Holmes/Watson
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Sherlock Holmes/Dr. John Watson |
| Alternative name(s): | Holmes/Watson, SH/JW, H/W |
| Gender category: | M/M Slash |
| Fandom: | Sherlock Holmes |
| Canonical?: | No |
| Prevalence: | Most popular pairing in Sherlock Holmes fandom. |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson is the most popular pairing in Sherlock Holmes fandom. Fannish interest in the pairing has increased recently following the Sherlock Holmes 2009 film and the BBC's 2010 TV series Sherlock.
History
Speculation that Doyle's Holmes was gay or bisexual has been rampant for many decades. Thomas Bragg's thesis "A Mere Appendix: The Reclaiming and Desexing of Sherlock Holmes" (Univ. of Florida, 2004) makes an interesting circumstantial case for Doyle's Holmes as an aesthete of ambiguous sexuality, then later as a more "masculine" and unemotional character.
Chris Redmond of the Baker Street Irregulars describes the history surrounding Holmes/Watson in "Intimate Converse in Baker Street". Perhaps the first documented romantic interpretation of the paring was in Rex Stoat's 1941 humorous essay "Watson Was a Woman" in which Stoat references the canon to claim Holmes and Watson act like an old married couple, with Watson as Holmes' wife. The first publicized portrayal of Holmes and Watson as a gay couple was The Sexual Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a 1971 erotic pulp novel by Larry Townsend.
Holmes/Watson was not especially common before the overwhelming popularity of BBC's Sherlock, but has long been present in fandom communities being included in Zines as early as 1990 (in Pæan to Priapus's first issue). Early fans often cited both Doyle's canon and the 1984 Granada TV adaptation as inspiration for fanworks. This iteration of Holmes/Watson was possibly first vidded by Mary Van Deusen in the early 90's.
Canon
The blog With Love, S.H. features an extensive archive of essays extrapolating the slashy subtext of each of the Holmes stories, as well as a timeline of the Holmes/Watson Relationship.
Pastiches
Because the characters have long been public domain, Holmes/Watson has been 'canonized' in a number of published pastiche novels. Some examples include My Dearest Holmes, A Murmuring of Bees, and Kissing Sherlock Holmes (a list of gay pastiches is available on goodreads)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes includes a plot in which Holmes pretends to be in a relationship with Watson to avoid a ballerina who wants to have a child with him. Director Billy Wilder later stated he originally intended for Holmes to be explicitly portrayed as a "repressed homosexual" in love with Watson, but ended up making the relationship ambiguous in the final film.
2009 Film
One of the major sub-plots of the 2009 film is that Holmes wants to stop Watson from getting married and from moving out of 221B. (Something about the homoerotic subtext, and wasn't there something else about RDJ insinuating that he played Holmes as gay?)
BBC TV Series
The Sherlock (BBC) TV series somewhat toys with the possibility of a romantic relationship between Sherlock and John; notably, there is a dinner conversation where Sherlock thinks John is coming on to him, so Sherlock gently explains that he is "married to his work"; a number of other characters assume that the two are a couple, such as Mrs. Hudson thinking that they might share a bedroom.
Fandom
While Sherlock Holmes fandom is one of the oldest, most venerable fandoms, and mainstream besides, Holmes/Watson is rare enough online that it continues to qualify as a Yuletide fandom.
There is an archive of Holmes/Watson slash called Sacrilege! (founded in 1998 and updated through 2013) which features a number of stories by various authors, including what ship manifesto refers to as the classic H/W slash story: Irene Adler's Absurdly Simple.
Fanfic
- The Seventeenth Step stories by Katie Forsythe (also on LJ)
Fanart
- Dr. Watson's Inner Monologue by elina-elsu and harrietkaarre: Comic art with a story.
- Art by Spacefall.
Doujinshi
- 221b (2010)
- 7% no Shohouyaku (2010)
- All the Days of My Life I Will Walk With You (2010)
- Another Honeymoon (2012)
- Are You Happy? (2012)
- Be My XXX! (2012)
- Back Wild (2010)
- Bittersweet Distance (2012)
- Bed Side (2010)
- Buddy Buddy Bird (2012)
- Case Closed (2010)
- Chocolate Voice. (2012)
- Chotto Ranbou Dakedo Jiman no Yome o Shoukai Shimasu. (2012)
- Cocaine' night (2010)
- Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same. (2012)
- Distance01 (2012)
- Escape Game (2012)
- Fighting Lovers Royal (2012)
- Find You (2012)
- Gendai Rhapsody (2011)
- Gladiolus (2012)
- Holmes Made Love (2010)
- Holmes Senka (2010)
- Holmes! (2010)
- Hon no Yama ni Sumu Akuma (2010)
- Honey Moon Destination (2012)
- Honey Pot (2012)
- Hotchpotch (2011)
- I Love Your Buns (2012)
- It Is Your Gentle Place (2010)
- It's My Lifework!! (2011)
- Ibara no Kagi (2011)
- John H. Watson wa Shizuka ni Kurashi Tai. (2012)
- Junai Supplement (2012)
- Just For You (2012)
- London Jungle (2012)
- A Love Game of Shadows (2012)
- Love Me or Leave Me (2012)
- Me protect you. (2012)
- Monochrome Logic (2012)
- Mr.OP (2010)
- Mr. Right (2012)
- Not us... you! (2010)
- Oh! Good Life, No Good Life! (2011)
- Ohiza ni Suwatte mo (2010)
- Ore no Tantei ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. (2011)
- Owakare Shinakucha Ikenai no (2012)
- Person Who Wait (2012)
- Reichenbach Kara Kaette Kitara, Joshu ga Honki o Dashite Kita. (2012)
- Rodeo Bishop (2012)
- S&H Casebook (2012)
- Sekai ga Urayamu Koi o Shiyoujanai ka (2011)
- Sneak A Look (2012)
- Storm is Coming (2012)
- Substitute (2013)
- Sugar!! (2011)
- Suichuu ni Hi o Motomu (2010)
- Take Me Out (2010)
- Táo zǒu de zhōng quǎn (2010)
- Te no Hira ni Tokeru Ondo (2011)
- The Adventure of the Concussoris Magnus (2009)
- The Sick Rose (2010) (contains Moriarty/Holmes)
- Usual Crime (2010)
- Wandering + (2010)
- Wandering the Road (2010)
- Water Lily (2012)
- We are just back in London (2012)
- Yakousei Garden (2012)
- Yǒngbù jiéshù de yuánwǔqǔ (2012)
- Yotaka no Saezui (2012)
- You Can't Catch Me!! (2012)
- You'd open the door. (2010)
- Your Love Is My Drug (2012)
- Yuruhuwa Intelli (2012)
- Zenbu Kimi no Sei. (2012)
Vids
H/W vids are multiplying now that the new Sherlock Holmes (2009) film is out; Robert Downey Jr. has that effect on people! The Sherlock (BBC) TV series already has a ton of vids out as well.
- Your Mistake by Diana Williams (Jeremy Brett version)
- Whole New Way by mresundance - A meta pairing vid with H/W in three incarnations: BBCverse, the 2009 film, and the original Sherlock Holmes by Doyle.
- more examples on the Sherlock/John page
Communities
- Holmes-Watson (DW)
- HolmesWatson09 (LJ)
- JohnSherlock (LJ) (BBC'verse)
General Sherlock Holmes slash:
- Cox & Co. (LJ and DW)
- 221b_Slash (LJ)