Archived fic rec - Three Hundred and Sixty-Five

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Three Hundred and Sixty-Five

Author: Jupiter_Ash

Fandom: Doctor Who  / Sherlock

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: none, gen

Warnings: violence, background character death/illness, apocalyptic/warfare state

Other notes: alternate universe, crossover

Length: 10k

Summary: Crossover with Doctor Who: The story of what Sherlock and John were doing during the Year That Never Was.

 

You know, this is a very fandom specific story. Or perhaps it isn’t.

I mean, to understand this story, you’d need to know a very specific story arc from Doctor Who–the end of season 3. And one that was basically concentrated into two episodes. Basically, the bad guy wins and takes over, but, after a year of struggling, the companion rescues the Doctor and essentially undoes everything that happened after the villain appeared. Which–well, okay, I can explain that kind of easily. If you understand science fiction / time travel / alternate universe stuff, you could get the gist. 

So, this story centers on the idea that Sherlock and John exist in the world of Doctor Who, and they, like everyone else, lived through this year of war and terror and survival, only to have it all reset, all erased, returning them back to their normal lives none the wiser.

I actually do read a lot of stories in fandoms I know little or nothing about. I’ve always figured I can read AUs with no background–they are AU, after all. Yet, with this story, I wonder–can you read it without knowing the story around it? Does it have the same impact if you don’t know what The Year That Never Was was? 

On the other hand, The Year That Never Was wasn’t even a huge part of the show itself. We saw bits and pieces of it, but nothing like what’s in this fic. We know most of the world gets destroyed, but, by and large, Doctor Who is a fundamentally happy show. We know the Doctor will win.

Sherlock–Sherlock, maybe, he could lose. John could lose.

There are so many small, interesting details. I remember thinking, wait, there’s a scene where John mentions he’s never held a gun before. That’s not canon or character at all. Then you get to the end, and, when everyone is dealing with these not-quite-memories of a time that never happened, John is drawn to become an Army medic, and suddenly, it clicks. oh. This is before. Much further before than you’d expect.

Anyway, it’s a lovely AU/crossover piece. It fits both series without really being OOC or–wait, out of canon would be OOC too, wouldn’t it? Anyway. It fits really well.

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Originally posted on tumblr on 02/09/15