Fic Rec: The Thing Is

[swissmarg]

Title: The Thing Is
Author: TSylvestris
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 56,720 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed.

Reccer's comments: What looks at first like a little relationship fic turns into something much more twisted and complicated, putting not only John and Sherlock's relationship but the stability of the British government on the line. Mycroft is a key player in both arcs, and I thought the author did an excellent job with his character, riding the line between self-serving control freak and protective brother with razor-sharp skill. John also gets a full character workout, acting in soldier-, BAMF-, doctor-, and caring-boyfriend modes in turn, and not inconsequentially making a couple of key deductions to boot.

I very much enjoyed the slightly irreverent tone this was written in, coupled with generous doses of smut and lively, spot-on, in-character dialogue. The real draw for me, though, was the increasing likelihood of a truly stupendous trainwreck as Sherlock piles blunders on top of insults on top of glaring abuses of John's trust and good nature. I won't tell you how it ends, but someone gets shot, someone gets married, and a six-legged frog may or may not be an entirely accurate metaphor in the end.

Excerpt:

The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought eventually, attempting to ignore the increasingly urgent pressure in his bladder as he lay very still, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. With some other person—some average, ordinary, normal person—a bloke might make a fairly accurate stab at why his flatmate was in bed with him, sound asleep, one hand on the back of John's neck, face buried in his hair, inhaling short, deep whuffs.

Or, well, no, because that would be hard to explain no matter what. But the point was that with Sherlock, the explanation could be literally anything, and you just absolutely never knew when it was the obvious thing and when it was something...else.

Art Rec: 30 Day OTP Challenge by reapersun

[swissmarg]

Title: 30 Day OTP Challenge (Day 1 linked, each installment includes a link to the next one)
Artist: reapersun
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 31 pages, comic panels with a small amount of text
Rating: Some images are NSFW
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Artist's summary: None given

Reccer's comments: This is a graphic comic based on a challenge posted on ericandys tumblr (only click if you want to be majorly spoiled) with 30 prompts for OTPs in any fandom. I really cannot squee this enough. Clearly, an enormous amount of effort went into it, from the planning to the execution of every full-color, highly detailed image. Each installment can be enjoyed separately, as each one is a mini-episode with a punch line, but if you view them in order, they form a coherent narrative that begins with Sherlock's return post-Reichenbach, taking him and John through cases, fights, domestic routine, kigurumis, and all the vagaries of Life With Sherlock as their relationship progresses from canon best friends to much more. There is angst and fluff, humour and high emotion, smut and starry-eyed schmoop, and all in Reapersun's distinctive, charming style. I've viewed the entire thing from start to finish a couple of dozen times now and I am still not tired of it.

(P.S. Sorry for posting 2 recs in one day, but I had the review all ready, just waiting for this to be complete, and the last installment just went up... I'll shut up for a few days now!)