Fic Rec: Casualties

[venusinthenight]

Title: Casualties
Author: autumnatmidnite
Pairing: None
Length: unknown
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Verse: ACD canon

Author's Summary: When Watson attempts to enlist in the Great War, a series of misunderstandings (and much angst) ensues. An epistolary fic set after the events of ‘His Last Bow’.

Reccer's Comments: The angst is delicious, the humour is excellent, Holmes and Watson's bond is very much present, and the writing suits the period in which this is set. And of course Watson would want one last bit of action once World War I started, even if he was aged. ;) Also? Adding ACD, himself, as a character is excellent!

(Mods, may I have a character tag for ACD's Stamford, or should I use the pre-existing one? Thanks!)

Fic Rec: L'Esprit de L'Escalier

[frozen_delight]

Title: L'Esprit de L'Escalier
Author: nookienostradamus
Pairing: None (the author labels it as "Possibly preslash" of the Sherlock/John variety)
Length: ~ 2000 words
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Some people’s complete interior lives are made up of the things they wish they had said but did not. Looking at the uncomplicated satisfaction scrawled freehand all over Sherlock’s face, John decided for the thousandth painful time that leaving things unsaid was not a problem with which the man was burdened.

Reccer's comments: My favourite entry for the first Let's Write Sherlock Challenge, this immensely beautiful little story takes the well-known trope of "Sherlock does something uncaring during a case, leading John to think that after all these months together Sherlock still doesn't care, and Sherlock shows him that he's mistaken, at least where John's concerned" and does something thoroughly original with it.
The originality lies not so much in the content, although the common trope is well-executed, as in the incredibly vivid imagery, which manages to present our two much beloved characters and their eternal conflict from fascinating new angles. In particularly the multi-layered characterisation of Sherlock through the use of complex metaphors illustrates how even when John is really disappointed in Sherlock and thinks he's nothing but a cold-hearted bastard, he intuitively knows that there's more to Sherlock. This makes the sweet transition at the end all the more believable and gratifying.