fic rec: the LOVE series, by katieforsythe

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Title: the LOVE series, in six instalments.
Author: katieforsythe 
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
'Verse: Books.
Note: Four of these have multiple parts; I'm linking to the first each time. Just click on 'next entry' to continue reading.

1.
Title: Four Minor Interludes For The Solo Violin {podfic}
Length: 27,000 words.
Author's Summary: Wounded and traumatized by the Afghan War, John Watson falls in love with a detective who is also a remarkable violinist.
Rating: NC-17.
Warnings: Sexual situations; takes places during The Red-Headed League.

2.
Title: Hallowed Be Thy Name {podfic}
Length: 40,000 words.
Author's Summary: The death of the Holmes patriarch nearly ruins the younger sibling, who was badly abused as a child.
Rating: NC-17.
Warnings: Explicit sexuality; mature themes; takes place during The Yellow Face and The Five Orange Pips.

3.
Title: The Violet Elephant
Length: 4,700 words.
Author's Summary: Inspector Lestrade learns a secret about Sherlock Holmes.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None. Set during The Noble Bachelor.

4.
Title: Birds To A Lighthouse 
Length: 54,000 words.
Author's Summary: Every story has a Reichenbach, and this is theirs: what did James Moriarty do to cause Sherlock Holmes to abandon his family for three years?
Rating: NC-17.
Warnings: Explicit sex; violence; abuse; set during the timeline of The Mystery Of The Cardboard Box, The Final Problem, and The Empty House.

5.
Title: The Lucky One {podfic}
Length: 6,000 words.
Author's Summary: Love is rare, but so are friendships, and men the caliber of Inspector Lestrade.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None. Set during The Pearl Of Death.

6.
Title: The Presbury Letters {podfic}
Length: 9,000 words.
Author's Summary: Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes and John Watson struggle to survive the Great War.
Rating: PG-13.
Warnings: War violence. Refers to The Creeping Man.



Reccer's Comments: I feel like I'm stepping on lady_carfax 's toes a little bit, here, reccing this right after she recced Full Of Grace, but katieforsythe is good for your health. Yes. (Sorry!)

Her LOVE series is her longest to date, and spans over Holmes&Watson's lives from within a few months of their meeting (in Four Minor Interludes) to four years after His Last Bow (in The Presbury Letters) — that's nearly forty years of being madly in love — each instalment taking place or referring to one or several cases of the ACD books. Her style is stellar, the characterization is excellent (oh, Watson ♥), the plots are always poignant and often heartbreaking, but, more than anything, this is a fantastic story about being in love — about two men who go from near strangers to knowing one another more intimately than anyone, who are madly, desperately, head over heels in love, and who sometimes hurt each other very deeply, but are utterly lost without one another. It's gorgeous. It remains, to this day, one of my Favourite Stories Of All Time.