someone: sherlock holmes is a machine, haven’t you read the books—
me, opening up my ornate copy of acd’s sherlock holmes, with its tender illustrations, pointing blindly to any line holmes says: he’s a sweet boy
Holmes: *catches Watson’s eye and bursts into helpless giggles*
Holmes: “No, you haven’t committed an actual crime, but if the lady has a brother or a friend he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. In fact–” *flushes with rage* *grabs riding crop* *smug ill-treater of women flees in terror*
Holmes: *philosophizes about goodness* *sees God in a rose*
Holmes: *constantly frets that Watson - who adores Holmes so transparently he practically walks around with hearteyes - will stop admiring him if he explains his deductions and takes the magic out of them* *like* *the master of observation is straight-up oblivious to the fact that Watson thinks he hung the moon* *or else too insecure to accept the blindingly obvious*
Holmes: *is extraordinarily sensitive to the signs of abuse, and unfailingly gentle and careful with abuse victims*
Holmes: *encounters particularly engaging puzzle of a case* *rubs fingers in glee* *quite literally WRIGGLES IN HIS CHAIR out of sheer delight*
Holmes: *battles chronic depression for his entire life*
Holmes: *leaves a king’s handshake hanging because he treated his mistress poorly* *in fact, derives a good bit of his reputation for rudeness from the fact that he is supremely unintimidated by rank and power*
Holmes: “You look exhausted my dear doctor, lie down on our couch and let me play you to sleep with my violin”
Holmes: *uses drugs because his brain constantly runs at about 500000 rpms and he needs a fucking break*
Holmes: *goes to concerts, closes his eyes, and listens for hours with a soft half-smile of rapture on his face*
Holmes: *unselfconsciously chatters endearments at a dog*
Holmes: *devotes his entire life to helping people, and does it for free anytime someone can’t afford him*
Watson: *gets grazed by a bullet*
Holmes: *Pistol-whips Watson’s attacker* *drops to the floor and begs Watson to tell Holmes he’s all right* *upon confirming that his friend isn’t hurt, informs the would-be murderer in a cold, terrifying fury that if he’d succeeded in killing Watson he wouldn’t have made it out of the room alive*
Me: WTF STORIES DID THESE PEOPLE EVEN READ
MOOD
I’ve never heard of this kind of Sherlock…
I never got into it cos I just heard he was cold and standoffish but this… This just 🥺who is this sweet boy?
@starlightshadowsworld this is the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon. The post doesn’t mention—perhaps because it’s already so long—the following:
—Holmes catches a murderer. Proceeds to let him go on the basis that the murderer was protecting his childhood sweetheart, who was being horribly abused.
—Lets a completely different murderer go on the basis that he’s terminally ill and two innocent people’s lives will be ruined if he’s convicted, something today we’d call “compassionate release.”
—A client gets Holmes’ advice and basically goes “thank you, but no.” Rather than berate her about being a stupid woman and him being a man who knows best (which would have been totally expected in the time period), Holmes basically goes “I think you’re making a mistake, I hope I’m wrong, but if I’m not all you have to do is send a letter and Watson and I will be there any time, day or night, to assist you.” If you’re following Dracula Daily, you’ll know that this promise means Holmes expects he can be summoned literally within only a couple of hours and he will be there in the same amount of time, no questions asked.
—in one of the later stories, Watson comments that Holmes could easily have purchased the Baker Street boarding house four times over for the amount he’s paid in rent over the years. Since the place is owned by Mrs. Hudson but we never see a Mr. Hudson in residence, there’s some speculation that Mr. Hudson either has passed away or is estranged from his wife due to abuse, and Holmes’ decision to remain as a renter rather than purchasing the place or moving to more moneyed quarters is because it’s a way of ensuring Mrs. Hudson has an income and can remain independent.
If the written word isn’t your thing, please check out the Jeremy Brett series, also known as the Granada series, from the 1980s. Brett insisted on it being so loyal to the original stories that you can almost use the books to read along.
as with so much media, i am really only familiar with TEH ORIGINALE but yes this is the sherlock i love <3
and if listening is more your thing than watching, all the original stories can be found read aloud by various people on youtube (including some by christopher lee, and some by edward hardwicke!) and bbc sounds has radio dramatizations as well.