Ishmael Dreaming

 I don't rec things often, but I just read two very, very good fics, the kind of long and excellent and deeply satisfying fics you bask in for a while afterwards and then want to tell absolutely everyone about, so. Recs. Both for Sherlock, canon compliant for all of series 2, and delightfully long. 

An Avalanche of Detour Signs by gyzym



The Sensation of Falling Just As You Hit Sleep by greywash

Title: The Sensation of Falling Just As You Hit Sleep
Author: greywash
Rating: R
Wordcount: 82,819
Pairing: main Sherlock/John, also some John/OFC het, some other relationships mentioned
Warnings: Author warns for disturbing content only; Isi says there is nothing particularly disturbing about the content IMO. 
Summary: Love is a much more vicious motivator.

This fic is set immediately post-Reichenbach, and is primarily a mixture of angst and action. It follows Sherlock and John through the aftermath of Reichenbach, and it is brilliant. Just brilliant. It's plot driven like the show, and has a nice ensemble feel I like - lots of Molly, lots of Mycroft, Harry Watson, Mike Stamford and Greg Lestrade, and some OFCs and members of Moriarty's organisation. There are some beautifully heart felt moments, and some heart stopping plot twists, and I just loved it lots and lots and lots. Read it!

 I'm sick.

(Apologies to people on twitter, where I have talked about this at length already.)

I believe I have acute laryngitis - my voicebox is swollen and tender and doing anything to do with my throat, breathing, coughing, swallowing, talking or making any sound, laughing - hurts so so much. 

I'm usually very healthy, lucky me! And so I have no experience of being in this kind of sharp, prolonged pain before, which punishes me for reactions I struggle to control. Normally the only sick I get are heavy colds that I can sleep off, but even sleep my dear friend is difficult at the moment; it's difficult to get to sleep, and when I do I can manage little more than an hour before I wake up in agony, having swallowed harshly and panicked that I can't breathe properly. 

Bleurgh. 

****

Before I got sick though, I had a lovely Christmas! Still not 100% well actually, but these things happen, and by about 5pm when we do presents I was feeling better than I had for days. Among the bits and pieces I got lots of books! :D Yay! I think I'm properly set for original fiction to read until about Easter now. I haven't actually started reading them yet - despite predicting I would fall on Storm of Swords part 2 like a starving tiger - I just keep looking at the and beaming and patting them.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special... wasn't all that, but it had its moments, and I did really like the final scene d'awww.

Other people talking about Steven Moffat's issues with gender and women enough so I'm not going to talk about that, but I think the real problem is that he is repeating tropes more and more blatantly. IDK maybe he'd say they were themes, but they're getting a bit tired. The real problem with Moffat as showrunner is that he has no Moffat figure himself - when RTD was showrunner, Steven Moffat episodes were rare, distinctive and brilliant. And now we're seeing that diluted and stretched, and there's no particular secondary writer IMO that we can look to and shelter in their episodes when the show runner gets a bit overbearing. And that hurts the whole show. Don't get me wrong, I love Eleven and Doctor Who, and I think Moffat is certainly very talented, but to me that's one of the places Doctor Who has lost out on recently.

Or perhaps, all the good stuff is being channeled into Sherlock. I am so excited that it's finally coming back - in just three days! Popping my head around the door of the fandom again to get back in the mood. So to speak XD

THE DOWNTON ABBEY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WAS FREAKING AWESOME OH MY GOD!!! Screaming my face off is adoration and excitement.