Fic Rec: Santiago

[allonymity.livejournal.com]

Title:  Santiago
Author: sheffiesharpe
Pairing: Mycroft/Lestrade
Length: 8,258
Rating: Mature (violence)
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: This is the story of what happened in Santiago, or When Mycroft Met Anthea.

Reccer's comments: Despite being part of sheffiesharpe’s wonderful Mycroft/Lestrade series “At Least There’s Football,” this story is all about Anthea and can be enjoyed on its own.  Anthea is such a cipher in canon that you can build almost any backstory for her, and sheffiesharpe’s “Anthea is totally a ninja” version is my favorite.  In this story sheffiesharpe builds a picture of Anthea’s past that is so dense and real that I found myself tearing up by the end. Mycroft is simply wonderful in this as well.  Highly recommended!

Fic Rec: Worst temporary position in the world by solrosan

[eanor.livejournal.com]

Title: Worst temporary position in the world
Author: solrosan
Pairing: Gen
Length: 800 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Anthea's attempt to stand in for Mycroft Holmes when he leaves to be at Sherlock's bedside after the pool incident is driving her to the brink of exhaustion.

Reccer's comments: This short ficlet does a fantastic job of showing us how important Anthea and her work actually is. After reading about all the crises and conflicts she has to deal with, you will never again think of her as "that secretary with the Blackberry". And I'm sure everyone can imagine how unbelievably stressful it would be to do Mycroft's job for a day...
This fic is set after the pool incident, so it doesn't contain any spoilers (but does contain speculations) for series 2.

Fic Rec: Water in the Desert by krossero

[eanor.livejournal.com]

Title: Water in the Desert
Author: krossero
Pairing: John Watson/Mary Morstan
Length: ~4500 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: war-related violence, minor OC death
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Mary is serving as a soldier in Afghanistan when she gets shot. The doctor who puts her back together is named John Watson, and he just so happens to have a really nice smile.

Reccer's comments: This fic presents a very amazing update of Mary from ACD canon. Here she is a soldier in Afghanistan where she meets John due to being injured while saving her fellow soldiers in an attack. This Mary is wonderful and awesome (stubborn, loyal to her comrades, brave and entirely able to make her own decisions) and her relationship with John is completely believable and as sweet as it could possibly be in the middle of a war zone. She loves being with her family and John, obviously, but would never put her personal happiness over her sense of duty.

Fic Rec: A Sort of Fairytale by arcsupport

[eanor.livejournal.com]

Title: A Sort of Fairytale
Author: arcsupport
Pairing: Gen
Length: ~2200 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Non-graphic autopsy procedure and minor death.
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Some people have sharp edges. Some people have to be carefully kept.

Reccer's comments: I really liked stories that give Molly a bit more depth and this fic manages it perfectly. It's a story about Molly, her work at the work and her very special relationship with Sherlock.
Molly is pictured perfectly here: she is so practical, honest and professional, yet very caring and compassionate at the same time. She has humour, she has friends and I simply love how she takes care of "her people" in the morgue by inserting so much love into her job without ever losing her professionalism. It's probably the only way to keep doing this kind of job and keep liking it as much as she does. The relationship between Molly and Sherlock is very fascinating and true to the show (though this Molly is able to handle him quiet well).
Interestingly, this fic was written before series 2, but is strangely compliant with all we have learned about Molly there. arcsupport's had a really good grasp of Molly as a character! :-)

Fic Rec: Fight or Flight

[solrosan.livejournal.com]

Title: Fight or Flight
Author: epistolic
Pairing: Gen (or Sherlock/John, implied and speculative)
Length: 7,766.
Rating: M
Warnings: Spoilers for series 2
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: After Reichenbach, Molly writes a series of letters to Sherlock that never ends up getting sent.

Reccer's comments: This was one of the first post Fall fics I read and it took me a while to get through, having to pause between every letter and walk away for a bit. It’s wonderful and heartbreaking to see how Molly processes and deals with the events in Reichenbach fall. epistolic has really captured Molly’s voice in this fic.

Though told entirely through Molly’s letter, it’s one of the best descriptions of Sherlock’s and John’s relationship I’ve read.

Fic rec: Wisdom

[dessieoctavia.livejournal.com]

Title: Wisdom
Author: willow_41z
Pairing: Gen.
Length: 17432
Rating: PG
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: "The past history of several characters on "Sherlock."
Reccer's comments: First, this is a WIP that was last updated in August. Presumably the author was going to give the backstory of more characters, but she only got as far as Anthea. She tells us how Anthea came to work for Mycroft and about her first assignment for him. Anthea is smart, quick-thinking in a crisis, and knows how to find things out. Even if the author never continues this, it's still a great look at a kick-ass brainy Anthea.

Fic rec: The Greater Game

[dessieoctavia.livejournal.com]

Title: The Greater Game
Author: sciosophia
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3569
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: dark!Molly, spoilers for Season One.
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: "John Watson is neither silent nor dead. This is something Molly needs to fix. She's not the girl he thinks she is."
Reccer's comments: Molly is Moriarty's sister and partner in crime. This fic is well written and absorbing and the author makes you believe in this sinister version of Molly.

Fic Rec: Indecorous

[brighteyed-jill.livejournal.com]

Title: Indecorous
Author: Baisingstoke
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson/Mary Morstan
Length: 55,000
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic violence, loads of kink
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: In which John learns to balance a kinky girlfriend, an asexual boyfriend, a ten-inch cock, his sister, the neighbours, his friends, and his blog. Some are more balanced than others.
Reccer's comments: Baisingstoke's classic work (you can call it a classic when it's got 25k hits on AO3, right?) features a Mary Morstan for the modern age. She's a sassy, funny, confident woman who works in a sex toy shop. You can definitely understand why John would be attracted to her, and the whole series weaves a great tale as these three begin to really fit into each others' lives. There's splendid banter, and effectively hilarious lists and other tidbits as interludes between scenes. As an extra-special bonus, there's lots of fun sex in all its realistic, imperfect, sometimes funny-and-confusing glory.

Fic rec: The Terror From Bohemia

[dessieoctavia.livejournal.com]

Title: The Terror from Bohemia: Being the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., in the Year of the Old Ones 745
Author: Satchelfoot
Pairing: Gen
Length: 1983
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, Lovecraft.
Verse: A Study in Emerald, a Holmes-H.P. Lovecraft crossover by Neil Gaiman
Author's summary: "Holmes and Watson, having escaped to the rookery of St. Giles, meet a mysterious woman who also has a talent for killing royalty."
Reccer's comments: Irene Adler as a hunter of Lovecraft's Old Ones. What more could anyone ask?

Fic Rec: Mouth of Babes (from The Sophie Series)

[brighteyed-jill.livejournal.com]

Title: Mouth of Babes (from The Sophie Series)
Author: morganstuart
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2300
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Several weeks after the explosion at the pool, Lestrade visits the recuperating Sherlock and John at 221B Baker Street. He brings case files and food... and a visitor in tow.
Reccer's comments: morganstuart has an almost preternatural ability to excavate new revelations about the Sherlock characters while keeping them true to the personalities we know and love from the show. In her masterful Sophie series, Lestrade's young daughter has some fascinating interactions with Sherlock, John, and basically every minor character. I am normally not one much for original characters, but morganstuart fit Sophie into the universe of the show so well that I forgot that she doesn't actually appear in the series. She's clever, charming, and spunky without being an unnaturally-perfect child. I'd agree to babysit her in a second, and I. Do not. Babysit.

So, come to see a little girl compliment Sherlock on how pretty his curly hair is, stay for the meerkats, bring tissues for the thrilling conclusion. The whole series can be found by following the appropriate tag on morganstuart's journal.