BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Reading challenge: Unexpected Tags

Vhanja · July 9, 2015 6:25 pm

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's one of the things I love about this story - so much of it is gray. There is actually very little that is black and white.

As for your story I'm about to start chapter 10. Last night while reading I was going:

"Ok, just gotta finish this chapter, then go to sleep. OMG, is that how it ends, I can't finish now!"

And after a few of those intense chapter came a moment that touched me so much that I literally got tears in my eyes. That rarely happens.

I will say, I still don't like the tag itself. And I really, REALLY do not like the idea of Mpreg, just the very mention of it makes my stomach lurch. However, I do love the story. It's really good, and I'm glad I got the rec and soldiered through my first hesitations, because it's really great.

And so far I can say that even though, as mentioned, A/B/O itself is not my cup of tea - and still isn't - it will probably not be an automatic no for me in the future, if the other aspects of a fic sounds good. So not halfway into this story, I've managed to go from a 110 % shutdown and negative view on the tag to being at least open to read another story with it, if the story is good.

nakahara · July 9, 2015 6:44 pm

You´ve chosen some excellent fics for reading. Both "Gilded Cage" and "Collared" are fantastic.

Lilythiell · July 9, 2015 7:12 pm

What bothers me is that sometimes you can forget that Collared is about slavery...
I mean, of course, it is great to be able to focus on the case and forget about slavery (that was a bit callous...), but given the topic at hand it shouldn't be happening.

I'm glad that you wouldn't be adverse to reading another one -provided that it is good (well, more than good, I'd wager ).
And well. Crying. A story well written can do that to you.

I for one, am really happy for this challenge, enables us to push back boundaries we've put up. And that's good. Thank you.

Last edited by Lilythiell (July 9, 2015 7:18 pm)

Vhanja · July 9, 2015 9:21 pm

Oh my God, I didn't see THAT coming!

This fic keeps getting better and better..

Lilythiell · July 9, 2015 10:19 pm

What chapter are you on?

As for me, I'm about to start reading chapter 11 (untertaining guests) and, while slavery was dimmed due to ...er, distractions, it is now coming back full force, and I don't quite know how to think of it. I hope all ends well.

Vhanja · July 9, 2015 10:25 pm

I've kept reading after last post, so now I'm in the middle of chapter 13. Wow, this fic has gone way beyond my wildest expectations. Although I'm not sure I really had any to begin with.

I will have to reread Collared after this as well.

Lilythiell · July 9, 2015 10:59 pm

Oh, I've one fic to rec for "crossovers" - it's a Harry Potter/Sherlock crossover. It was a nice read. Probably not the best under the "crossover" tag, but quite high up I imagine. I had a very nice time reading it.
I hope you'refamiliar with the universe of Harry Potter -I don't think I have read crossovers other than with this 'verse.
Here goes the author's description :
"This series will have one fic per Sherlock episode, with series one being set in John's 6th year (and Sherlock's 5th) and series two being set in John's 7th and final year at Hogwarts. Fics will have similar (but nowhere near identical) plots to the actual BBC Sherlock episodes, with most locations being replaced with HP-universe settings. This series is set well after the Second Wizarding War and involves next to none of the HP characters, instead using Sherlock characters and the occasional minor OC."
You can find it here : http://archiveofourown.org/works/378705/chapters/618076
The series is not finished, the author has all but abandoned it (for now?) because they didn't like series 3 at all and got put off BBC Sherlock. The good thing is that most of the series is complete, there are two works that need completing. Having said that, you can perfectly read the first "episode" and decide whether you like it or not. Baby steps?

Unless ...Oh, right. Yes. There's an excellent one which, though not exactly a crossover, has all the elements of Silence of The Lambs (or was it Red Dragon?). But you'd have to be comfortable with that universe. Tell you what, I'll put the link up for both those fics and let you decide.
Ah. Incomplete. 6 chapters out of 8. Shall I put it here anyway?
It's The Loss Of Flesh and Soul, by deusexmycroft and you can find it here : http://archiveofourown.org/works/387339/chapters/634699
Summary goes like this : "Five years after John Watson puts the murderous Sherlock Holmes behind bars, a vicious copycat killer emerges. A reluctant John is pulled out of retirement to seek the expertise of the only man who can help, a man who has developed an unsettling obsession with John himself."

I profoundly apologise for the lack of incomplete recommendations, maybe someone could find better ones?

Lilythiell · July 9, 2015 11:33 pm

Oh my God, I actually like this fic very, very much.
(and onto the last chapter. Something tells me I'll read that story several times)

Edit
So, I've finished reading. I'll just say that the first chapters were very uncomfortable (yes, I know, I repeat myself), but you get quite caught up in everything else as the story goes on, and by the time it unfolds...I admit I was forcing myself not to skip passages because I wanted to know what happens next. God, I'm a five-year-old. And I was very, very pleasantly surprised by the fic, it was an excellent rec, Vhanja! Thank you!

Last edited by Lilythiell (July 9, 2015 11:43 pm)

Vhanja · July 10, 2015 1:35 am

Lilythiell wrote:
Oh my God, I actually like this fic very, very much.
(and onto the last chapter. Something tells me I'll read that story several times)

Edit
So, I've finished reading. I'll just say that the first chapters were very uncomfortable (yes, I know, I repeat myself), but you get quite caught up in everything else as the story goes on, and by the time it unfolds...I admit I was forcing myself not to skip passages because I wanted to know what happens next. God, I'm a five-year-old. And I was very, very pleasantly surprised by the fic, it was an excellent rec, Vhanja! Thank you!

I'm so glad you liked it! :D

Yeah, parts of it are a difficult read, it sot of should be, I think. But it did take me by surprise and I found it overall to be very good. And bring up quite a few interesting points about activism and idealism in general.

ukaunz · July 10, 2015 2:55 am

Well, I've been lurking in this thread thinking... will I join in? A few of the tags people have suggested really put me off too, I couldn't think of anything more repulsive than omegaverse or slavery tags... But now that both Vhanja and Lilythiell have raved about the stories they read/are reading, maybe I will give them a go. So, challenge accepted? Put me down for slavery and A/B/O, reading "Collared" and "The Gilded Cage". Unfortunately I haven't got any fics I can personally recommend for others yet, but I did read all the supernatural AU's by AO3 writer GoldenUsagi that Kittyhawk recommended, and they were great, so I'd second those

As for Lilythiell's challenge to find a sportlock fic; well, I found this one, I haven't read it yet but a brief scan of the first two chapters gives the impression that it's well written, at least.
Uphill (75990 words) by scullyseviltwin
Chapters: 17/17 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, 2014 Winter Olympics, Olympics
Summary: Sherlock Holmes is striving for gold in this, his fourth and final Olympics as a downhill Alpine racer.

Last edited by ukaunz (July 10, 2015 3:07 am)

Lilythiell · July 10, 2015 2:57 am

Thanks, ukaunz! I'll check that fic later on.
Glad you've accepted to challenge yourself!

ukaunz · July 10, 2015 7:18 am

I've started reading "Collared", and apart from the uneasy feeling I have going into this slavery fic, it's really bugging me how many typos and errors there are!

Not that I'm trying to find excuses not to read on... But it's not helping me get into the story.

Last edited by ukaunz (July 10, 2015 7:26 am)

ukaunz · July 11, 2015 12:35 am

God, I've never been more conflicted while reading a fanfic ("Collared"). I feel constantly sick and sad reading this. It's such a repugnant situation to put our heroes in. I'm finding Sherlock quite unlikeable, and I hate seeing John like this. However, I admit I'm hooked and will read it to the end (I'm up to chapter 9). In fact I may be getting an inkling as to where this fic is taking me... And I hope I'm right, and that it will be worth all the feels in the end.

Vhanja · July 11, 2015 5:52 am

It's interesting that you find Sherlock quite unlikeable, as I did the opposite. Considering the AU-world they live in, I found Sherlock to be quite in character.

I'm glad you got passed the errors, though. I know what you mean, I easily fall out of the story myself if I notice too many errors. Didn't notice many in this fic, though. Guess that might the good thing about not having English as your first language. ;)

And glad you're hooked! :D

I'm still hooked on "A Guilded Cage" myself. At chapter 20 now. I've had so much plans and stuff to do this week, I haven't had a chance to just spend all day reading, so it's going a bit slow. But I'm reading a few chapters every day when I can, and will give a proper review once I'm done.

Yitzock · July 11, 2015 6:05 pm

You're way ahead of me, Vhanja! I'm still only onf chapter 5, but I am enjoying it so far, as I am pleasntly surprised. I'm saving what I have to say for when I'm finished, so that's all I will say for now.

ukaunz · July 12, 2015 7:43 am

I finished Collared last night. Wow. What incredible, believable world-building; it's going to take me a while to shake these versions of Sherlock, John and Mycroft out of my head. Disturbing.

First I have to get this off my chest again. The errors! Words missing, extra words, incorrect words, misuse of apostrophes... Very frustrating, as it was otherwise very well written. I don't know why the author didn't get it beta'd and Brit-picked (there were a couple of minor Americanisms). It was really distracting for me throughout the whole fic.

Apart from my irritation with the typos, I had similar feelings reading Collared as to watching a movie like 12 Years a Slave - I can't say it was enjoyable. It was ugly and uncomfortable and confronting, but it is a very thought-provoking piece of writing, not gratuitous or superficial in its treatment of the theme at all. The writer intelligently thought through and explored all the shades of grey in the subjects of slavery and freedom (no pun intended, I haven't even read that book).

I'm going to put the next bit in spoiler tags...

As for finding Sherlock unlikeable, at least for the first half of the story (I grew to like him a little bit more as it went on); perhaps this was more of a reaction to the AU than to the way his character was portrayed. However judging by the comments on AO3, I'm not the only person to feel that way about Sherlock in this fic. He was in character, but to the extreme - way too cold and cruel to John. I felt very emotional while reading this, and it was quite hard for me to understand how John could start falling in love with his Master, no matter how brilliant a man he was. I could only put it down to the collar's effect and Stockholm Syndrome, and his isolation and loneliness, and therefore not real love. The sex scene was... twisted. I know both of the characters were under duress, not just John, and the collar was messing with his brain. They both achieved sexual pleasure but how was any of it romantic? Even after I started to perceive the Holmes' secret agenda, I just couldn't accept that John would love Sherlock while being used that way; he doesn't find out the truth until the very end, after all. How can he not hate Sherlock for everything that was done to him? I think John would be a very damaged person, after the suicide attempt and the truth coming out. I can't really imagine them being so domestically happy so quickly, the way it happens in the story. It's very psychologically messy.

Despite this, I'm okay with the way it turned out in the end. Not a perfectly happy ending, with John still technically enslaved, but at least it was clear that Sherlock was going to treat him as an equal, which I guess is the best that could be hoped for within such a dystopian AU.

I probably sound like I'm being really critical of this fic, but I actually thought it was brilliant and wholeheartedly recommend it to others. It's one of the best fanfics I've read. I'm glad I read it, and I may even read it again.

Last edited by ukaunz (July 12, 2015 7:43 am)

Vhanja · July 12, 2015 1:13 pm

Really good review, ukaunz.

To reply to your part in spoilers:

I see what you mean, but I also felt it came across in the story that Sherlock wasn't comfortable being a "Master", and avoided doing any punishments until he really had to. I do agree that Stockhom Syndrome would probably be a part of it for John - Sherlock was the only fairly decent person in his life, he didn't really have any other choice. But I tink it's clear that he doesn't hate Sherlock because he sees his vulnarbilities and the fact that he isn't sadistic and doesn't take joy from the Master-bit himself.

I think in a lot of fics, even those that aren't AU, there aren't really too much time spent in showing or explaining why Sherlock and John fall for each other. It's sort of already set that they do because of who they are.

No, I don't think the sex scene was romantic either. None of them were ready for that yet.

But I'm glad you liked it as much as you did! It is, in a way, one of the best ones I've read as well. Mostly for, as you mention, the grey and nuanced way it deals with slavery, freedom and activism.

ukaunz · July 13, 2015 10:12 pm

Thanks Vhanja I like your perspective on Sherlock in this fic and will keep it in mind if I read Collared again.

I learned a new word! I started reading The Gilded Cage (only one chapter so far), but first I followed the link to the author's explanation of A/B/O biology, which had me alternating between "squicky" feelings and laughter. What am I getting into here!? Do I really want to read this...

Anyway, despite my nervous ambivalence, I feel myself getting drawn into the story. Good writing so far.

Vhanja · July 13, 2015 10:37 pm

I can't recommend The Gilded Cage enough. I went through the same as you for the first chapter - so squicked out I was an inch from just shutting down the fic and dropping the challenge altogether. But I gave it a proper go and am now hooked. I am still squicked out by some aspects of A/B/O, not sure if I should just laugh at it or find it absolutely horrible.

But even so, the fic itself is astoundingly good, I think. So good that despite still not liking the tag, I LOVE the fic.

Vhanja · July 16, 2015 8:51 pm

Well, then. I'm finally done with The Gilded Cage, that took me much longer than I thought. Real life and all that.

I'm not sure how much of the review to put in spoilers or not, but here goes:

As mentioned a few times now, I was very close to giving up the entire fic after a few paragraphs into chapter one. Any mention of Alphas, Omegas etc made me so uncomfortable I couldn't understand how I would get through 31 chapters.

If not for this thread, I would have given up at that point. But as I had made a promise to give the fic a proper chance, I figured I should get a grip and do just that. Reading a few paragraphs of a 31 chapter story is not giving it a proper chance.

So I ploughed through. By the end of chapter one I was intrigued, and around the middle or so of chapter two I was already hooked. And as the story unraveled, it because much bigger, much more well thought-out and much more tense and exciting than I had ever believed it would be.

The author has really done her research. Not only on the Omegaverse (as it's called), but also other real-life stuff that she writes about. She rarely chooses the easy way out, there is never a simple solution nor is the world ever black and white. It actually reminded me a bit of Collared in that respect - the world is flawed, people will suffer and there is no easy fix that will magically solve everything.

SInce this is the first Omegaverse fic I've read, I don't know how much of it is already in that 'verse and how much - if any - the author herself has added to it. But I am impressed at the level of details and thought gone into it, I can certainly appreciate that much.

There are still a few things about the Omegaverse that makes me slightly nauseaus, like

anything to do with rut, knots, a different anatomic build and being stuck together after sex. Basically anything that reminds me more of how dogs copulate than human sex. And, of course, the very mention of the period, reproduction and pregnancy in men.

But if I look away from the stuff in the spoiler tags, I am actually going to admit that there are parts of the Omegaverse that fascinates me now. Because it can, when done right, add more layers and complexity to a story (again: similar to how slaveryfics can work, if done well). And that is what this author is done. She hasn't turned it into some cheap sex trick or brushed over it quickly. She delves into it completely, explains it, fleshes it out, incorporates it seemlessly into the characters and the story in a way that makes - what is basically something absolutely ridicoulous - into something that comes across as believeable in that world. Not to mention something that drives the story forward, builds tension and actually works brilliantly. (Even more cool is how she has managed to work it into the Sherlock we already know).

I am SO glad I started this thread and buckled into this challenge myself, this fic has certainly been a highlight of my Johnlock read. And I have now gotten to a point that if I find another Omegaverse story that seems well-written, and doesn't have much of what I put in spoiler tags, then I might very well give it a go. Something I never thought would happen.

Last edited by Vhanja (July 16, 2015 8:52 pm)