The Paradox Series

The Paradox Series is a very popular series of Sherlock/John stories by wordstrings that explores the ups and downs of a romantic relationship where one partner is a genius sociopath. The series is ongoing, but each story can stand on its own.
Although much of Sherlock (BBC) fanfic assumes that the character of Sherlock is a sociopath, The Paradox Series is notable for focusing on this aspect of his character and imagining how it would affect him and his relationships. The stories also explore what John's attachment to Sherlock says about John.
The stories have been podficced by FayJay,seriesact-of-charity on the Audiofic Archive bronwynferchdai,bronwynferchdai. PODFic - Sherlock BBC - New Days to Throw Your Chains Away, posted 10 February 2011 revolutionaryjo,revolutionaryjo. Sherlock Podfic: A Thousand Threads of What-Might-Have-Beens, posted to the amplificathon community, 19 December 2011 and Songlin.songlinwrites. Podfic for The Dying of the Bees, part of the Paradox Series by Wordstrings. Tumblr post. Other fans have made art, fanvids and fanmixes (see below). Portions of the series have also been translated into FrenchUn Acte Charitable by yminga, dated March 6, 2011. and Vietnamese.[Sherlock BBC] Cái chết và sự hồi sinh của tiếng Anh 1/2 by Phỉ Thúy, dated October 26, 2011; WebCite.
==Stories==
In posting order:
# An Act of Charity
# The Paradox Suite
# The Death and Resurrection of the English Language
# Entirely Covered in Your Invisible Name
# New Days to Throw Your Chains Away
# Wider Than a Mile
# A Thousand Threads of What-Might-Have-Beens
# The Dying of the Bees
Note: These were originally posted to LiveJournal, but wordstrings subsequently deleted her account due to being overwhelmed by the comments received.(Accessed 31 March 2013) The series is currently available on the Archive of Our Own.
==Reviews==
In 2011 annajcook did an extensive review of the series. Portions are excerpted below; to read the full text go .
youreabloodycrimescene writes on tumblr: 
Keira Marcos explains: 
More reader reactions can be found in the Tumblr tags paradox series and the paradox series.
==Fannish Inspirations==
The author has welcomed and embraced other fannish creations in her universe: "Meanwhile, her default positions: if you are a fan of this lunatic LJ account and would like to friend, please do so. If you want to make podfic, art, icons, fanmixes, translations, or anything else based on the series, she's both staggered and flattered. Go right ahead, and thank you very, very much for spending any time here."
===Fanmix===
File:00001sehfront.jpeg|front cover of "Strangelove" Fanmix by oldblueshoes
File:00001seh.jpeg|back cover of "Strangelove" Fanmix, click to read playlistStrangelove: A Paradox Series Mix by oldblueshoes for the Paradox Series by wordstrings, dated March 6, 2011.
File:Givecoverprev.gif|Front cover of "Give" Fanmix by mresundanceGive: A Paradox Series Mix by mresundance dated November 15, 2010.
File:Givebackprev.gif|back cover of Give Fanmix, click to read playlist
===Fan Art===
File:010A.jpg|Valentine Day Cards for Sherlock and Watson using text from The Paradox Series. This one reads "Never leave me, even when I ask you to." Artist: andrea_deerTo see the full list of Valentine Day cards: Valentines Cards (Sherlock BBC) by andrea_deer, dated January 18, 2011.
===Fanvid===
File:Paradox02.gif|Title card for the vid "Of Paradox" by mresundance. Vid can be found here.Vid: Of Paradox by mresundance, dated July 24, 2011
===Podfic===
All of the stories in the series have been podficced. FayJay read stories 1-4, bronwyn read 5-6, revolutionaryjo read the 7th, and songlin read the 8th. The Multifandom Podfic Rec Blog on Tumblr has a masterlist of all the podfics and writes, "This was my first introduction to podfic, almost a year and a half ago, and I have listened to it so many times over I can mouth the words along with the readers. This story is my favorite work of literature ever written, and it's beautifully read."podficrec. Title: The Paradox Series, posted to Tumblr 10 December 2013. (accessed 17 May 2014)
==References==
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:2010s