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weeb-polls-with-pip · 4 months

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Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 6

Propaganda:

Kiriwo -

"Seems innocent at first and he's just a guy with a special interest in magic items, but watch out."

Arjuna -

"MASKING KING!!!!!! ok joke aside one of his biggest things is that he's super scared that if anyone gets too close to him they'll notice he's not perfect/has a 'secret darkness' (that's literally just a guy) and overall a lot of his storyline is a strong parallel for being neurodivergent and becoming more comfortable with accepting it. he's also super strict and hard on himself for any sort of failure that isn't in line with what's socially appropriate but at the same time he doesn't always have a good grasp on what that is which is how you get stuff like him blowing up a forest to try and impress someone. it also runs in his family bc his brother is autistic as hell too."

Sherlock -

"God, where do I start? I mean what Holmes adaptation, even if he's not the main character, would this be if he were not autistic coded? And our combo of autism and ADHD is absolute perfection, all tied up with a pretty, excitable face. Hit him with the crime hyperfixation and do not make him wear socks."

Apollo -

"Not canonically autistic but he has ZERO volume control plus he scripts/repeats stuff (“I’M FINE!!!”), sometimes mimics other people’s speech patterns (like replying “ja” to Klavier), sensitive to loud noises (stayed backstage at a concert cuz it was too loud) and bright lights (complained about the stage lights being too bright at the same concert + screamed when opening the hatch to the bright stage at magic show), and has been really into space since he was a kid, which could definitely be a hyperfixation (not to mention how he read every single one of Phoenix’s old case files back when he admired him). Plus he’s a little TOO normal, to the point where it circles back around to making him the odd one out, which is absolutely what masking feels like for me. Even when he tries to be fun and weird he gets strange looks/made fun of for not being weird in the right way. The list of autism symptoms is just a checklist for him at this point."

Heiji -

"90% of the cast in detective conan is autistic but heiji is the most autistic of them all."

Urara -

"Another alien who is so excited to dance with everyone that he does not understand that his intended purpose of inviting people to dance via water communication is brainwashing them into dancing and is causing extreme chaos. He nearly causes an apocalypse by being so excited about dancing but he apologizes and tries to make friends with Yuki at the end of the story. He is extremely soft spoken and try, finding it difficult to begin conversations and fidgeting."

Shu -

"speaking specifically about the first season but he was the "explains everything so the audience knows whats happening" guy. he was pretty antisocial (not sure if thats just how he was or if he lived alone [which was fucked up cause he was 11]) . im trying to think of more but my brain goes hghghhhggggh im just a big fan of him."

Vash -

"ain’t no way i’m the only one who’s submitted him. go look at the gif of him crawling in the dirt like a bug while he dodges bullets and get back to me."

Hyakkimaru -

"Due to a terrible curse he has lived his whole life without several body parts including his eyes and ears. Because of this he is often overstimulated and awkward in new situations (when he doesn't do what he does best, killing monsters and samurai with his sword arms) He can't say or express much, and often comes off as strange and creepy, but he is actually a cutie patootie full of emotions, has a big heart, a keen brain, endless inner strength and loves the people close to him! This adorable, cursed, demon slaying boy deserves everything!"

Kei -

"He has the tbh face. Also he canonically has sensory issues and gets sensory overload. He constantly wears earbuds. He has an extremely rigid sense of morality and considers himself a savior figure. He has a hard time relating to other people and is a bit awkward in his interactions."

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miwhotep · 3 months

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MILVERTON, THE MORIARTY THE PATRIOT VERSION - THE CONAN DOYLE CANON AND FURTHER INSPIRATIONS

In my other post, I went through on the adaptational differences of the Milverton case from the Conan Doyle Canon -

- here, I will only focus on the Moriarty the Patriot version of the character.

In Moriarty the Patriot, Milverton is a media mogul, the so-called King of Media. He takes frequent requests from nobles and helps them "solve" cases with his media power, but he also sometimes acts as an agent on their behalf - like negotiating with Whiteley - or even handles dirty works for them. He later uses the fact that he helped them for blackmail materials to gain more power or money. He also likes using blackmail as a way to ruin people's life, which is his biggest entertainment.

Most of these things goes totally against the Conan Doyle canon. Him being a media mogul comes from the BBC Sherlock series - but even there, he only blackmailed people for power, not for pure joy. The YuuMori version of him also has a hint of Jokerness in it - the whole White Knight arc was basically just the The Dark Knight movie plot, where Milverton, just like Joker, turns people into villains because it's fun. (Interestingly, in the Killing Joke comic book, it is explained that Joker likes to put people through torture and turning them into villains to show how his life got ruined back then by society what eventually turned him into madness - that in the end, everyone can become like him.)

In the start of the Two Criminals arc, Sherlock describes Milverton that way:

"It isn't money he is after. Milverton does it purely for the jollies. Watching others fail at pivotal point in their lives is entertaining for him. He is, in other words, a piece of human rubbish... He always seemed to have a firm grasp on exactly how much influence and wealth his victims had. But despite that, he always made sure to demand a ransom that they could never pay... His objective therefore can't be money. It's the ruination of his victims."

Milverton in the Conan Doyle canon is no question, a ruthless being, but he does everything for the money. It's also stated that he only blackmails the wealthy or people in position. It is indeed true that he sometimes demanded an amount of money his victims couldn't afford - but he didn't change his demands for purely strategical reasons: "There you make a mistake, Mr. Holmes. An exposure would profit me indirectly to a considerable extent. I have eight or ten similar cases maturing. If it was circulated among them that I had made a severe example of the Lady Eva, I should find all of them much more open to reason. You see my point?"

But YuuMori Milverton is similar to the canon version for always carefully researching his subjects and waiting patiently for the moment of action he can gain the most use out of it - he only attacks when he is fully armed. At least, that's how he described pre-Two Criminals arc. The way he acted in Two Criminals doesn't really fit to the characterization of him in the previous plots - his plan was rushed and stupid, unlike his previous plans (but my problems with the Two Criminals arc Milverton-wise deserve its on post).

When it comes to his appearance, in the Conan Doyle canon, he is chubby, well-dressed, and has white hair, grey eyes and glasses. Manga being manga, he is much more beautifully drawn in YuuMori, but is still recognizable as the canon character. He is also much younger in YuuMori (I headcanon him in his mid or late 30s), - in the canon, he is in his 50s. His eyes are yellow and snake-like, as a reference to Sherlock Holmes saying in the canon story that he reminds him of snakes - in YuuMori, Miss Hudson is the one pointing to that. (The snake reference also appears in Milverton's Bible explaining session). Milverton also smokes tobacco like in the canon.

In YuuMori, Milverton has a really loyal secretary named Ruskin. He is also - kind of - part of the canon, where Milverton has an unnamed secretary who is a big fan of him and most of the times doesn't leave his side. The name Ruskin comes from the historical "Milverton's" life, Charles Augustus Howell, whom Conan Doyle based the character after - he had a friend, an English writer named John Ruskin.

Now, let's move to Two Criminals as an adaptation of the canon story. Here, Sherlock Holmes meets up with Milverton because he blackmailed Mary Morstan. The one who suggests inviting him is John himself. In the canon, Sherlock deals with Milverton for the request of Lady Eva Brackwell, - not Mary Morstan, whom Milverton never blackmailed - this case is mentioned in the manga, too, by both Sherlock and Milverton, but unlike the canon, in YuuMori, Sherlock fails on the Lady Eva case and her marriage gets called off.

The whole Milverton visiting Sherlock and claiming the living room as his office thing is copied from the BBC Sherlock series, not from the canon. In the original story, Milverton is a nicely behaved smooth-talker - in YuuMori, he acts really despicable and makes a disgusting scene. I always wandered how far the writer will go on getting inspirations from BBC Sherlock, but I never expected, not even in my nightmares that I need to witness another public pissing in Milverton-case adaptations - which while made sense in the BBC Sherlock's context, - the YuuMori Milverton is a 19th centurian Englishman, who normally tries to act like he belongs to the upper class - pissing, even if the piss was made by Ruskin, really just doesn't fit in the story.

Similarly to the canon, after the failed negotiations with Milverton, Sherlock decides to break into Milverton's Appledore house to steal the documents and John comes with him. In the original, Sherlock disguises himself as a plumber and seduces one of Milverton's maid to get to know the house beforehand - in YuuMori, they cause a plumber incident and get in the house where John seduces the maid while Sherlock is looking for Milverton's safe - but the document is not there. So they decide to break in to Milverton's country house, too - where the break-in, like in the canon, gets distracted by a mysterious visitor - which in YuuMori, are the Moriarties. Everything what happens after this, is totally off from the canon - and similarly to BBC Sherlock, it's Sherlock who kills Milverton in the end.

The Moriarty the Patriot version of Milverton while took some inspirations from the original, barely has similarities with the canon one. In the end, I like to think of him as his own character who only in name from Conan Doyle - and give him headcanons and stories with this thought in my head.

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #charles augustus milverton #ynm sherlock #sherlock holmes canon

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batfamfucker · 1 year

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There are four main types of Batfam fans in regard to how people interpret Bruce Wayne as a dad (/Joking. This is mostly satire and should not be taken seriously):

Fans that think Bruce is emotionally constipated and isn't the best at being a parent but still tries (Differs per person). Don't necessarily think he's absuive but thinks he can be toxic or have unhealthy expectations for the Robins. Can smell the Oldest Daughter Syndrome coming from Dick and have Family Line (By Conan Gray) as their top song on their Dick inspired playlist and Daddy Issues (By The Neighbourhood) for Jason.

Fans that choose to believe Bruce goes to therapy in their own canon. Love B:WFA. Thinks the comic can be cheesy at times and so find a balance between B:WFA Bruce and Please Go To Therapy BruceTM as their middle ground. He struggles. They advocate that Bruce is not a bad parent, he just has bad writers that seem to forget Bruce wouldn't hurt kids, especially not his own. Love the humane moments and scenes he has in BTAS and the early JL cartoons. He may not be perfect but he's not literally abusive. Whores for Bruce being able to admit when he is wrong and for Jason and Bruce reconciling. I recommend Grow As We Go by Ben Platt for this one.

A mix between the first two. Was fine-ish when Dick was younger. Didn't help him in the healthiest way but eh. Still emotionally constipated but that happened more so after Dick left and Jason died. Started getting better when Tim came back but was still closed off. Should probably go to therapy with the kids so they can drag his ass about all the things he's done that have actually affected them negatively. Understands his mistakes and is also able to admit when he's wrong, eventually. It's not easy but he starts to do better and learns to be more emotionally available. Still has to get chewed out by Alfred sometimes but definitely better than he used to be and it shows. Reconciliation is slow and gradual but progress is made for everyone involved.

The one's I personally avoid for my own sanity and wellbeing:

Think Bruce is a complete bastard and abuser. Want him to choke. Hate any and all interpretations of him. Some of which will refuse to understand how anyone could have a different interpretation. Will point out comics where, in all fairness, he is a dick but forget that characterisation can significantly differ from one series to the next, as comic characters are constantly passed around to different writers and have been for decades. Not to mention movies, shows, etc.

#Bruce Wayne #Batman #Batfam #Batdad #I'm not tagging everyone in the Batfam I can't be assed #Sorry there's like 500 #Bruce has a child for every mental disorder he has #Dick is his ADHD. Jason is his C-PTSD. Tim is his Anxiety. Cass is his OCD. Damian is his Autism.#Like bro the therapist is RIGHT there #You have the money just GO #I am a mix of 2 and 3 tbh but more so 2 because he is my comfort fictional father figure. I already have a shit dad irl #I'm not dealing with it in my favourite media too #Type 4 fans scare me I lowkey see so many people like that and I'm like. If the block button wasn't free. I'd be in debt by now #I get that you saw Tom Kings work. So did I. I hate that fuck. But I personally prefer the scene of him in JL with Ace on the swings #Or the one with him playing with shape block toys with a baby whilst Supes and WW handle the questioning #Or when he hugs literally any of his kids #Or the one of him and Jason watching a movie and eating popcorn when Jason's ill. And they have the picture of them posing #Or when he cried in Flashpoint over the letter his dad left him because the little boy in him needed that #Plus any time Bruce and Clark interact as Best Friends. The Golden Age comics where they were basically Dick's gay dads 💀#But yeah. I could make a poll from this tbh.#This is a generalisation on purpose genuinely do not take it seriously #If I see ANY disclosure. It's delete and block on sight #Bruh I'm still recovering from the notes of my Fallout 4 John Hancock in a Drag Race outfit crossover post #I know it sounds like I'm being paranoid but that's because I am. You have not seen the things I have seen in my notes #You do not know of the wars I have fought of over ghoul dicks and high heels #I have seen things I can never burn from my vision. Read things I will never have the mercy of forgetting #Over silly little shitposts. Lmao. Anyway. Here. Have some food.

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tiger-moran · 5 months

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I'm still tired of Moriarty (and Adler too to be honest) being used as some sort of 'archetype' where you've got to have your Holmes character, your Watson character, your Lestrade or occasionally some other main police inspector character, your Adler character, and then your Moriarty character. But very often Moriarty (and Adler too) will be the most unrecognisable out of all of them.

It's like I've said before but pretty much nobody cares about it when I say it Moriarty is not the 'most evil person ever' or an actual 'supervillain' or something and he's not even the worst villain in canon, other canonical villains do much worse things than he does. I have said all of this often in much more depth in my essay, but he's just been hyped up into this 'Holmes's Nemesis' thing which means of course basically everything he is and does has to revolve around Holmes apparently. But he wasn't even just that in the canon? Even when ACD literally just created him to try to kill Holmes off he wasn't even that or just that? Even Arthur Conan 'I have no fucks to give about these stories any more' Doyle gave Moriarty a lot more depth than just him being an 'Evil Villain' and he certainly didn't make him so that his every single thought and action involved Holmes. And yet that's essentially the only way Moriarty ever seems to be defined or portrayed now.

Look I'm not saying every detail that is there about him in the canon has to be strictly adhered to because it doesn't and frankly some of it is best ignored entirely because some of it's based in nonsense like phrenology or physiognomy and also some of it definitely sounds like Holmes's exhaustion/paranoia/drug induced hallucinations whereby he sees Moriarty as some sort of monster not as a person.

But I'm tired of almost everything with a Sherlock Holmes character having to have a 'Moriarty' but then pretty much the only thing that makes it Moriarty (supposedly) is 'this character is a Big Bad villain who goes against and is probably weirdly obsessed with Holmes'. Almost every single other thing gets erased or changed (even right down to his name more than once), and I just... do not see the appeal or the point of creating what's basically a completely original character then slapping the name Moriarty on it.

Often it used to be basically... let's make this guy absolutely depraved, the Absolute Worst Person Ever. And they'd tack the name Professor Moriarty on him and that was it, that was supposed to make me buy that that really is Moriarty.

Now it's more like... let's change practically every detail about this character so it's basically a totally unrecognisable original character. But then I'm still supposed to a/ accept and see this as Moriarty somehow because the character is obsessed with the Holmes character and going against him and... that's about it usually and b/ automatically love this character just because it's supposedly still Moriarty and c/ get really excited about the idea of even more adaptations doing this same sort of thing often as well? When... no? I don't see that as Moriarty any more than I see the 'depraved and nothing else' character as Moriarty? And I don't love these characters, in fact mostly I don't even like them and usually I will actively hate them? Especially when they manage to screw over Adler's character at the same time as doing this with Moriarty. And I am never going to get excited about the prospect of any more versions like this, in fact I'm at the point where I now actively dread any more of them popping up.

And it especially sucks how often erasing or changing almost every detail about Moriarty involves erasing or demeaning Moran as well as Moriarty's relationship with Moran. 'Moriarty' usually ends up obsessing one way or another over Holmes and either his relationship with Moran doesn't exist at all (which means sometimes Moran doesn't exist at all), or it's a relationship without any closeness, without any trust, without any real respect, yet it was ACD who put the basis of the idea that Moran is a mirror to Watson and the Moriarty and Moran relationship is a mirror of the Holmes and Watson relationship there, that idea comes from the canon, the few of us in the fandom who actually care about the characters and the relationship did not just invent that out of thin air.

Though in fact even older versions which are generally canonically pretty faithful still demeaned the relationship, they still relegated Moran to being unimportant to Moriarty. I mean even Granada kind of did all of this - they expanded on Moriarty in some ways but then really didn't do a lot to expand on him beyond him being the Big Bad Villain who exists only to commit crime and has no other interests at all apparently and he rivals Holmes and that's it, and they didn't do anything with Moriarty and Moran together, which they could have easily done when they seemed to have no issue putting Moriarty into a story he canonically wasn't in. And the Bert Coules' Final/Empty radio adaptations certainly did this - Moriarty's actions all seem to revolve around Holmes in that; Moran is relegated to just one of many people who work for him; all of the things that could have implied closeness between him and Moriarty were cut out completely.

And mostly really I'm sick of these radically different versions being all lumped together with the few I care about and being treated as interchangeable with them when most of those versions have no relevance whatsoever to me, and then people going on and on about some version in which I can see pretty much precisely nothing of Moriarty (i.e. the character I love so much) and how that's apparently the ~superior~ version.

Sorry but where the hell is my middle-aged maths professor who probably also likes art and who is a good teacher and has other interests and, you know, a whole life that doesn't actually revolve around Holmes, and his devoted bosom friend Moran? Because we've had hundreds if not thousands of these supposed 'Moriartys' by now in adaptations and non-canonical texts. And yet I've had that about the grand total of 1 (one) time.

#James Moriarty #Professor Moriarty #Sherlock Holmes #Sebastian Moran #Sherlock Holmes canon #Sir Arthur Conan Doyle #Irene Adler

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shakespeareaddict · 11 months

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Fix Your Writer’s Block (without using AI)

I’ve been posting a lot of AI hate here lately (almost like...it’s becoming my brand....) and one of the things that gets my goat is the propaganda belief that AI can help writers who are struggling with a story in some way, shape or form come up with the next line or fix their plot or what have you. This advice is misguided at best and destructive at worst.*

Still, complaining about something without actionable advice for how to fix it is not really my vibe. So for those of you thinking: “But I really need help!/But what am I supposed to do if I get writer’s block?” I have good news for you: Writers have been tackling writer’s block since...probably the invention of storytelling. There are ways to get around it if you are stuck!

So, here’s a non-exhaustive list of tips and tricks to deal with your writer’s block, no computers necessary:

Put down something mediocre and come back to edit it later. It’s easy to get caught up searching for the “perfect” word or sentence, and waste a lot of time staring at a blinking cursor. But that’s not what a draft is for! Your goal is to get as much of the story out of your head and onto the page as possible; you can always edit it later, once you’ve had some time to think. (Though you might find that when you come back, the “mediocre” bit is actually better than you thought!)

Use a placeholder and continue writing. This is another tactic meant to keep you writing when it’s a small block, instead of falling down a research rabbit hole for an afternoon or otherwise being distracted. If I need to name a minor character who appears for two lines, I will often just ID them by their function in the story and circle back to it. Eg: “Officer <<COP>> took their statements very professionally and gave them his card.” When I edit, the all-caps and the brackets are a big reminder that, wait, I need to name this guy!

This tactic also works for research! If you need to know if bees have teeth or who said a cool quote, don’t spend an hour researching that when you should be writing! That is a problem for editing!

This goes triple for fanfiction writing, especially for a fandom with a lot of convoluted canon. I write a lot of Star Wars stuff and I like to reference “canon” planets and events in my fics; but if I try to research those references while I’m writing, my writing session becomes an endless Wookiepedia Delve. I just put “<<ICE PLANET HERE>>” or “<<CHECK SPELLING>>” as reminders.

I also cheat sometimes and write “<<end scene>>” if I’m not sure how to end a scene.

Take a break. Get up, stretch your muscles, and go do something else for 20-30 minutes. This tactic is perfect for when you realize you don’t know where a scene is going, or you’re stopping and starting a lot with your work. I recommend either light physical exercise or light household chores - something that engages your body without engaging your mind too much, so your subconscious can continue working on the problem.

This is also a great way of sneaking in self-care while writing. Hydrate yourself, go to the restroom, eat if you haven’t eaten yet. This kind of physical stuff has a huge impact on your mood and brain function; your writer’s block might be a symptom of your body needing something!

Go back to the drawing board. I have a bad habit of never outlining before I start writing - I know what the first three scenes are going to be, so I don’t need an outline! Then, about halfway through the story, I realize I have very little if any idea of what happens later. Taking a step back and typing out a quick outline (simple bullet points, like “Conan calls his sister for advice”) helps me keep on focus for the rest of the story, even if I decide to go off-outline.

Rubber-duck the problem. This tactic is for when you notice a larger problem with your work - you realize there’s a plothole, or you’ve written yourself into a corner, or you know how your story ends but you have no idea how to get to there from where you are now. “Rubber-duck debugging” is a programming technique where you explain a problem you’re having with a computer to an inanimate object (such as a rubber duck). Simply explaining a problem can often be enough to help you realize what went wrong.

No rubber duck is required! You can try this technique on dogs, mugs of tea, or family members who don’t know what you’re talking about but who make listening noises at the right time.

Finally, seek help from other writers. There are loads of ways to do this and all that you need is a community of fellow writers - or even just one writing friend! - to reap the benefits. Plus, it works on just about every kind of problem you can imagine having. Asking for help can look like:

Posting a question in a Discord server or other large group chat (eg: “Which of these two sentences sound better?” or “Do you guys have tips for writing betrayal?”)

Bringing your work to a writer’s workshop of some kind (I did a lot of this in high school/college and highly recommend joining a group where constructive criticism is offered, even for just a few months! Not only do you get feedback on your work, but learning to give other people feedback vastly improves your editing skills)

Discussing your problem with a writer friend

Finding a beta-reader (either a friend or otherwise)

*Besides the fact that you are feeding your work to a program that can and will keep it forever and might easily recreate parts of it later without your permission or knowledge, and besides the fact that most AI-generated “writing” isn’t actually that entertaining or good on a technical level so the value of whatever output you get is not actually that high, the best way to learn how to do anything is to practice doing the thing. If you turn to an AI every time you hit a stumbling block in your creative process, you are going to continue hitting stumbling blocks and your skill will not improve long-term.

#writing #writing advice #ai hate

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takadasaiko · 1 year

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1, 11, 12, 23, 37, 42, 47 for the writer's ask

1. Do you listen to music when you write?

Sometimes. It depends on where I am and how well I'm focused that day. Sometimes the music helps hone things in and sometimes it'll guarantee I get distracted lol

I do have full writing playlists though, sometimes catagorized by character or by ship or by story, sometimes a different playlist for all of those. They're fantastic for brainstorming.

11. Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

Timothy Zahn, apparently. I reread the Thrawn trilogy recently after not reading them in decades and was highly amused when I found certain turns of phrase or general approaches that I've used in my writing for years. Clearly the man influenced me more than I realized :D

I will also call out @toseehowthestoryends as I always do on questions like these. I learned so much about deepening stories and adding all of the lovely twists and turns from reading her works.

12. Describe your perfect writing space

Lately it's been my couch out on my patio. My back has been killing me lately, so after sitting in a computer chair all day for work it's not going to make for productive writing to try to write on my computer for hours after, so I've been taking my phone out onto the porch, settling in, and writing like that. And for those of you reading any of my current stories, yes, that's where those bizarre typos come from :P

23. Favourite author

That's such an impossible question. For prose, I love Arthur Conan Doyle and Victor Hugo. Laurie R King is also excellent and, of course, Timothy Zahn.

For screenplays, I really love Jon Bokenkamp's The Blacklist pilot, JJ Abram's Fringe pilot, Joe Weisberg's The Americans pilot, and Dan Fogelman's This is Us pilot.

37. First sentence or your current WIP

I'll use two, one from my multichapter and one from a oneshot :)

From my Star Wars canon divergent multichapter A Flicker of Light, chapter seven's first line:

There has been quiet curiosity through the ranks when he’d boarded the Executioner.

and from a Star Wars Rebels oneshot called Trust Goes Both Ways:

If there was something he’d learned during his time with the ISB, it was that covert ops only went smoothly for so long.

42. How do you feel about love triangles?

In general, I loath them. I very rarely see them done well, even when there's potential for it, and so many shows/movies end up killing off one of the individuals as a way to solve it and I feel like that's such a lazy way out.

Funny thing is that as much as I hate them, I actually have one in the first pilot series I wrote. Sometimes I take tropes I hate as a personal challenge.

47. Best way to procrastinate

Tumblr. Especially writing memes :P

A Writer’s Ask Game

#writing memes #I loved this thank you!#writing

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tropicalfreckles · 4 months

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*unmasks myself Lupin style* it was me! >:)

I saw Ace attorney trending and I knew that I had to do something for this. Sooo.... here's a interesting question: what would the Lupin and Conan gang opinion on the whole Christmas thing? Which ones would agree with Phoenix? Which ones wouldn't? And would there be some people who are in the middle/ have a completely different opinion? What a complex subject 🤔

OH HEY, been a while. Yeah, I totally blanked on how close to christmas it was and remembering the last non dlc case for the first game lol. It's been a hot minute since I've seen Case Closed so I do no recall the earlier seasons or if there are any films I had watched that touched up on the christmas subject tbh. I could see Ran/Rachel celebrating it, unsure on Shinichi himself, since those two like FINALLY hooked up, and since christmas is seen in Japan as a couple's holiday as well, I can see if he can manage being unshrunk for a day that the pair would spend it together just because. Actually didn't he make a love confession in the anime and manga in the snow. I forget. I am like SURE the anime has touched up on the holidays at least a few times, I just never got to see it. Kogoro/Richard I see probably going either or, either being BLEH about the holidays cause he's Very Divorced or being in a drunken haze of enjoying himself.

Phoenix, oh I think he would get into the holiday for Maya and Pearl. Seeing how much he fell into a big brother esque role for the both and especially loves looking over Pearl with how much he goes out of his way to do stuff for her, he would want her to celebrate her first christmas outside of the secluded Fey family village. Sometimes he probably would remember that awkward ass case with Edgeworth and how he got tased trying to clear his name, but I think he would be okay with celebrating it.

Gumshoe would 100% get a gift for Edgeworth he begrudgingly accepts while telling him this better not be a bribe or something lol. I think despite how much of a dick Edgeworth can be he would appreciate it. Phoenix and Miles would also get each other gifts, Maya finds a silver samurai figure or keycharm and pushes it in Phoenix's face to gift him as a fellow fan. Miles might get Phoenix a more practical gift. (Franziska gets a gift from Miles but she doesn't get a gift for him probably LOL)

Lupin gang, oh Lupin would be all about Christmas. That man's love language is gift giving, he would be SPOILING the others. Fujiko would be all about Christmas too, my greedy queen would be like HAHA YES give me everything. <3 I think Goemon would be neutral about it and would typically just go train during the holidays but I also think he would quietly enjoy just being with the others around that time. Jigen I'm unsure, I mean I'm thinking back to that part 2 episode where they accidentally stole children's toys too now lol.

I could see Jigen enjoying it if he's spending it with Lupin.

Zenigata treats it like any other day even tho one of his two semi-canon birthdays is on Christmas. I'm guessing partially due to being a workaholic, another part of his just plain obsession has made it hard for him to really enjoy himself in others company since he has a hard time holding outside relationships cause of his own fault. I like to think Lupin starts leaving him gifts over the years, but gifts he knows Zenigata wouldn't reject or put into evidence cause his first thought is this is stolen. Zenigata's big emotional heart is touched by it for sure.

#i know that sounds mean towards zenigata but im not wrong #i say this as someone who loves him #lupin makes that observation himself more that once in the series #whenever zenigata starts blaming lupin for his own problems #while lupin is the cause of some problems most of that is all zengiata #asks #whoa this was longer than I meant for it #this is just my thoughts on it for fun

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kgreen200 · 8 months

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Please, God, Let Me Live

By KathyG

Summary: In this prequel to “A Study in Pink,” Captain John Hamish Watson, MBBS, licensed general practitioner, and combat surgeon in training, is shot while on a retrieval mission in Afghanistan, and spends weeks afterwards fighting for his life. Originally written and posted as a one-shot, it has since been expanded into a 20-chapter pre-Sherlock story, covering the time from John’s shooting until he returns to London. Be forewarned: Sherlock himself makes no appearance at all in this story! I’ve modeled this story on Pompey’s “On Afghanistan’s Plains,” which is posted on Fanfiction dot net. (Thanks to Besleybean for beta-reading and Brit-picking my story! And to sgam76 for helping me to getting some details straight.)

Notes: In the military, a bullet wound alone is not considered grounds for a medical discharge. Even though John’s left shoulder is extensively damaged in this story, given the sheer amount of repair work that his shoulder goes through and the rehab he undergoes afterwards, the army would keep him if at all possible, even if he had to be assigned amended duties at least for a time. His skills are too valuable and too desperately needed for the army to let him go if there’s any way that it can hold onto him. Something more has to happen, to prompt the decision to invalid him out of the army. I have my own ideas of what that something more could be, and you’ll see what it turns out to be as you read the story.

When Pompey set out to write her great ACD story, “On Afghanistan’s Plains,” her goal was to write a canonical and historically accurate account of what happened to Dr. Watson in Afghanistan from the day he was shot to the day he met Sherlock Holmes, based on what is told in Sir Arthur Conan Doyles’s first Sherlock story, A Study in Scarlet. As a result of the sheer amount of research that she engaged in beforehand, she did a marvelous job of attaining her goal! Since it was sometime after BBC Sherlock’s third season came on the air that I first read her story, which was posted on Fanfiction dot net back in 2008, I really wanted someone to write a comparable account of what happened to modern-day John in Moffat and Gatiss’s version of Sherlock Holmes. Alas, Pompey herself showed no interest in writing such a story, and I could find no other author who did. A number of stories about John getting shot in Afghanistan, yes, but nothing that told the whole story. It finally became clear that if such a story was ever to be written, I would have to write it. Early this year, I wrote a one-shot about that fateful day, and sometime after that, I extended the story into a 20-chapter novel.

In writing this story, I've drawn on the back history I gave John that is described in “Background Check,” which is posted on Fanfiction dot net and Archive of Our Own. The back history in that story, in turn, is based in part on the articles that are posted on wellingtongoose’s tumblr and LiveJournal accounts, and partly on the history that BlueSkye12, in the stories on her Fanfiction dot net and Archive of our Own accounts, has given John Watson. I have used that same back history to create this story.

In truth, I've borrowed from the stories of several great fanfiction authors—mainly BlueSkye12, as explained above but also others, including thebakerstreetgirl and sgam76—as well as wellingtongoose's equally great metas, to create John’s back story. And I’ve modeled this story on Pompey’s “On Afghanistan’s Plains,” which is posted on Fanfiction.net. I highly recommend that everybody who hasn’t yet done so head over there and read her story! =) And then, when you've finished it, read her equally great post-Hiatus sequel to that story, “A Young British Soldier”!

Chapter 1: “Skirmish”

A/N: Since this chapter started out as a one-shot, I've edited it to transform it into Chapter 1.

I've borrowed from John's nightmare at the beginning of "A Study in Pink" to create the scenario in which he gets shot.

XXXXXXX

JULY 27, 2009: (1) FOB HAMIDULLAH, SANGIN VALLEY, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

13:30 p.m., army time (1:30 p.m.)

Captain John Hamish Watson lay on his cot, reading The Lord of the Rings, which he had purchased back in England while on leave before the Fusiliers had been redeployed to that U.S. base in Kandahar. He hadn’t had a real chance to start reading it yet; so much had happened since then. Finally, though, there was some downtime, and he had a chance to catch his breath and relax. And read his new book, which he had just started reading the night before. Only, after almost two years, it wasn’t so new anymore. Until lights out at bedtime, the captain had read voraciously the introduction, the prologue, and the first three chapters of the novel. Since he had read The Hobbit as a child back in Chelmsford, this was a return to a fantasy world he had enjoyed back then.

So far, it had been a normal day—well, as normal as any day could be for a trainee trauma surgeon stationed at (1) FOB Hamidullah in Helmand Province. He had eaten breakfast with Major James Sholto, their unit’s commanding officer, as he usually did on a weekly basis—sometimes with Major Robert Clancy, the Fusiliers’ consultant surgeon. Sholto and his men had since gone out on patrol; only Dr. Clancy, Dr. Watson, and the nurses had stayed behind, in case any casualties were brought in. After breakfast, Dr. Watson and Dr. Clancy had gone on their daily rounds of their patients in the forwarding operating base’s field hospital; for now, there were only a few, so there was plenty of downtime at present. They both knew, though, that that could change at any time.

Stopping to rest his eyes, Dr. Watson glanced up at the calendar on the bulletin board. It was Monday, July 27th, 2009. And the wall clock showed that it was 13:30, army time. He smiled at the memory of Corporal Tanner taking another photograph of him two weeks earlier; he had emailed it to Clara in London as soon as time had permitted. His older sister, Harry, should have it by now. (2) It had long since become his practice to send pictures of himself to his sister every few months; since he didn’t own a camera, and since Corporal Tanner did, the good corporal always used his to take those pictures. John always made sure that there was nothing in the pictures that would upset or irritate Harry. In some of the photos, John posed by himself; in the others, he posed with some or all of his mates. Mates whom he had long since become close friends with during his years in Afghanistan.

Three years, he thought. Ending up my second tour, so I’ve been in Afghanistan for close to three years now. Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to the chapter he had arrived at, Chapter Four: “A Short Cut to Mushrooms”. He was reading the part about the hobbits’ efforts to evade the Black Riders while they were travelling.

Suddenly, just as John came to the sequence where the hobbits ran into Farmer Maggot, there was a siren, and John leaped off the bed, inserted a bookmark into the chapter, and dropped his book on the nightstand. Dr. Clancy hurried into John’s officer’s quarters. “The patrol Sholto took the Fusiliers out on split up, and some of them joined another patrol that was out looking for trouble. That bunch has run into a skirmish five kilometres west of Sangin; from what I hear tell, a bad one. You better hurry, Watson,” he ordered. “Murray’s already waiting at the helicopter.”

To read the rest of this 20-chapter story, click here:

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cleflink · 2 years

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The Mid Air Walk and Jet Black Mystery Train are some of my favorite arcs too! Bust my absolute favorite has to be the 2.5 special, Dual Mystery on a Full Moon Night. The Black Org, Haibara, and Hattori all in one episode, this one has it all! Plus the reveal of Jodie and the FBI was fun. But enough about me, it's time for your next Secret Santa message: Please, tell me, who is your favorite character and why are they so awesome?

-Your Secret Santa

Aaah, yes, that is a fantastic arc! I remember the first time I read it - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. :)

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, Santa, but the answer to your question kind of got away from me. Short version: Kuroba Kaito is a flash bastard and I love him.

For the longer version (aka a love letter to Kuroba Kaito), please read on!

I adore characters who are VERY good at what they do, which is something that DCMK spoils me for in general. Kaito fulfills this to the nth degree for me, thanks to his many diverse talents. Magician, thief, acrobat, actor, makeup expert, marksman, genius, the list goes on.

In DC, he's seen from the perspective of Conan and other characters who see him as a showman, eternally showing off (and showing them up) with impeccable flair. I'll never not love his Midair Walk, and the shock that I felt right alongside Conan as I tried to figure out HOW in the hell KID had managed it. I love being an audience member for the Kaitou KID show, to get to enjoy that moment of 'oh my god, he has so much style' and then also get to see Conan unravel the details for us afterwards. In MK, that showman flair is still very present, but we also get to experience the effort and struggles Kaito contends with to be able to pull off his daring heists. Much as I love seeing everything go exactly as planned (with some space for necessary improvisation along the way), seeing the hard work that goes on behind the scenes is wonderfully satisfying and makes me even more impressed by Kaito's talent. Watching Kaito be clever and talented enough to come out on top, despite all the odds in his way, is truly delightful.

I also might have a type, and that type is quippy, intelligent acrobats (why yes, Spiderman and Nightwing are my two favourite superheroes, how did you guess?). There was no way I was not going to fall for Kaito.

Beyond his impressive skill set, I am endlessly fascinated by Kaito's versatility and flexibility as a character, both in the realm of his disguise/acting abilities and in him as a person. He's funny and charming and clever, but also dorky and lonely and more than a little crazy.

He's the practical joker who pulls crazy stunts to make someone else smile. He's the bored genius who revels in the opportunity to face challenges that are actually challenging. He's the gentleman thief who's always at least two steps ahead of his pursuers. He's the master of disguise who could be literally anyone because both his acting and makeup skills are just that OP. He's the consummate liar who enjoys talking circles around people but sometimes just desperately wants someone to confide in about what his life is actually like.

I love that Kaito's all of these things and that he can be self-contradictory (as we all are) without feeling unnatural with it. Even though canon usually limits us to seeing one or two of the aspects of his personality at a time, it's clear that they're all still there under the surface, impacting his actions and decisions.

I can't talk about why I love Kaito without also talking about his relationship with Conan/Shinichi. It is fantastic to watch the way he and Conan balance each other: they each recognize their equal in the other, and thoroughly enjoy squaring off against each other as a result. They also make a great team, when they do end up on the same side. Similarly, Kaito's obvious pride in Conan when he figures things out (even Kaito's own tricks) is so adorable.

They both carry so many secrets and I feel like it gives them a sense of kinship to know that, despite everything, there's another person out there who faces similar struggles and who, just maybe, can accept them for who they really are, mysteries and secret identities and intelligence and all. There’s a trust there that I can’t get enough of.

Tying onto that, one thing I particularly love about KID is that he's not actually a villain, even when he's acting in opposition to Conan and the police. He's a challenge and an opponent and a rival, but he's too fundamentally good to ever qualify as a villain imo (custom KID hannin silhouette notwithstanding).

Kaito is the guy who actively puts himself at risk to help others, like 'stealing' the clock tower, or saving Lupin the dog, or protecting Jody Hopper from Snake, or watching out for the shounen tantei in the Kichiemon house. And don't even get me started on the number of times he's saved Conan from certain death by falling off various high things. He is one of the kindest people in this series, imo, but he hides it so well that most people don't notice. Unlooked for kindness makes me soft, especially from a character who is technically filling the role of a criminal.

Another aspect of Kaito's personality that I personally find fascinating is his relationship with gender. He's equally as comfortable and confident in any disguise and, while that could be ascribed to his skills as an actor, I don't know many teenage boys who would be that nonchalant about presenting themselves according to such diverse gender expectations. For example, I love how Conan harasses Kaito about his tendency to wear female disguises in the Iron Tanuki case and it doesn't bother Kaito in the slightest (’it's cuter that way’ is also the most amazing response). I also enjoy watching him use disguise-appropriate flirtation techniques on his targets with no apparent discomfort about switching from one collection of gender norms to another.

Also A Study in Scarlette has firmly convinced me that Kaito wears lacy underthings simply because he likes them, which is a head canon hill I will die on.

And on THAT bombshell, I'm going to stop talking before I actually turn this into an essay. Orz

TL;DR: Kaito is a flashy, kind-hearted chaos gremlin and I adore him.

#dcmk #kuroba kaito #it's loving kaito hour #honestly I could keep going #but it would probably devolve into keysmashes and hearts #I just love him lots okay?#meta

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nothingtoseehd · 3 years

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eah characters as cavetown songs

this was inspired by @/applewhiteapologist's eah characters as taylor swift songs, sooooooo yeah

some characters might not be here because: 1. it's hard to find songs for them (as of right now) 2. i forgot them/i'll do them if i have more time

apple white - devil town v2/green

-i chose devil town v2 because it seemed the most, uh, apple out of all the devil town versions? devil town v1 seems edgy-ish, and devil town v3 seems lower and calmer, i think???? maybe i just chose this because it has those light, floaty chords, i'm not sure, i'm not smart or anything -also i honestly felt like this was hard -i chose devil town because it could represent the future she pictured in her mind when raven didn't sign the book -i don't really know what to explain green, but like, ashlynn and apple in true hearts day??? that's the best way i could explain this song -lyric analysis time: --"i still get a little scared of something new, but I feel a little safer when i'm with you, falling doesn't feel so bad, when I know you've fallen this way too" ---apple is "a little scared of something new" because she's in for an unpredictable future without the storybook of legends ---for the falling part, it's like she's not so sad about being led astray when she's with her friends maybeeeeeee -lyrics for green because i can't explain it but it's just THERE: --"you looked so good in green i hope you’re well and you look so good with him and i’m proud of you still take care of my shirt warm and red i hope you think of me still as your friend i hope you love yourself your body and heart i hope you feel happy that’s all i want that's all i want"

raven queen - devil town v1 (dang it there's no purple text so have plain text)

-i just chose devil town v1 because i think it would work well with her guitar, i actually don't know how guitar works but i'm pretending to know how it works, don't tell anyone i don't know how they work -i think this song could represent her home life and whatnot because she's living with the evil queen -it's lyric analysis time!!: --"you said something dumb again, she's mad, at least that's what they say" (i just used orange so the lyrics wouldn't blend in as much) ---the something dumb thing could be like a 'nice deed' the evil queen doesn't like, and she's mad because of that --"we're all dead in devil town, that's fine, cause nothing's gonna scare us now" ---she's 'dead' after all the nagging and 'be eviL EMBRACE YOUR INNER EVIL' shit and it's now the normal, and it's not going to scare her since it's basically her life now -also slowed devil town can fit her too

madeline hatter - hug all ur friends/talk to me

-she's just so friendly?????? and supportive?????? and oh gosh i need a hug???????? -seriously though, they suit her because she feels so much like a huggy, supportive person and she's friends with everyone sooooooooooooo, hugs for everyone!! except you crystal!! and headmaster grimm!! not forgiving for the time you almost banished maddie!! -the lyrics because i can't explain these songs, it's just that maddie vibe, you know?: --"life’s too short to worry about things that we got wrong, so hug all your friends and let them know, you’re not letting go, i’m not letting go" (hug all ur friends) --"you don't have to be a prodigy to be unique you don't have to know what to say or what to think you don't have to be anybody you can never be that's alright, let it out, talk to me" (talk to me)

briar beauty - pigeon

-i had a very hard time with her but i think this kinda fits -it generates a sleepy vibe? (even though i didn't get this from the sleepyhead album *cough cough*) -okay, so the reason why i chose this for her is because of the chorus, which could kind of tie in with her destiny, with the 100 year coma -have the chorus for reference: --"didn’t give me time to say goodbye in the way that i wanted to, so honey, close your eyes and stay like you’re supposed to do, don’t know how i’m gonna live without, but i’ll stay strong for you"

ca cupid - sweet tooth/for you

-this is already self-explanatory if you listened to the song(s), buT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, basically it's a song about an unhealthy crush and love and stuff -and you know who she has an unhealthy crush on???? that's right, it's blondie!! /hj (but seriously, in canon it's dexter but uH, i refuse to believe that, they're better off as friends) -lyric examples because like maddie, i can't really explain it but i know the vibe is THERE: --"a sweet tooth for you, i'm wide awake, the sugar went straight to my brain, feel like a kid, i double tap, my chest with my fist, i like you, say it back, say it back"

cerise hood - snail

-snail iS SUCH A GREAT SONG OMG -snail kinda represents her childhood and 'not wanting to be born like this' because of her parents technically breaking destiny (stupid storybook of legends) -lyrics from the song because i kinda don't really need to explain this song more: --"i was just born like this, wish that i could change it" --"i'm hanging out with the foxes and the hounds, and when i fit in i'll break back out"

daring charming - boys will be bugs/lemons (technically cavetown is just a feature but he's still there so yeah)

-it's just about the vibes -and also about the fact that the person in the songs have to uphold some sort of standard (the songs' standards were about masculinity) and i thought it could fit daring because he also has to uphold a standard (being the perfect charming prince) -also in lemons, daring's part is the one where cavetown sings it (if that wasn't obvious) -also ANOTHER LEMONS SIDE NOTE, i'd imagine rosabella singing brye's part, just because -lyrics time: --"don't mess with me, i'm a big boy now and i'm very scary i punch my walls, stay out at night, and i do karate don't message me 'cause i won't reply, i wanna make you cry ain't that how it's supposed to be? though it isn’t me boys will be bugs, right?" (boys will be bugs) --"so i'm gonna take it out on you too proud to show i'm hurting push it on you 'til you're burning" (lemons)

darling charming - 888/trying

-888 is a fun song, very groovy, has peppa pig plasters, 10/10 -main reason i chose 888, it kinda feels gay when you put it under a certain light?????????? -and snail could also fit with darling but i don't want to rob cerise -i was very stuck for a second song for darling because i felt obligated to give the charming siblings two songs because they're that top tier, but i think trying could be a good fit to some extent -could be like 'not great relationship with parents, struggle to fit with their standards ever since she found out she wanted to be a hero or something' -i still do think snail is a better fit for darling but i really really don't want to rob cerise because cerise is amazing -some lyrics: --"i'm workin' things out clouds lookin' strange papercut fingers dancing on the strings if i could see you right now i'd dance just for you when the nightlight goes out" (888) --"please let me know if you change your mind cause inside i'm falling And I need you to pull me out of this decline i realize how hard on you this must seem But trust me when i say it's far, far worse for me" (trying)

dexter charming - telescope/home

-telescope just feels like his vibe???? also because it kinda also have hopeless romantic-ness???? -also i headcanon him to be an astronomy nerd???? so that's fun???? that's my reasoning i guess???? (also, side-note i have just listened to astronomy by conan gray and it fits dexter) -ALSO HOME IS HERE BECAUSE DEXTER IS TRANS YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND -also because it's also his vibe??????? -what time is it????? *clap clap* it's lyrics time!!: --"through the lens, it's dark, single-digit on the clock singing, "yessiree, i sure like-a you a lot" all i need is to get her she'll be happy if you let her" (telescope) --"turn off your porcelain face i can't really think right now and this place has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane are you dead? sometimes i think i'm dead cause i can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head but i don't wanna fall asleep just yet" (home)

okay the process of this post was just me staring at the lyrics and listening to cavetown a lot, sometimes during online classes but shhhh don't tell anyone (and finding more great songs)

is this post going to flop?? very very likely. do i care? eh, not sure, this was just me trying to put on my big brain hat.

also i realized while reading this post, that i never actually analyzed the majority of the songs' lyrics in this post?? so i'm very sorry

#eah #ever after high #apple white #raven queen #briar beauty #madeline hatter #ca cupid #c.a. cupid #cerise hood #daring charming #darling charming #dexter charming #it took so long to do this omg #nothing strikes again with random rambles about music #my braincells are kinda rotting but they're still working SO WE'RE FINE #nothing strikes again with random stuff

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writer-akihiko · 4 years

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How would the ikevamp boys react to an mc who isn’t very good at English since she never left her country before and when she does, she has a thick accent that makes it difficult for people to understand? (And can we make her nationality neutral?) like for example when they approach her she’s like, ‘sorry i can not speak English!’ And crossing her arms in an x motion? Thanks!

IkeVamp Boys + Accented!MC

It took me awhile to formulate my answer because I've never had trouble when speaking with accents. However, I have The Miss (my girlfriend) to analyse since she has a very cute accent when speaking English. I do have trouble understanding her at times, but I just find it really cute. It doesn't trouble me at all.

Sorry if any readers were thrown off by my previous IkeVamp headcanon. I just made MC Japanese because I followed the canon of the game.

Napoleon Bonaparte

With some scrutiny, he could identify what you were asking about

At times, he would ask you to speak slowly

He found your voice really cute trying to speak English

He couldn't deny that you knew a lot of English

It's just your accent is quite odd

He would find ways to help you so that he could understand you

Eventually, he gets good at interpreting what you say since your English vocabulary is quite good

Jean sometimes asks him what you're saying

"Nunuche, it's pronounced this way."

You bet he's a giggling general when you repeat after him

If you were fluent in French, you'd be smooth sailing with Napoleon

Isaac Newton

In all honesty, Isaac has the most difficulty understanding you

This made you approach Isaac less

You were afraid he would tease you

He'd never Arthur and Dazai tease him enough-

But since his primary language is English, he tries to help you out as best as he can

He does get a little jealous that you are much more fluent in other languages (Dutch, French, Japanese, etc.)

He wants to know what you're saying too

You too can never hold a proper conversation

It results you writing in your notepad

"T-Tease you?! Never!"

Shy Isaac makes the ultimate resolution to help you with English

No way he'd let Arthur

Arthur Conan Doyle

Oh dearie me, Sir Arthur has met his match

What do I mean? Well with a heavy accent, Arthur can't understand you

You yourself aren't that fluent in English in Arthur's standards

Comte told you to stay away from Arthur

Every time Arthur goes near you, you put your hands up in an X

And yell "No!"

Or "Bad touch!"

This of course gains the attention of the other residents

So when you yell, it's always Arthur

He finds it a little irritating

He... just wants to get to know you

Your confused face is so kissable to him after all

Dazai Osamu

Toshiko-san can't speak English well?

"Well neither can I!"

You surprisingly get along with Dazai the most since you both weren't fluent

"I have an idea Toshiko-san..."

Oh poor poor Isaac is being tortured

Whatever Isaac taught you is being un-taught by Dazai

"The National Erection..."

"YN it's election-" - Isaac

"Dazai told me that saying both means the same thing..."

"Isn't that right Apple-kun?" - Dazai

Cue Isaac screaming

It's a known fact that Dazai is the only one that can understand you

You were trying to talk the Sebastian

"Toshiko-san is saying help her tie her apron, Sebastian." - He says in Japanese

Theodorus Van Gogh

Oh this man is gonna tease you

"Hondje, what are you yapping about?"

One time he took it too far

How he regrets it

He took a joke about downgrading your accent

You slammed your tray down

"I can still understand you! I'm not an idiot!"

This time he heard it loud and clear

You had tears in your eyes

It didn't help that this was during breakfast

And all of them came for breakfast (exception to Will)

The silence as everyone stared at him was deadly

Not as deadly as what Vincent told him

"Apologise to her Theodorus."

"Broerー"

"Now, Theo."

He does, finding out that Isaac and Comte were helping you

You... looked cute as you wiped your tears

The apology wasn't the only thing he was red from

Vincent Van Gogh

He is very understanding

When he'd not understand you, he'd ask you to write in the book

He actually gave you that empty book

Next to some random phrases you'd say, he'd invite you to doodle and draw with him

"What language are you fluent with YN?"

He's asking because he wants to learn it

He picked up a few phrases and talk to you

"You have a heavy accent in my language."

"We're in the same boat then. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

You'd turn red

"Thank you Vincent," You'd say in English

"You're welcome YN," He'd reply in your language

Leonardo Da Vinci

You'd mostly use your book in front of Leo

It didn't bother him

Okay maybe it did

He's a little envious that you'd speak so freely with the others even if they didn't understand you

Why didn't you talk to him Fragnolina?

He didn't push it though

Until one day you visited his room to clean it

He put your book aside amongst his very very messy books

"Ah, what is Sebastian making for dinner?"

You stopped working and went to get your book

Where was it?

"What's the problem cara mia? Just tell me?"

This man pushed you up against the wall, waiting to hear your voice

Once you opened that mouth of yours, he couldn't help hold you closer

Oh, he may not understand you but he was being serenaded by an angel

In turn for listening to your adorable English, he might be very handsy with his Italian~

Jean D'Arc

Jean watched you from the shadows and observed that you had trouble communicating with other residents

He has decided to be a knight of the shadows for you

Whenever you were in a pinch, he'd get you out

Especially when Sebastian put you on shopping duty

He'd follow you through the town

When a shopkeeper couldn't understand, he'd step in to explain what you wanted

Those were the only times you'd see Jean

Besides that he doesn't talk to you

You apologised for causing trouble for him

He found no need for you to apologise

Every time he'd walk you back, you made effort to have a conversation with him

Quiet talks like this made him understand you more

He almost drew his blade at Theo when he made you cry

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart, as a master of many languages, slightly understood your difficulty

When he was learning these languages he struggled too. He's a pianist, not a linguist after all

He could still make out certain parts of your English since he's communicated with people similar before

That doesn't stop his irritation though

He's not irritated at your accent

He's irritated that you're not willing to speak to him since he corrects you and is strict with you

He doesn't want to make it out as the bad guy

He… just teases at certain times

Because your confused face sometimes is too cute!

Sebastian/Akihiko Satou

Honestly he relates

Learning English for him was hard

He was kinda upset that you knew more English than him

He rubs it in that he can speak better

You two banter over it

He still understands you. He doesn't mind your accent

He treats you quite normally

However he was thrown off when you carried a notebook around

Most of your conversations were verbal after all

He was so upset with himself when he spilled Comte's tea on your book

Comte Saint Germain

Comte doesn't let your accent bother you

After all, he could always speak your mother tongue

For mysterious reasons

However he gets concerned when you go out

Jean may secretly follow you but Comte shops with you

He likes to pay for you after all

He's not around much but when he sees the other residents poke fun at you, eHEM tHEO eHEM aRTHUR he gets upset

The Comte glare is on

The said residents would wish they died

This also includes any of his other lordly friends

He's secretly happy that his lordly friends dislike you accent

He can keep you to himself

Just because you had an accent doesn't mean your voice is horrible

It’s angelic to Comte

You and your lovely voice as his little songbird

William Shakespeare

Well this is awkward

William can't understand you because of your accent

While you can't understand Will because seriously who can understand Will

He had to admit your voice was lovely to him

Even if you were cursing him, he'd be happy to hear you

You followed Vincent to his house

And oh dear oh my, what an enchanting muse you were

"Stay longer."

The first sentence you ever understood from him and you were taken aback

You were wary of Will and used your notebook to communicate

When you were alone Will tried to get rid of your book

He's only interested in your voice after all

He'd give you a script to read

Your knowledge of English is quite good after all

He trust your edits to his scripts

But oh, for you to speak to him before he sleeps

It would be utter bliss to look at your face and hear your voice

Again if he knew what a voice recorder was, he'd record every syllable that spills from your lips

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp leo #ikevamp isaac #ikevamp vincent #ikevamp theo #ikevamp jean #ikevamp comte #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp sebastian #ikevamp mozart #ikevamp dazai #ikemen vampire headcanons #ikevamp william #ikevamp shakespeare #ikevamp headcanon #ikevamp napoleon

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hexfloog · 3 years

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So, ShinRan: think there's any way in hell it could actually work, even without the whole Conan thing?

Ehheh, so... a disclaimer: my brain is not really wired to think about ships or romance in general, and it's never been something I've devoted much thought to in any franchise, really. Idk if this is because I'm aro af or what and just don't have a radar for it (uncomfirmed), but I can think of a grand total of like two ships I actively enjoy... across all my fandoms. Mad respect for people who can put thoughtful effort into analyzing that sort of thing beyond surface-level cuteness (which is where I mostly stand on this), so that said, my thoughts on any kind of ship-- even ShinRan-- are incredibly scant, and at this point in time I subscribe to it mostly because it's overtly canon.

I think, subconsciously, I HC Shinichi as ace/heteroromantic. But he's a teenager, there's a lot of people who don't really know where they stand at that age and he's so engrossed in his passions (cough, work) outside of his personal life that he also probably just doesn't really know much in the way of intimacy outside of Ran, what with his absentee (also laissez-faire) parents and otherwise few friends. And even what he does know, I think, amounts to very little. In short, I think he's inexperienced and it translates to shaky ground on which to base my observations.*

*In all fairness, this is a bit hard for me to gauge as most of their interactions prior to Conan are told in flashback and simultaneously framed by both Ran and the show's narrative to keep Shinichi centered as the Hero... some conflicts of interest exist there, I think. Is Ran really just naïve, or is the narrative trying to justify Shinichi's sometimes tactlessness behavior for the sake of the audience?

Just in general though, I'm not a huge fan of the childhood sweetheart setup for a romantic relationship. It makes for some cute, fluffy content for sure, but as a healthy couple I think they would need more time to work things out-- which they won't have until the whole Conan thing resolves itself, honestly. He (Conan) does need to go before any real progress can be made; The Whole Situation is just such a huge hindrance to anything they could feasibly make progress on together for a variety of reasons... like being forced to communicate in secret all the time, to say the least. Personally, I even believe that the few times he's able to appear to her in his own body are even more damaging than if he just... didn't. The usual intent is to appease Ran's suspicions, yes? But... doesn't it end up being more detrimental than not? Like who else does he serve-- aside from scratching his own itch by proxy-- by transforming every now and then?

Speaking of Ran: I firmly believe she has some serious abandonment issues, caused by circumstances largely out of her control-- which Shinichi is absolutely not helping by being secretive all the time-- and I think what she really wants is stability, as a result. Her estranged parents forced her to grow up way too fast and even before Conan came under her wing she was already practically a young mother. (I just watched OVA 6, and it kinda hurt watching Shinichi flashback to watching her buy groceries growing up over the years, no doubt because Eri was no longer in the picture and Kogoro, the remaining parent, is Irresponsible.) She didn't choose that, this balancing act of keeping her father in check and trying to enjoy her youth, and if Shinichi is one of her only tethers to a way out of that, it's... not a particularly healthy setup to romance, imo. Maybe it's my complete lack of a shipping radar, maybe it's from personal experience, but I think that their relationship is less romantic at this stage and more "extremely good friends."

Anyway - you asked if I think it would work, and... Maybe? To us, the viewers, it feels like an eternity has elapsed in the DC-verse, but canonically it's only been what, a year or so? Even absent the Conan Predicament, I don't think they've been an item-- or even seriously thinking of themselves as an item-- for long enough to really know for sure. Given that they only became official in the midst of *gestures wildly* All of This I think I'd be making an unfair verdict when they started at a huge disadvantage in the first place.

All that said about Ran - I also think her desire for normalcy is what keeps her waiting for Shinichi. I don't think she'd let that go anytime soon, and also what I think could drive her motivation to make it work. I'm slightly less confident about Shinichi; he clearly cares deeply for her, but the ways he goes about showing it (ahem, the Big Secret) seems misguided at times, not to speak of the apparent temptation to usurp her place in his priorities with his passions (ahem, How This Whole Thing Got Started).

As an aside... one of several things I constantly hope for is more meaningful dialogue over the phone. Since it's their only real avenue of communicating until further notice, it's a window into the potentially uncomfortable and a way for the more troubled parts of their relationship to be explored, but like many things in this show, the possibility is merely teased and not tread. An example which comes to mind is their brief conversation from Movie 2, when Ran is confiding in Shinichi over the possibility Kogoro may have taken a needlessly reckless risk in Eri's hostage situation (Funi dialogue below):

"Hey, Rachel. It's been a while." "Jimmy?" "Dr. Agasa told me what's going on with your dad. I'm really sorry." "Sorry doesn't keep people alive, Jimmy! We need your help, get back here right away!" "I can't, I'm backed up with cases of my own. I won't be back there for some time." [Defeated] "...Yeah." "Now don't be like that, Rachel. Dr. Agasa brought me up to speed on the entire case, so if I can figure anything out, I'll let you guys know, okay?" [Pause] "Jimmy... would you have shot... me?" "Huh?" "Now I know... that's why she left. She could never trust him not to put her in danger again." [Pause] "I heard about that case, also. Richard shot her." "It doesn't matter how sure of himself he was, he shouldn't... have put his wife in jeopardy like that. You wouldn't have fired the gun if it were me, would you, Jimmy?" "Come on, Rachel. Don't ask me things like that."

Honestly the fact that Kogoro/Eri and Shinichi/Ran's relationship is often paralleled, I especially find the above conversation really intriguing (the stuff in bold) and I wish it weren't cut short--

TL;DR I'm not well-tuned to analyze ships, but as both Shinichi and Ran are still teenagers and the Current Circumstances keep getting in the way of their relationship... I think the possibility still exists to make things work, in spite of my believing the foundation of 'childhood sweetheart' is a bit rocky.

#ask #mirrorfalls #dcmk #shinran #internal screaming hours #long post #yeah sorry i don't have much else to say on it... ships are really not my forte #tbh i don't think babby hex was a big shipper growing up either #so wowee i really haven't ever given much thought to this huh #not knocking the ship i'm just impartial if i'm completely honest

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eclecticanalyst · 3 years

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Studying “A Study in Emerald”

At my grandmother’s house, stacked together with other books underneath a side table in her office, was a thick leatherbound volume with golden engraved lettering. SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, it said, in large letters on the cover. And in smaller print: The Celebrated Cases of Sherlock Holmes.

I was eight or nine years old, and as soon as I opened the volume I was hooked. I brought it along as I rode with my grandmother doing errands. I asked her if I could have the book, and with her permission took it home with me. I hadn’t finished it by the time summer camp rolled around, so I tucked it into a suitcase and read bits of it at the end of activity-filled days before going to bed. I hardly even glanced at any other books until I had turned the last page.

Since I have re-read the stories so many times over the years, the solutions to the mysteries are no longer a surprise to me. I had read them for the mysteries, the first time. But now I read them for other reasons—the relationship between Holmes and Watson, the atmosphere of horror and dread that ACD does so well, the breadcrumbs of character arcs in the main and recurring characters, and the way the characters seem both dated and modern, sometimes in the same sentence.

All that is to say, I love Sherlock Holmes. And several months ago I found that Neil Gaiman had written a Sherlock Holmes story. I’ve read a few Gaiman works and was curious to see how he treated some of my favorite fictional characters, so I downloaded it. And read it. And loved it. And in this analysis, I will convey my enthusiasm by explaining just how amazing this story is.

NOTE: this will be a multi-part analysis, with one post for each part of “A Study in Emerald.” (Parts 2 and 3 will be covered in one post.) There will also be some follow-up posts with additional thoughts at the end.

You should 100% read the story before continuing because A) it’s awesome and B) there is a twist that I will be getting into pretty quickly that is much better if you experience it for yourself first.

Part 1: The New Friend

The beauty of this story is that knowing the Sherlock Holmes canon works both for and against the reader. If you’ve read the canon, you will recognize the references to certain characters or details or plot points—but at the same time, those moments of recognition can lead you to draw conclusions that Gaiman fully expects you to make but are in fact inaccurate.

Right off the bat, the title of “A Study in Emerald” is just one word away from the title of the very first Sherlock Holmes story. This, along with the first page or so of the narrative, primes us to approach the tale as a straightforward Sherlock Holmes pastiche, like the countless others that have been written: “Sherlock Holmes in space!” “Sherlock Holmes as a kid!” “Sherlock Holmes in the far future!”, where everything is basically the same, just with a natural transformation of entities to match the “hook” of the pastiche—so instead of smoking, kid Holmes sucks on lollipops or the like. The “hook” of this particular pastiche first manifests with the narrator’s war wounds being the result, not of bullets and fevers as in the canon, but of underwater creatures that suck the vitality out of one’s limbs.

“Okay,” we as readers familiar with Sherlock Holmes say to ourselves. “So Holmes and Watson, but in a world of the supernatural. Got it. Nice twist, Gaiman. I’m ready to see what you do with this.”

As I said, Gaiman uses your Sherlock Holmes knowledge against you in constructing this tale. The narrator has a shoulder wound as a result of his wartime experiences, just as Watson does in A Study in Scarlet—the circumstances of his injury are changed to be more fantastical, of course, but we accept that because we have acclimated ourselves to what we think is the whole of this seemingly straightforward premise (Sherlock Holmes, but with Lovecraftian elements). After all, we have the two men meeting in the university laboratory, both interested in sharing rooms, and we get the iconic line, “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.” We get the familiar prospective-roommates-share-vices exchange. It’s not the same as the original, but we don’t read Holmes pastiches for the exact same lines we could get by rereading the original stories. Besides, the exchange hits enough check marks for what we already know about Holmes (since we’re familiar with canon) that instead of the change setting off alarm bells, we’re busy patting ourselves on the back for recognizing references and approvingly nodding in response to Gaiman’s demonstrated knowledge of the stories. After all, Holmes did shoot bullets into the wall once. And he is private and easily bored, and selfish as well at times. These are revelations about Holmes’s character that are shared in later stories, after A Study in Scarlet, but they match the whole of his character that we know since we have the entirety of the canon under our belts, so it’s quite clear to us that this man the narrator meets is indeed Sherlock Holmes.

By condensing the characteristics of Holmes that were originally revealed over the course of several publications into one dialogue exchange, the plot is able to move speedily along while reinforcing our initial understanding of this man’s identity. However, presenting these characteristics in this manner also leads to some contradictions with canon, which means that things are just a little bit off. Holmes is established in later stories as having irregular habits, but in A Study in Scarlet, the specific story that this dialogue exchange is echoing, it’s Watson who “get[s] up at all sorts of ungodly hours.” Here the one who admits to “keep[ing] irregular hours” is the non-soldier, when in A Study in Scarlet Holmes is actually quite regular in his schedule (he doesn’t really maintain that behavior beyond that first story, but still). On a more complex level—and I might be reading too much into this particular point but it is striking to me as someone who has spent several years with roommates—there is the detail that the detective in “Emerald” informs the narrator right off the bat that he will need to use the sitting room to see clients. In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes does not inform Watson of this fact in the initial cross-examination. It’s only after they move in together and Watson starts getting (politely) kicked out of the sitting room on a semi-regular basis that Watson even learns Holmes is a person who has a visiting clientele. This is a rather major thing for a prospective roommate to know. Failing to mention this to Watson while still detailing his smoking habits and propensity for chemical experiments is a rather egregious omission on Holmes’s part, as anyone who has had to get used to a new roommate will tell you. So we have two instances where the information about the detective matches our overall conception of Holmes, but it is presented in a way that goes directly in opposition to how it was originally presented in canon—where what we are reading is both right and wrong at the same time.

Let’s continue on in the story. Our “heroes” move into the same old apartment on Baker Street, which further solidifies the straightforward Holmes in a Lovecraftian world explanation we as readers have formulated for the story. We go through the same “narrator wonders what his mysterious roommate does for a living” steps that we remember from A Study in Scarlet, albeit, again, condensed. And the mystery plot begins as the two roommates eat breakfast, just as in that very first story.

Keen readers might take note of the fact that it is Inspector Gregson, not Inspector Lestrade, who brings the mystery in A Study in Scarlet to Holmes’s attention. Considering that Lestrade made more appearances in the canon and became Holmes’s default police contact, Lestrade’s presence here can simply be chalked up to Gaiman paying homage to the whole of the canon, not just the first story. Alternatively, this is yet another instance of things being ever so slightly wrong when compared to the events we are all familiar with.

You’ll notice that, having successfully (because on first read you are likely not reading as critically as I am now with this analysis) lulled us into a false sense of security regarding the premise of this story and the identities of its characters, Gaiman starts to drop more references to other specific stories besides A Study in Scarlet, as well as more direct hints (which require much less complex analyzing than I have done in previous paragraphs) as to who our narrator and his detective friend truly are.

The first* direct hint is so subtle that I don’t think I even picked up on it the first time I read the story. It’s when Lestrade suggests he talk to the detective privately. The content of the exchange is, once again, familiar to a Sherlock Holmes reader—how many times have we seen Holmes assure a client that Watson can be confided in just as well as himself (see: “A Case of Identity”), or refuse to let Watson excuse himself as a case begins to unfold (see: “A Scandal in Bohemia”)? The hint lies in the description of the narrator’s friend when he dismisses Lestrade’s suggestion: “his head moved on his shoulders as it did when he was enjoying a private joke.” Gaiman can’t show his hand too early, so this hint is extremely oblique. The key is the phrasing: “his head moved on his shoulders” is a rather odd and roundabout description, which could much more easily be rendered as “he shook his head” or something to that effect. But in using this wording, Gaiman ever-so-lightly echoes the description of a certain someone a couple pages into “The Final Problem”:

His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is for ever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion.

We have some more general Easter egg references to the canon—the detective’s slight dissatisfaction when someone (Lestrade in this case) remarks on the simplicity of his reasoning after it is explained, and the Study in Scarlet-specific “only one in the world” consulting detective explanation. And then we have this terrific bit. Our narrator asks the detective if he really wants him to come along. The detective’s response is as follows:

“I have a feeling that we were meant to be together. That we have fought the good fight, side by side, in the past or in the future...from the moment I clapped eyes on you, I knew I trusted you as well as I do myself.”

It’s terrific because it’s a summation of how Holmes and Watson are viewed by their fans. They belong together. Victorian London, World War II, 21st century New York, 22nd century London, as mice, as dogs, we’ve seen them in countless adaptations, and despite the change in locale or era or gender or species or countless other circumstances, they are always inseparable, always a force unto themselves, incomplete without the other. Of course this is Holmes and Watson. How could these words apply to anyone else?

The detective’s speech here appeals to our Holmes devotee sensibilities much more than canon Holmes’s response to Watson asking much the same question in A Study in Scarlet:

“You wish me to come?”

“Yes, if you have nothing better to do.”

Which is a rather unexceptional start to a partnership for the ages. The way “Emerald” tugs at the heartstrings, however, is dangerous—it pulls us further down into acceptance of the twisted world and characters that surround us.

*I will come back to this in a later post!

#sherlock holmes #a study in emerald #a study in scarlet #neil gaiman #analysis #in depth

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autolenaphilia · 3 years

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Granada Holmes (series review)

The 1984-1994 Granada series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes are regarded by fans as a milestone among the many adaptations of Sherlock Holmes that were made. Brett is said to be “the definitive Holmes”. And I would largely agree with that, despite it not being my favourite version, and it having some flaws and weak episodes, especially as the series went on.

The first thing that set this show apart is that it went back to the original stories and adapted those. Now, it isn’t the first version to do so, as some people (including Brett, apparently) claim. The 1920s silent film series with Eille Norwood was fairly canon accurate, and the 1960s BBC tv series with Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing also followed the canon. There is also the 1979-1986 Soviet Russian series with Vasily Livanov. And on radio you have more canonical dramatizations, such as the British John Gielgud 1950s series and the BBC Carleton Hobbs series from the 50s and 60s. People have an unfortunate tendency to ignore radio in favour of screen adaptations.

Still, it must be granted that Granada at its best is probably the supreme screen adaptation of the canon. The production values and acting are far superior to what the 60s BBC tv series had.

Jeremy Brett was a revolution in Holmes performances. The previous era defining Holmes, Basil Rathbone, as great as he was, made Holmes into too much of a straightforward hero. Brett brought back the eccentricities (including the drug use), the nervous energy and the character’s general moodiness and emotionality that was there in the text.

Holmes in the Granada series was ultimately on the side of good and a benevolent figure (if occasionally rude), but fictional justice perhaps had never an odder champion. He did everything from sitting weirdly, jumping over couches to taking drugs. Holmes felt neurodiverse, and indeed Brett used his own experiences with bipolar disorder in the performance. And it was true to canon, in a way we seldom had seen on screen before.

Jeremy Brett’s performance as Holmes is extremely influential and often imitated by later screen adaptations, but has never been surpassed. The portrayal of Holmes in BBC Sherlock and the movies with Robert Downey Jr. is clearly inspired by Brett’s nervy eccentric genius Holmes, but ends up a bad parody. Holmes in the Granada series can like his canon counterpart occasionally be rude or careless towards other, but it was lapses, not a general trend. They seemed to be caused by an eccentric brain on another wavelength from the people around him, rather than any malevolence. Holmes in BBC Sherlock is a male nerd wish-fulfilment fantasy, where the character’s eccentric genius are allowed to excuse any crimes.

At its height, Brett’s Holmes is an awe-inspiring performance, with the actor pouring everything of his skill and energy into it. You could criticize it as melodramatic over-acting, but it makes for great viewing and fits the man who said “I never can resist a touch of the dramatic”.

The Granada series gets much credit for rehabilitating the role of Watson. Both of the actors playing him depicted as very much intelligent and capable. It is somewhat overstated of course, the turning away from the comedic figure Nigel Bruce portrayed started already with Andre Morell’s Watson in the 1959 Hammer Hound of the Baskervilles. Still, the Watson depicted by the Granada series is still one of the show’s chief draws.

The series had a switch in the actors playing Watson, with David Burke portraying him in the first two seasons of 13 episodes and The Empty House featuring Holmes return to a Watson portrayed by Edward Hardwicke. And honestly it is hard to choose between them, because they are both great and there is a consistency in the writing that makes them feel like the same basic character.

Burke’s Watson comes across as younger and more energetic of the two actors and has perhaps the better comedic dynamic with Holmes. He is perhaps my pick, as despite his actual age while playing the part, he feels closer to the young Watson of the canon.

But that is no serious slight against Hardwicke’s performance, which is still first-rate. Hardwicke’s Watson feels older, despite the difference in age between the actors being but a few years. The performance is also defined by an effortless charm and warmth, giving Watson an avuncular aura. But Watson is not at all infirm and is still an intelligent medical man and an experienced soldier, ever ready with his revolver.

An interesting change from the Canonical stories is that Watson never gets married and moves out of Baker Street. The Sign of the Four features Mary Morstan, but at the end she walks out of the story without any romance between her and Doctor Watson. The reason this was done, is that it simplifies the set-up of the stories. With Watson in 221B, he is always on hand to join Holmes. No need for a scene at the beginning of Holmes taking Watson away from wife and practice. Also it saves them keeping track of when Watson was married or not, something that Conan Doyle himself got into a serious continuity tangle about.

As producer Michael Cox (quoted in David Stuart Davies’s book Starring Sherlock Holmes) noted, Conan Doyle himself probably regretted marrying off Watson, considering The Empty House has Watson suffering from a “sad bereavement” and then moving back in with Holmes. So it is a very much acceptable deviation from canon.

It also frees the writers to focus on the most important relationship in the canon: the friendship between Holmes and Watson. The canon has been called “a textbook of friendship” by Christopher Morley, and the chemistry and relationship between Holmes and Watson is vitally important to any adaptation. And that aspect of the stories is wonderfully conveyed here, with both actors playing Watson working together with Brett as Holmes well to convey the odd but close friendship between the two men.

Rosalie Williams plays Mrs. Hudson, and she is excellent in the role. The Granada series has a lot of little scenes of Mrs. Hudson added into the canonical cases, and they work excellently, giving her more of a presence. Many of them are comedic, making jokes about how a difficult and eccentric lodger Holmes is, but there is a clear undercurrent of affection throughout their interactions.

The recurring cast members include Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes and Colin Jeavons as Inspector Lestrade.

Gray as Mycroft is close to ideal, fitting the character of the overweight, lazy and intelligent canon character perfectly. He was such a good fit for the role that he had actually earlier played the part in the film adaptation of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.

Jeavons fit the part of Lestrade and his acting is superb, capable of showing the full extent of Lestrade’s character, having both smug over-confidence at times, yet also having genuine respect and affection for Holmes.

The acting skills of the actors playing characters who only appear in one episode is also generally very high. And that is part of the general high quality of execution the show had for most of its run. The period sets and the directing was of a similar high standard. The music by Patrick Gowers is excellent, and I suggest any fan take a listen to this Youtube playlist of his soundtrack.

The scripts are quite excellent, for the most part sticking close to the Conan Doyle stories. Of course there are always infidelities here and there, and sometimes the episode would go on non-canonical tangents.

Usually it was to make the story work better on screen. For example, the villains in The Greek Interpreter escape from Holmes and Watson, ending up being killed “off-screen” as it were. So the Granada version of the same tale has a non-canonical ending of Holmes, Watson and Mycroft confronting the villains on a train, something that works rather well. Another example is The Musgrave Ritual which entirely ditches the original story’s framing device of Holmes telling Watson the story of an early case of his. In the Granada version Watson is with Holmes on this case, and it works better that way.

And with all of these elements working together, for most of its run, the Granada series is perhaps the definitive screen adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. The first four seasons of 50 minute episodes, which were broadcast under the titles of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes from 1984-1988 plus the feature length adaptation of The Sign of Four are pretty much all great. It went from strength to strength, consistently making very well-made adaptations of the canon.

The Sign of Four is probably a good pick for Granada’s peak, due to its epic nature. And it is definitely the best of the five feature-length films they did. Outside of leaving out any romance between John and Mary, the film is faithful to the book, although it goes too far in that direction in keeping in the racism of the story. But it also has all of the book’s virtues as a story too, and fine acting from Brett, Hardwicke, and John Thaw as Jonathan Small make for an enjoyable viewing experience.

There was however a decline in the series later years. The lynchpin of the series was Jeremy Brett, and his health began to seriously fail him by 1987, leading to his death in 199 (my source of information on Brett’s health decline and general behind the scenes things is mostly Davies’s book Starring Sherlock Holmes) Once lean and looking remarkably like the Sidney Paget illustrations of Holmes, his conflicting medications for his heart problems and bipolar disorder caused him to retain water and bloat, causing him to no longer look like the lean figure he once was. His looks wasn’t really the problem, what was however was that his health problems drained him of the energy that he once was able to put it into his performance, creating through no fault of his own a more lethargic and weaker Holmes.

There was also a growing lack of care shown towards the series by Granada itself. The budgets began to shrink by 1988, and while the series looked good for the most part, it did impact the show.

Probably the first disappointing episode is the double-length adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles from 1988. You would expect the Granada series, with their excellent leads and excellent track record up to this point, to create the definitive version of this often-filmed story, but it just isn’t. It isn’t bad, but it is ultimately mediocre in a way that is hard to pinpoint. My guess is that the direction and cinematography doesn’t manage to create the suspense the story needs, resulting in a slow-paced and slightly boring experience.

It also ends up show-casing the problems the show would now begin to have, with the production crew not having the money to do location shooting on Dartmoor and Brett obviously showing the signs of his failing health.

The Hound film was followed by a season of six 50-minute length episodes, called The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes. And these were mostly fine, considering the circumstances. The budget had been reduced compared to earlier seasons and you could tell the writers sometimes lacked a first-rate canonical story to adapt.

There were one or two weaker episodes, but those were due to the original story being weak. For example, the season ended with a faithful adaptation of The Creeping Man and it is as good and well-made a tv adaptation you could ever hope to make with such a bizarre plot. The result is of course pure camp, but so is the original story. When the show had a good Conan Doyle story to adapt, like The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Problem of Thor Bridge or The Illustrious Client, the results are indeed up to the standards of its past.

The real nadir of the series came later, however, when in 1992-93 the series decided to do three double-length episodes. Granada wanted the Holmes series to copy the success of Inspector Morse and its 100 minute tv film format. The problem was the show would still adapt Conan Doyle’s short stories into a format that was far too long for them. So the scriptwriters had to pad the stories out with their own inventions.

This sort of worked for the first film of these three films, The Master Blackmailer. It was based on Charles Augustus Milverton, which is one of the shortest stories in the canon, but one of the most rich in dramatic potential. Writer Jeremy Paul’s script decided to show in detail what is merely mentioned in the story, such as Milverton blackmailing people and Holmes courting Milverton’s maid in order to gain access to his home. The end result works, it is somewhat slow-paced but is ultimately coherent and at its best feels like you are watching the backstory to the canonical events.

The same can’t be said for the second and third of these films, The Last Vampyre and The Eligible Bachelor. The Last Vampyre is an almost completely incoherent non-adaptation of The Sussex Vampire, where elements from the canonical story probably make up less than 5% of the resulting film. There is an attempt to create intrigue and suspense around the original character Stockton, but the film is so vague about what he is and what threat he poses that the resulting film makes no sense.

The Eligible Bachelor is a similar adaptation of The Noble Bachelor, where the canonical story elements that remain is entirely subsided by a new bizarre plot where Lord St. Simon is now a ruthless Bluebeard-like villain. It is slightly better than The Last Vampyre, simply because the villain here poses an identifiable and somewhat coherent threat. Still, the film has to pad things out with bizarre subplots, like Holmes having prophetic dreams, which ultimately doesn’t lead anywhere.

Wisely, the series returned to the 50 minute format for the last season of six episodes, which aired in 1994, under the name of “he Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was with this season Jeremy Brett’s health problems and the lower budgets really began to seriously affect the show. Brett was in a bad state at this point, and the description of the production in Davies’s book makes for sad reading.

During the filming of one episode in this season, The Three Gables, he had to use a wheelchair between takes and supplementary oxygen to ease his breathing. His performance is naturally lacking in the energy he once had, but the fact it is a performance at all is testament to his commitment. The Three Gables is actually one of the better episodes of this season, as it actually manages to improve on one of the weakest stories in the canon.

Edward Hardwicke was unavailable to film The Golden Pince-nez, and they couldn’t re-schedule the shooting dates (which I suspect was a budget issue). So the writer wrote out Watson and replaced him in the role of Sherlock’s assistant with Mycroft, since Charles Gray was available. The result is well-made otherwise, with guest stars Frank Finlay and Anna Carteret giving great performances, but the lack of Watson is sorely felt. It is fun to see Charles Gray’s Mycroft again, but it feels contrary to his character to accompany his brother like this.

And before he could film The Mazarin Stone, Brett’s health gave out on him and he was hospitalized. Again Charles Gray was called in by the producer to play Mycroft as a substitute. It is nice to see Mycroft for a fourth time, but Mycroft doing this doesn’t feel true to his character. And this episode is one of the weakest in the series, due to the script. Not that I blame the scriptwriter too much, The Mazarin Stone is one of the worst stories in the canon. The efforts to improve on the story by combining it with another weak story The Three Garridebs don’t at all manage to rescue it.

However, there are still some rather good episodes in this season . The Red Circle is good and The last ever episode of the series, The Cardboard box manages to close out the series on a good if dark note.

Jeremy Brett died in 1995 due to heart failure, ending all hope of any future series.

I might have delved too much on the series failures in this essay. Because all of that is outweighed by the consistent high quality the series managed to achieve in the first four seasons, and with a few failures, still managed to sometimes achieve again in the later ones. Those adaptations are perhaps the peak of Holmes on screen.

It is not my favourite adaptation, that is the BBC radio drama versions made starring Clive Merrison as Holmes from 1989 to 2010. Those were just as consistently good, with Merrison and Williams/Sachs as Holmes and Watson being on the same general level as Brett and Burke/Hardwicke as performances. In fact, the BBC version is more consistent, never going off the rails as the Granada version sometimes, and it actually managed to achieve the goal Brett had hoped for: adapting every canonical story.

Still that doesn’t take away from Granada’s great achievement in adapting the Holmes stories with such quality. It is an achievement that later movie and tv adaptations haven’t been able to surpass.

#granada holmes #review #sherlock holmes

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silvanable · 4 years

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UwU hello~ I hope I'm following your rules, kinda read them several times :")) ehem– may I request for an ikevamp hc of Harry potter au, with an fem MC/reader who's a mud blood(? I think) and joins Hogwarts (with your choice of suitors). How she meets with the vamps and their reactions~ somewhat like that! Wishing you a lovely day~❤️

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this is such a cool idea. i really enjoyed it and i have to say i now have a list of possible house alignments and blood statuses for all of our ikevamp boys!

i only went with 4 here though and i hope that’s okay!

feel free to wiggle with the assumption of the age brackets here because HP students are young but also i can just casually slide canon under the rug for a hot minute.

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↪ GUIDELINES

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ー ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

it’s very likely she run into him in the library.

and i mean she runs into him.

he’s was just picking out a few more books for referencing material when it happened.

not to be dramatic but books in her arms and his ended up everywhere, pages flying, somehow a quill is stuck in her hair.

after the initial shock she’s apologizing, a quick string of “i’m so sorry” follow.

arthur is a man with very specific tastes pretty much anything that moves and seeing such a flustered little dame kicks his flirt into overdrive.

“no, no, i’m just glad i could catch such a beautiful woman”

there is an endless amount of flirting from him and she denies his pretty words do anything for her.

but we all know she’s lying it absolutely works and she just can’t admit she likes the attention.

though it’s not all about that, i see her and arthur finding common ground either in sharing a house, similar hobbies, or common likenesses in things.

she would absolutely make a muggle culture reference, absolutely expecting it to fly over his head like is does with almost all the students.

“this search would go so much faster if we just had wifi to look it up” let me have this okay i didn’t know what else to say

instead she finds him staring up at her from his parchment, eyes focused on her from behind his glasses.

“you miss wifi too?”

and in the next moment they’re both laughing and complaining about how with all this magic...

it’s revealed then that not only is she a muggleborn, but so is arthur.

his reaction would range from excitement to relief to joy because finally someone else is like him, who gets this wifi-less struggle.

BONUS:

he is a slytherin, a very subtle one, and it’s not uncommon for him to be mistaken for a ravenclaw sometimes because he bears a very creative, witty, and observant streak. not to mention he’s extremely intelligent and practically the castle’s personal mystery solver.

ー COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN

pureblood, no question. comes from a serious well known and powerful family but not a pureblood supremacy family.

he’s the ancient studies professor fight me.

ends up meeting her on her first day of the job as a professor of muggle studies, arts, musics? probably.

it’s customary for the staff to meet and greet new members, get them familiar with the castle, offer them introductions, etc.

comte naturally volunteers for the job.

so there is the new professor, shining with absolutely determination and excitement and maybe a little bit of nervousness.

the tour is light, she is in awe ( who wouldn’t be it’s hogwarts ) and conversation mostly consists of the school and its students.

then she asks a question of what is expected of her, as she quietly adds “i’m not exactly sure how muggles and wizards differ in etiquette and behavior”

comte already knew her her field of study and what she would be teaching, but her muttered statement fits the last of the pieces together.

comte lets out a short laugh, “i can teach you if you would like to know?”

expect this man would definitely want to learn the differences as well, so really it would be a win-win.

her blood status would probably never be brought up directly and if she does bring it up, comte would likely just smile and say he knows.

BONUS:

comte is a ravenclaw in my book. i find his personality and the infinity corridor magic door, as well as his enjoyment of the other cultures and travels make him a very curious and studious ( or willing and eager to know about ) of other cultures.

ー LEONARDO DA VINCI

like comte, leonardo comes from a well known pureblood family.

the first meeting is because leonardo fell asleep outside on the steps. she didn’t notice him until it was too late.

she trips over him a very graceful entrance.

he’s fine though, she however is not only dazed, might have bumped her head, and now is in a panic over whoever she landed on.

i entirely believe he would hardly be phased by being stepped on, so he hardly moves.

that scares her a little more because her concern goes from hurting someone to she might have found a dead guy.

her panicking led her to do the first thing that came to mind: VIOLENTLY gently shake him awake and ask, “are you alright, are you hurt?”

it was the consistent disturbance that woke him up.

can’t a man nap in random places without someone wondering if he died, like please.

it becomes a consistent thing for them to encounter one another exactly like that, except the worries of her hurting him become more of a “you need to stop falling asleep in weird places to get stepped on!”

it’s honestly very endearing.

finding out she’s muggleborn does come up in a later conversation, rather nonchalantly in regards to his sleeping habits and how her parents were doctors who could help figure out why he’s always so tired.

nothing is wrong with him he’s just the humanoid persona of a cat it’s fine.

that piques his interest enough to ask her about what they do as doctors. that’s when it comes up that both of her parents are muggle doctors.

her blood purity would never really come to mind with leonardo, as he does not believe in purebloods having supremacy.

BONUS:

despite seemingly nonchalant and aloof, leonardo is a gryffindor. he shares a lot of their other traits besides the generally tag of “loud and prone to danger”. he is a very practical and playful person, but also he has a firm belief of right and wrong for himself and that’s not something he’s willing to back down from.

ー THEODORUS VAN GOGH

probably met her on the first day because of vincent yes blame the brother.

the train ride has a bunch of new students, all excited and nervous at the same time.

theodorus and her ended up in the same train car during the ride.

he strikes me as the person not into conversation while she needed the conversation to ease her own nerves.

even if he did not respond or called her an idiot in his own way, she found over time that she was not as nervous.

she might have spilled her life story to theo though and that’s how he figured out she was a muggleborn before even she had a clue what it meant.

i see taking some time for her and theo to actually become closer because he’s a lowkey grump who needs to be bribed with pancakes but he most certainly would enjoy having her around.

it would first strike her what a mudblood was when pureblood losers harassed her about her background.

theo would intervene to protect her.

it most certainly would linger with that hurt in her and she would probably bring it up to theo, “why are you okay with being around me if i’m not a pureblood?”

“that doesn’t matter, hondje”

and if that isn’t enough to settle her mind he’ll tell her that both he and vincent are halfbloods.

coming from both a muggle and wizarding family he doesn’t care that she’s a muggleborn.

BONUS:

theo is definitely a gryffindor in my book but he has slytherin undertones that show in his ambition, focus, and sheer determination in his goals. but he has a very brave and compassionate personality under all the sharp remarks.

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