scientistofdeduction

[scientistofdeduction]

Watson art by the phenomenally talented lovely person @haedraulics

[scientistofdeduction]

Advanced warning that this made me cry when I thought about it, and then I shared it with friends and it made them cry too, but I think it's ultimately a nice thought so I want to share it. Sorry if it gives you the sniffles.

I'm always cautious when it comes to parasocial relationships - with actors I don't actually want to know the ins and outs of their lives, they are strangers to me and that's how it should be.

But like a lot of Sherlock Holmes fans I've ended up becoming a Jeremy Brett fan to some extent, because first you love his performance, then you find out the sheer dedication he put into that role, and then you find out how he did so while coping with significant mental and physical health problems, and then you hear story after story which suggests he was a lovely man whose mind seemed to put barrier after barrier in the way of him getting to experience the full extent of the joy he put out into the world. And I think a lot of us identify with that.

There's a quote from "The Jeremy Brett - Linda Pritchard story" floating around on Tumblr where Pritchard describes how one thing which really bothered him at the end of his life was that he couldn't give any more performances for his fans. Apparently hearing that the Sherlock Holmes series was on video (something he hadn't considered because he didn't own a video player), and his fans could watch him over and over again, made him happy.

And of course, my first thought when I heard that is I think he'd be so happy to know we're still watching them and dissecting his every movement and expression.

But it also hit me because during Beekeeper's Picnic recording sessions, Jeremy Brett is mentioned so often. Ok we've got at least one actor who worked with him (and indeed reports unsurprisingly that he was "lovely"!) but also people my age who were kids or not born yet when that series aired - they're professional actors, for whom Jeremy Brett remains 'their' Holmes, their point of reference for the character.

I can't wait for all of you to get to hear our amazing Holmes actor James Quinn, but it wouldn't be feasible to get him in every recording, and so often our actors have to just read his lines and respond. Once, one of them said "I'll just imagine Jeremy Brett," and I love that so much. Somewhere baked into my little game, is an Imaginary Jeremy Brett, called forth by an actor needing a Holmes to bounce off.

Jeremy Brett's performance isn't locked in amber, a thing of the past. It's fresh for each new generation that sees it, and it inspires new performances and new art. He'd adore that, I'm sure.

And to get even more philosophical, I think that goes for all creative work - and anything else you do in life. No matter how big or small the action, you never know how big your ripples you leave behind are. It's worth remembering.

[scientistofdeduction]

I made this edit a few years back and I still love it. Deserves a repost for Pride Month.

Thinking about doing a couple with elementary and Frogwares ‘s Holmeses and Watsons.

[scientistofdeduction]

I wanted to make a gifset about all the things I love about Jeremy Brett’s Holmes, or everything I think the Granada adaption got perfectly right, but the list was too long, so here have just some of my favorites.

It’s honestly hard to find anything I DON’T love about Granada Holmes.

He’s allowed to have his black moods, and when he does, Watson takes care of him, reminds him to eat, tries to get him away from the drugs.

He’s MESSY. Capital letters messy. He’s A MESS. Unashamedly. That scene where he gathers all his papers up from the floor, drops them behind Watson’s chair, and then stands in front of them to shield them from sight and acts perfectly normal when a client walks in? I love that so much. 

Then there’s the fighting - he can absolutely hold his own in a fight, but they didn’t make him basically superhuman, like some adaptions like to do. Of course he usually beats the bad guys, but he gets hurt, too. And when he does, Watson is there to patch him up. But Holmes still brags about winning, because it’s Holmes and he’s weak for praise, especially from Watson.

Then there’s this little scene at the end of The Dancing Men. “How absurdly simple.” And it just hits me right in the feels everytime. I’m not sure I can quite explain why in coherent sentences, but let me attempt to. Holmes loves to show off. He loves when people are amazed at his deductions, he loves the praise and the admiration. And he also loves to explain how he solved the mysteries, but the thing is, on the other hand - everytime he explains how he got to a conclusion, he’s afraid people will start to ‘realize’ that it’s really ‘not that amazing at all’ and they’ll lose that sense of mystery, and they’ll stop being impressed by what he can do, because ‘anybody could do it’. Because it’s ‘so absurdly simple’. And he’s so torn between wanting to show off and explain how he did it, and at the same time not wanting to explain it because he thinks that this ‘mystery’ is the only thing that makes him interesting to others. GOD, my HEART.

Which brings me to my last part - he’s so GOD DAMN HUMAN. He has so many layers, some of them contradicting each other, and he can be harsh or even rude sometimes but at his heart he’s noble and just and KIND. And he can be cold or condescending and turn people in without hesitation, but then he let’s a murderer go free because justice is bigger than the law. He goes on and on about logic and facts and exact sciences but then waxes poetic about flowers and the goodness of providence when the mood strikes him.

I could go on and on. And all of that, and so much more, is so perfectly captured and portrayed in Brett’s performance. Which is why he is, and will forever be, my Holmes. I just wish I’d had a chance to tell him that.

[scientistofdeduction]

k but if u haven’t seen the guy ritchie sherlock films u don’t get it but they fully wrote holmes as in love w watson. like undeniably in love. In the first ten mins holmes refuses to take a Single case for three months bc watson won’t go with him. he locks himself in his room for two straight weeks, drugs the dog, and shoots the wall for attention bc watson is moving out. he says the world outside his room has nothing to offer until watson asks him to go to dinner & immediately agrees. he humiliates mary bc he’s jealous she can marry watson and he can’t. he goes to a fight club to Feel Something bc he knows john is slipping away from him. there’s never any “oh well just bros being bros” the whole tone towards it is just “ofc he’s in love w watson that’s one of his defining character traits”

[scientistofdeduction]

I feel like no one ever talks about the one scene in Study in Scarlet where we find out that before Watson met Holmes he was, in fact, a FAN OF DETECTIVE FICTION?? He got insulted when Holmes started hating on Dupin and Lecoq. He had faves. The FIRST thing he told Holmes when old dude said he was a detective was "oh like my blorbos! :D" and Holmes told him "your blorbos are shit". Like we talk about Watson being enamored and a d1 glazer all the time but we don't talk about the fact that he MANIFESTED ts into his life. Soulmated so hard that Holmes was his favorite genre before he even met him.

[scientistofdeduction]

SHERLOCK HOLMES (1984 - 1994) ↳ 4x01 | The Sign of Four

[scientistofdeduction]

CBS Elementary + canon references • names (part 2)

[scientistofdeduction]

You know how I said I was going to post BSJ comics that never made it online and then just didn't really finish doing that? This one is from the 2015 Fall issue, I'm also indexing them (among other things) in a more tidy manner on my sideblog @theobservanceoftrifles.

[scientistofdeduction]

Living with the past, that’s what justice is.

[scientistofdeduction]

[scientistofdeduction]

[scientistofdeduction]

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

Sherry and Jon

[scientistofdeduction]

Sherlock Holmes handle walking stick

[scientistofdeduction]

The dancing men

[scientistofdeduction]

This scene from The Copper Beeches has gotta be like top ten Holmes autism moments of all time. “It is one of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with reference to my own special subject.” Okay buddy 😭

Bonus doodle!

[scientistofdeduction]

My take on the Sherlock Holmes books