Fic Rec: To Meet the Faces

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: To Meet the Faces
Author: tartanfics
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 1,600 words
Rating: T
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: London, 2081. Sherlock Holmes can cut off his face and replace it with a new one. John Watson, former army roboticist, should be used to this kind of thing by now.

Reccer's comments: This short oneshot is part of a much longer series about an android version of Sherlock. The series began with a 30,000 word novella which was recc'd on this comm here. Last year the author began posting a series of follow-up short stories. This series to date remains unfinished. But each individual story is fascinating in its own right, and this one is my favorite.

It grapples in an intelligent and visceral way with the conundrum of artificial intelligence and the human tendency to anthropomorphise. John understands that Sherlock is a robot, he believes that he is sentient, but on a gut level that translates into viewing him as essentially human. John can't help but look for his personality in his face and assume that what he sees there is an authentic and unique expression of who Sherlock is.

This story forces John to let go of that illusion. It sets up a brilliant variation on the 'strange domesticity' that so often defines 221B when John walks into the bathroom and finds Sherlock removing his face in front of the mirror. I love the way the author conveys the discomfort and discombobulation that John experiences as something - someone - familiar suddenly becomes nearly impossible to recognize. The story is brilliantly unsettling and pushes John to project less of his own self-image onto Sherlock and instead begin the slow process of embracing more radical differences.

I find the writing precise, economical, and elegant.

Possible warning: readers that are sensitive to body horror may want to approach this story with caution, although there is no gore or anything graphic.

Fic Rec: My Life As A Fairytale

[biswholocked.livejournal.com]

Title: My Life As A Fairytale
Author: naughtyspirit
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 17,742 (series of three stories)
Rating: Teen to Mature
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Sherlock takes John to Copenhagen, ostensibly for a case after John's latest girlfriend dumps him. Shenanigans ensue.
Reccer's comments: I remember very clearly being wary of reading this series, purely because of the title, but I am so glad I didn't let that stop me! There's humor, red pants, flirting, and a great interpretation of John and Sherlock.(In other words, far from the complete crack I was expecting.) I also like the feeling of lightness that I got reading these fics. Perhaps it's because of how they were created: for each fic four random words were provided that the author tied together. Each part of the series is about 5.5K, which is nice too, because it's pretty short but still carries an impact.