30 Days of Sherlock Holmes
Apr. 16th, 2011 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capt_facepalmDay 16 – Your Favorite Holmes-Related FanFic
There are many, many excellent works of Sherlock Holmes related fan fiction out there. It is a hard time trying to choose. Here are a list of some of my all-time favourites:
Worth and Choice, by KCS
On Afghanistan's Plains, by Pompey
Fisticuffs, and Enroute , and the Police Surgeon Series, by Bartimus Crotchety
However, I have to mention Combat by Shedoc. It contains a passage which sums up Watson to me, and firmly anchors my head!canon for my own writings. Here is Holmes describing Watson:
"As I had always seen Watson as a cripple, his safety and health had always been a serious consideration of mine. This consideration had been passed on to the members of Scotland Yard; there was something of a conspiracy of safety going on behind Watson's back whenever the Yard worked with him in the field. I had naturally been very careful not to let him know that I felt he needed my protection, as his pride was considerable when it came to matters involving his health..."
This "conspiracy of safety" is exactly how I view Watson's relationship with not just the Yard, but with practically everyone who comes in contact with him (except for villains, of course. They just want to whump all over him). People sense that Watson is a good man, and despite his own pride and stubbornness, they feel that he should somehow protect him. As time goes on, they realise that they do not 'need' to protect him, but that they still 'want' to protect him.
There are many, many excellent works of Sherlock Holmes related fan fiction out there. It is a hard time trying to choose. Here are a list of some of my all-time favourites:
Worth and Choice, by KCS
On Afghanistan's Plains, by Pompey
Fisticuffs, and Enroute , and the Police Surgeon Series, by Bartimus Crotchety
However, I have to mention Combat by Shedoc. It contains a passage which sums up Watson to me, and firmly anchors my head!canon for my own writings. Here is Holmes describing Watson:
"As I had always seen Watson as a cripple, his safety and health had always been a serious consideration of mine. This consideration had been passed on to the members of Scotland Yard; there was something of a conspiracy of safety going on behind Watson's back whenever the Yard worked with him in the field. I had naturally been very careful not to let him know that I felt he needed my protection, as his pride was considerable when it came to matters involving his health..."
This "conspiracy of safety" is exactly how I view Watson's relationship with not just the Yard, but with practically everyone who comes in contact with him (except for villains, of course. They just want to whump all over him). People sense that Watson is a good man, and despite his own pride and stubbornness, they feel that he should somehow protect him. As time goes on, they realise that they do not 'need' to protect him, but that they still 'want' to protect him.
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 07:05 pm (UTC)It makes me happy, you know - when I have a bad day, it's always good to know that there is some new and yet brilliant fanfiction out there to cheer me up. :-)
As for Watson, he clearly doesn't need the protection... ;-) I think Watson certainly is not aware that anyone is trying to protect him... It is an intriguing notion, indeed - and an interesting motive for some of Holmes's actions...
no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 07:55 pm (UTC)But really...
I view Watson's wartime experience to be a crucible. Whatever of him survived and returned to England was only whatever could not be irrevocably broken. Instead of becoming hard-hearted, he remained heart-hardened. While losing his health, his character and his resolve remained and strengthened. Based on physicality, people tend to misread him and misjudge him. They see him as a minor figure, limping along in Holmes’ shadow, rather than being a man in his own right. They fail, at first, to recognise a man with his own gifts.
Ramble, ramble, yadda, yadda…
no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 07:18 pm (UTC)re: conspiracy of safety. I'm not sure what I think of that. It sort of makes him like a girl... or weak... or sort of pathetic... I imagine he's likeable, but definitely not going to cause police sergeants to discover their inner motherly figure...
no subject
Date: 2011-04-16 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 04:08 am (UTC)(I am only mildly ashamed of my obnoxiousness...)