fic rec: Names for the Galaxy

[verdant_fire]

Title: Names for the Galaxy
Author: evadne
Pairings: John/Sherlock, background Anthea/Mycroft
Length: 191102 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: N/A
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: Sci-fi AU. Sherlock Holmes is a recent arrival to 22nd century earth, and determined to find out who he is and where he comes from. John Watson has the unenviable task of teaching him how to be a normal human being.

Reccer's comments: I haven't read anything else quite like this story, fic or otherwise. The worldbuilding is phenomenal, and the treatment of the characters is so empathetic that I really felt what they were feeling as I read this. It also has some of the best plotting I've seen. The foreshadowing was very skillful; I went back and read through again after I got to the big reveal, and details that I didn't make much of at the time suddenly stood out in retrospect. I adore this version of Mary, and Mycroft and Anthea are quietly badass together. And of course, the Johnlock is excellent, both very hot and very moving.  I don't understand why this fic isn't better known in fandom, but it certainly ought to be.  (One reading note: one of the characters starts off the story mixing up their gendered pronouns, but it's not a typo; there's an in-universe reason for it and it only lasts a few chapters.)