Hello, Lady Mysterio here to review!
I am more of a Marvel fan, but I like DC too. AND I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. So I had to review this.
@Lucrezia has made some pretty good points so there isn't much to review but I will do my best.
I like your use of descriptive words in this story, like batman's hand hovering over his Batarang. or hesitating to unpin another weapon. You could have used the same word, hovering, in both the sentences but didn't. Whether it was on purpose or not it is nice when the same word isn't used multiple time or it becomes stale.

Now one thing I noticed with Dr. Watson, since he is, how do I put this nicely, larger than the average male, width wise. He would float better than most due to his, pardon me, fat.
Unless it is something about the "water" I would change that sentence, or take it out completely.
I assume batman and Sherlock holme will get along well, considering they are both master detectives and are rather blunt.

I am also assuming that batman has the lasso of truth?
I can't wait to read the rest fo this!
I love you avatr by the way! RIP Stan Lee.

-The Lady of Mystery.

Hi there!

I haven’t reviewed in a while and I’ve been waiting for some inspiration to strike. Seeing this story finally gave me that inspo, because I am SO INTO THIS. A Victorian-era version of Batman that also functions as a DC/Sherlock Holmes crossover? YES PLEASE. I need this in my life.

Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that I love the concept. Also: you seem well-versed on your source material and I get the sense you have a clear idea of where this is headed, based on your responses to the reviewers before me. Those are important prerequisites.

This chapter was a little bit hard to get into it, and I have to echo a lot of the previous reviewers’ critiques, especially the stuff Messenger said. There was definitely a jerkiness to the writing, a side effect of those short, choppy sentences. (Admittedly, I’m biased: I love long sentences, as you can probably tell.) I’d like for the action to be easier to follow, and a little more drawn out so that there’s some suspense. More imagery. More of everything, pretty much.

Of course, this is just the first chapter, and sometimes beginnings can be rough. I already glanced at the next chapter and there’s a big improvement between the two, so I’ll chalk up some of the issues with this piece to the difficulties of acquainting readers with a new story—especially one as ambitious as this.

Now for some specific comments:

“Alfred? I need you back in Gotham.” Batman states over the Batwave.

There is a knock at the wooden door—it is the only civil way into the Batcave, as Alfred prefers to explain.

Batman hears a stranger voice.

The loudest yet thud

Above-average physic.

Hey hey! Here as requested.

I’m not familiar with the Batman universe whatsoever, so I was a bit nervous going into this but I feel not so confused, Batman-wise. There are terms I don’t know but it’s nothing too extreme and I understand based on the context - Batcave, some secret hideout. Which is definitely good for a fan fiction because with fan fiction, I love it when the author writes as if the reader doesn’t know the world.

However, I was confused writing wise. It took me a second re-read to understand what was going on with Watson- perhaps I wasn’t super focused the first read, but it did take me a lot of focus and thought about what was actually happening. I would love to see a bit more description - I noticed some things were a bit vague. For example: “The slit explodes into a rectangle, the rectangle into a massive square of void that sucks the doctor in. Free-falling. Splash.” I can’t conjure up a clear image of what exactly is happening because I’m not sure what “square of void” is or where exactly Watson is.

One other thing I noticed was that the sentences were a little choppy - no big deal, but I think it would read smoother if you broke the structure every once in a while. Many of the sentences are like this: Batman sighed. Batman ran to the corner. He picked up the phone. Many are [noun] [verb] structures which are totally okay! But it does get a little repetitive and choppy after a while.

I think that’s all I have to say! This was a fun little piece to read and I’m also very interested in the time - throwing Batman back in time to a historical era certainly mixes things up a lot (or was Batman set around then??? I don’t think so but I could be wrong lol).

I hope this helps!

Peace,
~ EternalRain

Hey, Messy here
There isn't a lot of material that you've written here, and so I won't try to drag this review on, but I did have a couple of observations and thoughts on this short piece.

1. The title: it's interesting. I immediately clicked on it when I saw Gotham in the title as I'm a big Batman fan. Couple that with the word scandal and it's a great grabbing title that offers intrigue. But I must say that I don't see how it reflects the piece you've written here. You say that it's probably a one-and-done type piece, so where in this is a scandal? Just seemed like a peculiar choice to me.

2. Dialogue: this isn't a must, but I prefer to start every new quotation on a new line unless it's a continuation of the same person who has spoken. i.e. "It's not her fault," Darius blurted out, "it's mine!" With that in mind, this whole bit, while mostly clear in what is happening, felt muddled and messy

“Pardon me?” Dr Watson takes two steps toward Batman. The ground beneath him shakes. Dr Watson looks down—there is a slit in the ground between his feet. “What in the dev—” The slit explodes into a rectangle, the rectangle into a massive square of void that sucks the doctor in. Free-falling. Splash. Dr Watson is pushed a few feet under the surface of water. He swims to the surface and looks upward—panting heavily. He finds it difficult to stay afloat by the second. He sniffs. “This can’t be water,” he mutters. He notices a silhouette.

Hey MeherazulAzim16!

I'm Elinor, and I thought I'd drop by to give you a quick review. This was a fun piece, as I love Sherlock Holmes and I also love Batman and I think the two of them make for an interesting crossover considering that Batman does a lot of detective work.

I understand this short has to be humorous and fun, but I found it a little bit difficult to follow, especially considering that both belong to distinct time periods. The first Sherlock Holmes story was written in 1887, and as such he's a figure of the 19th century Victorian era. While modern adaptions have been successful, he's still very much shaped these origins, and I'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't think of the Victorian era when I thought of Sherlock Holmes. Batman is a little more malleable, but he's been around for 80 years and pretty much works at any time in the 20th century. I'm having a really hard time picturing him in the 19th century, though. That could be an interesting elseworlds tale, though.

You say it's 1895 in Gotham City, and I was super confused on whether or not there'd been time travel, and who traveled to what time and where, or if Batman had ended up on Baker Street. While these characters are all iconic and the reader will have a base level of familiarity with them, the best thing you can do in fanfiction is to make them your own. But your own spin on these characters while keeping them true to who they are.

I'd love to see this expanded. Good luck! Keep writing, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,
Ellie