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All this time I thought I loved John sm because I see myself in him. Turns out I love him sm because I see myself in Sherlock

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jealous john from asib - requested by réka @rainlock

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I’m increasingly in love with John Watson’s poor typing abilities. Not because it’s hilarious to think of Sherlock’s reaction to them and just on their own (though it is), but because of what they say about him and the SH tradition.

See, I’m a second-generation fan of Sherlock Holmes, or if you prefer a third-generation with a generation skipped. My grandmum loved putting on what I call “old school Holmes,” basically any radio and film adaptation from before Granada. I grew up spending a lot of times in her kitchen, baking or doing the dishes or when I got older playing away on my computer with those shows wafting in from the other room. And in some of them Watson comes off okay but in a lot of cases Watson is just the chronicler. There is the great detective with his feats of wit who solves the crime and saves the day, and then there’s his faithful companion who records it all but doesn’t bring much in the way of brains or help at all to the table. He’s often not particularly smart, and to be fair by the later Doyle canon one has to wonder at Watson. The deductions aren’t that hard to predict, especially if you’ve had decades of watching Holmes at work, and there he is pulling his best impression of Arthur Shappey in opening scene after opening scene.

Ritchie and Granada avoid this issue and definitely make Watson a full participant (*hearts Jude Law’s Watson 5ever*), but they also don’t really attack it straight-on that much. It’s just not something that come up.

Whereas the BBC’s John Watson… he’s a bad typist. His blog is painfully out-of-the-box. Seriously - when you find out the Queen reads your blog, maybe it’s time to switch to something other than the default WordPress skin, or even use the fifty pounds you won off Sherlock at Baskerville to get some kid to tweak the CSS file, maybe buy a slightly pithier URL. Maybe update your bio at some point in the last five years. Something. He’s a successful blogger, but I’d hardly call him a good one. And he seems to do this out of compulsion, first from Ella and then because it’s how they get their cases (and also because it gives him a bit of a community to grieve with, when Sherlock “dies.” He doesn’t really want to be writing about Sherlock, certainly not at first, nor is he particularly skilled at it.

Which is really quite brilliant, because it means John’s value isn’t in being a chronicler. He’s still hugely important to Sherlock, but it has almost nothing to do with his gift for recording Sherlock’s exploits. John Watson is good and important for reasons all his own, and it really turns that traditional way of dealing with his character on its head. It’s hard to imagine (say) Peter Cushing talking about the two of us against the rest of the world the way Benedict does, and it’s really quite a glorious change.

So the next time you think of John Watson pecking away at those keys, remind yourself that it’s more than just a gag: that this John Watson isn’t all that good at what a long succession of Watsons have been known for, and he’s still worth having around. (Then think of him deleting a sentence he spent five minutes typing out, hitting the backspace key thirty-seven separate times, and have your laugh anyway.)

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I rewatched TSOT on Sunday, and this moment happens right when Sherlock says that John and Mary are happy.

Sherlock says "I am dismissive of the virtuous," and we get a shot of the vicar smiling, "unaware of the beautiful," and we get a shot of Janine looking all proud, "and uncomprehending in the face of the happy," and we get THIS SHOT of John looking like he regrets everything and wants to die.

My God. John knew he was making a mistake. He knew he was in love with Sherlock and not Mary. He didn't want this, but he did it anyway. fuck is right!

that moment when mary realizes this speech is a love letter

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 for MadLori based on her magnificent fic, Performance in a Leading Role

AGAIN I COULDN’T JUST DO ONE THING SO I got carried away…..

edit: as requested, here is a version with the tumblr cut in the middle

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I feel like we need a refresher on Watsonian vs Doylist perspectives in media analysis. When you have a question about a piece of media - about a potential plot hole or error, about a dubious costuming decision, about a character suddenly acting out of character -

A Watsonian answer is one that positions itself within the fictional world.

A Doylist answer is one that positions itself within the real world.

Meaning: if Watson says something that isn't true, one explanation is that Watson made a mistake. Another explanation is that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made a mistake.

Watsonian explanations are implicitly charitable. You are implicitly buying into the notion that there is a good in-world reason for what you're seeing on screen or on the page. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie all the time because they're from a desert culture!")

Doylist explanations are pragmatic. You are acknowledging that the fiction is shaped by real-world forces, like the creators' personal taste, their biases, the pressures they might be under from managers or editors, or the limits of their expertise. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie because somebody thought they'd sell more units that way.")

Watsonian explanations tend to be imaginative but naive. Seeking a Watsonian explanation for a problem within a narrative is inherently pleasure-seeking: you don't want your suspension of disbelief to be broken, and you're willing to put in the leg work to prevent it. Looking for a Watsonian answer can make for a fun game! But it can quickly stray into making excuses for lazy or biased storytelling, or cynical and greedy executives.

Doylist explanations are very often accurate, but they're not much fun. They should supersede efforts to provide a Watsonian explanation where actual harm is being done: "This character is being depicted in a racist way because the creators have a racist bias.'" Or: "The lore changed because management fired all of the writers from last season because they didn't want to pay then residuals."

Doylism also runs the risk of becoming trite, when applied to lower stakes discrepancies. Yes, it's possible that this character acted strangely in this episode because this episode had a different writer, but that isn't interesting, and it terminates conversation.

I think a lot of conversations about media would go a lot more smoothly, and everyone would have a lot more fun, if people were just clearer about whether they are looking to engage in Watsonian or Doylist analysis. How many arguments could be prevented by just saying, "No, Doylist you're probably right, but it's more fun to imagine there's a Watsonian reason for this, so that's what I'm doing." Or, "From a Watsonian POV that explanation makes sense, but I'm going with the Doylist view here because the creator's intentions leave a bad taste in my mouth that I can't ignore."

Idk, just keep those terms in your pocket? And if you start to get mad at somebody for their analysis, take a second to see if what they're saying makes more sense from the other side of the Watsonian/Doylist divide.

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THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970)

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Hello! I have some ideas for this.

Another Country by Chryse is an absolutely brilliant post-S3/TAB fic that deals with both Sherlock's drug addiction and John's violence. It's one of my all-time favorites and has excellent writing and characterization, so I'd highly, highly recommend it.

For a post-Serbia fic with a very gentle and patient John, I'd recommend Your Perfect Offering by CaitlinFairchild (@monsteraaureaqueen). (This one is also on the Serbia/Aftermath of Hiatus list that Steph linked.)

The Ground Beneath Your Feet by Chryse is a Sherlock whump fic that also features a very caring John. It's not quite a post-Serbia story, but it perhaps has a similar premise; in this fic, Sherlock goes on the suicide mission to eastern Europe at the end of HLV and he and John have to work through the consequences.

What It Can Be by amaruuk (@naefelldaurk) is a really thoughtful post-TLD fix-it fic that takes John's violence seriously. It addresses John's abuse of Sherlock while giving Sherlock and John a path forward.

Landmark by amaruuk is a TEH fix-it fic that addresses John's actions at the Landmark specifically, so you might also be interested in that one!

Finally, I will also humbly submit my own Eyes Like the Sea, which is a post-TLD fic and deals with John's violence without necessarily resolving it.

I hope this is helpful!

hi there! i wanted to ask whether you had a very specific kind of fic. non-au sherlock whump which deals with serbia and/or drug addiction and the hiatus and john's violence seriously? years later and i'm still heartbroken that john never properly apologized 😭

Hi Nonny!

AHHHHH nottttt really? Or not that I can recall. I have some Serbia / Aftermath of Hiatus Fics that MIGHT cover it, but nothing immediately comes to mind. I KNOW I've read a couple though. I feel like that one of the S4 MetaFics might cover it.

Anyone have a fic that they can suggest for Nonny?

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🚨🚨🚨 HE LEANED IN AND LAID HIS HEAD ON JOHN’S I REPEAT 🚨🚨🚨 SHERLOCK FULL FORCE PLACED HIS CHEEK ON TOP OF JOHN’S HEAD 🚨🚨🚨 AND LEFT IT THERE FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG 🚨🚨🚨

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when you have just forgiven your lying wife vs. when you haven’t forgiven your lying best friend but he’s come to torment you at work

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i am yelling, who wrote this

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Letters from Watson: The Final Problem.

Publication Order, AKA Watson's grieving process: Part 1

Prior to Holmes' death, Watson had not published a single short story. Let that sink in. All mentions of Watson being Holmes' biographer in the stories we have covered so far have been on the strength of A Study in Scarlet, unless they occurred in 1890, when The Sign of the Four was being serialized. All that the magazine-reading public knows of Holmes, unless they follow the newspapers, is a serialized novel about my brilliant roommate the detective, and it's sequel, my brilliant roommate helps me meet my beloved wife. The moment Watson is without Holmes, the floodgates open. And the format and genre changes.

Neither Study nor Sign are exactly detective novels. They're adventures / dramas with lots of detective elements. Watson spends as much, or more, time dramatizing the lives of the principal characters within the crimes as he does on the detective work. Holmes is also cast as an adventure protagonist: in addition to being the ultimate mind, he is also a gentleman of action. A shipboard gunfight down the Thames is very much the province of an adventure novel, for example. These elements never leave: Holmes is often instrumental in the capture of a criminal, noted for his physical prowess, or engineers a thrilling denouement in order to bring forward proof. But the short stories have a pattern that solidified the detective genre: a case intrudes into the life of the detective and his inner circle, clues are sought, there is at least one possible false conclusion for the audience (and often also the police, the client, or Watson) to cling to, and then, after some action or emotional moment, all is revealed. Cue some return to comforting normality: even if no one's problems are precisely solved, we often return to the domestic comforts of a sitting room, or the consolation of an outing to take in some culture, or at least food. I think this is because there has been a fundamental change in what Watson wants. Young, ill, unemployed Watson longs for a contribution to greatness, such as being Holmes' biographer. Happily married but professionally bored / frustrated Watson longs for adventure.

Now, Watson just wants his friend back.

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SH: What am I saying, this is brilliant! Phone Lestrade, tell him there's an escaped rabbit. JW: Are you serious? SH: It's this or Cluedo. JW: Ah, no. We are never playing that again.

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Decided to play around with stories from the original Holmes Canon that haven't been adapted in BBC Sherlock, starting off with this moment from The Red-Headed League (quote below the cut!)