Fic Rec: What He Likes

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Title: Series: What He Likes
Author: solojones
Pairing: Sherlock/Irene
Length: about 65,300 words
Rating: mature
Warnings:author has put up warnings in the summary. Reccer has included those.
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Six months post-Reichenbach, Sherlock approaches Irene with an unusual job offer: he wants to shoot up, and he needs someone to mind him. But can she remain detached whilst Sherlock spirals deeper and deeper into his addiction? This series spans 5 different escalating encounters Sherlock and Irene have over the course of eleven months. This is a dark and frank character and relationship study, and a look at the terrible pull of addiction. M for pervasive drug use, some language, and sexual content.

Reccer's comments: This series is everything the author promises it to be and so much more. It is indeed very dark, and a frankly terrible read at times. However, thanks to both the beautiful and precise language and the thorough examination of the motivations and actions of both Sherlock and Irene the reader becomes committed to the fic, and decides to push on regardless, thus mirroring the main characters’ approach to life and the trials and tribulations they have to confront.

Here be dragons. Sherlock’s addiction pulls Irene irresistibly towards territory she’d rather not explore, but, just like he can’t resist the drugs, she can’t resist him and together they spiral ever deeper downwards to confront his demons, and maybe, ultimately, hers as well. Layer after layer is peeled away, until, in the end, two naked, vulnerable people remain, who have just discovered that in choosing the other, they might actually make it through the rest of their lives.

After having dwelt amidst so much dank and dark despair that tentatively hopeful ending feels almost like a catharsis.

Not the easiest of reads, but definitely worthwhile.