#the technology lives on for so much longer than s3 lol

[spicyicymeloncat]

I mean, I don’t think they’re forgetting the tech since in one of the more recent seasons, everyone jumps into a video game so advanced it became another dimension and was also sentient with daddy issues… so yeah I think Ninjago tech is pretty advanced. It’s not always the focus but like in the last season we have a robot attack the big bad with a bunch of mini flying clones she made herself. It’s ai generated ai. Ai-ception.

Maybe they’d be surprised about Merlock being a hologram, but then again they all downloaded themselves into a computer on three separate occasions so maybe not (once in s3, once in Decoded and once in s12)

However Knighton has probably had robots for a lot longer. Nindroids in Ninjago is a relatively new, or at least recently mainstream, thing since we see the technology develop throughout the show, where as Knighton has always had technology in the show.

Kinda doubtful that the ninja be worried about a robot uprising since in ninjago, nindroids as well as the npc’s from prime empire, are treated the same as humans (which is unlike the robots of Knighton who seem to be treated like… well like a lower class… which is weird imo).

Would the ninja be impressed by all the knight technology or wil they be meh about it since s3 was a thing in their world

They do seem to be forgetting that ninjago was ever that advanced in all the seasons after it

What even is the state of ninjago tech?? do they still have highly futuristic machines or not

Maybe they're constantly on edge due to robo trauma from that season

[galvanizedfriend]

The Wolf Outtake

This is a little outtake, if you will, of The Wolf universe. It actually fits within the post-TW2 headcanons I've been writing to keep myself happy, so somewhere in S3. It's something that would never fit within the actual story because it's pure domestic fluff. lol I wrote this for @recyclingss, baby Eve's number one fan who yells at me when the child doesn't make an appearance and who’s also the biggest cheerleader this story’s ever had. 💖

This is set much later in the future, and you will notice baby Eve is actually more of toddler Eve here, but I've removed any specific context to make it so this would fit into any point of The Wolf post S2E14, I guess.

Summary: Just random KC+baby moment in The Wolf. It's fluffy, domestic, features the child and Klaus' bitter feelings for Bayou wolves. Nobody asked for it, but I figured, after the WEEK we've all had, maybe people could use some fluff? Hope you guys enjoy it! :)

______________________

Klaus doesn't even realize it's morning already until Caroline stirs next to him, making a lazy hum deep in her throat that pulls him out of his idle reverie. He blinks his surroundings back into focus; the fluorescence that had been filtering in through the windows last time he checked has now been replaced by warm sunlight. He didn’t even notice so much time had gone by.

Caroline rolled onto her side and was quickly lulled into blissful sleep after their late-night exertions. Klaus was distracted by the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest for a long time until his mind was ensnared by its usual culprits, thoughts trapped in the latest batch of torments and woes to take over the Mikaelsons’ lives. 

 When Caroline opens her eyes and offers him a slow smile, Klaus feels himself touch ground again.

 "'Morning," she slurs in that husky voice, still thick with sleep.

 "Good morning, sweetheart," he replies with a short grin.

 Caroline yawns as she stretches out her body under the thin sheet covering her modesty.

 "Did you sleep at all?" she asks, blinking sluggishly at him.

 "I'm well-rested, if that's what you're asking."

 "It's not." Caroline props herself up on one elbow to stare levelly at him. Some of that drowsiness in her eyes dissipates, disappointment panging through him for bringing her back to the harshness of reality so fast. This is why, sometimes, especially on those not-so-rare nights when he ends up not getting any sleep, he'd rather not stay in bed. It allows the reprieve that slumber offers Caroline to last a little while longer. "Is it about Elijah?" she inquires, a knowing look on her face.

 Klaus' eyes wander away from hers. "It's about everything," he states vaguely, but not untruthfully. 

 Caroline hums unconvinced. "While I know you don't need to sleep, I also know it spells nothing but trouble when you can’t. It’s never good when you spend the whole night thinking."

 "Well, not the whole night," he says with a suggestive leer. "I did spend a good portion of the time engaged in far more pleasant activities."

 She rolls her eyes at him, but her smile is more than a little satisfied when she leans into him. "You're not as smooth as you think, Mikaelson."

 "I beg to differ." Caroline chuckles, shifting under the sheets to press herself against his side, placing a kiss on his shoulder, then his neck, his jaw. Klaus snakes a hand around her back, pulling her closer still, feeling the familiar stirrings of heat in his underbelly. "Shall I prove my point?" he all but purrs.

 Caroline smirks against the corner of his mouth, her palm coming to rest on his chest. Klaus covers her hand with his, angling his face to take her mouth into a kiss. Her breasts pressing against his skin sends a tingle shooting through his body, and his other hand is already sliding down her spine, ready to guide her to straddle him, when lively conversation in the next room makes them pause.

 "Oh-oh," Caroline mutters. "I guess that means Mr. Wolfy is up early today."

 Klaus lets out a disappointed sigh.

 Eve doesn't cry so much when she wakes up anymore. Now, she either stays quietly in her crib until someone sees to her, or she starts playing with her toys. A social butterfly like her mother, she loves to engage in complex conversations with that hideous stuffed wolf Jackson gave her and her absolute favorite toy, the wooden knight Klaus carved for Rebekah when they were children.

 When he started to wake up to the sound of her talking to herself, he became worried, thinking maybe she was seeing things they weren't - which, in New Orleans, could mean a number of horrifying deals. But Caroline assured him that it is perfectly normal for young children to talk to inanimate objects, especially one who lives exclusively amongst adults.

 Apparently, it's good exercise for her imagination, or something.

 When Klaus is watching her, he will make a point to take part in her debates, always highlighting Mr. Knight's grandeur compared to Mr. Bog Scum. 

 "Sweetheart, this filthy dog here is the enemy. He wants to shroud you in flannel, carry you away to the swamp and bore you to sleep. Mr. Knight is here to save you from this stinky animal's claws."

 He's convinced one day she'll understand what he means.

 What’s most troublesome, however, is that Eve has started to attempt to climb out of her crib on her own. They always lock the other door to her bedroom when she's asleep, but the door connecting her room to Caroline's is always left unlocked for safety reasons. One of these days, Klaus thinks, their little wolf is going to catch mommy and daddy in very compromising positions. The idea mortifies him, especially because he and Caroline can get a tad carried away. They are a hybrid and a near-hybrid, after all. Too much energy and whatnot.

 "No rest for the wicked," Caroline speaks around a sigh before peeling away from him. Klaus watches her naked form with wistfulness as she climbs out of bed, his prospect of a lovely morning enterprise disappearing alongside the shape of her beautiful breasts as she shrugs on a fleece robe.

 Caroline vamps off to the en suite bathroom to freshen up a bit and then follows to Eve's room.

 "Good morning, sweet cheeks!" she greets their daughter sunnily. "Good morning to you, too, Mr. Wolfy!" Oh, for goodness' sake, Klaus curses inwardly. "And Mr. Knight!" Much better.

 Minutes later, Caroline returns with Eve, comfortable in fresh diapers, right on her heels, carrying Mr. Inconvenient and Mr. Knight.

 When she sees Klaus, she takes off towards the bed, her little legs getting more and more agile by the day. He pulls the sheets and covers up to his chest while she tries to hoist herself up. With ease, using just one hand, Klaus lifts her up and puts her sitting on his stomach.

 "Good morning, my littlest wolf," he says. "Where's my kiss?"

 His daughter leans down and smacks a loud kiss on his cheek, and then holds Mr. Fleabag close to him for a kiss as well. Klaus makes a face. "Not the dog, Eve."

 "Seriously?" Caroline says with a bored air about her. "You're antagonizing a stuffed animal now?"

 "This thing is a health hazard."

 "That thing has a cute little name, Mr. Wolfy, and your daughter loves him."

 "I refuse to treat a swamp dog as though it were a gentleman. Besides, I'm sure she loves Mr. Knight way more, don't you, love? Where's Mr. Hero?" She shouts something that sounds like Miter Nigh before pushing it onto Klaus' face. He cracks a proud smile at her. "There you go." He attacks her with tickles, and Eve bursts with sweet laughter.

 Caroline shakes her head at him, but he notices she's quite clearly biting back on a smile. "You're impossible."

 "I’m quite possible, I assure you," he replies smoothly. "Where are you going?" he asks when she starts tying her hair into a ponytail and taking clothes from her drawers.

 "Running with Marcel."

 "Oh, for goodness' sake," he protests. "Can you believe this, Eve? It's not even seven in the morning and your mother is willingly stepping out of the house to run. I sometimes fear she might be a psychopath."

 She scoffs loudly. "You would know, wouldn't you?" While she walks by him to go into the en suite, she slaps him lightly across the legs. "Stop telling my child that I'm a psycho, psycho."

 "How else am I supposed to explain this insanity? What kind of person runs for pleasure when there is an infinite array of far more gratifying activities to invest your energy into? Just now we were about to -"

 "Not in front of the small child, Klaus!" she chides from the bathroom.

 "She doesn't know what daddy is talking about, do you, love?" Eve giggles while he lifts her up above him, holding her like a flying superhero. "Blissfully clueless."

 Caroline steps back into the room, already in her exercise gear. Klaus lets out an infinitely despondent sigh. He would love nothing more than to get her out of those.

 "It's inappropriate conversation to have in front of the toddler," she remarks, putting on the smartwatch she bought recently to exercise with and measure her sleep patterns or whatever the bloody hell that is. She showed him all of this gizmo’s functionalities, swearing it’s the best thing ever invented by human minds. Klaus thinks it’s adorable, however incomprehensible, that someone with such close ties with the supernatural world would still be so impressed by technology. There’s literally nothing that cannot be sorted through magic. How is a watch that counts steps supposed to awe you once you’ve seen someone brought back from the dead? Caroline’s attachment to her humanity goes way beyond her empathy. "Besides, it was gonna be a quick activity because I'd go meet Marcel anyway,” she adds after a beat.

 "I can make you see stars in five minutes," he leers, a smirk growing on his face.

 Caroline whips her face at him with what is clearly an attempt at outrage but turns into something else when she can't hold her own smile. She can't deny him when his point was proved just the night before. Several times, in fact.

 "Shut up," she retorts simply. "Can you give her breakfast? I left chopped fruits in the fridge. You can wait about an hour after the bottle and give it to her as a little treat - not Fruit Loops."

 "She loves that thing."

 "Of course she does, it's pure sugar. That's exactly why we don't let her have it all the time. She needs to eat real fruits."

 Klaus rolls his eyes, sitting up in bed and putting the baby beside him. "Honestly, sweetheart, your mother sometimes..." 

 Caroline narrows her eyes at him. "You really love to make yourself out to be the cool parent, don't you?"

 "I don't have to make myself out to be anything, love. I am the parent who doesn't deny her the little joys of sugary treats. If that makes me cool, then you’ve only got yourself to blame." 

 "You're the parent who'll spoil her rotten, that’s what. Let's see how you'll feel when she's 16 and her boyfriend is climbing the balcony in her room in the middle of the night because she never learned how to take a no."

 "Oh, I would love for her suitors to climb her window in the middle of the night. It’ll be the last thing they do,” he says, smiling innocently at Eve.

 “You’ll be such a ray of sunshine when she starts dating.”

 “As per usual," he says with a bite of arrogance. "Hold the child so I can get decent, will you?"

 Caroline picks Eve up and keeps her looking firmly the other way while Klaus flashes out of bed and into the bathroom. He hears Caroline teasing her with “Where did daddy go?” and laughing at what he knows is Eve's extremely confused but astonished face. She thinks they're magicians. It's one of her favorite things, to watch as Klaus makes full use of his vampire speed to all but vanish right before her eyes. Modern technology has got nothing on him.

 There's something extremely heartwarming about his daughter's innocence. One day, she'll be old enough to understand why he can do the things he does. When that day comes, Klaus will cease to be a creature of magic and wonder, to become what he truly is: darkness made flesh. 

 He has never been ashamed of what he is, hardly ever had any qualms with filling the villain shoes, quite glad to do it, in fact, but he suddenly finds himself dreading the day when his child will figure out what it means to carry the Mikaelson name. When their family’s history will weigh down on her shoulders as it does on theirs.

 While making people cower in fear at the mere sound of his name has brought him an obscene amount of satisfaction and pride over the centuries, Klaus has to admit he's fascinated by the pure sparkle in his child's eyes. She's the first human being in a millennium who does not see even a fraction of monstrosity in him, no shadow, no taints, no mortal flaws. Not yet, anyway. All she sees is a funny man who makes her laugh and can hold her up with his finger, tells her stories about evil werewolves and keeps her safe and that's enough for her to adore him. Sometimes, he feels unworthy of such love. As though he's a fraud, deceiving his own daughter and taking advantage of her innocence.

 It still astonishes him that he should ever be capable of making something as pure and bright as that little girl. In a thousand years, Klaus Mikaelson has only ever brought misery and pain into this world. Eve is the first genuinely good thing he's ever done. Then, of course, she inherited all of that from her mother, who holds herself open for compassion and kindness even though she is herself in a symbiotic existence with her own beast. Caroline has taken control of her darkness in ways Klaus doesn't think he's ever seen a vampire as young as her do before. She truly is extraordinary, and every day he hopes, from the bottom of his withered heart, that Eve will turn out to be every inch Caroline's daughter more so than his.

 Klaus can still smell last night’s sex all over himself, so he takes a quick shower and puts on a pair of denims and a shirt and vamps back to the room again, just to surprise Eve. She gasps when he materializes next to her, flinching, and then starts laughing like a little maniac, reaching out to him. 

 "Remember," Caroline says as she lets Eve slide over to Klaus' arms. "Bottle, fruits. No Fruit Loops. I'll tell your other child you said hi."

 "A child who enjoys running has clearly learned nothing from me," he grumbles. “Hopefully I’ll do a better job with this one.” 

 “Start by not feeding her Fruit Loops,” Caroline remarks with a grin before she smacks a loud kiss on Eve's cheek and then one on his.

 When she’s gone, Klaus turns to look at his little wolf, watching him with those dark blues of hers as though she's studying her father. Sometimes he wonders if toddlers know more than they let on.

 "Do you want to do magic?"

 "Yes!" she practically screams, her face splitting with a wide, toothy grin.

 "Get ready, then. Are you ready?" She gives him an exaggerated nod. "Keep your eyes open. One, two..." And then he flashes out of the room with her.

______________

✨ Thanks for reading! :) If you’ve enjoyed this silly thing, please drop me a comment! Your reblogs are also much appreciated to help this reach more people. ✨

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

Do you think quintessence exposure prolonged Allura’s life and she would’ve lived an unnaturally long life for even an Altean if she’d lived? I think about this question a lot because this girl got blasted by and was exposed to insane amounts of it.

Hi, asennnaa. Ah, those are good questions! I’m not sure I have a perfect answer because I’m still grappling with how to handle some of the holes or contradictions in this show. I do think VLD’s entire universe confirms that infusions of quintessence into a body, as you suggest, can unnaturally prolong a life. But what counts as “enough” quintessence exposure to really make one immortal? Just “how immortal” can Allura get? Because other characters are shown to require multiple infusions of quintessence in order to remain even marginally immortal.

It looks like Zarkon was still aging, even with quintessence infusion. Here is a fresh Zark:

And here he is again ~10,000 years later with the wrinkly lips, sunken-in cheeks, and big eye baggies that are all standard signs of aging.

Old zarkturtle status achieved.

So despite standard access to quintessence infusions, and even being overcome with quintessence in the rift itself, both he and Haggar seem like they’re fighting a battle with the clock and still losing. Could their lack of immortality and constant need to infuse with quintessence be because they were accosted by rift creatures (so not experiencing “pure” quintessence infusion in the rift)? I suppose it’s possible.

And a lack of ongoing access to pure quintessence might also be part of the entire Galra Empire’s continuous desire to get to purer and larger amounts of quintessence. Because it’s not just power on the line.

Zarkon himself confirms what he hopes to achieve through quintessence in s3:

Desire for immortality is a huge motivator for the entire empire harvesting quintessence in the first place. Zarkon wants to live forever with his friends and family. But oh nu, he’s still aging. And even Lotor?? What is ten or one-hundred-thousand years in the face of a universe that is billions of years old? Is anyone technically immortal in this show? How long can anyone actually live?

An “imperfect-immortality” would also explain the strange reality of Lotor. He is a beautiful boi and is also 10,000 years old as well. Executive Producers Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos suggest in a Season 5 AfterbuzzTV interview that Lotor’s infusion with quintessence in utero results in him aging very, very slowly.

(Here’s the dialogue from the interview if you want it, from around the 13:30 mark:

JDS: It’s pretty safe to say that Lotor’s kind got that Daywalker kind of thing going on.

Interview: —Little vampire—

LM: Being in…in her womb, as [Honerva] was being exposed to all of this quintessence—it’s part of his DNA. It almost puts him on a level with Allura, pretty much who her quintessence is a part of her DNA. So it’s interesting to see.

JDS: And it’s allowed him to stay so beautifully young.

LM: He’s aged at a much slower rate than your average Galra.

Interviewer: So he IS a vampire.

LM: I think all Galra are kinda space vampires.

JDS: They’re kinda space vampires, yeah. Safe to say. You’re getting instead of blood, you’re getting like…planet juice.)

And it just so happens that, in the active plot of VLD, we’re introduced to Lotor at a point in time where he’s aged physically and mentally to the point of, what, maybe early twenties? The canon’s not clear about it. Despite the lack of a canon-backed “mental-to-physical human-age equivalent,” Lotor appears to careen between a tricky mastermind and a boi who’s still a bit embarrassed about his nanny:

(While I tend to think he’s early 20s in physical and mental agility, you could probably even argue Lotor acts like an older teenager still sometimes, lol. Quality eye-roll and pout right here. Does anyone else get, “Mom, shut up” vibes from this gif? And even his idealism, his unshakable belief that simply giving the empire what it wants will result in peace--it lacks a critical foresight about other people experiencing quintessence madness, dangers from within the rift, and the inevitable wars to “control the gates” and such technology. And there’s some things to be said about humans obtaining full brain development around age 25, as the prefrontal cortex, which inhibits impulses and assists with critical decision-making, is the last section to develop in full. So it makes me think, for all his intelligence and schemes, that he’s mentally a bit younger than he’d like to appear. And obviously doesn’t want to appear, considering how embarrassed he is about his nanny in front of his new-found friends, lol.)

But I digress. So just based on the evidence and the extra-canon commentary from EPs, it seems that if we panned out 20,000 years in the future, we might see a significantly aged Lotor, with the deep face lines and lip wrinkles and gaunt cheeks. Because he’s never stopped aging. His body clock is just totally and utterly creeping along, lucky boy.

If you want to trust the extra-canon text, then you might be able to extrapolate that like Lotor’s DNA, Allura’s DNA gives her an extended life. Although unlike slow-age Lotor, Allura appears to have had a more accelerated childhood. She can’t be more than Kova’s 28 decaphoebs (years), given that the season 3 finale shows Allura was born after Kova’s introduction. And yet, unlike Lotor’s strange history of taking forever to grow up, Allura presents as physically mature within a fairly normal timeline.

This would actually suggest that something is a bit weird about Allura’s DNA. And its something that makes her quintessence more intense than even Lotor’s own quintessence signature, if you want to go by the interviews where LM says, “It almost puts him on a level with Allura.”  

So what was this mysterious event?

Allura certainly could still infuse herself or be infused with quintessence to prolong her life, but that wouldn’t prolong her life indefinitely or put her even within range of what’s naturally going on with Lotor’s DNA.

Is there something inherently unique about Allura’s lineage or species, then, that could answer this?

Let’s look at Alteans first. The canon seems oddly contradictory about the natural age of Alteans. Coran is at least 600 years old because he was alive with the Castle of Lions was being built. But yet executive producer LM states that there’s something inherent in Allura’s DNA that makes her even more special than the average person, and even more strangely…Allura’s father, Alfor, doesn’t seem to fall into either of these two categories.

??

Despite Alfor understanding the deep secrets of the universe via Oriande, and having personal direct exposure with unlimited pure quintessence through building and even fighting in Voltron, he ages. Hard.

Here’s Alfor as a young man:

Here’s Alfor, only decaphoebs later, not long before he died.

So here we have an aging Alfor. And oof, in less than 28 decaphoebs, with no explanation as to why Coran would be doing so well in comparison. (Feel free to speculate!)

So whatever is wrong with Alfor’s life cycle, it would seem to be an isolated incident that not even exposure to Voltron or to the rift could undo. In which case, it’s hard to know if Allura’s DNA would naturally have the same weaknesses from her lineage. If not, then she should at least be able to reach 1,000 years naturally, if the spunky Coran is any measure to go by.

But Alfor did do something that I think places Allura as entirely unnatural and probably the most likely candidate to have a form of true immortality in this entire show:

So right in season 1, episode 1, Coran admits that Alfor has done some pretty wild alchemy. He physically connected Allura’s essence with the essence of Voltron—the single source of self-regenerating, infinite quintessence throughout the whole of the entire universe.

I’m not sure if this alchemical forge-bond would protect Allura from physically aging, but it would suggest that Voltron’s life force and Allura’s life force are intimately tied on the material plane. There is no other canonically shown bond like this in a living person, in the VLD universe. It makes Allura entirely unique as a character and likely helps to explain why she is so consistently over-powered compared to even Haggar/Honerva.

Because unlike ANY other Altean, including Honerva, Allura has an infinite, massive battery of pure quintessence to pull from at will. And it’s tied to her very life force.

I don’t know if a person’s life force being personally connected to Voltron would confer physical immortality, but I do think there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that as long as Voltron exists, Allura’s essence would be preserved within it. And as we saw in season 6, Shiro was capable of interacting with other paladins despite his physical death, because Black Lion had preserved his essence.

So I guess all of this is to say, it seems there would be a lot of reasons for why Allura could live a very long life. It does seem that if she infused herself with quintessence in an ongoing fashion, and she quite often has, then her already long Altean lifespan would become longer. And even in physical death, Allura could still “exist” like s6 Shiro to communicate and interact with the living, in a way that not even her father could.

(Which makes you wonder about that s8 ending with the Lions mysteriously flying off for an unknown reason and Lance’s Altean marks lighting up like a homing beacon, but oof, that’s perhaps another topic.)

Thank you so much for the ask! I hope my winding ramblings help to answer your question or encourage further thought about the possibilities!

[inevitably-johnlocked]

any recs for old!Johnlock? (Preferably not retired) Thanks!

Hi Nonny!

Ohhh, hmm. You know, I have absolutely READ older-couple Johnlock fics, but the only ones I’m remembering are when they’re retired or “not together but have got together when they old and dying” LOL. 

I did a list last year for Retirementlock fics, and I do have new stuff but not a lot, so is it okay if I do “Retirement and Older Johnlock” fics for you? I hope so!! I tag them retirement if it’s retirement, so you can skip those ones

Feel free, my friends, to add your own!!

RETIREMENT and OLDER JOHNLOCK (Jan 2020)

Our Bodies Bend Light by lovetincture (G, 1,211 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Beekeeping, Retirement) – They got married. Of course they got married. Snapshots in a relationship. There’s a jar of bees in the bookstore and a cottage in Sussex. Sherlock’s not the marrying kind, and John’s tried this once before, but they’re Sherlock and John. Of course.

Fine Print by mistyzeo (E, 4,224 w., 1 Ch. || ACD Holmes || Est. Rel, Retirementlock, Glasses, Oral, Hand Jobs, Bees) – Holmes needs glasses, but he’s too much of a stubborn arse to go get his eyes checked. Watson is used to bullying him for his own good. The glasses have unexpected but not unwelcome consequences for everyone.

a very soft epilogue (my love) by darcylindbergh (E, 5,395 w., 3 Ch. || Retirement, Domestic Fluff, Dancing, Dogs, Grumpy Old Men) – Across the pillows, Sherlock shifts and hums, the creases of his face deepening and then smoothing before settling. John watches him wake up, his chest swelling with affection and fondness, and thinks he’ll never get tired of Sherlock in the mornings, sleepy and soft. It’s been some forty-odd years, and John hasn’t gotten tired of it yet. Part 5 of things fairy tales are made of

Second Waltz by Atiki (T, 6,685 w. 1 Ch. || Magical Realism, Missed Chances, Retirement, Sussex, Bees, MCD, Angst with Happy Ending, Fluff, Cancer) – “The night I died, you wished I could wait for you.”

Abatement by WhimsicalEthnographies (E, 6,816 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Retirementlock, Fluff, Sherlock’s Self Esteem, Grumpy Sherlock, Idiots in Love, PWP, Fluff and Smut, Bottomlock) – “What’s wrong with you? You love the cottage,” John glances over to the passenger seat, then quickly turns his eyes back to the road. Driving was still not his forte, but considering Sherlock still couldn’t properly bend and lift his new knee enough to press and release the clutch, he had to make do. Not that Sherlock hadn’t tried to argue his way into the driver’s seat. “I love the cottage for a week or two, John. Don’t be deliberately obstuse,” Sherlock grumbles, sinking further in his seat. Well, as best he can with a four-week-old knee replacement. “And that’s all we’re going for, love,” John says out loud. But what he’s thinking is, shit. He knows.

A Lifetime Together by LondonGypsy (M, 8,886 w., 1 Ch. || Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Falling in Love, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Pining Idiots, Alternating POVs, Domestics, Retirement) – John and Sherlock falling in love.

Five Times Sherlock Realized He Was Getting Older by Mildred Graves (T, 9,215 w., 6 Ch. || Five and Ones, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Old) – … And one time it didn’t matter.

In The End by whitchry9 (K+, 9,677 w. || Memento Fusion || Amnesia, Growing Old, Hurt / Comfort, Friendship, Heavy Angst) – When a brain injury leaves Sherlock unable to make new memories, John wonders how Sherlock will cope, and what it will mean for The Work and their life. Because after all, how can you live if you can’t feel time passing?

Through the Clouds by Mazarin221b (E, 20,004 w., 6 Ch. || Retirement, Sussex, Bees, Home Improvement, First Time, Romance) – Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing. They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you’re living to find the life you want. Part 1 of Through The Clouds

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w., 4 Ch. || Post-TRF, John has a Kid, Angst, Reunion, Falling in Love, Open Ending) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

The Wisteria Tree by SilentAuror (E, 29,773 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S3, Emotional Love Making, Amnesia/Memory Loss, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Sherlock POV, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, First Times, Hurt/Comfort, Est. Rel., Retirement) – Sherlock wakes up from a month-long coma only to discover that he has no memory of the previous six years to his own shock as well as John’s…

The Winter Garden by Callie4180 (T, 31,213 w., 13 Ch. || Post-S4, Retirement, Christmas, Slow Burn, Grown-Up Rosie, Parenthood, Rosie’s Cat, Angst with Happy Ending, Holidays, Beekeeping, Magical Realism, Sherlock POV, Sherlock’s Violin, Future Fic, Sussex, Honey, Magical Healing Honey, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Scar, First Kiss, Touching, Mycroft is Dying) – As Sherlock nears the end of his career, he’s given the gift of a cottage in Sussex. The honey from the beehives out back is amazing. Almost…magical.

Chaperones by MissDavis (T, 34,114 w., 7 Ch. || 11 Years Post-S4, Fake Relationship, Parentlock, Disney World, Bed / Room Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, First Kiss, Obsessive Sherlock, Insecure John) – Right. Of course. Everyone assumed they were a couple and no one would question it. John put his elbows up on the table so he could rest his head in his hands. “You want to pretend to be a couple so we can chaperone a trip to Disney World with Rosie’s class and you won’t have to share a room with a stranger?” “Exactly.” Sherlock beamed at him. “Don’t worry about the cost. The Birmingham case last month paid more than enough to cover expenses for all three of us.”

Where Else Would I Be? by cwb (E, 34,910 w., 10 Ch. || Retirementlock, Domestic Fluff, Falling in Love, Parentlock, Fluff and Smut, Reminiscing) – John and Sherlock’s five-year-old granddaughter spends the weekend with them in Sussex. Sherlock happily indulges her whims, and John takes care of them while quietly revisiting the past thirty years of their lives together.

Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

between each beat are words unsaid by darcylindbergh, hudders-and-hiddles (T, 107,998 w., 215 Ch. || Epistolary, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Angst, Happy Ending) – On their wedding night, John and Sherlock gift each other with the things they each said when the other could not hear, the things they each put down where the other could not see: a collection of writings that illustrate the way their love for one another has grown over the years. Part 1 of between each beat

Unkissed Series by 221b_hound (T to E, 184,100 w. across 45 works || Established Relationship, Ace Sherlock) – Sherlock returned from the dead a year ago. John returned to Baker Street six months ago. They’ve been in a couple since then. or at least, not NOT a couple. For two smart men, they sure can be dumb. Luckily, an art thief tries to drown Sherlock, Sherlock has a fever dream and things are about to change.

Sketchy by serpentynka (E, 184,053 w., 83 Ch. || Post-TRF, Post-Mary, John Whump, Slow Burn Love Story, Case Fic, Art, Porn With Feelings, Switchlock, Travelling, Career Change, Family Secrets, Illness / Health) – What (and who) will be left when nobody cares about your Work? A slow-burn fic with cases, places, mistaken identities, unfair choices, essential changes, violent feels, blatant lies, fearless portraiture, family secrets, high-risk bespoke gifts, durable friendships, bedtime stories, foreign travel and tongues, sickness (and health), and the significance of things which are slow to unfurl – but cannot be ignored. Oh, and…porn. Part 1: Sherlock takes on an obvious case (barely a 4) and meets someone who will force him to re-examine what it means to see. Part 1 of Sketchy

MARKED FOR LATER

The Last of the Honey Bees by what_alchemy (T, 2,000 w., 1 Ch. || Apocalypse, Retirement) – “When we’re all space dust… when all of this is gone? My molecules will find yours.”

A One-Track Life by JennLynn77 (E, 13,526 w., 7 Ch. || Post S4/TFP, Parentlock, Est. Rel., Medical Procedures, Anal, Cuddling/Snuggling, Bed Sharing, Surgery, Physical Therapy, Retirement, Sherlock Whump, Caring John, Bottomlock, Endearments, Drug Addiction, Triggers) – A medical situation threatens to derail the plans Sherlock had for his life with John and Rosie.

Deck the Halls by itsalwaysyou_jw (T, 31,018 w., 24 Ch. || Advent Fic / Multiple One-Shots, Assorted Tags) – One Johnlock ficlet for every day leading up to Christmas. Who is ready for pining, first kisses, established Johnlock, and everything in between? This collection of stand-alone ficlets will have it all. (Ch. 7 is the Retirement Fic)

FictoberLock 2018 by FinAmour & unicornpoe (M, 60,875 w., 31 Ch. || Halloween, Protective John, Smitten Sherlock, Fluff, First Kiss, Injured Sherlock, Various Prompts) – 31 different prompts, 31 Johnlock fics: one every day for the month of October! Each chapter is a stand-alone story. Some are written by unicornpoe, some by FinAmour, and some are written by us both! They range in length from ~500 words to ~3500 words, and there’s something in here for everyone. (Ch. 23 is the Retirement Chapter)

[magenta-storm]

So, even though I haven’t seen season 3 or 4 yet thanks to it still not having aired here yet, I decided to watch The Originals finale. I’d already inadvertently ran into so many spoilers over the years I just gave up and decided to rip the bandaid off quickly rather than try to remain unspoiled for fuck knows how much longer. (insert it’s been 84 years gif) Especially since I’d already seen people saying it was inevitable that at least one of my boys had to die.

So after spending like 4 hours and nearly blowing up my internet to find a way past the geoblocking because I fail at technology forever, I watched it. Mixed feelings abound.(though at least one upside is it’s made me less impatient for s3 to hurry up and air because I couldn’t take watching it in the near future anyway)

Ultimately I can’t say I hated it, but I definitely think it could have been executed better. It seemed rushed to me, and it seemed that everyone just gave up way too easily and accepted that there was no way out but death. But even though I’m disappointed in the laziness of basically having everyone act like they knew they were in their series finale rather than trying to fight and live as they’ve done every time they’ve faced problems like that in the past, I can’t say I’m too disappointed in the actual outcome.

In a perfect world I would have preferred a happy ending, with everyone alive and together, but I never thought there was much chance of that happening. That thought was cemented by the announcement of Legacies. So I’d pretty much already accepted this outcome weeks ago.

I’m definitely pissed as fuck that this stupid spinoff no one asked for is the reason why half the Mikaelsons have to die right now, but I’m not mad that Klelijah dying together was the ultimate endgame.

I’ve seen so many people screaming on twitter that it was the absolute worst ending possible, and fair enough. I can see why a lot of people would see it like that. And there’ve been times when I’ve considered the possibility and agreed that I would hate an ending where they both died. But then considering the other possible terrible endings I’ve tortured myself by imagining for the last couple of years, all I can say is, lol those people have no imagination because I’m thankful as hell she only killed them.

There are so many other scenarios I can think of that would have been truly sadistic. I've been scared for ages it could end with the whole family separated in a massive never-going-to-speak-again feud. Or separated by force like the end of season 3 & 4, but permanently.

If the last shot of season 4 had been the series finale, with Klaus longingly staring at a happy Elijah who doesn’t know who he is, holy fuck I would legitimately have hurled myself into the fucking sun. Yes, I cried for like 3 hours over the finale but they were a mixture of sad and happy tears. If s4 or anything like it had been the end, I’d have been furious as well as sad and I would never get over it and I mean never, oh boy I would still be enraged on my deathbed.

If one had died without the other, maybe I could have accepted if it were done just right but I think I would have found it a crapton more upsetting, even if it was done well. If it was done poorly then, again - endless rage and disappointment.

It’s crossed my mind before that if they wanted to be really horrible they could kill Rebekah instead and emotionally destroy the entire family.

My worst nightmare was that it would end with Klaus and Elijah separated after a massive ‘that’s it I’m done I hate you & there’s no way back from this’ level fight. Or even worse, one actually killing the other after such a fight. If that had happened *shudders* My soul would have fucking shriveled up and died. Straight up disintegrated into ash like they did lol

Lots of people have been saying that them deciding they don’t need each other anymore would've been the best ending. I understand that argument intellectually but emotionally, I hate that idea so so much. An ending with any of the Mikaelsons getting over their codependency would hurt so much and piss me off. As it is I am a bit distressed was Rebekah left behind, but at the same time I can hardly be mad they didn’t kill her before she got to marry Marcel. And she is going to take the cure so she will be joining them reasonably soon.

And like, of course I agree that kind of co-dependency is bad and not to be aspired to in real life duh, but for my thousand year old, dysfunctional even before they were vampires vampire family? It’s who they are and I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to imagine them without that trait. They’re absolutely terrible clingy, unhealthy messes and that’s why I love them. They wouldn’t be them if they suddenly stopped being borderline incestuous walking disaster areas.

I have seen. just. so many. people say that the conclusion should have been for Klaus and Elijah to break their codependency and I just. ??? I don’t even know why someone would like the show or the characters if they really found their bond to be toxic and ugly instead of um, toxic and beautiful lol.

I mean, if there’d been an ‘everyone lives happily ever after’ ending then sure it would have been nice to see their dynamic get a little healthier. But since that was never gonna happen and there had to be a death, it makes sense they wanted to go together.

I definitely have a problem with the plot holes & general sloppiness of the whole thing. It’s clear Plec dumped The Originals in the garbage as soon as she got the go ahead for her new show about damaged teenage orphan Hope and the inevitable ‘how will she ever choose between the ten guys fawning over her’ drama *eyeroll*

The finale was definitely rushed and it is bullshit that Klaus said a proper goodbye to whoever the chick from The Vampire Diaries was and not, oh I don’t know, his goddamn son!!

Elijah’s goodbyes were rushed as well, didn’t even see him hug Freya for fuck’s sake. It should have been a two-parter if they couldn’t manage their time better than that.

But the last scene itself felt like the right ending for the characters. Ideally, it wouldn’t be under those specific circumstances, but I don’t see it as the wrong decision to have them die together.

Also, most of the people I’ve seen mad about the ending were 110% on board with Elijah dying and didn’t care about him at all and are only mad that Klaus died too. Like sure, people are entitled to their opinions and favourite characters but it seems like most of those complainants thought the plot holes and rushed-ness were A-OK when they thought it would only be Elijah who died and didn’t care about how Klaus would feel being left without him. And a little petty part of me is happy those people are mad about the ending because how can you claim to be a Klaus stan if you value his relationship with one of the most important people in his life that little? I love Elijah a fraction more than Klaus but if Elijah had died and not Klaus I wouldn’t just be upset my favourite character died, I would also be upset for Klaus losing him and I would be wishing that neither of them died, not that Klaus had died instead.

Also, a big part of why I can accept their deaths is a) we know there is an afterlife where they can be together and happy and b) said afterlife is constantly treated like it has a revolving door in this ‘verse. It’s really not that hard to just imagine that everything is fine in the end as either the rest of the family eventually joins them or that they might find a way to resurrect them.

[immortalpramheda]

The 100 ‘The Chosen’

I can't believe this is the second last episode of the season! It's gone by so fast! And by the looks of the promo for the finale I think this season is probably my favourite season of the show. I've absolutely LOVED this season! And the thoughts of what S5 could be are mind blowing!

Skaikru getting thrown out of the bunker was heartbreaking. And to have us follow that little boy. This show likes to mess with my emotions. My favourite part of that scene was Murphy and Niylah (Richard and Jessica Harmon) finally interacted! But man, was that scene intense. I mean, Skaikru had all settled into the bunker and thought they were safe. And then to be told that over 300 of them are going to die. I can’t even imagine how they’re feeling.

So Jaha decided to go with his idea and hold a lottery. Sure, that’s the fairest option. They decided to save all the important people first. Clarke, Bellamy, Jaha, Kane, Abby (although Abby said she didn’t deserve a spot in the bunker) etc. And all the kids, because they’re young and will be able to reproduce. So that left 80 spots. That’s not many. When you think about it that is not many people at all.

Papa Miller writing Nate’s name instead of his own broke me. This is taking me back to S1 when those 300 people sacrificed themselves on the Ark. That dad with his little boy accepting that he’s going to die and asking Jaha to take care of his son. The parallels to the culling were a bit too emotionally overwhelming.

It is a bit unfair considering Jaha is the one who found the bunker. And it’s true that the Grounders know next to nothing about technology and won’t know how to make food and water etc. So I get their argument. Skaikru will basically be running the bunker so they should have more people. I get that. But the future of humanity is also important. If all the different clans integrate humanity will have a more diverse future. If they could all live as one people imagine how different and better the world could be.

Jaha’s plan to attack the Grounders was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. He was desperate to save his people, I know. But if they’d done it if would have been a blood bath. The situation they’re in sucks, but it’s their only option. Octavia was willing to kill them all. “My people, my responsibility.” She gave them time, and they didn’t do what she asked. The choice they have to make sucks, but it’s better than all of them dying.

Kane somehow managed to convince Jaha to not go through with the attack. Jaha finally listened to someone instead of going ahead with his own stupid plan. Skaikru wouldn’t listen to reason and so they gassed them. That left me really unsettled. They have turned into the Mountain Men. It was what they had to do though. It was either that or lots of death.

Clarke’s list did come into play. Kane didn’t like what he did, but he knows he had to. It was actually really sad seeing them carry the unconscious bodies. Either taking them into the bunker, or taking them out to die. Fuck.

Octavia literally looks like the Commander. People look to her as the Commander. They listen to her. The Grounders have well and truly taken her as their own. She won the Conclave and the Grounders had accepted that her people would get to take it, but Octavia did the honourable thing and shared it with them all. The respect her for that.

I loved when she rescued Niylah. She knows what it’s like to be caught between 2 clans. I think she now knows she’s not Skaikru. When she stood up to Jaha about being forced to live under the floor that was such a great moment! I feel like now Octavia knows who she is. She looks comfortable where she is at the moment. The Grounders accept and respect her. Except for when she was with Lincoln, I don’t think she’s ever felt like that before. Like she belongs.

Monty, Harper and Murphy are not on the list. So lucky they didn’t stay around. Now we come to Day Trip 3.0. Clarke and Bellamy were heading out to rescue Raven. They were wearing these awesome red suits. Lol, they looked great in them!

Clarke was wearing her hair in a plait, just like in S1, and it was making me all nostalgic. It was like when Abby said goodbye to Clarke just before the 100 were sent to the ground. And lets be honest, it was goodbye for good this time. Well, at least for 5 years.

Abby changed her mind about there being no good guys. She told Clarke that she is a good guy. I don’t know how I feel about that. Clarke is not perfect by any means, but I wouldn’t say she’s a good guy or a bad guy. She’s in the grey area. She has reasons for the decisions she’s made. But sometimes they are not the best decisions, like stealing the bunker for her own people. Everyone has reasons for doing the things they do. Even the most villainous characters, for example Cage, I can sympathise with. All he wanted was for his people to be able to live outside, even though it meant killing the 48. I understood his reasoning. One of the things I love about this show is that there are no inherently bad or inherently good guys. They’re all just characters with their own reasons for the decisions they make. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t know if I like that Abby redacted her previous comment. I like characters who are neither good nor bad.

Day Trip 3.0. Murphy and Emori decide to join them. Well, Emori has no chance of being on the list so her and Murphy are planning to go live in the lighthouse bunker. Although they probably won’t live very long down there.

Then we come to the moment where Bellamy and Clarke are having a heartfelt conversation and Bellamy is too busy staring at Clarke’s face that he accidentally runs someone over and crashes into a tree. Great job Bellamy. Seriously though, Clarke must know the way he feels about him after that. I mean, HE CRASHED INTO A FREAKING TREE BECAUSE HE WAS STARING AT YOU. The Bellarke on this episode was great.

It was an ambush. One person sacrificed themselves so that the other Grounders could have a chance at stealing the suits. That fight scene was intense!! Fuccckk!! I didn’t know how they’d get out of that. Luckily, Echo came riding (on her very beautiful horse!) and started shooting them with arrows. Who would have thought that Echo would come to their rescue?? I guess she’s no longer  a part of Azgeda so she has nothing to lose. She’s just trying to survive. I like Echo as a character, but have never really like her as a person. But she has started to redeem herself. I’m all for good redemption storyline so I’m happy she’s getting a second chance.

They left with 23 hours until Praimfiya. It takes 10 hours to get to the island, and 10 hours to get back. But because of Bellamy’s reckless driving, that cost them quite bit of time. Now they could either go back to the bunker and leave Raven, or go be with Raven and not make it back to the bunker. They decided to go be with Raven! Thanks god they did! I don’t want to think about Raven being left alone when the death wave hits.

The radiation had started to get worse. The colour of the sky and air looked really dark and reddish. Emori started getting sick because her suit had a hole in it. I love how protective of her Murphy is. Clarke gave her helmet to Emori. Clarke’s a nightblood so she hoped that would protect her from the radiation. But it didn’t. It didn’t work.

They got Monty and Harper to come rescue them and they all went to the island to be with Raven.

Raven was just sitting there realising that no one is coming to save her. She looked so sad. She had just decided to live and now she was going to die. But then the squad turned up and looked down on her in their awesome suits and took their helmets off in synchronisation. Haha loved that moment! #squadgoals

Bellamy hugged Raven and that was everything. And then Clarke’s plan. THEY ARE GOING BACK TO SPACE!! BACK TO THE ARK!!

Aaaaaah I am so so so happy!! Going back to space has been my theory since the S3 finale!! I can’t believe this is actually happening. It’s actually happening!!

That was an incredible episode!!! I can’t even put into words how amazing it was. I can’t stop watching the finale promo. It is going to be INSANE!!

So here’s what I think, S5 is going to be a parallel of S1. The adults on the ground and the kids in space. And the season will end with them coming back to Earth and everyone being reunited. But, Clarke might be left behind based on the shot of her in the promo. For some reason, maybe there not being enough space in the rocket, someone has to stay behind and Clarke volunteers. She has nightblood, but it seemed like it didn’t protect her from the radiation. But remember Luna got sick and then her body healed on it’s own. I think that’s what might happen to Clarke. She’ll get really sick when Praimfiya comes but then she’ll get better on her own because of her nightblood. She’ll survive and be waiting for them to come back. As much as I hate the thought of her being left on her own, it would make a great cliffhanger ending for the season! And I’m hoping we see more about the Second Dawn cult and the Penal Colony. Aaaah so many possibilities! My head is going to implode thinking of everything that could happen.  

As I said, I think this is my favourite season of the show. This episode was incredible and the next episode looks even more incredible! I’m constantly amazed by how good this show is.