#i had a plotline in my head for a couple years with very similar elements vis a vis reincarnated heroes

[yardsards]

i decided to watch the first couple episodes of unicorn warriors eternal and have decided that edred is very much Not Like Taako on the basis of being 1: br*tish 2: attracted to women

but this has not stopped me from seeing more uwe fanart on my dash and assuming it was taz fanart before either reading the tags or seeing emma/melinda there

every time i see that elf from unicorn warriors eternal on my dash, my brain's just like "oh, it's taako from-teevee"

[frobin]

Random consideration: there is an online legend about Oda can change story events if someone on the web/fans guess the thing. So... what do you think about this topic? It can be really valid? If yes, even for whatever eventual not-canon ships? I don't know, because ships are just a very side element in the story, and not like main events of the storyline. (And for my opinion, for Jin:be father topic, I could agree with who said is for the age, maybe. Anyway, I will ship FroBin forever).

Hey anon! Thank you for your question!

Maybe Oda really made Jinbe the dad because of age. right now Oda and Jinbe have the same age (46). He has two children who are (if the internet and my math are correct) 15 and 12 years old. So may it’s not unlikely? If he connects with Jinbe he would rather see him as a dad than a grandparent or a weird uncle. 

-

Now, to the rest... I have to say sorry for answering so late but as of right now I’m writing parts of my answer and I literally pulling my hair because I really try to make sense of the whole situation and trying to understand the intention of a 46 year old japanese man. And this is long again so sorry about that. Anyway... 

I have heard about that. I remembered something about Oda not reading Fan Theories and now I googled once more. Apparently this is the newest Information:

"Oda once said he will change OP story if it coincides with fan theories. But according to TV show today, Oda will never change his plan about "final chapter" even if a fan theory hits the nail on the head. Oda said in 1999 that he had already decided final panel and chapter."

https://twitter.com/sandman_AP/status/1352851201478418432?s=20

I don’t think Oda is actively browsing the web for OP content ( how would he have time to) but he gets fanmail with questions and suggestions. And considering that over 4 million people are One Piece fans... one of them has to get it correct eventually. Trying to avoid any similarity with any fan-theory is IMPOSSIBLE. 

And I do believe that Oda knows how he wants One Piece to end and won’t change that, no matter what. 

As for the details in-between........ I wouldn’t say Oda is not prone to be a Troll and sometimes downright an ass towards his fans. XD Never out of malice but because he thinks it’s funny. 

I’m also sure he will never focus on romance in the manga, but since love is an important part of life it will come into play now and then. Classic romance (?) more with side-characters  (Roger/Rouge, Sai/Baby5, Bege/Chiffon) than with main (Strawhats) but still possible.

He may very well edit less-important plot lines if they don't change the ending. 

That also includes, that I absolutely think it’s possible that the Strawhats will have romantic involvement at the end of the story. At the moment it is never in the focus, except for plot reason (Whole Cake Island for example, though that is an entirely different topic) but absolutely possible. 

Because the Strawhats boning each other or maybe someone outside of the crew will not change the story. It has no influence to anything, except if it’s on a higher scale, like if Luffy really suddenly married Boa Hancock. That would influence the political outline of the world.

Meanwhile Pauli/Iceburg or Noland/Cagara or Bartolomeo/Cavendish have literally no influence to the story (anymore). And I don’t think I have to start on things like other rare pairs or even OC-ships. 

That being said, and having more stuff in mind, I wouldn’t put it past Oda to actually focus more on Jin/Bin. 

Why? Well... 

we had so many interactions between Robin and Franky after the time skip that it was almost ridiculous. In every single arc we see them fight alongside each other. We had strong romantic tropes portrayed with them: 

Their meeting after the timeskip (Sabaody Archipelago)

Franky having his head in Robins lap (Punk Hazard) 

Wearing the same shirt (Dressrosa) 

Finishing each others sentence (Zou)

Franky offering Robin a ride and her answering with a heart (Wano)  

And the moment the internet exploded when Robin was holding Frankys face. Which yeah, only a Colorspread and not canon yadda yadda

For now let’s gloss over all the other moments that showed that they cared for each other. 

... so many.

Anyway what I want to say is that Oda had declared “All the Strawhats are in love with adventure.” and “I won’t focus on romance.”  but is seemingly showing a connection between Franky and Robin, that made one think that he might actually be aboard the ship even if the fandom itself is rather silent and small. 

Meanwhile when Jinbe appeared (in the timeskip) he was instantly a hit. His popularity then rose thanks to Fishmen Island Arc. And again I can’t blame anyone. On the other hand Franky always had a hard stance. This was recently shown again because is the lowest ranked Strawhat in the popularity poll. 

One (Oda) might come to a conclusion here:

Maybe people don’t like Franky and so would dislike FRobin. But since Oda also seems to enjoy grown up relationships (?) maybe he thinks Jinbe is the only reasonable replacement?  -> It could be a tactial decision. 

Maybe he really changed his opinion and personally likes one more than the other. He was a FRobin supporter but now likes JinBin more? It wouldn't change anything for the story and there wouldn't be any harm -> It could be a personal decision. 

Maybe he fears that he put too many hints in the manga and now has to paddle back? Because let’s be honest, until the colourspread with Robin putting her hand on Frankys face... the FRobin fandom was on the backburner. And so he wants to throw out some Red Herrings.  -> Again a tactial decision

Maybe he never inteded to make it  romantic and it is actually all just friendship. Subtext is something many authors use without being aware of it. (Just ask anyone who is a lesbian!Nami fan. They have good points.) -> A mistake from the very beginning. 

And you can use these same thoughts for every other non-canon ship. 

Please take everything of this with a grain of salt because I try to understand the intention of a man who is more than 10 years my senior and from a culture I can’t even start to try to comprehend (sometimes I don’t even get my own culture), who is the head figure of a money-making machine. So it’s hard to tell what else influences his decisions. 

My interpretations are influenced by my own experiences and knowledge which is big and vast but also stretched very thin. 

Last but not least I want to make clear that any speculation is really the same as asking a crystal ball. In the western fandom we have only few people who can even slightly try to give an insight to the whole thing and they (smart enough) keep out of any shipping discourse. 

tl;dr: I don’t think Oda will change the ending. But I do think that he is willing to change minor plotlines  and so yes I think Oda might change couples for any possible reason, as long as it does not change the ending, and he does not even has to choose a good reason because in the end they are his characters and he is free to do whatever he wants with them.

[phantasmagoriaoriginals]

I would love to hear more about the stories themselves and your thoughts as an author, like which stories came to you easily to write vs which plotlines did you really have to wrestle with (aside from the monstrosity that is anryuu epic), which ones have your personal favourite storylines and which ones do you think you'll be able to work on for the rest of the year? just small behind the scenes questions bcs i dont know what to ask really im just excited to read them as they come ;;;;

Oh boy. This is uhhh.... gonna be a rant lmao. I appreciate the ask a lot! :D Having a chance to talk about the stories when someone wants to hear is very nice, so thank you!!! 

Under a cut because long. 

Anryuu Epic is a big deal right now. It’s enough of a monstrosity that it has to have its own blog too ( @anryuuepic ), and, well... I can’t write it for quite a while. Because of its sheer size, there’s just so much worldbuilding, plotting, and character development that has to be done to keep everything straight that I won’t be able to actually start on it for at least a couple more years, depending on how much time I have to work on it... I love it, I really do, but damn is the work overwhelming.

Execution Program is a tricky case. I have the entire first part figured out in pretty good detail in my head, except for the actual play-by-play plotting, and as well as I know the whole concept, I probably could write it next year if I wanted to... but the issue comes in that I really want it to be a visual media. A manga or webcomic is what I’m aiming for, but considering that drawing is not my thing at all, I’m kind of stuck tbh. :/ I’m just holding onto it until I can figure something out. And considering doing a prototype written version. 

Infinite 9 needs a lot of work. I had one concept originally that I decided I didn’t like, so now, it needs fixed up almost entirely. Once I sit down and get it figured out, it should be short enough to handle fairly easily, but I still have some major worldbuilding/plot debates to make decisions on. 

Memento Mori is in a similar boat. I changed the original concept not too long ago, so now, I need to make sense of things in the new way. I have the plot pretty well figured out, but character-building just hasn’t wanted to work out for me. Once I actually sit down and do it, it won’t be too lengthy/difficult I don’t think, but again, I have to get the time and motivation to do that. 

Herman’s story is another case of me needing it to be a visual material. I’m basically dead-set on it being somehow animated, mostly because I don’t think the jokes will work in any other way. Like with Execution Program, I’m just kind of holding onto it for now... 

Here There be Monsters is another old favorite. It was a huge focus of mine during my teen years, and tbh, will probably be third largest of these stories in terms of book number and sheer length. It want it to be complicated, but my old designs and ideas need a lot of fleshing out now that I have an adult mind going for me, and it feels kind of intimidating. ;w; Like with Anryuu, I’ll need to figure out a lot of stuff before I can actually write it. 

STASIS is actually kind of started! I plan to write it very soon, but I need to rewatch/read its inspirations again before I can go for it. I have the entire thing plotted out in detail, so it’s just a matter of when I get those media consumed again. Which is... difficult, considering how busy I tend to be. 

Higanbana Club is another one that I probably could do at almost any time with a bit of plotting and figuring out the last major elements needed. The problem with it is that I’ve been told (and agree) that I should wait a bit before I do it. It’s a very important story to me, so people have told me that I should wait until I have a few novels under my belt before attempting something that matters so much. And I think that’s a fair point. 

Vanishing Line, I could also likely start at any time. I’d need to work out the details of the plot and a few more characters, but overall, it’s in a state where minimal work could have it ready to go! I know the ending, most of the plot, and everything, so it wouldn’t be too hard to get together and go for when I have the chance. It’s a story that’s come to me very easily/quickly. 

Four Years is tied with Angelica’s Eden for the second-largest/longest of my stories. I didn’t exactly intend for it to happen at first, but the longer I look at what I want the plot and story to be, the more it expands. There’s a LOT of things that I want to include and a lot of development that I want to happen. Tbh, my biggest hurdle with it is expanding the cast, since the first time I tried to write it (in 2017) failed mostly because I didn’t have enough people to work with... or people motivating me. >.> I’d like to do stuff with it soon, I think. 

Asteria Garden is yet another case of me having changed the original idea (it was too... happy) and needing to rework stuff for it to be writable. Again, I need to fix just, a lot, so it’s a matter of me having the time to sit down and make sense of everything. 

Chamillane has undergone some recent rework too— namely, that it became a three-part story instead of the one-part one I had assumed it would be. Stephane went from the main villain to one of three, and I’m going to have to adjust a lot to make that work. That said, I adore the other two antagonists I came up with, and I can’t wait to make their stories work!

The Girls of Virtue has been both an incredible experience and the biggest thorn in my side I’ve ever written. I love it dearly, I really do, but the pace at which I’ve written it makes me want to beat myself. I know it’s because life keeps beating me over the head with a stick, but I’m so disappointed in how slow it’s been. ;w; That said, we’re like four chapters away from the end, so look forward to that as soon as I can get it done! Hopefully soon. 

SILVER is one where I’m kind of.... confused? I thought I had a clear idea for it, but the longer I thought about it, the more off it started to seem, and now, I’m looking at some big questions that need to be answered. I still love what I’m doing with it (especially Marlow!), but there are some pretty major issues that I need to sort through before it becomes writeable.

Angelica’s Eden.... yikes. It’s another one where it got out of control very fast, and now, I’m looking at a presumable seven parts to the full thing. I love where it’s going, but considering that it’s tied for current second-longest along with Four Years, I have a lot of work that needs to be done before it’s in writeable shape. The plot is coming along pretty well, though! The three parts I do have are tying together nicely, and I just need to brainstorm the other pieces that will pull the whole thing into one coherent storyline~

Yamitsuki is current kind of on hold? I need to get at least a good chunk of the way into Nightfall before I start it, so it’s just sitting at its blog, @yamitsukigame , before I get around to doing serious work on it. I’m having fun with the characters, but it needs to wait for a while. 

Nightfall. Ah, the original work that’s so popular it almost offends me. XD I don’t know what I did to make it go over so well, but it almost bothers me that it gets so much more traction than everything else. I love the attention, I really do, and it is quite the experience.... it’s just a little bizarre to me that it became so well-loved out of absolutely nowhere? Actually, now that I think about it, it’s also probably one of my longest. Just in game form. I need to work on it more often, but hhhhnn motivationnnnn is slow. 

White Snow, last of all! It’s another one that’s pretty much ready to write— I’m just having a hard time catching the mood when it’s still in the heat of early fall. I think it’ll come to me again quickly once winter starts up, so expect something then, most likely! It’ll be pretty short, I think, so here’s hoping I can handle it at a good pace when I get there? 

Thanks again for the ask, anon!!! :D

[shiredwarf]

24 hours later: i'm still outraged as ever & i've found a couple of new things to be outraged about that i somehow just missed yesterday. which is understandable. hard to keep track of all the fuck ups!

what was the point of euron fighting jaime? also how did they even end up together? that was another case of characters just conveniently appearing at the right time at the right location (which is like euron’s mine character trait at this point: randomly showing up without any real reason just to fuck shit up in the most annoying way possible). Also: why didn't Jaime just go for this route the first time around?! he might have even made it in time. why is euron so obsessed with killing jaime? why is euron in general? what's his point? was he ever meant to be anything but a cheap plot device? everyone deserved better than this

the fact that the unsullied officers just left tyrion with jaime no questions asked is probably the dumbest moment of the entire episode. dany has often and loudly questions tyrion's loyalty but nothing suspicious about tyrion (THE HAND OF THE QUEEN) wanting to stand guard outside the tent and sending everyone else away. like what's he gonna do? free the person he clearly loves most in the world with a key that just magically appeared in his hand while davos somehow sneaks past the entire greyjoy fleet to leave a boat at the foot of the red keep? naaah (how did davos get back from there btw? did he tow another boat? was he not alone? why am i even trying to make sense of this we all know this plot was written on a piece of toilet paper)

and what's with dany never learning of jaime's escape?! someone must have checked on such a high profile prisoner in the morning? someone must have noticed and told dany who just hours ago threatened tyrion with death should he ever betray her. why did noone come up with the idea to use jaime as a hostage??? but guess everyone just forgot about him, just like the writers forgot about his arc :))))))))))))))))))

where did all the dothraki come from? why are there still so many unsullied left? it sure looked like 90% of them died in winterfell. then we see a significant number in episode five and in the trailer for episode 6 it looks like thousands??? do they just respawn? are we following video game logic now? (btw remember when soldiers had actual personalities? when was the last time an unsullied beside grey worm or a dothraki did anything to remind us they're more than npcs. what do they think about all of this? what did they think about the army of the dead? how are they coping? why was everyone suddenly ok with senseless violence against children even though dany has been saying for years she doesn't want that. yeah sure, she started the kings landing BBQ but she was in a completely different part of the city. there was no way for the foot soldier to know that she was indeed butchering civilians and not just wiping out the last remainders of the lannister forces that hadn't put down their weapons. i’m glad though that they all apparently learned to communicate with each other telepathically otherwise they would be as freaking lost as me rn

one thing the books and previous seasons have been really good at is small little world-building elements that pay off later. and they could have used that in season 8! there wasn't any need to introduce new stuff they could have just used what's already there. they did well on that account with lyanna, jorah and theon. Theon probably had the best arc this season tbh (not a tough competition but it's something) and died a stark and a greyjoy. His identity was the major theme of his journey and seeing it played out this way was satisfying! Lyanna and Jorah both embodied "Here We Stand" in their final moments (Jorah quite literally) and that was wonderful! Why couldn't we get something like this for the Lannisters? Why couldn't we get one final, brilliant scene with cersei trying to turn the tide (backup plan? never heard of it). Don't get me wrong, Lena's acting was fantastic but why couldn't we get a "Hear me roar" moment? Her arc was tide to house Lannister more than any other and yet we didn't get anything? Why didn't we get any rewarding rains of castamere parallels? if they're set on wiping house lannister off the map why not show the tragedy and irony of it. why not remind of us tywin's fantastic speech in season 2? they could have used any of those themes but they didn't???

i'm still not even ready to begin to vocalize my opinions regarding jaime. every time i think about it i can feel my life drain out of me. what a fucking waste you guys

what i can vocalize now however is how much i do hate cersei's end and how they treated lena. I cannot get over that. like i realize she is a villain and i realize she is not meant to be a sympathetic character and she never had a chance to get redemption or get out alive but the show treated her like dirt in the end and just like jaime she was eventually reduced to the incest plotline. she started this show out as someone completely at the mercy of the men in her life (her father, her husband) and while jaime was a big part of her arc her main objective was always throwing off that control and taking it herself. sure she overdid it massively and became power hungry but that power hunger is a direct result of the way she was brought up and everything she was forced into/everything she was denied. weirdly, her conflicts are very similar to brienne's. both women didn't want the roles their peers tried to force them into, both women wanted to escape and both women assumed to do so they would have to take on male traits. brienne did that by rejecting her womanhood completely for 7 seasons and aspiring to be a knight. cersei took a very different route. maybe because she had that option (brienne couldn't mould herself into a proper lady unlike her) or maybe because that was literally her only option (imagine tywin's reaction to cersei putting on armour...). in the years that follow cersei and brienne obviously take very different paths and they have very different personalities but just as brienne deserved her knighthood and the affections and acceptance of the man she loves, cersei would have deserved to be free of men trying to decide her fate for her. but she never was. first it was her father, then robert, then her father again, then the high sparrow and when she finally wiped them all out she had to let another man she despised into her bed to maintain power. brienne managed to escape the confines of male-dominated society forced on her, cersei never did. they could have either shown her finally free before her death, free of the men that tried to control her all her life, free of the power hunger, free of societies expectations or they could have had her face her ugly deeds. i doubt she would have ever regretted any of it but it would have been so much more satisfying to see her properly outsmarted, to see her face off either dany or sansa or jon (or even tyrion or jaime had his character arc not been ruined before that). she was a fantastic, complex villain until she basically just started to stare off into the distance. it would have been so satisfying to see her face reality before the end. Instead, we got rocks. but even that scene (as beautifully as it's acted) isn't satisfying. cersei, who has never been one to just weep helplessly, is first reduced to begging jaime for her life & to save their child (AGAIN WHAT WAS THE POINT! I WILL NEVER GET IT!) and then she keeps freaking out because she doesn't want to die at all and certainly not this way (very self-centred as always whereas jaime is much calmer and at peace with what's about to happen and ready to take care of her even though he’s worse off) . i don't know if this was intentional or just a happy accident but even in those final scenes it's very obvious that the love cersei has for jaime is not the same kind of love jaime has for her. i guess they both ended up wanting to die in each others arms seconds before it happened so there’s that. but it’s a cheap ending for the best actress in the show before they robbed her of all opportunities to shine

oh and lena's instagram combined with her body double’s yet unseen work on the show has now convinced me that we're incredibly likely to see cersei's and jaime's mutilated bodies/heads next week. can't wait to see their characters disrespected on a whole new level jfc i’m so tired

i can't even think about brienne these days. absolutely seething. at this point i would prefer it if the brienne/jaime romance had never happened in ep. 4. if they'd stuck to glances and meaningful gestures at least it would have made more sense. brienne would have been his "what if" when they erased jaime's character development and made him return to cersei (which i maintain could have made sense because no matter what jaime will always love his family no matter how much he also hates them IF ONLY THEY HAD PUT IN THE FUCKING WORK). but she's not a "what if" now is she. she is his "this happened and it was good and important" but we're just going to forget this. we're just going to forget that the last 8 seasons have been leading up to this point. we're gonna forget that for the entire first half of season 8 jaime didn't even flinch at the thought of cersei dying. four episodes of jaime glued to brienne's side and then we're just expected to believe he doesn't care after all. then we're just supposed to believe she is never mentioned again and no thought of her crosses his mind or anyone else's for that matter (looking at you tyrion). I genuinely don't get what the point of that romance was then. to keep jaime in winterfell for a bit longer so him getting captured would make more sense? i feel like there were like a million ways to get the same outcome without throwing brienne under the bus. brienne and her entire arc were used as a cheap plot device for jaime and it wasn't even worth it cause they then butchered jaime's arc. god i'm so angry.

remember the last time a tv show fucked up in the last episode? yeah, dexter!  i'm calling it now: got will end exactly like dexter in terms of plot and level of satisfaction. jon will kill dany (a family member/romantic interest) and then go north to spend his day in the wilderness (lumberjacking away miserably)

the more i think about it there is not a single thing about this episode that actually makes sense. this goes beyond plotholes, this is just a plain hole

[geekmama]

All Souls

I had this written, and Ellis_Hendricks very kindly betaed and Brit-picked it, over a week ago, and was waiting until this weekend before Halloween to post it for Sherlolly Halloween at 221B, but cactusnell beat me to the punch, posting her uncannily similar Things That Go Bump in the Night early yesterday morning. With apologies to her, I’m posting mine here, at least, since I don’t think she hangs out at tumblr, but I’m not putting it on AO3 or FF.net. Apparently it’ s an all-too-obvious plotline -- or great minds think alike?

~ All Souls ~

The rain had nearly stopped by the time they reached the village of Grendon and the house where Molly had grown up, and where her mother still lived. He’d been there once before, a few months ago, not long after the Sherrinford/Musgrave debacle, and the house hadn’t changed. Still quite undistinguished from the other residences in this thoroughly middle class neighborhood. For the second time, Sherlock found himself wondering that the unique creature beside him, his beloved, could have sprung from this thoroughly mundane environment. Of course, it had taken him an unconscionably long time to realize exactly how unique Molly was. It seemed irrefutable proof that, while he was very quick in most areas of perception, he could be slow to the point of idiocy in others – and some of them rather essential. It was always possible, Sherlock reflected, as he pulled the car into the drive, that there was more to Molly’s childhood home, too, than first contact had suggested.

However, as they walked in a minute later and Sherlock became immersed in this second contact -- ordinary furnishings, framed family photos and drab art reproductions; carpet and wallpaper well maintained but virtually screaming late 90’s -- he was once again struck by the banality of the place. Molly’s old room on the first floor was a little better, he knew, still featuring elements of her personality even after being purged of her belongings and made into a guest room. But all in all, it was… disappointing.

There being no sign of her mother, Molly called out, “Mum! We’re here!”

Her mother shouted from upstairs, “I’ll be down in… oh, good heavens. Molly dear, can you come up and help me for a moment? Tell Sherlock to have a seat, I’ll just be a few minutes, I’m sure… oh, good grief!”,

Sherlock couldn’t help rolling his eyes, and Molly chuckled and said, “Her zip’s probably stuck -- she always wears that dress to weddings. Make yourself at home and I’ll be right back.”

Home? Sherlock nearly exclaimed with distaste, but caught himself in the nick of time. Instead he said aloud, “I’ll go and take a look at your mother’s greenhouse, see what she’s been up to.”

“Good idea,” Molly said with approval, patting his arm, and then stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss. Her eyes twinkled, as though she knew exactly what he’d been about to say. Which she probably did.

As he watched her trot quickly up the stairs, caroling, “Coming Mum!” in reply to another bleat of motherly distress, Sherlock reflected that it had been a long time since he’d been able to put one over on Molly Elizabeth Hooper. In certain ways, she undoubtedly had the advantage now. He found it both intriguing and disconcerting, but could not but acknowledge the justice of it. Sauce for the gander, as it were.

A half smile on his lips (oh, that twinkle in her eye… not to mention the flash of those slim legs, and the delicious swirl of skirt against that pert backside...) , Sherlock turned and strode through the sitting room, the dining room, the kitchen, then out the back door, shutting it behind him and taking a deep breath of damp country air. His hand automatically went to the packet of Silk Cuts in his pocket, but then he discarded the idea -- she wanted him to quit, though she never said anything. If he had a smoke now, she’d know.

Instead, he started out across the wet lawn, toward the greenhouse.

The property had this one advantage: it had a very large back garden that bordered on open parkland, and at the back of the wide lawn was Mrs. Hooper’s greenhouse. It was a really magnificent structure, a red brick half-wall and porch surmounted by high framed glass, and fitted with Victorian finials and fleur de lys ridge cresting. It was, Sherlock knew, Mrs. Hooper’s pride and joy, and the first time he’d seen it, all those months ago, he’d been most impressed. She grew tropical plants, orchids and palms and the like, and the structure was big enough to serve as a sort of conservatory. Now, opening the door, Sherlock saw the small cafe table and several chairs where one could take afternoon tea, and slung across one verdant corner was a hammock.

There were also a couple of stools. One of them was beside Mrs. Hooper’s wide, well-equipped potting bench; the other, however, was in the corner opposite the hammock, and upon it, just at this particular moment, was seated a man, an older gentleman in a somewhat outdated suit, smoking a prettily carved meerschaum pipe that was coloured deep gold from much use.

Sherlock, halting just inside the door, stared in surprise.

But the old gentleman spoke first. “You’re Sherlock. Molly’s young man,” he stated with a kindly smile.

Sherlock approached, somewhat warily (and almost giving a ridiculous start at the sound of the door clicking shut behind him). But the stranger rose from the stool to extend a friendly hand, and Sherlock felt obliged to take it. Clearly the man was in familiar surroundings, and his grip was warm and firm.

“The name’s Bev,” the old gentleman said, taking his seat again and looking Sherlock over, head to toe. “I’ve been wondering if Molly would bring you by. She doesn’t come here as often as her mother would like, that’s certain. It seems you two have worked things out. I must say, I’m glad of it.”

“Are you… a neighbor?” Sherlock asked, feeling quite awkward.

“You might say so,” said Bev, with a jerk of his head to indicate the direction. “Just across the common, by the old church. But Amanda doesn’t mind me visiting when I like. It’s a pretty place, this.”

“It is,” Sherlock agreed, glancing around, but then fixing Bev with a frowning gaze again. “You’ve… known Molly and her mother a long time, I take it.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve known Molly all her life, bless her. Good job you’ve come to your senses and snapped her up. She was mighty unhappy at times when you couldn’t see her -- as it were.”

“See her,” Sherlock repeated. “Did she tell you that?”

“Didn’t have to. As I said, known her all her life. But that’s water under the bridge now, I take it.”

“Well… yes. We are engaged to be married. Sometime next year, in fact. We haven’t set a date but… we’ll send you an invitation.”

Bev grinned. “Oh, I’ll be there -- with bells on! Lord, it’ll do my heart good to see her so happy.” And then he shook his finger at Sherlock and said more seriously, “You just see that she stays that way, eh? Don’t forget what a treasure you’ve been given.”

“I… that’s my intention, certainly. To make her happy. As far as I am able, at least.”

Bev nodded. “Good. Best thing in life, you know. A good marriage. Children. All the little things that make a real home. True blessings from God.”

“Yeees. I… I expect so.”

“You’ll see,” Bev said, and winked at Sherlock. Then he got to his feet again. “You know Molly’s favorite flowers?”

Flowers. Sherlock glanced around, but then thought of Molly’s own well tended garden. “Er…. roses?”

“Well, she likes those, too, of course, but here, let me show you.” Bev walked past Sherlock, and rounded the potting bench, halting beside a rack of small pots, each filled with an array of lush, velvety leaves and bright blooms in shades from white to deep purple. “African violets!” the older man said, with a twinkle in his eye as he looked back at Sherlock. “Amanda’s always grown them out here, and Molly’s always loved them. She can’t grow them herself, though, not in that London flat. Not enough light, wrong exposure. A greenhouse window in that kitchen of hers might do the trick.”

Sherlock came over to look at the plants. “These seem excellent specimens.”

“Amanda always did have the knack of growing them.”

“So it seems.”

They stood in silence for a few moments before Bev said, “Well, I’ve got to be off. But you should take a look in that big notebook, on the bench there. Has all Amanda’s notes, and all the ribbons she’s won. She’s quite the star at the local garden shows.”

Sherlock took up the thick notebook from the collection of gardening tomes that sat between bookends at the back of the potting bench. Opening it, he glanced through some of its pages. Amanda’s careful records and observations were very precise, and her writing small and neat. And the collection of ribbons was indeed impressive.

After a minute or so, Sherlock looked up, intending to make a comment and say goodbye. But the old gentleman was gone, the greenhouse door still ajar.

Sherlock frowned. Closed the notebook and put it back among its companions, then quickly followed Bev from the greenhouse.

Or he thought he had.

But the man was nowhere to be seen.

Could he have reached the house so quickly? There was no evidence of it, only Sherlock’s own prints on the wet lawn, left when he’d walked out to the greenhouse. And glancing back beyond Amanda’s garden, there was no sign of an old gentleman crossing the common toward the distant steepled church.

Sherlock walked to the house and went swiftly in, only to encounter a scene of mild chaos.

“Oh, dear! Where can they be?” Amanda exclaimed, looking distractedly around the sitting room. “I know I left them down here somewhere!”

��She’s looking for her earrings,” Molly explained to Sherlock as she came to him.

“Molly, did you see--”

“I know!” Amanda exclaimed, suddenly straightening and raising an imperative finger. “They’re in the library!” She turned and headed in the direction of a closed door on the far side of the tiled foyer. “I took them off when I was in there on Sunday afternoon, making out a check for Martha Havisham’s daughter, she was selling tickets for a raffle that’s being held to raise funds for a new computer lab they want to install at her school -- though what they need with computers I have no idea, they should be reading books, not wasting time with games. But time marches on, I suppose. Yes! Here they are. Bear with me a moment while I put them on, and then we can be off.”

They had followed Amanda into the library, a room Sherlock was seeing for the first time.

“This was my father’s special room,” Molly said. “Mum had her greenhouse, and Dad his library.”

“Oh, yes,” said Amanda, peering in the mirror over the fireplace as she carefully put on her earrings. “It always gives me such a lovely feel to work in here, as though Daddy is watching over me.”

But Sherlock, who’d been taking in the oak desk with its comfortable chair, and the many books, suddenly felt a weird chill as he caught sight of an object displayed on one of the shelves.

In a stand that had been crafted to fit it was a meerschaum pipe. Prettily carved. Coloured a deep gold from much use.

Sherlock walked over to stare at it.

Molly joined him, saying, “That was Dad’s pipe, the only one I ever saw him use.”

Sherlock said, slowly, “Didn’t you tell me your father’s name was William?”

“Yes. William Beverly Hooper. His friends all called him Bill--”

“--but he was always Bev to me,” broke in Amanda. “And to all the family, really.” She gave a little sigh.

Sherlock straightened carefully and turned to Molly.

Her smile faded. “Why? Is there something wrong? Are you alright?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes. Do you have a picture of your father?”

“Of course. I’ll show you.”

She led the way out of the library and back into the sitting room, where that group of somewhat faded family photos hung in frames upon the wall. “Here,” she said, pointing to one of the largest. “It’s Mum and Dad’s wedding portrait. She was a beautiful bride, wasn’t she?”

“Yes,” Sherlock agreed absently. But he only had eyes for the groom.

Younger. But… no, impossible!

Or only improbable?.

Sherlock swallowed hard, trying to dismiss his certainty and failing utterly.

His heart was thudding perceptibly beneath his Belstaff. Beneath his stylish, bespoke suit. Beneath the Dolce and Gabbana dress shirt that had cost upwards of three hundred quid.

All of them ashes.

Vanity of vanities.

He must think. The implications….

“Sherlock?”

Molly had placed a hand on his sleeve.

He looked down at her hand, and then up, into her brown eyes. Confusion was writ there. And concern.

He took a breath. Took her hand in his and swiftly bent and kissed it. Then forced himself to smile. “I’m fine,” he said, and feeling that his voice had been a little off, repeated, “Fine!”

“There, I’m all ready!” Amanda announced brightly, coming into the room. “So sorry to keep you both waiting. Molly, I have no idea what I would have done without you, the zip on this dress is just impossible, perhaps I can get it replaced, we have a very good tailor over in the village who might be able to do it for me at a very reasonable price. Are you two ready to go? We are running behind schedule, you know. You can always look at those old photographs later.”

“Yes, we’re ready,” said Molly, though she did not sound quite certain. “Sherlock?”

“Let’s go then,” he said, lightly.  And he took her arm.

It was odd. The implications…

And yet, absurdly, the thing uppermost in his mind as they walked out to the car was the prospective purchase of a greenhouse window for Molly’s kitchen -- and that Christmas was just around the corner…

 ~.~

[cover2covermom]

Goodbye March & hello April!

April is such an awesome month, don’t you think?  I mean, I guess I am a little bias since it is my birth month and all.  I will be turning 29 for the 3rd year in a row, and I must say 29 still feels great 🙂

Anyways!  Let’s see what I read & accomplished in March…

  » As Good As True by Cheryl Reid

Feelings in a few thoughts:

This book took me longer than normal to get through, which I attribute to the heavy tone throughout the book

The writing was really good

Explores complex themes like segregation, dysfunctional family dynamics, race issues, motherhood, etc.

I struggled with the main character, Anna.  On one hand I respected her strength, but on the other I was frustrated with her weakness.  I also struggled with her neediness in regards to her daughter

There was just something “off” about this book – possibly the lack of balance.  There needed to be some lighter-hearted moments to balance out Anna’s life

Content/Trigger warning: domestic violence & rape

» Warcross by Marie Lu

Feelings in a few thoughts:

I’m so glad I decided to give this one a go – it was definitely outside of my comfort zone

The concept behind this book was absolutely fascinating – loved the world building

You don’t need to be avid gamer to enjoy this book – I’m sure not – but I feel like those who are into gaming will appreciate this book even more

It did include some of the typical YA tropes: orphaned main character – Why do parents always have to be killed off or abandon their kids in YA books?  and the rich guy/poor girl trope – which here it didn’t overly bother me because the rich guy wasn’t showering her with lavish gifts, so I guess it was ok.

I enjoyed the plotline – I saw one of the big twists coming, but did not expect the other one.

Loved the chemistry between Emika & her love interest

My one hang up is that I wanted to see more inside the Warcross Games & the training.  We get to see the first round of the games & the training for the first match, but the 2nd round is glazed over… I just wanted a little more about the rest of the competition.  The book needed to be longer.

» Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

Feelings in a few thoughts:

The concept for this one is so clever & unique – very Gaiman (who came up with the original idea from what I understand)

Good vs. Evil

I adored the quirky characters.  My favorites would be Aziraphale, Crowley, Shadwell, & Madame Tracy

Aspects of this book felt like Gaiman, while others did not – I felt like this book went off on tangents quit a bit that hindered the flow of the story for me – I’ve never read any of Terry Pratchett’s work, so I wonder if this was more his style

Despite the intriguing plot line & great characters, my attention tended to wander

I listened to the audiobook format (which was wonderfully narrated) but maybe this (paired with the random tangents) was why I had a hard time concentrating

Will possibly revisit in print form – will not rate until then

Possibly too many perspectives – I could have done without Newt & Anathema’s perspectives

Adam’s perspective felt off in the story

Can’t wait to see how this translates to a TV mini-series

  » Eligible (The Austen Project #4) by Curtis Sittenfeld

Feelings in a few thoughts:

Pride & Prejudice retelling – I think the author did a great job of bringing this story up to modern times.

I am actually shocked at how much I enjoyed this book – probably one of the more captivating “chick-lit” books I’ve read, BUT this may have more to do with the fact it was a retelling of one of my favorite classics.

I’d call this book a guilty pleasure type of book – family drama to the extreme

Despite the fact that it was very readable & I enjoyed the retelling, there felt like there were some problematic issues.  I felt like some of the diversity was thrown in for the sake of diversity – a transgendered character, a bi-racial couple, a woman who decides to get pregnant via a sperm donor…  It just felt like these were thrown into the story to make it more modern and to provide drama, which didn’t feel right to me.

The final chapter felt oddly placed – I appreciated the insight into that particular character, but didn’t like how the book ended on that note.

» Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

*Feelings to come in a separate post*

» Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzie Lee

*Feelings to come in a separate post*

» The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti

*4.5 Stars*

Feelings in a few thoughts:

The layout of this book was wonderfully executed.  We slowly learn about Hawley over the course of the book by seeing how he received each of his bullet wounds.  These alternating chapters between Hawley’s sketchy past & Loo’s present day kept the pace of the book steady throughout & kept me interested from start to finish.

Themes: coming of age, father-daughter relationships, love, forgiveness, loss & grief, small town living, and the blurred lines between good & bad.

As much as this is Loo’s coming-of-age story, it is also very much about a father’s love for his daughter.

I feel like this book appeals across a wide range of readers – thriller readers, mystery readers, and literary fiction readers.  While there are thriller & mystery elements, there is much more depth to this book as well.

The characters in this book blur the line between good & bad, you might not always approve of their actions & decisions, but we are given enough character development to understand them.

» Women Who Dared by Linda Skeers

*Feelings to come in a separate post*

» The Daughter’s of Palatine Hill by Phyllis T. Smith

Feelings in a few thoughts:

The Fictionalized account of Emperor Augustus (Julius Ceaser’s successor), his descendants, & the descendants of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.  Despite the fact that this is a work of fiction, the people and events are based in history.  I knew almost nothing about these historical figures.

Holy complicated family tree batman!  Trying to figure out all the family ties made my head hurt – this is history, you can’t make this up.

Lots of political intrigue and family drama

Book is told in 3 alternating perspectives: Lavia (Augustus’s Wife), Julia (Augustus’s daughter from a previous marriage), and Selene (daughter of Mark Antony & Cleopatra) – I found each POV & story equally interesting.  The 3 POV’s worked well here.  All the characters felt well fleshed out.

The biggest weakness in The Daughter’s of Palatine Hill was the setting.  When I read historical fiction, I need the author to put me in that time period.  Unfortunately, there was almost no descriptions of the setting or context to the era.

   » The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

*3.5 Stars*

Feelings in a few thoughts:

I had a hard time connecting with the characters, especially in the beginning.  I would have preferred the author introduce us to Tea & Fox BEFORE the raising, it would have helped me emotionally connect to them.

I really enjoyed the unique world, the culture & customs, the magic system, etc.

I really liked HOW Chupeco presented the story itself – weaving back and forth between Tea’s current situation, and the past events that led to the present.

This is a slower paced book – typical first book where the author introduces us to the world and characters.  I’m sure the second book will be more action packed.

I feel like fans of this book would also like The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine.  Not a similar story by any means, but I feel like the writing styles are similar.

  February 2018 Bookish Wrap-Up + Book Haul

March 2018 TBR

Books I Read for #BlackHistoryMonth 2018

Kids’ Corner: Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman

Author Event: An Evening with Neil Gaiman

eBooks:

» The Reluctant Queen (The Queens of Renthia#2) by Sarah Beth Durst

Print Books:

» Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman *Signed Copy*

» The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee *Signed Copy*

» Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee *Signed Copy*

  Which books did you read this month?

Have you read any of the books I read or hauled this month?  If so, what did you think?

Did you buy any books?  If so, which ones?

Comment below & let me know 🙂

March 2018 Bookish Wrap-Up + #Book Haul #BookBlogger #Reading #Bookworm Goodbye March & hello April! April is such an awesome month, don't you think?  I mean, I guess I am a little bias since it is my birth month and all. 

[njawaidofficial]

Here’s How Teen Shows Like "Degrassi" Try To Get School Shootings Right

https://styleveryday.com/2018/03/23/heres-how-teen-shows-like-degrassi-try-to-get-school-shootings-right/

Here’s How Teen Shows Like "Degrassi" Try To Get School Shootings Right

Degrassi: Next Class

Netflix

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon remembers the day executives at the WB informed him that the third season finale of his wildly popular show, about a vampire hunter and her supernatural friends, would be delayed. It had been four weeks since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre — an attempted bombing and mass shooting that killed 15 — sparked a nationwide debate over gun control and the effects of violent entertainment. The episode’s plot included a school explosion and a scene in which armed students attack the mayor, so out of sympathy for victims and fear of copycat killings, the network broadcast a rerun instead. Another Buffy episode from that season, called “Earshot,” featured a suspected school shooter, and its airdate was also rescheduled.

Whedon understood the decision. “I was like, We shouldn’t say boo about it because of course they should [postpone],” Whedon told BuzzFeed News in a recent interview, recalling the “horror” and “sense of hopelessness” he felt in the aftermath of Columbine.

It wasn’t the last time an episode of a teen series would face controversy following a school shooting. Four months after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Glee aired an episode in which students go on lockdown after hearing gunshots. While co-creator Ryan Murphy praised it as “the most powerful, emotional Glee ever,” some Sandy Hook parents criticized the episode for coming “too soon” after the tragedy. (In the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, Murphy found himself in a similar situation, deciding to tone down the graphic visuals from an episode of his show American Horror Story: Cult that featured a mass shooting scene.)

After last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the Paramount Network delayed the premiere of Heathers, a television series remake of the 1988 cult film about a pair of teenagers who murder their classmates. “Out of respect for the victims, their families and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year,” the cable network said in a statement.

The premiere of the TV show Heathers has been delayed after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Paramount Network

School shootings aren’t going away, and the conversation over how they’re portrayed on television isn’t either. While politicians and cultural critics, including President Trump, have criticized Hollywood for “glorifying violence,” showrunners and directors told BuzzFeed News they think carefully about how they’re depicting shootings.

Whedon, a vocal NRA opponent who says he’ll attend this weekend’s March for Our Lives in Washington, DC, said “actual deadly accessible guns are the issue,” not the entertainment industry. Still, he decided not to prominently feature the use of firearms on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, unless they were in the hands of villains. “When we were making Buffy, we actually had a chance to say, ‘Oh, we can actually take a very hard stance here,’” Whedon said. “It’s not a cop show. We’re not wed to the idea of the shootout in the alley.” Throughout the show, Buffy refuses multiple times to use a gun against her enemies. (“These things? Never helpful!” she says about firearms in a Season 6 episode.)

@joss / Twitter / Via Twitter: @joss

In the aftermath of Columbine, Whedon didn’t think his show would provoke copycat killings, because the weapons were portrayed in a negative light. In the episode “Earshot,” Buffy finds a classmate assembling a rifle in the school’s clock tower. She believes he is going to kill their fellow students, but it turns out “the school shooter angle in the episode was a red herring,” Whedon explained. The boy actually intends to kill himself, but Buffy talks him out of it and immediately dismantles his weapon.

But Whedon acknowledged that viewer reaction is hard to predict. In the 2002 episode “Seeing Red,” Buffy is shot and beloved character Tara Maclay is killed by Warren Mears, a misogynist outcast. At the time, Whedon assumed that a bad guy using a gun couldn’t lead to copycat behavior. “He represented the worst in everything, so I didn’t think people were going to be like, Hey, let’s jump on that bandwagon!” Whedon said. But that was in 2002. Now, given the frequency of mass shootings across the country, he isn’t so sure: “But god knows what I’ve learned lately is that bad examples don’t seem to throw people off.”

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) confronts a student with a gun in the episode “Earshot” on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The WB

Asked what advice he’d give to someone writing a school shooting storyline today, Whedon stressed respect for the characters and for the gravity of the situation: “If you’re in the head of a person who’s trapped in a classroom, if you don’t let genre tropes outweigh the physical and mental experience of the people you’re filming, then you have a shot at saying something useful.”

For Whedon, the Parkland students turned activists call to mind some of the messages he was trying to convey in his work: “I spent most of my career writing about teenagers who would lay down their lives for each other and would stand up to all injustice, and I thought I was writing fantasy.”

Similarly, Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn — two of the Canadian showrunners behind Netflix’s Degrassi: Next Class — said they find the Parkland survivors “deeply moving” and plan to incorporate elements of their activism into the forthcoming season of the high school series. The two said it’s “highly likely” they will explore a school shooting, too.

“It’s something that’s happening with greater frequency, and it’s happening to teenagers … and our attitude on the show has always been, whatever is out there affecting our young people, we should be talking about it on Degrassi,” said Schuyler.

The pair previously tackled school shootings in the first season of Degrassi: Next Class and in an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation. “Time Stands Still,” perhaps the best known episode of the show, saw Jimmy Brooks (played by now-rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham) shot by a troubled classmate. When crafting the story around that episode, Sohn said they were “very concerned” about the possibility of inciting a “copycat situation,” but pursued the storyline to portray how access to guns, coupled with an environment of bullying, “can be a pressure cooker for some of these kids to explode.”

Jimmy Brooks (played by now-rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham) is shot by a classmate.

DHX Media

“We do not want to glorify things, and we don’t want to sensationalize them,” Schuyler said. When writing the aforementioned school shooting episodes, the showrunners consulted with Barbara Coloroso, an expert on bullying and an author who published a book on the issue soon after the Columbine massacre. They also spoke directly to teenagers with the goal to write material that would resonate with and accurately reflect their young viewers. “Hopefully as storytellers, we are being respectful enough to all sides of the story,” Schuyler added.

Jimmy Brooks (Drake) is paralyzed after being shot by a classmate on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

CTV

Although Schuyler and Sohn feel it’s their duty to tackle issues that teenagers go through, they have no plans to portray anything “overtly political.”

“The mandate of our show is to sort of take what’s happening in the environment politically and make the political personal,” said Schuyler. “We wouldn’t address gun control per se, but we will look from a particular character’s point of view at how damaging the misuse of guns can be and how damaging it can be when bullying isn’t dealt with at an early stage.”

Some showrunners and producers looking to portray gun violence and mass shootings have turned to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and often works with television producers and writers to create storylines for shows like ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Wife.

Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) consoles a young boy who accidentally shot his playmate on Grey’s Anatomy.

ABC

For Avery Gardiner, copresident of the Brady Campaign, it’s just as important to depict the everyday shootings that occur across the United States — and not just high-profile mass shootings.

While ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy featured a storyline about a mass shooter who murders two of Dr. Meredith Grey’s colleagues, a 2016 episode centers on a young boy who accidentally shoots his playmate after finding the weapon in his mother’s drawer. It was a plotline the Brady Campaign consulted on. And immediately following the episode, actor Ellen Pompeo urged the importance of keeping guns unloaded and properly stored, away from children, in a PSA. The collaboration wasn’t without criticism. The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action condemned the Grey’s episode and the anti-gun messages “permeating television programming and film,” writing: “Thankfully, the episode was immediately followed by a Brady Center ad, alerting viewers to the fact that the preceding program was intended as propaganda.”

Gardiner also stressed the need for shows that depict the reality of how shootings affect the families of victims. Shows like The Chi, a Showtime drama created by Lena Waithe about life in Chicago’s South Side, for example, portrays the factors that might lead one to turn to guns — and how deaths resulting from gun violence affect victims’ loved ones.

“The realities of that violence and how it tears communities apart is something that Hollywood should be showing on TV,” Gardiner continued. “It’s an American problem that we need to be solving.”

LINK: How One New Netflix Series Shows Teen Gun Violence Is Bigger Than Just Parkland

LINK: Survivors Of The Florida Shooting Will Hold A Nationwide “March For Our Lives” To End School Shootings