Barometer

[rabidsamfan]

It has been twenty years since he served his country, but still he holds himself like the soldier he was then, and his head turns to the sound of drums, or bugles, as if listening for commands he no longer has to follow. Twenty years since Maiwand, and still he dreams of it at night, and calls to the men he could not save. And when the weather seeks to turn from summer heat to autumn rains his left arm tells me so, coming to rest awkwardly in the never forgotten outline of the sling which held it long ago.

Comments

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do love this. Puts me in mind of songs like 'And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda.'

You know? I wasn't on active duty for long, but when I hear the National Anthem or 'Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder' or even 'Lord, Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly,' I almost reflexively snap to attention, and you capture that sort of response beautifully here.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I still come to attention for the National Anthem too -- and turn and go silent. And I was only in the Guard!

The arm thing came about because I was watching the BBC Hound of the Baskervilles. I'm iffy on the way they played Holmes, but the guy who played Watson did some lovely stuff with the role, including protecting his left arm in a way that would have been subtle if I weren't thinking about it. (And he's young, although not as cute as the Russian Watson...)

I am such a Watson fangirl...

[dreamflower]

Poor Watson! I really like seeing this observation. Holmes would know just exactly what was on his friend's mind, yet never say a word aloud.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

*nod* And Watson would never think it worth mentioning. Thanks!

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Woobie Watson!

I love the beginning of "Cardboard Box" where Holmes deduces Watson's train of thought about how ridiculous war is as a way of resolving difficulties.

And, yeah, DUDE, Ian Harte's Watson is freakin' brilliant in "Hound." A much better version than the Granada one -- may Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke forgive me.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Having grown up with the Nigel Bruce heritage to overcome I can appreciate any Watson who can hold his own. And I adore Vitaliy Solomin's take on the character too. But IH brings to Watson some of the elements that I always feel get neglected (including the temper!) and I absolutely adore the way he doesn't forget that Watson is a man of action too.

Brett and Hardwicke capture the more mature partnership, though, which can be awfully nice. (And if you want to see a wonderful subtle undoing of Nigel Bruce, watch "Murder by Decree" sometime and see what James Mason did to the role.)

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

That's simply perfect.

*happy sigh*

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[mariole.livejournal.com]

Powerful image.

[pebbles66.livejournal.com]

This is probably my favorite of this series of drabbles. How I love Watson. I remember when the Jeremy Brett/Edward Hardwicke episodes were being shown on our local PBS station, probably 10 years ago. I always made it a point to never miss an episode, and taped several of them. I don't know what ever became of those tapes, now that I think about it. I was so sad when Jeremy Brett died, and the series ended. And I, too, used to stay up till the wee hours of the morning watching the old Nigel Bruce/Basil Rathbone movies on late night tv. Though Nigel Bruce never fit my perceptions of Watson. I haven't seen some of the other films you reference, so I'll have to look for them.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Ahh.... it's great writing a really observant character sometimes, isn't it? Hard sometimes, if you're not as observant or as prone to figuring things out from it (<--me) but you can stay in a tight character POV and put in all the neat telling details, and they mean more because of the watcher.