Fic Rec: Empty Houses

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: Empty Houses
Author: TheUmbrellaSeller
Pairing: Author says can be read as John/Sherlock or as gen
Length: 7,000 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: "What's on this table is a body, and that body can be useful to me. If it's difficult for you to see, then in the future you can wait outside."

Reccer's comments: A lot of stories portray John as a sort of moral compass and socialization guide for Sherlock, and yet few capture what an awkward and tenuous role that can be.

This is a story about John's respect for the dead, his sense that bodies should be treated with care. Given Sherlock's corpse-beating tendencies, this is a difficult value to articulate convincingly, but John gives it a try. He uses deduction and observation, he uses empathy, and in the end he makes himself very vulnerable by asking about the meanings Sherlock can read from his own body.

I like the story for its compassion and complexity, and particularly for the way it explores John's sense of identity and his difficulty in explaining what is important to him and why.

(One word of warning, though: despite the author giving it a G rating, the story does contain descriptions of Sherlock badly beating a dead body; if you are squeamish, please proceed with caution.)


( Read an excerpt )

Fic Rec: Patience, brother

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

Title:Patience, brother
Author: peeveee
Pairing: Sherlock/Mycroft
Length: 1,400 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: sibling incest
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary:They never orchestrate incidents like these; it would be too much, Sherlock supposes. Too much like admitting that it actually happens, outside the nursery.

Reccer's comments: Thankfully, more and more people appear to enjoy Holmescest and justly so for some of the best writers in the com have written stories for this pairing. This fic is a great example. A perfect PWP in just 1,380 words. It’s intense, it’s captivating, it’s highly erotic, it’s full of love, as every Holmescest fic should be. Exquisite, and written in the most gorgeous language.

Fic Rec: Miss Marple's Admirer

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

Title: Miss Marple’s Admirer
Author: persiflager
Pairing: None
Length: 776 words
Rating: Gen
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary:Sherlock/Mrs Hudson, with Mrs Hudson roleplaying as Miss Marple, Sherlock's biggest literary crush.

Reccer's comments: Delicious pure silliness. Persiflager is extremely good at building a scene and putting it right in your head while reading. At the same time she excels in last lines and parting shots. This story is a wonderful example. Nearly 800 words of crack perfection. Destined to send at least a smile to your face though the chances are far higher that it will make you explode with laughter.

Fanfic Rec | Tea, by marmosette

[bowl-of-glow.livejournal.com]

Title: Tea
Author: Marmosette
Pairing: Greg Lestrade/Mycroft Holmes
Length: 3016
Rating: General Audiences
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: Mycroft has a meeting with Greg over tea at Fortnum & Mason's. A waiter puts his foot in it, and Mycroft explains to Greg his definition of "consequences."

Reccer's comments: I'm not a Mystrade fan (not that I don't like it, I can ship anyone with everyone, pretty much) but this was a lovely fic, and well. I just love Mycroft. I can totally see him courting someone in this sort of shy, overly formal way, and I find it utterly adorable.

Excerpt: “You never did tell me - why are we here? What exactly makes this an important meeting?”

“I set the time aside to talk to you,” Mycroft said, quite seriously. “I thought after the last few crime scenes, you seemed... but perhaps not.” He frowned. “Why, what did you think this was about?”

“So...we’re on a date?” Greg asked cautiously.

“This need to quantify, to label, to define things. Is it much use in your private life?”

Greg leaned forward and mirrored Mycroft’s pose. “This method of answering a question with another question. Do you like being punched in the nose?”

Mycroft’s head tilted, he smiled, a smile that actually extended up to his eyes, and then he laughed, in absolute delight, Greg would have said. He didn’t join in, but it did make him smile. “Force of habit, I’m afraid,” Mycroft said, still laughing.

“Are you seriously proposing this is some kind of...is it a date?”

“Does it need to have a title? No, I’m sorry.” He laughed again, this time a little self-consciously, which caught Greg off-guard. “It is just such questions that interest me. You are not a predictable man, you are intelligent, handsome... I am interested in you. I find you of interest. You are a pleasant thought.”