Fic Rec: Coins on My Eyes

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: Coins on my Eyes
Author: indybaggins
Pairing: Sherlock/John, Sherlock & Mycroft
Length: 35,000
Rating: M
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: 'Sherlock spent nights lying awake, listening to the rustling of John’s hands on the bedcovers. The dull thumps of John’s head against the headboard. The rhythmic grinding of his teeth. The soft, hungry sounds of his mouth and throat.'

There is an unknown infection rapidly spreading through London, fear, unspoken love, dead who cannot die... and a way for them to come back. Post-zombie AU!

Reccer's comments:

This fic was one of the highlights of my summer. The writing is stellar, the characterizations nuanced, the relationships breath-taking, the moral conundrums complex, and the setting horrifying. The story shifts perspective between its main characters as it follows the devastating progress of an incurable disease. Mycroft's perspective is insightfully rendered as he adopts ruthless measures to stem the spread of the plague while at the same time reluctantly supporting Sherlock's attempts to cure John after he seems long lost to infection.

This story portrays the deeply generous love between Sherlock and John, and Sherlock and Mycroft, without ever slipping into sentimentality. Its central characters move and breathe with extraordinary detail and emotional integrity. The intense crises they each face bring out the core qualities of their personalities. I think it's an amazing piece of work.

(Possible warnings: this fic deals with end of life issues and caregiving for debilitated loved ones; it portrays suicidal ideation and mentions suicide and euthanasia; it also contains some imagery that is reminiscent of the Holocaust.)

Comments

[cherrytide.livejournal.com]

Great rec, this is an incredible fic. I love the take on a zombie apocalypse where things don't completely break down, it's a really interesting subversion on the genre (as well as all the wonderful character insights you mention.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I love the take on a zombie apocalypse where things don't completely break down, it's a really interesting subversion on the genre.

Sorry to be so late in answering, but I agree that part of the reason the story is able to work with such realism is that it seems less like a total apocalypse and more like a conceivable epidemic. That kind of situation has historical precedents and carries a sort of horrifying fascination. One of the most striking passages I've ever read was Thucydides' description of the plague that struck Athens while the people were crowded together inside the city walls during the Pelopponesian Wars. It is a harrowing, incisive description of the breakdown of society and the extremes of behavior that widespread fatalism created.

I haven't read many original sources about the Black Death in medieval Europe, but I do know that it killed about 1/3 of the continental population. So, yes, this story delves into a kind of drama that is a lot more tangible than the typical fantasy horror, and as you say is all the stronger for it.

[lijahlover.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorite stories ever. I adore every angst filled part.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I was bowled over by it, too, and usually I am not a big fan of angst. But great writing really made it work, here.

[verdant_fire]

Seconding this rec! The characterizations and the portrayal of all the complex emotions involved were really top-notch and moving; I cried several times over the profound but unspoken love between Sherlock and John. This fic also has one of the best Mycrofts I've read. :)

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I agree on all points! It was so lovely to see both those relationships so profoundly well-realized.