Absurdly Simple
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| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Absurdly Simple |
| Author(s): | Irene Adler (PlaidAdder) |
| Date(s): | mid-1990s |
| Length: | 12,470 words |
| Genre(s): | Slash |
| Fandom(s): | Sherlock Holmes (tagged as both books and Granada series) |
| Relationship(s): | Holmes/Watson |
| External Links: | Sacrilege! (archive link) AO3 |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Absurdly Simple by Irene Adler (later known as PlaidAdder) is a Sherlock Holmes Holmes/Watson fic. The story involves blackmail and Holmes being unwilling to share information on the case with Watson, which leads Watson to find out what he can on his own. It is often considered a fandom classic for this pairing, and one of the earliest Holmes/Watson slash stories on the web.
Summary
Summary provided by the author on Sacrilege!:
Summary provided by the author on AO3:
This was archived at Sacrilege! sometime in the mid-1990s. At the time I was using "Irene Adler" as my pseudonym for the Holmes fiction. Sacrilege! is, alas, defunct; so I am reposting those stories here.
The year after the Return, Holmes is working hard on a blackmail case and won't tell Watson who the client is. Watson does a little digging, and learns a lot of things that he really should have known already. The rest is history.
Note on Sacrilege!
Note by the site moderator on Sacrilege!:
Irene Adler's classic tale, featuring humour, angst, and drama, has inspired many of us H/W slashers. Here is the author's succinct intro
Author's notes
The author's notes on Ao3:
I am older than dirt, and so is this story. It was originally circulated under the title "Watson, Come Here, I Want You," but when it went up at Sacrilege! I dumped that title and named it "Absurdly Simple." As far as I know it's one of the first H/W stories to enter what we old-timers called the World Wide Web. It is so old that when it was first written, there was no such thing as Twitter, tumblr, or Facebook. "Social media" existed only in the form of websites, listservs, and usenet groups. I don't even think people were 'blogging' yet. It has been translated into Chinese--you can find the link at http://www.hwslash.net/content/absurdly.html--and also, I think, Russian.
At one point the story had been translated in to Chinese, but unfortunately those pages were not saved by the Wayback Machine.
Reactions and Reviews
On Sacrilege!, you can find "Absurdly Simple", generally thought of as the quintessential H/W fic[1]
A case is making Holmes increasingly despondant, but he refuses to tell Watson any of the details, because the client (*cough*) wants it kept secret. When the blackmailer comes to the apartment, however, it becomes increasingly clear that something isn't right about the whole situation and soon Watson finds himself following Holmes to one of the darkest sections of London... I've recently read a bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories and this one might very well be the best of them all. The hint of mystery is interesting, the OC very likeable, and the characterization of Holmes and Watson are right on the mark. The best part of the story, however, is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Too often (in fanfic and in canon), it's hard to understand why Holmes bothers with Watson and why Watson puts up with Holmes, but in Absurdly Simple, you can clearly see just how these two disparate personalities mesh into one perfect whole. Simply wonderful.[2]
Yes, the author is the same Plaid Adder who wrote several chapters of the Sith Academy saga, and she makes the transition from “A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away” to gaslit London without batting an eye. Her account of a particularly problematic case of blackmail incorporates Canonical references, historical facts, and a brilliant joke involving Tennyson’s In Memoriam. She even manages to use the line quoted at the head of this recommendation in a serious context. Watson is, perhaps, a bit more dense than is believable at the beginning of the case, but once he gets—or rather, is led to—a clue he rises to the occasion. This is a lovely story with a great balance of heartache and happiness.[3]
Yay for blackmail! Also includes one of my favorite versions of Mrs. Hudson: the knowing one. (first time; angst; hiring prostitutes; blackmail!) [6]
H/W, Holmes/OMC. I really liked these fics, they are a wonderful take on the blackmail plot device.[7]
Holmes has a “client” who is being blackmailed under the Offences Against the Person Act (this topic can be stressful but this one isn’t so bad, and the dialogue is so true to the way they speak in canon, and the final sentence when Holmes reveals it is such a slammer like)[8]
A nice voice and an involving story lead to some H/W first-time events--as we would all hope. Also one of the first (and best) H/W slash mysteries to hit the Internet.[9]
References
- ^ "Holmes/Watson (Sherlock Holmes) at ship_manifesto, Dec 1, 2004". Archived from the original on 2015-11-09.
- ^ "Rec by jane_elliot on epic_recs, March 4, 2009". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "Rec by laughingacademy at crack_van, Oct 08, 2004". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "Multifandom fanfiction recommendations, at Espresso Recommendations". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "Our very first round-up! at holmesian_recs, Feb 12, 2010". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "Holmes/Watson Rec List, by ivyelevast, August 8, 2010". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "Holmes/Watson rec list, by terra_lilly, Feb 8, 2010". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "(SAME) ok, ACD canon johnlock fics, by ofcowardiceandkings, June 5, 2015 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2025-02-09.
- ^ "HOLMES/WATSON SLASH LINKS". Archived from the original on 2025-01-14.