Fic Rec: Guitar Man series
Title: Guitar Man overview
Author: 221b_hound
Pairing: Gen (with a few exceptions, check the individual story tags)
Length: varying lengths
Rating: general audiences (except installment 32, "Can’t Keep My Hands Off You.") Future stories may vary.
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Reccer's comments on the series: Guitar Man seems to be an ongoing series (new stories keep popping up, though most stand alone). I'm not quite sure how to cover it, since it's currently at 32 installments. I'm going to highlight a few, but I hope you will want to read them all, and preferably in order.
In some fics Sherlock's violin is almost a character in own right and music is the way he expresses his feelings. "Guitar Man" is another series in which music plays a key role as a medium for emotions, connections, healing, and growth. Sherlock has his violin, but John is the guitar man - previously the lead singer and songwriter for an almost-famous band in his teenage years.
This series covers a span of 30 years - from a year after John moves into 221B Baker to their retirement in Sussex. Some installments are light-hearted. Some are serious. They evoke laugh-out-loud merriment, sad tears, joyful tears, heart-in-throat anxiety, smiles of adorableness, and nods of insight. There are song lyrics. There are weddings. And glimpses into John's and Sherlock's childhoods. Guitar Man goes in unexpected directions, with unexpected pairings, but it always feels right, making full use of all the major canon characters. It even redeems Anderson!
Guitar Man beautifully conveys a friendship as profound and meaningful as any romance - as, in fact, a great love story.
I adore this series.
Title: Gladstone's Collar
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2085 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: Written for a prompt on the Sherlock BBC Kink Meme: Before joining the army, John played guitar and was part of a short-lived band that nonetheless gained a small but devoted cult following. Cue this fact being outed (maybe during a case) and Sherlock listening to all their old tracks and becoming a John!groupie.
Reccer's comments: Gladstone's Collar is the first story in the series. During a case involving a missing Fender guitar a musician recognizes John as a member of an almost famous rock band that still has its fans.
"Bailey had breathlessly filled Sherlock in on the details. The albums: all two of them. The shows. The inevitable break-up of the band, in gloriously messy wannabe rock star style. Mainly because the drummer and the bass player kept skiving off rehearsals, then screwing the groupies, then the roadies, then each other, before it went horribly pear-shaped and John decided he was sick of trying to stitch the band into one piece all the time and decided stitching up people would be more rewarding and less mind-fuckingly tortuous."
A few days later, to his horror, John wakes up to the sound of Sherlock singing along to their first album!
Title: Luminescent
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2085 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: John used to be in a band. Sherlock found out and now they muck about at home playing music, sometimes. A new case means they need to go undercover with a whole band: so Anderson, Lestrade and Molly Hooper step up for a revival of John's old band, Gladstone's Collar. But will the band survive Sherlock's scorn? And will Sherlock break the rules and sing one of John's new songs in front of cops from the Yard, thereby revealing far too much of John's inner self to those who might be shocked by it?
Reccer's comments: This, the 10th installment in Guitar Man, is told from Sherlock's POV as John and some of the Yarder's revive Gladstone's Collar to catch a terrorist at Mycroft's request. Anderson was a fanboy! Lestrade plays the bass guitar. Of course, Sherlock crashes the rehearsal and sees John in a new light. Mycroft is not pleased. Molly comes into her own.
Title: The Rock Show
Pairing: Gen
Length: 4,405 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary:This is the next story in the Guitar Man series. Yes, folks, it's the actual concert for which Sherlock, John, Greg, Molly and Thaddeus Anderson are going undercover - seen through the eyes of Sally Donovan. Sally is glad Tad is having a good time, but she thinks it's going to be an embarrassing disaster. Things don't certainly go entirely to plan, either, when things go a bit wrong and John Watson has to disarm someone live on stage. This story is not especially realistic, but nothing from this series really is, music-wise, so just let it go and I hope you find it fun.
Reccer's comments: Fun is exactly how to describe this fic!
Title: Not Crying: Calling
Pairing: Gen
Length: 5697 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: The Gladstone's Collar series continues but moves into angsty territory with a post-Reichenbach tale. John has lost a lot with the death of his friend, but he refuses to lose the gift of music that Sherlock gave back to him. John also has the ghost of a suspicion and an insane hope. Time to send out a message in a bottle.
Reccer's comments: In Part 13 of Guitar Man a grieving John steps on stage at a music festival to sing a song in honor of, and perhaps to, his lost friend. Thirty-six days later Mycroft plays him a mysteriously-received tape. Is it a message? This is a beautifully written story of heart-break, conflict, and hope.
Title: Silence and Lullaby
Pairing: Gen
Length: 10,355 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary:Some things about Sherlock Holmes's death didn't add up, so John Watson sent a song out into the abyss on the crazy hope that maybe he wasn't dead after all. And he got a reply, a secret remix. But now what? Messages like that are too complex to be tenable, or safe. And how can they convey anything practical? Then the phone calls begin; in which the caller doesn't speak a word. How is John supposed to do anything with that?
Reccer's comments: The 15th story concludes the arc started in "Not Crying: Calling." John, Mrs Hudson, and Mycroft listen to silent phone calls in agonized suspense. As a reader, I shared their emotions. This is a spare story, told as much by what isn't detailed as what is. With the kind of happy ending that leaves one as devastated as exultant.
Author: 221b_hound
Pairing: Gen (with a few exceptions, check the individual story tags)
Length: varying lengths
Rating: general audiences (except installment 32, "Can’t Keep My Hands Off You.") Future stories may vary.
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Reccer's comments on the series: Guitar Man seems to be an ongoing series (new stories keep popping up, though most stand alone). I'm not quite sure how to cover it, since it's currently at 32 installments. I'm going to highlight a few, but I hope you will want to read them all, and preferably in order.
In some fics Sherlock's violin is almost a character in own right and music is the way he expresses his feelings. "Guitar Man" is another series in which music plays a key role as a medium for emotions, connections, healing, and growth. Sherlock has his violin, but John is the guitar man - previously the lead singer and songwriter for an almost-famous band in his teenage years.
This series covers a span of 30 years - from a year after John moves into 221B Baker to their retirement in Sussex. Some installments are light-hearted. Some are serious. They evoke laugh-out-loud merriment, sad tears, joyful tears, heart-in-throat anxiety, smiles of adorableness, and nods of insight. There are song lyrics. There are weddings. And glimpses into John's and Sherlock's childhoods. Guitar Man goes in unexpected directions, with unexpected pairings, but it always feels right, making full use of all the major canon characters. It even redeems Anderson!
Guitar Man beautifully conveys a friendship as profound and meaningful as any romance - as, in fact, a great love story.
I adore this series.
Title: Gladstone's Collar
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2085 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: Written for a prompt on the Sherlock BBC Kink Meme: Before joining the army, John played guitar and was part of a short-lived band that nonetheless gained a small but devoted cult following. Cue this fact being outed (maybe during a case) and Sherlock listening to all their old tracks and becoming a John!groupie.
Reccer's comments: Gladstone's Collar is the first story in the series. During a case involving a missing Fender guitar a musician recognizes John as a member of an almost famous rock band that still has its fans.
"Bailey had breathlessly filled Sherlock in on the details. The albums: all two of them. The shows. The inevitable break-up of the band, in gloriously messy wannabe rock star style. Mainly because the drummer and the bass player kept skiving off rehearsals, then screwing the groupies, then the roadies, then each other, before it went horribly pear-shaped and John decided he was sick of trying to stitch the band into one piece all the time and decided stitching up people would be more rewarding and less mind-fuckingly tortuous."
A few days later, to his horror, John wakes up to the sound of Sherlock singing along to their first album!
Title: Luminescent
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2085 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: John used to be in a band. Sherlock found out and now they muck about at home playing music, sometimes. A new case means they need to go undercover with a whole band: so Anderson, Lestrade and Molly Hooper step up for a revival of John's old band, Gladstone's Collar. But will the band survive Sherlock's scorn? And will Sherlock break the rules and sing one of John's new songs in front of cops from the Yard, thereby revealing far too much of John's inner self to those who might be shocked by it?
Reccer's comments: This, the 10th installment in Guitar Man, is told from Sherlock's POV as John and some of the Yarder's revive Gladstone's Collar to catch a terrorist at Mycroft's request. Anderson was a fanboy! Lestrade plays the bass guitar. Of course, Sherlock crashes the rehearsal and sees John in a new light. Mycroft is not pleased. Molly comes into her own.
Title: The Rock Show
Pairing: Gen
Length: 4,405 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary:This is the next story in the Guitar Man series. Yes, folks, it's the actual concert for which Sherlock, John, Greg, Molly and Thaddeus Anderson are going undercover - seen through the eyes of Sally Donovan. Sally is glad Tad is having a good time, but she thinks it's going to be an embarrassing disaster. Things don't certainly go entirely to plan, either, when things go a bit wrong and John Watson has to disarm someone live on stage. This story is not especially realistic, but nothing from this series really is, music-wise, so just let it go and I hope you find it fun.
Reccer's comments: Fun is exactly how to describe this fic!
Title: Not Crying: Calling
Pairing: Gen
Length: 5697 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary: The Gladstone's Collar series continues but moves into angsty territory with a post-Reichenbach tale. John has lost a lot with the death of his friend, but he refuses to lose the gift of music that Sherlock gave back to him. John also has the ghost of a suspicion and an insane hope. Time to send out a message in a bottle.
Reccer's comments: In Part 13 of Guitar Man a grieving John steps on stage at a music festival to sing a song in honor of, and perhaps to, his lost friend. Thirty-six days later Mycroft plays him a mysteriously-received tape. Is it a message? This is a beautifully written story of heart-break, conflict, and hope.
Title: Silence and Lullaby
Pairing: Gen
Length: 10,355 words
Rating: everyone
Author's summary:Some things about Sherlock Holmes's death didn't add up, so John Watson sent a song out into the abyss on the crazy hope that maybe he wasn't dead after all. And he got a reply, a secret remix. But now what? Messages like that are too complex to be tenable, or safe. And how can they convey anything practical? Then the phone calls begin; in which the caller doesn't speak a word. How is John supposed to do anything with that?
Reccer's comments: The 15th story concludes the arc started in "Not Crying: Calling." John, Mrs Hudson, and Mycroft listen to silent phone calls in agonized suspense. As a reader, I shared their emotions. This is a spare story, told as much by what isn't detailed as what is. With the kind of happy ending that leaves one as devastated as exultant.