Bee In My Bonnet

I’ve been reading Iron Man fics this afternoon because I needed porn because I haven’t done that in a while. And apparently I had forgot how much I love angst of the “Oh my god I hate myself and I’m such a worthless human being, how could you ever love me, I don’t believe you” variety. At least when Tony Stark is in charge of the angsting. I don’t think there has ever been a man who suffers anguish more beautifully than him.

Which reminds me. I have a fic rec, for all of you. dazed in the final count by strzyga is a Tony/Steve PWP fic (if it indeed can be called a PWP when it’s 5k…) which contains some of the most gorgeous and hottest sex scenes I have read in a long, long time. And, yes, pathetic worshipping and inferiority complex angst. It’s brilliant.
Even if you don’t normally read Marvel fanfics, or don’t even know who the characters are, read this one. Just imagine Robert Downey Jr as Tony and your favourite ripped blond as Steve. You don’t actually need to know anything about them or their background stories to enjoy this. So go read. (Yes, this includes you, ladylovelace. I’ll accept no excuses.)

Courtesy of laurenmitchell.

Fandom:
Sherlock Holmes movieverse
Medium/Media: TV show? Book? Comic? Band? All of the above?
A movie adaptation of the famous novels and short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Extent: What are newbies letting themselves in for - a single book or a fifteen-book saga? A fifteen-episode cancelled TV show, or nine seasons of twenty 45-minute episodes? A set of comics that'll need a truck to deliver?
If you're purely in it for the movie, that's easily achieved. If you want to get familiar with book canon as well--which I certainly hope you are--you're in for 56 short stories and 4 novels, and that's just the original canon. Then you have the plethora of other adaptations, and then we get to the pastichés. But everything between just watching the movie and being a dyed-in-the-wool Holmsian works. (As for other adaptations, the Granada TV-series starring Jeremy Brett is considered a must among fans, partly due to Brett's excellent gay portrayal of Holmes. Personally, I heartily recommend Bert Coules' adaptation for BBC Radio, starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson.)
Genre: Science fiction? Fantasy? Horror?
Victorian England! Prepare to get run over by four-wheelers, choke on pipe smoke, doff your frock coat before a fight, bring your card with you and forget all you know about water closets. Movieverse is somewhat more action-filled and less "formal" than original book canon, but nevertheless firmly set in the late 19th century. Any mention of magic, other than in pure jest and/or ultimately proved to be a hoax, will be frowned upon. Let's not even get started on anachronisms.

Canon
Main characters: Name the main characters with a brief bio.
Mr Sherlock Holmes is the brilliant consulting detective that has brought deduction to an art. Dr John H Watson is his friend and fellow lodger, who not only assists him on his cases but also becomes his chronicler. They met through a mutual acquaintance when Watson had just returned from the Afghan War and was in search of cheap dwellings, and in that moment one of the world's greatest love stories began. Holmes is a genius when it comes to logic and knowledge, but he's seriously lacking in social and emotional skills, and to be quite frank with you, I'm convinced he has some form of high-functioning autism, like Asperger's Syndrome. At the very least. Watson is a man of action, rather popular with the ladies, and fiercely loyal. It should be mentioned that both these men love sarcasm, so prepare yourself for a blitz of bickering and banter.
Main plot: A brief explanation of the main plot of the story. Try to avoid spoilers! If you can't avoid major spoilers, warn for them in your cut-text!
Holmes and Watson solve crimes. That's pretty much the gist of it. There are a couple of important events in canon, though. ( Cut for spoilers you should know already. )
Setting: When and where is the story set?
Like I said, Victorian England. With occasional visits to Switzerland or France.
Why I think you should watch/read/otherwise partake of this fandom: Reasons in canon that new people might be interested.
Because it is brilliant. I've never been part of a kinder of more intelligent fandom, or a funnier one. And the average quality of fanworks is amazing. Really, it's such a nice place to visit.
Activity level: What's happening to canon at the moment? Is it finished, or ongoing, or debatable?
The book canon ended some 80 years ago, but there are already plans for two sequels to the movie Sherlock Holmes.
Shipping: Does the canon tend towards slash, het or gen? NB this means actual IN CANON pairings, not the sort you see through the goggles (yes, I am as guilty of this as the next ficcer, assuming the next ficcer is fiareynne).
Well. The majority of the fandom are Holmes/Watson shippers, and with good reason. I mean, the creators and actors themselves say that the movie's pretty much about Holmes and Watson's (platonic...) relationship. But, it's not yet canon that Holmes and Watson intimate friends indeed. What is canon is Watson's engagement to Mary Morstan, and the seriously weird relationship between Holmes and Irene Adler. Though I'm not sure if the latter should count, since they don't actually do anything about it. If Holmes/Adler counts as canon, then Holmes/Watson should as well, imho.

Fanon and Fandom
Communities: Places that new people can go for fic/art/fine dining and conversation - include LJ comms or off-LJ lists, whatever. Might be wise to mention how welcoming the comms are of new people.
Personally, I think holmeswatson09 is the best community. If you're looking for more gen-oriented stuff, sherlock2009 is a good place to start.
Recs: Recommend up to five fics/artses/whatever. (Limit suggested only so it doesn't go on forever.)
( A greater mystery is why you bothered using a LJ-cut at all. )
Activity level: Roughly how active is the fandom? Can be expressed in terms of community posts per day/week/month/ice age, or just as a general vibe.
Currently it's crazy busy, with five posts a day at holmeswatson09 at minimum. We're certainly alive!
Shipping: Does the fandom tend towards slash, het or gen? Is there a majority-preferred pairing? Does it match up with canonically established pairings? Is the fandom generally welcoming of alternative pairings or will it bite your head off?
Like I've already said, the majority of fandom ship Holmes/Watson. There are also Holmes/Adler shippers and some Watson/Mary shippers, but I haven't seen much of them. I'm afraid this is a very slash-oriented fandom. ♥
Kink: What is the fandom's attitude towards kink? Is there a kink meme?
Seeing that a part four of the sherlockkink meme has been posted, I ~suppose~ the fandom is not averse to kink. Quite the opposite, in fact. There also seems to be a trend of bottom!Holmes, or--perhaps more fittingly--of top!Watson.

What does one do when one is too overcome by indecipherable emotions to leave a decent review?

Because, I tell you, I have yet to read something by candle_beck that does not leave me stunned. To call her an astounding writer is an understatement.

This Day to the Ending of the World – A retelling of Holmes and Watson's first meeting. Painfully believable.
Gods and Kings – To quote the author, "one of those stories where people are annoyed by love." Heart-rendering and beautiful.
The Greek Problem – A first-time story as well as it is a case-centric one. Even beats ACD's works, imho.
The Narrator – A first-time story which is so much more than that. Gorgeous prose interwoven with pungent addiction. Possibly the best one yet?

Can someone please tell me when promoting a film became synonymous with the two male leads gushing about and blatantly "man-crushing" on each other?

Now, if you excuse me, I need to go and salvage whatever remains of my brain; the thought of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law together is clearly too much for me to handle.


Also, almost apropos of nothing, I think I'm falling in love with katieforsythe's fics. Seriously, even if the mere idea of Sherlock Holmes fanfiction make you shudder, try one of hers. They are all pieces of fine craftsmanship.

Well. As you know, I've been rather absent for quite a while now. The reason for that is because the last few months (from Christmas to, well, now, to be exact) have been a bit rocky for me, emotionally.

I don't know how many of you that know this, but I've remained in ninth form due to missing about three years of school. First I spent most of third year, half of fourth year and half of fifth year at home due to my body collapsing because of all my allergies, and thus also looking like an anorexia victim. Then I was absent as good as whole eighth year because I was clinically depressed. So. Anyhow, I had a few things to catch up on, naturally.

However, next term I'll change school (again -- this'll be my sixth one, I think) and it'll be a huge change, since I'm transferring to upper secondary school. You see, the school system in Sweden is divided into two different comprehensive schools: the nine-year school and the three-year long upper secondary school. Nine-year school is divided into three sub-groups: the junior level for kids age 7-9, the intermediate level for age 10-11, and the senior level for age 12-15 -- don't ask me why the intermediate level only has two years. Anyhow, then, when you start the upper secondary school, you get to choose which subjects you want emphasis on. There are over twenty different options now, I think. I won't bore you with even more details, but in short, it's a big difference to the nine-year school-

Whoa. Info-dump, huh? Well, what I want to say is that there's a bloody humongous change is in front of me, and it's turning me into a nervous wreck. That and add a state of semi-hibernation and Anna is a very unsocial creature. But now spring is here, with its much longed-for sunlight and Swedish spring-craziness, so I'm starting to feel much better. ♥

Oh, and it's also my birthday tomorrow. That might help things as well. *g* I'll be seventeen, and thus legally allowed everywhere to read NC-17 rated fics. Hurrah! ♥ I can finally admit to reading porn and not worry about people freaking out. Well, at least no more than they already are.

You see how much I ramble? I clearly need to be more social.

Oh, and recs, because I can:

( Five R/S fics. )

So, how are you, everyone? ♥