Quiet Desperation

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An Intercontinuity Crossover between Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu Mythos, "Quiet Desperation" was inspired by Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" and tells the other side of that story.

Dr. Watson has found himself trapped in a mind-fraying hell. After a terrifying ordeal in Afghanistan, he was honourably discharged from service as a surgeon in Albion's army, only to be assigned as a physician for a member of Albion's Royal family. But just as he is on the brink of despair, he is found by a man who offers him hope for salvation - not only for himself, but perhaps all of humanity. A man named Sherlock Holmes.

"Quiet Desperation" is currently a work in progress, and can be found here.

Tropes used in Quiet Desperation include:

• Artificial Human: The hulking flesh golems called Adams, invented a hundred years previous by some German scientist.
• Bavarian Fire Drill: Watson's initial rescue.
• Blessed with Suck: Holmes appears to be in permanent mental overdrive. While this makes him a great tactician and an excellent improvisationist, it keeps him from sleeping at night.
• Cosmic Horror Story
• Eldritch Abomination: A number of these rule the world.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Watson has come close twice.
• Half-Human Hybrid: A number of demographics, for differing reasons:
  • The royal families, being descended from Elder Gods and their respective consorts.
  • People exhibiting Innsmouth Syndrome.
  • Other minor characters described as "base hybrids", which just denotes crossbreeding with something inhuman somewhere in their family tree.
• He Who Fights Monsters
• The Insomniac: Holmes literally can't turn off his brain at night.
• Madness Mantra: "I can't make it stop I can't make it stop I can't make it stop..."
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Vanguard, mentioned in passing as performing daily vivisections on living and conscious subjects in order to unlock the secrets of life and death.
• Room Full of Crazy: Watson finds piles and piles of notes, calculations, and hand-drawn blueprints left by Holmes after his first night away from Lord William's custody.
• Sherlock Scan: Obviously, though in this world Watson has a more plausible reason to believe Holmes' abilities are those of a sorcerer. He's still wrong.
• Shock Collar: These keep the Adams (see above) in line.
• Spell Book: Watson kept detailed notes on the sorcerous rituals he was forced to attend.
• Things Man Was Not Meant to Know
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: In the course of Watson's duties as a Royal physician, he has to study a book of Elder anatomy that, upon his first reading, caused him to have a brief mental breakdown.
• Villain Protagonist
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: The Tindalos Hounds.