Sherlock's shippiness and Elementary's platonicness: yes. Even as I enjoyed the fuck out of Holmes' proposal that Holmes, Watson, and the phrenology-head are an OT3. :-D
Oh, god, "A Study in Scarlet" is horrid, ugh. (The Utah section ARGH ARGH.) And it's not much fun on the shipping front, either. Just all around: ugh.
The Sign of Four, the second novel, on the other hand, is as shippy as all hell: it covers the case during which Watson meets his fiancee, and all the Holmes/Watson pining is hard to overlook. However, warning for no-holds-barred Victorian orientalism: there was a chapter near the end that I just flat-out skipped, because I really did not need to hear the backstory of the Indian treasure.
Holmes-worship: The Three Garridebs and The Devil's Root both have "it was worth almost dying to know that you care for me" moments. The Dying Detective is perhaps the most astonishing example in canon of Watson being COMPLETELY UNABLE TO DRAW A LINE AT ALL, MY GOD. The three story sequence, The Final Problem, The Empty House, and The Norwood Builder are also rather marked in their "I have no existence other than to follow you" on Watson's part. (Some may argue that the first two stories of that sequence qualify as extenuating circumstances, but even within those first two, there are parts that make me go "Really, Watson? Really?" And then when I reach that early paragraph of Norwood Builder -- you'll know it when you see it -- my eyebrow goes straight to my hairline: extenuating circumstances, my foot.)
In general, I tend to read the stories for the Holmes/Watson shippiness and wtferies, and find them very satisfying on that front. The plotty stuff, on the other hand, meh, I mostly skim that. ;-)
My dear Watson, I owe you a thousand apologies!
Oh, god, "A Study in Scarlet" is horrid, ugh. (The Utah section ARGH ARGH.) And it's not much fun on the shipping front, either. Just all around: ugh.
The Sign of Four, the second novel, on the other hand, is as shippy as all hell: it covers the case during which Watson meets his fiancee, and all the Holmes/Watson pining is hard to overlook. However, warning for no-holds-barred Victorian orientalism: there was a chapter near the end that I just flat-out skipped, because I really did not need to hear the backstory of the Indian treasure.
Holmes-worship: The Three Garridebs and The Devil's Root both have "it was worth almost dying to know that you care for me" moments. The Dying Detective is perhaps the most astonishing example in canon of Watson being COMPLETELY UNABLE TO DRAW A LINE AT ALL, MY GOD. The three story sequence, The Final Problem, The Empty House, and The Norwood Builder are also rather marked in their "I have no existence other than to follow you" on Watson's part. (Some may argue that the first two stories of that sequence qualify as extenuating circumstances, but even within those first two, there are parts that make me go "Really, Watson? Really?" And then when I reach that early paragraph of Norwood Builder -- you'll know it when you see it -- my eyebrow goes straight to my hairline: extenuating circumstances, my foot.)
In general, I tend to read the stories for the Holmes/Watson shippiness and wtferies, and find them very satisfying on that front. The plotty stuff, on the other hand, meh, I mostly skim that. ;-)