Fic Rec: Vessel
Jul. 7th, 2012 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swissmarg posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
221b_recsTitle: Vessel
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rhuia
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 15,695 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: That was the surprising bit – the way his doctor said it, eyes shining with sympathy but breathing it out, shifting it off her shoulders and thrusting it onto his, making him take it like an unwanted gift.
Reccer's comments: This is based on a prompt from the Kink Meme, but I very strongly encourage you not to read the prompt before reading the fic, as it will completely spoil it.
The premise of the story is that John finds out he has cancer. There are a lot of descriptions of medical procedures, including the effects of chemotherapy, so if this is a trigger or squick for you, then you may want to proceed with caution. It's really not all too graphic or gory, though.
There are two things I especially enjoyed about this story. The first one is how Sherlock and John deal with the diagnosis, and the subsequent treatment. Sherlock goes into investigative mode to cope, treating the cancer like a suspect in a case. This causes a split reaction in John: on the one hand, he feels that Sherlock is not being emotionally supportive, because he spends all of his time looking up articles and at the lab; but on the other hand, he begins to see how very deeply Sherlock cares about him. I felt that the author showed both of their internal emotional landscapes with great finesse and depth.
Excerpt:
The other thing I liked about the story is the way in which the author brings in connections to multiple previous cases from the series. It is very cleverly done, and the clues are all there once you know what you are looking for, but of course you don't until afterwards.
I experienced grief, warm fuzzies, shock, and joy (pretty much in that order) through the course of reading this story. It delivers on all levels, emotionally and intellectually, and is just a really tightly-written, clever piece of fan fiction.
Author:
rhuiaPairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 15,695 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: That was the surprising bit – the way his doctor said it, eyes shining with sympathy but breathing it out, shifting it off her shoulders and thrusting it onto his, making him take it like an unwanted gift.
Reccer's comments: This is based on a prompt from the Kink Meme, but I very strongly encourage you not to read the prompt before reading the fic, as it will completely spoil it.
The premise of the story is that John finds out he has cancer. There are a lot of descriptions of medical procedures, including the effects of chemotherapy, so if this is a trigger or squick for you, then you may want to proceed with caution. It's really not all too graphic or gory, though.
There are two things I especially enjoyed about this story. The first one is how Sherlock and John deal with the diagnosis, and the subsequent treatment. Sherlock goes into investigative mode to cope, treating the cancer like a suspect in a case. This causes a split reaction in John: on the one hand, he feels that Sherlock is not being emotionally supportive, because he spends all of his time looking up articles and at the lab; but on the other hand, he begins to see how very deeply Sherlock cares about him. I felt that the author showed both of their internal emotional landscapes with great finesse and depth.
Excerpt:
Sherlock looked up at John and for a minute there was a terrible dry nothing in his eyes that John had only seen once before, at the pool, when Sherlock had looked across at him and they had both seen the jagged precipice they stood on.
And yet, John remembered, even then he had seen in Sherlock’s eyes not the fear of falling, but of how he would work it so he could catch John.
John knew if he had to see that dry nothing in Sherlock’s eyes again it would kill him before the cancer could, so he did the thing they were both least expecting: stepped in close, wrapped his arms around Sherlock and pulled the hurt, cold body against him.
Sherlock said stiffly, “Obviously I’m also investigating that aspect of things. If someone would just –” but John, furious with himself, whispered, I’m sorry, you are, you do, I’m sorry, it’s all right, against the soft nap of Sherlock’s shirt and Sherlock went quiet, and his arms came up around John and held him back.
The other thing I liked about the story is the way in which the author brings in connections to multiple previous cases from the series. It is very cleverly done, and the clues are all there once you know what you are looking for, but of course you don't until afterwards.
I experienced grief, warm fuzzies, shock, and joy (pretty much in that order) through the course of reading this story. It delivers on all levels, emotionally and intellectually, and is just a really tightly-written, clever piece of fan fiction.
