#referenced later in another Inktober

[inktober-of-a-fan-girl]

Day 13: Rod Kindlund

This is Pirates for Hire. It started in 1998…

More in Keep Reading.

The information page says on its website:

Pirates For Hire is the first of its kind. This is a live-action, award-winning pirate-themed entertainment troupe specializing in action/comedy pirate performances which involve cutlass fighting, pistol firing, and breakaway bottles. We have performed in over 100 cities across California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Texas, and Canada for clients that include IBM, The Walt Disney Company, Parker Aerospace, and The Los Angeles Natural History Museum.

There is also a promo on the website…

It has a lot of skits with Captain James Hook vs Captain Jack Sparrow.

List of links like this image:

They also have a Facebook page:

As well as an official Youtube:

And here is the page for Captain Hook and his actor:

With this line really cool...

ROD KINDLUND appeared in the films Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, played a villain in a music video for the band Paramore, and can be seen in the tram tour video at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.  His interest in J.M. Barrie’s pirate captain began when he played the lead in his hometown’s production of Peter Pan, and much of his Captain Hook wardrobe (right down to the rings) was worn on screen by actor Jason Isaacs in the 2003 film version. 

Like how did you get the honour?

Also, it is nice to note how many outfit versions there are…

…with the classic red, which I based my art on (and a Mr. Smee to boot)…

…as well as these ones.

(Note: The images are from their website.)

I also really love this version. The actor does have brown eyes (not blue) but makes it up with facial hair (mustache and a goatee) and a right-handed hook.

Ironically I found out about this group through Deviantart with this artist being pretty into it.

He uses Jason Isaacs's version and this version as inspiration for his own Neverland verse. There are also bits of Disney art going into it. His version (and original character) might come up later in another Inktober.

[artthemasquerade]

DVMNINKTOBER Day 11 Akira x Miki x Ryo

So I've been slowly, slowly been working my through this year's Devilman Inktober by nozoshii created for the community https://www.tumblr.com/nozoxshii/763169423585673216/i-made-a-devilman-inktober-prompt-list-for-the?source=share

For day eleven is fave pairing or duo and wellllllll, you all know that I have a lot of ships for Devilman so I decided to draw out five different pictures of each of my ships, Ryokira, Akira/Miki/Ryo, Satan/Zennon, Ryo/Miki and Akira/Miki and as I've said before I had gotten sick around the time I was working on the first of the pictures for this prompt and it really delayed things a lot and not to mention I was challenging myself a lot with these pieces, I want to really craft some good backgrounds like the old masters and while I don't think I've quite captured their ability to do those backgrounds I am pleased that I did go the extra mile for these pieces, I learned a lot making these especially since I was so limited in working in only black and white, so making sure the values were good was extremely important here!

And nowww we are at the fifth and final picture of the day prompt, my OT3, Akira/Miki/Ryo! Here the three of them are softly kissing under the stars while sitting on a bed of roses. :3 I referenced this William Blake illustration for Paradise Lost by John Milton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Blake_-Satan_Watching_the_Caresses_of_Adam_and_Eve-_WGA02226.jpg and I painstakingly hand drawn those roses for over an hour, maybe nearly two hours! XD This was the second picture I drew for the day 11 prompt and honestly its one of my favorite pictures I've ever done for the OT3, I just love how soft and peaceful it is. I gave one of the versions of this piece a blue tint since I did the sketch in blue and liked how it looked then and made another version to go with the black and white version.

As for why I love the OT3 so much, well, I think that since they all work well separately together that they would be extremely good together and no-one would be left out! :3 And well its double the love double the possible pain or redemption. I love the idea of Ryo being loved by both Akira and Miki which would allow him to see more of the good side of humanity and maybeee they don't have to be so doomed by the narrative (at least not all of the time) and Miki deserves to have two special bfs!

And well, I do love the theme of love conquers and fighting off the narrative that they are doomed no matter what. I always have time loops in my fics because I love playing with the struggle they would have in enduring all of that and how despite the changes they undergo in each time loop they'll always come together with love. Their love is what both dooms and saves them in the end.

And I hope to show that off well in Love Before Its Too Late especially in the later chapters and in other works of mine in the future.

[fffinnagain]

10 Years of Sherlock (TV)  AO3 stats!

Sherlock fans, new and old, click below to read a long list of graphs and comments about our communities fanworks over the last 10 years. I scraped AO3 again and demonstrate that:

More creators are writing longer works in 2020

Readers engaged more as the fandom changed after S4

Top ten new tags per year for the last 10 years

And a lot more. 

PS the code to gather this data and analyse it can be found way over here. 

Activity over 10 years

The last 10 years in the BBC Sherlock fandom have been tumultuous, but this community persists, with engagement from new fans and continued creative output. To commemorate over a decade of squee, I’ve done another scrape of the fandom’s imprint on the Archive of Our Own and will share some insights from the numbers in these plots. A very late update on my post S4 snapshot from 2018.

Note: This analysis is of completed public fanworks only, about 101000 of the 122000 Sherlock (TV) works available at present. This is to remove the late WIP effect, which adds a bulge to the last few months, and out of respect to creators who wish to have their material reserved for other registered AO3 users.

The works are still coming

Counting the number of works posted per day, we can see the peaks associated with each series airing (in UK and US). After that, the number of works continues fairly evenly, 20-30 per day, plus seasonal peaks. This rate is continuing on without a hint of new canon in sight. So who is posting all this work?

Creator-waves, monthly output

Years ago I started plotting creator waves, basically I group fanwork producers by the year they first posted to the fandom and then count how many of this group are active in later time intervals. This lets us get a sense of how long people are contributing and whether new fans are getting the urge to create. 

This plot of the Sherlock (TV) fanworks on AO3 shows the standard shape of plump participation in the first year of any given set of creators, followed by a slowly thinning tail as they because less active over time. Turnover is natural in fandoms, with most only posting a work or two within a fairly limited amount of time, while a precious few persist for years.  The surprise for me here is that the ratio of new creators is higher in 2020 than it was in 2019. Maybe the excuse of lockdown encouraged more folks to take a turn at creating content. 

Another way to look at the output of fan creators on AO3 is to see the total amount of words being shared across all fanworks. The total has been pretty close to 300-400k words per month since 2018! To get a sense of what that means per work, I also plotted the median number of words per fanwork in these monthly sets. The median in higher in the last year than it had been staying for a while. 

Reader behaviour: Hits & Kudos & Comments

Fan creators are only part of the story. Stats on engagement are a bit trick to interpret, I’ve got some plots here that tell us something about how works have been engaged with over time. 

The obvious first to consider is Hits. Above is the total number of Hits given to works published each month. This is the current totals, not a historical snapshot, so we have a very strong bias  towards early works, what we might call the Classics Effect. Works that have been around longer have had the chance to be seen by more people, and in particular those works that become must-read classics in a fandom, extending their exposure through prominence in top ranked works and recommendations. 

To cut down on the advantage of the classics, we can also consider median hits per work for each month. As most works get a lot attention when they are first posted and then fade out of sight, the median number of hits reflects instead the ratio of readers to creators, basically how many eyeballs are around to look at the latest work, regardless of status. The median plot shows how the hyper-visibility of the few work available before 2012, and then a more steady curve once the fandom had gotten established on the platform after Series 2. Amazingly, the hit rate for the median work was steady through the big bumps in activity with later series, a 1000 hits for median works between 2013 and 2018, followed by a slow decline. I’d expect the 2020 works to continue gaining for a few months yet, but the median is probably 50-60% of what is was when the show was in production.

Kudos counts and medians show a similar story to hits, but there is a dip down around 2013 for kudos reflects the frenzy of productivity that saw the fandom grow during the Series 2 hiatus. Readers were getting spoiled! From the airing of Series 3 (2014) until a year following Series 4 (2018), the median work received an even 60ish kudos and 1000 hits, a niche audience that decreased to 50/750 through 2018-2019. The numbers of 2020 suggest a smaller community of readers again, though these numbers may still rise a bit in the next few months before the median works are forgotten. 

The statistic that tells a different story is Comments. Looking at the total comments counts, there isn’t a drop after Series 3 (2014). Instead, the fandom compensated for changing numbers with more feedback and discussion attached to works. This is reflected in the median comment rate as well, which shows seasonal variation but doesn’t really drop off until 2020.

It’s remarkable that without fresh canon we continue to have new creators contributing to the fandom, and while that may be outpacing the readership somewhat, the standard of engagement has been very high. One could say the fandom is chugging along quite nicely!

What about Tags

So, with all that turnover and shifting population, is there a change in the kinds of works being posted? We can look at tags, all tags and freeform tags, to see if there were any meaningful trends. 

First up, I did a creator-wave like analysis of works just for tags, to see how tags continue to be used after being introduced. Unlike the creators, tags clearly persist for years. After 2015, it looks like the core tag set has been established, with very few tags persisting in usage per  subsequent year.

This graph reports numbers over time that are not proportional to the number of works or creators active. Instead, works on AO3 have been getting more and more tags over the years, with the average steadily growing from 5 in 2011 to 15 in 2020, with freeform tags (not characters or ships) from 2 to 8.

To get a sense of fic and tagging culture changes over time, I counted the most popular NEW tags of each year (wave). Note: this analysis is using exact matches, not the networked associations of tag meanings wrangled into AO3 today, so some things that pop up aren’t new concepts but instead newly popular TAGs for whatever they represent. 

2011: 2752 (First year, so all solid stuff, tags that continue to be popular forever)

Angst                 323

Fluff                 232

Humor                 216

Hurt/Comfort          188

Romance               168

Friendship            168

Crossover             138

Crack                 121

Alternate Universe    119

First Time            106

2012: 11637 (still early, first references to Series 2)

Fluff and Angst                           145

Episode: s02e03 The Reichenbach Fall       97

Kid Sherlock                               54

Puppies                                    50

Sad                                        48

Episode: s02e01 A Scandal in Belgravia     47

Mathematics                                42

Season 2 spoilers                          38

Omega Verse                                38

Feels                                      38

2013: 16176 (Omegaverse nomenclature is growing, Top/Bottom terminology, new challenges)

Alpha Sherlock                               65

Omega John                                   61

30 Day OTP Challenge                         59

Tumblr: letswritesherlock                    56

Top John                                     49

Sherlock Holmes Returns after Reichenbach    44

Bottom Sherlock                              40

Reichenbach Angst                            30

Don't copy work to another site              29

Age Regression/De-Aging                      27

2014: 19256 (Mostly Series 3 related

Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow         249

Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three    167

Post-His Last Vow                    149

His Last Vow Spoilers                142

Sherlock Series 3 Spoilers           128

2000 AU                              100

The Sign of Three Spoilers            74

Fatlock                               72

Post-The Sign of Three                66

Post-Season/Series 03                 57

2015: 14272 (New challenges, new prominent Sherlolly tags)

Chats                                      47

International Fanworks Day 2015            34

Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2015    27

S3 referenced                              25

Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing       22

English Accent                             22

Sound cloud                                19

Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper      19

Protective John Watson                     18

but not that kind of graphic               17

2016: 13517 (New stylistic tagging, TAB references, a lot of epilepsy?)

Slowwww burn                         92

John Watson Loves Sherlock Holmes    37

Sherlock Holmes Loves John Watson    33

post-tab                             30

JME                                  27

Post TAB                             25

Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy          23

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2016     19

epileptic                            19

fraternal love                       17

2017: 15067 (Series 4 tags and challenges)

Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective         133

Episode: s04e01 The Six Thatchers            93

Post TFP                                     73

Sherlock Series 4 Spoilers                   69

Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem            60

Post-Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective     55

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2017             50

Post S4                                      48

Sherstrade Month 2017                        44

31 Days of Porn Challenge 2017               41

2018: 10733 (Lost of new challenges, seasonal and weekly)

Towel Day 2018                       64

Mystrade Valentines Calendar 2018    25

Kinktober 2018                       23

Pregnant Molly Hooper                23

Soft Smut Sunday                     23

Tom Robbins                          23

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2018     21

Inktober 2018                        20

established universe                 16

Always1895                           16

2019: 7785 (More prompts, and character attitudes)

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2019    25

221B Autumn Challenge               21

A-Z Christmas Prompt                19

KatsJohnlockXmas2019                16

Whumptober                          11

Poor Greg Lestrade                  11

Kinktober 2019                      10

Dissonance                          10

John Watson is a Good Friend         9

Sleepy Sherlock Holmes               8

2020: 8074 (Not all COVID related, thank heavens)

Mystrade Monday                           59

COVID-19                                  48

Coronavirus                               46

Mystrade Monday Prompts                   40

Whumptober 2020                           36

warning for a covid-19 setting            33

Flufftober prompts 2020                   24

Do Not Translate                          24

they're all right they're just at home    23

Granada Sherlolly                         21

A little note from looking across all freeform tags, not just the new ones, we see a curious pattern with regards to two actions: First Kiss and Anal Sex. They appear amongst the most common tags as of 2014, neck in neck for two years, than Anal Sex drops off the top ten in 2016. From there out, First Kiss stays in the top 5 from that point on, while anal sex appears at rank 9 from 2017-2019 and is gone again in 2020. This probably says something about the fandom, somehow. 

Bravo for making it to the end and thank you for reading! 

Questions/comments welcome.

[reneeofthestars]

Inktober 2019

Day 10: Pattern

Click ‘keep reading’ for a short fic!

“Admiral Thrawn!” Eli called, hurrying down the corridor, datapad clutched in his hand. He might have ran to catch the admiral if he’d still been an ensign. But with his recent promotion, he was reluctant to do anything that may tarnish his new rank.

The Chiss broke off his conversation with the chief engineer. “Commander Vanto,” Thrawn greeted. “You have news?”

“I may have found how the pirates in this sector are selecting their targets.”

Thrawn nodded once, an indication to continue. The chief engineer looked slightly miffed at being interrupted, but he excused himself and returned to his duties. 

“We already ruled out that they were striking at random, considering how successful they’ve been at hitting the ships and getting out before Imperial backup could be called in.” Eli spoke in a rush, hoping to present his evidence quickly enough that Thrawn could act on it. “And because the attacks are happening all over the sector, we know there’s no single spot they’re ambushing.”

“And as I recall, there was no common thread among the stolen cargo,” Thrawn added. “The freighters carried an assortment of goods, from foodstuff to a few vials of tibanna gas.”

“Funny you should mention tibanna. Lots of different cargo was stolen, yes, but I got thinking about my parents’ shipping company. Even though there’s dozens of different ships that run the supplies, the same types of ships normally deliver similar supplies. Light freighters for standard cargo, different classes for minerals - well, you get it.”

Thrawn considered that. “Most of the ships were more than standard freighters. They had extra compartments and containment units that were unusual for general trade.”

”Exactly. And that got me thinking. So on a hunch, I took a look at the refueling points and log of the attacked freighters.” Eli pulled up the cross-referenced lists on his datapad. One column displayed the ship type, another the trip itinerary of each vessel. “Eighty percent of them had deliveries or pickups on Bespin.”  

“Bespin?” Thrawn looked interested as he leaned down to examine the datapad.

“It’s one of the best places to mine and process tibanna gas. It’s their main export.”

“There was no tibanna listed on any of the cargo manifests, except for the first attacked ship,” Thrawn pointed out, still reading. 

“Not officially.” Eli shifted a bit uneasily. “I took the liberty of speaking to the captain we have on board. Once I showed him what I’d found, he admitted that the manifest was fake.” Thrawn gave him a sharp look, and Eli shrugged. “I guess the crews doing the deliveries have been nervous about these pirates for some time. Several of the pilots running these shipments have been altering the manifests and hiding the cargo. Tibanna gets frozen in carbonite for transport, so it’s undetectable to most scanners - they just have to hide it from the naked eye in case they get boarded. They take on other cargo in the meantime to throw potential hijackers off their scent.”

Thrawn’s gaze went back to the datapad. “So the pirates are after tibanna. And somehow the pirates still know what ships have it. Commander Vanto, what would you say to that?”

Eli considered it, but only for a moment. In this case, his gut reaction felt like the correct response. “If the freighters are successfully masking their cargo in space, then the only time the pirates would get to find out if there was tibanna being loaded would be on Bespin itself.”

“In short?”

“The pirates have someone on Bespin that tags the ship for their accomplices to hunt down later.”

Thrawn nodded in approval. “Well done, Commander Vanto. This is good work.” He tilted his head to the side. “You brought this over in quite a hurry. Is there something else?”

“Yes, sir.” Eli straightened. “According to the freighter captain, one of his subordinates is due to collect another batch of tibanna from Bespin tomorrow.” 

“Then we must not linger here.” And with that, Thrawn strode towards the bridge, Eli hot on his heels. Thrawn spoke quickly into his comm for the deck crew to begin making the calculations for lightspeed. Then he glanced at Eli. “In the future, Commander Vanto, perhaps lead with the knowledge of a possible attack.”

Eli felt his face flush. “Sorry, sir. I thought it more likely that you’d agree to go after you’d heard my reasoning.”

“With or without evidence, I trust your reasoning at all times, Commander Vanto,” Thrawn said simply.

“Thank you, sir.” Eli couldn't help but smile as he felt the ship jump to hyperspace.

[theshapeshifter100]

Magical Records

(Day 13 of @thewatchau‘s annual prompts!

This is also a direct sequel to another prompt! From the Inktober prompt Enchanted

While not necessary to read that one before this one, the events of the last prompt are directly referenced in this one)

Once the weather turned cold, Mags and her apprentices would convene at the Scholar’s College. Mags and the youngest apprentice would write up their findings, and the Mage apprentice going over the Magical Records.

They said that they didn’t need supervising, but Mags liked to watch.

Their apprentice would watch each record at least twice, making notes as they went along. Sometimes they would stop, and stare at the record. At that point Rena would move like he’d sneezed, and they’d snap out of it.

Mags would have to ask later, if she remembered, if that was because of the Fae song. She knew from reading that Fae song would lure people into the Garden and then the Far Rings to be taken to the Fae Realm, and while she and her apprentice were nowhere near a Garden, it must have some kind of effect still.

It might be worth researching, the effects of a Fae song with no Fae Garden nearby. Would need a lot of people, get other researchers involved…

Rena patted her knee to get her to focus on now, and Mags put her eyes back on her apprentice, who was still working. She smiled when she suddenly saw herself pop up in the record, wandering towards the creepy tree.

In hindsight, a terrible idea. The branches looked like hands, and in the record, she could see them moving towards her as she wandered over, and the mouth did open a bit. So close to danger, thank goodness Rena had snapped her out of it.

She combed fingers through his fur, and she could feel small vibrations as he made noises. Happy noises, based on the small smile the apprentice sent their way.

(Since the last one was summer 1610, I’d say this one is about November 1610)

[mcdannoangelwolf]

‘Ask The Author’ Tag game

I was tagged by the talented and delightful @space-ace--ravenclaw-demigod

Rules: answer these questions and tag other fic writers to do the same.

Author name: Markuse88

Fandoms you write for: So far just Hawaii 5-0 (McDanno), Supernatural (Destiel/DeanBennyCas-Destiny), and the MCU (Stucky). Though I hope to branch out into Teen Wolf and ThorBruce at some point.

Where you post: AO3

Most popular one-shot: Well based on hits/Kudos it is The Trap. A McDanno story I wrote for Inktober. Steve, Danny, Chin, and Kono are running an OP in a bar where someone has to play the bait. Three guesses who.

Most popular multi-chapter story: Well I only have the one. It’s Satyr’s kiss. Another McDanno story I wrote for Inktober. As if the name didn’t give it away it is a fantasy story. Satyr!Danny and Human!Steve. I’m biased but I think it’s lovely.

Favorite story you wrote:  oh wow...Honestly I don’t think I can answer that. I mean I love all of the stories I’ve written so far. I guess though i would say that I’m proudest of Satyr’s kiss. It was a big achievement for me, writing something like that, and I’m just so pleased it’s been as well received as it has.

Story you were nervous to post: Oh that would totally be Satyr’s Kiss. I mean I packed so much lore, mythology, mysticism and Easter eggs into that story that I was terrified that it wouldn’t work together.

How do you pick your titles: Difficultly lol. I suck at picking titles, in my Fanfic or my OG Fiction. I always try to keep them short and some how referencing the story/chapter.

Do you outline? Sometimes. If it is going to be a long fic I will but shorter ones I usually just...write. I’ll keep notes as I go. I find if I outline or plan too much I usually end up either deviating or scrapping the story all together.

How many of your stories are complete? 11. Ten Inktober entries, (21 more to come). 1 one other.

In-progress: Just 1.

Coming soon: Inktober Prompt 11 - Snow. Tentatively title Men, Angels, and Hunting.

Do you accept prompts? No. Not right now. I might at a later date. The thing is I am slow writer so it could take me AGES to fill a prompt.

Upcoming story you’re the most excited for? I don’t really have one. I mean I am excited for all of my prospective stories. I’m doing the Inktober prompt list, which will take me into November to finish, so i try to only plan 3 stories at a time.

I’m going to tag @halevetica @chrissys2boys-dannysteve  and @lavvyan but only if you guys want to, but I’d love to get to know you guys better as writers :)

[reptiliandroidstudio]

Whumptober2019, #26: Abandoned

Title: Better to be alone than in bad company

Fandom: Detroit: Become Human

Rating: T

Characters: Markus, Jericho Members (mentioned)

Relationship: Markus & Jericho Members (mentioned)

Warnings: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Angst

Summary: Some would say he had abandoned his people. From his point of view, they had abandoned him first.

Notes: I honestly didn't think I would write another fic for Whumptober this year. I was feeling pretty down this month, having given up Inktober too soon, and I could not find the energy to draw or write for weeks. But last night, as I looked a last time at the prompts for Whumptober, it came naturally to my mind.

-Amy

He could not help but feel betrayed when his companions started to blame all their failures on him. He was partly responsible, yes, but he was not alone in all this. They had constantly shown doubt about his plans, had asked for him to act as they wanted, even though they never once were on the same page with each other. Did they expect to do better than him now? Well, they could try. But he would not stay here to see that. He was done with them.

He left Jericho. Even when he saw the helicopters flying toward the wreck, preparing to assault it, he barely hesitated. He had made his mind: he would not turn back. Some would say he had abandoned his people. From his point of view, they had abandoned him first.

Later, when the android revolution led by North was tamed and his people were mass murdered, he felt regretful of his choice. He knew they would fail… He had let anger—or rather his hurt pride—take over and decide for him. Still now, as he stood alone on the roof of that abandoned building, with only a piano out of tune and an old magazine for company, anger was eating at him. Anger toward his companions for not trusting him enough, anger toward himself for not trying hard enough, but mostly anger toward this world for refusing to see them as living beings.

He went to visit those he failed, when things calmed down and humans started to come back living in the city. He kept a low profile, not wanting to risk being identified. But no one hanged around the huge android dump anyway, as if they still feared androids might wake up and attack them. He wished it was possible. He stayed there for hours, sitting with the dead, talking to their remains, asking for forgiveness and wanting so bad for someone to answer him. Anyone. They stayed silent, all of them.

As long as he lived, there would be another chance. Not for those he had known and loved, but for those that would come. Because there was no doubt humans would use androids again—sooner than later. He might be alone for now, but someday they would be millions. And that day, he would be the great leader he should have been. He would never abandon his people again.

[rose-of-pollux]

Inktober for Writers, Day 26

Prompt: Dark Fandom: Perfect Strangers Title: Irreplaceable Summary: [Season 7ish] In which Jennifer learns the hard way that her newlywed husband may suffer from sleep apnea.

Notes: This vignette, which takes place in early S7, was inspired by the scene from episode 2x5, “Life Savers,” when Balki was checking Larry’s breathing while he was sleeping and seemingly couldn’t see any evidence of breathing—between that scene, and the following scene in that episode where Larry ends up revealing that he was “born three weeks early,” it’s more than likely that he has undiagnosed sleep apnea, so this piece happened.

I reference Season 3’s “The Horn Blows at Midnight” again.  There may be a day when I stop referencing it, but it is not this day.

Cross-posted to AO3 & FFN.

It had been a grueling journey for Jennifer, trying to come home from the last leg of an international flight.  Rome to London had been particularly smooth, but London to Chicago had been met with so many delays, including a slight diversion due to inclement weather. It was one in the morning by the time the plane had landed at O’Hare, and it had been nearly another hour to clear customs; by the time she had made it home, it was 3:00, and the house was dark. She hoped the others hadn’t been waiting up for her too long.

The challenge now was getting to bed without waking the others up.  Slowly, she opened and closed the front door, removing her shoes and heading up the stairs, skipping the fifth stair—it creaked. She made it to the upper landing and tiptoed to the master bedroom, once again opening and closing the door as slowly as she could.

She let out a quiet sigh.  Good—she’d avoided waking Balki and Mary Anne, at least.

She was distracted by how cold the room felt; was there something wrong with the heat?  She and Larry would have to deal with that in the morning, she decided.

She glanced at Larry, who was asleep on the bed; the moonlight was streaming through the window, right on him, but it didn’t seem to disturb him at all. His right hand was on the phone, which he had placed beside him, which prompted Jennifer to smile—he’d been ready to go pick her up if she’d called.

Gently, she moved his hand and put the phone back on the bedside table, and moved to go change, but she paused, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Something was wrong.

She glanced back at her husband, taking note of how her presence hadn’t disturbed him at all.  In fact, he was absolutely still.

“…Larry…?” she asked, no longer bothering with trying not to disturb him. She gently touched his shoulder, giving him a gentle nudge.

Larry didn’t move.  Her eyes went to his chest, which was also illuminated by the moonlight.  She waited for several moments, waiting to see his chest rise and fall.

It didn’t.

And with that realization that she was watching her true love slip away in front of her eyes, Jennifer felt her world crumbling to dust all around her.

“Larry!?  LARRY!?” she cried, gently placing her hands on the sides of his face.  He was still warm to the touch—maybe it wasn’t too late!? “Larry, don’t leave me—please don’t leave me!”

She was trembling, but in doing so, she had adjusted the position of his head and neck; suddenly, Larry let out a gasp, and his chest started rising and falling again, rapidly, as his body instinctively tried to compensate for the temporary oxygen loss.

Jennifer stared, listening to his gasps for air, hardly daring to hope.

“Larry…!?”

She shook him again, more forcefully this time, and with a sleepy mumble, he opened his eyes.

“Jen…?  You’re home…!” he managed to say, before needing to catch his breath again.  He seemed surprised at this, and she just stared at him.

Jennifer didn’t even notice the flurry of activity out in the corridor as the landing light clicked on, and then as the door to the master bedroom opened and their light clicked on, as well.

Standing in the doorway were Balki and Mary Anne; Mary Anne was still struggling with removing her sleep mask.

“Cousin Jennifer?” Balki asked.  “What happened!?  Is Cousin Larry okay!?”

“I’m fine, Balki,” Larry managed to say, though he was still out of breath. “Why do you ask?”

“Why?  We heard Jennifer scream loud enough to wake the dead, that’s why!” Mary Anne exclaimed.

Jennifer paled at this description, realizing that might have been just what she had done.  With another cry, she buried her face in Larry’s chest, much to his concern.

“Jen!?  Jen, what is it!?  I’m alright, Jen—I promise!  You must’ve had a bad dream!”

“It wasn’t a dream!” Jennifer retorted, looking up now.  “I’d just walked in here, and you weren’t breathing, Larry—not until I moved you!  I thought… I thought I’d lost you…!”  Her voice broke, and she buried her face in her hands, crying.

Still confused, but now very concerned for his distraught wife, Larry struggled to sit up so that he could comfort her, gently drawing her into a hug.

“Jen, really, I’m alright,” he said.  “Maybe you mistook something in the dark?”

Jennifer was about to say something to defend herself, but she found support from another voice—

“She didn’t mistake it, Cousin,” Balki said.  “It’s happened again…”

“Again!?” Jennifer exclaimed, looking at Balki.  “This happened before—he stopped breathing in his sleep!?”

“Yes, five years ago,” Balki said, his voice trembling at the very memory. “He… He’d fallen asleep on the couch, and I thought he looked too still…  I…  I checked his breathing; I took a pot lid and stuck it under his nose to make sure—nothing! I pulled on his eyelids to see if his eyes were clouded over, but that’s when he woke up, breathing again.”

“Are you sure you didn’t mistake something, either?” Larry asked him.

“I beg to take issue,” Balki retorted.  “The lights were on, and you were out.”

“It sounds like sleep apnea,” Mary Anne said, concerned.  “For people who have it, sometimes, they just stop breathing while they sleep.  Usually, they start breathing on their own again.”

Jennifer, Larry, and Balki gave her a look of confusion.

“…I once had a passenger who was a sleep specialist; she talked about a lot of interesting things,” Mary Anne explained, with a shrug.  “But, anyway, one of the things she said was that since people with sleep apnea usually start breathing again on their own, they may sometimes go undiagnosed until their lack of breathing is noticed by a family member.”

“You…  You mean to tell me that Cousin Larry has been not breathing at night for the last five years!?” Balk exclaimed.  “No wonder Mr. Death has his number…!”

“Well, there’s no way to know for sure,” Mary Anne said.  “If he has been, then he’s really, really lucky that he started breathing again on his own all those times that no one else was there to check on him.  And, Larry, you really should see a specialist just in case that is what’s been going on.  I mean, call me crazy, but the whole breathing thing is kind of important.”

“I… Um…  Yeah,” Larry said.  He glanced at Jennifer, who was still looking at him with tears in her eyes, and he gently reached a hand out to dry them, and she responded by burying her face in his chest again, hugging him tightly, as though determined not to let him slip away again.  “Oh, Jen…”

“Larry…” she said, softly.  “Don’t ever forget that you’re irreplaceable.  Whatever this is…  Please, don’t let it take you from me.  From us.”

“I… I’ll try my hardest,” he promised.

“You’d better.”

There was an awkward silence now; Jennifer still didn’t move, still terrified, and Larry was still trying to comfort her.  He cast a helpless glance at Balki and Mary Anne, every fiber of his being trying to stay calm, knowing that if he let his anxieties take hold, it would only make Jennifer more upset.

“I’ll go make us some hot cocoa,” Mary Anne said, after a moment.

“Yeah, good idea—I’ll help you,” Balki agreed.

“No…” Larry said, wincing.  “Please—you two don’t have to stay up because of this.  I’ll be fine.”

“Cousin, we don’ mind,” Balki insisted.

“What are friends for?” Mary Anne added.

They headed downstairs, and Larry could hear Balki talking about that time five years ago, and how scared he had been.

He exhaled in defeat, tightening his hug around Jennifer.

Suddenly, he was afraid, as well.

“…I don’t want to leave you,” he managed to say.  “I want to be a part of your lives, I…”  All he could think about now was Claire Hayden’s prophecy, and now this…  “…Why me…?”

She looked up at him now, realizing that he was trying to bottle up his own fears for her sake.

“I don’t know why,” she said.  “You’ve been through so much as it is, but apparently Death doesn’t want to leave you alone.”

“Maybe it’s Mr. Death’s way of trying to wear me down and get me to give up…” Larry realized.  He glanced back at Jennifer.  “But I won’t. I’ve got too much to live for.  I’ve got you and Balki and Mary Anne, and all of you are there to help me fight this.”  He paused for a moment.  “Thank you… for saving my life.”

Jennifer managed a nod, still not letting him go.  They were still looking into each other’s eyes when they noticed something flickering in the dark, shadowy corner of the room, as though it had suddenly moved through the window.

They both turned, having both seen it out of the corner of their eyes.

There was nothing—at least now. The coldness of the room was suddenly going away, as well.

They turned back to each other, nervous.

“…Larry…?”

“…He’s going to have to try harder than that.”

Balki and Mary Anne soon returned with the hot chocolate, the both of them pausing as they noticed the difference in the room, as well.

Soon, they were in chairs beside the bed, and all four of them were drinking the chocolate and trying to reassure each other.  Jennifer was slouched against Larry, resting her head on his chest still, a part of her mindful of Larry’s heartbeat and breathing.

She forced herself not to think about what could have happened had she arrived only just a few minutes later.  Just as Larry had promised he would keep fighting, so would she—Death would have to go through her first to get to him.

For now, though, she would draw comfort from the steady beating of her husband’s heart.

[sunshinetoday]

It’s been ten weeks since our favorite show is back in production!! Let’s see what happened in this week. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. week summaries.

*Clicking on links will take you to the original posting of the video/article/tweet... X marks the posting of linked content on Tumblr. It takes you to be Tumblr link of the person who posted it here.*

This week started with everyone being high on the Comic Con. Like, everyone! The wide range of press coverage and fangirling everywhere was overwhelming and we did enjoy it, for sure! 24 years and we’re still going like crazy.

David and Gillian are the sweetest to meet according to a Bleeding Cool journalist!

The panel had it’s ups and downs but we did learn a lot of the new season and we were all really proud of David for being the man of his word: “In 20 years he will be doing X-files panels” And, yes it did send us down to the rabbit hole again of all the speculations, conspiracy theories and such. All in all, we a fandom based on THAT! Soooo let’s see how this all looked like in terms of facts and figures 😂���But before that, I’m just gonna include this adorable gifset post from @justholdinghandsok to warm your heart and bring a smile on your faces! 

David Duchovny checking on Gillian Anderson since 2013.

The beginning of this week was mostly just press releases, which you can find listed below, so...

Let’s jump to Thursday, and this weeks' #tbt which referenced once again how badass Dana Scully is: “Dana Scully, parkour pioneer” @gillianaofficial

Happy Birthday, Fox Mulder!! 

Fox Mulder turned 56 this year and we celebrated accordingly with fanfictions, gifsets, many many sexy Mulder pictures...check out the dash of your favourite bloggers for the cool stuff!

Brick is getting more and more famous and apparently, he seems to notice it; “Yeah, my dog apparently has about 10.000 twitter followers. It’s gone to his head. We were leaving set and there is a van that takes me to and from the set that has one of those sliding back doors and then the passenger seat door. So they both open at the same time and my dog started…after the twitter thing blew up, he started jumping into the front seat. (X)

Also, in case you didn’t know here is Brick’s story, how he found this amazing human being, his best friend David Duchovny.”Life is a journey and adventure. You never know where it will lead. Thanks for the bath, snacks and home @davidduchovny! #fam Woof” (X)

David is trying to fool us stating: We might think we want a sex scene, but not really ‘cause they are too old...

I mean it’s a nice idea, David but it’s not gonna happen. WE WANT OUR SEX SCENE. And also, I don’t believe anything you just said...

Chris Carter is making the rounds with his Season 11 spoilers: This is something he said at the press table, NYCC...; “Q:...but are we gonna get any kind of peace? Ever? Basically…” Chris Carter: “I mean what is Closure?” (X)

But David and Gillian keep sharing cute and heartfelt behind the scenes stories like the story of the wandering bear: “David Duchovny recalls how he would have saved Gillian Anderson from a bear. “ @youreadarkwizard

I did do a post about all the information we have so far on the episodes, it’s pretty long and full of spoilers... The X-files, Season 11 - What we know so far

On Sunday we had David’s concert at Imperial, Vancouver. There were many tumblrinos there, so we do have many materials to catch up on what we missed! Thank you to all of you for sharing! 

Brick was one of the stars of this event, as well! David was rocking in his Lifeguard hoodie before changing into his rock star outfit! Also, please never ever reference David’s dance moves, Dad Dancing, ever again. Thank you😂😂

David Duchovny concert entrance in Vancouver 14th oct. 2017 @becksndot5

The necessary arm porn picture @xf-fan1993

Some definitely not Dad Dancing moves @ccoblee

David covers Bowie’s “Heroes.” story and video shared by @greeneyes0526

And we also learnt that: “Chris Carter totally surprised David by having a local punk band cover ‘Unsaid Undone’ and putting it in, I think it’s the 3rd episode that we shot.” (X)

And thanks to IMDB’s official The X-files Season 11 pages, now we know that Mulder and Scully will have sex in each episode and we have  William Bill Williamson - Love Scene Supervisor to thank 😂😂😂 (X)

And one more sweet tweet from Brick in this week’s summary; “It was awesome to meet so many fans at the @davidduchovny concert this weekend! Time to get back to work Directing @thexfiles! #action (X)

Filming news:

Gillian was filming on Monday 

#TheXFiles in West Vancouver today. Mulder & Scully (David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson) at Arcade Station on Marine Drive. (X)

SEASON 11: THE X-FILES Mulder & Scully (David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson) in West Vancouver (X)

MILES ROBBINS (susans son) playing William Scully??? #TheXFiles (X)

@WhatsFilming  3FP Signs on 96th Ave. into 14th in Walnut Grove. Could that be X-Files? (X)

Press of the week: 

GILLIAN ANDERSON’S RETURN TO TV IS COMING AT THE PERFECT TIME (X)

NYCC 2017: Gillian Anderson On Cliffhangers, William, And Immortality (X)

NYCC 2017: David Duchovny On Fox Mulder, Fake News, And More (X)

'The X-Files' Cast Talk Season 11 and Thrill of Still Chasing Aliens 25 years Later (X)

The X-Files Eyes Robert Patrick for Season 11 Encore as Doggett (X)

THE X-FILES CAST ON HOW THE REBOOT LIVES UP TO THE ORIGINAL (X)

Mulder and Scully hunt for their son in The X-Files season 11 trailer (X)

The X-Files Mega Buzz: The Search for William Will Bring Mulder and Scully Even Closer (X)

The 25 Best TV Love Stories of The Last 25 Years (X)

Interviews/Videos of the week:

Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny on Mulder/Scully’s Kid | New York Comic-Con 2017 | SYFY WIRE (X)

Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny Take on Social Media (X)

David Duchovny Says Keep An Eye On Mulder's Bulletin Board on 'X-Files'(X)

An Interview With X-Files' David Duchovny at NYCC (X)

Interview with X-Files Gillian Anderson At New York Comic Con (X)

Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny on Mulder/Scully’s Kid | New York Comic-Con 2017 (X)

In other news this week;

David does look like a puppy, thank you @mulders-boyish-enthousiasm

David Duchovny: Songs in the Key of X (X)

Printed version from the Vancouver Sun posted by @becksndot5

David at the Nat & Drew Show (X) 

Remember when Mulder complained about rain and felt Vancouver's wrath? (X)

Gillian Anderson in 200 women

The First Trailer For Agatha Christie's 'Crooked House' Shows How Family Drama Can Make A Murderer (X)

The Movement of #MeToo @gillianaofficial 

David Duchovny stopped by The Nat & Drew Show to talk about his new music, The X Files... (X)

Some awesome gifsets, pictures, and fan arts:

You have to stop him. Before he unleashes hell on earth @tatianagmaslany

Favourite NYCC 2017 moment @mulders-boyish-enthousiasm 

Gillian and David spent a lot of time looking at each other at the New York Comic Con X-Files panel (October 8, 2017) @lilydalexf

Because with all she’s been through, Scully deserves nice things. @msrafterdark

Then and Now @allyinthekeyofx

Colored in my ‘first contact’ drawing I made for inktober @random-ship

Digital painting of Scully inspired by a photo from the set of TheXFiles s11   @chimerart

I think this is it for our tenth week! *Let me know if I missed something or if you have suggestions what to include in the next week summary, feel free to message me anytime*

Lots of love, fam! For another great week ahead!  ❤️ 👽😄👽

[inktober-of-a-fan-girl]

Day 12: Christian Borle

This is from 2009.

More information in Keep Reading.

It started as a book series…

The "Starcatchers" books by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson...

...are an unauthorized series reboot that was published by Hyperion Books (a subsidiary of Disney) in the US and by Walker Books in the UK.

The first book is Peter and the Starcatchers (2004). Set on a ship called Never Land featuring Peter and an earlier group of Lost Boys. In 2005, the publisher announced plans for Disney to adapt the book as a digitally animated movie. Second and third are Peter and the Shadow Thieves (2006) and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon (2007). The fourth book is Peter and the Sword of Mercy (2009), where twenty-three years since Peter and the Lost Boys returned from Rundoon. The Bridge to Never Land (2011), is an expanded part and fifth book where a pair of siblings, Sarah and Aidan Cooper drawn from the modern world as they follow clues left by an ancient coded document. The "Never Land Books" by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, and Greg Call (ill.), is a series of unauthorized spin-off chapter books. Based on the continuity established by the "Starcatchers" novels, for a younger audience. The books are: Escape from the Carnivale (2006), Cave of the Dark Wind (2007) and Blood Tide (2008).

Captain Hook becomes this…

In the novel Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Captain Hook is distinguished by halitosis, beady black eyes, a pock-marked face, and perpetual filth of his person and surroundings contrasting strongly with J. M. Barrie's Etonian gentleman. The novel, which takes place before the Captain meets Peter Pan, calls Hook "Black Stache" for his prominent moustache, and his ship is called the Sea Devil; he captures the Jolly Roger, originally a British ship called the Wasp, later. Black Stache is renamed "Captain Hook" in the second instalment, Peter and the Shadow Thieves. In Barry and Pearson's book, his left hand is accidentally cut off by Peter.

But then it got adapted into a musical/play….

The first book, "Peter and the Starcatchers" was adapted into a play similarly titled "Peter and the Starcatcher" winning several Tony awards. It debuted in the winter of 2009 at La Jolla Playhouse as part of an arrangement with Disney Theatrical. It was re-staged Off-Broadway in 2011 and opened on Broadway on April 15, 2012, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Captain Hook was made into this…

In Rick Ellis' theatrical adaptation of the Barry-Pearson novel, Black Stache (portrayed in the original production by Christian Borle, who won a Tony Award for the role) is a witty, poetical, but psychotic pirate prone to malapropisms and the occasional pratfall. Similar to the Disney film character, Black Stache resembles both a dangerous villain and a comic buffoon. The last of a line of villains, he seeks to become a great villain by fighting a great hero and finds one in Peter. His hand is cut off not by Peter, but accidentally severed when he slams the lid of a trunk in a fit of rage.

I am very disappointed in the creators.

But there is also this one...

Black Stache: A highly intelligent but malapropism-prone pirate chief, so-called due to the black mustache that is a trademark in his family. In search of a great hero who he can oppose to become a great villain, Stache is given to scenery chewing and anachronistic jokes and has a hook in his future. The name ‘Black Stache’ is a reference to the pirate Blackbeard.

Blackbeard will be mentioned in another Inktober.

At least the actor has blue eyes….but there is nothing else in Barrie's character here...just the mustache from which he gets his name.

Anyways, here are the play trailers and at the Tony awards….

"And I bet your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard but I'm not interested!" is the best.

[thanatosrising]

2017 was a really tough year for me, more so than most. It's not that anything bad in particular happened, and in truth I was already in a bad place mentally before 2017 even started, but I really downward spiraled this year. I ended up going on medications for anxiety & depression. The medication so far has been barely enough to keep my stable. I still have a very low mood, am very anxious, and often wake up with panic attacks. Sometimes I get the urge to stab myself in the throat or slam my head in the wall. But I'm stable, and plan to go for CBT in the new year, so hopefully next year will be better.

In the meantime, I've decided to stop doing commissions for the time being and focus on my own stuff. I'm hoping that without the pressure of commissions, I'll enjoy drawing more and will be able to do more. I was planning to keep doing Gaia art auctions, but I think after this last one, I'll be stopping that as well. Depending on how my treatment goes, I may reopen them later in 2018, or perhaps I'll find different styles or methods of taking commissions that aren't quite as stressful. Right now, though, I just want to be in a place where I don't feel burned out.

Anyway, here are the pictures I chose for 2017's year in review:

►01. Mugshot - Thanatos: This was (is) intended to be part of a set of Welcome to Paradise illustrations I have planned, though so far I've only finished up 2 of them. ►02. Crimson & Clover: I drew this because I had the song stuck stuck in my head, but more than that, I really like the way the two words sound together. It doesn't really have much relation to the song, other than being inspired by the name itself.  Qi'nah is crimson and Sky is clover.   ►03. Exhale: This is part of a set of pictures (Void, which I drew last year, is part of the set) themed around depression. I still have a third picture I want to draw for part of this series, that I haven't gotten around to yet. ►04. Mugshot - Jocelyn: Second in the mugshot series. I actually really like how this one came out. It's really rare for me to not find any issue with a picture I draw, I usually hate it a week after I finish (assuming I don't hate it halfway through working on it). If all my pictures could come out like this, I'd be happy. ►05. Kikue: This was a Gaia Online commission. I always worry over commissions far more than non-commission art. Every time I do it, I'm convinced that client is going to end up hating it. You'd think I'd get used to it, but nope. ►06. Cyclone: I really like red/blue/white popsicles, so that was the inspiration at this. I also wanted to practice drawing erotic faces/expressions, so that's why it's a cyclone instead of a rocket or bomb pop. I really want to get into drawing erotic art more. Maybe the free time from not taking commissions will give me some time to practise. ►07. Muir: A RLC commission this time. I don't get the chance to do anime screenshot styled artwork, so this was a nice change of pace. I worried a lot about this one, because the character looked a bit older than the usual age I draw, but overall I'm pleased with how his face came out. This was the first time I tried using my Figma He as a reference. ►08. Room 327: A Gaia Online auction winner. I used my S.H.Figuarts Body-chan as a reference this time. The client requested a lot of fixes, so I'm pretty insecure about this one, in truth. ►09. Aisu: A RLC, another commission where the client requested a bunch of changes, so this one is another one I'm insecure about. Drawing animals is always hard for me, but that's what photo referencing is for! ►10. Sword: October was Inktober, so all the pictures were traditional! It was actually quite refreshing working traditionally, and I feel like I created a lot of fun pieces while I was doing that. I purchased a scanner on Black Friday, so next year I'll have proper scans instead of photos. I also plan on uploading high-res scans of this years pieces to my Patreon subscribers, so look forward to that! ►11. Rhys: Inktober ran into November for me, but I did manage to finish one commission, a Gaia Online auction winner. The client bid quite a lot, so I was really stressed out over it, thinking that I wouldn't be able to live up to it. (You'll notice with commissions my brain finds any excuse to get worried.) I do like how it came out in the end, though, and the client used it in their signature, so I assume they must like it a lot too lol ►12. Ornamental (Part 1): This is a Christmas gift for my mom. Nao was my main OC when I was a teenager, so she's my Mom's favourite OC. It's the one she associates most with me, I guess, so whenever I do gift art for her, it always has to be Nao. As you can infer from the title, I plan on drawing a companion piece (a gift for my roommate), but I don't think I'll finish in time for Christmas.