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natsubeatsrock · 4 years

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“Does Fairy Tail respect women?”

Oh, you celebrated Intermational Men’s Day last year on November 19th, but not International Women’s Day on March 8th? Chauvanist pig!

I remember it like it was a few years ago. I was catching up with the Tartarus arc and Erza was fighting Minerva in her "Nakama hakama". Someone walked in on me watching this part and made a passing remark on how the series doesn’t seem to be respecting to women.

I didn't know how to respond..

And that's weird. Like, given my track record with the series, you'd think I'd able to agree with this sentiment. But I can't fully agree with it, even as I don't fully disagree with it.

If you don't know, I did "reviews" (they were more like reactions) of the chapters in the Alvarez arc when they came out. At first, a rally big complaint I would regularly have with chapters is how female characters are framed in panels. At times, it's obvious that he wants his readers to be aroused by his female characters, rather than try to empathize with them. It got to a point where I got frustrated with it and had to stop making the joke as it was becoming stale to make.

Of course, that's only in how characters are framed. When it comes to the outfits, this becomes a worse issue. It's one thing when the Star dress for the water-themed spirit is a bikini and the maid-themed spirit's dress is a maid outfit. (Someone did a redesign of both and I think that's a bit too much.) But did so many outfits really need boob windows? (Also something, something bikini armor battle damage.)

And don't get me started on certain events. Consider that they didn't walk in on Erza's torture scenes only episodes before. There's plenty of other examples of this kind of thing involving several characters. Especially involving the main female lead of the series to a disturbingly high amount. It's stuff like this that makes it hard for me not to empathize with this sentiment.

Here’s another fun story. I was on my college campus reading one of the newer chapters of Fairy Tail. When I told my friends that, one of them noted that it sounds like a title for porn. I dismissed the comment, but was kind of embarrased by my inability to defend the series on that aspect. Especially considering I had just finished reading the Christmas special.

At the same time, I feel as though some of the complaints come from the wrong outlook on things. Like, some people will say it's wrong for Lucy and Natsu to not have the same kind of fight results. While I think Lucy could have had better ends to her fights, I don't think it's good to compare the two as they have different functions and character arcs within Fairy Tail. As I often say, Lucy is to Natsu what Dr. Watson is to Sherlock Holmes (or what Robin is to Chrom for the gamers among you).

And to be blunt, some of this has to deal with Hiro Mashima being a writer for a magazine aimed at young boys. Are they interested in female characters with depth and intrigue? I'd like to hope so. But it's not like they wouldn't be turned off by sexy girls, even if they don't have much else to them. (I say that as if I don't know women with similar feelings towards female characters.)

But, that feels wrong to say about the women in Fairy Tail. I mean, Mashima's not the best writer of either male of female characters in shonen, even and almost especially in his chosen niche of battle action shonen series (an aspect of this discussion that I don't think gets enough consideration). But for as many complaints as can be levied against him, I think there is good to be said of how handles his women.

Team Natsu has a male to female ratio that puts its contemporaries to shame. By the fourth arc of the series, the team of two girls, two guys, and Happy is established as the "main group" And once Wendy and Carla join the team, the team balance is more towards female members than male.

And they're by no means just pieces or meat or pretty faces. Wendy is argued to be one of the best-written characters in the series and has one of the most dynamic growths of any member of the main cast. Comparing her during her introduction in Nirvana arc to her during one of her fights in the latter half of the series is near jarring to see. And considering we're on this side of Hero's, the idea that Lucy is weaker than Wendy has been obvious since Tartarus.

But for her part, Lucy's exploits have been criminally underrated by fans and critics alike. Some of my favorites include singlehandedly defeating Love and Lucky, figuring out the second half of the S-Class Exam and coming up with the plans at least partially responsible for defeating Zeref and Acnologia. If we're a bit looser with what counts as a "Lucy accomplishment", she shuts the Eclipse Gate with Yukino, her future self figures out how to defeat the dragons and is responsible for rallying members of Fairy Tail in the anime. Just because she isn't taking out the big bads directly doesn't mean her actions don't move the plot of arcs of effect the main story.

And, then there's that woman, Erza. When the topic of "strong female characters" in anime comes up, I can imagine Erza as the type of character one would think of. They think of the type of female character that has no flaws. She beats all the enemies that she faces without breaking a sweat. The only people that don't like her are bad guys. Many people have rightly brought attention to how, to varying degrees, these are true of Erza.

But, it would be wrong to put Erza in the same league as [insert example here]. The whole point of her arc in the Tower of Heaven, the arc that gives the greatest focus on Erza, is all about how Erza isn't as strong as people think she is. She has a personality with more settings than "stoic heroine". She's shown to soften up and even be incompetent several times.

While it's easy to look at her fake wins, they aren't always as easy as one may argue. Yes, she's able to beat Kyouka without using her senses. However, she doesn't stop her from activating Face. Yes, she punches Deus Sema with almost all of her bones broken. However, she needs help to hurt Irene after and isn't directly responsible for her death. She's not sweeping all her enemies easily and without trying. [Use your imagination at who I'm attacking with this.]

And that's just regarding the members of the Strongest Team. This doesn't go into Mirajane, a fellow S-Class mage with her own set of complex feelings. This doesn't go into Juvia who, despite all that could be said regarding Gray, is a strong mage in her own right and whose arc is also underrated. I could talk about them and how Mavis is the first master of the guild or Irene is the mother of dragon slayers or Anna is the architect of the Eclipse Project, and so on.

I could even go into some of the stuff that's happened in other Mashima works. I could go into stuff like having all four of Eden’s Shining Stars become female in his current running work. I could also just start gushing about why I like Elie from Rave Master so much and how anyone who says she’s just like Lucy or Rebecca is objectively wrong. Heck, Mashima made Starbiter Satsuki, a one-shot with a female lead, and it may be one of his best works.

Again, this isn't to say Mashima is somehow a feminist champion among writers of shonen manga. Remember that I started this post off by admitting many of the issues with his portrayal of women. It's near undeniable that Mashima treats women differently than his male characters and many of those ways are negative. I'm not here to deny any of that.

At the same time, I feel like the ways that Mashima has elevated women in his work have been severely underrated and ignored. It doesn't undo the bad he's done on that, as some would argue. But it's not absent from his work. I believe your view on this is a matter of what you want to emphasize more about this aspect.

And, thus, we return to the scene that inspired all of this. If Erza fighting in what many would consider an impractical outfit is what matters most to you, I get that you'd think Mashima doesn't respect women. If seeing arguably the strongest woman in the series fight to save a fellow victim of abuse from demonic influence, you'd probably say otherwise. Even as I see merit in both views, I lean more towards the latter.

#fairy tail #hiro mashima #well i missed international women's day #oops #the whole thing feels weird juxtaposed to imd #basic message of 3/8 #women are awesome and can do anything they set their minds to.#basic message of 11/19 #maybe don't kill yourself #and yes #intermational men's day is november 19th #this is late because...#i have no handle on life #but all things considered #can you blame me?

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allaroundcringey · 4 years

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Dependency ~ Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 4 ~ Park Benches and Deductions

Pairing : Sherlock x Female Reader

Summary : After a few years John Watson was left no choice but to call his old school mate Amelia Harold. The matter of the call you ask? Sherlock's drug problem. What started out as a simple phone call to help out his friend turned out to be so much more: it gave Amelia Harold a chance to find out who deemed her father guilty of murder. Full of friendship, truth, heartbreak, suspense, and love this story showcases what matters most in life: your friends and family.

Warnings : mention of drug abuse, addiction, and emotional abuse in later chapters

TW : Panic attacks

A/N : as you might have noticed in the first few chapters I tend to tie the story in a bunch. I'm going to start leaning away from doing that because truly there is a theme and moral and ect to my story that I want to convey- not just the television show of Sherlock. I plan on mentioning the plot a few times for key plot points but other than that it'll be a lot of original work!

Also, some of this chapter hits close to home so if anyone else deals with those issues I wish you the best and just know everything will be okay <3

***I do not own any of these characters, plot ideas, and lines taken directly from the show (though there are only a few of those) anything pertaining to Amelia is my original work.***

Of the many mornings Amelia found herself stumbling into 221B she had not been met with such disarray. The scene that unfolded in front of her was Sherlock frantically running around, leaving behind his monstrously loud footsteps. He seemed to be searching through everything possible in the flat with no true plan of where and how to look. Papers flew everywhere along with several components to Sherlock's experiments.

John was sitting on the couch, head in his hand clearly looking fed up with the mans actions. A small part of Amelia wanted to slowly back out before anyone noticed her, but before she could seize the chance Sherlock spotted her from the corner of his eye. Moving like a trained dog he looked her body up and down and even grabbed the small bag Amelia was carrying. He dumped the contents across the floor and shuffled through them swiftly.

"You absolute arse! What the fuck was that for?!" Amelia exclaimed, waving her arms every which way.

"Drugs." Sherlock bluntly stated with absolutely no emotion.

"Sherlock you complete lunatic take a minute to breath and sit down!" John yelled which shut Sherlock up for a minute and made Amelia quiet down as well.

"Has he been like this all morning?"

"No-" Sherlock started.

"Oh yes he has. Since precisely 4 am last night. Woke me up from the sound of his gun. All because he was bored! Bored. I am at the expense of him because he can't find anything to entertain himself." John sounded exasperated and Amelia couldn't blame him. Living with Sherlock seemed like living with a toddler.

Before Sherlock could run past Amelia for the god only knows number of time she stopped him dead in his tracks by placing her hands firmly on his shoulders. Sherlock's expression was displayed as if he was a shocked child who got in trouble.

"Do you need the drugs or do you just need a distraction from whatever is going on in your brain?"

"Drugs." Sherlock grumbled, but instead of continuing his search in an act of defeat he flopped down into his chair.

"How are you John? Do you need anything?" Amelia asked, walking towards the couch and sat next to him.

"A cup of tea would be lovely-" Before John could finish his request Amelia shot up from the couch and steadily made her way over to where Sherlock was sulking.

"I know what we're going to do. I'm taking you to the park. Right now." Thankfully Sherlock was already dressed so they could go right out the door. Abandoning her bag and the spilled contents, she marched right over them while dragging Sherlock behind her.

"I'm already a third wheel." John muttered as the door slammed in front of his face.

"Mother of 3. Want's to separate from her husband. Does NOT want the kids." Sherlock pointed at the woman across the park who was walking past with a phone held to her ear, obviously in a heated conversation.

Amelia and Sherlock found themselves sat next to each other on a park bench. Between them sat a serving of chips that they were taking turns indulging in. Amelia's idea to distract Sherlock was to simply give him a task he had to complete. He had to deduce the public who found themselves at the same park. Amelia was glad they couldn't hear his deductions- most of them were quite rude and blunt.

"How do you know she's a mother of 3 and doesn't want her kids?"

"For one her body looks like she has had at least one child. Considering she is discussing divorce over the phone means that her and her husband have had time to grow apart, meaning time to have more kids. The average amount of kids a family has in this part of England is 3. And the fact that her kids are not with her at a park means she has some kind of resentment towards them."

"Makes sense." Amelia sighed.

"It's more than makes sense! It is fact. I am never wrong." Sherlock heatedly replied.

"Yes you are." Amelia wore a smug smile, knowing she was about to prove him wrong.

"No I'm not."

"The other day. You treated me differently because you thought I was fragile."

"I did nothing out of the ordinary-"

"I am not fragile. I have my moments like everyone else. But never mistake me for fragile." She took a moment before continuing on. "And I'd like to think you are the same way. You have your moments. Like this morning. But you are also not fragile."

"That man is currently having an affair with his wife's brother." Sherlock muttered turning away from Amelia.

She noticed anytime Sherlock was given the chance to open up and be real he always shut it down. She understood why he did, she acted the same way when anything about her dad was brought up. Amelia wasn't ignorant enough to think it was fine to live like that though. Sherlock was the exact opposite.

"You try." Sherlock spoke up suddenly.

"What?"

"You take a turn deducing people."

"No way in hell I'm capable of doing that." Amelia laughed in doubt at what Sherlock suggested.

"It's quite simple actually. For example," Sherlock took a moment to look around at the people who made up the park, "if someones finger nails are short and dirty they work in construction.'

"Well there's a bunch of construction workers over there. They definitely work in construction." Sherlock rolled his eyes at Amelia's sarcastic response.

"Which of the workers are on their break though? Look away from the construction scene itself." Amelia took his words to heart and started intently studying people's hands.

"Aha!" A few minutes later she spoke seemingly have found something. "That man over there eating a hot dog. Look at his nails."

"You are correct." Sherlock wore a small yet proud smile at Amelia's first deduction.

"Did this work?" Amelia turned to sit sideways on the bench to fully face Sherlock.

"Did what work?"

"Going to the park. Did it create enough of a distraction to keep you entertained?"

"Possibly."

"You're welcome."

"I would have figured it out on my own."

"Keep telling yourself that Holmes. We should probably head back to the flat. Johnny boy might be getting lonely."

"Do me and everyone else on Earth a favor and don't call John that again." Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Alrighty Sherly." Amelia could hear an audible gag erupt from Sherlock's mouth at her words. Taking her time at the park as a victory she started to lead the two of them back to 221B Baker Street.

Amelia had ended up leaving to go back to her own flat shortly after dropping Sherlock- the more tamed version- back home. Dropping her keys on the counter top, she made her way slowly towards her bedroom.

Since she left their flat she felt something building up inside. Her head felt light and hurt. Overall she felt off. It made her uncomfortable that she couldn't shake it.

When she arrived she took a deep breath and let it go. Over and over. Sitting herself on the soft ground that made up her room, she continued keeping a steady breath. Feeling the ground beneath her hands beneath her being to remind herself she was still here. Breathing in and out and feeling the carpet between her finger tips.

After being alone for so long she forgot how much it could consume her. The silence, the loneliness, the boredom, the urges. When alone every problem she accumulated piled on top of her. It was hard to breath now.

Amelia knew she had to take herself away from herself before she did anything she regretted. Going to lay down, back on the floor, she placed her hands on her stomach. Control. Control her thoughts. Breath in. Breath out. Start counting backwards in a pattern of 3 from 100. 97. 94. 91. Do it until everything

Stops.

Her panic attacks didn't last long but when they hit they hit hard. They would cause her not to be able to breath, and most times her heart would begin racing. On the outside her composure would look fine, at the most only a bit agitated. On the inside a storm was created in her mind. The wicked witch of the west would swoop in and take away her self control until she decided it was time to give it back.

Mustering enough energy to bring herself up, Amelia stood and gently lay herself on her bed. She said her affirmation statements that her therapist taught her from all those years ago. She was okay. She was alright. Everything was going to be good.

Falling into a soft slumber, Amelia allowed her body to go limp, and give herself a break.

"How are you liking Sherlock?" John asked Amelia as they were leaving a victim's place they had to investigate, courtesy of Sherlock's wishes.

"I don't feel anything definitive but I think he has potential." Amelia shrugged, answering John truthfully.

"Potential for what?" John had a look in his eyes that Amelia immediately picked up on. John couldn't hide the smile creeping onto his face.

"I do not plan to do anything of the sorts. I meant as a friend. Although he has few of those which is why I said nothing was definitive." Amelia explained, retaliating the suggesting looks Sherlock gave.

"Stop overthinking Amelia. You two click like two pieces in a puzzle. Dare I say more than we did." John faked gasped at the end causing Amelia to laugh.

"Straight lies you're feeding me John. Quite rude to lie to your old mate!"

"Oh stop it. You'll prove me right soon enough. Trust my love instincts." John wriggled his eyebrows in a concerning manner.

"That was the most repulsing thing I've witness in my life. And I've seen some shit. Please never do that again." Amelia shook her head in disappointment.

"Don't MAKE me do it again!" John laughed.

Amelia knew that her and Sherlock would only be friends. If at all. Right now she was mainly making sure he didn't take any drugs. Even though all of that was true she couldn't help but think of what could happen though. What if something happened that was beyond friends? Not wanting to entertain the thought she pushed it away and tried to enjoy the rest of the day with John.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Wave of Sexual Misconduct Accusations Rock Comics Industry

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

CW: Sexual harassment, grooming

This week saw a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against men of varying positions in the comic book industry. The first came from artist Aviva Artzy, followed up by artist and writer Kate Leth, with support from the wife of the late Darwyn Cooke, Marsha Cooke, and convention organizer Andrea Demonakos, accusing Cameron Stewart of grooming underage girls. Grooming is when an older person establishes a relationship with a usually underage one, with the intention of developing a sexual relationship in the future. As a result of this, Stewart, the one time Batgirl co-writer and Seaguy artist, was let go from a previously unannounced DC project and had a variant cover for Image’s Ice Cream Man canceled.

Later, former Dark Horse editor Brendan Wright was accused by former colleague Bekah Caden of an extended campaign of sexual harassment and stalking. Wright left Dark Horse in 2015, and has been dropped by Starburns Industries Press, as well as an anthology benefit comic for gun violence survivors, and multiple other small press books.

And finally, Warren Ellis was accused by writer/editor Katie West of using his power and influence to emotionally manipulate women into often sexual relationships, emotionally abusing them, and abandoning them. West was joined by musician Meredith Yayanos, and photographer Jhayne Holmes, who later started cataloguing and providing support to other victims of Ellis. At last count, that group is over 60. Ellis has since been dropped from the Dark Nights: Death Metal anthology he was scheduled to take part in.

Ellis’ response, posted on Twitter and emailed to his newsletter list, is embarrassing in its totality. The idea that the showrunner of Netflix’s Castlevania, a man who has had multiple comics adapted into movies grossing hundreds of millions of dollars, the man whose millennial web forum launched the careers of half of comics, didn’t realize he was famous enough to abuse a power imbalance is insulting to the intelligence he used to demand of his audience.

What these three separate instances of abuse represent are yet another example of a pattern of toxicity at the intersection of multiple forces at work in comics as a whole: a toxic undercurrent that exists inherent to fandom and the complicity it encourages, and an industry full of informal work arrangements that encourages the rapid downward distribution of exploitation. And with comics at an inflection point, caused by the massive jolt to all the systems of the world by this pandemic summer, it’s worth examining the systemic flaws that enable rampant sexual misconduct to exist as open secrets, unaddressed, for decades, and think about systemic solutions.

Just about everyone who loves comics wants to make them. This isn’t universal; there are some people who enjoy simply spectating in the medium, but if you talk to 100 comics fans, I promise 98 of them are sitting on a pitch for something. Comic conventions are packed with people looking for portfolio reviews; the internet, jammed with people trying to get their scripts looked at.

While it was in existence, the Warren Ellis Forum was one of the most reliable pipelines for new comics talent. There are good rundowns of the contributions of the WEF to current comics culture from both pre- and post-toppling of this idol, but what neither mentions is that this was an accepted way to break into the business for a brief comics era – not only through the WEF, but through the Bendis boards, and through Mark Millar’s faint echo of the WEF, Millarworld. The internet dramatically expanded the potential audience for comics, and made it easier than ever to put out your own work, but it also combined with the superhero industry’s tendency towards bombastic personalities to channel talent development through a series of larger than life internet personas and the cyber networking events that sprang up around them. These, as is the convention social scene, are full of potential abuse.

One commonality to all of these cases (and not just these cases, but also with Brian Wood and Scott Lobdell and many others) was the access to the industry they dangled to entice women into relationships. That power imbalance is creepy and bordering on toxic from the start, even if there are anecdotes of it working out. There are different ways to solve this problem – using agents to mediate the relationship between publisher and creator, as Kelly Sue DeConnick suggests, would help, though it wouldn’t be a panacea. As would comic companies regularizing the talent scouting and development process. Greater systemic access for new creators closes off one channel that these predators hunt through. If it’s easier to get your break on superhero books through a new talent training school than it is to know somebody who knows somebody, then those intermediate somebodies lose access to impressionable, exploitable fans.

It’s also time for comics to reexamine the freelance system. The comics industry has a long history of exploiting its workers powered by the freelance system, and an under examined side effect of freelancing is that it absolves companies of responsibility for the actions of what should be their employees. Freelancers occupy a murky area in employment law, particularly when it comes to harassment laws. Some places, like New York City, explicitly cover freelancers under sexual harassment laws. But New York is the exception to the rule. Most freelancers in any industry have no legal protection against the sexual harassment or discrimination that we seem to hear about every other month. It’s long past time for comic publishers to adopt policies to mitigate these problems.

Finally, a portion of the responsibility for this abuse falls on all of us, the comics community. Time and time again, when one of these harassers is outed, they’re followed by stories about extensive whisper networks warning of the harasser’s behavior, or of victims being ignored, or harassment being downplayed by people in positions of authority. Every time one of these harassers is outed, the accusation is followed by a flood of additional abuse pointed at the victim. And without fail, this additional abuse falls into one of three categories:

“[barely intelligible bigoted shrieking]”

“I like the opportunity the abuser afforded me in the industry.”

“I like the comics the abuser made.”

The first is a problem with broader civil society and won’t be eliminated until we can collectively toss hatred from acceptable public discourse, and is too big a problem to break down today. The second is a condemnation of the work arrangements common to comics and can be mitigated by the industry offering more opportunities than the abusers. The final one is a problem we should all be working to solve.

When victims don’t feel safe standing up for themselves through official channels, it’s not just the official channels that have failed those victims. Every member of the community at large has failed those victims, by failing to demand greater accountability of the ones setting and mediating the rules of the community, failing to demand more protection on behalf of their fellow fans and friends and present and future creators. Whisper networks exist because victims aren’t heard and believed. And they perpetuate the problem – you can’t be a part of a whisper network if you’re not connected to the network. They exclude large portions of fans, who eventually may find themselves targeted by these predators.

This is not on the whisper networks to fix, and none of this should be read as casting a drop of blame on the people working to protect whoever they can in the comics community. Nor should any blame be hung on the victims themselves – “We all should have seen the signs” is a cop out that ignores the complexity of abuse patterns and how abusers manipulate the rules to get away with their abuse. This is on the companies to fix, by ending their support and protection for known abusers. This is on the comics media, to stop promoting and protecting known abusers. This is on cons, to stop platforming abusers and to do what they can to control the social scene that springs up around them. And this is on all of us as fans, to stop putting these people on pedestals. Sometimes a monument needs to be torn down.

The post Wave of Sexual Misconduct Accusations Rock Comics Industry appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Comics – Den of Geek https://ift.tt/31b9y2C

#aion-rsa #Comics – Den of Geek

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river1983 · 6 years

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Prompt #38

Requested by @thatdaughterofabitch , thanks for the request! :)

Ship: Destiel

BACKGROUND: Dean Winchester was a renowned serial killer, responsible for the deaths of 23 innocent lives just this year. His total death count was at 104, and he’s been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for two years.

Castiel is also a serial killer, with a death count of only 47, but the method of murder was something out of a TV show.

A/N: I’m really sorry if this is completely not what you were looking for.

TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic depictions of violence: murder, mutilation (cutting) PLEASE don’t read if you are uncomfortable.

I’m going to sound like a physco with the descriptive words and overall dialogue of this fic...so DISCLAIMER: IM NOT A MURDERER, JUST A WRITER...WE WRITERS HAVE TO ACCESS THE INNER KILLER SOMETIMES WE’RE WEIRD BUT THIS IS TUMBLR EVERYONE’S WEIRD

DISCLAIMER 2: THIS IS NOT A FLUFFY FIC! It has a lot of violence and overall not good things. Destiel is in it, but there’s a lot of murder.

The language is a probably-translated-wrong version of Enochian. I will put the English translations up here.

**when spelling, Enochian is spelled backwards. So, ‘dean’ would be ‘nead’**

ELASA BIAB ADAGITA BOLAPE VIRUDEN: You are to be beautified

A A DOOAIN DE ELO: In the name of God

Prux, Med, Don: Ron (Spelled backwards)

Ur, Graph, Gon: L, E, I

Gisg, Fam, Un, Veh: T, S, A C

Ome gahalana ooaoana el manada: We will see one another

“Serial Killer AU”

Dean stares at the TV in anger as he saw this infamous Castiel appear on the screen again. The headliner read: INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLER BRUTALLY MURDERS FAMILY OF 4. Dean rolled his eyes as he sharpened his blade, listening to the newscaster as she spoke.

“This just in, the death count increases due to the infamous killer on the loose, named Castiel, who recently murdered and mutilated a woman in Lebanon, Kansas. The pictures and footage are disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.”

The pictures appeared on the screen, and even Dean had to admit, it was art. He paused the screen to look closer at the carvings. They were just like the ones before, on other victims. He had found the language, Enochian, but has yet to be able to translate them.

The screen changed to a video. Finally! Dean thought as he leaned closer.

He’d been hunting this Castiel for weeks, trying to kill him so he could add to his reputation. Yeah, he could kill an ordinary, insignificant human, but why not another serial killer? And no, he wasn’t obsessed...at least that’s what he told himself.

He had yet to find out what Cas looked like, which made him so hard to find. The guy was a real genius, even though it pained Dean to admit it. His carvings were so clean you’d think he was a doctor.

The video showed a man in a entirely black outfit. Black trench coat, dress shirt, dress pants, and tie. His dark, tousled hair looked unkempt but not necessarily bad on him. He had piercingly blue eyes, and a malicious smile. Dean was intrigued.

Castiel whipped around his victim, who was tied to a table, stretched for minimal movement. “Elasa biab adagita bolape viruden.”

He took out a weird looking knife, pointed at the end but expands outward, almost like a detailed cone on top of a handle. The victim’s arms and legs were exposed, and Castiel poised his blade on top of the exposed flesh.

“A a dooain de elo.”

Then he started to cut into the flesh, carving out one of the letters shown in the pictures.

The video cut off after that, but Dean had the mental image in his head of this man, so he cut off the TV. He got up and sat at his desk, picking up his notebook dedicated to Castiel. He stared at the pictures of the carvings on a different victim, trying to piece what the letters meant.

Castiel cleaned his blade as he stepped away from his latest victim. She had died quickly. He set his blade down and picked up a rag to clean the wounds he created, making sure no blood seeped out the dams of skin he severed, that his cuts stayed clean and precise.

When he was done, he left the body there for the cops to find--for Dean to find.

He first heard about Dean on the news when he murdered a group of skateboarders/graffiti artists. He had poured the spray paint into their mouths, causing them to choke on their own form of art. Not the way Castiel would have done it, but he fascinated Castiel.

He knew Dean was after him, and the reasons. His death by Dean’s hand would do great things for his reputation. Cas didn’t mind--it saved him the work of going after Dean himself.

He got back to his home and immediately went to his desk and opened his notebook dedicated to Enochian language, looking over the notes he accumulated over the years.

He first found the language while he was researching for a paper for his English class. It was an ancient dialect, thought to be the lost language of the angels. He fell in love with it, studied it until he became fluent in speech and writing. In fact, it inspired him to kill.

Castiel did not have a bad childhood. He was not an abnormal kid. He played sports, excelled in school, and wanted to be a entomologist. He was, however, a little weird, per say. He had been intrigued with the concept of death at a young age, found studying nonfiction murder mystery books and listening to podcasts about famous murders and murderers. H. H Holmes intrigued him the most. He thought it was genius using a house as a place of murder. He loved the concept of sneaking around a building in secret corridors with different rooms for different murders, no one ever suspecting anything. It was genius.

But Enochian and learning it was the final push for him. He was 26 at this time, and found his first victim at a park, simple and easy. Followed him until he got home, and killed him in his house. He lived alone, so it made no sense to drag him out of a perfectly fine place of death. He had written three Enochian Letters: Prux, Med, Don. The victim’s name. So, ever since, that’s what he did. He found ordinary people and did this to them, sketched their names into their bodies. He didn’t find joy in it, per say, but more of a feeling of content.

This was his calling.

Sure, it was ironic and cliché to used God’ s name while he killed, but it wasn’t because he was a believer. It was because of the language. Nothing about what he was doing should be credited to God.

Subconsciously he muttered his name in Enochian.

“Ur, Graph, Gon…”

He traced the picture of Dean he had gotten from the news. “Gisg, Fam, Un, Veh.”

He smiled. “Ome gahalana ooaoana el manada, Winchester.”

Dean’s childhood was full of abuse and being thrown into a role of responsibility too early. He had three siblings: Adam, Sam, and Jo. His mom died in a fire when he was only six, Jo was four, Adam two and Sam only six months. His father was not the same after the incident, leaving Dean to care for his siblings when he was only six. His father drank and hit him all the time, calling him worthless and the cause of his mother’s death. Dean never said anything, just bottled up the anger and pushed on--he had three kids to look after.

After Sam finally went to college and Dean was on his own, his anger towards his father finally surfaced. He had killed his father by forcing him to chug six bottles of whiskey--not that it was that hard. No one had ever suspected he had anything to do with his father’s death.

Dean was hooked. The adrenaline he felt from taking life from another human was almost like being high. He couldn’t stop.

So, that’s what he did. He didn’t have a day job, but had enough stolen money to last him the rest of his life. He didn’t kill for the money, or the reputation. He killed because he was addicted to it.

Dean ran his hand over his notes with a sigh. If he wasn't trying to murder Castiel for the rep, why was he after him? He didn’t even know of he had money or not, though its unlikely that he wouldn’t.

Dean knew the answer to that question, but he hated it.

He felt drawn to Cas somehow. Maybe it was the way he killed, carving ancient letters into people’s skin. Maybe it was because his devotion to his art of murder. He didn’t know what, but it was something. He wanted to kill him because Castiel was a distraction, and Dean Winchester couldn’t afford distractions.

He skimmed his notes again, looking back and forth between the scrawls of Enochian and the precise, beautiful carves in the picture. He looked back and forth again, then smiled. “Found it.” He muttered to himself, grin on his face.

He quickly scrawled the English translation onto the picture, then stared at it.

He stared at them, not able to make sense of them. What would “edaj” mean?

He looked at his notes again, seeing the small note he had written.

Enochian is spelled right to left.

He looked at it again, and got it.

It was a name, presumably of the victim. If he translated the rest of the victims he would probably see their names too.

Dean spun around to get his laptop. He would research Jade and see if he could find where she lived, and hopefully this could lead to Castiel’s location.

Dean turned on the news after 4 hours of research. Jade’s location was in Chicago, but her murder took place in Lebanon. The most recent victim’s death was also in Lebanon. He wasn't able to find out more, but he decided he would start there. He would pack a bag and ride to Lebanon, which wasn't too far from where he was now.

Dean laughed. He had sworn he would never go back there, not after he murdered his father. It wasn't because of his father’s death, but because it was where his life went to hell.

But to meet Castiel...it’d be worth it.

The newscaster came on the screen.

“There seems to be a message from Castiel, infamous murderer, to another well known serial killer, Dean Winchester here in Lebanon--”

Dean’s mouth dropped open as he paused the screen, processing that information. Castiel knew about him? And left a message? His brain was trying to process it, and he hadn't even seen the message yet. He unpaused the screen.

“--Kansas. It seems to be in the same ancient language seen in his mutilations. Here’s the message:”

Dean scrambled to get his pen and notebook then paused the screen on the message, reading it first.

WINCHESTER, I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ME. LET’S MEET.

GRAPH FAM VAN MED NA FAM’TAL MED TAL DON VAN MED GON

A/N: I can’t copy and paste the actual Enochian letters--so sorry about that!

Dean reread the message. The letters telling him where to meet Castiel was in Enochian letters, so Dean got to work translating. It didn't take him as long as he thought, only thirty minutes, but he got the message. He stared at it for a significant amount of time before taking a deep breath, grabbing his bag, then getting in his impala.

The message?

YOUR MOM’S HOUSE

Castiel sat in Dean’s old house, his victim tied to a chair at the moment, gagged because he wouldn't stop pleading. He was sure Dean would be here soon, he had to have learned Enochian by now if he was following Castiel all this time. He didn’t know why he cared so much about Dean, but he did. He had researched him, the brief semi-bio written by his sibling, Sam. He assumed that his siblings knew of Dean’s murderous tendencies, but haven't turned him in because of sentiment. Castiel had found out about this house from his biography, learned about his upbringing, and numerous facts that led Castiel to invoking Dean. He wanted to meet the man.

A few hours later, he heard the door open. He took his blade, them stood in the hallway, meeting a pair of bright green eyes staring back at him.

Castiel was taken aback. He’d seen Dean numerous times, but something about seeing him in person hit him like a truck.

“Hello Dean.”

Dean Winchester met his eyes at the same intensity. “Cas.”

Castiel cocked his head at the nickname. “Cas?”

Dean shrugged. “Your name’s too long.”

He walked down the hallway, standing right in front of Castiel. “So,”

“So.”

“Why’d you call me here? How did you know about it? About me?”

“I’ll tell you soon...first I have to deal with someone.”

He turned and went back to the room with the victim in it.

Dean followed him. Cas stopped in front of the man in the chair, taking out his blade.

“Your victim?” Dean asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Is it okay if I watch?”

Castiel nodded. “I want you to.”

Dean stepped back, getting a good view of Castiel as he did his work.

Cas pressed the tip of the blade onto the skin of the victim as he screamed behind the gag, but not moving.

“Elasa biab adagita bolape viruden.”

Dean recognized the words. It was on the last video shown on the news.

“A a dooain de elo.”

Then Castiel started his work. He looked like he was in a trance, focused only on the skin underneath his blade and fingertips and the language he was etching into them. Nothing else existed. Dean understood that.

It took an hour, but Cas finally finished, stabbed the man cleanly through the chest, then turned to Dean, cleaning his blade.

“You’re a genius.” Dean blurted. “I mean, clearly an artist.”

Castiel smiled. “Thank you Dean.”

He turned examining the cuts he made. “I don’t have much to clean up--we can talk afterward. Here, if you’re comfortable.”

Dean nodded. “I’m fine.”

As Castiel cleaned, Dean took a moment to take in his whole appearance. Every thing about the man screamed dominance. He had a certain aura around him that drew Dean in. It was impossible not to be drawn in. he was like a black hole.

Cas turned. “Follow me.”

Dean nodded. “I know this house, Cas--I lived in it for a chunk of my life.”

Castiel shrugged. “You have a point.”

They arrived in the living room, and sat across from each other. they stared for a while, not saying anything.

“I read about you.” Cas said suddenly.

Dean raised an eyebrow, asking to elaborate.

“Your brother, Samuel, had a small biography about you. I also saw you on the news. Your method of murder...it’s fascinating. Brilliant, though not my personal method.”

Dean scoffed. “There’s no thought behind my methods. You, however, have such precision...I was watching you now. It’s a bit of an honor.”

Cas laughed. God, he had a beautiful laugh...what?

“The language...I fell in love with it. It’s interesting.”

Dean huffed. “That it is. How’d you learn it? I could barely decipher your message.”

Cas smiled. “It took several years...I’m surprised you learned as much as you did so quickly.”

“Yeah well, I wanted to meet you.”

Dean blushed a little. “So, is my method the reason why you called me out?”

Castiel seemed stopped cold by the question. “I...I just...wanted to meet you.” He said. “I felt, drawn to you, to be completely honest.”

Dean sucked in a breath. He couldn’t believe this. “Well, the feeling is returned, Cas.”

“I like that, Cas. It’s much easier to say than ‘Castiel.’”

The two men looked at each other, unsure what to say. This wasn’t turning out how he imagined.

Castiel didn’t know what to do. to be honest, he really wanted to kiss the man. There was no use denying it--Dean fascinated him. No one’s captured that Castiel’s interest in all of his life. But Dean...he was truly worthy of attention.

Castiel debated with himself whether he should so something about it or not. He hated how he was acting like a high schooler about this, but he had just met the man.

“Fuck it.” Castiel said.

He leaned in towards Dean, and met his lips. Dean’s eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. He relaxed, and kissed back.

Cas leaned back into his chair, meeting Dean’s widened, shocked eyes.

“I--Cas--”

“That’s the the real reason I reached out to you. I...want to consider a partnership.”

Dean laughed. “Actual partners in crime, in both senses of the phrase?”

Cas laughed. “I guess so.”

Dean smiled and looked down. “Sure, Cas.”

Castiel stood up, kissing Dean again. “Anyone who says serial killers are emotionless are wrong.”

Dean nodded. “We’re still breaking the law.”

Castiel shrugged. “Do you care?”

Dean picked up Castiel’s blade and handed it to him. “Nope.”

that’s it! I got stuck on this story a bit lol. I know a little bit about Enochian letters, but I couldn’t transcribe the actual letters in this story, so the language in this is probably completely wrong. Anyway, hope you guys don’t think I’m a serial killer now hahaha. thanks for reading :)

-river

#destiel fanfic #destiel #destiel fanfiction #serial killer au #au #alternate universe #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #otp prompts #writing prompts #prompts #im not a murderer i swear #jada writes stuff

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go-imagine-it · 7 years

Text

The Bad Guy - Sherlock x Reader

My first addition to the new blog!

Prompt 81: “Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy”

Word Count: 1660

Warnings: None

You hadn’t worked for Scotland Yard for long, but you felt like you were already getting the hang of it. As the new Head of Forensic Investigations, you’d also had the pleasure of meeting a few of the staff.

First off was Greg Lestrade, the Detective Inspector and therefore your boss. He seemed like a good guy; he had his head screwed on, even if it didn’t seem that way occasionally when he got frustrated and started kicking random objects across the floor. However, he had treated you with respect and welcomed you as though already a friend, which you appreciated greatly after moving to a completely new area and not knowing anyone else.

Next was Philip Anderson. You hadn’t quite figured him out yet. Along with his mousy features, he seemed intelligent and, when doing his job, worked well and got the results he needed. But he couldn’t stop himself from making snide comments about coworkers and was constantly trying to flirt with you, unaware of your near-disgust towards his approaches. He clearly had an issue with boundaries. Also, you were almost one hundred percent certain that he was cheating on his wife with the Detective Sergeant Donovan. The glances and hushed conversations between them did not go unnoticed.

Sergeant Sally Donovan was, again, quite a character. Although friendly to you, she carried the air of a person who felt as though they were better than those she had to be around, instantly making her someone you couldn’t see yourself being friends with. Of course, she didn't want you to see that side of her, so tried to hide it behind fake smiles and dull conversation.

Everyone else at Scotland Yard who you’d been able to meet in the first few weeks were friendly and tried to make you feel comfortable, so you were somewhat disappointed when you realised you’d have to spend so much time with Anderson and Donovan. At least you had Greg to keep you sane.

There was one person, however, that you definitely didn’t want to meet. He was a man that no-one seemed to stop talking about even though it sounded like they all hated him. On your very first day, Anderson had told you about him; how rude, manipulative and unwanted he was at Scotland Yard, but how Greg refused to listen when he was told that he shouldn’t be allowed to continue helping with investigations.

When Donovan had overheard the conversation, she began listing off endless things about him that she despised and that you should be careful of: previous drug addiction (but she was sure he was still using), a complete disregard for others, insolence, arrogance. The list went on, and by the end of it, you were sure that you never wanted to cross paths with him.

This is why you stopped in your tracks when a murder investigation came to a halt and Greg told you that he had called in someone in from the outside. You knew what that meant. He was coming. Up until now your forensic knowledge and skill had been enough to solve every case given to you, but this time something was off and you just couldn’t put your finger on what it was.

You were at the crime scene having just taken off your blue examination suit when Greg came up to you and gave you the news. He was your boss and you weren’t about to argue, you needed all the help you could get, but you couldn’t deny the uneasy feeling that settled in your stomach caused by everything you had been told about the man.

It was around 15 minutes later when a taxi pulled pulled up outside the house where the body was found, and you watched from the open front door a tall, curly-haired man emerge. You had decided to show no fear; you were a professional, and you could act like one even if you were feeling apprehensive. It was your job. You could do this.

As he drew nearer, you noticed the high cheekbones and slight scowl that he was wearing on his face. His pale skin was void of any imperfections and the long black coat wrapped around him was carried by the wind around his legs. This was not the man you were expecting. Nevertheless, as he reached you you stuck out your hand for him to shake. Before you could even get a word out to introduce yourself, he cut you off.

“I know who you are.”

He spoke without stopping his stride, ignoring your outstretched hand and giving you a quick look up and down to read you as he passed, leaving you in stunned silence. You had also been told how he could know everything about someone from a glance, and so now you felt bare in front of him as he walked away swiftly to the crime scene. Realising you still had your hand out, you mentally shook yourself and followed him inside.

As you entered the room again, being careful not to touch anything as you had taken off your sterile clothing, you caught the look of complete disgust shared between Anderson and Donovan as they caught sight of the newest addition to the investigative team. Donovan turned to Greg.

“I didn't know you were inviting the freak today.” The words were laced with poison. “Give it a rest, Donovan” Greg replied. “I’m sick of this, outsiders aren’t supposed to know about Scotland Yard cases, let alone a freak like him.” You couldn’t believe your ears as Anderson snickered and Greg just rolled his eyes and ignored her, obviously used to this, turning around to watch the recipient of cruel words as he examined the body. The man in question was now wearing white gloves and using a small magnifier to look more closely at the scalp of the victim, moving the hair aside to get a better look.

You waited for him lash out back at Donovan, but he just ignored her and got on with what he came here to do. After only a couple of minutes, he stood up straight and looked to Greg, about to give him his conclusion when he was interrupted.

“So have you killed anyone yet freak or are you just waiting for a special occasion?” Donovan spat her words at him as though she wanted them to physically hurt him, and you noticed that Anderson was barely concealing his laughter. You couldn’t believe the way he was being spoken to; surely he couldn’t be so bad that he deserved this kind of verbal abuse? But again, you stayed silent.

“Donovan, why don’t you worry about the earring you left behind at Anderson’s house last night instead of wasting your limited intellect attempting to insult me. It must have fallen off while you were, what’s the right excuse this time, doing the washing up? A vital meeting perhaps? Or maybe Anderson didn’t even bother to give his wife an excuse this time. Greg, I really do think you should reconsider the kind of ignoramuses you allow at Scotland Yard. As for the case, it was the brother, I’ll email you the details.”

That was when he turned to you, making you stand a little straighter as he studied your face. He took a few steps closer until he was stood right in front of you, before starting to speak more quietly in his baritone voice.

“And you.” He paused for a few seconds.

“Maybe you shouldn’t listen to everything Donovan and Anderson tell you.” Looking towards them and then back at you once more, he left. The silence in the room was palpable, and before you knew what you were doing, you followed him outside.

“Wait!” You called, before he could hail a taxi. He stopped trying to wave one down, but still stood facing away from you. Stopping beside him, you could only think of one thing to say.

“Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy.” You looked up at his face, a face of unmoving stone.

“Maybe I am.” He sounded almost dejected by this point, the confident bravado he’d had inside the house gone, hidden behind something else.

This wasn’t the man that was described to you; this man was clearly astoundingly intelligent, could read people as if all their secrets were laid out in front of him and had a wickedly fast wit. It became no wonder to you why he was disliked so much by certain members of the team, but you began to realise that most of the animosity stemmed from jealousy. You had judged him before meeting him, and felt instantly guilty.

“Even if you’re not right about it being the brother…” you saw him roll his eyes and shake his head at you a little, making you stop in your tracks to do the same at him, amused. “…you are right about one thing.”

“And what might that be?” He asked you, a fleck of sarcasm lacing his voice.

“I think I need to stop listening to Donovan and Anderson.” You couldn’t help breaking out into a smile, and when you looked up at him again, he was doing the same, expelling air from his nose, a slight laugh on his lips.

As he stuck out his arm for a passing taxi, it began to slow to a stop. But before he got in, he turned to face you properly, raising his hand for you to finally shake.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Y/N.’

“You too, Mr Holmes.”

“Please, call me Sherlock.” You couldn’t help the small smile on your face, and neither could he.

He held your gaze for a few more moments, that slight frown once again appearing on his face, before shaking himself out of whatever he had been caught in. Nodding and releasing your hand, he climbed into the taxi, and was gone.

#sherlock #sherlock imagine #sherlock prompt #sherlock x reader #sherlock x reader imagine #fic #go-imagine-it

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fandomsandfeminism · 8 years

Video

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Sherlock Holmes on Elementary is definitely a jerk. But he's also a good person with a deep sense of empathy. Let's explore how Elementary fits into the legacy of Holmes Adaptions, and how the character is depicted in these complex, contradictory ways. Transcript below the cut

Today we are going to look at the massively popular TV adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes. ….No, not that one. The good one. Yes. Yes, that one.

Elementary premiered on CBS on September 27, 2012, starring Jonny Lee Miller as recovering drug addict Sherlock Holmes with Lucy Liu as ex-surgeon, now sober companion, soon to be detective in training Joan Watson. We are currently in season 5, and I have to be honest friends, I adore it. This video isn’t here to compare Elementary to BBC Sherlock, Elementary’s flashy british older cousin who only shows up to family gatherings once every 2 or 3 years and then disappears back into the void. No. Partly because any real comparison between them has the potential to bring out the...unpleasant side of the internet, but mostly because having to spend any amount of time with Moffat’s writing is...not something I want to do.

So yes. We are looking at Elementary. Elementary is back on TV, so I’ve been thinking about it a lot. It’s so common to update and adapt the Sherlock Holmes mythos in our media- from BBC miniseries, to Hollywood blockbusters, to Disney films about mice, to anime about dogs, that for an adaption to be truly GOOD it must first set itself apart. It has to differentiate itself while still maintaining the mental and emotional core true to the original series in meaningful ways. You can’t just grab a british guy in a silly hat and send him out to solve crimes if you want to make waves.

And honestly, there is so much about Elementary that we would talk about. We could talk about Joan, and how Lucy Liu’s rendition of Watson is one of the most unique in the plethora of Sherlock adaptations, how she is such a genuine, interesting character, who stands are Holmes’s equal, not just fan; who always dresses like a goddess and needs more of her own story lines dammit, because she’s great, and fun.

We could talk about Mrs. Hudson and how really cool it is to have a trans character on the show, played by a trans woman, and how her storylines were sincere and interesting and I’d like more of this too please.

We could talk about how the show handled Sherlock Holmes essentials- Irene Adler and Moriarty and Mrs. Hudson and Lestrange and Mycroft with such a fresh and unique twist, how they avoided the lazy or obvious routes with each and every one of them.

We could talk about how the New York portrayed in Elementary is so much more accurately diverse than most popular movies would have you believe. About how the show takes such time and care is portraying addiction and recovery. About how it’s a show that cares more about WHY Sherlock and Watson solve a case instead of HOW they do it, because the show cares about human relationships and emotional growth.

But what I want to focus on today is the factor that I think, for most people, really sets Elementary a cut above, and that is the character of Sherlock Holmes himself and how in Elementary he is able to embody so well two normally contrary traits: Intense Anti-socialness and extreme empathy for others.

Some backstory:

Sherlock Holmes, as a character, first appeared in the world in 1887 with the publication of A Study in Scarlet. If you have never read this story, it is...an odd ride. It’s in the public domain, so you can find it pretty easily online. There’s a murder and flashbacks and evil Mormons. Lots of evil mormons. (Doyle apparently really disliked them?) From then on it was one adventure after another, eventually accumulating 4 novels and 56 short stories into the canon. Sherlock Holmes in the books is a master of not only detective work, but also a master of disguise, excellent at fencing, singlestick, and boxing. He raises bees, plays violin, and does a lot of cocaine.

So, there’s a lot of content to draw on when people work to adapt Sherlock Holmes. And oh boy, have people adapted Sherlock Holmes. The Guinness book of world records has him listed as “the most portrayed movie character” with more than 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. There have been comic books and Star Trek. He’s been sent into the future. He’s reimagined as a doctor, mouse, and a dog. (Sherlock Hound, by the way, is an anime series that was co-directed with Hayao Miyazaki. So, pretty great stuff.)

And how Sherlock has been played has varied from time to time. Our most canonical, classic vision of Sherlock Holmes, has been mostly formed from the Basil Rathbone portrayal, wearing the Deerstalker hat and smoking a calabash pipe (both features that are never seen in any of the books or short stories, but rather pulled from the 1899 stage version of Sherlock Holmes. They were chosen because they looked good on stage)

Most of these earlier portrayals see Holmes are a rather stoic, upper crust British gentleman who solves the most grisly murders at a glance and makes it home in time for tea. More modern adaptations have tried to modernize or liven up the character- making him a mad genius or a calculating human robot.

But not Elementary. Elementary, better than most adaptations, taps into something within the Holmes character that most miss I think. There will be spoilers from this point on. Fair warning.

Elementary Sherlock has all the bells and whistles of a modern Sherlock adaptation- he’s super deductive, he raises bees, he had a drug problem (making recovery a major story element and theme). He’s got the brother and the singlestick, and the network of homeless as informants. Many, though not all, of the episodes pull plots straight from the short stories, but technology is abundant.

And yes, he’s an anti-social asshole. He says things with no regard for people’s comfort. He does things without regard for people’s boundaries. He’s blunt and coarse with his words. Abrasive would be an understatement. He leaves weird experiments in the fridge and plays loud music at all hours of the night and is the worst kind of housemate. When Marcus Bell is relegated to desk work after being shot, Sherlock goes through a slew of detectives who aren’t up to his standards, annoying them and insulting them relentlessly. He avoids parties and is initially unwilling to open up at his group meetings.

And yet.

And yet, is Sherlock “Empathetic”? Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the emotions of others. People who are empathetic often act on this empathy with kindness or compassion. Does Asshole Elementary Sherlock do this?

Well, In the pilot Sherlock gets so angry and attacks a doctor who deliberately took advantage of a mentally ill man, because how could he? Sherlock feels such a deep anger towards this main, I would argue, because he feels a deep sense of empathy for his victim. He knows what it is like to lose control, and to be at the mercy of healthcare professionals. So to see a man who has been so exploited by his doctor is infuriating for Sherlock.

In episode 2 of the first season, Sherlock pulls aside a man they had been questioning because, with all his observation, he can see how the man is struggling with addiction horribly. Not to chastise him, but to tell him to get help, to recommend rehab for him. Because how can he watch someone suffer the way he had?

In episode 3 of season 1, Sherlock looks at a boy he knows has been abused, and in all sincerity says “Victims of horrific abuse are often protective of their abusers; it doesn't mean we should send them back for seconds.” And we can argue that Sherlock was emotionally abused in some way by his father, that he was emotionally abused by Moriarty. So he feels empathy for this abused boy in this moment,

In episode 19 “Snow Angels” he gives a homeless man a wad of money and tells him to find someplace warm to stay before the blizzard comes in. Not related to a case, just because he can’t walk past and do nothing.

In episode 7 "One Way to Get Off", he rescues and comforts a woman who had been held captive in a basement. Stopping everything, all investigation and observation, until he knows she is ok.

In episode 9 "You Do It to Yourself", he sits with Joan in the clinic where she hopes her ex will come to get treatment. Waiting with her in this silent almost-vigil, he offers her an unspoken comfort.

In Episode 15 “A giant gun filled with drugs”, Sherlock agrees to help his former drug dealer, even though his presence is a very real risk to his sobriety, because he can’t turn his back on the fact that his daughter has been kidnapped.

In the season 1 finale, he was willing to throw everything away to run away with Irene before he discovers her true identity. And in the season 2 finale, he helps Moriarty save her daughter, despite the pain she has caused him in the past.

He takes in Kitty Winter, not because she shows any particular promise as a detective, but because he sees how hurt she is, how damaged, and wants to give her some chance to recover, an outlet for her anger and fear. When she goes beyond the law to get her revenge on the man who hurt her, Sherlock helps get her out of the country.

He deliberately tampers with evidence to protect Shinwell from going back to prison, wants to give him a second chance at life, offers to help train him as an informant to keep him safe.

He notices and cares about Gregson’s divorce, about Joan’s boyfriends, about Marcus’s mother and brother. When Eugene, the medical examiner, develops a drug addiction, struggling with PTSD and the loss of a woman he loved, Sherlock cared. He stepped in, spoke up. Even if it means intruding into personal matters where he was not invited, he notices and steps in, again and again, even when it makes him, and everyone else, uncomfortable.

Sherlock can work the most gruesome murder case with calculating patience and wade through cold cases decades old for fun, but when, as was the case in the most recent episode (Season 5, Episode 11), he knows that a person’s life is in danger RIGHT NOW, that his action or inaction could save or condemn a human life, his work becomes more and more frantic. There’s too many examples to even go into them all.

And I think that’s an aspect of Holmes that a lot of people overlook in their adaptations. Sherlock Holmes is no crime solving robot. (Though Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century does have a Watson Robot.)

Sherlock Holmes is a deeply empathetic person. Even if he isn’t the most emotionally open person, he sees people’s struggles, he cares deeply, and when he can, he reaches out to help. His empathy isn’t reserved for those who are close to him, those who have somehow earned his notice. He extends it to strangers and acquaintances alike, even if he struggles to express it in the most...charming of ways at times.

And what makes all this work is that being empathetic, acting out of love or concern, never absolves him of BEING an asshole. When he hurts people, or oversteps boundaries, he never gets away with it- ESPECIALLY with Watson. He is always growing as a person, learning to channel his empathy and his concern in more and more helpful and healthy ways.

Elementary certainly has it’s own problems as both an adaptation and as just a show. It has highs and lows, like any long running show will. I honestly don’t watch a lot of long running American TV shows. They are, by their nature, often fairly episodic and cater to as wide an audience as possible. I have found very few that I can commit to week after week, season after season. But Elementary has kept me coming back all this time, and the way it handles emotions and human empathy with such dignity and respect is no small part in that.

So thank you everyone for watching this video! This channel is still really new, so all comments and likes are really appreciated! Did I talk about your favorite Sherlock moment? Or did I totally forget a really good one? Tell me down below! I’ll see yall in the comments, and if you enjoyed listening to this queer, millennial feminist ramble about things I like for a while, feel free to subscribe

#elementary #sherlock #sherlock holmes #joan watson #media #feminism

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