fic rec: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Title: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
Author: w_a_i_d
Pairing: Mostly gen, with Holmes/Watson undertones.
Length: 6,700 words.
Rating: None given. Between PG-13 and R.
Warnings: Drugs, self-inflicted gruesomeness.
Verse: ACD!canon. References to The Dying Detective, The Final Problem and The Empty House.
Author's summary: A tall, thin, grey-eyed foreigner, running for his life.

Reccer's comments: This is actually a standalone within the frame a greater story, An Antidote to Sorrow, which is sadly still a WIP. It fits within that universe, but the author has intended it as a freestander, and having read the books suffices to understand everything. It depicts Holmes' journey after his supposed death at the Reichenbach falls, a gruesome, filthy, difficult one, rife with dangers both self-inflicted and from outsiders; w_a_i_d's style is breathtaking, each description vibrant with detail and colour, and Holmes' characterization — as he loses himself again and again and misses home like a physical thing — is one of the best I've ever read.