#sherlock advent calendar

[scrub456]

Holidaze Prompt 1: GREEN (Fandom: Sherlock & Co.)

"Watson!" Sherlock bellowed from the sitting room, causing John to chuckle. "WATSON!" More urgent in nature, Sherlock's exclamation had the opposite effect as John lingered over putting his socks and pants away, gearing up to thoroughly enjoy the inevitable exasperated exchange.

John could hear his flatmate pacing, making a wide berth around a specific spot in the room.

(read more under the break, or on AO3 in the Holidaze 2024 collection)

"Heya, Sherls. What's..."

"What. Is. That?" Sherlock paused just a step short of too close, staring John down as he flapped his hand in a very specific direction.

"Well, I'm not really the one for deductions, am I? But looks to me like a dinosaur." John couldn't help the very manly giggle that caused him to break is already unconvincing serious facade.

"It's not," Sherlock spluttered.

"Looks like a dinosaur to me," John shrugged, but stood his ground.

"And pray tell, what KIND of dinosaur? Hmm?" Sherlock crossed his arms over his chest, settling in for a battle of wits.

"Well, ah... ahem..." John tried, he really tried, not to chuckle. "Well obviously it's a Christmasaurus."

"A..." Sherlock narrowed his eyes. "A Christ-mas-saurus."

"Indeed. Note the festive hat, and the cheerfully twinkling lights." John twirled with a flourish and struck a game show sidekick pose next to the item in question.

"There's no such thing." Sherlock's glare softened, his crossed arms remained crossed, but his shoulders lost some of the tension, as he began to catch on to John's playful tone.

"Shhhhh!" John covered the dinosaur's non-existent ears. "You'll hurt his feelings."

"Watson," Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Now," John stood upright after patting the dinosaur on the head. "I beg to differ. It seems to me we have in our presence a Christmas themed dinosaur. Hence, a Christmasaurus."

"Your logic is flawed and lacks real scientific backing, but I'll allow it for now." Sherlock smoothly stepped over a pile of -- well, John wasn't sure who's belongings those were, so it didn't bear thinking about -- stuff and plopped down on the couch so he could get a closer look. "I suppose the better question is, why?"

"Why?" John repeated, a bit confused. "I mean, why not? It's December."

"Is it?" Sherlock seemed shocked.

"Yeahhh..." John huffed and patted Sherlock's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Marianna's got the schedule handled."

"Who?" Sherlock squinted up at him with a teasing smirk.

"Oh my god, you know her bloody name." John's exasperated laugh made Sherlock laugh as well.

"Look, I know you like Christmas. But it's been a long while since Christmas really meant anything to me, and then I saw this little guy in the window of a shop, and I don't know. He seemed..."

"Whimsical," Sherlock added with a small smile.

"Yeah." John shrugged. "Sometimes, with what we do, we see a lot of darkness, a lot of the worst people can imagine, and I thought it might be nice to come home after one of those dark, ugly cases, to a little whimsy."

"Hmm," Sherlock hummed and nodded in agreement. "Very well, Watson. Your festive scientific abomination may reside here in the sitting room, on one condition."

"Sure, mate," John grinned.

"I get to name him."

"I... okay. Sure, have a crack at it."

Sherlock stood to pace around the Christmasaurus, then stopped suddenly and turned to John with a rakish grin.

"Oh god. Okay, let's hear it." John braced himself for something truly absurd.

"Jonk." Sherlock maintained his grin, which had comically grown a bit unhinged.

"What? Why!" A bit shocked, John couldn't contain his laughter. "You're naming him after me?"

"Yes." With a resolute nod, Sherlock dropped back to the couch next to John. "Bright, kind of ridiculous..."

"Hey!" John playfully elbowed Sherlock's side. Sherlock bumped his shoulder against John's in return.

"And you're both more than a little... unexpected." Sherlock turned his head to give John a timid, lopsided smile. "And that's a very good thing."

"Thank's Sherl." John grinned right back. "You're pretty unexpected too. In the best possible way."

[12daysofmystrade]

12 days of Mystrade and Friends - Third Edition

Greetings!

November is drawing to a close, and for many of us, the winter season is about to begin. We are about ready to snuggle under blankets with hot chocolate or tea and, of course, a nice story!

We’d like you to join us in celebrating this season by sharing your creations! Consider joining the third edition of:

12 Days of Mystrade (and Friends) Advent Calendar

December 21, 2023 - January 1, 2024

We’re looking for new fanfic and art about Mystrade, Johnlock, or any other pairing within the Sherlock universe! Please note that general fics and art are also welcome! Your contribution can be a story, picture, video, collage – we are open to all kinds of art, as long as there’s some kind of winter or holiday theme. Go where your muse takes you – be it something fluffy, funny, or angsty! We also accept WIP, and there is no minimum or maximum word count or rating requirement.

Submissions are open until December 6th. Once they’re in, we’ll get back to you with a particular day for you to post your work on Archive of Our Own (AO3). 

To sign up, fill out this Google form with:

your AO3 handle

the main pairing (if there is any)

how to contact you (for the date assignment)

a summary & the title of your work (if you have them - this is only to organize the calendar order - a general idea is also fine)

any dates you prefer and/or need to avoid.

If you’d like to submit more than one work, that’s great! Please submit a separate form for each piece. 

Please submit by the end of the day on the 6th of December. You will be assigned a posting day by December 15th; the calendar will run between the 21st of December and the 1st of January.

If you have any questions, send an email or an ask, and we’ll answer as soon as possible! (Sadly we cannot answer a DM on Tumblr since this blog is run by multiple users - please send an ask or email to 12daysofmystrade@gmail.com instead!)

Last year, we had a successful calendar, if you’d like to see previous works!

We hope you will join us in making this holiday season very special!

Don’t forget to reblog to spread the word!

Your mods:

sky-is-torn

johannadc

[the-inspector-jones]

Now complete (for reasons...)

🎄 🎄 🎄

[dreaminonao3]

Fanfic Advent Calendar 2023

open the door for December 6th

[jaybeefoxy]

Okay, so here's my contribution to the Mystrade Advent Calendar 2023. My last work for this year.

Sunrise at Stonehenge, and you can read it here. Greg doesn't celebrate Christmas and Mycroft learns something new about his friend.

[12daysofmystrade]

If you're thinking of creating a story this winter, please consider signing up on our Calendar! Follow this link for more info, and here's the signing-up form!

If you wish to add your work to the Mystrade Holiday Collection, you can absolutely add your story/art to both collections! It's a wonderful idea! We only ask that you respect the posting date we will give you (between Dec 21 & Jan 1). This way, we can discover a new story for each day of the Calendar!

~ Sky (for the mods)

❄️ Mystrade Holiday Collection 2023 ...❄️

is now open! Like the previous collections it’ll be open and unmoderated, so you can add your own fics and art to the collection. ⛄️

The only rules are that it be Mystrade fic or art, written/created in 2023 and holiday (Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Chanukah, Christmas, New Year's, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, etc.) themed. So if you wrote a Christmas fic in July this year go ahead and add it. 🎄

Each week (maybe twice a week) this blog will post an update with any new fics added to the collection. 🎅

Here is the link to the collection. 🕯️

To add a fic to the collection in the Associations section (on the edit page of a work) in the Post to Collections/Challenges field type “Mystrade Holiday Collection” and choose the 2023 collection from the pick list. So simple. 🥳

The collection will remain open through January 6, 2024. 🎉

Any questions, feel free to ask. We’ll do our best to answer. 😊

[lisbeth-kk]

Easter Egg Prompts (2025)

I was planning to do these prompts from @helloliriels much earlier in the month, but better late than never. During the car ride home today, inspiration struck, and I will probably post one each day until next Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

Sherlock fandom. Established Johnlock. Parent!lock.

Jellybeans

John is in agony on the sofa. In Sherlock’s spot, but considering the state of John, Sherlock lets him. It’s actually quite thoughtful of him. After all, John has put himself in this situation. Sherlock did warn him. But alas, his husband’s stubborn nature won over reason, and here they are.

A groan from John makes Sherlock both smirk and wince in sympathy. Stomach-ache is a hassle no matter if it’s your own fault.

***

Two hours earlier, after their walk around Regent’s Park, Rosie had wanted to visit her Nana, who she knew had prepared a tiny egg hunt for her goddaughter. 

Upstairs, two unopened easter eggs were waiting for them. John’s egg was from Harry, Sherlock’s from Mycroft. It was no hardship to tell the eggs apart, of course. The one that looked like a replica of a Fabergé egg, filled with truffle chocolates of every flavour, was obviously Sherlock’s. The smaller metallic one with a white and pink bunny on it, was John’s.

“Are you sure you don’t want to have a taste from mine?” Sherlock asked.

“Nope,” John replied, popping the p for good measure. “Too posh for my taste. I’ll be fine with my jellybeans, thank you very much.”

“Alright. Just try to restrain yourself. Those abominations are a death trap. Your stomach will not thank you if – “

“Yes, yes. Our child is downstairs; no need to play parent at present. I’ve got this.”

Sherlock was not convinced. 

***

He remembered the last time John had got his hands on the vile sweets. Christmas at Harry and Clara’s. The three of them suffered temporary insanity when the colourful sweets were available.

“Try one,” John had urged him.

“No, thank you. I prefer something less synthetic,” Sherlock said, as politely as he could.

John had shrugged, but when he some time later straddled Sherlock’s thighs and asked for a kiss, which he knew Sherlock couldn’t resist, John’s tongue tasted of the foul stuff. Nausea was cast on him, and he all but threw John off his lap to get to the loo in time.

Since then, John was meticulously rinsing his teeth and mouth before asking Sherlock for a kiss, if he’d eaten jellybeans.

***

Stomping feet from the stairs, announces that five-year-old Rosie Watson-Holmes is ascending. She frowns when she sees her father lying supine on the sofa. Sherlock smirks, knowing what comes next.

“Daddy, are you ill?”

John groans again and tries to sit up, quite unsuccessfully.

“He ate too many jellybeans,” Sherlock informs her.

The grimace appearing on the girl’s face, warms Sherlock to the core. It’s so similar to his own expression when he finds something distasteful.

“Did you eat them all?” Rosie inquires, her hands on her hips.

John mumbles something unintelligible, and Sherlock answers for him.

“He did. Regrets it now, as you can see.”

“Brian in my class is much the same. He eats all the chocolate in his advent calendar the first day, and the same with the easter egg. Especially when it’s something he fancies.”

The little girl looks so grown-up, even John has to smile.

“Perhaps we can dosage them for him next time,” Sherlock suggests.

“There’ll be no next time,” John moans. “Never again.”

Rosie looks at her Papa and rolls her eyes.

“If you say so, John,” Sherlock replies, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing.

He’s certain John will see the fun in it someday. But not today.

“Can you fill the tub for me, Papa? I don’t think Daddy’s up for it just yet.”

“I will, my darling. Go ahead and find your pyjama and dressing gown first.”

Sherlock kneels in front of the sofa, cradles John’s cheek, and kisses his forehead.

“Rest, my little jellybean,” he whispers.

The Union Jack cushion hits him in the back of the head when he turns to leave the room.

“Even in this state, my aim is outstanding, mind you,” John growls.

Sherlock half turns and winks at his husband.

“I know, captain,” he purrs and throws the cushion back, which John catches easily.

“Smug bastard,” John mutters, but he’s unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

@totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @calaisreno @helloliriels

@meetinginsamarra @safedistancefrombeingsmart @gregorovitch-adler @topsyturvy-turtely @jolieblack

@221beloved @ninasnakie @shy-bi-letsfuckingdie @7-percent @lhrinchelsea

@peanitbear @bs2sjh @brandiwein1982 @johnlock-and-tea @a-victorian-girl

@missdeliadilisblog @salmonsown @oetkb12 @jawnscoffee @gay-ass-bitch

@acumberlockedgirl @willamholmeswatson @whatnext2020 @mydogwatson @redmondcollege

@thegildedbee @ilovegayangels @elizabethhood @xmengal03 @riversong912

@givemesherbet-blog-blog @couldbecannibal @2old2b-fangirl @dw91165 @jonkwatson

@binx72 @macgyvershe @raina-at @dragoonthegreatest @kholkate

@fookincarrotsandpotatoes28 @talkativeanxiousturtle @aloeverawrites @twoandahalfdimes @desi-yearning

(Let me know if you want to be tagged or removed from the list)

[whoops-im-obsessed]

New hc that John goes out in the sales and buys Sherlock an advent calendar for every month of the year

[yenn-reads]

Monthly Series Appreciation - December

It's the end of the year, we're getting closer to the holidays and I will have three stories for you today that I connect with December, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

All of them for different reasons, but all of them all worth reading…

I‘m a little early this month, but it’s for a reason. I want you all to get a look at that wonderful advent calendar in time 🥰

Let me tell you what I have for you this month:

Eyes That See

Sy x reader (💕🔥🌩, status: on-going)

Eyes That See is something very special to me. @just-chirpin not only manages to write one of the most wonderful Sy's I have ever seen. She also makes me feel seen. I can relate to so many things and feelings in this story. And having Sy by my side in this one is just so soothing. It's a really long story and it's not finished yet. But I can promise you that you won't be disappointed if you dive into it. The definition of comfort fic ❤️

And don’t forget to take a look at her masterlist, where you can find many asks with additional scenes or alternative scenarios 😍

179 Crescent Street

(College AU; Mike, Charles, Napoleon, Sherlock, August, Sy, Marshall and Geralt x multiple OFC's)(💕🔥🌩, status: on-going)

Everyone must have seen me talking about Crescent Street's inhabitants by now. I found them one year ago and fell in love with all of them. @raccoon-eyed-rebel gifted this universe of stupid dorks living together in one house to us, and I am so incredibly grateful for that. I read every one of these chapters multiple times and I know I will do it again. Maybe it's my favorite thing in the world 🥰

@raccoon-eyed-rebel also made my New Year's Eve feeling last way into the summer and that's a good thing. Those chapter's are so much fun! Get to know all those guys and, even more important, those wonderful women who are lucky enough to get one (or two) of the boys into their beds.

Sapphire Falls Chronicles

Caleb Syverson x OFC, Chris Evans x OFC (🌩💕, status: completed)

@sapphirefallschronicles was such a cute surprise last December. Every day until Christmas we got an update on the lives of Caleb, Chris, Abigail and Livia. And I loved getting new little bits of that wonderful fluffy story. @keanureevesisbae and @diegos-butt really put a smile on my face with this. I totally plan to re-read that lovely fic this December. Join me?

Hope you find something you enjoy here. Please let the creators of these stories know what you think about it. Reblog, comment, shower them with love. They deserve it!

Monthly Series Appreciation -Masterlist

[discordantwords]

some christmas angst

Again

Chapters: 24/24 Fandom: Sherlock (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Characters: John Watson, Mrs. Hudson (Sherlock Holmes), Rosamund Mary "Rosie" Watson, Greg Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes Additional Tags: Christmas, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Prompt Fill, Advent Calendar, Temporary Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Second Chances, Wishes Summary:

It never seemed like the right time. And then time ran out.

_____

Want some pain this Christmas? :D

This is my advent fic from last year. Heed the tags, the temporary character death bit plays a big part. But there's a happy ending if you make it through all the tears.

Read it here

[hekate1308]

There Was Winter’s Cold A Destiel Advent Calendar December 12

Masterpost

Dean, he realized that night, and grown used to living with someone again remarkably quickly. Maybe because he and spent his entire childhood with his little brother at his side – well – whatever the reason, it was just nice to have someone to talk to at dinner. And at least Cas seemed to agree, because – well – now that eh had seen the outside, he and questions about everything, and Dean meant everything.

To be honest, he himself wasn’t quite sure how certain things worked, but he did his best to tell him anything he could be interested in.

Even so, in some ways he was in well over his head (well, in others too, but again, he was not going to think about that).

“And what happens after you have “lit up a room” – where does the light go?”

“That’s not quite – “ Dean reminded himself not to use metaphors. “What I meant to say…” and they were off on another tangent.

Well, it was kind of nice to be listened to so attentively, which –

He took a deep breath. Nothing to do it but see it through, now.

It was during a lull in the conversation, when he thought Cas was just taking it all in that he said, “Tell me more about you and your brother,”

“Sorry?” He was pretty sure he and covered all the basics – who Sam was, that they and been adopted by family friends, that they were now –

“From your – from your childhood. I don’t – I’ve never been close to my siblings.”

Oh. Now that was something that Dean could honestly say he did not understand whatsoever, but he was no fool, so he understood trauma-bonding and what not (just because he hadn’t gone to a fancy college, didn’t mean he hadn’t done some research in his early twenties, and let them just say it had… taught him certain things) and of course there were families where siblings were so very close or clung to one another because they were all they had.

So, he shrugged and said “Well, man, all people are different. They don’t have to be super close with their siblings.”

“I think it’s nice.”

“Yeah it is, in a way but you get woken up by your brother drunk-crying at three am about his crush, and then you can tell me that again”. He would never let Sam live that one down, not even when they were a hundred and ninety-six and were watching his great-grandkids play around.

Cas tilted his head to the side gain and Dean told himself for the umpteenth time that it did not look cute.

“Since you were smiling when you said that, I have to come to the conclusion that you were not actually annoyed.”

“No, Sherlock, I wasn’t, imagine that.”

“My name is Castiel. Or Cas, as you seem to prefer to call me”.

Oh god. He had forgotten that – “I – alright that’s it I’m making a list. There’s some things you have to know about, man.”

And another head tilt. This was going great.

 Now, if there was one thing Dean was serious about, it was his movie nights, so he always had snacks in the house. Of course he did. What was he, a heathen?

Cas seemed to be a little surprised upon seeing all of the stuff, but well, some things had to give. Couldn’t properly watch movies without snacking now, could one. Even if he and Sam and never agreed on black licorice.

And so, they soon sat in front of the TV, with Dean choosing the movie again because Cas had no idea how to even start. He seemed to have grasped the concept of television by now and so, he simply nodded when Dean asked if he wanted to watch the Godfather.

He only realized that he might have probably rushed things when he became aware that he was yet again showing him something where people died left and right, but Cas simply told him he and seen enough dead bodies in the water, and he decided not to ask.

It would have ruined their relaxing evening, he was pretty sure.

And anyway, he was busy watching Cas. Because seeing him react to plot twists that dean and known about forever, experiencing something new for the first time – it was – it was –

Yes, Dean was in trouble. Very very big trouble.

But that would not change in the next few minutes, so he could just enjoy a movie with a hot guy for one evening and forget anout all that other stuff, because certainly they would eventually figure it out and find a way to deal with all of this and send Cas  home.

Certainly.

[khorazir]

AO3 stats game

Thanks a lot for the tag, @discordantwords

Rules: Give us the links to your wonderful words with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and least words.

Most Hits/Kudos/Bookmarks: Enigma, my WW2/Codebreaker AU set in and around Bletchley Park.

Most Comments: also Enigma

Fourth-Most Kudos: The Summer Boy, the first part of a trilogy of fics set after Season 3 and exploring Sherlock’s past, present and future. The third installment, Easy Scrambling, is currently in the works. Chapter 2 will go to my beta this week.

Most Words: surprisingly not Enigma, but Slipstream, my Cycling/Tour de France AU which has the boys and various other characters as professional cyclists riding the hardest bicycle race in the world.

Least Words: excluding all the little ficlets I wrote to accompany artwork, mainly for the monthly @sherlockchallenge, it’s The Joye of Snacks, a funny little oneshot set around Christmas that was originally part of an advent calendar challenge.

I’ll tag @jrow @calaisreno @a-different-equation @meetinginsamarra @7-percent and whoever else wants to participate.

[12daysofmystrade]

Mystrade & Friends Advent Calendar - Last Day!

Happy New Year, everyone! 2024 has started, and our event is almost over - but we have a few surprises left! To celebrate the new year, @johannadc prepared a lovely story for us; an epistolary fic, sweet and short, with Mycroft fulfilling his New Year resolution!

Pairing: Mystrade

Summary: New year, time to try something different, so Mycroft Holmes asks Greg Lestrade out in the most Mycroftian way possible.

Read Dear Gregory on AO3 now! Don't forget to leave gifts for the author in the form of kudos and kind comments! Let's make this new year a kind one!

[the-inspector-jones]

Hey quick question.... Do you hate us?? First kiss! Chapter ending with office kisses! Whyyyyy.

I really hate advent fics. You are not helping.

😬

Honestly? I'd kinda just decided no one was actually reading it. I've continued posting for my own enjoyment alone, so getting any ask on this blog at all has made me chuckle.

We move much faster from now on, nonnie. I don't know if that helps at all. Advent fics are sorta the worst. I guess I'm sorry. Except I'm having fun.

So.

Oops.

[dreaminonao3]

Fanfic Advent Calendar 2023

open the door for December 3rd

[welcome-to-the-end-of-eras]

Live Reading: The Salt Miracles

I am only doing this for The Salt Miracles and not the other stories in The Winter Spirits because it's too much effort and I'm already going insane. I'm also going in 100% blind, I have absolutely no idea what it's about or whose perspective it's following, but my lord am I nervous.

I haven't even started yet but I just realised I've been calling it The Salt Mines by accident and put it in a twitter post oops-

OOO IT'S SOMEONE NEW

I STILL HAVEN'T STARTED READING YET BUT I SAW THEM REFERENCE A PRIEST AND NOW I'M GOING INSANE I NEED TO BE SEDATED

I'm chewing on glass and gnawing at the bars of my fucking enclosure

This (not) reading is more indicative of my mental illness than my actual diagnoses

If St Hilda is a fucking asylum I'm going to commit several crimes

I already love Mhairi she's so fun

Wait why is it changing to another dude Mhairi was fun :((( ik I'll probably like Flint but Mhairi is cool and I want her to write a proper female mc for once

Wait wait wait if the salt is pink it's probably Himilayan, and that along with Russia was where Mori said there was a weird no-clairvoyance zone thing so ??? I'm going to lose my marbles

Ohh nvm it's algae, that would've been cool

Okay Flint is also a priest, we have two priests now

"... I've been, you know, head first in a bucket the whole way" yeah okay this is a Pulley protag and I love him

" 'A whole...Christmas selection?' 'Nuts' " that may just become my new Twitter bio (probably not I like my Glass Onion reference too much)

He has a portable camera so this is probably taking place in like the twenties, but Kodak as a company was founded literally the same time tlfop was happening which is funny

Motherfucker are we getting animal-human hybrids???

I like fog as a metaphor, especially in tlfop, so I will probably write out something about it later

"...beehives, or cairns (graves)" this sounds like when Mori threatened Ito's wife who was allergic to bees

Why tf are there pilgrims??? Ik they're not like the Mayflower types of pilgrims, but what kind of religious journey thing are they doing???

I also want to write about the complete lack of respect for government officials and just general authority from the pulleyverse protags bc none of them have any fucks to give about authority figures

"...in his unofficial capacity as the bishop's shoulder-angel" PLS-

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was mentioned and now I'm 1.) thinking about tlfop again, and 2.) am fairly certain that this story takes place not far from the events of tlfop, because the first Sherlock Holmes book was published in 1887 and he references them as being "new:

"...now the bishop didn't believe in miracles"

"I'll be Eve in a cider factory" tbh I don't understand what that means too well rn but I love it regardless (ik Eve bit the apple and all that jazz I just can't wrap my brain around the metaphor please don't explain the Bible to me)

I auto-filled an Irish accent for Kerryn in my brain so when he called Flint "Father Kang" I thought he meant "King" for a minute

Okay so it starts December 18th, which is also the date that Mori said he would come back to Japan if I'm not mistaken??? (Edit: I WAS RIGHT AND I FEEL LIKE GOD)

But I must be slightly off because X-rays weren't invented until 1895 :(((

Also I know Kerryn is probably the secondary lead but there's something off about him I don't like, I can't put my finger on it

Either Ms. Pulley messed up her math or I don't know what an advent calendar is, because I was under the impression this was in December, so how tf has Rosemary been on the island for 38 days if she's been there since September??? She would've had to have come in November for that to be true

Flint out here profiling people by name like his name isn't fucking Flint (I also definitely laughed and thought of Batman when I read Bruce's name for the first time)

I can't handle references to the winter king rn don't do this to me-

I stopped to make dinner because I'm hungry, I started at like 5:30 and it's now like 7:35 and I have some yummy pasta and pumpkin tea (I also had like 1.5 margaritas)

I can finally use my insanely eurocentric art history class notes to explain the imagery of what Flint describes in Ezekiel's angels; each of the four creature's heads is representative of the four apostles who wrote the bible, and that coupled with the biblically accurate angels coming down from on high are clear indicators of the second coming in art, meaning the previous priest was preaching the end of days to these people

I've always been such a sucker for Catholicism in gothic media, especially when it comes to imagery, so this all is right up my alley

THE O W L ? ? ?

"...the Almighty had forgotten about the United Kingdom" she's so fucking real for that

Honestly??? The Bishop sounds like he'd be a good love interest for Flint. Maybe it's because I don't like Kerryn that much even tho he's the standard choice, but the whole "hearing them talking to you in times of stress" thing is a fun thing I like with all the pulleyverse couples and it happened with the Bishop so. Hmm.

Fliny's whole color metaphor for logic + Thaniel's synesthesia sounds like another essay for me

The optimism of Flint and the pilgrims is really going to make the horror aspect of this all hit so hard I'm excited

On that note, I love how the stones that looked like beehives so readily became cairns as the tone got darker

My computer started updating as I was making this and I was so scared that I lost everything but thank fuck for tumblr drafts

Anyways those salt rocks are a grade A prime example of Chekov's gun if I've ever seen one

The rocks are fuckin BIRDS???

The fear of machinery is something we have seen in Pulley novels before, especially around this time period, but it's just making me think of the Mars House and how that would tie in

HIMB BABY BIRD I'M ABOUT TO CRY-

N O NOT THE BIRD :(((

That was fast

"The islanders didn't leave a hundred years ago. We're walking in them." this line goes so hard, especially because it includes the audience in the "we"

OOO altitude sickness, very Bedlam Stacks-core

The cloaked devil imagery and unforgotten knowledge description is giving very much Edgar Allen Poe and it's gorgeous

I cannot say I care at all about Kerryn becoming salt but damn was it a creepy twist

And the way she physically started crumbling??? Genuinely horrifying

It took this short story for me to realise that that scene in twofs where Mori is giving his side of the argument with the priest in the future where he actually did go to the wedding, he's arguing about the story of Lot, which likely was derivative of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Wonder why that would come up. Hmm. A mystery.

"He could taste it -- something electric." PLS I'M GOING NUTS-

What in the fucking Cthulu-

Oh Mhairi's back!!! Yay!!!

Alright maybe I spoke too soon with the whole Bishop and Flint thing

Wait it's not Flint??? I thought Bruce was Flint for a second

Oh f u c k dude that was HEAVY

That's so nuts

I literally do not have words what the fuck was that ending

It was really good and clever and fun but w o w

Ending thoughts: I genuinely have none, that was terrifying and beautiful and cool as FUCK, and I think if Ms. Pulley started pumping out only horror novels from now on I would be in full support. It's a really fuckin out of pocket move considering her previous works and even her last short story that had a relatively happy ending but my god it was good. 10/10, very creeped out. Also the sign at the end??? Knowing Flint probably wrote that out and put it around his own neck like a noose??? That's so fucking hardcore I can't believe it. Utterly amazed.