BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Fan Fiction Addicts General Round Table Discusion

TeeJay · July 11, 2014 12:00 pm

Bit of a random question, probably, but I hope someone can help me. I'm currently working on a HLV-related fanfic, and there's a scene I want to incorporate with Sherlock and another character having a talk that takes place after Sherlock shot Magnussen but before he's being flown to Eastern Europe. And I have questions:

1) Where would Sherlock be detained after the shooting? Some temporary jail arrangement (i.e. whatever they do with the "regular" murderers)? We know Mycroft has a bit of sway in the matter as he's discussing Sherlock's punishment with the government officials at the end of the episode, so Sherlock would probably get some kind of special treatment, but I'm having a hard time picturing what that might be. I don't really need to know all the details, what I need to know most of all is what the location would be like where he's held so that I can add description of the location for the dialogue scene I want to write.

2) How much time, do you reckon, passes between Sherlock shooting CAM and him being flown out to Eastern Europe? Days? Weeks? Would there be some kind of trial, or is it all Secret Agency hush-hush?

Last edited by TeeJay (July 11, 2014 12:01 pm)

Schmiezi · July 11, 2014 12:14 pm

I've been wondering about the same stuff when planning "Not broken, just bent".

About 2: IMO you have to take Mary's pregnancy into account. If the wedding was in May, she must be very pregnant at Christmas. She is still pregnant at the tarmac szene, so it cannot be that much later.

About 1: I have decided to send him to prison because that gave me interesting scenes to write.

tonnaree · August 24, 2014 10:28 pm

I'm always amused when I find a fic that has 2 miles of tags and a 3 paragraph summary and then the fic itself is less than 2000 words.

RavenMorganLeigh · August 25, 2014 2:41 am

tonnaree wrote:
I'm always amused when I find a fic that has 2 miles of tags and a 3 paragraph summary and then the fic itself is less than 2000 words.

Just read the tags-- that IS the whole story....

Schmiezi · August 25, 2014 4:22 am

The art of tagging.

BTW, what tags are you all looking out for? Are there some you avoid? I am out when the warning is "major character death", for example, but in when it says "HLV fix-it".

Last edited by Schmiezi (August 25, 2014 4:24 am)

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 4:34 am

1) Where would Sherlock be detained after the shooting?

The folks in charge of Sherlock's arrest are SFOs (specialists firearms officers). Since the Met (Scotland Yard) has jurisdiction throughout all of England and Wales, I would imagine these SFOs are a member of CO19 (England's equivalent of a SWAT team). So that would put Sherlock in custody of the Met and I would think he'd therefore initially be brought to a nearby police station for processing and then likely be transferred to London. He'd be held in solitary confinement for his protection in all locations.

This is just a guess; there's not much to go on. My first thought was military prison until I rewatched the scene and noticed the SFO markings on the officers' sleeves.

As far as I can find, there are no fics dealing with Sherlock's arrest after HLV and I would just about pay to read a well written one.

Mary

Schmiezi · August 25, 2014 4:39 am

Well, there is a chapter about it in my current fic, but as Mary is not really... um... nice, you might not like it.

Not Broken, Just Bent
http://archiveofourown.org/works/1527377

Last edited by Schmiezi (August 25, 2014 4:40 am)

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 2:06 pm

Thanks for that link. I don't read explicit S/J fics, so I skipped ahead to the relevant bit, Sherlock in prison, and I find your scenario very plausible, researched, and well done.

Mary

Schmiezi · August 25, 2014 2:16 pm

Thank you!
Do you read non-explicit Johnlock?

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 2:28 pm

Depends on the plot and the characterization, same as for non J/L fics.

Mary

tonnaree · August 25, 2014 2:42 pm

Schmiezi wrote:
The art of tagging.

BTW, what tags are you all looking out for? Are there some you avoid? I am out when the warning is "major character death", for example, but in when it says "HLV fix-it".

I always glance at the tags because they can be interesting and amusing. There are only a couple of things I try to avoid. Major Character Death being the biggy! I also don't read omaga stuff or any vampire/werewolf stories. Just a personal preference.

ancientsgate · August 25, 2014 2:51 pm

I only read johnlock, and only stories that have been recommended by others, people I trust to know a good story when they read one, lol. So far, I haven't been steered wrong. I do glance at the tags, because, like, tonnaree, I don't want to accidentally fall in with vampires and werewolves, or stumble into any BDSM. And if it says angst, I dive in face first. Yum. heh

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 2:55 pm

I don't like fix-its and most AUs (including omegaverse, vampires, werewolves, genderswapping, etc.).

I also now usually avoid stories that give Sherlock a really terrible back story with abusive parents in the light of what we learn about the Holmes' in series three, although I just read a fabulous novel-length story that had just that, so exceptions are possible.

I enjoy 'what-ifs' (like the multitude of great, but inaccurate, post-Fall fics and what happens when Mary's out of the picture) and love missing scenes.

I'm open minded and never know where I'll find a great fic. One of my favourite fics of all time is a non-explicit post-Fall Sherlock/Lestrade fic where Sherlock has bad PTSD. Another is a non-explicit Sherlock/John fic that fills in the gaps between the Baker Street collapse and Christmas at the Holmes'.

Oh, and a quick way to get me to hit the back button is to present Sherlock as a hyper active immature anorexic insomniac manchild who would rather bleed to death than get medical attention. I really don't watch the same show as a lot of people apparently.

Mary

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 3:00 pm

Oh, and as for major character death, I don't mind that at all, especially since it's canon that Sherlock and John live to be old men.

I read one story a while back that just gutted me in the best way possible -- the brother of the cabbie from ASIP kills Sherlock and John as revenge for his brother's death. It was really well done.

Another was bookmarked with the note 'Everybody dies!' It's sneakily an Anthea fic, where one character after another dies and ends up in a waiting room on the other side until the last member of the group, Anthea, shows up and they can all cross over. Really brilliant.

So I really don't discount much based on tags.

Mary

ancientsgate · August 25, 2014 3:12 pm

maryagrawatson wrote:
Oh, and a quick way to get me to hit the back button is to present Sherlock as a hyper active immature anorexic insomniac manchild who would rather bleed to death than get medical attention. I really don't watch the same show as a lot of people apparently.
Mary

But that's the purpose of fan fic, to take the show and its characters into any direction an author sees fit. And god knows, there are multitudes of those directions! But seriously, unless a fan fic reads exactly like a show script, so that reading it feels like watching an episode, then you can always say "I don't watch the same show as a lot of people"-- the authors of fan fic take what we all see on the show into unknown territories of all kinds.

ancientsgate · August 25, 2014 3:15 pm

It's all for fun. But while some of us are squeamish about certain things, others of us have a thick skin about stuff we know is just fiction. Either way, it's all for fun. Long live fan fic!

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 3:19 pm

ancientsgate wrote:
But that's the purpose of fan fic, to take the show and its characters into any direction an author sees fit.

Yes, but as a reader, I want the characters I read about to resemble the characters I see on screen, even if the scenario doesn't fit in with the show. Otherwise, what's the point of reading Sherlock fanfic? I might as well go read novels with original characters. To me, that Sherlock I described is as much an AU as, say, a vampire Sherlock. He bears no resemblance to the character I watch on screen and I don't want to read about him.

Mary

Schmiezi · August 25, 2014 3:22 pm

maryagrawatson wrote:
Another was bookmarked with the note 'Everybody dies!' It's sneakily an Anthea fic, where one character after another dies and ends up in a waiting room on the other side until the last member of the group, Anthea, shows up and they can all cross over. Really brilliant.

That sounds faszinating. Do you remember the title and / or the author?

ancientsgate · August 25, 2014 3:30 pm

maryagrawatson wrote:
Yes, but as a reader, I want the characters I read about to resemble the characters I see on screen, even if the scenario doesn't fit in with the show. Otherwise, what's the point of reading Sherlock fanfic? I might as well go read novels with original characters. To me, that Sherlock I described is as much an AU as, say, a vampire Sherlock. He bears no resemblance to the character I watch on screen and I don't want to read about him. Mary

Some authors are better at that than others. For me to really enjoy and accept a fan fic, I have to be able to "hear" their actual voices, not only in their dialogue, but also in their inner thoughts. I want them to sound British, and for them to speak with Sherlock and John's verbal mannerisms. And having written quite a bit of fan fic (not in this fandom) in the past, believe me, I know how difficult to do that can be.

maryagrawatson · August 25, 2014 3:32 pm

Schmiezi wrote:
That sounds faszinating. Do you remember the title and / or the author?

Wake You Tomorrow by StonedWingAngel. I just reread it and realised that I didn't remember it correctly; it's a sneaky Anderson, not Anthea, fic. I just remember her bit the most.

Mary