(no subject)

[impulsereader]

Later, down the pub, Greg sipped at his whisky worshipfully and regarded his friend with an amused eye. “Now what the bloody hell was all that about?”

John laughed. “What, you mean when we all took a beating from a packing crate or the bit where we all three of us acted out Shakespeare in the living room?”

“Well, what I’d really like you to explain is why Sherlock broke into what I assume is an aria during the Shakespeare, but I’ll settle for an explanation for the acting and why you’re so keen on it. Is this a secret hobby of yours?”

“No, god no. I’m just keen not to look a complete and utter arse, and where acting is concerned Sherlock is the best bloody tutor you could ask for.”

“But what theatre cast you as Benedick? This isn’t the sort of thing that happens by accident, you know. You’d have to audition for starters.”

“Greg, you wouldn’t bloody believe me if I told you.”

Greg leaned back and challenged, “Try me.”

So John took a deep breath and told him. He told him about the sprawling house in the country and dressing for dinner; he told him about Grandmother, who was so very tiny but could move men with the power of her will alone; he told him about how Peter could get a wild deer to eat out of his hand, and how Richard was useful in a crisis, and how Not Anthea was both a lot of fun and a lot of trouble to be around; he told him about the painter and the composer who were quite cosy in their vine-covered cottage and happily sniped at each other as they created beautiful things all day long; he told him about how Sherlock had magically tutored children into understanding how a bird’s wings work and how Mycroft was training up the next generation to rule the world. After a few more drinks he told him about Sherlock’s parents, and Greg’s eyes both lightened in understanding and gained a hard glint that was a twin to the one in his own; he told him that Sherlock and Mycroft had once agreed on something and that they’d had a puppy named Plutarch; and then he invited him to spend his Christmas with the Holmeses.

Comments

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

Hm. Not streamable on Netflix. *pouts* A happy slashy ending does sound appealing. Queer folk have been working through their own (latest) couple decades of angst, unfortunately, and their films would necessarily reflect that. It's like us - fighting through the Reichenbach fallout through fic. This is my third round of it, and I'm really hoping this one does the trick.

One of the things that really hit me in the new Tinker Tailor was poor Peter/Benedict having - like - the worst possible day - ever - seriously ever - no character has ever had this bad a day, even if it actually ended up killing him.

And I love that the early scene we get with Benedict and Colin is all about them ogling the new secretary. We can treat this sort of thing as amusing - everyone who is anyone is hiding the fact that he's gay - ha, ha! But they really had to / have to hide it. And that is so monumentally bleak and sad.

[221b-hound.livejournal.com]

Oh, the scene where he tells his lover to leave, it's heartbreaking. And all the awful pretence to fit in.

I like it that there are more shows now with gay characters and their storylines aren't about their gayness. There are just more diverse characters in stories, including gay characters. There was an Australian sitcom earlier this year called Outland, in which all the major characters are gay and out of the closet with their sexuality, but are all trying to hide their nerdiness from the mainstream. Great series, very funny.

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

I know! It feels like Benedict is ripping my heart out of my chest during that scene.

The movie really uses music very well.

[221b-hound.livejournal.com]

I knooooooooooow!

Music and silence, both. It's such a *quiet* film, and you really have to be paying attention. NOt many films or tv shows really know how to use silence properly. One of the best episodes of The Prisoner (British show from the 60s)has fifteen minutes of mostly silence - just background noise and the occasional bit of music - before the first line of dialogue. :)

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

It's a great movie - though I was a little disappointed to see Ciaran Hinds hasn't aged quite as well as I had imagined he would. :-(

I don't think I've seen any full episodes of The Prisoner, just snippets here and there, but we did watch the recent miniseries which came out with Ian McKellan and that was pretty good - quite entertaining.

[221b-hound.livejournal.com]

I thought that was an excellent modern interpretation of the original. The original still holds up very well, by the way. It's stylised and strange, and its themes and concerns are (sadly) still relevant.

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

Since we were talking about TTSS recently, and specifically Peter's Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day - I just read this and it's wonderful, as is all this author's Holmes fic, most likely all her fic, though I've been reading mostly Holmes. http://flawedamythyst.livejournal.com/411355.html?view=5903323#t5903323

[221b-hound.livejournal.com]

that fic made me go all weepy. :( Sad Peter is so saaaaaaaaaaad. I do like Flawed Amythyst's work, though. She's a very good writer.

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Peter story is very sad :-( but I cannot help but feel you're trying to distract me from the fact that your fic is longer and therefore even sadder. I have dubbed it 'the saddest fic in the land'

[221b-hound.livejournal.com]

But mine ends in reunions! And hugs! And singing! And emotional breakdowns. Ok, so the last bit is quite sad, but it's also part of the hugs and singing, and a mellower, more affectionate Sherlock. That's not unmitigated woe, is it?

Ah well. Remade is less sad, and the upcoming fic (to be called either Reprise or Finale) is positively chock full of shenanigans, so that will hopefully cheer you up.

And Look! Dr Sex icon! *tries to distract your tears with the pretty*

[f-m-r-l.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is not being in charge of the telling of one's own story. For a long time Hollywood, and perhaps other places that have dealt in entertainment, thought that treating a queer character decently would be death to the financials. Oh, maybe male fantasy "lesbians" with a wink and a nudge would be o.k. But anything else had to be a dreadful stereotype done for the laughs, a tragedy, or both. And a story about someone who was queer was always a story of the other, since everyone in Hollywood was closeted.

And now? Well, I think in some ways change in Hollywood may be slower than other places. They're still marketing to their idea of small town middle America. They ask themselves "How will this affect the box office in Minnesota? How will this affect the box office in the Bible Belt?" Because, for all of the 'glamor', it's a business. (In fact, the 'glamor' is a part of the business, marketing.) Meanwhile, for all people fume about it, marriage equality is the law in Iowa, the heart of the corn belt.

Cable can experiment with shows that have groups of positive LBGTQ characters. Cable can experiment with shows that have groups of meth heads as characters. The expectations and scope of the target markets are different.

But we have more out LBGTQ actors now, and a few more positive LBGTQ characters in mainstream movies and even broadcast shows (I remember my surprise in 1989 when the TV show Doctor Doctor had a gay male character and didn't do anything more horrible to him than they did to the rest of the characters. Groundbreaking at the time.)

Um, yeah, I don't have issues on this topic at all....

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

Things are improving, though agonizingly slowly. Consider our telephone discussion and the change over time there. Here's hoping that we're on the brink of some accelerated progress with the state of the internet and the sheer magnetism which is John/Sherlock.