#Letters from Watson

[dathen]

“It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land—Heaven will not let such wickedness endure.”

Tbh I don’t think Arthur Conan Doyle gets enough credit for featuring domestic abuse survivors in his works, to the point of overlooking or justifying murder, in a time when it was seen as a Private Matter that outsiders shouldn’t be nosey about. Giving voice to a woman to call out the lack of a woman’s rights to be freed from an abusive marriage is a pretty big deal, and Holmes validating and supporting it each and every time is a purposeful authorial choice.

Others have posted about how it’s very likely that, as a doctor, ACD would be privy to all sorts of ugly secrets from “those isolated country manors” as described in The Copper Beeches—but even if he weren’t, there’s certainly a statement being made via his stories.

#letters from watson #the abbey grange #ACD has his ugly sides too #but the near-comic level of hatred holmes fans have of him dismiss his role in why the stories are GOOD

[224bbaker]

important reminder that holmes and watson transitioned from polite roommates to friends because watson read one of holmes's articles, called it and the writer a hack piece of shit, and holmes went "tell me more. btw i wrote that--no don't stop" and proceeded to call all watson's favorite detectives hack pieces of shit in return

#sherlock holmes #john watson #acd holmes #we were robbed of the granada holmes version of this scene #letters from watson #a study in scarlet

[lesbianliutana]

the problem of thor bridge

he hates this guy so much i'm crying

#oh you did did you? #my stuff #sherlock holmes #letters from watson #book tag

[gilgamushroom]

VICTORIANS WHEN BLORBO FROM THEIR COMMUTER'S MAGAZINE COMES BACK FROM THE DEATH AFTER A DECADE LONG HIATUS THEY THOUGHT WOULD BE PERMANENT

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #can you IMAGINE the joy?? one of the biggest moments in fandom history #they waited so long queen victoria wasn't even ALIVE anymore

[granadaholmesdaily]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERLOCK HOLMES —6th January 1854—

#sherlock holmes #sherlockholmesedit #granada holmes #letters from watson #170 years young! #jeremy brett #arthur conan doyle #FINA #DEVI #HOUN #CREE

[kubo-kubo]

Watson *desperate, tears in his eyes*: "ARE YOU A FLAT EARTHER MR HOLMES???"

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes

[beekeeperspicnic]

Let's play... Bella or Watson?

While waiting for the next Letters from Watson email to arrive, fancy joining me in a little game of BELLA OR WATSON?

Some of these statements were written by Dr John H Watson about his friend Mr Sherlock Holmes. Some were written by Bella Swan about Edward, the hot teenage vampire from Twilight.

[IMG Silhouettes of Dr Watson and Bella Swan, text reads Watson or Bella]

(This was inspired by a tumblr post, but I'm afraid it's lost to the mists of ancient dash for me by now. Answers are under the cut!]

With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted [REDACTED], and [REDACTED].

glanced sideways at the beautiful [REDACTED], who was [REDACTED], [REDACTED] with long, pale fingers

His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence

I turned and he was leaning toward me, his pale, glorious face just inches from mine.

In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon.

In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing Watson or Bella?

His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. 

An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fingers which clutched me were shivering.

It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. 

ANSWERS UNDER THE CUT

Question 1 - Watson

With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff.

Question 2 - Bella

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers

Question 3 - Watson His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase

Question 4 - Bella His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence

Question 5 - Bella

I turned and he was leaning toward me, his pale, glorious face just inches from mine.

Question 6 - Bella

In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon

Question 7 - Watson

In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing

Question 8 - Watson

His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. 

Question 9 - Watson

An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fingers which clutched me were shivering.

Question 10 - Yup, still Watson

It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. 

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #twilight #twilight saga #dr watson #john watson #bella swan #bella or watson #acd holmes #johnlock #acd canon #acd johnlock

[johnlockifconvenient]

Holmes: Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Watson

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: Watson, it makes me nervous to bring you on this dangerous adventure, but I know you well enough to know you’d never let me go alone

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: Watson, do you want to go to a concert with me? And then maybe a nice walk and a night cap?

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: If this guy had killed you, I would have straight-up murdered him in cold blood

Watson: oh my god he loves me

#johnlock #letters from watson #the three garridebs #sherlock holmes #acd holmes #john watson #jessicoded

[doingbad]

The thing is, you read the stories written by Dr Watson and you think “this is the most down bad a narrator has ever been” and then you get to the stories written by Sherlock Holmes from his perspective and he’s somehow worse.

#the blanched soldier #sherlock holmes #acd canon #holmes x watson #john watson #letters from watson #holmes tag

[holmesiansource]

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986) dir. John Musker, Dave Michener, Ron Clements

#the great mouse detective #disneyedit #animationedit #letters from watson #sherlock holmes #sherlockholmesedit #tvcentric #tvandfilm #mediagifs #filmtv #cinematv #userstream #filmtvdaily #userfilm #cinemapix #tvedit #1980s #basil #dawson #gifsbyholmesiansource

[teaspoonnebula]

Enjoy receiving emails from besotted biographers about their genius associates?

Then have I got some email bookclubs starting in 2024 for you!

[IMG A cartoon of Holmes and Watson running side by side, dressed in country tweeds. Holmes is pointing. Lettering reads Letters from Watson, the Novels]

Letters from Watson is reading through the Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle throughout 2023.

In 2024 we'll be reading the novels starting January 1st, with A Study in Scarlet. Hold on for more mystery and adventure with the Great Detective and his dashing doctor.

[IMG A cartoon of Raffles and Bunny running side by side, dressed in formal suits and top hats and wearing masks. Raffles is clutching some pearls and has jewels in his pockets. Lettering reads Letters from Bunny]

But perhaps you'd rather take a little trip to the other side of the law?

Letters from Bunny will be reading the Raffles stories by EW Hornung, featuring gentleman thief (and cricketer) AJ Raffles and his burglar companion Bunny Manders, from the Ides of March (March 15th)

[IMG A cartoon of Jeeves and Wooster walking side by side, Wooster dressed in colourful clothes and a boater, Jeeves in a monocrome suit. Lettering reads 'Letters Regarding Jeeves']

For something a little lighter, Letters Regarding Jeeves will be reading the uproarously funny public domain stories featuring chap about town Bertie Wooster and his bulging-brained valet Jeeves, starting February 14th.

Reblogs appreciated to spread the word!

#letters from watson #letters from bunny #letters regarding jeeves #literature #book club #sherlock holmes #raffles #crime and cricket #jeeves #jeeves and wooster #pg wodehouse #reading #to read

[dathen]

I think if you put Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes in the same room they’d actually kill each other.

#listening to that lecture of believing without proof #holmes dissociates and finds himself strangling an old man #and then the old man is strangling him bc he’s a stickbug #the battle that puts Reichenbach to shame #dracula daily #van helsing #letters from watson

[224bbaker]

“john watson is an adrenaline junkie who puts up with holmes’s eccentricities and rudeness because he gets to go on adventures” well first of all john watson would walk two miles barefoot over hot coals to hear sherlock holmes rant about the different types of wet dirt so jot that down

#sherlock holmes #john watson #acd holmes #letters from watson

[thebibi]

#dracula daily #letters from watson #dracula (novel) #sherlock holmes #john watson #john seward #jack seward #abraham van helsing #johnlock #sherlock memes #dracula memes #classic lit memes #classic lit #thebibi post

[gilgamushroom]

Ok catching up with letters from watson and blanched soldier makes so many of watson's narratives SO hilarious in retrospect líke

Watson's POV: So yeah! I'm always loyal to Holmes even though he doesn't care about me that much :/ but it's alright cause he has a High Intellect and therefore no room for human emotions. Honestly half of the time I'm not even able to keep up with him it's a wonder he sticks with me but I suppose it's part of his habits as a Genius. One time I was briefly sure he had feelings and it made my entire year

Holmes's POV, right off the bat: So I'm recording this case and today I learnt that writing is so hard? Watson is SO good at keeping the public interested. He's so good at so many things. He's smart and incredible and delightful and the ideal helpmate and he's too humble to ever talk about this!! >:( He's my old friend btw. And Biographer. One time he got married AND LEFT ME ALL ALONE IN THE RAIN O SO CRUELY AND SELFISHLY but i forgive him because that's literally the only bad thing he has ever done in his entire life <3 I miss him so much when he's not here :(( Have I mentioned he's my friend? Where was I going with this. Oh yeah. Case.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #sherlock: watson takes so many tangents instead of just talking about the case :/ #sherlock when writing a case: first of all let us start with a long tangent on how great watson is

[incomingalbatross]

Genuinely though the Final Problem is really well-done.

It's a death story in which Doyle's whole goal was to kill Holmes off, but he still did it with care and respect and attention to what the characters deserved. He didn't drop a bridge on him or get him shot by a random criminal just so he could go "HE'S DEAD, NOW GO AWAY." He actually successfully created a nemesis for Holmes within the scope of one short story—someone we can believe is a big enough threat that it justifies Holmes dying to stop him. Without ever even letting us meet the guy face-to-face! That's insane. But it works. Moriarty has an established place in pop culture as Holmes's nemesis because Doyle made us believe it, just within FINA. He made Holmes's death an accomplishment for Holmes, a crowning glory.

And he didn't phone in the rest of the story, either. It's filled with Holmes and Watson being themselves. We have Holmes telling the ins and outs of his fight with Moriarty, intelligent and self-possessed and full of a zest for life even as he repeats that he'd willingly give it up to take this guy down; we have Watson's loyalty and stubbornness that keeps him close to Holmes and the need to help others that ultimately lures him away. We get an incredibly dramatic site for Holmes's death that Watson spends entire paragraphs describing.

We also get Watson's grief in the narration, which—again—is not colored by the author's own decisions regarding Holmes. Doyle might be tired of him, but he knows Watson isn't! And so Watson's narration is wholly and sincerely a tribute to Holmes, and mourning for his death, because that is both what the fans want to hear and what Watson would want to write. It's just...honestly, this whole story is such a good example of how to kill off a beloved character, if you're really set on doing it.

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson #(if it's about today's entry then it's not spoilers i think. changed my mind on that) #i am so impressed by how WELL doyle crafted the holmes stories honestly