Fic - April, 1944 - John/Sherlock - PG-13

[lotherington]

Title: April, 1944
Author: lotherington
’Verse: Long Ago and Far Away
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters/Pairing: John/Sherlock, Victor Trevor, James Moriarty
Summary: WWII AU. April, 1944. A few interesting conversations are had.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None this chapter
Word Count: ~2,200

Comments

[ridingfledge]

The person above was a bit harsh but, I find myself in agreement in some ways

[lotherington]

I'm sorry you feel that the characters have drastically altered here. It's a good thing that you felt bad for Victor in the previous part because Sherlock was being awful and disgusting and you certainly weren't meant to feel as though what he said to Victor was excusable, just understand some of the motive behind it. His reaction probably feels like a teenager's because in this timeframe, he had just turned twenty when Victor left him and he's spent over a decade repressing his feelings about the situation. He isn't exactly known canonically for his emotional maturity but I'm sorry you feel as though my showing part of his past has changed him completely. I'm glad you will continue reading - this is actually the last part that will include Victor's character and was planned as such even before I received the negative responses on this part and the last. There are a few instalments left to go and I hope you find those more enjoyable.

[anonymous]

--Wanna make it clear I'm not the other anon that you've had discussions with

[lotherington]

No, I don't excuse Sherlock's repulsive behaviour. No-one other than Victor is aware of what Sherlock said and after dinner, John recognises that Sherlock is upset about something and comforts him, much in the same way as he's done a number of times before. I also really fail to understand how one (misjudged, horrible, disgusting) remark on Sherlock's part constitutes an abusive relationship

[ext_1364195]

Let me just begin this comment by saying that I never comment. Never. This is because I’m one of those cripplingly, paralyzing shy people who second guesses every single word the second it’s been committed to the internet.

That being said, I’ve felt compelled for several weeks now to go against my usual instinct in this case, as this is one of my favorite Sherlock AUs, and I’ve been...well, amazed is a good word; amazed by some of the comments recent chapters have been getting. I’m not trying to take those on here-everybody’s entitled to his or her opinion, and if the chapters didn’t ring true to them, that’s unfortunately just how it will be.

But I wanted you to know that they’ve rung true to me, for whatever that knowledge is worth. I’ve been following this story for about seven months now, and these most recent three chapters are not only some of the best, IMHO, but a perfectly logical progression from those which came prior. I didn’t feel Sherlock was ridiculously emotional for a second. Mostly I just felt awful for him.

[ext_1364195]

I was honestly more stunned that Victor tried to talk to him at all, that he could imagine, having once supposedly known him in all senses of the word, that Sherlock doesn’t-play-well-with-others Holmes wouldn’t be hurt by the equivalent of being broken up with via e-mail by his only friend. All of which tells me that there must have been a fairly fundamental level of miscommunication between the two of them from the beginning, that Victor thought they were doing the Uni ‘just experimenting’ bit while Sherlock clearly thought there was more going on. Obviously that’s rather sad for both of them, but to my mind it also makes both of them culpable for the bad feelings. Yes, it is entirely Sherlock’s own fault if he didn’t tell Victor in the past how much he had riding on the relationship, and so in the present blindsided Victor with his degree of bitterness, but I’m sorry, you don’t try to contact your male ex and ask him to be godfather of your children unless you’re one hundred percent certain you’ve ended on amicable terms. What

[ext_1364195]

No, so far the only moment in which Sherlock made me cringe came in the tunnel scene, right before John ships out, when he yells at the woman with the crying child. Irritating as the noise may have been in an unfathomably stressful situation, that’s just not on; that woman did nothing to him, and I think subconsciously he knew it wasn’t okay and did it anyway just to make himself feel better. This is also one of those bits that makes me wonder why people are only calling Sherlock woobie now-the way I’ve read it, he’s had his fair share of very emotionally intense moments. I think people must just be thrown off to read his emotionalism in the context of an ex, which seems...really unfair and picky to me. Why is it all right to be upset by some things, but not by others? Obviously we don’t have the precise scene to reference, but from what Sherlock’s said, the event was one he had some difficulty processing, and for which he never got any closure. What’s wrong with expressing that? I find the teenage girl comparisons especially

[lotherington]

I am going to need to take the time to properly respond to this comment and give it the consideration it deserves. Please do know that you've made me incredibly happy and said everything I've been trying to communicate with the writing of this 'verse so, so much better than I could have done. Thank you. <3

[anonymous]

You've stated that you've been very busy. It's obviously affected your writing here. I think you might want to re-read what you wrote before Victor entered and everything started to crumble.

Yes, Sherlock insults people. But Sherlock didn't insult Victor himself...he insulted Victors family. In such a degree that it made me hate Sherlock. Sherlock is loved as a character because while he does insult people he also has that "hidden" core of goodness. It was ripped out with his exchange with Victor.

People can say how wrong it was for Victor to end the relationship as he did. But wrong as it was, he didn't deserve such a disturbing act of abuse. I lost all respect and love for Sherlock.

And yes. I do think his reaction was like a teenagers(but I've seen no one say teen girl). It was so out of character. He curled up and said how much he was hurt. Where did that come from? That isn't Sherlock. Yes, Sherlock was hurt. But Sherlock Holmes in the series, that character would never curl up onto a ball and bemoan the loss of a youthful

[lotherington]

I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm not sure where you've got the idea that Victor was Sherlock's 'greatest hurt' as I'm fairly certain that was never stated. Perhaps you're confusing John's POV on the whole matter in his conversation with Victor with what Sherlock feels or what I as the narrator want to express. Another thing I'm confused about is where you think I've made Victor Evil!Abusive!Victor as he's nothing but kind and polite to both Sherlock and John in the present day. Do be aware though that I frequently re-read previous parts to ensure that the instalment I'm writing is going in the direction I'd like it to and the story being created is one I want to tell.

I apologise if you feel that RL has affected my writing. I'd be happy to give you some recs for other authors and stories if you'd no longer like to continue reading this.