Baker Street is very much the same. Only different.
And Sherlock is just trying not to drown.
How lucky am I?? I came out as high bidder for a story by @discordantwords in the excellent @fandomtrumpshate auction that is everything I wanted and so much more.
We had a great conversation about S4 and both felt that while there were lots of moments we loved, there was much that left us scratching our heads, particularly in TFP. In the end, DW decided to focus on TFP and I gave a wishlist of what I’d love to see.
This gorgeous story has all that I wanted, including an exploration of what actually happened at Sherrinford (to Sherlock, John, Mycroft, Eurus, little Victor Trevor, and even the Garridebs) and in the fallout after. I wanted Mycroft. I wanted bonding with Rosie (not only with Sherlock, but also with John). I wanted Sherlock and John to have their happy ending. Most of all, I wanted declarations, of gratitude, friendship, regret, hope, and love, and I wanted our beloved characters to finally open up and be honest with one another. I got it all, in spades.
I really REALLY cannot say enough how much I love what DW has done in this story to tie together so many of the loose ends we were left with. It’s tagged a fix-it and it does, from a canon viewpoint: here, TFP is real and this is what happened during and after. It’s a beautifully written and compelling story that runs an emotional gamut from anxiety and unease and fear to healing and warmth and brotherhood and so much love. We come full circle with Sherlock as he works to make Baker Street truly home. This has left me with a much more satisfying lens through which to view TFP.
I am beyond thrilled and grateful for your time and talent and for this most stunning story, @discordantwords. Thank you!!
::high-pitched squeeing noises::
I’m so, so indescribably happy that you’re pleased with the final result. I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about S4 as a whole, but they were scattered and lacked focus. Being able to talk out what we both did and didn’t like (as well your wishlist of things you wanted to see!) gave me a target to focus in on.
It was a joy to work on this story for you. Thank you again so much for bidding on me! ❤
I just finished this tonight and it is an earth-movingly wonderful read. Your conversation must have been one hell of a talk because this was catharsis that was needed from way back. I’m really in awe and I can’t thank you both enough for sharing with the world. Wonderful fic. I’m still finding the words and failing.
highly recommend this! i read it straight through and cried in the most enjoyable way.
I need to chime in with more praise. This fic does a fantastic job at filling in some of the blanks of series 4. It’s beautifully written and made me both smile and cry. Go read!!!!
Another gorgeous post S4 fic. I have issues with fics that ignore TFP or try to erase Rosie’s existence so this one is a joy to read; the narrative flows beautifully and John and Sherlock are so in character 🙂
I remain completely bowled over by the reaction this story has received. Thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart. ❤
And a million thanks, again, to @thetimemoves, without whom this story would have remained a collection of unfocused ideas, and never seen the light of day.
I am beyond happy to see the outpouring of love for this amazing story! You deserve every single bit of it, @discordantwords! It thrills me that so many of us have taken comfort in your story. I can’t thank you enough!
So I dunno if y’all have seen this, but I’ve worked a lot of weddings in my life and there’s this super funny (/sarcasm/) thing where the groom will write “help me” on the soles of his shoes, so that when the couple kneel down at the altar, everyone will see it and laugh at the fact that this poor man has been trapped into the sanctity of marriage.
Sort of like those cake toppers where the groom is attempting to run away or is being forcibly dragged to the altar with words like game over on it cause he no longer gets to have fun with his life or something because he’s getting married:
Or quite literally, a ball and chain:
Basically the whole “help me” thing? Is a continuation of the idea that there are definite gender norms, and that those genders are in direct conflict with each other, and therefore predispositioned to eventual resentment and hatred.
It’s the snarky sitcom hetero snide comedy where the wife is always nagging the husband who is the put upon joe average who had life and dreams until he got married and had kids, who now wants to just be left alone to read the paper while his wife looks after his home, his kids, his general emotional well being, and is still cast as the shrew for wanting something more from him than his dispassionate resentment that she won’t coddle him like one of the offspring.
Cause haha, it’s so awful spending the rest of your life with the person you are profess to love and adore…imagine that…imagine losing your freedom, your individuality and quite possibly your own autonomy to another person through a societal convention… *everyone not born male and white looks into the camera like they’re on the office*
Also consider, if a woman knelt down at the altar and had “help me” on her shoes? How drastically unfunny that becomes because we know, we know the way marriage is set up to give one partner the advantage over the other…
It’s just icky. It’s an icky not funny joke which I wish would die out.
People who view marriage as something that shitty shouldn’t get married.
So, I won @iwantthatbelstaffanditsoccupant in the @fandomtrumpshate auction and was rewarded with a a treat in which our boys take a sleeper train and solve a reworking of The Devil’s Foot. So I made a cover. Read it here. 🙂
And thank you, Coat!
I find that, for me, the work is a safe place to put all the stuff you don’t want to put in your real life. I don’t want to be a crazy, manic asshole. I don’t want to have an affair. I don’t want to have a fucking gunfight. But! There’s a part of your brain that wants to experience everything, and so work’s a safe place to explore it all. Both in the writing and in the performing. I get to write about an affair. I get to have the guilt and the feeling of that without having to fuck my life up. [laughs]
Art is the place to safely explore all those other sides of you, because the side you want to bring home is the side that wants to be a good father and be a good husband and be a good son. In art we can be fucking nuts
Lin-Manuel Miranda pretty much nailing why all art and means of creative expression is so important (x)
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 