Reccers for August!

[unovis.livejournal.com]

July is gone and August is upon us, already. I hope you've enjoyed the recs last month by augustbird, call_me_ishmael, girlonadragon, sc010f, and sussexdowns. Our thanks to them!

Our volunteers for August are arcsupport, bluebrocade, chapbook, re_white, and swissmarg. We're looking forward to their posts.

We're now taking volunteers for September. If you'd like to make recs for the month, please sign up here. We'd like to remind you that if you want to be a reccer for the month, you have to be a member of the comm, so that we can fix the settings to allow you to post. Our guidelines are here and we're interested in all incarnations and versions of Sherlock Holmes, fic, art, vids, or podfic. If you have any questions, please feel welcome to leave a comment here or PM a mod.

Hope you're enjoying the season, wherever you are.

The Dying of the Bees, by wordstrings

[unovis.livejournal.com]

Title: The Dying of the Bees
Author: wordstrings
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: None
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: None, but she gives this warning: this fic paints a picture of a relationship many reasonable people would find crosses the line into disturbingly possessive and/or flirting with actual abuse. Also, if a dangerous situation involving threatened rape by an OC bothers you (non-explicit), or if reasonably healthy (I think) BDSM bothers you, skip this fic. I'd never fault you for it in the slightest.

Reccer's comments:
I can think of nothing more wretched than this Sherlock and this John undergoing the events of The Fall.

With great entertaining, involving, and emotional difficulty, they here navigate the rapids around The Woman. In alternating sections, the detective and the doctor deal with Sherlock's fascination with Irene Adler. Wordstrings provides several satisfying fixes for the screened story as well, serving Sherlock, Mycroft, John, and Irene better than the original. John's resolution of his feelings is something I didn't realize I wanted until I read it--not to my usual tastes but something I believe here as well earned.

Let into the story are also three disturbing dreams, linked to scars. I do love this John. I do like this story. It's as complex and well executed as earlier parts of the Paradox series, and to me, worth waiting for.

Fic Rec: In Darkness, Light

[swissmarg]

Title: In Darkness, Light
Author: kryptaria
Pairing: John/Sherlock, Lestrade/Sherlock
Length: 12,981 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Non-canon character death
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary:
"One day, we'll be standing around a body, and Sherlock Holmes will be the one that put it there..."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he's a psychopath, and psychopaths get bored."
Sally Donovan got it wrong.

Reccer's comments: The hook of this story is that Lestrade is a serial killer. The interesting part comes when he confesses it to Sherlock and John. This leads to a fantastic exploration of Sherlock's character and the complicated dynamics of the relationships amongst the three men. The climax is pure genius, perfect in so many ways.

One thing I really like about this story is that it shows Sherlock both as a good man and a very not-good man. Sherlock's darkness is there. All it needs is something to set it free... or something to contain it.

Excerpt:

Sherlock’s not normal, so Greg doesn’t try anything the way he would with John. There’s no attempt at bargaining or explanation or excuses. Instead, he takes a breath, and says, “I killed a woman last night. I need you to get rid of the body for me, before it’s found.”

Just a note, the M rating is due to graphic descriptions of pre-meditated murder, not sex. It's not gory, but it might be distressing.