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All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 26 2011, 21:00:35 UTC
Sherlock Holmes' interaction with organized religion might best be described as "sporadic." There are times when he's dashing about seemingly trying to sample the services of every church, not only in Westminster but over half of London (sometimes two or three in the same day) -- to say nothing of that of temples of various faiths, a mosque or two, and several rites taking places in somebody's parlor or garden -- leaving those who know him uncertain whether he's comparing the music, or the sermon, or the acoustics of the place, or what; at other times, he won't go near anything resembling a church or chapel (save for a case) for weeks on end.

He certainly can't be arsed to put anything in the collection plate in the general way of things, but whenever he receives a fee, he will dutifully write a cheque for ten percent of his payment and give it to whichever accredited house of worship he next enters (except for that time [and that other time] when he gave half the ten percent to the Red Cross).

Several of those who've known him have said that he clearly finds good music or even art more of a religious experience than anything that happens in a church: Sherlock generally comments on their faulty logic, as any Venn diagram of "great art (including music)" and "things found in churches" would show considerable overlap.

But sometimes, when music has been particularly fine, or the setting sun is lighting up the towering clouds, or he has at last seen the solution to a puzzle and it's more wonderfully intricate than he would have guessed, or the roses are in bloom, or he's just been given something he never knew he always wanted, (once, when the best flatmate he could have hoped for was still laughing with the reek of Chinese food on his breath as he went up the stairs to his new room,) Sherlock will say to the One Who hears, "Oh, well done."

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 27 2011, 03:23:29 UTC
Oh! John is wonderful here, not talking about praying because it isn't decent. And Mrs. Hudson is wonderful, Doing Good without being a do-gooder.

But this Sherlock...oh, this Sherlock. This is the kind of Sherlock who would give the ACD!canon speech about the roses. I love him.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 27 2011, 10:40:20 UTC
I'm really glad everything I wanted to put across came through. (John's so very British, and Mrs. Hudson reminds me of several of the ladies of the women's circle at the church where I last lived [including the one who saw Brokeback Mountain twenty times and insisted on fannishly discussing it with anyone who stood still long enough]; and while especially this iteration of Sherlock is less likely to be conventional in his approach to faith, between NAVA and CARD, any depiction of Holmes as an atheist makes me go "bzorngluh?")

I've written a take on the rose speech once before, but it was in the middle of an as-yet-unfinished epic crossover.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) kelincihutan June 1 2011, 02:30:03 UTC
What are NAVA and CARD? They sound interesting and I'd like to look them up, but my scan of ACD titles didn't suggest anything.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) disassembly_rsn June 1 2011, 04:03:04 UTC
NAVA = "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"
Features Watson's old school friend Percy Phelps. Percy has a breakdown when a treaty goes missing. katieforsythe wrote a fanfic of this as "The Three Favours", if that's of interest.

CARD = "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"
That one includes severed ears, as I recall. Not one of Sherlock's experiments, I should add, but sent as a message in a box to an apparently innocent woman.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) kelincihutan June 1 2011, 14:09:39 UTC
Oh, excellent. I think I actually have both of those, too. Thanks muchly. :)

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typo saphanibaal May 27 2011, 08:42:30 UTC
s/"taking places"/"taking place"

(Why do I only notice these things AFTER somebody's commented?)

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 27 2011, 23:00:06 UTC
Aw, vaguely religious Sherlock is awesome.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 30 2011, 03:05:38 UTC
Thank you!

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) darthhellokitty May 30 2011, 06:40:51 UTC
Oh, I LOVE this.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 30 2011, 07:30:54 UTC
Thank you very much!

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) deaka May 30 2011, 11:23:08 UTC
This is a lovely fill and the characterisations are beautiful. I love Sherlock confusing everyone with bouts of place-of-worship visiting.

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Re: All is safely gathered in (2/2) saphanibaal May 31 2011, 00:34:14 UTC
Thank you! I've loved these people or at least versions of them for so long, it's good to hear that I've done them justice.

//I love Sherlock confusing everyone with bouts of place-of-worship visiting.//

Well, it's Sherlock. He's weird like that. ^__^

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