#And now I’m watching bbc Sherlock and reading all of the short stories and help

[imsaunteringvaguelydownwards]

you ever get hyperfixations but not in the sense that you picked up a piece of media and just kinda held on to it but more that you brushed up against a piece of media and it attacked you like a rabid dog out of nowhere? Cuz same

[aspiring-creative-person]

Wow! Great post OP! I’d like to ramble too now lol

(Solitary Cyclist is my favorite story they’ve filmed, and fun fact if you didn’t know, it was the FIRST one they filmed?? I look forward to reading your post about it)

Also, David Burke is also my favorite Watson. As someone who has watched the Grenada many times. Yes. He and Jeremy just have an immediate chemistry as our favorite duo, equals and not taking each others’ crap while caring for each other and supporting and loving each other. It’s lovely.

The next Watson in the show, Edward Hardwick, is still great, but it takes several seasons for me to warm up to him, even each time I watch the show. The dynamic is different, he’s definitely an older version of Watson, but perhaps this works, in the context of the time in the show. The thing for me is that Burke and Brett are immediately on the same page, immediately have their dynamic, it just slots into place. Hardwick and Brett take a little more time to find their dynamic, but once they do it’s golden.

I think because of this, Burke is my favorite Watson, because even though he had less time, the chemistry was just so good.

I’m so glad there is another Grenada fan to interact with! I encourage every fan of Sherlock— especially BBC fans who are curious about the books but are intimidated by reading them for whatever reason— to watch this show. It is so passionate about the original cannon. I wrote an essay on Brett in high school, and long story short he put everything into this role. He played it for 10 years and tried to wring himself out and absorb Sherlock holmes, and it was ultimately to his detriment. It made him really depressed in later life, and that certainly didn’t help his declining health. He read the books, and made a manual for Holmes’ mannerisms, his backstory Brett headcannoned for him, the way he thinks, everything. He always had it on set with him. By the end of his career, he hated Holmes, he said he would never want to meet him. It’s all very interesting, and sometimes it’s conflicting to consume media knowing it caused people pain, but it also feels a bit wrong to discard something when someone poured their soul into it like that.

Hah I kind of got off topic. But yeah Grenada series is the most accurate depiction of the books I’ve ever seen. High production quality, high rewatchability. Plus, Watson never gets married in this version so it’s even a little more queer coded 😂😂 (that’s like one of the only things they changed) (my guess is they didn’t want to deal with the screwed up timeline, so they just. Didn’t.)

I also just found the Russian Sherlock Holmes. I’m only two episodes in right now, but I’d say it’s on a similar level to Grenada as an adaptation, but for very different reasons. It definitely takes its liberties in changing details about the stories and embellishing certain things where it can, crafting a slightly different narrative, but it does it so well. I think in a way it focuses a little more effort into Watson and Holmes’ relationship, which is very nice. They are so goofy together in this version, it’s so refreshing to see Holmes portrayed with actual emotions. (Grenada doesn’t avoid Holmes’ emotions by any means, but it’s a different flavor.) I could rant about it but others have done it better, if you’re curious about Holmes and emotions, go to my page and scroll down a bit, I’ve reposted people’s rants/quotings of the book and it’s all very interesting.

Anyway, welcome to the fandom for anyone joining, and welcome back to others! I know we are all going to celebrate when the last of the Sherlock Holmes cannon is released!

Watching Granada Holmes: On David Burke as Dr Watson

Okay so before I watch the next Granada episode, Empty House, I need to say goodbye to David Burke as Dr John Watson. David Burke couldn’t continue with Granada’s adaptation after FINA due to scheduling conflicts, which led to him helping them find his replacement, Edward Hardwicke. 

This post is me processing that in the hope that I can learn to love Edward Hardwicke as Watson without feeling too disappointed he’s not David Burke.

You see, going into Granada Holmes, I’d already been informed that Jeremy Brett is the Sherlock Holmes. This is definitely true. However, at this moment, all I can say that for me, David Burke will be the Dr John Watson. 

My tag for David Burke is “he smiles with his whole face”. Right from the start, his expressiveness intrigued me, and made it very easy to feel like I was part of the story. His openness invited me as the audience in. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a very fine voice - I’ve memorised the way he says “Holmes” and other words like “black moods”. They’re very fun to say in his accent! 

Watching the Granada Holmes series has felt very personal. For starters, watching TV shows or movies are always immersive experiences for me, due to the way my brain processes information. I get “sucked in” to the story very easily - it feels like I’m another character, almost, observing. It’s also hard because I’m having to process the audio-visual information, the language, the social information, the emotional contexts - and anything they trigger in me from past experiences - all at once. 

Granada Holmes is a very safe way to do that, because most of the time, the bad guys get their comeuppance in the end, and the client of the week has resolution, and perhaps catharsis. 

It also feels very safe because Holmes and Watson guide me through it. I’ll say more about Jeremy Brett at the end of my entire watch through, but for David Burke, my “oh, you’re my Watson” journey really took flight with the end of Solitary Cyclist. 

See, the thing about David Burke’s Watson isn’t just that he’s very expressive. He’s very reassuring. Steady and dependable, but also openly delighted in Holmes’s brilliance. A perfect foil for the audience. 

He’s the one who instinctively knows how to handle clients (see: any Woman in Need episode), and takes care of Holmes almost before Holmes knows he needs it (see: Norwood Builder) - and when he’s protecting you/ the client, by goodness do you feel it. 

You’ll recall that I had plenty to say about Solitary Cyclist, so much so that I wrote two posts for it. One about the episode recap, and another, which I wrote first, of my feelings about the episode’s context. Look, the Woman In Need episodes always strike a little close to home for me for various reasons. And after my first experience of that in Solitary Cyclist, one of the things that comforted me after was remembering, well, this moment: 

[Image description: Watson holds the drugged Violet Smith to him protectively with one hand while holding his gun with the other, a very serious look on his face. /end image description.]

Followed by this one: 

Watson: “You may call that love. I call it selfishness.”

[Image description: Holmes and Watson sit side-by-side, staring in disgust at one of the baddies of the story. /end image description.]

In the first scene, Watson was Violet Smith’s physical protector at a time when she couldn’t defend herself. His words afterward, a delightful castigation of the villain. As a woman, hearing someone say those things (and keep saying them in other episodes), whether to the perpetrator as a scold, to the client/ victim in comfort, or to Holmes about how very serious the situation is, has been good. 

It helps that Burke’s Watson also has this “softness with a core of steel” energy. The sort of energy that makes one think, if I was in trouble, I would very much like to have Burke’s Watson protect me and tell me it wasn’t my fault and such (while Brett’s Holmes solved the problem that had trapped me in the first place). 

Basically, I would very much like to be their friend. Or their honourary relation (which is what they are to the Women In Need). 

We see the Sherlock Holmes stories through Watson’s eyes, as he is the Narrator. (A fact brought home by Granada’s adaptation of The Final Problem.) Having David Burke in the role has been very comforting - and fun. We experience his emotions with him, and I have deeply enjoyed it. 

[vanhelsingenthusiast]

Hi! I hope I am not bothering you. If you don’t mind me asking, I don’t know if you have already talked about that before, but do you have any Dracula related books or movies that you would recommend, either because it is (at least relatively) good or because it is so bad it’s funny? I don’t mind if it is very old or weird or in any language (as long as there are subtitles). Thanks and have a wonderful day :)

Hi anon! Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this. 

I think I’ve given some recommendations for Dracula adaptations in the past, but I don’t think I’ve ever answered this question specifically or made a master post, so here we go. My Dracula recommendations. 

(Relatively) Good Movies: 

My personal favorite is the 1977 BBC one, which you can watch here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=96OIILetaho 

I also adore the 1958 “Horror of Dracula”, which is a classic. I’m pretty sure this is one you might have to pay for, though. Pretty much any of the subsequent Hammer Horror Dracula movies are great, but they do get very cheesy after this one. 

Another Hammer Horror Dracula movie I reccomend in the 1973 “Satantic Rites of Dracula”. It’s hilarious. 

Then there’s the 1979 Nosferatu silent film, which I thought was just beautiful to watch. Not the most accurate to the book, but very aesthetically pleasing. It’s based off of the 1922 silent film of the same name, which I have yet to watch. 

If you like anime or manga, there’s also Hellsing, which I enjoy, but it’s very different from the book. 

So Bad it’s Good Movies: 

2004 Van Helsing. Cheesy, very, very cheesy. Pretty typical early-2000s action film. Mindless fun. I really like Frankenstein’s Creature in this, and also Dracula. 

The 2006 BBC film, lovingly dubbed “Arthur’s Magical Syphillis Adventure” by our own @dracupa. Need I explain more? You can watch it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NGMWgk18M3Q

Now, there is one more I reccomend but I can’t decide if it’s good or bad or what. 

That is the 1968 made-for-tv adaptation. It’s not excellent, but it’s got some great westenray scenes. You can watch it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GhqKw_YjilE 

Now, for books: 

(Relatively) Good Books: 

The Many Faces of Van Helsing. This is an anthology of short stories, revolving around specifically Van Helsing. Not all of them are good, but most of them are excellent. My personal favorite short storiy in this anthology is “Remember Me” by Tanith Lee. 

Sherlock Holmes vs Count Dracula. This one is pretty short, and so much fun. I do have some issues with it (mainly how they characterize Van Helsing), but Sherlock and Watson are soooo good. Especially if you like JohnLock. Here’s the audiobook: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0TX4rvB6mIs

I also really like the book “Terovolas” by Edward M. Erdelac. I haven’t read all of it, admittedly, bc I can’t find the full book online for free, but what I have read is wonderful. The writing is engaging, the characters are interesting and dynamic, and I just love how Erdelac writes Van Helsing. 

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing, by Allen C Kupfer. This one isn’t spectacular, but it was fun to read and pretty short (I finished it in two days). This one is also Van Helsing-centric. I thought the ending was neat. 

So Bad it’s Good Books: 

Tbh, I don’t really know if books can be classified as “so bad its good” just because they take more energy to interact with than movies do, but honestly? Just about anything by Fred Saberhagen. Or Dacre Stoker. 

There are a few other Dracula adaptations out there, and if you want to watch all of them I’d reccomend just searching it up, but most of them are boring imo. 

Hope this helps! And I hope you have a wonderful day too :) 

[companionjones]

Same (3/8)

Kind of requested by: @viper-official​ and @madshelily​

Request: I need a whole ass series based around this!!!!

Fandoms: Marvel, MCU, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, BBC Sherlock

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x Fem!Reader x Doctor Strange

Summary: After Sherlock meets everyone, you get a chance to really talk to him again.

Warnings: Language!

Author’s Note: Head’s up, I’m not done writing all the parts to this. So if you’re following this story, there might be more or less chapters than eight, and there might be changes in chapters after I post them.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 (original chapter posted)

*******

    Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Steven Strange and yourself had departed from 221B Baker Street at around 10am. The next time you were able to get a moment to yourself, it was nearing noon.

    It had already been a weird day with Sherlock meeting Strange, and it had only gotten weirder by adding the rest of the Avengers to the equation. Everyone was high-spirited upon meeting the detective. Sherlock, on the other hand, was as cold as ever.

    Actually, no. Not as cold as ever. Sherlock had been even colder ever since he laid eyes on Strange. You had a feeling Sherlock’s contempt for your lies outweighed his confusion of different dimensions and faces that matched his own.

    Despite all of that, you had work to do. You found your office and began yet another stint of extensive research on Osborn and Doc Ock. Having something to do also took your mind off of all things Sherlock. Well, mostly.

    That was until you sensed a certain Holmes’ presence in your office’s doorway.

    “I know you’re watching me,” you revealed in a playful voice that reminded you of how things used to be between you and Sherlock. Turning around however, you were brought back to reality. Sherlock was in your doorway, but his head was turned away from you. The shadow he was shrouded in revealed Sherlock’s thoughts.

    Sighing, you slid your chair away from your desk. “Think of it like learning something new in school.”

    “What?”

    Regardless of the heavy circumstances, you chuckled. “When was the last time you learned something new? Something like how we’re able to breathe the air or why the Earth revolves around the Sun--bad example.

    “When I first found out about all this, when I first found out about my powers, it was like I was seeing the world for the first time. Now, I know that you won’t think any of this applies to you because you’ve always said you’re above me, but--”

    Sherlock cut you off. “I never said I was above you.”

    His words made you pause.

    “Everyone else, sure. Mycroft, of course. But never you,” the consulting detective elaborated.

    It took you a moment to recover from the unexpected, yet endearing statement. “...Well...then, believe me. All you need to do is sit down and learn about all this stuff. It makes things a lot easier.”

    The next twenty minutes were spent by you explaining the more technical side of the Multiverse. Most saw anything beyond human achievement as magic mumbo jumbo, but it all remind you of something an extremely clever woman told you: “Magic’s just science we don’t understand yet.”

    Your impromptu Multiverse lesson was cut short by Clint stopping by your office to inform you and Sherlock that Octavius and Osborn had launched an attack on New York City.

    “Okay.” You took a deep breath. “Thanks, Barton.” Turning to Sherlock, you tilted your head to the door. “Come with me.”

    The room you took Sherlock to was where the Avengers facility followed along with any and all active missions.

    “Here.” You offered Sherlock an ear piece. “This’ll let us communicate while I’m out. So, what do you say? Wanna help me out with this mission?”

    To an outsider’s glance, it would’ve seemed like Sherlock’s cold glare hadn’t changed. However, you knew him well enough to see that he was coming around after your last discussion with him. Sherlock even showed the teeniest, tiniest smile as he took the ear piece from your hand.

    “Alright,” you nodded, returning his smile tenfold, “Let’s go to work.”

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you so much for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment if you have the time. If you want to read more, I have more fics on Marvel and BBC Sherlock. You should check it out. Thanks again! Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

[i-am-just-a-kiddo]

favourite male fictional characters

Thank you @vishcount​ for tagging me, this was a lot of fun! 💞 I originally planned to follow your example and put ten characters here but suddenly it became a lot more oops. also i hope you forgive me for following your format, it’s neat 

I am tagging @isabellaofparma​ , @the-cloud-whisperer​ and @sassyassassy​!

I chose the characters that impacted me deeply on a personal level throughout my life (often shown by how long my love lasts over the years and if i was inspired to write for them). 

In no specific order under the cut: 

Legolas

The Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien. 

I think it’s only fitting I start off with this magnificent guy. Maybe I gotta admit, i’ve just had a crush on him ever since I was like, nine years old? He’s the character I will fight tooth and claw for (though I guess he doesn’t need me to do that). I love Orlando Bloom’s portrayal of him, eventhough he is vastly different from the books. Book Legolas is such a delight as well, he feels so whimsical and playful and his banter with Gimli is just gold. I was sad when The Hobbit trilogy came out and I was so disappointed by how they butchered his character, it just did not feel authentic anymore (maybe I am also just bitter about the forced hetero storyline for him. makes no cents, this elf is GayTM your honour. and he will meet his soulmate Gimli in a few decades).  Either way, Legolas is the love of my life, thanks for coming to my tedtalk,

Peter Pan 

Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

Another childhood crush of mine. The gif I chose if from the 2005 movie because we always used to watch it and it is to this day one of my favourite movies. It’s so dreamy, so magical, yet also incredibly sad and sweet.  I have this very strange fascination with Peter Pan. There is something incredibly unsettling about him, especially in the book. He represents something every child wants - who doesn’t want to escape their bedroom and fly away to experience magical adventured far from the adult world? And yet he also represents the impossibility of it, the curse he carries around with himself because he will forever stay alone, no matter how many lost boys he gathers around himself. And Wendy - it’s a love that was never meant to grow and mature, it’s a fleeting dream for the both of them.  I have seen many different adaptations of Peter Pan and I have my favourites, though I want to give a special mention to the book Peter Darling by Austin Chant. It’s a retelling of the story how we know it, in which Peter returns to Neverland after having finally grown up BUT the main points I want to highlight is trans Peter? Heck yes. Gripping and compelling gay love story with our favourite original lost boy Captain Hook? YES. 

Snufkin

Moomins, Tove Jansson.

I have discovered Snufkin for myself only last year, and yet I know he will stay with me forever. In short - I vibe with him, he vibes with me. His anxieties about being with people and longing for solitude? His fear of being loved and being important to someone to a point he doesn’t know what to do with himself? This man just wants to roam freely with his own mind and yet he always returns for something that captures him. Mum, I love him because I have rarely felt this seen before. Also, Snufkin said ACAB. 

Prince Jing - Xiao Jingyan

Nirvana in Fire (2015)

This too is a darling I have only discovered recently. I watched Nirvana in Fire this year and let me tell you, it’s the best show I have seen in a long while. It’s absolutely amazing and it also ripped my heart out. All the characters are absolutely amazing and I am still not over it.

To be honest, I contemplated between Xiao JIngyan and Mei Changsu, because character-wise I think the latter is a lot more interesting and compelling. He makes for a fantastic heartbreaking and flawed protagonist.

However I have to admit - it was love at first sight with Prince Jing for me and I’m still lowkey mad abt it rip. Seems like I am not immune to Pretty Prince Propaganda. But apart from that, I adore him for his genuine

goodness,

his almost naive drive to be better and seek justice. He lost everything, and for the longest time did not have anything to fight for. So alone and lost and bitter, it makes me sad how much it hardened him. He is heartbreak and clumsy kindness hidden under a skin of scars that was inflicted by his father and many others. I see his sad cat-eyes and I cry, that’s just how it is.

Edmund Pevensie

The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis

I grew up with these books and movies - they have always been part of my life and it will probably always stay that way (only last night I rewatched the first movie and sobbed).  Imagine my surprised when I finally watched the last movie about five years ago and was incredibly impressed by how they adapted the book; also imagine my brain suddenly going CASMUND in bold letters at Skandar Keynes’ and Ben Barnes’  performance in that movie.  From there, I rediscovered this story completely anew for myself. My favourite Pevensie sibling has always been Lucy (and still is, because I identify with her so much and she feels like home to me); however this new discovery of Edmund’s character was overwhelming. It’s interesting to see characters you’ve grown up with from a more grown up point of view. I don’t want to lay out all my thoughts here, just know I am so heartbroken for him, and so so proud as well. His character arc is amazing and maybe that’s how the last movie makes me even more emotional. Seeing Edmund and Lucy still holding on to Narnia but knowing that that door was closing for them? Not to mention what happens in the later books (we don’t talk about that).  Also did I mention Casmund. Here, have my incredibly emo and depressing take on Edmund’s character that I started writing four years ago and which will forever stay a WIP. 

Nie Huaisang

The Untamed (2019)

My son. My soul. My bane of existence. The tragic thing about him is, that he does not really exist in canon as I have created him for myself. He’s a secondary character in the show, always so relatable yet still brings the ultimate twist of the story, yet he still remains this incomplete shadow. The movie

Fatal Journey

gave him a lot more and I cried tears of joy and devastation. I don’t know why I latched on to him so much, but apparently he is the one that I project on, the one that feels like he sits somewhere inside my chest. I don’t know what else to say - this year he has been everything to me. I spend a lot of time in his head while writing, and maybe that’s how he’s there forever now. Nie Huaisang saw my brain and went it’s free real estate. All my love for you, you dramatic art hoe.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Ah, another lifelong companion. There are many adapations that I adore - starting from the origin of it all, the books and stories which I have all devoured; the 80s adaptation with Jeremy Brett which was incredibly wonderful; to BBC Sherlock which shaped and traumatised me (I still like the first three seaons but I am too hurt to think about it); to the numerous movies -  but by far my most favourite performance is Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Somehow he manages to capture the Holmes I see in my head when I read the books, the sharp yet polite eccentric detective, who loves his companion so much and who has desire to help others.  Sherlock Holmes will always stay special to me, in so many different ways. He shaped my youth and I know he will stay with me. (also what would you say when I told you he helped me discover that I can, in fact, be queer AND ace at the same time? thanks pal).  What else is there to say? Sherlock Holmes is a universe that you can dive into and find many amazing treasures. 

Isak Valtersen 

SKAM (2015)

There he is, the boy that changed my life. SKAM changed my life. All of the characters did. However, Isak is special for many, as I imagine. I remember winter 2016, when tumblr was flooded by these norwegian white boys kissing in a pool and cuddling and I was like ‘nah’, this doesn’t look convincing.  I don’t know what changed my mind but I remember sitting down at last and watching all that was released of season three and it was only downhill from there. I remember starting to follow the real life updates religiously while watching the other previous seasons in between. The one clip that completely wrecked me was when Isak went to the school nurse about his struggles with sleep - it felt like for the first time I saw someone on screen that could understand me on so many different levels. The entierty of seaons three is so personal, I would tell you to go watch it if you don’t know what I mean. The entire show in fact. It’s a masterpiece and it feels so real. This show impacted my life in a way that no show has managed to do before. I miss it so much. I miss Isak too sigh. 

Shang Xirui

Winter Begonia (2020)

Technically, for me personally, Shang Xirui is the nonbinary, gay and ace representation I need in my life (or at least that’s my own personal take on him), but since that is not official, he’s still here on this list. Of course he is because wow, it’s been a long while since I’ve seen such a compelling character on screen. I went from disliking him to being absolutely heartbroken over him. I don’t think any other character in this show captured me as much as he did. There are so many layers to him and discovering all of his sides is a wonderful, heartbreaking, painful and also beautiful journey. I’m not sure I understand all of him yet, but I am willing to try and dig and just ponder his existence. This too, is a perfect example for a flawed yet authentic protagonist. Also he is the most beautiful thing on this planet, or at least that’s how I have been feeling ever since I watched this. I wish to write more of him in the future. 

Aang

Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)

I grew up watching ATLA and my favourite characters have always been Toph, Zuko and Uncle Iroh. In recent years however, I completely fell in love with Aang all anew. 

I think especially in the past, I had these prejudices against main characters and found them all the most boring personalities ever. In recent years this changed a lot and especially Aang is a prime example for that. Watching him from the perspective of older me, I find so much wisdom in this young boy. Somehow he represents all I wish to be in my life but at the same time he shows his flaws, he carries this sadness with him that will accompany him all his life. This inner battle and chaos that he has to face day to day and in the end - he is just a young boy. So much has been taken from him and yet he learns how to not let it overtake him, that anger and hurt. He tries his hardest to be better than the day before, even if sometimes the world crashes down on him and he gets overwhelmed. He is a child recruited by adults to manage their mistakes and play into the hands of predestined fate and in this essay I will -

Harry Potter 

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

I am surprised myself. I thought I would put Fred and George here, or Remus and Sirius, however I realised that none of them quite capture this feeling of lifelong change, of personal, deep impact that Harry had on me. 

As with Aang above, I used to think Harry was the most boring protagonist, yet my opinion took a 180° turn in the past years. Many of the things I wrote for Aang apply to him too - the fact that he was a child, that lost so much, and was always faced with challenges that a child should never have needed to face. Something I want to address is how my favourite book, The Order of the Phoenix, lays all of this out. Harry is just as flawed, just as vulnerable and angry as anyone else. I know some people did not like his ‘emo behaviour’ in the fifth book but for me it just showed how human he is, how he was just a teen like myself at that time. As for many, this boy shaped my entire life, shaped a generation, and I will forever be grateful. I’m sad and angry at how J*R behaves, and how she puts us in the position of doubting our love for these stories. I know I will always love them, but I will not turn a blind eye on all the problematic shit is carries with itself and what the author piles upon us. 

Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian 

The Untamed (2019)

I will try and keep this short, because if you want to read my thoughts about Wangxian just go to my ao3 and find the  over 70k i wrote for them.  I decided to put them here together because I can’t seperate them and I can’t choose between them. Each of them carries something I recognise in myself, and each of them is the opposite of me. They each own my heart and soul and I know there will never be a fictional couple like this for me ever again. They’ve snuck their way into my heart and have never left. They deserve to be here, together, because my love for them is indescribable. Bless them.  + Bonus:

The Doctor

Doctor Who (1963/2005)

Technically, the Doctor doesn’t count as a “male” character, but since he has been presenting as male up until recently, I needed to include him. I chose the Tenth Doctor because he is the one that broke my heart the most. I adored Nine but he was there too short, and I do love Eleven and Twelve a lot, and Thirteen absolutely owns my heart, Ten has just always been the one that made me cry the most. I loved this era of Doctor Who, I loved how sad and hopeful he was, how heartbroken and yet determined to help wherever it was needed. Doctor Who is always that show, when I return to it, I am reminded that maybe, humanity and the universe isn’t all that bad. 

phew, this took ages damn. but i had so much fun! i decided to leave out honorable mentiones because we would be sitting here until tomorrow lol. 

[solrosan]

author interview tag

@the-sign-of-tea​ tagged me to do this, thank you!

Name: solrosan (everywhere)

Fandoms: Kingsman, The Old Guard, The King: Eternal Monarch (currently writing for), BBC Sherlock, MCU, Cabin Pressure (previously written for)

Where you post: AO3, Tumblr, Pillowfort

Most popular multi-chapter fic: Eating Us Alive

Favourite story you’ve written so far: Short Message Service, predictable and boring answer (I know) and I do have a few more but… SMS will always have a special place in my heart.

Fic you were nervous to post: I’m nervous about all of them, but none stick out more in memory than any other.

How you choose your titles: Poorly. For the next one, I’m going to take in a consultant. (Looking at you @zedille)

Do you outline: Not if I can help it, but sometimes needs must etc and blah blah. I never plan on writing more than short one-shots, so the outlining becomes an after-thought if it turns out I have a monster on my hands.

Complete: 119 (posted on AO3), I have more complete works elsewhere but I don’t have the energy to count them

In progress: 2 (”progress” is a very subjective word)

Coming soon/not yet started: Two Eternal Monarch fics, a new update of the Kilt verse, an exchange fic

Do you accept prompts: Yes, but I tend to forget a lot of them... I’m sorry

Upcoming story you are most excited to write: One of the Eternal Monarch fics because I’ve watched enough canon now to know I can write it without it contradicting it XD So scared it’s going to fall flat.

Upcoming story [from other authors] you are most excited about: I’m looking forward to see what I get in the exchange, and I want to read @stronglyobsessed‘s angst monster ;D

Tagging anyone who wants to try their hands on this one!

[thefloatingstone]

Last time I made a playlist of recommended youtube channels to enjoy while in lockdown or self quarantine, I focused on individual videos while also recommending other videos from the same channel.

I thought I’d make another list only this time I’m going to be recommending playlists or series on youtuber instead of just individual videos.

This is gonna go exactly like last time, so check out any of these that might seem interesting to you, and hopefully I can give you something to look into if you want something to watch but don’t feel like watching a Netflix or Crunchyroll show.

Last time I tried to put this under a read more break but it didn’t work and I ended up posting this long-ass post on everyone’s dash. Well I decided to do so again here. hit J to skip to the bottom of the post if you don’t feel like reading this whole thing. If you’re on tumblr mobile; why?

In no particular order;

Cinemassacre movie reviews and topics

All of you already know James Rolfe as the AVGN. I started watching him before Youtube was even a thing, before he was even signed on with Screwattack. Back when his videos could only be seen on his own website (or for some reason included on the free DVD you got with the local video game magazines). However, I eventually outgrew the outrage style humour of the AVGN episodes... but then James started doing Monster Madness where he would talk about his love for horror movies, and this where I learned about his vast knowledge about movie history and even films I had never even heard mention of before! I think it’s safe to say, he got me to be interested in movie history just as much as movie production and film as a viewing experience.

I recommend this playlist which is a hodgepodge of James talking about old horror movie franchises, talking about his first experience with Power Rangers as someone who didn’t grow up with it, or how Bob Ross is a childhood hero of his. It’s an excellent play list that’s really laid back but you learn a lot of stuff from it. James is very informed for the most part and it leads you to wanting to check out a lot of these things too, just because he’s so passionate about it.

If I ever get over my weird hang up about speaking out loud, these are the kinds of videos I’d like to make.

Vinesauce Vinny: The Neverhood

Vinny is by no means a new Let’s Player, having been on Youtube for over 10 years now, but I only started watching him a few months ago. I started with this playlist when I saw he was doing The Neverhood, a game I had heard about but never seen played before. The Neverhood is a bizarre game, as a point and click PC game from the 90s where the entirety of the video game was made with stop motion and clay. Something that sounds so insane you would say it’s impossible if not for the fact that it exists. The claymation itself is extremely well done, and the game has a really weird and absurd sense of humour. Just the strangest things happen in this thing. Now couple that with Vinny’s very dry and straightforward delivery and you have probably one of the funniest Let’s Plays I’ve watched in a long time.

This is also “short” for a Let’s Play series. With only 4 parts to it, the longest video only being a bit under and hour and 30 minutes. It’ll still take up a good chunk of your time, but it’s not as daunting as some of the other Let’s Plays I’ll mention on this list.

Team Four Star: Pokemon Shield Nuzlocke

Exactly what it says on the tin. The guys from Team Four Star play Pokemon Shield with Nuzlocke rules. They’ve done several Nuzlocke runs in the past, but I find the Pokemon Shield is the best one they’ve done. Especially since a lot of the needless fluff and grinding has been edited out. So unlike some of their previous series you don’t see a lot of Kieran and Grant running in a circle for an hour trying to catch a specific pokemon or trying to get to a certain level.

It’s also hilarious as they have a lot of “house rules” for the Nuzlocke often involving the exercise bike they.... have..... for some reason.

It’s very good and the gym battles become SUPER hype with the Nuzlocke rules and the music.

Baywatching

Having been going to a few years now, watch Allison try her very best to go through and do a video series where she talks about summarises every episode of Baywatch.

.... Ever. Single. Episode.

She’s not even close to done yet (and now she’s introduced Baywatch Nights AS WELL) but her trying to explain the batshit insanity of this show, it’s over the top characters, it’s insane plots and behind the scenes weirdness with all the enthusiasm and love for this slice of 90s is amazing. Please enjoy a good thick chunk of inside jokes, silly character voices, and a whole lot of ?????

Brutal Moose: Shenmue

Probably one of the most chill channels on all of Youtube, Brutal Moose aka Ian, prefers playing games you wouldn’t think would make for good Let’s Plays. And maybe they don’t, objectively. A collection of playlists covering Truck Simulator, Nancy Drew, Hidden Object games etc etc, spliced in with old commercials from drive in theaters from the 50s,60s and 70s. Ian’s Let’s Play channel is great for just putting on and letting play for company while you’re drawing or grinding in a video game or playing Stardew or something.

I recommend his Shenmue playthrough as Ian completely fell in love with the game and went on to play both the sequel and the newly released third game. Ian genuinely adores the weird voice acting and all the menial tasks and mini-games you can do. I watched this a lot in 2018 when I was going through a rough time, and it really helped me in a strange way to just put Ian on and listen to him talk to the chat and drive a forklift around for like 4 hours straight before going to Tomato Mart or wasting all his money on the gacha machines.

A Measured Response to “In Defense of Dark Souls 2″

At some point, big name youtuber Hbomberguy made a video called “In Defense of Dark Souls II”. I’m not subscribed to Hbomberguy but I enjoyed his video on why Sherlock (the BBC show) is trash. (come to think of it I should have added that to the first list). And it seems the video on Sherlock was really good and well argued.... and it seems his “In Defense of Dark Souls 2″ video... was not.

Using subjective language, bad representation of facts, or simply outright getting certain information wrong, Hbomberguy′s video on Dark Souls II is, at best, a man trying to argue that he likes Dark Souls II because it is “Objectively good”, rather than simply accept he likes it... because he likes it.

MauLer is kind of an asshole, but I have learned more about dissecting someone’s argument and deconstructing what they have said watching his response series than I have in any english or debate class I have ever had.

The response is over 10 hours long, but this is because MauLer takes time with each and every statement he takes umbrage with, discussing what is being said, discusses why it is false or dubious, and then compares with actual facts and research.

If you ever want to know how to to distinguish subjective opinion from objective fact in someone else’s argument regarding... ANYTHING really, I highly recommend this series.

I may not like MauLer as a person, but DAMN if he doesn’t know how to deconstruct an argument in a logic, emotionless way.

John Wolfe: Maize

Maize is a stupid game. a Stupid stupid game.

It involves sentient corn, and underground secret genetics lab, a Russian bootleg teddy bear that hates everyone, sentient corn, and a crumpet.

This game IMMEDIATELY went on my wishlist after watching this playthrough. Please watch John try and figure what the actual fuck is going on in this Monty Python-eque weird black comedy. It’s stupid, it’s weird, it’s bizarre and it’s honestly one of the funniest games I’ve seen streamed.

Hollywood: a Celebration of the Silent Era

This is not a youtube playlist. I mean it IS, but what this actually is, is a TV series released in the UK in 1980 covering the Silent Film era. As it was made in 1980, it includes interviews with many of the silent film stars who were often still alive during this documentary’s production. Each episode covers a specific theme of the silent movie era. One episode is about comedies, one is about WWI, one is about Westerns etc etc.

It’s a fascinating series, because it focuses on the silent era which, in modern day, I think many people unfairly think of as “those first few years of movies before movies really became a thing.” And that’s such a shame and really not true. The artistry, camera tricks, and raw nature of this early era of film making is so important and produced films which can still be watched today easily, possibly even easier than a few modern movies as often the very fact that the films are silent means they are universal, regardless of what language you speak.

I think an episode or two might have been turned to private or copyright claimed in this playlist, but I know if you do a search on youtube you can find the episode uploaded by someone else.

Diamanda Hagan: Bonekickers

Bonekickers is the show Mathew Graham made before he went on to work on the new Dr. Who. It is about archaeologists and it is God-fucking-Awful.

It is.... look. Ok. I like Archaeology a lot. But this isn’t a show that’s bad “if you like history” or “if you know things about archaeology”. This show is bad because it doesn’t make a single fucking lick of sense, all the characters are awful and terrible, and even if you understand what’s going on in the story you’re still going to be screaming “WHY????” at the screen as each new baffling stupid piece of the puzzle slots into place.

Diamanda Hagan has 0 time for this garbage and she’s going to walk you through each episode to show you how truly horrible this piece of garbage is.

Cry Plays: Ori and the Blind Forest

With Ori and the Will of the Wisps releasing recently, now is a great time to go and watch Cry playthrough the first Ori game. an absolutely gorgeous piece of work with a beautiful soundtrack and really likeable character designs and a sweet story, Ori is a great game to put on, sit back, and just let it wash over you. Cry’s playthrough is also great because although its a Metroidvania game, Cry fast forwards the parts where he backtracks for a long period of time, so you don’t get stuck watching him run back and forth as he tries to figure out where to go next or anything like that.

Cry also recently started playing the sequel as well!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

[possiblyimbiassed]

The Lost Special?

Musings over possible implications of BBC Dracula

After obsessively watching all three episodes of BBC Dracula, I can’t help feeling I’ve got one of my suspicions, if not exactly confirmed, at least enhanced: that this Victorian old story, finally adapted into present time, might in fact be relevant to Mofftiss’ version of ACD’s short story The Lost Special. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but since I can’t deny I do like ‘tin-hatting’, for now I choose to believe it is. ;)

(Continued under the cut)

As some of you guys already have expressed, I think BBC Dracula has BBC Sherlock written all over it. I believe this was obvious already from the setup; same authors, same producers, same broadcasters, same set designer, same format, three of the same actors including one of the writers, and even the same airing slot as BBC Sherlock. The Sherlock hints are sprinkled all over the two first episodes, which occur in the same Victorian time frame as ACD’s original Sherlock Holmes stories. This for example:

But the bringing of Bram Stoker’s old narrative into present time in the third episode (The Dark Compass) kind of sealed the deal for me. 

Suddenly we have Count Dracula sending text messages by smart phone to his victims:

 We have Dracula vomiting on the rug of a crime scene:

We have him storing body parts in the fridge! (X)

And this fridge scene is taking place while Dracula is watching a TV program with elephants on the Savannah, exclaiming “Look at her - so beautiful!”: 

Who is beautiful - the ‘Elephant in the Room’? It certainly feels like Mofftiss are stringing us along here, doesn’t it? ;)) But no; it’s the sun that Dracula admires as beautiful, we learn that in the show. The shining from the sun is a thing he thought he could never endure, but ultimately he learns that he actually can.

Same thing as Sherlock says about John Watson the distant suns in the sky in TGG:

Or about Sister Sentiment’s music in TFP:

Taking Dracula to modern time is something that the authors had expressly denied they would do. But they were lying of course, as is their usual MO. Exactly the same deception as they did with TAB, isn’t it? And as if this wouldn’t be enough, there’s a whole list of other modern Sherlock references, summarized by @gosherlocked​ (X). I’m sure there’s more, we just need some more time to find them. 

As I mentioned in this comment recently (X): The Lost Special (X) is a short story about a derailed, disappeared train that ACD wrote during the Great Hiatus (1898). It bears some typical Holmes-case mystery characteristics. And the anonymous person who in this story sends a letter to the train company, suggesting a way of solving the case, seems very much to be Holmes himself:

“It is one of the elementary principles of practical reasoning, that when the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must contain the truth. It is certain that the train left Kenyon Junction. It is certain that it did not reach Barton Moss. It is in the highest degree unlikely, but still possible, that it may have taken one of the seven available side lines. It is obviously impossible for a train to run where there are no rails, and, therefore, we may reduce our improbables to the three open lines, namely the Carnstock Iron Works, the Big Ben, and the Perseverance.”

(X). So this short story indeed looks like a Holmes story in disguise. But Sherlock Holmes’ name is never mentioned in The Lost Special and the storyteller is not John Watson. In this story the police did not act on this anonymous person’s advice. The truth wasn’t revealed until one of the perpetrators - a hired murderer who was threatened with execution years later - admitted that he had participated in derailing the train in question (X): “A conspiracy of men had temporarily re-attached the side track leading to the abandoned mine Heartsease just long enough for the train to go down to the mine, then pulled the tracks back up before they could be discovered.” To the broader audience, however - the Holmes readers - the character of Sherlock Holmes remained ‘dead’.

The wrapping up

One could say that The Lost Special both had and had not a satisfactory ending. Satisfactory because the truth was finally told and the mystery thus solved, but unsatisfactory because in spite of all the hints, the readers didn’t get to know anything more from Holmes. Not until years later (1903) when ACD actually did ‘resurrect’ him and continued the narrative of Sherlock Holmes with 33 more short stories. 

When Dracula finally ‘dies’ at the end of the BBC Dracula series, it’s not by being ‘staked’ or burnt to ashes with the sunlight as one would expect for a ‘monster’ like him. It’s by embracing the criticism of his most resilient but dying opponent: Zoe/Agatha Van Helsing (Mofftiss call her ‘Zagatha’ in an interview). She is dying from cancer, not from vampire bites. Dracula drinks her (to him) mortal blood and then ‘dies’ in her arms, basking in the sunlight (without burning) in a tender lovers’ embrace. 

Zagatha in BBC Dracula is criticizing the vampire for skulking in the shadows, being afraid of facing death. She says it will be his punishment to live on for eternity, while she is mortal and dying:

Seriously, this is so much ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I can’t just... But Count Dracula re-writes Bram Stoker’s original story and opts for another solution: to ‘die’ willingly in the sunlight, together with Zagatha. And if dying is a metaphor for falling in love - as I believe it is in BBC Sherlock - this might have some important implications. I think Dracula and Zagatha here represent two sides of Sherlock that are finally allowed to merge; his Sentiment and his (Homo)sexuality.

Like The Lost Special, BBC Dracula is nicely wrapped up and ‘solved’. But we still don’t really know what happened with Count Dracula, because we don’t actually see him crumble into ashes like he did in Stoker’s canon, and like the other vampire who was ‘staked’ in the show - Lucy Westenra. But the episode is packed with Sherlock references, so...

But I can’t say for the life of me that S4 of BBC Sherlock brought a satisfactory ending for the Holmes narrative either; it’s not ‘wrapped up’ at all! John and Sherlock seem to live on for eternity as ‘best friends’, solving crimes in the heteronormative ‘legends’ preferred by Ghost!Mary’s voiceover. They are simply immortal, Un-Dead for ever - like a punishment? Wouldn’t it be far more satisfying if Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s characters would come out and appear ‘human’ and ‘mortal’ and not have to remain just ‘best friends’ forever?

The (lack of) train references

One might argue, of course, that there are no specific train references in BBC Dracula, so how could we think it has anything to do with The Lost Special? Because, like The Lost Special, BBC Dracula is a Sherlock story in disguise! And because in the BBC Sherlock narrative itself there are already several episodes with train references; the most prominent of them is TEH and the last one - TFP. So there’s really no need for more references. But the train theme isn’t explained; it’s not ‘wrapped up’ at all, and neither is Sherlock’s story. I’ve tried to argue before that the detective is actually dying in S4, and so have others (X). And making him immortal will not save his credibility as a human.

I do hope he’ll wake up again, though - preferably with help of modern medicine rather than superstition - to a more credible and realistic story than both TFP and Dracula. ;) 

In TEH, apart from scenes with John Watson traveling alone through the Underground network of London, we have a derailed Underground train carriage near Sumatra road, where no-one would care to look. Like a Lost Special. It’s not carrying a bomb; the whole carriage is the bomb, which is threatening to overthrow the Parliament. Which very much makes me think that Mofftiss still have a metaphoric ‘bomb’ stored for us, a ‘rug-pull’ of sorts. But John and Sherlock (and the world) were not ready in TEH, so they switched it off. The ‘bomb’ never went off in S3 (2014). In TEH John was urging Sherlock to ”use your Mind Palace” to defuse the bomb, and I think he did - for the rest of the show up until TFP. Because in TEH, Instead of the big explosion, we got a truly weird, staged scene with Anderson (who didn’t quite believe Sherlock’s explanation anyway). 

And then the plot carried on in its heteronormative tracks with John’s wedding and Mary taking over the narrative. But in TST we learned that Sherlock, as a child, had re-written an old tale about someone encountering Death in ‘Samarra’ into a story where the hero ends up in Sumatra instead, and lives. In TFP the plot derailed completely into an absurd horror story, and we got Moriarty as train driver, going “Choo-choo!” like a train whistle: 

But the only 'explanation’ related to trains that we learn about Moriarty in TFP is rather lame: that Jim’s brother supposedly was a station master (not from canon, though). And then he goes “tick-tock, tick-tock” like a ticking bomb:

(Also similar to Mycroft’s ‘tick-tock’ countdown until he’ll die from obesity in TAB). But no bomb went off at that point in TFP either (I’m not counting the Patience Grenade here, because that happened before the ‘tick-tock’). So what was all that tick-tocking about? And how long will it keep ticking asdf?

The Sussex Vampire etc.

After reading some interesting metas from @yeah-oh-shit​ (X, X) and @ebaeschnbliah​ (X) I feel more and more convinced that legal issues with the ACD Estate might be very relevant for what Mofftiss are doing with BBC Sherlock and BBC Dracula. Three important ACD stories have now entered the public domain on January 1st this year: The Sussex Vampire (SUSS), The Illustrious Client (ILLU, where Holmes and Watson visit a turkish bath ;) ) and The Three Garridebs (3GAR; known for a scene where Holmes shows a glimpse of his true feelings for Watson). in SUSS there’s a quote about Sumatra which I find really interesting in the context described above:

“Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,” said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. “It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared. 

As I said in this comment (X), there’s a lot of subtext to draw from this. And I do hope the world is prepared now. ;)

@raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @gosherlocked​

[altumvidetur]

Hotch/Reid Fic Recs

Previously: Haikyuu!! Fic Recs, DCMK (Kaishin) Fic Recs

So, I was thinking about the coronavirus pandemic and what I could do to help people out. I’m isolated because I’m at higher risk, so I can’t really offer to go out for my elderly neighbors or my family… but I thought I could try to help keep people entertained.

Because I don’t have an AO3 account right now, I’ve been compiling fic recs for my own amusement for a year or so. And I thought – maybe that’s the time to share these with everyone? So everyone will have plenty of things to read while they have to stay at home, or even to escape anxiety a little bit if you’re forced to go out.

Of course, these cater to my own tastes, so you may find stuff you don’t like around here. I never include works in progress. The Mature and Explicit works will be in italic. I ask you to READ THE WORK’S TAGS before continuing, so you won’t find anything that makes you uncomfortable.

When it comes to Criminal Minds, I only had one OTP, one that’s been carrying me through the first seven seasons and which will, hopefully, carry me towards season 11 (and what am I going to do once Hotch leaves the show? I have no idea). So, here are my Hotch/Reid fic recs:

A Kiss Is..., by bowie28

For a Renaissance man such as Dr. Reid, a kiss can mean a lot of things.

First Kiss, by Lenore

To solve the case of who's targeting gay couples, Hotch and Spencer need to go undercover. But first, they have to practice.

Making Whoopee, by kuriadalmatia

12 days was the longest Hotch had been away from Jack since Haley's death. He's not adjusting well.

P is for Pie, by kuriadalmatia

Spencer knows what Aaron is doing: offering up a piece of himself—a very private piece of his childhood that never talks about—so that Spencer has the opportunity to reciprocate.

Nothing In Between, by travelinthedark

Aaron doesn’t know who he’s supposed to be anymore.

5 Mandatory Events at the FBI Regional Training Seminar, by travelinthedark

“Hey guys!” Jeff’s voice is just as upbeat as it was when he was telling the entire conference room about the wonders of community stewardship and his volunteer work as a ‘Big Brother.’ It’s also just as loud, and Hotch wonders if the guy realizes he doesn’t have to shout at people who are less than five feet away from him. “Are you ready to come up and add your ideas to the aspirations board?”

Conversations in Transit, by travelinthedark

Three conversations about (or sort of about) the way that Hotch and Reid are together.

Your Shadow at Morning, by travelinthedark

Aaron's world is a mess, and it falls apart more every time he tries to fix it.

Q is for Queen Bee, by kuriadalmatia

The last thing Reid remembered as he was speaking gibberish to Kimura as they raced to the hospital. Losing the capacity for language was terrifying...

L is for Lipstick, by kuriadalmatia

Aaron finds a cache of lipstick-imprinted business cards tucked away in Spencer's desk. He doesn't react well.

Catatonic, by bowie28

Spencer Reid is a man of habit.

The apple and afterward, by Lenore

What if Reid hadn't managed to kick his Dilaudid addiction? What if he needed a job on the side in order to afford his habit?

Five Times Spencer Reid Kept His Hair, and One Time He Didn’t, by bowie28

Why Reid finally had his hair cut. 

Love Songs, by Gorgeousgreymatter

(Summary by me: Hotch pining for Reid, both of them getting together and being cute.)

The Tradition of Sprigs, by kuriadalmatia

Hotch holds the sprig of mistletoe by the stem, cocks an eyebrow, and waits for an explanation. Because, in the four months Spencer Reid has been on his team, Hotch knows that there’s going to be one. What he doesn't know is that it will become a tradition.

The Best for Last, by blythechild

This is a gift fic based on the prompt: "It's Hotch and Reid's first Xmas together and Hotch wants to get Reid a gift that he never received as a child - Jack suggests asking Reid’s parents about what he’d like."

House Call, by blythechild

Jack is ill and wants to be comforted by Reid instead of Hotch.

Not Included In The Brochure, by blythechild

[Crossover with Sherlock (BBC)] Sherlock was standing over the body… Sherlock finds himself in the middle of a B.A.U. investigation, much to his delight and John's frustration.

Something Less Ordinary, by blythechild

A year after Reid voluntarily leaves the F.B.I., Hotch discovers that Diana Reid is dead and he must find his former colleague and friend in hopes of setting a few things right.

we’re reeling through an endless fall, by bittereternity

lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life. Back then, Spencer had replied, "I love you too. I love you very much." This could be a love story someday. [spencer reid, aaron hotchner, reid/hotch, reid/maeve]

Five Dinners Series, by Daylyn

(Summary by me: Hotch and Reid’s getting together, plus some moments during the series.)

The Moment In-Between, by Daylyn

In the Criminal Minds novel, Killer Profile by Max Allan Collins, there’s a scene where Prentiss sends Reid to wake up a sleeping Hotch and Hotch enters the conference room a moment later looking rather mussed. This is what happened during that missing moment in-between.

The Secret Marriage, by blythechild

Hotch has a new ring, Reid has a new tattoo, and everyone is wondering about everyone else's secrets.

yesterday’s seven thousand years, by bittereternity

“What if I can never love a child?” “If it’s your child, Spencer, he will be the easiest person in the world to love.”

Reid thinks about the idea of a child in his life, and turns to Hotch for help.

the lies we weave are oh so intricate, by bittereternity

Maybe they were always supposed to fall apart, because there was nothing stopping them from being happy. In a world where everyone is Dominant or submissive, Aaron Hotchner meets Spencer Reid, who simply wants to be neither. In the process of getting to know him, he never expected to a. fall in love b. fall in love with his team member and c. fall in love with a man so infuriatingly unwilling to reciprocate.

Written for the Criminal Minds Big Bang 2013.

Vigil, by red_river

"Part of Hotch knew Reid was an FBI agent, and perfectly capable of taking the bus. But the other part couldn't imagine letting him - not after this case, of all cases." Post LDSK, Hotch gives Reid a ride home, and which leads to pizza, old TV, and helping him face a few of his demons. Episode tag, S1E6, "LDSK." Friendship or pre-slash.

Refuge, by red_river

"She’s my mom,” Spencer murmured, and Aaron couldn’t help thinking how young that word made him seem. “But sometimes it’s like there’s…almost none of that person left.” In the aftermath of the Fisher King, Hotch flies to Las Vegas to bring Reid home, and tries to make something new out of all their broken pieces. Episode tag to S2E1, "The Fisher King;" friendship or pre-slash.

Call me whatever, I just want to be yours, by surrenderdammit

“Let’s get dinner, just the two of us, next time,” Aaron comments, helping her into her coat because he is ridiculous like that, and he is apparently partial to the fond exasperation he gets in return, which is usually in the form of her huffing or rolling her eyes.

A love story told in parts, from the first time they met to the first time they fall into bed together.

Serendipity, by red_river

"You've been watching over him." In the aftermath of a difficult case, Hotch searches for a way to lift Reid's spirits, and someone notices. Episode tag to 2x13, "No Way Out."

I Hope You Kept the Receipt, by blythechild

[Crossover with Sherlock (BBC)] Hotch and Reid get trapped in an elevator with Sherlock Holmes. And then Sherlock does what he's best at: pissing people off.

Speechless, by blythechild

[Crossover with Sherlock (BBC)] Reid has an uninvited guest at the worst possible moment.

Desert Mirage, by merle_p

Long story short, there is a high probability that he is doing it for altogether selfish reasons, but when Reid looks at him with an expression of such sincere, helpless gratefulness, he cannot find it in himself to regret.

Twice Shy, by blythechild

Seven years ago, Hotch and Reid had a brief affair. Now, Hotch wants to try again, but can they make it work with less impediments and more baggage? (Spoilers through season 10)

Three Letter Agency, Four Letter Word, by merle_p

The NSA is interested in Spencer Reid. They are not the only one.

Late Nights ‘Verse, by EloquentDossier

Summary by me: Hotch pining for Reid, Reid probably pining for Hotch, a lot of UST and people being dense.

Time-Out ‘Verse, by EloquentDossier

Summary by me: Hotch and Reid’s cute shenanigans.

Chain Reaction, by EloquentDossier

"(Mon 12:20 pm) Which is why you text the stranger instead of talk to coworkers.

(Mon 12:20 pm) Yes. (Mon 12:28 pm) Is that weird?"

xxx

A dialogue-only AU in which Hotch texts what he thinks is Rossi's new number but is actually the slightly eccentric stranger whom Hotch knows only as "Spencer." What follows is something neither man could have ever quite expected.

Golden Letters ‘Verse, by EloquentDossier

Summary by me: Soulmates AU in which everyone gets a tattoo with a sentence that their soulmate will eventually say.

Bright, by EloquentDossier

"There were several things in Aaron Hotchner's life that had never made sense to him. He didn't understand why nearly everyone in his family (minus his son Jack) couldn't quite fathom why he felt drawn to the BAU. He didn't get how so many people in the world had such depraved mindsets. And he wasn't entirely sure why he still hadn't drug-tested his team's tech analyst, Penelope Garcia. (He was also confused about her relationship with Derek Morgan, but he wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole.)

But what baffled Hotch the most was how someone who was as intelligent as Spencer Reid could be so inherently oblivious."

xxx

Written for the prompt: I've seen a lot of oblivious!Hotch fic, but how about Reid being oblivious of his own feelings for Hotch? Hotch is aware, and reciprocates. Fluffy journey of realization maybe? Bonus for Garcia being helpful.

Affinity, by margarks

Right now just a couple of drabble about the way Spencer and Hotch see each other, but it seems like I might add on to these, so I created this series.

Psychosexual Developments, by dissolvedingirl

Hotch and Reid, between all the moments you see.

Limbo, by kehlee

There's a place in between kissing and dating; there's a place between heaven and hell. This is it.

Just When You Least Expect It, Just What You Least Expect, by blythechild

Hotch has been Reid's boss for ten years, and his friend for almost as long. He thinks he knows him pretty well, but a random event during a random case has the chance to change all of that. It's just a matter of whether Hotch can accept it or not.

In Two Hours (And Not a Minute Later), by dissolvedingirl

Reid finally decides to confront Hotch about those intense looks he's been giving Reid for years.

The Wall, by blythechild

Hotch can't decide what he finds more shocking: going out clubbing at 50 or seeing a phone number he knows scribbled on the bathroom wall...

You’re the Boss, by blythechild

Hotch finds himself in the unfamiliar position of relying on Reid for guidance in their kinda/sorta/not really relationship. or Why casual sex is never all that casual.

This One Is Not Like The Others, by blythechild

(Summary by me: Tentacle-Monster!Reid. It’s way better than it sounds.)

Beneath, by blythechild

Everyone is exactly who you think they are until something comes along to throw your perception off track. After ten years, Reid and Hotch discover this for themselves.

Breaking Point, by EloquentDossier

There was this thing about Aaron Hotchner's voice.

Reid couldn't quite pinpoint when it had started. Perhaps it had always been there, hovering just beneath the surface and waiting for him to recognize it for what it was. Or maybe it had simply been a recent, sudden development. For once the "when" wasn't as much of a concern as it typically would be. No; instead Reid was more interested in trying to discern just what he was going to do about the fact that Hotch had discovered it so quickly. Possibly even before he himself had.

xxx

In which Reid really should have just admitted he liked Hotch's voice when he realized it.

Birthday Woes, by EloquentDossier

It didn't bother him when the call came in. Really, it didn't. Or at least not initially.

xxx

In which the team gets called away on a case and forgets Hotch's birthday.

Of Cowboys and FBI Agents, by severity_softly

Aaron catches Spencer in the act.

In the Silence, by Brumeier

Posted to LJ Comment Fic for Kink prompt: Criminal Minds, Hotch/Reid, silence is a big kink for Hotch

Two Seconds, by blythechild

Time catches up with Aaron Hotchner when he realizes that the person he's always wanted - Spencer Reid - is actually beyond his reach.

Maybe Tomorrow, by orphan_account

The one where Aaron Hotchner wasn't in love with Spencer Reid, until suddenly he was.

Give and Take, by blythechild

Everyone has human moments and for some reason Reid is hiding his. Because Hotch is who he is, he decides he needs to figure out why.

Shepherd of the Damned, by Deejaymil

They're called to Alaska on a desperate last-ditch effort to find seven missing hikers. They don't even think twice about going. This is their job. They put themselves in danger every day to protect the people that need them. But never like this.

They number six. It begins with one.

It's not going to stop until they're all consumed.

See The Love There That’s Sleeping, by blythechild

Reid didn't know that when he leapt into a burning building his life would change forever. But love is sneaky that way.

December 1st: Mistletoe or Give Us a Hug, by NimueOfTheNorth

Spencer may say he is getting enough cuddles, but Derek knows better. A mistletoe makes a convenient option to test both arguments. Derek gets quite a bit more than he bargained for.

Come Undone, by EloquentDossier

When Spencer Reid forgot to take his suppressants two mornings in a row, it really shouldn't have been a big deal. He had them in his bag at the hotel, and as long as he took one that evening, he'd be fine. What he couldn't have prepared for, however, was the lab the latest victim worked at going into an at least twenty-four-hour-lockdown while he was in it.

When Aaron Hotchner was asked to aid his subordinate through what would otherwise be an agonizing heat, he'd had several reservations, one of which had been the consent issue: Omegas couldn't legally consent to sex during a heat unless it was twenty-four hours in advance. With every concern rebutted logically (because of course the Bureau had an Agent Consent form in case of emergencies), he finally agreed.

Of all the possible repercussions, however, neither man expected the one they received.

xxx

Or that one time no one expected the Alpha to accidentally bond to the Omega while the Omega remained unaffected.

Fireproof, by blythechild

[Crossover with Supernatural] Hotch and Reid's friendship ends suddenly when Hotch abruptly quits the Bureau and disappears. But Reid won't let him get away with it.

Halcyon Mine, by Deejaymil

What if a lonely boy meets a friend in a lonely quarry... and what if he loses him without warning?

unmoored, by 28ghosts

“When it’s kids who end up our killers, you know,” Reid says, unprompted, pulling his coat close against his body, “I always end up feeling...bad, you know? I feel bad. I know I have no cause to, not really. I’m not one of them.”

Hotch stops for a second, walking down the airfield. The cold Virginia air whips around him as harsh as judgement. He’s surprised to see Reid, ahead of him, slow to a stop, head tilted back towards the gray sky.

“Let’s get a drink sometime,” Hotch says, before he can overthink it. “If you’d like.”

Indispensable, by Deejaymil

Dave's a damn good guardian angel, one of the best. And being one of the best means he gets the worst jobs: the important, the clumsy, the reckless, the difficult-to-keep-alive. The indispensables. But he's never before quite had anyone like Spencer Reid.

Within the first two seconds of meeting his new charge, the kid gets hit by a car; it really only goes downhill from there. His only consolation is that Emily is having just as much trouble with her new charge, Aaron Hotchner.

If only they could somehow combine their assignments...

Acutely Us, by Deejaymil

This is the part where a story is told. There are ferrets, mistakes, birthdays, apologies, and dances. There is Spencer and Aaron and Jack and the life they make together.

And it all begins with a goat.

Rise Again, by blythechild

Aaron Hotchner has been on the run for five years, but that all comes to an end on a beach in Australia.

Religiously Unaffiliated, by ghoultown

(Summary by me: Hotch/Reid with Reid deliberating about his atheism.)

Don’t Make Me Talk You Down, by ghoultown

The night was heavy because it was humid on top of the bridge in between highway I-90 and I-80, the semi-trucks that passed messing with his balance, almost toppling him over if it hadn't been for his grip on the railing.

Rain, by orphan_account

He almost died today, and Hotch is determined to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Against All Odds, by ghoultown

Spencer is upset because the way he and Hotch met and started dating wasn't as special as Hotch and Haley's story. Hotch begs to differ.

Under My Protection, by ghoultown

Hotch and Reid never met. Reid is in danger. The government puts Hotch in charge of Reid's safety.

Empty Places, by Mystical_Magician

All wishes have consequences, and when Spencer makes one to save lives, he knows and accepts the price. The rest of his team does not. What the mind forgets, the heart remembers, and in Foyet's wake they all know that something is missing. Aaron Hotchner refuses to ignore the aching, empty spaces.

Genuine Need, by NimueOfTheNorth

It would have been nothing more than Aaron buying Spencer a cup of coffee. Good thing Garcia is there to pull the right strings or those two would be lost.

Swan Song, by Deejaymil

At some point they’d become caught in each other’s orbits, lost in a sea of almosts. Neither of them realized that their time was finite, not until their world turned to flames and threatened to tear everything apart.

For Spencer Reid the grief was too big, too impossible to believe that four BAU members and a treasured friend had fallen in an instant. When faced with the opportunity to get back what he’d lost, he has to decide if it’s fate or madness that beckons him.

For Aaron Hotchner, madness would almost be welcome. At least then the world would become logical again, turning the impossibility of what had happened to them into something tangible. But even madness doesn’t change the fact that they’re trapped.

They’re not even sure if anyone is still looking for them.

i hope you’re waiting at the end, by soloecal

Sometimes, Spencer thinks too much. Post Season 12.

-

A month later, on a singularly insignificant night, Spencer sits Hotch down after dinner, and presses a ring into the palm of his hand. “This isn’t working,” Spencer says. “I think we should break up.”

Expiration Date, by blythechild

He goes to Vegas to meet a friend but ends up married. The time-honored way to make these kinds of mistakes is to do it while incapacitated, but Hotch waits and does it sober instead. An interesting choice...

Conclusive Proof That You Have a Terrible Boyfriend, by blythechild

Hotch is proving he's an awful boyfriend. Via text messaging.

He’s A Bad Boyfriend Too, by blythechild

Aaron and Spencer have a relationship issue that Spencer thinks is best solved via drunk texting. This is a sequel to Conclusive Proof That You Have A Terrible Boyfriend.

Apodyopsis, by NimueOfTheNorth

If he is forced to listen to boring lectures for three days, Spencer really can't be held accountable for his imagination going wild, now can he. Reality might proof even better.

(i know you’ve tried) but something stops you every time, by wintrs

Prentiss can't help but overhear Hotch and Reid's conversation on the jet.

Faces, by blythechild

Every three days, a man wakes up in a different body. There's no controlling it and no way to prepare for it. All he can do is make the best of his new face with the time he has.

First, by orphan_account

The first time Aaron tells Spencer he loves him is an accident.

L’Homme Mystere, by orphan_account

Even if he’d been waiting for this in a state of barely contained arousal since early this morning, when Aaron had bumped shoulders with him at the coffee pot in the breakroom and whispered in his ear about how he had a surprise for him later that night... well.

Spencer wasn’t that kind of guy.

How to Get a Hard Pass, by Deejaymil

There's an FBI trainee named Spencer Reid in the class Hotch is teaching, and that'd all be just fine if Hotch wasn't completely distracted by wanting to be in Spencer Reid instead. But there’s no way he’s going to give his student an inch - or eight - until he’s good and ready to do so on his own terms.

Spencer Reid has other plans.

The Longest Road, by Deejaymil

They’re taking the longest road to get there, but, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. What they are to each other has always been inevitable.

A Horse Named Rabbit, by Deejaymil

Aaron Hotchner is riding West on a borrowed horse, hiding the man he used to be behind a shortened name and a beard he only sometimes thinks of shaving. His desire to keep on running until he hits the setting set is waylaid by an unexpected meeting with a man on a mule who says he's looking for his lost luck.

When they part, Hotch realises that's a mistake. There's something about Spencer Reid that reminds him that he's more than just a man on a horse going nowhere—that he was once the kind of person who could help a stranger find what he's looking for. There's just one problem with that.

When Spencer had said he was looking for his luck, he’d never mentioned that he planned to steal it.

for mortals: there is a share, by ifnot_winter

Reid could find no precedent in his experience for so gentle a seduction. Or so effective.

+

An exploration of moments and intimacy through three consecutive fragments of text paired with fragments of Sappho's lyric poetry.

the safety of objects, by ifnot_winter

Fumbling his glasses right off the edge of the table, he managed not to step on them en route to snatching up the phone as the third buzz gave way to ringing. Bending to retrieve his glasses, he caught his shoulder on the corner of the nightstand and managed to press the answer button, cutting off the shrill electronic wail mid-ring. "Damn--Hello?" Glasses shoved firmly into place, he watched the cufflink skitter in concentric, diminishing circles across the scuffed polish of the hardwood floor and come to a leisurely halt a few feet away.

"Reid." Hotch.

+

Somehow the fragments of Sappho struck me as a great mental framework for CM fics. This was the first completed result, mostly an attempt at exploring Reid and flexing rusty writing muscles.

Pretty, by blythechild

Hotch thinks Reid is pretty and then is forced to explain it.

Good Enough, by blythechild

Aaron has plenty of kinks, but he can't figure out Spencer's.

[deltaengineering]

Fall Anime 2019 Part 4: also, he has a gun for a head

Beastars

So here’s the CG anime that everyone for some reason decided way in advance would be the best show of the season, more or less by default. I was very skeptical of this for a multitude of reasons. First of all, that is a bad name for a show and you can’t convince me otherwise. It’s actually even worse because you’re supposed to write it in all caps, but I refuse. Second, it has a terribly on the nose conceit in which all sorts of animals live together in a high school setting and it’s all metaphorical ‘n shit. The main character is a wolf but get this, he’s actually all sensitive and quiet! Yeah, this is definitely rated D for Deep. And finally it’s by Orange, the CG studio that got an inordinate amount of acclaim for making Houseki no Kuni, the show that everyone thinks looks great and finally made CG anime worthwhile (actual real fact: HnK does not look great most of the time and CG anime was worthwhile well before it). 

But enough about my preconceptions since Beastars is... pretty good, actually. If you ignore the setting, which is indeed terribly on the nose. And there’s not much else to say about the story so far besides it. However, it looks significantly better than Houseki no Kuni because it actually has really good character animation throughout instead of a one-minute action scene with flashy spinny camera tricks every other episode. The directing’s strong too, even if the show conspicuously mainly consists of obvious manga panels. I’m still not too hot on the animal stuff but the general writing seems to be sufficiently competent it would work simply on a character level. So I don’t love it, but it seems solid enough to see if it goes somewhere with its “Zootopia but also Beverly Hills 90210 but also they eat each other sometimes″ plot.

Rifle is Beautiful

Remember the whole “anime about some assorted anime girls joining a club doing an oddly specific activity” thing? This is another one of those, and now it’s about air rifle sports shooting. Except it’s not about air rifle sports shooting because that’s apparently way too violent, so they use rifles that look like exactly like air rifles but are actually based on lasers or really bright flashlights (they can’t keep their bullshit straight between scenes, sorry) instead. I just don’t think “girls doing activities” anime should blatantly misrepresent their subject matter like that, you know? With the possible exception of idol anime that is, ain’t nobody who wants to hear about that shit. Apart from that it’s nothing special, so if you are really into air rifles and wish to watch an anime that’s not about those, knock yourself out. It goes through a whole “club needs 5 members” arc in the first half of the first episode, so I really can’t say where it goes next. Nowhere much, I would guess.

Oh right, there’s one more thing: They frequently render the bodies in CG and the heads in traditional drawings, and they do it every time when they’d actually have to draw a rifle otherwise. It’s a weird effect that I think I haven’t seen anywhere else before, and it’s not great but also not terrible. And it’s the most interesting thing about the entire show.

Kabukicho Sherlock

“Let’s take a bunch of public domain characters and put them into a hip modern setting” seems to be its own genre at the moment, and not only because the BBC did that with S. Holmes, Esq. already. Obviously this show is influenced by that (besides other public domain namedroppers like Bungou Stray Dogs), mostly in Watson and his relationship with Sherlock, but Sherlock-san is rather different here; he’s neither the classic Victorian bohemian nor the abrasive sociopath of the BBC version, and tends more towards a bumbling 90s pop culture version of autism and/or general wackiness here. These two are surrounded by a bunch of campy transvestites for some reason, and I’m not quite sure whether I’m supposed to find this particular stereotype offensive or empowering this week, but it sure is annoying. And it has the same character designer as Joker Game, so if you like chiseled, angular anime men, you’re in for a treat here - even if they tend to wear a lot of makeup and dresses sometimes. I don’t know man, it seems sort of okay-ish for the most part but it’s neither as funny as they think, nor as weird as they think, nor is the murder of the week intriguing at all. Oh yeah, he’s hunting noted public domain character Jack the Ripper. Because of course he is.

 Shin Chuuka Ichiban!

I am told this is the sequel to episode 19 of a 52-episode anime TV show from 1997. Okay. I am also told to not dare watch this without the important setup therein, which makes me think I should pay less attention to what I’m told because understanding Shin Chuuka Ichiban and its backstory is not hard at all. Kid is superawesome cooking champion in ancient China and goes around clowning on lesser cooks, got it. It’s not a complicated setup and it’s not a complicated genre either: This seems to be mostly about sick shounen cooking duels. Besides the setting, the main difference between this and Shokugeki no Soma seems to be that SnS goes for ridiculous and Chuuka Ichiban goes for epic - which is to say that it fancies itself emotional as well. Apart from that it’s what you’d expect from a cooking shounen, big moves, big reactions, huge twists and so on. One notable thing is that this show looks really, really nice. Production I.G seems to be establishing a sideline in taking stuff from the 90s and updating it with smoother animation and shinier lighting, while keeping the overall look intact; They did it for Mahoujin Guru Guru, and this looks much the same. Still, I’m just fundamentally not really interested in what appears to be a very straightforward cooking shounen from the 90s.

Assassins Pride

Straight from the Department of Chuuni, we have this light novel masterpiece about a cool as fuck teenage assassin who teleports behind u and nothin personells fools all day. He then meets a princess he’s supposed to off but just kinda decides not to, probably because she seems to be smitten by his m’lady act. Now he has to use his sick skillz to keep them both alive. It’s awful and terrible and no good and also kind of adorable. This truly is the most 13 AND A HALF MOM years old anime in a while, and it’s not even isekai! The writing’s just so amateurish and corny you can’t help but smile when princesses exposit their backstory for no reason while being accosted by pumpkin monsters (without knowing that Awessassin McCooldude happens to be listening in, which is certainly convenient). Or when the episode ends with the man just reading the synopsis of the show out again, in case you were too fascinated by this plot to pay attention to what it’s about. Yeah I’m not going to watch this in a thousand years, but it sure made me chuckle. Your mileage may vary.

Mugen no Juunin - Immortal

Speaking of 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢, another anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal appeared! You know, the manga for the cultured and historically minded guro fan. The first episode of Blade of the Immortal runs with this and is an arthouse production that someone most definitely directed the shit out of. I don’t think I’ve seen this much directing since, well, Sarazanmai, but “Ikuhara amounts of directing” is pretty much the idea here. And most of the time it even works! The quickly edited, disorienting style gives episode 1 a feeling closer to horror than to a cool swordmen action show, and that really brings out the best in the material, which is grotesque splatter bordering on the comical - It’s somehow a better Junji Ito anime than the actual Junji Ito anime. I think it tries too hard in a few places, but at least it does try.

But then I watched the second episode and that one’s a fairly conventional splatter-comedy swordin’ anime. I am not at all pleased with this development. The third episode was better again and seemed to split the difference between 1 and 2, even if it mostly uses the tricky editing to save on effort in the action –  I would much prefer actually readable fights and the wacky mannerisms in the more psychological stuff, thank you very much. Based on episode 1 I thought we might have something special here, but as of episode 3 I’d already merely call it pretty decent. I guess I’ll still stick with it but man, that’s a real bummer.

No Guns Life

No Guns Life is a neo-noir thriller about a guy who has a gun for a head. That’s fuckin rad and exactly the kind of silliness I am totally down for. He also has a gun for a hand, and there’s also some battle nun’s who carry revolvers with two cylinders, so in short I think the title is false advertising. This sounds very wacky (and it is), but it also takes its noir very seriously, down to details more wannabe neo-noirs tend to neglect (like being set right after a big war). The look and feel is pretty excellent, with sharp design and high-contrast artwork, and the music goes all in on the moody saxophone as you’d expect. And there’s some really adorable “look mom, I’m writing” stuff about how Man With Gun For A Head really “needs someone to pull his trigger” and so on (which is, as the astute reader might remember, at the back of his head). It feels like a throwback but then I can’t really think of many 80s/90s shows like this, so it’s actually more like the sort of faux-retro idea Trigger/Imaishi would come up with on a lark. Trigger/Imaishi would, of course, make a far worse anime out of it, so it’s all good. Well, it has some pacing problems and as always it’s a fine line between amusingly camp and not so amusingly camp anymore, but No Guns Life seems to have enough real qualities that it can probably stand on its own even when its conceptual gimmick eventually doesn’t suffice anymore. I give it a two gun’s up.

Hoshiai no Sora / Stars Align

And finally, here’s an anime about middle schooler softboys playing a tennis just as soft as themselves, while being henpecked by the elites on the girl’s team. This is not an “actual” sports anime though: for starters, it’s not based on some shounen manga and is an anime original with quite some staff pedigree instead. It’s also more of a character drama that already goes to some surprisingly real places by the end of episode 1, reminiscent of the recent and quite good Run with the Wind. Furthermore, it looks delicious, with minimalist but distinctive and varied character designs and animation that’s both extremely detailed for a TV anime and also not trying to shove that fact into your face with flashy stunt cuts. In short, this show seems very simple at first glance but every aspect of it just oozes quality. If nothing else, it’s already worth watching just for the excellent ending sequence where the characters show off their “best” dance moves and the chunky student council president dunks on everyone. This one caught me by surprise and it’s an easy pick for most promising show of the season.

[yurama]

Beta Requests: **OPEN**

Please read until the end before contacting me.

** = Important bits

If you’d like a beta for one of your works, please consider me. I can do all of the following:

- Proofreading (grammar and punctuation)

- Plot, pacing and continuity

- Characterization

- General style

- In-text comments

-Suggestions/sounding board

- Inspiration and encouragement (Always included!)

**Please note that I work in American English. Let me know if you are writing in another dialect, such as British or Canadian.

I usually do full edits, where I go over every sentence. I take a lot of time to read and re-read each piece and leave a good amount of comments on each page.

I can also do overall comments, where I read the piece/chapter and only give comments at the end. These comments are typically more general and I am much quicker at getting the piece back to you.

I prefer to use Word and its “Track Changes” function to do my edits. Google Docs also works. While I am your beta, we can keep in touch in any way and however often you’d like. E-mail, tumblr and Fanfiction.net are all good ways we can keep in touch if you have any questions about my edits.

**I’m also sticking mostly to shorter works, like fanfiction or original short stories. I’m not against beta-ing longer works, but I ask that you send me it in chapters or segments so that I am not stress-rushing through it all and can have a bit of a break in-between. :)

**I am not beta-ing full-length novels/novellas with the intent to publish, for the time being.

A bit about myself:

My name is Aiko, I am 26 years old. I graduated from college and grad school. When I’m not working my job at an accounting firm, I have some spare time that I’d like to use by gaining some extra experience in editing.

My main ship is Stony, just to get that out there. I love the Marvel fandom, even did a RP blog as Steve Rogers on tumblr for a few months. But definitely open to other ships as well, this one is just my favorite.

My other fandoms include Harry Potter, BBC Sherlock and Batman. I like anime, too. My favorites are Full Metal Alchemist, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha, Code Geass and Yuri on Ice.

My favorite TV shows are Vampire Diaries and its spin-offs, Supernatural, Jane the Virgin, and Once Upon a Time, to name a few.

Not so much for video games, I’m afraid. I do play Fire Emblem Heroes and know a lot about Fire Emblem Awakening. I’ve also played the first Kingdom Hearts.

I don’t watch many cartoons either, but a couple of my longtime favorites are Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teen Titans.

This isn’t the whole of it, it’s just what I could think of right now. I am open to more! Contact me. :)

**If you contact me and it turns out that I am not familiar with your fandom, then it’s really up to you whether or not you’d like me to beta your work. If you want someone who is familiar with it, then I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help. But if all you need is some proofreading then it won’t matter whether or not I’m familiar with it. It’s up to your preferences and needs.

A bit about my experience:

I started a couple years ago and I have beta’d several stories, but I actually don’t know where they’ve been posted, haha. I don’t mind since I’m only doing this for fun, but I’d like to at least keep track of the amount, so I’ll write vague descriptions of them here, no mention of authors or titles (mostly because I don’t know all of them.) Hope this is okay.

-Harry Potter - Drarry AU

-Yuri on Ice - ViktorxYuri AU

-Goblin - Cafe AU

-Diabolik Lovers - Psychological drama

-Bleach - Time travel

-Original short story

-Adventure Time - BonnibelxMarceline AU

-The Walking Dead

- One Piece - ASL Brothers

Other experiences:

- Bachelor’s Degree in English

- Master’s Degree in English Creative Writing

- Been writing short stories since 2013

Thank you for reading until the end, I hope you’ll give me a chance. :)

[bi-john-watson]

My Opinion On Sherlock

I’m ill today and because I didn’t have much to do I wrote I very long review on Sherlock on IMDb. I decided to share it with you!

Let's start with the first episode I watched. It was The Blind Banker, the second episode in the series. My mom watched the first without me so now she was watching the second. I was playing video games, but the more the episode continued the less I paid attention to my game and more to the show. I think about 15 minutes into the episode I put my game down and really started watching the show.

Before I move on I would like to say that I’ve always been really obsessed with movies, books and series. I always had at least one fictional story I would be so into that I would think about it all the time. When I watched Sherlock I could feel this was going to be one of those stories, but I never would have thought I would get more invested in it than any other story.

After watching The Blind Banker I was completely Sherlocked. Even though looking back at it, it is one of the lesser episodes to me. It still holds a special place in my heart because it was the first though.

The next day I immediately watched A Study In Pink and I loved it! I also would like to say this was the first episode I noticed that Sherlock and John didn’t really seem like... friends... Three people in the episode thought Sherlock and John were together! Three!! Those were people who know Sherlock better than anyone! And then John started asking Sherlock if he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend. And then Sherlock said girlfriends weren’t his area (really what is that supposed to mean) but I didn’t say the same about boyfriends. He just said he didn’t have one. Then John said he was single to and Sherlock thought he was flirting (I thought the same to be honest).

I’m bisexual myself and people can say representation doesn’t matter but it does. I’ve never seen myself in the media until I started searching. I would have known sooner if there would have been more. I always thought you couldn’t just like both. I always knew I liked guys so I thought I couldn’t possibly like girls to.

When I watched Sherlock it was about the time I started questioning my sexuality. And when I saw John definitely being into Sarah in The Blind Banker and later kind of flirting with Sherlock in A Study In Pink, I thought I could have found someone who is like me.

But let me talk about the show in general now. I watched The Great Game the same day I watched A Study In Pink. It was the best episode of Sherlock I had seen that far. In short: season 1 was absolutely amazing and the cases and characters were really interesting!

The next episode is A Scandal in Belgravia. It was absolutely amazing! The case was very interesting! I should say when I first watched it I didn’t understand everything since the show goes really fast, but I rewatched this show a lot and talked and read a lot about it on the internet so I understand everything now.

Although I really liked Irene Adler I had some things I wasn’t really okay with. If you have read the original books you would have seen Irene Adler was nowhere near a love interest of Sherlock Holmes. She literally outwitted Sherlock so she could marry the love of her life. Sherlock was impressed but it was stated in the books it had nothing to do with love. Still almost every adaptation has made her a love interest. I think everyone does that because there are almost no other women that could be a love interest because it’s always just Sherlock and John.

There’s also a conversation I need to mention after Irene fakes her death and she shows John that she is still alive:

John: “Tell him(Sherlock) you’re alive”

Irene: “I can’t.”

John: “Fine. I’ll tell him and I still won’t help you.”

Irene: “What do I say?”

John: *screaming* “I don’t know what do you normally say, you’ve texted him a lot!”

Irene: “Just usual stuff.”

John: “There is nothing usual about this case.”

Irene: *reads her texts to Sherlock*

John: “You flirted with Sherlock Holmes.”

Irene: “At him, he never replies.”

John: “Sherlock always replies to everything. He’s mister punchline. He will outlive god trying to have the last word.”

Irene: “Does that make me special.”

John: I don’t know, maybe.”

Irene: “You jealous?”

John: “We’re not a couple.”

Irene: “Yes you are.”

Irene: *ticks in something in her phone to send to Sherlock*

Irene: “There, ‘I’m not dead, let’s have dinner.”

John: “Who the hell knows about Sherlock Holmes, but for the record, if anyone out there still cares: I’m not actually gay.”

Irene: “Well I am. Look at us both.”

What Irene means by this is that although she and John are both primarily attracted to woman they still developed feelings for Sherlock Holmes. Irene is an expert on human sexuality so she would know. Here’s a link to this scene: https://youtu.be/EV8WXcfArxU

Then we have The Hounds Of The Baskerville. Although a great episode I liked it less than others.

Then The Reichenbach Fall. This episode is absolutely amazing! It is one of my favorites! It’s just so good I don’t know what to say about it!

Now to season 3. This is personally my favourite season. I still have seen negative reviews about it and the main reason why people didn’t like it is because it focused more on the characters rather than cases. I personally think BBC Sherlock never has been a show just about cases. In A Scandal In Belgravia they talk about sexuality and relationships all the time! If you compare Sherlock to crime shows you can easily see it’s really different.

This is the season where Mary is introduced and I have a lot of conflicting feelings about her. Mary marries John in the second episode of season 3. In The Empty Hearse I didn’t want anyone between Sherlock and John but I began liking her and I really liked her in The Sign Of Three. But then she shot Sherlock in His Last Vow!! I trusted you Mary! And I never even understood why?? His Last Vow was my favourite episode but I really didn’t know what to think of Mary.

Before I talk about season 4 I’m first going to say something about the Christmas Special: The Abominable Bride. I liked this episode but it was a weird episode. It didn’t make much sense and I don’t really understand what everything meant. It just kind of establishes that Sherlock’s Mind Palace is pretty gay. That’s all I have to say about it for now.

Now onto season 4. Which gave me way to much conflicting emotions. My main problem with series 4 is that they went to far. They wanted to make this more spectacular then all the seasons before but by doing that they made it unbelievable (I don’t mean unbelievable in a good way, I meant that it is hard to believe anything like this is a bit realistic). There are also so many plot holes and weird things happening here.

First The Six Thatchers. I found this episode pretty good, but they made it to much about Mary and I still hadn’t figured out if I should like her or not. I liked the case though. In the end of the episode Mary dies. And what I hated about this is that in His Last Vow this is said when Sherlock gets shot:

“It is not like in the movies, a big spurt of blood and you go flying backwards.”

And guess what, this is exactly what happened when Mary got shot.

Then is The Lying Detective. This was my favourite of season 4 although John hit Sherlock a lot, which is the thing I didn’t like here. But overall a good episode.

Now The Final Problem. Some elements of this were really cool and all but this was just to much. To unlikely. And so many plot holes I won’t even be listing them. I also found some characters out of character in this episode. I still quite like the ending. I didn’t agree with everything that Mary said in her video, but she said this which I liked about Sherlock and John:

“P.S.: I know you two. And if I’m gone I know what you could become.” (Seriously Mary what)

The ending shows Sherlock and John solving cases and raising... Rosie (I forgot to mention John and Mary had a daughter Rosie). Although I have problems with season 4 I’m quite alright with the ending. I can get over plot holes but my biggest problem with this is queerbaiting.

You probably never heard of this and some of you will think I’m just reading to much into this show but I just want to get this of my chest. Queerbaiting is when a piece of media (books/series/movies) hints at a same-sex relationship or a queer (queer=non-heterosexual) character, without ever actually depicting it. The queerness maybe ignored, explicitly rejected or made fun of (remember how it’s a running joke that everyone thinks Sherlock and John are together?).

I and the rest of the LGBT+ community wants to be represented. Being represented makes it more commonly known that people like this exist. I think a lot of people don’t know bisexuality exist because it’s almost never portrayed and when it is a lot of the time not in a good light. When you see a man and a woman kissing you will probably automatically assume they’re both straight. When you see two guys you will probably automatically assume they’re gay. Because of this bisexual people are mislabeled a lot. And everytime they have to come out again because of this. That is why representation is so important.

I think it’s pretty obvious that BBC Sherlock queerbaits. There are so many hints to them being more than friends. Everyone assumes they are, all the jealousy etc. Their sexuality are not left entirely ambiguous, like in other shows where it’s open for interpretation, but instead contradicted with the show almost outright saying it and the writers denying it and saying fans who saw a potential romance between Sherlock and John are delusional.

I would like Sherlock and John as just friends if it would have been presented that way. But it wasn’t and while I love this show I will always be bitter because they queerbaited.

I still give this show a 9/10 because I’m so passionate about it.

This is just my opinion so please don’t leave hate comments or anything. I would really like to hear your opinion though.

[aelaer]

For the fan fic questions: 15, 23 and 51. Thank you.

Thank YOU for indulging my love of answering asks as a rather small blog that doesn't get them too frequently. 😊

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I generally consider myself a non-shipper (so I can read basically a story with any pairing, though I prefer smaller age gaps between the couple, or that if it's larger, they're both over 30). However, I admit that a single author a couple years ago completely sold me on the crossover ship of BBC's Sherlock Holmes and Natasha Romanoff. It was great fun and original, and well-executed. I love originality like that.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

I tend to like all my stories so this can be a hard question for me. I'll split it into two parts of my fanfic life: before and after my hiatus.

2003-2011: My very first fanfic I wrote was a crossover between Pirates of the Caribbean and LOTR (oh so creatively named Pirates of the Ring because I was an oh so clever child). It took me 7 years and dozens of rewrites of previous chapters, but I finished the damn thing 230k words later in 2010. I'm still quite proud of that. What is perhaps most astounding to me is that, 16 years after first publishing it and 9 years after completing it, it's still getting regular traffic every month.

2017-2019: Mostly this last year, but I started dabbling again after the first DS film came out. I think I'm most proud of Within the Shadows due to how fast it was written (15k words in a week. I've never been able to do that before) and I really enjoyed the world building of the AU reality. I'm working on the next story in the series now and it's been a really fun world to write in.

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

This pertains especially to the MCU, but I find it frustrating how both readers and writers in this fandom do not value friendship as a relationship as equally as romance. I was really spoiled with LOTR because friendship fics were super common, perhaps even more common than romances. Sherlock spoiled me too because it felt there was an equal amount of romance and non romance stories. I have always preferred friendship over the genre of romance in all media I consume. When I do watch romance, it's going to be a romantic comedy.

So that my preferred character to read about is difficult to find in a starring role, and when he is in a starring role, it's usually in a romance, and the majority of the romances are romantic dramas rather than romantic comedies. When friendships ARE in the romance story, the only purpose they often serve is directly related to the romantic plotline as opposed to something more autonomous or just outright different. This isn't always the case of course but you see it all the time and I just get bored of it pretty quickly.

And with how much kudos a gen one-shot on average gets to a shipping one-shot, this seems to be the preferred genre for readers. I was spoiled in my other fandoms and don't like being in the minority :P

(That's not to say I don't read romantic dramas. I do all the time in the fan fic world. My all-time favourite stories just tend to be friendship focused rather than romance focused. It's the same with my favorite books, films, and TV shows.)

It's funny, I can get really bored of whump (which I do like) for the sake of whump too, but perhaps less bored than romance for the sake of romance. I do tend to need some sort of plot or set up to really get into the scene- something to help set the tone before diving in. This is possible even with short one shots, but it can be a challenging skill to master.

Thanks again, nonny.

[joyful-soul-collector]

11/11/11 Tag!

I was tagged by @awkwardexistencewrites like a while ago and was too busy to get to it until now but THANK YOU FRIEND!

1. How many (if any) pinterest boards do you have for your wip?

I have none! I tried to make some for them, but I’ve got like two or three tings on each so there’s really nothin. 

2. What fictional character would your mc relate to most?

Uhhhh, well Jace would relate to Spider-Man (MCU), Hazik would relate to Sherlock (BBC), Tatum would relate to Levi (Attack on Titan), Art would relate to Jeremy (Be More Chill), and Loch would relate to Michelangelo (TMNT)

This is what happens when you have a million MCs, kiddos. This also shows how much of a nerd I am. 

3. What could you give your characters that would make them recoil in fear or disgust?

Jace hates school busses, Hazik hates mud on their clothes, Art hates the cold, Loch hates scratchy things, and Tatum hates seeing Loch cry

4. Do you share your writing at all? With whom?

Yeah I share all my chapters on AR on here, and snippeties of Pearl Thief on here too. The internet is mainly the only people who see this, my family and friends sometimes try and read my stuff but they often give up halfway through cuz AR is kinda long. I did read aloud one of my short stories once, and a few people seemed to enjoy that!

5. Are you a plotter, planster, or pantser? How’s that going?

Planster. I used to be a major pantser but I realized that I would run with it and then not know what to do about halfway through the story and give up. So now I plan it a bit, and then YEET

6. What book would you recommend to someone to get them in the right mindset for your wip?

For Alien Roommate, read this one webcomic called Patrik the Vampire. It’s similar, and it’s one of my favorites. Anything that’s like a supernatural slice-of-life

For Pearl Thief, go read somethin like Maze Runner or Gone, or you could watch the Firefly tv show. Anything that’s got some stakes but still has happy moments. 

7. How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was in about 6th grade! But I’ve made up and told stories ever since I was a teeny tiny human

8. What audience is your wip aimed at? Why?

Both my wips are for teens up to young adults and new adults, because they both discuss more mature topics, but they’ve still got their light moments. Really the only age I wouldn’t want reading these are 13 and under, because of the mature topics that are often discussed. 

9. What do you want to achieve with your wip? Personal goals?

What it really boils down to is I wanna help people. I have looked up to and related with fictional characters all my life and stories have always been something I could go to when I couldn’t find anything else. If I can give someone a world to latch to, a character to love and relate with and feel validated by, even if I myself haven’t experienced the things many other people have? That’s all I could ever ask for tbh. I just don’t want anyone to feel alone.

10. How do you get yourself out of “writing slumps”?

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh, I... don’t... know? I take a break I guess, quit focusing on writing, go focus on something else, and then I’ll suddenly think of something to write, and get back to it. 

11. Which of your characters would you most like to hang out with for a day? Why?

Jace! My boy! OR! My other boy! Loch! Love! Them! Both! Honestly they’re both just happy and sweet and funny people and I just have to give both of them hugs ok they need it

My questions and the people I’m tagging are under the cut!

And now for my questions:

1. Are any of your characters non-human? What are they?

2. Pick one of your characters and describe what they were like as a child (can be a toddler, a teen, or something in between, whatever you like)

3. What would your favorite OC do if they met their favorite mythical creature?

4. Have any of your OCs ever stolen anything? What did they steal?

5. What’s your favorite snack to have while writing?

6. Did you drink water today? If not then go drink water, hydration is important you fool

7. Favorite situation you like to write? (fluffy things like cuddling or caretaking? Angsty things like a characters breaking point or writing any sort of pain? What do you like to do to your characters?)

8. What’s your favorite character in your favorite anything? (can be from a favorite movie, book, tv show, web series, anything)

9. Do you have any real life experiences that you have incorporated into your story somehow? 

10. You ever written fanfiction?

11. Are you a Plotter, Planster or Pantster? (yes I stole it from the questions I was asked, don’t jUDGE ME)

Imma tag: @timetravelingpigeon @tracle0 @metaphors-and-melodrama @mouwwie @cookiecuttercritter @kai-writesstuff @txintedsxint @trickster-writes @quartzess @alexis-writes-sometimes @writing-and-nutmeg

[mychakk]

Hello again my dear friend. Your very own SSS is back with questions regarding your gift(s). I was actually wondering how you feel about au's fics. Do you like them? And if yes, do you have a favorite one? And after that please tell me your favorite hc about all of the ships you love and you have included in your ship list. I would like to know more about them and how you see them all.

Oh, I love AUs! I love the what if stories that explore a canon divergence or a similar but different path due to some one change (although I don’t like swap fic like swap lock with Molly as the consulting detective, just no.). I also love the AR like Potter’verse for Sherlolly, Victorian, Pirate, Medieval, Regency etc. I love AUs they allow to explore the characters in a new way. It’s also tricky to keep them in character but some leeway is always allowed ;) I love arranged marriage and marriage of convenience trope a lot. 

Oh, my, hc for my beloved ships, well I think I listed a lot of them XD ok, here it goes: (I think it’s more view/feelings bout them than hc per se, sorry!)

MCU: 

Pepper/Tony - I think it’s all about her quiet but unmovable support of him and yet the ability to call his bullshit. (sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I have a type I suppose). And once he realises what he has he’ll do everything to protect her. That scene in Iron Man 2, when instead of taking to armour onto himself he puts it on her… Yes, those two are just perfect. As for hc, I like to think that Pepper was already pregnant at the end of Avengers 3, so when Tony returns (and I don’t accept any other option, Marvel, you hear, they deserve a happy ending!), There’s going to be small little being (I’m leaning toward a daughter) around Pepper’s legs to greet him as well. :)

Peter/MJ - Oh, this is my OTP since my childhood as I’ve always loved Spider-Man. I love the new dynamics in MCU, and I cannot wait to see their romance. My fav part is that she’s eventually aware of his true identity and supports him (see, a type, I tell you). In the animated version from the mid 90s their story was quite a tragic one and I think I liked it a lot too. 

Gamora/Peter aka Starlord - Oh my, they are two hurt by harsh life, wary people, especially Gamora, and their romance was such a sublime precious thing. Not overtly done but there. And how he managed to win her over, how reluctant she was but he persisted first with steadfast friendship then something more (once again sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). I cried like a baby while watching Avengers 3, both times. I also cry at the Guardians Movies (yes, the movies, both of them, because they are about friendship and family above all else). Guardians are my top favourite movies of the whole franchise, duh, 

Steve/Natasha - Here it’s a little tricky because I’m a little multishipper for those two. Steve/Peggy was a tragic romance that pulled at my heartstrings, but I really wouldn’t want it to be revisited, tbh, I liked how star-crossed they were. I definitely do NOT ship Steve with Peggy’s niece (was it?), nope, no feelings about them whatsoever. But, Natasha… Now, Winter Soldier, and ever since… There is such a potential for those two. They work so well together. Yes… And once again it’s about her quiet but efficient support of him. Burce/Natasha didn’t do anything for me, sorry. But I was intrigued byt Natasha/Clint and kinda shipped them until we learnt about Clint’s family. I love that he had a family. 

Harry Potter 

Harry/Hermione - God, this ship. This is my OTP. Only Sherlolly rivals it as my OTP. Atm, Sherlolly is top one, but Harmione is close by and I still revisit the fandom just for the two of them. I love that they are such a close friends. The trust between them in unmovable, unshakable; she follows him and supports him, but isn’t afraid to call his bullshit, he encourages her and is there for her, he was the first one to see her as someone with feelings (it for sure wasn’t Ron no matter how much I love the redhead). He taught her to see past books and cleverness, he taught her about friendship and love. And she was onle of the very few and probably the very first one who saw him just as Harry (it took time for Ron and way too long for Ginny, to lose the fangirl/fanboy attitude). I love how complementary they are. For me they are perfect. I like to hc they have always been in love with each other just didn’t realise it at first. I like to imagine that post war, instead of the epilogue, all the characters managed to truly find themselves which led to a more suited pairings (for me the series ends before the epilogue obviously ;)

Ron/Luna - I have a major issue with Ron and Hermione and it’s how he treats her. I’m sorry but he always belittles her and she does the same to him! But for me, Luna has a lot of Hermione’s traits (inteligence for once), but never bellitled Ron, but always supported him. Hermione does it too, of course, and yet Luna’s support seems more like a fuel for Ron to reach his potential. Hermione will always be better than Ron and for Ron who always craved greatness it’s a huge thing to overcome. But Luna seems to follow her dreams yet support Ron in his. That’s how I have always seen them. That’s what is my hc.

Neville/Ginny - I definitely prefer this pairing for Ginny. It’s mostly because once again I felt that Ginny’s support could have helped Neville become the man he could be (thankfully he managed it without her, but before book 7, I always felt she could be the key for Neville and it stayed with me), I always felt that his quiet nature and less flamboyant self would be a lot more calming for her fiery temperament than Harry ever could… 

Draco/Ginny - Here I am for the fiery combination of the two XD I also like a redeemed Draco theme. And sometimes ship him in a onesided Dramone too. I also like their kinda Romeo/Juliet situation. 

Lucius/Narcissa - that ship took me by surprise, tbh! I’ve read a couple of fabulous Harmione fics with them, and two of the greatest broke them apart making them more an arranged polite pairing than anything else and I realised I actually ship them as in love. I don’t know why, I just like the idea of them, even being on the wrong side of the light, to still being able to experience love. In the end it was that love that redeemed them. Sometimes I like to hc they fell in love after they were arranged. 

Remus/Tonks - the way she fought for him, and in the end their true love won. Even if for a short while before being cut of tragically. I like that they are actually quite an unusual pair and because of their age difference too. Sometimes I like to hc that if they survived they’d struggle as a married couple but overcome all the obstacles and learn how to be truly happy together 

Bones 

Booth/Brennan - this is another major OTP for me. I love their friendship, mutual, trust, support, their ability to compromise and being opened to the other and their life/word view. Their love story was the greatest feature of the whole show. It was so nice to see them reach a happy ever after and live through it. I love how they both grown as characters thanks to this wonderful relationship they shared over the years. And how faithful, how loyal to each other they have always been.

Angela/Hodgins - this is another story of true love can prevail everything. God, she was such a free spirirt, it looked like he didn’t stand a chance, but his persistence, his love for her, his support as she were with someone else after their break-up, and then their happiness. God, I love them so much. And I want a Hodgins of my own ;)

Sweets/Daisy - they were so cute as a silly version of Booth/Brennan. They also learned a lot about themselves and each other during their relationship. They grew both as characters and as a couple. And I really liked it.  

How To Train Your Dragon 

Hiccup/Astrid - first of all they are friends. And based on that, they support each other, trust each other, back up each other, but also talk and point out flaws. I like to hc they’d have always ended up together. 

Ruffnut/Fishlegs - this one is a tricky one as it’s only fanon based. But I like the idea of Ruff, who is a wild spirit, and Fishlegs who is the scholary type, to find some kind of connection and appreciation. It’s a little similar to Neville/Ginny I suppose. I really love them, and how they could truly balance each other. 

Anne with an E 

Gilbert/Anne - oh, I have always shipped them, but in this version it’s all about his devotion. He’s so completely in love with her. They also try to be friends and support each other and be there for each other and I think that’s wonderful. 

BBC Sherlock:

Sherlolly - oh, my. I think the thing about them for me is their mutual trust and a certain tender approach toward each other. I think that Molly is the only one who truly sees Sherlock as a man and not the Sherlock Holmes and it’s something that’s very attractive to Sherlock, very addictive and that’s why he can be himself with her, and show his vulnerability. There is also a lot of respect between them in their quiet companionship. I also like that they are kinda hidden from everyone else. Only the audience truly knows what really goes between them and that’s very precious to them. I like how they support each other. They work together, they trust each other even if they don’t like what they see. But they work together. 

Warstan - Mary is just perfect match for John. They work so well together. I hate that John almost threw it all away. It shows he’s human but it was a very painful plot. I like to hc, that Mary would have eventually forgiven him, but he would have to really work to get her trust back. I will also dare to say, that maybe there were some huge issues on both sides to work through and John’s wayward thoughts toward E were a result of that. Don’t get me wrong, he was the one who did an awful thing. But maybe Mary wasn’t such a saint either, after all she left him and Rosie without a second thought (to protect them sure), but she wasn’t willing to work with John. Maybe she subconsciously pushed him away? Maybe she was afraid of his reaction based on how badly he took the news about her past? It doesn’t change the fact that both were at fault and didn’t have enough time to work through their issues. They were faulty real people and that’s what I love about them. I wish I could see more of them and their fight for their happiness. 

Mythea - Once again an example of a ship with a woman supporting a man. I like to think he is very protective of her but also kinda shy about his feelings. I don’t know, I see him also viewing himself as unworthy of her affections. While she is kinda helplessly in love with him. In the end they take their heads of their arses and have their happily ever after. I like to hc that Anthea’s been moved away from Mycroft to protect her and maybe because they did start a relationship and she was on maternity leave so that’s why we didn’t see her in s4 ;) 

So, I hope you don’t mind me being talkative about my ships XD

Do you share some of mine? Do you have complete deferent views on the characters? Feel free to tell me :)

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello~! Ok so first of all, I hope you are having a lovely day. Second: Can you recommend me the fluffiest fics you've read? And if possible a fic that involves John reacting differently to Sherlock's "death" idk like getting reaaaaaally depressed or something angsty. Please no angst and fluff in the same fic, that's just playing with peoples hearts D:

Hi Lovely!

I’ve actually posted a lot of fluffy fics, which you can find compiled on my Johnlock Fic Rec Masterpost! I think what you will be looking for are these ones:

Tooth Rotting Fluff

Hugs & Cuddles and Tooth-Rotting Fluff (Pt. 2)

Hugs & Cuddles Pt. 2 / Tooth-Rotting Fluff Pt. 3 / Est. Relationship Pt. 2

There is a whole section for Fluff on the masterpost, so if you want to read a bit more you can check that out!

Aww, sad that you don’t want angsty fluff! It’s the last section on my Fluff Fic Rec megalist that I haven’t posted yet. Oh well, hahah! I’m sure it will come up eventually! But yeah, I do have some angsty sad John fics! I do apologize for a lot of them being “platonic” fics… I read a lot of angst back in my FFNet days, and it was all before my shipping goggles were on but I was super into Friendship Fics. I hope you enjoy them all anyway! 

JOHN DURING THE HIATUS 

Letters From Beyond by LittleBabeBlue (K, 637 w. || Friendship, Post-TRF) – A letter for John was found in Sherlock’s coat after he jumped.

Tea by Art and Soul (K, 693 w. || Angst & Friendship) – John’s habit of making tea for two has little use, considering his flat-mate has been dead for three years. But he keeps on making that second cup, hoping he’d wake up and it’d be gone. But it never was…

One-Way Mirror by StormyNight108 (K+, 830 w. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-TRF, John’s Blog) – It’s been months since the incident, where a man lost his best friend. Slowly but surely, John’s life is starting to turn up a little. That night, his blog is updated to share good news to his followers, and one anonymous commentator is quick to share his happiness. It’s about as close to his friend as he can get right now. No slash.

Thaw by reignofdreams (K+, 933 w. || Angst, Friendship, Post-TRF) – In a bitter twist of irony, John realizes that without the brilliance of Sherlock’s extraordinary intellect and pure but guarded heart, he too is lost.

The Sidewalk by politewarning (K, 956 w. || Post-TRF, Angst, Friendship, Sherlock’s Birthday) – Standing on the sidewalk outside the hospital on the 6th of January to have a one-sided conversation with his dead friend was not something John had intended to make into a ritual.

Black Cars by johnsarmylady (T, 1K+ w. || Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF) – John is getting on with his life…if only he didn’t see black cars everywhere! A short Post Reichenbach tale in 221B style in 5 parts.

By the Graveside by CraftyLion (K, 1K+ w. ||  Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Death) – But what if Sherlock never really survived The Fall? What if the Sherlock in the graveyard was merely a spirit, forlornly watching his friend from the Other Realm?

Don’t Go Without Me by MirabileLectu (T, 1K+w. || Angst/Drama) - Deep in the recesses of the cluttered space under John’s bed, far from the prying eyes of nosy landladies, there is a box.

Memory by Pipsy (K, 1K+w || Angst / TRF Hiatus / Pining) - A short ficlet looking into the lives of John and Sherlock after the Fall. Short and painful.

Shooter by Amputation (K+, 1K+w. || Post-TRF, Suspense, BAMF!John) – The men were trying to rile the other into acting first, it seemed. How boringly predictable and dull this was! 

Spectrum of Mourning at the Funeral of a Solitary Man by TheBookshelfDweller (T, 1K+ w. Angst, Grief, Friendship, First Person POV, Introspection) – Because each kind of love produces its own kind of grief, a long-ignored voice tells the story of five mourners of Sherlock Holmes, a man who in the end, was all but solitary. 

Text Me When It’s Over by immaculately-flawed  (K+, 1K+ w. || Friendship, Humour, Post-TRF, Texting, Sort-Of Pining Sherlock) – After the fall Sherlock starts writing texts to John. Of course, he never sends them… Until he does by accident. Post Reichenbach fic but not angsty.

Hold On by Jennistar1 (T, 1300 w. || Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF, Hiatus, Friendship) –  Alternative ending to Reichenbach Falls - John knew all along. 

I Never Told You by MrsNoggin (T, 1650 w. || Fluff & Angst) – Who looks after John when Sherlock is gone? Just a bit of angsty fluff, maybe with a bit of a happy ending. A little wishful one-shot, rated for John’s good old British pottymouth.

Feed The Memory by Hekate1308 (T, 2K+ w. ||  Tragedy & Hurt/Comfort) – He could feed John Watson, at least. Angelo POV.

Letters by Jenna Flare (T, 2K+ w. || Angst, Epistolary, Post-TRF) – John leaves letters on Sherlock’s grave as a method of coping. Sherlock reads them every week. Sherlock/John, John/Mary.

Not The First by StillWaters1 (K+, 2K+w. || Angst, Friendship, Post-Reunion) – Discovering that John had spent twelve months volunteering at a MSF trauma hospital in Afghanistan was surprising. But not as surprising as the discussion that followed. A post-Reichenbach conversation and character study.

Pen Pals by WerewolfDoctor (K, 2K+ w. || Epistolary, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-TRF) – Most people don’t become pen pals by one of them writing a not-suicide note. Then again, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have never exactly been normal, have they?

A Loss, A Latecomer, and a Question by Musicangel913 (T, 3K+ w. || Friendship, Post-TRF / Reunion, Non-BBC Mary, Straight John) – "He was my best friend and I’ll always believe in him.“

Because Your Coat is Part of You by camellialice (K, 3K+ w. || 5 and 1, Canon Compliant, Sherlock’s Coat, Angst, Fluff) – Five times John wore Sherlock’s coat and one time he didn’t need to.

The Sound of Silence by Dubbers (T, 3K+ w. || Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF Hiatus, Reunion) – After Sherlock’s fall, John loses the ability to talk. Three years later, Sherlock is back.

Too Late by SJBHasADayPass (T, 3K+ w. || Angst, Suicide, Tragedy, Major Character Death, First Person POV) – Six months after the Fall, John is finding it difficult without Sherlock, and Sherlock is finding it just as painful. 

the things that comfort us by hudders-and-hiddles (T, 3,728 w. || Sherlock’s Return, H/C, John’s Jumpers, Post-TRF) – Sherlock takes one of John’s jumpers with him when he leaves to dismantle Moriarty’s network. One day, John notices it’s missing. Part 2 of Tumbling Hudders

Between Asleep and Awake by katydidit (K, 4K+ w. || Friendship, Sick Fic, Post-TRF / Reunion) – John is sick. Incredibly, extremely, dangerously sick. Plagued by a high fever, he begins to hallucinate, start seeing things that aren’t really there. Because they can’t be there. Can they?

Days Go By by Hummingbird1759 (T, 4K+ w. || Angst, Friendship, Post-TRF, Introspection) – The characters’ lives go on after the Fall… sort of.

Not Without Me by Jennistar1 (T, 4k+w. || Drama, Mystery, Post-TRF Hiatus, Pining Sherlock) – Halfway through Sherlock’s Great Hiatus, Mycroft comes to him with the news that John has died. But all is not what it seems…

On Hiatus: Rotterdam (T, 4K+ w. || Friendship, Drama, Couple For A Case, Post-TRF, John Joins Sherlock, No Slash) – “Used them after uni a bit. Purely for research purposes, of course,“ Sherlock said tiredly, head lolling against John’s shoulder.” Sherlock goes on a mission alone, or: Two blokes in a luxury hotel in the Netherlands. Non-linear timeline. Set during the Hiatus.

There’s Something Living in These Lines by teahigh (orphan_account) (M, 4,676 w. || Pining, Angst, Love Letters, UST, Dirty Talk, Hiatus) – Two men, complete opposites in almost every way, who speak only in letters and pages torn from books.

A Case of Identity by PostcardsfromTheoryland (T, 4,978 w. || Post-TRF, John on Holiday, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock Whump, Angst, Reunion) – All John wanted was to get away from London for a few weeks. No people pointing and whispering about Sherlock Holmes when he walked past, no reporters wanting an “exclusive” about the dead detective, just some rest and relaxation in the sunshine. Then again, these holiday trips never seem to go as planned.

Nothing Quite So Spectacular by Kerkerian-Horizon (K+, 5K+ w. || Drama, Hurt / Comfort, Post-TRF) – How John Watson grieves after Sherlock Holmes’ alleged suicide, and what happens when the detective returns home. Set post-Reichenbach, two parts.

Excerpts from Purgatory by reapersun, what_alchemy (E, 5,829 w. || Post-TRF, Doctor John, Reunion Fic, Rough Sex, Angry Sex, Bottomlock, Fic with Pics)  – John serves community service in homeless shelters for chinning the superintendent. Unbeknownst to him, the Homeless Network has his back.

Five Times by AliuIce0814 (T, 6K+w. || Drama, Canon-Compliant S1 & 2, Angst, 5 and Ones, Reunion) – … Sherlock woke John, and one time John woke Sherlock.

Not Without You by thisisforyou (T, 6K+ w. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Adventure, Mycroft is a Good Brother, Pining Sherlock, Suicide Mention, Sherlock First Person POV, Post-TRF / Reunion Fic) – “I can’t, Mycroft, I can’t do this without John.” Mycroft comes up with an alternative solution to the three years of two broken hearts that would have otherwise happened. 

The Death of Doubt by Gingerhermit (E, 6,584 w. || Alternate Canon, BAMF John, POV Sherlock, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Hurt/Comfort, Angst/Drama, Meddling Mycroft) – Mycroft asks for John’s help in rescuing Sherlock from his Serbian captors.

Drowning in Darkness by chappysmom (T, 7K+w. || Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapped John, Post-TRF Hiatus / Reunion, John Whump, Angst with Happy Ending, Depressed John, Background Case Fic) – He couldn’t decide if it was a relief or a curse that he’d been left completely, absolutely alone. You couldn’t fight darkness with your fists, and no matter how strong your will-power, it could be beaten down by the constant monotony of nothingness. Nobody needed John.

I’d be Lost Without my Blogger by shadenc (T, 8,057 w. || Rev. Reich, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Pining) – "There are several snipers with their guns pointed at your head this very moment. Now, if you look up you’ll see John and myself on the rooftop of Bart’s. Understand the game yet?“ “Shoot me. Let him go and shoot me.” “Noble now, are we? Unfortunately, you are not the one who will make that decision.”

Every Night I Look for You by destinationtoast (E, 8,377 w. || POV John, Post-TRF, Angst, Mystery, Unsafe Sex, BAMF John) – Every night, John looks for familiar hints of Sherlock in the men he meets in bars, and he does with them all the things he wishes he’d done before. Eventually, he stumbles into a situation that Sherlock would know how to handle, and John must decide whether he can handle it without him.

Watching You Die by laureleaf (T, 10K+ w. || Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF, Suicide, Switching POVs, Sort-of Rev. Reich., Whump) – John watched Sherlock die three years ago, and Sherlock just watched John die. But neither of them are actually dead. Now an AU, with nods to “The Adventure of the Empty House”. Lots of angst and post-Reichenbach feels. No slash.

The In-Between by blueink3 (M, 10,679 w. || Fluff and Angst, H/C, Parentlock, Fix-It Fic, Canon Compliantish) – Beginning in a Chinese restaurant and ending at the bottom of a well, what about the moments we didn’t see?

White Blank Page by SarahCat1717 (M, 11,936 w. || Post-TRF, Clever John, Reunion Fic, Pining Sherlock, Letters, Fantasies) – Post-fall, Sherlock is off eliminating Moriarty’s crime web. He finds he misses John. He can’t divulge that he still lives, but he placates his need to communicate with John and still feel a connection with him by sending him blank letters. But over time, this writing exercise lends itself to Sherlock exploring his feelings for his friend. What will happen when Sherlock returns to London and the man he has been “writing” to regularly for the past two years? NOT S3 compliant. Mary who?

Sunset’s Wake by StillWaters1 (T, 13K+ w. || Angst, Hurt /Comfort, Minor Character POV) – It wasn’t until that moment, when the dazed man in the practical black jacket came pushing through the crowd and into her arms, that she understood why she had been drawn outside St. Bart’s that day. 

When to Let Go by KendylGirl (M, 22,109 w. || Friends to Lovers, Reverse Reichenbach, Sacrifice, Forgiveness, Angst, Love, Implied Drug Use) – What if it were John who had to die to thwart Moriarty’s plans? John’s supposed death shatters Sherlock, and when he returns, it will challenge the pair to forge a path of forgiveness, to peace, and to find a way back to each other. Part 1 of When to Let Go

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w || Post-TRF, John has a Kid) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

Five Times: Watching and Waiting by Ira Lea (K+, 23K w. || Friendship, Post-TRF, No Slash) – Five times Sherlock didn’t know John was watching, and one time he made sure of it. Five times John didn’t know Sherlock was watching, and one time he figured it out. Three years of “he’s dead”, one moment of “he’s alive”, and the resulting chase through the streets of London. (Two 5:1s in quick succession and a bonus).

Dear John by wendymarlowe (E, 23,031 w. || Post-TRF, Online Dating, Pining, Epistolary, Cybersex, Long Distance Romance) – With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint: it turns out to be Sherlock.) Part 1 of Dear John

Holmes is where the heart is by Rose de Sharon (T, 49K+w. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-TRF, Reunion Fic, Bromance, Empty House Inspired, Adventure) – Three years after the Reichenbach Fall. On the anniversary of Sherlock’s death, John pays a visit at 221 B Baker Street… and he gets the shock of his life.

Lost Without My Blogger by starrysummernights (E, 52,155 w. || Rev. Reich, PTSD, Hurt / Comfort, Fluff / Angst, Psychological Torture, Reunion Fic, Friends to Lovers) – John is abducted and declared dead. How will Sherlock cope without his blogger? How will he react when John comes back from the “dead?” Drama and angst with a healthy dose of romance. Part 1 of I’d Be Lost Without My Blogger

The Burning Heart by May_Shepard (M, 119,150 w. || Canon Divergence, Post-TRF, John’s Sexuality, S3 Rewrite, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV John Watson, John’s Gay) – When Sherlock dies, John Watson feels like his life is over too. He’s completely shut down, until Mark Morstan, a new nurse at John’s medical clinic, catches his attention, and helps him uncover the long buried truth of his attraction to men. Although he’s certain he’ll never get over Sherlock, John plans to move on, and build a new life with Mark, unaware that Sherlock is not quite as dead as he appears, and that Mark is hiding secrets of his own.

The Quiet Man by ivyblossom (E, 157,369 w. || Post-TRF, John First POV, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Present Tense, Imaginary Sherlock) – “Do you just carry on talking when I’m away?”