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Accurate summary of the two types of Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (the third type is "Both At Once")

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I guess MUSG is the only canon Holmes-POV story that I actually like... I mean it's the only one that actually has a decent mystery, and of course the framing device is perfection. But I just reread GLOR and honestly I find it so frustrating bc like... I don't feel like it was necessary for ACD to give Holmes an "origin story" in the first place; in fact one of the things I like about the canon is that the character's past is mostly a blank slate that fans can project whatever we want onto lol. But if he was going to give an account of Holmes' first case and how he got into detective work, did he really have to make it so boring? "I decided to become a detective because my buddy's dad suggested it" like really?? And the "case" itself isn't much to speak of either. Really feels like a wasted opportunity tbh. It's not like he was incapable of doing interesting stuff with the character's background when he wanted to, I mean when he decided to introduce one of Holmes' family members he came up with Mycroft, who is a terrific fun weirdo of a character! But at the same time Holmes works very well as a character with a mysterious past, so why destroy a part of that mystery if you're not even going to replace it with anything interesting?

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I have often asserted, to my friend Watson and others, that I am not a man who is susceptible to the softer emotions; and for the most part this is true. Yet I insist that the single exception is not due to any weakness upon my own part. Such is the nature of Watson's character that I truly believe there is not a single person on this earth who, if they truly knew him, could resist loving him. And in the battle of unstoppable force against immovable object, I am afraid it is I who have been forced to yield.

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Another thing I learned from ACD's autobiography is that several of his sisters worked as governesses; he also mentions how after his father was committed to a "convalescent home" he, as the eldest son, became "practically the head" of the family (and thus responsible for the wellbeing of his mother and sisters, at least until they got married). I feel like something of that experience must lie behind Holmes' comments in COPP about not wanting any sister of his to take such a sinister-sounding governessing position.

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Actually now I'm imagining that Sherlock and Mycroft pull this kind of manipulative shit on each other all the time and that's why Holmes didn't think twice about doing it to Watson... I mean that's how you're supposed to relate to the people you care about, right???

from "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" by Martin Powell

Geez, Mycroft. Though I guess your brother had it coming from all those times he pulled similar stunts on poor Watson.

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from "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" by Martin Powell

Geez, Mycroft. Though I guess your brother had it coming from all those times he pulled similar stunts on poor Watson.

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I used to think it was a point against the plausibility of H/W that Watson never calls Holmes good-looking (despite not being shy about describing other male characters as "handsome" etc)... but then I remembered that Mary Morstan is also specifically described as not traditionally attractive ("Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion") -- so I have to give the slashers that one.

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I always assumed "spud" here meant potato and thought it was a little weird that Holmes was talking about wanting to plant a potato or something, but this makes more sense.

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this is what happens when you spend too much time browsing r/starterpacks

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@yourstrulytrashcan dude this is so good?? have u written like a full fic or anything?

Thank you!! No, I've only posted one other even shorter ficlet for Holmes fandom so far. My mind is constantly swimming in h/c concepts and dialog etc, but I always feel like in order to be worth posting it has to be a Real Fic with a whole Plot and everything, and I'm just way too lazy for that shit!! Really I should just try posting more self-indulgent no-context snippets like this, turns out people will eat that shit up even if it's not a Real Fic lol.

@nessahero said: I can not think about anything else for hours! Will there be a second part? Can’t wait! It’s so amazing!

Sorry, I didn't have any plans for a second part -- I'll let you know if I come up with anything though haha. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 😊

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"Watson!"

I knew that voice, but the sharp note of alarm in it was new to me.

"Watson -- oh God." There were hands on me, shaking me lightly, causing a slight groan to escape me.

"It's all right, Watson. You're going to be all right." My friend was babbling the same kind of meaningless reassurances I had given to too many patients to count, though in a tone that suggested it was himself he was trying to reassure more than me.

There was a sudden pressure on my abdomen which sent another spike of pain through me, and I gasped.

"I'm sorry, my dear fellow, I know that it hurts, but I must try to slow the bleeding. Lestrade has gone to fetch a doctor, he will be back soon."

I was awake enough now to open my eyes and take in the image of my friend leaning over me, his face pale and strained. He had removed his coat and was pressing it firmly against the spot where the bullet had entered my body. Despite this attempt to stem the bleeding, the coat was quickly becoming soaked and my medical instinct told me that I was unlikely to survive long enough for Lestrade's doctor to arrive.

Accepting my own death in that moment was surprisingly easy, given the manner in which it had come about. I had taken that bullet deliberately, to prevent it from reaching Holmes. What better or more honorable death could I possibly wish for? I was proud to meet my end in such a way. I attempted in a somewhat halting manner to explain this to Holmes -- to reassure him if this was my time to go that I did not regret it for one instant.

"Nonsense!" he snapped, interrupting me. "Do not be such a romantic fool, Watson. Surely you realize that you are of far more use to me in life than in death? Really, Watson, I should be most disappointed if you were to allow yourself to succumb to so -- so trifling an injury!" The flippancy of his words was belied by the slight tremor in his voice as he uttered them.

By now any motion of my body seemed to send another wave of agony through me. Even drawing breath was growing increasingly painful, besides which I was beginning to grow dizzy from the loss of blood. My eyelids fluttered closed.

"Stay with me, Watson," Holmes ordered in his sternest and most commanding tone.

"I will… try," I managed to gasp.

"You will not merely try," he insisted. "You will do as I say. Do you hear me, Watson?"

It was beginning to seem as if would be easier not to try to breathe anymore.

"Watson!" That sharp tone, ringing with iron, was like a slap across the face. "I know that it is painful, but you must keep on breathing. You are not to give up. I absolutely forbid it. I have not given you permission to leave me, do you understand? I have not finished with you yet!"

I gritted my teeth against the pain and forced myself to draw another breath.

The voice immediately changed, became gentle and soothing. "That's right, my dear fellow. You are doing very well. You have never failed me before, and I know that you will not fail me now."

It was absurd to suggest that I had never failed him -- he had rebuked me for such failures often enough, as he ought to remember. Still, the power that warm praise held over me was quite extraordinary, and somehow in spite of myself I continued struggling for breath.

I had not closed my eyes, but my vision was fading to black in any case. My ears were ringing strangely and Holmes' voice sounded distant and hollow. Yet even as my strength ebbed, the pain itself was also receding -- instead I felt oddly warm and drowsy. If this is what death is, I remember thinking, then perhaps it is not so bad. I confess that at that moment I desired nothing more than to simply relax and allow myself to softly drift away… but he had commanded me to live.

And I would obey.

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Good to see more news about this project, I am still PSYCHED to see the full Norwood series finally!

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The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone illustration by Frederic Dorr Steele (1921)

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tbf I didn’t come up with that comparison myself, I saw somebody else call him Watson’s manic pixie dreamguy I think on an anonmeme or something and it stuck in my head (bc it’s true)

I just finished reading ACD's memoir and one thing I picked up from it is that apparently he only became a doctor because his mother told him to get a medical degree so he could make money, he was never successful at it, and he was thrilled when he was finally able to quit medicine and become a full-time writer. Reading between the lines, it's possible he never actually liked being a doctor very much, and I feel like that kind of puts a different spin on Watson constantly ditching his practice to go run around with Holmes... like the idea of having this manic pixie dream detective come and snatch you away from your boring job that you hate and into a life of ~adventure~ is totally wish fulfillment lol.

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I just finished reading ACD's memoir and one thing I picked up from it is that apparently he only became a doctor because his mother told him to get a medical degree so he could make money, he was never successful at it, and he was thrilled when he was finally able to quit medicine and become a full-time writer. Reading between the lines, it's possible he never actually liked being a doctor very much, and I feel like that kind of puts a different spin on Watson constantly ditching his practice to go run around with Holmes... like the idea of having this manic pixie dream detective come and snatch you away from your boring job that you hate and into a life of ~adventure~ is totally wish fulfillment lol.

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"You don't mind breaking the law?"

"Not in the least."

"Nor running a chance of arrest?"

"Not in a good cause."

"Oh, the cause is excellent!"

"Then I am your man."

Kinda reading this as Holmes going "I know we've broken the law together before, but do you feel any differently about it now that you're like... married and have actual responsibilities and stuff?" And Watson is just like "Nope!" "Responsibilities, what are those?"

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Hot off the press parody fanfiction from 1901! Acquired and digitised for your reading pleasure!