The Red-Headed League: Janus

[undonne.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Red-Headed League
Author:undonne
Rating: G
Words:60

My friend had two faces. His everyday face cocked quizzical eyebrows at the vagaries and limitations of his fellows, nose sniffed after clues, mouth thinned before criminality and cruelty, eyes sparkled with intelligence.

The other, far less common, gentled under the touch of music, mourned the suffering of the innocent, softened for children and some women. And smiled at me.

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Beautifully put - a great description of Holmes.

I believe you are new here, so welcome!

[undonne.livejournal.com]

I am - thanks very much. Looks like a lot of fun. :)

[vaysh]

I love how you desribe the two faces of Holmes' character, beautifully put and with a final line that just melts my heart. Simply wonderful!

[undonne.livejournal.com]

Sentiment! (as Holmes would say). I can never resist Holmes's softer side.

[debriswoman]

Very nice:-)

[undonne.livejournal.com]

Thanks to you all for letting me play.

[debriswoman]

You are very welcome:-)

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

It's so lovely to see someone new about the comm - thank you so much for joining in! ^_^

Your story is such a delightful and truthful look at Holmes' personality. In the later stories, Watson's seems surprised when Holmes' "mask" slips, but I think Holmes demonstrates affection for Watson all the way through the canon. He has to be detached for his work but he's essentially a nice man.

[undonne.livejournal.com]

I so agree. I think the "unfeeling" Holmes is a popular construct, not in the canon at all. He has to be cold and controlled for his work, but the idea from ACD of his emotional and artistic side goes way back in the stories (isn't the Vernet/artist ancestry very early on?)

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Yes, the "Vernet" reference is from GREE - which is before Holmes "dies". The actual story is set before Watson's marriage, I think.

[undonne.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that - off to read that one as well.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do like the way you've portrayed Holmes's two faces here. It's so visceral, so sensory, I guess. The description of the second in particular had me smiling thinking of it, and the "some women" line made me laugh out loud.

[undonne.livejournal.com]

The few, the very few. All the others are in the "vagaries of (even more incomprehensible) fellows." :)