Fic Rec: On Afghanistan's Plains

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

Title: On Afghanistan's Plains https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4029558/1/On-Afghanistan-s-Plains
Author: Pompey
Pairing: Gen
Length: 22,839
Rating: K+
Warnings: None, although there is some gore
Verse: ACD books
Author's summary: A look at what happened to Watson, from the Battle of Maiwand to his return to England. As this is a prequel to STUDY IN SCARLET, Holmes makes no appearance whatsoever.
Reccer's comments: Pompey has constructed a fabulously detailed and meticulously researched account of Watson's service in Afghanistan. What was it like to be in the disastrous battle at Maiwand? What exactly did Murray do to save Watson? What were the events that rendered Watson "thin as a lath and brown as a nut" and wrecked his health before his meeting with Sherlock Holmes? This fic could have been adapted as a movie script - it's that good. No slash, but you won't miss it.

Fic Rec: Bone China

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

Title: Bone China https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3471204/1/Bone-China also at http://liquidfic.org/china.html
Author: Lyra/Lyrastar
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: 3,500
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: The cracks in fine china cannot be undone, but shall we value it less for that?
Reccer's comments: Another celebration of the enduring friendship between Holmes and Watson. It's the end of an era as Holmes is retiring to Sussex. but it need not be the end of everything. A lovely, delicately-written tribute to a love that will always endure.

Fic Rec: First Catch Your Hare

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

Title: First Catch Your Hare https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4791926/1/First-Catch-Your-Hare
Author: Westron Wynde
Pairing: Gen
Length: 12,422
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: Watson arrives at Baker Street to find Holmes in the grip of a most perplexing mystery. Has he finally met his match? Why is Mrs Hudson to blame? And how do you cook a chicken? Sounds like a typical Sunday at 221B!
Reccer's comments: Westron Wynde has written some 30 Sherlock Holmes stories, all of which are worth reading. This one is funny enough that it made me giggle all the way through as Holmes investigates the mystery of how to make a Sunday dinner with the help of Watson and Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. Wackiness (of course) then ensues in this thoroughly entertaining fic. After you've stopped laughing, go on and read the rest of Westron Wynde's stories.

Fic Rec: Until His Wine Becomes Your Water

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

Title: Until His Wine Becomes Your Water, also here at AO3
Author: stardust_made
Pairing: none or one-sided Sherlock/John
Length: 4,600 words
Rating: R
Warnings: in the author’s own words: Angst. I'm serious. There's a fair bit of hurt/comfort and pining, but mostly it's just heartbreak.
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: none

Reccer's comments: Since TSoT aired many excellent fics have been written that deal with Sherlock’s feelings as he walks out of the wedding and returns to the empty Baker Street flat.

This fic is a golden oldie, written before S2 aired, dealing with the same theme. What does a high-functioning sociopath who isn’t used to dealing with feelings, those of others as well as his own, do when he’s suddenly overwhelmed by them?

The fic deals with the loss of a friend, a carefully carved out life, a love that was never discussed; never naming any of these but treading carefully around them. The sense of loss permeating the whole fic is bound to have you read this through a veil of tears.

Of course, as is always the case with everything stardust_made writes, the phrases are exquisite. A hauntingly beautiful fic written by an artist at the top of her form.

Fic Rec: Give Me the Quiet Things

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: Give Me the Quiet Things
Author: lady_t_220
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: It doesn't say, but I'd guess around 12,000-15,000 words
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: description of traumatic injury
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: John had never been afraid of asking "What's the worst that can happen?" He was pretty sure he'd already seen it.

Reccer's comments: In this story, John has amnesia in the aftermath of a terrible injury he suffered during a case gone wrong. I love that the story captures the strangeness of John's experience, his sense of frustration at the expectations of those closest to him who want him to be the person he was before, the way he feels like a stranger in someone else's body. Sherlock's reactions are so different from everyone else's, so free from expectation, with a low-level constancy that John comes to rely on without realizing it. He's restrained, just muted enough to be soothing when John finds most interactions uncomfortable and overcharged. Eventually, though, John sees that he is living Sherlock's nightmare more than his own, and begins to suspect that Sherlock's silence has more than one motive.

I can't put my finger on precisely what it is about this characterization of Sherlock that I love so much, but it feels very real to me. Also, I personally enjoy that the story pulls off the amnesia trope with no dub-con, and that Sherlock and John actually talk through a load of complicated issues, without wrapping everything up in a bow either. Probably my favorite hurt/comfort in the BBC 'verse.

Fic Rec: We Are the Only Two Speakers of Our Language

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: We Are the Only Two Speakers of Our Language
Author: innie_darling
Pairing: Gen
Length: 660 words
Rating: G
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: She's the one who taught him another language.

Reccer's comments: The idea of Sherlock's French grandmother, and the art they share in their veins, has always intrigued me. In this beautiful, succinct snapshot, Grandmere and Sherlock share a kitchen in his childhood where the herbs are sweet and the insights sharp.