#verner vogel

[justahaterintheworld]

SHCO spoilers.

My jaw was ON THE FLOOR, PAY FOR MY THERAPY FROGWARES!

[fluffishere]

[showingpitytowardsyourownkind]

and for the chapter one fans

Image ID 1: A TikTok comment by Jonathan Heart that says “Are they lovers?” with a reply from the creator, secret brittany that says “Worse” on top of Jon resting his hand on Sherry’s shoulder during the opening cutscene on the boat.

Image ID 2: A tweet by turtlekiosk that says “hey quit bugging me or I will inform you of a behavioral pattern that is noticeable to other people but I can tell you are not yet aware of” on top of Sherlock staring down a suspect.

Image ID 3: A Tumblr post by ewil that says “coping with the pain of living by being a little silly” on top of Sherlock watching Jon casually swim fully clothed inside the yacht club.

Image ID 4: A Tumblr post by manywinged that says “need one of those cones they put on dogs to stop them chewing open their half healed wounds but, like, psychologically” on top of Jon explaining the mental barriers in the mansion to an unamused Sherry.   

Image ID 5: A Tumblr post by starkidding-around that says “darling (condescending, with a bit of gay subtext)” on top of Verner looking intensely into Sherlock’s eyes, his face only half visible.

Image ID 6: A Tumblr post by handmaidensabe that says “*winks flirtily* and btw i am soooo haunted by the ghosts of my past mistakes and how preventable their consequences were. Do you want me carnally” on top of Sherlock looking over to Jon.

Image ID 7: A Tumblr post by internetenemy that says “superiority ‘complex’? i find it quite simple really” on top of Sherry mid-smug reply.

Image ID 8: A quote from Brooklyn Nine-Nine that says “i was born for politics i have great hair and i love lying” on top of Mycroft with his eyebrow raised arrogantly.

Image ID 9: A Tumblr post by girlwerewolf that says “need a boyfriend except he’s not my boyfriend and is just some weird guy I drag around with me everywhere” on top of Sherlock doing important detective work while Jon lurks, crouched on top of something in the background.

Image ID 10: A Tumblr post by ndiecity that says “I fucking love casting the first stone despite not being one who has not sinned” on top of Sherlock smugly interrogating a prisoner.

Image ID 11: An Onion local headline that says “Man Could Really Go For Unbridled Bacchanalia Of Earthly Delights Right About Now” on top of Verner looking solemnly through the bars of his gaol cell.

Image ID 12: A Tumblr post by greelin that says “he lived. served cunt. died. got resurrected. served even more cunt.” on top of John Watson, who has Jon’s exact face but with a moustache, as he meets Sherlock.

[nikolailantsovhoe]

Sherlock Holmes:chapter one + tumblr text post

[spiteful-crow]

Am I the only one, who thinks Verner Vogel‘s whole relationship with Sherry gives off some serious Lord Henry / Dorian Gray vibes?

Of course, the plot is different, Sherry isn’t like Dorian at all (ok maybe a little bit at the beginning before Dorian became a total asshole). But an older, hedonistic and cynical man obsessed with a young, kinda naive and innocent man in his very early 20s? The older man trying to corrupt, manipulate and shape the younger one? Of course, in VV‘s case, he followed different goals, and he also took over Basil‘s role. But the vibe is still there imo.

[rose-madder-gaze]

V. V.

[bam-monsterhospital]

Verner Vogel thoughts...

verner vogel is such a great villain. like yes, a good character in general, but agh what a fantastic villain.  let me try and parse it into words and coherent sentences hang on.  (obviously, spoilers for the game “Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One” below)

I think what struck me first about him, realizing his danger, is that he is competent.

He’s an art snob that waxes poetic about philosophy-

Wait come back, i see you rolling your eyes and getting up from your chairs, hold on though.

He’s an art snob that waxes poetic about philosophy, and he actually knows his shit.  I’m not talking just art-shit, techniques and people and style and all that, but the sociopolitical movements behind the art; y’know, the world-feelings art reflects and inspires.  He curates art, he paints, he has a vast collection of pieces and network of people he knows in and around the industry.  He fulfills every vapid (no shade, i myself am also a visual artist) norm and requirement for involvement in the art world... but there is substance underneath.  The aesthetics, the surface-level existence of the art world hollows out a person; it cares only for what is shown up front but fails to delve deeper. It does not care about ‘deeper’, has no use for ‘deeper’.  As much as individual creators might want their works to inspire further critical thought and introspection, at the end of the day art is most valued for its ability to entertain.  All flash, no substance.

Of course, Verner knows this, seems to have made that discovery a LONG while ago (the air he carries feels tired and familiar with his world) while passing through the jaded artist phase that tends to result right after, and has taken to this superficial existence like wildfire, embracing the decadence of it all.  And yeah here we get into an actual artistic, literary, and as such technically philosophical movement that happened in the real world with its own critiques that people to this day continue to misinterpret (even the word ‘decadent’ itself is grossly misused. constantly), so go wiki the decadent movement as i’m trying to hold back writing a gaddamn novel, adhd-brain-spiraling out of control about it.

Verner delights in rot and decay.  Verner embodies rot and decay, but specifically the parasitic rot and decay of those who abuse their power: he is (yes i know he’s german) british colonialism and how it has left cordona, he is the waste from kurt manchios’ excessive parties as manchios’ son starves, the culture of (white, cismale, british) entitlement that led to the rape of a refugee woman with no consequences, the apathy towards an animal’s suffering at human hands, and so on and so forth.  Verner is a representative of this rot and also a curator of it, literally AND figuratively.  He is self-aware.  As I’ve said before, Verner is not mindless, he’s not a fool.  He’s competent.  Unlike most willingly and inadvertently partaking in a decadent lifestyle, Verner knows full well what’s left in the wake of such excess.  He’s not horrified by it; it might at first seem like he doesn’t care at all --like most who partake in it-- and just hopes to gain small glints of fulfillment from a shallow wasteful lifestyle.  But as i already said, he does care: the process fascinates him.

And i’m not just talking physical degradation. I’m not even talking just about waste.  Vogel also delights in corruption; in the rot one person can influence in another psychologically.  This what his relationship with Sherlock boils down to: Verner Vogel wants to know how far he can push and nudge and influence a psychological breakdown.  He wants to take the shiny surface of a person that is barely keeping back turbulant waters underneath, and poke some holes, allowing gradual leaking and eventual overflow.  The historic tie between Vogel and Holmes’ families being a poetic bonus.

I’m gonna stop there, because i wanted to go into the thematic counterbalance Verner provides against Sherlock’s worldview and relationship with ‘truth/reality/information’, but things are long enough and this has sat in my drafts for way too long as is.  Maybe I’ll do a part-2 or something later.

[hey-sherry]

You're my masterpiece. I turned Sisyphus into Ozymandias.

[zydratenote]

“What now, old man?”

After letting Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (and more specifically Verner Vogel) consume my mind for the past three(!?) years, I felt it was time to balance the scale by painting a portrait of the artist himself.

I’m normally a cosplayer and a writer so this is… out there for me, but this old man makes me INSANE.

[lightofonesoul]

Vogel gently lifts Sherry's chin during an emotional moment and Sherlock stay still looks at him in the eyes and don't take Volel's hand away even, he do when Verner Vogel espose him. 

Sherlock don't take his hand away!!

[budgiepunk]

i think another thing I don't like about verner vogel is like. If he didn't know sherlock was. SHERLOCK in the hotel, he definitely learned afterward. Iirc It's also only after sherlock tells him in the graveyard that he's back in cordona to process his mother's death that verner goes "ah but DID she die of tuberculosis? :)", which kind of makes me wonder whether or not he planned this whole thing.

Do you guys get what I'm saying? Like either he waited for sherlock to come back specifically to torment him (weird)

OR

he saw (and recognized) sherlock, shrugged and decided that, hey, might as well fuck with the poor guy haha :) make him relive trauma he kept locked away heehee (also weird)

Either way this is all done to a guy who is just barely getting his other foot into adulthood, too, like. Grrr verner is a terrible little man

[justahaterintheworld]

Verner in that one scene : "would you lie to get me out of here 👉🏻👈🏻"

Me : Absolutely not, you're not that special bbg wait there and stop nagging

[fluffishere]

They're gonna see the barbie movie...

[showingpitytowardsyourownkind]

A bunch of screenshots in honor of the final day of the Chapter One era!!!

Image ID 1: A tweet by @s4m31p4n that says “Bro your relationship with your friend is borderline homosexual and I think that’s beautiful” on top of Sherlock and Jon gazing into each other’s eyes in the cemetery. Jon has his hand on Sherlock’s shoulder to comfort him.

Image ID 2: A screenshot of “Ideas for you” that says, “existential crisis” and “pretty boy aesthetic” on top of Sherlock with tears running down his cheeks as he looks towards Verner who approaches him from behind.

Image ID 3: An Onion “News in Brief” headline that says “Mediocre Painter’s True Talent Lies In Acting Like A Painter” on top of Verner painting at his easel in the cemetery.

Image ID 4: A Tumblr post by nyxfaei that says “Troubled grown men doing wife shit in my mind palace” on top of Sherlock and Jon reconstructing a crime scene. Sherlock is sitting cross-legged on the floor while Jon stands silhouetted in the center of the room, which looks like a blueprint drawing.

Image ID 5: A ClickHole “LIFESTYLE” headline that says “Gloves: It’s Gloves” on top of Sherlock gesturing earnestly while wearing his leather gloves in an opulent room.   

Image ID 6: Two Tumblr posts by romanroyandtomwambsganshavingsex that says “being an unreliable narrator is inherently homoerotic” and “what do you have to hide? your sexuality?” on top of Sherlock and Verner and talking seriously in his gallery.

Image ID 7: A tweet by @Thor_SSB and posted by @makeupaguy that says “guy who can accurately tell you the color of a crayon from only a blind taste test” on top of Sherlock looking blankly in front of a brick wall.

Image ID 8: A Tumblr post by tomwambsgirl that says “guy who carnally desires another guy and decides the only course of action is to psychologically torture him about it” on top of Sherlock and Verner lit dramatically by horizontal stripes of light that reveal only one of each of their eyes.

Image ID 9: A tweet by @abbygov that says “you ever meet a man and it’s so obvious that no one in his life has ever told him to shut the fuck up” on top of Sherlock in the hotel lobby with his arms crossed. Jon is in the background leaning against a pillar and also has his arms crossed.

Image ID 10: An Onion “Opinion>>Commentary” headline that says “It’s Not Easy Being The Life Of The Orgy” on top of Verner in a mask and robes lounging on a settee and surrounded by women.

Image ID 11: A Tumblr post by demonanata that says “Everyones like ‘oh no the tragic events were so avoidable, thats terrible’ but they never ask ‘did you experience catharsis, how was the catharsis, the catharsis looked fun’” on top of Sherlock kneeling heartbrokenly at the edge of the Stonewood Manor pond with Mycroft standing over him.

Image ID 12: A ClickHole “LIFESTYLE” headline that says “Mother’s Footsteps Are Approaching. She Must Smell Your Ice Cream.” on top of Sherlock and Jon in their childhood bedroom wearing ice cream uniforms. Sherlock looks like his is about to bolt but Jon is lounging on the bed.

[nikolailantsovhoe]

And deciding in your youth

On the policy of truth

[jellysharkbat]

Now this is just surface level observations and just my speculation/opinion. I don’t hate him, but I’m not really a fan of Verner Vogel. There’s something off-putting about him, and I’m not 100% sure if it’s intentional or just my interpretation of him.

I don’t really like his obsession and/or fascination with Sherlock. It borders, if not outright is, creepy imo. It’s also bit macabre, which he might appreciate in and of itself, considering his gallery lol. But eh...I don’t like how much he likes watching Sherlock deteriorate.

And it’s probably because of their connection to his brother, Dr Otto Richter. Sherlock isn’t a random, stupid smart stranger he finds interesting; he’s the younger brother of the man who ensured Verner’s own older (estranged?) brother’s death. That’s personal. Verner knows who Sherlock is, and more importantly, who he’s related to. I don’t know how the court system would operate in Cordona (although it was probably similar to British courts, being under their colonial rule), so I don’t know how much information Verner would’ve received at the time of the trial. Maybe he was there to see and hear it all, or maybe information was sent to him as a matter of course (I imagine Dr Richter’s affairs needed to be taken care of after his execution, and that would fall to a surviving family member). Either way, he would’ve known enough to have Opinions about the Holmes family. Regardless of his own (possibly difficult?) relationship with Dr Richter, I can’t imagine he would’ve had fond memories of Mycroft during the whole ordeal. The man is effectively responsible for Dr Richter’s death. I’d be upset. So years later, when he meets Mycroft Holmes’ little brother (who he KNOWS was a small child at the time, by the way)? I think Verner is a little too interested in watching him breakdown and a part of me wonders if it’s not a tiny bit malicious: He gets to nudge Sherlock into discovering the truth of his mother’s madness and death, he gets to watch Sherlock struggle and deteriorate with that knowledge. He calls it “beautiful”. He gets to punish Mycroft by ‘helping’ Sherlock. And man, is that dark. Just my pet theory though.