Happy New Year to all of you and thanks to Yitzock and all who participated!

The Most Romantic Offer

Oh Sherlock, you Silly Old Bear! It's so in character for him to express his true feelings in such a roundabout way, a little clumsy at that and endearingly true to his insecure self! I was as perplexed as John at his harsh words at first, but in hindsight, they just emphasize how deeply he feels for John...

Low Tide at Sea Garden

This was almost heartbreaking in the sense of how, despite being able to move on with their lives, Sherlock and John have been shaken by certain events in their past. And now they're on their way to overcome those remnants. I loved John's momentary sneakiness, by the way.

 

Phew, thank you!

Thank you! I'll do my best re the BB Code...
And have fun writing, everyone!

Thank you!

Me too! Squee- this feels like a reunion of sorts!

Hi guys! I haven't been here for some time now, but I'd like to participate in the Secret Santa if it is going to happen. I'm a bit nervous about it too, since I haven't written anything Sherlock for a while and I'm also rather swamped at work. Still, it'd be fun, and admittedly, I missed this...

Hello all. Some of you probably already heard about the so-called Yulin Dog Meat and Lychee "Festival", which has been taking place every year around June 21st since 2010 in Yulin, China. During that event, up to 10.000 dogs and also a large number of cats are being cruelly tortured, e.g. by being skinned alive, before they are being slaughtered and eaten.
Around the globe, a lot of people have been and are protesting against it, but so far, to no avail.

I'm aware that there are a lot of other issues concerning the daily mistreatment of animals for example in the meat industries with much larger quantities of suffering individuals. Yulin however is something I can't even begin to comprehend, which has nothing to do with the kind of animal or the whole 'which to eat and which to pet' discussion. For one, it's because of the crass scale of the event, and secondly, it's because of the utter and unnecessary cruelty. One doesn't need to be a dog lover to be horrified, especially after seeing pictures. Ever since I've first read about it, it haunts me. I can vividly imagine the fear and pain and sheer horror those poor animals must be suffering on that day, and there are pictures of participants who look on with a big grin on their face and their cell phone cameras flashing.
I don't understand how anyone can do or allow others to do something like that to a helpless creature. Apart from that, it is so irrational and medieval to think that the adrenaline improves the meat, as apparently a lot of people do seem to believe. Of course, there's also alcohol involved (hence the Lychee in the name), but still. What astonishes me most is that it's not a bunch of yokels in some godforsaken part of the country who simply don't know better, but Yulin is quite large and even has a university.

Another issue is the acquisition of the poor dogs; reportedly, some are even being stolen from their owners. Who does such a thing, who permits it, who organizes it? Who can listen to and look

The three words are interesting. Thatcher- no idea, might refer to the 80s and therefore to Sherlock's childhood, Smith is probably Culverton Smith and Sherrinford the third brother. I recently watched TAB again with a friend, and we talked about the "It's never twins" thing, assuming it might somehow be used in reference to Moriarty. But what if Sherlock had a twin and at some point assumed his identity for some reason? He said "I made me" in TAB and there was talk of ghosts, after all.

Argh, could January roll around sooner, please?

stoertebeker wrote:

Is anybody in contact with Kerkerian? Maybe she wants to join as well.

Thank you for thinking of me, lovely stoertebeker. Since my husband and I broke up in January and are going to get a divorce, I've been preoccupied with too many other things and wouldn't have been able to participate this time.

I wish you all a lot of fun, of course, and a lovely summer.