Fic Rec: Make Whole What Has Been Smashed

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: Make Whole What Has Been Smashed
Author: Charli J (gigantic)
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 12,500 words
Rating: T
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary:
"Don't look at me that way, John. Blank stares are already a dreadful reminder of how hopeless other people are," Sherlock said.

"Since most people aren't maintaining a home with Merlin living backwards, I think I'm doing alright at going with it so far," John said.

Reccer's comments: This is a magical realism story in which Sherlock has a divided relationship with time: his body and brain have aged forwards, but his consciousness, his mind, is moving backwards. He experiences life in reverse, and yet the physical process of memory-making has taken place in his brain and he can sometimes access those hidden memories, which he thinks of as his ‘hard drive.’

As you can see, the author does some complicated world-building which is all the more impressive because the narrative is entirely limited to Sherlock’s POV; we share his confusion, we experience his gradual learning and watch as – with John’s help – he develops into the brilliant detective and complex man we recognize.

The heart of the story lies in Sherlock and John’s conundrum: they are living in opposite directions, and the time will come when each of them will lose the other to youth in much the same way we might lose a loved one to old age. For each of them, there will come a day when the person they love no longer knows them or remembers the life they shared. They both know this with absolute clarity.

The remarkable thing about this story is that it confronts that hard situation without evasion and yet manages to be so life-affirming. It is a love story told largely through moments of hardship, and it is heart-breaking, but the Sherlock of this story is filled with a fascination for life, a love of learning, and above all a profound gratitude for John and the time they have together. They stay side by side through the rough and the smooth, and through Sherlock’s eyes we see the beauty even in endings. It is the epitome of bittersweet.

Fanart Rec | Rain, by Lexieken and Alicexz

[bowl-of-glow.livejournal.com]

Title: Rain
Artist: lexieken (original drawing) and alicexz (coloring) on Deviantart
Pairing: Sherlock/Molly
Rating: G
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: [Alicexz]: Lexie very generously gave me permission to color her beautiful Molly & Sherlock sketch! It’s been awhile since I’ve colored someone else’s lineart so I hope you guys like it. I went with more realistic colors and a comic-book kind of style this time.

Reccer's comments: Lexie’s lineart itself is gorgeous but I think the coloring really adds something to it and makes it stand out. I love the golden light and Sherlock’s hair dripping with rain. Absolutely stunning.

Fic Rec: Clavis Aurea

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

Title:Clavis Aurea, also here at LJ
Author: splix
Pairing: Sherlock/Ian Adler
Length: about 7,200 words
Rating: explicit
Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, torture, discussion of rape
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: While on his mission to bring down Moriarty's network, Sherlock encounters an old acquaintance.

Reccer's comments: Genderswap is not really my area but in her excellent fic If You Can’t Move Heaven, Raise Hell, recced recently and justly so, splix painted such a thoroughly convincing version of Ian Adler that I had to concede sometimes it does actually work.

This fic is a sequel, set post-Reichenbach. Sherlock has ended up in the hands of some quite nasty Russians and we get to live through a torture scene that’s so realistic and well written the reader is almost convinced she’s the one spread over the table at the mercy of people that don’t know the meaning of the word.

Enter Mr Adler with a wonderfully wicked line, "For someone so convinced of his prowess in all aspects of escapology, you seem to be incapacitated on a fairly regular basis."

But then he takes Sherlock under his care and nurses him back to health so he can go round up the rest of Moriarty’s network, and return to John. And they have dinner together, once, and by then the author has woken so much sympathy towards Mr Adler in the reader’s breast, one wishes it would have lasted a little longer or will happen again in the future.

At least for once Sherlock is sufficiently grateful.

Great characterisation throughout and written in exquisite language. Highly recommended!