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tulipsforvin · 7 months

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Parchment of Growth

William J. Moriarty x Stubborn!Reader

You've just bloodied your hands with somebody else's blood for the second time (the first being a total accident) in your life; the blood of an infiltrator in the Moriarty Residence staining your cheeks and dress. Your anxiety was palpable.

You're gasping for air — chest heaving as you storm out into the open, grassy fields right outside of the Moriarty Residence in Durham. It's a private, desolate area with no prying eyes & ears to scan over your obviously distressed form.

William follows you shortly, breathing equally heavy before he pauses fifteen to twenty steps behind you, your back facing him.

He inhales deeply, catching his breath before parting his lips open to speak:

“...(name).” Your name rolls out of his tongue with the utmost tenderness, eyes soft and eyebrows furrowed - an expression of concern plastered across his handsome features.

“Don't.” You warn him, holding up a flattened palm as you catch your own breath - still not facing him.

William exhales shakily, a brief silence hanging over the atmosphere before he languidly nods his head; even if you can't see him. He clears his throat before speaking.

“Alright.” He whispers, voice utterly soft.

It's silent, completely silent.

Rain has been drizzling over the fabric of your clothes for a solid 5-10 minutes since the two of you have been here now and except for the occasional howling of the wind, only the rain is heard - the scent of petrichor wafting into your nostrils. You finally decide to speak.

“I didn't want to kill him, William. I really didn't. It was an accident, I promise. I panicked and—” You bite down on your lower lip, cutting yourself off shortly.

“I'm aware. You don't have to explain yourself to me, (name). It wasn't your fault.” William murmurs, taking a step forwards towards you.

“Look at me.” He says.

You don't say anything for the first few seconds before begrudgingly turning to look at him. He stiffens at the sight of your tear-stained face with light blood spattered over your cheeks and clothes.

“I'm not fit for this- this mission. I'm not fit for you. You shouldn't have let me be by your side. It was an idiotic decision. My conscience is burdened. Someone like me? I'll tarnish your reputation. What if I ruin everything you've built?” You croak out, looking down at the ground shamefully.

You hear his shoes striking the Earth as he approaches you closer, carefully, cautiously.

“Let it tarnish away, then. Your actions do not define who I am.” He says, reaching his hand out to gently cup your face in his warm palm.

“I'm still- I'm still stuck in the past. I still carry the burden of killing someone innocent. I can't go on.” You retort, eyes shut tight.

His thumb brushes against your cheek as he speaks to you most adoringly.

“Unpack your burdens, piece by piece. I will help you sort through them. And I will continue to do so, undeterred, until it is light enough for you to unshackle yourself from them and move forwards.” His words are more like soft murmurs than words, barely audible yet completely comprehensible.

“It'll shadow your ambitions. What if I burden you?” You counter, sniffing.

“That weight is something I am willing to carry, (name). I choose to love you. I choose to take care of you, willingly.” He whispers.

“But—”

“Allow me to heal you.” He cuts you off.

“It's a tempestuous journey.” You quip.

“Then I'll weather the storms with you. Let me be your shelter, (name). Let me love you.”

“I've made many mistakes along my way here. How can you accept me, when I can barely even tolerate myself?” You shake your head.

“Let mistakes be the ink that writes on the parchment of growth, (name). Together we can create a masterpiece from all the lessons learned, I promise you.” His thumb grazes against your lips in a heart-throbbingly sweet way.

“Still, it's not—” You open your mouth again to say something against his words once more. You see William sigh softly in exasperation, looking at you with mild amusement.

He doesn't let you finish your words when he leans in close towards you & presses his lips against yours softly, gently and most tenderly, bringing his hands to your hips and closing his eyes - pulling you up and closer towards him so you're standing on your tiptoes and letting your weight rest on him comfortably.

You stiffen in his arms by the sudden action, palms flattening against his chest almost reflexively before eventually relaxing into it and reciprocating his warm, comforting kiss.

William doesn't let you pull away, smiling almost smugly against your lips with soft endearment when you attempt to babble something about him being unfair against his own lips.

I assume he'd finally found a way to shut you up.

#William James Moriarty #slight angst idk #warm and comfy #wjm #william james moriarty x reader #william james moriarty x y/n #william james moriarty x you #soft fic #headcannon #scenarios #Moriarty the Patriot #Yuukoku no Moriarty

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oh-ranpo · 2 years

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☾ - pairing: william james moriarty x fem!reader ☾ - word count: 3.4k+ ☾ - warning: nsfw, 18+, minors dni! unprotected sex, some mild cursing, angst, some spoilers if you haven’t seen the entire anime! ☾ - summary: when you overhear william’s ultimate plans for himself, you can’t even bear the thought.

You knew that they weren’t meant for you, but when you heard the words of his confession, it felt like your entire world had fallen out from under you. There had always been that feeling - that gnawing sensation deep inside your chest - that hinted that there could be something more to all of this. However, he had always remained so calm about everything, so how could you have known that this was how he saw everything playing out?

You certainly hadn’t expected him to be so okay with dying.

You had known William since the days at the orphanage, and while you had lost contact for a few years, when you had reunited, it was as if no time at all had passed. He was your best friend then, and he was your best friend now. The only difference now was, he held your heart in the palm of his hand and you knew that there was no hope in ever getting it back. So, to hear his thoughts on sacrificing himself for ‘the greater good’ to repent for his sins, you had to immediately flee the scene so as to not vomit all over the, now dead, nobleman’s hallway rug.

He had to be bluffing. Why he would lie to Fred after all this time, you didn’t know, but that’s the only explanation you could come up with. He wouldn’t die in such a way and give up on his plans. He didn’t want to die. There was no way he would be okay with such a thing when your world had just started to finally take a turn for the better.

However, on your walk back to the Moriarty mansion, you thought about the words you had heard. You thought about the sentiment behind them, and how they all sounded vaguely familiar. While he had never outright shared such an idea with you before, as you processed everything, you began to feel more and more ill. His plan, his motives, his entire life’s vision- it all came down to one moment. And that’s when you realized…

He really had been planning this the entire time.

You received an odd look from Sebastian when you stepped through the entryway of the large estate, and without so much as a glance in his direction, you made your way up the stairs towards William’s office. Louis called out to you when he passed you on the landing, immediately noticing your pale demeanor and bothered expression but you just couldn’t get yourself to acknowledge him as you were too wrapped up in your thoughts. Did he know? Did he have any idea what his brother had been planning?

William’s office was empty when you entered it, and you swiftly made your way towards his desk. You weren’t sure what you were looking for, but you needed something, anything, that might help dispel the horrible feeling that had now seemed to permanently settle in your stomach. You needed anything that might give evidence to William wanting to live in this changed world he was working towards instead of leaving it all behind; leaving you behind.

The top of the desk was devoid of any papers or folders, and as you pulled out each individual drawer, you came up empty each time. You searched through everything, your movements becoming more and more frantic as you searched. Bile rose in your throat as you turned his words over in your head, but you could still only come to the same conclusion.

You had been searching so long, and your mind was so preoccupied with devastating thoughts, you didn’t realize that it was time for William to be home. Even though he had gone out on a mission, he had promised to return by a certain time, and the clock on the wall chimed the hour as his office door opened and closed behind him. You didn’t even notice he had entered the room until you felt a pair of hands fall to your waist as you were bent down in front of one of the bookcases, placing a book back on the shelf that you had just been rifling through.

A surprised gasp fell from your lips as he slowly spun you around, and when your eyes met familiar crimson irises, you immediately felt like you could cry. There was a small smile on his face, indicating that he had not yet caught on to your shenanigans, though he did look a little curious at the position he had found you in.

“My love, what are you doing in here?” He asked casually, one of his hands lifting to brush back a lock of your hair that had fallen into your face. A lump had built in your throat, and you had to forcibly swallow it down before you could provide him with a response.

“I was looking for a book that I had wanted to read,” you lied, and you could tell that he knew as much. You had your own separate library in the house, and you both knew that you would never come into his office looking for something for literary entertainment. Not when most of his books were related to mathematics or other scholarly topics that you found positively boring.

“Ah, well might I help you find what you were looking for?” He asked slyly, his hand falling back to your waist as he slowly started to lead you back across the room. He was moving you backwards, but you knew that you were headed towards his desk, this assumption becoming confirmed when the backs of your knees bumped against the edge of it.

“No need, I’ve lost interest already,” you responded, doing your best to give him a cheeky smile as one of your arms draped across his shoulder. You hoped that your voice didn’t shake around the words, because if there was even the slightest quiver, William would immediately notice it.

“Mmm, please do not abandon your pursuits on my account. I would be happy to go find Louis and-“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence before you were pressing into him, your lips finding his in a borderline desperate kiss. A surprise hum reverberated against your skin as William was quick to reciprocate, even if he had been momentarily caught off guard.

You couldn’t explain it, but as you kissed him, you could feel a sense of urgency build inside of you that you had never felt before. It wasn’t the typical passionate urgency, but something deeper. You could feel it coursing through your veins and filling every empty space inside of you. The idea that someday - and possibly someday soon - you wouldn’t be able to find solace in his embrace was unbearable. The weight of it was crushing and you felt like the only way you could breathe was by clinging to him as tightly as you could.

You weren’t sure whose hands moved first, yours or his, but you were soon tugging at the buttons on his dress shirt, and he was moving to lift your skirt up above your knees. Once the hem of your dress was pushed up above your waist, he lifted you with ease so that you were now sitting on the top of his desk instead of resting against it, and he was able to step between your thighs.

Neither one of you broke the kiss until you were pushing his shirt off of his shoulders and he detached his lips from yours only so that he could move them to your throat. His teeth grazed your skin as he nipped at your collarbone, and a soft moan rose in your throat as you tossed the white shirt to the floor and then reached to pull him into you by the waist of his pants.

“Someone is awfully needy this evening,” William teased, but you pretended to ignore him as your fingers popped open the button of his slacks. You weren’t ready to address the situation that had brought you to his office in the first place just yet, and instead all you yearned for was more. More time, more contact, more of him.

As you worked on shimmying his pants down past his hips, William’s fingers danced across your thighs before coming to rest right next to the fabric of your panties. His lips moved to your shoulder as his nose nudged the strap of your dress to the side so that he could nibble at the skin there, leaving the faintest of red marks that always brought a smile to his face when he observed them later.

“Is this what you want?” He asked teasingly as the tip of his index finger brushed along your clothed core. Your entire body shook at the sensation, and for a moment, your hands stopped working to remove his pants as your brain went numb with nothing but the momentary pleasure.

“Will, please,” you groaned, and you could feel him smile against your skin.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Without another warning, he swiftly pushed the fabric to the side before sliding a finger along your folds, causing your eyes to flutter shut and your fingers to press into the skin of his hips as you searched for something to ground you. He was moving slowly, as if to tease you, and you couldn’t stop your hips from rolling forward as they searched for more friction.

“William,” you huffed in frustration as he refused to give you anything more than a feather light touch, despite how you tried to move against him. His face was still pressed against your shoulder, and you could feel his breath fanning across your skin as he chuckled.

“Easy, my love. In due time.”

But how much time? You wanted to blurt out, but you didn’t. Now that you had him in your arms, you didn’t want to think about what came next, you just wanted to focus on him and the love that the two of you shared. Plus, it was hard to think as he gently pushed one finger inside of you, curling it in just the right way to have another moan tumbling past your lips.

William lifted his head at the sound, his ruby eyes regarding you with a fiery adoration that always made your toes curl. He was so good at masking his feelings on the outside, but when it came to you, he was an open book. He had once told you that you were one of the only people he ever wanted to be upfront with, and you had taken that to heart.

So, why hadn’t he told you about his suicide mission?

To silence the dark thought that popped to the front of your mind, you leaned forward to kiss him again, and your hands set back to work on shedding away the rest of his clothes. He easily stepped out of his pants as you pushed them down, and he rid you of your underwear completely just as you pushed away his as well. A second finger of his joined the first one, working to stretch you out as his other hand scooted you to the very edge of his desk.

“Are you ready for me?” He asked calmly as your hand reached for his erection, your tongue darting out to lick your lips at the sight of his glistening tip. You could barely speak as he curled his fingers inside of you again, but you did manage to nod just as your hand wrapped around his shaft, causing a low moan to fill the air between you. William’s hips bucked under your touch, and you smiled to yourself at how quickly he responded. You two were the same in that regard.

You sighed in disappointment as William slowly removed his fingers from inside of you, but that empty feeling was short-lived as you assisted in guiding him towards your entrance and he slowly pushed himself inside. The stretch of him was familiar, and it was his turn to groan as his own eyes slowly shut as your warmth engulfed him completely. His jaw went slack as one of your hands brushed through his hair, pulling him in so that his forehead was now resting against your own.

“You feel so good,” he murmured as your fingers threaded through the hair at the base of his neck. “You were made for me.”

He didn’t phrase it as a question, and you knew that he didn’t mean it in a spur-of-the-moment kind of way. He meant it as a statement that was as true as the sky was blue. From your complete understanding of his goals, your unwavering support, and the way you simply fit him, it was as if the Heaven’s had crafted you for one another specifically. You felt tears spring to your eyes as you ruminated on just how true his words were, and how deeply you reciprocated the sentiment.

Tears pricked the corners of your eyes as you could do nothing but nod in response. You knew that you couldn’t contain the emotion in your voice if you tried to speak, and the last thing you wanted was for him to stop what he was doing.

Slowly, he pulled himself back before snapping his hips back into yours, the movement shaking the desk that you were seated on. Your eyes shut as you reveled in the feeling, the pace he had started to set bringing about a familiar burn in your stomach that you couldn’t get enough of. One of your hands was still resting against the back of his head, fingers tangled in his hair, while the other hand moved back to his hip, the tips of your fingers digging into his flesh as his thrusts started to come faster.

The lewd sounds of skin slapping against skin filled the air of the quiet office, and William moved one of his hands back between your legs, easily finding your clit as he began rubbing quick circles against it. You jumped at the overwhelming sensation, and he swallowed your moan as he captured your lips with his, an action that wasn’t entirely common for him. Typically, he liked to hear the noises you made and would rarely interrupt them. However, there was something in this particular kiss that had your skin burning in a different way.

He was thinking about it too.

You squeezed your eyes shut tighter as you did your best to meet his motions with your own hips, your high building faster and faster as you strived to reach that edge before you completely fell apart. William’s teeth gently grazed against your bottom lip, nibbling on it slightly as he held back his own moans and his hips started moving more erratically. You knew that he was close to his own climax, and just as his ministrations against your clit sent you over the edge, he was quick to follow.

The warmth of him filled you as you finally broke apart so that you could catch your breath. You both knew the mess that you had made of the top of his desk, but William didn’t seem to mind as a smile spread across his lips before his head fell to rest against your shoulder.

“I love you.”

The three words felt different now as they fell from his lips. Hearing them had always sent your heart racing, but now your heart ached. Despite the moment you had just shared, the reality of your evening finally hit you and you felt like you couldn’t breathe. A lump formed in your throat, and your silence seemed to alert him that something was wrong as he lifted his head to meet your gaze, just in time to watch the first tear slide down your cheek.

You had hoped that maybe shutting your eyes would hold them at bay, but it was clear that the effort was useless. A warm hand brushed against your cheek as William wiped the tear away, and when you worked up the courage to open your eyes, you were met with the sight of him regarding you sadly.

“Darling, why are you crying?”

He was asking the question, but it felt like he already knew the answer. His palm rested against your jaw as he waited for your response, his eyes trailing over every inch of your face as if looking for any slight changes to your expression.

“I heard you talking to Fred earlier,” you admitted, opting for the truth instead of a half-baked lie. William’s eyes widened slightly, though the surprise wasn’t as intense as you thought it might be. Instead, his frown only deepened and you could see conflict start to meld into his expression. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

With your compromising position, William slowly pulled out and moved to re-dress himself before he replied. You remained exactly where you were, unable to move a muscle despite the vulnerable position, while it was your turn to wait for a response. As you watched him, it was then that you noticed a few flecks of blood spread across his collarbone and shoulders, and you thought about the mission that he had set out on earlier that night and the nobleman whose rug you had almost thrown up on.

“The things I’ve done, I cannot be forgiven for. But they are things that I cannot take back. Everything now is for the greater good of tomorrow. The world will be better once the job is done.”

It sounded so rehearsed you couldn’t help but scoff. It sounded like a speech he would give everyone else, but it didn’t sound genuine to your ears. This wasn’t the way that William spoke to you. This was a facade. For whatever reason, even after everything you had been through, he was trying to fool you.

“And what about me? Do you think I’ll be better once you’re gone?” Your voice cracked halfway through the question, and the shift in William’s face was slight but still noticeable. He looked remorseful, but he still hadn’t said the words that you needed to hear.

“Everything will be better when class structure is a thing of the past, my love.”

You shook your head.

“I don’t give a fuck about what my standing in society is if you’re not here with me.”

More tears streamed down your cheeks as you finally moved so that you could reach for him again. Your hands found his bare shoulders and you wanted to shake him. You wanted to make him understand just how horrible you found this plan to be. You’d call it all off right now if it meant that he would live. Even run away from London and never look back if he would escape with you.

William’s thumb brushed against your cheek as a sad smile turned up the corners of his lips.

“You really are the best thing about all of this, you know? I’ve never had to hide myself or pretend to be something I’m not. Orphan, nobleman, it never mattered to you. I’ll never be able to repay you for that,” he murmured, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears now. One of your hands moved from his shoulder to cup his cheek, gently pulling him closer until your lips were just barely pressed against his own.

“Repay me by staying alive. I need you, William.” And you did. More than you could ever say. As he said that you were made for him, he was the other half of you. You would never be the same if he was gone.

Another heavy silence fell as he kissed you lightly, his lips just barely brushing against yours before he emitted a slow, shuddering breath and his free hand moved to hold the side of your neck.

“If I live for anyone, it would be you and only you,” he whispered, and you felt a flicker of hope bloom in your chest.

“Good,” you breathed as you pulled back just enough so that you could look him in the eyes once more. You wanted him to see how serious you were with the next words you spoke. “Because if you must go down, I’m going down with you. There’s nothing you can say to change my mind.”

Years of complete understanding and connection drove home your statement, and you could see the realization and acceptance settle into William’s features. He nodded before kissing you once more and then took a step back from the desk so that he could help you to your feet.

“We can discuss this more after a bath,” he suggested, and for the first time in hours, a genuine smile started to form on your lips.

“Yes. Yes, we can.”

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burpenterprisejournal · 4 months

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DJ WJM AT PROGRESSO TROPICAL #1 - E' PROIBIDO PROIBIR

2023/12/20 Progresso Tropical #1 - E' Proibido Proibir GIUSEPPE VIGNA RICCARDO DE SILVA TROPICALIA by M. Machado DJ WJM Il Progresso - La Chute Florence -IT

PROGRESSO TROPICALE è una rassegna nata per omaggiare gli artisti di "Tropicalia", il movimento estetico e musicale che, a circa 50 anni dalla sua comparsa, ha rappresentato una vera e propria rivoluzione culturale che, resistendo alla dittatura militare, ha traghettato il Brasile verso la contemporaneità.

La prima serata è dedicata ad uno degli ambasciatori di Tropicalia nel mondo, nonché forse il suo rappresentante più conosciuto anche in Europa: Caetano Veloso.

Insieme a Giuseppe Vigna (autore di un libro sullo stesso Veloso e esperto del movimento tropicalista) e Ricardo da Silva, ci avventureremo alla scoperta di questo importante momento della storia brasiliana che parla anche a noi, in un momento storico in cui sembra difficile immaginare un nuovo paradigma.

Seguirà la proiezione del documentario "Tropicalia" di Marcelo Machado del 2012, che introdurrà il pubblico al contesto storico, alle tematiche salienti e al ruolo degli artisti che vi hanno preso parte.

Per rendere il tutto ancora più "Tropical" al Progresso, a partire dalle 19:30 aperitivo a tema con dj set a cura di Roberta Meatball Adreucci. Circolo Arci Il Progresso Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 135A, 50134 Firenze FI, Italia

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#wjm #movies #djset #series

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azapofinspiration · 1 year

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Mycroft: Sherlock, be wary of women.

Sherlock: …Okay.

Sherlock: *basically marries his rival/arch nemesis/friend William James Moriarty*

Mycroft: …This isn’t what I meant.

Sherlock: Tough. *kisses Liam*

#moriarty the patriot #yuukuko no moriarty #sherliam #sherlock holmes #mycroft holmes #william james moriarty #when I read that and combined with s giving wjm that nickname #I was sold on the ship

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kdrama-movies-more · 7 months

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#behind your touch #kdrama #jang-yeol and deok-hee are the understated bromance...#WJM and MJY are the bickering old-cop/rookie duo

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lougrantsdeskdrawer · 2 years

Video

Mary discovers she’s no longer a “Miss”...

“Today I am a Ma’am”, Season 1, episode 2

#Mary Tyler Moore Show #The Mary Tyler Moore Show #Mary Tyler Moore #Mary Richards #Lou Grant #Ed Asner #WJM Minneapolis #WJM Newsroom #vintage television #vintage tv #MTM s01e02 #Today I am a Ma'am #video #1970

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gobshalloffame · 3 months

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Saving this for, uh, future reference

#WJM my beloved

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buffetstraat · 3 months

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#Wjm Kok #bertresource

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tachikoma-x · 2 months

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Link to original post

Yes Mr. lord of crime I see that you have the floofiest downward ahoge (what is the scientific name for it? Pls advise.)

A WJM figure in this exact pose is what I need.

#too cute must archive #not mine #ynm fanart rec #william james moriarty #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty

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movietonight · 2 years

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Since it’s still Disability Pride Month I decided to share this relevant 2008 interview between blind journalist David Block and David Ogden Stiers

David Ogden Stiers’ impressive 30 plus year acting career spans Broadway,

concert halls, movies and television. He has worked with Hollywood

A-listers such as Woody Allen, Tom Hanks, and Jim Carrey. He has been the

Associate Conductor for the Newport Symphony Orchestra for over 15 years.

He has also lent his distinctive voice to numerous PBS documentaries and

the 2006 motion picture Lady in the Water. However, despite his remarkable

and varied career, he is probably best remembered for his brilliant

portrayal of the tough, yet sometimes sensitive war-time physician, Major

Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H from 1977 through 1983.

Stiers’ illustrious career makes him a household name and face. But, what

fans may not know about him is that he stuttered throughout his childhood,

adolescence, and even into his early acting career. Stiers said that being

an actor helped cure him.

“I didn’t stutter when the lines were written for me,” said Stiers.

“Without lines to read was another story. One day, I noticed that I wasn’t

stuttering anymore, with or without lines. I overcame it by not giving up,

by continuing to play roles, and by overcoming my fear of saying something

wrong, or sounding stupid.”

The fact that he stuttered was not his sole reason for compassionately

portraying people with disabilities.

Stiers said: “The task of loving people doesn’t have to do with their worst

aspects. It has to do with their best aspects. My feeling, we’re all the

same person but differently expressed. There’s some things I can do others

can’t, vise versa. We’re all accomplished. We’re all on the earth, and the

more we help each other get our tasks accomplished, the better our lives.”

This was exuded when he portrayed Dan Franklin, a special education teacher

in the 1977 movie, A Circle of Children. One of the themes of the movie

included special education teachers helping autistic children reach their

full potential.

While preparing for the movie the cast visited a classroom for autistic

children.

“We sat in the class with them,” said Stiers. “We sat on the floor with the

class. We did a lot with them.”

None of the children who appeared in the movie were autistic.

Being in the movie was not the only time that Stiers

interacted with autistic people. While on M*A*S*H, Stiers and other cast

members frequently interacted with William Christopher’s autistic son, Ned.

Christopher, who was the compassionate Father Mulcahy on M*A*SH, often

brought Ned to the set.

“Ned was beginning to function pretty well,” said Stiers. “Whenever Ned

felt comfortable enough to come over to a group of people who were talking,

he was immediately included. Ned was an intelligent young man who thought

at a rate of speed that I could never do.”

In 1976 and 1977 Stiers guest starred on The Mary Tyler Moore show, three

times, portraying the WJM Station Manager Mel Price, who happened to

stutter. At the time, Stiers stopped stuttering.

“I auditioned for the role and because it was terribly easy for me to

stutter realistically, they hired me.”

Stiers summed up Mel Price as being a falsely nice person. Stiers said that

this was particularly evident in episode 157, “Look at Us, We’re Walking.”

In that show, Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and Lou Grant (Ed Asner)

told Mel Price that if they didn’t get a raise, they’d quit. Price refused

and they walked out. At the end of the episode, Price asked them to return

and he even promised them a raise.

Stiers said: “that episode was like a forecast of what was to come in

corporate America. ‘You put in some good work; we’ll kill your 401k. If you

don’t like that, if you get upset and walk away, we won’t care. We’ll hire

someone better qualified for less money. If you want to go, then go!’

That’s pretty much how I view corporate business now. I don’t think that

they care about middle management or medium numbers staff.”

While on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Stiers learned from the M*A*S*H writers

and producers that Larry Linville, who played Major Frank Burns, was

leaving the series and they hired Stiers to replace him.

“They wanted to keep the character number in tact,” said Stiers.

Although there were a number of episodes when Winchester was incredibly

benevolent, two of them dealt with him helping disabled soldiers.

In episode 188, “Morale Victory,” Winchester was kind to Private David

Sheridan (James Stephens) who thought that his dream of being a concert

pianist was ruined because of his permanently injured hand. Winchester

showed Sheridan that he could still pursue a meaningful music career, and

that his dream could never be silenced unless he allowed it to be.

“That episode was actually an idea and a present from Loretta Swit,” said

Stiers. Swit, who played Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, had the idea

of having an affair with Private Sheridan but changed her mind because her

character had had flings with other wounded

Stiers said that the producers did not develop that episode because Stiers

used to stutter or because he portrayed Mel Price.

soldiers. Swit wondered who else could have a rapport with him. She knew

that Stiers studied at Julliard, so he became her obvious choice. She took

her idea to the producers and they liked it.

“They told me this was from Loretta,” said Stiers. “That was the hardest I

ever hugged her.”

“There are those serendipitous overlap realities that don’t actually know

one another,” said Stiers.

In 1987, four years after M*A*S*H ended, Stiers appeared on Matlock in

episode 26 “Blind Justice.” Stiers portrayed Arthur Hampton, a blind

sculptor who committed murder.

In episode 244, “Run for the Money” Winchester befriended Private Walter

Palmer (Phil Brock) who stuttered. Winchester told Palmer that from reading

his record, he knew that he had an incredibly high I.Q. To prove this, he

gave Palmer his copy of Moby Dick and told him that that the book was

worthy of his intelligence. When Private Palmer asked Winchester why he was

being so nice to him, Winchester changed the subject.

At the end of the episode, Winchester returned to his tent and played a

tape that his sister Honoria mailed him. She stuttered.

Stiers explained why Winchester refused to tell Palmer why he was being

kind and supportive: “It was part of the character trait that Winchester

would NEVER admit that he had been kind to someone. He would never admit

that that kindness came from a part of his heart that was wounded by

someone else’s trouble. He would not admit to things like moments of

compassion or insight. He maintained that awful glacial exterior.”

“The producers hired for me a blind advisor to be on the set,” said Stiers.

“She was a wonderful young lady with a gorgeous golden retriever, whose

name was unfortunately Andy. (There were two Andy(s) on the set, the Seeing

Eye dog and Matlock’s star, Andy Griffith.) I was not adept to being around

people with disabilities, never attaching my stuttering as a kid to anyone

else’s. I thought that I would never understand anyone else’s problems.

That changed when I was on Matlock. It was opening my head and my heart;

getting on with the empathy that we all need to bring to bear on getting

along with each other.” On the Matlock set, Stiers committed a memorably

embarrassing faux pas: “I would finish rehearsing a scene; I’d walk to the

woman and ask, `How did I look? Did I do everything right?’ I forgot that

she couldn’t see. She forgave me. We became good friends.”

Stiers’ advice to all aspiring actors and musicians, both able-bodied

and/or with disabilities is the same…… never give up!

#this is the interview that is cited in that one metv article and it was a little tough to find the whole thing #mash #disability pride month #david ogden stiers #I just copy pasted the interview as it was on the website #so any formatting issues aren't my fault #speech impediment #blindness #autism #disability

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