desecrets | Recent Entries

this isn't strictly accurate anymore 👆 as many of my entries atm are unlocked, but pls leave a comment and say hi and let me know how you found me if we've never chatted! ✨💕

i can also be found at:
🍋 explorersaremadeofhope on tumblr
🍋 astrificem on twitter
🍋 furiously on ao3

a little bit about me: x

Well, I say just; it was a few days ago. But I just spotted the announcement on the home page:

June 2025 Newsletter, Volume 201

Published: Sat 05 Jul 2025 07:52PM CEST Comments: 18

Open Doors has nearly finished importing FictionAlley, a Harry Potter archive. With approximately 29,000 works imported so far, it is Open Doors' largest import yet. You can check out all imported works at the FictionAlley collection. Unclaimed works are currently locked to logged-in AO3 users only, but per Open Doors' agreement with the FictionAlley archivist, they will be unlocked 30 days after the import is fully completed.

I'm obviously having kind of mixed feelings about it. But first and foremost, the fact that they're preserved!! that the stories I read back in ninth grade are most likely on ao3 now!!! makes me really happy, and more relieved than I expected. I've checked back in on FA a couple of times in recent years and it always worried me a little that the site wasn't up anymore -- with how huge it was, the loss of fanfics would be enormous. A part of me is also really curious to head over and see if I recognise anything. But although I personally don't feel that writing (not to mention reading!) fanfiction is the same as endorsement in monetary terms, I still don't really think I could read HP fic without kind of a bad taste in my mouth. It's a relief just to know that it's there!

Current Mood: relieved

Nicked it from

rhoda_rants :D

Rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

Most hits: 1 out of 10 couples (meet on the job) (2,522 hits)

The Old Guard, assassin and master art thief AU

Second most kudos: one for the road (289 kudos)

The Man From Uncle (2015), G, just a vignette of the trio in a pub with some Illya/Napoleon yearning

Third most comments: vocal (40 comments)

Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot/Wolf crossover with the distinction of being the first fic in the ship tag, PWP

Fourth most bookmarks: ditto! (21 bookmarks)

Fifth most words: thy happy coast (5,478 words)

The Terror, Fitzier, canon divergence: Francis is able to attend Carnivale

Fewest words: and stay awhile (717 words)

The Terror, Rossier, pre-canon fluff on an earlier expedition

I'm not surprised about the highest hit count (that fic is from 2020 and from a bigger fandom!), but I am surprised that my old T.M.F.U. fic has the second highest kudos count! Goes to show how small of a fandom e.g. The Terror is, which is where I've written by far the most fics. Also surprised and a little amused that my one longfic, a 25k mutual pining fix-it written for The Terror Big Bang, managed to evade the list completely. :D

Current Mood: content

... aka, happy birthday to Roger Delgado, who would have been 107 (!!) today. This old fanvid drifted across my tumblr dash yesterday and made me laugh, so it's getting a share on the big day:

Watch on YouTube

In other brief news:

Crocheting is going better: while watching Cadfael in the evenings, I've finished one (1) square consisting entirely of single crochet stitches! :D Now it just needs a border in a different colour and I will have reached my first goal of making a basic potholder!

I've also started reading the first of Ellis Peters' Cadfael novels! I've had a couple of them sitting around for years, and I've thoroughly fallen in love with the characters now from watching the TV series. The prose is so lovely -- a little lyrical, period in a way that feels effortless, and genuinely funny. Reading it feels like a warm cup of tea and a blanket.

I wrote a short anonymous fic for The Terror, for a prompt-meme event that was run on tumblr and in the server I moderate. It was very out of my comfort zone (dubcon/sex exchanged for career advancement, in a rather coercive way), so I wasn't sure at all if it was a success. But it took me no time at all to write, compared to my usual, and with posting being anon, it didn't feel like it would be too embarrassing if nobody liked it or it wasn't what the prompter had wanted. So I posted it, and even though the same prompt received another fill which was much longer (and better, imo!), I still got three very lovely comments on my own fic within 24 hours! Baffling, but very encouraging!

Current Mood: cheerful

Nic Cage on AI and creativity (x), nicked from FFA:

I am a big believer in not letting robots dream for us. Robots cannot reflect the human condition for us. That is a dead end if an actor lets one AI robot manipulate his or her performance even a little bit, an inch will eventually become a mile and all integrity, purity and truth of art will be replaced by financial interests only. We can’t let that happen. The job of all art in my view, film performance included, is to hold a mirror to the external and internal stories of the human condition through the very human thoughtful and emotional process of recreation. A robot can’t do that. If we let robots do that, it will lack all heart and eventually lose edge and turn to mush. There will be no human response to life as we know it. It will be life as robots tell us to know it. I say, protect yourselves from AI interfering with your authentic and honest expressions.

I'm just putting this on my journal because I had a conversation about AI art with my tech bro-y flatmate maybe a week ago which frustrated me no end, and which I've been thinking about with irritation ever since.

( Cut for annoying arguments )

Art is a human response to life. Thanks, Nic Cage. 🙏

Current Mood: bitchy

I watched the Eggers Nosferatu in the theatre with a couple of friends today. I'm... still processing it, but overall it didn't 100% hit for me.

There were some things I really enjoyed about it, which were mainly in the design and visuals. It was really nice to finally see a Dracula adaptation that felt European!

The 1830's German setting felt (at least to me, as a non-German) fairly authentic and was at any rate extremely aesthetic; I loved the introductory shots of narrow streets crowded by pretty wooden buildings and crammed full of people in 1830's attire running errands and driving cows.

The cinematography of Thomas' journey was gorgeous, and the scenes on his arrival in Transylvania were both beautifully shot and effective: the use of local actors speaking un-subtitled Romanian (and Romani, in the scenes with the travellers) was such a breath of fresh air after decades of adaptations where everyone inexplicably speaks Hutter's/Harker's language. The fact that he couldn't understand them and had to rely on their body language established his sense of unease very well, and it was also just cool to hear so much spoken Romanian! I really liked the look of the buildings and little details like road shrines, and the scene with the Orthodox monastery (I don't remember seeing Orthodox nuns/priests in a Dracula adaptation before, but really, they should be!).

( Read more... )

On the whole, if you leave aside the fact that I'm juuuust a bit too much of a horror wuss for this movie, it was a fairly enjoyable time, and it's going to need to percolate a bit more, but I still think the start was stronger than the second half.

Current Mood: sleepy

I've been updating my recs spreadsheet (and also rereading old favourites, as you do!), so I'm reccing the two most recent additions:

All You Need is Love (and Chocolate Cake) by fallingintodivinity
Fandom: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV), The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Rating: T
Tags: First Time, Fluff, Romance, Food, Cooking, Friends to Lovers, spies in love, Napoleon Gets a Clue, Slow Burn, Podfic Available
Word count: 6064
Summary: The way to an U.N.C.L.E. agent’s heart is through his stomach; or: how to cook for – and fall in love with – your partner in ten easy steps.

This fic has such a cozy, intimate feel, and somehow feels very retro even though not much in terms of technology etc is really mentioned -- there's just something very 60's about the images it conjures (perhaps it's the rather elaborate recipes Napoleon slaves away over!), plus there's some very satisfying pining. Characterisation wise, even though it has both tags, I would say this is a TV show fic more than a movie fic, but if (like me) you're really only familiar with the movie, it's very much still enjoyable!

Through a Glass, Darkly by sospes
Fandom: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Rating: M
Warnings: Rape/Non-con, Graphic depictions of violence
Tags: Honeytrap, First Time, Drama, Action/Adventure, Torture
Word count: 11991
Summary: Illya watches Solo work and sees something he was never supposed to see. And then that work follows them all home.

This is one of the fics I enjoyed the most when I first started reading in this fandom a few years ago, and though I haven't reread it in a couple years, I trust it to hold up. Heed the warnings on this one, but it's a great plotty/case-fic with good characterisation and a very satisfying dash of pining angst.

Current Mood: content

Now that Yuletide anonymity is up, and doubling as a first Fannish 50 post, I can share my fic!

Like I think I mentioned, I got to write for Scream of the Shalka this year, and for a good friend of mine!

Title: when the summer comes along, for 2manyboys
Fandom: Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
Pairing: Ninth Doctor/The Master
Rating: T
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional tags: Questionable Coping Mechanisms, The Master being The Master, handwavey lore, this is self indulgent on several levels, Power Imbalance, Romantic Gestures, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Partial Mind Control, Complicated Relationships
Word count: 5522
Summary: "Florana?" The Master laughs despite himself, gaping at the Doctor in open surprise. "That tourist trap?" — In which a field trip is had, and the Master plots.

I had a lot of fun with the writing despite the hurdles I ran into (and the several things I wanted to include that I ended up not having time for), and thankfully my recipient enjoyed it!

And a proper rec post for the fic I received!

Title: Can you feel this? by Melime for furiously
Fandom: Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
Pairing: Ninth Doctor/The Master
Rating: T
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional tags: Complicated Relationships, Injury, Mutilation, android repairs, Angst, Denial of Feelings
Word count: 1445
Summary: The Master is injured protecting himself and the Doctor, and the Doctor must rebuild his hand. As the hours of tense repairs stretch before them, neither wants to investigate the Master's feelings.

This was a lovely little fic, great characterisation and a couple of lines that really hit, especially the closing line.

Current Mood: calm

Thanks to

maevedarcy posting about having signed up for Fannish 50 (challenge post is here, over at

goals_on_dw), I got inspired to try it too!

I'm hoping to use it to post more fic and/or drabbles here, and also, to finally get going again on posting recs and working on my big Masterlist of fic recs.

It's entirely too easy for me to just get sucked into the fast-paced, easy-posting allure of tumblr and forget to use my DW, but I do enjoy talking about fandom, so a fannish series of posting prompts should be just up my alley. Fingers crossed!

As I make posts, I'll be linking to them in this post, under a cut.

( fannish 50 masterlist )

Current Mood: intrigued

how is everyone doing? i hope you've all had a good holiday, and a good christmas if you celebrate! 🎄

christmas here was very quiet this year - ( Read more... )

to get myself through the torment nexus that is christmas shopping from the wrong side of the register i've been listening to this audiobook of the wind in the willows which is up on bbc sounds (through some sneaky vpn usage, since i'm not in the uk), and getting regular little instalments of mole and rat and badger and toad has honestly saved my sanity a little this past month.

once i finish the wind in the willows, my read books tally for this year will clock in at 16, which is something like 12 or 13 more than i've been averaging over the past few years, i think, so i'm very happy with that. finally realising that i'm allowed to just read whatever silly nonsense i want has definitely been a large part of it: i've ploughed through something like eight or nine doctor who novelisations aimed at children and had a great time doing it.

i received a lovely little fic for yuletide!! i read it first thing in the morning (well, afternoon), while still in bed, on the 25th and enjoyed it very much: an angsty, introspective doctor/master oneshot for doctor who: scream of the shalka featuring injury-tending, which is just the kind of trope i love.

~~to my own shock~~, i also managed to finish my own yuletide fic. ( Read more... )

i have successfully yuletide-ed for the first time! 🎉 kind of a small milestone; i hadn't tried to do yuletide since i was forced to default twice when i first tried to do it, back in high school, and the experience was so guilt-inducing i never touched it again. 😅 now i can do it again in future without being scared!

Current Mood: hungry

First of all, THANK YOU in advance!! 🩷 These are all fandoms that I have a lot of warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings for, but which don't have much in the way of fanfic (well, with the exception of Aubrey-Maturin, where the movie has a fair bit, but yanno) -- so, in short, I will be delighted to receive just about anything, for any one of them. Follow where your heart and the plot bunnies take you, dear nonnie author, and have no fear!!

Things that are okay for all fandoms even if I didn't specify: PWP. Angst. Whump. Hurt/comfort, hurt no comfort. Messed up character dynamics. D/s undertones where applicable. Getting together fic/first kiss/first time, etc. Fluff, banter.

Fandom specific notes:

Withnail and I:
( Read more... )

MacGyver 1985:
( Read more... )

Scream of the Shalka:
( Read more... )

Doctor Who 1996:
( Read more... )

Aubrey-Maturin:
( Read more... )

General DNWs:
( Read more... )

PS: If you should need a question answered, I've enabled anon comments. Thank you again in advance, and have fun!! 🩷🩷🩷

Current Mood: cheerful

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Page Summary

comment to be friended!
ao3 just imported FictionAlley
fanfic stats meme!
happy birthday to the Master
i'm already tired of thinking about this. and yet!!
never too many rodents!
couple of fic recs (T.M.F.U.)
yuletide reveals!
fannish 50 challenge!
rooibos chai save me. save me rooibos chai
dear yuletide writer!

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Recent Entries

Sticky: comment to be friended!

ao3 just imported FictionAlley

fanfic stats meme!

happy birthday to the Master

i'm already tired of thinking about this. and yet!!

never too many rodents!

couple of fic recs (T.M.F.U.)

yuletide reveals!

fannish 50 challenge!

rooibos chai save me. save me rooibos chai

dear yuletide writer!