The Three Garridebs: Penny Dreadful

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of The Three Garridebs
Title: Penny Dreadful
Author: capt_facepalm
Characters: Mr Sherlock Holmes, Dr John Watson
Rating: G
Author's Notes: (...there's something lurking beneath the floorboards... "Oh, hello"...)


‘Watson, you were gunned-down by a genuine Wild West gunslinger from one of your yellow-backed novels!’

‘Luckily you managed to cosh him on the head. I didn’t even manage one shot for his two. I must be getting old.’

‘Perhaps we should reconsider retirement. Criminals these days have traded cleverness for violence.’

‘What, and give up my bullet-wound collecting hobby?’

.oOOo.

Comments

[debriswoman]

Couldn't he take up stamp collecting or something?

Nice work:-)

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Thanks!
Stamp collecting? (Haha!)

Probably not for this man of action. He seems to still enjoy the thrill of Holmes' cases. And, Holmes does retire to Sussex, leaving Watson in London. I presume it is because Watson is still practicing medicine, and when WWI comes along, the aged 60-ish doctor is among the first to volunteer.

[debriswoman]

Good old Watson!

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Watson and his meandering bullet wounds ^^" At least now we can be absolutely certain that he was shot in the leg ^_^

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

I hate to say it but dear ACD was a hack. Bullet wounds, geography, villains' names, THE NARRATOR'S NAME... all things he had issues with. He could have used a beta-reader with a eye for continuity. But I forgive him (almost) everything since he gave Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to the world.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm rather fond of the reference in FIVE to Mrs Watson (an orphan) going to visit her mother ^_^ Oh, and I like to think that the Moriarty brothers are all called James because they had a megalomaniac father naming them all after himself ^^ (I realise one of them isn't named in the stories but we can dream...)

I do rather admire the way ACD just didn't care ^^ It's a shame he didn't have more affection for Holmes but it doesn't really matter - stories belong to the readers in the end.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

stories belong to the readers in the end.

THIS. After the gift of the characters and their world, readers (and fic writers) are free to take them as they wish. Our imaginations keep them alive through the centuries. There's a real romance and beauty in that chain of continuity. The author is only the first link.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm obviously not suggesting ignoring copyright or not crediting writers (writers have to make a living ^^" And deserve to have their work appreciated) but I do believe stories only truly come to life when they have readers. A good story leaves its author and belongs to everyone. And an author can never control how a reader interprets their work.

There is something magical about the way Sherlock Holmes has stayed with us all the time. It makes me smile sometimes, how annoyed people get with ACD on Holmes' behalf. But I understand too - Holmes has taken on his own life, away from his creator.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

I kind of love the discussion of retirement here. It's so apropos with the timeframe and yet still discussed in exactly the sarcastic way I'd expect from these two. Love it.

[capt-facepalm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I like to think that these two great friends communicate a lot with banter. Repressed Victorian (Edwardian) gentlemen would not state their feelings directly so any affection or friendship would be relegated to subtext.