silentauror's Blog, page 900
November 13, 2015
theblueboxonbakerstreet:
curiousgeorgiana:
theladyofthorns:
#a...
consultingpurplepants
mentioned you in a post “@silentauroriamthereal I did it! Thanks for the tag...
mentioned you in a post “@silentauroriamthereal I did it! Thanks for the tag :) Funny story,…”
@ silentauroriamthereal I did it! Thanks…
Ha, nice catch on the Polish bakery! Next time I’m in town, I absolutely will try it! Funny that three Montréalers (or former Mtl-er in my case) ended up doing this meme! Also: I’m pleased that you’re as devoted to the u’s that belong in certain words! :D
@lilcrowtalkin tagged me in a thing! Nads, I just had one question about your answers! Is the Polish...
@lilcrowtalkin tagged me in a thing! Nads, I just had one question about your answers! Is the Polish bakery you referenced the one on Sherbrooke, around Girouard?
Rule #1 always post the rules.Rule #2 answer the questions the person who tagged you asked, then write 11 new ones.
Rule #3 tag 11 people then link them in the post.
Rule #4 tell them you tagged them.
Rule #5 tell the person that tagged you that you’ve answered the questions
1) What’s your earliest memory?
I can’t think of one specific thing, honestly. (Sorry!) My brother was born when I was 2 years and 10 months old. I remember that happening, and I know that I have memories from before that, but I don’t remember them.
2) Do you dream vividly? Do you write them down? Ever lucid dreamed?(sorry, that’s 3)
I do dream VERY vividly sometimes, to the point where it can take up to 2-3 days to shake it off. I remember some dreams for years and years.
3) Do you prefer walking on grass, pavement, sand or snow?
Grass, if it’s not too long or thistle-y. :)
4) Where do you dream of living? Of dying?
Same answer to both: in the arms of Benedict Cumberbatch. :P
5) What’s the one thing you will never eat from a takeaway?
Salmon tartare? Lots of things, honestly. I’m a bit squeamish about food safety. :P
6) What were/are your favourite school subjects?
Easy: English and music classes were the favourites by far; math the least favourite, also by far. In university, my least favourite became music theory. I mostly really liked school, apart from those.
7) What’s the best piece of clothing/accessory you own? (’Best’ as in your favourite)
Hmmm. It might be a concert gown that I own. It’s long, midnight blue, with little straps, a deeply-plunging neckline that makes it quite booby, with chiffon roses in a diagonal line from the top of the bust on one side to the bottom on the other side. Layered skirts, long chiffon scarf, also in midnight blue. :)
8) Do you like creating things? If so, what‘s the thing(s) you’ve made that you are most proud of?
I do like creating things! In addition to the 52 Johnlock, 3 Freebatch, 98 Harry Potter, 1 LOTR, 1 Star Wars, and 4 Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert fics I’ve wrriten, along with my unfinished 60,000 word novel, I also quite like arranging music for my choir to sing, cooking/baking, and very occasionally composing. :)
9) Loose tea or bagged?
I love loose tea, but I’ll be honest and admit that bagged is so much easier. Though I do taste the paper.
10) Do you think it’s wrong to lie? What’s the most elaborate lie you’ve told?
I always think that honesty is better. And I can’t think of any especially elaborate lies I’ve told. (Unless that was it… >.>)
11) What’s sitting on your desk/table/side table right now?
This is embarrassing. So much stuff, lol. Um. A tea mug that says “Keep calm and drink tea” on it, a box of kleenex, a heap of jewellery (mostly earrings), several bottles of nail polish, an incense burner from Syria, a red glass orb from Ikea, and a heap of semi-important papers. Eeee.
I tag the following people: @happierstill, @ravenmorganleigh, @yaycoffee, @hollysprite, @duskybatfishgirl, @anotherwellkeptsecret, @rominatrix, @jezebelgoldstone, @sherlockian-1881, @consultingpurplepants, and @lijahlover. Pretty random selection, as ever taken from my recent activity page, lol.
Here are your questions:
Favourite hot beverage, if you could only drink one for the rest of your life?What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
If you had to choose, would you rather go parasailing, in a hot air balloon, or sky-diving?
What’s one place you would like to see before you die?
Have you ever laughed so hard that you did something embarrassing, like had liquids come out your nose, had an asthma attack, peed your pants, started crying (in the sad way, not just with tears leaking out your eyes), etc? If so, please share this story! :D
Who is your favourite female actor and what is your favourite piece of work of theirs?
If you could become fluent in another language overnight, which would you choose?
Would you rather be able to fly or teleport, and why?
In Johnlock, do you see yourself more as Sherlock or John and why?
If you could have any non-conventional pet, no matter how impractical, what would you have?
What would you most like to be famous for?
thewightknight:
Weird houses around the world
Some of these...
Some of these look hella unsafe, to be frank. Like the second one!! They’d best hope that tree doesn’t fall over!!
Humanity is capable of such evil, such hatred, such indifference to one another, to the fact that we...
Humanity is capable of such evil, such hatred, such indifference to one another, to the fact that we are one community in this world.
We’re also capable of incredible greatness, boundless creativity, love that does not recognise borders or boundaries.
When things like this happen, they make us feel fragmented, broken, hopeless, and afraid. Now, more than ever, is the time for us to come together, to act together, weep together, rage together, think creatively together, and above all, to love each other. You don’t have to like someone to love them, to recognise them as a fellow human being worthy of respect and decency. What’s happening in Paris (and Lebanon and Syria and everywhere where people are treating people as something other than people) is terrible. Love is the only solution. Let’s love each other, whether or not we know each other. We are one world. One community. You feel helpless and alone, one person alone behind her/his/their laptop, but this is something we can all do: love. You can call it prayer or sending good energy, good vibes, whatever you like. It doesn’t matter what you call it. Just do it. If you know of specific, practical things you can do to help, like @porteouverte (if you’re in or near Paris), then do it. If you don’t know how you can help from where you are, then love as hard as you can. Love is stronger than hate, but hate will give it a run for its money.
snafu-moofins:
ggwookie:
That reply to Donald Trump is from...
That reply to Donald Trump is from Gérard Araud, who is the French Ambassador to the United States, based in Washington DC.
Gérard Araud is a hero.
Donald Trump is subhuman.
jonlybonlyfromboldlygo:
did-you-kno:
The Temple of Quechula...
The Temple of Quechula was built in 1564 and abandoned in the 1700s because of a plague.
plague church emerges from the water. totally cool. normal. not an ill omen or harbinger of doom at all. happens ever y day
La cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) by Debussy
Omg I’m f***ing dying!
Omg I’m f***ing dying!
How Mary Feels About Sherlock
(People have strong feelings about Mary so I’m disclaiming now: this isn’t “pro-Mary” or “anti-Sherlock;” I’m just thinking from Mary’s POV. I totally think she’s Moran, meant to kill Sherlock, will die, was a meanie from the beginning of TEH, etc., but I also think she’s a great villain and thus interesting. after John. Interesting doesn’t mean she’s a good person.)
There are some elements of Sherlock’s personality Mary despises (which I’ll get into later), but I believe she has some mild - if very condescending - fondness for Sherlock, at least until the Watsons Have A Domestic. (After that, she finds him a much more direct threat to her keeping John, and is so done with him - he’s now “the enemy.”) I completely think Mary spent the entirety of TEH and TSoT manipulating both Sherlock and John and putting them down very cleverly, but you’ve got to think of this like Mary: being fond of someone and deliberately hurting them for your own gain are not opposing forces in her mind. Regina George was mildly fond of Cady Heron in Mean Girls, too; that doesn’t mean she didn’t get off on putting her down.
I started thinking about this because of Mary’s words right after she shoots Sherlock:
This line just seems odd because if she really was sorry, she’d apologize again later - which she doesn’t - and if she’s not sorry, then why bother to apologize now? I thought for a while that maybe she was banking her options: she means to kill Sherlock but in case he doesn’t die, she’s setting up for later, but then she doesn’t apologize later, so that doesn’t make sense. But then I figured it out. She does mean she’s sorry, just not in the way you or I would mean it. She doesn’t mean “sorry,” precisely, more like “it’s not personal.” Like, “Sorry, but it was necessary.” It’s the same kind of sorry you say when you cut someone off in heavy traffic. You’re sorry … but you’re really not because you did it because it was best for you. Mary needs to kill Sherlock, and she supposes she wishes Sherlock didn’t have to die - she doesn’t really care either way, but she didn’t set out to kill him when she came to CAM’s office - but he does have to die, so oh well.
Mary sometimes goes along with Sherlock - but only when he’s being emotionally unavailable to John. Think the waiter reveal in TEH. She was playing that to keep Sherlock from revealing any real feeling to John and thus keeping Sherlock and John apart with her as their mediator, but I also just think she finds it amusing when John is put down, so her amusement and exasperation in that scene is real. Sherlock is making John feel like crap, so Mary’s on board and pals with Sherlock. She puts John down often enough herself, and generally like she finds some vague, dark humor in it.
At first, she starts out with some mostly-appropriate - if meddling - comments, but by the time they get to the deli, Mary’s so done with this whole thing. This is right when John starts to get really angry again:
She’s clearly playing up Sherlock’s inappropriate comments, validating him, but I also think this is real. She thinks this whole thing is funny; she’s relaxed. Mary’s like “John … don’t try to pretend like you have any real authority over anything, sweetie. You’re a bumbling little sweater-wearer. It’s cute. Stick with what works for you.“ At first, in Sherlock, Mary sees someone who can put down John with her, at least temporarily, until he’s no longer useful. (She’ll always be in charge of that, of course.)
She’s totally playing Sherlock here by setting herself up as the mediator in John and Sherlock’s relationship, but I don’t think that necessarily excludes fondness. It’s just not what you or I would call fondness. Mary’s like “Ah, Sherlock. He’s so stupid. I’ll have fun with him for a while, as long as he doesn’t make any moves on John. Not like he’d succeed at that, though, so it’ll be cute. Maybe I’ll have someone to joke with about how stupid John is.” Which she does:
SHERLOCK: You’ve put on seven pounds since you got married, and the cycling isn’t doing it.
JOHN: It’s actually four pounds.
SHERLOCK: Mary and I think seven.
Mary can afford to be mildly fond of Sherlock because she’s not worried about Sherlock’s feelings for John. She’s “the best thing that’s ever happened to John,” after all, so while it’s cute that Sherlock has a crush on her husband, it doesn’t matter. Just like if a twelve year-old has a crush on your boyfriend: that’s funny that Sherlock thinks he has a chance. Mary reminds Sherlock every once in a while that she’s won, but it’s not like she was ever going to lose.
Most people hurt people because they don’t like those people; Mary does it because she enjoys it. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t like them.
SHERLOCK: Both of you, now, go dance. We can’t just stand here. People will wonder what we’re talking about.
JOHN: Right.
(Mary reaches out to touch Sherlock’s arm, her voice tearful.)
MARY: And what about you?
Mary is still probably reminding Sherlock she got John and Sherlock didn’t, but it’s not the same tone as her reminder when John was talking to Sholto, which was pretty gleeful. Her reminder about the dancing isn’t so much. I think there’s some real emotion in that one. “Poor little Sherlock. He really didn’t realize this was always going to end like this.”
Mary recognizes - and kind of likes - that Sherlock is clever, but she only thinks of him as moderately clever. To be fair, she has some reasons for this: Sherlock hasn’t worked out that she’s an assassin, so she would definitely feel that she’s much cleverer than he is, and she can’t tell anyone.
This is such an interesting moment because Mary’s just exasperated with Sherlock. He breaks in on her assassination attempt and she’s just like “Sherlock, why are you such a pain?” It’s such a contrast because she’s got a gun pointed at him, so you think she’s just dead serious, and she is - we know this because she shoots him - but what she’s saying is pretty much “Sherlock, I’m going to count to three, and then you’d better go to your room.” Mary definitely does not think of Sherlock as a threat to her or worthy of her respect at this point. She’s like “Yes, Sherlock, I’m an assassin; it only took you nine months and a visual demonstration to figure it out. Excellent deduction.” This is such an important line because it irrevocably ties Mary’s patronizing and degrading treatment of John and Sherlock in TEH and TSoT to her villain persona: she’s not a different person now that she’s a villain; she was always a villain and it always showed in the way she treated John and Sherlock. She says this “Oh, Sherlock, if you take one more step, I swear I will kill you” line exactly like she says “I’m not John; I can tell when you’re fibbing.” Mary treats both John and Sherlock like children, but Sherlock much more so. I think she really thinks of him that way, which can somewhat explain why she’s fond of him but still doesn’t respect him: he’s a kid; he doesn’t know any better.
I think it would be very grating for Mary, listening to someone else being praised when she knows she’s so much better. We know for a fact she’s getting sick of it by the beginning of HLV:
Being an assassin would probably give you very good reason to feel like you were more competent than pretty much anyone, yet people treat Sherlock like he’s the competent one, not her. So she sort of likes the small amount of cleverness that she feels Sherlock possesses; she just doesn’t like that other people (John, but also the general world) like the cleverness.
There’s a nasty put-down here from almost ever conceivable angle. Mary reminds Sherlock that he’s okay, but he’s really nothing special. Here, he’s not being clever, so she’s got no use for him. Mary - not John - is the one who only likes Sherlock when he’s being a high-functioning sociopath. People have talked about how Mary is sort of John with the moral center removed: she’s a government-contracted killer, she’s a medical professional, etc. Moran was always going to be a foil for John in the way that Jim is a foil for Sherlock: the “bad” version of John.
Mary only likes the high-functioning sociopath, so she doesn’t like Real Sherlock. She despises Real Sherlock. All the things that the majority of the fandom adores about Sherlock - that he’s a sad soft small nerd penguin - Mary can’t stand. Sherlock’s delicate. He’s fragile. He cries. It’s repulsive to her. I think one of the things Mary actually really likes about John is his stoicism - she must know about it because she was around when he was grieving Sherlock - and she doesn’t feel like Sherlock has any. He’s so weak. It drives her crazy that other people seem to think Sherlock’s a mysterious emotionless badass - she thinks being an emotionless badass is a good thing, remember, because she is one: the Dark Fuck Princess of this show - and Sherlock gets the credit for it when Mary finds it so obvious that he’s really just pathetic. Sherlock makes her want to hurt him and hurt him and hurt him until he learns to stop crying. Mary feels justified in hurting Sherlock because it’s his own fault for being so vulnerable.
I know everyone wants to be like “Mary loathed Sherlock 100% the whole time and came to CAM’s office to shoot him,” but I actually think her having any sort of affection for him - however condescending and horrible - actually makes her worse. If she didn’t have any sort of twisted fondness for him, there’s literally no reason for her to say “I’m sorry, Sherlock; truly am” after she kills him. This is the way she treats people she vaguely likes. That makes her a) much more interesting and b) much crueler. Basically, it has to do with the fact that Mary is a psychopath and therefore able to compartmentalize her feelings towards people so well.
Of course, all this changes when Sherlock finds Mary in CAM’s office. At that point, Sherlock becomes dangerous to her, where he never was before - because, in Mary’s mind, he’s too stupid to ever figure it out. So he’s now a threat to be disposed of ASAP. I believe she’s going to try to kill Sherlock again in 4x3 because she believes the only way for her to stay alive, out of prison, and keep John is to kill both Sherlock and Jim.
My favorite point to underline here is that Mary likes John’s stoicism while she has contempt for Sherlock’s vulnerability. That’s such a great insight, and I really think this is exactly the part of the character arc that has to become clearer in Series 4. It’s interesting because the way it seems to me they’ll really defeat Mary on the abstract level, as an emotional threat and Romantic False Lead is with John showing his actual vulnerability and Sherlock demonstrating his cleverness and strength.
Check this out @silentauroriamthereal
Yes to almost all of this. This is more or less what I’ve been saying from the start. :P I’m so glad other people are getting on board with this!
November 12, 2015
benedict-the-cumbercookie:
X
How do I love this moment! Let...
How do I love this moment! Let me count the ways!
-Ben’s delicate little hop in the first two gifs, hahaha
-how the sheet outlines the Cumberbooty there
-the way he just sort of tucks himself in and lands curled up as though about to go to sleep
-Mark and Martin losing it simultaneously
-Ben’s chest (guh)
-Martin reaching out to touch Ben all half-naked and whatnot
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