BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Johnlock Fic Recs *warning

sherlockedkt · September 17, 2012 9:47 pm

Yeah so... this morning I copied and pasted four chapters of PIALR to a word document (after reading 3 chapters last night) and saved it on a memory stick to take to work with me. (Our network activity is closely monitored at work so I didn't want to be on a Johnlock FF site all day...) Let's just say my students did a lot of independent work today and I did a lot of staring at my laptop screen trying not to grin. The last chapter I had was chapter 7, which I finished during my planning period, and now I'm off to start chapter 8!

Also, my husband has been sick since Saturday, and today driving home I started to feel a sore throat coming on and the first thing I thought was - "Yes! Maybe I'll be sick and get to stay home and read fanfics tomorrow!"

Ivy · September 18, 2012 6:56 am

PIALR?
Sorry, my brain is still in bed!

ancientsgate · September 18, 2012 7:29 am

Ivy wrote:
PIALR?
Sorry, my brain is still in bed!

Performance In a Leading Role, by madlori (or mad_lori at AO3)
A novel-length AU, where both guys are internationally known actors. They've never met, then they both find themselves cast in the lead roles of a new Ang Lee movie where two men fall in love, suffer a lot of angst, etc. Sherlock and John bond during filming, form a mutual admiration society, a few months later they realize that what they found together is The Real Thing, and the rest is history. Probably the best-known Johnlock fan fic in the fandom. Don't miss it.

Ivy · September 18, 2012 8:03 am

Oh I heard of it, I'm not a fan of AU, but I'll give it a try.

ancientsgate · September 18, 2012 11:49 am

Ivy wrote:
Oh I heard of it, I'm not a fan of AU, but I'll give it a try.

For what it's worth, I've never heard of anyone who didn't like PIALR. It makes the top of most any must-read Johnlock rec list I've ever seen. I love a good AU, just as I love a good anything-well-done Sherlock-John story where there's lots of love and forever, I can recognize their voices, etc.

sherlockedkt · September 18, 2012 4:21 pm

I've never read an AU before but I love PIALR. It's so neat to see all the characters I love in different situations. And I like how it kinda seems like, maybe if just one thing in their childhoods had been different, they both could have actually ended up where they are in the story instead of consulting detective and sidekick. Since I'm home sick today, I'll probably finish the story...

KeepersPrice · September 18, 2012 4:53 pm

Ivy - you will love PIALR! It was my first AU and I couldn't believe how good it was. I was head over heels with the quality of the writing and the characters. Beautiful, funny, touching, great dialogue, and an amazingly realistic portrayal of the film and theater industry. I just finished it up last night. Amazing! Read it!

sherlockedkt · September 19, 2012 7:54 pm

Just finished PIALR. Ah, warm fuzzies. :D I think now is the perfect time to take a little nap. I think "The Road Less Traveled" is next on my list.

Ivy · September 19, 2012 8:23 pm

Already mentioned it, please try this, she's a brilliant writer and German, but it's in English, don't worry. It's a serie,s there are 5 parts yet.
You can download the series as pdf

1. Eye of the Beholder http://www.mediafire.com/?7n4f5hbgwjh3jxc
2. Life imitates art http://www.mediafire.com/?y4003czgded4scv
3. Perchance to dream http://www.mediafire.com/?w795599kpk1sht4
4. To which fate binds us http://www.mediafire.com/?1ljdaqvepcgjht6
5. A draught of sunshine, no pdf yet, but here's the link http://days-of-storm.livejournal.com/49644.html

Wholocked · September 27, 2012 3:53 am

Just read PIALR. Then read Eugenia's blog. Mad_Lori also wrote Alone on the Water. So now I've read all her stuff and she's amazing and I want more and I would pay for it.

For the record I don't ship Johnlock but some of these fics are pretty good.

ancientsgate · September 27, 2012 3:59 am

Wholocked wrote:
Just read PIALR. Then read Eugenia's blog. Mad_Lori also wrote Alone on the Water. So now I've read all her stuff and she's amazing and I want more and I would pay for it.
For the record I don't ship Johnlock but some of these fics are pretty good.

Sounds as though you DO ship John and Sherlock. *just teasing* I can see it in the actual show as well, but admittedly, I wear my rose-colored slash glasses 24/7, and I enjoy splashing in the warm shallows.

SusiGo · September 27, 2012 12:20 pm

Sammy wrote:
All the Sherlock fanfics I read are Johnlock. Wait, what?

I have started reading The Quiet Man and I thought it was amazing up to the point when *SPOILER* John and Sherlock meet again. That kinda... took away the whole purpose of this for me. Is it still good afterwards? Should I carry on reading?

Oooh, this one:
http://madlorific.livejournal.com/30177.html
Performance In A Leading Role
Rating: PG for now, may go up to NC-17 later
Summary: Sherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto. When they are cast as a gay couple in a new independent drama, will they surprise each other? Will their on-screen romance make its way into the real world?

Oh, it's long but it's totally awesome. Normally I don't like AUs but this one... I just read the first lines and then I couldn't stop because it was so epic!

Actually I didn't want to read this because it is AU, but now I'm hooked. MadLori writes really well and I'm going, come on, only one chapter, then I'll stop and do what I should be doing. But I'm up to 13 already.

ancientsgate · September 27, 2012 12:41 pm

SusiGo wrote:
[Actually I didn't want to read this because it is AU, but now I'm hooked. MadLori writes really well and I'm going, come on, only one chapter, then I'll stop and do what I should be doing. But I'm up to 13 already.

I love a good AU. Hey, why not? If I like the looks of the actors, and the AU author can make her characters recognizable (voices, mannerisms,etc), I find it fascinating to read my fave characters in new and interesting situations. Madlori writes a mean AU, for sure. I first found her in the Brokeback Mountain fandom, where she was a superstar, as you can imagine, and much of what she wrote was AU or at least moving on stories where the characters were given their "sweet life" together. Lovely. She's also a superstar in the Harry Potter fandom, from what I understand, but she didn't write slash in it.

SusiGo · September 27, 2012 12:46 pm

I was so impressed when reading "Alone on the water". So I was looking forward to read more from her and she's really, really good.

sherlockedkt · September 28, 2012 1:52 am

I'll have to check out some of her HP fics... That'd be awesome!

ancientsgate · September 28, 2012 2:21 am

sherlockedkt wrote:
I'll have to check out some of her HP fics... That'd be awesome!

Same author name, AFAIK. On fanfiction.net or AO3, I imagine. She also has stuff up on LJ and dreamwidth, I think.

Wholocked · September 28, 2012 7:10 am

ancientsgate wrote:
Wholocked wrote:
Just read PIALR. Then read Eugenia's blog. Mad_Lori also wrote Alone on the Water. So now I've read all her stuff and she's amazing and I want more and I would pay for it.
For the record I don't ship Johnlock but some of these fics are pretty good.
Sounds as though you DO ship John and Sherlock. *just teasing* I can see it in the actual show as well, but admittedly, I wear my rose-colored slash glasses 24/7, and I enjoy splashing in the warm shallows.

In a sense I do. I enjoy the friendship and the characterisations. But I fail to see why sex has to be involved. Why can't they just be good friends? I'm currently reading Two Two One Bravo and I have to skip over 3/4 of it because in this author's world they have sex at every opportunity and every single part has to be described in details. Even if the story involves them being in a relationship, again, why is there sex all the time?! I am enjoying the story, could live without the slash

Last edited by Wholocked (September 28, 2012 7:10 am)

ancientsgate · September 28, 2012 9:55 am

Wholocked wrote:
I enjoy the friendship and the characterisations. But I fail to see why sex has to be involved. Why can't they just be good friends? I'm currently reading Two Two One Bravo and I have to skip over 3/4 of it because in this author's world they have sex at every opportunity and every single part has to be described in details. Even if the story involves them being in a relationship, again, why is there sex all the time?! I am enjoying the story, could live without the slash

" why is there sex all the time?" Because people in love have sex? Because without the sex, if they were "just good friends", what you'd have is a friendship fic, not slash (what this fandom calls ship), and if that's what you want, there are 1000s of those out there?

If you "could live without the slash", you shouldn't be reading it. Goodness, there's a whole world of Sherlock fic out there that's just like the show only with different, original plots. If that's what floats your boat, why scar your eyeballs with M/M love stories?

As for "why is there sex all the time", let's face it, the world is *dominated* by M/F sexually-based romance stories-- our eyeballs and sensibilities are assaulted by it, everywhere we turn, in written fiction, on TV, in the movies, M/F stories are everywhere. Slash is that same thing-- friendship turned to romance, which awakens sexual interest and activity-- no difference IMO between the usual M/F sex scenes and the M/M scenes, except for the shape of the personal bits, and also in slash, no one gets to be the little wifey, which I find refreshing.

As for Two Two One Bravo Baker, I agree-- that one is explicit to the max. Always read the authors' warnings before diving into any story, slash or het or gen-- in that particular one, the author called it porn-- did you think she was kidding? *smile*

I've certainly read many Sherlock/John stories that either have fade-to-black sex scenes or vague references to the fact that they're having a sexual relationship-- no details other than a few kisses, for instance. Look for general, pre-teen or teen ratings, and skip anything marked mature, and you will undoubtedly be spared descriptions of their bits, if that's what you want.

SusiGo · September 28, 2012 10:06 am

I find it interesting that so many of these stories seem to be written by women. On the other hand, they're read by women as well.

Wholocked · September 28, 2012 10:50 am

Hrm. Not sure my explanation as to why I say I don't ship it but still read it warranted a lecture but whatever. If I hated it, I wouldn't read it. I just skip over parts that are over the top to me.

I find I am coming around to the Johnlock relationship thing. Just find it intriguing that in some stories, the relationship barely exists except for sex. So yeah I stick my head in this thread cause there are some decent fics. Happy to hear recommendations for less pornographic fics ;-)