#a J Raffles

[zoelinalivlens]

sherlock fans in a frenzy looking for johnlock crumbs while raffles fans sleep peacefully knowing wikipedia calls them homosexuals

[lettersfrombunny]

Who here likes ✨crime✨??

This Ides of March, make it special by not only stabbing Caesar 23 times, but by robbing from the rich for the sake of the poor. Or, at least, reading gay stories about it.

The Raffles Stories were written by E. W. Hornung in the early 1900s-10s, following the felonious exploits of AJ Raffles and his besotted chronicler, Bunny Manders. You can read all of these excellent stories, conveniently delivered to your email inbox for free, by subscribing to the Letters From Bunny Substack. The first story, The Ides of March will start the series off on, as you may have guessed, March 15th, otherwise known as our favorite Tumblr holiday. More information can be found at the link below:

💎🏏💎

I hope you will consider subscribing if you have not yet. Cheers to the death of Caesar! 🗡️

[desiccatedthyme]

13th October

"AU"

it's Raffles and Bunny! i found myself thinking about Rope (1948) while drawing, and i think it really shows. raffles also ended up looking a bit like tplosh holmes but i refuse to erase the accidental stage makeup

[reine-du-sourire]

So this is my new favorite GIF

And if that doesn't just about sum up AJ Raffles...

[kajaono]

My Sherlock Holmes-shelf. Need a second one soon

Details:

And yes, there are elephants in the room

[gato-con-sombrero]

✨ Compañeros en el crimen✨

[mismeandart]

So these guys are basically like au's of each other right

[jessdosestuff]

"But they've never met a devil like you"

[the-prince-of-professors]

RAFFLEITES, IT IS TIME!

The week leading up to the Ides of March will be dedicated to E. W. Hornung's stories about A. J. Raffles and Bunny Manders. The week starts on Saturday and above you have the official prompts list. The prompts are meant as inspiration, so you can use all of them, pick one or two, or disregard them and do your own thing! All sorts of works are welcome and encouraged - the main point is to celebrate the Raffles stories together as a fandom!

To participate, tag your posts with the official tag #rafflesweek2024. You can in addition use #rafflesweek to add your posts to the general collection of Rafflesweek works from past years.

A reminder that the official Raffles tag on all other days of the year is #crime and cricket, which of course also can be used in addition!

If you have any questions regarding participating in Rafflesweek, do not hesitate to send me a telegram.

Let's go a-Raffling! 💎

Banner art by @maturiin ✨

Prompts list in regular text below the cut:

day 1 / 9th March - AUDACITY

day 2 / 10th March - INNOCENCE

day 3 / 11th March - FEAR

day 4 / 12th March - ADMIRATION

day 5 / 13th March - JEALOUSY

day 6 / 14th March - LOVE

day 7 / the Ides of March - ENTRANCED

[e--q]

Raffles & Bunny

(Handmade Soft Toys inspired by the characters of E W Hornung and beautifully portrayed by Anthony Valentine & Christopher Strauli in the Raffles television series)

~ Happy Birthday Anthony Valentine ~

[doctorcorby]

So here's what I've been working on for the last 3 weeks.

Be gay and do crime in Victorian London in this new way to experience E.W Hornung's 1898 short story-- a contemporary counterpart to Sherlock Holmes.

The Ides of March is the first of a series of crime adventure stories starring the hapless and sweet tempered 'Bunny' Manders, and his daring, manic former schoolmate AJ Raffles, who drags him into a glorious and dangerous life of criminal sin.

This Visual Novel presentation of the story includes: --2 sprites with 12+ expressions and poses  --7 backgrounds --10 illustration inserts --7,500 word script

[eirinstiva]

"I had no man."

The second part of "The Rest Cure" arrived today, and because this is one of my favourite stories of the Rafflesian Canon (?), it's harder than usual to comment because [heavy breathing].

What with his flourishing beard and the increasing shabbiness of the only suit he had brought with him to the house, there was no denying that Raffles had now the advantage of a permanent disguise.

This is the start of Bunny's revenge, and this time Manders left the idea mature all the night. This is not something that he's doing on impulse, this is Bunny showing his own criminal ability.

She was a tall woman; I was not too tall a man. Like Raffles, I had not shaved on Campden Hill. That morning, however, I did my best with a very fair razor which the colonel had left behind in my room; then I turned out the lady's wardrobe and the cardboard boxes, and took my choice.

Bunny knows that he's short, he can't grow a proper moustache and beard, and maybe he needed a haircut soon. He used all of this as resources to his disguise. Bunny used makeup, curled his hair and dressed with almost all the necessary (I'm sure the shoes like the gloves didn't fit him) to get what he wanted:

My idea was first to give him the fright he deserved, and secondly to show him that I was quite as fit to move abroad as he.

But Murphy's Law strikes! And the drama starts.

I had no man. I was alone, had broken in alone. There was not a soul in the affair (much less the house) except myself. So much I stuttered out in tones too hoarse to betray me on the spot. 

Who can save this poor lady Bunny in distress? Raffles! He got hurt but at least they kepy everything controlled.

It was Raffles at his worst, Raffles as I never knew him before or after—a Raffles mad with pain and rage, and desperate as any other criminal in the land. Yet he had struck no brutal blow, he had uttered no disgraceful taunt, and probably not inflicted a tithe of the pain he had himself to bear. 

I would love to see Bunny and Raffles running away while keeping their disguises just like ACD's story The Man with the Watches. At least in this story nobody dies.

This is the one of the most queer moments of Raffles and Bunny's stories with them sharing a house like a couple and Bunny dressed as a woman. Sometimes I think that Manders is too comfortable with this costume except for the clothes being not appropiate for the season and my bi-fi screams "genderqueer" and "non binary". Also this reminds me of Sherlock Holmes dressing as a woman in The Mazarin Stone, so this feels like Bunny left for a moment his Boswell role and become the protagonist.

I was thinking that Raffles getting so dangerous when Bunny or Faustina are in danger reminds me of saiyans leveling up and unlocking new powers.

By the way, I want to read this reference cited on Wikipedia: Yue, Isaac (2015). Translating Culture: Late-Victorian Literature into Chinese. London: National Taiwan University Press. pp. 19–36. ISBN 978-986-350-070-4.

Hong Kong University Professor Isaac Yue has noted that some elements of "The Rest Cure" hint at a homosexual relationship between Raffles and Bunny. For example, Bunny shows a strong desire for Raffles's attention, while there is no female character diverting Bunny's attention. Moreover, the contrast between Bunny's female dress and Raffles's long beard suggests that Bunny is characterized in the role of the female and Raffles is characterized in the role of the male in their relationship.[5] Yue argues that Hornung's portrayal of the relationship between Raffles and Bunny violates the traditional Victorian family values of strict and separate gender roles for men and women.

I'm tempted to write more about this, maybe a fanfic, but English is so hard! See ya~

[mismeander]

[reine-du-sourire]

This is literally the face of Bunny Manders.

[knitepercival]

🎩💎🐰 Happy Ides of March~ 🎩💎🐰

[lettersfrombunny]

I've been collecting my memoirs and my dear friend Dr. Watson has encouraged me to send them out - I'm preparing to begin in 2024. You can subscribe to my publication here. I look forward to having you, dear readers.