[ SECRET POST #2577 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2577 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald-Crane, from the soap opera Passions]


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03.
[BBC Sherlock]


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04.
[Nobunaga the Fool]


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05.
[Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from Star Wars]


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06.
[The Quick and the Dead]


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07.
[Nathan Fillion]


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08.
[Warehouse 13]


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09.


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10.


















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 030 secrets from Secret Submission Post #368.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[taversham]

True enough, though as the relation between ACD and BBC Sherlock is rarely more than one of names and central premise I'm not sure that needs pointing out... ;)

Holmes still hid in the cliffs watching and listening as Watson called out to him and searched for him, and then only made contact with Mycroft. If Watson had no one at all to go home to, I think that would have been too much of a dick move for ACD Holmes (though not for BBC Sherlock, obvs), and the "greetings to Mrs Watson" at the end of his note make me think Watson not being alone part of Holmes' consideration even when he did believe he was going to die - though I appreciate that's just speculation.

[fenm]

Oh, yeah, they're very different people.

And, yeah, Holmes did still hide the fact that he was alive from Watson for three years.

[intrigueing]

That's a really good point! I've heard some people suggest that maybe Holmes didn't realize that Watson would be so grief-stricken by his death, but that was never convincing to me. I don't think Holmes is that obtuse or that poor at judging people's characters, and I don't think he's that ignorant about people's feelings -- he just has a different perspective on how important they are in the big picture *thinks of The Dying Detective*

And even if he was that ignorant before The Final Problem (which I really don't think he was), he would have to be either an idiot or deliberately disrespectful to not realize how strongly Watson felt for him and how devastated Watson would be if Holmes died after Watson followed him halfway across Europe to protect him while refusing to turn back no matter how much Holmes asked him to go home to safety.

So I thought Holmes knowingly being so cruel, rather than unthinkingly being cruel, was always the lesser of two evils, but the idea that he was also consciously hoping Mary would be there for Watson softens it even more.

[taversham]

My headcanon is that Holmes was beginning to feel a bit selfish taking up Watson's time, all the questions about where's MAry, will she mind them leaving, what about the practice, etc, is a far cry from "if inconvenient, come all the same", and so, convinced Moriarty would get to him and kill him somehow anyway, he saw the jaunt across Europe as a final selfish act to spend some time with Watson before he got killed, and a chance for Watson to spend time with him after a while of not seeing each other much, even though Watson wouldn't know it was goodbye. (Because I don't believe that if Holmes had really wanted Watson to go home then he couldn't have manipulated him into it.) Afterwards Watson would grieve, but he'd go back to a wife and a job and a life and be safe and loved, and that would be the best possible outcome.

So I don't think Holmes was unaware of how much Watson would be hurt, just that he had resigned himself to that as the inevitable result and thought he had done the best he could to mitigate it.

Then when he survived, he saw both the opportunity he'd have if everyone thought he was dead to get rid of the rest of the really nasty crims, but also the opportunity Watson would have to focus on his family and career if Holmes wasn't around and thought on balance it would be better for Watson if he had have died. So it was a 'cruel to be kind' gesture.

After the initial decision was made, it became hard to backtrack from the plan, especially because as time went by Watson would seem to be coping better and better with it, and Holmes could distract himself wandering around the world, meeting artists and finding religion. But then when Mary dies and Watson's alone again and miserable, Holmes stops his diversions of being sculpted and meeting monks, and focusses 100% on getting the baddies so that it'll be safe for Watson when he comes back, which he does.

...I'll do anything to minimise angst.