Fic Rec: Leaves, by DiscordantWords

[ancientreader]

Title: Leaves
Author: DiscordantWords   
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 7,513
Rating: PG or R; I'm really not sure
Warnings: High creepiness factor. Very high. OMG so high.
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: It came on a Wednesday, with the post.
Reccer's comments: One of the tags on this story: "it's a horror story it's meant to be a bit unsettling," and holy smokes does DiscordantWords come through on that promise. I am a cowardly shipper who demands John/Sherlock happy endings, so I almost didn't read this one (another tag: "ambiguous/open ending"), but I'm glad I did. Well, sort of glad. For the value of "glad" that includes whimpering and gibbering. But it's a Halloween story, after all, and a masterful one, so brace yourself for some highly satisfactory creepout and HIT THAT LINK.

Excerpt:
    Sherlock furrowed his brow and scrunched up his face in an exaggerated expression of bewilderment, holding the plant up to the light. The leaves quivered a bit, stirred by his breath.
    He gave it a thorough looking-over, eyes flicking rapidly as though determined to unravel some deeper meaning to it.
    "Boring," he declared, after a long period of scrutiny. He looked offended at having expended the effort. He deposited the plant on the windowsill, left the room in a flurry of dressing gown.
    John stood and went over to the windowsill, looking down at the little pot. The plant was a strange, sad little thing, shriveled, dried out. It didn't look like any plant he'd ever seen, but, then, he'd never really been much for houseplants.
    He tipped a little cup of water into the dry soil.

Read on the AO3.

Looking for November reccers

[unovis.livejournal.com]

We're looking for volunteers to make recs for November!

As usual, you only need to make four recs a month, for works created for any version of Sherlock Holmes, as fic, art, vids, podfic, or meta.  Sign up here! Info and Guidelines here.  We want to keep this community active for as long as volunteers are interested in making recs.

Thanks so much. We really appreciate your efforts and support.

Fic Rec: Hallowe'en Homecoming

[write-out.livejournal.com]

Title: Hallowe'en Homecoming
Author: earlybloomingparentheses
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 12,594
Rating: Teen
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Sherlock and John are solving a case when Mycroft turns up and persuades Sherlock to return home for his mother's Hallowe'en celebration. John thinks that seeing where Sherlock grew up will help him understand the detective better; instead, he finds himself more confused than ever. But it's John Watson's job to look after Sherlock Holmes, come hell, high water, or Hallowe'en, so that's just what he's going to do.

Reccer's comments: Sherlock looks at him bleakly. After a moment, it sinks in.

“Oh my god,” John breathes. Because of course, of course the most devastating memory for Sherlock Holmes would be one in which he felt happy. Happy, and normal, and loved.

“Was that…the last time it was like that?” he asks, heart in his mouth.

Sherlock’s eyes widen. He nods.

John lets out a long breath. That’s it. That’s the secret. The truth about the detective, the riddle he thought he’d never crack.

Sherlock Holmes had a happy childhood.

I was debating what to post for my final rec this month; after seeing snarryfool's excellent, unsettling rec of earlier today (which is really REALLY good, so please read it!), I decided on this cozy, comforting story. It's a quite different peek at the Holmes family and their relationships with each other, one that John comes to discover quite by accident. Or is it?

This was written pre-S3 and so is not remotely canon. Sherlock and John and Mycroft are all still themselves, but maybe just a bit more revealing than we're used to seeing. While there is a brief reference to Irene Adler and the events of ASiB, there is no mention of the Fall at all, so this story either happens well before that or this is a world in which the Fall never takes place. There is a little bit of everything here- an intriguing case, angst, humor, bickering Holmes brothers, a warm and inviting Mummy Holmes, a steady John Watson, hot apple cider, Halloween decorations, and trick-or-treating. Most of all, there is lots of love, in the obvious places and (not so really) surprising ones.