy bride-to-be. Dolly is casing the house. A 1920s heist fantasy. - Black secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, blind secondary character - warning: classist and racist characters, violence against women

The Hallowed Hunt - Lois McMaster Bujold A prince has been killed and Ingrey must bring his killer to justice. Arguing self-defense might save her. Her accidental spirit animal might doom her. And there’s much more afoot. - warning: misogynist characters, attempted violence against women, animal death

The Undertakers - Nicole Glover Someone’s been setting fires in Black neighbourhoods and it seems to be connected to Hetty and Benjy’s only unsolved case. - Black cast, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters, Black author, #ownvoices

Downton Shabby - Hopwood DePree A movie producer discovers his distant family’s English estate is crumbling and decides to do something about it.

Hawkeye: Kate Bishop - Marieke Nijkamp with Enid Balám, illustrator Kate Bishop takes a job on her way home from LA. It’s at a resort. For her sister. And there are evil clowns? - 🏳️‍🌈 author

Death by Bubble Tea - Jennifer J. Chow When her cousin comes to town, Yale finds herself drafted into co-running a stall at the LA Night Market. Then one of their customers turns up dead. - Chinese-American cast, Chinese-American author, #ownvoices

Currently reading:

Mint Chocolate Murder - Meri Allen

Riley’s hired to serve ice cream at a gallery opening at a local estate, only for the star photographer to be found dead in a dungeon. - major Black secondary character

Aces Wild - Amanda DeWitt Jack and his asexual support group decide to take down the casino owner who put Jack’s mom in jail. - 🏳️‍🌈 main character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories - major disabled character

 - warning: colonialism, xenophobia

Stats


Monthly total: 11
 Yearly total: 90 + 1
 Queer books: 3
 Authors of colour: 5
 Books by women: 8
 Canadian authors: 1
 Off the TBR shelves: 1
 DNFs: 0

January February March April May June

[boombox-fuckboy]

List of stuff I’ve listened to so far (Audio Drama R-Z)

Accurate as of: 2025-03-30

Listened: 2 times, 3-5 times, 6+ times.

For audio drama A-Q click here

For TTRPG pods click here

RABBITS

RADIO: Outcast

Radioland

Rapture 518

Re: Dracula

Red Valley

Residents of Proserpina Park

Return Home (to finish?)

Revelations

Rich: The Podcast

ROGUEMAKER

Rose Drive

Samite

SAYER

The Scarab Archives

SCP Archives

SCP: Find Us Alive

Search

Second Star to the Left

The Secret of St Kilda

The Secret Seas of Puglia

Sected

Seen and Not Heard

Selene (Listening)

Sequestered: An Audio Drama

Seren

Seven of Hearts (to catch up)

Shelterwood

The Sheridan Tapes

Sherlock & Co.

SHIFTS

Sidequesting

Signed, Venus

Silly Old Bear

The Silt Verses

Sinclair Wants to Help!

The Sink: A Sleep Aid

SINKHOLE

The Six Disappearances Of Ella MCray

Sleep and Sorcery

Sparks

Solar Postal Services

Solutions to Problems

Solve for X

Sorry About The Murder

Soulborn City

The Sound Museum

Spectral Evidence

SPIRE

SPINES Podcast

Spirit Box Radio

Starfall

The Starport Inn

Starship Q Star Stopped E4

StarTripper!!

Starwhal: Odyssey

Station Arcadia

Station Blue

Station to Station

The Stonesinger Chronicles

The Storage Papers

Stories From Ylelmore

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

Strange Trails

The Stranger

The Subjective Truth

Subsister: A Real Podcast

The Supernatural Protection Company

Supernatural Sexuality With Doctor Seabrooke

Superstition Podcast

Surcease

The Switchboard

Syntax

Tales from the Fringes of Reality

Tales from the Low City

Tales From the Swamplands

Tales of the Echowood

TANIS

Tartarus

The Technomancy Project

Tell No Tales

Thin Places Radio

This Planet Needs a Name

This Sounds Serious

Thirteen

Tides

Time:Bombs

Tiny Terrors

To Chart a Well-Trod Course

To Starlight We Come

Tomorrow, The Void

Toshiden

The Tower

Tower 4 gave up S2E5

The Town Whispers (To Finish?)

Transmission: Unknown

The Transposition of Chloë Brontë

Trial and Error

Trouble in Mind

Twigs and Hearts

Two Flat Earthers Kidnap a Freemason

The Two Princes

Under Pressure

Under the Electric Stars (to catch up)

Under the Shroud

The Underwood Collection -> No Longer Available

Ungifts

Unknown 9: Out of Sight

Unplaced

Unseen

Unwell

Vacancy

VALENCE

The Vanishing Act -> No Longer Available

VAST Horizon

The Vessel

The Vesta Clinic

Victoria’s Lift (to finish?)

Victoriocity

Video Palace

Vile Trials

The Viridian Wild

Vivian von Vixen and the Vast Beyond

The Voicemail Box is Full

Wake of Corrosion (to catch up)

The Wanderer

Wanderer's Journal

The Way We Haunt Now

The Waystation

Wayward Guide For The Untrained Eye

We Fix Space Junk

The Weather Corporation

Weaver

Weeping Cedars

Welcome to Night Vale (to finish)

WE'RE NOT MEANT TO KNOW

What Happened in Skinner

What’s The Frequency?

Where the Stars Fell

Whisperling

The White Vault (to catch up)

Who is Cam Candor?

Who Watches the Birdwatchers?

Windfall

Witches of the City

Within the Wires (Season: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7)

Wizard Seeking Wizard

WOE.BEGONE (to catch up?)

Wolf 359

Wooden Overcoats

World Gone Wrong

Wrong Bone Facts

Wrong Station

The Wyrd Side

Zero Hours

Zoo

[spaceman-earthgirl]

Fic writer review

I was tagged a few times so I figured I’d do this. Thanks for the tag @mrsluthordanvers @pippytmi and @kendrene ​

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

221

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

875844

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

Six

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

I’m with you no matter what

As luck would have it

Caught out

What’s On Your Mind

we can’t wait to meet you

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

Not usually, no, which I feel super bad about. Every now and then I go through and answer them but for the most part I don’t. Maybe this is a sign that I should. I appreciate each and every one though! I usually just don’t have time to reply to them all.

6. A fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending.

Hmm none of my fics are particulary angsty, I much prefer the hurt/comfort vibe that ends well.

7. Do you write crossovers? 

No

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

Sort of? Nothing major and I usually just ignore any bad comments.

9. Do you write smut? 

No. The closest I got was with a sanvers fic that got a M rating, though it barely deserved that.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah, I’ve seen a few of mine appear on wattpad.

11. Ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, a couple of mine have been.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, I talk about ideas a lot with others but have never actually written a fic with anyone.

13. All time fav ship?

I have been in way too deep with supercorp for the last few years. Sanvers is a close second followed by caskett.

14. WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don’t really have anything on the go at the moment but there is a sanvers fic I have unfinished but I’m still determined to finish that one day.

15. Writing strengths?

Honestly, I don’t know. I’d say fluff is my strength but I don’t think that really counts as a “writing” strength.

16. Writing weaknesses?

I’m not very good with descriptions

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I wish I spoke a second language well enough to do this

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Sherlock, which I pretend I never did

19. What’s your fav fic you’ve written so far?

19. What’s your fav fic you’ve written so far? I’d probably say I’m most proud of I’m with you know matter what but I wouldn’t say that’s my favourite fic I’ve written. I’m particularly fond of do you understand, the way I love you? and home is where the heart is (and my heart is with you), but I don’t think I could actually pick a favourite, mostly because I’ve forgotten half of what I’ve written lol

I'm tagging @c--and--b @from-a-recklesswriter @searidings @amaltheaz but no pressure

[comicgeekery]

Sherlock & Co.: The Sign of Four

New Sherlock and Co. Thoughts!

Ok, so of course I HAD to talk about The Sign of Four. I was intrigued from the first episode. I’d been wondering when and how Sherlock and Co. would tackle the novels. They sprinkled in a few elements of The Valley of Fear early on, but that novel is a whole other situation, seeing as the majority of it isn’t a Sherlock Holmes story at all. And of course A Study in Scarlet is unavoidable as Watson and Holmes’ origin story. I suspect S&C will visit those again in different forms at some point, since neither mystery was really explored.

So The Sign of Four was an interesting choice at this stage. The show’s gotten into a good grove with 2-4 part adventures, they could have done for ages more, but it looks like the S&C team is ready to tackle more ambitious ideas.

I admit I was nervous at the start. Some of the four-part adventures have felt over-stretched (particularly Silver Blaze), so a TEN-parter might have been a disaster. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about! The Sign of Four was captivating every week, brilliantly balancing interesting elements in every episode while also keeping the listener engaged with the larger mystery.

There were excellent deductions, familiar humor, some genuinely gripping suspense, and SO much fun when the gang all went to India! Whoever it is on the writing team who loves to write in poetic descriptions of landscapes had an absolute ball about that long train ride. I really felt like I could feel the scenery, not to mention the peaceful comradery of John, Sherlock, and Mariana. It’s so heartwarming to see how close they’ve all gotten.

I also really appreciate the tactful way that the writers and characters dealt with questions of Indian culture, British colonialism, and the connections between superstition, history, and the many things a big diamond might mean to different people. Everything seemed super respectful of India and British people of Indian descent. I don’t know if anyone at S&C is Indian themself or if there were sensitivity advisers or what, but it all clearly came with significant effort and that was SO nice.

(Note: I am white though, so it’s also possible that I missed some inaccuracies or insensitive elements.)

However, the real star of the show was always going to be the often-reimagined Mary Morstan. I was VERY curious about her, as in the original canon she and Watson get married shortly after the events of The Sign of Four.

In canon my opinion of Mary is…fine. She’s fairly brave in her adventure and it’s cute how she and Watson fall in love. But…yeah. That’s it. She’s mentioned offhand in a few other stories. Her presence is actually so vague that Sherlockians struggle to establish a timeline for her after The Sign of Four. She becomes Mrs. Watson. She’s there. She dies at some point so Watson can move back in with Sherlock. Then she’s back again? Or maybe she’s a second wife, also named Mary? It’s another one of those areas where the fans care more about Sherlock lore than Doyle ever did.

So there’s been various versions of Mary in the hundreds of Sherlock Holmes adaptations over the years. She’s usually pretty boring, a plot convenience for Watson to talk to about his latest adventure with that master detective what’s-his-name. I’m not sure if she ever showed up on Elementary, since they were focused on that whole Joan/Irene/Moriarty thing. And BBC’s Sherlock got…interesting with her. I wasn’t a fan of Mary as a secret elite assassin, but I give them credit for at least doing something with her. Until she died. Which was stupid.

The trouble with Mary is that, no matter how incredibly straight Holmes and Watson are, Mary functions as a wedge between the BroTP. She is, explicitly, the reason Watson moves out. And, since so many writers struggle to convey that people generally love and cherish more than one person at once, that means Mary must to an extent replace Sherlock in Watson’s heart.

I say all that because I want to emphasize that, hands down, Sherlock & Co.’s portrayal of Mary Morstan is the best I have ever seen.

I’m on record as really rooting for Sherlock & Co. to evolve into a gay romance. Fans have been waiting literally over 100 years for Sherlock and John to fall in love and be a couple in a professional production. I’ve felt shipping vibes in some episodes and in others John and Sherlock seemed completely platonic to me. I knew bringing in Mary could mean confirming the show as another Strictly Straight interpretation. Which would be disappointing, but not actually a sign of poor quality in any way.

First off, Mary was introduced as not quite a new character. She was meant to go on a date with Watson in the first episode, but got held up because of a traffic accident (and Sherlock did a bunch of deductions and was very clever). In functioning as a call-back to the first episode, she also easily illustrated the growth that John has had since the start of the show, when he was so freshly traumatized and uncertain about his life. Back then, it just made sense to him that his date would ghost him. He was the kind of person to be ghosted.

But we also got beautiful insights into Mary’s character. I think it was a brilliant idea to open the story with a recording of Mary as a child getting her plot-relevant bedtime story from her father. S&C is often limited in what it can portray because of the “true-crime podcaster” premise. This diagetic flashback was super clever and excellent way to tell the listener “We’re doing something different this time. Something big.”

Mary is such a FULL character too. She’s smart but shaken from her own military PTSD. She has a goofy, self-deprecating charm that complement’s John’s similar humor. She’s bisexual, a trait that informs her past and personality without feeling like just a token element to please the fans. She’s got complicated feelings about her father and his legacy. She’s understandably torn between wanting to help save a missing boy and bring criminals to justice or just washing her hands of a situation that seems to hurt more with every twist.

She and John do have an easy chemistry. They bond over their similar humor, their military trauma, and just being a warm piece of comfort for each other. As a fan of pairing John and Sherlock, there were times where I outright groaned because of how great Mary was and how sweet her budding relationship with John was. Beautiful, infuriating, 10/10.

SPOILERS BELOW

By the last episode of The Sign of Four, I was ready to admit defeat. Clearly Mary was going to be a new regular cast member and I was going to love her for the rest of the show….which is also basically what John thought.

I sincerely did not expect for her to die. Why would she? She was such a great character! I didn’t expect to end a Sherlock and Co. adventure with a real, lasting tragedy. Other characters have died, but never ones I would expect to be mentioned as on-going sources of grief in later adventures.

Her death also felt surprisingly real. It took her a week to die from her wounds and she was touch and go in the hospital. She easily could have lived. And now she’ll always be a point of a divided timeline for John. Of what might have been.

When BBC’s Sherlock killed off Mary, it felt cheap and perfunctory. She died to raise the stakes and the drama for Sherlock and John. I was never especially clear on why John was so in love with her, honestly. (It didn’t help that he’d been considering an affair at the time.) Sherlock and Co. has just delivered a masterful lesson on how to introduce a character, make her sincerely matter, and then make her death hurt for the simple reason that now she’s gone.

Bravo to Sherlock and Co. and bravo in particular to Acushla-Tara Kupe for her excellent performance as the best damn Mary Watson who never was.

[wincest-gaychesters]

Fic Writer Questions

from @wincestismyheart / @twobrothersoneheart not sure where the questions came from originally but thanks for tagging me! This one seemed like a lot of fun so I had to do it...

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 5 works published on Ao3 which doesn't sound like a lot, but then I remember a lot of my stuff is shorter and on my tumblr haha

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

My total word count is 8521 since most of my fics are one chapter and pretty short

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

One fandom: Supernatural

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Well I only have 5 lol, but here they are in order of popularity based off kudos:

Just Like A Dream - in which Sam dresses up in a tiny french maid outfit to get Dean's attention. Smut ensues.

Just Mine - boyking!Sam and demon!Dean get freaky in hell's throne room, with an audience.

All of the Sinners - demon!Sam and angel!Dean meet up at a church where things get... sexy.

Baby - Dean is finally reunited with the Impala after their separation (in season 7 when they have to get rid of her in order to hide from Dick) but it's not a perfect reunion without Sam (he is there he's just like sitting back and watching Dean love his car lol)

Ain't the Same - this one's kinda hard for me to summarize. it's just like angsty teenage-ry BS from both Sam and Dean (they're like 12 and 17 respectively). Deans been hunting with his dad but suddenly gets dropped off, with Sam, at Bobby's which he thinks is some sort of sign that his dad thinks he's not good enough to keep hunting. Sam, on the other hand, has been spending pretty much all his time alone and is happy to finally have someone to hang out with but gets increasingly pissed that Dean doesn't wanna hang out with him. They "steal" (it's from Bobby's lot so not really lol) a car, sneak out to the movies, then have a cute little bonding moment after. Just general angst and fluff.

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! If you liked my fic enough to sit down and write a comment, then I can take a moment to reply.

6. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I think it's All of the Sinners. I usually have open-ended endings but with the boys being on good terms. But with this fic it ends with Dean kind of asking to see Sam again, like he really wants something less casual, but Sam is very much against it because they're on two different sides (Sam's a demon and Dean's an angel).

7. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I'm not sure because they usually end pretty happy, or at least the boys are content. But I think it's between Just Like a Dream and Ain't the Same. Just Like a Dream ends after the boys' first time together with some cuddling. Ain't the Same probably is the happier ending, it ends with Dean having a realization of how happy he actually is just hanging out with his family (just Bobby and Sam at the time, but still).

8. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've written?

I've tried to do crossovers before but they never really work out. The craziest one I came up with, even though I never really wrote it cuz it was long and didn't really make any sense, was like a multi-fandom crossover, where Sam and Dean are wizards that go to Hogwarts. I think I left out the HP characters, just used the setting, or they were in the same year as Albus Potter (I can't really remember, but I was also going back and forth on a lot of the details) but didn't really interact with him/that group. Then Sherlock and John were also there and they become pretty good friends with them, especially Sherlock and Sam get along real well. And at some point I think I wanted to throw in the 10th Doctor as well (he's my fave) but he was supposed to be like the weird friend in the group who had these weird dreams about a blue box that flew through space. Then I can't remember if I was going to try and get them into the Dr Who universe through him or not. Idk, it was crazy and didn't really have a point except that I wanted to put all these characters together in this specific setting haha!

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope, nothing yet.

10. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

That's pretty much all I write lol. Usually stuff with specific kinks, usually Sam/Dean, sometimes softer or more vanilla stuff. Kind of depends.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but it would be cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really. When I write something I tend to have a very specific vision for the story so I'm probably not so great to collaborate with anyway haha.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Wincest. Hands down. Always.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

That's a hard question for me. If it's something I want to finish then it's a story I still believe in so even if it's really slow progress I'm still working on it. The WIPs I think I won't finish are the ones I have already given up on because something about the story is off and I don't really believe in it anymore. If I still believe in a story then I'll finish it eventually lol.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. I'm very terrible at self-analysis.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I think my biggest weakness is writing how I feel in the moment instead of through the lens of a certain character. I also want perfection but am so bad at editing, so my stories almost never end up the way I think of them. I find it hard to capture the mood or feeling that I dream up in my head. But wanting things to be exactly how I think of them the first time is also bad, because then I don't let the story grow or get better through editing. So it's all bad really.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't think I've encountered that before. I don't wanna say I do or don't like it but I think it would depend a lot on context.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I want to say Supernatural because it's what i've written most but probably not. I don't have everything I've written over the years saved so I'm really not sure. I do remember having a handful of fics (like two or three) for Ouran High School Host Club. But even that I'm not sure was my first.

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

It kind of depends. I just reread a fic I wrote and only published on here about Sam and Dean in college which I really liked for the writing itself. But I love All of the Sinners because of the imagery it reminds me of when I was writing the fic, but the writing itself is not good and doesn't really get the imagery across the way I'd like it to. So, I think for the feeling it gives me it's my fave.

[hotshotsxyz]

Fic Writer Asks

Tagged by @dancer-me I saw a couple other people do this one and definitely wanted to do it too, so thank you!!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

Seventeen, and hopefully eighteen in the very near future!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

50,144! Not a lot for most people, but considering I basically only write one-shots, it's a lot for me!

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On AO3, 5, and on my (very) old ff.net account another 5. The 5 on AO3 are: 9-1-1, Kingsman, Supernatural, iZombie and Merlin. The 5 on ff.net are: Doctor Who, Star Trek: DS9, Percy Jackson, Sherlock, and The Mentalist

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Call it Luck, Call it Fate (Kingsman)

2. Fundamental Pieces (9-1-1)

3. If Not Happy, Then Content (Kingsman)

4. A Respite, However Brief It May Be (9-1-1)

5. like it means something (9-1-1)

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'm gonna twist this one a little bit, because I really don't do angsty endings. Instead, the fic with the angstiest content I've written is probably would you love me for the hell of it (9-1-1). This one is very sad and heavy almost the entire way through - definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but it's actually one of my favorite things I've written.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

So, as I alluded in the last question, literally all of my fics have happy endings. That said, I think probably either Call it Luck, Call it Fate (Kingsman) or His Lucky Stars (9-1-1) would be the happiest. They're variations on the same concept, and both are meant to be fun, lighthearted pieces.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Way back in my ff.net days, I wrote a Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover, set, for unknown reasons, in Sedona, Arizona. It remains unfinished to this day. No, I will not be linking it.

8) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do not - I'm not wildly opposed to the concept, but given the length of what I typically write, it'd pretty much end up being pwp, which is just not really my thing.

9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to! I stopped for awhile, but have been catching up on replying to comments on at least my 9-1-1 fics. Comments make me really happy, so I try to acknowledge them, but sometimes my adhd makes it a lil difficult.

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don't think so? I got a comment or two back in the ff.net days that we're super positive, but they definitely leaned more into concrit than hate (even if I didn't agree lol)

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but if anyone ever wants to, feel free! I always thought it'd be really cool for someone to like something I wrote enough to want to make it more accessible.

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nothing published lol! Several years ago, on my first tumblr (the url of which I can't remember to save my life) I signed up for a co-writing event, but unfortunately my co-writer at the time disappeared. These days, I probably wouldn't even try, just because I tend to be too busy to commit to a regular writing schedule (although buddie has me writing more regularly than I have in years lol)

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

I think even though it's a recent hyperfixation, it's gotta be Buddie. I just really love them <3

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I had a modern Merlin AU that I started writing at the beginning of college where Merlin was a ghost and Arthur was a seer that I would love to have finished, but probably never will. I wrote myself into a bit of a corner, and eventually lost interest in the story. Never say never though! I didn't delete it, so maybe one day!

16) What are your writing strengths?

I think my style tends to be pretty engaging, and I think I'm pretty good at capturing the emotions I'm going for! I would love to write longer pieces, but at the same time, I think I'm good at telling the entirety of a story succinctly.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I really struggle with longer pieces. I'd say 90% of what you see from me was written in a single writing session, because once I put something down, I have a very hard time picking it back up. That said, I'm working on a fic right now that's currently at 10k, and that I fully intend to finish!

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've done it before (mostly in my early ff.net days), but I probably wouldn't do it again. I do enjoy reading it, particularly if it's a language I have a decent grasp on. That said, if there's a specific word or phrase used in canon, I might borrow it. Definitely wouldn't go for full sentences/conversations, though.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Percy Jackson!

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh gosh, this is a little hard. I said before that I really love would you love me for the hell of it? and I definitely do. Other than that, I also really love like it means something, mostly because I started it several months ago and then actually finished it!

Woof, this was long, but also fun! Thanks for the tag, and hopefully it made somewhat interesting reading!

Tagging: @dumbassndumbasser, @evanbucxley, @mdnghtmmblngs and anyone else who wants to! I'd love to read anyone's responses!

[alipeeps]

New tag game: Post pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game

Thanks to @minmoyu for tagging me and ooof, are you sure you’re ready for this?!! :D I have been around/in fandom for a loooooong time and at first I thought, okay, no way I can list all my crushes, there have been SO many and we’ll be here all day but then as I started compiling a list I found I was having fun reminiscing and decided, what the heck, yeah, let’s do em all... or at least all I can remember! :D

There have absolutely for sure been other more minor crushes and passing fancies along the way, but these are the big ones that I remember (and that, in more recent years, I can track by going through my posted fanfics on AO3 and even *shudder* FFNET and seeing which shows I was into enough to want to write fic about the characters).

[Quick note: with rare exceptions, for actors I am listing them by the character they played rather than just the actor. Whilst there are actors that I like in multiple roles (and conversely, characters who on paper I would normally be into but are played by actors who do nothing for me, and hence the character generally does nothing for me either), for the most part it is the character I really have the crush on.]

I’m going to put this under a readmore cos it has gotten ridiculously long:

So... without further ado:

1. MORTEN HARKET from a-ha - OKay so, dating myself badly here but... I had the *biggest* crush on Morten Harket when I was a teenager. Pretty much the entirety of my side of the bedroom I shared with my sister was covered in posters of a-ha, and Morten in particular. I even had a heart-shaped Morten Harket pillow! :D I loved a-ha’s music (still do!) and I wanted to go see them in concert when I was 14 but my parents wouldn’t let me (*sob*). I did finally get to see them in concert in the early 2000s and they were BRILLIANT live (and Morten was still very very pretty)! 

2. RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON as MACGYVER - MacGyver is the first tv character I remember being really into and having a crush on, to the extent that I would record episodes of the show off the tv (onto VHS tape - yes, I am *that* old!) so that I could rewatch them (especially the ones where he got hurt - yeah, I was a whumper even then! :D)

3. KEIFER SUTHERLAND - One of my rare exceptions. I think I first saw him in Lost Boys (and loved him in that film) but it was his role as Doc Scurlock in Young Guns that really made me fall for both the character and him. I definitely remember seeking out any and all films he was in and buying any magazine he was interviewed in (and knowing far more facts about him than was probably healthy! :D) and even drawing a fanart portrait of him. :)

4. KYLE MACLACHLAN as SPECIAL AGENT DALE COOPER - I remember hearing about Twin Peaks before it started airing in the UK and it sounded so different and interesting... I watched it from the very first episode and very quickly developed a crush on Coop.  

5. BRENT SPINER as DATA - I think ST: TNG had been airing for a while before I stumbled across it but I quickly became hooked and Data was my favourite character right from the start. I definitely remember at one point buying an (unofficial) episode guide book so that I could look up which episodes were good Data-focused ones (especially ones where he got hurt! :D) so I could go out and buy the videos that had those episodes on (at the time the show was available to buy on VHS-tape with 2 episodes on each tape).

6. DAVID DUCHOVNY as FOX MULDER - Another show that I heard the buzz about and started watching right from the start and, like so many others, I immediately developed a crush on the snarky, enigmatic, troubled FBI agent with the weird name. The X-Files was the first show I ever tried writing (one, never-finished) fanfic for.

7. PAUL GROSS as BENTON FRASER - Man, Due South was such a good show! It was so quirky and clever and funny and Benton Fraser, with his huge heart and his serious demeanour and his gorgeous blue eyes, was just so darn attractive! He also got whumped a fair bit too! :D Due South was also the show that introduced me to the music of Sarah McLachlan (I was enough of a fan that I bought the show soundtrack on CD).

8. HUGH LAURIE as DR GREGORY HOUSE - This was a bit of an odd one for me because I had grown up knowing Hugh Laurie solely as a comedian/comic actor, known mostly for playing buffoons and genial idiots. And suddenly here he was with stubble, an American accent, and a limp, and he was hawt AF! :D It caused quite the feedback loop in my brain for a while which pretty much went “Wow, House is hot.... but it’s Hugh Laurie... but he’s hot... but it’s HUGH LAURIE!!1!”

I *loved* House (the first few seasons, at least) and oof a character with persistent pain (and a self-destructive streak a mile wide!) was a whumper’s dream. House was the first show for which I wrote - and published online - completed fanfics.

8. JOE FLANIGAN as JOHN SHEPPARD - Stargate Atlantis was my first proper online fandom, the first show I prolifically and repeatedly wrote fanfic for, and the first time I ever met in person an actor I was a big fan of (and while the show was still airing, to boot!). It was also my first introduction to the online community of whumpers! A bunch of us from the Shep Whump thread on Gateworld heard that Joe was going to be at a convention in London and we decided to book hotel rooms and meet up and go to the convention together and it was AWESOME! I can still remember seeing Joe *in person* for the first time and just,,,, struggling to believe he was actually here, in person, in front of me! He was super super lovely and humble too and took time to chat to everyone at the signing table and I clearly remember my brain just pretty much fritzing out during the photo session and being intensely aware of the sensation of Joe’s hand on my shoulder....

It was also super lovely to meet fellow fans, and online friends, in person for the first time and we had so much fun, and it kickstarted me going to lots of other conventions, including specific Stargate/SGA ones where I got to know lots of other lovely fans and online friends. I’ve met Joe about 4 or 5 times in total now and he’s been lovely every time.

9. PAUL BLACKTHORNE as HARRY DRESDEN - Gosh I loved the shortlived tv adaptation of The Dresden Files. I loved the fantasy aspect, the stories, the humour, and I especially loved Harry Dresden and how often he got whumped! :D 

10. DAVID TENNANT as THE 10TH DOCTOR - I had watched the Christopher Ecclestone revival of Doctor Who and enjoyed it well enough but I can clearly remember watching David Tennant’s first episode as The Doctor - on Christmas Day, at my brother-in-law’s house - and being aware, as I watched it that... ooookay, yes, I’m in trouble here... I like him... I like him a lot... :D I mean, I’m sure the fact that he got whumped so thoroughly in his very first episode had nothing to do with how quickly I fell for him... right? :)

11. ALEX O’LAUGHLIN as MICK ST JOHN - Another show that ended far too soon and just as it was getting *seriously* good. But also a prime example of my point about having a crush on the character not the actor. I looooooved Alex as Mick St John... and yet in Hawaii 5.0 he pretty much does nothing for me (the character is too stoic and the whump often too unrealistically glossed over). Anyway, in Moonlight he was my favourite kind of character - angsty, brooding, dangerous AF when he needed to be... and essentially immortal so you could whump the heck out of him and he’d recover so you could whump him again! :D

12. SIMON BAKER as PATRICK JANE - There is so much to love about Patrick Jane... his smarts, his sass, his angst... and Simon is a rare “against type” blonde crush for me (you may have noticed by now that most of my crushes follow a similar physical aesthetic - tall, slim/wiry, and dark-haired) and again here I think my crush is almost all to do with the character rather than the actor.

12. BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as SHERLOCK HOLMES - I’m almost ashamed to admit it, given the clusterfuck that both the show and its fandom became, but in the earlier seasons I had quite the crush on Benedict’s Sherlock (and okay, a little bit on Benedict himself - I did definitely enjoy some of his other roles too). It helps that I was already a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes character (I’ve read all the stories and novels multiple times and was a big fan of the Granada adaptation starring Jeremy Brett - whose Holmes would definitely count as one of my more minor/passing crushes) already. Benedict is another crush that I have met in person, at a (actually, the first!) Sherlock convention and he was lovely in person - very genuine, very articulate and thoughtful.

13. TOM MISON as ICHABOD CRANE - I was excited for Sleepy Hollow as soon as I heard about it and I was SUCH a fan for the first couple of seasons (before TPTB completely destroyed it and it inevitably got cancelled (I didn’t even watch the last season and a half)) and Tom’s Ichabod (and his amazing chemistry with Nicole’s Abbie) was a large part of why. I also quickly became a big fan of Tom himself as he came across as so witty and self-deprecating and *fun* in all the behind the scenes/convention clips etc. I was lucky enough to also meet Tom at a convention and he genuinely is that witty and charming and lovely.

14. TOM WISDOM as ARCHANGEL MICHAEL - I think Dominion was possibly the first show that I got sucked into by seeing whumpy gifsets on tumblr! :D It was such a great show and also to date the most immersive, welcoming, cast-and-crew-interactive fandom I have ever been in. The cast and crew regularly live-tweeted the episodes, and interacted with fans on Twitter, and it was SO much fun. And Tom’s Michael was my favourite character right from the start - seemingly aloof but so much going on under the surface... and some really nice whump, especially in season 2! I was heartbroken when it was cancelled after only 2 seasons (and just as the plot was getting *really* interesting).

15. OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN as LUCAS - I was hooked on Emerald City right from the first episode. It was visually stunning, so atmospheric, and really intruiging. I love love loved Adria Arjona’s Dorothy (ngl, I had a bit of a crush on her too) and she and Lucas together were just... *chef’s kiss*. I mean... what an introduction to a character... she finds him crucified, bleeding, his wrists tied with barbed wire, and amnesiac.... and the whump only gets better and better from there on in! Like the entire first two episodes are just... Lucas whump! :D And his devotion to her... Emerald City was honestly the first show where I really got into a ship. I was *invested* in Dorcas, dammit! Aaaand sadly another excellent show that never made it past its first season.

16. JASON RALPH as QUENTIN COLDWATER - Another show that I watched right from the start, was heavily invested in.... and that the writers absolutely tanked and destroyed in later seasons. *cries* Quentin was such a brilliant viewpoint character for the show and I loved his awkwardness, and his angst, and his enthusiasm, and his adorable floppy hair... and how often he got whumped! 

17. COLIN MORGAN - I fell for Colin in Merlin (which I stumbled upon late, long after it had finished airing, and hence was able to binge-watch the entire 5 seasons!) and liked him enough to seek out his other works, such as The Fall, and Humans, and The Living and the Dead, and he was brilliant (and very pretty) in all of them... and his characters also seem to get whumped quite a lot! :D 

18. MATT LANTER as WYATT LOGAN - Wyatt was another of my favourite archetypes... absolutely badass and competent... but also tortured and angsty and capable of intense devotion. Another show that I watched because of whumpy gifs on tumblr and the second ever show where I actually got invested in a ship - Lyatt all the way, baby!! :D - aaaaaand yet another show cancelled before its time.

19. NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM from FINAL FANTASY XV - my very first video game crush! I was recommended to play FFXV by fellow whumpers on the whumpshire discord because it was whumpy... and they were not wrong and I loved the game and I absolutely adored Noctis. FFXV is one of very very VERY few video games that I have actually played right through to the end. And possibly the only video game that has ever affected me to such an extent... I became so invested in the characters and their world and I actually found the last couple of chapters really hard to play because it was actually upsetting me emotionally. I had to take a break for a couple of weeks before I could go back and finish it!

20. CONNOR from DETROIT BECOME HUMAN - and from there I jumped straight into another video game crush! DBH was another game recommended to me for its whump potential and I, and many others, immediately fell in love with the quirky, sassy, self-sacrificing (if you play the game right!) “android sent by Cyberlife”. The game itself is really good too... although, I have tried to play through all the different endings to the story but have never yet managed to make myself play the machine Connor storyline.... I want to complete all the story branches... but I also just want Hank and Connor to be friends and to be happy! :D

21. ZHU YILONG - Ahhh... the beginning of the asian drama arc of my fandom life! I first came across Zhu Yilong after getting sucked into watching Guardian because of pretty (and whumpy) gifs on tumblr... and I’ve never looked back. He is one of the rare entries where I am pretty much guaranteed to like him in pretty much anything he does and my crush extends beyond Shen Wei, or his other characters, and into reblogging his fashion shoot photos, and keeping up with news of his work in general. He’s just... so darn pretty! And also so... blur! :D And the behind the scenes stuff and interviews of him with Bai Yu, during the Guardian era, just made me fall for him all the more. He’s also ridiculously talented - not only a fantastic actor, but a really good singer (I love his singing voice), he plays guitar and piano, and he can paint too!!

He’s also pretty much what made me start learning Chinese... because after Guardian I went seeking his other dramas to watch... only to find that many of them are only partially, or not at all, subbed. So I thought... why not try learning Chinese and then I’ll be able to watch his other shows? :D

21. JI CHANG WOOK - My first kdrama crush, and what a good one to start with! Healer was the first drama I ever watched and can you blame me for falling for JCW... especially when I followed up Healer with The K2?! I’ve liked him in pretty much everything I’ve watched him in. Although I do wish he would go back to doing more action-based shows as he is sooo good at them... but he seems to prefer the romcom genre these days, which is something I am nottt always a fan of tbh.

22. JAKE HSU as MENG SHAO FEI - Yet another show that I got sucked into by tumblr - and also one with a great, fun fandom through which I met lots of lovely people who I still follow/am mutuals with to this day. I just *adored* Jake’s character in History and I also loved the ship - Tang Fan and Meng Shaofei were awesome and adorable together and I was totally invested in both the ship and the gangster/cop/what happened years ago story happening alongside the ship. And Jake is just all kinds of cute.

23. XIAO ZHAN - Aaaand we are pretty much up to current day now... where The Untamed took over my life in the summer of 2019 and has yet to let me go. Xiao Zhan is another disgustingly talented human being - a fantastic singer and a really good actor, and also an artist - and he also just comes across as a genuinely sweet and charming person, and a very thoughful and earnest one too. And lbr he is ridiculously pretty, and his smile is just pure sunshine. 

24. LEE DONG WOOK as LEE YEON - The most recent entry to the charts.... a Korean actor I was aware of but whose work I hadn’t watched and whose looks didn’t particularly seem to grab me... until I watched Tale of the Nine Tailed and fell head over heels for Lee Yeon (and daaayum does red hair suit LDW!!) and very quickly began to find LDW’s looks very appealing (and oh my, does Lee Yeon whump well!!). And yes, I have now started watching Goblin. :D

Phew! Aaaand we are done! I’ll admit, I did think of a few more as I was compiling this list but I decided to categorise them as more “minor” crushes and not include them... otherwise we really could be here all day!!

I’m going to tag: @sarah-yyy​, @arlothia​, @howdydowdy​, @thepromiseweheldforlife​ and @the-wandering-whumper​!