fic rec: Soothsayer

[verdant_fire]

Title: Soothsayer
Author: bendingsignpost
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 4510
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Major Character Death
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: “They said you were a soothsayer, before the city was taken, except no one ever believed you,” the soldier says. “How does that work?”

Reccer's comments: This Trojan War AU, which casts Sherlock as Cassandra, has haunted me ever since I read it.  Sherlock and John meet for the first time when Sherlock is taken as a prisoner of war, and Sherlock narrates all the ways their lives could go before, as is his wont, unilaterally deciding for John anyway.  It's mournful and bittersweet, and Sherlock's characterization is as smirking and sharp-edged as one could wish.

Fic Rec: Dégustation

[ficklepig.livejournal.com]

Title: Dégustation
Author: daasgrrl
Pairing: Mycroft Holmes/Hannibal Lecter
Length: 7799
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Minor character death
Verse: Sherlock (BBC) x Hannibal (NBC)

Author's summary: Hannibal meets up with an old friend for dinner. Amongst other things.

Reccer's comments: What do you know, it's the end of October already! Themed recs all around!

Mycroft uses Hannibal professionally, and Hannibal takes Mycroft apart for pleasure. Well, not that way, though one always has reason to worry. Worrying is half the fun in this unnerving game between complex and dark characters who might be underestimating each other.

Tags include painplay, edgeplay, implied cannibalism (there are also implied incestuous feelings). The author skirts around some very dark material without plunging right over the edge. Well, maybe a little dangling - it wouldn't be a crossover with Hannibal without archly revolting references to unsavory savories: "Before I set foot in here again, everything must be tidied away, do you understand? Including any … smells."

The pacing is languid but not frustrating. Hannibal and Mycroft both have secrets, and while the author gives us Hannibal's point of view, they don't give everything away at once - both characters' motives remain enticingly opaque. There's plenty of character development through conversation (and Hannibal's interior reflections), plenty of sensual pleasures, and plenty of spot-on imagery and turns of phrase.

Mycroft sighs as Hannibal’s fingers dig in, loosening his tight flesh, and Hannibal is irresistibly reminded of the way Japanese farmers massage their prize Wagyu cattle for the slaughter. He knows well how very tender that portion would be, just beneath the shoulder blade.

Read the follow-up, "Displacement," for more crossover cleverness and a couple of creepy twists. The action and implications get darker, though, be warned.

Fic Rec: The Sound of Lemurs and Bees Murmuring

[amindamazed]

Title: The Sound of Lemurs and Bees Murmuring
Author: sanguinity
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2150
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary:"I am apologizing, Watson," he enunciates with exaggerated dignity, "for the lemurs."
Somewhere in the brownstone, there must be a place where he can sleep.

Reccer's comments: Full disclosure: this story was written in response to one of mine, and is related to another of mine. Links and relationships among the various related fics are provided in a note. The key detail provided outside this fic is that Sherlock doesn’t want to sleep in the bed where Irene was going to stay, so Joan decided she would sleep on the couch and he would take her bed for the time being. Sherlock has some problems with that.

A study of exhausted, dazed, and confused Sherlock immediately following the end of season one that’s charming, thoughtful, and highly amusing by turns. Eventually he gets some much needed rest, as does Joan. In the end, turnabout is entirely fair play when Joan rouses him unceremoniously to join her on a new case.