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mental-about-you-too · 4 months

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Why I believe the Will Darling Adventures were originally conceived as johnlock fanfiction

I will die on this hill.

The Will Darling Adventures (Slippery Creatures, Sugared Game, Subtle Blood) by KJ Charles are my favorite guilty pleasure comfort books. I have listened to the audiobooks an embarrassing number of times. I can play exchanges of dialogue in my head from memory, reader’s inflections and all. If you haven’t read them and you like a mix of adventure and gay smut (plus it’s a trilogy so there’s time for more complex characterization and more gradual relationship development than you usually get in books of the genre), then absolutely go do that, and don’t read below—because here be spoilers. Also, because the books are a delight.

So. Grand theory.

To be clear: I am not knocking these books AT ALL (if I’m honest, the Holmesian flavor is part of why I like them so much). As in many really good works of fanfiction, the characters have ceased to be mere copies, and have gained their own original and internally consistent characterization. Kim and Will are not Holmes and Watson, but I am completely convinced that the latter were the inspiration for the former. Here are some of the parallels/moments of homage:

Watson => Will

Returned to England from war with nowhere to go; ended up in London: “I had neither kith nor kin in England, and […] naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.” (Study in Scarlet) => “…his mother had died from the Spanish ‘flu while he’d waited to be demobbed […] So, like everyone else, he’d come to London…” (Slippery Creatures)

Ran out of money as a recently-discharged veteran: “So alarming did the state of my finances become…” (Study in Scarlet) => “…his slide into poverty was unstoppable...” (Slippery Creatures)

War wound that nearly killed him: “For months my life was despaired of...” (Study in Scarlet) => “A month in hospital.” (Sugared Game)

Saved by an underling who never appears in the story: “…had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a pack-horse and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines.” (Study in Scarlet) => “If it hadn’t been for the bravest stretcher-bearer in Flanders, I’d have died out there.” (Sugared Game)

Retained his favorite weapon from the war: “I have my old service revolver and a few cartridges.” (Study in Scarlet) => “…the Messer, his old trench knife...” (Sugared Game)

Is asked to bring the weapon on adventures: “Put your pistol in your pocket.” (Study in Scarlet) => “Got your knife?” (Sugared Game)

POV character

Holmes => Kim

Has a bunch of names but goes by a middle one: William Sherlock Scott Holmes => Arthur Aloysius Kimberley de Brabazon Secretan

Has pretty hands, which are something of a fixation for the POV character

Doesn’t eat much: “My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food…” (Norwood Builder) => “They ate breakfast, or at least Will did, while Kim chewed a single slice of toast with distaste.” (Subtle Blood)

Withholds information because he doesn’t trust his partner’s ability to deceive: “You won’t be offended, Watson? You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place.” (Dying Detective) => “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but subterfuge isn’t your strong suit.” (Sugared Game)

Withholds information for dramatic effect: “It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic.” (Naval Treaty) => “Of course Kim would turn up after two months with some bizarre story; of course he wouldn’t tell it like a normal person.” (Sugared Game)

Plays fast and loose with legality: “Doctor, I shall want your cooperation.” “I shall be delighted.” “You don’t mind breaking the law?” “Not in the least.” (Scandal in Bohemia) => “I am absolutely not empowered to break the laws of the land, so I try not to get caught at it.”

Has a brother seven years his senior, whom we meet (several adventures in) at a gentlemen’s club in Pall Mall, and who looks like him but bigger: “Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.” (Greek Interpreter) => “He looked like someone had drawn a caricature of Kim as John Bull and not been kind about it. He was significantly bulkier…”

The club (The Diogenes => The Symposium) has a Strangers' Room, and in at least part of the club: "no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed" (Greek Interpreter) => "speech is strictly forbidden" (Subtle Blood)

Chases down the leader of a mysterious criminal organization who appears respectable in normal society, and who stays one step removed to leave no evidence of his involvement: “But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court of law.” (Final Problem) => “[Arrest him] on what grounds? I’ve got a lot of nothing. Straws in the wind, and fears, and the words of the dead. The case needs to be iron-clad, and mine is wet tissue paper.” (Sugared Game)

Has a chat with this adversary before the action kicks off: “…I was seriously inconvenienced by you” (Final Problem) => “It has caused me enormous inconvenience” (Sugared Game)

Better at hand-to-hand combat than he looks like he should be: “I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling…” (Empty House) => “Where did you learn knife fighting?” (Slippery Creatures)

Lounges around in a purple dressing gown (Blue Carbuncle; all three Will Darling books)

Tall, slender, pale, and dark-haired, with remarkable eyes (at least, the POV character sure remarks on them a lot)

Other parallels:

Inspector Lestrade (“lean and ferret-like as ever”) => Inspector Rennick (“He was a short, shrewd-looking man who sounded North London.”)

An aortic aneurism renders prosecution of a criminal moot: Jefferson Hope (Study in Scarlet) => Lord Waring (Sugared Game)

Will’s expectations upon meeting Waring line up with a description of Moriarty: “His face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion” (Final Problem) => “[Will] wasn’t sure what he expected. Something snakey, some reptilian air of cruelty…” (Sugared Game)

This rather iconic phrase: “He sits motionless, like a spider at the center of its web...” (Final Problem) => “…sits like a spider at the centre of a web of obligations...” (Sugared Game)

Alongside the parallels, Charles adds elements often found in the best works of fanfiction: in addition to the on-page romance, there's expansion of the characters' backgrounds, including an exploration of class and privilege, plus a fix-it-esque resolution of the issue of Holmes'/Kim’s dishonesty (I for one always wished Watson would confront Holmes about lying to him for cases).

There. Cataloguing all the parallels was taking up a ridiculous amount of space in my brain, so now you know & I can stop obsessing over it so much.

#this is less a conspiracy theory and more a love letter #will darling adventures #sherlock holmes #john watson #sherlock holmes fanfic #johnlock #acd holmes #kj charles #will darling #kim secretan #slippery creatures #sugared game #subtle blood #will darling spoilers #inter-fandom meta #i will die on this hill #thank you for coming to my ted talk #edited to be even more unabashed in my appreciation of these books #also i listened to an interview with kj charles about comfort reads and these fit the bill

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audible301 · 17 days

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Shoutout to Cait May for this beautiful art of the love of my actual life Cathilda The Black Ceíli

#Queen Mother sliding in to the last 10 minutes of the season to hug her darling boy #shes hot and I love her #dimension 20 #d20 #brennan lee mulligan #fhjy spoilers #fantasy high #fhjy #fantasy high junior year #cathilda ceili #cathilda the black #cait may

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sylvansleuth · 2 months

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MY DARLING BOY!

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twinstxrs · 3 months

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fabian’s insistence on calling someone to tell them about lucy & yolanda because he thought people just deserved to know, out of respect. both deeply sweet & incredibly gutting. (bill seacaster move over that’s MY darling boy)

#(who is also his own darling man boy but that’s besides the point)#fabian seacaster #fantasy high #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #dimension 20 #ok sorry for all the posts this ep just gave me a lot of feelings it was so #the bad kids really felt like kids in this one for me. what an honor what an injustice & all that #fantasy high spin off season where it’s four episodes set during summer break and incredibly stupid my god please #FREE THEM

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mothmothwoth · 3 months

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Welcome home neighbor! It’s so quiet

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gokuisahimbo · 3 months

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Happy Homewarming!

small closeup

#welcome home #welcome home fanart #welcome home puppet show #julie joyful #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #frank frankly #howdy pillar #welcome home barnaby #poppy partridge #Welcome home spoilers #eddie dear #welcome home eddie #Wh spoilers #welcome home arg

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pupp3tte · 3 months

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i cannot take myself seriously

#welcome home #welcome home fanart #welcome home arg #welcome home update #welcome home spoilers #wally darling #julie joyful #eddie dear #frank frankly #barnaby b beagle #howdy pillar #sally starlet

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totallyottie99 · 3 months

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Peas and corn

#art #my art #drawing #illustration #fanart #comic #horror #welcome home fanart #welcome home #eddie dear #wally darling #puppet show #puppets #spoilers #muppets #puppet horror

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sherlockig · 9 months

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same

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 trailer #rhys darby #stede bonnet #darling honey light of my life

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andy-clutterbuck · 3 months

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Rick Grimes in The Ones Who Live 1x01 - Years

"…𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯…𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴."

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niki-the-cat · 11 months

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Me too Wally

👁️👁️

#‼️SPOILER ALERT‼️#It's my drawing so please don't mistake it with real website's stuff-#wally darling #welcome home #welcome home art #wally darling fanart #NEW WELCOME HOME CONTENT HELL YEAH‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️✨✨✨#tw eye contact #kinda spoilers

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megarax-ponyo · 3 months

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You look tired Dude.....

Maybe you need to relax a little, don't you think?

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all-made-of-stardust · 1 year

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I want to imagine that after all of this happened, and suddenly all Sending and Scrying and other divination magic isn't working, - somewhere out there in Exandria, Percival de Rolo just rolled up his sleeves and began to invent the fucking telephone.

#cr spoilers #percival fredrickstein von musel de rolo iii #percival de rolo #vox machina #this man is Fed Up #Vex: darling we can just use spells #Percy: Vex'ahlia my darling I want to be able to chat with Keyleth for more than 25 goddamn words #he just wants to talk with his friends #critical role

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counterspelling · 6 months

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Endless Candela Obscura

#noshir dalal #gina darling #sam riegel #critteredit #critical role #cr spoilers #candela obscura #candela obscura spoilers #candelaobscuraedit #criticalroleedit #critroleedit #myedit #endless candela obscura #co spoilers

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mayasaura · 7 months

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Ianthe is for sure going around picking up gal pals to fill the empty places where she used to have companionship, but you know what? Pretty sure Kiriona is not replacing Harrow in the Coronabeth-shaped hole in her life. Kiriona is the new Babs.

#the negging the stupid ass nicknames having the same mean sense of humor #it's not a perfect 1:1 but then neither was harrow:coronabeth #it's just in the 'I always said what Babs would unless he said what I would'#and the way she locks Kiriona up in basements and poses her like a doll #harrow was her new sweetie her new darling and partner in crime #Kiriona is a lot more equal than Naberius was bc of her dad and all #but she's also her new chew toy #tell me Ianthe wouldn't start inviting people to parties just bc Kiriona didn't want to see them #the locked tomb #ianthe tridentarius #prince ianthe naberius #kiriona gaia #nona the ninth #ntn spoilers

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utterdrip · 5 months

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hello darling

#frankie posts #bg3 spoilers #astarion #bg3 #astarion acunin #bg3: vid #baldurs gate 3 #astarion baldurs gate #baldurs gate astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #hey triends.#friends. i know im missing some #but if i dont post this now i never will i dont think #really wish i had the soft ‘hello darling’ from spawn astarion after the brain fight #alas it was just a black screen flr me #anyways #this can be seen as the sister video to the sweet one #starry comp

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