Title: Switch it Up: A Rec List
Author: hardboiledbaby
Fandoms: Starsky and Hutch, Sherlock BBC, Sherlock ACD, Without a Clue
Pairing/Characters: various
Rating: various
Length: N/A
Content notes: possible spoilers
Author notes: For the "role reversal" challenge
Summary: A fanfic rec list



The role reversal AU is one of my favorite genres. I love seeing what happens when writers twist canon, switch out the characters, and take us down new roads, highlighting how the new dynamic between different personalities affect the outcome of the scenario. Here are some of my favorite role reversal stories:

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STARSKY AND HUTCH

Shootout: Role Reversal by kassidy62
Gen | General | 2,869 words

Kassidy shows us what might have happened if Hutch had been the one who was shot in that Italian restaurant instead of Starsky in the ep Shootout. Written in Hutch's POV, we get both Hutch's thoughts and his observations of his partner in crisis.

I looked at his eyes, crinkled at the corners, warm, intent on mine. I tried to read his fear for me and so gauge my chances. What I saw made me feel better, though I don't know why it should. He always was the eternal optimist.

Oh, but what I wouldn't give to have the scene of Starsky carrying Hutch off to the back office.


A World Full of Jokers by loyseofverlaine
Starsky/Hutch | Mature | 52,869 words

In this AU, Verlaine shows us a world where everything we know about Bay City and our boys is turned on its collective ear. Literally an alternate universe, one in which Starsky and Hutch are enemies.

Starsky knew he was babbling, but the sight of Hutch up close unnerved him even more than seeing him step out of the car so unexpectedly. His partner looked cold. The normally warm blue eyes were chips of topaz, his face harshly set, and under his mustache—his neatly trimmed mustache, Starsky noted with a feeling of unreality—his lips compressed into a grimace of distaste. Hutch had never looked at him like that, not when he was puking drunk, not even when he had pulled some really dumb practical joke with Hutch as the hapless victim.

Chilling and suspenseful. A great read.


Fixed by tinx_r
Starsky/Hutch | Teen and Up | 636 words

In a slightly different kind of reversal, Starsky and Hutch watch Starsky and Hutch. That is to say, the "real" Starsky and Hutch watch Starsky and Hutch on TV. Tinx gives us a lovely bit of quasi-meta on the boys and their bond.

"Hey look, they got that bit wrong. Like I'd'a let you shower alone, the state you were in."

"Yeah, I remember." Hutch grinned reminiscently. "You stuck by me every step of that goddamn road. Asshole."

I just get a kick out of Starsky and Hutch watching right along with the rest of us fen :D


Line of Fire by Valerie Wells
Gen | not rated (approx PG) | approx 11,700 words

Valerie reworks the ep Sweet Revenge, with Hutch as the victim of Gunther's hitmen instead of Starsky.

"Starsky! Get down!" Hutch yelled, gripped by a sudden sense of foreboding. Starsky turned to look over his shoulder, excruciatingly slowly, and reached for his gun. But Hutch, moving faster than he knew he could, scrambled over the hood of the Torino and tackled his partner, knocking him flat just in time, just as the sounds of automatic gunfire tore through the air and echoed off the concrete walls, just as he felt the searing pain of bullet after bullet tearing into his body...

SR is a perennial favorite among many fans for the Hutch angst and determination, and this is the flip side: Starsky's mission to bring Gunther to justice while he worries about his partner.


SHERLOCK BBC

Friends Protect People by putigress2012
Gen/Pre-Slash | PG-13 | approx 1,000 words | Spoilers for TRF, does not go to a happy place

Consider the question, "What if John had gone to meet Moriarty on the roof instead of Sherlock?" The answer Putigress comes up with is, IMO, very much in character.

Then he lets Sherlock lean his boneless weight against him, helping his friend to the floor so he will not fall and hurt himself. That is exactly what John is trying to prevent, after all.

Angsty goodness, 'nuff said.


The Grand Tour of Europe by falling_voices
Sherlock/John | PG-13 | 6,500 words

A Reverse-Reichenbach fic based on ACD-canon, Falling_Voices shows us what happens when Sherlock loses John...

It was the drive back to Baker Street from Victoria, Mycroft's car, two days after Switzerland. To this day Sherlock did not remember stepping inside, did not remember the cocaine coursing his veins, his nerves strung tight, his voice high and soft. He had been weak as a kitten, and had trembled against his seat for half an hour.

"You have work to do," Mycroft had said, steely, kind, and Sherlock had nodded, eyes shut fast.

...then gets him back again.

I had them drag that waterfall as best they could and they never did find your body. You were dead before you hit the water. There was blood on the rocks where you bashed your head in, and this is the first you've come back to London. I would have known.

And there are photographs and magic lanterns and a bonfire and it is all quite brilliant.


SHERLOCK ACD

Undiscovered Country by katieforsythe
Holmes/Watson | NC-17 | 9,200 words

Katie takes the canon story The Adventure of the Dying Detective, in which Holmes pretends to have been infected by a poisoned spring, and flips it: Watson is the one poisoned, and there is no pretense about it. Holmes battles for Watson's life against the inexorable progress of the toxin.

Holmes was sitting there once more, or perhaps he had never left. He had one of my hands in both of his, and he hadn't bothered to adjust my sleeve where he had rolled it back. I was barely aware of him, but I knew somehow that he was in a far deeper hell than I was.

"Watson, listen to me," he said desperately. "You can hear me, can you not?" I don't know if I nodded. Perhaps he knew without a sign. "You must do something for me. You must live until tomorrow. Victor Savage was not half the man you are. Doctor, do you hear me? I am begging you," he whispered fiercely. His eyes shone more than usual, though I could not think why. "Tomorrow you are free to do whatever you like, but you will live until then, damn you. You have always done what I asked. I categorically forbid you to die tonight. You will do that for me, won't you? Please say that you will. Say anything at all, my dear fellow."

"I will try," I said in a rasping murmur. "I would do anything for you." Then I drifted back into pain, and cold, and knew nothing more.

Katie does angst like nobody's business: beautiful, heart-wrenching stuff. If that floats your boat, I highly recommend all her stories.


WITHOUT A CLUE

The Bloody Revenge of Jefferson Hope by qikiqtarjuaq
Gen | General | 9,287 words

Without a Clue is itself a complete role reversal of Sherlock Holmes: the movie's premise is that Watson is the brilliant deductive mind, and Holmes is a fictional character created by the doctor, and played by an unemployed, alcoholic actor. In this delightful fic, Qikiqtarjuaq gives us some backstory and a lot of hilarious dialogue.

"What the devil are you laughing about, Watson?"

"You. Fainting at the morgue. Still funny, even after all these years. In fact, any time you fall over like a log is a memory for me to cherish."

"To hell with you, you heartless bastard. Keep reading! The next part is where I outsmart you."

"I'm sorry, my memory fails me. Is that the part where your pet crab theory becomes true?"

"All right. That was a bit ridiculous. But not everything I said was wrong! I still don't understand why you refuted my theory about the word 'Rache.' I was right about it being German for revenge."

"True, but the killer was not German."

"Bah, technicalities. You just didn't want to admit to being outsmarted by an actor!"

"If that helps you sleep at night, Holmes."

"It does. As does the thought of you being completely taken in by that actor dressed as an old woman. Getting to be a trend, isn't it?"

"At least I wasn't the one hiding under the table in fear of said old woman."

"Of course. You reserve that only for giant rats of Sumatra. And by giant, I mean rats barely the size of my fist. Did that thing even count as a rat? It was more like a mouse, it seemed to me."

"For your information, I wasn't hiding under a table. I was strategically positioning myself on top of one to better defeat my enemy."

"I still say the strategic positioning of my foot on top of its head was a better move."

"Because I am the bigger man, I will concede that point to you," said Watson.

While there are lovely, loving nods to ACD and BBC, this story is wonderfully true to its own canon, and fans of the movie will no doubt become fans of this fic as well.