Discussion Post: The Yellow Face

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, everyone! Let's talk about our 60th story: The Yellow Face, shall we? As always, I've written up a few random thoughts and questions of my own. Please add your own!

-- I know Effie says Lucy is left in America for her health, but if that was the case, how is it that she's able to bring her over the instant she finally decides to do that? Could she have brought her earlier? Effie leaves her daughter in another country for three years while she enjoys new love, and then when she does bring her, she forces the girl to stay inside every day and cover her face and hands when she does dare to look at the outside world through the window of her room. At least Lucy's new father is a good, kind man. They both deserve much better than what they get from Effie.

-- The American editions of this story have a few differences from the original. Several times, Lucy's mask face is described as white rather than yellow, despite the title. The worst change lengthens the time it takes Grant Munro to decide to accept Lucy from two minutes to ten, presumably because interracial marriage was depressingly even more controversial in the US than it was in England.

-- I love Watson, who loves children and finds Lucy's laughter infectious when she is unmasked. Adorable.

-- Holmes says, "Any truth is better than infinite doubt." Really? Any truth? I am not sure that's the case. I'd love to see what truth would break that rule to Sherlock Holmes.

The Yellow Face: Wrong, G

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

My last 60, sniff. Angst appeared appropriate. Character death. Again.


The Yellow Face

Title: Wrong

Author: tweedisgood

Rating: G

I told you I would miss you, three weeks ago when we both knew this day would come soon. You scoffed, said you knew me better - that I was made of sterner stuff; although you smiled a soft and secret smile, swiftly gone.

You were wrong, Sherlock Holmes, but you cannot hear me whisper “Norbury” in your ear.

The Yellow Face: Epilogue

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Yellow Face
Title: Epilogue
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

The small girl ran up to the man who was walking down the path towards her.

“Papa, why do people say you cannot be my father?”

“Because they do not understand the love that I have for you, my darling daughter,” Grant Munro answered the little girl.  “Because they only look at our faces and do not see our hearts.”

The Adventure of the Yellow Face: Crucial Reminder

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Summary: Watson takes Holmes' suggestion to heart.
Warnings: Mild spoilers for YELL, including a reference to a famous suggestion.
Word Count: 60, plus an extended-play 100 word version.
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories. We've made it to the end!!! I have now written at least one 60-word story for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE CANON STORIES. Huge thanks to spacemutineer for organizing the sherlock60 comm and the effort, and to every single one of you who has ever commented, offered encouragement, or joined up in this fun madness. And if you haven't tried it for yourself yet - we're starting over next week, this time reading stories in their alleged canonical year order. Do check it out!
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

YELL -- The Yellow Face

I did not have many occasions to whisper ‘Norbury’. Holmes balanced self-confidence with horror of failure. That, and his remarkable powers, usually kept him from error.

Of the dozen times I said it, he admits that it helped six cases.

One Norbury saved our relationship, and another brought us back into each other’s lives for the remainder of our days.

Extended play edition:

I did not have many occasions to whisper ‘Norbury’ to Holmes in the years following the Munro matter. My friend, for all his self-confidence, retained a horror of failure, and that combined with his remarkable powers usually kept him from error.

Of the perhaps dozen times I uttered the phrase, however, Holmes admits that it made the difference in six cases, and four times likely saved one or both of us from harm.

One Norbury saved our relationship from grave damage, if not disintegration. And the other brought us back into each other’s lives for the remainder of our days.

The Yellow Face: Childlike

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Yellow Face
Title: Childlike
Author: hisietari
Rating: G

Children are impressive creatures. They never do anything without purpose, and they will not do voluntarily what is of no apparent use to them. Even the seemingly pointless game of a child will, upon inquiry, be explained in the most confident way. I guess then, from this point of view, my way of life may be called childlike as well.

The Yellow Face: Walk

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Yellow Face
Title: Walk
Author: spacemutineer
Rating: G
Author's Notes: My 60th! I have loved the first 60, and I can't wait to get going on 120!

In my peripheral vision, Watson breathes deeply as we amble, filling his lungs with the soft fragrance of fresh growth and fresh rain. By the bridge, he shakes the lingering winter off his sunlit back with a shiver in the warm air.

He breaks our long silence halfway across.

"You're smiling. I told you you would enjoy a walk."

With kind permission...promoting acd_holmesfest

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

Sign ups opened today at acd_holmesfest, a fanworks exchange solely for work based on the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories.

Come and join us, either as creator or reader/viewer. Never enough original Holmes - and Watson - and Lestrade - and Mrs Hudson - and a supporting cast of hundreds....