221B Recs

Title: To the Sticking Place
Author: blueink3
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 122,209 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: Renowned Shakespearean actor Sherlock Holmes has finally burned all of his bridges in the theatre industry save for his constant director, Greg Lestrade. John Watson has made a name for himself in the musical theatre circuit, but age and injury are working against him. Can they reinvent themselves for an all-male Macbeth without killing one another?

Reccer's comments: There will be inevitable comparisons made between this and Mad_Lori’s Performance in a Leading Role, as the author acknowledges from the outset. To my mind, this fic absolutely stands up to the scrutiny, amply filling the shoes of the classic actors AU. It’s by no means a derivative or a copy, however, standing completely independent on its own considerable merits.

The author writes with authority, familiarity, and an obvious love of the New York theater world, including Broadway, musicals, plays, the Tony Awards, restaurants and other establishments, and many popular personalities from Ian Clarke and Sean Fagan to Neal Patrick Harris and Helen Mirren. This intimacy makes this an absolute pleasure and thrill to read, drawing the reader in emotionally as well as in a very nearly viscerally physical way such that it’s all but impossible to escape the pull of the floorboards and greasepaint.

But brilliant as all of that is, let’s be honest: most of us are probably here for the Johnlock. And that, my friends, is absolutely incendiary. From the moment they meet, their mutual admiration and appreciation is clear to everyone, and I especially liked that the author allowed their relationship to grow and mature through friendship and trust, realistically depicting the potential pitfalls of navigating a publicly scrutinized relationship, even in a segment of society as relatively accepting of homosexuality as this is.

There are a couple of touches of angst as both Moriarty and Mary are allowed a chance to try and wreak their havoc, but I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that in the end, no hearts are broken or burnt, and even though all the world’s a stage, these characters are not just players but as real and vivid as the affection and love they have for each other, and we for them. Truly a tour de force offering.