Fic Rec, Falling Down

[call-me-ishmael.livejournal.com]

Title: Falling Down on AO3. Also on FFnet
Author: silverpard
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 3.5k
Rating: general audiences
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary:When John is 17, he wishes goblins would come take his annoying little sister away.

When John is 37, he wishes the Goblin King would come take him away.
Reccer's comments: A crossover with Labyrinth. As the author notes you'd think that would mean it's full of hilarity and crack, but it is not. No knowledge of the movie is necessary as it takes more the idea than the exact events.

This is a gorgeous, stark piece and one of my favorites in the fandom. Silverpard is talented at taking unlikely premises and making them serious, lyrical pieces that say a lot with very little. Each short scene paints a vivid picture of John and his family, the disjointedness of the non-chronological timeline adding to the overall fairy-tale atmosphere of the fic. I really love the use of parenthetical asides.

Despite the brevity the world has a clear sense of rules and history when it comes to magic, drawing on more than the Labyrinth world. Magic is as much a character in this story as Sherlock and John.

Sherlock falls into his role as mercurial king perfectly, with echoes of his other incarnations. John is brave and clever, challenging Sherlock and meeting him head-on. I love how the events of the show warp to fit this universe.

I highly recommend checking out their other Sherlock works, as they are all excellent.

Fic Rec: Out Looking for Woodlice

[augustbird.livejournal.com]

Title: Out Looking for Woodlice
Author: justwolf
Pairing: Sherlock/John (could be read as gen), Sherlock/Sebastian
Length: 2,530
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Rape/Non-con
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Originally written for a request on the kink meme, which asked for Sherlock having been in an abusive relationship with Sebastian, and John helping him heal from it.

Reccer's comments: Warnings for: drug use, rape, physical abuse. I often run into authors who get me excited about writing and inspire me to work on my own pieces. Very rarely do I run into someone who makes me want to throw up my hands and call it quits. Justwolf is definitely edging into that territory with the way that she effortlessly captures human wants and emotions and perfectly observed details. This fic has an almost dreamlike tone with a very real dread rising as an undercurrent and imagery that made me feel like I was looking through frosted glass. Ugh, just lovely and beautifully heartbreaking. <3

I highly recommend reading through the rest of her work because everything I've read of hers has been utterly fantastic. She's one of the few authors I despair about being underappreciated in this fandom and I look up to her writing quite a bit.