Author Archives: Sam

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hello! For the ask game:

James Watson + 3 and 16

John Druitt + 8 and 24

3) Least favorite canon thing about James Watson?

The fact that he died at the end of season 1? I have headcanons to fix it, and I know that the actor was just a guest star, but I still wish. I think he was only in 5 episodes but he has such importance in my mind, he’s more of a main character than actual main characters to me. That answer feels a bit of a cop-out. I suppose… he was judgy for a minute with Helen in Tempus. I wasn’t fond of that but it didn’t last and a century of time travel would be a lot for anyone to just roll with.

16) What’s your least favorite ship for James?

I will check the AO3 tags! Wow ok… yikes. There’s a real variety which I was not expecting. I have been in fandom long enough I should not be surprised and yet I am. There’s James/Will which no, just no. I think the one I have to go with is disliking the most is James/Ashley which… I do try and be ship and let ship but Ashley is Helen’s daughter! and so to me that is like James’ daughter and so I am shuddering. Absolutely not.

8) What’s something the fandom does when it comes to John that you despise?

lol well you kinda already know this as I used it as my “unpopular opinion”. The abusive wife-beating misogynistic bastard. That answer feels a bit redundant as you knew that. It’s the only one I really have though.

John is mostly just reduced to the Ripper. I have done that a lot too because it is such a pivotal storyline. It changed everything and then it lasted for well over a century. It is a fascinating arc. So I definitely don’t despise that but he is a character apart from that too. There was a before, and there could be an after.

24) What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Oh! I think I talked about this once before – Rumplestiltskin.

The whole “possessed by an evil demon” which is like an insidious inner voice that twists everything. I’m pretty sure I made a gifset about this once. Oh yeah here it is. The transition is a bit quick. I should fix that but hopefully the sentiment can be seen.

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purlturtle asked:

Myka Bering, 1, 2, and 3 please!

1) Why do you like or dislike this character?

Well to start with the cliche I love her passion for books. I like how smart she is (and I often feel she should be allowed to show her smarts more often than she is).

Then… you see this is why I struggle with “headcanon vs canon” because it’s my read of the character – I am looking at what is there. So is canon merely what is stated unequivocally? Or can it also be what is implied? At what point does implied become interpretation and therefore potentially not true? I struggle to know where to draw that line.

There’s also the fact that basically I am circling around the word – relatable. How much is me projecting? How much is me seeing a flash of something familiar and then my brain twisting what is implied to be like “yeah I feel that”. But I would be remiss not to say that the way I interpret Myka as demi (I’m ace) and the awkwardness she has socially, doesn’t hit home with me a little bit.

There is more I am sure but I think I have rambled enough 🙂

2) Favorite canon thing about this character?

Her brains. I love how smart she is. A close second is her heart. She is just so genuine.

3) Least favorite canon thing about this character?

The way she calls “Peeeeete” it is just a bit too close to whiny for my ears. And yes I know that’s petty but I guess that’s how much I like Myka – there’s very little to complain about.

Well very little that is her fault. Some of the writing… there are many times that I think Myka should have got the win (but for non logical reasons it went to Pete) and let’s not mention the illogical mess that came in season 4/5.

Assassin’s Creed: An Overview – UPDATED!!

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I should be writing but /cough just let me ramble for a second.

On October 9th, 2021 I made this post, so that’s like 2 and a half years ago? And I feel like doing a little update.

It’s funny what experience changes. I hadn’t had my PS5 long when I wrote this and was still playing all of the AC games on the PC through Steam. The PS5 controller was a million times better than the Steam controller I had previously been using but I was still struggling. I didn’t grow up with a console/controller. I played a few PC games as a kid but wasn’t really a ‘gamer’ until I discovered Warcraft and that as an MMO with keyboard/mouse is a very different beast.

Anyway since this game by game breakdown there have been developments!

Continue reading →

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kira-nerys-rocks asked:

Regina Mills

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

15. What’s your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn’t matter if it’s canon or not.)

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Thank you so much for the ask!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

10) Could I be best friends with Regina?

No I’m not cool enough haha.

Honestly as much as I love Regina and I see that her prickliness comes from pain, I would find her so intimidating in person. I scare easily.

12) What’s a headcanon I have for her?

Ah my usual dilemma of what is canon and what is headcanon 😂

Somewhat complicated by the fact that it’s been a few years since I have seen this show now. Where does time go?

Oh man this is such a good question and my brain is a total blank. Ok ok, I’m just going to have to go with the first thing that comes to mind.

I started to write a whole thing about how Regina can be her own worst enemy and I scrapped it because I wasn’t being clear. So lets be specific – season 1 finale. My headcanon is that if Regina had tried to TLK Henry awake from the sleeping curse then it would have worked. I don’t think it would have broken the dark curse as well so that could go down one hell of a canon-divergent rabbit hole so put in a pin that. Regina didn’t even try and kiss him. She knew what he needed, she clearly thought about it, but she didn’t want to know as she assumed it wouldn’t work. “Too evil, too broken, he hates me, evil can’t love etc.” it’s an insecurity.

Now I don’t want to get into Regina’s crimes because that’s another rabbit hole. The salient point is how Regina thinks of herself and this is one of the few inconsistencies in the show I don’t mind. Mental health/self-acceptance isn’t a linear battle. Sometimes she can be at peace with it, other times she judges herself. Season 1/season 2 was a very low point for her. Some of which was nothing to do with all the magical crazy, and just the very real true life that her sons bio mom has shown up, and she feels ‘lesser’ (she’s not obviously).

But I’ve never doubted how much Regina loved Henry. I like that she did get her own TLK with him later on. But yes my headcanon is that it would have worked at the season 1 finale.

15) What’s my favourite ship for her?

I said this the other day but ultimately it’s “Regina x Happiness” and I did like that her story ‘end’ meant it didn’t come from a man. I like that Regina forged her own family, that she broke the cycle and didn’t repeat her mother’s mistakes.

There wasn’t really anyone on the show that clicked for me and that I thought was right for her.

Now as a lighter more joking answer I don’t sleep well and I run stories in my mind. These stories are allowed to be full of OC’s and cliches and be the sort of thing that fandom ridicules because it is just me telling the story to myself. I do confess I have fixed her up in my head with an OC. I may have written about 10k of fanfic towards it once but for the most part that has died a death on my HD (aside from the odd question like this where I was like hey why not it’s just a bit of fun).

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hello! For the Truth & Dare ask game:

🛼, 🍄,🍬, and☁️, please! 🙂

🛼 describe your latest wip with five emojis

😼🔫🐉🔥🌳

🍄 share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

I absolutely LOVE this question and then when I get to answering it I am like “hmm?” because honestly sometimes I forget what is headcanon and what is canon 😛 I have so many I think.

Ok I will go with the first one that comes to mind – reason for the distance between Helen and James in the one present day episode he appears.

Now I ship them obviously and so them being on opposite sides of the world?!? That’s just sad. Until I watched season 3 (so the headcanon I used in my first long fic Our Darkest Hour) I thought that maybe it was hard enough for Helen to live with her own pain re: John, and she couldn’t live with James’ as well. This was totally jossed with Helen and James obviously being together in Normandy but then season 4 and the time travel came out and it all made perfect sense.

James didn’t move to Old City with Helen, because future/time travel Helen needed him. He could never tell Helen about her future self (protecting the timeline) and it would have been a little funny but also not if she thought he was having an affair. Future/time travel Helen didn’t have anyone else. So James concocted some lie about how London had been the first Sanctuary, consequently the British government was much more involved etc. and that he should stay head of house. So they went very long distance. I suspect Helen believed that James maybe had an issue with her unchanging state, and his increasing reliance on technology to fight infirmity. How pleased he was to see her whenever she visited/he visited, and how ok he was with her then, would kind of go against that but what other explanation was there? It was her only theory.

I do feel bad for Helen for not understanding and being lonely. Then when the time travel happened she went “oh.” as she realised that James had always chosen her, she just hadn’t seen it.

Also as a connected headcanon I firmly believe that Helen “coloured between the lines” in the sense of so long as she ensured her past selfs memories remained the same, then who is to say it didn’t always go this way? And thus she found a way to save James, and John, and of course Ashley. I touched on this in my “Out of the Shadows” fic which was supposed to be an AU of the ‘missing moments’ fic I was going to write about what was really going on behind season 4 (aka you can’t prove it’s not canon) but alas I never got round to it and now never will.

🍬 post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Fun question! Mind is blank. I think where I struggle is the “unpopular” part. I don’t know if something is unpopular or not, I’m a champion at missing social things. Maybe a lot of people would agree with me – or maybe nobody would. I tend to find it mostly falls somewhere in between. It’s like in fandom the whole “stay in your lane” thing. We find people who mostly view the media like we do, or are accepting enough of differences in opinion so as not to cause conflict.

Take Sanctuary for instance. I know I am in a minority in shipping Helen/James/John because it certainly feels like the popular ship is Teslen. I like Nikola a lot but I just prefer him and Helen as friends. No hate to shippers. I think I write it in most of my fics that if John and James weren’t around then Helen and Nikola might develop romantically one day (immortality is a long time). I suppose an unpopular opinion could be my discomfort if I ever do peek into Teslen content, at what they do to John’s character. That’s entirely on me of course, I know better than to be curious, and obviously I use the backspace button and never say a word.

I firmly believe that John’s abusive/evil tendencies came from the energy parasite we saw in Haunted. That the compulsion was not his own. That he learned to manage it over time, to make the killings less brutal, and to need to kill less, but he had to give in/feed it otherwise he did lose all control. And worse of course is that he didn’t know he was possessed (and I do see it as a possession). I realise that this read is not universal. I have seen people instead relate it to an addiction and that John had more of a choice in everything, and that he chose wrong. They say that that he was always bad: misogynistic. That the evidence of him wanting to go back in time, wipe out Helen’s independence – I don’t see it that way either. I think he didn’t want to have that damn parasite AND he still had that parasite. I think that evil parasitic voice, that for a century he didn’t realise wasn’t his own demons, was capable of twisting almost anything. Taking John’s wish to not be a killer, his pain, his regret and twisting it to justify the time travel. Plus show me someone that doesn’t want a redo, and I will show you a liar. I’m not really joking. So many nights I lay in bed just wishing I could go back and do things differently – it’s a very natural impulse. John did take it too far in actually trying to make it reality but then – possession.

Ahem sorry that got long.

I don’t know how much of this is unpopular ^^ but probably quite a lot. John is vilified far more than he is defended. I just can’t see Helen ever giving John the time of day if he was always a bastard. I know women do that – smart, intelligent, otherwise strong women – can get in messes of relationships. I’m not saying it’s impossible but it’s not how I see it.

Please don’t anyone take this the wrong way. This is just my opinion and zero hate to anyone for thinking otherwise. I do obviously disagree as stated but we are all entitled to our interpretations and there’s room enough in the fandom for everyone.

☁️ what made you choose your username?

I saw an aesthetic for Vala Mal Doran (Stargate SG-1) and it had a graphic for “Space Merc” and I thought that was so cool. Obviously that username was taken so I played around with word variants until I found one that wasn’t taken – galactic pirates. I have grown rather fond of it now 🥰

WriYe: Let’s Talk Revision

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So I skipped February’s blog topic because I didn’t think I had anything really to contribute (it was about writing ‘hacks’). However, this month the topic is “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – The R’s of Revision” and if there’s anything I have opinions about in writing, it’s revision.

I have had a pet peeve for years of people saying revision when they mean editing. I have tried to get less grumpy about it because we are all entitled to use whatever words we want. One persons editing might well be another persons revision – I shouldn’t judge. Yet it’s one of those things that annoys me anyway.

So what is revision?

Continue reading →

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

For the ship classification game:

James/John from Sanctuary and Regina/Robin from OUAT, please.

James/John – makes sense, compels me

I mean I ship them hard lol. They aren’t explicitly canon but the subtext is definitely there. It can’t be proven that they aren’t canon.

So why do I ship them? Well they were friends first. We didn’t see them interact much sadly so a lot builds off the “battle of wits” line. I have written what I think was probably canon in that they met at Oxford, and I also wrote an AU where they went to the same boarding school so met at 11. But meeting at Oxford they had shared classes, so a common intellectual interest. I’m not very good at how people are friends (as I have no friends) but I think shared interest/time together is a good start.

For a romance they would need to find each other attractive. Then the part that compels me is the unfortunate society homophobia – it was literally illegal and they had to hide. For them to have been brave enough to admit their attraction, knowing if it wasn’t returned the scandal could ruin their life.

In ‘canon’ (well headcanon 😛) I feel like John would have made the first move with the sort of “I want to piss off my abusive prejudiced bastard of a father”. There was also probably whiskey involved. I feel like James (in canon) would have been more hesitant but leapt on John’s move the second his quick mind noticed. I wrote the opposite in my soulmark fic because of reasons I tried to make clear in the fic.

——

Regina/Robin – doesn’t make sense, doesn’t compel me

That is probably harsh. I didn’t hate it but I couldn’t see a deeper connection. They did the whole “soulmate” thing but that didn’t land with me. It felt shallow in how it started like it was just “attractive man” and the gorgeous lady is like “oh yes please”. It did develop I suppose as they encountered challenges. Him being a single dad was a reason (beyond handsome) for attraction because Regina is such a mom but they didn’t really show her with Robin’s little boy.

I think honestly a good part of it is that Once did relationships so badly. There was very little build-up. It’s like they skipped what they considered the boring part and – so had the meet cute and then just “oh we are together now” without really then making it make sense. I guess they were very focused on the plot and nothing else really got developed consistently. It was like that for a lot of the shows relationships – especially those that came into the show later on in the seasons. They did a much better job establishing stuff in season 1.

Once really did suffer with a “tell rather than show” problem. With some ships I filled in the blanks with headcanons. I didn’t care enough with Regina and Robin to bother. When I wrote close to canon fics I tended to keep their relationship if it was set during that time, as I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t see the point of it.

It’s not that I really shipped Regina with anyone else either. I never went in for SwanQueen. Sometimes things just don’t click you know? I didn’t hate that either, I could see all the points people made in meta posts but a ship grabs me or it doesn’t and it didn’t.

Actually I suppose at the end of the day all the trauma Regina went through. All I wanted for her was happiness and I didn’t want that to come from a partner, I wanted her to find that in herself first. I said before that Regina was such a mom and basically yeah. It’s like for some characters romance is their most important relationship, and for Regina she found contentment in being a mother. Not to say obviously that she couldn’t also have a romance – it is only right and proper to have many different types of relationships. I just never saw her with anyone and thought “yeah that’s happiness”.

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purlturtle asked:

let’s go with a crack fic for the “makes sense/compels me” ask:

Helen Magnus and Helena Wells!

Ooooh 👀

They are so similar. Both ‘out of time’ (eventually, although HG didn’t experience the decades the same way). Both lost a daughter (again eventually). Both born into an era where they were radicals for being so strong and independent. Both scientists, incredibly intelligent and deadly. They also both have their causes in a way, although this is where they differ too.

I think I have said about HG somewhere in that she was without peer. Constantly searching for somebody who could match her and forever being disappointed. Elementary is where I got my understanding of Holmes from and it fits HG – loneliness due to her genius. Needing to have so much going on at the same time or she’d go mad from boredom (which only makes the bronzer worse 😭).

Whereas Helen I think maybe started off wanting to prove herself. She fought for recognition (the Royal College, Oxford, and of course her father). Now that need faded as she grew and she found her calling to protect and help abnormals. The mission – Sanctuary for all – mattered far more than any personal needs.

Aaaaand I think I am just supposed to say the answer and not ramble 😛 but what can I say I like thinking it through.

I have always felt the person most akin to HG in Sanctuary world is Nikola. They have the same sort of charm and ego. A lot of people ship Helen and Nikola but I don’t. I’m not anti, I just prefer them as friends. That’s what feels right to me. So maybe it’s that which influences me to say no to Helen and HG as a pairing. I think they would be kindred spirits, and should be friends, but nothing really more than that.

So I am going to go with…

Makes sense, doesn’t compel me

Because while I can’t see any kind of love romance, I could see more of a friends with benefits. The snark and flirting and HG being a whirlwind in and out and Helen happy to see her when she was in town. I wouldn’t ship it. I don’t feel any connection to that as a dynamic but it’s plausible.

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leni-ba asked:

🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your wip(s) need if you intend to share it?

Oh thank you! ❤️

3) 🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your wip(s) need if you intend to share it?

Ok for my original novel series I intend for it to be I don’t know “T rated”. I think of the TV that I like which doesn’t shy away from sensitive topics but isn’t generally gratuitous with the violence, sex or swearing. The term “family friendly” has got bad connotations these days so I’m not keen on applying that label. Also if the characters need to say “fuck” then they will (I mean it is an apocalypse). It’s not about sanitising it’s about not being distracting. I’m not a fan when characters say “fuck” practically every other word as (to me, in my opinion) it loses emphasis and is then just irritating. I think I can tell the story without leaning on cheap techniques for shock value. But we’ll see I guess.

For tags (as opposed to warnings) then: portal fantasy, queer characters/slow burn romance, military science fiction, magic and aliens, saving the world, prejudice, fear, found family and friendship. That kind of thing.

Now with the art that would obviously depend on the piece but never any warnings. I have no interest personally in drawing sexy art or anything like that. No shade on those who do and maybe I will get the inspiration in the future but it’s not on my list now. Anyway for tags so varied because it covers all the fandoms, my ships, characters. I will do canon, I will do AU.

To pick a specific art piece because aside from the Librarians exchange I am not actively tossing any ideas from my list around at the moment (and my exchange piece is supposed to be secret). Oh! There’s the painting I want to do for the Mother’s Day card. Mum and I usually once a year (though last year was the first since 2019) go to the seaside and play crazy golf. So I was thinking of painting a dog with a club in its mouth, the pirate flag fluttering behind (it’s a pirate themed course) and the caption something like “can I use my paw or tail instead?” and then an IOU inside for a trip out when it opens in the spring/better weather. So tag for fluff, dog, bad humour lol. I don’t know.

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hello! For the Procrastination Game: 🍄, 🖍,🤔, and ❤️, please! 🙂

Thank you! ❤️ As I said in the ask before I didn’t realise this was quite so fic focused. I just love asks and I really needed to ramble today. So I am incredibly grateful for you guys letting me. It’s being a day and this is a great distraction.

As I said before I can do original novel (vaguely) and art so yeah.

2) 🍄Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

My original novel is probably Stargate + Enchanted Forest (only) Once Upon a Time = well isn’t that just the thing? So = original novel.

For the art… 🤔 how about Ambition + Reality = Fear. Sorry I know, not so positive. How about Dreams + Hope = Desire. I don’t know. I haven’t decided what I am doing for the Librarians exchange piece. I am considering Dancing + Hearteyes but that’s a bit too cliche. I am still thinking.

7) 🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

Covered this in the other ask.

9) 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

For original novels I am a little bit terrible at writing first drafts of Book Ones (so starting the verse) and so I have half a dozen going. In terms of one I haven’t actually written yet 🤔 maybe the spaceship rebel civil war, or perhaps the bodyguard romantic suspense, or maybe the archaeological treasure hunt. Honestly I have more ideas than I could write in 10 years. It’s kinda sad because I get new ideas too and I will just never get to them all.

For art I swear I have an even longer project list. I want to draw everything. I have a huge fandom list, like a few dozen ideas. Most just single scenes but I have some thoughts of a handful of panels comic strips. I dream of drawing illustrations for my original novels and perhaps even a graphic novel one day! In terms of specific ideas well I think I have mentioned a few times a Burn Notice Seven and Raffi scene. I picked up a bunch of prompts from last years “Year of the OTP” (is that running again? I should check) like I think I had Ancient Greece Sanctuary, and an Ancient Egypt Bering and Wells. I have a bunch.

12) ❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

Thank you 🥰