Watching "Silence of the Lambs" right now and when Starling visits Lector for the first time he asks her to sit down and I was eerily reminded of the warehouse scene where John refuses. The whole deduction thing that went on was startling similar to "Silence of the Lambs", too.
So. AU. Where John (in his early twenties) is still at uni and his psychology prof gives him an assignment questioning the aloof, mysterious, highly intelligent Mycroft Holmes (because Holmes fancies the kind of guy John is? Intelligent but ordinary?). Mycroft is in a mental hospital on account of being a psychopath. Is he a psychopath? Is he covering for his little brother who as well might be?
I would love some John/Mycroft UST of sorts, pre-slash would be fine, too, just work in some serious tension. You don't have to base the whole thing on the film but if you want to write them as a film!AU.
Now, run with it! Run with it like a preschooler with scissors!
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [1/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:36:58 UTC
I am now finished running with it. Excellent prompt. The UST between John and Mycroft wasn't really coming naturally, and I didn't want to manhandle it in there, so I apologize if this is not exactly what you were looking for. I hope that it is at least close. Writing it was certainly an interesting experience
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [2/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:43:02 UTC
The nerves began when a man in blue scrubs kindly requested that John relinquish any items on his person which might be used as a weapon. The pile built slowly in a little white tray at the front desk of the locked ward: keys, pen, coins, small pocketknife, mobile. They sat in a sad little heap, and John looked down at them, feeling the slow coil of steel around his stomach. The tech was giving him an uncertain smile when someone appeared at his shoulder
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [3/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:45:12 UTC
The door closed behind him with the resounding clunk of the lock. Beside the door was the white button Karras had spoken of. Next to that was a bright red one
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [4/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:46:48 UTC
Holmes smiled indulgently. “It’s early in the term yet. You’ll come to it eventually.” He sat back against his chair, relaxing into it. “I’ve always considered Philip Zimbardo a bit of a loose cannon - not entirely held together, you see. But that’s what makes a scientist interesting, don’t you think? The things that he will do for his experiment. The lengths he will go to for a result.” The smile widened, and became something different. Something that made John sit a little straighter in his chair. “You’ll learn all of this soon enough, but the Stanford Prison Experiment was a study gone bad. Twenty-four university students were chosen to participate, half as guards and half as prisoners. The study was intended to go on for fourteen days, but was shut down after only six. The ‘prison’ was nothing but a basement, but the students internalized their roles so well that they became guards to prisoners, and prisoners to guards. They lost their sense of identity to the roles that they had been assigned. They were either faceless authority
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [5/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:49:00 UTC
John stared. His heart was hammering his chest, paced by the run of words from Holmes’s mouth. ”How?” John managed. “How could you know any of that
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [6/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:50:58 UTC
John’s hands were tight on the arms of his chair. He swallowed, and it seemed to echo in the room, to bounce off of the white walls and back to him. Something internal was humming. He felt as though he was watching the scene from somewhere behind and above himself. He let his face show nothing.
“What I’m saying,” Mycroft said, “is that evil is ubiquitous. It is omnipresent. You have an interest in the evil of man, John, but to say that is to say you have an interest in man, full stop. The serpent is all of us. I’ve arranged the deaths of twenty-eight people, and who is to say that they didn’t deserve it? Who is to say that the men you will kill in the army - don’t look so shocked, please, it is unbefitting of your intelligence - who is to say that those men will deserve it? Where is the line drawn between good and evil? Can you walk me there and point it out to me? Can you say, ‘This is what we have decided, this is the definition of good’? I don’t think you can, John. And it’s time to consider the idea of not trying anymore
( ... )
FILL: The Lucifer Effect [7/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 03:53:58 UTC
Mycroft smirked. “You’ve had your conversation, Mr Watson. It has no doubt been an interesting one. And I think you might be back. There’s no harm in ending here.”
John felt somehow cheated, but he pushed it away. He slowly rose out of his chair. “If I shake your hand, will you break my wrist?”
“What do you think?” Mycroft asked.
John paused, then offered his hand. “It was - interesting to meet you, Mr Holmes.”
Mycroft accepted it and shook lightly. “The pleasure was all mine, Mr Watson. Have fun attempting to condense this afternoon into a few typewritten pages.”
John’s mouth twitched with a smile, but he didn’t bother to ask How. He only turned and walked for the door, buzzing to be let out without looking back. After a pause, the lock clicked, and he let himself into the hall. The door closed behind him
( ... )
Re: FILL: The Lucifer Effect [7/7]travels_in_timeNovember 4 2010, 04:49:05 UTC
I haven't seen the movie this is based on, but it is amazing nonetheless. This is something like I wanted for the taxi driver, that somehow he would get inside people's heads and make them commit suicide that way. I totally believe that your Mycroft here could talk most people into anything that he felt like it. Most people, but not John. :D
And how totally creepifying is it that he's looking for someone who can deal with that, who can stand up to it, so that Sherlock doesn't end up like him? BRILLIANT.
Re: FILL: The Lucifer Effect [7/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 06:57:25 UTC
Oh. My. God.
I love you. This was awesome and everything and I think I'm dead now anyway. I don't think I'll ever get that picture of Mycroft out of my head now. Brilliant, crazy Mycroft. The small roll reversal there in the end, how Sherlock is still considered "normal" and Mycroft the crazy one.
"And I think you might be back."
God, how can I just picture many, many twisted conversations, on the very edge to corrupting John completely.
And there's so many other things about this that coincide with (my real) life that it makes this so haunting and captivating.
Have I mentioned that I love you for this? Never mind "sexual", the "tension" bit was there. And I loved it. *shivers pleasantly*
Re: FILL: The Lucifer Effect [7/7]scap3goatNovember 4 2010, 13:00:27 UTC
Excellent! I'm obviously pleased that you liked it, OP. Thanks very much. The prompt really was an great idea, and I'm glad I managed to hit a few unknown buttons for you. ♥
Re: FILL: The Lucifer Effect [7/7]andrea_deerNovember 4 2010, 23:29:09 UTC
... Only John would go to talk to psychopath and got matchmade to a sociopath. There's just something magical about him. He's like a perfect date for sanity instable. XD
I absolutely loved this fic. It held the atmosphere doctor Lecter seemed to create. You could practically taste the tension cracking in the air. And Mycroft would be such an absolutely perfect, brilliant psychopath. Truly perfect fill, and I say it as a great fan of 'Silence of the Lambs' who was not sure this prompt can be written well. Hoping for it, obviously, but worrying it may not be possible. Thank you for killing my worries :D
So. AU. Where John (in his early twenties) is still at uni and his psychology prof gives him an assignment questioning the aloof, mysterious, highly intelligent Mycroft Holmes (because Holmes fancies the kind of guy John is? Intelligent but ordinary?).
Mycroft is in a mental hospital on account of being a psychopath. Is he a psychopath? Is he covering for his little brother who as well might be?
I would love some John/Mycroft UST of sorts, pre-slash would be fine, too, just work in some serious tension. You don't have to base the whole thing on the film but if you want to write them as a film!AU.
Now, run with it! Run with it like a preschooler with scissors!
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“What I’m saying,” Mycroft said, “is that evil is ubiquitous. It is omnipresent. You have an interest in the evil of man, John, but to say that is to say you have an interest in man, full stop. The serpent is all of us. I’ve arranged the deaths of twenty-eight people, and who is to say that they didn’t deserve it? Who is to say that the men you will kill in the army - don’t look so shocked, please, it is unbefitting of your intelligence - who is to say that those men will deserve it? Where is the line drawn between good and evil? Can you walk me there and point it out to me? Can you say, ‘This is what we have decided, this is the definition of good’? I don’t think you can, John. And it’s time to consider the idea of not trying anymore ( ... )
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John felt somehow cheated, but he pushed it away. He slowly rose out of his chair. “If I shake your hand, will you break my wrist?”
“What do you think?” Mycroft asked.
John paused, then offered his hand. “It was - interesting to meet you, Mr Holmes.”
Mycroft accepted it and shook lightly. “The pleasure was all mine, Mr Watson. Have fun attempting to condense this afternoon into a few typewritten pages.”
John’s mouth twitched with a smile, but he didn’t bother to ask How. He only turned and walked for the door, buzzing to be let out without looking back. After a pause, the lock clicked, and he let himself into the hall. The door closed behind him ( ... )
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And how totally creepifying is it that he's looking for someone who can deal with that, who can stand up to it, so that Sherlock doesn't end up like him? BRILLIANT.
Reply
This is so ... AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! In a good way I promise. I may have to come back and leave a proper comment other than AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
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I love you. This was awesome and everything and I think I'm dead now anyway. I don't think I'll ever get that picture of Mycroft out of my head now. Brilliant, crazy Mycroft.
The small roll reversal there in the end, how Sherlock is still considered "normal" and Mycroft the crazy one.
"And I think you might be back."
God, how can I just picture many, many twisted conversations, on the very edge to corrupting John completely.
And there's so many other things about this that coincide with (my real) life that it makes this so haunting and captivating.
Have I mentioned that I love you for this? Never mind "sexual", the "tension" bit was there. And I loved it. *shivers pleasantly*
Reply
Reply
I absolutely loved this fic. It held the atmosphere doctor Lecter seemed to create. You could practically taste the tension cracking in the air. And Mycroft would be such an absolutely perfect, brilliant psychopath. Truly perfect fill, and I say it as a great fan of 'Silence of the Lambs' who was not sure this prompt can be written well. Hoping for it, obviously, but worrying it may not be possible. Thank you for killing my worries :D
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