Fic for graycardinal: The Design of the Four

[holmesticemods]

Title: The Design of the Four
Recipient: graycardinal
Author: scfrankles
Verse: Without a Clue
Characters/Pairings: Reginald ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Kincaid, Dr. John Watson
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 7,700
Summary: Having recovered from the shock of Dr. Watson being the true detective and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ being an actor, Watson’s publisher has become more

Comments

[graycardinal]

[chuckling madly]

This is an absolute treat from start to finish. It entirely catches the spirit of Without A Clue's inverted premise, runs with it straight through the heart of Holmesian canon, and comes out on the other side with all the roguish British charm one could possibly want. There is practically enough material embedded in this sustained adventure for an entire BBC television series....

[pause, think]

(Hmm. If there's an alternate reality where Watson is the real detective, then surely there's also an alternate reality where Moffat managed to get Caine & Kingsley under contract rather than Cumberbatch....)

[pause, attempt to put runaway imagination firmly into its straitjacket again]

As the foregoing should make ridiculously evident, I am wholly delighted with this story, and immensely pleased to have been the cause of its inspiration. Bravo several times over!

(The mods were right; this is shaping up to be a remarkably diverse and delicious round.)

[scfrankles]

There is practically enough material embedded in this sustained adventure for an entire BBC television series.... I did rather chuck everything but the kitchen sink in there ^__^ And I don't know about Caine & Kingsley standing in for Cumberbatch & Freeman - but I suppose they were the Downey & Law of their day ^^

I'm so pleased you enjoyed this ^__^ Thank you so much for your kind words. Btw, I understand why your instincts took you to rabidsamfan for a WAC fic, but I just wanted to say how flattered I was that you thought they might possibly have written this ^_^

[gardnerhill]

A beautifully done story in one of my favorite Holmes versions! And a clever case fic to produce the WaC version of "Sign of Four."

It's a treat to see Kincaid as the master over Watson in this milieu, and the charming addition of Mrs. Aspinall as their "Mary Morstan" was a nice touch.

[scfrankles]

Thanks so much ^__^ You know, it really meant a lot to me getting your lovely comment during the exchange - I knew it was unlikely I would be getting many comments on this, and it really buoyed me up getting yours ^_^

[gardnerhill]

Aw, thanks! It helps that I adore WaC (and am responsible for 8 of the 15 WaC stories on AO3).

[sanguinity]

Oh, yay! What an inspired premise, putting Watson in the improv hot-seat, and letting Kincaid be the knowledgable director of the drama! And your character voices are just right, both Kincaid and Watson, but also Mrs. Aspinall switching between herself and “Miss Morstan”: it was always clear exactly who she was meant to be in any given line.

I laughed out loud at Holmes twitting Watson about the age gap, at “Mary”’s soupçon of a feather (and Watson’s admiration of it!), at Watson’s familiarity with the female body, his passion for his chemistry, the true provenance of the VR… :-)

And the case is lovely, too - a conspiracy to do something nice, for once! (Even if they could improve the execution so as to not upset their mother.) And Kincaid and Mrs. Aspinall having their tender moment on the train platform…! And I do appreciate your implicit fix-it for Lestrade and Miss Giles; there is nothing shameful in that romance, not at all.

In short, I enjoyed this thoroughly. Thank you for writing and sharing it!

[scfrankles]

Thank you so much for your lovely, lovely comment ^__^ I really appreciated you picking out so many parts of the fic to talk about.

I was very pleased with the basic idea for the fic, and I'm really happy that the character voices seemed right. I'm happy too that you enjoyed so many of the jokes ^__^ (The bit about Watson's familiarity with the female body is actually from one of my ACD 60s - then it was Holmes' familiarity with the female body. I thought it deserved another outing ^^)

And Kincaid and Mrs. Aspinall having their tender moment on the train platform…! I'm glad that seemed to come across all right - feelings are not really my thing ^_^ And I do appreciate your implicit fix-it for Lestrade and Miss Giles... You know, I hadn't thought of it in terms of a fix-it but I suppose that's exactly what it is ^^ That part of the film does make me cringe a bit, when Kincaid and Watson laugh at the 'surprise' that's coming to Lestrade. I suppose in the film's universe Lestrade probably will be shocked and won't be interested in

[sanguinity]

:: I'm glad that seemed to come across all right - feelings are not really my thing ^_^ ::

It came off well, I thought. And of course I'm always fond of convos that are nominally about one thing, but actually about another. :-)

:: But in my headcanon I like to think they fall for each other and live happily ever after ^__^ ::

It's a part of the movie that makes me wince, too, but that's a just-right headcanon, and I shall indulge myself in it, too.

btw, I also help mod the More Holmes collection over on AO3, which is meant to make it easier for fans and creators in these smaller Holmesian fandoms to find each other. We'd be very pleased if you wanted to include this in the collection. (This, and of course anything else you may make for one of these rarer fandoms!)

[scfrankles]

Actually, I did submit my fic to More Holmes when I first posted it on AO3, but I'm beginning to suspect the site has eaten the message that goes to the collection maintainers ^^"

I've just edited my fic to remove the More Holmes collection and then add it again, so I'm hoping that might do the trick. I think the collection is a great idea and I would be very proud to have my fic as part of it ^_^

[rachelindeed]

Ahahahaha! This was delightful :) You captured the tone of the film wonderfully, and such a clever extension of the premise! I loved so much of the humor -- "Look at her as if she is that murky green mixture!"; Mrs. Hudson's masterful non-reaction to the bust jokes; the secret behind the famous VR, my goodness! -- and the way you wove in the pearls and the Forresters. You even added that little note of sweet sentiment at the end, allowing Kincaid to say a proper farewell and to let her know she was regretted. I'm really impressed with how much you managed to bring together in this story. Just lovely all around!

[scfrankles]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment ^_^ You captured the tone of the film wonderfully... Actually, I started off originally trying to write an ACD fic but got completely stuck for ideas, so in desperation I rewatched Without a Clue after a gap of over 20 years. And I realised it was the perfect 'verse for me to write in - it's a 'verse in which silly humour is canon ^__^

I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the humour in this - the bit with the chemistry and Mrs. Hudson's masterful non-reaction to the bust jokes are two of my very favourite parts. (I kind of thought having a bust joke in here would give me away as the author even if nothing else did ^_^) And I'm glad you liked the story behind the VR too. I suppose that didn't really need to be in the fic but once I'd come up with it I couldn't bear to leave it out ^_^

I did chuck rather a lot into the fic ^^" But I'm glad it all seemed to come together. Thank you again for taking the time to comment on this - I do so appreciate it ^_^