#same thing happened to BBC Sherlock

[oldtvandcomics]

I felt like it, so I rewatched two Phase 1 Marvel movies I haven’t seen in like two years (First Avenger and The Avengers), and like, they are actually very good?? Like obviously not the height of cinema, but very fun, well-made movies.

It’s just so sad, because in the past few years, the MCU has become synonymous with mediocrity, and it would be so easy to think that maybe we had it wrong all along and were just young and naive during the older stuff, but no.

We really had this nice thing and now it’s ruined.

[enigmaticriddler]

a week or so ago i bought bbc sherlock on dvd bc i had no streaming services i could watch it on, right?

today i find out that THEYRE PUTTING THE ENTIRE SHOW ON HULU TOMORROW.

[wellhalesbells]

LIAR YOU TOTALLY WATCHED ONE SEQUEL!!! 😉💜

https://www.tumblr.com/wellhalesbells/736050291745652736/friendraichu-jackironsides

HAHAHAHA, I should clarify that I just mean for super hero-y ones. I mostly watch the first one and rarely watch the second (or anything after...... or remakes, lol), I think the only Marvel one I've seen in recent history is Thor: Ragnarok. Actually, the Spider-man franchise pretty much encapsulates how I interact with Marvel properties: I saw the first trilogy because it was new and exciting at the time, then they remade it too fast and I refused to pay for something I just saw, that was so recent in my memory from the release date I could still remember exact scenes from it (THERE WERE ONLY FIVE YEARS BETWEEN SPIDER-MAN 3 AND THE REBOOT - THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR ME TO GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT AGAIN. HOW IS THAT ENOUGH TIME FOR ANYONE TO GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT AGAIN???), then I watched the first Tom Holland one (fourteen years I can vibe with) and nothing that followed because that's generally when the gimmicks and cameos start in lieu of good story-telling, or they make it dark and gritty because that's the only way to ground this superhuman, right (I assume a random white guy: "Should we fridge a lady? Yeah, we should probably fridge a lady"). The first one generally at least tries to have a soul because they have to introduce the character and make you care about them but many of the ones that follow (the few I've seen from when the MCU was just starting out and I had hope *coughs*Iron Man 2, Thor 2, etc.*coughs*) are just cash grabs that don't try because you already love this character and there they are, right there, so money please!

Meg 2 however..... EPIC, NO NOTES. It knows if I was a shark girl, I was probably a dinosaur girl and it gambled correctly. That's what you're watching this for? Have three sharks and an unnecessary (probably stupid expensive) dinosaur intro that is nearly completely irrelevant to the story but that you will also not want to live without and for an extra special bonus: oblivious husbands and their brilliant daughter. Like. You got me nailed, my dude. Will watch every subsequent sequel, no questions asked.

[happistar]

I love being in the middle of like 5 different sherlock adaptions because sometimes a case is new to me and sometimes I have Future Sight but Not Quite because I usually know how its done in one adaption but not the original story, so I have to make guesses at what parts are actually kept from the original in whatever adapted case I encounter. Or, I get to the original story and have 3 different versions of the story I've already seen so I get to guess what elements are true or Not.

[alvivaarts]

AO3 is Removing 'All Media Types' without Public Input or Announcement. What Can We Do?

What's Happening?

For those who don't yet know: AO3 and the Tag Wranglers have begun to slowly remove the 'All Media Types' tag for older fandoms. Aka, removing the 'umbrella' tag for many franchises, and forcing franchises to be split by media, or to be shoved under one umbrella that does not accurately reflect the types of fics or source medias they come from. This has been slowly occurring with no official announcement, under the pretense that things will be 'easier' to manage, or that some users claimed that the 'All Media Types' tag was confusing. This has begun in secrecy, without genuine input from the userbase, and without any public announcement. (As of 9/5/2024 9:30 AM PST) Many of us are pretty confident in AO3 staff's decisions, but the fact that this decision is not only incredibly impactful, but made without public input, has deeply violated the condition of the site as an archive... an archive of OUR own.

Current seen issues and active risks:

Removal of 'All Media Types' automatically makes fics from different sources in the same franchise a 'crossover', forcing users to consider non-crossover fics 'crossovers'. So, any fanfic that spans or implements elements from multiple pieces of media in a franchise are now considered a 'crossover', despite being from the same franchise and not a crossover.

Removal of 'All Media Types' forces users to manually search for the fics and ships they want one by one through each fandom tag in a related franchise. (Imagine looking through all the separate DC or MARVEL movies one by one).

The 'include crossovers' and 'exclude crossovers' filters are now useless, and removing genuine crossovers (crossovers between franchises) must be done manually through the filter system, which can take upwards of half an hour, if not longer, with the amount of one-off genuine crossovers that exist.

Slightly smaller franchises are being shoved under the umbrella of a single, super popular fandom. (See, Sherlock Holmes. All Sherlock Holmes media has been relegated to the tag 'Sherlock TV', which confuses users, as the tag now includes not only BBC Sherlock, which is the umbrella tag, but any works based off of Arthur Conan Doyle's original works, the 2009 Sherlock Holmes films, and the 16+ Sherlock Holmes adaptations and international TV shows... none of which are BBC Sherlock.)

Anime and manga fandoms (especially smaller ones) are being automatically split by media type, without regard to the fact that many anime and manga adaptations are very similar, and/or authors tend to often implement elements from both anime and manga.

As far as we are aware, no one is going to be correcting any improper sorting resulting from this.

Accounts that are no longer active/accessible, memorial accounts, and orphaned fics and no longer be corrected by their original authors and are at risk of being misplaced into incorrect fandom tags. Unfortunately, no one can fix this but the tag wranglers, who were supposedly removing 'All Media Types' in the first place to prevent MORE work. Counter intuitive, isn't it?

Already, fandoms are being improperly split, others being improperly merged, and still more being far more confusingly sorted. This deeply damages AO3's integrity as an ARCHIVE.

What Can I Do?

As soon as it's back up again, make sure to stop by the Contact Support page! There, you're able to let them know exactly how you feel about this, and what fandoms your fear will be impacted by these changes. Many already have been.

In the meantime, make sure to contact AO3 on Twitter (or X): ao3org (AO3's general twitter page), ao3_wranglers (AO3's tag wrangler page), and OTW_news (the parent host of AO3).

There is also tumblr: ao3org (AO3's tumblr page) and transformativeworks (OTW's tumblr page).

And finally, the Organization for Transformative Works contact page.

If you are aware of any additional medias, please add them below to ensure that AO3 thoroughly understands the negative impact of this decision, especially the violation of trust resulting from making such a massive choice without impact. Be sure to share this information elsewhere, repost, share the links, and make a stink. Furthermore, if you are able, letting AO3 know that you are no longer comfortable financially supporting them in the future.

Be sure to also repost and list any fandoms you have personally noticed have been impacted by this change!

Already Impacted Fandoms:

MARVEL, MCU, Marvel Comics, Avengers, and related tags

Any Sherlock Holmes based Media

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon)

World of Warcraft

Assassin's Creed

Monogatari

BanG Dream!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Disney (all media, now: Disney Theatrical Animated Universe)

DC and DC Comics

AND MANY, MANY MORE!

[xgraavyx]

I feel like a lot of people ignore Mariana's role in Sherlock and Co. I understand that the bond between Sherlock and Watson is a heavy focus in the original acd books, but Sherlock and Co is it's own thing. Mrs Hudson may not have played a large role in the books, but in Sherlock and Co she is one of the main characters. Ignoring her prominent role in their dynamic just so you can focus on Watson and Sherlock's dynamic is strange. You can still talk about their dynamic without ignoring one of the main characters. In Sherlock and Co I have always seen them all three as being like a family. Regardless of how you percieve their relationship, you cannot ignore the fact that Marianna is important to both of them. People shit on those who ship John and Mariana bc it "gets in the way of sherlock and watson" but that is such a stupid reason to hate a character. People can ship Watson with whoever they want. It isn't hurting anyone to have people ship him with Mariana.

Watson has a very lovely dymamic with both Sherlock and Mariana. I've seen people genuinely angry to see the podcast focus on Mariana and Watson for even a second. Sherlock and Watson have also had many one on one interactions. They've had a lot of focus on their dynamic and how it is built throughout the podcast. People being mad that Mariana also gets those growth opportunities despite her also being a main character is WILD. A man and woman can be platonic friends without being a threat to the "main ship" This reminds me of what happened to Mary in bbc sherlock. While I agree that Mary is a poorly written character, people give her way too much hate. Hating a character is fine, but hating a character just because she "gets in the way" of your ship is dumb. I don't like Mary in bbc sherlock. I think her being a spy was weird. Her death was only there to kickstart sherlock and watson's discord and I think that is a stupid reason to kill off a main character. It had no proper impact to the story and she only existed to contrast with Sherlock. Those are valid reason to hate her, but I don't just ignore her existance. She was still a part of the bbc sherlock canon regardless of how buchered her implimentation was. Mariana is a fun character and a lovely addition to sherlock and co. She has been given the same if not less focus than Sherlock and people still rarely include her in fan content. Yes Sherlock and Watson have a very interesting dynamic but I'd love to see more love for Marianna. She is a part of their family. Regarldess of if you see the dynamics between characters as romantic or platonic Marianna is still an important person to both Sherlock and Watson and I would love to see more of her. She is like the "straight man" of their dynamic. She handles the business aspect of their organization. She canonically eats with them at 221b very often. So much so that she doesn't even have a dining table in her flat. I love seeing different interpretations of her design. She is such a fun character and her personality flows very nicely with the others. Tldr I want to see more love for Mariana, and people who hate her unjustly get on my nerves lol. You can ship two characters without ignoring or hating on the girl character.

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Pieces of media my mom has seen and the popular MLM ships in them that she doesn't think are gay:

MCU - Stucky (note that she does get a kick out of Stony stuff and she believes wholeheartedly that those two hate fucked in a not-filmed scene of Avengers 2012 so this is not about her thinking "oh Captain America is so straight-laced because he's the ideal American man" or anything)

MCU - Poolverine (she's fully aware and accepting of the fact that both Logan and Wade are canonically queer characters but she thinks all the flirting Wade did with Logan in the newest movie didn't necessarily mean anything because "he talks like that to everyone". Side note though: while she believes Wade should be with Vanessa, she does think that Logan can and should shoot his shot with Wade after Vanessa inevitably dies since he and Wade are both immortal. It's just that she thinks Wade should get his happy ending with Vanessa first.)

MCU - Lokius ("Mama have you ever seen a man fix another man's tie like that" "No but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen! I wouldn't know though; it's been like 15 years since I worked a corporate job.")

Sonyverse/Marvel - Symbrock ("They literally have a symbiotic relationship. That doesn't make them gay." So I showed her the comics where Eddie calls Venom "love" and gives birth to Venom's babies and she said "Fine you win but please never show me alien man birth ever again."

Supernatural - Destiel ("They're like Steve and Bucky! They're brothers in arms! They've been through hell and back together!" Note that she only watched through season 5 but she does know about a lot of their later interactions because I told her about them)

House M.D. - Hilson ("Dot I watched that whole show and they were never anything more than good friends" "What about when House admitted to thinking about Wilson during sex? What about that whole episode where they pretended to be gay for each other to prove a point to a neighbor and Wilson proposed? What about that whole episode where Wilson had to furnish the apartment and House told him not to let a woman tell him what to do but Wilson let House tell him what to do? What about the whole ending?" "Why can't two men just be close enough friends to joke about that stuff with each other?"

Real life - Me and my best friend of the same gender orientation who I've kissed multiple times and have had a requited crush on for years that neither of us have ever persued for logistical reasons (I literally used me and this friend to try and prove my mom wrong about Stucky and Destiel. I asked her if she thought me and this friend were like brothers and she said yes with a straight face)

Sherlock - Johnlock (to be fair this is the BBC ship name, but she doesn't think any iteration of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the slightest bit gay. "They're business partners and roommates.")

Our Flag Means Death - BlackHands (Should go ahead and say that I'm not really a BlackHands shipper myself; we both really enjoyed Stede and Ed's romance in the show. BUT it takes so much away from Izzy's character and his development if you don't acknowledge that he was jealous of Stede and in love with Ed, at least a little. My mom thought Izzy was just an extremely loyal first mate.)

Also, for the record, I'm not trying to call my mom out as homophobic. I'm queer and so are two of my siblings and she's very supportive of us. There are gay romcoms she enjoys like Our Flag Means Death and Red, White, and Royal Blue. The reason I'm making this list is because I think it's really funny how she doesn't understand the concept of queerbaiting (not that all of the above listed ships are queerbaiting). She thinks things are either explicitly straight or explicitly queer (whether it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc) and cannot comprehend the idea that some character relationships are deliberately pushing the boundaries of straight friendships into queer relationships to get more minority viewers and I think her explanations are funny.

[bitterchocoo]

Hey ! I have seen you write for Twisted Wonderland ?👀

Can I ask for Ignihyde or Diasomnia students with a boy [friend or not, you choose] who is like Sherlock (from BBC if you have watch) ? I just know he will try to understand how overblot work and why there is a lot of overblot-

Ignore it if you don't want to write it ! And have a good day ! Or night ? Idk when you will see it (if you see it)-

The Game is On!

Ignihyde Students | M. Reader as Sherlock Holmes [BBC]

----------

"I’m not a psychopath, Anderson. I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research!"

----------

The day [Name] Holmes has entered Night Raven College was the day Azul had become even richer.

Ever wonder if your crush likes you back? Or maybe you wanted to know yourself better? Or perhaps you wanted to know if your partner's cheating on you? Well look no further than the Mostro Lounge!

Being stranded in a different universe, [Name] merely sees it as an opportunity to gain more information and funding. This whole new world is so much more interesting than his previously awfully predictable world.

Which then led to Ignihyde's Housewarden's first encounter with the high-functioning sociopath. At first Idia found it skeptical that someone could have the ability to see right through everything and anything. Until [Name] had read him like an open book in their first meeting.

To say that Idia was traumatized by the sudden exposure is an understatement. But after calming down, he can't help but think on how similarly [Name] acts with one of the characters in the anime he watched. Cough Moriarty the Patriot cough. But nonetheless, the two of them soon bonded and became close with one another.

Before long, [Name] was introduced to Ortho and his interest was immediately peeked by Idia's "younger brother."

Although school life is as boring as his world's. It's just the same thing but with magic and stuff... but all of a sudden these things called "Overblot" showed up? Oh he got to know what this is about right away!

----------

Idia Shroud

"Um.."

"Shh."

He instantly shut up the moment he was hushed by the other. Just when he decided to leave his room and visit the Ramshackle for a change. Idia was greeted by a sight he never thought he would ever see in his life! [Name] pacing around his room with two hands together placed underneath his chin and the elephant in the room.. His room was filled with papers and stings attracted on the walls!

Idia thought that his room is messy but this is just on another level!

Newspapers, printed out articles, [Name] own illedgiment handwriting, etc. Every single wall is covered in it with some strings connecting some parts.

This thing. This "Overblot."

Why did it happen? Is it because of intense emotions? Negative or positive? Does it really matter? And why do they show up in a blob, ink-like thing? The stain on the gems of their pens? Is this common? Or are they something one has to go through once in their lives? Like puberty? So many questions. So little time.

Idia could only sit and watch as [Name] drove himself insane. He knew that S.T.Y.X. is also trying to figure this whole Overblot out too. But seeing how unhinged [Name]'s acting while also trying to figure out the same thing his family is doing is just concerning. It drove Idia to the edge just how... [Name]'s acting..

There's a thin line between inquiry and insanity. And [Name] is using that line like a freaking jump rope!

----------

Ortho Shroud

[Platonic]

The day the high-functioning sociopath saw Ortho. His interest is peeked. A robot? That acts like a human? Even back in his world this would've taken years maybe even centuries to accomplish with how incompetent the human kind is! Therefore, [Name] would ask Ortho multiple questions within the span of a minute. I live for Sherlock's rapid fire deductions and questioning.

And how [Name] loved it when Ortho answered each and every question without him needing to repeat himself nor explain it. Ortho's happy to help whenever he can! He was so happy that his brother made a friend!

Whenever he saw [Name] pacing around like a mad man. Ortho tries to help by either reducing [Name]'s burden and helping him to make deductions and hypotheses or by simply bringing snacks and reminding him to rest.

While Idia looks at [Name] with a nervous and unsure expression. Ortho steps in by suggesting that maybe he should rest. "[Name] maybe you should take a nap! If you do, your productivity will go up by 10℅ or maybe even more! And since you're energized, you could be more focused and—"

"I'll rest once I've figured this out."

Oh boy. This is going to be a long day for the three of them huh..

[badsweetangel]

Do you take requests? If you do then I have one. Reader and Sherlock are in a relationship and she is feeling a bit traumatized of her past. Her traumatic childhood, all the raised fingers telling her she deserves nothing good. With Sherlock she forgot all of this until one night everything infront of her. And she thought Sherlock would see her the same way. And when Sherlock sees her this way what he does and all. A bit messy I know but thanks anyway!

Exceptional (Sherlock BBC x reader)

I hope you like it!

Warnings: Sherlock being Sherlock.

He was a cruel person himself in the way he spoke, so you felt trapped in your own feelings. Completely misunderstood. Which was strange, it was so unusual to feel misunderstood with Sherlock Holmes. Yes, he wouldn't give any kind of comfort, but he would instantly know what was going on and why it was happening. You knew that. You knew that the doubt would be dispelled by just telling him that you wanted to tell him something.

But it went beyond that.

It was related to his own perception of you. It wasn't about him giving you a detailed answer about the reasons for the rejection that others gave you. It was simply enough for him to think differently, for him to believe something, anything that made you think that everything that was ever said to you was a lie.

But you knew him. He was cruel and contemptuous. Suddenly he was simply thinking about a case, you told him something and if you were lucky enough to receive an answer, it was an objective reply from a busy man.

And you absolutely couldn't stop thinking about those sarcastic comments he constantly said, even to you.

You couldn't just tell him what was bothering you. No, you ran the risk of realizing your biggest fear: that he deep down believed the same thing those boys told you. That maybe he would give you an objective perspective and then see your teary eyes and not know what to say. It was typical of him. He had a hard time with that kind of thing: emotional situations. That's why, to this day, you didn't understand how you had any kind of romantic relationship.

He knew you were sad, he knew something was wrong. He understood what could have happened to you, but once he came in he stayed too long thinking about that case and forgot about everything.

You knew it.

You knew you didn't have his attention anymore. Your thoughts were clearly increasing, remembering how those boys constantly told you those comments that left you embarrassed, those that weakened you and made you unable to respond to defend yourself. And that haunted you, it couldn't get out of your mind.

“Okay, tell me what happened” Sherlock said, without taking his eyes off the test tubes.

Your skin crawled, there was no other choice. He already knew. It was obvious. You couldn't hide anything from him. No one, no one could hide anything from him.

“Nothing, nothing's wrong” You decided to say, knowing it wouldn't work.

He looked away from the test tubes, staring at the wall for a moment, visibly frustrated. He made great efforts not to say what was happening to you out loud, but he decided to control himself, but you knew that if you didn't say it yourself, he wouldn't be able to limit himself. His brain was going faster.

You knew it, he let you vent. That alone was enough for him.

“Am I distracting you?” You asked, already feeling the guilt in your body.

“Certainly yes” He answered, being brutally honest.

There was a moment of silence, while you planned your words. He was getting impatient, you could feel it. So you just said it. “What do you think of me?” You asked, feeling the nerves running through your skin.

He looked at you, suddenly. You lowered your head, feeling the embarrassment being completely transparent about it.

“I already told you when we met, your phone clearly indicated that you were going through a…” Sherlock began, doing exactly what he knows how to do.

“No, not that” You interrupted him.

He stopped. It was time to talk about it and by the way your hands were shaking he knew it would be serious. He slowly got up from his place, it was strange for him, to stop doing his things for someone. He had never done it and he was sure he would never do it for anyone else. In fact, he didn’t even do it for you. Only now. He sat next to you, looking at you with the typical eyes of a man whose nature was not exactly on the sensitive side, but cold and precise.

You had gotten used to his gaze.

He was uncomfortable, he had never shared an emotional moment with his brother. So he didn't have much experience in this kind of situation. He really hoped deep down that the answer he would give would ease your concern. The concern he easily deduced you had. But he let you, he let you say it, as a sign of respect for you. Maybe that was the most he could give you as Sherlock Holmes.

“When I was a child, people told me a lot of things,” you began, while your hands shook harder, “that I would never achieve anything good, that I was useless."

Silence.

And much more silence.

“Well, suddenly I think it's true,” you continued, without looking him in the eyes.

He found it absolutely strange. Although he did know, he knew what it was like to feel like that, inferior to someone, but that someone was Mycroft Holmes. Apart from him, there was never anyone else. Although well, maybe his university classmates when they were upset with him…

“Clearly you are none of those things,” he said, as if it were obvious. You shook your head. That wasn't enough.

“You are absolutely exceptional, to me” This time you he stared at you, serious.

You stared back at him, surprised. It was something Sherlock never said, never said to anyone. Suddenly, your mind knew that his opinion was much more important than all the others. Maybe that would calm your memories a little. You smiled at him. He smiled back.

And that was the first time, the first time Sherlock said something genuinely kind, without any kind of intention behind it. He really thought that. It made him think. You brought out that side of him, that side that made others feel like he was more than a cold and calculating man. Maybe he could understand your emotional and warm nature.

[olderthannetfic]

Since we're bitching about anime I'll add my 2 cents on another fandom I shall not name.

I don't think people know what queerbaiting VS queercoding is anymore.

I see soooo many people jumping onto mlm or wlw shippers in anime (all kinds really Shonen Sienen etc) and yell they are queerbaiting people in the fandom by their ships and fanart.

Like that's not a thing. You gotta realize that queerbaiting is something corporations do for marketing purposes. Sorry for bringing Sherlock BBC in here but they were 100% baiting and that is what baiting looks like.

At the same time because Japan is the way it is I can totally see elaborate queercoding of some characters outside of BL/GL genre. For fucks sake Yuri on ice that people hail for being gay... the relationship is implied there and the marriage proposal isn't even called marriage proposal. So let's not pretend that 'implied romantic relationship' is not a thing in anime.

We accept now that a lot of queercoding happened in hays Era in Disney movies but when it's in anime suddenly you're reading too much into it. Okay okay cool cool cool.

--

[garkgatiss]

{{esquivalience}}, The Auteur, and Doctor Who the TV Show

alright so this novella.

First, its provenance: I was googling the Twist at the End song last week because it's catchy as hell. I ended up on the Tardis wiki and realized that there was a song by the exact same name that appeared in a licensed DWU novella that was published April 9th. As in, last month. Which is weird. It's hard to say how weird, but given the timing, it either has to be a) pure coincidence (lol), b) someone who worked on the show abusing their advance knowledge of plot details for personal gain, or c) intentional coordination between showrunner and novella-writer, a la Joe Lidster writing John Watson’s blog for BBC Sherlock.

The likelihood of (a) is decreasing by the week. I feel like I have to entertain the idea of (b) happening, but it's hard to square why a DWU-writing supernerd who is also involved somehow with the production of the show would risk a lifetime of blackballing from DW for a bit of cheap promotion for their extended-universe tie-in novella. I am so sorry to be saying this, but I think (c) might actually have legs.

The novella's title is {{esquivalience}}, which is a fake word invented in real life by editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary. The invented word means "deliberate shirking of one's official duties", and it was added to the dictionary to protect the copyright of the electronic version. In S9, Face the Raven showed us a “trap street", i.e. a fake street drawn on a map by a mapmaker to identify any copyright infringement of said map -- a dictionary entry for a word made up by the dictionary editors operates similarly as a copy-trap. The definition is apt for a copy-trap as well, because anyone illicitly copying a dictionary is themselves shirking a job they ought to be doing themselves... it's clever, it's very fun, we're off to a great start.

{{a crash course in esquivalience below the cut}}

THE STORY:

The unnamed protagonist applies for a custodial job at this library that serves basically as a databank for the history of everything in the universe. If a book about something is thrown away, that something ceases to have ever existed. Exhibit A: Protagonist works in the Dead & Dying Language Department. They throw away The Book of Belgian Dutch, and a) a couple coworkers with Belgian Dutch heritage either disappear or get completely different names/family trees, and also b) everyone quickly forgets that Belgian Dutch was ever a thing to begin with.

The librarians cover for this accidental deletion of reality by copying/fudging a new book on "Belgian Gerench", their name for what they replace Belgian Dutch with. They try to catch most of the people who were deleted, bring them back, and fit them into that new language/culture/ethnicity bucket they just made up.

(The narration explains that because both Belgian and Dutch still exist separately as concepts, there aren't too many knock-on effects in terms of loanwords in other languages that needed to be modified/recovered. It also explains that time-traveling back to make an exact copy of The Book of Belgian Dutch wouldn't work because of the universe's copyright laws or something.)

Protag then comes after the head of their department, the Head Dictionary Contributor, or Head DC. They find him in a hidden room called the Internal Reference Room. Instead of languages, the books here hold the life stories of every employee, which auto-update as the person lives their life, but can also be edited or destroyed to alter that person's reality. Protag sits down with the Head DC's lifebook and starts adding and erasing things.

It turns out that Head DC knows how wrong editing these books can go from personal experience. Years ago, wanting to leave his mark on the universe, the Head DC chose to add his own copy-trap into The Book of Dutch -- the fake word "esquivalience". This action seemingly created the concept of cutting corners at your job, leading to the insufficient vetting of Protag for this job and therefore their subsequent hiring, which results in Head DC's eventual death.

Head DC pleads with Protag for his life, but Protag is undeterred. They finally tear out the final page in Head DC's book, which kills him. Protag then writes themselves in as Head DC. Settling into their new role, they turn their attention to The Book of English (8th to 25th Century). They first look up the dictionary entry for “esquivalience”, which says it came to English from Dutch, and then flips to the entries for “ravel" and “unravel”, described as contranyms from Dutch roots, both “meaning variably to tangle or to fray”.

This is the central story of the novella. There is also a Prelude and Postlude that describe the lives of two young men, first in a reality in which they never meet, and then in a reality in which they do meet and fall in love (their meeting is enabled by one of them skivving off work in time to make it to see the movie where they first meet -- esquivalience!)

Just before the Postlude, there is also printed the lyrics to a song (see below), and an excerpt from The Book of English, this volume covering the 4th to 5th billionth centuries of history. This excerpt again gives the definition of “unravel”, but refers the reader to an appendix for the full list of definition, and notes they are “largely in usage as reference to Unravel, The” and “N.B. to be used with extreme care and caution”.

NOVELLA-SHOW CONNECTIONS:

Mavity [Wild Blue Yonder]: Mavity happened all the way back in Wild Blue Yonder, so it's not necessarily surprising to see it in a novella published in April 9, 2024, but there's a whole scene establishing that the M has seemingly replaced the G in all Romance languages, while Domhantarraingt in Irish-Gaelic is unaffected.

Rope [The Church on Ruby Road]: We're all learning the vocabulary of rope now! The Unravel is what the novella calls the meta-historical revisions caused by making edits to the books. There are also rope/weaving metaphors everywhere. Again, the rope themes of the TV show predate the April 9 novella just far enough that in theory it would have been possible for the novella to have taken inspiration from the 2023 Christmas Special. Except. The wiki page for The Unravel credits ownership of the concept to Jamie H. Cowan, the author of the novella. Not just that, but The Unravel was used – with credit to Jamie – in a DWU short story collection published December 26, 2023 – the day after The Church on Ruby Road aired.

Dot and Bubble [Dot and Bubble] : At this point, “Dot and Bubble” is a contextless episode title to me, first announced on March 31. In the novella, we get this:

The Twist At The End [The Devil’s Chord] : Just before the novella's Postlude, there are the lyrics to a song called “The Twist At The End”. Just listed there, no context, like an azlyrics.com entry. They are not the same lyrics as the song in The Devil's Chord, but then, meta-historical revision would kind of be the point, wouldn't it? There's just this sentence to connect it to anything happening in the narration: "Somewhere, in the far distance, as ______ continued to erase, an old 1960s Earth tune began to play."

EDITED TO ADD: @corallapis has pointed out to me that not only did the existence of the song "Twist at the End" by John Smith and the Common Men leak, but the novella's author tweeted about it in December 2023.

The Chumerian languages of the planet B’llauit, for instance, needed much consideration. Particularly Krulvan. There was still a great deal of work to be done in compiling the post-technoweb aspects of Krulvan. Like how most emotional words and phrases contracted more and more, until finally, they were little more than abbreviations. The old dot-and-bubble effect.

A parent’s love was no longer expressed post-technoweb as “Kal-at lur amoi”, but instead as merely “KLA”. Which needed to be carefully distinguished in the relevant encyclopedia from another abbreviated Krulvan phrase “Kal’ati Lepr’en Acrumpsal” – which was something rather equivalent to the expletives of other languages like “D’Arvit”, or “Bleno”.

It's only a brief mention in the book, so it's possible in theory that it was added after the episode titles were released, or even after the novella’s publication (Amazon allows post-publication changes up to 10% of the text, and it’s not possible to track those changes). I’ve included the second paragraph because it’s interesting that the example they’ve given is the word for a parent’s love, which we can see as a running theme in this season of DW (though Moffat has said before that the only thing he writes about is a parent’s love, so who knows).

Not the strongest evidence of two-way coordination, but we may learn more when the episode airs.

Dutch [Space Babies, Boom]: Yeah, as in, the Dutch language. The words “spoor” & “smelt” both get a "oo, good word!" callout, spoor in Space Babies and smelt in Boom. These words both have Dutch roots. Splice, the daughter's name in Boom, is not only from a Dutch root, but also means the joining two pieces of rope. I read this novella just before Boom dropped on Disney+, so I can personally confirm that this is not a post-hoc addition to the novella. It hardly could have been anyway, this element is much more integral to the novella’s narrative than any of the other pieces.

The Auteur

This is where this all becomes relevant to the “Doctor Who is a TV Show” theory.

While the Protag is shredding the Head DC’s book, the Head DC is in the room, and what follows is an extremely meta narrative-aware pre-death monologue from the Head DC. He's pleading with Protag to stop changing things in his book, but he also refers to an "It" whose power surpasses them both.

He held eye contact with them as they looked up, “You didn’t pick up Belgian Dutch by chance. It’s how it plays. In weaving coincidences.”

“Just stop reading. Stop changing things. Stop, and we can be spared. Be free! If you keep going, then it will get what it wants. It is a happening [sic]. Out there, and in here in the basement. Everywhere. It will win if you keep going.”

“One day, you’ll make the same mistakes. Goddamn, you will. Because it’s all already written. It has already written it all. The paths, the choices. Rewrites, erasures, and even the contradictions. If you don't just... stop... it will... Unravel us all."

The "It" in question is presumably the author. Like an author writing a story, "It" plays by weaving coincidences, "It" gets what it wants when we keep reading, "It" has already written everything.

The Head DC mentions a special disposal chute, which had recently appeared as if by magic, which enabled Protag’s destruction of Belgian Dutch. Head DC’s references to this “It” suggest that his decision to create a word meaning cutting corners caused his eventual death, not by inventing the concept of cutting corners, but by creating a set-up that the Auteur, a godlike being that cares only for the rules of narrative, was compelled to write a satisfying follow-through for. The Auteur changed reality in order to weave a narratively-satisfying coincidence.

The Auteur is a character from the DW-spinoff series Faction Paradox. The creator of the Faction Paradox universe describes it as “on the surface an SF universe, but it works on the same principles as traditional folklore.”

I am but a humble Moffat scholar, so explaining the character of The Auteur is immediately getting into lore that I cannot even begin to decipher.

But it seems plausible that in the show we’re dealing with a godlike being, someone along the lines of Maestro or the Toymaker, but instead of caring only for the rules of play, cares only for the rules of narrative.

And this being, The Auteur, is altering reality and creating the narratively-satisfying coincidences in 14’s and 15’s timelines, possibly starting all the way back with the coincidence of 14 regenerating as David Tennant and immediately bumping into Donna Noble.

And it seems plausible that this season was created in cooperation with these DWU authors to whom concepts like The Auteur and The Unravel are licenced, and the novella is a tie-in text full of references to the current season to lead savvy superfans on a merry chase that foreshadows the season’s big bad.

Because I... don't really have another explanation for the existence of this novella at this point.

[hyperfixatedbean]

Today I was talking with my dad (with whom I watch 911) about a ship I like in a serie, a ship I KNOW 100% will happen next season, and I said something along the lines of “in 911 I also have a ship like that but-” and my dad legit cut me off before I could finish and said “Ah yes, Eddie and Buck”

We NEVER talked about it before, he saw it, told me “They can’t be just friends, the way Buck reacted during the well and Eddie being shot ? That was a love reaction” and we also talked about the co-parenting, about the way they look at each other, like- my dad saw these things without me having to bring them up first 😭

And when I told this to my brother he said “Oh yeah, mom said the same”

Like ??? MY mother ? The one who argued with me that (BBC) Sherlock and Watson were just friends, that Mike Wheeler is straight ?!! My mom who’s in denial of everything gay ship Buddie ???

It’s over guys, they’re endgame, if my parents see it then I’m NOT delusional, they’re in love

(I knew it already but still- the fact that my parents see it- wow-)

[noxhominis]

I have to say this now, because Sherlock Holmes is trending and I am celebrating more than I did this Christmas. I watched Knives Out and Glass Onion and it made me realise something crucial about Holmes. He is fundamentally a good person. Does he sometimes behave a little bit like he doesn't care? Yeah. And does he solve cases because he wants the thrill and the mystery? Yep. But I would argue that he mainly solves cases because he wants to help people. His first case was when he helped his friend. Later we see multiple instances of this happening again and again (him being a genuinely good person). I have said it once and I will say it a million times— Sherlock Holmes is interesting because he is a smart guy who is NOT an asshole. He is (mostly) considerate to people, and their feelings. He takes cases to help people. The prime example that springs to mind is Copper Beeches, where he didn't think Violet Hunter had anything interesting to say about her case. But he still agreed to hear her out. And many times, he has done things for people, solved their mysteries without any money. Now you could say that he is not concerned about money at all, except we have seen him squeeze the king of Bohemia. He takes high profile cases to pay the bills, normal cases to solve puzzles, and the really simple mysteries because he wants to help people. I may have talked about this in another post and used the example of Twisted Lip, and Blue Carbuncle to say how he let criminals (of a sort) go solely based on his moral judgement.

The reason why I bring this up in the same breath as the Knives Out films is because of Benoit Blanc's character. That man is very polite unless he absolutely needs to be rude or has been driven to the ends of his patience. You know, like a normal person? And I loved how it just completely avoided the trope most modern mysteries, crime thrillers, and detective stories fall into. I like to call the trope "The Genius Asshole Syndrome". And it just sort of stigmatises really really smart people for not having social skills by twisting them into something mean and uncaring. And so many modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes fall into that. And yes, BBC is one of them. So do the Ritchie!verse movies. They make Sherlock Holmes act flippant towards other people, because such a genius cannot possibly care for the normal people. He cannot possibly appreciate other different versions of smart, because he is obviously a genius and a genius is always an asshole, and not empathetic at all. So it was really refreshing to see a detective who cared about his clients, and vulnerable people. It was nice to see a detective get angry on behalf of a defenceless person. And it was very nice to see a detective not wanting to fuck a female client who is maybe half his age. (Plus the gay thing worked out great). I really feel like we need more genuinely good, kind, and helpful people in fiction, and now that Sherlock Holmes is completely in public domain, we can hopefully get something that is faithful to his actual character instead of the two dimensional grim dark detective dynamic. And maybe modern media can give us other detectives who are actually human, and have all basic human emotions? Just a thought.

[softestqueeen]

✧*̥˚ masterlist *̥˚✧

most of my fics are x fem!reader (i subconsiusly have me in mind, makes sense) but you can request fics with different dynamics!

all of my fics can also be read on my ao3: @ softestqueeen

my masterlist for my specials! -> my specials are NOT on my regular masterlist!

please MDNI!! most of my content is for a mature audience only!

✧*̥˚ key *̥˚✧

❤️‍🔥 smut 🌸fluff ⛓️ hurt/comfort 🖤 dark ✍🏻 request

✧*̥˚ BBC Sherlock *̥˚✧

i can't do this anymore! ⛓️🌸 sherlock holmes x reader When Sherlock overhears you talking on the phone, he thinks you're going to leave him.

let the light in 🌸 sherlock holmes x reader After a particularly frustrating case, all the consulting detective needs, is closeness.

misty mornings 🌸 sherlock homles x reader feat. Mrs Hudson and John Watson When Sherlock Holmes awakes on his birthday, he doesn’t expect anyone to remember it. But of course, you do.

don't you forget about me, sherlock part 1 sherlock holmes x reader When Janine forces Sherlock to choose between being in a relationship with her and living with you, he has to make a tough decision. How will your feelings for each other be affected by it?

✧*̥˚ Marvel/mcu *̥˚✧

need to be closer ❤️‍🔥🌸 bruce banner x afab!reader You love your boyfriend Bruce Banner with all of your heart but sometimes you just don‘t feel close enough. So you decide to try something new...

when you come home to us, pretty boy... ❤️‍🔥 sub!steve rogers x dom/afab!reader x dom!buck barnes It was no secret that your relationship was kinky. Even though Steve has been pleasured by Bucky multiple times, he wants you to mark him. And who are you to turn such a good boy down?

i have an idea... ❤️‍🔥 sub!steve rogers x dom/afab!reader x dom!buck barnes On the first vacation with your boyfriends, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, you notice the shower with a glass wall into the bedroom and immediately know how to put it to good use…

let me teach you pt. 1 🌸 steve rogers x afab!reader x bucky barnes You are a literature professor at university and your boyfriends decide to pay you a visit and listen to one of your lectures.

let me teach you pt. 2 ❤️‍🔥🌸 steve rogers x afab!reader x bucky barnes You are a literature professor at university and your boyfriends decide to pay you a visit and listen to one of your lectures. When they join you at your office, things get a little out of hand…

slipping and gliding pt. 1 ❤️‍🔥🌸✍🏻 natasha romanoff x afab!reader When the Avengers spend a day at the local water park, you start to see a certain redhead in a different light. You’ve never had anything with a woman before, but Natasha doesn’t mind showing you what feels good.

slipping and gliding pt. 2 ❤️‍🔥 natasha romanoff x afab!reader After what happened in the showers, you and Nat make a quick exit to move your fooling around to somewhere else…

but daddy i love him ⛓️✍🏻 stephen strange x fem!stark!reader Tony Stark – your father – finds out about your romantic relationship with the infamous Stephen Strange. How will he react to you dating someone who is almost 20 years older than you.

natasha romanoff smut drabble

✧*̥˚ Call of Duty *̥˚✧

it's yours, princess ❤️‍🔥 simon “ghost” riley x reader x könig (cod) On a mission with König and Ghost you have to stay at a safe house. The only problem – there is only one bed.

my little flower pt. 1 ❤️‍🔥🖤🌸✍🏻 stalker!könig (cod) x reader You were just minding your business, planting some new flowers in your garden, when suddenly a (charming) man in a mask abducts you to use you for his pleasure. You are incredibly conflicted; the stranger seems to be kinda nice but also incredibly selfish at the same time.

my little flower pt. 2 ❤️‍🔥🖤✍🏻 stalker!könig (cod) x reader Slowly you’re getting used to living with the man that was slowly becoming more than just the man who abducted you. You’re also getting used to the different ways he’s using and abusing your body.

do you trust me, sweetheart? ❤️‍🔥🌸✍🏻 simon “ghost” riley x afab!reader After an unsuccessful mission, you notice how tense and stressed your colleague and friend Simon “Ghost” Riley is. When you ask him how you can help him relieve some stress, things take an unexpected turn…  

thank you for your service ❤️‍🔥✍🏻 simon "ghost" riley x gn!reader You boyfriend, Simon “Ghost” Riley has to do way too much work at home for your liking. But no worries, you found a solution that works for the both of you.

✧*̥˚ Haunting Adeline*̥˚✧

red roses and deadly promises ❤️‍🔥🖤🌸 zade meadows x fem!reader When your stalker, Zade Meadows, has to do some business out of town, someone new makes an unwelcome appearance. How will Zade react when someone tries to steal you away from him?

✧*̥˚ Criminal Minds*̥˚✧

ugh, i just love you ⛓️ spencer reid x reader When you accidently let the a love confession towards your best friend, Spencer Reid, tumble out of your mouth, you think you’ve ruined the friendship between you completely.

i don't know what i'd do without you 🌸⛓️ aaron hotchner x gn!reader Aaron comforts you after a nightmare.

pretty when i cry 🌸⛓️ spencer reid x gn!reader When Spencer returns home he gets immediately worried when he sees you bawling your eyes out. Little does he know, it’s just because of a book.

care for a dance? 🌸 spencer reid x gn!reader spencer learns how to dance to teach you.

long hair!spencer nsfw drabble ❤️‍🔥

aaron hotchner luff drabble/ficlet 🌸✍🏻

✧*̥˚ Actors/Actresses*̥˚✧

like the movies ❤️‍🔥✍🏻 mads mikkelsen x actress!reader While attending the premiere of your new movie “The Hunt” with your co-worker and good friend Mads Mikkelsen, you get a little bit emotional. After Mads comforts you, he offers to bring you home. Once at your room, things develop quite different than you imagined..

[aveline-amelia]

So I literally just came across a dumb homophobic (actually anti gay men) post, so... a rant

So I ran across a post about the Original Holmes ACD canon - not BBC Sherlock. I was not even looking up Sherlock related stuff.

This is mainly a BBC Sherlock blog, so felt the need to make clear. Not about BBC Sherlock this time.

I have not read the ACD Canon. It is very hard for me to pay attention for more than 5 minutes. (It's not a TikTok thing, I promise). Also if anyone is a queer Holmes historian/academic, please feel free to join in. Or just if someone has better knowledge than me. This is all second hand information but I stand behind the message nonetheless. You decide how credible this makes me.

Arthur Conan Doyle couldn't have written Sherlock Holmes as gay even if he wanted to.

He couldn't have written Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson as a same sex couple even if he wanted to.

He would have gotten arrested. He would have been imprisoned or sent to a labor camp.

It's what happened to Oscar Wilde, who he was friends with. Wilde's writing was used as evidence against him. Namely, The Picture of Dorian Grey.

No, claiming Sherlock Holmes is gay and was in a relationship with Dr Watson is not erasing asexuality. If the books were written today and the author said Holmes is ace, then yes, that could be seen as erasure.

Claiming Sherlock Holmes is gay is not disrespectful to ACD.

Claming Holmes and Watson were a couple who were hiding the truth from the readers due to a fear of persecution in not disrespectful to ACD. It has actual backing in Canon (them fleeing the same year as Wilde's trial). It's about playing the Game and treating Watson as an unreliable narrator.

If you believe claiming a character of a certain an author is gay is disrespectful to them, ask yourself why. Check yourself.

ACD can't tell us what his intentions were is because he is deceased. He's passed away. Unfortunately that means he will never be able to tell us the truth. Now, if you believe in The Death of The Author, authorial intent might not matter to you anyway.

Also, the people claiming this are in large part queer women, not gay men. So no, gay men aren't making it all about themselves. But nice try. ;)

Also I really wish asexual people would stop using the same rethoric as right wing Christian conservatives (why does everything have to be GAY! Gays are everywhere and I am sick of hearing about them!!!). As a bi ace woman, stop using as a shield, and if you are ace yourself, you're making us all look bad. Just stop.

[i-dont-talk-for-days-on-end]

I finally did it!!! Thanks to the encouragement of so many kind people on this post I mustered all my courage and wrote my first ACD Sherlock Holmes fanfic! :))) Here it is:

On the way to Rosenlaui, Holmes falls behind to face Moriarty alone. When it is instead Watson who encounters the Professor at the Reichenbach Falls, events take an unexpected turn.

Or:

Watson does a few ridiculously courageous things and there is a crack in Holmes's lens.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV)

Relationship: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson

Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, James Moriarty

Additional Tags: The Final Problem, Canon Divergence - The Final Problem, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Sherlock Holmes, BAMF John Watson, Reverse Reichenbach, (yes I borrowed that tag from the BBC fandom), Friendship, they love each other very much, Watson is very sportive and a bit slow at the same time, forgive me for the liberty I took with Swiss law enforcement please, I needed to put them in A Situation

I will tag you because you encouraged me to write this, and I might not have done otherwise: @scamanderishredmayniac @transholmes @teaspoonnebula @neverquiteeden @53rdcenturyhero (you encouraged me to write a Watson who is "pragmatc, observant but one step behind", so I will blame you for everything happening here , although I'm not sure if you meant it in that way :D), @randomwholocker @sarahthecoat @huamirly @plaidadder (hm, no idea why this tag doesn't work :/) and @amypihcs of course :)