The Detective

Is anyone else starting to get weirded out by the fact that BBC Sherlock and Watson never seem to change their damn clothes?

'People see Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock in a romantic comedy, not me'

'I got pushed out of both categories, too Asian, too American'

'My relationship status is a giant question mark. I wish I knew the answer'

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This

I am weak.

Based on this

[Disclaimer: There is some good Johnlock fic out there. I'm sure of it. I don't go looking for it, but I'm positive there are a number of stories that fill in the gaps that, I think, the show has left. If you like Johnlock, it's probably because of these stories or your own headcanon which I'm sure is awesome. As someone who can totally get behind Johnlock in over versions -- Elementary, Ritchie!verse, ACD, etc -- and as someone who really used to love the pairing, I'm just writing down my thoughts as to why it never quite jived for me in the BBC world. I'm not really looking for an argument, and if you love BBC Johnlock -- that's cool!]

I see the Holmes&Watson dynamic a bit like the the first two cards you have to place against each other (like this: /\) if you're starting to build a house out of them. They lean on each other. They need each other. They're both lacking certain things that the other provides. In the 2009 & 2011 films, Holmes and Watson literally fucking lean on each other a number of times. In the original canon, they're two men who are built up to display a certain number of congruent strengths and weaknesses which -- if you're reading this -- I'm going to assume you already know. In Elementary I think it's highlighted a number of times both by Joan providing answers to questions that Sherlock doesn't know and through the depth of their relationship as addict/sober companion and their work together as (both) detectives. They need each other.

And I don't get the sense of that mutual need from BBC Sherlock any more. I think the show started off with it -- in Study in Pink, Watson saves Holmes from himself (which he is wont to do) but then I feel like it sort of...drops off after that. Holmes says Watson is his friend, sure -- but he goes on to use him, attempt to poison him, distress him, have zero regard for his emotions or romantic endeavours, endangers his life constantly, refutes his advice, abandons him, leaves him steps behind, and makes him look pathetic. It's very clear that Watson needs Holmes throughout the series, but it seems -- to me -- to be very one-sided and it makes Watson look more like a hanger-on than someone who has Sherlock's respect. We're told they fit together, but I feel like the show relies very heavily on what people think Holmes-and-Watson ought to be without, well. Showing it.

And I don't like that. And so I feel a bit like Sherlock/John as a couple, in that universe -- is unfair to Watson. Like, that's it. Relationships should be built on mutual respect and I just don't feel like it's there at the level it should be for me to feel invested or interested in them in that way.

I mentioned to kamchaatka that I thought Jim Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes had more of that -- that mutual leaning, that mutual respect, that mutual everything -- in BBC than Watson/Holmes do. I mean, "You're me" pretty much says it all, doesn't it? They engage with each other, they tease and torment and play with each other and it's obvious they both enjoy it. Sexual innuendos and obsession assign -- Jim displays a need for Holmes that's powerful enough for him not to want to live without him. And Sherlock, who is defined by and desperate for work, a puzzle a challenge, seeks Jim out for it and lets Jim lead even when he knows the results might be disastrous for him and the people he allegedly cares about. He has no sympathy for the fact Molly Hooper was tangled up in all this, he has no sympathy for anyone -- He tortured a dying man to get Jim's name. And while it's certainly true that they're no good for each other, I find their dynamic and that give-and-take to be more reminiscent of the mutual leaning traditionally associated with Watson-and-Holmes than what I've seen so far from John and Sherlock. In a nutshell.

Adorable little Multi-Holmes verse Rarepair promptfest going on! Should keep you all busy until your Holmestice assignments are sent out :D

musamihi is coming up to visit me this weekend. I'm very excited :3

We all know that Watson is a pretty awesome companion. He’s great not only at connecting Holmes to the world around him -- but also at connecting us, the audience of his stories -- to Holmes. They’re the original dynamic duo, the first of many -- Batman & Robin, Jeeves & Wooster, Laurel & Hardy -- but I’m not going to talk about that. After all, Holmes got his own toast. He can stay out of this one.

Tonight I want to talk about just how amazing Watson is all by himself.

Because let’s face it. Doctors, Soldiers, Authors -- they’re all esteemed, important, noble, intelligent people. And it’s really not all that often you get them all rolled into one package who can also boast about being “lithe” as “brown as a nut” and a ladies man on no less than four continents.

Have you ever wondered why there was some discrepancy about whether Watson was shot in the shoulder or the leg? I’ll tell you: because he doesn’t remember. He was too busy shrugging off his injuries and waxing his stellar mustache with the tears of the enemy to care about the details of his own war wound.

Now as a writer myself who knows the rigidity of deadlines -- (I won’t pretend I didn’t write this in a fury last night) -- I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him to meet the Strand’s grueling schedule whilst also keeping up with a bustling, busy private practice, let alone also finding the “spare time” to help fight crimes and solve mysteries. Can you imagine how early he had to get up in the mornings?

He is also an absolute sweetheart, best illustrated in my opinion in this moment from Sign of Four. When his soon-to-be-wife Mary Morstan is a bit out of sorts, he nervously tries to cheer her up by telling her anecdotes about his time in Afghanistan:

“To this day she she declares that I told her ... how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night, and how I fired a double-barreled tiger cub at it.”

I’m sorry, but how endearing is that? It’s no wonder she married him.

Finally, and I think most importantly, is perhaps his most defining characteristic: his humble modestly. Here he is, this incredible master of three very different, very distinct fields who never devotes more than a few sporadic sentences to himself. He is always there to lend a compliment, a kind word and an exhortation to his most trusted and dear friend. Not to mention his skilled pen and abilities as a chronicler.

So let’s raise our glasses to the good Doctor Watson, and I believe I speak for all of us when I say I am hopelessly devoted to this particular devotee.

I crochet tricolour cockades. I made like 4 of these with different patterns because they kept turning out shitty. I think this is the best one. :D