I started researching in April. (Why, you may ask, am I still writing the last chapter if I knew the deadline and started so early? I have no good answer.) Anyhoo, I had about 20 tabs open (as one does) and was looking at images for inspiration (as one does), when I stumbled upon an Elizabethan portrait that looked surprisingly like Q (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Hilliard):
I shared it with my @mi6-cafe peeps at slack, extolling my luck at finding a historic portrait that has a passing resemblance to the character, when @10kiaoi just grabs it and — in like 4 seconds or something completely ridiculous — sends back this:
Which, obviously, I was over the moon about ( @10kiaoi is so talented it’s crazy). It’s coming through on tumblr little large for the resolution, so please ignore that and note the floppy fringe! the eye shape! the mole! So perfect.
So, I used the altered version in two manips that will get used in the fic:
The chapters that include these will be going up today but I wanted to make sure I gave props to both Nicholas Hillard and @10kiaoi for both the fic inspiration and the lovely art to include for the readers. Cheers!
Adding this 1886 Impressionist painting from Spain that’s making the tumblr rounds along with a headcanon: Q didn’t even know the artist, Joaquín Sorolla, had seen him in profile during that trip. But he remembers that shirt and that garden. He buys a reproduction in the museum store, surprised that either the artist or museum had misgendered him. Italian Girl with Flowers indeed: wrong on two counts!
Q is the youngest Holmes sibling. This is really the only set of circumstances under which I could accept Q having a family. I just don’t see him having a mum and dad living out in The Midlands who he visits at Christmas.
For the purposes of my writing, he’s either a Holmes or he’s an orphan.
Q – he’s named Rembrandt/Remy in my Water series – is four years younger than Sherlock and is very much an “oops” baby. Let’s face it. If you were Mummy or Daddy Holmes, would you actively plan on having another child after getting a glimpse at the trouble Sherlock gets into?! In fact, Mummy was completely unaware that she was pregnant until Sherlock sussed it out – Mary Watson was not his first foray into progeny prognostication – and even he even deduced the baby’s gender and birthdate.
Because there are eleven years separating him from Mycroft – who was heading off to school when Q was born; Q finds Mycroft even more insufferable than Sherlock does – Q gets on much better with Sherlock though that relationship can be tense at times. Sherlock ran one too many experiments on Q when they were little for Q to ever fully forgive him, and they’re just far too similar in many ways, though they each vehemently deny it. James Bond and John Watson just nod knowingly and head off to the pub together to drink and commiserate on what it means to be married to a Holmes.
Though none of the current generation of Holmes boys could be considered ‘normal’ by societal standards, Q is the one who comes closest to that abstract definition. This is due in part to his closer relationship to his father, but it is largely because of his role as the MI6 Quartermaster. While interpersonal relationships are a challenge for him, Q knows that they are essential to the success of his agents in the field, to the cohesiveness of his Q-Branch staff, and to the mission of MI6 as a whole. Consequently, he works extremely hard to cultivate positive connections to those around him, initially relying on Eve Moneypenny to help him analyze and understand the quirks of human nature that – as a Holmes – he struggled to interpret early on in his career. James has since undertaken the challenge of helping Q answer the question, “But James, why do they have to –?!”
And for those who like to say that James Bond doesn’t have a patient bone in his body, they’ve clearly never seen him interact with his Holmes-in-laws.
Ben Whishaw as Sherrinford Quinn Holmes (also known as “Q”,) Sherlock and Mycroft’s younger half-brother.
Sherrinford is the result of an affair Mr Holmes had when Sherlock and Mycroft were teenagers. He is eleven years younger than Sherlock, and eighteen years younger than Mycroft. Needless to say, they are very protective.
Mycroft calls him by his first name, but Sherlock nearly always refers to him as Quinn.
He has high functioning autism and often struggles in social situations. Like Sherlock, people often call him a freak. Despite this, Sherrinford is smart, witty and tougher than he looks.
He is able to seduce any man and is known for his numerous affairs with politicians and spies. One of his many nicknames is “Aphrodite.”
He prefers the company of animals to people. This is especially annoying for Mycroft, who doesn’t appreciate cat and dog hair in his office. Sherlock, however, understands that animals help calm his brother’s anxiety and tells Mycroft to cut him some slack.
During his work as Quartermaster with the British Secret Service, Sherrinford became smitten with intelligence officer, James Bond (also known as 007.) Needless to say, Mycroft wasn’t impressed.
Sherlock called Sherrinford before The Fall. After his brother’s “death,” Sherrinford became a recluse and struggled with alcoholism.
Special thanks to the anon who requested this, I’d never have known about this fandom otherwise.
Chapters: 14/14 Fandom: James Bond (Craig movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James Bond/Q Characters: James Bond, Q (James Bond), Eve Moneypenny Additional Tags: Community: mi6_cafe, sp00qy, occult october, Pre-Slash, Bond’s reception back to MI6 is a bit icy Summary:
“Q, do you believe in ghosts?” “Ghosts? No of course not,” he dismisses. “Do you?” Bond just shrugs, turning onto Q’s street. “I never did, but I’ve killed a lot of people.”
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