#second report of dr. watson

[thefisherqueen]

So I'm just back from a hiking trip during which I was entirely out of phone reception reach, so I've fallen behind on Sherlock Holmes' The hound of the Baskervilles! Funnily enough, this novel was quite a lot on my mind during hiking, because I also was in a place deemed by many to be Moody and Dreary (though it was tundra, not the moor), and I crossed so many bogs - and yet, managed to not get slowly sucked in to death once! Instead, my enemy nr 1 was quite a lot of rain and, especially, a never relenting harsh wind. Very exhausting. I also was made concious once again to all the strange noises created by wind and water. There's 6 chapters now for me to catch up, let's see how far I can get today between unpacking and laundry and other chores!

IX - Second report of dr. Watson There is an opening between two trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down upon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse which can be obtained. It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since only this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for something or somebody upon the moor. The night was very dark, so that I can hardly imagine how he could have hoped to see anyone. It had struck me that it was possible that some love intrigue was on foot. That would have accounted for his stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness of his wife. The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped to steal the heart of a country girl, so that this theory seemed to have something to support it. Nice bit of logical reasoning from Watson. I have to laugh a little at Watson here, though, for always thinking that romance must be involved. Also - what is this tendecy of men to compliment other men of their looks by going 'the girls must love him!' No sir, YOU love him, just admit it

So I reasoned with myself in the morning, and I tell you the direction of my suspicions, however much the result may have shown that they were unfounded. Spoilers, Watson, spoilers!

“Perhaps then he pays a visit every night to that particular window,” I suggested. “Perhaps he does. If so, we should be able to shadow him, and see what it is that he is after. I wonder what your friend Holmes would do, if he were here.” “I believe that he would do exactly what you now suggest,” said I. “He would follow Barrymore and see what he did.” It's very adorable to me that these two grown men are deciding their actions based on their idea of what their hero Holmes would do

When the house is renovated and refurnished, all that he will need will be a wife to make it complete. I can so easily imagine Holmes' eye-roll at Watson's romanticism upon reading this part, and this time I'm 100% with him. Watson, this is Too Much. There's no reason at all to put this line into your report - it tells Holmes nothing except your own projection

I am sorry to intrude, but you heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and especially that you should not go alone upon the moor.” Sir Henry put his hand upon my shoulder with a pleasant smile. “My dear fellow,” said he, “Holmes, with all his wisdom, did not foresee some things which have happened since I have been on the moor. You understand me? I am sure that you are the last man in the world who would wish to be a spoil-sport. I must go out alone.” For heaven's sake, sir Henry, being killed will be more of a spoil-sport than Watson's presence on your little romantic moor adventure. Also, Watson would be more than happy to join in the fun with you two

At this instant Sir Henry suddenly drew Miss Stapleton to his side. His arm was round her, but it seemed to me that she was straining away from him with her face averted. He stooped his head to hers, and she raised one hand as if in protest.  Oh, red flag. Seems she's not into this, sir Henry, leave her alone. Even if her rejection is just for her brother's sake - still wrong to push

Stapleton was the cause of the interruption. He was running wildly towards them, his absurd net dangling behind him. He gesticulated and almost danced with excitement in front of the lovers. What the scene meant I could not imagine, but it seemed to me that Stapleton was abusing Sir Henry, who offered explanations, which became more angry as the other refused to accept them. Becoming more and more curious as to the reasons for Stapleton's objection to his sister and sir Henry's courting. Am suspecting something fucked up - though at the moment, considering how pushy Henry is being, my sympathy is more with Stapleton

I explained everything to him: how I had found it impossible to remain behind, how I had followed him, and how I had witnessed all that had occurred. For an instant his eyes blazed at me, but my frankness disarmed his anger, and he broke at last into a rather rueful laugh. “You would have thought the middle of that prairie a fairly safe place for a man to be private,” said he, “but, by thunder, the whole country-side seems to have been out to see me do my wooing—and a mighty poor wooing at that! Many can learn something from Watson's honesty and communication! And Henry's affront at having been observed is making me laugh. Miles of wide open land might not be the best place to carry out something private, lord. Go into a forest or something like that next time

What's the matter with me, anyhow? You've lived near me for some weeks, Watson. Tell me straight, now! Is there anything that would prevent me from making a good husband to a woman that I loved?” Oh, I don't know, might have something to do with the last lord having possibly just been murdered and a family curse to your name and active threats being carried out towards your person??? Did sir Henry just forget all that?

I tell you, Watson, I've only known her these few weeks, but from the first I just felt that she was made for me, and she, too—she was happy when she was with me, and that I'll swear. There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.  ... Is sir Henry here admitting that miss Stapleton never actually said with words that she was interested in him, that he was going on vibes alone? Yikes

He was very sorry for all that had passed, and he recognized how foolish and how selfish it was that he should imagine that he could hold a beautiful woman like his sister to himself for her whole life. If she had to leave him he had rather it was to a neighbour like myself than to anyone else. But in any case it was a blow to him, and it would take him some time before he could prepare himself to meet it. He would withdraw all opposition upon his part if I would promise for three months to let the matter rest and to be content with cultivating the lady's friendship during that time without claiming her love. This I promised, and so the matter rests. Three months... until the plot, whatever it is, has had the chance to be carried out? I still don't think that Stapleton is the main guilty party. But evidence is mounting that he knows more about this plot than he's letting on. Also am increasingly annoyed that we still don't know miss Stapleton's actual level of interest in sir Henry. So far, even in private with the lord, all she has done is warning him. Am also irritated that her beauty is her only trait that's refered to. If her beauty is her main virtue even to her brother... that has implications I don't like at all

And now I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained face of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the western lattice window. Congratulate me, my dear Holmes, and tell me that I have not disappointed you as an agent—that you do not regret the confidence which you showed in me when you sent me down. All these things have by one night's work been thoroughly cleared. We were really bereft so far for never knowing what Watson sounds like when he isn't being a narrator but writes to Holmes directly. Watson: "compliment me, my dearest? Tell me I've been a good boy and done well? Not sure I can live without your approval" We've joked before about Holmes having a praise kink, but Watson is clearly in even deeper

 I sat up with Sir Henry in his rooms until nearly three o'clock in the morning, but no sound of any sort did we hear except the chiming clock upon the stairs. It was a most melancholy vigil, and ended by each of us falling asleep in our chairs. *is having issues holding myself back from joking about what these two handsome horny hotheads might have been up to to pass the time in the privacy of sir Henry's rooms* On second thoughts, actually, why should I hold myself back. "I know something which to amuse ourselves with while we are waiting, my lord, but you must promise me you will remain very quiet. Can you do that, or should I gag you?" "Do go on, doctor, I'm... intrigued" Ok, I'll leave the rest for AO3

The next night we lowered the lamp, and sat smoking cigarettes without making the least sound.  Ah, the stealthy act of... smoking cigarettes. Surely no one will be able to smile that from a mile away

When at last we reached the door and peeped through we found him crouching at the window, candle in hand, his white, intent face pressed against the pane, exactly as I had seen him two nights before. We had arranged no plan of campaign, but the baronet is a man to whom the most direct way is always the most natural. All that time spent waiting, all that stealth... to just barge into there without plan? Absolute disasters, the two of them

The man's face became openly defiant. “It is my business, and not yours. I will not tell.” “Then you leave my employment right away.” “Very good, sir. If I must I must.” “And you go in disgrace. By thunder, you may well be ashamed of yourself. Your family has lived with mine for over a hundred years under this roof, and here I find you deep in some dark plot against me.” Sir Henry is reacting with such a typical rich man's abuse of power already here, feeling entitled to everything going on in his house, assuming without evidence that it is done against him, and threatening this man's whole income and reputation if he doesn't comply with him. I hate it

 It is my doing, Sir Henry—all mine. He has done nothing except for my sake and because I asked him.” “Speak out, then! What does it mean?” “My unhappy brother is starving on the moor. We cannot let him perish at our very gates. The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him, and his light out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it.” “Then your brother is—” “The escaped convict, sir—Selden, the criminal.” Well that IS a plot twist I did not see coming. Lady, I admire sibling loyality and care a lot for my younger brother myself, but exceptionally cruel murder is maybe where you should draw the line? I'm very much wondering what the story will do with this. I guess this resolves the escaped convict subplot and that he has nothing to with the plotting against the Baskervilles

“Well, it cannot be far if Barrymore had to carry out the food to it. And he is waiting, this villain, beside that candle. By thunder, Watson, I am going out to take that man!” Oh my. This man will run straight into danger, and I'm sure Watson, who's supposed to keep him save, will only encourage him. They have so much 'we make each other worse' energy

We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was our man running with great speed down the other side, springing over the stones in his way with the activity of a mountain goat. A lucky long shot of my revolver might have crippled him, but I had brought it only to defend myself if attacked, and not to shoot an unarmed man who was running away. Well, Watson at least has Morals about using his revolver

And it was at this moment that there occurred a most strange and unexpected thing. We had risen from our rocks and were turning to go home, having abandoned the hopeless chase. The moon was low upon the right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc. There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining back-ground, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay before him.  Evidence, finally, of another human figure involved in this plot! And he looks nothing like Stapleton either. Tall, thin, commanding presence - Sherlock Holmes, is that you?

X - Extract from the Diary of Dr. Watson I am conscious myself of a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger—ever present danger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it. The essence of gothic horror, right here :) A stranger then is still dogging us, just as a stranger dogged us in London. We have never shaken him off. If I could lay my hands upon that man, then at last we might find ourselves at the end of all our difficulties. To this one purpose I must now devote all my energies. Seems like Watson has a new plan of action! At least, if you can call it a plan

“He'll break into no house, sir. I give you my solemn word upon that. But he will never trouble anyone in this country again. I assure you, Sir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have been made and he will be on his way to South America.  Barrymore: don't worry! If he'll murder people again, it won't be in our country, so really everything is fine! (wow. So much wow)

I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should have said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it out. I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man. It's about poor Sir Charles's death.” The baronet and I were both upon our feet. “Do you know how he died?” “No, sir, I don't know that.” “What then?” “I know why he was at the gate at that hour. It was to meet a woman.” Ok, maybe Watson does like romance in his stories, but romance does seems also have a tendecy to keep finding him whether he wants it or not. Now what was this appointment about?

But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole business. We have gained that much. We know that there is someone who has the facts if we can only find her. What do you think we should do?” “Let Holmes know all about it at once. It will give him the clue for which he has been seeking. I am much mistaken if it does not bring him down.” Gods, I hope Holmes does come! I've been missing having my dear silly man around almost as much as Watson has

And then I thought of that other one—the face in the cab, the figure against the moon. Was he also out in that deluged—the unseen watcher, the man of darkness? In the evening I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling about my ears. God help those who wander into the great mire now, for even the firm uplands are becoming a morass. I found the black tor upon which I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggy summit I looked out myself across the melancholy downs. Rain squalls drifted across their russet face, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung low over the landscape, trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the fantastic hills. Some nice vivid writing here! The unseen watcher, the man of darkness: that are some badass names Watson has come up with. It would be so funny if it really does turn out to be Holmes himself - I bet he'd be most pleased to be called names like that

There is Laura Lyons—her initials are L. L.—but she lives in Coombe Tracey.” “Who is she?” I asked. “She is Frankland's daughter.” Found her, it seems! That is impressively fast, Watson. I had to read back to remember who Frankland was - the man who was so happy to start all those lawsuits and who has the huge telescope. Seems he's not as kind and good-natured as Watson described him to be if he disowned his own daughter for marrying against his will. Could this man the main villain, then? Did his daugher know something which she wanted the eldery Baskervilles to warn about? I am certainly developing the wisdom of the serpent, for when Mortimer pressed his questions to an inconvenient extent I asked him casually to what type Frankland's skull belonged, and so heard nothing but craniology for the rest of our drive. I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing. Laughing so hard at this. Watson has learned to weaponise people's autism against them. Well done, my boy. Just how often did you use this trick against Holmes?

I sat with my coffee-cup halfway to my lips and stared at Barrymore. “You know that there is another man then?” “Yes, sir; there is another man upon the moor.” So Barrymore also knows about the Unseen Watcher! Who is he? When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked through a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline of the wind-swept trees. It is a wild night indoors, and what must it be in a stone hut upon the moor. What passion of hatred can it be which leads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time! And what deep and earnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial! There, in that hut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which has vexed me so sorely. I swear that another day shall not have passed before I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the mystery. Watson's really is going all into his investigation!

Had such a great time reading these two chapters but that was quite enough for today, time for a shower and dinner now. Starting another chapter tomorrow after work!

[eirinstiva]

The second report from Dr. Watson from Baskerville hall started as romance story and ended as gothic horror. There's a bit of crime novel, too.

Praise him, Holmes! Watson is doing his best!!!

[amypihcs]

Level of down-badness: long thin hands

Heyyy! here we are with the second!! chapter of valley of fear!

Let's get started!

And we get started with Dr Jphn H Watson telling us once more that Mr Sherlock Holmes Esq., light of his eyes and love of his life, is a bitch who needs drama to feel alive...

He's a darling, mind you, but he's quite certainly vaccinated against the horrors he sees during his job.

Turns out that Holmes' lack of surprise is surprising for Mr Mac

And he, being a good detective, after he explanationproposes to go trace the evil at his source.

Holmes is for a eeeeh not necessary or even useful just as it is now.

-rant on moriarty follows-

Turns out that Mac has met him! But doesn't know enough of art history.

W: Wait a moment Holmes, didn't you eliminate every knowledge you didn't need from your mind attic back in the day? H, with a deep desire to kiss him stupid: Not now dearest, I'm trying to impress our good Mr Mac.

Even if he doesn't study half as much as he should he's a nice detective... and triggered the infodump on criminal history and Moriarty of course.

Okay

Very interesting for sure, but back to business, shall we? -Mac

Oh well, that's rather easy.

Either a punishment, meaning an execution, or the man was caught into one of moriarty's business things. There may be a third explanation, but we shall see there, of course!

H: More info if you please? Watson, my dear, are you taking notes? W, drawing hands: Sure, old man!

Yes, this is the watson-level downbadness. Oh well, to his partial excuse he was worried for Holmes, he was bored!

Turns out, all the info come from a report and letter calling Inpector Mac to Sussex and asking to bring Holmes as well! Nice!

And so no more info means no more theories!

It is a capital mistake to theorize without data!

And we'll see our data in the next chapter!

[myemuisemo]

If Doyle's goal is to deconstruct gothic horror, he's hitting on all cylinders in chapter IX of The Hound of the Baskervilles, "Second Report of Dr. Watson," in Letters from Watson. I could believe he is: A Study in Scarlet ended up being about the romance of the frontier West going very wrong, and The Sign of the Four gives us the romance of a Moonstone-like story gone very wrong. Racing about with romantic notions is not the key to success in this universe.

Watson does... Watson just... WATSON.

The man is rather deaf

Suddenly, Barrymore is somewhat deaf. There's been no sign of this before. Ah, serial-writing, where if you forgot to foreshadow something convenient, you can't go back and fix the earlier chapters!

Sir Henry goes a-courting

Watson truly does not understand Holmes' instructions to simply observe without imposing his own expectations. What does he actually see when following Sir Henry to his meeting with Miss Stapleton?

Sir Henry has contrived to meet Miss Stapleton on a walk, whether by appointment or learning her routine. They speak in a serious manner. Beryl Stapleton resists Sir Henry's efforts to embrace her. They are interrupted by her brother, who is not happy about this scene. From this, Watson constructs a romance of a sister prevented from happiness by a possessive brother.

Sir Henry later reports that Beryl Stapleton reluctantly agreed to the date and used it to try to warn him to leave the moor, just as she tried the first time we met her. Watson nonetheless makes no connection that perhaps Jack Stapleton doesn't want her warning Sir Henry off the moor.

Stapleton's explanation that he can't bear parting from his sister should have set off "not quite healthy" alarm bells even in 1889. His responsibility ought to be to see her settled appropriately.

Nothing here suggests that Beryl Stapleton wants to marry Sir Henry. Yet Watson is determined to find a romance.

Sir Henry and Watson go a-stalking

Mrs. Barrymore should have just stashed her brother in a disused outbuilding or back bedroom. I know we're having decorators in, but find an attic. Heck, the house probably has a priest's hole.

Common sense dictates that, knowing Selden's rough position on the moor, one keeps the Barrymores away from windows until morning, at which time one contacts the prison warden with the news. Let the warden field a team to surround the hiding place!

But no. Addled by testosterone and cigar smoke, Watson and Sir Henry hare off into the moor in the dark, causing Selden to flee to who-knows-where.

Of Selden's face, lurking:

Foul with mire, with a bristling beard, and hung with matted hair, it might well have belonged to one of those old savages who dwelt in the burrows on the hillsides. 

Modern archeology reveals that the Bronze Age inhabitants had combs.

Watson's vision

In the aftermath of having completely effed things up, Watson sees something odd.

There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining back-ground, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay before him. 

My first thought was "please be Sherlock Holmes, having thrown off his disguise as a humble peddler, prison guard, or moor sheep!" Then I realized Holmes would be face-palming at the foolishness he'd just witnessed, so it's more likely a shadow, an oddly shaped tree, or either Barrymore or Stapleton stalking our "heroes" about the moor.

Where are we now?

We know a secret of the Barrymores (that they were helping Selden the murderer). Is this their only secret?

We have reason to believe the Stapletons have secrets, none of which we've discerned. Whatever those are, marrying Beryl to Sir Henry apparently wouldn't forward their goals.

If it's intentional (not a serial-writing slip-up) that the black-bearded man in London acted as if he had perfect hearing, then that wasn't Barrymore.

The purpose of killing Sir Charles and threatening Sir Henry remains unknown. Also, the whereabouts of his second missing boot.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Red Dragon (2002)

Red Dragon can feel familiar at times: the novel by Thomas Harris was also adapted in 1986, much of what we see here we also saw in Silence of the Lambs and this is a prequel so you kind of know where things are going with most of the characters. That said, Hannibal Lecter as portrayed by Anthony Hopkins is such a compelling monster that even a little bit of him goes a long way. If you want more, you get it. Even if you shudder at the thought of ghoulish serial killers, this is an engaging psychological thriller.

After capturing Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) and nearly losing his life in the process, agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) retires from the FBI. Years later, he’s brought back as a consultant when a serial killer nicknamed the “Tooth Fairy” attacks a second family during a full moon. After hitting a wall and with the next full moon approaching, Graham reluctantly admits he cannot complete the killer's psychological profile without Lecter's help.

We’ve seen several aspects of this scenario in The Silence of the Lambs. Lecter behind bars, an FBI agent asking for his help, a serial killer whose pattern needs to be deciphered, etc. Though there is a segment at the beginning of the film that shows what Lecter was like before he was caught, it’s not like in Hannibal where he’s out in the world for a good chunk of the film; the scenes are there to establish the connection between Graham and Lecter. That relationship is where this picture differs the most from Silence, as there’s a horror equivalent of a love triangle going on. Lecter is playing a strange game with Graham. He wants to keep him nearby by feeding him information about the Tooth Fairy but he also wants him dead. Lecter hopes the Tooth Fairy can get revenge on Graham on his behalf.

On the agent’s side, he and Lecter were friends, or at least respected each other professionally before they tried to kill each other. One of the reasons why Graham was pulled out of retirement is his unique ability to put himself in the mind space of someone as deranged the Tooth Fairy. Diving back into that world puts him in danger, in more ways than one. You can imagine a scenario in which his psyche slips and he winds up in the asylum too.

Though he doesn't know it, the man Graham pursues is Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). We meet him early on and see that he is infatuated with Lecter. Once he realizes Graham is on his trail, you can bet a part of him hopes he can impress his idol by adding him to his list of victims. He has many newspaper clippings of Lecter in the heavy scrapbook he hides in the attic and that means he's intimately familiar with the man who's on his tail.

That triangle is further complicated by the time we spend with Dolarhyde. He’s a bit… sad in a way, though we only think of him as a man whose redemption is possible because we exclusively see the aftermath of his murders – chillingly effective snippets thanks to the editing by Mark Helfrich and the cinematography by Dante Spinotti. Dolarhyde’s motivation may be even more off-the-wall than Buffalo Bill’s but he's made more human thanks to a romantic subplot with a coworker (Emily Watson). She adds an extra element of danger and intrigue to the story. Neither Lecter nor Graham knows she's in the middle of this storm. Only Dolarhyde has any idea of what she may have gotten herself into and he has feelings for her but he's also the one she should be afraid of.

The big unknown in this thriller is how Graham will track the serial killer down. What’s going to be the “Aha!” moment? In a way, then, we’re both ahead of the characters and following behind them. That’s sometimes the case with these types of films, particularly when the serial killer has a bizarre modus operandi but the characters make Red Dragon stand out. The familiar faces (Anthony Heald returns as the Dr, Frederick Chilton), the new main players and the side characters too. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Freddy Lounds, a reporter for a trashy newspaper has a memorable role.

I’d have to sit down and watch Manhunter again to decide whether this is the better adaptation or not. Maybe it doesn’t matter and there’s room for both on your shelf. While Red Dragon is not on the same level as The Silence of the Lambs (and I haven't seen Hannibal recently enough to decide where that one fits in the series) it is a satisfying way to get more of what you liked before. (October 9, 2024)

[stephensmithuk]

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Second Report of Dr. Watson

CW for the NHS link as it contains some unpleasant pictures. Also a discussion of capital punishment.

Hearing aids were around at this time and electronic ones were being developed, but were not always very practical:

Some insect nets you can buy today:

"Confederate" means an ally. It does not mean that someone who dislikes Abraham Lincoln is around, even if the CSA got its name from that time.

"The devil entered into him" is a reference to Luke 22:3, where Satan "enters" into Judas at the Last Supper. In that context it is a willing demonic possession, Judas already being inclined to betray Jesus.

A scaffold in this context is a raised, stage-like area intended for public executions; so the punters could get a good view. While public hangings had stopped at this point, the term remained in use for execution facilities within prisons, even if they didn't look like the classic scaffold at this point; the hanged person usually dropping out of sight of any spectators.

The "yellow face" in this context is because Selden might well have jaundice:

Shooting an unarmed man who was running away would have Watson on a murder charge; he could not claim self-defence.

[archivist-crow]

On this day:

THE PLANET VULCAN

On March 26, 1859, at a small, homemade observatory in the French countryside, Dr. Edmond Modeste Lescarbault observed a tenth planet, beyond Mercury, traveling across the sun. The doctor first noticed a dot in the upper left-hand edge of the sun. After leaving to attend to a patient, he returned hours later and continued following and documenting the dot's slow descent. His evidence convinced the esteemed astronomer Joseph Le Verrier of the existence of this tenth planet: the planet Vulcan. Its gravitational pull explained Mercury's moving closer to the sun by forty-three inches every 100 years.

The first meeting between Lescarbault and Le Verrier was brusque. Le Verrier, irritated after walking nineteen kilometers (twelve miles) from the train station to the doctor's house, was also outraged that nine months had passed before the doctor mentioned the discovery. Le Verrier was also daunted to discover that the doctor had used a large old watch with only minute hands as a chronometer, counting out the seconds with the aid of a pendulum made from an ivory ball and a piece of silken thread. However, the doctor's calculations for the distance of the planet from the sun, worked out on an old pine plank, were sound. He also predicted a return of Vulcan in March 1860. It never appeared.

In 1878, professional astronomer James Watson in Wyoming and Dr. Lewis Swift in Colorado both observed an eclipse of the sun. Each independently reported seeing a celestial object that did not appear in any of the professional charts. Dr. Swift said, "[T]o my mind, without any doubt, it is the long-sought Vulcan. I have never made a more valid observation nor one more free from doubt." Unfortunately, in spite of Lescarbault's sighting and hundreds of other sightings over the years, Vulcan has never been proven to exist.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

[autisticsupervillain]

FTF: Isekai Invasion

The show where we take a character and drop them into a different franchise at a random location to see if they can conquer the world.

This Episode....

Mary Jane Watson invades Mount Massive Asylum!

Conditions:

Insomniac Games's Mary Jane

MJ as of Spider-Man 2 with all her associated equipment.

MJ will be replacing Miles Upshur in the plot of the original Outlast with all the same goals. If she can escape the Asylum alive with all the evidence needed to bring Murkoff to justice, that will count as a win.

MJ cannot call in the Spider-Men or anyone else for help.

Scenario:

The same set up as Outlast but with MJ replacing Miles Upshur. Mary Jane Watson, reporter for the Daily Bugle, gets an anonymous email from a burner account about the atrocities being committed by Murkoff at Mount Massive and goes in to investigate. MJ speculates that the building has a jammer when she mysteriously losses all signal after getting in range, but she pushes on regardless. It is only after MJ can no longer get out the way she came in that she realizes the building has been overrun, leaving her no choice but to push in deeper.

Invader: MJ

Mary Jane Watson. One of the most iconic damsels and love interests in comic book history. Though iconic for her role as damsel in distress in the Rami movies, Insomniac's Mary Jane is more in line with her comic counterpart. She's a freelance reporter capable of kicking as much ass as her superhuman boyfriend sometimes and she'll do anything to unbury the truth.

She's surprisingly an expert in stealth and infiltration. She's snuck into the compounds of crime lords like Tombstone and Hammerhead, snuck past the international mercenaries of Silver Sable and her men, and avoided capture by Kraven the Hunter's mercenaries. Using her boyfriend's Spider Lures as a distraction, she's even managed to break into the Oscorp undetected.

While writing a book on the country of Symkaria, MJ got some self defense training from Silver Sable herself, as well as a fancy new taser that can drop a goon in one shook. She later upgraded this taser gun with Peter's gadgets, allowing it to shoot webs and shoot sonic blasts loud enough to ward off a symbiote behemoth. With these tools, she's able to take down Kraven's hunters, who are strong enough to kick down steel doors with a single kick snd survive rpg rockets exploding in their face. These are the same rockets that usually explode with an energy equivalent to 650 kilojoules.

Source:

What's more, MJ is fast enough to dodge arrows from a hunter's crossbow, which csn travel up to 350 feet per second or 106.68 meters per second.

Source:

Honestly, Mary Jane Watson is kind of a badass. She's escaped from being captured by Kraven's hunters, fought her way through a symbiote hive, outrun a Symbiote controlled Spider-Man trying to kill her, and managed to fight off the control of the Scream Symbiote, with some help from Peter.

This MJ is a far cry from the damsel in distress she's stereotyped as and she's just as vital a member of Spider-Man's team as the Spider-Men themselves.

Invaded: Mount Massive

The Murkoff Corporation could never be said to have had a sterling reputation. The company had an unofficial history of human experimentation and exploitation. Never on American soil, of course. Never anywhere that the American public would actually care about. Not until they bought out Mount Massive Asylum.

Because if there's one group that Americans care about less than foreigners, it's the mentally ill.

Murkoff wanted to exploit the theories of the retired Nazi Dr. Wernicke by diving into dream theory. The enlisted him in their Morphogenic Engine program, hoping to summon, empower, and control the nanotechnological ghost known only as the Walrider. To this end, the experimented on the mentally ill, physically and psychologically torturing them. Turning the compatible into human engines so their nightmares could fuel the god they wished to enslave while leaving the incompatible to rot and die. Even loyal members of the company, like executive Richard Trager and Father Martin Archimbaud, were used as test subjects at the earliest convenience. The variants, as they were called, begain to mutate and deform. Tumors formed over their bodies, clogging their mouths and block their eyes. Their hair begain to fall out and they emancipated into borderline skeletons.

The variants pre-existing conditions worsened. At best, they became catatonic and unresponsive to the outside world. At worst, they became violent and murderous.

And then they found a subject fully compatible with the Walrider. Able to sustain it, control it, and survive as its host. Billy Hope. As soon as he was in control, all hell broke loose. The Variants broke out and happily took their revenge on their tormentors. Scientists and security alike were butched like pigs, heavily armed soldiers were impaled on pikes. And the Walrider was set free.

Notable Variants include the likes of Eddie Glusken, a misogynistic serial killer who was only made worse by the Morphogenic Engine. Granted superhuman strength by the treatments, he was now strong enough to lift a full grown man off the ground with one arm. "Doctor" Richard Trager was now strong enough to cut off limbs, decapitate his victims, and cut open the gates to the elevator with his giant scissors. And every varienty in the build was now strong enough to bash down doors and kill reporter Miles Upshur, who survived a massive explosion that blew him out a window. An explosion thst generated an energy equivalent to 11,840 kilojoules.

Source:

But the most dangerous Variant in the entire building was Chris Walker. Once a simple war veteran suffering from severe PTSD, Chis became a killing machine with an enhanced sense of smell, hearing, and sight that could let him track down his victims even in the dark. Obsessed with containing the threat of the Walrider, Chris's judo skills and military training make him a veritable beast, capable of easily ripping Miles's head clean off with one hand and bashing down reinforced steel doors.

But even he is still just a man next to the Walrider. A futuristic marvel of nanotechnology that feeds off the dreams of its host to survive, the Walrider can fly, go through walls, go through your pores and rip you apart from the inside, and is nigh-invisible to the naked eye, only complely visible on night vision cameras or during the day.

The only issue, however, is that the Walrider is completely submissive to the will of its perfect host, reliant on them to survive. And if its host is not perfect, as Miles Upshur turned out to be, they will be reduced to a walking corpse overtime by the possession.

Mount Massive Asylum represents one of the biggest atrocities committed in the name of corporate greed. A warcrime that even drew the digust of the Nazi forced to work on it. No one cares about "a building full of forgotten lunatics". Let it burn, I say.

Throwdown Breakdown:

The stats on this one are rather interesting. Miles Upshur is 11x more durable than the goons MJ can one-shot, meaning every single thug in the building is going to be strong enough to rip MJ apart if they get their hands on her, seeing how Miles is almost completely helpless against them.

But, none of the Variants have ever demonstrated superhuman speed, meaning they're absolutely never catching MJ, who can move fast enough to dodge subsonic projectiles. Sure, Chris Walker is fast, but MJ is faster than a speeding car. If he doesn't get the drop on her or corner her, he's not getting his hands on her.

Then there's MJ's other gadgets. Her sonic blasts will likely have no effect, as they're specifically designed to fight Symbiotes and ordinary humans are unaffected. At most, I could see them potentially stunning Chris Walker due to his advanced hearing. MJ's noise devices could be a good distraction, but her taser could likely be tanked due to how much stronger the Variants are. On the flipside, I don't see any of the varients breaking free of her webbing. This is the exact same webbing Peter regular uses to lift cars and restrain his supervillains. That's a bit out of the league of most Variants. Meaning she could probably skip Trager's whole segment by webbing him to the wall, which is admittedly funny.

This is compounded by MJ's far superior stealth. Walker might be a military veteran, but MJ's snuck past some of the best international mercenaries on the planet. It's no contest on that front, even with Chris's enhanced senses.

It's with the Walrider that this becomes tricky.

The Walrider isn't invisible or intangible in the same way, say, a ghost is. It's basically a cloud of microscopic nanites. It's difficult to spot and touch because it's a very thin cloud. For most people in most circumstances, it's difficult to spot until it's basically right in front of you, at which point it's too late to escape. This means that I'm pretty confident in it getting through MJ's webs, even if some of its components get stuck.

The issue is how damn fast MJ is. The second it appears in her face, she's gone halfway down the hall. It doesn't help that it prefers to throw its victims around before killing them, which would only give MJ the opportunity to escape.

I think the Walrider could easily end MJ's run if it got the drop on her. Which it very well could. It got the drop on Miles several times and he actually has the means to see it coming in less than optimal conditions, something MJ wouldn't without a night vision camera.

But, this is where MJ's superior stealth comes into play. With a sneaking ability far superior to Miles and a speed that the Walrider can't keep up with, MJ could avoid getting ambushed by the Walrider by never getting found by it in the first place.

There are plenty of scenarios where MJ gets ripped apart or, worse, possessed by the Walrider. But there are more where MJ uses her superior stealth and speed to avoid it long enough to complete her mission. And once she kills Billy Hope, whose sitting helpless in a tube at this point, the Walrider wouldn't be able to make her a new host to survive due to her just being too fast for it to catch.

Overall, I think Ms. Watson has all the skills she needs to get the scope she's after.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Mary Jane Watson!

[quailfence]

[Image description taken from alt: Image 1: A shot of a large round tea table. It has a teapot, nine cups of tea, several plates with snacks, sugar, creamers, and a flower vase in the middle. Image 2: Around the table, Godfrey and Irene are sharing a seat, leaning against each other while holding their teacups, while Arthur and Jack share another. Godfrey says: “So Professor Aronnax was the one the Captain spoke of…he was so sure that he had spread his secrets! Yet love kept his lips sealed…” Irene smiles at him. Jack, while holding a snack, replies: “It doesn’t disprove Captain Nemo’s theory of another submarine, but it makes it far less likely.” Arthur is stirring his tea on the table, asking Jack: “Where does that leave us?” Image 3: A split panel. First, Jonathan, also seated, replies: “We follow the clues we have. I told the Captain that we would search on land while he searches the ocean—” Second, a close-up of Jonathan’s hand holding a medium-sized device shaped like a conch shell. Its handle fits in his palm, while the shell-looking part extends from it. Jonathan continues, “He even gave me this.” Image 4: Jonathan continues as he holds the device: “He said that once we activate it, he could trace its signal anywhere in the world.” Mina is next to Jonathan, both her hands on his shoulder, as she leans against him, looking at the device in his hands with great interest. Griffin is standing behind the sofa the Harkers are seated on, leaning over Jonathan’s other shoulder to look at the device as well. He shouts: “You can’t be serious! That such a thing is possible—Did he give you just the one? If not I could disassemble—” Image 5: A split panel showing Quincey and Irene. Quincey is in his chair, resting his chin on his hand in thought. He says, “But first we need something to report. Seems like this tiger-head ship’s the ticket.” Irene, holding her cup, replies: “It didn’t seem relevant before, but a ship of that description passed us by after the storm. Lord Godalming, you mentioned you knew the owner?” Image 6: Arthur is stirring his tea in his hand, a look of disdain on his face. He says, “Colonel Sebastian Moran: big-game hunter and top-notch tosser.” Irene laughs in delight. Image 7: Arthur looks at Irene, lifting his cup to drink. “But beyond that, I don’t know much about the man. We don’t quite mingle in the same company.” Irene smiles and replies: “A pity Mr. Holmes is out of the country. He and Dr. Watson were engaged by some lord to look into some odd tomb-robbings in Bavaria.” End description.]

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Start reading Episode 1

Dialogue transcripts:

Panel 1

(n/a)

Panel 2

Godfrey: So Professor Aronnax was the one the Captain spoke of…he was so sure that he had spread his secrets!  Yet love kept his lips sealed…

Jack:  It doesn’t disprove Captain Nemo’s theory of another submarine, but it makes it far less likely.

Arthur:  Where does that leave us?

Panel 3

Jonathan:  We follow the clues we have.  I told the Captain that we would search on land while he searches the ocean—

Jonathan: He even gave me this.

Panel 4

Jonathan: He said that once we activate it, he could trace its signal anywhere in the world.

Griffin:  You can’t be serious!  That such a thing is possible—Did he give you just the one?  If not I could disassemble—

Panel 5

Quincey:  But first we need something to report. Seems like this tiger-head ship’s the ticket.

Irene:  It didn’t seem relevant before, but a ship of that description passed us by after the storm.  Lord Godalming, you mentioned you knew the owner?

Panel 6

Arthur: Colonel Sebastian Moran: big-game hunter and top-notch tosser.

Panel 7

Arthur:  But beyond that, I don’t know much about the man. We don’t quite mingle in the same company.

Irene:  A pity Mr. Holmes is out of the country. He and Dr. Watson were engaged by some lord to look into some odd tomb-robbings in Bavaria.

[3seven-gambler]

#⌁꒰Meeting Mγcɾoft Holmes (BBC Mγcɾoft Holmes x fem!ɾeɑdeɾ)꒱

⋆ word count: 930 

⋆ sumarry: while walking on the streets of London on a nice evening, you notice how the public phones can’t stop ringing every time you walk past them... 

⋆ genre: fluff, SFW

You just arrived to London a few weeks ago and you have already met Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion, Dr. Jonh Watson.

It was a nice evening and you were leaving 221B because you were going to take a look on some things that Sherlock needed for a case. While you were walking across the streets of London, you noticed that the public phones started to ring every time you walked past them. You decided to ignore them, until your phone was the one ringing this time. You stopped walking and grabbed your phone from your pocket.

-"Private number, huh? Ugh, whatever. Hello?"

-"You do not really like phone calls, right Miss (l/n)?" You heared a male voice talking to you.

-"Who is this?" You said a little irritated.

-"My name does not matter. Now, you will see a black car parking on the left side of the street, get on it and we will talk when you arrive"

You didn't understand anything of what was going on, but you couldn't help your self to laugh.

-"What is so funny?" He asked.

-"Apart from the fact that a stranger is trying to kidnap me or something like that, nothing, Sir." You said sarcastically.

-"I assure you that I am not trying such a thing, Miss (l/n)"

-"Ok then, why should I get on the car then? I can just keep walking and ignore you."

-"Then it would be a pity to get fired from that dreamed job of yours, now wouldn't it?"

You face went pale.

-"How did you-"

-"Get on the car and maybe I will answer some of your questions"

You looked at the street and saw a black car with a woman standing by its side. You hesitate for a moment. -“Should I really go?” you asked yourself. After a few seconds, you started to walk towards the car.

-"A wise decision, I will be waiting for you" and before you could answer, he hanged up.

After half an hour of a not so talkative trip with the woman, you arrived at your destination. You left the car and walked over a well dressed men with an umbrella.

-"Oh well, he has a good sense of fashion at least" you thought.

When you were a few meters away from him, he welcomed you with a smile, but not a real one, you could tell that.

-"Please, have a seat, Miss (l/n)."

-"No, I'm ok, thanks."

-"Alright then, I will go straight to to point. What is your relationship with Sherlock Holmes?"

-"What? Sherlock? Uhm, I don't really know, I just met him a few weeks ago..."

-"But you are already helping him with his cases and go frequently to 221B, am I wrong?"

-"Just- who are you?"

-"Let's say that I am the closest thing to a friend of Sherlock. Now, I know you will keep meeting him, so I have a job for you and, of course, I will pay you for it. You just have to report to me what he is up to."

You stared at him for a while, confussion was the only thing on your face.

-"Is something the matter, Miss (l/n)?"

You suddenly changed your face from a very annoyed one to a more relaxed one. You walked a bit closer to him, breaking a little into his personal space. You smiled softly at him.

-"You are cute, you know that right?"

Now the confussion was on the man's face.

-"I beg your pardon?"

-"He's your brother, isn't he?” you asked softly.  -"You are just worried about him. That's cute" you let a soft laugh scape your lips. You took him by surprice, he didn't expect that, at all.

-"What? How...?" you interrumped him.

-"Oh, are you impress? It's obvious, for me at least. I don't think that a friend would do all of this, so I took the risk and asked. Am I right, Mr Holmes?" You innocently smiled at him.

-"Mycroft". He said looking into your eyes. You looked at him curious -"My name is Mycroft Holmes."

You smiled -"Oh, I see. What a beautiful name for a beautiful man" you winked at him, while still smiling. -"Anyways, my answer is no. I think you instead should go to 221B more often to check on him. I know that Sherlock, maybe deep down, would really appreciate it.”

Mycroft bearly listened to you for a moment. Did you just call him beautiful? I mean, you? A good looking woman with the cute-

-”What I am thinking?" He thought.

-"Hey, you there?" You said while passing your hand in front of his face.

-"Yes, I apologyse Miss (l/n) I-"

-"Oh please, call me (y/n)"

-"Alrigth then, (y/n). I hardly doubt that my brother would appreciate anything that I do for him".

-"I know how he can be, but you two are still brothers after all. You can try at least."

-"I-I will see what I can do".

-"Yay! Then, I hope to see you soon, Mycroft. Bye bye!~" You gifted him one last smile and you walked towards the black car while waving at him.

At this point, he would have also be gone. But he just standed there thinking over and over in in you. Your smiles, your voice. Oh god, how you pronounced his name. He grabbed his phone and sent a text messege.

[text messege]

to: Anthea

Give me all the information you can find on Miss (l/n). Right away.

MH

He then put his phone away. Maybe he would start visit Sherlock more often after all.

❥ 𝖱𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝖺𝗉𝗉𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽. || 𝖣𝖮 𝖭𝖮𝖳 𝖱𝖤𝖯𝖮𝖲𝖳/𝖳𝖱𝖠𝖭𝖲𝖫𝖠𝖳𝖤.

[deelaundry]

Here's what it says on that page:

Martin Freeman

Having faced some big challenges in the last decade or so, "Paul," portrayed by Martin Freeman, is finally at peace with his job, with Ally and with his children. That’s until Luke announces that he’s about to become a teenage father. Now, Paul has to somehow prepare his son to be a dad, and a better one than he was at that. All this while having to acknowledge the advanced age and needs of his own parents.

Career Highlights

Martin Freeman is an Emmy® and BAFTA® Award-winning actor with an illustrious career spanning film, television and stage. His versatility and ability to excel in his craft, regardless of the genre, have led him to be considered as one of the industry’s most revered talents.

Earlier this year, Freeman received a BAFTA Television nomination for Best Actor for his role in the six-part BBC One drama The Responder, which has been commissioned for a second season. The series also received various other nominations, such as Best Drama Series.

Last year, he returned to the big screen as CIA agent “Everett Ross” in the highly anticipated sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In May of that year, he starred in Peacock’s limited series Angelyne, directed by Lucy Tcherniak and based on The Hollywood Reporter’s investigative article about Los Angeles’ mysterious billboard icon.

In 2019, Freeman appeared in the two final plays in the Harold Pinter season Pinter at the Pinter, presented by The Jamie Lloyd Company. He starred opposite Danny Dyer in A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter. In summer 2019, he was also seen leading the cast of Jeff Pope’s six-part ITV drama A Confession, which has been acclaimed amongst critics and audiences alike. He also appeared in feature film Ode to Joy and Yuval Adler’s The Operative, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier that year.

In 2018, Freeman was seen in Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed sci-fi drama Black Panther. He also appeared in the big screen adaptation of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories and starred in the feature film adaptation of award-nominated short Cargo for Netflix. Prior to this, Freeman reprised his role of “Dr. John Watson” in the much anticipated fourth series of Sherlock on both BBC One in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. On stage, he also starred in James Graham’s comedy Labour of Love alongside Tamsin Greig at the Noël Coward Theatre.

In 2016, he was seen in Crackle’s StartUp; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, the screen adaptation of Kim Barker’s 2011 memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War;and on television screens in Sherlock’s “The Abominable Bride.” In 2015, he starred in BBC Two’s The Eichmann Show, which was part of the BBC’s commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In 2014, Freeman starred in FX’s award-winning television adaptation of the Coen brothers’ Fargo, for which he earned Golden Globe® and Emmy nominations for his role as “Lester Nygaard.” That same year, he also won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his portrayal of “Dr. John Watson” in Sherlock. The show also saw him win Best Supporting Actor at the 2011 BAFTA Awards and receive an additional nomination in 2012. In December 2014, he reprised his role of “Bilbo Baggins” in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies. He also took to the stage to play the title role of Richard III at the Trafalgar Studios as part of the Trafalgar Transformed season.

One of Freeman’s most notable television credits remains his role as “Tim Canterbury” in the hugely successful and much-loved series The Office, for which he also received BAFTA nominations in 2002 and 2004.

Freeman’s extensive film credits include starring opposite Joanna Page in 2003’s Love Actually; Shaun of the Dead; Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s cult hit Hot Fuzz in 2007 and The World’s End in 2013; opposite Jessica Hynes in the 2007 mockumentary Confetti; and as “Arthur Dent” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Freeman’s stage credits include Clybourne Park and Kosher Harry at the Royal Court Theatre and Blue Eyes and Heels at the Soho Theatre.

https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/breeders/cast/martin-freeman-paul

I couldn’t access the link… but I still share the photo ^^.

[scotianostra]

Adam Watson, the Scottish biologist, ecologist and mountaineer was born on April 14th 1930 in Turriff, Aberdeenshire.

From an early age, Watson showed considerable academic prowess. He was Dux of Turriff Primary School and of Turriff Senior Secondary School in Latin, English, Higher Latin, English, French, Science, lower History and Mathematics.

His education continued at the University of Aberdeen in the 1950s, gaining a first class honours in zoology and also the department of natural history's MacGillivray Prize. He gained his PhD in 1956 for his thesis on the Annual Cycle of Rock Ptarmigan, and a second doctorate in 1967 for scientific papers on populations and behaviour of northern animals.

The scientist studied and wrote extensively about plants and animal life in the Cairngorms. RSPB Scotland described Dr Watson, who research included studies of various upland birds, as "arguably the most knowledgeable Scottish naturalist and ornithologist of the last century".

Dr Watson was a well-known figure in Scotland's climbing and hillwalking community. He climbed extensively in the Cairngorms and in Scotland's other mountain ranges. He also climbed and skied abroad, including in Norway, Lapland, Canada and Alaska.

A John Muir Trust Lifetime Achievement Award was among other honours given to Dr Watson. The man dubbed Mr Cairngorms also received the Fort William Mountain Festival's Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture.

Watson’s research centred on grouse, his magnum opus on the subject, co-written with Robert Moss called Grouse, was a runaway bestseller.

A dam, a natural communicator in speech or the written word also appeared extensively on TV and radio in Scotland, his first broadcast was back in 1948 – Dr Watson’s enthusiasm for the sciences was never less than infectious, and he described his work in simple terms without resorting either to jargon or dumbing down. What made him loved by editors was his ability to read standard situations from a different viewpoint.

Watson’s literary output from the age of 14 runs to an astonishing 475 items including 22 books, hundreds of scientific papers and reviews and 175 unpublished technical reports.

In 1971 he was called to represent the Crown as expert witness at the fatal accident enquiry following the Cairngorm disaster in which six schoolchildren died. His quiet evidence drew not only on law, but on science backed by practical experience of the very worst of mountain weather. He surprised the Forestry Commission when he successfully opposed a particular development not merely on the expected ecological argument, but by astute demolition of the business case.

Doctor Adam Watson died after a short illness on January 23rd 2019, aged 88.

There's a great article taken from his journal that you can read at the link here https://www.ibsc.org.uk/thirty-miles-on-ski-adam-watson-april-1951/#

[spices-and-cherries]

First Impressions (Benoit Blanc x Reader)

For a fluffy ask, what do you think of benny bringing his s/o to work with him and his s/o acts like a bridge between benny and the clients? Like Benoit rambling on one of his extended metaphors and the s/o smiling at the confused client and saying "he's saying there's an incongruency with the cause of death and the entomologist report" I think it would just be really fun if they were a team, like a more friendly and affectionate Sherlock and Watson.

This was an ask that I got a while ago by the wonderful 🌲anon! Things have been hectic, so writing has been on the back burner... That being said, I kinda got carried away with this! Okay, I got REALLY carried away with this. It’s a bit different than the request, but I hope it’s okay? This is also incredibly long... I hope you all enjoy!

I have a big interest in art and curation, but I have no idea how the nitty-gritty of it works, especially in regards to personal collections. 

I did not reference race, gender, sexuality, or physical appearance. If I missed something, please let me know so I can change it!

Warnings: theft

Masterlist:

It had been an... interesting first date, to say the least. It’s not unheard of for a date to get an emergency call mid-chew of their minestrone, but for them to drag you along as well? What a first impression - not that I’m complaining. In all honesty, it could’ve been the most boring experience in the world and I still would’ve been up for a second date because goddamn those blue eyes.

I’m a sucker, okay? So sue me. 

But no. It was not the most boring experience in the world by any stretch of the imagination. He had been polite and funny and just plain delightful. So when he got a call from work? 

“I deeply apologize - I normally don’t usually get calls like this.”

“Is it work?”

“I am afraid so.”

“Well, I’ll be here when you get back.” I smile reassuringly. He stares at me for a moment then nods, taking off with his phone. I watch him exit the restaurant, phone to his ear, speaking animatedly. I’m no stranger to work calls so it’d be hypocritical of me to be annoyed - that and he had been such a doll the entire time it made up for any inconvenience. 

I see him look at me through the window, so I give him a questioning thumbs up. He nods a little, but keeps talking. Another few minutes pass before he’s hanging up and walking back through the door. 

“Is everything alright?”

“For now, yes. Though I fear my presence will be needed shortly.” He sits down with a huff. 

“That’s a shame. I was enjoying our conversation.” I smile good-naturedly as I go for another bite of my pasta. “Maybe we could pick it up another time?” He just stares at me with a slight frown on his face. I suddenly feel a little sheepish. “I mean, only if you’d -”

“Would you like to accompany me?”

“...What?”

“Would you like to accompany me?”

“Accompany you? Wouldn’t that - is that allowed?”

“If you stay close, you should be fine.”

“...And I won’t be in the way?”

“You?” He chuckles like he knows something I don’t. “Not at all.”

“Then sure, I guess.”

“Let me just take care of the check and we’ll be on our way.” 

-----

Benoit Blanc - because yes, he had to have a cool name on top of everything else - pulled into the driveway of a large, postmodern-esque house and parked beside several other cars. I get out, suddenly feeling very nervous. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the calm energy of the place was certainly not it. Hadn’t there been a crime?

The door opens and an officer comes out. He heads straight to Benoit, but not without giving me a curious glance. 

“Ah! Lieutenant Elliot!”

“Hey, Blanc. Everyone is inside, ready to go.” He looks at me and gives Benoit a look. “Who’s this?”

“They’re with me.”

“I can see that, but -”

“Lieutenant Elliot, meet Dr. Watson.” 

“...Not this again.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Benoit looks offended, but there’s a glint in his eyes. I look inside my wallet for a business card. I hand it to the lieutenant. He reads it and sighs. 

“It’s a pleasure meeting you.” He gives Benoit a look of defeat. “Now let’s get inside - we’re wasting time.” 

“So, let me guess...” I mutter to Benoit as we head inside the house. “You’re a big fan of Conan Doyle.”

“You could say that, I suppose.” He chuckles. 

“Lucky you - so am I.” 

The inside of the house was... well... choices were made. And judging by the sad little ‘oh’ from Benoit, he was thinking the same thing. Whoever designed the interior was clearly going for a super modern look and I could tell immediately that the person living there was an art collector. 

Too bad money can’t buy taste because yikes. The colors and shapes clashed a little too much, the frames were on the cheap side and one print was upside-down. Yes. Upside-down. 

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to throttle a person I’ve never met quite this much. 

“So Mr. Mackie, this is Benoit Blanc and his...” Lieutenant Elliot trails off, unsure of how to introduce me to the tall, skinny man beside him, Mr. Mackie. I don’t blame him, I’m not sure what I’m doing here either.

“This is my colleague, Dr. Watson.” Benoit takes over quickly with a charming smile. “I thought their expertise in the field would be helpful to have.” 

“Uh, yes. Any questions you have, I’ll try my best to answer.” I extend a hand for the man to shake. The man takes it, but says nothing. 

“Right, well. We were thinking of asking a few more questions before we moved onto the scene of the crime, if that’s alright with you and your wife, Mr. Mackie.”

“It is. The living room is right over there.” He points to the left. “I’ll tell everyone you’re here.” He turns and ascends the staircase, disappearing from sight. 

“Okay - uh - care to explain how I’d be helpful to have here?” I turn to Benoit, but he’s already sauntering through the door and into the, honestly horrific, living room. There’s another officer standing in the room, looking closely at one of the pieces on the wall. He jumps slightly when we enter and looks at with confusion. 

“We,” Benoit gestures to everyone in the room. “Are dealing with a strange case of vandalism and art theft.” Oh, I get it now. “And unless Lieutenant Elliot or Trooper Wagner here,” The second officer goes to shake my hand with a confused smile. I take it. “Suddenly become art experts, I’m on my own on this one.” Benoit takes a step closer with a look of concern. “If you do not feel comfortable doing this, you have no obligation to stay. I’d completely understand.”

“Uh, I have every obligation to stay. Did you see the upside-down print out there? Criminal, I tell you. Absolutely criminal.” He shakes his head in amusement. “Seriously, though. If my expertise in the field will help you, I’d be more than happy to do what I can.”

“Thank you.” 

-----

Marsha Mackie

“So, when did you hire Ms. Beth as your art collector?”

“About three years ago.”

“How many pieces has she bought for your collection?”

“Oh, I’d say about twenty?” 

“All modern art?” 

“Yes.”

“And you’ve been collecting for how long?”

“Around fifteen years.”

-----

Arthur Mackie

“Are your friends also art collectors?”

“Some of them are and some of them aren’t.”

“The one’s that are - are there any rivalries between them?”

“Yes, but it’s all friendly.”

“What are those rivalries about?”

“It’s more like a competition to see who can get which pieces. We attend auctions together and that’s mostly when it happens.”

“Did you attend an auction around the time of the crime?”

“Yes, actually, we did.”

-----

Cora Beth

“Do you know anything about the friendly competition the Mackie’s are a part of?”

“Yeah, they’re really into it. I guess it’s a part of the fun for them.”

“What do you mean by, ‘part of the fun’?”

“The auctions are like a game and the art makes up the pieces. In order to win, you need to get your hands on the best one.”

“At the last auction they attended, did they? Get the best one, I mean?”

“Yeah. They bought this stunning Rembrandt -”

“Rembrandt? Sorry to interrupt, I was just under the impression that they only went for modern works.”

“They do. Mostly.”

-----

Frank Short

“So this... Rembrandt. Did you want to buy it?”

“Yes. Who wouldn’t? It was a masterpiece. The talk of the town.”

“So everyone wanted to buy it?”

“All the other works were wonderful, but that one was why people had attended, yes.”

“I understand there were some pretty big names being sold, so why was that one so special?”

“It had been missing for decades and just recently found in near perfect condition. And the provenance? Just spectacular.”

“Provenance? Like, where it’s been?”

“More like who it’s been with.”

-----

Sally Short

“Your husband... He’s the collector?”

“Yeah - I mean I have an interest in the subject. He’s been teaching me a lot and I love the works we have, but he’s the one really invested in it.”

“Had he... invested in the Rembrandt?”

“Absolutely. He talked about it for months after the news broke about its discovery.”

“And when he couldn’t get it?”

“He was disappointed, of course. Never said anything, but I knew. And when ew heard the news...”

“Did the Mackie’s know that he really wanted it?”

“Yes - everyone did.”

-----

Darian Hunt

“Oh! So you’re his father’s friend?”

“Yes.”

“So you’ve known Arthur Mackie for a long time?”

“Yes. His father wanted me to keep an eye on him.”

“Was his father an art collector?”

“Not to the same degree as his son or myself, but he did buy a few pieces. Picasso, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters.”

“Knowing his tastes in art, were you surprised at all when Arthur bought the Rembrandt?”

“No.”

-----

Heidi Erckle

“That’s a - uh - pretty heavy accusation to make... May I ask why you think that?”

“It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.”

“Oh?”

“I had my eye on a work by Degas for quite some time and let it slip at a dinner party that I was quite excited to hear that it was going on the market. The auction comes around and the Mackie’s stole it from me! It’s happened to others too!”

“So you think that because you said that you wanted it, the Mackie’s took it from you? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know! I simply don’t know! But my intuition is never wrong and I swear I knew the moment Frank brought it up, the Mackie’s would take it. And they did.”

“Are you sure it’s not because they were just interested in the work?”

“Have you seen this place? Of course not. They just that this is all a game and have no respect for the work itself. Art becomes useless when it enters this house.”

-----

“There’s something missing here.” Benoit pulls out a cigar and carefully lights it. “Nothing is adding up.”

“It seems pretty straight forward to me.” Lieutenant Elliot rubs the back of his head in thought. “I mean Frank wanted that work so bad that he thought if he couldn’t have it nobody could - I mean even his wife said it, he was obsessed. So he breaks in and spray paints it, taking another work with him. It’s weird, but it’s the only way I’d think that makes sense.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t explain how there was no evidence of a break in. Not a hair out of place.”

“Are we sure the Mackie’s didn’t do it themselves?”

“But why go through the trouble of obtaining it? And how about all the other works they’ve snatched from others?” Benoit waves his hand around in agitation. “Doesn’t work.”

“Want me to go through what we have so far?” Asks the lieutenant and Benoit nods. “Okay, so, we have the Mackie family. Inherited wealth from Frank’s dad and are art collectors. They have a personal collector that does the work for them, Ms. Cora Beth. Worked for them for about three years -”

“She didn’t seem to like her bosses much.” Trooper Wagner cuts in. 

“Not uncommon.” Benoit mumbles through the cigar. 

“Appraisers like herself often work for people who care more about the status that comes with the art more than the art itself. And judging by how badly they take care of their works, I’d hate working for them too.” I say, looking around at the garden. It’s just as tasteless as the inside.

“Right. Well, she’s bought them twenty-three works of art, including the Rembrandt. Mrs. Mackie claims she has an edge because she used to work for an auction house. But she had also said that Ms. Beth only bought modern art, so that doesn’t add up.”

“Her husband is more interested in the art than she is.” Benoit scoffs, taking another puff of his cigar.

“Then there’s the Shorts. Frank, the one who really wanted the Rembrandt, and his wife, Sally. Pretty esteemed in the art world -” Elliot looks at me for confirmation and I nod. Rich families aren’t something I deal with, but the Short’s have people everywhere. “And are connected to the Mackie’s through the mutual love of impressionism. The work that was stolen was apparently made by Marie Cassatt, an impressionist artist. Maybe Frank did it?”

“Not enough evidence for that. But that is some cause for diggin’.”

“Mrs. Erckle’s whole thing was the Degas she couldn’t get... Degas and Cassatt were really close colleagues and friends.” I shrug. “Just a thought.” 

“Then there’s Mr. Darian Hunt. A friend of Arthur’s dad and a fellow art collector. Wasn’t surprised that the Mackie’s got their hands on the Rembrandt, but refused to expand further. Lastly, Mrs. Heidi Erckle who claims that this isn’t the first time the Mackie’s have pulled a stunt like this before. Wasn’t needed for questioning, but insisted on it anyway. Is a friend of Mr. Hunt. That’s it.” Elliot snaps the book closed. 

Benoit is walking, head slightly titled down, in a tight circle. He stops with a huff.

“The Rembrandt is where - a storage room?” Elliot nods. “Who has the key?”

“The Mackie’s and Ms. Beth.”

“Right, of course. And the Rembrandt?”

“Right where they found it. We haven’t had a chance to get a team to look at it.”

“Thoughts, Watson?” He turns to me, eyes wide and expectant. 

“People do weird things for art. I do have one idea though, but I’d have to see the work first. If that’s okay.”

-----

The thought of someone just mindlessly spray-painting a Rembrandt - a recently discovered one at that - makes me furious. But actually seeing it? Red hot rage.

“Do you have a picture of what it looked like before? Printed out?” 

“Yes, give me a moment.” Ms. Beth hurries out the room.

“Initial thoughts?” Asks Benoit.

“Well, the culprit did a number on it, that’s for sure.”

“It was done with just regular spray paint, according to the reports.” Trooper Wagner murmurs. “No bottle has been found though.” Ms. Beth returns with a picture and we all crowd over it. It really was a stunning work.

“I’m not sure if this has already been said or not, but you don’t have a conservation team, correct?” I ask.

“That’s correct. I work directly with the auction house. That being said, I do make sure that no damage has happened once the work has arrived.”

“Can I see where it is that you examine the art?”

“Oh...” She looks over to Lieutenant Elliot.

“If you could, please.” He nods in affirmation.

“Right this way, then.” I follow Ms. Beth into a side room and then down a hallway, the officers and Benoit right behind us. She opens a door to show a small, white room with a table in the middle. The cabinets, I assume, have all the necessary tools to make a close examination.

“What were the damages made to it prior to the incident?”

“A tear right above the eye - right here,” She points at the picture in my hand. “There was also some minor water damage to the top right corner.”

“Would it be possible to bring the Rembrandt in here?”

“Yes, we can do that. I can call someone -”

“You don’t have to - just help me carry it in.” Some time later, the Rembrandt is on the table sans frame and everyone is crowding at the door. How they got up here so fast, I have no idea.

“We will be down shortly, but until then, if you all could please wait patiently downstairs, we would greatly appreciate it.” Benoit’s voice rang out and everyone made their way out. He turns to me. “Would you like us to leave as well?”

“You all are fine, just don’t get too close.” I roll up my sleeves and pull on some white cotton gloves. “Now I can’t do a full run down - I don’t have the tools for that, but I’ll try.”

“Take your time.” I look along the edges of the canvas and I examine the areas where I can just see through the paint. So far everything matched. Carefully, I turn it on its back. I take the microscope and slowly make my way down. A missing Rembrandt that somehow survived with little damage: a tear and a wet spot. Maybe a clue? Either way, seeing as the front is near impossible to read without the right tools and all that spray paint, I’m going to have to hope for the best.

“C’mon, where are you?” I mumble. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing - “Oh my god.” I can’t help but chuckle. Okay, more than a chuckle - think giggle fit.

“Funny joke?” Asks Benoit, bringing me back. He and the two officers are staring at me with different levels of confusion and mild concern. 

“I think I just found the missing piece. Or at least a part of it.” He raises a brow and exchanges a look with Lieutenant Elliot. “This, dear Sherlock, is what we call in the industry... a fake.” 

Blink. Blink blink.

“A what?”

“It’s not a real Rembrandt. Either they took the real one and replaced it with a damaged version of it or it was never the real one to begin with.”

Silence.

“...Oh lord.”

“And how exactly can you tell it’s fake?” Asks Lieutenant Elliot, a bit skeptically. “Have you seen the original one?”

“Nope. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to tell, if it weren’t for the fact someone’s hair got caught in the canvas when they were making it. And unless Rembrandt had some freak of nature hair, I’d say you have your culprit.”

“This... is a very much unexpected turn of events.” Benoit put his hands on his hips and huffed. “I fear I am at a loss for words.”

“That’s a first.” Lieutenant Elliot rolls his eyes. 

“I need another cigar.”

“Three pipe problem?”

“Precisely.” Benoit grins, a twinkle in his eye. “The game is afoot.”

“Aaand that’s my que to leave.” Lieutenant Elliot slips out the door. 

“Not so fast, Lieutenant.” Elliot walks backwards into the room with a sigh. “Paper and pen? Thank you kindly. Here... are some places you might wanna call - I’m sure Dr. Watson can think of a few more. But for now, find out what you can.”

“Right, okay. What exactly am I trying to find?”

“How the Rembrandt got to the auction.” Benoit states as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Elliot blinks, shakes his head, and leaves.

-----

After accompanying Benoit on a walk around the house (both inside and out), it was decided that he had milked out just about everything he could for the day. We reconvened with the two officers out front. 

“So we’re meeting back here when? Two days from now at three?”

“Yes, should be enough time to get fake looked at - the hair examined. I have my suspicions, but until I know who made it for sure, I can’t go very far.” 

“I just told the Mackie’s that a few people are coming over in about an hour to pick it up.” Trooper Wagner then turned to me. “Will you be coming as well?”

“If Benoit wants me to, I’d be more than happy to come along.” I wink none too subtly at the detective. His ears turn slightly pink.

“Would you like to come? I realize this whole thing has been both inconvenient and pushed upon you, so if you would rather -”

“It was nice to not be the one getting a call from work for once.” I interrupt him. “And even if that wasn’t the case, you make one hell of a first impression, Benoit Blanc. So yeah, I would love to come.” His ears got even pinker and he ducked his head as if that would do anything to hide the blush on his face. 

“Am I missing something?” Elliot’s voice cut through my mini moment.

“Lieutenant Elliot, you were just witness to the best first date I have ever been on.” 

“...First date?” Lieutenant Elliot looked between me and Benoit, who had started to walk towards the cars suspiciously fast. “You mean to tell me...” 

“You were great as third wheel.” I nod in amusement. 

“I - you know what - excuse me for a moment - Benny! Get back here!”   

-----

That was super long - my longest yet - but so much fun to write! I’m really happy with how this came out! I would love to hear how you all think the crime played out and, if you’d like, I can try my hand at a part two?

- Simpy

[quasar1967]

Marvel Preview #6

April 6th 1976

The Adventure Of The Second Editorial

The Demon-Hound From Hell/First Report Of Dr Watson/Second Report Of Dr Watson: The Light Upon The Moor/The Hell-Hound Strikes