#mycroft plays a role

[inevitably-johnlocked]

First time posting here,joined only for Johnlock ! This show and now the fandom has helped me navigate rough 6 years of my life,really.

Wanted to know if you have fics where Mycroft pairs our two beloved gents and helps them get together. I love Mark Gatiss's Mycroft and can absolutely see him doing something like this.

Hey Lovely!

Welcome!! Glad you're enjoying your time here!!

I DO have some fics, check these out:

Matchmaker Mycroft

Mycroft Flirts With John

It could also be argued the fics on these lists have a Mycroft playing a big role in them getting together, but mostly it's just Myc is heavily featured in these fics:

Mycroft Plays a Role in This Fic

Mycroft Plays a Role Pt. 2

Mycroft Plays a Role Pt. 3

I hope these satisfy you! Feel free to add any others I have missed, friends!!

[anerdynerd]

Sketched some characters/scenes from the play “Sherlock Holmes: Der Fall Moriarty” (The Case Moriarty) that I got to watch live today on my way home from there, Toby was a balloon dog, it was brilliant😭

[tamerlane-holmes]

~ INTRO POST ~

This is my BBC Sherlock OC blog! In this post, I will introduce my character and list some roleplay rules. (This blog is ran/moderated by @cosmicbobatea)

Name: Tamerlane Ensley Holmes

Nicknames: Tam, Tammy (childhood nickname, family use only.)

Age range: 20s-30s

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Gay (crushes/relationships are complicated. he doesn’t have the best luck.)

Skin color: White

Hair color/texture: Brown, short, wavy

Eye color: Hazel

Height: 5’8” (slightly taller than John but shorter than Sherlock)

Body shape: Lean, slightly muscular

Typical clothing: Suits in greys, browns, or blues

Friends/Allies: John Watson, D.I. Greg Lestrade, Dr. Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan/Watson

-He is the youngest of the four Holmes children, after Mycroft, Sherlock, and Eurus. He was too young to remember much of Eurus at all before she was sent to Sherrinford.

-While he might not be as particularly intelligent as his siblings, he’s better at dealing with people. He has a talent/skill regarding persuasion and charm that even his siblings seem to have at least some respect for. Sherlock has asked him to use his talent to gain information from suspects or witnesses a few times.

-He is a quitting smoker, along with his brothers, and sometimes relapses.

-He loves tea. He can’t live without it. Jokingly, he has suggested having an addiction to it.

-He sometimes has difficulty expressing his emotions easily/openly.

-He works as an actor for community theater.

-He’s skilled in lock-picking. (It’s sort of a hobby)

-He has a love/hate relationship with Moriarty.

~ ROLEPLAY RULES ~

- Don't be rude. Just because the mod is an adult, doesn't mean they're going to tolerate rude behavior.

- No NSFW. Some innuendo content is fine, but no images please.

- Cursing is fine for the most part, but please refrain from using slurs whatsoever.

- Homophobia, transphobia, racism, pedophilia, xenophobia, etc. will not be tolerated.

- If you want to interact as a character, use anonymous ask. Character blogs are perfectly fine.

- If you want to send art in asks, please do, by all means, but keep it SFW.

- Do not spam asks!

- For any OOC (out of character) asks, please specify in your ask or send an ask on the mod’s blog.

- I am allowed to ignore any ask or DM if it makes me uncomfortable or goes against my rules.

~ TAGS ~

#asktam - used for asks on this blog

#lanespeaks - used for any in-character posts on this blog that aren’t asks

[tamerlane-holmes]

I personally think these are great. I’m sure I would also own a cup that says “Some people need a high-five. In the face. With a chair.”

I won’t name names, but that could apply to a few people in particular.

-TH

So.

Cups and Sherlock BBC characters!

(John’s mug says “Some people need a high five. In a face. With a chair.”)

[the-slut-verses]

genesis avalon: bringing you pure, unadulterated, David Ault sexiness

-Kristen Bayes, co-writer of Genesis Avalon

[beekeeperspicnic]

Having a celebratory "the game is 80% cast now" pizza! It's kind of just the lead roles left.

I want to wait until everything is 100% definite and signed off and official before making any proper announcements, but here's some fun...

**Provisional** Beekeeper's Picnic cast vagueposting:

One member of the cast was in the Granada Sherlock Holmes series

One member of the cast was in The Sandman

Two members of the cast played siblings in a podcast I like.

A ridiculous percentage of the cast have been in Doctor Who in some form, but they are mostly British actors so I guess that's to be expected.

My official opinion as a Mycroft Fan™ is that our Mycroft is the best Mycroft ever, but I guess I am biased.

They're all so good. SO good. Aaaa. So good.

[generalsdiary]

Ratio and Aventurine are Sherlock and Watson coded but not in the way you think. Where one might assume Ratio would be Sherlock because of his intellect and analytic approach to life and the comments he makes, allow me to switch the perspective. Aventurine is an addict. To what? To feeling like shit and endorsing it, to having low self-esteem, to rejecting everyone in a way so no one gets too close and realizes how vulnerable he is, how much he yearns for love. He hid it away so well that he himself isn’t aware anymore of how much he wants it. to be loved, appreciated, and seen as more than just his luck- much like Ratio wants to be seen for more than just his achievements (poor man ain’t aware of how much he wants it either). Aventurine plays this perfect little role of a charismatic, lucky, fun-to-be-around persona. And that’s all it is, a play, a stage act.

let us switch gears back to Sherlock and John. Sherlock is also an addict, depending on at which point in the timeline, it is nicotine, drugs, crime cases, and similar. Here is where the point lies. Who is the one that pulls Sherlock out of that shit, out of the drug den, to hide his cigarettes away? John. We think Sherlock functions fine… before John, sure. After John, after Mary dies; oh no, Sherlock is not well without him. He can barely function, (yes, Mary’s death comes also in account here, but I won’t get sidetracked), living in a mess, doing drugs again, smoking, treating himself like shit and like he is worthless. So, who reminds Sherlock of his worth, of his genius, of the fact that he is human and not just a performance act that he puts on of deducting others? John. Both Sherlock and Aventurine throw these spectacles, these performances, these acts of a grand image, they play it and they dance to the song that others sing, moving to the melody that strangers decide; playing into whatever image that is painted of them no matter how untrue it is, ex. Aventurine will play a gambling alcoholic as much as you wish although he is more than that, and Sherlock will play the killer, the crazy ‘psychopath’ that kidnapped those kids and poisoned them, and he is also more than that. The difference is that Sherlock performs his knowledge and analytic skills, unlike Aventurine who keeps those cards close to his chest- that is how he survives, that is how he survived, his instinct, his trauma making him aware of a lot of things in his surroundings and aware of everyone else; carefully analyzing everyone to ensure his safety. Aventurine is better with his tongue, knowing what to say and when to say it, with much better people skills- that is what got him this far after all; so, he performs with flashy promises, with fun games- gambling with his own life because what is it worth to him anyway anymore? it circles back to his ‘the only survivor trauma’. Sherlock was ready to gamble his own life (S1E1) and who stopped him? John. Well, more like who saved him. The drug addiction that Sherlock has is a bit downplayed and it always ends fast within the episodes, but in its own way, it is also his gamble, him not valuing his life as much as he should.

yes, in a way Ratio and Aventurine can both be Sherlock. But it is not about Sherlock, as much as it is about Watson. And exactly what Watson brings to the table, to their relationship. In the case of Johnlock, Ratio is very much Watson. The one to tell Aventurine his life matters, the one to go along with his plan of deceiving Sunday- because Aventurine had this great plan, a huge gamble. sound familiar? The usual thing about Sherlock with big plans, ex. exposing Mary after getting shot, going to Magnussen’s to sell Mycroft’s PC. And who follows along even when they don’t agree? John.

to take into account Johnlock in the later episodes/at least the second season, when they are closer- we are brought up to speed on where Aventio are. it is a well known fact that Aventio knew each other before the first scene in the hotel of them interacting. So, they have a history, and their period of getting familiar is over. They know each other. we only see John openly criticizing Sherlock later in the series, be it insulting him or calling him out on his bullshit. The same thing happens with Aventio, where Ratio is the one to openly state his thoughts and criticize. While yes, one may argue that that is in Ratio’s character to behave as such, if we recall the scene between Ratio and the MC, he doesn’t behave that way if unprovoked. And Aventurine wasn’t provoking him, hence the conclusion. As much as Ratio seems like the black sheep here, the odd one out (which he is don’t get me wrong), in this perspective it is Aventurine who is that. and yes, Ratio walks on eggshells around him, apologizing for his harsh words. these two aren’t the perfect puzzle pieces for Johnlock, they do differ in the way they walk in public and who leads the way, and of course the point of this isn’t to make them overlap, but to draw parallels. And while writing this, truly a lot of opposing things came to mind, where both couples differ in such vast ways, all four being complex, rich characters- it pained me that Aventurine and Veritas would be compared to Sherlock and John only in the way that the “genius” matched the “genius”. smh.

Now the way Ratio is Sherlock is very simple, he doesn’t consider himself human- more like, doesn’t allow himself to be human, to feel, to connect, to breathe; when he is too much of a human – and the main reason he wasn’t accepted into the genius society. Poor Ratio, cursed because he wants to help and spread knowledge, what a mean fate struck upon the burned out gifted autistic asexual kid. To switch to Sherlock (also very autistic asexual coded), he is the most human out of them all, (I believe Eurus calls him that but I don’t recall the exact quote, also pointed out by Mrs. Hudson, John, and Mycroft), trying to be this analytical machine when his caring bleeds through his skin, evaporating through his pores, his love for John and so many others making him pull himself apart and do anything to protect them, ex. killing Magnussen, giving himself to Smith to a guaranteed death, faking his own suicide to protect Lestrade, John, and Mrs. Hudson. Sherlock who, much like Ratio, wishes to be strict in his way of life, but cannot help wanting to explain and help others, and Ratio here differs by wanting to help everyone improve while Sherlock is willing to help only after the person has shown some amount of will, intelligence, proved themselves in some way (Irene Adler) or he so rarely happened to like them (ex. the kid that was at Mary’s wedding). Although, their shared way of calling others around them idiots is neat. I’d say this is their main connection and outside of it they are extremely different characters, which is why further comparison is pointless and shallow if you just want to compare characters because they are quote on quote the clever one.

Case in point, Aventurine is Sherlock because Ratio is John, and the one that saves him. The one that grounds him, and Aventurine NEEDS him. He needs Veritas. And Sherlock needs John. Therefore, Aventurine isn’t Sherlock without Ratio, much like there is no Sherlock (be it books, movies, or the show) without John. It is more about the relationships between them than the actual characters, and that, honestly, makes it even more beautiful.

[tamerlane-holmes]

I’m tempted to refer to Mycroft as Minecraft just to see what he’ll say. I don’t think he’ll find it very funny, but then again…

-TH

I can’t take Sherlock seriously, one of the characters is literally named Minecraft are you serious

[fancyfeathers]

I was wondering this for a while, who would most likely desire a darling like Dazai but female out of the Moriarty brothers, also if you consider the light novels the mental abilities of Bsd verse far surpass the MP verse, so the character with Dazai's level of intellence and his persona.

Okay so I deep dived into reading about Dazai cause I am already a huge BSD fan (Paul Verlaine is the best character and I will fight someone on this) and while Dazai is undoubtedly a genius, he is not quite as smart as say William or Mycroft, he is probably in between Sherlock and William. If you set it in perspective he seems smarter because of the times the mangas/animes take place, Moriarty the Patriot taking place in the Victorian Era while Bungou Stray Dogs is set in modern day (2010s-2020s), so it makes sense how Dazai would seem smarter because he has access to quite a few more modern tools while William does not. There is also the fact that Dazai is written to be this smart mentor character rather than the main character so there is a mysterious feeling to him that adds to the genius appearance.

Anyway continuing on lol

Also for reference I’m going to be using more ADA Dazai for reference, like after all the stuff in the PM happened

The answer is William, because it is pretty obvious that William has a thing for energetic genius detectives when you look at his interactions with Sherlock. He probably meets his darling when she gets hired via her detective agency to investigate a disappearance of one of his students or something similar, similar to what happened to Lucian, something that would also catch William’s attention. They would not talk, he would just see her out of the corner of his eye, walking about campus. Then when he looks into her and the disappearance he finds out that she is a detective from a well known agency who was hired to look into the disappearance by the family of the student. He did not even speak to her until the student was found and the case was closed, she found the student, but he was the one who put an end to the one who kidnapped them in the first place, the other making the other’s job even more difficult. He would play the role of worrying professor and thank her for saving his student, and drops the question…

“I wonder how you understand criminal activity so well? You found him so quickly, it is quite remarkable.”

He looked into her, digging as deep as he could to see if she would be an issue, similar to what he did with Sherlock. Sure to find out she was a detective with a high intelligence level with self sacrificing tendencies was easy, but it took a bit of help from Albert and perhaps asking Mycroft for a favor to find out about her past…

138 counts of conspiracy to murder…

312 counts of extortion…

625 counts of assorted fraud and other crime…

She was an executive of a criminal organization during her youth and now she deserted them to turn a new leaf. Honestly they are an enigma even to William, so he begins to keep tabs on her, having Moran or Bonde staking out near her agency and having one of them or Fred follow her when she breaks from her normal pattern of working at her agency’s office or going on certain cases. He will even find one of her colleagues whom she mentors and ask the young boy about her.

“Hm? You want to know about her, well she found me when I was kicked out of my orphanage, she is a bit of an odd one but she and the agency took me in when no one else would.”

Eventually he follows her himself one day when she is leaving work, but he certainly did not expect to find her visiting a grave. William pieces it together that she is one of the only people who visits this grave and takes care of it. She just turns over her shoulder to look at him with a smile.

“Hello Professor Moriarty, I was wondering when you were going to follow me yourself rather than having your colleagues do it.”

She knew he was following her this whole time and he sits with her at the grave in silence for a bit, waiting for her to say something, to explain what she is doing here and of course she catches on and answers before he even needs to ask.

“The person buried here was my first friend, when he died he encouraged me to do something meaningful and help other people instead of what I was doing. He wanted me to do something good with my life and so I left. I threw out everything I had before to do something meaningful, I know it will never make up for the wrongs I have done, but it is a start and well… I really do hope the wicked can change their ways because otherwise everything I have done has been in vain and I am a disgrace to the promise I have made to him.”

In a way her words may put the world in perspective to him but he cannot stop his plans to rid the world of the class system. Then again he now has a new found respect for her that he would not dare lay a hand on her, but that being said he cannot allow her to get in the way and if push comes to shove he will deal with her as necessary, but again he respects her too much to harm her…

Taking her in…

He looks at the good she has done and unlike the nobles he has killed she has actually tried to make amends for her actions.

She has made herself a new, taking what was once was wicked in her heart and making it pure…

Her heart is a reflection of what he wants to do to this horrible world.

[discordantwords]

what do you think of eurus? do you like how she was introduced in tfp? would you prefer she be characterized differently or do you like what happened? i'm curious since i read a fic that essentially just had her as a secret sibling of sherlock who was perfectly normal but also kind of a wonderfully goofy person unlike sherlock and mycroft but like, lived in a different country and it never occurred to me that one could rewrite eurus like that

I have incredibly mixed feelings on Eurus.

I loved her in TLD. The scene with her and Sherlock wandering around London late at night? Amazing. Give me twenty more scenes just like that. And then the little reveal at the end that she wasn't who she said she was-- it was so creepy and intense and felt like it was all building towards something huge.

But then TFP happened, and it seemed like all of that interesting character potential was reduced down to a caricature. A caged supervillain with mind powers. I know she was essentially playing a role in TLD, but there she felt like a real person brimming with wit and charm, while in TFP she felt more like an empty shell that only served to propel the plot along. IMO it was lazy writing, and I didn't care for it.

One of my favorite Eurus fics ever is The Collector by ShinySherlock. The Eurus in that fic is still deeply unsettling, and likely a bit dangerous, but she's also very much a whole person with her own complex motivations.

[cowboylikeyouu]

funfact about the german dub of venom 2 & 3:

cletus from let there be carnage & martin from the last dance have the same voice actor, which is just so funny to me bc wdym in the german canon of that universe there were two guys with EXACTLY the same voice for some time lmao??

(that was the fun fact if you don’t want me yapping about german voice action feel free to scroll)

one thing you need to know the about german dubbing market is that while it’s amazing and while we actually have a lot of incredible voice actors, it still feels like everyone is voiced by the same 10 guys all of the time bc there are just some voice actors who seem to have been in almost every. single. big. franchise. and one of them is thomas nero wolff (great guy, love his voice), who is the usual voice actor for characters played by both woody harrelson (cletus) & rhys ifans (martin). so it makes sense that he would voice them both (after all, they’re not in the same movie) but i still find it incredibly funny that they wouldn’t use a different voice actor for rhys ifans this time lol.

anyhow, here‘s a super super small selection of characters thomas nero wolff has voiced in the german dubs bc i think it’s fun:

gargamel from the 2011/2013 smurf movies

logan/wolverine in basically everything except for x1

p.t. barnum

det. mark hoffman

grand admiral thrawn

mycroft holmes (bbc)

spike (notting hill)

mr gold from once upon a time

haymitch abernathy

james norrington

dr facilier (only the dialogue, not the songs)

gobber (httyd)

chief tui (moana)

luke danes

grandmaster in what if…?

stanford pines

this is maybe a fifth of the roles he has done, but most of these are the ones that have had a huge impact on me growing up (especially haymitch, gobber, dr facilier, mycroft, mr gold, & logan). as a kid, it was definitely equally fun & confusing to always recognize the voice of a character from somewhere else!!!

anyways, that’s thomas nero wollf for y’all, he‘s definitely one of my favorite german voice actors, his voice is just so recognizable!! i kinda love that he voices both haymitch & logan bc idk, they’re both annoyed alcoholics who go all soft around the edges for a random teenage girl. he does them both so well that i watch hunger games in german for comfort sometimes lmao.

ok that’s it for now hmu if you want more german dub yapping

[lokijiro]

And when he goes to her for help, once he's aware that she likes him, he does it by asking if she would help him even if he weren't the man she thought he was.

I'm of the opinion that one could not possibly be as much of a show-off as Sherlock without self-esteem issues.

"Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper."

“December” for @sherlockchallenge

[miwhotep]

JAMES BOND REFERENCES IN MORIARTY THE PATRIOT

I am a big fan of James Bond since my early teenage years. I watched every movies and read all books, so when the Moriarty the Patriot manga first started using James Bond references, I basically screamed. And my voice got 100x louder when the iconic My name is Bond. James Bond. scene happened.

I always wanted to write an analysis of YuuMori's James Bond connections, so now here we are.

First, let's talk a bit about the actual James Bond universe. The character of James Bond - the MI6 agent numbered 007 with a license to kill - got created by Ian Fleming in 1953. He first appeared in the novel called Casino Royale. Fleming wrote 12 novels and two short story collections with the character. The novels soon got movie adaptations, too, the first James Bond movie was Dr. No in 1962, where Sean Connery played Bond. Currently there are 25 Bond movies.

The James Bond movies can be classified into eras by the actor who played Bond. In order, these follow:

Sean Connery

(George Lazenby - but everyone tends to pretend this movie never happened)

Roger Moore

Timothy Dalton

Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Craig

The movies didn't come out in chronological order when it comes to James Bond's life-happenings. Most movies can be watched as stand-alones - but the Daniel Craig era tried to built up a storyline, where the movies are tied to each other. The James Bond movies always have an iconic intro, sing by a popular singer of the current era (the last movie's intro song was by Billie Eilish.)

The James Bond movie universe started to fuse with the Sherlock Holmes universe thanks to the Alan Moore comic book series, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (1999). Professor Moriarty appeared here as M - the title what later ended up with Mycroft. The Elementary series (and somewhat BBC Sherlock) continued this tendency, featuring Mycroft as someone who has ties to the MI5/MI6.

Professor Moriarty in TLoEG

The Moriarty the Patriot series features most characters who are important in James Bond movies. They are..

M - the leader of the MI6, which role was fullfilled by Albert and Louis.

Q - the inventor who keeps coming up with weapons and cars for James Bond. In YuuMori, Q is Von Herder, the blind mechanic mentioned in the Empty House Conan Doyle story.

Ms. Moneypenny - a secretary working personally for M. In the Daniel Craig era, she started as a field agent, but later moved to do office work. James Bond always gives her flowers and little souvenirs.

When it comes to James Bond, his personality in Moriarty the Patriot is similar to the canon one: loving good cars and guns, flirting with woman (especially Moneypenny) and while it's not vodka martini he orders in the pub when he met with Patterson, he asks for the drink shaken, not stirren. (On the other hand, the Macallan scotch he asks for is a reference to what James Bond drank in the Skyfall movie.)

The location of the MI6 in YuuMori is also similar to the James Bond movies: underground and underwater in the Thames.

The headquarter in Skyfall

The Q-sector

The Man with the Golden Army arc features other references for the James Bond universe. The arc's title refers to the movie/book The Man with the Golden Gun (Roger Moore-era) - the two stories only similarity is that both deal with special guns. In that arc, Sebastian Moran takes on the identity of the 006, Alec Trevelyan. The character originally appeared in the Goldeneye James Bond movie (Pierce Brosnan-era) played by Sean Bean. He had the number 006 and he was the mentor of James Bond (like Moran later on). He seemingly got killed off at the start of the movie (but later returned as a villain).

Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye

Maybe not an intentional reference, but still interesting: the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies features an evil media mogul, Elliot Carver as a villain who likes orchestrating catastrophic incidents so his newspaper can be the first to write about them, manipulating people that way and gaining control in the media - kind of similar to Milverton (yes, the media mogul Milverton thing is from Sherlock, but still), who was the mastermind behind the Jack the Ripper murders then manipulated the public through the news he created. (I can actually see him orchestrating incidents in order to gain more power and become the King of Media, too.)

Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies

We've yet to see the main villain of James Bond: Ernst Stavro Blofeld, (first appearing in the Thunderball book) the head of the crime organization called Spectre. I wander when he will appear in YuuMori, if they appear at all, but I really wish!

I hope in the next stories YuuMori's James Bond world keeps expanding - that's such an interesting aspect of the series, I love to see more references!

[stickybasementobject]

Misconceptions:

You know it occurs to me that in today's world Boris Karloff would as a quarter Indian biracial actor probably be called woke casting? Not that this is a widely known fact. But in regards to him playing such roles as Jekyll and Hyde, Mycroft Holmes and nearly Cagliostro and Bluebeard. Don't believe me? Look at the reaction to actor Rupert Laight as Isaac Newton in Dr Who. Even in some more left-wing circles. It's coming to something when an ethnic actor gets less grief for such casting in the early twentieth century than one in the modern age?

I've also seen him wrongly described as a white actor doing yellow face as Fu Manchu. Not that such portrayals were ever forgivable of course. But another example of the fact that people are quite ignorant of racially mixed actors having had a presence in the history of media. Just look up the name Acquanetta as another example. See image below.

Just a few short words I wanted to get off my chest on the matter. (-;

[girl-next-door-writes]

Just Because

Characters: Mycroft x reader

Summary: Mycroft hires himself a companion to show his family that he is entirely capable of making friends, but when the lines blur between the fiction and the reality is he heading for heartbreak?

Word Count: 1714 words

Prompt: Fake dating and a kiss without thinking.

A/N: This little angsty piece is for the incomparable @achromaticerebus who always sends me the most interesting Mycroft plot bunnies. Now, I know this was an angst request, but you all know me, so…

This was not where he had intended to be. In fact, if he had been in his right mind then this would be one of the last places he would wish to frequent, but he had not been in full control of his faculties for some time now. It was as if his body held some kind of autopilot, as if you had installed a homing device within his nervous system. It was infuriating and maddening and totally beyond his powers of logic, but it was the only thing that still connected the two of you and so he clung to it.

Mycroft found himself wandering around the places the two of you would go whilst in the midst of your masquerade. These were establishments he would never have set foot in previously, and yet they were perfectly you. The echoes of you were still there, causing his skin to tingle as if you had brushed against him, driving him to distraction.

Somewhere in his heavy woolen coat, his phone vibrated, alerting him to a new message. The leather gloves covering his hands made the task of opening said message more cumbersome than he would have liked and Mycroft swore under his breath, his eyes moving from the alert to his lock screen where you beamed up at him. He really should remove your picture from his phone, it was dangerous to appear so sentimental, but each time he tried to delete any traces of you he found himself entirely unable to press that final ‘delete’ button. Perhaps he should have Anthea do it for him. Mycroft knew he wasn’t really going to let that happen, but it somehow made him feel more in control pretending he had that option. His eyes flitted back to the image of you on his phone, standing in his parents garden, glancing at him over your shoulder, your eyes twinkling as you laughed. Anyone looking at this photograph may have believed the moment had been real, however, Mycroft knew the truth.

The situation was ridiculous, and he should not have allowed himself to feel inadequate, yet here he was. The Holmes family were gathering for Christmas upon his mother’s insistence and knowing that Sherlock had a whole entourage attending with him made Mycroft feel… not lonely, never lonely, but, well, alone. He had seen the joy on his mother’s face whenever Sherlock brought home a ‘friend’, and his heart ached to see that look aimed at him. That was when he had the great idea to procure a companion for the few days he would be at his family home. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult.

It turned out, that for Mycroft Holmes, it really was that difficult. He had a long list of qualities he felt required to be met by anyone he was to be spending so much time with and that person, most likely, did not actually exist.

He had just about given up and was considering paying someone to play the role when Anthea strode into his office and dropped a folder on his desk.

“I think this might solve your problem.” She gave him a knowing smile and left.

Mycroft eyed the folder suspiciously before flipping it open and raising an eyebrow as he read the content. Yes. A perfect fit.

And it really had been. He had arranged an initial meeting and the two of you had gone for afternoon tea to discuss the details. You were a professional companion, not to be confused with an escort, you simply provided your company, nothing more. You had attended family functions, weddings, work events with various men who felt they needed someone on their arm, all for a very reasonable fee.

“And so it would be for three days and two nights? Am I playing the role of friend or significant other?” You had asked so casually Mycroft nearly choked on his tea.

“Friend, simply friends.” He managed to splutter, although he could feel a heat rising up the back of his neck. “If my mother believes there is more to it then she will be planning the wedding by New Year.”

“Then I shall get the contract drawn up and send directly to you, Mr Holmes.” You gave him a polite smile and he nodded.

“I think, perhaps, given the current situation, Mycroft would be more appropriate.”

“Mycroft.” Your smile became one of amusement, but it wasn’t cruel or teasing, and it made his heart do a strange swoop.

That would not be the last time your smile had a strange effect on Mycroft Holmes. In hindsight he wondered if he should have cut all contact after that first meeting, after that first rush. It would certainly have saved him from all these ‘emotions.’

Christmas had been a roaring success. His mother loved you. His father loved you. Sherlock… was suspicious of the two of you but found you rather delightful. Of course, this then led to a whole other problem Mycroft had not anticipated. Whenever his mother decided to visit, Mycroft found himself in need of your services once more. This often led to covert meetings, somewhere convenient for you, to make sure you had your stories straight. Walks through the park, tea at tiny little coffee shops he would not ordinarily step foot in, a rendezvous at a small second hand book shop which smelled more like mold than paper… not the usual place for a business meeting, but Mycroft found himself looking forward to discovering these places which were obviously part of your world, not his.

Things had been going well, this arrangement between the two of you working perfectly for just over nine months, so when his parents insisted the two of you join them at the theatre, Mycroft saw no reason to decline. He didn’t know that accepting this invitation would be the beginning of the end.

“I really thought Roger was the murderer.” His father was muttering, still flipping through his program as if searching for a clue he may have missed earlier about the huge plot twist that pretty much everyone in the theatre had seen coming.

“It’s okay dear, I think that was rather the point. Roger was there to throw us all off.”

Mycroft saw you dip your head to hide your smile, an action that caused butterflies to cascade around his stomach. You seemed really fond of the relationship between his parents, and it warmed his heart to see that.

“Well, I had best be heading off. It was lovely to see you both again.” You gave Mr and Mrs Holmes a warm smile and Mycroft watched his mother pull you into a tight embrace.

“Next time, we should have a girls afternoon.” She beamed, cupping your face and looking at you meaningfully.

“That would be lovely, Mrs Holmes.”

“Righto, be seeing you.” Mr Holmes gave you a hug and Mycroft rolled his eyes, although there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

“What is it with you two and hugging people?”

“Oh, you know you like it, Mycroft.” You had teased and he had found himself pulling you into a farewell embrace too.

“Just don’t go telling Sherlock.” He chuckled, loosening his grip but not quite breaking the hug.

“Damn it, that was the first thing I was going to do as soon as I got in the taxi.” You smirked.

“Minx.”

“Posh boy.”

“Right, off with you.” He chuckled, shaking his head fondly.

“Goodbye, Mycroft.” You had given him that smile of yours that made the corners of your eyes crinkle and he had instinctively, without any thought, leaned down and placed a soft, tender kiss to your forehead. It was an action he had never undertaken before, and he felt the shift in you before he’d even fully pulled away.

You had given everyone a wave and then hurriedly bundled into a taxi… and that was the last time he had seen you.

The next morning he had received an email formally stating that you could no longer offer your services to him. It had pointed out a clause within the contract he had originally signed that stated any physical contact was to be agreed upon prior to the event and that he had breached this.

He had sat at his desk for a long time that morning, just staring at the email. It was so cold, so clinical, so unlike the person he had come to know. Then again, he had hired you to play a role. It was his own fault that he had allowed himself to believe in the lie.

For weeks Mycroft wallowed in a malaise, wanting to throw himself into his work but unable to concentrate. When the invitation to his brothers Christmas ‘do’ came through, he initially ignored it. Then his mother asked him repeatedly if he would be attending. Then he got a text from Greg Lestrade and another from John. It appeared that his presence was required, not merely requested, at this event and Mycroft’s heart sank as he realised it wasn’t him they wanted to attend, but you as his plus one.

After an entire day miserably touring around the places the two of you would meet, Mycroft found his feet had indeed brought him to his brother’s flat. The sounds of merriment could be heard spilling from the window and Mycroft let out a deep sigh, might as well bite the bullet.

Mrs Hudson gave him a strange smile as he entered Baker Street and headed to the stairs, she was practically vibrating with excitement, and he wondered just how many sherries the woman had drunk already. As he reached the top of the stairs, the door to 221B flung open and Sherlock grinned.

“Merry Christmas, brother mine.”

“Please tell me this is not going to become an annual event.” Mycroft sighed, already itching to leave.

Sherlock stepped to one side, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and revealed the party inside his flat. There was John, talking to Molly and Lestrade, there was his father rearranging ornaments on Sherlocks tree, and… and talking to his mother was…

Mycroft’s eyes widened and his jaw fell slack.

“Merry Christmas.” Sherlock said softly, patting his brother on the back.

[tamerlane-holmes]

I should’ve known you’d say that your obligations come first. You’re right, as per usual.

Well, I may be playing the role of Mr. Worthing, so…yes, dates will be sent. Come if you want.

Would you ever consider reprising your role as Lady Bracknell should there be a new production of The Importance of Being Earnest?

There may or may not be one underway, if you’re interested.

-TH (@tamerlane-holmes)

I have a great many other matters that require my undivided attention, dear boy. The trappings of being in the service to the Crown and all.

I wouldn't mind coming to the production if you wish. Send the dates?