Comments | thesardine: Secondary Exposure: 2

thesardine

Secondary Exposure: 2

Nov 28, 2010 11:22

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Donovan cleared a spot at the table. Last night Sherlock had become suddenly ravenous at 3am, and he had cooked himself a pasta alfredo, the remains of which had long congealed in the pot he had eaten out of. Donovan set this atop Sherlock's research, which she had unceremoniously swept aside. She had accepted John's offer of ( Read more... )

secondary exposure, sherlock

Comments 8

anonymous June 12 2011, 03:11:12 UTC

I want to like this, I really do - especially as it was recced to me by a friend whose taste in Sherlock fic I generally share. But, honestly, strangulation not immediately obvious as a cause of death? (see chapter 1). Any medical examiner could identify strangulation within seconds, especially if it was with something such as rope or a clothes line.

And if John and Sherlock have been living together for six months, why is Sherlock such a complete and utter bastard to John still? By the end of Study in Pink he had a lot of respect for John. Sure, he was still insulting occasionally, but he respected John's abilities as a doctor and also clearly liked him as a person. Sherlock is very out of character in these two chapters.

I'm sorry to have to say this - as I say, I really want to like this story - but so far I'm finding it difficult to focus on the story because of these issues :(

thesardine June 12 2011, 11:19:51 UTC

Hey, fair enough! I'll be the first to admit that my forensic experience extends to dead dear in a cornfield, so I was really winging it on Wikipedia research (the down fall of modern knowledge. :c ). I was operating on the assumption that a three month old corpse buried in the earth in summer would have decomposed down to largely skeletal remains, which would make it difficult to determine the cause of death, if it excluded sever bodily trauma. I can see how that might be a stretch to someone who knows better. (And I can guarantee you I...um, utilize artistic licence regarding other "scientific" elements of the case ( ... )

bk7brokemybrain June 20 2011, 18:47:11 UTC

After reading the above comment, I wanted to say that I am enjoying the fic so far, and rather enjoying the fact that the boys aren't all sweet on each other. It's fairly Sherlock canon, as far as I can see, and it's refreshing to see them grumble at each other a bit, yet still be such intimate friends underneath.
I would like to make a point about Dr. Watson, though. I don't think he's a surgeon, but a general practitioner. He may have dealt with trauma and wounds in the war, but he's not a specialist. I believe, and let the world correct me if I'm wrong so I'll know better, that GPs in Great Britain are called 'Dr.', but surgeons are called 'Mr.'. The surgery John works in is a clinic. If you aren't British, you might not be familiar. FYI. (I'm not British, but I watch a hell of a lot of BBC shows, lol)

PS - Extra points for the delightful use of 'canoodling' by Sherlock in Ch 1. LOL

thesardine June 20 2011, 21:50:54 UTC

You could very well be right - I'm American, so the Dr./Mr. divide would go straight over my head. I think in ACD canon Watson had been an Army surgeon, but I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure if Army surgeon is different from the other kinds...o_o ( ... )

chaos_walking October 16 2011, 04:42:43 UTC

Um. I've read the other comments, and, as a fellow American who can't really complain about lack of Britishism... I have no issues with this :D

I think that your characterization is spot on. During the Great Game Sherlock snipes at John and says rude things, despite the fact that he respects him. Sherlock is just kind a rude guy.

In my head canon John is a surgeon, too. I'm going to have to re-read the original stories to see if that's just info that I've made up to make myself happy.

Anyway, I love this. You've done a brilliant job. I'm glad to have found it.

thesardine October 16 2011, 05:40:43 UTC

Thanks! I tried my best with the Britishisms and accuracy, even Google Earthing greater London to find what looked like dense enough clumps of trees where they might be able to fit a shack and hide a body...(I'm serious, you can Google Sunny Way in North Finchley, find John's school and the spot from which he was abducted. Whether or not this is a reasonable area for John to have grown up in is neither here nor there, though London demographics suggest it would be. Don't know, never been to England! :P)

I agree that Sherlock in general is just pretty rude! In fact, I like him the most when he's like that, but I can see the appeal of a kinder version. Luckily there's plenty of different spokes for different folks.

I'm almost positive I picked up "army surgeon" from some canon...

natsuko1978 June 16 2012, 02:30:11 UTC

Okay... how did you come up with Theydon Bois? Just Google ( ... )

thesardine June 16 2012, 05:36:53 UTC

Ha - yes, all geographical research was 100% Google. Theydon Bois seemed to have a decent sized wood, rural enough within a certain distance of Central London. I hope personal knowledge of the area doesn't compromise the fic too much.

I honestly can't blame you for being bothered by a lack of britpicking! There can be such crucial differences that don't even occur to me to consider, which end up making passages if not baffling then just plain technically wrong to the more informed reader. Let's not even get started on the difference between pants and trousers. D:

I would love to have a brit-pickers guide! Right now Google is serving that purpose, for better or for worse.

As for "a thousand apologies," ...I can see BBC Sherlock offering them with utmost sarcasm, but that's about it. ACD Holmes's manners were definitely much better, which isn't to say they were even particularly good...