#jason rafiel

[thefictionaledition]

Crown colonist

Haydn's complete works: A new edition by our music critic

Obituary: Jason Rafiel - philanthropist and man of letters

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Today’s disabled character of the day is Jason Rafiel from the Agatha Christine's Marple, who has an unspecified terminal illness and is a wheelchair user

Requested by Anon

[deuteriumuniverse]

Gosho Aoyama's Detective Picture Book #20:

If you want a cozy mystery that is also full of high stakes along with a cast of colorful characters and some supernatural elements, Agatha Christie's Marple series is one of the best there is. Unlike in the stories of the Belgian with the funny mustache, the world of old Miss Jane Marple is confined to the small village of St. Mary Mead, sans the occasional vacation. However, spending such a long time in the village has given Miss Marple a close look into human nature and human behavior, and makes her a great judge of character. Whenever she explained her deductions, she invariably compares the people in the case to those she's met in the village, and she's never wrong.

Miss Marple's frail appearance and her occupation as the resident village spinster makes her the perfect detective as she uses her nosy but wise grandmother demeanor to gather information without arousing suspicion, make Scotland Yard listen to her advice, and lead people to wrongly underestimate her. The mysteries that she deals with are on a smaller scale than Poirot, and thus often feel much more intimate. Rather than big government secrets and conspiracies, we have the messy web of relationships, obsessions, and secrets that naturally exists in a small village, and in the center of it, Miss Marple carefully dismantling friendly facades to show the real ugliness of human nature underneath. In some way, the tragedies of these relationships are much more horrifying than grand scale mysteries, because they are reflections of how easy it is to fall into twisted love, grief, and passion.

Ever the lover of the supernatural, Christie gives her detective what we might call the sixth sense. Miss Marple has an ability to sense evil, maybe not in a person, but in actions. The most accurate description of this affinity is Jason Rafiel's remark in The Caribbean Mystery that Miss Marple has a "flair for evil". In her own way a formidable "emissary of justice", she has called herself Nemesis, referring to the nickname Rafiel gave her of the Greek goddess of retribution against those who succumb to hubris. "Nemesis is long delayed sometimes, but it comes in the end."

It is unfortunate that the quality of the Marple series is not as consistent, nor the number of novels as expansive as the Poirot series, because Christie wrote about Marple over a long time, between 1930 and 1971. However, for cozy mystery fans, reading Jane Marple might almost be a rite of passage. After all, Christie is not called the Queen of Crime for nothing!

For a cozy mystery cocktail with a dash of passion and ingenious plotting, I recommend Nemesis, The Moving Finger, and The Body In The Library.

[wipbigbang]

2021 Round - Artists Claims (Round 2)

Round 2 of claims for artists are open! The second round will go this week and then I'll post a new round on Thursday, opening it up for thirds. Everybody spread the word! We have 70 story summaries below for you to choose from, and this round, you may choose 2 stories to do art for! Just use a different check in ID with each sign-up.

This year, art claims are working a little differently than in years past. We are using a google form to streamline things, which should make things easier both for you as participants and us mods. To claim a story, the form requires email, check in ID, and the identifying number of your first choice of story. Putting your top three choices is best in case your first or second has already been chosen. Please be sure you've read the FAQ before claiming.

Click here to claim a story!

Sherlock Holmes (ACD Canon) #59 Title: Designation: H Pairing/Characters Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan (mentioned), Mycroft Holmes, young (~10 years old) Victor Trevor (mentioned), and with appearances from teenaged (14-18 years old) versions of: Dorian Gray, Reginald Jeeves, A.J. Raffles and Bunny Manders, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, The Phantom of the Opera, James Bond, Tom Ripley, Nero Wolfe, Father Brown, Harley Quin (Agatha Christie), Mr. Satterthwaite (Agatha Christie), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Ian Fleming), Jason Rafiel (Agatha Christie), the killer from “And Then There Were None” (Agatha Christie), and a very loose adaptation of Gregory House (House M.D.). Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, corporal punishment, violence to and by children, eugenics. I’m a little bit squeamish about the violence, it’s there, but I don’t linger on it too much and I ask that the art not linger on it too much either. Also, no sex please (there’s none in the fic). Summary One minute, Watson is hurrying back along the path from Reichenbach falls, afraid that Holmes has indeed met his fate against the dreaded Professor Moriarty. The next thing he knows, he awakens in the infirmary of the strange Prometheus Institute, unsure whether it was all a nightmare or terrible reality. However, he quickly finds that the real nightmare is only just beginning; both he and Holmes - mercifully alive - are imprisoned along with two dozen young men behind the bars of a circular cell block, where their every move is observed by guards tasked with maintaining discipline and overseeing their training as the next step in human evolution. During the day they are trained in combat and put through complicated exercises in manipulation and subterfuge. At night they are trained in stealth; they must evade the guards and best each other in further exercises, which pit gang against gang. Watson soon learns the dark secret behind their abduction: Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes - and Victor Trevor - were raised in the Prometheus Institute, but the brothers escaped (around age 10-12). Now, it has caught up with them, and Holmes and Watson’s only hope of getting out alive is to overcome the shadows of their pasts and work with the violent, manipulative young prisoners. Inspired by umisabaku's fanfiction, Designation: Miracle.

[v-thinks-on]

There are still fics in the @wipbigbang looking for art; here’s one that I thought might be of particular interest. The FAQ for the challenge is here, and the form to claim a fic is here. If you’re intrigued - or know anyone who might be - spread the word!

There are still 16 fics waiting to be claimed - it’s an all-fandom challenge, and there’s a lot of variety, so take a look and see what strikes your fancy: https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/129782.html.

Sherlock Holmes (ACD Canon)

Fic #59

Title: Designation: H

Pairing/Characters: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan (mentioned), Mycroft Holmes, young (~10 years old) Victor Trevor (mentioned)

With appearances from teenaged (14-18 years old) versions of: Dorian Gray, Reginald Jeeves, A.J. Raffles and Bunny Manders, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, The Phantom of the Opera, James Bond, Tom Ripley, Nero Wolfe, Father Brown, Harley Quin (Agatha Christie), Mr. Satterthwaite (Agatha Christie), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Ian Fleming), Jason Rafiel (Agatha Christie), the killer from “And Then There Were None” (Agatha Christie), and a very loose adaptation of Gregory House (House M.D.).

(You can pick and choose which of the characters you want to do art of, you certainly don’t have to know them all - or even any of the side characters.)

Rating: Teen

Warnings/Tags: Violence to and by children, corporal punishment, eugenics.

Summary: One minute, Watson is hurrying back along the path from Reichenbach falls, afraid that Holmes has indeed met his fate against the dreaded Professor Moriarty. The next thing he knows, he awakens in the infirmary of the strange Prometheus Institute, unsure whether it was all a nightmare or terrible reality. However, he quickly finds that the real nightmare is only just beginning; both he and Holmes - mercifully alive - are imprisoned along with two dozen young men behind the bars of a circular cell block, where their every move is observed by guards tasked with maintaining discipline and overseeing their training as the next step in human evolution. During the day they are trained in combat and put through complicated exercises in manipulation and subterfuge. At night they are trained in stealth; they must evade the guards and best each other in further exercises, which pit gang against gang.

Watson soon learns the dark secret behind their abduction: Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes - and Victor Trevor - were raised in the Prometheus Institute, but the brothers escaped (around age 10-12). Now, it has caught up with them, and Holmes and Watson’s only hope of getting out alive is to overcome the shadows of their pasts and work with the violent, manipulative young prisoners.

Inspired by @umisabaku’s fanfiction, Designation: Miracle.

[morgan--reads]

The Works of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie’s mysteries are a go-to when I need something easy to listen to while working. The well-done audio books are almost always available at my library and usually come in under eight hours. The mysteries are never earth-shattering but the best of them are methodical and satisfying. 

Cards on the Table

The rich and mysterious Mr. Shaitana invites four detectives and four people who have been under suspicion for murder to a dinner party. At the end of the night Shaitana is found dead. 

Death on the Nile

On her honeymoon, celebrity Linnet Doyle asks Hercule Poirot for help getting rid of her old friend Jacqueline, who used to be engaged to Linnet’s new husband and has been following the new couple around and harassing them. Poirot refuses but is caught up in the drama when Linnet Doyle is found dead. 

Nemesis 

A loose sequel to the also good Caribbean Mystery, millionaire Jason Rafiel leaves Miss Marple a bus tour in his will, asking her to right an injustice that he does not describe. Miss Marple uses her expertise in murder to discover a crime that has been hidden for years. 

One Two Buckle My Shoe 

A dentist dies, apparently from suicide, but the presence of an important politician in the waiting room attracts police attention to the case. 

Note: Along with some outdated views about gender, there are some harmful racist stereotypes in most of Agatha Christie’s work. 

[movies-derekwinnert]

Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery *** (1989, Joan Hickson, Donald Pleasence, Adrian Lukis ) - Classic Movie Review 9637

Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery *** (1989, Joan Hickson, Donald Pleasence, Adrian Lukis ) – Classic Movie Review 9637

Director Chris Pettit’s agreeable, suspenseful 1989 TV movie Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery again stars Joan Hickson, who takes on her tenth case as the BBC’s Miss Marple, based on the novel by Agatha Christie. It is the prequel story to Nemesis, in which Miss Marple first encounters Jason Rafiel. 

A Caribbean Mystery is an excellent Christie mystery, in which the diligent Miss Jane Marple…

[mikiedenbird]

Lors d’un précédent volet de la chronique, nous avions parle de la reine du polar, l’incontournable Agatha Christie. Toutefois, une chronique ne suffit pas et donc aujourd’hui, c’est avec Miss Marple qu’on va revenir dans ce Trois Griffes, Une Patte.

Miss Marple, qui est-ce?

Miss Jane Marple est une dame assez âgée vivant à Saint Mary Mead, elle apparaît pour la première fois dans L’Affaire Protheroe puis dans 11 autres romans policiers et 20 nouvelles et résout des enquêtes policières grâce à sa perception de la nature humaine et son talent de déduction.

Le Miroir Se Brisa (version originale: The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side)

Un couple de stars du cinéma arrive à Saint Mary Mead pour tourner leur prochain film et organisent une réception. Durant cette réception, une admiratrice de Mme est empoisonnée. Est-ce le couple de stars qui était visé? Si oui, lequel? Si non, pourquoi tuer cette admiratrice?

J’ai beaucoup aimé cet épisode classique mais Miss Marple, ici, m’a paru sublime. L’histoire devient de plus en plus complexe et m’a vraiment captivée.

  Némesis

Une mystérieuse lettre, écrite par Jason Rafiel, un ami récemment décédé de Miss Marple, indique qu’il faut résoudre un meurtre et .. c’est tout ou presque. Miss Marple va partir pour un voyage tous frais payés sur les routes anglaise  des Demeures & Jardins dans un autocar avec 13 autres voyageurs, voyage offert par Jason.

Le roman m’a plu car Miss Marple part à l’aveugle, tout ce qu’on sait, c’est qu’un meurtre a eu lieu, à moins qu’il va avoir lieu ou alors… Bref, on ne sait rien et ici Miss Marple est au sommet de son art. Ce roman sera le dernier écrit par Agatha Christie avec Miss Marple en héroïne ( un autre roman “La Dernière Énigme” sera publié avec Miss Marple après la mort d’Agatha Christie).

Un meurtre sera commis le… (version originale: A Murder is Announced)

Probablement, le meilleur roman de Miss Marple. Ici, lors d’un matin comme les autres dans le petit village de Chipping Cleghorm, un meurtre est annoncé dans le journal local: “Un meurtre est annoncé, qui aura lieu le vendredi 29 octobre à six heures trente de l’après-midi à Little Paddocks…”.

Certaines personnes pensent à une farce, d’autres se rendent au rendez-vous, et finalement un meurtre a lieu mais on retrouve un étranger et un pistolet. Accident? Ce n’est pas ce que pense Miss Marple.

L’histoire est haletante et les personnages sont très bien écrit. Que dire de plus si ce n’est que rien que d’écrire me donne envie de relire, le Miss Marple de référence selon moi.

Une petite conclusion?

Miss Marple est sans doute l’un de mes personnages favoris, elle possède à la fois un côté chaleureux mais aussi une grande compréhension de la nature humaine qu’elle qualifie souvent avec sa maxime favorite: “la nature humaine est partout la même”. Les enquêtes sont originales et c’est pourquoi je lui ai consacré ce “Trois Griffes, Une Patte”.

        Miss Marple dans la série télévisée éponyme interprétée par Géraldine McEwan (à gauche) et Julia McKenzie (à droite).

        Trois Griffes, Une Patte: Miss Marple Lors d'un précédent volet de la chronique, nous avions parle de la reine du polar, l'incontournable Agatha Christie.

[analib2909]

Miss Marple Mysteries – 12. Nemesis ‘read by Rosalind Ayres’ (mp3)

Miss Marple Mysteries – 12. Nemesis ‘read by Rosalind Ayres’ (mp3)

Miss Marple Mysteries – Nemesis

read by Rosalind Ayres

Click here to download

While on vacation last year Jane Marple had met fellow traveler Jason Rafiel. Together they solved a crime (Caribbean Mystery) and then passed out of each other’s lives – or so Miss Marple thought. She was quite surprised to find that he had left her a bequest in his will. She was even more surprised to find what the…

[chrisandchristie]

65. "A Caribbean Mystery" (1964)

The key clue to the solution of "A Caribbean Mystery" is presented -- to us and to Miss Marple -- on the very first page of the book. To me, that's a sign of a writer who remains very confident of her craft. Once again diverging from the formula of a murder among a houseful of suspects (and, in fact, making fun of that concept in a bit of dialogue), "A Caribbean Mystery" is as much a whydunit as it is a whodunit. Old Major Palgrave is murdered in the first few pages, likely because he knew something about another of the characters. Miss Marple, who is on an unlikely vacation at a Caribbean resort, is on the case, though, and she is given an  opportunity to demonstrate that the little human-nature connections between characters for which she is known hold just as true in tropical climates as they do in rural England. It's a very satisfying mystery, with some clever observations about behavior, a smattering of Noel Coward-esque banter a sympathetic reference to a gay (well, "queer") character and another memorable supporting character, Mr. Rafiel, a crusty old millionaire who dismisses Miss Marple initially but then gains a hearty respect for her gifts. (He will get the plot going in a later Marple, "Nemesis," which is titled for the nickname he gives her in "Caribbean Mystery").

8/10

2/15/2015

[bewilderedscarlet]

"She was sorry he was dead because although he’d been elderly and an invalid and ill, the world had lost something through his going."

Agatha Christie, Nemesis

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Accepted Characters 9/16/2021

Inuyasha from Inuyasha

Kotaro Tatsumi from Zombie Land Saga

Patton Plame from NCIS: New Orleans

Harkat Mulds from The Saga of Darren Shan

Arkin Layden from Arkin: Lysets Vokter

Skerri from the Raven Rings

Snow from Buddy Gator

Ryuji Goda from the Yakuza series

Marina Gregg from the Agatha Christine's Marple

Jason Rafiel from the Agatha Christine's Marple

Major Palgrave from the Agatha Christine's Marple

Rem from Death Note

Gelus from Death Note

Oyamada Mansumi from Shaman King

Caleb Haas from Quantico

Nagisa Shiota from Assassination Classroom

Sam Breen from The Brokenwood Mysteries

Iron Maiden Jeanne from Shaman King

Zolika from Kills on Wheels

Barba Papa from Kills on Wheels

Karl Lejon from Bröderna Lejonhjärta

Rupaszov from Kills on Wheels

Quasim from MiniMonsters

Vega (Claw) from the Street Fighter series

Henry Delafontaine from the Agatha Christie's Poirot

Cornelius from Once Upon a Forest

Michelle from Once Upon a Forest

Asbjørn Brekke from Nissene På Låven

Rhino Thue from Nissene På Låven

Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri On Ice

Nina from the Harvest Moon series

Captain Grime from Amphibia

Asta from Black Clover

Fuegoleon Vermillion from Black Clover

Loropechika from Black Clover

Lou from Wandersong

Grey from Black Clover

Rødnissejenta from Jul i Blåfjell

Miyuki Irie from Angel Beats

604 characters remain

[wipbigbang]

We have 23 stories left to claim for art for WIP Big Bang 2021. Perhaps this one might interest you?

Click here to read the summaries!

Click here to claim a story!

#59

Title: Designation: H Pairing/Characters Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan (mentioned), Mycroft Holmes, young (~10 years old) Victor Trevor (mentioned), and with appearances from teenaged (14-18 years old) versions of: Dorian Gray, Reginald Jeeves, A.J. Raffles and Bunny Manders, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, The Phantom of the Opera, James Bond, Tom Ripley, Nero Wolfe, Father Brown, Harley Quin (Agatha Christie), Mr. Satterthwaite (Agatha Christie), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Ian Fleming), Jason Rafiel (Agatha Christie), the killer from “And Then There Were None” (Agatha Christie), and a very loose adaptation of Gregory House (House M.D.). Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, corporal punishment, violence to and by children, eugenics. I’m a little bit squeamish about the violence, it’s there, but I don’t linger on it too much and I ask that the art not linger on it too much either. Also, no sex please (there’s none in the fic). Summary One minute, Watson is hurrying back along the path from Reichenbach falls, afraid that Holmes has indeed met his fate against the dreaded Professor Moriarty. The next thing he knows, he awakens in the infirmary of the strange Prometheus Institute, unsure whether it was all a nightmare or terrible reality. However, he quickly finds that the real nightmare is only just beginning; both he and Holmes - mercifully alive - are imprisoned along with two dozen young men behind the bars of a circular cell block, where their every move is observed by guards tasked with maintaining discipline and overseeing their training as the next step in human evolution. During the day they are trained in combat and put through complicated exercises in manipulation and subterfuge. At night they are trained in stealth; they must evade the guards and best each other in further exercises, which pit gang against gang.

Watson soon learns the dark secret behind their abduction: Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes - and Victor Trevor - were raised in the Prometheus Institute, but the brothers escaped (around age 10-12). Now, it has caught up with them, and Holmes and Watson’s only hope of getting out alive is to overcome the shadows of their pasts and work with the violent, manipulative young prisoners.

Inspired by umisabaku's fanfiction, Designation: Miracle.

[wipbigbang]

* FINAL CHANCE TO CLAIM FICS FOR WIP BIG BANG 2021 - CLAIMS END JULY 19TH *

We have 11 fics available for claiming in a variety of fandoms. If this fic snippet interests you, please claim it! Our writer would love to have an artist to work with.

Click here to claim this story!

Sherlock Holmes (ACD Canon)

#59

Title: Designation: H Pairing/Characters Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan (mentioned), Mycroft Holmes, young (~10 years old) Victor Trevor (mentioned), and with appearances from teenaged (14-18 years old) versions of: Dorian Gray, Reginald Jeeves, A.J. Raffles and Bunny Manders, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, The Phantom of the Opera, James Bond, Tom Ripley, Nero Wolfe, Father Brown, Harley Quin (Agatha Christie), Mr. Satterthwaite (Agatha Christie), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Ian Fleming), Jason Rafiel (Agatha Christie), the killer from “And Then There Were None” (Agatha Christie), and a very loose adaptation of Gregory House (House M.D.). Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, corporal punishment, violence to and by children, eugenics. I’m a little bit squeamish about the violence, it’s there, but I don’t linger on it too much and I ask that the art not linger on it too much either. Also, no sex please (there’s none in the fic). Summary One minute, Watson is hurrying back along the path from Reichenbach falls, afraid that Holmes has indeed met his fate against the dreaded Professor Moriarty. The next thing he knows, he awakens in the infirmary of the strange Prometheus Institute, unsure whether it was all a nightmare or terrible reality. However, he quickly finds that the real nightmare is only just beginning; both he and Holmes - mercifully alive - are imprisoned along with two dozen young men behind the bars of a circular cell block, where their every move is observed by guards tasked with maintaining discipline and overseeing their training as the next step in human evolution. During the day they are trained in combat and put through complicated exercises in manipulation and subterfuge. At night they are trained in stealth; they must evade the guards and best each other in further exercises, which pit gang against gang. Watson soon learns the dark secret behind their abduction: Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes - and Victor Trevor - were raised in the Prometheus Institute, but the brothers escaped (around age 10-12). Now, it has caught up with them, and Holmes and Watson’s only hope of getting out alive is to overcome the shadows of their pasts and work with the violent, manipulative young prisoners.

Inspired by umisabaku's fanfiction, Designation: Miracle.

A SNIPPET:

They ran as far as they could and never looked back.

They fled across the moor, running until they could run no more. Hounds bayed in hot pursuit by day and night.

They faked their deaths for the first time at the bank of a river that flowed into a waterfall. They left their clothes behind and waded through the shallows until they reached the edge of a small town.

They were both children—at least they looked like children, the older no more than thirteen. They lied and manipulated and stole. They used their innocent faces to earn the villagers’ trust and then ran away with all they could carry. They did it to survive. That was the only way they knew how to survive.

They wandered from town to town, stealing food and clothing and a place for the night, until at last they came to London. They lived on the streets, stealing and manipulating and lying. They picked locks and played scams. A criminal empire formed around them. The older plotted and the younger enforced.

The older loitered on Whitehall, watching the politicians and bureaucrats running a country. He had been created and trained to be perfectly rational, and more intelligent than any human. It was only right that he take the lead. After all, there was only so much a human could do with their emotions and imperfections.

The younger lurked in alleyways and spent his time among criminals, watching them and the rise and fall of their aspirations. He noted their follies and, though he would never admit it, learned their ways.

“Enough,” the elder declared at last.

There would be no more stealing or sleeping on the streets, they would not live as common crooks when they were so much more by their very nature. They had acquired enough money to buy lodgings and for the elder to go to university, while the younger began to shadow the defenders of the law. They gave themselves new names, though they never left their designations behind.