I remember reading The Case of the Green Gown by splix just recently and Mary was truly amazing there - a fleshed out character with her own plot twists but not in annoying way! She contributed to johnlock (and drama) significantly

Come to think of it, I don't remember reading any johnlock story where Mary would annoy me because she's always used just the way Moftiss used her in the show - for dramatic developments between John and Sherlock. And I don't read Mary-focused stories that are, well, about Mary, anyway *shrugs*
 

There are a couple of cringe-worthy Mary moments in the show but where would the boys be without her? A TV couple needs obstacles to overcome In fanfiction, it's often the boys' sexuality (crisis/awakening/whatever) or illness/injury. Both scenarios are very enjoyable but they can hardly carry a TV show. And then it's already cases or villains, and I see Mary here too.

I have theories about my least favorite Mary moments in the show. Like that the whole TST thing being a lovely send-off for the actress, and ff writers don't have to consider such things of course.
The other thing is that Moftiss have to show, they can't simply tell us something like ff writers do in between the dialogs. So if Sherlock loves John so much then he loves and protects Mary by extention, also because caring about her is easier and less awkward than it is with John.

Moftiss as screenplay writers have a different set of tools at their disposal than ff writers. This is why I think the comparison is a little unfair to Moftiss.

Last edited by ewige (March 6, 2017 9:32 pm)

@ewige: I beg to differ. They had all the freedom to create a Mary to their liking. They did not have to write her like that. And of all the TV and film Marys I have seen this is the one I like least. Not because she "comes between the boys" but because she is put centre stage in a show that should be - and pretended to be - about Sherlock and John. And because I feel that the writers could not decide where to go with her - she has to be everything: the cold-blooded assassin, the lovely wife, the mother, the crime-solving partner to Sherlock, the villain, the woman who sacrifices herself, the ghost. This is a bit much for one character. She has more sides than Sherlock himself and the trouble (for me) is that they do not fit together. 
 

ukaunz wrote:

Can anyone tell me the titles of some good, canon-compliant fics set in Sherlock's school days (backstory) that don't have John in them? So no AU's where John and Sherlock meet when they're kids, etc. No mention of John at all, if anything like this exists. I'm just wondering how well a story like this would work, as John's POV is such an integral part of understanding Sherlock.

I suppose you have seen Good Show! by Fangs_Fawn http://archiveofourown.org/works/6791203/chapters/15514609 ? For me it worked very well.
 

Kittyhawk wrote:

ewige wrote:

I remember reading The Case of the Green Gown by splix just recently and Mary was truly amazing there - a fleshed out character with her own plot twists but not in annoying way! ...
 

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm enjoying the story...

I'm so glad! I love the emotional dystopia feel this story has.

SusiGo wrote:

Sounds interesting. I will give this one a try, too. 

I hope you'll like it! Splix is the queen of angst, but the storytelling here is a revelation in and of itself. You'll need to read a couple of chapters to see what I am talking about

I've bookmarked the story too, thanks for the rec.

Oh, yes, I've read that bit before. Well put - and after I had read it, I couldn't NOT notice use of epithets. It makes me fall out of a story immediately. I've only used it once myself, luckily, and never used it again after I read this.

(I remember a funny comment to this where the commenter said she always imagined the epithet use as another person, and it became quite funny when a fic started to become quite crowded with Sherlock, John, "the taller man", "the army doctor", "the brunet", "the shorter man" etc ).  

I've never realized it was a problem in English language! I mean, that writers feel compulsion to avoid necessary repetition of names and pronouns and squeeze contextual synonyms into every other sentence!

There are times the contextual synonyms are necessary ("The taller man reached the lowest branch with ease.") but more often they are just a sloppy attempt to avoid repetition

I face this problem all the time when translating sex scenes (or basically any scenes with two characters and their movements and without plot). After discussing the issue with fellow translators we agreed that the restructuring of the sentences (mentioned in the article linked above) is the best way to avoid confusion despite the limitations of working with somebody else's writing.

I have a question for you guys. You know how you sometimes read a fic that you love immediately, think it's absolutely awesome and will gladly recommend. But then at other times, I will read a fic that I greatly enjoy and want to recommend, but... there is a but. I want to recommend it, but not unconditionally. Because the fic has it's flaws, it's not brilliant all over, but it is, despite it's weaknesses, worth a read.

As I understand it, in the world of fanfic (not just in Sherlock fandom), there is an unspoken agreement that you either give praise to a fic or you ignore it. Constructive criticism is in general not welcome. I personally do not necessarily agree with this, but I will respect the rule for what it is. 

So I am wondering if it would be ok to recommend a fic, but to also write about any flaws you want them to be aware of in the story (a bit too long and dragged out, use of epithets, OOC characters, grammar issues etc), but you find it worth reading anyway.