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red-umbrella-811 · 29 days

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H: Why’d you have to add a romantic subplot :[[[

W: That literally happened; it was the backstory and motive for the entire murders; it was crucial to the story

H: Well maybe you should have skipped it anyway

#letters from watson #Sherlock Holmes #a study in scarlet #the sign of the four #I think???

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thefisherqueen · 1 month

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I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart. “This is unworthy of you, Holmes,” I said. “I could not have believed that you would have descended to this. You have made inquires into the history of my unhappy brother, and you now pretend to deduce this knowledge in some fanciful way. You cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind, and, to speak plainly, has a touch of charlatanism in it.” “My dear doctor,” said he, kindly, “pray accept my apologies. Viewing the matter as an abstract problem, I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you. I assure you, however, that I never even knew that you had a brother until you handed me the watch.”

This is such a touching passage. It shows us a piece of Watson's personal history, and his continued pain about it, and shows us as well that while it is true that Sherlock Holmes can get carried away in his work occasionally and then forget to consider other's feelings, he also is able to recognise them very well and apologise for his insensitivity. This has to be a significant point in Watson's and Holmes' relationship

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #the sign of the four #the science of deduction

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no-side-us · 28 days

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My first reaction to learning Watson has an older brother is the fact that both him and Holmes are the younger siblings in their families, which would make their tendency for misadventures and to getting involved in other people's businesses a life-long trait.

On a more morbid note however, the fact that Watson has an older brother, one with whom he seemingly had a not-so-good relationship with before his death, also paints his reaction to learning about Mycroft in a whole new light. Instead of the general happiness of finally learning about Holmes' history and family, there's an added layer of Watson getting to see a working, happy, brotherly relationship, one he presumably didn't have and now could never have.

And depending on whether or not you think Watson meeting Mycroft happened before or after this story leads to different interpretations. The Baring-Gould chronology puts The Greek Interpreter before The Sign of the Four, meaning Watson accusing Holmes of digging into his family history perhaps has a sting of envy for not having as good a relationship with an older brother as he knows Holmes does.

However, if The Greek Interpreter happened after this story, then Watson accusing Holmes could be what led to Holmes being so unyielding of his own family history, presumably so as to not upset Watson. Though Holmes is generally closed off about himself regarding those sorts of things.

In addition, the detail that Watson's brother drank himself to death makes Watson's view of Holmes' drug use in a new light as well. Looking at this paragraph specifically:

“But consider!” I said, earnestly. “Count the cost! Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process, which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness. You know, too, what a black reaction comes upon you. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed? Remember that I speak not only as one comrade to another, but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable.”

Without the context that Watson is speaking about Holmes doing cocaine, I can easily imagine Watson talking to his brother about drinking too much. Obviously cocaine and alcohol abuse are different things, but the list of negative effects, not to mention the fact that Watson feels answerable to their condition could apply equally from a partner in crime as to a younger sibling to an older one.

The opening of the story reveals that Watson has wanted to, but not yet been able to confront Holmes about his drug use. I imagine Watson was the same way with his brother. And we know the watch he tests Holmes with came into his possession recently. Ergo, I'd say that his brother's death is probably the impetus for Watson to finally say something, so as to not repeat what happened with his brother.

#letters from watson #mary morstan next time yay #the sign of four #the sign of the four #arthur conan doyle #sherlock holmes #john h watson #mycroft holmes

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derinthescarletpescatarian · 1 year

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"Hey Holmes can I test your brain powers"

"Fuck yeah, it might stop me from being bored enough to take more cocaine"

#the sign of the four

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devoursjohnlock · 1 year

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By the Book | A Sherlock Holmes publication timeline

Note: Numbered lists indicate the writing and magazine publication order, which were usually the same (exceptions noted). Timelines indicate the book order or the story order in each collection. Until His Last Bow, stories were usually (not always) spaced one month apart. There was usually (not always) a lag time of about one month between UK and US publication. Stories were not always published in the UK first. Book covers represent the first hardcover editions. Red titles indicate a story was positioned later in a collection relative to its writing order, blue titles earlier.

#Sherlock Holmes #Arthur Conan Doyle #ACD #publication timeline #chronology #A Study in Scarlet #The Sign of the Four #The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes #The Hound of the Baskervilles #The Return of Sherlock Holmes #His Last Bow #The Valley of Fear #The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

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gregorovitch-adler · 8 months

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Romance

After Holmes had arrested Jefferson Hope, and I had had a discussion with him that I was going to publish the story in The Strand - to let everyone know who had really solved the case - Holmes had agreed.

A better explanation would be that Holmes did not care. It did not matter to him who received the credit for solving the case in the newspapers. However, it did matter to me. Very much, in fact.

In what world was it fair for the police officers at Scotland Yard to take help from Holmes to solve the case every step of the way and not even thank him publicly? It simply could not happen. Not on my watch.

After having published the story, I decided to show it to Holmes. I was quite enthusiastic about it.

However, I had not expected Holmes to react so badly.

When I brought up the conversation, whilst he was consuming his damn cocaine - with his long and thin legs stretched out on the coffee table - he shook his head ruefully.

“I glanced over it,” said he. “Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid.”

“But the romance was there,” I remonstrated. “I could not tamper with the facts."

I had feared that this conversation might be going in a dangerous direction. Holmes was not insinuating the obviousness of my feelings for him - that had developed over time - was he?

Well, if he decided to spell it out, I would not hesitate to remind him about how much he had blushed after listening to my compliments about his detective work.

I could not say anything for sure, but as time passed, I had a feeling that there was something between us. A connection, of sorts. One that went beyond what a couple of flatmates usually had.

Holmes may have a habit of pretending that he preferred to be unemotional, but I was his closest friend. I lived with him. I might not be as brilliant as he was, but I could tell that he did not mean it.

"Some facts should be suppressed, or at least a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I succeeded in unraveling it.”

I was annoyed at this criticism of a work that had been specially designed to please him. Moreover, I was hurt to know that he would deviate this much from the truth.

Maybe I had miscalculated. Probably it was only I who felt the connection between us. Not him. I frowned at the thought and swallowed as I stopped pacing and took a seat on my armchair across from Holmes in the sitting room.

I was willing to speak up this time, though.

I inhaled deeply and held my breath as I spoke. "And why, pray tell, do you want to suppress the facts, specifically about romance? Is it because the same facts hit too close to home?"

Holmes came out of his dazed state, dropped his legs on the floor, and sat up straight with his grey eyes widened.

"What are you getting at, Watson?" asked Holmes cautiously.

"We have not been friends for that long, but for what little time I have known you, I've developed a profound respect for you and your work. There is more to it, however. I have grown to have feelings for you. Romantic feelings, in particular."

Holmes leaned forward in his chair and pinned me with an intense gaze. Fortunately, he did not try to interrupt me.

"I think that you have, too. Although I could be extremely wrong on that part, it makes little sense for you, of all people, to want to suppress the facts and events that happened for real. So, I want to know: Am I right about the real reason or not? I would certainly understand if I am completely off the mark and you do not feel the same, but I need to know."

I breathed deeply after having blurted all that out, hoping to dear Lord that I had not messed up everything and ruined our friendship.

"Oh, dear Watson," Holmes breathed. His long and thin fingers were tapping on his sinewy lap vigorously. "You are so exactly on point sometimes. Everything you said - all of it... I feel the same way."

My heart fluttered with excitement and happiness. A ridiculously wide smile spread across my face. It looked as though he wanted to say more, so I let him.

Holmes continued. "And yes, I do not wish for the whole world to know about it through your stories. I see I was a bit too harsh about it, moments ago. I apologise."

Holmes got up to make sure the door was shut and the window curtains had been drawn. They were. Holmes then walked across the room to approach me. I was still sitting, so he looked down at me with the same intensity as before.

I looked up to meet his gaze and locked my eyes with him.

He held out his pale hand to me in an offer.

My heart pounded as I took that hand and got up to meet his eye level.

His eyes were filled with longingness and pain. His brows were furrowed. "The world will never forgive us. They will never acknowledge that we are just two people in love who happen to be men."

He was right, as always. My eyes welled up as I gulped. I was still holding his hand, which felt warm and dry in mine.

"I know. Do you think this is a bad idea, then?" I tried to be prepared for the worst. 'Tried'.

Holmes placed his other hand on my waist and pulled me close. Our faces were just inches away. "I never said that, Watson. I was never the one to go with the rules, was I?"

We both shared a short laugh. Without another word, we leaned in and I captured his bottom lip with my mouth.

He made a desperate sound and we deepened the kiss with our arms wrapped around each other tightly. The dam had broken, and we were unable to let go for a whole minute.

I pulled away reluctantly. "Holmes, I-"

"Sherlock."

My ears had been aching to hear that correction. "Sherlock, I was saying that we need to deal with this in a practical way as well. I will not forgive myself if we were to be arrested because of this," I said with my brows furrowed.

"You are right," he said, holding my face in his hands.

"I suppose we would have to confine our relationship to the rooms of this flat." My heart was heavy.

My lover's ethereal grey eyes lit up with a mischievous glint in them. Christ, the effect those eyes always had on me.

"I have a plan."

Of course, he did. I was now looking at him with expectation and pride.

"You are going to have to marry a woman."

"What the deuce are you -"

"Shh." Sherlock placed a long finger on my mouth. "Just listen. That woman is a distant relative of mine. She is going to be our next client too. Her name is Mary Morstan."

I still did not get what was going on. Was he already pushing me away?

"For God's sake, do not look so heartbroken," he said and pulled my face close by my chin to press another kiss on my mouth.

"Her situation is just like ours. She has fallen in love with another woman too. Only I knew about that until now. She is in a constant state of having to look over her shoulder, trying to keep the prying eyes of this cruel world away. It occurred to me just now that if you married her, we would not have to worry about society anymore. It would be helpful for all four of us."

I sighed in relief and gave this whole thing a thought for a moment. "Excellent plan, Sherlock. This is brilliant!"

Sherlock smiled and looked down as he blushed.

"Just remember to never be on a first-name basis in public. John."

I grinned from ear to ear like an idiot, before pulling him in for a slow, drawn-out kiss again.

I knew what I had to do next. I just had to twist the facts in my next story to make it look like I was in love with Mary or whatever her name was.

Now, nobody would speculate a thing about Holmes and I, would they?

***

Sherlock September Challenge

Prompt Romance by @onesmallfamily

Tags: @helloliriels @topsyturvy-turtely @gaylilsherlock @lisbeth-kk @keirgreeneyes @lookingforlifeoutthere @clueless-mp4 @missdeliadili @curlyjohnlock @a-victorian-girl @peanitbear @kettykika78 @calaisreno

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myemuisemo · 12 days

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In both #3 and #4 of the Letters from Watson for The SIgn of the Four, Watson loses his mind and babbles when he's trying to have a conversation in the presence of Mary Morstan, and I'm here for it.

For the rest of these two letters, especially #4, I feel like I've stumbled into a story by Edgar Allen Poe or Wilkie Collins. Mr. Thaddeus Sholto feels like exactly what would happen if a colorful Wilkie Collins character -- say, the terrifyingly affable, rotund Count Fosco from The Woman in White -- stumbled into Holmes' world of deduction and logic.

Thaddeus Sholto had me digging for physiognomy texts, as that protruding lower lip feels like a detail meant to say something specific in an era that took "facial composition as a sign of character" very seriously.

The Pocket Lavatar (1817) gives us one possible interpretation:

When the lower lip projects beyond the upper, it denotes negative goodness.

Also, relevant to Sholto's watery blue eyes:

Blue eyes are frequently found in persons of phlegmatic character; they are often indications of feebleness and effeminacy.

Physiognomy and phrenology both had multiple rounds of being in fashion in the 19th century, with different gurus disagreeing on what exactly your nose or the shape of your skull meant. The whole field is, of course, wildly racist, with a garnish of ableism and a drizzle of classism. It was also a fairly familiar vocabulary to contemporary readers.

Meanwhile, I feel like every reference to Thaddeus Sholto's snobby little habits is meant to make the reader chuckle at his pretentiousness and poor taste, but I can't prove it.

Since the premise of this story seems to require acting as if plundering India for gems and wealth is okay, my hackles went up at referring to Major Sholto's long-time Indian servant as Chowdar. Turns out this was a common transliteration of a name we'd now render more like Chaudhuri.

(Major Sholto had had malaria, by the way, as evidenced from the quinine bottle present when he received his startling letter. It's likely that malaria contributed to his fragile health.)

Major Sholto's relationship with his manservant Lal Chowdar is solid enough that they hide a body together, but I have to raise an eyebrow at the major's naivete.

If my own servant could not believe my innocence, how could I hope to make it good before twelve foolish tradesmen in a jury-box?

His own servant saw how he behaved in India and probably has an accurate view of his ethics. That he'd kill out of greed happens to be wrong in this case (assuming a reliable narrator, which is a big assumption).

A face was looking in at us out of the darkness. We could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the glass. It was a bearded, hairy face, with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence.

My bet was "monkey," but then the Sholtos found boot prints, so either it's a monkey that wears shoes, or it's a man. Oh well.

My hackles weren't up about taking Miss Morstan's mysterious pearls from a "chaplet," but they should have been. I blush to admit that I was envisioning some sort of tiara -- but I googled before making a fool of myself and discovered that a chaplet is prayer beads. It's like a rosary, but not all chaplets are rosaries, and not all rosaries are chaplets. Is this an Anglican chaplet made from stolen gems, or were Sholto, Morstan, and their friends straight-up stealing prayer beads of another culture?

Honestly, I'm up for the Sholtos being actively cursed, but since Holmes is a rationalist, I'm also up for the more plausible outcome of their actions having brought mundane vengeance down upon their heads.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #the sign of the four

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ineffabletwaddle13 · 1 year

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Holmes and Watson doing a chemical analysis together

Holmes in the books by Arthur Conan Doyle does a lot of chemistry experiments:

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches: “Holmes was settling down to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came down to breakfast in the morning.”

The Sign of the Four: “He would hardly reply to my questions, and busied himself all evening in an abstruse chemical analysis which involved much heating of retorts and distilling of vapours, ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. Up to the small hours of the morning I could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiment.”

A Case of Identity: “A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.”

The Resident Patient: “while he was deep in some of those abstruse chemical investigations which absorbed him utterly as long as he was engaged upon them.”

The Adventure of the Dancing Men: “Holmes had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product”

The Naval Treaty: “A large curved retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two litre measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an arm-chair and waited.”

I like that this Holmes and Watson do the analysis together :) I think it makes sense that Watson could help when it is a time-sensitive situation because he should know some chemistry from his medical studies, although most of the time Holmes does the experiments himself because it is his hobby

#noticing how many times Watson complains about the smells in the books #1954 sherlock holmes #sherlock holmes #ronald howard #ronald howard holmes #doctor watson #holmes and watson #the case of the reluctant carpenter #the adventure of the copper beeches #the sign of the four #a case of identity #the resident patient #the adventure of the dancing men #the naval treaty #1954 sherlock holmes/ACD books #arthur conan doyle

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laufire · 29 days

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“I ask you to look at the inner plate, which contains the key-hole. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole,—marks where the key has slipped. What sober man's key could have scored those grooves? But you will never see a drunkard's watch without them.”

— The Sign of the Four, Arthur Conan Doyle.

💀

#i made it about as far as this scene the one and only time i watched sherlock lmao #anyway. it's just as much of a reach as the adaptation #about dozens of things can give u tremors sherlock #talking to the void #books #bookblr #arthur conan doyle #the sign of the four #sherlock holmes

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warrenwaskilledbyadeer · 11 months

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Holmes is very accurately written aroace watching your allo friend fall in love representation

He's fully supportive of them and it makes him happy to see them falling for each other (the twinkle in his eyes and little smile whenever Watson is trying to pretend he doesn't like her)

But he's also sad because he knows how lonely he'll be now, and that he can only ever be #2 to Mary

Even still he acknowledges that Watson is doing the right thing by marrying her because he knows neither of them will be happy otherwise

It's such a double-edged sword and I think Arthur Conan Doyle captures it pretty well

#sherlock holmes #arthur conan doyle #sir arthur conan doyle #the sign of the four #the sign of four #aroace

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red-umbrella-811 · 29 days

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My guy you wrote a book that was basically about his own special doings you created this situation for yourself

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson #John Watson #the sign of the four

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thefisherqueen · 11 days

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Miss Morstan’s demeanor was as resolute and collected as ever. I endeavored to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in Afghanistan; but, to tell the truth, I was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to our destination that my stories were slightly involved. To this day she declares that I told her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night, and how I fired a double-barrelled tiger cub at it. At first I had some idea as to the direction in which we were driving; but soon, what with our pace, the fog, and my own limited knowledge of London, I lost my bearings, and knew nothing, save that we seemed to be going a very long way. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault, however, and he muttered the names as the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets.

I don't know exactly why, but the image of Watson trying to impress miss Morstan by telling tall tales and Holmes meanwhile just sitting there, naming the streets and squares they are passing by, is very amusing to me

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #both men are being silly #the sign of the four #in quest of a solution

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fjalchions · 13 days

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alright i read the sign of the four and i knew it was going to be racist and eating the ass of the british empire but damn that was a whole new level

#sherlock holmes is my new bored at work reading #working my way though in semi chronological order #but goddamn #that was a trip #sherlock holmes #the sign of the four #arthur conan doyle #fjalchions reads #fjalchions

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holmesoldfellow · 3 months

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Covers for the "The Sign of the Four" graphic novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Edginton, and I.N.J. Culbard of the "Eye Classics" series (Sterling 2009-2011, SelfMadeHero 2017) 2/4