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Title:  The Scottish Play
Author:  [livejournal.com profile] impulsereader
Fandom:  Sherlock BBC
BritPicked by [livejournal.com profile] quarryquest.  Any remaining Americanisms are my own error.  (And she advised I leave off the attempted mating with the box of frogs…but I just couldn’t make myself take it out, so that’s all me…yup, the hare and frogs and the box and the attempted mating is mine, aaaaalllllllll mine.  There is still time to turn back.)
Rating:  PG13 for the weaponisation of Sherlock’s parents (mental abuse on display and physical of children heavily implied) as well as language.
Length:  each act is between 7k and 9k words.  This first portion of the ‘you can imagine’ ‘verse therefore adds up to ~40000 words.  (Yes.  I have written 40k words just as set up for the real thing.  I boggle right along with you.  [Wanna hear a secret?  I could have written more, this narrative has clearly not achieved critical mass in shenanigans for a fortnight full of Holmeses.])
Characters:  Sherlock, John, and a whole lot of Holmeses.  OCs as well as characters borrowed from the television series As Time Goes By and the Hannay novels of John Buchan.  But really, it’s mostly the John & Sherlock show.  :-)
Pairing:  Overwhelmingly gen with a small side of Mycroft/Not Anthea thrown in, because she insisted.

Summary:  It turns out that Sherlock’s Uncle Rocky lives on a rambling estate (John refuses to call The House a castle, he really does) in the Chilterns.  Each year, all Holmes relations (close, distant, and honorary) are free to join the gathering which takes place there for a fortnight over the Christmas holiday.  As Sherlock explains to John, “Various activities are undertaken; hunting, nature walks, recitations and chamber music in the evenings, there will be Shakespeare performed, the children will be given tuition in painting and chess among other things, we will all Dress For Dinner each evening.  It will all be terribly boring and tedious, but I have been threatened in the severest of terms if I do not present myself and pass the interminably dull time along with everyone else.”  Of course, nothing is ever that simple (or dull) when the boys are on the scene.  Soon Sherlock is having a bit of a breakdown, John is posing shirtless, they end up with a case involving a missing horse, Sherlock tutors the kiddies in science, and John is about to discover exactly how seriously the Holmes clan takes their Shakespeare.

Disclaimer:  Nothing you recognize belongs to me.  Other things which you don’t recognize also do not belong to me.  I have cleverly already signed everything over to the cats; feel free to sue me.

A/N:  Since it seems a lot of people are a bit burned out on Reichenbach angst right now, I’m going to go ahead and tell you here that there is quite a bit of TRF angst in the first three acts of this story.  I’m sorry, my brain needed another go round apparently.  After that I promise things lighten up and we’re all about the wacky hijinks!

Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V


Individual thanks below - but here a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone on my flist who contributed to this story.  Look, we made art!  You all are seriously brilliant!  Many, many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] 221b_hound who prompted all this, way back when, by suggesting that Sherlock be cast as Beatrice and John as Benedick.

Acknowledgements:  All MacBeth stage directions are taken from either Project Gutenberg's Etext of Shakespeare's The Tragedie of Macbeth which can be found here or Project Gutenberg’s Etext of THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH which can be found here

Some lines in the Silver Blaze section are taken directly from the original work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, also accessible via Project Gutenberg here

[aside] Project Gutenberg is brilliant!

The poem which is quoted by Forester Holmes (parenthetical insertions are mine) is Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 written by Géza Képes and translated by Peter Laki.

The lines which come directly from The Reichenbach Fall are taken from the transcript here by [livejournal.com profile] arianedevere.  Many thanks for all of her hard work.  [livejournal.com profile] quarryquest did suggest changing an ‘er’ to an ‘um’ which I then did, but otherwise I used this work verbatim.

Ahem – all my LJ friends listed below provided me with wonderful suggestions and support during this process, please do not think their contributions were limited to those I list below, this is simply a fairly random sampling of the first things which came to mind when I sat down to type this.  It is a snapshot, not a comprehensive view of the help everyone has given me during the course of writing this story.  I’m also hoping that I haven’t left anyone off as I’ve sorted through posts in haste.  If I have, please, please don’t be offended and do let me know!

Many thanks to:
[livejournal.com profile] 221b_hound who inspired it all, and continues to gift us with absolutely superb Sherlock fic.  Honestly, go read any (then all) of her stories right now, you will not be disappointed!  Also, here there be Plutarch!!
[livejournal.com profile] northernwalker for the gift that is Grandmère and Claude.  These characters are the ones who make the Holmes family work in this fic.  Thank you!!
[livejournal.com profile] quarryquest who provided the setting for the estate, told me about the Red Kites, and told me it worked when I asked.  She is also writing a fabulous post TRF fic which is currently a wip - hop on board!
[livejournal.com profile] djarum99 who solved the riddle of the Holmes family group noun, and who read over Sherlock’s über troublesome parents and confirmed for me they were plausible.
[livejournal.com profile] natsuko1978 (Who very kindly taught me the invaluable word ‘shufti’.) and [livejournal.com profile] mizz_history, both of whom sat down to give me the info I need to send Sherlock shopping.  *rubs hands together in anticipation*  This is part of the first Baker Street Interlude, and I can’t wait to get started!
[livejournal.com profile] f_m_r_l who gifted me with The Attic.  *worships at your feet*  If you're taking recs from here, go read her fic as well!
[livejournal.com profile] pargoletta who sat me down and talked to me about
Bartók, told me I could subject Forester to interrogation by the Hungarian Secret Police, kindly corrected the worst of my musical errors, and let me run a bow across the strings of a violin for the very first time in my life.  She also makes a mean Chinese chicken dish (yum!).  And again with the fic rec!
[livejournal.com profile] jobia who confirmed Claude could plausibly work the way he does in order to keep the pose a secret…for now…and insisted I include creepy artistic staring which, it turns out, is pretty much comic gold, I love that bit!

Date: 2012-08-30 09:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 221b-hound.livejournal.com
Awww, thank you hon. It's fabulous to see what a terrific collaborative effort this has been behind the scenes, but god damn, you've been the binding force of it all and you've written a wonderful story, full of humour and love and heart and, let's face it, some very suitable and satisfying REVENGE, with so many wonderful characters, even the ones I love to hate.

*cuddles The Scottish Play to my bosom and smooshes the stuffing out of it*

Date: 2012-08-30 05:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
The collaborative efforts really increased the fun factor for me. When I first realized I was going to have to write it I knew I was going to need prompting because if I'd been left to my own devices the members of the Holmes family would have all ended up looking much more similar than they should have and would have presented very much in the style of: I'm Ed. This is my brother Darryl. This is my other brother Darryl. That over there is my third cousin Darryl.

I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much for sitting down and telling me exactly what bits you liked best, I really appreciate that!

Date: 2012-08-31 02:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] f-m-r-l.livejournal.com
Now after that last line in your reply I can't just say "Thank you for reccing me and your story would is completely wonderful." Darn.

Date: 2012-08-31 03:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
You can't? *looks around, bewildered* I think your reply is quite lovely! I'm happy to rec good fic (thought I cannot guarantee anyone actually reads fic because I've rec'd it) and utterly chuffed that you think my story is completely wonderful. It's even better that you commented on it within the story as well as here! Rest assured, I'm perfectly happy! I'm having a great time and just giving you guys a bit of a rest before I ask for more input on the Baker Street interludes! There must be a way to inject more Shakespeare!

Date: 2012-09-04 12:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quarryquest.livejournal.com
I have been telling [livejournal.com profile] garienos that we have been imortalised in fic! I shall have to link him to it so he can read it!

Date: 2012-09-05 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
I greatly appreciate all the time you took to read, correct and comment! You made this a much better story by far!

Date: 2012-09-05 07:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quarryquest.livejournal.com
The offer is still there if you need the next part worked on ...

Date: 2012-09-05 12:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
As soon as there is something to be worked on, I'll be sure to let you know...back to the beginning at the moment...ideas whirling around, flist to be consulted...spies and plot lines and Mcroft assassinations and Cabin Pressure to sort out...my head is pretty fun to be in right now...

Date: 2012-12-20 04:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-hobbet.livejournal.com
Will you be posting this story on AO3 so I can download and read it on my Kindle? It looks like so much fun. The "overwhelmingly gen" part is a plus because I've been getting pretty bored with all the overwhelming porn lately :-).

Do I read you right that there is more to come? Be still my heart :-)

Date: 2012-12-20 05:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
Oh. Well, hello. *waves* I actually am on AO3 as impulsereader with everything I've posted on LJ also up there. (erm, probably, most likely, there might be a slight delay but not, at the moment, a significant one which I am aware of except in my 60s which I tend to move over in batches but also write in batches so that may not count :-) rambling, sorry) I believe there should be a proper link in my master/sticky post on lj to my stories on AO3.

All my stories are gen / teasing the slashers as the show does. I promise there will be no porn and no snogging in this 'verse. (though there is a fake engagement)

There is more to come. I have posted January through May in the Interludes - a peek at J&S's prep through the year. June will be up soon and I am working on the Much Ado year which will feature a Cabin Pressure crossover. I'm having a lot of fun crossing Sherlock with Shakespeare - I very much hope to entertain you along the way. :-)

Date: 2012-12-20 05:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-hobbet.livejournal.com
Duh {face->palm}. I actually knew you were there, but I missed finding The Scottish Play (I looked after the rec on 221B-recs). I love the idea of Sherlock fused with Shakespeare and await Sherlock!Hamlet with trepidation (with John!Horatio, perhaps).

Off to read.

Edited Date: 2012-12-20 05:30 am (UTC)

Date: 2012-12-22 03:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] the-hobbet.livejournal.com
I'm back from reading :-). Wonderful story. I commented in more detail on AO3, where I'm known as Fictitious. I realize I previously recced your story "I Prefer to Text" on Crack-Van.

PS. I added you as a friend. I hope that is OK.
Edited Date: 2012-12-22 03:45 am (UTC)

Date: 2012-12-22 06:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] impulsereader.livejournal.com
Oh, that was you! Neat. Thanks for reccing in general. I wish more people took the time. I think recs are the best way to easily find good stories.

I'm always happy to gain a new reader and people to talk to online. :-)

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