For "pure untrammeled angst" values of fun, sure! The first 8K are here: Persistence of Memory. I have another 10K or more stashed in my WIP folder.
"Watson is - god bless him - not normal."
Absolutely not. As asocial as he is, Holmes wouldn't be inviting Watson into his life and his work unless he was something extraordinary. And of course there's plenty of evidence in the text as to the shape of his extraordinariness...
but of course he can't mention the time traveller once he writes that down.
No wonder he had so much trouble writing that case! And now of course I'm imagining ACD!Watson reading it and being all wtf?? trying to make out the shape of the parts Holmes left out. Somehow, I don't think he's going to come up with "time-traveling doctor from the future". :-D
acd!Holmes getting actual help with his drug problem + facing someone (Joan), who is not afraid to call him out on his bullshit.
Excellent! And what does Joan get out of this encounter?
What is the idea here, for why they grew apart?
Easiest just to excerpt from Ch. 1:
It had never been my selfishness that drove me from him, but his own sudden refusal to permit me to share the risks of his work. In one of our last cases together, I had received a trifling wound when a stray bullet grazed my thigh -- a wound which, out of all proportion with its severity, had unnerved Holmes deeply. During the following months, Holmes barred me from accompanying him on cases, holding to his prohibition even after I had recovered completely. We argued bitterly over that decision, but we may have yet resolved the matter amicably had not my enforced absence from his side left him vulnerable to Baron Gruner's attack.
We both went mad in the aftermath. The gravity of Holmes's injuries should have been all the proof he needed of his folly, and yet he seemed to consider them a vindication of his decision. For myself, I could forgive neither him nor myself for my absence. Our arguments that autumn made those of the summer appear to be mild disagreements. I am ashamed to confess that by the time I was able to think clearly again, I was married. Holmes did not stand up with me for my wedding; indeed by that point we were barely speaking to each other, save for his dismal prediction that the marriage would not last eighteen months. It had required years for us to mend our relations and rebuild the old affection that had once animated us. Years, and a studious avoidance of the issue that had first driven us apart.
And would you say it's finished with the re-written chapters?
Fingers crossed, yes. Although there's a coda that's talking to me, that may need to be written.
Oh! While I'm linking things, this is a Holmes-pov short stand-alone fic set during the later chapters of the story: From Allegany.
I, um, didn't really mean to give you a reading assignment! Only read the linked stories if you're curious; please don't view them as obligatory.
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2025-02-11 11:04 pm (UTC)For "pure untrammeled angst" values of fun, sure! The first 8K are here: Persistence of Memory. I have another 10K or more stashed in my WIP folder.
"Watson is - god bless him - not normal."
Absolutely not. As asocial as he is, Holmes wouldn't be inviting Watson into his life and his work unless he was something extraordinary. And of course there's plenty of evidence in the text as to the shape of his extraordinariness...
but of course he can't mention the time traveller once he writes that down.
No wonder he had so much trouble writing that case! And now of course I'm imagining ACD!Watson reading it and being all wtf?? trying to make out the shape of the parts Holmes left out. Somehow, I don't think he's going to come up with "time-traveling doctor from the future". :-D
acd!Holmes getting actual help with his drug problem + facing someone (Joan), who is not afraid to call him out on his bullshit.
Excellent! And what does Joan get out of this encounter?
What is the idea here, for why they grew apart?
Easiest just to excerpt from Ch. 1:
And would you say it's finished with the re-written chapters?
Fingers crossed, yes. Although there's a coda that's talking to me, that may need to be written.
Oh! While I'm linking things, this is a Holmes-pov short stand-alone fic set during the later chapters of the story: From Allegany.
I, um, didn't really mean to give you a reading assignment! Only read the linked stories if you're curious; please don't view them as obligatory.