THE VALLEY OF FEAR part one tbh there are so many iconic lines in this one (“you are scintillating this morning, Watson”) (“One more coruscation, my dear Watson - yet another brain-wave!”) it’s obnoxious

(This is part of the Watsons sketchbook series!)

Some good ol’ ACD Holmes and Watson

Train Time But Again.

This is kind of a redraw of this drawing here :3

[ID: a digital drawing of Holmes and Watson in a train compartment. Watson is sitting by the window, looking out at a sunset while Holmes has laid down, leaning against Watson and is reading a newspaper. /End ID]

I keep wondering about the financial situation between Holmes and Watson after the Hiatus. At Holmes' request, Watson quits his job and moves back in with Holmes to continue helping him with cases. Did Watson receive any kind of payment for his help -- a cut of the money Holmes received from his clients perhaps? A lot of fanfiction seems to assume they were equal partners and Watson got half; but honestly any scenario I can imagine seems awkward to me in one way or another:

- Watson being treated as an equal partner and getting half the money seems awkward when according to what's depicted in the stories Holmes was doing the vast majority of the actual work and Watson was mostly there because Holmes liked having someone to talk to.

- Watson receiving some money, but not a full half, makes Watson explicitly subordinate to Holmes in an employer/employee relationship, which just seems like an awkward dynamic to introduce into any friendship.

- Watson not getting paid at all would be awkward because Watson just quit his job for the sake of helping Holmes out, and has also been forbidden by Holmes from publishing any more stories for the time being. Meanwhile Holmes at this point in his career we're told is absolutely rolling in dough, creating a serious income disparity between them which could hardly help but be awkward.

Watson's financial resources that we know of at this point would consist of his wound pension and whatever royalties he's still getting from his earlier stories, plus the money he got from "Verner" for his medical practice. We're told in DYIN that Holmes' "payments [for the flat] were princely. I have no doubt that the house might have been purchased at the price which Holmes paid for his rooms during the years that I was with him." That makes it sound like Holmes was more than paying the full rent for the apartment by himself, so at the least Watson was probably living there for free. (This quote is from DYIN, which seems to be set pre-Hiatus, so this arrangement might have begun even by then.) Which also seems potentially awkward -- like something that could make Watson feel like a freeloader or whatever.

Honestly it's very understandable why Watson never explicitly talks about money, because the whole thing is just awkward any way you slice it!!

In the earlier days the whole thing seems less awkward to me because a) Holmes had less money himself and b) Watson is just choosing not to get a job and to run around with his friend instead, rather than having given up his career specifically at Holmes' request.

One thing that makes the "Watson lives for free at Holmes' place, eats out at Holmes' expense etc but doesn't get paid in cash" scenario seem more likely to me is the fact that Holmes felt the need to give Watson a bunch of money sneakily through buying his practice -- it makes me think he felt like he couldn't pay him in a more straightforward, above-board way -- that Watson would be offended by it or whatever.

On the other hand I was also reading some stuff on the wiki about the concept of the "lady's companion", where a usually single upper-class woman would invite a single female friend to live with her and pay her an "allowance" in exchange for social companionship. The companion was technically an employee but was treated more like a member of the family. Now, there are reasons why this arrangement was specific to women: a) there were very few ways for an upper-class woman to actually earn a living that wouldn't compromise her upper-class status; and b) upper-class women were expected to stay at home most of the time, so a woman living alone (especially in the country) could easily become lonely. But it does show that there was at least some kind of concept in this historical era of "living with a wealthy friend and being financially supported by them as if you were family" without it being Weird. So yeah IDK.

Funny how in many adaptations Watson carries but never shoots, not even when Sherlock tells him to for 'moral' reasons lol.

Whilst in the novel Watson was shooting anyone and anything Sherlock told him to.

There is a little demon in my head that makes me draw them daily now.

I didn't plan for this to turn into a mini-comic, but what can I do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

part 1 - part 2

Thank you so much to everyone who spread the word and donated to our season 2 crowdfund campaign during our match event—we hit our goal before the weekend even hit! As such, everyone who donated (and everyone who will donate—there’s still time!) at the $30 tier or above will get FIVE STICKERS now! Introducing our fifth sticker design:

We thought you deserved a nicer-themed Sherlock Holmes sticker inspired by that one time we accidentally made Sherlock Holmes trend in December 2022 (ah yes, our most lasting legacy, the congrats in advance to the happy couple public domain post)! Enjoy!

*immediately almost start crying*

Look what I got today. I ended up ordering the third option (if you remember, then you remember) and honestly, looks pretty good.

The letters are not too small (at least for me). The paper is thin but I don't think it's 'ready to rip' or anything. Hardcover + gold-ish details. Pretty nice overall.

Plus I made a Sherlock doodle ♤

THE VALLEY OF FEAR pt 2 - part 1 here - My headcanon is that the complicated Mr Douglas / Mrs Douglas / Cecil Barker triangle was in fact a messy throuple. Also Holmes eats 4 eggs and there is some ~foreshadowing~

(This is part of the Watsons sketchbook series!)

Everyone gives Sherlock Holmes a hard time about being mean about Watson's writing, but honestly imagine you told your roommate "sure, you can write up an account of my work for the newspaper," thinking it would be like, about the murder, but then he publishes it and it's 90% about you, as a person, and it's a huge hit and now everyone in London knows that you hoard newspapers and do cocoaine when you're depressed. Because I think you'd be little miffed too.

Holmes: my dear Watson :c i'm so sorry i put you through an extremely dangerous situation (again)

Watson: that was the best day of my life and I'm going to write about it in my diary with a glitter pen

have i ever fully watched or read an acd era story? no. will that stop me from being menaced by them? also no.

My take on the Sherlock Holmes books

Since I started drawing Victor, I kind of imagined him with this Leyendecker type of beauty. Also, he's left-handed, and a botanist in my head.

And of course, I had to put Holmes here too because any excuse to draw collage Holmes is a good one.

crops underneath and more of my thoughts about them here