Loveable Freak Reviews A Fanfic- The Full House By Emcee (of Archive Of Our Own)

Alright, I KNOW I said I was gonna do an MST-style review of a less-than-stellar fic. I say a lot of things. It is coming up, but the thing is, I've just read a GOOD fanfic, and I want to review that now! I need to share my thoughts on it! Ladies and gents, the Sherlock fanfic, "The Full House".



 Here's the story: after The Fall, Sherlock goes to stay with Molly while he tries to dismantle Moriarty's Criminal Network. He even employs a familiar face to help. But plenty of complications arise, especially our favorite consulting detective's feelings towards a certain pathologist. Relationship upgrades, sinister plots, and really good writing ensue.



  As you no doubt guessed, this is a Sherlolly fic. I'll admit, as much as I'm cool with and like Sherlock not being romantically involved with people, I'm a sucker for Sherlolly. And this is very well-written, and in-character for Sherlock on his side: he views the relationship as an experiment, but his feelings do grow. And he does worry for his ability when he thinks his feelings grow too much. And it continues on the character's in-show development: Molly growing more of a backbone with Sherlock, and Sherlock becoming a real boy and dealing with his emotions (which I am admittedly a complete and total sucker sucker for).

*ahem* When done RIGHT! >:(

Plus, John's reactions to Sherlock and Molly are gold.


  And it's not just the romance. There is adventure in this, too. There's the ongoing plot of taking on the still-alive Moriarty, taking down Moran, and Moriarty's Network. Plus, the author, Emcee, throws in a very interesting twist on one of my favorite Canon stories: "The Copper Beeches". There's more to the fic than just, "Sherlock and Molly become an item. That's it. Nothing else."



The pacing is also good. The romance doesn't happen all at once, the adventure doesn't just completely disappear, it's still brought up. It's pretty well-balanced. Even when there's a "brief break-up", it's handled for a good amount of time, in-character, and it's not just forgotten when they inevitably get back together.

 

I also have to praise the fanfic for something. She(?) (I'm guessing the author's a she) ACTUALLY made me like Irene Adler here. As I've said, the characters are in-character. Irene's no different. But, with how she handled the character, here, I actually enjoyed when she popped up. Yes, a FANFIC WRITER did a better job with the Sherlock version of Irene than Moffat! I guess it goes to show one of my philosophies is true: it doesn't matter if an idea is good or bad, it often depends on how you handle them.

 

Also, it's hilarious and made me feel emotions! Emcee writes some pretty hilarious scenes and exchanges between the characters, especially between Sherlock and John. And I did feel stuff as I read. There was the obligatory squeeing and "aw"-ing over my kinda irrational, fueled only by emotions/cuteness/sympathy OTP, of course (What can I say? Fic!Sherlock (Ficlock (?) ) could be so adorkable here! I'M A SUCKER FOR ADORKABLE!). And I admit to getting a bit mad at Ficlock during the "brief break-up" thing. I understood why he did it, but I still got mad! Brava(o), author. Brava(o)...

 

One more thing to sweeten the pot about this fic. The author CLEARLY knows the original Canon. There are so many Canon references I caught. When someone works in nods to the whole "James/John Name Continuity Error" and Irene's surname at the end of "A Scandal In Bohemia", you KNOW they read the Canon. That also makes it worth the read.

 

Final Thoughts:


-Too many favorite parts in this fic to list...


-So, in this fic, Anthea's a lesbian. That... Makes sense, actually. It works. HEADCANON ACCEPTED!


-I should also note the author worked in a scene where Sally Donavan was not treated as a terrible person. THANK YOU, EMCEE! Can... Can we have her write for the show? She can take Thompson's job! :P


- Ooh! Another gush! "The Full House" features artwork from one of my favorite fan artists, lexiken! Her deviantArt can be found here. 
 

  Overall, I love the fic. It's well-written, and is possibly it IS my new favorite fanfic. I highly recommend it. If you ship/like Sherlolly, you'll love it. And even if you don't, I'm sure you'll enjoy it for the writing, in-characterness, and the canon references. I will warn you, it IS 50 chapters long, so it will take a while to read. But it is worth it. The fanfic can be found here. 

  There is a sequel (and a couple side stories). I'm only now starting to read the sequel, "The Party of Four" (which I think will be as good as the first). The side-stories are optional to read. I don't recommend the "aphrodisiac" one, though. It's events are referenced in the original, and I was cool with it just referenced in the main story... The others are fine! ^_^


Okay, I swear I'll finish the MST thing (it's proving problematic. I'm getting so nitpicky), but I have two kinda "editorials" I want to do first...