Fic: A Study in Purple (Holmes/Watson, R)

[lady_elina]

So, there's this thing of beauty (ok, slightly cracky beauty, but beauty nevertheless) called the Sherlock Holmes kink meme. Which anyone so inclined should check out, because there are literally thousands of prompts waiting to be filled.

Anyhow: Someone requested fic based on Neil Gaiman's short story A Study in Emerald, of which I'm a longtime

Comments

[bluepercy]

oh my god you wrote Study in Emerald slash.

I may just love you!

[lady_elina]

I'm still astonished that there are people who want to read slash based on A Study in Emerald. I'd say that of all of Gaiman's works, it's probably the most slashable after Good Omens, but I still thought the idea might be too obscure to find any readers.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[seularen]

This is stunning. The subtleties in your writing were brilliant. The way you set up the scene and the slow reveal were very Conan Doyle, but the imagery was pure Gaiman. Amazing tribute to both of them.

[lady_elina]

Thank you for the thoughtful comments! I wasn't sure that I could do any justice to the original(s), so I'm really happy to hear it worked for you. :)

[lady_elina]

Thank you! I recently read Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, and that got me interested in female performers who worked as male impersonators in Victorian London. Irene's canonical theatre background just seemed to fit well with that, so I could not resist. :) (Okay, maybe the fact that she wore male clothing in the new film also helped a bit.)

[lady_elina]

Nope, I've been meaning to watch it for a long time, but haven't got around to doing it! Loved the book, though, so I need to get my act together and finally watch the TV adaptation.

[makeanewworld]

I've always loved 'Study in Emerald' - aside from it being a great story on so many levels, it amuses me no end that Neil Gaiman writes AU/Crossover Holmes fic. :D That said, I never thought I'd see fanfic for it, despite there being definite slashy potential (especially in Holmes and Watson hiding out in the rookery of St Giles after making their escape...)

Anyway, I've been saving this to read once I had some free time and it didn't disappoint - it's sad, powerful and atmospheric and I thought you got the narrrative voice spot on. Aside from seeing Holmes and Watson's goodbye and final stand, I liked the idea of the narrator and his friend as Holmes and Watson's shadows and the implication from Holmes (sorry, Vernet) that they'd be lost without their counterparts bringning meaning to their lives.

I also enjoyed the brief glimpse of Irene Adler onstage - it brought to mind Tipping the Velvet (I recently watched the BBC adaptation) and I see from the above comment that was the inspiration, which is cool. :)

[lady_elina]

I wasn't even sure which fandom I should use in the header, because in my mind, A Study in Emerald is essentially fan fiction in itself! At the same time, I was a bit hesitant about posting this to Holmes communities, because yes, it is Holmes fic, but filtered through Gaiman's take on Doyle and Lovecraft. (The term 'postmodern' comes to mind here...)

Thank you for stopping by to read and leave feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the idea of Holmes and Watson as shadows of the narrator and his friend; in Gaiman's story, I always thought that this was somehow implied because of the role reversal which makes Vernet and the Limping Doctor criminals (at least from the narrator's point of view), so I was interested in highlighting it a bit. And Irene just sort of appeared on the stage when I started writing, so I couldn't cast her out. ;)

Thanks again, it was very kind of you to let me know what you thought of the story!

[mithen]

Oh, this was wonderful. And heartbreaking. And wonderful.

Even after all this time, I hesitate to describe what I saw, but in the interests of verisimilitude and integrity, I feel I must proceed.

Oh, you capture his voice so well even in the face of something neither Doyle nor Gaiman would deal with. I love how he uses Old One-sort of imagery for their lovemaking, as if his submerged fear of the royalty is played out onto his repulsion/attraction for the coupling.

They still seemed entirely focused on each other. But then Vernet's fingers slipped swiftly into his partner's pocket, and before I regained my composure, he was pointing a gun at me.

And oh, how I loved that, the way they're so cool and so ready for anything. And maybe that should have warned me, but I still felt totally gut-punched:

Their last stand, their last chance. Their final farewell to each other.And teared up at this. It fits the desperation of the AU so well, I love how you captured so much that Moran simply cannot process here and give it to us like a

[lady_elina]

Firstly: apologies for taking so long to reply, I was travelling and had basically no LJ access between 3rd and 12th of February.

Secondly: thank you for the insightful feedback! It's always a challenge to use a canon-like voice believably when describing things that the canon does not include, so I'm particularly happy that that worked for you.

A Study in Emerald is a dark story set in a dark universe, so I could not end this any other way. I'm fascinated by the parallels between Moriarty and Moran and Holmes and Watson, which made me wonder what it would mean for the former two if the latter two ceased to exist.

Yet one fun thing about writing these characters is that they're basically Victorian superheroes; for almost anyone else it would seem out of character to be so alert to everything that is going on, but not for them. I think Holmes and Watson may even have survived somehow.

Thank you again for the lovely and thoughtful comments! :)