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SO. IF YOU KNOW YOUR FANDOM HISTORY, YOU CAN SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL RIGHT NOW.
AND IN CASE YOU DON’T, I will tell you a story.
I don’t know if Yahoo as a corporate entity hates fandom, or if it LOVES fandom in the way a flame longs to wrap its embrace around a forest. Or maybe it’s just that fandom is an enticingly big and active userbase; but just by the nature of our enterprise, we are extremely difficult to monetize.
It doesn’t matter.
Once upon a time – in the era before anyone had heard of google – if you wanted to post fandom (or really, ANY) content, you made your own webpage out of nested frames and midi files. And you hosted it on GeoCities.
GeoCities was free and… there. If the internet of today is facebook and tumblr and twitter, the internet of the late 90s WAS GeoCities.
And then Yahoo bought GeoCities for way too much money and immediately made some, let’s say, User Outreach Errors. And anyway, the internet was getting more varied all the time, fandom mostly moved on – it wasn’t painful. GeoCities was free hosting, not a community space – but the 90s/early 00s internet was still there, preserved as if in amber, at GeoCities.com.
Until 2009, when Yahoo killed it. 15 years of early-internet history – a monument to humanity’s masses first testing the potential of the internet, and realizing they could build anything they wanted… And what they wanted to build was shines to Angel from BtVS with 20 pages of pictures that were too big to wait for on a 56k modem, interspersed with MS Word clipart and paragraphs of REALLY BIG flashing fushia letters that scrolled L to R across the page. And also your cursor would become a different MS Word clipart, with sparkles.
(So basically nothing has changed, except you don’t have to personally hardcode every entry in your tumblr anymore. Progress!)
And it was all wiped out, just like that. Gone. (except on the wayback machine, an important project, but they didn’t get everything) The weight of that loss still hurts. The sheer magnitude…
Imagine a library stocked with hundreds of thousands of personal journals, letters, family photographs, eulogies, novels, etc. dated from a revolutionary period in history, and each one its only copy. And then one day, its librarians become tired of maintaining it, so they set the library and all its contents on fire.
And watch as the flames take everything.
Brush the ash from their hands.
Walk away.
Once upon a time – in the era after everyone had heard of google, but still mostly believed them about “Don’t be evil” – fandom had a pretty great collective memory. If someone posted a good fic, or meta, or art, or conversation relevant to your interests? Anywhere? (This was before the AO3, after all.) You could know p much as soon – or as many years late – as you wanted to.
Because there was a tagging site – del.icio.us – that fandom-as-a-whole used; it was simple, functional, free, and there. Yahoo bought it in 2005. Yahoo announced they were closing it in 2010.
They ended up selling it instead, but not all the data went with it – many users didn’t opt to the migration. And even then, the new version was busted. Basically unusable for fannish searching or tagging purposes. This is the lure and the danger of centralization, I guess.
It is like fandom suffered – collectively – a brain injury. Memories are irrevocably lost, or else they are not retrievable without struggle. New ones aren’t getting formed. There is no consensus replacement.
We have never yet recovered.
Once upon a time… Yahoo bought tumblr.
I don’t know how you celebrated the event, but I spent it backing up as much as I could, because Yahoo’s hobby is collecting the platforms that fandom relies on and destroying them.
I do not think Yahoo is “bad” – I am criticizing them on their own site, after all, and I don’t expect any retribution. I genuinely hope they sort out their difficulties.
But they are, historically, bad for US.
And right now is a good time to look at what you’ve accumulated during your career on this platform, and start deciding what you want to pack and what can be left behind to become ruins. And ash.
…On a cheerier note, wherever we settle next will probably be much better! This was never a good place to build a city.
If you’re a fic writer and you do prompts and drabbles on tumblr and only put ‘full fics’ on AO3, please consider porting all your writing over to there. I promise, as long as you tag that stuff is just an idea, or unfinished and never will be finished, or just a drabble/ficlet/w’evr, people won’t be angry at you for it.
I really hate to think of all the beautiful little fics I’ve read on here just *poof* disappearing one day.
If you’re a visual artist, AO3 lets you put art and vids and things other than fic on there too. Essays and meta go on AO3.
We as fandom are now accustomed to looking to AO3 as a place to find our fannish fixes. So putting all your stuff over there is a good thing. People will be able to find it.
Thing is, if everyone does this, it’s gonna stress the resources of AO3. So if you’re able, please consider donating to them to cover the additional cost.
So I live in in New York City, where a lot of tech companies are–including tumblr, actually. I made a friend online 11 years ago who I actually see on occasion to this day. She doesn’t work for tumblr, but she is involved deeply in NYC tech.
She essentially has told me that tumblr is done and it’s just a matter of time. The tumblr offices are awful to work for and people who want decent jobs quickly migrate from there. It’s nigh impossible to make tumblr profitable or able to be advertised on so, essentially, it is a matter of time.
Honestly so I am fairly ready to move back to Dreamwidth or on to whatever the next blogging thing is because, quite frankly, it’s over soon.
I feel like we need to make a family fire escape plan. Where are we going when the house goes up in flames?
There is something about 221B that has nagged me since series 3. For us – as well as Sherlock and John – the flat has always been a sacred place. Their home, the sum of them living together. Just look at these lovely quotes from ASiP:
Got my eye on a nice little place in central London. Together we ought to be able to afford it.
Well, this could be very nice. Very nice indeed. – Yes. Yes, I think so. My thoughts precisely.
This is love at first sight, the flat as a placeholder for their mutual feelings.
OMG this is brilliant and so true and …. now I’m really afraid because of recent setlock happenings …. gun shots in 221b, people running down Baker Street in terror. What will happen to their flat? To them? God, what have you done @stillgosherlocked all my thoughts are circling now round explosions and destruction and 221b in rubble and ashes. I think I need … something … now …
Noooo. No no nononono. It’s too much. I can’t deal with this. If 221B is destroyed, what does that say about Johnlock????
(Apparently this gif will now be all I need to respond to anything regarding S4)
Got paid today, as expected. One day worked so one day paid, as expected. *Unexpected*: insurance deductions hit in for the first time this week, so my expected one-day’s-wage was actually more like half-a-day’s-wage. So…yeah. Got myself black pants and a white shirt for tomorrow’s shift, though, so there’s that. And my card is back up to $30, after the paycheck and the money spent on clothes, so that’s meals for the coming week. Go Walmart and McDonald’s! I think some of the workers at Walmart are kinda guessing that I’m not merely an insomniac who likes to wander around the store all night, but since I’ve been showering at the library and washing my clothes so I don’t smell, and occasionally buy something to eat, they haven’t said or done anything. Lucky. On the other hand, I have *no* idea where I’m going to leave my jeans when I dress for work, since I don’t have a bag with me. The t-shirt I can just leave on beneath the uniform, but not the jeans. Oh well. I’ll figure it out. 🙂 Still hasn’t rained.
Status update: …still don’t know who I’m writing this to or why, but here ya go.
Not sure what to say. Been staying at the library and Walmart, switching off between the two. The library has a staff shower, and I’ve been using that after hours- I worked there for 4.5 yrs, I know where all the cameras are located. Also kinda using their WiFi, but no matter. Walmart has some too, the difference is at the lib I can charge my computer, at Walmart I can’t. Wash my clothes in the sink with hand soap and dry them in the hand-dryer- nothing new, kind of like when you’re in school and get something on your pants or shirt? Wash it in the sink and dry it before next class right? Right. Right. Erm, really loving McDonald’s and Walmart for cheap food. Still got $13 left in my card so far. Luckily no interview calls have come in this week- could be that they’ve all finally gone on holiday though. My last interview had mentioned something of the sort, that the second interview wouldn’t be until the end of July or the beginning of August because they were off. Still got two and a half weeks till the end of July, so yeah. On the bright side…it hasn’t rained! 😀 …don’t think I’ve got anything else. Still filling out applications like crazy, still trying to figure out what to do. Not rock bottom yet, not yet.
I give it a couple weeks before that.
Well, that’s all for today. My comp’s charging, I’ve been on my feet all day, and I’m freshly showered and finally sitting down. Going to read a few fics, maybe scroll through tumblr a bit. Don’t know.
Okay, help me, fellow fic readers, you’re my only hope… 😉
What I’m looking for:
Sherlock. Any ship, but I am in a very johnlocky mood atm.
Spot-on characterization.
Feels.
Immersion (whatever tone/mood writer is going for, you are *there*).
Any length.
Old or new, set in s1 or now, whatever, it’s all fine.
Most kinks/tags/specialties, etc. okay as long as the above are fulfilled.
Personal faves: first times, first kisses, pining (if ultimately resolved), BAMF!John, and angst.
Please feel free to rec your own fic!
So, any suggestions?
Okay some immersive Johnlock I read recently…
What did you think about series by Chryse- a series of porn fantasies that end up being part of a deeper character arc
Trying to Find the In-between series by NoStraightLine- John and Sherlock enter into a physical relationship before Reichenbach, but it isn’t until he comes back,that Sherlock starts to understand the emotions involved
The Speed of Objects in Motion by holyfant, 48 k word, explicit. This fic fucked me up. I mean I haven’t read “Alone on the Water” because I couldn’t take it.This one is soooo angsty as John and Sherlock break up, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Whoa this was angsty!
About Sleep and Coffee and the Existence of Fate by Atiki, 6 chapters. Explicit. Five times John wanted to ask Sherlock to marry him, and one time he didn’t have to. A wonderful slice of life with John and Sherlock working their way closer together. Lovely!
Children of the Small Gods by alexxphoenix42. Nobody ever reads this (snort) but I wrote an AU regency Johnlock romance with case fic a few moons ago. Drop by if you feel like it.
Knotted by naughtyspirit, 23 K. 4 chapters. Explicit. This fic really has it all – have to share the bed, case fic, slow slide from friends to lovers. Humor, danger, hurt/comfort, sex and love. Thumbs up!
I have nothing but the clothes on my back, my laptop, my flashdrives, my identification documents, and $24 in the bank. Oh, and my Ben and Martin autographed photograph that was a gift. My next shift isn’t till next Saturday, the 16th of July, so I have until then to find someplace to stay and a way to get around to go to work and any interviews I might get in neighboring cities.
I’m sitting inside a Walmart using their wifi right now, and despite everything? Not having a place to sleep, nor enough for food for all week, or even to rent a small apartment? I feel nothing but *relief*. Free, for the first time in a long, long, loooong time. I seriously think this time Mother’s washed her hands of me and will not try to contact me again. Does it hurt? Yes. She’s my Mother, and I love her to pieces even if she doesn’t feel the same. But she was also my prison warden, my emotional and psychological abuser, my nightmares and my fears.
Do you know what I just realized a few days ago? To me, Mother never meant comfort. Never. I thought back, remembered as far back as I could, and even when I was little, when I was scared or terrified or just sad, I never went to her. I never went to anyone. I dealt. And I still do. Whether that just made me crazier than I was predisposed to or not, well, who knows. But at least when I hit high school I discovered fanfiction, and since then, I’ve gotten my comfort and hugs and laughs and answers to my questions from fics.
I am probably unhealthily attached to escapism through fandom, but it’s worked so far, eh?
What am I going to do? I’ve no idea past this night. I’ll walk around Walmart for as long as I can, maybe nap a bit on the McDonald’s tables. I know there’s a homeless shelter somewhere around the city, can only hope it’s not too far. Then wait until next Friday when I get paid again, and since I just paid all my bills for this month today (get paid every week, but only working two to three days per week at 5 hrs/day @ 10/hr), next Friday the paycheck’s free. Though it’ll be less because I only worked Monday this week oh well. At least it should be enough to buy some black pants to double as interview pants and work uniform, a white button down for work, and a nice shirt for interviews. Monday was the 4th, so it was time and a half. I just have a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on right now.
I’m not scared yet. Not really feeling much of anything, really, except relief. And tired. It’s 6 miles from Mother’s house to this Walmart, after all, and I walked it all after not having eaten a thing since I was at work on Monday. I’m ok though. I’ve gone longer. Just a bit tired right now is all.
For once, I’m really hoping I don’t get any interview calls this coming week because I’ll have no way to get there and no clothes to wear and no resume to take.
Ok maybe I *am* a little bit scared.
But it’s fine. It’s all fine. Things will work out. Somehow. They always do. Hey, if nothing else, there’s always street corners, huh?
Ah, just ignore me. I don’t even know who I’m telling this to, or why. I guess I just needed to share. Feeling kinda alone right now.
And now I’m trying not to cry. Dammit. Guess I’ll go read fics and like tumblr posts until my computer’s battery finally dies.
Just, if you can, send a prayer or some well-wishes my way if you could? I could really use them right now.
This fic is very close to my heart as it is the first fanfic I EVER read. It also remains to this day my favorite of all time. I am so glad that this was my first because it showed the then skeptical me that fanfiction can be well-written, amazing, and beautiful. Anyway, this involves a fake relationship ‘for a case’ (involving Victor Trevor) which has John and Sherlock go to couples therapy and a therapy retreat. The writing in this still blows me away. Please message me (if you want) if you read this and tell me what you thought as I could talk all day about this fic.
After meeting at a ‘Santa’s North Pole’ at a mall, Sherlock pays John to pretend to be his boyfriend at the Holmes manor for Christmas. Both men realize they don’t want to pretend anymore while thinking the other is wholly uninterested *bangs head on wall*. By one of the best Johnlock authors (I have over 10 fics by this author on my master list). Includes adorable snowball fights.
This might be the most explicit fic I have ever read. Sherlock and John have to pretend to be a couple and go to a sex club for a case. Obviously, jealousy comes out on both sides here and brings feelings to the surface. (warnings: BDSM, sex club)
Sherlock may have told his mother accidentally (on purpose) that he and John are a couple and she invites them on a trip for her 75th birthday to some islands in Scotland. A slow burn with a bit of angst and lots of pining, it makes me want to go to Scotland ASAP.
Mrs. Turner’s ‘married ones’ decide to renew their vows which leads to them being very loud in bed, which of course means Sherlock wants to compete with them by making fake sex noises with John’s help. However, those noises don’t stay pretend for long. 😉
John convinces Sherlock to pretend to be his boyfriend and come visit his family in order to avoid his mother’s matchmaking. Sherlock behaves like the perfect boyfriend which confuses John. I love the version of John’s parents in this fic.
Sherlock and John adopt false personas and go undercover as a couple at a retreat to solve a murder. John wrestles with his feelings for Sherlock and tries to distinguish between what is real and what is pretend. Strong post-Reichenbach feels.
A case has these two pretending to be newly married and participating in a local Newlywed Game. Everyone, including Sherlock and John, is surprised to find that the ‘couple’ answers every single question correctly. This fic is so telling about Sherlock and John’s relationship and it makes me smile.
Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet his entire extended family but forgets to mention that everyone believes them to be a couple. John gains insight into Sherlock’s past and meets some memorable relatives (I will never forget Evander).
Sherlock and John go to a same-sex couples retreat for a case but end up working out the troubles in their relationship as well. Alcohol helps out a bit as well. Will someone please tell Mofftiss to send these two to a couple’s retreat because this plan is foolproof.
Victor Trevor arrives in London throws John and Sherlock’s entire relationship off balance. Very angsty with a happy ending. I love the characterization in this fic; it is very realistic. (warning: unhealthy relationships)
The author’s summary is perfect: “Sherlock and John go undercover as a couple to a ball, to provide suitable evidence to convict a killer. There’s dancing, and kissing, and something about a murder.”
Omegaverse: John pretends to be Sherlock’s alpha when going to meet Sherlock’s family. Of course, it is much harder to hide your inappropriate feelings for your flatmate if your body chemistry is trying to pull you and him together. (warning: mildly dubious consent)
Author’s summary: “Sherlock is asked to go undercover in a relationship with a wounded army doctor who is suspected of selling high level information to Sebastian Moran. John is recruited by an old friend from the army to seduce a posh, unstable genius who is suspected of selling high level information to a genius mastermind named “M”.” Things do not go according to plan when both men fall for the other.
I must thank @slashscribe for recommending this fic that is easily in my top 20. Fake Relationship, Parentlock, Pining, what more could you want??? Sherlock and John go undercover on vacation with a baby as the case involves gay couples and their kids. Takes place post season 3/TAB. (Note: WIP but the only chapter that is not posted is the epilogue).
oh well. At least it should be enough to buy some black pants to double as interview pants and work uniform, a white button down for work, and a nice shirt for interviews. Monday was the 4th, so it was time and a half. I just have a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on right now. 
whimsysmayhem 