Fic Rec: The Mystery of Ill Opinions

[chapbook.livejournal.com]

Title: The Mystery of Ill Opinions
Author: mundungus42
Pairing: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade (background)
Length: 29,044
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC, Hollow Crown RPF
Author's summary: Two Elizabethan actors dream of leaving women's roles behind, and Master Sherlock Holmes agrees to help them find them a playwright to write them roles to rival Marlowe's Tamburlaine. But strange things are afoot in the Holmes household, and Sherlock and John must accomplish this feat while discovering who wants to kill Sherlock and why.

Reccer's comments: Fans of Elizabethan drama and Shakespeare, rejoice! For here you shall find a most delightful concoction, one to rival the plays presented in the Curtain and the Rose. mundungus42 creates a tour de force: mixing the history and drama of Elizabethan England and skillfully bringing into it many of the characters we love so well. The dialogue is intelligible to 21st-century readers and shines with wit throughout (keep your eye out for many references to Shakespeare's plays). Sherlock, John, Shakespeare, and Sally especially stand out for me, not least because of the terrific banter that sparks between them.

The settings and the culture of the period are treated with equal care. I clearly felt that this was a world with rather different values and beliefs than our own; yet it was not so foreign that the motivations and emotions of the main characters were obscured. If you enjoy AUs, history, or the theatre, I strongly suspect you will be satisfied by the richness of the repast spread before you.

Excerpt: John followed Master Sherlock up a creaky wooden staircase to a store-room, which held all manner of props and pieces of scenery. To John's surprise, the gatherer who had given him a free ticket had positioned himself in the store-room beside the heavy curtain that separated the store-room from the theatre.

“Master Sherlock!” he exclaimed, giving an exaggerated bow. “How delightful to see you again for the Lyly! Pray, was it Mister Burbage's Phao that enticed you to our Great O once more, or perhaps Mister Kempe as Cupid?”

“Neither,” said Master Sherlock shortly.

“Oh?” asked the gatherer, with badly feigned innocence. “Was it perhaps Mister Hoddleston as Venus or Mister Wishart as Sapho?”

John managed to turn a guffaw into a cough, but Master Sherlock stiffened.

“If you really wish to make a career of acting in order to support your wife and children and pay the debt you owe for your house in Stratford,” he said coldly, “you would do well not to practice your base humour on your betters, particularly those who patronise your troupe. And if you cannot control your idle tongue, perhaps you should return to the glove making trade your father tried to knock into your thick skull.”

If Master Sherlock's verbal assault struck anywhere near the truth, the gatherer made no sign of it as he bowed. “Base humour is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. Shall I send up an orange seller for your amusement?” he asked John.

John glanced at Sherlock's pursed lips and shook his head. “We would prefer to be left alone.”

The gatherer eyed John with new interest. “Oh, would we?”

“Hang you, you brazen-faced churl!” exclaimed Master Sherlock as he swept past the impertinent fellow.

The gatherer met John's eye challengingly. He had intelligent hazel eyes and sported a pointed beard that reminded John of Lord Holmes's, but John was in no mood for games. He seized the gatherer by the doublet and slammed him against the store-room's wall.

“You've had your fun,” said John in a low voice. “But it's over now. If I see you so much as raise an eyebrow in my master's direction, by God's bones, you're going to find it difficult to speak your lines through a broken jaw. Am I understood?”

“You're made of sterner stuff than his last minder,” he said approvingly. “Let us all hope that your fortitude will last the next three hours.”

Reccers wanted for February

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Hi, all! We still have some slots open for February reccers. It's easy, it's fun, and we're always interested in a wide range of opinions. Recs for new and older fic, vids, art, podfic, and meta, for any version of Sherlock Holmes. We only ask for between four and twelve recs for the month -- seen anything interesting coming out of the new season of Sherlock? Of the current season of Elementary? Of the gold standard, Doyle's original canon? Come, tell us about it. Sign up here! 

Info and Guidelines here. Please contact one of the mods with any questions.

Meta Rec: Difference and the Critical Possibilities of Sherlock

[chapbook.livejournal.com]

Title: Difference and the Critical Possibilities of Sherlock
Author: abrae
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2,263
Rating: NR (G)
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: An exploration of Sherlock's potential critique of normative masculinity.

Reccer's comments: For those of you put off by Dr. John Watson in S3, this outstanding, enlightening meta is especially for you. Abrae was puzzled and frustrated by John's behavior and dialogue and decided to trace John's progression through all three seasons, coming up with answers that fit what we see and hear of this well-loved character. In short, John Watson of S3 is the product of: 1) his actions and experiences in S1 and S2 (what he does and says in S3 does not come out of the blue) and 2) what John (vs. the viewer) is permitted to see of Sherlock's emotions and motivations, partly the result of switching the POV character from John (S1, S2) to Sherlock (S3). Throughout Abrae uncovers John and Sherlock's contrasting and evolving attitudes towards difference in themselves and others, concluding that John's major challenge in S4 will be to accept difference in himself and Sherlock. This is something he must do before he can truly see Sherlock as a complex, flawed human being with the capacity to love, someone who refuses to be limited by John's determination to place everyone into neat, stereotyped categories.

Abrae argues convincingly, supporting her claims with relevant evidence from all three seasons. She ably gives voice to my own concerns regarding John in the first two seasons, flaws which, paradoxically, make him much more human and potentially even more likeable (if he can even partly overcome them!) than the unerringly emotionally perceptive BAMF of fanon.

Excerpt: John is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he has a (nascent) ability to not just see, but appreciate, people for who they are; on the other, it’s tightly constrained by the way he - and men like him - understand the world and their role in it, and this is where I situate the potential critique of normative masculinity that Sherlock has to offer. Before anything else, John is a white, cisgendered, ostensibly heterosexual, neurotypical man in present-day England. He is “Everyman,” for a certain definition of “every,” and as such his life is defined both by certain self-perceived responsibilities and certain privileges. He’s a soldier and a breadwinner - he fights, he destroys, he upholds. He’s a man in search of a woman, not because he seems to have any great chemistry with them (Sarah, even more than Mary, comes closest - at least we witness that early spark of interest), but because that’s part of what defines masculinity - as John sees it and society defines it. John identifies himself (and others) through neat labels: soldier, doctor, not-gay, colleague, boyfriend, husband; wife, genius, machine. As relentlessly as Sherlock categorizes information, John categorizes people, and in such a way as to leave little room for difference - in others, but most viciously in himself.

Note: Very recently abrae has turned this into a series, with the remaining portions expanding upon this essay, which should be treated as a summary of her findings.

Fancomic Rec: As Smoke Clears

[chapbook.livejournal.com]

Title: As Smoke Clears
Artist: QueenStardust
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 7 pages
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: I decided to share the comic I did for the Sherlock Fanbook “I will burn the Art out of you”. This is page one, and I will upload a new page every couple of days. There are just seven pages in total, so you don´t have to wait very long :D
Obviously inspired by Sanami Matoh’s Manga “Fake“, Act 11.

Reccer's comments: Sneaking in this lovely short fancomic. I am really fond of QueenStardust's sharp lineart, framing, and character designs. I also happen to have a soft spot for Sherlock rescuing John. :)