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roleplaylogs · 6 months

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RP Hunt!

Hello! Long time no see. I’m back in the world of searching for roleplay partners now my life has calmed down a little and I have a lovely work from home job. I currently have one long term writing partner (writing together for probably about 4 years now… jeez) but I’d love to expand my horizons. I’ve done these call-out posts before but if you’ve commented/sent me a message before and I haven’t responded due to my own inactivity, please get back in touch! I’d love to chat and do trials with as many people as possible.

For my preferences, I am 25 so I definitely will not write with anyone under 18 (though I prefer 21+ just so I don’t feel so old). I tend to be an email role player these days but I’m probably going to kickstart my Discord again so am more than happy to write there.

I am fine with NSFW and dark themes as long as everything is discussed beforehand. I always have my own plot ideas but love it when my partner is into planning things out too. I can RP in text format and also literate, my responses tend to be between 1-3 paragraphs but I am happy to match length. Creative writing is a hobby for me and now I have time I’d love to flex my writing skills again.

Here are the fandoms and ships I’m currently searching for. The characters I write are in bold and I’ve put an asterisk next to those I am particularly interested in.

Marvel:

Stucky - Steve Rogers/James Barnes

Stony - Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Bishova - Kate Bishop/Yelena Belova

Stevetasha - Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff

Winteriron - Loki/Tony Stark

(I am open to most marvel ships/multi shipping, so try me if you have any of your own ideas)

Hannigram - Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham

Harry Potter:

Drarry - Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Dramione - Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger (a new one for me but I just finished reading Manacled so blame that)

Wolfstar - Sirius Black/Remus Lupin (another new one I am interested in exploring)

Good Omens:

Aziraphale/Crowley

Sherlock:

Mormor - Jim Moriarty/Sebastian Moran

Sherstrade - Sherlock Holmes/Greg Lestrade

Sheriarty - Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty

Hamish Watson-Holmes/Alexander Moran-Moriarty

And I think that’s it! DM me, or leave a note and I’ll send you a message and we can chat. Thank you for reading.

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mindful-of-ideas · 1 year

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“I can’t believe I let you drag me into this!” you said.

“Drag you into this? It’s Christmas dinner,” Greg answered.

“Yeah, Christmas dinner is like important very important for some people.”

“Oh, not them, don’t worry about that.”

“And what if they don’t like what I got them!”

“You got them presents! Y/N, you shouldn’t have, you barely know them.”

“Sherlock just saved my life, getting him a present is the least I can do,” you replied, “And I got one for you and Molly, of course, and for Ms. Hudson, and one for Mycroft.”

“You… how did you end up getting one for Mycroft?”

“I don’t know, you talked so much about him and I just came across something that felt right and…”

“And you bought it, right. You know you didn’t need to do all that? They’ll be happy just to know you came.”

“I know, but I wanted to. Can we just change the subject please, now I’m just even more stressed.”

Greg wrapped his arm around your shoulder as you turned onto Baker Street. He grabbed the bag you were carrying, now understanding it was filled with presents. He pull you as close as he could.

Greg and you had been friends since forever. You grew up in the same small town, on the same street, and nothing could stop you from becoming friends even if you were a few years younger than him. It all started that summer when you crashed your bike right in front of his house as he was going out. You were 5 and 8 years old. As soon as he saw you on the ground, he came running to help and took you inside so that his mom could look at your wounds. You then spent the whole summer playing together. When school started, he stood up for you anytime you were getting bullied. The fact that, even if you had skipped a year, you were still too advanced for your class didn’t help with the bullying… and didn’t help with making friends. But it didn’t matter to Greg. He stuck by your side and so did you.

You briefly had to part ways when you went to university, him wanting to become a police inspector and you leaning more towards history. But you never spent too long apart and ultimately you had decided to continue your studies in history of crime. Which is how you met Sherlock, or more how he ended up saving.

See, sometimes, even the brightest private detective out there needs a little help. Especially with something as specific as a group of criminals who are copying the actions of past gangs and cults. So Greg called you thinking your expertise could help and hopefully you could work along with Sherlock to catch the criminals as soon as possible. And you did help in the end because by helping Sherlock, the criminals freaked out and captured you, a misstep which lead Sherlock to catch them. And save you. That’s why you were now standing in front of 221B Baker Street.

“You’ll be great,” Greg said, opening the door.

A flyer left in it said to just come up, so just like that, we set foot in the infamous 221B Baker Street. As soon as you got in the flat, you noticed how cozy it was. You had never been here, always meeting Sherlock with Lestrade at Scotland Yard. But there was something about this cluttered open space that made you feel right at home. You went around, saying hi to everyone, perhaps spending a little more time with people you already know. It was way easier to chat with Molly than with John if you were being honest. But you got trapped talking to the both of them as they were the only ones taking care of dinner.

“How about you let Greg and me finish this?” you asked, looking at Molly.

“Are you sure?” said John, “We don’t mind taking care of it, at least I don’t. Molly?”

“Oh, no of course I don’t mind.”

But you knew better. You once ate dinner at Molly’s flat and well, it would be more accurate to say you tried to eat what you thought was dinner at Molly’s flat.

“I really don’t mind, I actually like cooking,” you added.

“I could use a short break,” said Molly, thanking you with her eyes.

“Alright then!” said John, starting to explain what they had started.

And it was a disaster. But luckily for everyone, you were half decent in the kitchen and you had good hopes of turning this dinner around.

“Avoiding me?” Greg asked coming up behind you.

“You? Never, it’s just a lot of new people all at once.”

“I’m teasing you, it’s okay. So? What do I do?” he said clapping his hands.

If you were a decent cook, Greg was an excellent one. But he would never admit that in front of anyone, especially not Sherlock.

“You could take charge,” you said.

“You got this, I’m sure.”

“I could ask someone else for help too then. Mycroft maybe?”

“No, shut… alright we do this together.”

It was your turn to tease Greg. You didn’t know exactly what was going on between him and Mycroft, or even if there was a ‘between’ to talk about, but there was something. You couldn’t say for sure it was love since the last time Greg had a girlfriend, or any significant other, was when he was at uni, aka the only time you were apart. Still, you could tell something was going on, and the idea of calling Mycroft over just to mess with Greg was tempting, and you could always argue that you were trying to make more friends. But you didn’t even need to do anything.

“Trying to hide from the party?” Mycroft asked, sitting at the table behind you.

“No,” you said, “just trying to help out.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that, don’t worry… Y/N, right?”

“Yes,” you said, going back to your work.

“Not much of a talker,” he said, now seemingly talking to Greg.

You looked down. You didn’t know Mycroft well enough to tell if he was being snarky or just didn’t have any filter. I mean, you knew Mycroft, but from Greg’s perspective, from what he chose to tell you about him.

“Guess not,” he finally said.

You bit your lip and your grip strengthen on the knife you were holding. You were trying to find something to say but it felt like your head was spinning. You closed your eyes, but someone grabbed your hand before you could say anything.

“Y/N?” said Greg.

You took a deep breath.

“Y/N? Are you okay,” he said, now whispering, “He’s being an asshole because he doesn’t know you but I’ll tell him off if you want me to.”

“It’s fine, I-”

“Mycroft, if you are scaring Y/N away and making them feel bad, I’m kicking you out,” said Sherlock, coming from the living room.

He put down a dirty plate, which was probably used for an appetizer, in the sink. He cocked his head trying to look at you, but you swiftly turned the other side. You could see Mycroft roll his eyes out of the corner of your eye.

“I’m asking questions,” said Mycroft.

“You are being rude,” answered his brother.

As the two of them kept arguing, you stood closer the Greg.

“Don’t get mad at him, but can you just change the subject… like can it not be about me being shy…” you whispered to him.

After a moment, Sherlock either gave up or won, because he went back to the living room. Greg cleared his throat.

“Well, you know what this reminds me of?”

“No,” said Mycroft.

“Y/N and their brother,” Greg said.

“How come?” Mycroft asked.

“Lots of fighting!”

You punch Greg gently, knowing he would understand that this was you thanking him.

“Spoken like a true only child,” you said, “Siblings fight all the time. And I still love my brother.”

“So do I, Y/N, don’t get that wrong,” said Mycroft.

“I didn’t say that,” you said, again feeling like he was accusing you.

“So don’t go around hurting him.”

“Mycroft come on Y/N would never!” Greg said, taking a step forward, blocking you with his body, “You don’t get to treat people like that, they even got you a present, show some respect for fuck sake!”

You softly grabbed the back of Greg’s jacket. Everyone here were adults, there was no reason to act like Mycroft was some bully on the playground. You looked up, crossing Mycroft’s eyes for the first time. His gaze was so cold, it was like he was trying to read your mind just by staring at you. Without even noticing, you were now fully gripping Greg’s jacket.

“Were the one cooking, don’t forget so either you ap-”

But Greg couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I tend to be overprotective of my little brother,” said Mycroft, cutting him off, “Just like Lestrade seems to be overprotective of you.

“It’s fine,” you said.

“No, it’s not. I’ll admit, I’m not good at making friends but this clearly was wrong. I’m sorry Y/N.”

“I’m not much better at making friends,” you admitted, “Maybe we could try again?”

“I’d very much like that,” said Mycroft, “If Lestrade let you…”

“I…I’m not…” he tried to say, definitely troubled by what just happened.

“They make their own decisions,” he finally said, and then, turning to you, “That was weird and quick, you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, Greg. Don’t worry too much about me, please.”

He pulled you towards him and kissed the top of your head.

“So, what are you two doing here,” said Mycroft, wanting to start the whole conversation over.

...

Not long after, dinner was ready. Greg and you went around with plates that wouldn’t fit on the table and waited for everyone to be served before sitting down. Once everyone had eaten at least one plate, people started sharing gifts. It was all a bit chaotic, but that’s what made it fun. You gave Mycroft his gift and he seemed happy enough. Surprisingly, he also had one for you. You unwrapped it, dubious, but curious nonetheless. As soon as you saw what it was, you turned to show Greg. How could Mycroft give you our favourite childhood book, but not only that, the exact same edition that you’ve been trying to find for years now? Greg just shrugged. For the first time of the night, you turned to Mycroft smiling, as you thanked him.

#mindful-of-ideas #sherlock imagine #bbc sherlock imagine #lestrade imagine #greg lestrade imagine #mycroft imagine #mycroft homles imagine #sherlock #sherlock holmes #bbc sherlock #mycroft holmes #greg lestrade #lestrade #mycroft #christmas imagine

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mystradeholidaycollection · 1 year

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Mystrade Holiday 2022 Collection Update and Wrap Up

It’s been a marvelous holiday season for Mystrade. Five more fics were added to the Mystrade Holiday 2022 Collection on AO3 before it closed on January 6th.

The happiest year of their life by miss_Holmes_Lestrade

2022 was by far the happiest year of their lives so far. And 2023 promises to be even better.

The Curse of the New Year by @eventhorizon451

Mycroft often visits Greg's office for a chat but, this time, he didn't expect to find he'd entered a realm where the new year could bring heinous and debilitating curses onto the unwary. Unless, of course, one had the proper protection, which Greg was happily shook at any possible villains looking to lay said curses upon him. Luckily, Greg was willing to share his arcane knowledge with the a minor government official who suddenly found himself in need...

Sugarplum Kisses by Topicabo

Christmas makes Greg excited, and Mycroft honest.

Major Revisions by BlueMoononTheRise

Greg Lestrade is a production editor at a little independent academic publisher. He's used to awkward authors, but when renowned scholar Mycroft Holmes lands in his inbox, even Greg is flustered. The man is arrogant, rude, and completely insufferable. Greg's ready to murder him before they've ever met in person, and when he's packed off to spend the week before Christmas holed up at an academic conference with him, he would rather be anywhere else.

Pawns trying on crowns by @neverlet

Greg is homeless. Surviving winter always was, is and will be hard, but this year there is huge amount of snow which makes it even harder to survive. There is not enough food, money and hasty decisions can make him lose everything he had.

All in all 37 fics are in the Mystrade Holiday 2022 Collection! As this is the 5th anniversary of the collection, many thanks are extended to everyone who contributed to the collection making it a very successful year. 🎉

Have a happy and safe new year. See you in approximately 319 days. ⛄️

#mystrade holiday fics #mystrade holiday collection 2022 #where every wish comes true

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mimisempai · 1 year

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I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid

Summary

You can be one of the best agents of the British government, you can even be the British government, but that doesn't stop you from being an idiot when jealousy gets the better of you.

Notes

Mystrade Monday 1.0 #03 -“I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid.”

@mystradepromptsandscenarios

On Ao3

Rating G - 804 words

Mycroft knew he could be overprotective at times, and if he was honest with himself, he could sometimes be too possessive. He couldn't help it. He knew Greg was loyal to him, he trusted him completely, but Greg was kind to everyone, he smiled at everyone and sometimes some people mistook his kindness for something more. And though Greg couldn't see it, Mycroft could see the different looks in their eyes. At those moments, everything in him screamed: Greg is mine.

Usually he could control himself, but today, as he had just entered Greg's office, Mycroft was really struggling to hold himself back, because the police officer who was chatting with Greg was a little too close for Mycroft's liking, and Greg, as usual, was completely oblivious to the signals this guy was sending out in an unsubtle way. Besides, Mycroft didn't like the way Greg's smile was a little brighter, his laugh a little louder.

Before he could think, he found himself standing next to Greg and put his hand on his arm in what he hoped was a natural way.

"Detective Lestrade, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" he said as casually as he could. Greg turned to him in surprise.

"I'll wait outside, sir," the man said as Mycroft looked on.

No sooner had the other man closed the door to Greg's office behind him than Mycroft was standing in front of Greg, arms on his hips, and asked curtly, "Greg, can you tell me what I just saw?"

"What have you seen?" asked Greg, repeating Mycroft's words in confusion.

"That guy was flirting with you and you let him."

Greg couldn't help laughing and replied, "Of course not. Don't be an idiot."

"I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid. I just wanted to remind you who you belong to," Mycroft said before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pressing his lips to Greg's.

Greg, though surprised, first responded to the kiss with the same intensity, then abruptly pushed Mycroft away, saying, "If I don't mind your possessiveness, I don't like you acting like an idiot, and even less so in my place of work. Leave and don't even think about talking to me again until you calm down and realize the stupidity of your behavior.

Greg shows him the door and stands his ground. In front of his closed face, Mycroft could only obey. But as he passed the man waiting outside Greg's office door, he muttered stubbornly, "He's mine."

At the end of the day, Mycroft knocked hesitantly on the open door, poked his head through the open door, and asked almost timidly, "May I come in?"

Greg lifted his head and gave him a look. "That depends. Are you going to be a complete idiot again?"

Mycroft sighed, "No, I came to apologize and explain."

Greg leaned back in his desk chair and crossed his arms, "You're right to be sorry. I don't like being accused of something I'm not guilty of. I got the impression you didn't trust me."

Mycroft, feeling even more guilty for hurting Greg in this way, walked into the room and sat down across from Greg.

He swallowed and said quietly, looking at his hands, "I know, I'm really sorry. It's just that... I know you're faithful, but it's the others I don't trust. When I see someone like this younger, brighter, more attractive man, I can't help but doubt... myself."

Greg shook his head, "Oh Mycroft... come here," he held out his hand to Mycroft who immediately took it. When Mycroft was close to him, Greg grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, saying in a firm voice, his eyes in his, "Unfortunately for the others, I only have eyes for you, and have had ever since I first met you." Their faces were now inches apart and Greg planted a light kiss on Mycroft's lips.

Mycroft, still embarrassed, replied, "I'm sorry I behaved like a complete fool. It was absolutely unforgivable of me to do that at your workplace."

Greg kissed him again and said gently, "You are all forgiven. Come on Mycroft, let's go home and forget all about it. Let's go home so I can show you how much you don't have to doubt yourself."

Mycroft nodded and they left Greg's office together.

In the lobby of the police station, they passed the police officer who had been the source of Mycroft's tantrum. Mycroft imperceptibly moved closer to Greg, then looked at the man and mouthed, "He's mine."

Of course, Greg had not been fooled and had not missed the little exchange, but he said nothing this time. He had to admit that there was something satisfying about being claimed in this way.

Maybe they were both idiots after all.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story 🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Mystrade masterlist here

#mystrade #mycroft holmes #greg lestrade #mycroft x greg #some fluff as always #sherlock bbc #emotional hurt/comfort #established relationship #mystrade monday #mystrade monday prompts

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musingsofmyown · 2 years

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Update on Sherlockian Gossip:

GREG HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

I REPEAT

GREG LESTRADE HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

More as it develops

I am your host, Aspen Winters, and this has been: Sherlockian Gossip

#sherlockian gossip

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ao3feed-mystrade · 8 months

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BBC Sherlock Fanfic Prompt List

read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49749388 by Prince1995 So I was bored and messing with AI, and chat gpt and give pretty good fanfiction prompts, so I'm uploading in case anyone wants to use them And because I want people to use them... I wanna read them all I need no credit because all I did was give the ship name BUT I want to be tagged or alerted that you've used the prompt I want to read it and ill add a chapter with links to any fics that get written using these prompts! :) Words: 2566, Chapters: 7/?, Language: English Fandoms: Sherlock (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Jim Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes, Greg Lestrade Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade Additional Tags: very not original, All ai generated unless said otherwise, BBC Sherlock - Freeform, tags will be updated as we go, please tell me when you use these prompts i wanna see read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49749388

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #mystrade #mycroftxlestrange

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instantlystrangeimaginellama · 3 years

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Greg: why is Anderson carrying a plant with him everywhere he goes?

John: he asked a stupid question so Sherlock made hime carry a plant around for the oxgyen he wasted

#greg #john #greg lestrade #john watson #detective inspector greg lestrade #dr john watson #greg chat #john chat #john watson chat #greg lestrade chat #bbc sherlock chat #bbc sherlock #sherlock holmes #sherlock holmes chat #source: tumblr #martin freeman #rupert graves #incorrect chats

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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 years

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Hi Steph, aside from Sherlock and John ofc, who is your favorite *Sherlock* character? Personally, it would be Irene :)

Hey Nonny!

Ooooof, this is a tough one. I'd have to say it's Lestrade. I LOVE him to bits, especially with his "Dad" energy and just I like the idea of him being someone who both John and Sherlock trust without question, and I dunno, he's easy on the eyes too, hahah <3 Yeah, Lestrade. Bless his silver fox heart.

#steph replies #happy posts #chatting with nonnies #about me #fave characters #greg lestrade

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majesticnerdyvee · 2 years

Note

Hey! Sorry if i'm bothering you, but i just wanted to ask how your truly fantastic fic Harry Potter and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is coming along. Its like one of my favourite fics of all time, and i'm so excited for the update. Thanks!

Hey Nonny! Never bothering, don't worry, asks are always welcome! :)

This ask makes me feel all fuzzy omg, it's really heart-warming to see that you enjoy it <3 you're lovely!

I realise now that the tags on the fic said I'd update 4 days ago. Unfortunately, university is really kicking me to the curb and I have exam season coming up, so it won't be for at least another 2-4 months :/ And it makes me sad, because I know people are waiting, but I have no beta which I would love to have for a fic this size, but I had no replies to my post sadly. That aside, I'll beta it myself of course to my best abilities, but I am restructuring the fic too. And finding motivation to write for this fic is a bit hard recently ://

Here's a couple things that are going on though:

Blake will have more screentime to show his character more and to give him time to befriens a number of characters which plays a role eventually

Draco will have a slightly different arc, which ties to Sherlock and by extension John, and I am very excited for this part

I am adding years 1,2, and 3 for Harry and Draco, which means Blake will be at Hogwarts since his year 4 experiencing the craziness

John/Sherlock and Greg timeline is going along well, and pre-writing their parts is fun but long lmao

the Founders have a secret,,, and it's hot tea I swear (has to do with Slytherin and Gryffindor)

animagi play a big role, and I am reconstructing certain spells to like, be better/work better and explain the reason why they work, and it's quite a bit of research

the ships i beg you I love my boys and once I put them through the angst wringer they'll be happy but first,,,, ANGST

Blake + Cedric = Slytherpuff duo of chaos

Sherlock and Greg developing friendship is the hill I die on

Sherlock, John and Greg will be a part of a bigger crew, essentially combining all House members into one team

McGonagall has a lot to look out for lol

I could write my favourite parts of writing this fic all day and my headcanons which I will eventually implement, but then this ask would be much longer :'D but if anyone's curious I can tell you!

Harry's situations at the Dursleys will be different, and Aunt Petunia will get a character arc too (and not Vernon because we don't like him in this household :3) - she has Potential

patronuses. they're awesome. and Blake has the coolest of them all ;)

Altogether, this fic is now over 100k words long. And that's just chapter 1 plus the hogwarts years which is all before year 5, hah, I can't write short stories for life x) And the chapters will be massive. We're talking ~20k and more possibly, to have the whole year in one place. So there's a lot of content to look forward to!

I could do Wednesdays In Progress again if I don't forget, though, hmmm, so there's an idea, but we'll see if I don't forget lol

Also, it's Christmas, so Merry Christmas if you celebrate it! Or Yule for our fellow witches and wizards out there or anything else you celebrate <3 As a small Chrismtas present, here is a cover for the fic that my younger brother had made for me (and I love it to death):

thank you for the lovely, encouraging ask, Nonny! as a treat I'll write today a bit for this fic <3

#ask box #chatting up nonnies #Harry Potter and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #my fic #potterlock #bbc sherlock #sherlock holmes #john watson #johnlock #harry potter #draco malfoy #drarry #harry x draco #ao3 #fanfiction #johnlock fic #greg lestrade #mycroft holmes #hogwarts

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leemaht · 4 years

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lestrade: *walking into the living room *

lestrade: john won't come out of his bedroom

sherlock: just tell him *whisper*

a few minutes later

john: *storming out of his bedroom *

john: wHAt dO yOU mEaN yOu dIDn'T LisTeN To mY RanT aBOUt tHe SoLaR SysteM¿?

#memes #sherlock fandom #sherlock #sherlock holmes #lestrade #greg lestrade #watson #john watson #funny #sherlock funny #chat

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sherlockholmesandhisinability · 6 years

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Lestrade: So, how'd it happen?

Sherlock: It's complicated.

John: Sherlock, it's really not. The man touched your violin and you socked him in the jaw.

Lestrade: Ah, I see.

Sherlock: What?

Lestrade: This 'man', was he by any chance close to you?

Sherlock: Genetically speaking, yes.

Lestrade: So you and Mycroft had a brothers' spat?

Sherlock: HE TOOK MY VIOLIN GEORGE IT'S NOT FAIR

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shitpost-holmes · 5 years

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mrs hudson: now, boys, this is silly. come on, siblings don’t fight!

mrs hudson: sherlock, I want you to say something you like about mycroft

sherlock, begrudgingly, after deliberately taking a long time to pause and ponder: I like his vast capability to be an imbecile

mycroft: *simultaneously shocked and bored, having expected something offensive*

john:

lestrade:

lestrade: *jumping out of his seat, only just about stopped by john* of all the reasons I’ve thought I’d kill you for, sherlock-

#sherlock #bbc sherlock #johnlock #sherlock holmes #john watson #mrs hudson #martha hudson #221b #221b chats #mycroft holmes #lestrade #greg lestrade #greg lestrade x mycroft holmes #mycroft x lestrade #john x sherlock #john watson x sherlock holmes #mine #shitpost #sherlock shitpost

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housmania · 7 years

Conversation

John, in a crowded room: I can't find Lestrade. Have you seen him?

Sherlock: one sec

Sherlock: GRAHAM! GEOFF! GERONIMO! GERALD! GEORGE!

Lestrade, from other side of room: IT'S G R E G

Sherlock: there he is

#sherlock #greg lestrade #lestrade #bbc sherlock #sherlock humor #soe chats #soe humor

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fffinnagain · 3 years

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10 Years of Sherlock (TV) AO3 stats!

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

More creators are writing longer works in 2020

Readers engaged more as the fandom changed after S4

Top ten new tags per year for the last 10 years

And a lot more.

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

Activity over 10 years

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

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

The works are still coming

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

Creator-waves, monthly output

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

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

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

Reader behaviour: Hits & Kudos & Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

What about Tags

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

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

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

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

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

Angst 323

Fluff 232

Humor 216

Hurt/Comfort 188

Romance 168

Friendship 168

Crossover 138

Crack 121

Alternate Universe 119

First Time 106

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

Fluff and Angst 145

Episode: s02e03 The Reichenbach Fall 97

Kid Sherlock 54

Puppies 50

Sad 48

Episode: s02e01 A Scandal in Belgravia 47

Mathematics 42

Season 2 spoilers 38

Omega Verse 38

Feels 38

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

Alpha Sherlock 65

Omega John 61

30 Day OTP Challenge 59

Tumblr: letswritesherlock 56

Top John 49

Sherlock Holmes Returns after Reichenbach 44

Bottom Sherlock 40

Reichenbach Angst 30

Don't copy work to another site 29

Age Regression/De-Aging 27

2014: 19256 (Mostly Series 3 related

Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow 249

Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three 167

Post-His Last Vow 149

His Last Vow Spoilers 142

Sherlock Series 3 Spoilers 128

2000 AU 100

The Sign of Three Spoilers 74

Fatlock 72

Post-The Sign of Three 66

Post-Season/Series 03 57

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

Chats 47

International Fanworks Day 2015 34

Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2015 27

S3 referenced 25

Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing 22

English Accent 22

Sound cloud 19

Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper 19

Protective John Watson 18

but not that kind of graphic 17

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

Slowwww burn 92

John Watson Loves Sherlock Holmes 37

Sherlock Holmes Loves John Watson 33

post-tab 30

JME 27

Post TAB 25

Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy 23

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2016 19

epileptic 19

fraternal love 17

2017: 15067 (Series 4 tags and challenges)

Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective 133

Episode: s04e01 The Six Thatchers 93

Post TFP 73

Sherlock Series 4 Spoilers 69

Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem 60

Post-Episode: s04e02 The Lying Detective 55

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2017 50

Post S4 48

Sherstrade Month 2017 44

31 Days of Porn Challenge 2017 41

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

Towel Day 2018 64

Mystrade Valentines Calendar 2018 25

Kinktober 2018 23

Pregnant Molly Hooper 23

Soft Smut Sunday 23

Tom Robbins 23

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2018 21

Inktober 2018 20

established universe 16

Always1895 16

2019: 7785 (More prompts, and character attitudes)

Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2019 25

221B Autumn Challenge 21

A-Z Christmas Prompt 19

KatsJohnlockXmas2019 16

Whumptober 11

Poor Greg Lestrade 11

Kinktober 2019 10

Dissonance 10

John Watson is a Good Friend 9

Sleepy Sherlock Holmes 8

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

Mystrade Monday 59

COVID-19 48

Coronavirus 46

Mystrade Monday Prompts 40

Whumptober 2020 36

warning for a covid-19 setting 33

Flufftober prompts 2020 24

Do Not Translate 24

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

Granada Sherlolly 21

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

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

Questions/comments welcome.

#Fandom stats #Sherlock #AO3 #Graphs #python

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