Troubled Blood - *Spoiler-laden discussion*

[EllacottObsessive]

Setting this up for Strike and Ellacott fans to talk about spoilery things.

Here's a mash-up of Beethoven and Eric Bloom someone put on FB. Any good for Strike?

It is kind of frustrating, because the Strike in my head doesn't look like anyone I could post a picture of, even though he is tremendous clear in my noggin. Everyone ever suggested can only ever approximate, and there's always something not quite there. I think Burke's face works quite well, all things considered, but his hair's wrong and he's not broad enough.

Although, the wardrobe trick of putting him in shirts that are slightly too small is probably my favourite thing to have noticed during 2020.

Yes, it helps that Burke has a huge head so with small shirts, a massive coat and a diet of beer - plus being a great actor so able to project 'big man take no bullshit' energy - he manages to look far larger than he is.

It was a bit bizarre suddenly noticing him in State of Play as a very young, slim, pretty, gay and smugly recently laid man. I think if I hadn't have known, I wouldn't have recognized him at all.

So. I’ve not read any fanfic for a long time. Where would I find some Strike fanfic?

MrFMercury

So, here is some fanfic that I think is pretty good, in terms of not straying too far from the books in terms of style and character. There is an enormous amount of utter dross on that site (or as Liz Tassel would say, mountains of dreck) but here are some of the ones I've enjoyed, in no particular order. There's not much smut here because it's not really my bag, but do check the tags if you really want to swerve it. Warning: danger of falling down inescapable vortex. Proceed at your own risk.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27680702/chapters/67740128

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27644896

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27592585

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27980493

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961421/chapters/68481809

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684836

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308741

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26909470/chapters/65665195

Oo, there's the no dating rule one that mentioned in that list. It still makes me chuckle.

I thought that one really nailed it - bounced off the books in a completely plausible direction, sounded almost like Rowling, and was very funny.

So the next novel going to be set at least partly in 2015 - where could JKR take it?

When Cameron announces the referendum, Pat and Strike bond over being the only staff in the office planning to vote leave. Polworth starts retweeting Republican presidential candidate Trump on Twitter.

Jeremy Clarkson asks them to find dirt on the producer he punched so he can blackmail his way back on to Top Gear.

Barclay turns out to be a massive royalist when he insists on waiting outside St Mary's hospital to get a glimpse of newborn Princess Charlotte.

Cormoran and Robin escape London to ride out the summer heatwave on the south coast. Robin sees Strike in shorts for the first time.

Robin joins the Labour Party in order to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Strike starts carrying a foldable carrier bag in his coat pocket because he refuses to pay 5p for plastic ones in the supermarket.

@parentalhelpline that’s at least a 1000 page novel right there!
Thanks for the links I shall keep them safe. I last fell down the fanfic vortex circa 2010 and yep it was Twilight related (& smutastic). This time tho I am mostly looking for good stories to read 😁

@parentalhelpline

So the next novel going to be set at least partly in 2015 - where could JKR take it?

When Cameron announces the referendum, Pat and Strike bond over being the only staff in the office planning to vote leave. Polworth starts retweeting Republican presidential candidate Trump on Twitter.

Jeremy Clarkson asks them to find dirt on the producer he punched so he can blackmail his way back on to Top Gear.

Barclay turns out to be a massive royalist when he insists on waiting outside St Mary's hospital to get a glimpse of newborn Princess Charlotte.

Cormoran and Robin escape London to ride out the summer heatwave on the south coast. Robin sees Strike in shorts for the first time.

Robin joins the Labour Party in order to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Strike starts carrying a foldable carrier bag in his coat pocket because he refuses to pay 5p for plastic ones in the supermarket.

You are JKR and I claim my £5

Still writing the Silkworm podcast. It's actually my least favourite of them, both book and adaptation, in terms of the case - it's quite grim, and digs out some of the very worst aspects of human behaviour.

Relatedly, I was mildly amused to read Strike dismissing his immediate desire to go and have a meaningless shag because Robin just told him she had set a date to marry Matthew and he doesn't even notice it's his response to the news.

Like, how do people read these books and think that Strike and Robin are platonic pals????!!! It's ridiculous enough reading Strike and Robin deluding themselves...

It's basically his response to thinking of Robin (or Charlotte in the earlier books) being tied to someone else and out of his reach - 'I must shag someone straightaway and I don't know why'. He doesn't think he wants to be with her, but he certainly doesn't want her to be with some other bloke.

So I also like the idea On this thread of Robin dating someone as a spanner in the works in the next book, to see if Strike is able to deal with his negative emotions properly, rather than just finding the closest convenient no-commitment woman. And also to give Robin a real opportunity to choose Strike and not someone else, rather than just sliding into a relationship.

Yes, Strike. Robin makes you feel things and you have no idea why. What could it possibly mean? It's simply unexplainable that you feel better when you hear her or she's around or you get a text from her. A mystery worthy of the Fortean Times.

Although, to be fair, she does exactly the same thing. If The Thomas Crown Affair was a 'love story between two shits', this is a love story between two workaholic detectives who deliberately block out the evidence right in front of them. Idiots.

Getting the balance right between slow burn & “oh fgs these people are soooo dumb!!” is very hard 😆😆

As long as jkr doesn’t do a sudden character swerve fir one or both of them to get herself out of a corner (I’m sure she wouldn’t....)

I love it, of course, but next time you come across one of the many instances of Strike wondering why he feels better because Robin is there, or vice versa, imagine me channeling a slimmer, swearier and more pert version of Hagrid - "Ye're a feckin' detective, Cormoran/Robin"

I did it! I listened to the podcasts! My curiosity & FOMO got the better of my disembodied voices issues. It did still make me jump when you suddenly switched to clips from the TV series but I just about held it together & now I can't wait for the next one!

I've had a horrible day getting medical tests done & now have a 2 week wait for the results. Between the podcasts & the fanfic I've managed to keep myself distracted so thanks! Also, some of the other fanfics on that site can be very... ... Distracting...

Oh, mate, I read some ruder fanfic yesterday that fair made my hair curl and want things I didn't even know I wanted. But I do try and be sparing with that end of the fic because it's so tricky to find things which are in character and not just haphazardly written.

I will do my best to get the script finished. Once it's done I have (so far) managed to complete the recording element in a couple of hours max.

@MrFMercury

So. I’ve not read any fanfic for a long time. Where would I find some Strike fanfic?

Best bet is AO3 or fanfiction.net (not a part of that fandom so unsure!) but generally fanfiction.net tends to be better IME

Oh shit wrong thread

Ah I missed fanfic and enjoyed several that were recommended here
I can’t wait to see what happens between Strike and Robin. Part of me wants to wail at the thought of a spanner in the works and either of them with anyone else no matter how briefly. But equally it feels vital that both characters realise what they want and choose to be together. I think for both of them to consider what they want and then deliberately choose to be together will be the most satisfying to read.

Sorry I repeated myself slightly. DH has Covid so not much sleep occurring. At least I have an idea of when I was finally dropping off now!

ISmellLikeRobin and MrFMercury Sorry to hear about your respective medical issues, and glad to hear this thread of idle chat has been a good distraction. It has been distracting me from work, Christmas prep and housework, which is probably much less good.

I don't think our heroes are blind or stupid, really - just that they both have a lot to lose by admitting the truth about how they feel to themselves and each other, so by combining a relentless schedule with a very large dose of denial and self-delusion, they can avoid thinking about what is actually going on. Yes, lots of the time Strike seems to respond to Robin without a clue as to why he is thinking and behaving as he does, but JKR also tells us that sometimes he knows exactly what is going on - and prefers not to dwell on it. Here's hoping this slowest of burns makes the day when he has eventually made up his mind all the sweeter.

Yus. Deliberate denial is of course very different to actually being too daft to realize what's going on. In fact, the reason it works is because we know they know really. If we actually believed they didn't, it would a very different book, probably verging on farcical comedy.