the usual fannish blather

Last night, I dreamed that Sherlock was going to be canceled. Unlikely, self! Obviously I was projecting my ongoing Community anxieties.

In any case, here, have a Sherlock vs Doctor Who meme ( beneath the cut )

molly fic recs!

Here are two fics about Molly Hooper! I find myself with the great desire for fic that saves Molly, that follows her out of a room when Sherlock's done with her, that gives her motivations and passions and desires that have nothing to do with Sherlock. And wow do both of these fics deliver. Beyond that, though, they are ... not like one another.

The Anatomist by rosa_acicularis. When they are children, Moriarty is a game. A story they tell only to each other, in whispers.

This one was written in late 2010, and thus has no canon from second series in it. I find it mildly unfortunate that I didn't find this fic back when it was first posted, because I can't unsee the character development of second series, and it makes me wish desperately for a version of this fic that knows everything there is to know so far about the Sherlock universe. This is not at all a complaint about the fic, though; on the contrary I loved everything the author did and wanted more. It is, however, a perfect horrifying coda to first series. Because this is the story of Jim and Molly as siblings, and it's just as awful and satisfying as I could have hoped for. No one should be surprised, of course, but I love Molly as an evil overlord.

And then, incorporating second season canon as well, and making Molly a complete character in a totally different way:

An Avalanche of Detour Signs by gyzym. In which Molly Hooper gets a job, gets a degree, breaks a heart, has her heart broken, falls in love, keeps a secret, saves a life, runs a morgue, falls apart, pulls it together, and finds exactly what she didn't know she was looking for--not necessarily in that order.

What it says on the tin, naturally, but oh my god, I cannot stress enough how delightful it is. Molly is entirely well-meaning and a bit trodden upon and she gets all tongue-tied around Sherlock, but it's only a fraction of what's going on with her. Far and away the best thing about this fic is how it recontextualizes all of her interactions with Sherlock, making the reader properly acknowledge what he's like to her, but other highlights include pitch-perfect Moriarty, oh my goodness, a hilarious friendship with Anthea, and all the reasons anyone would ever need to adopt Lestrade/Molly as a new OTP. This fic will remain my headcanon unless and until show canon does away with it.