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#tgg character reveals
riddles-n-games · 1 month
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TGG Cards Theory
Warning: Spoliers
Now that the book is out, I think it's so much clearer, at least in some cases what the specifics of each character card (number and symbol) signifies:
Grayson, 8 of hearts: 8th player that was a last minute addition to the Grandest Game and part of the Hearts team.
Knox, 9 of clubs: He was nine when he met Brady and defended him from a bully and on the Clubs team.
Brady, 6 of clubs: He was six when he met Knox and was also on Clubs. In tandem with Knox's number, their cards likely have to do with the flashback when they first met.
Odette, 3 of hearts: Although I could say it means she's the third member of the Hearts team, it's probably about her three truths from the scene where she opens up to Gray and Lyra about her dying. (Also, what are the odds that she just so happens to be our third elderly character that's dying? Sure Tobias was dead by the time we're introduced to the Hawthornes but he was dying and his family didn't know about it.)
Savannah, queen of diamonds: Obviously, she was one of the two members of the Diamonds team and also, impertinently labeled the queen that Rohan was going to use as a chip on his board. I also think it just generally meant her personality that he was describing in that way.
Lyra, queen of hearts: A member of the Hearts team and I think her being a queen in this case has a lot to do with her involvement in the Game and on her team. Like, her back story, her ambitions, her wants, her characteristics of a leader, and maybe even that future romantic entanglement with Grayson as queen of his heart. After all, as Nash said, "Our games have heart."
Rohan, ace of diamonds: Other half of the Diamonds team and I think the ace just refers to him putting himself as number one because of his ambitions while of course believing himself to be the rightful winner. He also is an ace of many talents.
Gigi, queen of clubs: Third member of the Clubs team and I think her role can be similarly summarized like Lyra's but different in the sense that she was very much holding down the fort with Knox and Brady's shenanigans, leading them in an unexpected way, stuff like that. And she was also fiercely determined to prove herself that she deserved a place in the Game and accepted defeat gracefully at the end of the book.
But that's just my theory. Tell me yours in the comments or reblogs.
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reminiscentreader · 2 months
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tgg thoughts!! spoilers
what the fuck
i actually despise brady so much what a cow
and this calla bitch, i tried to defend the ‘jlb cant write new characters/tropes’ but oml
i really really want lyra to win 😭
but i think shes gonna get kicked out and its gonna be between rohan and savannah
GIGI WHY DIDNT YOU TAKE ODETTES FUCKING WATCH
i cant believe brady got to stay in
gigi and knox didnt deserve to be kicked out
BUT GRAY AND LYRA 🙈🙈🥰🥰🥰🤭🤭
actually the best ship in the book and if i see any hate on them i will find you 🤗
if savannah wins i think im going to kms
can we also just talk about graysons character development rn
he was so like healed in this book and i think he handled the theatre seen really well
EVE I STG IF YOU MESS ANYTHING UP
also i was so happy when slate took gigi away from that bitch brady 😩
like yes pookie go and get your girl 😜
okay im gonna talk about lyra alot now so lyra haters dni 😚
i just want to give her the biggest hug ever 😭 like no one ever deserves to go through that
i felt bad enough for her that she heard the gunshot, and then it was revealed she STEPPED IN HIS BLOOD ?!?!
like come here baby let me give you a cuddle
ALSO WHO TF INVITED LYRA?!?!
i bet the whole of the glorius rivals plot could be avoided if BRADY 👹👹 just let gigi press the fucking emergency button
ALSO CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW FUCKING SCARY THAT BOOK WAS 💀💀 WHEN THE POWER WENT OFF AND THEN THEY WERE ACTUALLY TRAPPED 💀 I WAS SHITTING MYSELF
thats all for now pookies 😘😘
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the-inheritance-games · 7 months
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Ok with the vault opening tomorrow here are my final predictions:
- Grayson is one of the pov characters, I think we all know this by now. He is the character most connected to this new book. He is the only one, besides Avery, named dropped in the synopsis and is apparently “amisdts” it all, plus the whole “if you've ever wondered what it's like falling in love with Grayson hawtorne” thing in the interview. So yeah I'd be surprised if gray WASNT one of the povs
-Phone girl is another pov, ik this is being debated right now and that we've all really been in our delulu era coming up with these headconons lol but I really think this is going to be her book. Mostly bc of ALL the calla lilys on the cover. she is the only character tied to those. Jlb said there was easter eggs on the cover and in tbh for tgg. Why else even include this mystery girl at all. Plus she would have her own reasons to play the game and she could give us the pov as a player
Now those are my willing to bet a Hawthorne sum of money on guesses
Now I have a few options for the third pov
1. Eve- she’s obv up to something evil and I feel like jlb really wants to give eve a redemption arc much to most of our disinterest
2. Slate - if eve is going to do some evil shit but jlb doesn’t want to give us her pov then she might give us slate pov and make him a player and have him be the tie to eve w/o making her a player
3. Another completely new character/ or a character introduced in tbh but as a player in tgg, idk just feel like it
I don’t think any of the characters from og tig will be pov characters here, Ik disappointing but idk it’s just my gut feeling
Now for two main side characters
1. Avery- I just can’t see her NOT in this book, it’s her game she’s going to be IN it
2. Jameson for the same reasons
other options:
Gigi and Sav- I feel like they will DEFINITELY have a part in this series I just don’t know how big, plus the whole potential love with slate and Gigi and the cliffhanger about eve and Sav (one of them could also be pov characters but I just don't see that happening rn)
Slate- if he isn’t a pov then I still think he’d be a player on eves part
Xander- PLSSSSSSSS
Now for the secret :
Idk man we could find out that Tobias Hawthorne is alive who tf knows
Maybe PG is a Rooney, maybe Alice Hawthorne already showed up, maybe the Hawthorne money is at stake, maybe we'll find out that “eve inows”
Its the wild card but I for sure know it will be the last card revealed
Now one last crack theory about grays role in the game:
Grayson might be a player in the game. If he is “amidst it all” he might actually end up IN the game. I thought maybe he was running the game at first or coaching but if anyone would be coaching it would be jameson and it says Avery is running the game. THEY are the gamemasters, so idk what Grayson “vital role” is but maybe he’ll be a Donatella Dragna, he’ll be there right alongside the players, maybe not a “player” but player adjacent idk it’s just a thought me and my friend had lol
But yeah, what do y’all think?
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hawthornesbiggestfan · 2 months
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the grandest game review (and hot takes)
1. plot
the fact that jlb managed to fit plot twists after plot twists in ONE book just proves how good of a writer she is. i was basically shitting my pants at the end of every chapter, WAITING for a reveal. odette, gray n lyra's games were not as memorable for me (probably because i was more distracted by lyrason whoops) but i loooooveeeddd (100% loved) savannah n rohan's games. it felt so enticing and pulled me in, it had ME trying to solve it. i loved that they solved their games first before opening up their emotions because it allowed me to focus on the main thing before moving onto the next.
2. pov holders
my favourite pov (and im biased LOL) was definitely gigi. i think i enjoyed it most because i really felt IN HER BRAIN. i loved the chaos and the amount of exclamation marks is very appreciated. i also think i liked her most because she really act like an 18 year old girl, so it was more relatable. her emotions n feelings rly spoke to me.
lyra's pov, honestly, was a whole rollercoaster. first we see her with her guard fully up, then suddenly shes slowly softening and then fully becomes vulnerable. its like watching ice melt honestly, and im not sure how to feel abt it. dont take this the wrong way, i LOVED lyra. it was just hard to read from a pov that felt... recycled? reused? reduced? (lol the 3Rs iykyk) i guess its bcs i set my expectations too high for lyra cz i fully thought she'd be a different character. instead she feels like an angrier avery (i feel the need to mention that i love avery) and it made me feel a little... yeah.
rohans pov HAHAHAH BYEEEE IM SO BIASED i LIKED it??? i thought it'd be my least fav bcs i lowkey didnt care much, but now i want MOOREE?? i will say that he was basically jameson 2.0 but hes brown and so am i so yes im allowing it... i was stressed on sav's behalf bcs he lowkey seemed pushy. in a way he was like avery, trying to get grayson to open up and take the mask away, but with savannah instead. he isnt my fav pov holder but i didnt enjoy reading his scenes simply bcs it included savannah (#biggestsavstan)
overall i think i enjoyed gigi's chapters the most because it felt like something new and also something so relatable. i loved that she tries to prove that she deserves her spot in tgg. i do love lyra n rohans pov a lot tho, and i hope they still have chapters in tgg2.
3. important characters
grayson my love was SERVING with his character development. the way he allowed himself to make mistakes, to feel and to LOVE was so heartwarming and relieving after watching him hold it all up since the first book. i will say, he's definitely more likeable in this book, but he still has the elements of who he used to be. he WAS horny, evidently. but i won't say that its all he was the whole book. he was definitely also just acting how anyone would have if put into a room with dearest lyra kane. we understand u, grayson. i too would need a moment after holding lyra thighs.
odette confused me so much HAHAHAH i didnt trust her at all and was fully waiting for her to just betray the others. when she mentioned she worked for mcnamara ortega n jones, i screamed because it clicked immediately that she definitely had smth going on with tobias.
knox n brady were a tennis match going back n forth. i did not trust brady since the start, and i was waiting for a reason to redeem knox. i dont care much abt them aside from the calla thing, but i did love their bond with gigi.
4. relationships
allow me to rate the ships:
1. sav n rohan
2. lyra n gray
3. gigi n whoever the fuck shes supposed to be shipped with.
i will say that i loved sav n rohan the most bcs i also love javery, and they reminded me of the best tig couple sooooo. i also liked the TENSION and the way they opened up to each other like a flower blooming slowly. the truth or dare scene was mental... i was screaming the whole time. grayson and lyra AAAAAAA i agree with ppl who say its rushed but fuck it i love them!!!!!! YEAH OKAY THEY KISSED TOO EARLY BUT WO CARES LET THEM FUCK!!! okay too far but u get it. gigi n slate still confuse me and i dont want this girl to be given stockholm syndrome so im just gonna ship her with ME!
another relationship id like to talk abt is the twins.. broken siblings are always my favourite trope but this hurt since theyre literally twins. the way gigi feels bad for hiding THE SECRET from sav, and sav seems to be distancing herself from gigi. ouch ouch ouch
5. overall
id rate the book a 4/5 bcs as much as i loved it, i still feel a little critical about it. i do stand with everyone who says that jlb might be milking this series, but im not complaining because i dont want any of this to end any time soon. the ending was not what i expected, and i still love savannah even if she might do smth... lol. lyra n grayson feel too perfect hence why im gonna expect something bad even now. im upset knox is out, but i think jlb will fit him in somewhere.
thats all, PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE share some of ur thoughts!!!! i need people to talk abt tgg!!!!
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ven10 · 8 months
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hello! it's your friendly anon again :D! i truly love how details you are with your headcanons! the isadora headcanon is my favorite!
this been on my mind after browsing your blog a bit, so i hope you don't mind me asking once again. as your main focus is the unfortunate generation, especially the quagmire triplets, do you have any thoughts or headcanons for the other kids? in particular, fiona? fiona is one my favorite characters next to the quags. i would love to read anything you have for her.
Hi again anon! :) Great hearing from you again! :D I’m really happy you liked the last hcs I did!!!! :)))
I have lots of hcs for the unfortunate gen so I’ll just stick to answering for Fiona in this so my answer doesn’t turn out to be the length of a novel! :) [feel free to ask for the other characters again tho+I will happily answer in detail!]
Thoughts about Fiona:
Not hesitating is definitely a key aspect of her character (I mean that one’s obvious tho) but I like how consistent this is with all aspects of her. She doesn’t hesitate to take charge but she also doesn’t hesitate to correct those who are in charge, like correcting Captain Widdershins by adding “or she” to his motto.
{ Negative side of this? Not hesitating for long enough to kiss Klaus. As in, not even waiting for his consent. Although it is stated on page 232 of ‘The Grim Grotto’ that Fiona “hesitated for a small moment” the fact that Klaus’ reaction to the kiss of to lift “one trembling hand to his face, as if Fiona had given him a slap instead of a kiss” clearly conveys how the kiss was unwanted. Although I personally believe it was more so due to circumstances than attraction that the kiss was unwanted as Fiona does this after betraying the Baudelaires. }
Wracking up life experiences like kissing is maybe something Fiona is trying to do as she may feel she’s missing out by spending her time isolated from her peers on a submarine. Maybe she didn’t even want to kiss Klaus specifically, maybe she just wanted to kiss someone. Resulting in her failing to consider (or failing to act on the possibility) that the romantic desire was not mutual or that it shouldn’t have been acted on under those circumstances, i.e, kissing your crush right after revealing you have teamed up with the guy who has been stalking him+his siblings trying to murder+kidnap them.
Loyal: I know she may seem like one of the least loyal characters in the series given (SPOILERS FOR ‘THE GRIM GROTTO’) how in TGG she betrays the Baudelaires, choosing to join the ‘bad’ side of VFD over helping them however thinking about all that time she spent isolated, likely thinking+imagining scenarios where her brother-Fernald/the hook-handed man- had stayed with her…the fact that Fiona still chooses her brother over her friends despite him abandoning her and becoming a villain clearly conveys how deeply loyal she is to her family.
“mother is dead” “father moved away” “stepfather has abandoned me”
“my brother may not be as wonderful as you Baudelaires, but he’s the only family I have. Aye! I’m staying with him! Aye!” [‘The Grim Grotto’ Chapter 13, page 224]
The fact that in this outburst Fiona is (subconsciously?) mimicking the speech patterns “Aye!” of the stepfather who abandoned her is another level of sad. She has to follow her family because she knows that if she doesn’t then she will be left behind.
***
I noticed a slight parallel between Fiona’s character and Olaf in the Netflix version. (Not exact wording)
Violet: His name’s Phil.
Fiona: Well, I call him Cooky.
Vs
Fiona: His name’s Fernald.
Olaf: Well, I call him Hooky.
In Fiona’s case I doubt the nickname was meant as insulting given how Phil says he doesn’t care what he’s called whereas in Olaf’s case Fernald tried multiple times to tell Olaf his name but was shut down every time. This shows how although Fiona’s actions may be similar to some of the villainous characters (E.g by joining the ‘bad’ side of the schism) her good intentions are what sets her apart.
***
The way she folded her family photo in Netflix!TGG was having creases between each person in the photo (photo of younger Fiona with her stepfather and Fernald). This could be so that she only sees the image she wants to see when looking at it, E.g, folding Fernald away so she sees only her stepfather+her and doesn’t have to remember the pain of Fernald being gone.
Defiant: A detail I remember from the book version of TGG is ‘or she’ being scratched next to the quote ‘He who hesitates is lost.’ I like how she’s willing to noticeably+permanently challenge flawed things. Especially given how she may have risked punishment for this ‘vandalism’.
Capable+Independent: in Netflix!TGG Fiona was able to successfully control an entire submarine on her own!! She even repaired damaged solo! This is impressive (if a little sad that so much responsibility+pressure has been placed on her…)
I love how said independence clashes with Violet’s character. These two have had to take charge of things for their own safety (+the safety of siblings for Violet) that it’s difficult for them to follow decisions made by the other.
In terms of VFD…she’s in deep😟… Fiona didn’t even know what was in the sugar bowl but still chose to pursue that inanimate object over taking three children to ‘safety’. Also, in her telegram to Kit Snicket in ‘The Grim Grotto’ she mentioned the safety of the sugar bowl BEFORE the danger that three live human beings aka the Baudelaires were in. Yikes. (Ig that’s what growing up surrounded entirely by VFD members can do…)
Sorry to low-key insult her like this but Fiona had no need to reveal Fernald was her brother to Olaf. The revelation would be more likely to get her used as blackmail to get Fernald to do Olaf’s bidding than anything else tbh. (Scene took place in TGG when Olaf was threatening to kill Fernald and had his hands to his throat, pushed up against a wall). Maybe the threat of the situation caused Fiona to act without thinking. Especially given the ‘no hesitating’ mindset that’s been drilled into her.
Major respect to Fiona for somehow putting up with this mess of a man for YEARS :’) [Cap Widdershins]
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This is probably reading WAY too into it but you said you like my detailed analysis so,like a submarine, I’ll dive in DEEP. Fiona’s glasses are shaped like isosceles triangles: 2 sides equal, 1 different. Fiona+Fernald on one side of VFD captain Widdershins on another. 🔼
2 angles the same, 1 different. Fiona being willing to see things from Fernald’s angle. Cap Widdershins being unbudging.
Or, Captain Widdershins + Fernald knowing secrets that are “too terrible for young people to know” whilst Fiona is left in the dark. Someone is always left out in their family trio.
Hc that post-canon Fiona living on land would choose clothes like jumpsuits that resemble what she wore on the Queequeg for familiarity. Refuses to go to the opticians to update her prescription for the longest time bc she doesn’t want to change her triangle glasses. Klaus avidly encourages her to avoid the opticians. Eventually she goes bc she is informed that she can keep the frames+just change the lenses if she wants to. 👓
Fiona would find it really difficult to adjust to ‘normal’ life post-canon (if she ever gets that chance-) bc ordinary life would be so STRANGE to her after growing up underwater 🌊 surrounded entirely by VFD members. Poor girl probably thinks communicating via secret code through literary references is normal. Also she’s not had many peers to interact with so that’d be an issue. Not to mention things VFD (especially the ‘bad’ side) may have forced her to do that she’d have to come to terms with…
Uses ‘Shiitake mushrooms!’ as a swear 🍄.
Hope you like this analysis, anon! Sorry this took a while, Fiona is a complicated character+I wanted to do her justice. :)
Also, she would use this mug I found on Pinterest! ☕️
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rey-jake-therapist · 9 months
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@inexpressiblybeautiful Do you have a link to the 2022 video that OP refers to in this thread? I tracked it down on Google but couldn't find it :(
@maryholmes94 I know it's an old thread, it just showed up on my dash for some reason. For what it's worth, I agree with most what you said there. I'm still trying to believe in this romance because it's the closest thing we'll get to a canon romance for Sherlock, and Irene's a very cool character, but my brain seems to just reject the idea that she and Sherlock have a future together.
I don't think Irene looks stupid at the end of ASIB though; her plan had a flaw that revealed to be fatal, but it was only because she was briefly sentimental. That said, had she not changed the password of her phone and had Sherlock not guessed what it was, she would have fooled them all. Tbh that was the weakest moment in the EP for me: that suddenly, at the right moment, he guessed that her password was "SHER". It's like when she called Moriarty just at the right time to save the day in TGG: forced coincidences have the habit of making me cringe ;) for the password, I often have fun thinking of an alternate version where he gets it wrong and looks stupid while Irene is victorious and gets everything she wants ;)
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afterthegreatunknown · 9 months
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update for this post: i got some ideas for the curse concept of hector and widdershins in a romantic relationship instead of having a vitriolic friendship. well, it's more of a vitriolic romantic relationship now. these two need to clash i feel it's their nature.
idea one: little house with an orange roof inspired au. no vfd au. widdershins, a widow man with two stepchildren (a stepson who has beef with him and stepdaughter who just wants peace), and hector, the guardian to the quagmire triplets (who he doesn't know well hector hasn't talk to their parents in years), are conned into buying the same house, and are now force to live with one another. as the children start to get along with one another, the two men find themselves getting closer as well.
idea two: hanahaki disease au (reverse, with a twist). also no vfd au. widdershins and hector are neighbors; bickering neighbors who do get along on occasion (their own kids get along well). one day after an incident(tm), widdershins starts to eat flowers. hibiscus flowers, which are hector's favorites. the kids do research, and they discover the possible source of widdershins' sudden habit: unrequited love for hector which can only go away if hector reciprocates. hijinks of the kids trying to get hector to fall in love with widdershins and failing, unknown to them hector is actually natural falling for his annoying neighbor in his own way. the ending reveals that widdershins is eating the flowers because hector said they're edible.
idea three: complicated mind screw implied multi-verse fic where hector or widdershins (unsure who), due to their encounter with the great unknown, keep on 'slipping' into a different universe where asoue and atwq doesn't exist at all. or rather, does exists, as a fictional series by lemony snicket in the pfb world. hector or widdershins have to stop the 'slips' or else he'll die. and the alternate version of hector or widdershins help, which has the one doing the 'slipping' developing feelings, which is not helping the situation at all.
idea four: au where gregor is fernald and fiona's stepfather, not widdershins. hector and widdershins (eventually) as a couple is more of a secondary thing, not the main focus. really, this au is me exploring how certain characters, relationships, tgg, and everything onward (off screen) can change by one detail: keeping gregor alive.
will i actually get to writing any one of these ideas? who knows. at the very least, i plan on writing a post (or two) of the au with gregor as fernald and fiona's stepfather because it's very interesting of an au divergence.
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Hello there!! Do you have a list of long fics with a jealous/possessive/obsessive sherlock? Thank you mwahhh
Hey Nonny!!
I DO!! I actually started a new list for Possessive Sherlock awhile back waiting for someone to ask for it after I posted my other two lists, LOL.
I put my fics in word-count order, so just scroll down until you see a word count you like and go from there LOL :D
Hope you enjoy!
POSSESSIVE / OBSESSIVE SHERLOCK Pt 3
See also:
Jealous & Possessive Sherlock
Possessive Sherlock Pt 2
Jealous Sherlock Because John Dates a Man
Jealous John Pt. 2 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 2
Jealous John Pt 3 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 3
Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 4
Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 5
Possessive by Fang323 (T, 850 w., 1 Ch. || John Whump, Hospitalization, Possessive / Protective Sherlock, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort) – His John did not belong. Not here. Not in this blasted hospital. It simply was not logical.
Concussions And Good Old Fashioned Awkwardness by Belldere (K+, 894 w., 1 Ch. || Humour, Hospitals, Mild John Whump, Misunderstandings, Platonic Relationship, Concussions, Not-Gay John, Possessive Sherlock) – When John lands himself in hospital... again, all he wants is to just get out of there as soon as possible, too bad his doctor has other ideas about where John may be getting his injuries. Good thing concussions make everything strangely funnier.
Burn Burn by Jenn1984 (K+, 925 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TGG, Angst, Worried / Panicked / Possessive Sherlock) – A week after the events of "The Great Game", Sherlock returns to 221B Baker Street to find it empty.
His by I'm Nova (T, 1,042 w., 1 Ch. || Humour, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Possessive Sherlock) – Sherlock doesn't share what he's fond of.
Mine (He Says While Still Being Smol) by beejohnlocked (E, 1,319 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Amused John, Needy Sherlock, Blowjobs) – A suspect flirts with John. Sherlock gets a bit jealous. Okay, a LOT jealous.
The Case of the Missing Blogger by nicknack22 (K, 2,147 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Humour, Friendship, Worried / Anxious Sherlock) – Alternately titled, The Case of the Oblivious Consulting Detective. In which Sherlock comes out of his mind palace to discover John missing. 221B does not fair well as a result.
Hell or High water by bluefire301175 (E, 2,250 w., 1 Ch. || PWP, Frottage, Alley Sex, First Person POV John, Case-ish Fic, Mutual Pining, Bed Sharing) – John wants. Sherlock wants. Plain and simple.
Display by 221b_hound (E, 2,377 w., 1 Ch. || Post-HLV, Tattoos, Public Hand Jobs, Exhibitionism, Possessive Sex, Possessive Sherlock, Possessive John) – A new client has been flirting with Sherlock and, finding no joy there, with John. John seems annoyed to be second-best, Sherlock thinks, so Sherlock decides to give the departing woman (and maybe also John) a demonstration of who, exactly, John belongs to. But there's more than one level of sexual jealousy and more than one display of possession going on here, outlined in the window of 221b Baker Street. Part 2 of Lock and Key
Surety by hudders (G, 2,477 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous Sherlock, Drunk John, Drunk Lestrade, Drinking, Alcohol) – Sherlock is pissed because it seems that four pints of larger, two shots of tequila and a glass of wine has resulted in Lestrade becoming a little bit too friendly with everyone. And by everyone, Sherlock really means John.
Pillow Talk by 221b_hound (E, 2,925 w., 1 Ch. || Post-HLV, Est. Rel., Preening Sherlock, Limpet Sherlock, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Sex on Furniture, Scent Kink, Masturbation, Fluff, Soft Sherlock) – John gets home late from work and Sherlock is nowhere to be seen. John walks through the flat, distracted by memories of all the excellent sex they've been having, and finally finds Sherlock asleep in the upstairs room - apparently having fallen asleep mid-wank while inhaling the scent of John's pillow. Well, you should always finish what you start, John thinks... Part 3 of Lock and Key
Reversed by whitchry9 (K+, 3,072 w., 6 Ch. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Medical Anomalies, John Gets Shot) – The man pointed his gun at John's chest, right at his heart, and shot.' Wherein John is shot, and Sherlock is the one panicking.
Overture by Kate_Lear (M, 4,435 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Friends to Lovers, Angry John, Introspection, Dev. Rel., Embarrassed / Insecure Sherlock, Morning After, Bed Sharing, Cuddles / Limpet Sherlock) – A short snippet on how John and Sherlock might have got together.
All That I Have by the_arc5 (M, 3,721 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TGG Canon Divergence, Pining Sherlock, John Whump, Anxious / Worried Sherlock, Light Angst) – In the aftermath of the Great Game, Sherlock finds himself with a new weakness. John is both the cause and the cure.
Paranoia by Ewebie (M, 3,789 w., 1 Ch. || Humour, Drinking Games, Scotland Yard Gang, Jealous / Possessive Sherlock, Inappropriate Questions, Embarrassed John, Matchmakers) – John and Sherlock join the gang of Scotland Yard for a night of drinking, and it gets a bit personal and revealing.
The Oolong Disaster by unicornpoe (T, 4,151 w., 1 Ch. || John’s Beard, Fluff, Humour, Frustrated Sherlock, John Takes Care of Sherlock, Case Fic-ish, Pining Sherlock, First Kiss, Possessive Sherlock) – John has a beard. Sherlock has a panic attack.
Obsession, Appassionato by shinychimera, Yeomanrand (E, 4,249 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive Sherlock, First Time, Jealous Sherlock, Music / Sherlock’s Violin, Present Tense, Frottage) – John is late, and he hasn’t called, and Sherlock works himself into a state. Part 1 of Love and Ysaye
Date Night by inevitably_johnlocked (G, 4,451 w., 1 Ch. || Anxious / Worried Sherlock, Caring John, Schmoopy Fluff, Fidget Cube, Baking / Cooking, Date Night, Established Relationship, POV Sherlock Holmes, Understanding John, Grumpy Sherlock, John’s Bum, Kisses, Hugs, Domestic Fluff, Touching, Hair Petting, Light Humour) – It's John and Sherlock's first Date Night as an official couple and Sherlock needs it to be PERFECT. Mrs Hudson helps. Part 7 of I-J's Tumblr Ficlet Collection
Butterfly, Pinned Under Glass by billiethepoet (E, 4,648 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive Sherlock, Jealousy, Barebacking, BAMF!John) – It started as a desire to keep John safe and whole, and ended up as just desire.
Applied Linguistics by what_alchemy (M, 4,837 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive / Anxious Sherlock, Introspection, Bed Sharing, Past John Whump, Est. Rel., Marriage Proposal, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Word Play) – “He wants to shake John by the shoulders, wants to open his mouth and swallow John whole. Wants to marry him.” Sherlock searches for the right words.
My First, My Only, and My Forever by vintagelilacs (E, 6,220 w., 1 Ch. || Post-ASiB, Virgin Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock’s Bum, John’s Scar, Sherlock POV, Body Worship, Fingering, Bottomlock, Promise of Forever / Proposals, Misunderstanding, First Kiss/Time, Loss of Virginity, Virginity Kink, Seduction) – Sherlock narrowed his eyes. He was missing a vital piece of data, he was sure. John had been looking at him oddly ever since they left Buckingham Palace, and the ensuing incident with Irene Adler had only exacerbated his erratic behaviour. What was it? Why would he care that Sherlock was a virgin? There was nothing reminiscent of mockery or pity in his gaze. And then it hit him. John Watson was aroused.
Fa Subito by kim47 (E, 6,659 w., 1 Ch. || Suit Porn, Cockblocker Mycroft, Obsessed Sherlock, PWP) – John wears a suit. Sherlock finds it extremely distracting.
Victim, Bait, Hero, Friend by KimberlyTheOwl (T, 7,887 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TGG Epilogue, Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Past Kidnapping / Torture / Implied Rape, Panic Attacks, Worried / Possessive Sherlock, Lestrade is a Good Friend) – Some insights into why John was perfectly willing to throw everything away for a chance to kill Moriarty at the pool. Trauma, ugliness, and finally healing. Some nice supporting work by Lestrade as well.
A Friend Indeed by Sanru (K+, 8,190 w., 1 Ch. || Missing John, Friendship, Drama, Introspection, Possessive Sherlock, Worried Sherlock) – Something has gone terribly wrong with a supposedly simple case. John Watson is missing. While the search for him is proving to be fruitless, it has made Sherlock realize that having an emotional attachment to someone may have its disadvantages but he liked being able to call John his friend. Now if only he could find out what happened to him...
My Life for His by QuinnAnderson (E, 8,816 w., 1 Ch. || Guardian/Protector, Greek Mythology || Growing Up, Sex, Religious Themes, Suicide, Minor Character Death) – It began when Sherlock was eight, and he attempted to climb all the way up to the highest branch in the old willow tree in his back garden. He'd thought he was still small enough that it could support him, but the second he'd grabbed hold of it to pull himself up, the branch snapped, and down he went, plummeting a solid twenty metres. The odd thing was, he never actually hit the ground.
The Haunting of 221B Baker Street by earlgreytea68 (M, 10,388 w., 2 Ch. || Post TRF, Halloween / Ghosts, Pining Sherlock, Ghost Sherlock, Stroppy Sherlock, Sherlock POV, First Kiss/Time, Angry Sex, Ghost Sex, Love Confessions, Open / Ambiguous Ending) – In which Sherlock Holmes is a ghost.
A Is For Aftermath by ElvendorkInfinity (T, 10,567 w., 1 Ch. || Injury / Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship/Pre-Slash/Bromance/Platonics, Hallucinations, Introspection, Insecure / Worried John, Big Brother Mycroft, Alternating POV, Anxious Sherlock, Self-Deprecating, Mildly Possessive Sherlock, 3G Moment) – John is still hallucinating, Sherlock cannot sleep, and Lestrade has a new case for them. But will life at 221B ever be able to return to normal? Epilogue to M is for Moriarty.
London Gods by a_different_equation (E, 11,092 w., 5 Ch. || American Gods Fusion || Magical Realism, Sex Magic, True Love, PTSD John, First Kiss/Time, Marathon Sex, Sensuality, Genie Sherlock, Human John, Internalized Homophobia, Star-Crossed Lovers, Soul Mates) – Sherlock Holmes is a jinn who does not grant wishes. However, when Dr. John H. Watson, recently returned from the war in Afghanistan, gets into his cab by "accident", it might not even need magic to grant both men their deepest wish: love.
Pattern Behaviour by SilentAuror (E, 14,835 w., 1 Ch. || POV First Person Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Introspection, Stroppy Sherlock, Light Humour, Friendship, John Takes Care of Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Wall Kisses, Fluffy Angst, Happy Ending) – Sherlock doesn't even know why he resents John's dates so much. Until the day he does know. Slight angst, unrequited feelings (but don't let that scare you off!)
A Hooligans’ Game Played By Gentlemen by scullyseviltwin (E, 15,213 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Rugby as Foreplay, Porn with Lots of Plot, John POV, Ogling, Body Appreciation, Cranky Sherlock, Slow Burn, Bed Sharing, Cuddling, Touching, Heavy Petting, Blow Job, Botttomlock) – In which John wants to get back in shape, does so, joins a rugby league and has sex with Sherlock Holmes. In that order.
The Burning of the Leaves by blueink3 (M, 15,915 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Angst, Reichenbach, Parentlock, Past Jolto, Idiot John, Sherlock’s a Mess, Puppies, Fluff, Possessive / Jealous Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Matchmaker Sholto, Melancholic Feelings, Emotional Sherlock, Domesticity, Love Confessions in the Rain, Kissing in the Rain, Pet Names) – After the events of series 4, Major Sholto invites John and Sherlock to lunch one day. It nearly proves to be too much for their tenuous relationship as the past haunts the present, putting the future that Sherlock so desperately wants at risk.
A Silver Sixpence by _doodle (NC-17, 16,400 w., 2 Ch. || LJ Fic || For a Case / Case Fic, Fake Relationship, Humour, Romance, Marriage Proposal, Awkward Idiots, Cuddling, Touching, Kissing, Love Confessions, Bed Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fake Until It’s Not, Schmoop and Fluff, Bottomlock) – “John, we need to get married. It’s for a case, not any romantic notions on my part pertaining to our partnership,” Sherlock said, with brutal honesty, and without even looking up.
I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.
Division by MrsNoggin (E, 19,542 w., 11 Ch. || Coffee Shop AU || First Kiss/Time, Fluff, Barista Sherlock, Clingy Sherlock, POV John, John’s Limp, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Sleepy Cuddles, Sensuality, Touching, Virgin Sherlock, Insecure John) – John likes mysteries. And every morning he dips into the local independent coffee bar with his newspaper and ponders another... one Sherlock Holmes.
5 Times John Got the Girl (and lost her) and 1 Time John Got the Guy (and kept him) by LiviKate (M, 21,695 w., 6 Ch. || 5 and Ones, Kissing, Oblivious / Awkward Sherlock, BAMF / Sexy / Stud John, Embarrassed John, John’s Scar, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Sherlock) – John has always had good luck with the ladies. He's charming, friendly and funny, not to mention great in bed. However, his usual skill with the opposite sex is constantly being thwarted by Sherlock and his outbursts. How will John ever get a leg over when Sherlock is always cockblocking him?
How To Unfold a Heart by elwinglyre (E, 25,477 w., 7 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It, BAMF John, Mentioned Eurus, POV First Person Sherlock, Case Fic, Fluff, Slow Burn, Topping from the Bottom, 3 Yr Old Rosie, Introspection, Sexual Fantasies, John Worship, Ogling, Hand Holding, Kidnapping, Domesticity, Sherlock Whump, First Kiss/Time, Doctor John, Caring John, Soft Sherlock, Sensuality, Touching, Crying, Love Confessions, Anxious Sherlock, Rimming, Toplock, Fingering, Bossy Bottom John) – To Sherlock’s dismay, John’s return to Baker Street with Rosie is only temporary. Sherlock’s daily visits to Regent Park with John and Rosie illuminate his lost childhood memories and missed opportunities. But with each trip to the park, Sherlock also feels a growing sense of hope. That is until the past horrors return unexpectedly in a cryptic note folded in the shape of a heart. To decipher the message, Sherlock must uncover the nature of the hearts around him, including his own.
An Acquired Taste by kinklock (E, 31,059 w., 4 Ch. || Vampires AU || Vampire Sherlock, Misunderstandings, Bat!Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Humour, Magical Realism, Fluff and Angst, Blood Drinking, Holmes Family, Slow Burn) – At Montague Street when Sherlock was forced to sate his body’s needs, he was at least able to wander about the flat as much as he pleased. At Baker Street, it was mini-bags in a mini-fridge and bedroom confinement.
Lucifer's Gardens by ampersand_ch (E, 32,679 w., 12 Ch. || GERMAN VERSION || Romance, Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Murder, Poison / Drugging, Mystery, John Undercover, Academic Club, Therapy, Rituals, Jungian Archetypes, Doctors & Physicians, Grief/Mourning, Esotericism, Hospitals, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, John Falls In Love With Another Man, Jealous Sherlock, Crying, Doctor John, Hand Holding, First Kiss/Time, Mysticism, Hugging, Touching) – John goes undercover for an investigation as a favour to Lestrade in a village in Suffolk. The events surrounding the case awaken deep-seated fears in Sherlock. While John begins to come to a realisation of what he needs in Lucifer's Gardens, Sherlock tries to find a way to reach John – in more ways than one.
The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John's head.
Turn Left at the Park by Glenmore (NR (E), 37,409 w., 28 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting / ASiP Divergence, Case Fic, Depression, Suicidal Ideation, Loneliness, No Mary, Possessive Sherlock, Fluff & Angst, Nightmares/PTSD, Sherlock Saves John, Sherlock Whump-ish, Doctor John) – So what would have happened if John hadn't walked through the park and met Stamford? What if, instead, he walked around the park and just went home?
Guidelines by WithLoweredVoices (M, 43,018 w., 15 Ch. || Winglock || Angels, Fantasy, Angst, BAMF! John, War, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Jealous John, Falling in Various Ways, Needy Sherlock, Wings) – The Good Soldier, one of the oldest and strongest of the fallen, is offered a bargain: to live as John Watson and to Guide a fledgling archangel so that he will stay on the path of good. Of course, Sherlock Holmes has different ideas about his destiny. Fantasy AU. Warnings for violence, occasional gore, and a whole load of hurt and angst.
A Goose Quill Dipped in Venom by Polyphony (M, 52,748 w., 16 Ch. || Celebrity John AU || Alternate First Meeting, TV Host John, Supermodel Mary, Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Case Fic, First Kiss/Time, Meddling Mycroft, Drug Abuse, Doctor John, PDA, Deductions, POV Sherlock, Toplock, Sexual Tension, Angry/Rough Sex, Hopeful Ending, Asperger’s Sherlock) – Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, is called in to a very ordinary although brutal murder. Something is badly out of tune with the whole scenario and Sherlock finds himself becoming more and more obsessed with the crime - and also with the victim.
Never Change a Running System by Lorelei_Lee (E, 54,246 w., 18 Ch. || Pre-TRF, Romance, Humour, Drama, Sex Toys, Anal, Rimming, Masturbation, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Public Sex, First Kiss / Time, Virgin Sherlock / Loss of Virginity, Accidental Voyeurism, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Experiments, Naive Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Straight With an Exception John, Hand Jobs) – Sherlock discovers his sexuality – with far-reaching consequences for John.
The Thing Is by TSylvestris (E, 56,743 w., 21 Ch. || Case Fic, Dev. Rel., Anal/Oral, Blow Jobs, Meddling Mycroft, Drama, Romance, Humour, Casual Encounters, Pining Idiots, Possessive Sherlock, Orgasm Delay, Rough / Alley Sex, Public Sex, John Whump, Drugged John, Emotional Love Making, Awkward Relationship, Marriage of Convenience, Switchlock, BAMF John) – The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed. Part 1 of Nitroglycerine
The Burning by SrebrnaFH (M, 60,658 w., 24 Ch. || Reverse Reichenbach, Suicide, Depression, Hurt Sherlock / John, Separation, BAMF John, Good Big Brother Mycroft, Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Fake Character Death, Rescue Mission, Reconciliation / Reunion, Hospitalization, Marriage Proposal, Illnesses, Physical Therapy, Happily Ever After) – Something went very, very wrong. John had seemed, if not happy, then reasonably content with his life. Sherlock had never predicted something like THIS might have happened. Not in his worst nightmares. He was the lousiest friend ever, apparently. At least Mycroft found him something to occupy his mind with, so that he didn't have to go back to 221B and stare at the walls and the chair, where John Watson would never sit again.
Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someone’s Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) – When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he's consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.
Just To Hold You Close by sussexbound (E, 70,841 w., 18 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, Sherlock POV, ASD Sherlock, PTSD John, Demisexual Sherlock, Bisexual John, Cuddling/Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Enthusiastic Consent, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Sexual Tension, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddle Negotiations, For a Case Until It Isn’t, Hair Petting, Sexual Negotiation, Anxiety, Trust Issues, Slow Burn, Panic Attacks, Frottage, Hand/Blow Jobs, Referenced Self Harm / Abuse / Suicidal Ideation, First Kiss/Time, Anal) – When a woman is murdered and the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never has before.
The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (CanadaHolm) (M, 72,684 w., 18 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sick Fic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him.
Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (E, 95,157 w., 27 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canadian AU ||  BAMF!John, Canadian John, PTSD, Anal / Oral Sex, Rimming, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Drug Rehab, Falling in Love, Pining Sherlock, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Violin, Panic Attacks, Switching, Anxious / Protective Sherlock, Hugs for Comfort, Suicide Mentions, Healing Each Other) – Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes." Part 1 of Tales from the Northwest
The Cost of a Wish by slashscribe (E, 102,493 w., 12 Ch. || xxxHolic Fusion || Spirits / Ghosts and Magic, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Soul Mates / Fated Lovers, Adventure, Immortal Sherlock, Powerful John, POV John, Frottage, Wish Granting, Angst with Happy Ending, Nightmares) – John has been plagued by a secret his entire life that has made him feel hopeless until he meets a mysterious, seemingly omniscient man named Sherlock Holmes who owns a wish-granting shop. Their meeting sets off a series of inevitable events that will change the course of both of their lives forever.
The Wedding Garments by cwb (E, 105,390 w., 36 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Alternate Future AU || Alternate First Meeting, Dating / Arranged Marriages, Romance, First Kiss/Time, Heavy Petting, Cuddles, POV Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn / Falling in Love / Dev. Rel., Nervous/Anxious Sherlock, Jealous/Cranky Sherlock, Hiking, Vacation Homes / Honeymoon, Sherlock’s Family, Horny John/Sherlock, Patient John, Massages, Hand Jobs, Assassination Plots, Oral Sex, Case Fic, Emotional Love Making, Bath Time Fun) – This is the story of a young consulting detective who wants nothing to do with marriage and an army doctor who wants to find true love. It's 2020 post-Brexit England and the British government is encouraging arranged marriages. Candidates meet through state-run agencies and date in hopes of finding love (and tax benefits). Sherlock doesn't need or want a spouse, at least not until John Watson shows up. Hesitant to give in to his more carnal urges because of the way they derail his mind, how will Sherlock progress toward the more intimate aspects of a relationship? The answer lies in a very special wedding gift.
The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball
The Adventure of the Silver Scars by tangledblue (NR [M], 142,458 w., 41 Ch. || S3 Fix-It, Post-HLV/ Post-TAB / Canon Compliant, Case Fic, No Baby, Angst, Humour, UST, Slow Burn, Angry John, Reconciliation, Not Nice Mary / Leaving Mary, Dependent Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Caretaker John, Fist Fights, It’s An Experiment, Virgin Sherlock, Dancing, Drugging, John Whump, Pet Names, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Scars) – It’s been thirteen months since Mary shot Sherlock and John finds he’s still pissed off about it. Sherlock had thought everything was settled: John and Mary, domestic bliss. But when John turns up at Baker Street with suitcases, the world’s only consulting detective might not be prepared for the consequences. A new case. Some old scores to settle. Certain danger. Concertos, waltzes, and whisky.
Against the Rest of the World by SilentAuror (E, 151,714 w., 20 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-TRF, Hiatus Fic, POV First Person Sherlock, Present Tense, First Kiss/Time, Big Brother Mycroft, Escaping from Capture, Soft Sherlock, Toplock, Insecurity, Infidelity, Travelling, Introspection, Pining Sherlock, Depression, Fantasies, Yearning for the Past, PTSD Sherlock, Suicidal Ideation) – Sherlock has been away from London for nine hundred and twelve days and counting, and has no idea what sort of reception to expect when he finally returns.
Gimme Shelter by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 159,368 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || 70′s Surfer AU || Period Typical Homophobia, Hawaii, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professional Surfers, Gay John / Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John was a Sailor, Misunderstandings) – All John Watson wants is the feeling of a freshly waxed surfboard under his feet and the hot California sun baking down onto his back. To finally go pro in the newly formed world of professional surfing and leave the dark memories of his past behind him as he rips across the face of a towering blue barrel. To lounge beside the beach bonfire every evening with an ice cold beer tucked into the cool sand beside him and listen to Pink Floyd and the Doors while the saltwater dries in his sun bleached hair. That's all he wants, that is, until the hot young phenom taking Oahu and the Hawaiian shores by storm steps up next to him in the sand in the second round of the 1976 International Surf Competition. (PUBLISHED AS ‘The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone’)
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snicketstrange · 3 years
Text
Rereading The Chapter 14 (The End)
I believed that in ASOUE's universe, chapter 14 was apparently written some time after the rest of the book. But I abandoned that idea. Lemony wrote to the editor that chapter 14 could be found at the end of the same manuscript.
We then have the epigraph of Le Voyage. It's an excerpt that portrays the moment of death, and perhaps the acceptance of death. But I don't think this means that Lemony is completely certain of the Baudelaires' death. I think it means he's pretty sure he won't write about the Baudelaires anymore. I think the right question is "why did Lemony decide to stop writing at this point in the story?" "Why did he plan to write more and then stop writing?" I think Lemony didn't promise to write the entire story of the Baudelaires. He promised to write the story of the conflict between the Baudelaires and Olaf. So when he was sure of Olaf's death, and that was only with the additional information he had probably had access to through Beatrice Jr, Lemony realized that the research might be over. The certainty of Olaf's death was the event he determined when the narrative came to an end. So, it makes us wonder what kind of promise Lemony made. Apparently he promised that he would clarify the facts surrounding the charges the Baudelaires went through, as well as the contexts in which these events took place. That's why it was so important to get this information out to the general public. Because it involved the honor of the Baudelaire family. Furthermore, this explains why he could not rely solely on the account given by the Baudelaires themselves: after all, they were being accused of being lying criminals. Lemony needed to clear their name, proving, so to speak, that the facts reported by the Baudelaires were real, and it was not enough just to record what he read in the island book.
I think this is the most sensible explanation, and as a theorist I will defend it. But as a fan willing to come up with slightly bizarre ideas, I feel like imagining Lemony realizing that his own death was close to happening. It would be interesting to imagine that Lemony's research took so long that he was an elderly man when he was publishing The End. And the reason Lemony finished his work at this point would be his physical limitations. That would explain shocking secret #13: "he's finished." And more than that: it would even explain the title of the book: "The End of Lemony Snicket". And furthermore, this would explain Lemony's dedication to Beatrice in chapter 14. After quoting the words of Charles B., in which the poet compares the hour of death with the setting off of a ship, Lemony claims that both he and Beatrice are like boats sailing at night, but especially her. Both were on a dark and lonely journey, but she was already dead. "
Beatrice's last words recorded in the book were really emotional to me when I first read them, and they still are today. Especially after I watched the Netflix series, it's now possible to imagine a very specific face when I picture Beatrice. And it's possible to think of a specific soundtrack when I read this.
About the baby's name, on my Headcanon Violet is the name of Mrs. W, who was presumed dead around the same time as Lemony. And in my Headcanon, just as Lemony didn't really die, she didn't either. I still like to think that she was the mystery woman on TGG, and that's the real reason Quigley used the name Violet in the message he sent to submarine Q.
I think this is the first time I stop to think that the Baudelaires ate crab. This is unclean food for those who practice Judaism as a religion, isn't it? I even thought the roast lamb was a reference to the Passover celebration, but they wouldn't do that by eating crab. Or is it that in a book in which Daniel Handler implicitly criticizes religion, he did so on purpose? I think it's unlikely, but still possible. But, albeit unintentionally, the Baudelaires rejected the religious customs of their ancestors in a book in which religious customs are questioned and this is significant.
"The baby had heard about danger, too, mostly from the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind from which the Baudelaires read out loud each evening, although they had not told the infant the whole story. She did not know all of the Baudelaires' secrets, and indeed there were some she would never know."
The above excerpt is important as it reveals that Lemony has information about Beatrice Jr's future as he was writing this chapter. This explains how Lemony knows what happened in this chapter: Beatrice Jr told him. Lemony did meet her, and he realized that the Baudelaires hadn't told her the whole story.
A detail that has always pleased me in this book is to notice that after 1 year, Sunny stopped babbling words and has a more conventional and extensive vocabulary. I find this compatible with the fact that 1 year has passed and it's also compatible with her character development arc. One of asoue's themes is "how some children are forced to mature too quickly because of tragedy". Sunny, for example, needed to learn how to cook and convince herself that she loved doing it and that she was good at it in a few days. And all this before she learned to speak English properly. She needed to help with a birth long before she fully understood issues related to human procreation. But in chapter 14, she finally had the opportunity to develop without tragedies forcing her to skip important steps in life.
"Do we take this?" Violet asked, holding up the book from which she had read out loud.
"I don't think so," Klaus said. "Perhaps another castaway will arrive, and continue the history."
"In any case," Sunny said, "they'll have something to read."
Please realize how important this dialogue is. Daniel Handler placed this dialogue here to make sure the reader understood the source of information Lemony had access to: the island book. The children wrote about their own story in that book, including their thoughts, feelings, and private conversations. The children shared some details about ancient events, about when Sunny wasn't even born. In the book, Lemony found details about some events that took place on the island before the arrival of the three Baudelaires.
"I want to make sure these life jackets I've designed will fit properly."
Well... It's good to know that, even though the boat sank, the Baudelaires had lifeboats. Their chances of survival really increased a lot. And knowing that Beatrice Jr managed to survive a shipwreck, it's quite possible that they did too.
The Baudelaires watched her approach, wondering what the next chapter in this infant's life would be, and indeed that is difficult to say. There are some who say that the Baudelaires rejoined V.F.D. and are engaged in brave errands to this day, perhaps under different names to avoid being captured. There are others who say that they perished at sea, although rumors of one's death crop up are often revealed to be untrue. But in any case, as my investigation is over, we have indeed reached the last chapter of the Baudelaires' story, even if the Baudelaires had not.
Lemony just reports here what he heard. Although Daniel Handler intentionally wishes the ending to be left open, and I will respect his decision, I will speak my opinion. They didn't die at sea, though. Note that Lemony directly relates the baby's future to the future of the three Baudelaires. The way Lemony wrote here suggests that the baby's future is as uncertain as the future of her adoptive parents. But we TBL readers know the truth about Beatrice Jr.'s future. Beatrice is alive! So the most likely situation is that her parents are also alive. ( And who knows other characters that we thought had died there on TBB... could it be that at least one of them could also have survived?)
But the question is: if Lemony knows the baby survived, why did he hide this information from the reader? Certainly to protect his niece. Lemony didn't lie, just omitted some details.
The baby paused, and looked at the back of the boat, where the nameplate had been affixed. She had no way of knowing this, of course, but the nameplate had been nailed to the back of the boat by a person standing on the very spot she was standing—at least as far as my research has shown.
Lemony once again dismantled specific knowledge through research, which could only have been done through information provided by others. Beatrice Jr needed to tell Lemony exactly where she was at that moment and Lemony needed to compare that with the information Beatrice Sr and Bertrand wrote in the island book. And then, on visiting the site, Lemony was able to ascertain the most likely position for those descriptions. While Lemony is a bit mistaken, the research process must have been like that.
Finally, she uttered a word. The Baudelaire orphans gasped when they heard it, but they could not say for sure whether she was reading the word out loud or merely stating her own name, and indeed they never learned this. Perhaps this last word was the baby's first secret, joining the secrets the Baudelaires were keeping from the baby, and all the other secrets immersed in the world. Perhaps it is better not to know what was meant by this word, as some things are better left in the great unknown. There are some words, of course, that are better left unsaid—but not, I believe, the word uttered by my niece, a word which here means that the story is over. Beatrice.
Oh... How I love this ending. That's when I felt my head explode for the first time in my life, and I'm still picking up the pieces.
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riddles-n-games · 5 months
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Y'all, I think you're judging the other players a little too hard 😭. I mean, what if they end up having really cool backstories? For instance, take Odette Morales. Not gonna lie, I already imagined this girl coming to take revenge against Rothbart, she dances ballet, has a killer sense for fashion and justice, is a fashionista that can make her own clothes, has hassling sticky problems and bad sensory issues, and is a nightly superhero. But I digress.
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ebaeschnbliah · 4 years
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Still at the centre of the web ….
For the 10th Anniversary of Sherlock BBC (July 2010) the Royal Mail released a lovely collection of six stamps, that display key characters from several episodes of the TV show, as well as hidden messages only revealed under UV light.  (X)
I took a closer look at those stamps in the Anatomy of a Stamp Series:  A Study in Pink   The Great Game   A Scandal in Belgravia   The Reichenbach Fall   The Empty Hearse   The Final Problem
Alongside those stamps and in partnership with The Royal Mint (X),  a special medal has been crafted as well to ‘celebrate Sherlock’s genius – and his nemesis’ ... to explore Sherlock’s ‘turbulent relationship with arch-rival Moriarty’ as the description says. 
A little sideways glance at that medal and the collage of images with which it is surrounded couldn’t be wrong, I thought. :)
TBC below the cut .....
That anniversary medal is available in two versios (cupro-nickel&sterling-silver) and it displays:
on one side - Moriarty’s message ‘Get Sherlock’, the note he carved on the Crown Jewel glass case in TRF, to invite Sherlock to play his game
on the obverse side - ‘The Game is on’, which is meant to be Sherlock’s modern take on the literary version ‘The Game is afoot’
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James Moriarty is known to be the famous archenemy of Sherlock Holmes. Contrary to canon, Sherlock BBC introduced that character already in the first episode A Study in Pink and Jim commits suicide (alongside Sherlock) in the sixth episode of the story, which consists of 13 so far. According to canon, Sherlock fakes his suicide and comes back after his hiatus. Although Jim is considered to be really dead for years by now, notes and messages of the character turn up repeatedly on various data carriers ... electronic as well as paper. 
Interestingly, it has been chosen for the 10th anniversary of Sherlock BBC to create fan memorabilia which focuses mainly on the confontration between Sherlock and Jim, whose life ended rather quickly at Bart’s roof in The Reichenbach Fall. A great honour for a character who is long dead and seems to be irrelevant for the ongoing story of this adaptation, in which another character - Mary - married John and shot Sherlock and therefore became a sort of new archenemy. Nonetheless, not only every stamp is - in one way or another - linked to Jim Moriarty, the medal and the collage of images with which it is surrounded, displays also mainly text messages connected to Sherlock’s (in)famous nemesis Jim Moriarty. 
Here’s a summery of those texts + the corresponding screenshots in the episodes. It surprised me though, that I couldn’t match all of them. There are some interesting exceptions. First the obvious ones:
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A Study in Pink
Two images have been used to create this manip for the medal collage. Both are visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. And both screenshots don’t turn up side by side. Sherlock’s entire thinking process lies between them. Jeff Hope, the man who killed the lady in pink had been sponsored by Jim Moriarty.
RACHE  German (n.) revenge
The correct letter settles into place ... Rachel
He squats down beside the body .... wet
He reaches into her coat pockets and finds the umbrella ... dry
He moves up to the collar of her coat ... wet
He inspects the delicate gold bracelet on her left wrist ... clean
... then the gold earring attached to her left ear ... clean
... and then the gold chain around her neck ... clean
The wedding ring ... dirty
Conclusions appear in front of Sherlock’s eyes ... married ... unhappily married ... unhappily married 10+ years
While the outside of the wedding ring is still showing ... dirty
the inside registers as ... clean
Sherlock has reached a conclusion ... regularly removed
The final deduction about her ... serial adulterer
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The Great Game
Three different scenes from this episode have been used for the collage. Two are connected to a serial killer called The Golem, who asphyxiates his victims. One is directly connected to Jim Moriarty, who has planned all the cases in TGG. 
1- The Golem killed Alex Woodbridge, security guard and hobby stargazer. That killer appears for the first time on Sherlock’s radar when he searches on his phone for ‘most wanted’ criminals:
JOHN: He’s dead about twenty-four hours – maybe a bit longer. Did he drown?
Sherlock has called up on his phone: Interpol Most Wanted Criminal Organisations Regional Activities LESTRADE: Apparently not. Not enough of the Thames in his lungs. Asphyxiated.
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2- The Vauxhall Arches turn out to be the hiding place of the Golem and Sherlock gets the address from an informant of his homeless network. It’s a note written on a piece of paper:
SHERLOCK: Hold that cab. (John trots back to the taxi while Sherlock goes over to the girl.) HOMELESS GIRL: Spare change, sir? SHERLOCK: Don’t mind if I do. JOHN (to the cab driver): Can you wait here? (The girl hands Sherlock a piece of paper. Unfolding it, he sees that she has written “VAUXHALL ARCHES” on it. Smiling briefly, he turns and walks back to John.)
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3- The third image out of this episode is one of the exceptions, because they’re not imagined or written words but an actual text line spoken by Jim Moriarty during his showdown with Sherlock at the pool.
JIM: I’ve given you a glimpse, Sherlock, just a teensy glimpse of what I’ve got going on out there in the big bad world. I’m a specialist, you see ... like you! 
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A Scandal in Belgravia
It is Jim Moriarty who adviced Irene Adler how ‘to play the Holmes boys’. It is Sherlock though, who wins that game and is able to get access to Irene’s camera phone. The confirmation of his success appears on her mobil phone screen:
IRENE: Everything I said: it’s not real. I was just playing the game. SHERLOCK: I know. And this is just losing. (Slowly he turns the phone towards her and shows her the screen. She looks down at it, tears spilling from her eyes as she reads the sequence which says: I AM SHER LOCKED
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The Reichenbach Fall
Three different scenes from this episode have been used for the collage.
1- Jim Moriarty sends Sherlock his invitation to play the game, while sitting inside the smashed glass cage of the crown jewels, dressed as and equipped with the insignias of a king. The message appears on Sherlock’s phone. This starts the game.
JOHN: Sherlock ... SHERLOCK: Not now. JOHN: He’s back. (Sherlock lifts his head and takes the phone. The message reads: Come and play. Tower Hill. Jim Moriarty x.
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2- Sherlock searches for the traces hidden inside the residues of the kidnapper’s footprints. What might be the fifth element? Those five big questionmarks+the number 5 appear as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace and are embedded between Sherlock’s rememberence of Jim’s threat ‘I owe you’ and Molly asking about this afterwards. It turns out to be the clue to find the kidnapped children and it marks the beginning of Sherlock’s downfall. 
SHERLOCK: I ... owe ... you. SHERLOCK: Glycerol molecule. He sighs heavily as he struggles to identify the item, seeing it in his head as: 5. ????? SHERLOCK: What are you? MOLLY: What did you mean, “I owe you”?
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3- Claudette Bruhl, one of the kidnapped children, seems to recognize Sherlock as her kidnapper. The seed of doubt is sawn at Scotland Yard. Then the letters  IOU appear on the windows of a building opposite. This message proves to Sherlock that it is indeed Jim Moriarty who is behind that kidnapping case.  
LESTRADE: The kid’s traumatised. Something about Sherlock reminds her of the kidnapper. JOHN: So what’s she said? DONOVAN: Hasn’t uttered another syllable. JOHN: And the boy? LESTRADE: No, he’s unconscious; still in intensive care. (In the building opposite Scotland Yard, all the lights in the offices come on. On the second floor, spray paint has been applied to three of the office windows. Sherlock stares at the enormous letters that have been painted: I O U
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The Empty Hearse
From this episode two different words out of one of Sherlock’s mind palace deductions have been used for the collage. Sherlock is working on the fake Jack the Ripper case (How I did it), which had been planned by Anderson to lure Sherlock back to London because he firmly believed the detective not to be dead. Sherlock notices the trick though. He comes to the conclusion that the fake corpse is only six moths old and its Victorian outfit had been exposed to first: sun and then: fire damage. (Sun exposure, fire damage, undead .... it’s a bit hard to not get ideas about Dracula here ... X X X  :)
The words ‘pine & cedar’ are displayed again as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. And just like in ASIP those words lie several screenshots appart. For some reasons ‘spruce’ has been ignored: 
LESTRADE: This one’s got us all baffled. SHERLOCK: Mmm. I don’t doubt it. (..... Sherlock sniffs at the body and tries to decide what he is picking up: PINE? SPRUCE? CEDAR NEW MOTHBALLS Moving on, he sniffs again: Carbon particulate ... He sniffs more deeply: Fire Damage
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The Final Problem
Images of three different scenes out of this episode have been used for the collage. 
1- The movie Mycroft is watching in his private cinema at his place is interrupted first by images of an old family video, then by Eurus’ message on screen ... “I’m back”. It  announces the return of Eurus, the secret sister.
I’M BACK VOICE: Mycroft ... Mycroft ... MYCROFT: Why don’t you come out and show yourself? I don’t have time for this. CHILD’s VOICE: We have time, brother dear. All the time in the world.
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2- Sherlock stands in front of the ‘funny gravestones’ at Musgrave Hall and puts together the dates on the stones until he has a long string of numbers in front of him ... visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. This brings Sherlock finally the solution to Eurus’ riddle.
.... 1520 1818 2426 1617 1822 32
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3- Just like the numbers, the four verses of Eurus’ riddle appear as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. He connects the string of dates from the gravestones to the verses. It is the second verse that has been used for the collage.
I that am lost, oh who will find me? Deep down below the old beech tree Help succour me now the east winds blow Sixteen by six, brother, and under we go! Without your love, he’ll be gone before Save pity for strangers, show love the door. My soul seek the shade of my willow’s bloom Inside, brother mine - Let Death make a room. Be not afraid to walk in the shade Save one, save all, come try! My steps - five by seven Life is closer to Heaven Look down, with dark gaze, from on high. Before he was gone - right back over my (h)ill Who now will find him? Why, nobody will Doom shall I bring to him, I that am queen Lost forever, nine by nineteen.
The exceptions ...
So far, these have been the obvious links between the images used for the collage and the corresponding episodes of Sherlock BBC. Beneath follow the less obvious and the ones I failed to find a match for. 
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Blue chemistry ...
There are two episodes in which chemical formulas are displayed in the form of drawings. 
1- In The Hounds of Baskerville (S2/2) Sherlock is looking for a monstrous hound from hell. Instead he finds the H.O.U.N.D. project in which experiments had been conducted with a deleriant drug, based on fear and stimulus. The informations on this project are key-coded by the name MAGGIE (short for Margaret Thatcher)
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2- In The Six Thatchers (S4/1) Sherlock tries - with the help of Toby the bloodhound - to track down the person who smashes plaster busts of Margaret Thatcher in order to find a hidden flash drive with secret informations about A.G.R.A. a group of terrorists. One of the four members had been Mary Watson.
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Although there exist several drawn chemical formulas in both episodes, very similar to the one used for the collage, and despite I scanned those scenes screenshot by screenshot, I wasn’t able to find a perfect match. Maybe I still missed something. Maybe that formula on the collage is indeed just an unrelated decoraton .... But it’s interesting to note that the story connects this kind of ‘chemistry’ always to Hounds and Thatcher. (more about chemistry)
Red drop of blood ...
That blood drop used for the collage appears actually in each official episode (TAB as well) because it’s part of the intro. And for the creation of the medal collage, that image has been used two times. In the background there is a smaller and paler version, which is overlapped by a bigger and darker version in the foreground. Of that one, only the lower half is visible. Using two times the same image in one picture, always reminds me strongly of the many Pairs, Twins and Double oh’s mentioned in Sherlock BBC. 
Mostly I connect that ‘sign of two’ with John Watson. In my theory he represents the ‘fixed point in a changing age’, the ‘eternal just-friend and still stubbornly ‘not gay’ Watson, the very aspect in Sherlock’s experiment, that needs to be transformed into a modern version of the same character. In other words: the old king has to make way for the new king. According to the original meaning of the Musgrave Ritual that says about the crown of a king: “'Whose was it? His who is gone. Who shall have it? He who will come.” 
With this in mind it was easy to compare the drop of watery liquid that falls onto a drop of blood in Sherlock’s experiment, to John in the well, drenched by the water Eurus exposes him to. Emotional context indeed. :))))
When a drop of emotions/chemistry brings the blood to a boil ... (1 2)    Drop of blood 
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Search: London Bridge ...
That’s the most mysterious addition to the collage. While all the other words and images can be linked to the show .... this one is the absolute exception. A ‘search for London Bridge’ doesn’t happen throughout the whole story. Not once. London Bridge doesn’t even play a role in Sherlock BBC. At least not yet ...
Bridges of Sherlock BBC:
In ASIB Irene Adler texts Sherlock that she can see Tower Bridge from her room. In TST Sherlock stands on Vauxhall Bridge while he realizes the involvement of fake AMO, Vivian Norbury. 
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In TLD Culverton Smith gives the cryptic advice ‘We must be careful not to burn our BRIDGES.’ ... at the same time Sherlock walks with Faith through London and crosses Millennium Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridge beside Hungerford Bridge.
In TFP little Sherlock stands on a small wood-bridge while he is searching for his lost dog Redbeard.
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‘Bridge’ as extension of names:
In TGG security guard Alex WoodBRIDGE is found dead at the bank of the Thames, between Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge.
In TSOT guardsman Stephen BainBRIDGE consults Sherlock and starts the case of the Mayfly Man. He is the first of the three guards (Bainbridge, Sholto, Mary) in this episode. (Changing of the Guard)
London Bridge though does not appear in Sherlock BBC so far. This leaves the question ... why is the note to search for that bridge even on the collage? Where does it come from? And why is it so closely connected to the episode spanning double image of the blood drop from Sherlock’s experiment? The words are displayed inside the smaller, paler blood drop. One wonders .....
(Thanks @gosherlocked​ for deciphering ‘London’ in that bridge’s name. :)))
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The blue ribbon ...
Something that looks like a ‘blue ribbon’ runs through the lower part of the collage. The very distinctive loop, right under the name Moriarty, gave me the idea that this ‘ribbon’ could be the river Thames. And really, my assuption turned out to be correct, it is the Thames. What’s even better, at this distinctive loop the river coils around the peninsula named ... Isle of Dogs. 
It surely isn’t an unusual thing to add a part from the map of London, including the Thames, to a collage of images related to Sherlock Holmes. After all, Sherlock is a most famous residient of London. It it is also quite fitting, especially for this adaptation, to display Jim’s name side by side with ‘dogs’. Dogs and hounds do play a major role since the beginning and are closely linked to Jim, John and Sherlock. The barking of a dog in the night can be heard right after John wakes from his nightmare in ASIP, missing shoes lead right away to the villain (very similar to the original Baskerville case) and TFP is all about a lost dog/boy. But there is a little bit more that came to mind, when I recognized the Isle of Dogs.
TheGameIsNow ...
During the run-up to TheGameIsNow-Escape Room Event, (summer 2018) a video was released .... a call-out from Mycroft Holmes to recruit volunteers for The Network. As a part of that call-out, Mycroft mentions a ‘rush of incidents across the capital’ and while he speaks, a map of London is displayed on screen on which a red line runs along and strings together the involved locations, which are marked with the ‘eye-sign’ of The Network. And that red line stops exactly at the Isle of Dogs. That’s why I recognized that peninsula immediately.
Again ... one wonders ...
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All in all, one can not deny that a lot of considerations, of work and also of knowledge regarding the show, have been put into the creation of those stamps, the medal and the images used for their presentation. And as usual with Sherlock BBC, some little intriguing mysteries have also been woven into it.  :)))
I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane​ for the scripts. 
January, 2021
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thewatsonbeekeepers · 4 years
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Chapter 4 – It is always 1895 [TAB 1/1]
TAB is my favourite episode of Sherlock. It is a masterpiece that investigates queerness, the canon and the psyche all within an hour and a half. Huge amounts of work has been done on this episode, however, so I’m not going to do a line by line breakdown – that could fill a small book. A great starting point for understanding the myriad of references in TAB is Rebekah’s three part video series on the episode, of which the first instalment can be found here X. I broadly agree with this analysis; what I’m going to do here, though, is place that analysis within the framework of EMP theory. As a result, as much as it pains me, this chapter won’t give a breakdown of carnation wallpaper or glass houses or any of those quietly woven references – we’re simply going in to how it plays into EMP theory.
Before digging into the episode, I want to take a brief diversion to talk about one of my favourite films, Mulholland Drive (2001).
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If you haven’t seen Mulholland Drive, I really recommend it – it’s often cited as the best film of the last 20 years, and watching it really helps to see where TAB came from and the genre it’s operating in. David Lynch is one of the only directors to do the dream-exploration-of-the-psyche well, and I maintain that a lot of the fuckiness in the fourth series draws on Lynch. However, what I actually want to point out about Mulholland Drive is the structure of it, because I think it will help us understand TAB a little better. [If you don’t want spoilers for Mulholland Drive, skip the next paragraph.]
The similarities between these two are pretty straightforward; the most common reading of Mulholland Drive is that an actress commits suicide by overdose after causing the death of her ex-girlfriend, who has left her for a man, and that the first two-thirds of the film are her dream of an alternate scenario in which her girlfriend is saved. The last third of the film zooms in and out of ‘real life’, but at the end we see a surreal version of the actual overdose which suggests that this ‘real life’, too, has just been in her psyche. Sherlock dying and recognising that this may kill John is an integral part of TAB, and the relationships have clear parallels, but what is most interesting here is the structural similarity; two-thirds of the way through TAB, give or take, we have the jolt into reality, zoom in and out of it for a while and then have a fucky scene to finish with that suggests that everything is, in fact, still in our dying protagonist’s brain. Mulholland Drive’s ending is a lot sadder than TAB’s – the fact that, unlike Sherlock, there is no sequel can lead us to assume that Diane dies – and it’s also a lot more confusing; it’s often cited as one of the most complicated films ever made even just in terms of surface level plot, before getting into anything else, and it certainly took me a huge amount of time on Google before I could approach anything like a resolution on it!
Mulholland Drive is the defining film in terms of the navigating-the-surreal-psyche subgenre, and so the structural parallels between the two are significant – and definitely point to the idea that Sherlock hasn’t woken up at the end of TAB, which is important. But we don’t need to take this parallel as evidence; there’s plenty of that in the episode itself. Let’s jump in.
Emelia as Eurus
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When we first meet Eurus in TST, she calls herself E; this initialism is a link to Moriarty, but it’s also a convenient link to other ‘E’ names. Lots of people have already commented on the aural echo of ‘Eros’ in ‘Eurus’, which is undeniable; the idea that there is something sexual hidden inside her name chimes beautifully with her representation of a sexual repression. The other important character to begin with E, however, is Emelia Ricoletti. The name ‘Emelia’ doesn’t come from ACD canon, and it’s an unorthodox spelling (Amelia would be far more common), suggesting that starting with an ‘E’ is a considered choice.
When TAB aired, we were preoccupied with Emelia as a Sherlock mirror, and it’s easy to see why; the visual parallels (curly black hair, pale skin) plus the parallel faked death down to the replacement body, which Mofftiss explicitly acknowledge in the episode. However, I don’t think that this reading is complete; rather, she foreshadows the Eurus that we meet in s4. The theme of ghosts links TAB with s4 very cleanly; TAB is about Emelia, but there is also a suggestion of the ghosts of one’s past with Sir Eustace as well as Sherlock’s own claims (‘the shadows that define our every sunny day’). Compare this to s4 – ‘ghosts from the past’ appears on pretty much every promotional blurb, and the word is used several times in relation to Eurus. If Eurus is the ghost from Sherlock’s past, the repressive part of his psyche that keeps popping back, Emelia is a lovely metaphor for this; she is quite literally the ghost version of Sherlock who won’t die.
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What does it mean, then, when Jim and Emelia become one and the same in the scene where Jim wears the bride’s dress? We initially read this as Jim being the foil to Sherlock, his dark side, but I think it’s more complicated than this. Sherlock’s brain is using Emelia as a means of understanding Jim, but when we watch the episode it seems that they’ve actually merged. Jim wearing the veil of the bride is a good example of this, but I also invite you to rewatch the moment when John is spooked by the bride the night that Eustace dies; the do not forget me song has an undeniable South Dublin accent.* This is quite possibly Yasmine Akram [Janine] rather than Andrew Scott, of course, but let’s not forget that these characters are resolutely similar, and hearing Jim’s accent in a genderless whisper is a pretty clear way of inflecting him into the image of the bride. In addition to this, Eustace then has ‘Miss Me?’ written on his corpse, cementing the link to Moriarty.
[*the South Dublin accent is my accent, so although we hear a half-whispered song for all of five seconds, I’m pretty certain about this]
Jim’s merging with Emelia calls to mind for me what I think might be the most important visual of all of series 4 – Eurus and Jim’s Christmas meeting, where they dance in circles with the glass between them and seem to merge into each other. I do talk about this in a later chapter, but TLDR – if Jim represents John being in danger and Eurus represents decades of repressed gay trauma, this merging is what draws the trauma to the surface just as Jim’s help is what suddenly makes Eurus a problem. It is John’s being in danger which makes Sherlock’s trauma suddenly spike and rise – he has to confront this for the first time – just like Emelia Ricoletti’s case from 1895 only needs solving for the first time now that Jim is back.
At some point I want to do a drag in Sherlock meta, because I think there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye, but Jim in a bride’s dress does draw one obvious drag parallel for me.
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If you haven’t seen the music video for I Want to Break Free, it’s 3 minutes long and glorious – and also, I think, reaps dividends when seen in terms of Sherlock. You can watch it here: X
Not only is it a great video, but for British people of Mofftiss’s age, it’s culturally iconic and not something that would be forgotten when choosing that song for Jim. Queen were intending to lampoon Coronation Street, a British soap, and already on the wrong side of America for Freddie Mercury’s unapologetic queerness, found themselves under fire from the American censors. Brian May says that no matter how many times he tried to explain Coronation Street to the Americans, they just didn’t get it. This was huge controversy at the time, but the video and the controversy around it also managed to cement I Want to Break Free as Queen’s most iconic queer number – despite not even being one of Mercury’s songs. There is no way that Steven Moffat, and even more so Mark Gatiss would not have an awareness of this in choosing this song for Moriarty. Applying any visual to this song is going to invite comparisons to the video – and inflecting a sense of drag here is far from inappropriate. Moriarty has been subsumed into Eurus in Sherlock’s brain – the male and the female are fused into an androgynous and implicitly therefore all-encompassing being. I’m not necessarily comfortable with the gendered aspect of this – genderbending is something we really only see in our villains here – but given this is about queer trauma, deliberately queering its form in this way is making what we’re seeing much more explicit.
Nothing new under the sun
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes)
"Read it up -- you really should. There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before." (A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes)
“Hasn’t this all happened before? There’s nothing new under the sun.” (The Abominable Bride, Jim Moriarty)
This is arguably the key to spotting that TAB is a dream long before they tell us – when TAB’s case is early revealed to be a mixture between TRF (Emelia’s suicide) and TGG (the five pips), and we see the opening of ASiP repeated, we should be questioning what on earth is going on. This can also help us to recognise s4 as being EMP as well though – old motifs from the previous series keep repeating through the cases, like alarm bells ringing. Moriarty telling Sherlock that there is nothing new under the sun is his key to understanding that the Emelia case is meant to help him understand what happened to Jim, that it’s a mental allegory or mirror to help him parse it. This doesn’t go away when TAB ends! Moving into TST, one of the striking things is that cases are still repeating! The Six Thatchers appeared on John’s blog way back, before the fall – you can read it here: X. It’s about a gay love affair that ends in one participant killing the other. Take from that what you will, when John’s extramarital affection is making him suicidal and Sherlock comatose. Meanwhile, the title of The Final Problem refers to the story that was already covered in TRF and the phone situation with the girl on the plane references both ASiB and TGG, and the ending of TST is close to a rerun of HLV. It’s pretty much impossible to escape echoes of previous series in a way that is almost creepy, but we’ve already had this explained to us in TAB – none of this is real. It’s supposed to be explaining what is happening in the real world – and Mofftiss realised that this was going to be difficult to stomach, and so they included TAB as a kind of key to the rest of the EMP, which becomes much more complex.
However, if we want to go deeper we should look at where that quote comes from. I’ve given a few epigraphs to this section to show where the quote comes from – first the book of Ecclesiastes, then A Study in Scarlet. It’s one of the first things Holmes says and it is during his first deduction in Lauriston Gardens. This is where I’m going to dive pretty deep into the metatextual side of things, so bear with the weirdness.
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[we’re going deeper]
Holmes’s first deduction from A Study in Scarlet shows that he’s no great innovator – he simply notices things and spots patterns from things he has seen before. This is highlighted by the fact that he even makes this claim by quoting someone before him. If our Sherlock also makes deductions based on patterns from the past, extensive dream sequences where he works through past cases as mirrors for present ones makes perfect sense and draws very cleverly on canon. However, I think his spotting of patterns goes deeper than that. Sherlock Holmes has been repressed since the publication of A Study in Scarlet, through countless adaptations in literature and film. Plenty of these adaptations as well as the original stories are referenced in the EMP, not least by going back to 1895, the year that symbolises the era in which most of these adaptations are set. (If you don’t already know it, check out the poem 221B by Vincent Starrett, one of the myriad of reasons why the year 1895 is so significant.) My feeling is that these adaptations, which have layered on top of each other in the public consciousness to cement the image of Sherlock Holmes the deductive machine [which he’s not, sorry Conan Doyle estate] come to symbolise the 100+ years of repression that Sherlock himself has to fight through to come out of the EMP as his queer self.
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This is one of the reasons that the year 1895 is so important; it was the year of Oscar Wilde’s trial and imprisonment for gross indecency, and this is clearly a preoccupation of Sherlock’s consciousness in TFP with its constant Wilde references, suggesting that his MP’s choice of 1895 wasn’t coincidental. Much was made during TAB setlock of a newspaper that said ‘Heimish The Ideal Husband’, Hamish being John’s middle name and An Ideal Husband being one of Wilde’s plays. But the Vincent Starrett poem, although nostalgic and ostensibly lovely, for tjlcers and it seems for Sherlock himself symbolises something much more troubling. Do search up the full poem, but for now let’s look at the final couplet.
Here, though the world explode, these two survive
And it is always 1895
‘Though the world explode’ is a reference to WW1, which is coming in the final Sherlock Holmes story, and which is symbolised by Eurus – in other chapters, I explain why Eurus and WW1 are united under the concept of ‘winds of change’ in this show. Sherlock and John survive the winds of change – except they don’t move with them. Instead, they stay stuck in 1895, the year of ultimate repression. 2014!Sherlock going back in his head to 1895 and repeating how he met John suggests exactly that, that nothing has changed but the superficial, and that emotionally, he is still stuck in 1895.
Others have pulled out similar references to Holmes adaptations he has to push through in TAB – look at the way he talks in sign language to Wilder, which can only be a reference to Billy Wilder, director of TPLoSH, the only queer Holmes film, and a film which was forced to speak through coding because of the Conan Doyle estate. That film is also referenced by Eurus giving Sherlock a Stradivarius, which is a gift given to him in TPLoSH in exchange for feigning heterosexuality. Eurus is coded as Sherlock’s repression, and citing a repressive moment in a queer film as her first action when she meets Sherlock is another engagement by Sherlock’s psyche with his own cinematic history. My favourite metatextual moment of this nature, however, is the final scene of TFP which sees John and Sherlock running out of a building called Rathbone Place.
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Basil Rathbone is one of the most iconic Sherlock Holmes actors on film, and Benedict’s costume in TAB and in particular the big overcoat look are very reminiscent of Rathbone.
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Others have discussed (X) how the Victorian costume and the continued use of the deerstalker in the present day are images of Sherlock’s public façade and exclusion of queerness from his identity. It’s true that pretty much every Holmes adaptation has used the deerstalker, but the strong Rathbone vibes that come from Ben’s TAB costume ties the 1895 vibe very strongly into Rathbone. To have the final scene – and hopefully exit from the EMP – tie in with Sherlock and John running out of Rathbone Place tells us that, just as Sherlock cast off the deerstalker at the end of TAB (!), he has also cast off the iconic filmic Holmes persona which has never been true to his actual identity.
Waterfall scene
The symbol of water runs through TAB as well as s4 – others have written fantastic meta on why water represents Sherlock’s subconscious (X), but I want to give a brief outline. It first appears with the word ‘deeper’ which keeps reappearing, which then reaches a climax in the waterfall scene. The idea that Sherlock could drown in the waters of his mind is something that Moriarty explicitly references, suggesting that Sherlock could be ‘buried in his own Mind Palace’. The ‘deep waters’ line keeps repeating through series 4, and I just want to give the notorious promo photo from s4 which confirms the significance of the motif.
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This is purely symbolic – it never happens in the show. Water increases in significance throughout – think of Sherlock thinking he’s going mad in his mind as he is suspended over the Thames, or the utterly nonsensical placement of Sherrinford in the middle of the ocean – the deepest waters of Sherlock’s mind. Much like the repetition of cases hinting that EMP continues, the use of water is something that appears in the MP, and it sticks around from TAB onwards, a real sign that we’re going deeper and deeper. I talk about this more in the bit on TFP, but the good news is that Sherrinford is the most remote place they could find in the ocean – that’s the deepest we’re going. After that, we’re coming out (of the mind).
Shortly after TAB aired, I wrote a meta about the waterfall scene, some of which I now disagree with, but the core framework still stands – it did not, of course, bank on EMP theory. You can find it here (X), but I want to reiterate the basic framework, because it still makes a lot of sense. Jim represents the fear of John’s suicide, and Jim can only be defeated by Sherlock and John together, not one alone – and crucially, calling each other by first names, which would have been very intimate in the Victorian era. After Jim is “killed”, we have Sherlock’s fall. The concept of a fall (as in IOU a fall) has long been linked with falling in love in tjlc. Sherlock tells John that it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the landing, something that Jim has been suggesting to him for a while. What is the landing, then? Well, Sherlock Holmes fell in love back in the Victorian era, symbolised by the ultra repressive 1895, and that’s where he jumps from – but he lands in the 21st century. Falling in love won’t kill him in the modern day. What I missed that time around, of course, was that despite breaking through the initial Victorian layers of repression, he still dives into more water, and when the plane lands, it still lands in his MP, just in a mental state where the punishment his psyche deals him for homosexuality is less severe. This also sets up s4 as specifically dealing with the problem of the fall – Sherlock jumps to the 21st century specifically to deal with the consequences of his romantic and sexual feelings. There’s a parallel here with Mofftiss time jumping; back when they made A Study in Twink in 2009, there was a reason they made the time jump. Having Sherlock’s psyche have that touch of self-awareness helps to illustrate why they made a similar jump, also dealing with the weight of previous adaptations.
Women
I preface this by saying how incredibly uncomfortable I find the positioning of women as the KKK in TAB. It’s a parallel which is unforgivable; frankly, invoking the KKK without interrogating the whiteness of the show or even mentioning race is unacceptable. Steven Moffat’s ability to write women has consistently been proven to be nil, but this is a new low. However, the presence of women in TAB is vital, so on we go.
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TAB specifically deals with the question of those excluded from a Victorian narrative. This is specifically tied into to those who are excluded from the stories, such as Jane and Mrs. Hudson. Mrs. Hudson’s complaint is in the same scene as John telling her and Sherlock to blame the problems on the illustrator. This ties back to the deerstalker metaphor which is so prevalent in this episode; something that’s not in the stories at all, but a façade by which Holmes is universally recognised and which as previously referenced masks his queerness. Women, then, are not the only people being excluded from the narrative. When Mycroft tells us that the women have to win, he’s also talking about queer people. This is a war that we must lose.
I don’t think the importance of Molly in particular here has been mentioned before, but forgive me if I’m retreading old ground. However, Molly always has importance in Sherlock as a John mirror, and just because she is dressed as a man here doesn’t mean we should disregard this. If anything, her ridiculous moustache is as silly as John’s here! Molly, although really a member of the resistance, is able to pass in the world she moves in in 1895, but only by masking her own identity. This is exactly what happens to John in the Victorian era – as a bisexual man married to a woman, he is able to pass, but it is not his true identity. More than that, Molly is a member of the resistance, suggesting not just that John is queer but that he’s aware of it and actively looking for it to change.
I know I was joking about Molly and John’s moustaches, but putting such a silly moustache on Molly links to the silliness of John’s moustaches, which only appear when he’s engaged to a woman and in the Victorian era. He has also grown the moustache just so the illustrator will recognise him, and Molly has grown her moustache so that she will be recognised as a man. In this case, Molly is here to demonstrate the fact that John is passing, but only ever passing. Furthermore, Molly, who is normally the kindest person in the whole show, is bitter and angry throughout TAB – it’s not difficult to see then how hiding one’s identity can affect one’s mental health. I really do think that John is a lot more abrasive in TAB than he is in the rest of the show, but that’s not the whole story. Showing how repression can completely impair one’s personality also points to the suicidal impulses that are lurking just out of sight throughout TAB – this is what Sherlock is terrified of, and again his brain is warning him just what it is that is causing John this much pain and uncharacteristic distress.
This is just about the loosest sketch of TAB that could exist! But TAB meta has been so extensive that going over it seems futile, or else too grand a project within a short chapter. Certain theories are still formulating, and may appear at a later date! But what this chapter (I hope) has achieved has set up the patterns that we’re going to see play out in s4 – between the metatextuality, the waters of the mind and the role of Moriarty in the psyche, we can use TAB as a key with which to read s4. I like to think of it as a gift from Mofftiss, knowing just how cryptic s4 would be – and these are the basic clues with which to solve it.
That’s it for TAB, at least in this series – next up we’re going ever deeper, to find out exactly who is Eurus. See you then?
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beatricebidelaire · 4 years
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On the eve of the 16th birthday of the Lemony Snicket book that taught me about chef’s salad, I just want to say - even after all these years I still vaguely recalled how stunned I was at the revelation of Fernald’s identity and Fiona’s decision. While in the previous books we’ve seen terrible adults, ignorant ones, and well-intentioned ones who weren’t much help, aside from Olivia Caliban they still largely fall under good / unhelpful / evil categories to my preteen self, (and sure, in hindsight, those weren’t actually that clear cut when we see more of VFD’s doings from TUA and all the reveals that went down in TPP and TE, but these came after TGG), the other kids we’ve met so far (the ones with character arcs/development) all seem either unambiguously good and eager to help the Baudelaires, or mean and actively siding with Olaf and Esme.
And then came Fiona, who helped the Baudelaires and then betrayed them and then helped them again one last time. And while the Baudelaires were hurt they also kind of understood why she did this, why she made that choice. They hadn’t encountered before a friend wanting to stay loyal to their family and choosing that and simultaneously leaving/switching sides. It was an eye opening experience and lesson for them and for the young readers who’s sympathized with the Baudelaires.
Like yes, DH has shown morally ambiguous adult characters two books prior (I’m not counting VFD members who were also ambiguous in their own right because again, consider this from a preteen reading through the first 13 books the first time, and at this stage we didn’t know, say, what shadowy “taking”s Jacques Snicket had performed), but this time it’s a girl who’s just slightly older than Violet, a girl who’s their friend, an ally working together with them, which felt even more impactful when you read through the first time. Because all the adults just kept making decisions that let them down, but their friends had always been so ready to risk their own safety to help them.
And while I have not shipped k/f in years and I can say that for quite a long time after first finishing TGG, teenage me was as heartbroken over Fiona as Klaus Baudelaire had once been. In retrospect there’s a lot I want to criticize over this subplot (wrt the book, that is, ofc there’s even more i could say wrt netflix but i’m not talking about netflix, i don’t want to talk about netflix, this is about the book), especially after seeing Flannery Culp and Gwen Needle from DH’s other books, (hello!!! wlw teen protag!!!!), but at that time the subplot had left me shocked and heartbroken so in the grander scheme of things I consider it serving its purpose with the larger chef’s salad theme of TGG. That said if someone hadn’t been a coward it would’ve been Violet getting the kiss instead of Klaus.
Moving onto Fiona’s brother, the origin of the chef salad quote, Fernald. The book reveal truly came as a shock at that time because there weren’t any hint dropping like netflix, and we’ve only ever seen Fernald helping Olaf, threatening the Baudelaires, and even kicking Klaus. There weren’t any moments very obviously hinting to a backstory (I could understand the decision to include some in netflix, as something for book fans to catch on, but I do think they were a little overdone and took away too much of the not so pleasant side of Fernald and ultimately ruined the chef salad-ness a bit, although of course this was partly the fault of the crush on Olaf characterization as well but that’s a whole other topic).
And also from his story we caught a glimpse of the ambiguity of others, too - Gregor’s volatility, Kit’s disapproval and (possibly actions taken), and Jacques’s inaccurate reporting of it. (Perhaps it could be argued that Jacques’s ambiguity came earlier, when we hear Quigley’s story of him, but as a kid I didn’t pick up on the problems of Jacques from Quigley’s story - in my defense, probably neither had Quigley - and it was only as an adult did I see that from a different perspective.)
All in all the chef salad theme and the Baudelaires’ experience in this book / lesson they learned is quite monumental in the whole series and it’s also very coming-of-age in a way, and while my favorite book from the original 13 would always be TPP hands down no question, TGG would always have a special place in my heart, so,
Happy (early) 16th Birthday to The Grim Grotto.
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wxsuthorn · 4 years
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a sort of organised analysis of The Gifted characters:
pt 2: Wave
(this analysis includes episodes 1-13 of season one and 1-7 of season two, so it probably isn’t completely accurate, but i tried my best. also please excuse my shitty grammar and spelling if I noticed it i would’ve fixed it lmao)
Characteristics and qualities in the beginning of season 1
I’m writing this while listening to love score on loop lmao so if smth I write makes no sense I blame it on nanon’s high note. RAK TER DAI REBLAOW. okay so in episode one Wave just seems like that classic draco malfoy mean dude with his whole wIpE mY fReAkInG fOoT bullshit. But wait... what’s this??? an egotistical personality that comes from past trauma??? yep, lmao. But we’ll talk more about that in the next section.
Throughout the show, Wave displays his ego very clearly, but he also show’s his intelligence. I don’t think i need to explain but in case you need examples: first discovered his potential and revealed it, solved the problem from the academic competition punn was in, almost beat all of the gifted squad when he had the plan to “leak” the gifted program info (he could’ve done it if pang didn’t use his potential, which wave didn’t know the details of, unlike the rest of his classmates), did a research project in eighth grade that was plagiarized to be used as a MASTERS(?) DEGREE THESIS. Bitch is smart as fuck, on contrary to Pang, who also has an inflated ego. (I will discuss how their egos are different in the next part). His intelligence isn’t only academic, but he’s also street smart, and he knows how to provoke people (like when he came back at ohm’s joke + when he provokes punn)
Wave doesn’t really show a lot of depth in the beginning, but to sum it up: ego, smart, kinda cocky and wants to be the best, doesn’t seem to trust anyone, very straight forward/has a level of confidence, cool/mysterious so I don’t really mind him being mean cuz im interested in his back story.
okay lets move one to where wave has a backstory and development.
Characteristics and qualities from episode 9 - 12 of season 1
Wave... was mentally/emotionally groomed when he was in eighth grade and had his work plagiarized. Yeah. On top of that, he’s an orphan with grandparents/guardians who don’t provide him enough emotional support for him to develop properly as an adolescent. These traumatic experiences affected him in so many ways.
In the flashbacks, we see Wave being shy, introverted, and he lacks the confidence he has in the present. His eighth grade self lacks self confidence, since a majority of the adults in his life have told him that he was dumb/he wasn’t good enough. On top of that, he has no emotional support (adults or peers) to seek help from and was probably very lonely for a long time. Well, if Wave is in M4 (aged 15-16) in season 1, and he was in lower secondary school in the flashbacks (probably M3, aged 14-15), which means that his personality changed/developed pretty quickly. What triggered this change you ask? MS. NARA. THE BITCH AND ONLY. FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT WHO I HATE AND WANT TO DROP KICK.
Let’s talk about Ms. Nara, shall we? To say the least, she mentally/emotionally groomed Wave into trusting her, and even having a crush on her. She encouraged him to do work that she would eventually plagiarize for her masters degree thesis. That’s the shit she did. Fucking bitch I hate her. And Wave trusted her really easily because again, he significantly lacked emotional support, so once he received it, he was very welcoming of it. This allowed for ms. bitchass to groom him more easily. She praised his talent, spent a lot of time with him, encouraged him to do more, and brought his ego up. Her effect on Wave stuck with him, since it wasn’t really that long ago, and he could even remember little words/phrases she would say. “You talk big game, huh?” is one of the things she said to Wave, and when Namtaan said the same thing to him, you could see him thinking back to those times with ms. bitchass. lmao almost everyone in this show has trauma. Now, when Wave decided to expose ms. bitchass for buying her bachelors degree and get her fired, that shows basically where he became like the wave from season 1. He wanted to win against her. He couldn’t let her get away with what she did to him. After all, isn’t he extremely talented? Despite him disposing of ms. bitchass, he still took in her words of encouragement and praise. He still believed it all. But after she “betrayed” him, he must’ve felt that perhaps she was lying... so in turn, he had to prove that he indeed was talented by getting back at ms. bitchass.
Ah yes, Wave is indeed a cocky motherfucker. But his ego can be easily tarnished by adults. The reason why I say adults, is because I don’t think he has ever felt threatened by a gifted student, other than Pang. When Punn tried to provoke him by saying he didn’t get head student, Wave didn’t give a shit cuz he knew (thought) he was better. But when Director Supot says “Wasuthorn im disappointed in you” and shit like that, Wave listens to it and gets pissed as hell. A lot of these behaviors come from his trauma with Ms. Nara. If you look at almost any internal conflict he has, it can be traced back to his self-worth and/or trust issues that stemmed from Ms. Nara. 
I don’t think I’ll need to explain this much but Wave’s need to win at everything is basically to prove to everyone (but actually just to himself) that he’s better/more talented than everyone else again because of his past trauma and how he had almost no emotional support.
Okay now I’m gonna talk about his relationship with Pang and their trust. This is the part where I’ll get the most wrong cuz episode 9 of tgg just fucking came out and im rushing cuz i wanna watch it. Again, unlike other peers, Pang reaches out to Wave as an equal, and they have an agreed ideal. Fuck the school system, it just makes kids feel bad about themselves and give them trauma. At first, I think Wave trusted Pang because of his idealistic and almost naive outlook on the world; he just seemed good, and like he genuinely wanted to do something to better people. However, in the end his ideals and beliefs to align with Pang’s exactly. No one wanted to give up their potentials for their own reasons, Wave’s being to protect his breakable ego. lmao this is getting messy im so sorry welp lets move on.
Characteristics and qualities from season 2, until episode 7
Wave trusts Pang. He says it to Time. It’s made clear in the beginning. But when Pang decides on things on his own and tries to find Korn on his own, Wave starts to see a pattern. Pang (unknowingly) only comes to Wave when he needs help with something regarding doing the right thing blah blah blah hero complex shit. and like Wave said, once he doesn’t agree with Pang, he just does everything on his own, like his view is the only correct one.
Lets take Korn for example. Or the whole “there’s an imposter among us” drama. Wave was the one with the braincell in the moment. He was the one to conclude that they could be someone within the group who betrayed them. He looked at the situation logically, while Pang was looking at it idealistically. This is what separates them and causes friction between them. Wave can separate and balance his ideals/logic/emotions, while Pang’s ideals/logic/emotion are all smushed together and combined.
Last point: his last fight with pang (episode 7) was a valid one. Wave was hurt af. and i think he started to see Pang as another Ms. Nara. The difference here is that Pang is a kid, and he’s also unstable, so they’re both affected by what he’s doing. It is possible that Punn used Pang’s potential on Wave, but it wouldn’t be out of character if the fight came up naturally.
Summary
Has an inflated, yet breakable ego
does what he can to prove that he’s talented/good enough to protect his ego from shattering
trust issues (stemming from Ms. Nara)
a smart boi
he can balance his ideals/logic/emotions most of the time
Sees Ms. Nara in everyone, compares all of his relationships to the one between him and Ms. Nara
Genuinely cares for people and is afraid to lose the emotional support he has (since he lacked so much of it in his childhood)
A smol bean that must be protected
Cocky
could probably be the villain to a superhero movie if he wanted to
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nadango · 5 years
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Alela Grora: an analysis thingy
Good day to the funamusea fandom that has neglected my beautiful angel (joking. Maybe.) I offer you sea urchins a collection of observations concerning the eccentric lady: Alela Grora.
I'll be breaking down her personality and interpreting every scene and official art she's appeared in, and even include a couple of theories to fill in the gaps, if you find that interesting.
Note: I believe seichiinara did this before when she was active, but I sadly never got to read it. Therefore, everything here is based on my own observations.
First of all...Who is Alela Grora?
Grora is an angel that serves as Etihw's subordinate. She's an archer and a war veteran, and now destroys Wodahs' garden full time.
Based on canon appearances, she is described by Yosafire as "a weird lady looking for her eye"...Perhaps it's because Yosaf isn't too familiar with Grora (which I kinda doubt) or Grora simply doesn't get too close to others, keeping her cool and mysterious appearance.
To the player, I'm sure she seemed like a cool and laid back adult, contrasting Wodahs because opposites attract. She only ever loses her cool when Ater is involved because of the eye incident, which I will talk about later.
But, other than that, we don't know much about her. Being chill isn't an entire personality, especially when we're talking about a literal soldier who lived through the dark war era. Yet, what makes Tgg and dsp's storytelling magnificent is the way they make their stories more than what they seem. During the game, you have a group of cute main characters who are facing danger, but slowly you start to feel something darker creep in the background, not the angry flame demons, but the guardians of their peaceful world hide a lot more than you think.
Therefore, important characters such as Grora, Kcalb, Etihw, the cats and Wodahs-- who is this big question mark-- aren't going to reveal themselves just like that. No, a good writer will drop subtle hints in their mere actions.
Grora literally lost an arm and nearly blew to death for --ah, a certain group of girls. Reincarnations of Etihw's past subordinates. Grora's previous colleagues she had witnessed their deaths and their burial.
She encourages Macarona and is close to Froze for a reason (she hasn't interacted with Chelan as of now, probably didn't have a chance to) ...because of the guilt and the pain she has felt as she saw her previous world fall apart, she wants the descendants of her colleagues to enjoy this new world a d have a wonderful and peaceful life, a life their ancestors would've wanted. And this would make sense, since she's the only character to not explicitly talk about the past, but also the only one to directly compare Froze to Sherbet.
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To sum this up, Grora is a very chill individual who is loved by all, a bit odd sometimes, but still friendly. She is selfless and will fight for what is right, probably due to her past experiences during the war, which she is trying to forget and move on, unlike the rest of the crew. Alas, she can't, for everything reminds her of the terrible old world.
Character Design
Hands down, dsp did the Blancblack crew's designs justice. When it comes to Grora, we could note a few things:
Her current outfit resembles Sherbet/Froze's a bit too much. This may indicate that Sherbet might've had a certain impact on her. I can't say for sure that they were close or not, but he did do something that'll make Grora act the way she does towards Froze.
Missing halo: She is close to Etihw and works under them, no? So why doesn't she wear it? We know it's an accessory, but someone in Grora's position would wear it. For example, Taffy, who is the Head Angel of his world, doesn't wear one because he's not fond of Fumus to begin with, and that includes Olive. All the other Angels don't mind their gods, so they keep the halo. Dsp doesn't need to tell us that, it's logical. Something might've happened between Grora and Etihw, but it's not necessary huge. It could've just altered her point of view or something.
Now, for the war outfit. It is, simply, inspired by Etihw's diamond themed robes. Another thing to note is the tired expression she wore is VERY similar to Etihw's. This might mean that Etihw had a large influence on Grora, and we'll get to their relationship later on.
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Grora's color palette is exactly the opposite of Wodahs', which is a good choice considering that they drastically contradict each other. But it's important to note that Etihw and Kcalb also have opposite color palettes, black and white, dark and light, two past enemies who's mentalities are totally different. It's quite curious of Dsp to design Wod and Grora this way too, no?
Ater and Grora's eye
Grora's grudge against Ater isn't simply a grudge. If she is truly trying to heal and let go of the past, why couldn't she just forgive Ater and heal her eye like Wodahs suggested?
Grora was most likely a fierce warrior, an archer, and having her eye taken out must've been humiliating. A strong and pure being torn down to pieces. That incident was proof of her cowardice. Therefore, the lost eye resembles her lost pride. Finding it again means redeeming herself, but of course, the eye has nothing to do with pride. It's just a distraction.
I may be looking way into this, but it DOES make more sense that way. Same thing goes for Wodahs' eye, but I'll talk about that some other time.
Speaking of Wodahs...
Eyepatch Angels
Whether you ship them platonically or romantically, they're still the best duo and work perfectly together either way.
Based on the events of the game, Wodahs and Grora are close colleagues who always bicker and fight over the most mundane things (Grora is usually the one who starts) yet they make a great team. Grora has a bit of a crush on him because who doesn't but these feelings don't seem reciprocated (Small note: That doesn't mean he doesn't care for her at all, and we barely know what Wodahs is thinking most of the time, so we're not really sure. He's also very dense sometimes)
There isn't much to say about their current relationship for now. What's more interesting is their relationship during the war, and boy oh boy, do I have some news.
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I'm sure we all know this infamous art, the only art featuring them so badass and, so far apart too. They're also facing each others backs, and considering their close relationship, this is bad news. Only enemies are positioned like this, and the high gap resembles how distant they are from each other. That being said, Wodahs and Grora have quite the history. If only dsp could reveal more about them.
Oh, a wild theory has appeared!
Using these observations (specifically Grora's relations to Etihw and Wodahs, and the missing halo) we could come up with some context.
Grora respected and looked up to Etihw, remaining true and loyal to them. At some point, Grora became/was going to be head angel, only for her position next to Etihw was taken by Wodahs, and it angered her.
Etihw most likely paid more attention to him, and ignored Grora. Perhaps they've hurt her in some way, which resulted into a shattered relationship. Sure, everything was fine after Kacalb nuked the world, but memories and past experiences stay.
Well...this speculation is farfetched, but I wanted to share an abridged version of it with you
And that, ladies and gentlemen, includes the analysis thingy. If you've made it here, thank you so much for reading!! And I hope this helped you in some way!
Also, looking at how hard I tried to summarize this, I'm kinda anxious about the Wodahs analysis, since there's a LOT to cover...Haha.
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dragonnan · 4 years
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Fic Rec Sunday
I think every day of the week should be a day to rec fics but I’m gonna start with Sunday!
Here are some stories I find myself reading over and over again!
MCU
Identity Theft by KitCat992 It's been months since the events of Civil War, and the Avengers are doing their best to remain a team, having promised to forgive and forget. Unfortunately for them, Tony Stark's latest invention has been stolen and recovering it causes tension to reappear.  Meanwhile, in Queens, Peter Parker has two main priorities on his plate — complete his midterm finals, and track down a fishbowl wearing criminal that may or may not lead him right into the hands of the Avengers.  Somehow between all of this, Spider-man's identity is revealed to the Avengers, Steve and Tony's friendship may permanently be damaged due to continued hidden secrets, and Happy struggles to buy a youth-sized casket for Peter's funeral.  Things were a lot easier when they were fighting over Bucky Barnes. (Be sure to check out the in-progress sequel, Identity Crisis!)
Dawn of Red Skies by Aelaer The day started off as any other day for newly-minted Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange.  Then the flip switched and the next 48 hours were filled only with grief, anger, and pain.
Omertà by HanukoYoukai After chasing down the criminal that took Uncle Ben's life, Peter is found by James Wesley, the right-hand man of Wilson Fisk--a wealthy businessman trying to clean up Hell's Kitchen. Having left a strong impression on the man, soon Peter finds himself working for Fisk, doing an internship for his business projects by day, and catching bad guys at night. If Mr. Fisk wants a few specific criminals delivered to him personally, who is Peter to object? All his boss wants to do is talk, after all, and ever since this internship began, things were finally looking up for the Parkers.  Then Peter hears the whispers in the underworld about the elusive and terrifying Kingpin, and somehow there are rumors that Spider-Man is on the Crime Lord's payroll. When he decides to use his own judgement and go against Mr. Fisk's wishes, Peter suddenly finds himself neck deep in mob activity with no means to get himself out.  To make matters worse, now Iron Man has Peter in his sights.....
A Twisted Upheaval by silentsaebyeok (WIP) “I’m afraid, Harrison, you’ve awakened a sleeping giant.” Wilson said. “Tony Stark will do anything and everything to protect those he loves. And with your carelessness, it is inevitable that my criminal empire will be brought to its knees. This is your last opportunity, your last chance to get this right. He is on our radar now.” -- The Kingpin runs the criminal underworld. He is the mastermind and the puppeteer. Tony Stark has been trying to find the elusive gangster for years, but with no luck. But then Peter Parker is kidnapped by an agent of the Kingpin’s, revealing the cracks in an otherwise unshakeable organization. Unlikely alliances form and friendships are made as the criminal underworld begins to unravel.
Comrades by Nefhiriel Five times Thor defended his friends from people who should've been on their side, and one time his friends defended him.
9/11 by spockside Pepper Potts had only been working for Tony Stark six months when she found herself running away from the destruction of the World Trade Center.
Sherlock
The Least of All Possible Mistakes by rageprufrock (AU where the character of Greg is a woman named Lestrade. Utterly freaking brilliant!) If ever a people deserved tasering, it’s Holmeses. (Be sure to check out the sequel!)
A City on the Head of a Pin by Mad_Maudlin (Magical AU) Post-TGG fic. John, for once, sees something Sherlock doesn't.
Vendetta by avidbeader Sherlock must find out why Molly Hooper is one of a select group of people being targeted before the assassin can finish the job.  
Define Vulnerabilty by TheGracefulBlueCat Shortly after Sherlock's return John realises something is very wrong with his friend. He, Greg and Mycroft try to help Sherlock as he falls deeper and deeper into the abyss called PTSD. But Sherlock is not ready to allow anyone in, but then the events of the current case cause him to hit bottom hard.
A Sharp, Dressed Man 'verse by sgam76 A grand series of stories set in an AU version of Sherlock wherein the characters aren’t all, exactly... “human”.
The Precipice by takethesky87 “Sherlock,” he says, but his voice is smothered by the waves. “Sherlock!” He shouts it this time, straining his ears for a reply. Nothing. Twice more he calls, his stomach clenching as each goes unanswered.
Lost for Words by awanderingbard Sherlock is assaulted by an unknown assailant while John is away at a medical conference, leaving him with a severe brain injury. While his intellect and personality are intact, he's lost the use of his right-side limbs and his ability to speak freely. John suddenly finds himself as the main source of support, and possibly a caregiver, to a flatmate who is struggling to do the things he loves most. And Sherlock Holmes has never been the best of patients.
The Holiday by Scriblit (Warnings for rape) A month following an horrific, sadistic attack during a case, Sherlock is still physically incapacitated and emotionally damaged. A holiday is suggested, but even stuck out in the middle of nowhere, he and John happen upon a case that could make Sherlock begin to feel like his old self again - or could kill him.
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