Discussion Post: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Hi, everybody! Let me offer a special welcome to our newcomers -- thanks for joining us! So, all, what are your thoughts on The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone? As always, here are some of my questions and thoughts to get you started. Please add your own!

- The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone is an unusual one. It is actually adapted from a play called "The Crown Diamond", and it is one of only two canon stories told in third person, the other being His Last Bow. The perspective here raises some questions. Are we to believe Watson wrote this story? That seems unlikely. ("Holmes seldom laughed" -- really?) But if it wasn't Watson, who was it?

- What do you think of young Billy the page boy? Billy seems a sharp tack, learning the ropes quickly from Holmes. Is he an informal apprentice? What about the ethical question of having a child in such a dangerous situation? Even Holmes expresses concern about that, although not enough concern to actually do anything more than keep the boy away from the window.

- "Count me in." Watson isn't given much to do here, but he is still the brave, eager, loyal partner we (and Holmes) know and love. He eventually acquiesces to Holmes' desires, as he inevitably does, but he puts up a fight about leaving his friend alone to face his would-be killer. Understandable -- the last time that happened was at Reichenbach.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: Games

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Title: Games
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG-13
Author's note: I refuse to believe otherwise.

---

"You have never failed to play the game. I am sure you will play it to the end."

He says it so casually, that way he says everything.

The end.

No. Unlike him, I do not play games with his life.

Holmes' note goes with all the money in my wallet to the cabbie. I and my revolver remain, ready.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: How Wrong Can You Get

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Title: How Wrong Can You Get
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

Silly old woman, getting in my way, dropping her parasol.  I’ll pick it up and give it back to her, it’ll be quicker than waiting for her to bend down and reach it.  I’ve got more important considerations than a clumsy old woman and her frankly disgusting parasol.  You’d think Holmes would hire a more efficient person to follow me.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: Folderol

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson
Summary: Holmes questions Watson's account.
Warnings: Some spoilers for MAZA.
Word Count: 60
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

MAZA -- The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

“The dummy and the air-gun are both from our adventure with Colonel Moran. The description of “Count Sylvius” mirrors the one for Baron Gruner...” Holmes threw down the magazine. “Why such a folderol of lies?”

“I promised Billy I’d write his adventure. And I could hardly report that you recovered the stone merely by picking the pocket of Lord Castlemere.”

His Last Bow, The Lion's Mane & The Mazarin Stone

[flawedamythyst.livejournal.com]

The last three weeks, all in one go to catch up.

Canon Story: His Last Bow
Author: flawedamythyst
Rating: G

Two years of mangling my native language took several weeks to put completely behind me, but there were benefits. I am not sure which amused me more: the startled look on my brother's face when I asked for his glad hand, or Watson's collapse into laughter at my automatic exclamation of 'darn it' after dropping a book on my foot.

Canon Story: The Lion's Mane
Author: flawedamythyst
Pairing: Holmes&Watson
Rating: G

Standing by the pool where McPherson met his death, the frustration of knowing that I was missing something burnt through me. Two things, I should say – one fact, hovering just out of reach, and one Watson to whom I could have laid out the data in order to sound out a solution, missing from his place at my side.

Canon Story: The Mazarin Stone
Author: flawedamythyst
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Rating: G

I would not usually have allowed being addressed as 'Holmes' in that overly-condescending tone by such a man as the Count to trouble me, but it had been too long since I had seen my Watson and heard his more pleasant voice call me the same. I did not wish the memory of it to be drowned out so quickly.


*

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: Technology

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
Title: Technology
Author: Castiron
Rating: G


It is a delight to fool a criminal by simulation; the wax figure in the chair, of course, is an old trick, but the gramophone is a new and effective one.

I must take care, though, and remember that if I can use it against a criminal, a criminal can use it against me. They will learn these tricks too.