Throwback Tag
I have been tagged by @williamvapespeare to share a snippet of something old that seems worth revisiting. I'm going with this little gem from Like Fool's Gold that has become extremely relevent in my current longfic, RIP to Orpheus but I'm Different.
Here it is, the original Holmes and Watson discussion, lifted from the first chapter of the the first fic I ever wrote for Dead Boy Detectives:
“You’re getting pretty good at this, you know,” said Charles. “Like dead Sherlock Holmes.”
“Nonsense,” Edwin scoffed. “The Sherlock Holmes books only have one detective. That would make you Watson, which is ridiculous.”
“I’d make a great Watson!” Charles protested.
“Watson is meant to be an audience surrogate,” said Edwin firmly. “He’s there to follow Homes around and tell the reader how brilliant Holmes is. If Arthur Conan Dyle were writing about us, he would include a third person to tell the reader how remarkable both of us are. It would be unwieldy.”
He didn’t notice until he stopped speaking that Charles had stopped following him. Edwin stopped too, now, to look back at Charle’s face across the few yards of distance. Charles wore a strange expression, head cocked to one side with all the usual humor gone from around his mouth and eyes.
At once, Edwin felt terribly nervous. Had he said something wrong? Charles didn’t really want to be Watson, did he? What if Watson was his favorite character and Edwin had just insulted him?
“Charles?” Edwin asked carefully.
“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” said Charles, something like wonder in his voice.
“Oh.” It was a good thing Edwin couldn’t blush. He would most certainly be blushing right now if he could.
Charles grinned and picked up his gait again to resume their walk home. “You’re something, you know that?”
For what it's worth, I don't think Edwin's assessment of Watson is accurate. The character is a lot more complex and competent that Edwin's giving him credit for, here. But I think it's also true that Edwin objects pretty strongly to any implication that Charles is his sidekick.
Charles, meanwhile, wants to be Edwin's sidekick more than he's ever wanted anything.
I'm tagging @the-wine-dark-sea and @babyseraphim to do either this or whatever else they would like!
