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edettethegreat · 4 years ago

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BONUS ROUND (aka part 1.5)- Some additional things for staging King Lear so that Edmund is 100% more sympathetic

Part 1

Due to the fact that the audience needs to be told things via physical action makes this job of mine (ie making Edmund more sympathetic) (that I definitely did not have to do) a whole lot more difficult.

I gotta add in some more stage directions to really push the points I’m going for. So that even the dumbest audience member will get my point.

Casting/ Costumes

-Curan, who I have previously decided is the Captain Edmund talks to later, has red hair. Like, a bright shade of red. Since it’s not a common hair color, the audience will be able to recognize that the same servant is now the captain.

- regarding Cornwall’s costume- This is a very valid example of what I was trying to describe (but like- plus a black jacket)

-Edgar and Gloucester have a very strong family resemblance to each other. Edmund does not. In fact, Edmund looks almost nothing like them. (For example, if Edgar and Gloucester have dark brown hair, Edmund would have light blond hair.) (I know, I know- that’s not necessarily how genetics work. BUT. That’s also not not how genetics work.)

-EXCEPT. Now hear me out because I’m right. Hear me out. This is good. Edmund and Gloucester share the same, very distinctive, eye color. So that when Gloucester’s eyes get stabbed out, it’s also severing the one strand of a connection he had with Edmund. ✨Symbolism!✨

ACT 1 SCENE 1

-At the start of the scene, the stage already has people on it. It’s like. A party kinda but not really? It’s a royal event- a bunch of noblepeople would be there. The Door (TM) (and by now (assuming you read part 1) you should know that The Door (TM) is one of my favorite set pieces here) is on the stage towards the middle in the back.

-you can see Gloucester, Kent, and Edmund walking towards it, ie to enter and join the other guests in the room. There is no wall between “behind” the door and in front of it. Only an implied wall created by how the set is set up. So you can still see them.

Here’s a not-so-helpful illustration:

I do recognize how unhelpful that illustration is. I’m sorry.

-As they approach the door, Gloucester pauses, waiting. Kent stands behind him- waiting to see what he’s waiting for. As you’ve guessed by now, this Earl of Gloucester is waiting for his bastard son to open the door for him. (Headcanon that Gloucester treats Edmund like a servant 99% of the time. Headcanon that Edmund would rather be a servant, because at least servants can quit their jobs.)

-Edmund opens it. Kent’s just like “what- what just happened?”. But Gloucester enters, and Edmund seems to be waiting for him to enter as well, and so he does. (It was this, combined with everything I wrote in Part 1, that makes Kent ask “Is not this your son, my lord?”, ie ??he’s not a servant tho?? Why, Gloucester?? Why are you like this??)

-As I mentioned earlier (I think- Unless I was just planning on mentioning it, and I didn’t actually get around to doing so) (I don’t exactly write these things in order), Extras are already on stage. The whole stage has a “ah yes this is an upper class event. The people here are all fancy rich people” vibe.

-As Gloucester has his epic conversation with Kent, other less high ranking noblemen stand around them as well. They don’t say anything or join in- probably because they’re less higher ranking.I know nothing about the hierarchy of English nobility, but let’s just say that Gloucester and Kent are pretty high ranking people.

-anyway the only purpose of doing that is for the “make Gloucester 100% more of a jerk” aspect of this.

-ie, he’s not just insulting Edmund in private, or in front of a close friend of his. He’s insulting him in public, in front of all the random noblemen.

-everything else I wrote in Part 1 about this scene stays the same.

ACT 1 SCENE 2

-Edmund stands by the desk as he talks to Edgar. (As you’d remember from part 1, he was sitting at the desk as he started his 2nd soliloquy).

-at “Some villain hath done me wrong!” Edgar slams his hands down on the desk. Edmund backs away as he says his lines “That’s my fear....”. He sees that Edgar is really angry (yeah, no kidding.), and is like “oh.... oh he would not hesitate to kill me with his bare hands at the moment.”

ACT 2 SCENE 1

-at “and of my land?..... loyal and natural boy, I’ll work the means to make thee capable”, Gloucester is still facing away from Edmund/ not looking at him. He motions vaguely to him at the words “loyal and natural..”. The line is said in a way making it clear that by it he’s actually saying “well Edgar’s not a valid heir to my stuff anymore, what’ll I do with my land??.... ah, I guess Edmund will have to get them. Oh well.”

ACT 2 SCENE 2

-Not exactly a stage direction, but a second reason for why “his” in the sentence “no more, perchance, does mine, nor his, nor hers” is referring to Gloucester and not Edmund: Kent’s response to this is “I have seen better faces in my time”, so “his” can’t be Edmund, since practically the first thing Kent says about Edmund in Act 1 Scene 1 is “hmmm yes that is a Nice Looking person”

-I’m revising what I said in part 1 (mainly just about where Edmund is standing on stage/ where everyone is standing on stage)- I’m changing this scene to be more in favor of @suits-of-woe’s Cornwall Theory. (HEY PEOPLE, GO READ THE CORNWALL THEORY. I don’t just link it here for fun- I link it so you all can go read it)

-SO

-just to reiterate what I said last time about this scene- Edmund enters to break up Kent and Oswald’s fight with a sword (more specifically- Edgar’s two handed sword that he just used to fight Edgar and stab himself with). His arm is wounded from that one time about two seconds ago when he stabbed it. It’s been bandaged. He’s holding the sword well enough, but it’s clear that he wouldn’t be able to actually fight anyone with it.

-NOW MOVING ON TO NEW STUFF

-at “..come, I’ll flesh ye..”, Kent draws his sword and challenges Edmund. (Wait. His sword’s already drawn, right? Ok then nevermind, he just challenges Edmund.)

-Gloucester, Cornwall, and Regan Enter, and walk a bit onto the stage.

-At “Weapons! Arms! What’s the matter here??”, Gloucester notices the fight and takes like 5 steps away from it. It’s clear that he’s like “nope nope nope not dealing with this today-”

-Regan stays where she is. She’s not particularly scared of the fight, and knows that neither Kent nor Oswald would dare injure her, considering she’s literally the king’s daughter.

-Cornwall, however, at his lines of “Keep peace, upon your lives! He dies that strikes again!” moves to stand in between Edmund and Cornwall- ie facing Cornwall, in a way that would be protecting Edmund. He also is confident neither Kent nor Oswald would hurt him- he’s higher ranking than both of them.

(Illustrated for your convenience) (Scribbled out Edmund bc I didn’t know how tall to make him)

-Cornwall can see clearly that Edmund is in no condition to fight (at least not with a two handed sword). As the next few lines are said, Cornwall takes the sword from Edmund, in a “don’t worry about this- I got this” sort of way. He gently pushes Edmund towards where Gloucester and Regan are standing- in the same sort of way; showing “hey. I’ll deal with this. It’s not your job to defend us. Go chill with the rest of The Group.”

ACT 3 SCENE 3

-remember when I said Gloucester is angry in this scene?

-yeah well I gotta really push that point using some ✨stage directions✨ rather than just “Gloucester yells a lot”

-ANYWAY

-The Door (TM) is turned sideways for this scene, and Gloucester and Edmund enter from the side of the stage

Here’s a totally helpful illustration

-Gloucester is clearly angry, Edmund is Hiding His Emotions (TM).

-Gloucester starts his lines while he grabs the doorknob and forcefully opening the door. As Gloucester storms on to the main part of the stage, he slams the door behind him, right before Edmund could walk through it after him. Because of course, Gloucester has to forget that Edmund exists at lest once a scene. Edmund stands outside the door for a sec, as if saying “......wow.”. Then he enters and joins Gloucester inside.

ACT 5 SCENE 3

-As Albany says “Half blooded fellow, yes!”, last time I wrote that Edmund is momentarily surprised, then glares at him. This time I’m here to change this a bit-

At first I was picturing it like This:

But then I was like, “no,, that won’t make Edmund 100% more sympathetic- that would only make him like 65% more sympathetic.”

-anyway, we gotta raise Albany’s aggression level. Because if they’re equally aggressive to each other The Audience might just. Not get it. They won’t get that we’re out here trying our hardest to make ya sympathize with Edmund.

-So. And Hear me out. Because this DOES have a point. I’m gonna get to it. So to raise Albany’s aggression levels here, Albany grabs Edmund’s tie or jabot (whatever neck piece the costume has. I don’t care how historically accurate the costumes are) and pulls him towards him (in like. An aggressive Way.) He lets go as soon as he finishes saying that one line- he only did it to prove he was serious about challenging Edmund. Either way, he did It in a more pulling forward motion than a grabbing on motion, and so now Edmund is standing on the other side of Albany. (Was this basically just a way for me to change where Edmund is standing? Maybe.)

-now that Edmund is standing on the other side of Albany, the scene continues as I wrote it out in part 1- ie Edmund glares at Albany. Except Albany is no longer standing in front of him (ie facing him).

Here’s an illustration to help out-

So far, Edmund never glared at anyone (or showed his anger in general) straight to a person’s face. He always only lets his mask fall when he’s alone or when the subject of his anger can’t see him. So now it’s more consistent- their positions on the stage changed so that Edmund can still glare at Albany, and also doesn’t have to drop his act.

-AND THAT’S IT-

(-FOR NOW-)

#King lear #shakespeare #I am trying here #I am making an attempt

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jq37 · 6 years ago

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Let's go final bloodkeep ep breakdown!

**spoilers for the tomb of ultimate evil**

I was originally kind of annoyed that dropout wasn’t working when I wanted to do this originally, but it’s actually kind of a blessing in disguise now that I think about it because it means I get to rewatch and discuss the ep in light of the bombshells Brennan dropping in the BTS video.

As I watch the Previouslies, I realize I’m still not over the fact that Maggie named her kid after Leiland. It was so sweet an unexpected.

So, at the start of this episode, Brennan must have realized that his plans are pretty much jossed because the 4 baby blessing was *very* not on the docket

“Absolutely, Lilith’s got 25 strength.” Idk why that’s so funny to me. Maybe because I think Rekha was asking whether Lilith was allowed to carry her, not if she was physically cable but Brennan was like “Of course she can carry you. She’s an absolute unit.”

Leiland’s first move? Drawing all the enemy fire. Markus’s first move? Immediately hiding. In fairness, my dude is a rogue.

Lol, spiderweb baby bjorn.

“We’re evil but we understand communication and consent.”

Nat 20 from Old Pickering! Finally he’s useful!

Watch a bitch call lightning! A different bitch, but still.

Amy’s childish delight at the prospect that there might be a bomb in the goblins is so good.

I love how on board everyone was for the mystery potion.

Did Hork exist before this episode? I have no memory of him existing.

Nat 20 for Sohkbar!

Brennan is really so good at all of his on the cuff J'er'em'ih nonsense.

Erika yelling, “Sanctuary!” a la Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I like that Lilith calls her spider kids to defend them by going, “Get ‘em ladies!” and then Brennan decides one of the kids she summoned is Jason.

“I really am sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done…and everything I’m about to do.”

Leiland Jr. MVP!

I love that Lilith treat’s Sohkbar as if he’s also a parent.

Two words I’ve learned to fear since I’ve started watching RPG shows: Lair action.

Leiland just BARELY not being on the falling chunk of floor.

Brennan really faked me out on that Jason fall. Man really was about to make me cry over a fictional spider for the SECOND TIME in my life (Charlotte’s Web).

I love Erika screaming over Jason in and out of character separately.

“Guys, this is our element! Knocking people off of things!”

Leiland’s affirmations. Who is doing counseling at the Bloodkeep.

AOE spells are so boss.

“Everyone look at Leiland! He’s doing it!” Aww, everyone finally gets to see him be cool! It’s really wild how much of an arc these guys went through in just 2 days of play. It’s very narratively consistent.

“Oh you fucking freak, you’d love that.”

“Tell him something is gonna happen to his bones but don’t explain it.”

Rekha loudly announcing her ridic amount of hitpoints is on of my fave things

I love how in both campaigns so far, Brennan has had a moment of, “You’re not bad at magic, you’re just depressed.” What an oddly specific thing but also, relateable.

Cell Block Tango ft. Leiland.

Leiland curses one of the Vingury. I’m sure that won’t be important later (I’m lying).

Ify/Markus just refusing to learn Hobbert and Frod’s names.

Ify: *Trying to do a shenanigan*

Brennan: I see what’s happening here.

DOOR LORE. DOOR LORE. DOOR LORE.

So I guess the real lesson of this season of D20 is always commit to your running jokes because you’ll get free nonsense out of it. (A 19! That’s so painful!)

Jessa just straight eats not-Gollum.

Both Jason and Jessa are very protective of their mom and I love it.

Maggie All elves look the same. (Maggie said F elf rights)

The full 6 seconds of silence from Matt between his saying he loves J'er'em'ih more than any other animal companion and looking directly at the camera and saying, “Except for Trinket,” very seriously.

Amy: I must become the necro boatman.

Brennan, whose plans have now been entirely womped: :O.

I truly didn’t even consider attacking the boatman. I feel like this is such a good DM moment, because I feel like my reaction would have been, “That’s not how this works,” but Bren just let it happen, which is better both for the story and player agency. I’m taking notes.

Efink getting validation on her chosen name by the evil statues.

“Kick his ass and you get the power!”

“I’m like a setpiece, not like a guy!”

Sohkbar claims the baby as his ward. This baby is gonna have so many godparents.

“MY DAD SHIT IN A BAG?”

What a wild improv.

I love the ancient evil statues have Lilith’s back on the fact that she should have gotten the promotion.

When Leiland Jr was born Brennan was like, “He’s not gonna do much. He’s a baby.” One ep later this baby is taking turns and fireblasting enemies and talking like he’s the Godfather.

OK so there’s a lair action. Leiland rolls a NAT ONE to not plummet into the Bloodkeep. Brennan clearly is ready to bring out the ghost figurines we saw in the BTS.

The statue Lilith JUST got the blessing from falls which means if she hadn’t gotten it that turn, they would have been screwed. Sidenote: Brennan says it was an instant lose condition for them which is part of why I was surprised that this wasn’t his plan to begin with. He just readjusted everything on the fly and set new parameters. What a good, confidence projecting, quick thinking DM.

It’s Leiland’s turn. He is once again falling to his doom. This time, without the bossa nova music and soothing apathy because he actually has something to live for.

AND HE USES HIS HEX TO TELEPORT TO THE VINGURY HE HEXED BEFORE.

It was JUST close enough. And he almost cursed Olag instead! That decision saved his undead ass!

I love that Leiland is Uncle Leiland to Jason! And later Jessa calls Efink Aunt Efink. I wanna see evil Thanksgiving so bad.

“You’re really killing it today Leiland!” My boy finally getting the praise he deserves. (Also, wild that this is all still THE SAME DAY)

“oKAY, okay, OKAY, oKay.” –Brennan having a moment

“You wanted us to play evil characters but we’re actually playing evil players.”

Man this episode is truly how Leiland got his groove back, huh?

Boatman rolls a 4 to resist fear. Go Leiland!

“I take off my mask to reveal…I’m sexy as fuck.”

Everyone including the evil statue is hot for Markus.

“Shut the fuck up, Olag. Go kill yourself.” Maggie just has no patience for nonsense (that’s not the kind of nonsense she enjoys anyway).

“Do I take psychic damage from that?”

Lilith gets a nat 20!

Maggie, upon Leiland calling her 'my queen’ for the second time: Just call me Maggie, please.

“THAT’S AN ABILITY J'ER'EM'IH HAS?”/“I guess.”

“Lilith, you’re my girl! Lilith, my girl!” They grab hands over the table. It’s such a pure moment.

Brennan after they kill the Boatman: I mean, fuck me I guess.

Leiland goes down. Leiland Jr. goes, “Nah, get up, you’re fine,” and he gets back up. (Brennan at this point has clearly fully leaned in to the direction his players dragged him).

Leiland comes back as Leiland the White. And I just realized! That’s the ghost figurine! I thought that was the figure Bren got for when Leiland inevitably completed his story arc. No! It was the figure for in case Leiland DIED.

Leiland FONZES at Leiland Jr.

Nat 20 from Maggie to avoid falling into the Bloodkeep!

Leiland lets Markus convince him to not kill Olag (for future shenanigans). Leiland instead owns Toby and rolls a 29 to convince Oswald back onto their side. Toby also comes as a zombie on their side. Everything’s coming up Leiland!

Except no, he goes back down immediately and falls face first into the blood pool.

OK, check it. Markus bargains with one of the evil statues to make Olag alive and undead for eternity. The statue is kinda on board but wants to make a trade. Markus basically goes, “Watch this,” and STEPS INTO THE VOID.

Go back and watch Amy’s reaction. It’s so genuinely shocked and concerned. Matt’s is good too.

Sidenote: That is apropos of nothing goal wise. He just wanted to torture Olag.

Maggie gets the final blessing with a quiet, heartfelt speech Brennan doesn’t even make her roll for. The statue tries to get her to put in a good word w/ her dad for it and steps all over the moment.

Ify, about to pull out shenanigans part two, electric boogaloo: I never got a chance to attack on my turn.

He attacks himself and warps back up!

Amy: Is that how you play a rogue????

Why sneak attack damage? Can you sneak attack yourself?

“You’re a liar!”/“I’m a rogue.” Beautiful.

We’re evil!

Oswald dies and Leiland comes back! Hexing Oswald really panned out for him

“It’s all spiders from here!” I wanna start saying that.

Efink cancels out a nat 20 on Sohkbar!

Lilith telling her kids to go find safety is a small thing but sweet.

“You know you live near Goblin Island and you always say you’re gonna visit.”

Markus swashbuckles over to the bloodkeep before he falls. Leiland is ready to jump his bones.

Nat 20 from Leiland! Is that his first one?

AND THEN HE ROLLS TWO NAT ONES!

Classic Leiland.

I love that Leiland is pro J'er'em'ih now.

John Feathers comes back for the epilogue. Rehka is more excited than anyone.

Lilith is voted queen regent of Gorgar! Go girl! And Jessa opens her fashion firm while Jason sets out to the forest. Good for them.

Scream beast babies!

And little Leiland asks big Leiland to get him the head of Galfast Hamhead! Full circle, I love it.

OK so Brennan said this and he was right. Leiland and Maggie have such a wild ass arc. She goes being “that whore” in ep 1 (idr what he actually called her but that’s the vibe he gave off) to “my queen” in episode 6. And like, man. Imagine planning a game where the goal is to lead the players into a PvP free for all and, instead, the only two characters with a legit grievance mend fences so much that one names their child after the other and that one swears fealty to that mom and her child. Imagine failing so hard at your original goal. Wow.

Anyway, that’s it for Bloodkeep! Thanks for hanging in there for me to write this up! I want to say something about the teaser for T.U.S. too but I’ll save that for another post.

Sidenote: So Matt has been on D20 and Brennan has been on Naddpod. I think this means Brennan or Murph gets to be on Critical Role now. I’m a lawyer and I’m pretty sure that’s how the law works.

#asks #a-salty-alto #escape from the bloodkeep #bloodkeep #dimension 20 #i know this is typo riddled but this is a 3 hour episode and I don't have the patience to edit this rn so...

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optimisticcritique · 7 years ago

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Gotham 4x22 - Review

Better late than never? I had a fever when watching this so...we’ll see how this goes.

Intense scene. “Promise?” I doubt she will die but this breaks my heart. Poor Selina :(

I have a hunch Bruce won’t be able to keep that promise.

All the cops giving Jeremiah the death stare.

“We couldn’t talk with his girlfriend bleeding all over him” Hmm...well, maybe you shouldn’t have shot her then?

“I am a very good engineer” So modest. I’m curious how well he would get along with Ed :P

Jeremiah’s obsession with Bruce never seizes to amaze me. Such a contrast to Jerome. Jerome wanted Bruce to suffer and die, Jeremiah wants Bruce to suffer and then become dark as he joins him.

Hugo Strange! They skipped finding him and threatening him and went straight to this!

I’m surprised Hugo automatically knows how to cure him. Has this happened before? Is there another Grundy running around?

This is not going to work out well for them. No couple gets a happy ending in Gotham.

“What? No, she’s in surgery. I’m going to go kill Jeremiah!” Haha well, that figures. You go, Tabby! I do love how much she cares for Selina. She has such a heart for her.

I am suspicious of what Oswald will do when Tabitha leaves. He’s being too nice. I sense betrayal.

Well, hello Ra’s. That’s not creepy at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is how he meets his best friends.

And another mayor bites the dust. At what point will people refuse to become mayor and they’ll have to draw names out of a hat to make someone take the role?

The way violence seems to un-faze Jeremiah. It’s like a punch to the face or a push to the wall means nothing.

Arrest Jim? Well, that’s a little extreme for disagreeing.

“It’s polite to let people finish” Yeah Jim, he has barely gotten to give riddles this season. Don’t ruin it!

“RISE AND SHINE! Good morning sweetheart” First off, the sweetheart ;) Second, I will not be surprised if people start setting this as their ringtones.

“Remember when you punched me in the face?” *slaps him dramatically* Wow, even his slaps are extra.

“We are a little pressed for time” *laughs at his own joke* ...wow, this is probably the most relatable Ed has ever been.

Ed with his long and extreme ways of killing someone.

I hate the motive but I do love seeing Ed go full on like this :)

So...does Ra’s really turn out the lights for dramatic effect? Is there someone working for him that turns it off? Ra’s: ready? go! Man: *turns off light* Ra’s: *fights people* Man: *turns it back on* Me: Bet he’s fun at parties.

Some of his power is off? Hmm...I still don’t understand the whole point of this Babs and the painting of the look alike.

This all just points to Ra’s totally trying to use her for the power.

What? This guy doesn’t even care anything about Jim at all? I mean, I know he isn’t exactly priority but still...

“Closer Please. Closer” I just expect him to keep saying this until they are face to face.

Destined as best friends? Well, you’re destined as something alright...

The wink XD With his bad eye, no less

I sincerely doubt that was the only bomb that was planted.

The way Jeremiah talks about Selina. Savage!

Wow, Lee is acting so calm about this.

“I am going to decide who I am going to be. Not you, not Jim Gordon.” Yes! Love it.

Lee is totally manipulating Ed by pretending not to care if Ed kills him so that she saves Jim’s life. It’s too obvious.

“She chose me” Umm not exactly Ed.

“One question: who do I get to kill?” Oh, Oswald, strutting in and ready to fight. He just couldn’t stay away.

Alfred, Babs, Tabby, and Oswald all working together? I love it!

Better hope Ed isn’t secretly listening to all this.

Honestly, at this point, I want Lee to be done with these romances. I just want her to be happy and independent for awhile.

Basically, Ra’s and his plan is “meh” to Jeremiah. He’s just all in it for Bruce.

“The brother I never had” “...together” aww how twistedly sweet of you.

Oh, so now he cares what happened when Jim was taken?

Just listen to Jim!

I love seeing the GCPD being so loyal. They have come a long way.

The demon’s head not working I guess is the convenient way to explain how they all get the drop on him.

Ha! I love how Oswald is the only one screaming as he shoots the gun, while everyone else just runs in. Honestly, it wouldn’t be an episode of Gotham if he didn’t.

Wait, Oswald shot Jeremiah and saved Tabby? I’m just...that seems so weirdly nice. This is the same person that murdered his mother and yet he’s doing this. Not like they would let Tabby die though. Is that the surprising thing for RLT? Him saving her? My memory of the interview is so vague all of sudden. No...it has to be a bad thing. This can’t be it.

Are you kidding me? They stab and kill him again? I mean, I never LOVED Ra’s but he was barely even alive!

That grin on Jeremiah. I oddly love how devilish it looks.

*Lee stabs Ed* What?! Oh, I did not see this coming. *Ed stabs Lee* Double stabbing! That one I was expecting.

Seriously? A kiss now?

So, in 4x14, Ed almost killed himself so that he wouldn’t try to kill Lee...now here we have Lee and Ed trying to kill each other. How poetic.

Whoa! Butch is back! ...Is he about to die?

I’m kind of sad by how kind of shallow it is that Tabby doesn’t say “I love you” until he is back to being Butch. Also a bit sad by how confusing the relationship status is with Babs/Tabby too.

*Oswald shoots him* Wow, he actually did it!

“Did you think I forgot that you murdered my mother?” Oh my god... YES. I mean, it’s sad that Butch is dead and I love Drew but like...I was just thinking about how Tabby killed Gertrude ...And I love callbacks way too much.

Wow. So, he waited and planned to get her back for two seasons. This is some crazy stuff. Impressively ingenious.

Hey, when did Oswald get the new henchmen?

*pans on Butch’s dead body* :( So sad...is that a tear rolling down his cheek? Was Butch crying? (UPDATE: It is very possible that was Drew crying from it being his last scene and now if that is a tear, this scene is even sadder.)

So, Selina won’t be able to walk? Surely this won’t last...at least I wouldn’t think. Unless they are going for something different.

Yes! You go, Bruce! It’s sad that you are leaving Selina but I love this. Be the dark knight! I hope this means Bruce will be the one to fight Penguin, Riddler, Jeremiah, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and other new rogues next season.

Oh yes!!! Love the new digs for Penguin.

All these rogues carving up their territory. The montage, the costumes, the music. I love this so much. Why must season 5 be so short and be in 2019?

Savage Jon! Scarecrow got a new hat! I like :)

“Penguin says fix ‘em” Wait...Ed and Lee? Did they die? First, the thought of Penguin going straight to Ed after all this mess and refusing to accept Ed’s death makes me very happy. Second, oh my god! What is that smirk, Strange? What are you going to do?

Is she about to blame Penguin for everything? Ah, men...I mean, she has had a rough go with men so I guess I can see where her understanding goes.

Yay! Harvey and Foxy are staying :)

I didn’t even realize Jeremiah got away. Sneaky!

The future bat signal! I love it.

“I stayed to fight for the city” ...Wow. I was half expecting Jim to disapprove. Guess he knows it’ll be pointless and Bruce would just do whatever he wants anyway.

Manbat! Sweet. Hello mother, how are you? Wow, brutal.

Part of me is excited, the other part is hoping all of this won’t be too much in the final season.

Season 1 callback to their first meeting. “There is light” Love it :’)

Overall: Wow! What an episode! I loved it. Crazy to think that this is the last one for about a year but it definitely left an exciting impression.

Jeremiah was fun and had some great interactions with Bruce. Really building up that relationship in the past few episodes, which was nice. Overall, he’s great. However, I do still wish they could have introduced him sooner. We didn’t get to see enough. My hope is that we see plenty more of him next season.

Not a lot of Selina in this episode. Nice homage though. I’m curious where this story will take her, now that she is currently paralyzed.

The Oswald/Butch thing was sad. I mean, I’m sad for Butch and I love Drew so it sucks. Drew is an amazing actor and I will miss his presence very much. Also, no Grundy :/ That being said, it was a surprise reveal and callback that I did not see coming. I’m so used to so many shows always forgetting plot points or being so serial. So, any time that a show does a callback, I love it. It reminds me that the writer's actually remembered their work and that the characters think about their past. And, for someone that murdered a man for insulting Gertrude’s singing in S1, it would be odd for Oswald to just forget about Tabby murdering Gertrude. The writers found a way to keep Oswald in character while also keeping Tabitha alive, only they had to sacrifice Butch and push the Butch/Tabby relationship a bit in order to do it. That kind of leaves me conflicted :/

The whole Lee/Ed thing is...well, I think it is over and they will now focus on their own separate stories, which I prefer at this point. I’m curious what Strange will do to them next season. Doubt it will be anything major physically though.

Looks like rogues are taking territory, which is awesome! I expect every rogue to go embrace their personas like never before and now fully go up against Bruce. There’s also a few other rogues they are going to slip in, which will be fun.

All around, there is a lot to look forward to. Wanted to make this review a bit extra long, since it was the final one of the season. I wanted to cover some of the main things that I enjoyed. There were a few things that left me conflicted, like Ed/Lee stuff, Butch dying, and Ra’s dying AGAIN, but I still really loved the episode. Can’t wait to see what is next!

Previous Review: 4x21

#gotham #gotham 4x22 #oswald cobblepot #jeremiah valeska #optimisticcritique gotham review

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shannonallaround · 7 years ago

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Wow, I totally forgot to ask you: What other AU's do you have?

Well, since you asked… *cracks knuckles*

(Ok first before I start I am SO SORRY this response took me like, a month. Thanks so much for waiting!)

This person is asking specifically about au’s I have for Mickey and Minnie. My Sonic au’s are a different post entirely! :D

I have three main mice au’s that I regularly visit. My sister Marian, or @marian-ette , is my brainstorming partner in crime.

The oldest of the mice au’s is my Nutcracker Verse. This au started out in 2012 as basically a recasting of the “Barbie in The Nutcracker” movie (I honestly love that movie and still watch it every holiday season for nostalgia). Then over several years it became ‘losely inspired’ by that movie and took on a life of its own. I still revisit it just for fun every December. Several REALLY old drawings based on this AU are in my DeviantArt gallery. Here’s the link to one of them plus a few others I haven’t shared before (these are really really old fyi. There are lots more but these are some of the best)

https://shannonallaround.deviantart.com/art/Sweep-you-off-your-feet-425877421

The second au is what I call the Candyland Verse. As you can probably guess, this au is inspired by the Candyland board game.

In the 1950s, Mickey works as a storekeeper and apprentice to Ludwig Van Drake, an incredibly gifted/famous candy-maker (and Mickey’s basically-adopted-uncle). One day, Ludwig is missing from his candy lab, which has been trashed. Mickey goes in to investigate… and through some crazy magic ends up in Candyland. He meets many friends in this new world, but as he searches for Ludwig, things may be less sweet and far more sticky than they seem… trouble is brewing in the Molasses Bog.

I haven’t shared ANY pictures from this au anywhere yet so here are the first glimpses of the Candyland Verse! It’s a much newer verse so even though it’s extremely developed in my head I don’t have very much art for it yet.

The third au is called the Sandman Verse.

Goofy is the Sandman and Mickey is one of his many many assistants. Each person has a sandman which is assigned to them during their lifetime whom crafts dreams for them. Mickey has been assigned to Minnie since she was born. One particular night, Minnie’s dream malfunctions, becoming a nightmare (something that, strangely, has been happening to more and more people’s dreams recently…) When the usual protocol fails, Mickey is forced to follow emergency procedure and enter the dream himself in order to shut it down. He defeats the nightmare and is about to leave Minnie’s mind when suddenly, Minnie talks to him. This is normally not possible as dreams operate in a person’s subconscious, and it is then that Mickey realizes Minnie is a lucid dreamer.

I haven’t shared any drawings for this au before either, so here is the first peek! It is also very new and so is sadly lacking in the art department too.

Mickey and Minnie are the two main protagonists of all these au’s. All of the sensational six are there two plus other friends from their world (i.e. Panchito & Jose) as well as Oswald and Ortensia.

In addition to these three main au’s, my sister and I regularly indulge in an incredibly fun activity we call “casting”. Basically, we take our favorite old movies (mostly live action) and re-cast them with the characters of Mickey’s world. Sometimes we add extra roles or alter characters slightly to make everyone fit nicely. The only au that has characters that aren’t in Mickey’s world is The Apple Dumpling Gang— we use the three main rabbit children from Disney’s animated Robin Hood for the orphans in that one. We figured it worked with the same logic as Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Casting is SO. FUN. Here’s a list of some of the movies we’ve cast so far!

Summer Stock

Singing in the Rain

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, starring Errol Flynn)

The Mark of Zorro (1940, starring Tyrone Power)

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966, starring Don Knotts)

That Darn Cat (1965, starring Hayley Mills)

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Dreamworks)

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

National Treasure

Next on the list: The Seahawk (w/ Errol Flynn) and Disney’s animated Atlantis

The asker of this question also prompted the creation of a new au called the Boxing Verse not too long ago. I’m gonna share a lot more detail about what happens in this one:

Minnie Mouse is training beside her best friend Daisy as a boxer under veteran boxer Donald Duck. Mickey is a janitor at the venue who doesn’t box but is OBSESSED with the sport. He, of course, is totally fascinated by Minnie who has the opposite of a typical boxer’s personality and body type and yet is also a complete boss in the ring. Donald used to be a boxer, but one fateful day against his biggest rival Gladstone Gander, he lost his temper while attempting to defend Daisy’s honor and beat Gladstone to a pulp. Gladstone then used this to slander Donald’s reputation. Donald felt so dang bad about the whole thing (especially the fact that he thinks he embarrassed Daisy) that he retreated from the competitor’s ring and now only teaches. Pete was Gladstone’s sponsor and has it out for Donald. He plans to make full use of the opportunity Minnie presents having been trained by him…

Anyway, there’s the very-long rundown of my mice au’s!

#shannon's art #nutcracker au #sandman au #candyland au #mice au #disney fanfiction #minnie mouse #mickey and minnie #mickey mouse #mickey and friends #casting

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paulagnewart · 7 years ago

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Oz Comic-Con Afterthoughts

Oz Comic-Con returned to Sydney last month, bringing with it a change of venue. Ever since the convention’s conception back in 2014, it was always a joy catching the ferry from Darling Harbour over to Glebe Island (definitely cheaper than driving, plus more space to chat with fellow fans and the random karaoke contests onboard). This year saw the event move to the new (and inland) International Convention Centre, which means no more ferry rides. Unless they like the idea of holding it on the original site, now reduced to a giant concrete slab with no shade.

Naturally, those unfamiliar with the layout would’ve needed time to adjust to OzCC’s new home, both inside and out. The ICC is yuuuuge, definitely longer than the original centre. Walking from the dealer floor all the way to the convention halls took about 5 minutes, and reminded me of the mad dash I made last year from one end of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to the other. Long story, longer underground passage. Yet despite the increased space this year, it still got ridiculously crowded by midday. Nor did it help that there weren’t many signs or directions to said halls. Some of the volunteers didn’t know where they were either, but it wasn’t a major deal-breaker. These things happen, especially on the first day in a new location.

Despite the change of venue and space issues, I’m glad to see OzCC remained as popular as ever. While Star Wars, Marvel and the Tick had top billing (in the latter’s case, literally with free headbands and a giant archway to walk through), DC Comics were far and away the fan's favourite. Hundreds of Wonder Women and Harley Quinns of all shapes and sizes roamed the halls. Not one to be left out, an army of Batmen (including one make of Lego!) patrolled the floor, often caught up in mock battles with multiple Jokers. Robins and Supermen weren’t far behind, while Aquamen rose for the occasion, though hopefully not from the heavily polluted waters of Sydney Harbour. A few Teen Titans were happy to join the fun, though I feel for the poor young woman dressed as Raven, clearly there by herself and looking downright miserable. I hope no-one got too in-character and hassled her, like the small group of Deathstrokes. Or worse, Beast Boys.

Life-size sets and props were big hits, including the Tick’s apartment, the TARDIS, a Star Wars Speeder Bike, plus a complete X-Wing fighter built into the showroom. As a special treat, the costumes used on the 'Arrow, 'The Flash' and 'Supergirl' tv shows were also on display (behind glass of course), which wowed and delighted fans.

As for the guest list? Someone there for almost everyone. Most were able to attend, though there were a few last minute changes. Christy Romano, the voice of Kim Possible, had to cancel and was replaced by Paul Eiding, the voice of Perceptor from Transformers. In an ironic twist, he was at the first Sydney OzCC in 2014. When I went to his panel and brought along several toys of characters he voiced, he accused me of breaking into his house. Very fun, though voice actor guests were significantly down this year. Shame, given they deserve more love.

Speaking of guests, the two biggest draws (from what I saw) were Jenna Coleman, the divisive Clara Oswald of Doctor Who fame, plus Jason “Soon-To-Be-Aquaman” Momoa. The latter was only there for Saturday, thus his photograph line was constantly packed. The love for Doctor Who hasn’t dwindled here, thus Coleman and Catrin Stewart easily filled out the hall.

One particularly fantastic exhibit, and this will please @dccomicsnews was the official Justice League Experience. Based on the popular 'escape room' games, six strangers are locked in one of two cells. They must work together by solving clues, opening locks, and building an escape route within twelve minutes. The Experience was immensely popular, and booked out almost instantly each session. The sole reason I managed to score a spot was that one of the organisers recognised my costume as their childhood hero and agreed to take a photo with them. So the group I was in, the final one of the day no less, had to disarm Cyborg's security system. We managed to complete it with less than a minute to spare, and became official Justice League members. Yes, even the Joker, Captain Planet, the Toys R Us Queen, a living TARDIS, Walter White, and a police officer totally not the Riddler in disguise.

Oz Comic-Con Sydney was a success, or at least from what I saw. Due to financial reasons, I couldn’t do the full weekend, opting only for Saturday. Yet despite only having half the experience, OzCC remains Sydney’s leading Pop Culture Expo. if you’ve never been, or in the city for a holiday, it’s definitely worth your time.

All that being said, I can’t help but wonder if somewhere out there in the multiverse exists an Earth where they held this year’s OzCC somewhere else. A world where the building in mind hasn’t been demolished. A large, spacious and colourful building that used to be a minute’s walk away from the ICC. Somewhere already renowned for being the home of a pop culture hero...

What’s this? Could it possibly be?

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ed-edward-blackbeard · 7 years ago

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@rootingformephistopheles posted a looooooooooong list of fanfiction questions right here.

I answered every damn one of them before I realized it was probably meant to be an askbox thing. SO, here you fuckers go. (it’s five pages long, wtf. so it’s under a readmore to save your dashboard)

Fanfiction Questions

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Xenaverse, including Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. I did PBeM (play by email) role play, and then moved to fanfic, and then slash fanfic.

2. What is your latest fandom?

I have three, technically. Doctor Who, Hannibal, and Gotham

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Hannibal. Fannibals are the best, by 100 miles. I’m sure there’s bad parts of the fandom, I’ve just never yet run across them.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

As far as the people go? Highlander. There was a lot of overlap, at the time, with The Sentinel, both shows I enjoyed. I just feel like there were a lot of assholes in the Highlander fandom who disliked me and my writing because of the people I was friends with, not because I sucked (and believe me, I did. I have the fic to prove it.)

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

From my AO3 dashboard:

Smallville -- The Sentinel -- Hannibal (TV) -- Doctor Who (2005) -- Supernatural -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- Veronica Mars -- Stargate SG-1 -- Actor RPF -- Charlie Countryman/Spacedogs -- Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling -- Adam (2009)/Spacedogs – Brimstone -- Supernatural RPF -- Stargate Atlantis -- Yami No Matsuei | Descendants of Darkness -- The Fast and the Furious (2001) -- Sherlock (TV) -- The Blair Witch Project (1999) -- Star Trek: The Original Series -- Sense and Sensibility (1995) -- Law & Order: SVU -- Lost Boys (Movies) -- Watchmen (2009) -- Lost (1) -- Smallville RPF -- Marvel Cinematic Universe (1) -- Gargoyles (TV) -- Dogma (1999)

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh my fucking God. Okay, here goes:

Xena/Ares and Xena/Autolycus, Xenaverse; Clark/Lex and Lionel/Chloe, Smallville; Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg, the Sentinel; Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham, Hannibal; Doctor/Rose, Nine/Rose/Jack, Doctor Who; Dean/Sam, Supernatural; Buffy/Spike, Giles/Ethan, Spike/Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars, John Winchester/Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars; Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG-1; Ezekiel/Lucifer, Brimstone; John/Rodney, Stargate Atlantis; Muraki x Tsuzuki, Yami No Matsuei; Dom/Brian, the Fast and the Furious; John Watson/Sherlock Holmes, BBC Sherlock; Nigel Lupei/Adam Raki, Spacedogs; Kirk/Spock, Star Trek; Christopher Brandon/Eleanor Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility; Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson, Law & Order SVU; Elisa Maza/Goliath, Gargoyles.

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

I don’t really have NoTPs in the fandoms I’ve written in. I have a few NoTPs in general, though, although I’m not listing them here because wow, would I cause some hurt feelings.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

I saw the gifsets from The Wrath of the Lamb, and I saw the name Hannibal Lecter being bandied about, and I fell in love because I’ve loved Hannibal Lecter ever since Red Dragon. I don’t know how I missed out on hearing about the show when it first came out, but holy hell, am I sorry. I’ve been a Fannibal ever since. It was the same story with Gotham. I’d actively avoided Gotham because of the debacle of Smallville, but it was the Nygmobblepot gifs and Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin that finally drew me in.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Fannibals are fucking awesome, yo. They’re the best thing about the fandom; hell, they *are* the fandom. I love them all, every one. From well-thought out meta to cracked out gifsets to the supportive fanfic community. It’s amazing.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Because I write, I try not to read a lot, because I don’t want to accidentally crib from someone else’s story, or steal someone else’s idea, because I know what it’s like to pour your life into things.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Hannibal/Will, Doctor/Rose, and Oswald/Edward

12. Who is your current OT3?

Nine/Jack/Rose. That’s pretty much it.

13. Any NoTPs?

None I’ll share.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Jim Gordon/Harvey Bullock, and I’m sure there’s more that I can’t think of right now.

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I think I’m probably the only person who actually ships it, but John Winchester/Veronica Mars.

16. Are there any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Destiel. I dislike Destiel with a passion. Ditto Barisi. That’s about it.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Ares/Strife. They’re not my favorite by any means, but I still have a huge soft spot for them.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

uh, probably Clark/Lex or Jim/Blair, just due to the length of time I was in both fandoms.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Destiel and Barisi. They’re popular ships shipped by some people I really like, but I just can’t get behind them. It’s a knee-jerk thing. I can’t even really voice why I dislike them as much as I do, I just do.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Nygmobblepot, actually. I didn’t think I was going to like anything in Gotham, much less the Penguin and the Riddler, but damned if I don’t love it so much I’m actually writing about it as we speak.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Detested Sport, it was from a Shakespeare quote, I think, and it was Ares/Strife. I think it’s lost to the world, thank fucking God.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Writing? No. Sharing? Yes. It’s called “My Soul’s Imaginary Sight,” and it’s the first time I used an OC, Meravin, who has gone through about a billion evolutions since, and has ended up as a Star Wars OC named Sheridan. I wish I hadn’t shared it, because while it was a definitely needed step in my development as a writer, it’s such a blatant self-insert Mary Sue that I really regret sharing it.

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

Shoah. It’s a Sentinel fic, written for one of the “Many Faces Of…” edition of My Mongoose e-zines. I think it was MFO Jim. But it’s an AU set during the Holocaust, in one of the concentration camps. It’s not a particularly cheerful story, and the writing process was terrible. I did so much research trying to make it honest to the experience that I spent whole evenings crying in chat windows with my friends Lisa and Patt, who basically hand-held me through the worst of it. But I’m inordinately fond of it, because of the work that went into it, and of how it came out. It’s not my best writing, by a long shot, but I think it’s probably my most emotional and evocative.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

Pretty much everything prior to my Doctor Who fic. I’m very critical of my earlier works.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

A recent one, Consortio, an ABO Hannigram sort-of Medieval-ish handwavey AU.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

Quotations, song lyrics, poetry, Shakespeare, sometimes pulled out of my ass.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

SUMMARIES, JESUS CHRIST, SAVE ME FROM SUMMARIES.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Dealer’s choice, really. I’d just be thrilled for anybody to pick SOMETHING.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

I do not, although I fear I need one for Gotham. It’s more a personal choice than anything else. I’ve got a particular style that doesn’t always mesh well with taking concrit, and while my grammar is very… erratic, at times (stuff it, I love my commas as you can tell), I feel like I should be the arbiter of what I create.

30. What inspires you to write?

Practically anything. Songs, less often. TV shows of the source material, obviously. Movies, sometimes. Random quotes, what ifs, conversations with friends, AU lists, prompt lists, sentence starters…

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

It’s from a writer named Mysenia on my fic Consortio: “All the kudos! Just re-read this story, and I loved it every bit as much as I did the first time :D” Because that’s honestly the first time anyone has mentioned re-reading something of mine in the comment, and it made me so happy for DAYS

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Actually, it depends on what I’m writing. If I’m working on writing sex, then I need dance music, which I usually abhor. I find the Matrix soundtracks work really well, as do Rammstein albums. If I’m doing emotional/angsty things, then Meat Loaf is my go-to. Otherwise, it’s kind of a mish-mash. My music folders are here, on my Google drive, if anyone is really interested in anything I listen to.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

Mostly one-shots, although I’ve been known to do a chaptered fic/series once in a while.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

7,706 on “The Masks We Wear.” I’ve got a series of fics that is 35,498, over about fifteen different stories. Consortio and Kastytis are both chaptered, so they don’t count. Consortio is 23,088 and Kastytis is 24,706

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

Strictly 100 word pieces? Not any more. I used to write for drabble challenges, but I can never stay within the word limit any more. If you mean 200 words or less drabble-ishes, then yes, I do write those. About a lot of things, really.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

I’m kind of fond of first-times, although that’s not a given. I don’t tend to stick to any one given genre.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third, unless it’s some VERY special occasion. First person drives me nuts. I love the Hunger Games books, but seeing things as Katniss gives me hives from time to time.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I’ve done both, actually, although 99% of my OC writing stays private. Which is sometimes a pity, because I think I’ve written some pretty good shit with some of my OCs.

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

I don’t know that I really have one.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Staying in character, finishing what I start.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I’m not reading anything right now. Except Stephen King’s IT

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Just five? @slashyrogue, @damnslippyplanet, @granpappy-winchester, @mummyholmesisupset, @moku-youbi

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

@bonearenaofmyskull, @crossroadscastiel, @bu0nanotte, @granpappy-winchester, @moku-youbi

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

All of them.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Home and Dry by @moku-youbi

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Consortio, or Kastytis. They’re both Hannigram AUs, and I feel like they’re the best examples of my writing style.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

AO3 and Wonderful World of Make Believe, where I am woefully behind. But AO3, because I enjoy having everything in one place, easy to use dashboard and posting interface, and it’s pre-sorted for me.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Mostly I do, because I know how valuable the reviews are to writers. I try and speak to what I liked best about the story, or how it moved me.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I don’t want to care, but I do. I want the validation, dammit.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I eased into it by way of RP. Play by email was my thing, and I loved reading threads strung together, which was basically fanfiction. Then a friend of mine introduced me to Ares/Joxer slash, and I’ve just gone from there. I’ve always written it, as long as I can remember, even though I didn’t know that’s what it was called.

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

The one thing I hate in the world of fanfiction is the kind of elitism that is absolutely bullshit. As a writer, if you don’t write the pairing du jour, or the kind of thing that the fandom at large is clamoring for (RPF, AU, ABO, ten thousand other different things) then you don’t get a bit of recognition no matter how good you are. Hannibal fandom is the first time that I’ve not seen this. This is the only fandom that I know of where an author can write what they want to write and still be recognized for it.

#ask box #ask me things #ask meme #everything you ever wanted to know about my writing #but were afraid to ask

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escailyyy · 7 years ago

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Sweeter than fiction (SherlollyFicExchange2017 @darnedchild)

Mary would be the first one to admit that motherhood softened her embarrassment threshold, that was one explanation for it, domesticity had apparently made it mentally acceptable for Mary to indulge in the hobbies of middle aged housewives that Sherlock would roll his eyes on. (Joining the ranks of the type of women that made fifty shades of Grey a best seller) so she couldn’t exactly share her new hobby with him.

So when Molly Hooper caught Mary reading something called ‘Warstan gets Naughty’ by username: WhatzonDkink, Mary not only was way too eager to talk about her latest obsession but also had no shame in admitting it was an obsession. Sherlock probably would have expected more from Mary! She blamed this on Rosie, if as a woman she no longer had an issue with having baby vomit on her shirt when she went grocery shopping, then obviously she wouldn’t have it with sharing her smut preferences with a friend during girls night either.

“Let me get this straight, people write about you and John, just because they saw you on the telly and mentioned in John’s blog” Molly hummed over her second glass of wine “they write about you the way people write about Clara Oswald and the Doctor, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley kind of thing?”

“Like Posh Spice and David Beckham” Mary nodded “I found this site dedicated to real people fanfiction it’s quite big, there’s a section for royalty, politicians, sports players, celebrities and crime fighters, people consider us the second best pairing in that category, they write all sort of thing featuring John and me” she grinned proudly while Molly giggled

“Let me see” Molly peered at Mary’s tablet while reading out loud “ this one is called "Make me scream” by username Bby8R2D2, John Watson comes home from a day chasing a serial killer to find his wife wants to leave him, unless he can prove to her why he was nicknamed 'Three continent Watson’ ….“ Molly burst out laughing opening the link and skimming over it "Mary I’m not sure paragraph five is anatomically possible”

Mary nodded scrolling down “just wait, paragraph ten defies the laws of physics and some of chemistry’s” feeling emboldened Mary opened another file and pushed it into Molly’s eyes “this one is a particular favorite of mine”

The fan fiction was called “Duty to Love” by LaD-GG-romnuv,and Molly read out loud “ An: I wrote this while sleep deprived working through rocket science and assembling an IKEA bedroom set, John Watson is Captain America and Mary Morstan is Black Widow having a hot affair, their love will be put to test when John has to choose between his love for Mary and his duty to Rehabilitated Winter Soldier Sherlock Holmes” Molly perked up with interest opening the first chapter and reading through “wow this is…this isn’t bad, you’re..very in character, oh look I’m in here too… Molly Carter-Hooper agent 221” this brought a smile to Molly’s face, then she let out another gasp “Oh John how could you!…Mary, you know him better than this….No, Sherlock, that’s a bastard move”

“I know right, the writer hasn’t updated in ages” Mary groaned putting her hands to her face “I have half a mind to track down their IP and ask them if I John will ever see me again now that he joined the group fighting Lokiriarty in Asgard and I am single-handedly heading S.H.I.E.L.D” she also didn’t mention that special Agent 221 and the Winter Soldier were also having awkwardly adorable encounters as a ‘side pairing’ and that she wanted to know how it ended, but that was neither here nor there.

“Aaaand thanks for the spoilers” Molly glared at Mary who shamelessly raised her glass, surreptitiously closing the link

“Some people write things that you wouldn’t believe in the NSFW rating…let’s just say I’ll spare you the details of 'Watson Gang bang’ and 'Blood kink Mary’ because you’re not ready for that type of darkness”

“ what? Really?” Molly’s finger hovered over the rating button but Mary stopped her with a glare

“Yes, really, but back to my favorites, there’s an angsty one that’s very on demand recently. "Bone Marrow,” I think, apparently John met me as a patient, we had a collection of one night stands turned dates and now I only have weeks to live because the writer of that fanfiction is a sadistic ass"

“Do you end up together though?”

“I have no idea!” Mary groaned “ I swear Nick Sparks could use a tip or two from the hyperactive teenage girl that’s writing about my imaginary terminal illness”

Molly snorted patting her hand “speaking about angst, does John know about this?” She motioned to Mary’s tablet

Mary rolled her eyes and shook her head “He doesn’t want to hear about our fictional sex life, apparently it’s not fair that his fan fiction persona is better stud than he is, and a better doctor, actor, polo player, international pilot, astronaut” Mary ticked off her fingers “You don’t see me complaining about the superhuman professional skills that those fans give me” “That’s actually kinda…sweet, if a little disturbing” Molly settled in comfortably in her lounge seat while she ordered another round of margaritas when once again Mary’s tablet beeped with a notification

“Hey Mary what’s "Sherlolly finally does it” about? It’s by username Sherlicks-lollies and it looks promising….“ but Mary had already grabbed the tablet out of Molly’s hands

"Yeah no you can’t read that, nope not at all” Mary as a rule never looked nervous unless she wanted people to think she was nervous, but the face she made at the very mention of that fan fiction was…actually the same face Mary made whenever something unexpected happened to Rosie’s nappy

“Mary” Molly eyed her tablet suspiciously “what is in there?”

“Nothing, just more tawdry things about me and John….if you’ll excuse me I need to leave a proper commentary review on this work of art” her face was turning a bit red and as far as Molly was concerned, Mary’s face had just passed dirty-nappy territory straight into buying-condoms-for-Mrs Hudson level of uncomfortable.

“You do know that I also have Google on my phone don’t you?” The tiny pathologist said in a threatening tone taking out her serviceable smartphone and waving it in front of Mary’s face

“You wouldn’t dare” her friend replied as nonchalantly as someone hiding smutty fan fiction could

“Google it is”

“Molls you’re not ready for the world of RPF, trust me”

But Molly Hooper was a brave soul, a brave, intrepid and possibly drunk soul who was capable of sawing through the rib cage of a dead body without batting an eyelash and also once gone on a date with Moriarty, she hung out with Sherlock! and somewhere, one day if she ever needed to change jobs, those things were going to be stamped in her CV under 'work experience’. So she wasn’t afraid of fan fiction.

Or so she thought “You don’t intimidate me Mary Watson” Molly whispered ominously

Finally as if hit by a very mischievous idea Mary’s face did a 180 and a rather creepy smirk graced her face “Fine, Google the word Sherlolly, go ahead Hooper, I dare you, I’ll let you read this if you do” And so Molly did.

Mary who was now shamelessly enjoying herself again covertly turned on her tablet’s camera and carefully took pictures of the progression of emotions crossing Molly’s face, shock, disbelief, despair, embarrassment, flattery, embarrassment again, and finally plain mortification.“Mary I’m in the dictionary”

“I know”

“Sherlock and me…we’re in the bloody Oxford dictionary”

“Next to the definition of Shipping, yes” Mary passed Molly another margarita in mock sympathy “Oxford, but only the updated version, nobody over twenty reads the updated version anyway”

“Sherlock and Molly” More disbelief “Sherlolly…”

“I warned you” Mary nodded, then since she might as well rip off the band aid completely she added “there’s fanart too”

The horror dawned “People draw…people draw Sherlock and me together”

“And they’re quite talented at it too, all sort of situations, oh don’t look so terrified Molly, the fan-art isn’t that bad, the fandom thinks you’re both Kawai or something, not all of what they draw is porn”

Molly cursed something so colorful it made Mary feel proud “tell me Sherlock doesn’t know”

“Oh he knows it exists, he probably just hasn’t thought about it very deeply” Mary shrugged “Like Greg’s name, fan fiction is probably not relevant enough for his nibs”

“And thank God for his little mercies” Molly hissed “Someone drew us sailing with the Queen!”

“must be a new member, usually your shippers are more into drawing the insides of St Bart’s or imagining what your flat looks like” Mary was enjoying herself Furthermore she wanted Molly Hooper to enjoy herself so she tried a new approach “hey don’t be so shocked, the shippers love you, they buy any science magazine you’re mentioned in, it’s not all about Sherlock for them”

“They like an imaginary version of us” Molly was not appeased

“And we liked the airbrushed versions of Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they were a thing so I don’t see how it’s any different, cheer up Missus Pathologist” Mary encouraged in her best 'mom’ voice trying her best to make her friend see the bright side “Carpe Diem and all that”

And that’s how Molly Hooper discovered the world of Real Person Fanfiction, at first Molly was reluctant to see the website again, after all any sane person would be a bit miffed if they found out that other people played around with the details of their life like grown children with action figures. But curiosity won out, the next time she felt bored in the tube she pulled out her phone and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.Soon she came to realize that the so called shippers were not really malicious or ill intentioned. In fact, most of them had in one way or another become interested in her romantic life because they’ve been previously impressed with something during the course of her career and looked her up online.It was somewhat ridiculous, these people knew nothing about her life (or so she thought) but apparently, they decided over the course of who-knows-how-long-this-had-been-going-on that she and Sherlock Holmes were either going to make a good couple or were already a good couple behind the scenes.

Anderson’s crazy conspiracy group had probably only proved these people right when Sherlock was gone and….. Oh damn, it got worse.

There were fanfics about that too. (Username ‘Notr3a11yAnderson’ wasn’t even subtle when it earned the website’s award for reviewer of the month)

“How many variations of Sherlock snogging me after falling from the rooftop can exist?” Molly muttered to herself glaring a bit at her phone, a quick refinement in the ‘advance searching’ gave her an answer that had her cursing again.

Ten million? Really?.

But Molly couldn’t find it in herself to hate them, when her mortification died out over the weekend amusement replaced it, after all, if she was allowed to silently wish Mycroft and Anthea would snog already, then why judge the shippers for romanticizing her extremely ordinary life in their heads. Mary was probably right in taking a relaxed approach.Outrage would serve her for naught, it wasn’t as if these people were like Kitty Riley or her ilk, fan fiction was still considered a widely taboo hobby in most places and the so called 'shippers’ didn’t seem to be doing it for personal profit. To these perfect strangers imagining her and Sherlock together was just…fun, so they kept doing it.

A phone call from Mike interrupted her musings and when she went back to her phone like most Internet browsers hers allowed a pop-up ad on the fanfiction website latest updates to blink on her phone screen.“Sherlolly Saves the endangered Koalas” Molly hummed reading through one of the fanfics suggested by the pop up, apparently the Sherlolly shippers were very dedicated fans, of course there were other suggestions, an N-sync fan fiction that featured the band’s most popular members getting together and someone wrote Tiger Woods and Serena Williams having a super powerful tennis playing golfer baby. Mary and John were popular too with a multitude of different scenarios straight out of a Hospital Soap being the favored fanfic inspiration. Molly bookmarked the one marked as a ‘Letters of love in Afghanistan’ because it sounded like something she wouldn’t mind reading, even if the author’s bio made Molly think he really needed a hug.

But the fanfiction about the endangered Koalas taunted Molly again, it wouldn’t hurt to click it just once.

How bad could something tagged #fluffy-super-fluffy be? The summary promised two people in a Koala rescue, really it wasn’t as if she’d be reading anything rated NSFW. The tube wasn’t going to get any faster and she was curious.

One click became another, then another and before she knew it Molly was making BogusRPFwebsite.notcom part of her daily routine in the tube and slowly started replacing her paperback novels during her relaxing time. Sometimes she could even ‘deduce’ who the writers of certain stories were but she tried not to, things might get weird in real life if they turned out to be people close to her (She was pretty sure leg-in-a-cast Polly Turner and Nurse Roberts from upstairs were writing that collab, where Sherlock and Molly had a host of quintuplets and labor, was a sneeze for Molly’s vagina).

Also, the more she read, the more questions she had, like:

Why were her first borns always either girls or twins most of the time? Were the authors aware that little boys made cute fantasy babies too?.

What was the obsession with Sherlock’s hair? I mean yes Molly knew that his curls were unusually perfect and had fantasized about pulling them as much as the next girl but really, they all made it sound as though he used unicorn blood in his shampoo and it was starting to get to Molly in real life.

Why did every girl that liked him with the exception of Molly turn out to be a serial killer or a criminal of some kind?.

Also, why was everyone in fan fiction always extremely attractive? Had the ugly people been abducted by makeup scientists?.

Why was Sherlock’s shirt always open during his fictional interactions with her?.

How exactly did time work in fan fiction? Nobody ever seemed to own a clock in fictional London.

And with these type of questions in mind, Molly pretended that it was someone else in those pages, someone else who was pretty, witty and adorable who was in love with another Sherlock who definitely wasn’t her Sherlock because this was all fan fiction and it didn’t count as real life.

Some writers made it really easy for Molly to compartmentalize her denial, writing either Sherlock or her out of character was a sure fire way for Molly to keep her plausible deniability while enjoying a bit of escapism, it didn’t hurt that Sherlock was in France for an overnight case with John and wouldn’t be back until he solved another seemingly impossible puzzle and Molly didn’t have to SEE him.

Sure he texted her with crime scene pictures and called her every once in a while to talk about incompetent French coroners but so far so good Molly was keeping real life Sherlock out of sight and out of mind while the multiple incarnations of RPF Sherlock gave her a good source of amusement and that was fine with Molly Hooper.

It was hard for embarrassment not to turn into flattery after some days swimming through the #fluff and #morefluff tag, I mean what woman didn’t like the idea of being cool enough to inspire people to writing glorified romance novels in obscure corners of the internet, Molly didn’t think either Sherlock or her deserved half of the unspoken admiration these writers had for them, but nevertheless it was…sweet (if a little disconcerting).

Fanfiction was one of those things that were ignored when one saw another person doing it, like reading the newspaper, people never paid much attention to another’s reading materials unless the topic was broached and as such Molly’s new pastime could have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for one thing: Sherlock Holmes did not like it when Molly didn’t pay him attention and Two weeks later when he got back from France, Molly Hooper knew she had a problem.

“Molly, I need access to a good set of kidneys, before noon if you please" was the first thing Sherlock said when he got back from his case, John at his side rolled his eyes, expecting the pathologist to at least greet him with her usual bright smile, but Molly surprisingly didn’t even lift up her head from her computer.

“yes Sherlock, I’ll get it to you later”

“and a good femur, for some reason Mrs. Hudson threw away my last one"

Molly who was still clearly engrossed in whatever she was doing barely managed an “of course Sherlock”

“And some eyes, preferably without much cornea damage" Sherlock frowned at her “Molly are you even listening or is the usual game of Solitaire taking up too much of your time?”

But even then he only managed to make Molly separate herself from the computer long enough to pull a notepad from her desk drawer and slide it in his direction “write a list of the body parts you need and I’ll deliver them at Baker Street after my shift” and then she was back to what had her so busy.

Molly tried to ignore Sherlock’s presence, easily opening the tabs for a couple of vaguely interesting autopsy reports to justify herself in case he decided to snoop in her files and went back to reading more fanfiction completely tuning out the real life consulting detective of her dreams.

The fanfiction that had her giving Sherlock auto pilot responses was titled “Celebrity Romance” in it Sherlock was written as an actor in a BBC series called ‘Benedict’, the TV show he starred in followed the life of fictional Hollywood darling Benedict Cumberbatch ( Sherlock apparently had been at it for five seasons) who was married with kids and held a demanding life as a sought after celebrity, and Molly, in turn, played a secondary role in his show as one of Benedict’s equally famous friends, progressive feminist actress Louise Brealey. What had Molly intrigued was that in the fanfiction despite the fact that on screen Sherlock and Molly’s characters were only good friends, with story lines that rarely overlapped, off screen they were actually falling in love and bonding over Starbucks coffees. (privately Molly rather liked Loo’s minor suffrage-style story line just as much as she liked Ben’s love story with his wife Sophie, but that was just her)

The point was that Molly was really invested in the plot of that story, the author was making his characters jump through rings of fire to get that happy ending…..Aaaand “Excuse me Sherlock did you say something? I was a bit distracted with this autopsy report” Molly said, eyes snapping out of her reverie to catch the tail end of one of his deductions on the state of Lestrade’s NSY passwords.

Molly saw a muscle in his jaw twitch with exasperation “Yes, I can see that” Sherlock said with narrowed eyes “if you tried to get any closer to the screen you would be in danger of merging with it”

Molly nodded distractedly making the same face Sherlock usually did when he was texting behind his back “Of course Sherlock, merging, that’s great for the victim” in response Sherlock calmly walked to the power outlet in the corner and unplugged her desktop “HEY” Molly snapped glaring at her blank computer and turned her whole attention to Sherlock Furiously, now she would never know what Happened after fictional Molly tweeted about how her character Louise needed to get more screen time.

“Body parts? Assistance in the lab?” Sherlock said without flinching watching Molly’s petulant glare melt into her usual friendly smile

“I gather you brought a sample of evidence with you" She replied easily getting up as though she hadn’t been not paying him attention for the last fifteen minutes, privately she resolved to find that fan fiction again when she got home “let’s see it, if it was worth bringing here it must be something big”

Sherlock handed over the evidence bag and for all intents and purposes that should have been it, she was back to the usual, except it wasn’t.

Because that week was the week Molly ventured into the deep dark hole that was the smut rating. And Sherlock being Sherlock, noticed the change immediately.

Molly began distancing herself from him and he didn’t like it.

She was distracted almost disinterested in him every time he saw her, she answered his questions in sentences that might as well have been recorded on an answering machine and had started spending too much time on her emails. To everyone else, she looked and acted like the normal Molly but Sherlock knew that something was going on in her life.

Normally this kind of behavior would lead him to deduce some new sort of paramour in her life, but a deeper look at the details of her social life showed no variation in patterns, her flat showed no sign of new visitors staying longer than what was considered appropriate and a quick call to Mycroft reassured him that she hadn’t been anywhere else in the past month.

Browsing through her phone and computer gave up similarly uninspiring results, other than a mountain of random pages and articles on things he didn’t care about Molly hadn’t logged on to any new dating website or media equivalents.

The only detail he could see was that Molly’s strange behavior coincided with the recent scheduling of her weekly nights out with Mary and like a dog with a bone, Sherlock had to investigate further. So using his master detective skills he roped John into trying to spy on his daughter’s godmother and on his wife (John was naturally against it citing that for very obvious reasons spying on a retired secret agent like Mary was almost impossible, also according to him spying on girls during their girl time was something teenage boys did, not men) but Sherlock eventually managed to convince him .

Meanwhile, Molly felt she couldn’t be around Sherlock anymore and it was all Mary’s fault.

“I ran away Mary, I said I needed to wash my hair and ran, like a coward” Molly complained bringing her hands to her face “ I can’t look at him in the eyes, I’ve tried!”

“I hate to say it, but: I told you so” Mary chuckled patting her hand “tell me again how bad is it?”

“On a scale of one to ten, eleven, I can’t seem to stop reading them" Molly wailed not daring to take her hands off her face “maybe I’ve turned into a pervert”

“you’re not a pervert Molls, people that send pictures of their privates to unsuspecting strangers on chat rooms are perverts, you’re just you know….sexually frustrated” the chuckle turned into a full blown giggle.

“Thank you for stating the obvious Mrs. Three Continent Watson" Molly grumbled “They like Sherlock’s penis! A lot and my breasts, just look at them Mary” Molly pointed to her modest chest “They are not a big deal, but out there in the big wide internet there are strangers that…have a very artistic view of my breasts”

“And of Sherlock’s penis,“ Mary reminded her laughing

“Stop laughing this is serious, I need help” Molly then pulled up her phone “hear this one” Molly cleared her throat “Prince Sherlock wasn’t supposed to be fucking his niece’s Fairy godmother, but he couldn’t help himself, the christening was almost over and he just had to know what it was like to taste her dewy pussy, to be inside her and hammer his member so deep she cried with pleasure, his manhood was made for her, hard red and angry his shaft was painfully aware of how beautiful she was and he just wanted to rip off every single item of frothy fabric covering her and her, gloriously hard nippled small breasts, see his little fairy naked and open just for him, while he made her miss the christening of Princess Briar Rosamund”

“Oh wow, what talent”Mary was holding her sides in laughter “Remind me to invite whoever wrote that to the christening of my next baby”

“MARY” Molly almost started crying “that one had a plot I enjoyed and now I can’t stop thinking about…”

“Sherlock’s rock hard penis?”

“STOP SAYING IT” Molly hissed “this is all your fault”

“Hey my friend I told you not to do it, you didn’t listen"

“you knew I would do it anyway" Molly wailed “Now I can’t stop thinking about how it would be like to actually have sex with him, not that I didn’t before, but these people are graphic Mary, VERY, graphic, now every time I look at Sherlock I wonder which one of these people hit the mark, is he rough in bed, does he take it slow, does he like his hair pulled, or does he do the hair pulling, is his penis as big as they claim it is or is that just normal smut exaggeration” Molly began ranting while Mary kept trying not to spill her drink with her giggles “I mean I’m pretty sure some of these people have access to his medical records from his druggie days so one has to question if it’s true, I for one like to be dominant in bed and now it’s affecting my relationship with Sherlock because I can’t look at him in the eye without wondering what it’s like to spank his perfect ass with that bloody riding crop he likes so much”

“Oh Molly, you really need to have sex and soon" Mary advised wisely patting the petite woman’s head, then she turned around on her stool and looked at the pair of old men that were sitting at the table behind them “By the way, John, why don’t we head home and leave Sherlock and Molly alone, I think you’ve heard enough”

“Mary Watson that move just cost you a friendship” Molly looked genuinely betrayed but Mary didn’t look one bit regretful

“You need him out of your system and you Mr. Clark Kent…“ She said pulling Sherlock up and divesting him from the trey wig and bad prosthetics "need to stop being a tosser over the fact that Lois Lane likes Superman better” and with that Mary swanned out of the pub with an apologetic John in tow, leaving Sherlock alone with Molly

minutes ticked down.

Another minute.

Sherlock still was looking at her like he’d never seen her before. “So it was fan fiction all along”

“Yes"

“That might present a problem for us” Sherlock said awkwardly

“I’m aware”

“Molly I….”

But she cut him off deciding enough was enough “Just say whatever you need to say Sherlock” Molly glared at him “I’m tired, I’m hungry and extremely sexually frustrated so if you’re going to be a bastard about this get it over with, I need to find a stranger to shag tonight preferably”

that got his attention really fast, no, the only man Molly was going to take home was going to be him “you’re embarrassed when you shouldn’t be, I was merely thinking about the next course of action one should take when a woman one has fantasized of fucking confesses the same thing”

“I was not expecting that" Molly eyed him suspiciously before downing whatever drink she had in hand before shrugging and eyeing her phone “you know what Sherlock, any other day I would be very accommodating talking about what you want and why this isn’t a good idea, but right now, I can’t think clearly when your shirt buttons look like they want to pop out so here is what will happen” She stretched to her toes and grabbed him by the collar watching his eyes grow dark with want, taking his hand and pressing it to the waistband of her skirt “I have questions about how we would be in bed, you have answers, it ends tomorrow and it absolutely doesn’t mean anything”

“we could start with those fan fictions you were reading, you seem to want to investigate which ones are accurate and which ones are entirely poppycock" he murmured in her ear making her shiver, desire pooling in her belly

“I have a long list”

turns out that Sherlock was in fact not as disgusted with Molly’s fan fiction problem as he’d been with Mary’s, he was positively pleased by it and it was a frequent source of both amusement and role-play ideas any time he went to Molly’s flat or had her over in Baker street.

The flowery language in the smut section only made Sherlock more aware of the tiny details of Molly’s body that he could use to his advantage, it was like having a cheat code on how to sexually please Molly.

And in turn, he found himself pleasured by her in many wicked ways.

“I think we might have to extend this arrangement” Sherlock murmured into Molly’s hair for the umpteenth time, he was sated and she looked happy, he wasn’t going to ruin a good thing.

“An Extension?” Molly replied with a yawn cuddling into his chest “How big?”

“Depends, these people publish stories every day, how about until they stop writing?”

“That could take forever"

“Good thing I’m a patient man then" He replied kissing her lips.

And yes it turned out that Sherlock, was so much better at everything he tried in real life than he was in fiction, especially when it came to Molly.

#sherlolly #sherlolly fic exchange #@darnedchild #promptfill #fanfiction about fanfiction #the writer makes fun of herself here #pure crack #and satire #my Tumblr mobile sucks

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optimisticcritique · 7 years ago

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Gotham 4x10 - Re-Watch Review

Almost done with the catch up!

Wow, arkham has really let itself go. Who is running it now anyway? It looks like a complete circus. No wonder Jerome must feel comfortable there.

"It was playing when I killed her" Well, maybe you should have turned the music off before you killed her....or maybe, I dunno, not killed her.

Stabbing someone and slicing their throat with a record....what a waste of a perfectly good record.

Aaaand this is all done as the guards just stand there and watch. High quality service.

Jim shutting Sofia down, what a huge burn.

But seriously, why get involved with Sofia Falcone if you were just going to dump her like this? You already angered Carmine and killed Mario. You really wanted to have a fling with Sofia and risk messing with the family more too?

So, are there no more skits now? Haven't seen one of Ed's shows in awhile. I guess Lee was like, “Okay, let’s tone down the shows and the glittery outfits...okay?” Then he just gets so disappointed that he can’t wear all the glitter and do his performances. He had a closet full of planned green glittery outfits to wear in public and now he constantly stares at them longingly. Sometimes he even wears them when he is all alone or when he sleeps because he just can.

"If she stabs him, it solves the issue" Well, he’s not wrong.

I know for a fact that was the only appearance of Grundy in this episode. So Drew put all his make up on, stood there for a second, and then left...Must have been such a hard day of filming.

I wonder how long Penguin was waiting there for Sofia. Did he sit and talk with Victor until she arrived? Did they get bored so they ate some of her food? Maybe her peanut butter?

Try not to notice that, while Oswald is confronting Sofia, he is yelling as he is looking up at her. The height difference is more apparent than you would expect in this particular scene.

"...and a good foot rub" Cue Victor looking down at Oswald's feet. He must have had so many questions.

When are villains going to learn that they should be present when giving torture?

"Jim. I'm a reflection of you" *Jim looks closely* "Don't see it" Haha

The face being easily fixed. I half expected Jim to pull off his face to find a robot underneath. I mean, it is Gotham. Anything is possible.

"Jerome, Fish, Penguin..." Jim considers them to be the worst psychopaths? Jerome would be the most touched by this.

"People will remember me for months" I know Penguin will. Hard to forget a guy in a pig mask who threatened a soon to be adopted son’s life and served you human meat pies.

Pyg going country? Why am I not surprised by this?

Okay, does Ed even shower at this point? Comb his hair? Wear more clothes? It sure doesn't look like it.

"Has been" "Excuse me!" Heey, be nice to Eddie.

He was more infamous than you, Sampson. Were you ever on the front page headlines of a newspaper or on television? I don’t think so. Granted, Ed hijacked some of that television spot but that’s beside the point.

I really like this actor playing Sampson. We have barely seen much of his character so far but he has a nice presence.

I'm sad to say that I believed Lee for a second about the Narrow's Lung...

Sampson kind of makes that food look good. He should be on food commercials.

Sofia - thinking ahead and preparing for almost anything.

...Yeah, except that. Sirens already messing up her plans.

“kitty cat” When are they going to start calling Selina ‘Catwoman’? Does she have to be age appropriate?

They were so ready to just go ahead and make the deal anyway. Oswald, why is it that you end up sabotaging your own self?

Penguin with his pure little bird son. Seeing little Martin in that chair. So cute

"One day all of this could be yours" I am getting Lion King vibes. Does Martin can’t wait to be king?

Hey Os, at least he confessed the truth! Not complete betrayal. He should get the “not as bad as of a betrayal as it could have been” award.

I just imagine Babs on hold, hearing "WHAT?!! HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?!" In the background as she shakes her head, grinning at Penguin’s rage.

Babs is staring right at the camera as she is talking. It's like she’s staring into my soul...

Victor just automatically knows that he is free to go murder. Was it a code word? Did Oswald and Victor invent code words for stuff? I really want to know what that conversation was like, as Victor suggests certain code words and Oswald is just like “no. just no”.

"We are not working for anyone but ourselves" Yeah, good luck with that. I hate seeing the sirens be lackeys.

Imagine if Victor actually succeeded...4 major characters just dead there. Imagine all the shock and riots that would ensue. Actually, scratch that. They would probably still find a way to bring back their bodies from the ashes.

I have to wonder how much of Sofia's plan was actually a plan or just pure chance from Penguin's self-sabotage and Jim underestimating her.

No! Don't yell at your child like that! He loves yoooooouuu!

Let's see...each season has a new weakness/loved one to Penguin. Season 1 had Penguin's mom, season 2 had Penguin's dad, Season 3 had Penguin's husband best friend, season 4 has Penguin's unofficially adopted son, Season 5....? Pet penguins?! Crazy uncle Zsasz?!?!

"If she sets foot in Gotham again, I'll put her behind bars." Yeah, I'm sure that'll happen.

“Once Sofia Falcone is gone...where does that leave us?" Translation: Once your girlfriend is out the way, are we finally going to be an item?

Yeah, this working together won't last long.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" That was Ed being sassy.

Wow, that was darker than expected coming from Lee.

Lee and Ed work well together. Nice dynamic.

So...Penguin was drinking....was he half drunk when he was blowing things up and screaming as guns were firing? That feels like the equivalent to doing crazy drunk stuff in Gotham, honestly.

Wait, did Martin draw that picture? Is that supposed to be Tabby in the picture? There was a pony tail... yet it looks like Selina was the one that got him in the car???

"Kid gives me the creeps." What are you talking about? That’s Penguin’s adorable adopted murder son you are referring to! Hardly creepy.

"Must be hard to live your whole life trying to get daddy's approval. I myself can't relate since my parents loved ME without condition!" Savage Penguin. You always know where to hit it where it hurts.

I have issues with this plan. Like, were they just supposed to take Penguin's word on submitting and expect him to follow through? What was to stop Penguin from lying? Is there some kind of criminal code of lying I know nothing about?

The way his body wiggles like he's ready to pounce.

"Not meant to be a sidekick, Lee" Funny...you seemed fine when you were doing things for Oswald when he was mayor.

"I like who you have become. The Ed you were before. My friend" Ed’s expression when she says that. Wow, he looks like he is about to cry. All he wants is to be accepted!!!

Penguin -- always coming with a plan.

How did Penguin know that it would be a place with a hole for Martin to go in? Did he pick the meeting place? Does he know every inch of Gotham? Was it more like “Hey, can we meet at this place instead? Why? No reason. My car is just low on gas, that’s all...” *drives over pot hole to fit it perfectly*

"I don't want to leave you" Ugh kill me.

I really will miss these Oswald/Martin scenes. I hope we get to see more of them and they do not involve putting Martin’s life in danger again.

"I have something better planned for Sofia Falcone" Penguin’s mind: I’m going to call your daddy on you! Muahaha

If it is that easy to escape arkham, how come there are so many prisoners still there?

Mirror ed has returned! Of course he shows up, right after Lee says that she doesn’t like his Riddler side.

Over all: For the most part, I enjoyed the episode. There was some questionable plot holes but I still enjoyed it. The sirens team up with Sofia. Oswald “blows up” Martin and tells Victor to take him somewhere else. Pyg escapes prison, Jim/Lucius find out he is not who he says he is. Ed and Lee take control of the Narrows, as Ed discovers his brain damage is psychological and the Riddler starts to make his return.

Previous Review: 4x09 Next: 4x11

#optimisticcritque gotham review #gotham #almost finished with the catch up #thank you to those taking the time to read these #still fairly new to the gotham fandom so it really means a lot #keep a look out because 11 and 12 will be up in the next 24 hours #4x10 #things that go boom

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