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I don't think we're supposed to declare a winner of Holmestice but holy hell, this is the winner of Holmestice: Spider stories by rachelindeed.
It's a modern-day London-based re-telling of Sherlock Holmes that is not in any way related to the BBC version, which is a very excellent thing. The writer was inspired by fans discussing a new 'verse they call 221B Baker Towers, where Sherlock is a British Black man "living case to case on a council estate in a dodgy area of London."
In "Spider Stories," John Watson is Jan Hamid, a teenaged immigrant to the UK from Afghanistan, who meets the equally teenaged Sherlock Holmes, and they go from there. And that Jan's relationship with the English language is a key part of the story is just *chef's kiss*. So well-written, so engaging. I love Jan as much as I have loved all the John Watsons before him.
It's a modern-day London-based re-telling of Sherlock Holmes that is not in any way related to the BBC version, which is a very excellent thing. The writer was inspired by fans discussing a new 'verse they call 221B Baker Towers, where Sherlock is a British Black man "living case to case on a council estate in a dodgy area of London."
In "Spider Stories," John Watson is Jan Hamid, a teenaged immigrant to the UK from Afghanistan, who meets the equally teenaged Sherlock Holmes, and they go from there. And that Jan's relationship with the English language is a key part of the story is just *chef's kiss*. So well-written, so engaging. I love Jan as much as I have loved all the John Watsons before him.
Oi, this has gotten a bit grim, sorry. Look sharp, though, this is where the lights come on.
Meeting Sherlock Holmes is absolutely worth doing, yeah? Recommend it to anyone. Soundest bloke I ever knew, best and wisest. Plus the lad's hilarious.