Thank you for reading & leaving a comment. And such a compliment! Thank you.
Yes, this part of domesticity was certainly not a man's world. No real, "proper" man would and could do it. It was simply not done. It was very important for me to highlight the limits of Victorian Times - limits that did not end in the very personal space AND was for men and women.
Sometimes, I get the impression from fan fiction that Victoriana is only restrictive towards women and queer people (and outsiders in society in general). Or, you know, the idea that at least behind closed doors, you can be 'yourself'. Or, in case of Holmes & Watson, at least, in retirement because no-one would know/care what two men were up to in Sussex.
Sadly, all of this isn't true.
That was one of the key elements of "Ingredients of Love": to highlight the restriction of the times. And that you can illustrate it by something so 'simple' as baking a 'common' seed cake in one's own kitchen.
To sum it up: "Ingredients of Love" only appears so charming because Watson is a hopeless romantic (that's why the story explicitly stats this at the ending). And because Holmes is a good man who loves his Watson very much and sometimes bends the 'rules'.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-11-01 06:49 am (UTC)Yes, this part of domesticity was certainly not a man's world. No real, "proper" man would and could do it. It was simply not done. It was very important for me to highlight the limits of Victorian Times - limits that did not end in the very personal space AND was for men and women.
Sometimes, I get the impression from fan fiction that Victoriana is only restrictive towards women and queer people (and outsiders in society in general). Or, you know, the idea that at least behind closed doors, you can be 'yourself'. Or, in case of Holmes & Watson, at least, in retirement because no-one would know/care what two men were up to in Sussex.
Sadly, all of this isn't true.
That was one of the key elements of "Ingredients of Love": to highlight the restriction of the times. And that you can illustrate it by something so 'simple' as baking a 'common' seed cake in one's own kitchen.
To sum it up: "Ingredients of Love" only appears so charming because Watson is a hopeless romantic (that's why the story explicitly stats this at the ending). And because Holmes is a good man who loves his Watson very much and sometimes bends the 'rules'.