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ineffabildaddy · 5 months

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@celestialcrowley tagged me in an in-depth bio thing (thank u!!!) so here's some stuff about me:

real name: samuel's my full first name so let's say that?

nickname & nickname origins: sam!!! the only people who call me samuel are a couple of my friends when they sort of pretend to scold me, ha. or if they're singing little freak by harry styles but the line is "little freak, samuel" instead of "little freak, jezebel" (i have a tattoo of the words 'little freak' because of how much i love that song. i also am one i guess)

a couple people i know who are lotr fans call me samwise but i haven't read or watched lotr yet so i'm reluctant to accept this as a nickname hehe

sammi is what my sister and my very closest friends call me. if someone i'm not close to calls me that, my sister vetoes lol

ao3: sinchester

social media/s: i have all of the big ones but they're all personal accounts so</3

state country: i'm from the uk. always lived in london, it's the one true love of my life (and it's a character in good omens in its own right, fight me). i will answer ur state question in another way by saying that i usually visit the us once a year (usually for gigs and to see friends) and my last trip was to ny

pets: none</333 my grandparents have two lovely german sheps and a black cat which are my most precious loves though

hobbies: i like reading (fantasy, romance, twentieth-century poetry and nineteenth-century fiction mostly), writing (prose, screenplay and very bad poetry), live music/following tours, vinyl records, tea, whiskey, sitcoms, romcoms, and american traditional tattoos, among other things

personality: i have the most warped and harsh sense of self so i asked my best friend amy to describe my personality. this is what she said:

brb gonna go cry now

favourite holiday: christmas because i love christmas music of the easy listening jazz persuasion, and also because i love a lot of christmas films

favourite food: mac and cheese, bao buns, strawberries

favourite dessert: potentially cheesecake?

favourite colour: baby blue<3

favourite quote/s: "i am an unspeakable of the oscar wilde sort" / "not a southern pansy, the southern pansy", and in the same vein... "i'm not a big fat panda, i'm the big fat panda" / "there are heroes in the seaweed, there are children in the morning, they are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever"

favourite book/s: call me by your name (sue me), good omens, the fables series, pride and prejudice (cliched i know sorry, i have read all of austen's work but it's her most popular for a reason), the scott pilgrim series, the spud series, the princess bride

favourite tv shows: good omens, avatar: the last airbender, peep show, supernatural (reluctantly), bob's burgers, arrested development, ghosts, yonderland. it's only just come out of course but honorary mention goes to scott pilgrim takes off

favourite film/s: shrek is my favourite of all time. it's just got everything. trust me, i went to film school (i actually did tho). then we've also got the nightmare before christmas, ferris bueller's day off, scott pilgrim, submarine, clueless, deadpool, the princess bride

favourite character/s: sam winchester, aziraphale, crowley, katara, sokka, jack and sally, kitty (ghosts), lucille bluth, envy adams, wallace wells

favourite actor/s: i've always found this a really difficult one to answer but i'll just say mae whitman because she's been in 3 of my favourite things ever and slayed all of them (avatar: the last airbender, arrested development and scott pilgrim)

favourite song/s: my favourite songs of all time are probably...

a certain romance - arctic monkeys

happiness/the gondola man - elliott smith

i used to be someone - kevin devine

i need some sleep - eels (shrek 2 teehee)

the way i loved you - taylor swift

let's call the whole thing off - louis armstrong and ella fitzgerald

that old feeling - frank sinatra (prefer his earliest version of this song to any other versions but i like ella's rendition too)

favourite music genre/s: i listen to pockets of all different guitar music, some pop and some jazz

favourite podcast/s: braving the elements, which is the official podcast for avatar: the last airbender and the avatarverse in general (hosted by the actor of zuko and the actor of korra!!!)

have you ever met a celebrity: oh god, erm... i've met so many musicians and actors (mostly actors that are less well-known) but i'll just mention the most famous ones. on purpose (some of whom i now regret lol): dua lipa, halsey, frank iero, brendon urie, jared padalecki, jensen ackles, jinkx monsoon (and loads of other drag race queens, but she's my favourite). by accident as they've come into my work: matt berry (i died), rob delaney, a couple of actors from sex education, sharon rooney (i actually bumped into her on the way to work oops). people i see around my local area or my area of work but haven't met: graham coxon from blur, peter capaldi, olly alexander. i know i've forgotten people but they'll come back to me hah - living in north london and working in central london means you do tend to see famous people sometimes

have you ever been to a concert: not sure exactly how many but my estimate is 200+. one band i've seen 37 times alone... but yeah, i follow two tours a year on average and then i'll go to gigs as a one-off for artists i don't commit as hard to lmao

do you collect anything: vinyl and soft toys! i also like to have lots of different interesting teas in my cupboard

do you have any idols: not sure i could call anyone i like an idol of mine but i naturally want to be neil gaiman when i grow up. i also would absolutely love to be as good at words as leonard cohen was. i guess taylor swift because i love her more than almost any other musician and have done since i was 8 years old but... she's a person at the end of the day (and a billionaire which is questionable)

is there a real life friend you can be completely yourself with: i feel i can be entirely myself around @icanbeurangle, among a few other people from different parts of my life. the person who wrote my little personality bio above, along with our mutual friend, and then a couple of friends i've known since school. i've also got friends who started off as internet friends but are now irl friends (the uk is a small place) who come under this category uwu

where would you love to travel to: off the top of my head, new zealand and mexico. i'd also like to see more of wales (i only went once or twice as a small child)

random fact about yourself: i'm an identical twin? it doesn't feel random at all but yeah haha

if you made it this far without falling asleep, well done!!! thank u so much for reading, i hope u didn't bore u to tears<3 i've missed out a couple questions where i addressed them already in a previous answer

no pressure tags (but i want to read up on u all!!!): @raining-stars-somewhere-else @sad-chaos-goblin @crowleyslvt @indigovigilance @icanbeurangle @bowtiepastabitch @genderqueer-hippie

#personal #not good omens #ineffabildaddy

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debbeh · 5 months

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I was in the middle of writing a headcannon for why Negatus is actually from Earth but I had an epiphany...

What if Nagatus is Peter?

Ok, I know this sounds like a bit of a stretch but I have evidence (well, as much as a random children's show can give you)

There's already headcannons out there about Negatus being actually from Earth and totally being head over heels for Debby. (Negatus doesn't really fit in with the rest of the fantasy vibes of Yonderland, he kinda knows idioms- at least more than the other characters, and you know, this).

Negatus knows how to use Nick to get to Debby's house (Dirty Ernie), so perhaps it happened before???

Yes, we get Negatus flashbacks so maybe he started in Yonderland but somehow got transported to Earth afterwards

In Twice as Fine, I noticed two interesting Fun Fact blurbs: the song is about monogamy (and the lady in the music video looks an awfull lot like Debby...) and after his band broke up, he spent some time as a tax collector (seems pretty Earthy to me...) before then (going back to Yonderland and) becoming an evil overlord.

When Negatus's evil career starts going downhill with Dick taking over and what-not, that's when Peter starts wanting to move to Scotland (so Negatus could leave Yonderland orrr keep Debby away from Yonderland too since she is sort of his worst enemy).

Yes there was the time Debby escaped prison with Negatus while Peter was at home but Negatus probably has some weird gadget that can pause time for just a lil bit, you know?

Peter's job is probably some other portal to Yonderland- heck, both their jobs mostly require sitting in a chair all day.

Why do they appear different then? Well, everyone plays multiple characters in Yonderland and no one notices so it's possible on Earth the same thing is happening but people from Earth don't notice.

In episode 1 Debbie tries to tell Peter about Yonderland and Peter absolutely didn't hear him but he was only a room away so maybe, as Negatus, he is just used to hearing about Yonderland so he doesn't register it.

Negatus probably doesn't register that Debby is the same person either (If the Elders knew Debby was married to their worst enemy, they wouldn't want her to know and could easily find some magical spell to keep them from recognising each other).

#yonderland #yonderland theories #raaaaaannnntttt

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ailendolin · 6 months

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Thanks for tagging me @viola-halogen!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

199 at the moment. Which is a little insane.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,054,233

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, I mainly write for BBC Ghosts, Yonderland and Bill (2015) and Horrible Histories. I have posted a few Loki fics recently as well because the new season came out and inspired me but it's back to Ghosts now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. When Sorrow Sang (6,806 kudos - The Witcher)

2. Helpless (2,215 kudos - Thor Movies)

3. For The Best (2,190 - Stranger Things)

4. Here With Me (1,952 - Thor Movies)

5. A Moment (858 - Loki Series)

All those fics were written for large fandoms so it's no surprise they gained more attention than, say, my Six Idiots fics)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Absolutely! Fandom thrives on interaction and the reason I post my fics online is because I want to talk about my favourite characters with other people! That's how I have found my closest fandom friends :)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Mhm, I think my Capvers fic Missed Chances probably fits that bill. Also Attentions (Kendall/Ellis of Woolworth), my 1917 fic God is not here and my Hornblower fic Cast aside.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Since most of my stories end on a happy note, it's hard to pick just one out of the 199. I think I'll go with my Thomas-centric fic The Storyteller because it focuses on Thomas finding his place in his family through storytelling and ends on a very heartwarming note. The same goes for Renovations.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't so far, thank the gods. I honestly don't get why people would comment hateful things on something other people share for free. If you don't like something, just close the tab and move on. It's as simple as that.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No and I never will. I have alluded to it in some stories if it was necessary for the plot (like in Compromise which was all about Thomas and Julian needing different things from their relationship) but I have no intention of ever writing it in detail because it's just not my cup of tea.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do - very rarely because I like to stay true to canon as much as possible. Crossovers or alternate universes often don't work for me because too much gets changed and the characters often become unrecognisable in the process. But I am very fond of my Button House Museum AU which is essentially a crossover between Ghosts and Night At The Museum where Button House is an old museum that comes to life every night thanks to ancient Stone Circle magic.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know.

12. Does not exist apparently

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Have I? I don't think so. I have collaborated with an artist before for an event but that's it, I think.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't have one all-time favourite ship because I don't move on from fandoms. Once I love something, I love it with my whole heart. There might come a point where it stops consuming my every waking thought but it will always stay with me. Some of my oldest ships are Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek Voyager, Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill from Stargate SG1 and Mulder/Scully from the X-Files.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have had a third installment for my The Pacific series Moments of a Different Past planned years ago. A part of it is already written and I know exactly where I want the story to go but I'll probably never finish it which makes me a bit sad.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh this is difficult. I'd say conveying emotions and writing fics that feel like a warm hug? At least that's what people tell me they like about my stories - that they almost always end on a warm note and make them smile.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue, probably. Getting the voices right. English is my second language so dialects etc. often go straight over my head. Writing in a second language can be quite frustrating in general because you're aware your knowledge is limited and you keep catching yourself using the same phrases over and over again but don't really have the skills to shake it up a little.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm honestly not a fan of it. I think the odd word or phrase here or there is fine but as a reader, I find it very tedious to have to go to the end of a fic/chapter for the translation all the time so it's something I personally try to avoid (both when reading and writing).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I honestly don't remember. Perhaps Digimon? Or Yu-Gi-Oh? Though tbf I've daydreamed fics even before I knew what fanfiction were or even thought about writing them down, so if we were to go that far back, it would probably be Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oh, that's so hard to say because I pour my heart and soul into every fic I write. That being said, I am very fond of the multi-chaptered fics I've written, so Grace and This place (I never thought would feel like home) are definitely among my favourite BBC Ghosts fic. The Sound of Voices Two and The Rivers Between Us for The Pacific are two fics I also love to go back to and re-read. Sometimes, it's not a specific fic but rather the universe that connects them that I have created. My Yonderland fics fall into that category and it's always a joy to return to it.

Tagging: @magicaltear @ginevralinton and @i-am-a-world but as always no pressure💙

#tag game #fanfiction #writing

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devotedtomarvel · 1 year

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It’s been over a year since my last list soooo…..

If you’re here to request a fic, here are my yeses and nos:

YES (fandoms) -

Ghosts

Sherlock

Doctor Who

All Creatures Great and Small

Horrible Histories

Yonderland

NO (fandoms) -

Marvel

Real person fics

Minecraft RPF

Anime

YES (tags) -

Fluff

Angst

Light smut

Some kinks

Any AU

Oneshots

Drabbles

Kidfics

NO (tags) -

Hardcore smut

A/B/O dynamics

Multi chapter fics

Own characters (unless requests are made with my oc request form below)

Reader insert

Graphic r*pe or non-con

Graphic violence

If your request has been rejected when you didn’t request anything I wouldn’t do, drop me a message and I’ll review it again or give you a reason.

This account can be hard to manage sometimes, so I do have helpers and they can get things wrong sometimes!

If you made a request, it was accepted and it hasn’t been written yet, drop me a message and I will let you know when it will be posted and why it took so long.

The bets are, I probably forgot and your message is exactly what I needed to remember.

So, let yourself go!

#ao3 writer #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #ghosts bbc #bbc ghosts #the captain ghosts #ao3 #bbc sherlock #doctor who #all creatures great and small #yonderland #horrible histories #fics #requests #suggestions

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vinylattes · 11 months

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List 5 favourite shows (in no particular order) and answer questions accordingly. Thanks for the tag, @spineless-lobster !! <33

• Legends of Tomorrow

• Good Omens

• WWDITS

• Yonderland

• BBC Ghosts

1. Who is your favourite character in 2?

Aziraphale and Crowley. Yeah, they can’t be separated.

2. Who is your least favourite character in 1?

Rip Hunter.

3. What's your favourite episode of 4?

Elders ‘11.

4. What is your favourite season of 5?

Can’t decide if it’s 2 or 3. Combining their best hits would make THEE ultimate season.

5. What's your favourite relationship in 3?

Nadja & Laszlo or The Baron & The Sire.

6. Who is your anti relationship in 2?

Madame Tracy and Shadwell, sorry.

7. How long have you watched 1?

I think I saw a clip from Crisis on Earth-X back in 2017 or 2018, but I actually started watching in 2020 when I was still watching Flash.

8. How did you become interested in 3?

Influenced by some mutuals and the film, so I tuned in right after s3 ended and actually contributed to the fandom during s4.

9. Who is your favourite actor in 4?

Throughout the series, it’s Martha and Larry.

I love Debbie and how Martha portrayed Imperatrix, I just wished she had a few more roles other than the two just like the other five (I think it’s a costuming thing but I digress).

I love Larry both as writer and an actor, and especially for making Ho-Tan and Kendall real.

But like, if actors in general, it’s Jim.

10. Which show do you prefer 1, 2 or 5?

Nooo, I can’t possibly choose!!

11. Which show have you seen more episodes of 1 or 3?

I mean, LoT has more seasons, but I have rewatched WWDITS a very Normal amount.

12. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Can’t tell if I want to be Debbie and Ho-Tan or be with both of them.

13. How would you kill off your favourite character in 5?

I mean, they’re all already dead, so...

I’m weirdly satisfied with Pat and Humphrey’s death, like obv they didn’t deserve it but I wouldn’t have it any other way? Kitty and Cap’s death aren’t revealed yet, but I hope Kitty’s didn’t cause her much pain bc my girl’s been through enough and I hope Cap’s either got the funniest or most earth-shattering one.

Apart from that, I don’t think I will be able to handle another ghost being sucked off (except for some, uh, cases 👀)

As for Alison and Mike, I’d rather have them die due to old age.

14. Would a 3/4 crossover work?

Yeah, and it’s called BBC Ghosts. (No but seriously, I think Yonderland might be able to fix the vamps. They would love the Parvuli.)

15. Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.

I haven’t seen the show in ages and they’re all pairable, but Astra and Kendra probably? Charlie and Spooner? (I’m just spitballing, idk if they’d work)

16. Overall, which show has the better cast, 3 or 5?

Harvey and Matt are the only ones I love from that cast for reasons, so it’s gonna be the cast of Ghosts.

tagging @autisticharrywells @bluntbeard @larryrickard @starwendy @horuuuuu @hedgehog-png @ghostlyheart @rubyanjel @zaritarazi and everyone who’d like a go!! <33

#dakotasvibe #*sinabi niya ‘yan #tag game

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sonnet-of-anarchy · 11 months

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Thanks for the tag @catboyrightsdefender !!

TV questionnaire

List 5 favourite shows (in no particular order) and answer questions accordingly

1. Good omens

2. Yonderland

3. Ghosts

4. Inside No9

5. The mighty boosh

1. Who is your favourite character in 2?

Kendall my love!! (But will always appreciate Negatus asw)

2. Who is your least favourite character in 1?

Gabriel. Grrrr.

3. What's your favourite episode of 4?

Probably ‘the stakeout’

4. What is your favourite season of 5?

Season 3 >>>

5. What's your favourite relationship in 3?

You’d have never guessed but Robin/Julian

6. Who is your anti relationship in 2?

I’ve seen some people ship Debbie and elf?? Yeah…

7. How long have you watched 1?

Since it came out in 2019!!

8. How did you become interested in 3?

BBC recommendation just after S3 came out <3

9. Who is your favourite actor in 4?

Reece!!

10. Which show do you prefer 1, 2 or 5?

2 has the edge, but closely followed by the other two :)

11. Which show have you seen more episodes of 1 or 3?

3!!

12. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Probably that actress from ‘and the winner is’ because then I’d get an award at least

13. How would you kill off your favourite character in 5?

I suppose a fitting demise for Howard would be a heart attack as a result of the destruction of stationary village haha

14. Would a 3/4 crossover work?

I suppose for a comedy ep it might but the darker stuff might turn out a little goofy…

15. Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.

The 4 horseman of the apocalypse should be some poly power group (not two characters sorry)

16. Overall, which show has the better cast, 3 or 5?

3 💖

Tagging @ginevralinton @gethisshithumptyfuckingdumptied @the-boosh-is-loose @l1feisapigsty if you fancy!! <3

#tagged #tag game

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mihotose · 3 years

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when ben said "its like- everyone else knows hes gay, its like, if somebody is nervous about coming out and they realise when they come out that their parents, or their peer group, or their friends went 'its fine! its absolutely fine! we all knew! its fine! you just had to be brave,' and so i think with the captain at some stage he just has to be really brave, maybe thats his journey."

and when mat said "initially, i think he was going to be a naysayer about- not about the idea of a gay wedding, but just the organisation of it. [...] and then i think it was while we were drafting it that we sort of found ourselves leaning into and finding more fun the idea that he becomes a de facto wedding planner, and the more we wrote his enthusiasm, the more we thought, what's beautiful about this is that this is a safe place for him to express himself without having to say anything or be explicit or even admit to himself why he feels comfortable in the company of these people and on this occasion. [...] i thought what was lovely is that he just gets to be himself in a kind of profound way that he doesn't necessarily even put his finger on."

and when jim said "we wanted it to seem like a completely natural thing, and allow the ghosts to react- the right ghosts to react, and that would be lady b really. i don't think we wanted a kind of baying number of ghosts; i think it just needed one ghost to have a negative reaction."

and when mat said "i think the key for us was that the couple themselves should not be defined by their sexuality. so, thats not what their story is about, at all. [...] often its the defining thing about the story is someone having to encounter homophobia or struggle with coming out and we have our own character in the captain, who that is a big part of his identity and his story, but it was nice to write this couple for whom it is not an issue and that the only person who has a story that has anything to do with sexuality is lady button, because shes got a problem. its her problem, not theirs."

#literally cried listening to these #bbc ghosts #also that bit where mat said they had initially thought that they probably all would have experimented with each other #(implication here ofc being most of them are bi <3) but i do think it makes more sense for them to have not already done that #sorry this is literally a wall of text. had to retype it after closing the first time smh #i love six (6) idiots #like yonderland never focused on its gay characters and its so lovely to hear how much thought theyve put into their portrayal of cap #listening to this just like sooo true so true <333 #i keep adding to this oops but!! also theyre aware of how gd annoying thomas could be. im so glad they do #and like as they said it sounds like its some high drama but its literally a comedy.#gemitus

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jamiewintons · 2 years

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Navigation (Updated 9/10/22)

Requests for fics/drabbles, headcanons, and character preferences are currently OPEN!

Latest Fic/Imagine/Preference: Jamie Winton Smut Alphabet

Characters/Fandoms I Write For (*currently most inspired for):

BBC Ghosts

Thomas Thorne*

Julian Fawcett

Kitty

Humphrey Bone

MCU

Helmut Zemo (on hold)

Bones

Vincent Nigel-Murray

James Aubrey

Jessica Warren

Wendell Bray

Yonderland

Scribe Elder Ho-Tan

You, Me And The Apocalypse

Jamie Winton*

Ariel Conroy*

Bill (2015)

Bill Shakespeare (for Mat Baynton character preferences only)

Quacks

William Agar (for Mat Baynton character preferences only)

Spy (2011)

Chris Pitt-Goddard

Rules

I only write for the fandoms and characters listed above. This list may be subject to change when I think of new characters I'd like to write for.

I do write smut now, but I probably won’t take requests for it except from people in the Baynton Babes server. This rule might change eventually, but it makes me feel comfortable for now. I hope you understand!

I tend to write requests I'm most inspired for first, because I find that my writing is better that way. I'm sorry if you send a request and it takes ages for me to post it!!

You can send me requests even if I haven't reblogged a prompt meme recently! Please be specific about what you want, though.

I write for F!Reader only. Some of my fics can be vague enough to seem gender neutral, but I will use she/her pronouns for the reader if need be.

#helmut zemo x reader #baron zemo x reader #zemo x reader #thomas thorne x reader #julian fawcett x reader #kitty (ghosts) x reader #james aubrey x reader #vincent nigel murray x reader #wendell bray x reader #jessica warren x reader #elder ho-tan x reader #jamie winton x reader #ariel conroy x reader #bill shakespeare x reader #william agar x reader #chris pitt goddard x reader

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thespacebetweenmoments · 2 years

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Hello!! I am here with my next sporadically-written mini fic! This one is based on a prompt by @a-small-bear, who requested Humphrey and Ho-Tan talking and Ho-Tan writing some of his memories down! I really, really hope you like it and that I stuck to the prompt okay 😄💜 if anyone else wants to request anything, just throw it into my inbox :))

Everyone Should Tell Their Story

Characters: Ho-Tan and Humphrey

Pairings: None (except the faintest hint of VexTan but really it’s one throwaway sentence)

Words: 1022

Vibes?: Good, friendly, fluffy, happy

“So, what happened next?”

Humphrey chuckled, a joyful, ringing sound. Ho-Tan had a creeping suspicion that he didn’t get to do it as much as he’d like to.

“Well, Edward—my younger brother, that is—was absolutely soaked. Falling into a lake will do that to you. And my sisters and I, we were all stood at the top of the hill, laughing so hard that I think we actually started wheezing. Ed was fine, of course, although he did get a good telling-off from our parents when they saw the state of him! I suppose that’s what you get for rolling down a hill without looking at the bottom of it first.” Humphrey could hear a faint scratching sound as he finished his tale, but he didn’t pay it too much mind. It was probably just a mouse.

“Strangely,” Ho-Tan laughed, after a pause, “Vex did something similar once. I think Choop called him a scaredy-cat, which doesn’t make sense, because cats are some of our realm’s most fierce warriors… Anyway, Choop called him a scaredy-cat for jumping at loud noises so our Wise Elder Vex, in his infinite wisdom, decided to prove him wrong. He climbed straight to the top of the ledge by our swimming pool and jumped in. He hadn’t realised that we’d leant it to the local pig perfumiers, though, and you can imagine what happened… I couldn’t bear to share his chambers for a week after that!”

Humphrey laughed again at that, and Ho-Tan felt a quiet pride settle in her chest that she’d managed to draw that wonderful sound from him. The two slowly faded into a companionable silence, already friends despite only having known each other for an afternoon, and watched from their window on the top floor as the sun began to set over Button House.

“So, what happened when you married? From what I gather, you were rather young.” Ho-Tan asked eventually, and regretted it almost as soon as she did. Humphrey tensed up, as much as a disembodied head can, and when he spoke his voice was much quieter than before.

“I was. I was only 14, and Sophie was even younger–only 12. We- I- I’m sorry, Ho-Tan, but I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s alright with you. I’m sure one of the others will be able to fill you in.” Humphrey sighed, and Ho-Tan felt her guilt compound.

“No, no, that’s fine! I’ll ask one of them to help with my records-”

“Records?” Ho-Tan cursed her quick tongue.

“Nothing, nothing! Just a Yonderland expression. Say, Humphrey, you surely must have some fond memories of being a wisp- no, a ghost, yes?” If Humphrey noticed Ho-Tan’s haste to change the subject, he either didn’t mind or was relieved enough that he didn’t say anything.

“I certainly have some, although maybe not as many as some of the others. I mean, for starters, Robin and I played a lot of Hide-and-Seek when it was just the two of us. He didn’t mind putting my head back on, see, and he used to love it when I’d chase him around the garden. I could never catch him, though—he had a tendency to get on all-fours and sort of… gallop away! When Mary died, too, the three of us would play sometimes. The three of us saw quite a few dramatic things, as well. Just before Kitty died, they started throwing loads of balls here—something about an eligible young lord, or something…” Humphrey carried on for a while, tone growing happier and more relaxed as he reminisced. Ho-Tan’s hand was beginning to cramp as she tried to keep up with 400 years’ worth of memories, but she persisted. No matter what anyone else might think, this was too important not to write down.

“Oh, and there was that time that Pat taught us all how to play Stuck-in-the-Mud! I fell off straight away and no one had a chance to put me back—which was fine!—but my body managed to get everyone else stuck anyway! I was so proud of that, ‘specially since it was the first time in a while that I was able to join in… Ho-Tan, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I’ve been rambling on and on for ages without giving you a chance to say anything.” He could hear that scratching noise again, louder this time. “Oh, and do you think there’s a mouse in here? I think I can hear a scratching noise.”

Ho-Tan looked around the room. “No, there can’t be. A mouse wouldn’t fit in here, with the antlers and everything… Or is that a moose? I’m afraid your animals are all the same to me. As for the scratching noise–” she stood, walking over to the windowsill where Humphrey’s head lay. “–I may be able to explain that.” She slid the sheets of parchment she’d been writing on into Humphrey’s view, and he gasped.

“The Life and Times of Sir Humphrey Bone,” he read, choked a little by shock. “Ho-Tan, I- I don’t even know what to say-”

“That’s alright,” she interrupted, “You don’t have to say anything. I just thought your story deserved to be told as much as anyone else’s, but from what I gathered from Alison you’ve never been given the chance to focus on the parts you want to focus on. I’ll give this to Alison, if you like, or I’m sure she’d be happy to put it up for you somewhere. I want everyone to be able to hear your stories, if you’re willing to share them.” Ho-Tan put her hand next to Humphrey’s forehead, in lieu of giving him a hug (or, more likely, a friendly pat on the head). In the reflection of the window, she could just about see his grin.

“Thank you, Ho-Tan. I think that’s the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“Even kinder than when Thomas agreed to stop using you as a football?” Humphrey snorted at that. Their laughter rang out from the room into the corridors of Button House, and carried on as the two of them talked late into the night.

#this was a lot of fun to write!! thank you for the request!!#scribe elder ho-tan #sir humphrey bone #scribble scribble #a-small-bear

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celestialflights · 3 years

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my ho-tan headcanons

if my followers hadn't already guessed, she is the character i am currently obsessed with, so here are all the thoughts i've had about her that have made my brain make happy chemicals.

1. she's a trans woman. obviously, this headcanon isn't original to me, as it's implied in the show and this seems to be widely accepted as true by the fandom, which i love!

2. she's autistic. i've been thinking about this a lot and i could make a whole other point outlining why i think this (i will if anyone would be interested). honestly, most yonderland characters are probably neurodivergent /pos, but she's the one i've thought about the most

3. she's sapphic. this one is just based on vibes and projection. just... i don't think she's straight

4. fashion is one of her special interests. i think she'd be really interested in how clothes are made and the way people have dressed has changed through history, and she might even learn how to make clothes, particularly dresses

5. in one episode it's shown she's very good at drawing, so adding to the previous headcanon, i think she likes drawing designs of lots of different outfits (again, mostly dresses) that she'd love to wear but doesn't know if she'd ever be able to (but of course she will!)

6. she also likes learning how to do different hairstyles! especially different types of braids, and she finds styling hair (her own or someone else's) to be very calming

she has a weighted blanket (they exist in yonderland because why not /lh) which helps her when she's stressed out or panicking about something, and it helps her sleep in general

7. she really like classical music, especially things similar to vivaldi's four seasons (but the yonderland version of course)

8. she's ambidextrous. i saw @subarcticcariboueyes mention this idea in a post and i don't know why but i immediately latched onto it and i have adopted this headcanon, so thank you for that /gen

i also have a headcanon for her first name, as i do with all the elders, but i want to write a fic about that at some point so i won't reveal it just yet :)

#scribe elder ho-tan #yonderland #six idiots #them there

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oldsmobile-hotdogs · 3 years

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Questions for crossover jatp ghosts crossover fic: I hope Julian and the sunset curve boys talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Yugoslav wars that happened when they were alive + Bill Cilnton. I wonder what pat and the band would talk about considering that they would of been kids when pat died? Do you think Julie would think of Les Mis and Hamilton cos Thomas and Kitty are from about the same time period as those musicals? I hope Julie calls Fanny Mary poppins.

Anon, or "Mimi", or "Lulu", or, heck, maybe even "Carl Birtles": Update: Not Carl Birtles. Carl Birtles sent me an ask and is cool, actually.

Stop. Right now. I'd say stop while you're ahead, but you are so far away from ahead at this point it's laughable.

For everyone confused, this is that "commenter from AO3" I joked about making a 2017-esque story time video about.

A couple days ago I uploaded the first chapter of a Julie and the Phantoms/BBC Ghosts crossover fic.

You know what? I’m gonna promo it here bc it’s my callout post and I can shill if I want to: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30681704/chapters/76661471

It was generally very well received and I've had a blast interacting with readers.

Except for this.

Honestly, there's so much to get into, so I’m putting it under a cut:

This was their first correspondence (email notif bc I deleted the comment, the deletion to be explained later):

(Funnily enough, the links very much do not work on AO3, making the comment only more jarring)

I gave you *so much* benefit of the doubt when I saw this comment, and assumed that maybe you're an ESL user, just very enthusiastic to share ideas, and I pretty much said so in my reply, but know that at that point I'd already had friends- who fucking know about this, don't you dare think you're getting me alone- tell me that you were being very demanding.

Below was my reply (another email notif):

I'm gonna be honest, I think I responded really well to what I was given, and now that I'd replied, I was pretty certain the situation was dealt with. You, evidently, didn't agree, as shown by your reply to my reply:

A word of advice: when replying to someone, at least pretend like you read what they wrote.

At this point I'm left wondering two things:

What do they expect from me, if a general reply is not it?

How much more shit do they have waiting to tell me to put in my- reminder, JATP/BBC Ghosts crossover, rated T, comedic- fic?

In order to avoid finding out either, I freeze the thread on AO3. I'm liveblogging all of this on Discord.

It's then that I notice that the username on AO3 isn't clickable, so even if I wanted to block or report them I couldn't. I assume, therefore, that they've deactivated, and since them seeing their comments gone and getting angry was the only thing stopping me deleting the comments, I delete the comments.

It's also at this point I see "Mimi" never left kudos. I guess I don't deserve praise until I mention "Bill Cilnton".

There's relative calm for a short amount of time, until I get another comment:

This one is much kinder than the others and doesn't mention any specific, weird, historical events, so the extent to which I think this is "Mimi" is debatable, but bestie I'm weirded out enough that anything that even uses the enter bar unnecessarily and misses out conjunctive words like "because" and "and" is going to activate fight or flight. Update: Carl Birtles is not Mimi or Lulu. Carl was just being genuinely kind and I misinterpreted it and that's on me.

However, "Carl"'s case is not helped by the fact I can't click his account either, that AO3 offers me the ability to report it as spam, and that guess who replies to "Carl"'s comment: Update: Carl, having done nothing wrong as he has, is therefore also a victim in the situation that is being replied to by Lulu. It would seem Lulu is trying to correct??? some of Carl's commentary.

You must think I didn't get a 7 on my English Literature GCSE because you seem to underestimate my ability to compare two texts.

So clearly this is "Mimi", who has also just replied to "Carl". "Lulu" is also deactivated, and I've fallen off the end of my tether, let alone reached it, at this point so I mark it as spam. "Carl" gets to stay bc he said the idea for the crossover was good. Update: Carl also gets to continue to stay because I have it on good faith that he's a stand-up dude.

So at this point you've readily admitted through your inability to shake up your writing style to using at least one sockpuppet to convince me to talk about the "Yugoslav wars".

If "Carl Birtles" is the real(-est) of them, and "Mimi" and "Lulu" are the sockpuppets, by the way, I have questions and ideas about what you do on your free evenings and I want them neither confirmed nor answered. Update: This is slanderous and I want to apologise wholeheartedly to Carl for making assumptions about him and judging his character. Once again, he is not Mimi or Lulu. He's just a normal, cool guy.

And now you come to me, on the day of my daughter's wedding on a different platform, leave me an anon ask in the exact same format as you're so fond of, and expect any different ??

Well, yeah, then I guess I'll give you special treatment this time.

Here's exactly why I will never include anything you have told me to include:

Julian and the Phantoms discussing the Berlin Wall would be highly inappropriate for the largely fluffy, cracky tone of my fanfiction, especially given how recently the event occurred, how many Eastern Germans still experience prejudice to this day because they were born within the old borders of the DDR, and because of how nuanced this, essentially proxy war, was and how ill-informed a huge amount of the world is on the actual factors in play during this time and the Cold War in general.

Julian and the Phantoms will not discuss Yugoslavia dissolving, nor the fallout and conflict that resulted, because it was genocidal. There is nowhere I can fit Julian, pantsted, casually asking Luke “hey do you remember when the Herzegovinas were killed en masse by the Serbs?” Not gonna happen.

They won’t discuss Bill Clinton because all of them know who the current world leaders are: they don’t have amnesia, they’re ghosts. The fic is also rated T, so it would be inappropriate to make any explicit reference to “sexual relations”. None of them play saxophone.

Julie wouldn’t think of Les Mis or Hamilton because Thomas is Regency, not French Revolution, and Kitty is Georgian, not Colonial.

Julie won’t be calling Fanny Mary Poppins because she is perpetually stuck in a white dress, doesn’t wear a hat, doesn’t own an umbrella or a purse and was not the nanny or housekeeper of Button House.

The ghosts will not discuss the marvels of modern transportation or how long it would’ve taken to cross the Atlantic on dinghy because the ghosts have seen Friends. The house irl is on a flight path. They know airplanes exist. Alison and Mike pulled up in a car.

I will probably have the phantoms and Willie talk to Pat and Julian about being from the ‘80s and ‘90s. That I will actually probably do.

The Captain will not mention FD Roosevelt because, again, they all know who the current world leaders are, and I doubt he expects a ‘90s pop punk band to have any insider knowledge on the man.

It was interesting to think of the phantoms’ grandparents having been alive during WW2. I wasn’t lying. But there is nearly nothing I can do with this information.

But above all: both sets of ghosts have already adapted to modern life. Because the shows are shorter, and meant to actually be able to fit jokes in them.

If you want to see any of this, write your own damn fic. I don’t own the concept of a JATP/BBC Ghosts crossover.

What you will not do, “consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel”-nim, is hound me on multiple accounts and then change platform to hound me again. I’m absolutely not having it.

I have never received an interaction quite like this before, and I cannot help but wonder if this is because this is my first work in the Ghosts/HH/Them There/Six Idiots/Yonderland/Bill fandom: that this is where you primarily camp out.

So it’s at this point I ask the Them There/Six Idiots fandom if they have/if they know anyone who has had a run-in with this person or thinks they may have, or if anyone perhaps even knows who this is? Maybe I’m just one of many. Maybe this is a necessary fandom evil I was unaware of.

This experience has left me royally freaked out, as one might imagine, especially since my anxiety in general has been acting up due to it being exam season. I want to thank everyone who’s read my rambles on Discord and on here and even listened to them irl and offered support from the bottom of my heart.

I’ve enabled comment moderation on the fic. I will continue to write it, and I will put exactly what I, and only what I, want in it.

Believe it or not, I wanted to do literally anything else today.

Anon: Fucking Leave Me Alone.

Update: Just reiterating: Carl is not Mimi or Lulu. Carl is a cool dude and I want to sincerely apologise for having brought him into this mess, passing judgment on his character, and making him feel like he should stop practicing English online.

#ask #anon #callout post #ig #rant #parish notice #jatp #julie and the phantoms #bbc ghosts #ghosts #fic #fanfic #ao3 #literally any information about this would be helpful #six idiots #them there #horrible histories #yonderland #bill

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ramonahblog · 2 years

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I’m just going to list shows/movies I’ve recently watched and my favourite characters from them underneath the cut. That is all this post is going to be. Some characters will probably just be one-off characters.

Show: Yonderland

1. Scribe Elder Ho-Tan.

Reasons: I already loved her before the wish-fruit but her thoughts immediately going to pawning off gold-turned Elder made her a favourite by miles.

2. Kendall the Jeweller.

Reasons: It’s Kendall the Jeweller.

3. Negatus

Reasons: Lazy villains are the best.

4. Leslie John Leslie/Detective Mountebank (same person)

Reasons: Just his entire introduction. And also “the fact that I like those biscuits with jam in the middle” which is included in his introduction, I just needed to point that line out specifically.

5. Jeff the Demon

Reasons: He’s an idiot.

Honourable Mentions: Flowers.

Show: BBC Ghosts

Humphrey and Kitty.

Honourable Mention: Robin.

Movie: Bill (2015)

1. Lope Lopez

Reasons: “It’s for making people talk” and his whole plan.

2. Ian the servant.

Reasons: Credit scene lifted him right up there.

3. Royal Guard

Reasons: *dances* “Are you cold? I’m cold,” “I’m going in”.

4. Sir Francis Walsingham

Reasons: Pie-disguise and “Someone knows a lot about catholics”. Also “Will everyone please stop arriving?”

Honourable Mention: The criminal outside the gates in the cage.

Show: CBS Ghosts

1. Alberta

2. Trevor

3. Hetty

4. Thorfinn

5. Sasappis.

Movie: Night at the Museum

1. Rexy.

Reasons:He’s a t-rex, what more reason do you want?

2. The entire second movie. Kahmunrah.

Reasons: I was just very entertained during his scenes.

3. Jedidah.

Reasons: It’s Jedidah.

#cbs ghosts #yonderland #bbc ghosts #Bill (2015)#it's just a fave characters list #long post #under the cut #night at the museum

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theniftycat · 3 years

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Obviously, I love the fact that Ghosts has only 8 ghosts we constantly see and the plague pit, of course, but they don’t appear in every episode. 8 ghosts means we’re invested in them, we know them well, we can speculate for hours about their backstories etc.

But the thought of there being a hundred of them, as they originally planned, still haunts me all the time. Of course, it would be completely different and there would be some of them that we’d hardly see, and we’d hardly get one ghost centered episodes etc. And, most importantly, it would be harder for the creators to pinpoint their characters as well as they did in season 2. It probably would be more like Yonderland where you meet a new town every episode and none of the characters truly stay with you.

But the costumes, the hijinks, the variety!

And lbr, I’d LOVE seeing a love story of two WW2 ghosts who fought on the different sides (also a dropped idea).

It’s just that I’m watching Yonderland and it’s so much fun seeing new costumes and interactions every episode.

I mean, I just gotta be happy that the 6 idiots did so many characters in HH and YL. But I want MORE.

#ghosts bbc #bbc ghosts #yonderland

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ailendolin · 1 year

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ThemThere Thursday - 02 - BBC Ghosts

Title: Certainty [AO3]

Characters: Thomas/Nigel, Mick

Idea: After the panto, Nigel wishes he could have shared a dance with Thomas. Mick takes it upon himself to help him make that dream come true.

A/N: This is a very self-indulgent Norne sequel to the 2022 Christmas Special that I've been itching to write ever since the special aired. I hope you (aka the 2.5 people out there who enjoy my Norne fics - love you!) will like this fluffy Christmas story.

Prompts are open, so if you want me to write a story for you just send me an ask with the fandom, characters and your prompt. I’m writing for Ghosts, Yonderland, Horrible Histories and Bill at the moment.

————

Certainty

“He looked lovely up on that stage, didn’t he? So … charming! I wish I could have shared a dance with him.”

Nigel’s wistful sigh was met with several groans.

“Are you still going on about that good-for-nothing poet?” Geoff’s wife asked him with a roll of her eyes that rubbed Nigel the wrong way.

“So what if I am?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Need I remind you that only a few months ago, you were fancying him too?”

Geoff’s wife stopped so abruptly in the middle of the stairs he nearly ran into her. She turned around to level him with a look. “Yeah, but unlike you I grew out of it.”

With that, she lifted her nose a little higher and continued on her way. Nigel stared after her while the others shouldered past him. Some, like Jean, were giving him pitying looks as they walked down the stairs; others muttered in not so subtle annoyance about him being in their way. None of them stopped except for Walter, and he only paused to look Nigel up and down and say, “No offence, Nigel, but you’re not exactly Cinderella material. Thomas probably doesn’t even know you exist.”

He huffed out a laugh that held no warmth, amused by his own words, before he followed the others down to the basement.

Nigel let his arms fall to his side and remained where he was: standing in the middle of the stairs. He suddenly did not feeling like going down to the basement anymore. It wasn’t anger that made him ball his hands into fists, though; it was disappointment. Was it really too much to ask of his mates, his family for all intents and purposes, to support him? He didn’t need Walter to know he would never have a chance with someone like Thomas. Nigel was very much aware of his own deficits. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t dream, did it?

And how he dreamed. The others had no idea what it was like to spend not only their lives but also their deaths – literal eternity – alone, always on the outside looking in. They’d all had husbands, wives, children. Some of their loved ones might have already moved on but that didn’t change the fact that all of them had once been loved wholeheartedly and unconditionally by someone else.

Nigel had never been loved like that. He’d had exactly one single drunken kiss behind the tavern once before fear of discovery had forced him and the other man apart and to hurry to go on their separate ways. Under different circumstances that kiss might have blossomed into something more but it hadn’t. It had barely scratched the surface of what could be, barely satisfied Nigel’s curiosity, and the need it had been meant to satiate had only grown worse after that. Dying had not changed that in the slightest. On the contrary, it had made him even more desperate to experience what seemed to come so easily to everyone else. He wanted someone to look at him like Jean and Geoff looked at each other when they thought no one was watching them. He wanted the kind of love that Alison and Mike shared, a love so deep it allowed them to be silly around each other without fear of being judged. He wanted to fall asleep the way his parents used to, with a kiss goodnight and the promise of a kiss good morning when the sun rose.

He wanted so much, and he wanted it all with Thomas.

It was a recipe for heartbreak and disaster – Nigel knew that – but the heart wanted what it wanted, and his was set on Thomas. It had been for a while now. The portrait situation might have just been a passing fancy for the others but for him, it had opened a door to a deeper yearning, one that went beyond soft locks and pretty brown eyes. He longed to spend time with Thomas, longed to get to know him, to understand how his mind worked and make sense of the poems he liked to recite so passionately.

It would always remain just that, however: a longing, quiet and unfilled. Some dreams just weren’t meant to come true and Nigel’s had always firmly fallen into that category. It was something he had made peace with a long time ago.

A light touch on his shoulder drew him out of his thoughts.

“For what it’s worth I think Walter’s wrong,” Mick told him softly, his lips pulling up into a smile. “You’d make a fabulous Cinderella.”

Unexpectedly, Nigel felt his eyes burn. “Thank you, Mick. That’s very kind of you to say.”

“I also think you should ask Thomas for a dance,” Mick added. When Nigel blinked at him in stunned silence, he shrugged and said, “How is he supposed to know you want to dance with him if you don’t tell him? You’ll never have a chance to win his heart if you stay in the basement all the time and refuse to talk to him.”

“I’ll never have a chance either way,” Nigel muttered, looking away.

Mick tilted his head in confusion. “Why not?”

Nigel gave him an incredulous look. “Have you looked at me lately? I’m riddled with plague sores, Mick. And even if I weren’t – I can’t even share Thomas’s biggest passion with him because I can’t read. Thomas would never be attracted to me.”

That’s what he told himself at last, every time he felt the tiniest bit of hope flare up in his heart lest it turn into a devouring flame.

“You could learn to read,” Mick said, eternally optimistic. “Alison helped Mary, didn’t she? She could help you as well. Oh, or Thomas could! You could ask him!”

Nigel shook his head. “I’m not going to ask him anything, Mick. I’m going down to the basement, get some sleep and forget all about this silly dream of mine.”

Mick frowned. “But … don’t you at least want to try? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

He might say no, Nigel thought. He will say no.

“He’s not going to laugh at you if that’s what you’re worried about,” Mick went on, unaware of his thoughts. “He knows what that feels like and wouldn’t do that to you.”

“You sound awfully sure of that for someone who doesn’t even know him,” Nigel pointed out.

Mick shrugged. “I see and hear things, you know? When I go upstairs to talk with the Captain.” His eyes suddenly widened in a way that told Nigel he’d just had an idea that probably wasn’t going to bode well for him. “That’s it! I’ll come with you! Help you find him and be your wingmate or what’s-it-called!”

“Oh, no,” Nigel said, shaking his head and instinctively taking a step backwards, nearly sending himself stumbling down the stairs. “Definitely not.”

But Mick only nodded more excitedly. “Yes! I’ll help you get your dance with Prince Charming tonight! I’ll even ask him for you so you won’t have to.”

Before Nigel had a chance to protest, Mick grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him back upstairs to the room with the stage. When they found it empty – thank god – Nigel breathed a sigh of relief. Mick, however, didn’t let that deter him. “Mhm. They said something about presents, didn’t they?”

“Which means they’ll probably be busy, Mick,” Nigel tried to intervene again. “It might be better if we came back tomorrow and–“

Mick let go of his hand and turned to face him. “Why are you so against this?”

Nigel heaved a heavy sigh. “Because right now, I can at least still dream about this. About him and me. About a dance. Tomorrow, I might have nothing.”

He let his head hang in defeat

“You’re wrong,” Mick said quietly, causing Nigel to look up at him. Mick’s face was more serious than he had ever seen it when he said, “You won’t have nothing. You’ll have certainty, and that’s worth an awful lot, Nigel.”

Unable to hold his gaze, Nigel dropped his eyes back to the floor. Mick wasn’t putting it into words but Nigel knew exactly what he was referring to. They had all been there that day when Mick’s younger sister hadn’t come home from picking berries, had all helped him and his family search the woods and meadows and even the neighbouring villages for her to no success. She had simply disappeared. Mick had spent a whole month searching for and ended up finding not a single trace of her anywhere, not even one tiny clue as to what might have happened to her. A bear or a pack of wolves? An abduction? An accident? Mick and his family never found out and Nigel knew it drove Mick crazy to this day.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured softly. “I didn’t mean to–“

“I know,” Mick sighed. He placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, always quick to forgive. “I just – I don’t want that for you, Nigel. The constant questioning. The what-ifs. Having to settle for dreams. You deserve more than that.”

So do you, Nigel thought sadly, knowing Mick had no hope of ever getting that. He, however, had, for better or worse, and maybe – maybe Mick was right: maybe it would be better to know, to make his peace with the inevitable rejection and move on.

Nigel exhaled slowly and managed to give Mick a small smile. “Where shall we look next?”

Mick beamed at him before he began pulling him through the house in search of Thomas once again.

It was the soft sound of humming that eventually led them to yet another beautifully decorated room, and to Thomas standing under a pair of headphones, gently swaying and humming along to some music Nigel and Mick couldn’t hear with his eyes closed in bliss. There was no one in the room with him, and he looked so relaxed and at peace, lost in his own world of sound, that Nigel found himself – not exactly getting cold feet, but rather not inclined to destroy what looked like a perfect moment with his selfish request.

“We better leave him be,” he whispered, turning to look at Mick – who was already crossing the room towards Thomas. Before Nigel could hold him back, Mick reached out to tap Thomas’s shoulder. Thomas, unaware he wasn’t alone anymore, jumped in sudden shock and instinctively covered his wound with his hand as if he had just been shot again.

“What do you think you’re doing, sir?” he rasped out, looking so badly shaken that Nigel winced in sympathy as Thomas flinched away from Mick’s touch. “Going around scaring people like that – on Christmas Day, nonetheless!”

“Sorry,” Mick mumbled apologetically. He lowered his head for a brief moment before he barrelled on, completely unperturbed. “Can I ask you a question?”

Thomas gave him a pointed look.

“You just did,” he pointed out. When Mick continued to stare at him he rolled his eyes and, waving his hands about, said, “Fine, fine. Go ahead.”

“Would you dance with Nigel?”

For the first time since they’d entered the room Thomas’s eyes flicked over to Nigel. Nigel shyly waved at him and breathed out a hoarse little, “Hi,” somehow managing not to fidget nervously under Thomas’s stare. There was a furrow between Thomas’s brows as he looked at him, as if he couldn’t quite figure out why Nigel was here or why Mick had asked him such a peculiar question. Then his eyes suddenly widened in understanding.

“Oh, you want to learn the steps so you can ask Kitty for a dance!” he said with a knowing nod. “Taken a fancy to her, haven’t you? Can’t say I blame you. She made a radiant Cinderella.”

He smiled at the memory of the panto and Nigel exchanged a panicked look with Mick. He’s got it all wrong! What am I supposed to do now?

He should have known Mick’s solution would not be helpful.

“Nigel would make a wonderful Cinderella as well,” Mick said, only too happily.

Thomas went very still. He blinked at Mick for a very long moment, and when Mick eagerly nodded in Nigel’s direction, Thomas turned to face him once more. The wide-eyed look on his face made Nigel immediately wish for the ground to open up beneath him and swallow him whole.

“You … want to be Cinderella?” Thomas asked slowly as if he wasn’t quite sure he had understood Mick correctly. “And you want to dance … with me?”

His disbelieving tone made Nigel glance guiltily at his shoes – a confession in and of itself.

“Oh,” Thomas breathed out softly. “So it isn’t Kitty who has caught your eye. It’s–“

Unable to hear the truth put so plainly into words, Nigel interrupted him. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake. Mick, we should go.”

Ignoring Mick’s protests, he grabbed him by the arm and began to pull him out of the room. They should have never come here – that much was very clear to him now. Only an idiot would have let Mick – someone who tended to be hopelessly optimistic about these things – talk himself into this foolish plan and risk everything on romantic hope. Walter had been right all along. Nigel was not Cinderella material, wasn’t even worth a second glance, let alone–

“Wait,” Thomas suddenly called from behind him. Nigel’s spiralling thoughts came to an abrupt halt and he froze. “Please, Nigel, just … wait.”

Nigel had never heard his name spoken by those lips before. The sound, painfully soft and vulnerable, made his heart flutter so desperately that he found his legs trembling under him as he turned to face Thomas. He was barely aware of Mick twisting himself out of his grasp and slowly backing away through the door to give them space as he took in the lost expression on Thomas’s face.

“I don’t understand,” Thomas admitted after a beat of silence, sounding just as lost as he looked. “You … you did not like my poetry. Why would you want to dance with me and not Kitty?”

“I didn’t understand your poetry,” Nigel corrected him gently. “But I wanted to, Thomas. Very much so.”

“Oh,” Thomas whispered. “I … I thought everyone’s infatuation was just about my–“ He gestured at his face, the message clear. Then his shoulders fell and he looked away. “Not that I would understand that either, what with my–“

He left that sentence hanging as well as he self-consciously covered his wound once more with his hand. Nigel didn’t know what exactly he’d expected Thomas’s reaction to be to his feelings but it certainly wasn’t the revelation that Thomas believed himself to be both unattractive and unloveable. It broke Nigel’s heart – even more so when he realised that he too had played a part in that by allowing himself to get caught up in everyone’s frustration during the recital. In hindsight, it seemed awfully clear now that Thomas had been desperate for someone to appreciate him when he stood in front of them and performed his poem, to appreciate the parts of him that everyone else, himself included, deemed unworthy. It made Nigel wish he had reacted differently that day.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, taking a tentative step closer. When Thomas glanced up, a questioning look in his eyes, he said, “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.”

“I would still only see a man who thinks himself a poet but has never been anything else but a fool,” Thomas said quietly, unable to meet his gaze.

Nigel shook his head and took another step towards him. “No. You’d see a man who doesn’t give up, no matter how cruel the world is to him.”

“So a man who doesn’t know when to stop, then.” Then Thomas added bitterly, “You know what Julian and the Captain would call that? Pathetic.”

“I was rather thinking he was very brave,” Nigel whispered.

Thomas met his eyes.

“Brave?” he hesitantly asked. When Nigel nodded, he let out a nervous chuckle. “No one’s ever called me that before. I … I suppose you do like me?”

He phrased it as a question, so trembling and hopeful that Nigel couldn’t lie to him, even knowing that the truth might cost him his dreams.

“Yes – very much so,” he admitted, unable to stop nervously fiddling with his hair. “And in case it wasn’t clear: I think you’re quite handsome, too. Wound or no wound.”

Two spots of colour formed high on Thomas’s cheek. Slowly, his eyes never leaving Nigel’s face, he lowered his hand from his wound. When Nigel offered him a reassuring smile, Thomas’s lips twitched up into a shy smile of his own and oh, Nigel thought as his heart quickened its pace. That smile was just for him. No one had ever looked at him like that before, all soft and gentle and like the sky was in his eyes. It felt wonderful.

Then, to his surprise, Thomas bowed before him and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

For a moment, Nigel forgot how to breathe. Feeling his own cheeks burn, he placed a shaking hand in Thomas’s. Thomas’s fingers wrapped around his with infinite gentleness, effectively stilling the tremors with his touch. His skin was warm – something that shouldn’t be possible since ghosts could feel neither heat nor cold, not like this – but before Nigel could revel in the sensation Thomas carefully pulled him into the middle of the room where he guided Nigel’s other hand to his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around Nigel’s back in a secure hold. Warmth bloomed all over Nigel’s body. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he had felt so alive.

“Is this all right?” Thomas whispered into the small space between them.

Nigel breathed out a laugh. “All my dreams are coming true right now – of course it’s all right!”

Smiling, Thomas bit his lip. “We haven’t even started dancing yet.”

So they did. The steps were easy enough to follow: take a step back with the left foot, step to the side and bring both feet back together. Then do the same forward, starting with the right foot this time. It didn’t take long until Thomas had them dancing around the room in gentle circles that started to feel so natural after a while that Nigel stopped worrying about his feet and gazed up at Thomas’s face instead to enjoy the moment.

“I actually feel a bit like Cinderella right now,” he admitted, unable to stop smiling.

Thomas’s hold on his hand tightened in reply as he twirled him out of his arms and pulled him back in a moment later. Nigel laughed and missed a step. Stumbling against Thomas, he suddenly found himself looking up at crinkly eyes full of warmth. “You’re a natural.”

“Clearly,” Nigel snorted, and they began anew.

He couldn’t say afterwards when exactly Thomas had begun to hum a gentle waltz for them to dance to or when he himself had closed his eyes and let himself to be guided by Thomas’s hands and voice alone, but he knew the spell was broken when the old grandfather clock downstairs chimed midnight. They slowly swayed to a stop in the middle of the room and, after a slight moment of hesitation, awkwardly stepped out of each other’s arms.

“Bit cliché, really, to stop at midnight,” Thomas noted quietly.

“Well, you wouldn’t want to see Cinderella in her peasant rags,” Nigel said softly, only half-joking.

For the first time since his earlier confession, the smile fell from Thomas’s face. His eyes dropped to Nigel’s cowl before he said, very quietly, “You know I don’t mind that – the class difference – don’t you?”

“I – I wasn’t sure,” Nigel answered truthfully.

“Well, I don’t. Not at all,” Thomas said. He took a deep breath, looking nervous all of a sudden. “I also wouldn’t mind sharing another dance with you.”

He sounded hopeful – actually hopeful – and for a moment, Nigel could do nothing but stare at him in stunned silence. His dreams had always ended at this point: with a dance, a touch and, if he felt particularly lonely and in need of comfort, a kiss goodbye. He’d never dared to dream of more and here Thomas was, offering him exactly that: the chance to get to know each other.

With his heart in his throat, Nigel managed to smile up at him. “Neither would I.”

“Good,” Thomas said, looking relieved. “That’s … that’s good.”

Nigel’s smile softened. Gathering up his courage, he asked, “See you tomorrow, then?”

Thomas nodded. “Eight o’clock? Same place?”

“Perfect,” Nigel breathed. “Well, I better get going, then. The others will be wondering where I am.”

“I imagine they will,” Thomas said softly before he bowed once more. “Goodnight, Nigel, and thank you for the dance.”

“Thank you for indulging me,” Nigel smiled. “Goodnight, Thomas.”

He was almost at the door when Thomas addressed him once more. “Nigel?”

Nigel turned around. Thomas looked so lovely in the warm glow of the Christmas lights that he feared his heart might beat out of his chest. “Yes?”

“Merry Christmas,” Thomas said shyly.

“Merry Christmas, Thomas.”

It took all of Nigel’s willpower to tear his eyes away from Thomas’s face and not skip out of the room in the same manner his sister had when her not-yet husband had kissed her for the very first time. Mick was waiting for him outside in the hallway, an expectant look on his face. When Nigel smiled and nodded, Mick grinned and pulled him into a heartfelt hug. “I told you Walter was wrong!”

Unable to hold his joy inside any longer, Nigel laughed.

#thomas thorne #nigel the plague ghost #mick the plague ghost #bbc ghosts #bbc ghosts fanfic #norne #my fic #themthere thursday

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