Fic Rec: Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker's Yeast)

[swissmarg]

Title: Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker's Yeast)
Author: yaycoffee
Pairing: John/Sherlock, Sherlock/Sally
Length: 60,893 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Sometimes, one makes an imprudent decision born of a devastating combination of drink and sentiment. Sometimes, the consequences of that decision take on a life of their own. And sometimes, the facing of those consequences shapes every aspect of one's life--from the hugely meaningful down to the seemingly insignificant.

Reccer's comments: The first thing that hooked me in this fic was the premise: Sally and Sherlock seek (ill-advised, alcohol-fueled) comfort in each other for their wounded hearts, and Sally ends up pregnant. I've seen a couple of Parentlock fics before with Sally as the mother, but they started much later, after the child was born. Here, the main story deals with everything that came before. And all of that - the way Sherlock, Sally, and John handle the situation - is what really moved this fic up to the top of the pile for me. I think the author has done a great job showing how each of the characters tries to do the right thing, straddling lines as they try to protect themselves and allow for the feelings and rights of everyone else. Sherlock and John aren't an acknowledged couple at the start of the story, but as these things tend to happen, the situation forces them both to take a closer look at how they relate to each other and how they want the rest of their lives to go.

( Excerpt in which Sally tells Sherlock she's pregnant... )

In addition to exploring the John/Sherlock side of things, the story features an extensive and in-depth portrayal of Sally, including insights into her family, career, and personal life. I came away from this feeling that the author didn't simply use the pregnancy as a plot device in the service of getting John and Sherlock together, but treated the situation with a great deal of thought and respect. Add a couple of very piquant cases to the mix, and this was a superbly done, well-rounded piece of work.

Fic Rec: Bring Me Back To Life

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

Title: Bring Me Back To Life
Author: yalublyutebya
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: approx. 51,300 words
Rating: explicit
Warnings:period-typical homophobia
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: After being injured on the Front, John Watson is sent to Craiglockhart Hospital for psychiatric treatment and finds himself sharing a room with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes.

Reccer's comments: I love fics that transport the Sherlock BBC characters to another setting. This WWI fusion makes use the Craiglockhart hospital which functioned in Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy. The author uses the eerie and vaguely vacant surroundings, with all those damaged souls, to great advantage to create a background against which Sherlock’s and John’s romance can unfold, against all the odds.

Told from John’s POV we become intrigued at first, bedazzled thereafter and soon wholly enamoured of the seemingly inaccessible Sherlock Holmes and the war, here in this remote part of England, suddenly seems very far away.

When, upon his return from leave, John finds Sherlock is taken from the hospital, John becomes frantic with grief and desperate to find Sherlock again. Find him he does, but who would ever have thought the war might seem a better alternative?

The reader is very cleverly thrown continuously between anguish and hope, deep despair and jubilant heights. The language is smart and concise, dealing equally well with all the emotions John and, through his eyes, Sherlock, experience.

All in all a wonderful read, especially in this commemorative year.