Okay after some careful deliberation, we've settled on the following:

We're doing away with the first two movies and creating our own timeline but still keeping the same general idea that Adler is working for Professor Moriarty, who wishes to create a war and turn a profit. I will be taking the role of Sherlock Holmes and Mary Mortsan. You will be taking on John Watson and Irene Adler. I think we'll share the role of Moriarty for the time being but for now, I don't see him as a major role until more of the plan is laid out, most of the prep will be going on in the background. Irene already knows about Holmes, having crossed paths with him in the past, has been instructed by Moriarty to keep tabs on him, as Holmes appears to be the biggest threat to their plans. Irene suggests introducing Mary to Watson and Holmes in order to have extra cover when it comes to gathering intelligence. In the meantime, small cases are investigated as Moriarty begins to make his plans.

Now in terms of starting points, we still need to work on what sort of cases we'd like for them to work on while Moriarty uses Irene's connections to his advantage. I think petty mysteries might be the way to go, sure they don't offer much of a thrill for Holmes but I'd say that would be better than no work at all, and no work means he can pay the rent which means Watson gets fussy (assuming they're still living together). I was thinking Mary might be the one to have a case on her hand, nothing big but it could give Irene the cover to bring in Holmes and Watson without seeming suspicious. It could then give Irene a reason to stick around Mary for the first case, and in which case I'd figure some help could come from the girls in terms of making progress?

What do you think?

And I'm probably going to drum up a very light/thin CS for Mary and Sherlock, even just the basics for a refresher though don't feel obligated to do the same unless you're feeling wild and crazy ahaha.

If we're going to do mysteries I think we should do them right :) Make the crime itself petty, but within the crimes leave a sort of pattern, a clue to hint at something bigger. Knowing Holmes he'll almost obsessively chase after them, and Moriarty can get him believing/doing what he wants for a time most likely. It'd be a lot of deceit on Moriarty's part, which coupled with Irene's help will definitely through our pair through a loop.

At most I would say Irene could share her thoughts on cases, and let Mary do the helping. Again, as I said it'll be more a case of careful manipulation to have Sherlock, Watson and Mary doing what they want without directly influencing them. That is too of course if you think that's a plausible idea.

Our mysteries will surely need plenty of planning. And I can see Moriarty leaving small hints toward a bigger picture, mostly because he's got an ego and I do think, feels Holmes is a near equal, hence an amusing threat. In terms of the first case, something petty like something lost, or a missing pet, or some kind of threat? I'm thinking the obvious solution would clearly be wrong, and that there would be a few layers to the issue before it's really resolved. If Moriarty and Irene have somehow set up the mystery, it would have a few layers and maybe be used to test Holmes' skills of deduction?

Irene can vouch for Holmes as being brilliant and Moriarty knows of his reputation but I think Moriarty would be curious to still test him through Mary?

I do think Irene would step away from Holmes, Mary and Watson after the first case and simply check base with Holmes or Mary from time to time, after all the ladies need to sit down and have tea every now and then to make sure Holmes is kept at bay. I think we're on the same page in that regard as well. If Irene is too involved, it'll be weird since she's surely not a reformed criminal herself.

The complexity of the cases should become greater as we go, I think. So starting with something as you said, a lost pet perhaps, seems reasonable. And yeah, I can certainly imagine Moriarty wanting to see just how capable Holmes is. I feel for every bit as confident as one is, so too is the other, so it'll inevitably turn into a sort of pissing contest to see who can best who.

I also think it would be interesting if Irene were to begin to question her involvement down the road, actually turn to helping Holmes and company. It'd be discreet as she'd try to avoid tipping off Moriarty, so perhaps through things like dead drops or what have you. Regardless of what side she's on she won't be an obvious player, as I kind of think she has the mindset of waiting it out too, see who comes out on top so she can side with the victor.

Yes, the cases should become more complex and possibly require more travel or thorough investigating. I can only image what mindfuckery that ensues down the road. If we wanted to run with a lost pet, we could suggest other pets have been going missing, hence it's not a typical 'ran away' idea, as much as someone is taking them for some reason. And yes, Moriarty and Holmes will surely end up clashing with their massive egos, though that's not to say that once Moriarty appears to have lost, we wrap things up. Other larger scale cases can surely be had.

What I mean is, I don't see the endgame being that easy or final.

Irene is bound to turn against Moriarty though I see it happening much later. I don't think she'll suddenly see the picture clearly for the world, as much as, it's for her own good if she is no longer around such a crazy guy like Moriarty. I would assume for now, she's on board willingly because of money? I would assume later, it would become blackmail? If she's still a wanted thief, that might be enough to hold her loyalty until a breaking point. Of course, there's also the inevitable reveal to Mary and the others that she was on Moriarty's side, which I'm sure will be good fun to play out too. It would be interesting to have her keep switching alliances, since I see her as more of a selfish person who wants to be safe and well off, but should she come to really care about Mary, John and Sherlock, that will be interesting to play with as well.

We have some good complicated dynamics set up which is very exciting.

Yeah, Moriarty's endgame will be a ways off, and even if he's gone who's to say the fun stops there? :p Could always be an associate or something, never have to leave it at only him.

And yeah, I always thought of Irene as looking out for herself, and helping those who were convenient for her. I could see Moriarty blackmailing her, though maybe that isn't necessary until she begins to question what she's doing. She could try openly denouncing him, or threatening him somehow and he goes and turns the tide on her, so to speak.

We do, we do :D It'll be a complex web of lies, broken promises and a bloody trail leading to the proverbial chalice at the end of the dungeon! Or something like that. Sleep addled, incoherent, thoughts dwindling, and the squirrels are looking for me again u_u

A Game of Shadows happens to be on right now, a most timely viewing if you ask me. :3

Even though I love/hate certain things about the films, overall I do love them and the second film was even stronger than the first in my mind.

Ahem.

Other adversaries did try to take on Holmes but I do recall Moriarty being the biggest fish in the sea. (Yes, we're at that point in the film with fish metaphors) And there's the whole 'sneaky death' thing where someone ends up not being as dead as we might think, as seen in both movies, which can get annoying but...if done well enough, might be another avenue to look into later.

Side note: They touched on supernatural in the first film with the occult which intrigued me, and while I enjoyed the logical debunking of it, I still think the mystery was unfolded much too soon, and could have been an option to make people question whether or not the magic and supernatural do exist, compared to the scientific advances people were making in that time.

Yeah, Moriarty wouldn't need to threaten or blackmail until she began to question her loyalties and then that would be something fun to see, since I know she's got feelings for Holmes, but those have been complicated and she knows they both end up attracting trouble...

Squirrels are so cute, but apparently their the spawn of satan, according to the dogs.

So should we flesh out the first case which brings the four together? If we did want to do the route I suggested, with kidnapped animals, we could have some kind of experimentation going on (it was briefly touched in the first film I think). Maybe if Moriarty did want Holmes to be confronted by some "impossible" witchcraft of sorts, the route would surely be to do deal with that kind of dark demented stuff.

I would gladly delve more into the occult and try and make it a believable story, if only for a while :) I loved the way they showed it, even if it was rather quick.

They are cute *o* We have two pet degus here, amongst other animals, and they are so adorable!

Yes, we should go ahead and plan out the first crime :) Maybe there could be some kind of kidnapped animals, which later suggests some sort of occult ritual using said animals, to get the ball rolling in that direction.

The blurred line between reality and supernatural was really fun to see and though I'd be open for some unexplained supernatural events taunting the boys. While I doubt either would really believe in such fantasies, it would be interesting to see them question things a bit more.

You just know some dead squirrel is going to make an appearance in our RP now. >___>

So hypothetical proposal here, tell me if you're in or wanna change stuff cause I'm just prattling on here:

Moriarty has hired some shady dude to test some underground theories in regards to "magic" supposedly being found in the blood/bones of various animals. Like the blood of a dog would give you enhanced smell supposedly. Or eating the heart of a rabbit would make you quicker, or something stupid like that. If we want this to be dark, we could make it so that animals had to be alive during such experiments or something. If this shady dude wasn't getting results, he might try to fake it, so if he somehow did something with a turtle, he made himself some fancy armor to be more sturdy. It could then escalate to him kidnapping kids or adults to try to infuse the blood/bones/whatever to other subjects to observe?

Or is that super weird? I figured it couldn't be too simple or Holmes would get bored or finish it too soon.

And hey, now the first movie is on!

One of our villains should be squirrel-themed! >:D It'd be amazing!

Oooh, I like that idea. Reminds me greatly of the episode from Supernatural with that crazy cook, using Shamanism to gain abilities of animals. I could certainly get used to playing that out, especially if we concoct some seriously elaborate plans, then it could almost seem as if the magic really was working. Nothing like making a genius question themselves :D

Ooooh, first movie? I wanna watch it! :D I'll check to see if it's on.

Surely a genius like Moriarty has a squirrel disguise where he hides in the park to spy on people.

I never got into supernatural but my friend was WAY into it. And I'm sure the crazy guy would need to make his experiments appear as though they worked since, if they didn't, he's likely to get killed since "no loose ends" and all. I think this could divulge into other areas of deception, with it depending on what traits we'd need to emulate. But it sounds like we've got that settled.

Should we assume missing people and animals have been...er missing for like a month? But there's no pattern (since he needs new subjects at random?) no one really cares? In this case, maybe Mary's child she's teaching as a governess has vanished, and so has his dog, a few days earlier? Would that work?

And it's on TBS for me, if that helps.

xD I just imagined a full grown man in a squirrel suit... Amazing.

I'm sure we could easily fake some of the traits, like perhaps steroids for enhanced strength or some such.

Yeah, I would say the individual cases are a bit spread out, but its over the course of a month. Want there to be a fair bit for Sherlock and co. to look into. That works for me, and awesome :D

This is some weird shit but probably slightly before our era...but go figure what some people think is trendy.

Oh it's not related to squirrels but hermits.

Steroids could be made from different herbs or stuff, probably akin to certain hard drugs. Haaaa.

So should I try and whip us up an IC post then? It would probably summarize events like the missing kids/animals, as well as Irene and Mary having become friends recently and lead us up to them all meeting at maybe where Mary works?

Yeah, if it's something natural then it may not show up as a drug would, so Holmes would have trouble detecting it.

And if you feel like we've covered enough, then sure :D I am more than happy to get this party started!

And some drugs or ingredients may not have been really named yet, ya never know.

We'll probably need to check in as the case progresses but I figure it's better to get this started and plan as we go, than plan too much and lose the steam we've got. But it's usually easy to play off one another but if things need to be tweaked, we've got the OOC to talk too! So if you read my intro and think something isn't right, let me know. It's been at least 2-3 years since I've played Holmes.

I've never played Watson, or Sherlock, or any of them, so let's give it our best first attempt! xD I look forward to your initial post eagerly!

The movies help, as did the OST I think. I'm excited, hopefully it's something we'll be comfortable with. My intro might be lengthy because that's how I get comfortable with fandoms I haven't done in a while. ^^;

And I'll generally give both Mary and Holmes a similar amount of writing but I know with Irene not being a major role or at least one who comes and goes, I wouldn't worry too much that. I've just had some people blatantly give one character a ton more of attention and that's something I don't really do.

Writing for Irene may be a bit tough initially as she'll be more "behind the scenes", but for where it calls for her I'll certainly write plenty.

And no worries, I tend to write lengthy intros as well :p I try to cater my length of post to whoever my partner is, but I can write plenty if allowed ^^

She'll probably be tough but depending on the background you give her, she could also be fun. A sly sexy fox. She'll be a treat to see come and go.

Oh you're allowed to write plenty, don't think of needing to censor yourself. There's no fun in worrying about writing. XD

Very nice opening. Sadly however my post will have to wait until morning, it's a wee bit late for me ^^" I'll get a reply up ASAP though, just have a fair bit of work to do tomorrow for my grandparents first.