Fic Rec: The Scottish Play

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Title: The Scottish Play
Author: impulsereader
Pairing: Gen (with a touch of pretend John/Sherlock and some Mycroft/Anthea)
Length: 40,000 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: It turns out that Sherlock’s Uncle Rocky lives on a rambling estate (John refuses to call The House a castle, he really does) in the Chilterns. Each year, all Holmes relations (close, distant, and honorary) are free to join the gathering which takes place there for a fortnight over the Christmas holiday. As Sherlock explains to John, “Various activities are undertaken; hunting, nature walks, recitations and chamber music in the evenings, there will be Shakespeare performed, the children will be given tuition in painting and chess among other things, we will all Dress For Dinner each evening. It will all be terribly boring and tedious, but I have been threatened in the severest of terms if I do not present myself and pass the interminably dull time along with everyone else.” Of course, nothing is ever that simple (or dull) when the boys are on the scene. Soon Sherlock is having a bit of a breakdown, John is posing shirtless, they end up with a case involving a missing horse, Sherlock tutors the kiddies in science, and John is about to discover exactly how seriously the Holmes clan takes their Shakespeare.
Reccer's comments: Read this for the mad circus that is a gathering of the extended Holmes clan. The banter is hilarious, John and Anthea's take on pheasant-hunting is not to be missed, and there are pitch-perfect moments of angst and warmth between John and Sherlock that I treasured. The style is interesting, a narrative with touches of stage direction and characterization that echo the play in question. And if you, like me, read enough Sherlock to react to 'Enter a Murtherer' with a giddy, 'Oh, that's what this story needs right about now, a good murder!' ... you've come to the right place.