Fic Rec: The Mystery of Ill Opinions
Title: The Mystery of Ill Opinions
Author: mundungus42
Pairing: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade (background)
Length: 29,044
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC, Hollow Crown RPF
Author's summary: Two Elizabethan actors dream of leaving women's roles behind, and Master Sherlock Holmes agrees to help them find them a playwright to write them roles to rival Marlowe's Tamburlaine. But strange things are afoot in the Holmes household, and Sherlock and John must accomplish this feat while discovering who wants to kill Sherlock and why.
Reccer's comments: Fans of Elizabethan drama and Shakespeare, rejoice! For here you shall find a most delightful concoction, one to rival the plays presented in the Curtain and the Rose. mundungus42 creates a tour de force: mixing the history and drama of Elizabethan England and skillfully bringing into it many of the characters we love so well. The dialogue is intelligible to 21st-century readers and shines with wit throughout (keep your eye out for many references to Shakespeare's plays). Sherlock, John, Shakespeare, and Sally especially stand out for me, not least because of the terrific banter that sparks between them.
The settings and the culture of the period are treated with equal care. I clearly felt that this was a world with rather different values and beliefs than our own; yet it was not so foreign that the motivations and emotions of the main characters were obscured. If you enjoy AUs, history, or the theatre, I strongly suspect you will be satisfied by the richness of the repast spread before you.
Excerpt: [Longish excerpt for the Bard's wit]John followed Master Sherlock up a creaky wooden staircase to a store-room, which held all manner of props and pieces of scenery. To John's surprise, the gatherer who had given him a free ticket had positioned himself in the store-room beside the heavy curtain that separated the store-room from the theatre.
“Master Sherlock!” he exclaimed, giving an exaggerated bow. “How delightful to see you again for the Lyly! Pray, was it Mister Burbage's Phao that enticed you to our Great O once more, or perhaps Mister Kempe as Cupid?”
“Neither,” said Master Sherlock shortly.
“Oh?” asked the gatherer, with badly feigned innocence. “Was it perhaps Mister Hoddleston as Venus or Mister Wishart as Sapho?”
John managed to turn a guffaw into a cough, but Master Sherlock stiffened.
“If you really wish to make a career of acting in order to support your wife and children and pay the debt you owe for your house in Stratford,” he said coldly, “you would do well not to practice your base humour on your betters, particularly those who patronise your troupe. And if you cannot control your idle tongue, perhaps you should return to the glove making trade your father tried to knock into your thick skull.”
If Master Sherlock's verbal assault struck anywhere near the truth, the gatherer made no sign of it as he bowed. “Base humour is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. Shall I send up an orange seller for your amusement?” he asked John.
John glanced at Sherlock's pursed lips and shook his head. “We would prefer to be left alone.”
The gatherer eyed John with new interest. “Oh, would we?”
“Hang you, you brazen-faced churl!” exclaimed Master Sherlock as he swept past the impertinent fellow.
The gatherer met John's eye challengingly. He had intelligent hazel eyes and sported a pointed beard that reminded John of Lord Holmes's, but John was in no mood for games. He seized the gatherer by the doublet and slammed him against the store-room's wall.
“You've had your fun,” said John in a low voice. “But it's over now. If I see you so much as raise an eyebrow in my master's direction, by God's bones, you're going to find it difficult to speak your lines through a broken jaw. Am I understood?”
“You're made of sterner stuff than his last minder,” he said approvingly. “Let us all hope that your fortitude will last the next three hours.”
Author: mundungus42
Pairing: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade (background)
Length: 29,044
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC, Hollow Crown RPF
Author's summary: Two Elizabethan actors dream of leaving women's roles behind, and Master Sherlock Holmes agrees to help them find them a playwright to write them roles to rival Marlowe's Tamburlaine. But strange things are afoot in the Holmes household, and Sherlock and John must accomplish this feat while discovering who wants to kill Sherlock and why.
Reccer's comments: Fans of Elizabethan drama and Shakespeare, rejoice! For here you shall find a most delightful concoction, one to rival the plays presented in the Curtain and the Rose. mundungus42 creates a tour de force: mixing the history and drama of Elizabethan England and skillfully bringing into it many of the characters we love so well. The dialogue is intelligible to 21st-century readers and shines with wit throughout (keep your eye out for many references to Shakespeare's plays). Sherlock, John, Shakespeare, and Sally especially stand out for me, not least because of the terrific banter that sparks between them.
The settings and the culture of the period are treated with equal care. I clearly felt that this was a world with rather different values and beliefs than our own; yet it was not so foreign that the motivations and emotions of the main characters were obscured. If you enjoy AUs, history, or the theatre, I strongly suspect you will be satisfied by the richness of the repast spread before you.
Excerpt: [Longish excerpt for the Bard's wit]John followed Master Sherlock up a creaky wooden staircase to a store-room, which held all manner of props and pieces of scenery. To John's surprise, the gatherer who had given him a free ticket had positioned himself in the store-room beside the heavy curtain that separated the store-room from the theatre.
“Master Sherlock!” he exclaimed, giving an exaggerated bow. “How delightful to see you again for the Lyly! Pray, was it Mister Burbage's Phao that enticed you to our Great O once more, or perhaps Mister Kempe as Cupid?”
“Neither,” said Master Sherlock shortly.
“Oh?” asked the gatherer, with badly feigned innocence. “Was it perhaps Mister Hoddleston as Venus or Mister Wishart as Sapho?”
John managed to turn a guffaw into a cough, but Master Sherlock stiffened.
“If you really wish to make a career of acting in order to support your wife and children and pay the debt you owe for your house in Stratford,” he said coldly, “you would do well not to practice your base humour on your betters, particularly those who patronise your troupe. And if you cannot control your idle tongue, perhaps you should return to the glove making trade your father tried to knock into your thick skull.”
If Master Sherlock's verbal assault struck anywhere near the truth, the gatherer made no sign of it as he bowed. “Base humour is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. Shall I send up an orange seller for your amusement?” he asked John.
John glanced at Sherlock's pursed lips and shook his head. “We would prefer to be left alone.”
The gatherer eyed John with new interest. “Oh, would we?”
“Hang you, you brazen-faced churl!” exclaimed Master Sherlock as he swept past the impertinent fellow.
The gatherer met John's eye challengingly. He had intelligent hazel eyes and sported a pointed beard that reminded John of Lord Holmes's, but John was in no mood for games. He seized the gatherer by the doublet and slammed him against the store-room's wall.
“You've had your fun,” said John in a low voice. “But it's over now. If I see you so much as raise an eyebrow in my master's direction, by God's bones, you're going to find it difficult to speak your lines through a broken jaw. Am I understood?”
“You're made of sterner stuff than his last minder,” he said approvingly. “Let us all hope that your fortitude will last the next three hours.”