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crowdvscritic · 4 years ago

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round up // JANUARY 21

New year, not-so-new Crowd vs. Critic! It’s another batch of films, TV, music, and reads that were new to me this month and think you would enjoy, too. As we cozy up inside for the winter, nothing warms you up like a good piece of pop culture.

January Crowd-Pleasers

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Does this sequel reach the heights of 2017’s Wonder Woman? No, but I wish more superhero movies were like this one. I explain why at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

21 Bridges (2019)

A solid action crime thriller with a solid Chadwick Boseman at the center. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

The Lethal Weapon Series (1987-98)

I watched the first Lethal Weapon in 2017 for ZekeFilm, but now I’ve a decade’s pleasure of progressively over-the-top action sequences and progressively more absurd ways to destroy Roger Murtaugh’s (Danny Glover) house. The Murtaugh/Riggs bromance holds this progressively sillier series together, and an supporting cast of charismatic actors (Jet Li, Darlene Love, Chris Rock, Rene Russo) are game for whatever comes their way. Joe Pesci is the true MVP. Series Crowd: 9/10 // Series Critic: 7/10

The High Note (2020)

Tracee Ellis Ross’s Grace Davis is a diva in every sense of the word. A high-strung and highly successful singer, she’s also highly demanding of her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who wants to step out of her shadow and become a music producer. This rom-com-adjacent flick is one of the most fun escapes I’ve had from a 2020 movie, and it’s perfect for a girls’ night in. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

Double Feature—Rom-Coms With a Magical Twist: Just My Luck (2006) + When In Rome (2010)

Disclaimer: These movies are not good. In fact, they’re junk, but they’re my kind of junk. In Just My Luck (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Lindsay Lohan loses her life-long lucky streak when she kisses schlimazel Chris Pine. And When in Rome (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6/10), Kristen Bell attracts unwanted admirers (Will Arnett, Danny DeVito, Josh Duhamel, Jon Heder, and real-life future husband Dax Shepard) after she steals their coins from a wishing fountain. To their credit, both of these movies know they’re silly, which means you have permission to just sit back and laugh along with (or, honestly, at) them.

WandaVision (2021)

I sometimes fear for the world of entertainment when I think of how much intellectual property Disney has gobbled up, but WandaVision is evidence the company is a benevolent dictator at least for now. This odd delight is a send up and a tribute to sitcoms like I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch, and Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are so charming and weird I don’t need whatever mysterious sub-plot they’re building.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

If you want to make the most of watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights, first watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), an action flick I saw last February and didn’t include in my monthly Round Up. This Mel Brooks spoof is a direct response that self-serious Kevin Costner adventure, even down to copying its costumes. While I wish I could find a Mel Brooks comedy with any substantial female character (in every movie I’ve seen so far, the joke is either, “She’s got a great rack!” or “Wow, she’s an uggo!”), I still couldn’t stop laughing at this 104-minute version of the Robin Hood scene in Shrek. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Aliens (1986)

Peak ‘80s action. Peak alien grossness. Peak girl boss Sigourney Weaver. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/.510

Big (1988)

After talking about Laverne & Shirley with Kyla on SO IT’S A SHOW?, I had to check out Penny Marshall’s classic. While a few moments haven’t aged so well, its heart is sweet and the script is hilarious. And that Tom Hanks? I think he’s going places. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

Unstoppable (2010)

I’ve laughed at SNL’s spoof of this movie for a decade, so it’s about time I got around to enjoying this action thriller very loosely based on the true story of a train that got away from its conductor. Denzel Washington (“You’re too old!”) and Chris Pine (“You’re too young!”) are our heroes in this over-the-top ridiculousness, and their chemistry is so extra it makes me hope they team up for another movie again. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

January Critic Picks

Double Feature—‘90s Space Adventures: Apollo 13 (1995) + Contact (1997)

I have no desire to join Tom Cruise as he films in space, but I know I’ll be pumped to watch whatever he makes because I love sci-fi and space adventures. Apollo 13 (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10) tells the story of an almost-disastrous NASA mission in the ‘60s, and it taps into our hope for the human spirit to overcome obstacles. Contact (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) surmises what might happen if we received communication from extraterrestrial life, and it taps into our struggle to reconcile faith and science.

McCartney III by Paul McCartney (2020)

I spent January catching up on the albums on Best of 2020 lists, and the one I listened to for hours and hours was Paul McCartney’s latest solo album. Catchy, thoughtful, and musically surprising, it ranges from pop to rock to folk in 45 minutes and still feels like it’s over too soon. Like Tom Hanks, this Paul McCartney guy is going places!

The Thin Man Series (1934-47)

Like Lethal Weapon, I watched the first installment of The Thin Man awhile back, and Kyla and I even covered the series on our podcast. But thanks to a full series marathon on TCM earlier this month, I’ve now laughed through all five. When you talk about great chemistry, you’ve got to talk about William Powell and Myrna Loy, who make Nick and Nora’s marriage feel lived in and romantic as they solve crimes together. Witty, suspenseful, and jaunty, this series is still sexy cool over 80 years later. (Also, Asta? Still one of the cutest dogs in cinema.) Series Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The King and I (1956)

Here’s your regularly scheduled reminder Hollywood works differently now, and many casting decisions of the ‘50s wouldn’t fly today. What has aged well in this film: The Rodgers and Hammerstein music and the sumptuous costumes and set design. I love extravagant musicals of yesteryear—perhaps it’s time for Hollywood to revisit and remake The King and I for modern audiences?

youtube

Inauguration Day

In a year with no major televised events with celebrities in a room together, Inauguration Day felt like the most exciting cultural event in ages. We’ve been missing major fashion, but then we got Lady Gaga! We’ve been missing live performances, but then we got Amanda Gorman! And I got a lot of tears during that poem—not just me, right?

Good Reads

Writing that made me think and smile this month:

Steven Soderbergh’s list of everything he read, watched, and listened to this year, Extension765.com (2020) – An indirect inspiration for these monthly Round Ups!

“My Year of Making Lists,” NewYorker.com (2020) – I made a lot of lists in 2020, so I feel this author’s #mood

“Betty White Says She Will Spend Her 99th Birthday Feeding Two Ducks Who Visit Her ��Every Day,’“ CBSNews.com (2021) - “Betty is a treasure,” I say as I watch The Proposal for the 99th time

“A Sculpture’s Unusual Journey to SLAM [St. Louis Art Museum],” SLAM.org (2020) – With a casual mention of an attraction I never knew about in St. Louis

“The Culture Is Ailing. It’s Time for a Dr. Fauci for the Arts.” WashingtonPost.com (2020) – An idea that occurred to me a few months ago: Why don’t we have an Arts Cabinet?

“The Arts Are in Crisis. Here’s How Biden Can Help.” NYTimes.com (2021) – Partly in response to that Washington Post piece, a historical look at how artists have made it through difficult times in the past and how we can revive artists’ livelihoods mid- and post-pandemic

“The Right’s Message to Silicon Valley: 'Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee,'” TIME.com (2021) – A more thoughtful and less reactionary take on a volatile moment in the history of modern technology

“'It Makes Me Sick With Grief': Trump's Presidency Divided Families. What Happens to Them Now?” TIME.com (2021) – A study on how politics has done damage to family dynamics in America

“Help, the Only Cinema I Can Handle Is Zac Efron Prancing Angrily in High School Musical 2,” Vulture.com (2021) - In a lot of ways, same

“50 Easy Things To Do When You are Anxious,” ShopTwentySeven.com (2021) – I especially endorse coloring, puzzling, and watching happy movies!

Double Feature—Miss Marple Mysteries: Murder at the Gallop (1963) + Murder Ahoy (1964)

Remember when I was all like, “Watch these Agatha Christie movies so you’re not sad Death on the Nile is delayed”? Remember when I said I was just a few movies away from becoming an Agatha Christie junkie? Well, I think I’m there because I can’t stop with the murder mysteries! Margaret Rutherford is a treasure whether she’s solving a murder at a horse ranch or on a boat, and a cast of colorful supporting characters (including Rutherford’s husband) makes these breezy instead of heavy. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10

8½ (1963)

File this with 2001: A Space Odyssey—I don’t know if I really understood this film, but I think I liked it? Federico Fellini’s surrealist, male gaze-y drama blurs the lines between reality and imagination, love and dysfunction, and the past and maybe some future that involves clowns? What resonated with me was the story of a director with creative block, wondering if he’s already peaked and if he’ll create anything worthwhile again. Crowd: 6/10 // Critic: 9/10

Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries by Emma Thompson (1995)

Sense and Sensibility is not just one of my favorite Jane Austen adaptations—it’s one of my all-time favorite films. One of the co-hosts of one of my favorite podcasts has raved many-a-time about Emma Thompson’s journals from the making of film, so it was only a matter of time before I read them myself. Witty, informative, and all-around lovely, Thompson’s journals are an excellent insight into the filmmaking process and how novels are adapted.

Also in January…

I reviewed the new-ish documentary Flannery for ZekeFilm, which is all about the writer Flannery O’Connor and feels a little like going back to high school English class.

In addition to the Lethal Weapon and Thin Man series, I rewatched all of the X-Men series this month. You can see everything I am watching on Letterboxd, including favorites I love returning to (i.e. X-Men: Days of Future Past) and the movies I try that don’t make my monthly recommendations (i.e. The Wolverine).

Photo credits: Paul McCartney, Zac Efron, Sense & Sensibility. All others IMDb.com.

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 5 years ago

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If I were Jason I would refuse to work with RT ever again.

I truly hope he would refuse, but I think he’s too nice to say no if they ask him to be back in flashbacks or whatnot.

Anonymous said: I feel like RT misunderstood the appeal of VM as a whole. What makes the show so unique is the spider web of Neptune, and seeing Veronica navigating through this lawless place, always fighting for the people who aren't as strong as she is in the meantime, which helps her to piece together her own life. Veronica isn't that great as a stand-alone character - if you want a cynical, jadded feminist icon Jessica Jones did it better - she is great in her interractions with others.

He is truly out of touch with his audience (I mean, duh!) if he believes the reason we have been rallying for years for this show to back is the half-assed, full-of-plotholes, predictable mysteries. The Lilly Kane murder case was the first and last mystery I was truly invested in. After that, I was invested in the characters and the universe he created. The mystery has always been the B Plot for me, and I think it’s fair to say that’s been the case for most marshmallows, if not all. What’s most appalling is how he keeps throwing all these shows titles in every interview - Murder She Wrote, Fargo, Sherlock, Agatha Christie... - as if that’s what he is aspiring to turn its show into. Can he truly be so dense not to realize that if we wanted to watch those shows, we would watch them and not Veronica Mars? Veronica Mars was a brand of its own, and instead of cashing in on it, he’s trying to pitch the show as if it were the first season back in UPN (”it’s Fargo meets Agatha Christie, but with a twist and it’s noir!”). You’ve got the show, Mr Thomas, and for some reason unbeknowst to you, people actually loved it the way it was. Why on earth would you want to rebrand it and turn it into a virtually unrecognizable show? Also, newsflash for KB, you aren’t the sole reason we were watching.

Anonymous said: What was my worst case scenario is now my dream: V sleeps with Leo; to torpedo her relationship with Logan, to prove that she isn't the type/ready for marriage, to show how truly screwed up she is. Logan leaves her, vowing never to see her again, finds someone new and settles down. At least we could have seasons of small interactions; regret, pining, anger, angst, jealousy etc. It's a dream I would take in a minute.

I mean, yeah, anything would be better than what we got.

#Veronica Mars #Veronica Mars Season 4 #Rob Thomas #Kristen Bell #Anon #replies

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salavante · 6 years ago

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Grey Solidago!

(lol this one was from Jake but he forgot to turn anon off. I’m making ye way through these and will probably post the rest later today or tomorrow - I got Pat and Aesop to go and might just do one more headshot of my choice to make it an even number)

Full Name: Grey Solidago

Gender and Sexuality: Female & Bisexual

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: Grey is a half-Anubii (also known as a Zeke) and a hemilich. Her father, Jonquil, is a full blooded anubii, a race of odd, magically reanimated corpses of unknown origin, and her mother, Hare, is a human. Hare is also ethnically an Ashkenazi jew.

Birthplace and Birthdate: Maybe sometime in September. Could have been born in either The Tidelands (ranging from coastal sage scrub to salt marshes and deltas/swamps) or The Green (temperate rainforest and boreal pines to taiga).

Guilty Pleasures: Definitely smoking, a bad habit she picked up from her dad. Not really a guilty pleasure, but I also think that her tastes in music are a lot more varied than people would expect, and she can probably find something she likes in any genre she investigates.

Phobias: Nothin really man! Grey is actually the most “normal” and well adjusted of the Solidago children, which still means she’s kind of creepy and peculiar by average standards. She doesn’t like feeling vulnerable or like things are out of her control, and she is good at compartmentalizing her doubts and anxieties. There is a certain, intense rage inside her that is kept under a cool exterior, and inflicting grievous harm on someone who she feels deserves it is not something that troubles her very much. I suppose she may fear taking things too far and doing something very cruel, because she knows she has the ability and emotional capacity to do it.

What They Would Be Famous For: Grey is a fine artist who does very big, lush oil paintings, and while not famous, is notable and has had gallery shows of her work. Grey’s usual job is accompanying adventuring parties to strange locals and then illustrating them in action and doing charcoal studies of ruins/landscapes/etc, as editorial material for the various publications on adventuring and dungeon diving. She’s become a handful of magazines’ go-to gal. Her work is mostly representational, and she seldom makes a piece without doing lots of studies first, but she leans heavy into chiaroscuro and has big, juicy brush strokes. Words often used to describe her work are “eerie”, “haunting” or “intense”.

What They Would Get Arrested For: Probably something really benign like trespassing or going somewhere without a proper permit, Grey is pretty lawful, both of her parents are in a law enforcement esque occupation. They run a very organized adventurer’s guild, effectively, that will cooperate with local law enforcement to catch run of the mill criminals in addition to tackling monsters or liches or what have you.

OC You Ship Them With: Wybjorn has a tiny baby crush on her because he gets crushes on anyone who’s moderately nice to him, but he’s a little too goofy for her, she’s not into it. Grey’s in an awkward bracket of characters because they are kind of our third gen group and there’s only so many of them in the 20-30 range (Grey is 23). She’s also kind of an intense lady, I keep using that word but it fits. Canonically, we’re going to see how Grey and Ozzy fare when we get around to Mindrunner II, the sequel to Ozzy’s original campaign. They weirdly hit it off during Godslaughter, I think they’re both very intellectual people and counterbalance one another very well. Ozzy has a partner already, their name is Rosemary, but Ozzy has two hands.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Jovix-Cailo, probably. He did kill Lysander and broke Grey’s leg. Otherwise she hasn’t really done anything to invoke someone’s ire. Jovix-Diocunigast might also kill her in the final fight, we shall see (I wrote this before the game was over, he didn’t!).

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Grey likes slow burn ghost stories, psychological horror, true crime documentaries, mysteries and thrillers. She’d like “I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House”, “Twin Peaks” and Agatha Christie. She probably reads short story anthologies and paperbacks when she’s on the road for her job. Anything with well paced tension will hold her interest, but she may tolerate poor writing as long as the visuals in a movie or TV show are good.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: I honestly don’t think she’d treat something with disdain or vitriol like some other characters might, I think she’s pretty good at ignoring stuff that she doesn’t like in terms of media. Not a big fan of slashers or more fantastical horror, she has pretty well defined tastes, and dislikes your usual bouquet of mainstream film genres (romcoms, action, etc). I do think that one thing she truly does not like is any cartoon with singing in it, which is probably something she has to moderately tolerate because she has a young niece.

Talents and/or Powers: Grey has a mostly utility build with a focus on stacking debuffs and interrupting other people’s attacks. She doesn’t have any really big, damage dealing abilities, but she’s meant to support more potent DPS by wearing down bosses with status afflictions. In fiction this manifests as a handiness at weaving curses. As mentioned before, she is also a pretty skilled painter, with her preferred mediums as charcoal, ink wash and oils.

Why Someone Might Love Them: Strong willed, confident, intelligent and classy - Grey has perhaps had self confidence issues in the past, she was kind of a weird looking, gangly child/teenager, but she really owns herself now. She knows what she likes and dislikes and makes her preferences very obvious, and though she doesn’t make jokes very often, has a good sense of humor (which she got from her mom) though it can be kind of dry/morbid. She’s rather private and has an air of mystery about her and a slight eeriness that some may find enticing. She also refuses to stand idly by when there is injustice in her presence, for better or for worse.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: She can come off as uncaring or cold, and definitely has a terminal case of Resting Bitch Face. Any hiccups in her success in the art world are caused by her being uncompromising with her integrity, and a reluctance to play nice peers and art directors just for the sake of networking or getting a job. Being disingenuous feels counterintuitive to her sense of ethics. And while that’s all well and good, it makes her difficult to work with, and has made her miss out on some opportunities she may have benefitted from. Her bluntness has made her unpalatable to many, and some may see her as being stuck up. She also does not react well to people approaching her with aggression or snideness, and will retaliate ferociously.

How They Change: Honestly, not a lot, she’s pretty stable. Grey has mostly functioned in an NPC capacity up until this point, so there haven’t really been any stories focused on her. Prior to her extra dimensional shenanigans with her half-brother, she had kind of a strained relationship with her mom, who’s she’s since gained a lot more respect and compassion for. They’re on much better terms now. She also started out not liking Ozzy very much and thought he was kind of a weiner, but, they’re very good friends now after having some pretty harrowing experiences together.

Why You Love Them: She’s my only character who’s actually an artist. I don’t tend to like making characters who, well, do what I do. I love illustrating but what I do is still a lot of hard work and I like to take breaks from it. Generally speaking, I prefer to insert my creativity and drive into characters that make things with their hands but don’t make visual art per say. It’s why a lot of my characters are scientists and engineers. So I think it’s a unique connection to have.

#Anonymous

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steve0discusses · 7 years ago

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Yugioh S1 Ep28: Bakura Can Still Kill Everyone If He Really Wanted To

First off--my apostrophes work again! Many thanks to the tumblr staff who helped out and will never see this post. Now I can update without looking like my computer is encrypting itself as I go.

So guys, I’m all about weird TV and weird movies. I watched the entirety of Color of Pomegranates. I just want you to know that because when I say that “wow this got weird real fast” we are going by my metrics. It’s not as weird as Color of Pomegranates, because well...it has a plot that isn’t under four layers of symbolism and esoteric Armenian poetry, but whenever we have a Bakura episode, stuff just gets UNEXPECTED.

But first, the most wonderful thing has happened:

I mean kind of a weird choice to put some of these things together, but this was about .5 seconds of screen time, I’m just special and can pause to realllllly take it in. Mm.

(Read more under the cut for EVEN MORE FOOD)

Man!

MAN!

What did I do to deserve all this good anime food in the same episode as Bakura doing something completely nuts (again)?

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we have to go back to cards, which for some reason is still the crux of this show...I think. This is still a show about cards, right? I’m no longer completely sure.

At the start of the season, Yugi was gifted these two cards as entrance tickets to the Island of Regret where they are now hanging out. These cards are how you collect your prizes if you win. The one with money is the prize of 3 million (or is it 300 million? It’s been a while since I’ve heard the number). The blank one is the chance to beat Pegasus. I assume your soul will go in the blank one after he beats you.

Youknow, it’s really a shame we never got to see the stats on Grandpa, Mokuba, and Seto cards. I don’t think they even had any. I mean, when Bakura turned his friends into cards, at least they had stats.

Anyways, some of our contestants have suddenly remembered that they actually have no right to this contest.

But, turns out Pegasus also has an interest in anime food, so he’s done something a little extra for...some reason.

DEAR LORD. I mean it’s not a real eyeball but think about the eye grease for a moment. Firstly, I don’t even know if you have to grease up a false eyeball and I want to look it up but I am too afraid. Secondly, now my mind is thinking of every unctuous substance that may or may not grease up a false eyeball. It does not pair well with pumpkin soup.

There’s eyeballs...in the soup...

This is when you go home. This is when you say “sorry Gramps, but...I am pretty sure that guy is a cannibal, I gotta goooooo.”

I mean, again, it’s not a real eyeball but freakin A are they having a weird halloween dinner party? Why would you do this? Why would you EVER put your own eyeball facsimiles in the soup? Is it like “eat my ass” but “eat my eyes” ?

Pegasus doesn’t get many guests and I can start to see why Kaiba hated him so damn much. Can you imagine working with this guy on a daily basis as the head of a large corporation while constantly getting pranked with his weird ass eyeballs?

Does it say “I open at the close?”

Why did they do -- what?!

This was all about a stupid bracket? What the hell, Yugioh?

The boys decide to throw caution to the wind about what may or may not be in this bizarre dinner that not even Pegasus wants to eat and they fully gorge themselves and get a real good food baby belly going.

I guess Yugi didn’t really eat because he is fully alert and his empty beacon eyes are still one of the most spooky things on this show.

Yugi decides to hand off his card to Joey right in the view of Bandit Keith, and Joey only takes it when Yugi convinces him that now they’d have twice the chance to beat Pegasus. I mean, not really, actually, but it was still a nice thing to say. Yugi is a kid of sooo many good intentions.

Mai goes to bed and says this actual line from the show.

Despite the fact that she’s so acidic about...eh...75% of the time, she really is the nicest person they have met on this horrible, terrible island. In fact, everyone is ready to tuck in to the most clearly haunted murder castle as if eyeballs weren’t just hanging out in their soup. What a bizarre heartwarming round of goodnights, as if there wasn’t clearly several people out to very much kill them living in the same castle as them.

This is how Agatha Christie novels start.

This episode does not actually dive into Joey’s gigantic donut dream, which is a shame.

Because this episode, it’s time for our B-team to shine.

I love the implication here that Tristan first knocked on Bakura’s door, woke him up with this and then Bakura clearly answered along the lines of “Bollucks, Tristan, I am not doing this right now” to which, Brakura dragged him down to Tea’s door in the hope that Tea would be at all reasonable.

Which backfired him in a major way because Tea and Tristan are desperate to chase some snipes and prove themselves useful.

I honestly can’t tell if Bakura even likes these guys. I mean, I get that they’re school friends but, this guy was introduced as totally murdering them and then getting magically “cured” with the same cure that failed on Seto Kaiba. The fact that this meek little fake-british accent can get so easily snowplowed by Tea and Tristan is never clearly just an act or just him getting snowplowed.

But, apparently there’s some part of him that is still that tiny little nice-side-of-Bakura, so dutifully, he decides to babysit, since the only other psychic they got around is currently having an eyeball-soup induced dream.

Back at the dueling arena, Tea decides to stand guard/do nothing as usual.

Tristan reveals why he has a grudge against Psychics.

Tristan’s character is pretty flat. It basically revolves around mothering everyone elses problems and pining about Serenity who is barely a character on this show. I always figured that Tristan was at least smarter than Joey and Yugi, who can be kind of...dumb, but it turns out Tristan is just as empty between the ears.

He gets completely fascinated by a beam of light shining through a window. Forget looking for cameras. Forget the fact that this room was full of Pegasus’ mooks, some of which were standing right behind Kaiba. Na. He’s gonna Sherlock Holmes straight to this window.

During Bakura’s desperate pleas to get these two assholes back to bed, Yugi is getting some crazy as hell conspiracy theories from Grandpa.

Oh, so he’s like a normal grandpa then? Once my Grandma told me that the entirety of San Fransisco would fall into the ocean during an Earthquake and she was EXTREMELY concerned about my safety (despite the fact I live inland, not in San Fransisco), so this dream Yugi’s having sounds like a pretty average dinner conversation with your Grandparents.

No one expects Bakura, not even the colorist.

And then for some reason they want Tea to go first in their climb up the tower although no reasonable girl in a mini skirt would do this in front of two boys.

Isn’t she a freakin dancer? Maybe she’s not as strong as Tristan but she’s certainly the best balanced of the two and could climb way easier because she’s lighter. And Bakura is clearly the weakest but, whatever.

Back in dreamland, Yugi’s grandpa join’s up with the other cards in card hell as if they’re some sort of Grandfather, asshole son, and ghost child card hell trinity

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot I was watching an anime for a second. Nothing like devilish blue fire to make you remember oh yeah, that’s a fine anime fire choice.

But rather than dwell too much on that artistic direction of blue fire, lets see if anything at all was inside of the red herring tower.

They’ve been slipping a picture of this chick all over the place. I’m surprised it took until now, when she’s like 15 feet tall, for them to finally notice “Hey maybe there’s something up with this random chick who is clearly a dead person Pegasus was close to”

Now I gotta get a little art nerdy on you for a moment because this storyboarder is really good at sneaking in people’s reactions right near the focal point without making them the focal point. This whole framing of Bakura’s tired face happens so quickly and I just want to spend a little moment for us to appreciate our storyboarder’s sense of humor.

Now, somehow. SOMEHOW things are going to get weirder.

Because with all this dream sequence stuff happening this looks like it’s a dream but I’m going to come out and say no, this is actually happening. They have, indeed, fallen into some tomb under the castle covered in Egyptian murals and people are chanting about sacrificing souls as offerings.

This happens SO QUICKLY.

THE HELL????

Like remember when I was like “How did all these skeletons get here? what’s up with these skeletons?” I didn’t actually really want them to tie up those loose ends but here we are.

So this has been going on this entire time!? For the past 28 episodes? When Kaiba was like “man Pegasus is the worst!” He didn’t feel like bringing up the crazy killer cult that was living under the island?

And to top it off, Bakura already knows what’s going down. He knows and is quickly getting more and more urgent to get away.

Oh, and PS, The cards we’ve been using these past 28 episodes are now giant stone tablets. Bakura mentioned once that the millennium ring was supposed to work alongside Duel Monsters. And he was like “but duel monsters is like ten years old so whatever” but it turns out that was a complete lie because there’s an ancient version that uses 10 foot tall tablets instead of cards. Their decks would be like 6000 lbs.

Also you die at the end of Ancient Duel Monsters, that part is different, too.

I have so many questions.

I mean you find out when you’re a kid that Ring around the rosies was actually about people dying of the plague and go “eh that’s sad” but it’s nothing like Ring around the Rosies killed people and made serial murderers into magical evil psychics.

I mean it’s never actually said, but there’s enough evidence here that I’d like to think Yugi was sleep running all over the castle during half this episode saying “grandpaaaazzzs” while Bandit Keith was like “OMG are any of them going to go to bed so I can finally steal their stuff?”

But back to the stuff that is actually not a dream and definitely happening. Pegasus pulls back his hood and decides to give them a quick Q and A before he outright kills them.

And so, Bakura, who has been playing dumb for...I dunno, 10+ episodes, who has been doing nothing spectacular and who has been clumsy and sort of a space cadet finally reveals that “yeah, that mind wipe did literally nothing, I’m a still an evil son of a bitch”

And they have a...shine off. Or something. It’s very hard to look directly at.

Thing is, from what we’ve learned, Pegasus is super duper powerful because he’s been killing people under here for many, many years. Every time he does a murder, his power grows. Which means...Bakura should be at a loss since he’s like 12 and...how many people can a 12 year old really murder?

Says a lot about your relationship if you can’t take 2 steps forward without getting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-ed 4 steps right back where you started.

Welp that’s it, guys! that’s Season 1! Bakura did it! He beat Pegasus! Why Bakura decided to retcon the REAL ending of Season 1 and just put everyone (including the villain) back as if it never happened is a little weird, but hey--at least I got through it. I did it. I recapped all of Yugioh Season 1. I’m proud of me!

Bakura will go back to playing dumb probably for another 10-15 episodes until he can steal that eyeball off of Pegasus. Apparently there wasn’t a good enough opportunity for eyeball theft when he was doing the weird laser show thing.

I assume somewhere, Pegasus is also sitting on his bed in his day clothes and thinking “the hell just happened?” but rather than look at one of his zillions of security cameras is like “well, that’s psychics!”

I’d like to think that Bandit Keith saw Bakura dragging Tea and Tristan’s bodies down the hall and they just nodded at eachother like “crazy evening, amiright?”

Also, a lot of this episode would have been different if any of these people locked their own doors. Like this, for instance, wouldn’t have been able to happen.

Then five minutes later the sun rose.

I mean it’s the only explanation for all the nuts stuff that went down last night.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Will Pegasus have a splitting headache for all of tomorrow and be wearing sunglasses the whole time? Will Pharaoh reveal that in his time off he got really into All My Children? Will they seriously go the third day without washing their clothes? These kids must SMELL.

The hell just HAPPENED?

#Yugioh #yugioh recap #photo recap #humor #bakura #tea gardner #tristan taylor #mai #bandit keith #joey wheeler #maxamillian pegasus #I didn't think it would really go this direction so quickly #but it just went hard this direction and was like lol watch me retcon everything #Once Upon a Time also did this but it took an entire season for them to memory wipe their problems away. This did that in one episode.

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lauramkaye · 7 years ago

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The Twelve Days of Phlintmas: A Clint Barton/Phil Coulson Rec List - Day 12

On the twelfth day of Phlintmas, my fandom gave to me:

Twelve works in progress,

Works in progress are a huge part of any fandom. Here are some of my favorite yet-to-be-finished stories. Some of these may be nearly done, and some of these may not have updated for years, but hope springs eternal in the fannish breast and I keep my subscriptions up to date JUST IN CASE. (True story: many years ago in the early naughties I was following a really great Star Wars WIP that went on a long hiatus.... and for the tenth anniversary of the fic THE AUTHOR FINISHED IT and re-edited it and then started writing a long and amazing sequel. NEVER GIVE UP HOPE, readers! Also, writers, it’s never too late to be re-inspired.)

A special note: this is true for everything I’ve recced so far, but I especially encourage you to go by these stories and leave a comment letting the writers know that you love their stories. WIP Guilt is a real thing, and it can mean the world to someone to know that even if the story isn’t finished, their work has given someone joy.

Son of the Champion by sar_kaz_m is a story I’ve been following for a long time. This is my favorite Harry Potter fusion AU, and I really love the slow build of all the relationships and especially the way in which Phil, Clint, and baby Harry become a family. This story also has an element I really love - scientists trying to get their heads around magic.

A Chance Which Does Redeem All Sorrows and The Strength of the Wolf by gwenhefar are two stories I’ve been following for YEARS and I really love them. Chance is about Clint getting a second chance to change how things go when Loki invades: Strength is a really fun werewolf AU. Gwenhefar writes very tender love stories that ring emotionally very true, and I am overcome with glee every time they update.

Driftless by Kathar is an UNDERCOVER FAKE MARRIED FAKE COLLEGE STUDENT AU, and it is so good. So good. It’s funny and feels-y and the plot is amazing and the setting is amazing and all the OCs are amazing and you GUYS, just READ it, you won’t be sorry. I mean Clint is undercover as an archaeology student and Phil calls him “Indy” and it’s so precious I want to die, and did I mention how they are both totally pining for each other while having to act all married and stuff??

You Sing Harmonies by faeleverte is a high school AU epic, and she does some amazing character work in it. Unlike a lot of high school stories where everything goes unrealistically perfectly always, this one really grapples with what it would mean for Clint and Phil to fall in love in high school in the 80s. And bonus, the story starts off with them meeting again as adults, so you just KNOW that in the end everything will go well for them, even if they have to part as teenagers.

Under Pressure by JHSC is, is, okay look. Look. I know that this is a Phlint rec list and Under Pressure is MOSTLY about Barney Barton, but (a) it is the companion story to Landslide, which IS about Phlint and which you should totally read because it is amazing, and (b) it is so so so tremendously, amazingly good. If you don’t get through Under Pressure fiercely adoring both Barney and Paul, I will FIGHT YOU I swear to God, because they are so loving and precious and vulnerable and real and I just want them to be happy forever and ever in a BIG HAPPY FAMILY with Clint and Phil and Natasha and everyone and just go READ it, seriously, and tell JHSC how great it is (it is very great.)

Wide Breadth by artanis_aman is a fantasy AU (fun) where Phil is a dragon (fun!) and Clint is basically an incubus who feeds on sex energy, and oh hey guess what dragon sex energy is like the five-star gourmet version of sex energy... this is super hot, which would be enough reason to read it, but ALSO it has a cool plot! Seriously one of the more fun of the fantasy/magic AU takes I’ve seen on Phlint.

The Hunter In The Wood by BeneficialAddiction is another fun magic AU, where Clint comes to a magic town who needs his help to solve a mystery. BA has done a really good job building the world and setting and characters, and I love the chemistry that Clint and Phil obviously have already and her take on Phil as a druid. I can’t wait to see them coming together in both crime-fighting and, well, OTHER ways.

The Adventures of Wizard!Clint and C/C Detective AU (both series) by orderlychaos - These are both technically series in progress- there are plenty of complete stories in the series but the series themselves aren’t done yet. These are two fantastic AUs - one of a modern-day wizard Clint and one of Phil as an Agatha Christie-era detective. They are both awesome and I always look forward to each new installment with glee!

Once More Is Too Much And Never Enough (series) by TwangCat is another series in progress. This story has some really hot sex and some really great pining, and I happen to be beta-ing the next story in the series and Twang has been doing some fantastic work on it.

A Fate Worse Than Death by Pagination is a hilarious take on what would happen if the Death that Thanos is in love with were the Death from the Discworld books. This story is laugh out loud funny and manages to capture both the Marvel characters and that great Pratchett feel complete with footnotes.

Give Yourself To Me by kaguya_yoru is - you know, I’m seeing a bit of a secondary theme here - another magic AU! This one is actually a Clint/Phil/Natasha endgame story and I’m really loving it so far, with a fascinating setting and really hot smut.

My Heart Used To Be Broken Clockwork by Jade Dragoness is another story about robots! Notably, one where Phil is secretly a hyper-realistic android. What does that mean for his relationship with Clint?

Eleven sweet romances, Ten kinky sex scenes, Nine post-film fix-its, Eight wacky hijinks, Seven massive epics, Six giant wieners,

FIIIIIIIIIIIIVE WEDDING RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS!

Four AUs, Three soulbonds, Two Russian bros, and a story about TAHITI.

#12 days of phlintmas #phlint #fanfic rec #rec list

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holidaysat221b · 7 years ago

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List of Sherlolly Prompts as of 8/30/2017 - There’s a new one!

Here is a link to the very informal Sherlolly Prompt Fest FAQ

Below is the list of prompts submitted to @holidaysat221b. Where possible, we have tagged the submitter so that credit can be given if a prompt inspires someone to write a fic or create a piece of art.

Some submissions were specifically labeled as Art prompts, and they have been separated into their own category. However, if you are a fic writer and one of the art prompts calls to you, go for it. Likewise, if one of the other prompts makes you want to draw, have fun with it! Prompts that have been filled at least once will be followed with an *, in case that influences your decision to work with one.

We only ask three things:

1) If you use one of the prompts on this list, please remember to credit the prompt and prompter somewhere in your fic summary/art description or in your notes. It’s the polite thing to do.

2) Please submit an ask or message @holidaysat221b with a link to your work, the prompt you used, the prompter, and how you want to be identified (in cases where your Tumblr and fic/artist name are different). This will allow us to share your work with our followers and tag the prompter (if possible).

3) We have set up a Sherlolly Prompt Fest Collection on Ao3. If you are planning to post your fic or art on Ao3 and would like to add it to the collection, please do. As of this moment, the collection is open and unmoderated. Please remember to credit the prompt and prompter in your fic/art notes.

On to the Prompts as of August 30, 2017

Art

Art prompt: (I’ve wanted this like burning for five years, I’ll never give up asking) Sherlock and Molly, the cake scene from Sixteen Candles". Only in the morgue and Molly’s wearing the lab coat. - @sunken-standard *

Art prompt: Potter!lock. Don’t care if it’s student Sherlock and Molly in their house robes, teachers, wizarding professionals, a recreation of the Order of the Phoenix group photo with Sherlock characters instead. Whatever. Just as long as it’s Potter!lock. - @darnedchild

Art prompt: Molly and Sherlock’s first real date gets interrupted by a case. Are they dressed up for a fancy evening, or wearing something more suited to fish and chips and a walk around the park? - Anonymous

Crossovers/Works set in or inspired by another specific fictional universe (ie Potter!lock)

I’d really like to see a Daemon (from the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman) version of Series 3/TAB/Series 4 (any or all of those), especially when it comes to the ILY scene. - Kay

iZombie!Sherlock – Think of this, if Sherlock gets infected we have: 1) Sherlock with white hair 2) Sherlock getting brains from Molly “for experiments” 3) Sherlock getting different attitudes (hippie brain = hippie!Sherlock) 4) Paler than normal pale Sherlock 5) Sherlock with red bloodshot eyes. Also: If Molly Hooper gets infected, it’s like she’s the Liv Moore of Barts. Lestrade as Clive (and relieved to be not only depending on Sherlock to solve crimes). Sherlock deduces Molly’s hair color and tan (because Molly can’t show up to work with white hair, even whiter skin color, and very slow pulse rate). Major asshole Boss being the one shipping tainted Utopium to Britain. - The Silent Fangirl

Superwholock!Sherlolly - The Silent Fangirl

Doctor Who!Sherlock - Molly Hooper as a companion - The Silent Fangirl

Me Before You!Sherlock - The Silent Fangirl

Molly Hooper as “Mary Reilly”. - @darnedchild

Dracula!lock, but maybe mix it up just a little. Sherlock as the object of Dracula’s affections (Mina) and/or Molly as the vampire expert (Van Helsing)? - @darnedchild

Sherlock and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard. Molly Hooper as Lady Molly from “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” with her crime solving partner Mary (Morstan). (Note from Mod - “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” used to be available via BBC Radio 4 Extra on demand, you may still be able to find it online somewhere.) - @lullikiish

A Hades and Persephone AU with Molly as female Hades (the unrequited love at first, the proximity with death) and Sherlock as a male Persephone (the curiosity, the lack of eating). Irene would be a great Poseidon (the chaos provided by the ocean, the sailor knots). As for John, he would be a great Hermes! - Kay

Gimme “The Full Monty”, baby. Surely someone can find a reason to have Sherlock, John, and Greg get their kits off? Or Molly, Mary, and Sally? Mrs H could give professional pointers and tips to whomever you’re planning to get starkers. - Anonymous

A Sherlolly version of “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Sherlock gets to see what his loved ones’ lives would be like if he never existed, realizing the positive impact he had on them when he was alive. - @simplyshelbs16xoxo

Something similar to “The Ransom of Red Chief”, only in this version the kidnappers have figured out that Molly Hooper is a pressure point for Sherlock Holmes. They take her captive, intending to blackmail Sherlock or hold Molly for ransom; but Molly Hooper is having none of that nonsense. While Sherlock works to save her, Molly finds ways to torment, injure, and outwit her captors. Whether she escapes on her own, finds a way to let Sherlock and John know where she’s at, or ends up driving her kidnappers crazy to the point that they give up and send her back is up to the author. Could go humorous or dark very easily. - Anonymous

Clique/Sherlock Crossover - After the events of TFP, Molly Hooper (who is actually Jude McDermid) decides to go back to Edinburgh, broken-hearted & bound to continue the “family business” after years of running away from it. Gone is her long hair & colorful jumpers: she completely changed her look & have every information about Molly Hooper destroyed. Years passed, she forms the Solasta Women’s Initiative, much to her brother’s delight, until a horrific event brings Sherlock Holmes back into her world again. It’s more of a Sherlolly/Judelock mash-up where Sherlock wants to know why she left, who she really is, & how he’s still madly in love with her. Molly/Jude is more like she’s finally embracing the life she thought she never wanted, until she realizes that she can never forget the love she has for Sherlock. Can she be Jude & love him as well? Can Sherlock accept her true reality, or does he only love her as Molly & not Jude. Throw in a nice mystery/thriller plot too! Oh yeah Mycroft, who knew Molly is Jude from the beginning but decided to let Sherlock figure it out on his own, is determined to stop this union at all cost. Pls include all the girls & guys in Clique, especially Holly since she’s a badass off to take down Jude and her “girls” no matter what! It’s a crazy plot but if you’ve seen the 1st 2 episodes of Clique, it screams for a Sherlolly crossover fic! Thanks for reading this uber-long fic prompt! - @violetjersey

A reversed Potter!lolly with Sherlock being the Muggle-born, while Molly’s the pureblood witch (the likes of Luna Lovegood). Sherlolly, of course. - @mychakk

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” – because I always think of the movies when I see Mizjoely’s U.N. Owen tag. - @darnedchild

We know Molly can keep other people's secrets. Maybe Molly has a few secrets of her own, i.e. her very secret collection of FWBs. Because honestly, you think she would just sit alone in her home every night, year after year, quietly pining for a romantic relationship with Sherlock? And what a surprise when Sherlock and their friends find out...maybe at Sherlock and Molly's wedding? Crossover possibilities depend on FWBs selected...Q (James Bond), Loki (Avengers), Doctor Strange, etc. - @rubyred7531

Song fic/Inspired by lyrics

Song Fic: Adele’s “Water Under the Bridge” - @darnedchild *

Song Fic: … I would love something based on “Samson” by Regina Spektor please. - @chelle812

Song Fic: Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally” - @darnedchild

Song Fic: Texas’ “I’ll See It Through” - @darnedchild

Song Fic: … I’ve got a quote from a song. “You only know you love her when you let her go.” (Note from Mod - The song appears to be Passenger’s “Let Her Go”) - @flowerstar5 *

NEW - Song Fic: Angst. Based on the ABBA song “Knowing Me, Knowing You”. Sherlock and Molly have tried to have a serious relationship, but it just didn’t work out. - @shadowyqueenbeard

OT3/Sherlock, Molly, and ?

A case involving wine and stolen spatulas leads to Mycroft Holmes being attracted to Molly Hooper. Too bad Molly’s had enough of the Holmeses, and Sherlock mooning over her really isn’t helping. (Molly Hooper/Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes) - The Silent Fangirl

Molly wants to meet The Woman. Irene and Sherlock are still friends, and Molly is curious. Much to everyone’s surprise, Molly and Irene hit it off fairly quickly. (Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper/Irene Adler) - Anonymous

When Sherlock is injured and stuck in a cast up to his thigh, Mary and Molly find out JUST how grumpy he can get. They end up putting him by a window with binoculars, his pain medication, snacks, juice and his mobile. What happens next? (Molly Hooper/Sherlock Holmes/Mary (Morstan)Watson) - @penaltywaltz

Everything Else

Sherlock is undercover. He’s renting a small place and he’s trying to fit in with the extremely old fashioned community that is probably hiding a deadly smuggling ring or something equally bad. He ends up calling on Molly to come help. Since he’s already established as an unmarried man, his ‘sister’ (or other family member) arrives for a visit. Cue living in the same house while hot for each other type shenanigans while pretending to be siblings under the watchful eye of some suspicious townspeople. - Anonymous

Molly’s school reunion – Sherlock assumes he’ll be needed to help Molly show everyone up. The catch: Molly’s been a beloved peer, so it’s him who gets the obligatory “you hurt her, we’ll end you". :) - @mychakk

Sherlock sees a woman on the street. Instantly intrigued (you can choose as to why) he follows her. - @mel-loves-all

Molly loves wearing Sherlock’s house robes. - @mel-loves-all

Molly has a piece of body piercing jewelry or a tattoo located somewhere that surprises and titillates Sherlock. - @mel-loves-all *

Whenever Molly is close, Sherlock unconsciously always seems to need to touch her in some way after they start dating. He doesn’t notice it, but Molly does. - @mel-loves-all

A midnight dance. - @mel-loves-all

John tries to set up Sherlock with a girl. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of contenders. And what does Molly have to say about that? - The Silent Fangirl

Through unexpected circumstances, Sherlock and Molly get engaged. It doesn’t end well. Crack!fic - The Silent Fangirl

Eurus Holmes ships the Sherlolly. So does John and Mycroft. Soon, everyone gets dragged into the Sherlolly craze. Crack!fic - The Silent Fangirl

Molly lives in the flat across from 221B. You know, the one that exploded? Yeah. But before that, there was a) looking at the hot naked guy in the window b) said hot naked guy crashing into her flat because he just wants to c) her traitorous cat crossing the street to hot naked guy’s flat. - The Silent Fangirl

Sherlock: A TV series featuring a hot guy with awesome deductive skills, his best friend the doctor, the exasperated detective inspector, the sweet landlady, and the pathologist. And no, the pathologist isn’t in love with the hot guy. - The Silent Fangirl

Molly stops being Sherlock’s pathologist, and starts being THE Pathologist. BAMF!Molly - The Silent Fangirl

This, Sherlock thinks through the haze of cocaine, truly is the worst form of torture. Mycroft and Molly’s wedding through Sherlock’s drug-addled POV. - The Silent Fangirl

Molly commits suicide, but only Sherlock thinks she didn’t. He may not be wrong. - The Silent Fangirl

When John Watson dies, Rosie is given into the care of her godparents. Problem is, they aren’t exactly on speaking terms. Bonus for Harry Watson appearance! - The Silent Fangirl

Molly nearly gets hit by a speeding car … until Sherlock pushes her out of the way and gets hit himself. H/C - The Silent Fangirl

Molly in labor. After watching Mary in labor in TST, I kinda wanna see a funny take on Molly giving birth to her and Sherlock’s child. Maybe something like Molly being in pain, she wishes out loud she’d never had sex with Sherlock, while Sherlock logically points out how well they emotionally and biologically fit together. - Anonymous

Fluff. Molly has been hospitalized for whatever reason. She decides that she is feeling better and just wants to go home. However, the hospital does not want to release her yet. So Molly decides to leave AMA (against medical advice). She feels she can recover at home just as well and also she is eager to get back to work. Besides, who is going to know? This is something someone might expect from Sherlock, but not Molly. How long before he finds out? What is his reaction? - @shadowyqueenbeard

Angst. Molly discovers she is pregnant and is not happy about it. Although she would love to have a baby at some point, right now is not the time. She and Sherlock do not have a commitment and her career is going well. She plans to terminate the pregnancy. Sherlock finds out and tries to stop her. He please with her to change her mind, marry him and be a family. Is this just a control tactic or does he really love her? - @shadowyqueenbeard *

Molly discovers there is Sherlock Holmes RPF (Real Person Fiction) on the internet. She’s shocked to find that someone called Sherlolly4vr74 has been writing fic about her and Sherlock, and they seem to have a dedicated fan base. Some of the stories are very sweet and romantic, some of them are hot enough to give her NSFW ideas. Who is Sherlolly4vr74 (Is it Anderson? Mrs Hudson? Mary? John? I bet it’s John.) and is Sherlock aware of the stories? - @darnedchild

Eurus has been known to put on a persona and disguise to get close to people for information – she was Faith for Sherlock, E and the psychiatrist for John. What if she had also spent some time around Molly prior to the events at Sherrinford? What information would she have gleaned about her brother and his pathologist? - @darnedchild

Can they be R rated. Because I feel Sherlock would not muck about, with telling Molly what he would like to do to her, he would not use cute little names for all her female parts and would go into great detail, like all his cases. She would be his very serious case. Yes he would most defiantly do a lot of research on pleasing her. Write it however you are most comfortable with. - @oliverfel4

Sherlock and Molly are getting married! It’s time to work on the guest list for the wedding, and suddenly they are faced with the question—Do they let Euros come, or not? - @celticmoonbeam

Shipwrecked Sherlolly—Sherlock saves Molly from drowning. - Anonymous

Euros leads Sherlock to believe that he failed, and Molly was killed after the ILY scene. Much angst ensues as he blames himself for her loss … but then we get to see the happy reunion scene when he learns she’s alive. - Anonymous

Moriarty trying to up Sherlock by sleeping with Molly, but the joke is on him, as Sherlock and Molly knew each other from secondary school/uni and were each other’s firsts. They can be regular (exclusive) lovers too. - @mychakk

Mary as matchmaker. At John and Mary’s wedding, Mary feels a little sad when they leave him alone to go dance (“What about you?”). She decides to make it her mission to help Sherlock find a girl so he’s not alone anymore. And this former agent has no trouble figuring out the potential between Sherlock and a certain Molly Hooper … (Up to you whether or not you want to throw in a Janine segue before she decides to set him up with Molly. And feel free to cover Sherlock being shot!) - @celticmoonbeam

Molly discovers she’s pregnant with Sherlock’s child at the worst possible time: while she’s with his parents, being hidden away, and the two are pretending to be just friends. Bonus if they figure it out before they’re told! - @penaltywaltz

After the events of TFP, Molly and Sherlock get closer. Suddenly, though, he pulls away and starts flirting with a coworker of hers, sometimes blatantly in front of her. It isn’t until an event at Barts that the truth comes out that it was all for a case. - @penaltywaltz

Molly finds out that as a child Sherlock liked the book “The Westing Game” and for one of his birthdays she arranges a vacation mimicking the plot of the book, even if none of them really fit the particular characters. - @penaltywaltz

Sherlock wants to make a gourmet meal for Molly for a special occasion, but he doesn’t seem to get it quite right. Fortunately, a friend/relative is willing to help. - @penaltywaltz

Sherlock moves in with Molly and begins perusing her book collection, picking up random books that have interesting looking covers, and the next thing Molly knows he’s turned into a fantasy buff. - @penaltywaltz *

Non-established Sherlolly. Sherlock gets a hold of Molly’s phone one afternoon and can’t resist snooping. He’s surprised to see a folder in her photo gallery marked “Special” and it’s all photos of him. - @penaltywaltz

Have you had sex? – After Euros asked that I somehow thought “Molly??” (as Sherlock says, Irene only texts him, he doesn’t reply). Later it seems that Euros is the only one who ever has noticed that Molly causes some emotions in him. So my theory is that something happened between Molly and Sherlock, it happened pretty recently, somehow (stressful night and they talked or they had some drinks and somehow one thing led to another) they ended up having sex; but Sherlock wasn’t good at dealing with it after or something urgent came along and he didn’t really consider Molly’s emotions, he ran off right after or in the morning, and that could be the reason why Molly didn’t pick up the phone first and was in a bad mood during the “ILY scene”. What happened between them recently is the reason why Molly is a bit rude to Sherlock when he calls, and the reason why she gets so emotional and raw so easily over the I Love You thing, and why she so easily tells him to say it first. Well, then when Sherlock says “I love you” he finally realizes fully that he really does love her too, and that he is capable of loving that way, and finally sees how easy it could be and what he could lose. Then after this whole thing he goes to talk to Molly and explain things to her. - @lullikiish

Complete me as a person. — Scene that popped into my mind. Irene has been texting Sherlock again, Sherlock in the end almost agrees to meet her for dinner, but as he’s walking out of his flat while Molly is there looking after Rosie he sees Molly in kind of slo-mo in the golden evening sun holding Rosie and being all sweet. Maybe already something a bit has happened before between them, some flirting, etc. The talk with John about a relationship completing him as a person is on the back of his mind. He walks out, but midway down the stairs while taking his phone out (symbolically in darkness compared to that evening sun) he realizes that he misses that warmth and Molly, and realizes that is what completes him. He takes out his phone and texts he’s not coming and then goes back upstairs. Sees Molly all adorable and confused/surprised in this beautiful light and maybe goes to kiss her, etc. - @lullikiish

A post TRF fic, where Sherlock takes Molly with him, but they return to London a couple years later than in canon because Molly got pregnant along the way (or even twice), so now they are three/four of them instead of two? - @mychakk

Victorian “Hooper”lock—Molly in disguise as “Hooper” the man, and they work together on a case and sparks fly. They flirt and all, and Sherlock can’t figure out right away that she’s a woman, and I think it might not even bother him that much. - @lullikiish

“We had chips. She liked me.” – Sherlock in TLD. What could have been had he and Molly gotten chips in TEH: A kick to Tom’s butt. Happy greeting (a hug at least!) at the end of TEH. Quite a lot of sex with Sherlock instead of Tom. Molly the best man’s date. A (sophisticated. Or not) Molly/Janine cat fight for Janine hitting on SH moments. Dancing, so much Sherlolly dancing (and no leaving early). Probably no Shezza (Shezzer?)—which, hmm, is a shame (But maybe they’ve their own not-being-on-a-sex-holiday-but-sexing-a-lot time). A real proposal to Molly. Molly at family Christmas, maybe even a Christmas wedding. Solving CAM without the threat of exile sharpens Sherlock’s deductive abilities. No Norbury as Molly’s already expecting their first offspring, so Sherlock doesn’t taunt needlessly. Mary as the Sherlolly baby godmother as she’s alive! Culverton Smith is taken down by the duo of Mary and Molly while the latter gives birth there (because the ladies are awesome, plus Mrs H tackles him down). John is so impressed he doesn’t look at any other women. Molly’s big heart brings Eurus from her metaphoric plane the moment she steps into 221B, plus baby Holmes wins her heart too. The Holmes family reconciliation and Eurus is in therapy instead of being a multi-killer. Baker Street Boys Team continues while Baker Street Girls Team gives them a run for their money. Mycroft asks Lady Smallwood out himself to her astonishment and internal squealing. Mummy Holmes gets more grandkids than she could’ve imagined. And basically, everyone walks happily into the sunset. The End. Please note, some things can obviously be modified. - @mychakk *

AU: Molly runs away from home when her parents try to arrange a marriage for her. She wants to pursue a life that involves science and marry for love if she ever gets married at all. She meets Sherlock, who is being pressured by his family to marry a nice girl they found for him who loves science as much as he does. It will be interesting when they figure it out. - @shadowyqueenbeard

AU. Instead of dying, Mary actually does hide from Sherlock and John effectively and they don’t find her. Still wracked by guilt and worried he’ll never see her again, John still imagines her in his mind and Sherlock still goes after Culverton Smith … possibly both to save John and because maybe Smith knows something about where Mary went? To solve the mystery and bring Mary home, Sherlock and Molly team up. - @rooneykmara

Crack!fic. Molly and Sherlock had a fake wedding for a case. However, when Molly applies for a marriage license to Tom, it turns out the wedding was actually real. She has to approach Sherlock for an annulment. It seems Sherlock deleted the event, because he doesn’t seem to remember it. Or does he? It seems he is too busy to sign the paperwork, he has misplaced it, always an excuse not to dissolve the marriage. Eventually he has to admit he really does want to be married to her. So Molly has to decide between two men. Which one does she choose? 😉 - @shadowyqueenbeard

Molly, unbeknownst to Sherlock, suffers from psoriasis since her teen years. This is why she’s been adamant about being more physically intimate with him, no matter how much she wants to. Fortunately for her, Sherlock doesn’t care about it at all. Could be a hard T or M rating. Loosely inspired by Loo’s own bout with the disease. - @violetjersey *

Fluff and maybe smut, or angst with a happy ending: Molly has a creepy feeling that she is being followed, and goes to Lestrade for help. He discovers that she has a security detail, curtesy of Sherlock. Molly is not pleased with this situation. Sherlock doesn’t understand why not, shouldn’t she be glad that he cares about her safety? After getting an earful from Molly, he cancels the security detail. Molly promptly leaves town without a word to anyone, leaving Sherlock to sweat. Is she okay? Most likely she is on a beach sipping Margaritas, but maybe she’s in trouble. He would like to make amends but first he as to find her. Should he try to locate her or leave her alone as requested? - @shadowyqueenbeard

I have read this in one or two fics, but not really developed as a main theme of the story … so: What if Rosie wants to pair John and Molly? How Sherlock will react and … how will he convince Rosie that Molly is for him and not for John. I’m imagining some angst in the middle because the silly man thinks this is a wonderful idea: Rosie gets a mummy and Molly gets a family. In fact, Sherlock sets up a date between Molly and John while he’s babysitting Rosie. - @kalkopyryt

Crack!Fic. Molly decides to try speed dating. The day she goes Sherlock is there, deducing everyone else to shreds. He tells Molly he is there purely by coincidence. He’s not trying to thwart her attempts at dating at all. Really! - @shadowyqueenbeard

I’m thinking about Sherlock early in their relationship finds someone clothes that are familiar but can’t remember where, but then he watches some old Moriarty video and realizes where the clothes come from. The end is up to the author. Thank you! - @deemura

#sherlolly prompt list

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prinzenhasserin · 7 years ago

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Dear Trick or Treater

Dear Trick or Treater!

Please don’t feel obligated to use my prompts! This letter is just in case you might want to poke at some more of my prompts/likes. Generally, I’m open to a lot, and I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. My AO3 account is here.

If you want to write me a crossover, great! If you need to check if I know the canon please go through the mods.

My prompts are pretty ridiculous in places. That is not a preference to the treat-side, that’s just where my brain goes first. If you want to scare me, then definitely go for the creeping existential horror. It doesn’t even need to be detailed, I freak out really easily.

(If this letter cribs a lot from my other letters, it’s because I’m lazy, and my likes don’t change around that much :D You can find some of my other letters under the exchange letter tag. I hope you have fun creating!)

General likes:

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren't unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies becoming friends and/or lovers

outsider POV

epistolary

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

Kinks:

wall sex

shifting power dynamics

semi-public sex

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming

sex toys

sex toys in public (though I get embarrassed if someone else notices)

General dislikes:

infidelity in mentioned pairings

suicide

non-con (dub-con is totally fine though; as are consent issues due to power imbalances, people not knowing all the facts, or drunken sex-polleness)

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Silas, Miss Lupescu

trick or treat; fanart or fanfiction

I'm very interested in their backstory, alone and together -- how did they meet? What's the purpose of the honour guard aside from killing all the Jacks?

But if you want to explore Miss Lupescu’s death — that would also be terrific (fix it! or make me cry because I will cry; either way is good)

Also here for: what scares a vampire? Other adventures Miss Lupescu went on. Where did she learn how to cook? What's up with the ghoul fighting? (How do Silas and Miss Lupescu earn a living? Do they pay taxes?)

Wynonna Earp (TV)

Xavier Dolls

trick or treat; fanart or fanfiction

Xavier Dolls is (SPOILER ALERT) a dragon. What's up with that? Does he hoard weapons? books? uncomfortable situations?

I'd be very interested in something that explored his supernatural side. Does his dragon-self work like a werewolf? Is he only mostly dragon? does he need to bathe in lava to grow?

Also terrific would be: Xavier Dolls knows that dragons exist, and revenants -- but ghosts?

Alternatively, Dolls hoards a collection of hats. Doc and Wynonna can never know.

Nirvana in Fire (TV)

Consort Jing

Trick or Treat; fanart or fanfiction

Consort Jing is very quiet. She also has a lot of dead friends. Maybe she's constantly surrounded by them?

Or: The real reason nobody stands in her way is that she’s a world class assassin. Or a witch, maybe.

Would also most definitely read a lot of words before anyone died and she was happy. Would also read her mothering her son, or Lin-shu, or quietly helping the other concubines in the palace.

Gokusen (Manga)

Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko

Trick or Treat; fanart or fanfiction

Holiday-appropriate fic! Ghost houses! A school trip to the ghost forest where people kill themselves. One of these three is not like the other, but I would read all sorts of stories about these characters. Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. I'd like additional appearances by any other of the cast, but it would be icing on the cake.

Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Shin goes to Africa, but gets lost in a different universe on the way there!

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

10 Things I hate about you

Kat Stratford, Patrick Verona

treat or trick; fanart or fanfiction

Kat and Patrick go to make-out in an abandoned factory. Too bad there's a ghost interrupting them every five minutes.

Would also read: Zombie apocalypse; Kat is a literal witch who devours boys and Patrick is her (virgin?) sacrifice. Obviously, you can probably come up with much better stories :D A look at what they do in ten, twenty years would be great, too! Separately, even!

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Jane Marple

treat or trick, fanart or fanfiction

St. Mary Mead’s police is convinced there’s a ghost robbing/murdering people. Miss Marple is convinced they have all been too deep in the bottle.

Miss Marple has always been able to see ghosts. They usually have nothing much to say, and are quite nonsensical, but this one is different.

Or: zombie apocalypse! Or it’s Miss Marple who is the ghost.

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

Molly

treat or trick; fanart or fanfiction

Tbh, I just want Molly to be the protagonist of her own adventures. Molly is the best at riding the Folly of vermin like bed bugs, ghosts and the occasional angry spirit. Her cooking is a little bit magic.

Or: She has to fight with the traders at the market for magic ritual ingredients every time, since the Folly isn’t well liked among the demi-monde.

Also, what’s up with her heritage? Fae? Not Fae?

Original Works

Space Traveler, Incubus, Ghost Jellyfish, Incompetent Fortune Teller, Part-Time Ghost Exorcist, Eldritch Abomination In A Human Skin-Suit, Time-Travelling Artificial Intelligence, Long Abandoned Sentient Ship

trick or treat; fanart or fanfic

I think these tags speak pretty much for themselves. Feel free to combine them! I read anything from gen to explicit. Femslash, slash or any other relationships are great, too. If you want to take a look at my likes/dislikes see my letter.

How would a ghost jellyfish be different from a non-ghost jellyfish? Why would it turn into a ghost?

What kind of ghost stories do they tell in space? Space halloween traditions?

Tbh, I would read a story containing all those characters. It is by no means necessary, though!

Space Traveller: Tell me of the Halloween traditions that survive into the space age! Are there new traditions? What kind of scary stories do they tell in space?

Incubus: I have a thing for magical creatures doing totally mundane things, while being supernatural about it. Would also work for me if combined with any of the other characters! Also here for an Incubus dub-conning someone with sex pollen.

Ghost Jellyfish: How would that work? How would a ghost jellyfish be different from a non-ghost jellyfish? Why would it turn into a ghost? Maybe it’s a familiar of the Part-Time Ghost Exorcist?

Incompetent Fortune Teller: Ooh. In what way are they incompetent? Do they tell people what they want to hear, because they are incompetent at telling the future? Or are they incompetent at being a fortune teller, and tell people their future? Maybe they only see two seconds into the future -- maybe they are cursed and nobody believes the truth they are telling ;) Would also read if the Incompetent Fortune Teller was made incompetent by the Time-Travelling AI and was pretty angry about that... or any other combination, really

Part-Time Ghost Exorcist: As I mentioned, I love when the mundane meets the supernatural. What’s the other part-time? Is the ghost exorcising business only hiring part-time workers so they don’t have to insure their workers? (This is admittedly very US centric. Would also love an AU where a part-time job can have a living wage! Or any other setting) Would also love a space travelling ghost exorcist.

Eldritch Abomination In A Human Skin-Suit: Existential horror freaks me out pretty quickly, but this is such an interesting concept. Why is the Eldritch Horror using a Human Skin Suit? Because they can? Is it like, a life-style choice? Is the EA doing it for the experience, or to be edgy? Would also read if the Eldritch Horror is the thing that gets exorcised. Would also read if there’s no existential horror.

Time-Travelling Artificial Intelligence: What is the AI doing while time-travelling? Does anyone find them out? Why is it time-travelling? Does it abide by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics? Would also read a story where the AI figures out to be human -- or tries having sex with someone, or maybe they get best upon by an Incubus and there’s confusion all around.

Long Abandoned Sentient Ship: How does the sentience work out, did it become sentient through its abandonment, or is the ship even self-aware? Does it model itself on its creators? Is the ship going crazy in a mild way, or in a creepy way? Or maybe the sentience isn’t very human-like, and it doesn’t need contact at all, and is just merrily continuing its mission to map the unknown space? Maybe it collects hitchhikers. Maybe nobody knows how or who had created it, and it’s just there.

#exchange letter

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mychiccabin · 6 years ago

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18 Books Every Cabin Should Have

I grew up in a family of readers, and that reading tradition has carried on, we are constantly exchanging book recommendations and giving books as presents. It’s no surprise that one of our favorite cabin activities is reading. There are few things more pleasant than reading next to a crackling fire, or cuddling up in an over-sized armchair after a strenuous hike to relax and escape into a book, or taking a book out onto the porch and reading on the porch swing.

Obviously there are millions of books, thousands of different types, and honestly, I enjoy almost every type of book: mystery, biographies, histories, science fiction, fantasy, romance, classics, dramas. Every genre works for cabin reading, but I have picked some of my favorites that feel particularly appropriate to read at your cabin.

Check out this article to find a beautiful, rustic bookcase perfect for your cabin.

The Little House Books Complete Set

Laura Ingalls Wilder

I grew up reading the Little House on the Prairie books with my mom and later watching the show on PBS, haha! These are charming classics with endearing family dynamics, set in nature, these autopbiographies take you back to a simpler time. Perfect for escaping from your normal life and reminding you of what is most important.

Hardcover: $159.99

Reviews: “This book’s text is exactly like the original. The quality is great. Pages are thick and glossy and the illustrations are bright and colored in. I recommend this book to every age!” “I bought this set of nine books for my grand daughter because she loves to read books and she has had them on her wish list for over a year. They come in a nice little box and the pictures are just right . She is eleven years old and I bought them for her about a week ago and she is now on her fourth book in reading it seems hard for her to put down . When I see her she gets a book out and wants to read to me and the wording in the books is very easy for her to read and understand . I would recommend buying single or the whole set to anyone that likes to read . I did not receive this book at any discount or reduction in price for any review, I just thought they were a great book for any one to read.”

The Call of the Wild & White Fang

Jack London

American classics, these books are about dogs and nature, and like the Little House books they are accessible enough for children but poignant enough to maintain the interest of adults. Jack London’s portrayal of the wild is unparalleled in its depiction of the duality of immense beauty and danger. Everyone should read a Jack London book at least once in their life, especially while they are somewhere they can marvel at the power of nature and our place as creatures in it.

Hardcover $9.25

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

More books that we read together as a family when I was in grade school. Huck Finn has more advanced themes that are worth further study, but both novels inspire a sense of adventure and a basic search for humanity for kids. I vividly remember assessing my life in relation to Tom and Huck’s, who was I? And who did I want to become? And, of course, I wanted to search for treasure! Mark Twain is one of the world’s greatest storytellers. These are books to be enjoyed by every age.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer paperback $8.79

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn paperback $8.99

Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

I first read Hatchet when I was a little younger than the main character, Brian, who is thirteen. We read this book in class, and my classmates and I were all captivated by the story of a boy who survives with a hatchet and his grit in the wilds of Canada. This book is a fun read and would also lend itself to a practical discussion about survival skills and proper safety precautions to take in nature.

Paperback $7.89

Anne of Green Gables

L.M. Montgomery

Who doesn’t love Anne with an ‘e’ and her charming adventures? Perfect for introducing you children to kindred spirits and hilarious mishaps through the quirky, sweet red head as she endears herself to all of Prince Edward Island.

Hardcover $12

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

“He wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” Travel Middle Earth with Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves. An adventure for any age.

Paperback $11.16

Walden

Henry David Thoreau

Arguably the preeminent American work on seeking truth through nature, Thoreau’s transcendental search for enlightenment should be a staple of every cabin. Certainly ambulatory, sometimes pedantic, and frequently ambiguous, this book requires some searching and a perceptive mind; but it does serve as a reminder about what is most important and that sometimes it takes removing oneself for normalcy to understand your place within your life.

Paperback $5.35

Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman

Another American transcendentalist, Whitman focuses on the physicallity of nature and humanity and the active, corporeal experience of life. Whitman’s magnum opus, this book is worth reading all the way through to compare and synthesize his musings; however, this is also a great source of individual poems. Pick one to ponder on each day of your vacation and see how it affects your experience.

Paperback $8.99

All Creatures Great and Small

James Herriott

I brought this autobiography to my book group for our book exchange. James Herriott was a veterinarian in rural Yorkshire, England. and an exquisite storyteller. His love of life, the rural community, and the tender animals he treats is contagious and permeates the reader. Beautifully written, these charming stories will lift the mood and help you better appreciate the glories of nature.

Hardcover $30.99

The Journals of Lewis and Clark

Merriwether Lewis, William Clark, Bernard DeVoto

For those who love history, geography, science, adventure, or storytelling these journals (abridged) have it all. I learned about Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea and their adventure in third grade, so it was pretty surreal to read their actual accounts of their journey.

Paperback $10.71

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

Published August 2018, this book is one of my favorite new reads. Heart rendingly exquisite, this novel was a page turner. Linking the love of nature with the vitality of human connection, this book reminds us of the importance of seeking and fostering beauty.

Hardcover $16.20

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry

These poems provide a broad perspective on the intersection of humanity and nature. Spanning over four centuries of poetry and ninety-three poets, these poems are grouped into different themes, or eight cycles. Focus on individual poems or study a specific theme like “Talk of the Animals.”

Paperback $25.93

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

The evocative, true story of how Christopher McCandless journeyed to his solitary death in the wilderness. At times adventurous and inspirational, searching for the truth found in simplicity and past the brink of normal mortal limits, this novel also serves as a cautionary tale about the futility and insensibility of foregoing human relationships and the guardrails of common sense. I first read this novel in college, studying fronteirs, and I love the idea of fronteirs: the opportunity to push beyond them and explore, balanced with the guide lines of our history of learned experience and our relationships that we can lean on for guidance and support.

Paperback $9.47

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed

Most of us have already read the novel or watched the movie of Cheryl Strayed’s personal thousand mile long hike along the Pacific Crest Trail and through her own psyche. A reminder that we find ourselves through the action of doing hard things and sometimes we need to isolate ourselves to hear and understand our own language.

Paperback $9.89

House Made of Dawn

N. Scott Momaday

A complex, wrenching novel about the dichatomy between cultures and lives warring inside individuals. A tale about a young Native American man, Abel, and the split he feels between his history and setting. And a portrait of the American Southwest and the communities that inhabit it.

Paperback $12.99

East of Eden

John Steinbeck

Cain and Abel writ large. An American classic, Steinbeck’s mastery of language and story is unrivaled. A novel that explores character and choice, man’s relationship with nature/self/others/ god, and our tenacious search for life and meaning. Read this long novel when you have the time to fully devote to pondering it.

Hardcover $23.98

The Shining

Stephen King

Why is it so fun to get scared? And there is something extra perfect about reading a scary novel while far away from your normal life and the sense of security a neighborhood brings. This is a classic horror novel, gripping and unnerving. Perfect as the setting of isolation matches the average removed cabin. Caution, only read if you enjoy horror.

Hardcover $32.33

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

Another isolated, scary novel, this one written by the queen of mystery herself. Quick paced, interesting mystery, well-developed characters, Christie’s mastery of language, this novel has it all. If you love Agatha Christie, or if you haven’t given her a try, put this one at the top of your list.

Paperback $6.39

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okrunner · 5 years ago

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June 17 - There are lots of new Pics after this post

This morning we did a little backtracking. That’s the way things go when you’re winging it. We drove to see Malbork Castle, the largest castle in the world. It has never been overrun or outlasted in a siege. It is over 700 years old and was originally established by the Teutonic Knights to protect the region. We spent about 3 hours going through it with an audio guide. We then backtracked again to the upside down house that was built to reflect the futility and ugly, backwards society under communist rule. You can learn more about both of these sites by Googling them on the Internet. I don't want to bore you with the details. We are headed north toward the Baltic Sea. We found a wonderfully nice hotel on the way that looks brand new and had a wonderful restaurant for dinner. We had potato pancakes with goulash. They provided a cherry liqueur before dinner to cleanse our palate and the same after. I tried the Buffalo Grass vodka after dinner and it was different, but I can't really describe the taste. Our waitress and the waiter who helped us were good and very patient with us.

June 19

This place is so peaceful and quiet that we decided to stay another night and rest up from all the sightseeing we have been doing. There are a couple things to see in this area. There is a monastery established by an order of monks whose motto is “Memento Mori” , “remember, at the end there is only death” This area is in a part of Poland called Kashubia that has its own distinct language that other Poles often cannot understand. We unwittingly stopped in one of its most famous towns and the capital of the district. We went to the monastery, but it was closed for the day. We found out a little later there was a funeral there when we came back to visit the information office next door. We did go to the local historical Museum which chronicles some of the Kashubian lifestyle. They were known for their distinctive dress, with a lot of embroidery, and their customs. On the second floor of the museum a young lady came out of her office, spoke to us in German and explained a song that was printed on the wall with characters. She actually sang the song for us. She said it was a way to teach the children about the language and lifestyle because at one time it was forbidden to teach people this language. The hotel staff dresses in native costumes in the restaurant of our hotel. We had a very peaceful and relaxing day, except for when Elizabeth lost her cell phone at the monastery. We thought she had lost it in the information office but when we went back it was not there. We finally went back to the monastery and one of the monks had her phone. After coffee downtown, we were walking around looking at restaurants and seeing the public square when a young lady I would guess in her late twenties came up and asked us if we needed help, in English. We said we were ok. We're just looking around. She wanted to know more about America and how we liked Poland. It was a nice conversation. She her boyfriend really want to come to America. She asked about politics. We got into it a little bit but she had to go to work.

June 20

We went to a Ceramics Museum based on the information from the tourist place in our last town. Unfortunately the tourist information card did not say the museum was only open on Saturday. That's okay because we had a nice drive through the countryside and it was on our way to the Sand Dune national park on the Baltic Sea. Along the way we saw a huge Church procession walking in the southbound lane of traffic in a little town. There must have been several hundred people walking with a priest in the middle carrying something and music playing. It didn't look like a funeral because there was no hearse and no one was dressed in black. We just took our time and made our way to town because they weren't blocking our Lane. We checked on Google and found out it is Corpus Christi day, a national holiday in Poland. We made it to the National Park and parked our car in a parking lot which only took cash and there are no ATMs in that area. We decided to walk to the place where the sand dunes are available for climbing. There were no signs saying how far it was and a lot of people were walking and some people were riding in elongated golf carts. We had no idea that it was going to be three and a half miles to the place where the sand dunes were accessible. Along the way we stopped to take a picture at a platform and took a picture for a couple that was there. They then in turn took our picture and I asked where they were from. Christopher said from Italy and Agatha is from Poland. Of course you know the rest of the story. I said I am from Italy and my family from Naples. Christopher is also from Naples. I said my great-grandfather was from Sicily and my grandmother is from Nola. He knew where it was after it was pronounced it correctly. They were riding bicycles and said we were close to the end. I told them we had not known there would not be an ATM and we hope they will take Euros when we go back to the car park. Agatha offered to exchange a hundred polish dollars for Euros. We found a “bank” in the middle of a national park and exchanged the money. We walked another 500 meters until we got to the place you could actually climb up the sand dune. The sand dune was about 120 ft high but we made it to the top, but decided not to walk another half mile to the Baltic Sea itself. We took our pictures and took pictures of other families so they can be in one picture and took the shuttle bus back to the car. By that time, it was coffee time. We found a small bed and breakfast about a mile and a half from downtown. It's very quaint, clean and small. We only need a bathroom and a bed. We have a balcony and we would have liked to have the door open, but there is a chimney upwind of us that is blowing smoke right into our room. Thank goodness it's cool near the Baltic Sea. We found a pizza parlor to have dinner and we had so much fun watching the waiters and waitresses keep up with the flow of traffic because our seat was near the entrance to the kitchen and the bar.The waitress greeted us in German and brought us a German menu. Elizabeth asked for a English menu and the girls old no we don't have one or something like that. I told her I could read the German. We got a pizza and beer to watch the hustle and bustle and it was a constant flow of activity. At the end, I ask for the bill in German and paid the lady before I went up to her and told her in German that I come from America. She was a little shocked and embarrassed so I tipped her 20% and she was still shaking her head when we left.

June 21

We had no real plans for today so we went to the beach to put our feet in the Baltic Sea before we left town. The water was cold and the air temperature was, too. After that we drove to an outdoor museum of old buildings that were salvaged and rebuilt to create a sense of what life was like in the 19th and early 20th century in Poland. We pulled into what we thought was a parking lot and someone shook his head but we parked anyway. When we were getting out of our car, a man came over and gave us two tickets for the museum as a present we thought. We put them on our shirts and toured the museum which was interesting but not spectacular. We only spent a little while there and were able to rescue our car from the unauthorized parking space. Elizabeth had wanted to see a forest of crooked pine trees which was on the western border of Poland. We decided to go there, but when we got there, we couldn't see a pine forest that had crooked trees. We were in the middle of a neighborhood, but luckily we saw a sign for the Crooked Forest in English and walked about 200 meters into a forest where we finally found a small grove of crooked pine trees. No one knows why they grow like they do but you will understand why we wanted to go when you see the pictures. We looked for a place to sleep and found an apartment for $38 about 20 minutes away from the Crooked Forest. On the way there, I got a text from the manager saying there was a problem with the toilet. She said if we were coming right away, they would have to find us another place to stay. They did, but it took 25 more minutes to get to. It’s a two-bedroom apartment in the suburbs of the area where the trees were. It has a full kitchen with a balcony and a living area. The big bathroom has a clothes washer, but as usual, no clothes dryers. We found it okay and had dinner at an Italian restaurant 300 meters away before settling in for the evening. Tomorrow we head for Regensburg, Germany, and the oldest wurst haus in Germany for dinner. The saga continues…...

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ardentaislinn · 7 years ago

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Yuletide 2017 Letter

Hi! I am also ardentaislinn on AO3. Thank you so much for volunteering to write one of my chosen fandoms! I really can’t wait to see what you come up with. Most importantly, I hope you have fun writing whichever of my fandoms it is. Any suggestions I make here are optional, (though I do very much hope you will take my DNWs into consideration.)

Here you’ll find:

My general likes My DNWs

And prompts for the following fandoms: The Awakening (2011) - Florence Cathcart, Robert Mallory Cormoran Strike series - Robert Galbraith/Strike (TV series) - Cormoran Strike, Robin Ellacott Agatha Christie’s Marple - Louisa Oxley, Alfred Pollock

My likes:

I love getting together fics most of all. I love almost every kind of trope (fake dating, slow burn, rivals-to-lovers, “unrequited” pining (that is really requited), found families, etc.) Also, casefic, epistolary fic, consent, forbidden pleasures, beta heroes, bed sharing, masquerades, military kink, physical imperfections, ladies being badass and female relationships (whether romantic or friendship), relationships that build tension before exploding, equal relationships, trapped together, competence, communication, U/RST, positive endings.

You may notice from the below that my ships mostly involve sweet and occasionally broken men being head over heels for awesome ladies. So that dynamic is strongly encouraged.

I also like smut, but it certainly isn’t a necessity. For smut, I’m (sadly) fairly vanilla. But I like light bondage, cunningulus, shower sex, and accidental/consensual voyeurism, (Particularly guys taking matters into their own hands when they think they can’t be with their lady, and the woman stumbling across him mid-act. Possibly my favourite kink ever? Writer’s choice whether the woman joins in or gets embarrassed)

Happy endings (or at least hopeful endings) are preferred. Like, super, super preferred. I don’t mind angst at all, but it kinda has to be on the way out of the darkness by the end.

Dislikes/DNWs:

Miserable endings. Major character death. Baby/Pregnancy/kidfic. Drugs use/drug mentions/addiction. Self harm/abuse. Non-con/rape. Heavy kink. A/B/O. M-Preg. Incest. Bestiality, animal harm etc. Nothing underage. Unbalanced power dynamics. 1st person POV (unless for epistolary). Not big on high school AUs or Rock band AUs.

I think that’s it?

And so, to the fandoms/ships, in no particular order:

The Awakening

Florence Cathcart, Robert Mallory

So, I love this film, and I love these two characters. I really dug the way their relationship developed through the film, right up until the slightly ambiguous ending.

This film hit a bunch of my favourite tropes, mostly in the character types it used for these two. Florence is a bit caustic in the beginning of the film, and I love that she slowly reveals her vulnerabilities. Robert, the broken former soldier, is the perfect match for her. And the slow-burn chemistry between them super worked for me.

So, basically, I just want more of them!

Florence is canon into voyeurism (both in that she liked watching Robert, and liked the idea of him watching her) - so what is the sex life with Robert like going forward? Does she like to watch and be watched? (Either way, I see her as liking to be in control of it, not so much the idea of strangers watching her, or it being done without her consent)

Post-movie, Florence and Robert are separated for a time - do they write each other letters?

Florence now believes in ghosts. Where does that leave her career? Does she still hunt down the fakes, as well as the real things? Does Robert come with her? Or do people come to her with their supernatural troubles?

Robert is nervous about proposing, but Florence is getting impatient.

On their honeymoon, they go to some of the oldest places in Europe. Surely there are ghosts lurking in every corner. What kind of trouble do they get into?

Florence Cathcart: Demon Hunter (Have fun with it! If ghosts exist, why not demons?)

A missing scene from the film with additional/bonus pining?

I do really want a happy ending here for Florence and Robert, but if you want to do something interesting with the hints that she might be a ghost herself at the end of the film, I’ll be interested if you can make it work.

Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith/Strike (TV Series)

Cormoran Strike, Robin Ellacott

So, I am putting these two versions of the media together because they share a lot of prompts. I have read all the books and seen the show, so feel free to take elements from both or either! I’ll put some book-specific prompts for post-Career of Evil down the bottom because they may contain spoilers if you’ve only seen the show.

So, I ship these two a lot. I love the dynamic that they have, where Strike has been pretty into her from day one, and tried to keep his distance, and Robin is in total denial about her feelings. I like that they are both clever and each have their strengths, and very much appreciate that about each other. Lots of mutual admiration going on!

If you want to write me Getting Together fic for these two, it would be amazing! But I’ve tried to keep my prompts open so you can write what works for you.

One thing I just want to request: If you can be as euphemistic as possible about Strike’s mother’s death, that would be great. The descriptions in the book hit some awful triggers for me and I have to skim them, but I’d rather not do that to your fic! So “she died” is fine, but anything about the details of the day itself - no thanks. I really appreciate this!

So, prompts:

Casefic - Strike and Robin are hired to investigate something, but it turns out to be more than it first appears.

Any of my fave fanfic tropes - undercover as married, stakeouts, forced bed sharing, etc. I feel this is a couple ripe for the classic tropes!

Also, Trapped Together - what happens if they are stuck somewhere and can’t escape?

Road trip hunting a serial killer the police don’t believe exists.

Robin’s first solo case as partner turns into a bit of a mess.

A historical AU of some kind would be fun! WW1 era, noir from the 40s, Victorian...any, really!)

A slightly more specific casefic prompt with an added side of kink: A hotel manager hires Strike to investigate which of his employees is placing cameras in the guests’ rooms. Only thing is, he wants them to be discrete so the culprit doesn’t know they are onto him, so Strike ropes Robin in to play his wife and they check into the hotel. Problem is, to be convincing they have to play a couple even in private, because of the cameras watching their every move…

Post-Career of Evil Prompts (Spoilers!)

Robin doesn’t marry Matthew. I don’t mind how you do it - whether you let her find out about him deleting her messages before the ceremony and she calls it off; if she punches Matthew in the face at the altar; if she says “actually, I don’t” and just walks away from the asshole...any of the above! I just don’t want her legally bound to that douche. Strike can definitely help with this if you like.

A lot of people from Strike’s past show up in CoE. Do any others try to exact revenge?

Matthew is killed. The police think Robin did it. And Strike’s not so sure she didn’t...

Agatha Christie’s Marple

Alfred Pollock, Louisa Oxley

The most obscure of my fandoms on this list. There is absolutely no fic in it, and I would LOVE to read some.

Louisa and Alfred only appeared in one episode of the show (Greenshaw’s Folly: available here on youtube) and the episode ended just at the best bit of their developing relationship. You don’t have to have watched any of the previous episodes to understand this one - they all stand alone.

To give a quick rundown to tempt people who probably haven’t seen this:

It’s set in the 1930s. Alfred is the gardener at an estate where Louisa comes to work as a secretary. She has a young son and is fleeing an abusive relationship.

Alfred doesn’t speak much, and the two of them don’t get along particularly well at first (since Louisa is pretty mistrustful of everyone) but they eventually start getting closer.

While all this is happening, a bunch of people get murdered. Miss Marple hangs around solving those.

There is a lot of stuff I like about this ship. I like the class differences (which gets switched in a big way at the end). I like their slowly developing trust. I like that they are both quite reserved (plenty of potential for pining!). I like that they are both quite gentle people.

Prompts:

The canon ended just as they got to the interesting bit of the relationship. What happens next? How do they navigate this new relationship as they were just getting used to the old one?

Their brush with crime has given them a taste of a more interesting life. What happens when someone else gets murdered? Do they investigate themselves?

Alfred doesn’t want to spend his newly acquired money on anyone but Louisa and Alfie. How does she feel about this?

What would their first time be like? Are they traditional (waiting until after marriage) or do they decide to be more unconventional? (I imagine that Louisa would be a bit happier to have sex before marriage - not wanting to shackle herself to another man so soon. But Alfred seems like he’d be a little more traditional. Who would win that battle?)

Miss Marple comes back for a visit and attracts some trouble. How do they deal with it?

Does Miss Marple ask for help with a case?

Lots of people died at Greenshaw’s Folly. What if the place is now haunted?

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy writing for me.

#yuletide 17 #yuletide letter #yuletide #yuletide 2017

0 notes

holidaysat221b · 7 years ago

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List of Sherlolly Prompts as of 8/23/2017 - There’s a new one!

Here is a link to the very informal Sherlolly Prompt Fest FAQ

We only ask three things:

1) If you use one of the prompts on this list, please remember to credit the prompt and prompter somewhere in your fic summary/art description or in your notes. It’s the polite thing to do.

On to the Prompts as of August 23, 2017