Sherlock Rec: Cooperative Principle
May. 19th, 2015 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_thereI'm very late to the party, but I only just read it and loved it. So, maybe others haven't read it too.
Cooperative Principle by bendingsignpost was a really lovely read. A good amount of smut but more importantly, it hooked me emotionally. Being able to care about a story is the best.
I haven't read Sherlock fiction in ages but this story made me remember how much I loved about the fandom. Sherlock is a great mix of intense, fascinating and childish -- endearing and attractive and utterly mad at times -- and seeing him through John's eyes made it so obvious why John would fall for him.
I have a love of that misunderstandings and doubting self-worth trope. It's emotionally appealing and it works for me, but it's also something that's very hard to pull off over a long story like this. It has to be subtle and worked into the POV organically; it has to feel realistic, like the type of misunderstanding you wouldn't actually discuss. This story did a wonderful job of showing how John would interpret Sherlock's actions and effectively using the reveal that Sherlock is a lot more emotionally invested than John recognises. In hindsight, of course Sherlock cared about John but given what John knew of him, it was also logical and believable that John made other assumptions.
It's rare to read a story that actually has some unknown suspense, that makes you worry for the happy end. I have to say, after the big fight, I had concerns about the happy ending. It felt possible that maybe John and Sherlock wouldn't end on speaking terms -- regardless of how much John cares or regrets how he acted. It seemed like platonic roommates might end up being a content-enough-ever-after. And I was thrilled when the relationship between them grew again, stronger than it had been before.
I also have to say how much I loved John in this. He was so wonderfully imperfect -- not just the big PTSD or self-worth issues, but the smaller things like a bad temper, the tendency to go quiet and withdraw when upset... the character flaws that feel real, that can make someone annoying to deal with without changing the fact that they're still a geniunely decent person. I cared about this John, and even when he wasn't acting well, he was acting in a way that I could sympathise with.
The best sign of a successful story is one that makes you care, that makes you *feel* and want to know what happens. This absolutely succeeded.
Cooperative Principle by bendingsignpost was a really lovely read. A good amount of smut but more importantly, it hooked me emotionally. Being able to care about a story is the best.
I haven't read Sherlock fiction in ages but this story made me remember how much I loved about the fandom. Sherlock is a great mix of intense, fascinating and childish -- endearing and attractive and utterly mad at times -- and seeing him through John's eyes made it so obvious why John would fall for him.
I have a love of that misunderstandings and doubting self-worth trope. It's emotionally appealing and it works for me, but it's also something that's very hard to pull off over a long story like this. It has to be subtle and worked into the POV organically; it has to feel realistic, like the type of misunderstanding you wouldn't actually discuss. This story did a wonderful job of showing how John would interpret Sherlock's actions and effectively using the reveal that Sherlock is a lot more emotionally invested than John recognises. In hindsight, of course Sherlock cared about John but given what John knew of him, it was also logical and believable that John made other assumptions.
It's rare to read a story that actually has some unknown suspense, that makes you worry for the happy end. I have to say, after the big fight, I had concerns about the happy ending. It felt possible that maybe John and Sherlock wouldn't end on speaking terms -- regardless of how much John cares or regrets how he acted. It seemed like platonic roommates might end up being a content-enough-ever-after. And I was thrilled when the relationship between them grew again, stronger than it had been before.
I also have to say how much I loved John in this. He was so wonderfully imperfect -- not just the big PTSD or self-worth issues, but the smaller things like a bad temper, the tendency to go quiet and withdraw when upset... the character flaws that feel real, that can make someone annoying to deal with without changing the fact that they're still a geniunely decent person. I cared about this John, and even when he wasn't acting well, he was acting in a way that I could sympathise with.
The best sign of a successful story is one that makes you care, that makes you *feel* and want to know what happens. This absolutely succeeded.
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Date: 2015-05-19 11:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-19 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-20 03:13 am (UTC)Happy you, who gets to read them for the first time!