Discussion Post: A Scandal in Bohemia

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Hello again! Welcome to Sunday and A Scandal in Bohemia! What did you think of it? This is a really rich one, with lots to toy with, so I think we're going to get some terrific 60s from it. I'm looking forward to it! As always, here are a few thoughts and questions of mine to get the discussion flowing. Please add your own!

-- We find Holmes and Watson here at a strange, sad point in their relationship. Watson is married, out of Baker Street, and they are absent from each others' lives entirely, to the point that Watson refers to Holmes as his "former friend". What really happened between them? Was it merely the marriage or was it something else too? Is Watson's home life as blissful as he lets on? He seems to miss the life of adventure with Holmes, willing to go with him into any danger and spending the night spontaneously as needed. Certainly we can tell Holmes has very much missed his Boswell. Cocaine was not an adequate substitute for his friend during his long absence. Being Holmes, though, he does still insult Watson about his weight as not-so-subtle revenge.

-- The fact that Doctor Watson carries his stethoscope around hidden in his top hat may be my all-time favorite random detail from one of these stories. There is something fantastically perfect about that.

-- Holmes' role as accidental best man is amusing. Seems like he enjoyed it too, wanting to keep a permanent memento from the experience. Why do you think he wanted to wear the coin Irene gave him? Did she say something to him to affect him so?

-- The lovely Irene dies young, it seems. Watson describes her as the "late Irene Adler". A Scandal in Bohemia takes place in 1888 and was published in 1891, giving her three years maximum as a happily married woman. How tragic. Any theories on what happened to her? And is her memory really all that "dubious and questionable", anyway?

-- I've been gradually developing a personal theory about Holmes and women and SCAN brings it to the fore. Holmes and Watson make a great deal of fuss over Holmes' inherent dislike of women, but that isn't exactly the right way to describe it, I think. He doesn't respect the vast majority of women, because they don't generally earn his respect. Holmes believes strongly in meritocracy (based upon his own measures, of course). Given women's prescribed roles in Victorian society, however, there is virtually no way for most to ever impress Holmes enough as clever people. Most who do it are criminals. But when he encounters a woman who is capable and decent, combining intellect and a strong sense of justice, he is unusually and noticeably moved by them. It happens here with Irene Adler and it happens with Violet Hunter later. In a different society with different roles for women, in a different time perhaps, in a place where women could better prove their intelligence and worth to him, Holmes would likely not see women in a negative light at all. They would be simply be judged by their own individual merits as people, exactly as men are. This is a personal theory; your mileage may vary.

A Scandal in Bohemia: Rectifying an Error

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson
Summary: Holmes meditates on law and justice.
Warnings: Spoilers for SCAN.
Word Count: 60
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

SCAN -- A Scandal in Bohemia

I have been on the wrong side of the law in my career, but the Adler case was the first time I found myself on the wrong side of justice. I realized that my client was the villain of the piece – and that I was a tool for her destruction.

And Watson thinks I was fooled into letting her escape.

A Scandal in Bohemia: The Woman

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Scandal in Bohemia
Title: The Woman
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

Irene Adler’s photograph would normally be kept safely in the top right-hand drawer of Holmes’ desk, but there were times when I would find he had propped it somewhere obvious; even once against the skull.  I thought at first it was sentiment, but quickly realised that it was a reminder that he could be bested if he under-estimated his opponent.

A Scandal in Bohemia: Profession / Vacancies

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Scandal in Bohemia
Title: Profession
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: G
Author's Note: I have two other ideas for 60s, a matched set actually, but I'm not sure if they're a bit too... conceptual to use. They may or may not appear here later tonight. For now, I at least have this. ETA: Okay, new bits are up, below.

My biographer is over-quick to mourn the loss of my talents from the realms of stage and science. He fails to appreciate it is precisely those talents that make me the specialist in crime that I am. I am an actor. I am a scientist. The profession I devised for myself requires all my skills, with nothing lost or wasted.

---

Title: Vacancies
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: These are a matched set as you'll see, and very angsty. I'm forever drawn to the pathos for whatever reason.


Spring again, cool and damp. The breeze rustling the curtains steals the last warmth off another untouched dinner plate.

The detective sits curled in his own chair and tries to avoid looking at its mate standing loyal guard by the open window, much as its previous owner did.

The doctor's chair is empty.

At least the syringe is full.

---

Their funerals were a week apart, as it happened. Holmes' was an indistinct blur, a parade of pale well-wishers squeezing Watson's hand and dropping flowers onto an empty casket.

Irene's ceremony was similarly overflowing with mourners, admirers, and hangers-on. But the only witness to her wedding three years prior was missing, his seat there as coldly vacant as his grave.

A Scandal in Bohemia: Wistful Musings

[shadowycat.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Scandal in Bohemia
Title: Wistful Musings
Author: shadowycat
Character: John Watson
Rating: G

While conducting his preliminary surveillance, Holmes unexpectedly ended up acting as witness at the hurried marriage of Godfrey Norton and Irene Adler. Watching him chuckle with glee over the coin she gave him for his service, I couldn’t help but wish that he’d shown even a small portion of that enthusiasm when I asked him to stand up with me.

A Scandal in Bohemia: Confirmation

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Scandal in Bohemia
Title: Confirmation
Author: hisietari
Rating: G


If there had ever been the time to prove my opinion about emotion, this was it. From Irene Adler, whose sudden marriage - sported by genuine sentiment, I assume - would almost have cost her neck, over Watson himself, who risks the murder of his boots, up to me. Short-lived as it was, that little pleasance of seeing him back.

A Scandal in Bohemia: Schadenfreude

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: A Scandal in Bohemia
Title: Schadenfreude
Author: Castiron
Rating: G
Author's Notes: What if Holmes wasn't only working in Germany before "His Last Bow?"


Schadenfreude

My dear wife has told me that our joy together over twenty-five years is the highest answer to the wrongs committed by her past -- I will not say lover, for he did not love.

But the mysterious letter I received, "Tell her he has finally paid -- Altamont", just before the news of the King's sudden death....

Vengeance is sweeter.