list of acd canon sherlock holmes things i absolutely love
(and am going to mostly put under a readmore because i made most of this list while rereading the entire canon so it is very long! listen i just think sherlock holmes is the best character ever and i need to share my love for him--)
immediately upon being introduced to watson he grabs him by the sleeve, starts excitedly showing off his bloodstain testing experiment, and claps his hands “looking as delighted as a child with a new toy”. once he finishes, his eyes glitter and he puts his hand on his heart and bows “as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination”.
watson: “i object to rows because my nerves are shaken”
holmes: “do you include violin playing in your category of rows?” he asked, anxiously
he’s noted to be extraordinarily knowledgeable and zealous in his studies, and yet on the same page it’s stated that he doesn’t know the earth travels around the sun and once watson tells him about it he immediately decides to forget about it because it’s not relevant to his work. this is where the famous “brain attic” monologue comes in.
watson writes this list about him and then throws it into the fire in despair:
has a habit of laughing in a way that’s described as bursting into an “explosion” or “roar” of laughter
frequently does this at crime scenes:
enlists a gang of street orphans to help him on his cases, pays them for their work, and generally treats them as equals but also playfully talks to them like a general to his soldiers
plays the violin for watson to help him get to sleep
is incredibly knowledgable on anything from different types of tobacco, to the ways one's trade can influence the form of their hands, to medieval pottery and stradivarus violins. and yet, i reiterate, does not know the earth revolves around the sun.
has a tendency of waxing poetic about the meaningless of existence, particularly when he’s bored from not having any cases to work on
once said about a dog “i would rather have toby’s help than that of the whole detective force of london”
used the word “doggy” when speaking to toby
once told watson “i don’t wish to be theatrical” despite all evidence to the contrary
disguises himself as an old man just to play a prank on watson
watson: “i think i had better go”
holmes: “not at all, doctor. stay where you are. i am lost without my boswell.”
is known to wiggle in his chair when he gets excited about a case
discovers that a man has tricked his own stepdaughter into a fake marriage so he can keep her at home and control her life and inheritance. acknowledges that said man hasn’t done anything illegal but still tells him “there never was a man who deserved punishment more” and that he ought to get whipped for what he did, and then goes to actually get his hunting crop, causing the man to run out the door at top speed
let a criminal go free because it turned out the man he murdered was trying to force said criminal’s daughter into an unwanted marriage
was suddenly made to participate in the wedding of someone he was tracking for a case, came home and laughed about it for several minutes, exclaimed “well, really!”, laughed for several more minutes, and only then did he actually tell watson what happened
responds to the king of bohemia insulting irene adler and saying she’s not on his level by saying coldly: “from what i have seen of the lady, she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your majesty”, which is basically him saying “actually she’s way better than you, so fuck off”
refused to shake said king’s hand
built a pillow fort in a client’s house so he could think better
let a poor jewel thief go because he cried, because it was christmas and therefore it was the season of forgiveness, and because the case was really easy anyway so it’s not his fault if the police are too stupid to solve it themselves
always reassures clients that they can trust him and watson and speak freely around them
is willing to waive his fee for clients who can’t afford to pay him, because according to him his profession is its own reward
this entire scene from speckled band when he gets confronted by his client’s abusive stepfather:
this nice little example of the gentleness he often displays with his clients:
the adventure of the copper beeches. just, all of it. a woman he doesn’t know comes to holmes for advice about a potential job she’s interviewed for and they both agree it sounds incredibly sketchy, she says she’s gonna take it anyway because she needs the money, and he’s like “well i wouldn’t want any sister of mine doing something like this but FINE i guess, just please write to us and let us know if you’re okay and if anything bad happens we’ll drop everything and come help you immediately”, and then the job does in fact turn out to be super sketchy and they drop everything and get on a train as soon as she writes to them
sometimes spends several hours out on walks through the park or the town with watson just relaxing and talking with him for the sake of it, despite watson frequently noting that holmes doesn’t have much appreciation for nature
“we have had the good fortune to bring peace to many troubled souls. i trust that we may do the same for you,” he says “in his easy, genial way” to a potential client who’s clearly very upset and sleep-deprived
is completely wrong about a particular case and asks watson to remind him of that case next time he gets overconfident
is noted by watson to be very neat and methodical in his methods and way of dress, while simultaneously being one of the messiest people ever who keeps his tobacco inside a persian slipper and his unopened letters held up by a knife in the center of his mantelpiece, keeps tons of criminal relics which apparently somehow end up in the butter dish sometimes, and keeps countless stacks of papers and documents all over the place
tells watson anecdotes about his past just to avoid cleaning up said documents
deliberately knocks over a table, shattering a glass fruit bowl which then sends oranges rolling all over the room, and then blames it on watson and runs away
says snarky things like “when gregson or lestrade are out of their depth–which, by the way, is their normal state” and “you’ve done very well, watson! it’s too bad you’ve missed everything of importance”
laughs when watson suggests he’s being modest about his abilities
picked up a rose and got all sappy and poetic about it
more specifically, picked up a rose and said that religion can be a science which involves a lot of careful deduction, and that flowers are a source of hope and proof of the goodness of god due to the fact that they aren’t a necessary part of life but are still so beautiful anyway
recovered an incredibly valuable government treaty for a client and had it served to him on a platter at breakfast because, in his own words, he “never can resist a touch of the dramatic”
faked his death and then revealed to watson that he was still alive in a manner that even he admitted was unnecessarily dramatic
had a full-scale wax model of himself created and used it to fool his enemies
made a diagram out of breadcrumbs to explain something to watson
broke into a blackmailer’s house for a case because he believed it to be morally justifiable, and admitted that he always thought he might make a good criminal
held watson’s hand while they were burgling said house together
twice
allowed said blackmailer to be murdered in front of him by one of his victims and then refused to take the case when asked because he just hated the guy that much
“flushed up with pleasure” when watson complimented him
asked watson to sell his medical practice and move back into 221b with him after the death of his wife. and then secretly gave a relative of his a ton of money to buy watson’s medical practice at the highest price watson would ask for, just so they could live together again
was nearly brought to tears by lestrade saying he was proud of him
let a dog lead him around on a case, multiple times in different stories
was very gentle with a client who he knew to be the victim of an abusive marriage and allowed the man who killed her husband to go free out of sympathy for their situation
noticed watson looking sad and touching his war wound and tried to cheer him up by echoing his thoughts and providing a deduction of how he knew what he was thinking
mentioned watson’s sparkling eyes in said deduction
talked about nothing but violins and his favorite violinist for an hour while he and watson had lunch together
likes going to classical music concerts and getting lost in the music
does scrapbooking
chuckles and rubs his hands together when he’s happy
this:
takes getting called "the devil himself" as a compliment
let a killer go because he had only killed in retaliation for the unjust murder of his lover, and holmes felt that he might’ve done the same if someone were to kill the woman he loved
on a completely unrelated note tells a guy who shoots watson “if you had killed watson you would not have got out of this room alive”
also reacted like this when watson got shot:
went undercover to supposedly give a guy secret government intelligence documents, and then gave him a book about bees instead
frequently disguised himself either for cases or just to fool watson and was noted to be a great actor
once disguised himself as an old woman with a parasol
tried the best he could to talk a young woman out of marrying a man who had a history of “collecting” women for sport and destroying their lives, and admitted to watson that he thought of her as he would think of his own daughter
was prone to “imp-like moods”
sent watson a message to come over at once ("if convenient--if inconvenient come all the same") just so he could infodump to him about dogs
wasn’t surprised that a dog died of grief shortly after its owner’s death, because of “the beautiful, faithful nature of dogs”
listened with great sympathy to a depressed woman who wanted to tell him her tragic story, picked up on hints that she was planning to commit suicide, talked her out of it by convincing her that her life does have value and then called her brave for choosing to live
got lost in thought looking out the window at the publicly funded elementary schools and randomly went on about how he believes they and the children who attend them are beacons of a brighter future
made hot cocoa for watson
shook hands with a baby
retired to the countryside to live on a farm and become a beekeeper.
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i don’t know if you do requests right now. You have masterlist, but how do you think Lupin and Jigen would deal with falling for the same female reader who’s personality compliments them both and has not backstabbed them? Reader is chill and wouldn’t want to see them fight, but she is also hilariously oblivious there might be romantic rivalry going on.
STOP I LOVE THIS!!!! i am always happy to do requests :)) imagine is below the cut, hope you like it!!!! I may have took it in a slightly different direction than you intended so let me know what else I can do to be more true to your vision, whether that be a part two or anything else.
(sorry it took me so long to write! trauma is hard to come back from pls forgive me)
You didn't know how you got here, but all you knew now was that two dangerous men fell for you.
The jests and jeers turned into insults overtime. Lupin and Jigen stopped playfully commenting on their "rizz" (you came to regret teaching them that term) and hat, respectively, and they began to not speak to each other for days. They would avoid each other and spend their new free time trying to entice you to their corner. As you live out your days believing you were acting as a mediator, you were unwittingly the stake that drove them apart.
And now you blew it. You held your head in your hands as frustrated tears ran down your cheeks. Your unintentional ignorance caused a blow out and now no one was friends with anyone. This type of mess is inevitable when partners mixed work with pleasure, the tension boiling over at a fancy party that was supposed to be the site of a heist. The plan was ruined all because you accepted an invitation to slow dance with Lupin.
"How did I end up here?" You whispered into the dark, your feet dangling over the edge of a balcony. Your heels barely hung on to your toes, the wind picking up your dress and blowing it over your legs. How could you have been so blind?
It was all so painfully clear to see now. You felt like a ditz, and not in the cute Chrissy from "Three's Company" way, but in the way that guaranteed that the men who meant the most to you would never trust you again.
Watching you from across the room turned Jigen on and horrified him at the same time. You were so pretty when you cried, so vulnerable and gentle, just the kind of treasure he wanted to protect.
He also felt like a sick bastard, because it was his reaction that made you cry. He knew he could see the top parts of your legs as your skirt flew around you, he could see the gentle curve of your ankle flow into your calf.
He blacked out with rage when he saw Lupin spin you around in his gangly arms. When he saw you giggle, smiling up at him with your doe eyes. The same doe eyes that were now filled with tears, thinking that it was all her fault. He didn't remember what he said, but he knew he hurt you. Whatever damage he did between him and Lupin would be solved within a week's time, but he knew the stakes were much higher with you.
Lupin had retreated. He left you on your own in the aftermath like the squirrelly little shit he was. If Jigen apologized to you, that had to mean something, right? He wished this decision was on his own accord and not another ploy in the contest to win you, but he didn't feel hardly as gratified as he wished.
Jigen let out a heavy, smoke-laced sigh as he took tentative steps towards you. You heard his movement stop when he reached your side, and you didn't look up at him. Instead, you kept your eyes trained on the lights from beach houses reflection off of the waves below you. You watched the pattern of the tides crashing into the sand, and in a second, you knew Jigen was, too.
That was the one good thing about this night. You had the brief comfort of knowing your intellectual connection with Jigen was still intact, albeit probably at a cost.
"You mind if I joined you?" Jigen asked, his voice hardly above a whisper but matching the rhythm of the waves.
"You still want to sit by me?" You shakily returned. You didn't dare look up at him for fear of seeing the malediction you placed in his eyes once again.
"Oh... of course I do." Jigen knelt by your side, assuming a squatting position. "None of this is your fault, you did nothing wrong."
You leaned your head on a railing, his soft voice coaxing you to turn to look at him. "I had no idea any of this was going on."
"I know. You should have known." Jigen tipped his hat up to show you his eyes, the brown in them now calming. "You deserved to know."
"Thank you," you whispered back, looking down at your hands, "I still can't help but feel like that isn't true."
Jigen hesitantly laid his hand over yours, not making any move to hold or squeeze or caress them. His hand just covered your shaky fingers. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. You're a brilliant woman, nothing about you is weak. Especially not your mind."
You let a small breath past your lips, but didn't respond.
Jigen took this as his cue to continue a true confessional. "I'm not sorry for telling you that you were my everything. You still are. Whether or not you want to be with me is up to you but I would choose you every time."
"Even now?" You squeaked out, turning one of your hands over so your palm was against his.
"Especially now." Jigen blushed as he wrapped his fingers around your hand. "That's the only thing I remember saying. That's how I know it was important."
"You called Lupin a man whore." You let out a weak, sad little giggle. It broke Jigen's heart.
"Meh... I meant it."
You looked up at Jigen and bit your bottom lip the way he thought was oh so adorable. "I never wanted you two to fight. Definitely not over me."
"We shouldn't have pulled you into this," he swept his fingers through a piece of your hair that fell behind your shoulder, "Whatever him and I have to settle is between us. You didn't make us fight, you hear? Him and I will make up in a week, that's just how we work. But you and I? That's something I would never put at risk."
"So you're not pissed?"
Jigen chuckled softly and held his arm above you, "may I?" When you gave him permission, he placed his arm around you. "Am I pissed? No, sweet girl. Never at you."
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