Chapter Text
Links
The fabulous middayxiansheng has provided a Chinese translation of this story (still in progress at this posting). You can find it here. (ID: VIPGUEST; passcode: 221dnet)
Also, three darling individuals created artwork:
I get giddy every time I think that my little story inspired their work.
Notes
Part of the fun of writing this piece was referencing and adapting fairy tales along the way. Some of those following on the Kink Meme, where this story originated, seemed to have as much fun looking for the hidden references as I did inserting them. For now, I will merely list the tales that I incorporated and that inspired me. I leave you to hunt them out for yourselves. (Special kudos to anyone that can find The Three Bears and/or The Emperor's New Clothes.) Updated: references made clear.
- The Darning Needle (chapter 4, allusion to case of Mr Jenkins the tailor, because it spoke to me of Sherlock's arrogance that held him apart from others and his failure to recognize his very lonely state)
- The Emperor's New Clothes (chapter 23, the security system, which wasn't really there after all, just Kent Moore laughing in the face of those that trusted him—a mighty stretch, I admit)
- The Enchanted Canary (chapter 12, the fire in Chef Gans' kitchen and the canary that caused it)
- Fair, Brown, & Trembling (chapter 14, end, combined with the canon SH story The Speckled Band)
- The Fire-bird (chapter 18, Ms Siddons and her apple pie; Sherlock takes a memento from this case, her phoenix earrings, as he did Irene Adler's picture in canon. Adler was a great beauty and beat Holmes; Siddons only missed beating him because he was unlike other men in not eating the pie, which made it all vaguely Adler-esque to me)
- Goldilocks & the Three Bears (chapters 4, 5, & 12, in which Mycroft's look is (too) hard, Mrs Hudson's is (too) soft, and John's is just right; devious and obtuse, I admit)
- Hansel & Gretel (referenced only in Greta Voigt's name)
- Jack & the Beanstalk (chapter 22, John's seed is mentioned as being 'the size and shape of a bean' and, well, it's a magic bean! I hope someone noticed that John 'prefers slightly acidic soil', which is how I imagine living with Sherlock must be if you're a plant.)
- The Little Match Girl (chapter 19, in which the little homeless girl Danika, whose name means morning star, is killed in a fire; in the story, the little match girl is told by her grandmother that, when a star falls down, a soul goes up to god)
- Little Red Riding Hood (chapter 18, the mentioned story of Derry Reid & Ulric Faolan—both her names mean red, his mean wolf)
- Pinocchio (John's wish is to be real so that he can be the things he is supposed to be and participate fully in life)
- Puss in Boots (chapter 6, the escaped cougar—who is owned by a cougar—put into booties when stolen; Carabas is the name Puss in Boots gave to his master)
- The Red Shoes (chapter 11, DeRodesko means The Red Shoes in Danish, squished together to create a last name; I swear I had a reason for using those addresses, but it escapes me after all this time. And yes, John met Clara en route.)
- Rumplestilskin (chapter 8, the 'enigmatic, temperamental dwarf' that stole a baby)
- The Shoemaker & the Elves (chapter 7, in which John helps with the housework, because I have always wanted housekeeping elves of my own!)
- The Teapot (chapter 22, the teapot in the crime scene photos, not John's accidental breaking of the kettle. The teapot is proud and thinks of what it has that others don't and ignores its defects as others will talk of those; that sounded like Sherlock and his situation to me. And later, when the broken teapot is repurposed as a planter, it thinks, 'And the bulb lay in the earth, inside of me, and it became my heart, my living heart, a thing I never had before.' I think that part explains itself.)
- The Three Little Pigs (chapter 15, the case brought by Mycroft)
- Thumbelina (the entire story; the person from the plant)
During my research, I took an especial interest in the life of Hans Christian Andersen. Several references are made to his life, in particular his loves, as this story was about love.
- Greta Voigt is surnamed for Riborg Voigt, one of Anderson's unrequited loves, perhaps the most dear, as he held a letter from her at his death, many years after falling in love with her
- Harald Scharff of the Royal Danish Ballet was one of Andersen's many infatuations, referenced in chapter 7
I hope you enjoyed reading about our heroes and their cruel villain as much as I enjoyed the writing. Again, thank you, and I wish you all your own fairy tale endings and happily ever afters.