Fic Rec: Bizarre World aka A Study in which Nothing Makes Sense Anymore

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Title: Bizarre World aka A Study in which Nothing Makes Sense Anymore
Author: am1thirteen
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, primarily gen though
Length: 5631
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Prompt fill for: We need something lighthearted. Let’s write a bizarre AU where everyone traded places, shall we? But try to be as surprising as possible. No easy mirror changes.
Hint: Consulting Detective Anderson

Reccer's comments: Let me first say that the author outdid his/herself when assigning the changes because dear Lord, I was not expecting this. Consulting Detective Anderson is really just the tip of the iceberg, and each reveal caused such great joy within me because I was so surprised. Also, despite their quite radical role changes, each and every person stays true to their characterization. Sherlock is still smart-as-hell, Mycroft is still disdainful of legwork, John is still absurdly adorable, Anderson is still incompetent, so on and so forth. I kind of wish that the person who replaced Hope was different, but that's just ingrained personal bias. Otherwise, I was cackling at how well the fic shows why everyone really works in this bizarro placement. Well done, author!

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Fic Rec: From Which Love Grows

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Title: From Which Love Grows
Author: Red_Chapel
Pairing: Gen (although could be seen as pre-slash)
Length: 53,949
Rating:  General audiences
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: If this were an ordinary fairy tale, it would start with ‘once upon a time’ and a princess or a dragon or a poor fisherman by the sea. But this is not an ordinary fairy tale and it starts with a seed.

Reccer's comments: There are very few in-process fics that I’ll brave the kink meme to try to follow, but this was one of them.  Lucky for you, it’s now complete, and posted on A03!   It’s an absolutely gorgeous fairy tale of a story where Sherlock receives a seed from a grateful client and grows a….John.    Despite the premise, it doesn’t read like crack, although it does have that waking-up-from-a-lovely-dream feel that the best magical realism stories have.   As a bonus, the author has woven sneaky references to other fairy tales throughout the story – see if you can spot them all!

Fic Rec: Pass, Repass, Glide Away

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Title: Pass, Repass, Glide Away
Author: lotesseflower (Lotesse on AO3)
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/Mycroft Holmes
Length: 5457
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Incest
Verse: ACD Books

Author's summary: It was a very good disguise, but having once observed it Mycroft could not fail to see with strangely doubled vision: at once the familiar stripling boy-body he'd watched from childhood and the enchanting odd lovely girl-form that Sherlock was wearing like a second skin.

Reccers Comments: Another elegant and stylized fic from Lotesse. This one deals with the young Sherlock and Mycroft and the strange pathways down which filial love can lead. Not explicit, rather, a disturbing glimpse into the Holmes brothers shared past.

Fic Rec: Saving Sherlock Holmes

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Title: Saving Sherlock Holmes
Author: earlgreytea68 on AO3
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Length: 139,494
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage sex
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Sherlock Holmes, schoolboy. Yeah, that basically sums it up.

Reccer's comments: When I first started reading this, I fell head over heels in love with its interpretation of teenage Sherlock and John becoming roommates and then best friends/boyfriends. That love continued throughout the whole fic and I can honestly say that this was one of the few fics (that I actively stalk) that I greeted with a shriek of joy when I saw the notification in my mail.

First off, I'd like you to know that I am very much a fan of pining Sherlock, where he's so obviously and utterly smitten with John that he almost can't imagine being without his stalwart companion. And boy does this fic deliver that in spades. I focus more on Sherlock and John in these comments but this fic really does do a good job at building up and maintaining canon characters' personalities, as well as creating original characters who helped to further things along. Regarding the warning, the sex is between consenting minors, although technically the age of consent is 16 in the UK. So it's up to the reader to see if that bit's a deal breaker. Another thing to note is a section that contains some child abuse, which can be upsetting but is stopped before it escalates too far.

Plot-wise, it reads like a slice-of-life fiction with the boys and cameos from other characters. It also has an interesting way of working canon into it, with certain situations and quotes being thrown in that mesh well and make a person go "I understood that reference!" The fic has two parts, the first with Sherlock at a young age after his mother died and the second with John arriving at Eton to be a certain eccentric student's roommate. It ends a tiny bit abruptly, leaving some questions unanswered, but still a very enjoyable fic altogether.

( Excerpt )