Holmesian - Tumblr Posts

Sometimes it's so hard to choose only one aesthetic.

But you don't have to choose.

Go to the cemetery, by yourself, for no reason, and look for statues of weeping angels. Laugh to yourself, thinking of the doctor, and talk to the ghosts. Talk to them, tell them about your favourite companion, tell them where you would like to go if time and space were yours to explore. They have been lonely for a long time, many of them haven't seen anyone in years, and any story will enchant them.

Wear warm cashmere jumpers and long coats, run around the city, as if you were chasing something you can't quite name. Always keep a map with you, even if you never have to check it because you know this place better than yourself.

Always bring a planner with you, fill it with theories about BBC Sherlock and write down the deadlines of every new assignment. Cover it in writing, to the point where you can't tell one thing from the the other.

Find someone with whom you can always be honest. Describe the darkest parts of you soul to them knowing that they won't judge you. Listen to them talk about serial killers. Discuss queerbaiting in '90s literature and modern TV shows. And when you'll break down crying, as you realize you can't save this world, let them hold your hands.

Fill your head with stories, look for connections between popular culture and old myths. And when you will have achieved all of this, start writing.

And remember, always remember, that you do not need a story to validate you. You're already exceptional.

things sherlock holmes has canonically done:

scrapbooked the hell out of his newspapers

put on a hat that was too big for him 

giggled

cried because lestrade was nice to him

got all sappy and romantic by smelling a rose

let a puppy lead him on adventures

“impish mood”

lit his pipe with an ember from the fireplace because he thought it looked cool

feel free to add to this

In my mind, Watson uses this religiously.

It's been a hot second since I've seen a picture of a Victorian mustache cup on here so look at this one in all its glory

This is a sippy cup. You just invented a sippy cup for manly men who want to go to tea parties and not feel emasculated by drinking too fast and getting their perfectly coifed mustaches droopy I can't

I just picture Mrs. Hudson gifting these to Sherlock on his birthday <3

Antique Drug Dishes ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

THX SO MUCH 4 1K!!! <3

Bloody hell, I am SO happy that I'm not the only one who has thought about this! I agree with Sherlock being The Eye/The Web aligned/connected, but if we're talking about BBC Mycroft, I always thought of him being attached to The Lonely in some way because of that one scene where Sherlock calls him out for secretly being very lonely, and Mycroft seems a bit on edge as he tries to deny it. As for John, I can't decide if he'd go better with The Slaughter or The Hunt, but I TOTALLY see where he could be connected to The Lonely too.

i need everyone to hear me out:

sherlock is avatar of the eye touched by the web

mycroft is avatar of the web touched by the eye

watson is avatar of the slaughter touched by the lonely

irene adler gives me stranger vibes, maybe also the eye? desolation? i like the destruction motif

idk if lestrade would be inflicted with the fear, he gives me georgie barker vibes where he just Doesn't Fear

okay thats all

clocking in for another shift in the holmes watson headcanon mines

Best doctor I've ever known, to be honest

shot. fainted. look slightly unwell. difficulty breathing. shaken nerves. seizure.

watson: GIVE THIS MAN SOME BRANDY

The things I would do to get my hands on this...

The silver cigarette case given by Arthur Conan Doyle to Sidney Paget as a wedding gift, inscribed “From Sherlock Holmes” x

Note to self to visit this place the next time I'm in Manchester.

I was wandering around Manchester and came across a little pub/cafe thing called "The Granada"

And I was like "wait.... Is there a chance it's called that because it's on the site where the TV studio was?"

I need to look into it more but yeah, I'm assuming it is and that's the site where the original Coronation Street and Granada Holmes sets were.

Being obsessed with Sherlock Holmes is so embarrassing like-- ok here's my favorite book character of all time, hes a literary icon, youve definitely heard of him before and now youre probably thinking of a weird detective dude with a silly hat, please hear me out the idea you have of him is completely different from what he's like in the books, please hear me out--

Considering how often Watson describes Sherlock's nose as well, constantly comparing it to a bird's beak, I'd say he is also a nose man.

"But there can be no grave for Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Watson... Shall they not always live in Baker Street? Are they not there this moment, as one writes? Outside, the hansoms rattle through the rain, and Moriarty plans his latest devilry. Within, the sea-coal flames upon the hearth and Holmes and Watson take their well-won ease... So they still live for all that love them well; in a romantic chamber of the heart, in a nostalgic country of the mind, where it is always 1895."

-Vincent Starrett, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Chubby Watson is the best Watson. I take no criticism on this.

I could not get over chubby watson

I would carry this around in my messenger bag as religiously as one might do with one of those odd "pocket bibles".

Got my Self another miniature book. This time: „the hound of the baskervilles“

“By the Fireplace” by Vladimir Dashkevich from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson played by me on kalimba

Sherlock is infact a softie, and I too despise it when adaptations make him a callous machine.

How can ppl ever characterize Sherlock Holmes as unfeeling when there are such sweet tender moments like this 😭

I know we all like to laugh at Watson for taking such pains to conceal dates and people and events but being obviously obvious about his love for Holmes but like. hear me out. what if he’s not. what if it’s on purpose

Ok, so. Watson is an intelligent man. He is not stupid. He would not read his drafts and not notice the obvious romanticism. I think a lot of evidence supports the idea that he’s doing it on purpose. I mean, he even defends himself when Holmes accuses him of romanticising the stories by saying that the romance was there and he’s just reporting it the way it was. The interesting question is just, why? Why not be more careful?

Here’s what I think: uhm. so. multiple things.

1. Imagine writing stories about the person you love above anything else in the world. The person who seems to you so incredible and unbelievable and wonderful that you’re in awe they even exist and even more that they have chosen you. How do you write about them without that bleeding through. Holmes isn’t just a person that appears in the stories, the stories are completely about him and his personality. Of course Watson notices that the way he sees Holmes is evident in the loving descriptions. But what, really, can he do? Change or omit parts of Holmes’ personality? Make up a Holmes character for his stories? Invent a Holmes who he is not in love with and who does not inspire the same feelings of awe and admiration? He might as well just write a different story. The whole point of these stories is that they’re about Holmes. Or alternatively, could he somehow describe every one of Holmes’ personality traits rationally and without emotion? No, he couldn’t. “Fascinating” and “wonderful” are just traits that describe Holmes to him. He never says that he loves Holmes. We can only infer it from those descriptions. How is he supposed to describe Holmes if he can’t use them?

2. In extension of that: Watson’s perspective is essential to the stories. He is the only one who understands Holmes. He is the only one who can tell us about the kindness and compassion and the silliness and the deep care for humans and the devotion to justice because he’s the only one who gets to see everything. Taking any other perspective would probably result in a much worse portrayal. Knowing that Holmes is by every standard very neurodivergent and queer and generally just absolutely not “normal”, that portrayal probably wouldn’t be kind and it would miss all of those key features of his character that Watson understands. So Watson can not take another perspective that isn’t his own, not just because he’s too in love but because it would just not work.

3. Perhaps most importantly: Here’s what is actually my main point. What if… Imagine this. You’re a normal Victorian person. You have the normal views of the time. You read the Sherlock Holmes stories. You read them because the cases are interesting and Holmes is a curious personality but, unconsciously, you also absorb everything else that’s in the stories. The deep bond between these two men. The love. The fact that they would do anything for each other. The way that Holmes is someone who is so strange and abnormal by your standards but who is still deeply loved and who deeply loves and who is kind and funny and a good person. And maybe you don’t realise it but in some way, it influences you nonetheless. Perhaps the next time you meet a person who acts “weird” or “abnormal”, they remind you of Holmes and you have to smile. Maybe the next time people mention the unspeakable sin of love between two men, something doesn’t sit quite right with you. Maybe, just maybe, you begin to think.

I think Watson knows this. I think this is why he writes. Of course he also wants to tell everyone how amazing his husband is, but mostly, he really wants to live in a world where he is actually able to tell everyone that that’s his husband. And this is his part. Maybe only 5% of readers really begin to change their minds about what is “abnormal” and what is acceptable. Maybe it’s only a dozen people. Maybe it’s one person. It all matters. Change doesn’t come suddenly. Change comes when many people change their minds. And here is something he can do. Of course it’s obvious. Not obvious enough to be censored, that would defeat the purpose, but obvious enough to make his point. Of course it’s dangerous. It’s a balancing act but it’s worth it. Even if just one person changes their mind, it’s worth it.

Behold! One of my favourite moments from Granada's Sherlock Holmes series. Holmes' little dance to show Watson how the Dancing Men code works is always so precious to watch.

Silence, everyone, this delightful little man is stimming

I think people forget Watson’s purpose in the stories isn’t only to ask questions so that the case is revealed to the audience naturally. Watson’s purpose is also to ask questions in a way that reveals the case to Holmes. He’s not integral to Holmes’s work just to stroke his ego with the stories. He has weaved his way into Holmes’s mind so thoroughly that Holmes is at his best when Watson is able to lead the march.