Open Recs post: Holmestice!

[unovis.livejournal.com]

It's the season for gift exchanges--and much to wander through. I thought I'd throw up a post for early recs for holmestice fic, while they're still anonymous.
You can leave your recs as comments to this post. Please give the Title, Pairings, Rating, and a link. Any warnings from the essential list (character death, rape/non-con, underage, extreme violence) are also appreciated. Feel free to let fellow members know why you liked the story/why they might like reading.

I've been offline a lot lately. If there are any other current exchanges, let me know and I'll add them to this post! Jingle, jingle.

ETA:
As snarryfool mentions, there's an Advent fest going on at watsons_woes. Posts appear each day by members who signed up, and open posting days also appear. Check the tag comm event: wadvent. Any recs are welcome here!

Comments

[amindamazed]

I'd like to rec the four works posted over the last four Holmestices that engage with Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. If you're not familiar with the source, this was a cartoon series in which the original Holmes was brought back to life by one of Lestrade's descendants in the 22nd Century to help defeat a clone of Moriarty. Unfortunately the original Watson was not also reanimated, but the android/robot assistant to Beth Lestrade has read all of Watson's stories and takes on that persona. The episodes are all on youtube, but I've only seen three or four; you really don't need to know them well to enjoy these fics.

Despite the utter crack of that premise, these Holmestice stories all engage deeply with the characters, often in incredibly moving ways. The one written for the current round is a beautiful exploration of ability and disability in the character study/background of one of the 22nd Century irregulars, including his first meetings with Holmes, who is still adjusting to his (literal) new life. The oldest one was written for me, and it's a fusion with Elementary that I just adore, full of longing and angst and bittersweet (not only for being partial) resolution. They're all great and quite different from each other. Give them a try!

[unovis.livejournal.com]

Wonderful!
This used to be rerun on qubo network--I'd watch it at 4 am, fairly recently. I'm looking forward to reading these.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for this rec! I've never seen this series, but I love AUs and it sounds like these authors did something special with the chance to deepen characters and explore the futuristic world. I will definitely catch up with these stories.

[amindamazed]

3 out of 4 of these, plus several others, can also be found on AO3 if you prefer (the current Holmestice entry isn't there (yet?)).

BBC Recs

[swissmarg]

Title: Tea at the End of the World
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/375628.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sherlock, John, and the K-Pg extinction event.

Rec: This is incredible! It's pretty much the AU-est AU you can get but I find the story really quite moving and insightful, and the writing is pure pleasure to read, with gorgeous imagery and delicately arranged turns of phrase. Definitely a favorite!

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Title: Where's My Scarf? (A Choose Your Own Adventure Story)
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/375953.html
(Or Begin Your Adventure Here: http://wheresmyscarf.livejournal.com/)
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John (Or not! You choose!)
Rating: NC-17
Summary: A Choose Your Own Adventure story set in the ruins of a far-future London. Help Sherlock find his missing scarf, or don't! You decide.

Rec: This is so much fun! Wander down strange paths and discover weird and terrible things along the way. In turns funny, tragic, romantic, and horrifying. You could spend hours poking around in here.

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Title: The Fifteen Fruits of the Flesh (Galatians 5:19–21)
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/377936.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John
Rating: E
Summary: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” In short, all the fixings for a rom-com.

Rec: A dreamy, hot portrait of Sherlock and John in an established relationship. Sweet, intimate, funny and tender.

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Title: One True Sentence
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/378398.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John
Rating: Teen
Summary: John needed to write Sherlock in the way he saw him, but it wasn't until he got him down on paper that he realised what he'd actually written.

Rec: A beautiful study in John's way with words as a medium both for self-discovery and for communicating his emotions.

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Title: Safe
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/370779.html
Characters/Pairings: Mycroft/Lestrade
Rating: G
Summary: Some things are hiding in plain sight. (

Rec: A clever "O. Henry" story with just the right balance of suspense, mystery, humor and fluff.

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Title: Hauntings
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/370324.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John
Rating: R
Summary: John reigned himself in, reminding himself once again that Sherlock was very not interested and thus very unavailable. ”Didn't we have an agreement?” Sherlock went back to the book in his hands. ”Not to bring back more than two ghosts at a time?” - ”Not that one.”

Rec: A fascinating alternative reality that I thought was used to particularly good advantage in shedding light on Sherlock's character.

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Title: Coloured Pencils
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/375271.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock/John
Rating: R
Summary: One day, while Sherlock is sleeping off the excesses of a case, John gets bored.

Rec: A sublimely beautiful work of art, quietly insistent. The writing cast a spell over me and created a warm, welcoming space I never wanted to leave. I think this quote from the fic says it all: "Too many people think a photograph will always be best, but there are times when the abstraction of art is what is needed to make a concept clear." This is that piece of art.

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Title: Let Nothing You Dismay
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/381719.html (part 1)
http://holmestice.livejournal.com/382124.html (part 2)
Characters/Pairings: John/Sherlock
Rating: NC-17
Summary: For lack of a better Christmas gift idea, John makes a booklet of redeemable coupons for Sherlock.

Rec: A super idea, sweet and awkward and perfectly 'them'. With a sneaky, manipulative Sherlock and a good sport John, both of whom may just get more than they bargained for.

Re: BBC Recs

[unovis.livejournal.com]

And thanks for these, as well. Where's My Scarf looks especially intriguing. I can't wait to look at them/

Re: BBC Recs

[geneva2010.livejournal.com]

Let Nothing You Dismay was awesome! Loved it so much.

ACD Recs

[swissmarg]

Title: The Possibility of the Improbable
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/371472.html?view=3174160#t3174160
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, various OCs
Rating: G
Summary: The case of the vanishing boomerang appeared at first to be a trivial matter. But it revealed an aspect of Sherlock Holmes’ past that shed new light on his character – and only many years later did its true impact begin to come to light.

Rec: Absolutely perfect crossover (to say with what would be spoiling), charmingly written in an authentic and masterful voice, with plenty of delightful surprises in store.

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Title: Someone at the scent of orange blossom
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/380482.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, past John Watson/Mary Morstan
Rating: PG
Summary: During the years of Holmes’s absence, Watson’s hands had changed.

Rec: A gorgeous, complex piece about old and new love, gardens, and bonds that transcend a lifetime.

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Title: The Golden Bird
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/380223.html
Characters/Pairings: Holmes/Watson
Rating: PG
Summary: Once, when I was young and as yet completely unknown to the public, and my association with John Watson was in its early days, I found myself trapped in a cupboard with an unconscious ruffian and a female thief for company.

Rec: Framed as a casefic based on a throwaway line from the original stories, this is a very fun piece with a fantastic female OC and some quiet yet far-reaching realizations about Holmes and Watson's relationship.

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Title: Waiting
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/379489.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Rating: PG-13 (language)
Summary: Watson is laid low, and a lot of people are affected by that.

Rec: The author's skill in portraying all the different voices in this piece is astonishing to behold. It's like having several fics in one, each one a delight in itself, but taken all together they create a masterful portrait of a relationship and a life together.

Re: ACD Recs

[unovis.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's great to see recs for ACD fic.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

How fun to get a chance to share recs before the reveals, thank you unovis! I thought this was a really amazing round of holmestice, so many great offerings. Swissmarg's choices are all fantastic. I particularly want to second "Coloured Pencils," which is fantastic, romantic, and strange. A few more personal favorites that I haven't seen on this thread yet include:

Title: Bright Heart
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/374114.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson; Mycroft; Pasiphae
Rating: E
Summary: At the center of the Labyrinth lives a monster — or so it’s said.

Rec: A sharply characterized, richly imagined, elegantly written revision of the myth of the Minotaur. I fell in love with it immediately.

Title: Particular Debts
Links: 1) http://holmestice.livejournal.com/378818.html
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson (no pairings)
Rating: Teen
Warning: non-explicit discussion of sexual assault and medical abuse
Summary: "And for another, Dr. Freud has saved my life. Had I not come to Vienna, and had your cure not been successful, sir, I should doubtless have missed this and every other intriguing little problem that may ever chance to come my way. And,” Holmes added, taking up his glass once more, “had you, Watson, not contrived to get me here against my will, Dr. Freud would never have had the opportunity to save a doomed addict. To both of you, in fact, I owe my life. To Watson, here, there will be a lifetime to repay the debt, but to you, Doctor, I confess I am at a loss." (Seven Percent Solution)

Rec: I was lucky enough to receive this fic as a gift. I had asked for a story set in the aftermath of Nicholas Meyer's novel The Seven Percent Solution. For those who don't know the book, it rests on the premise that the entire Moriarty plotline was a delusion brought on by Holmes's increasingly desperate cocaine addiction, though we gradually discover certain devastating emotional truths hidden within that delusion. Watson lured Holmes to Vienna to receive treatment from Dr. Sigmund Freud, who had become an expert on addiction therapy once he realized that cocaine, a drug he had once freely prescribed to his patients, had terrible effects.

This fic does not require knowledge of the novel, but it picks up the story several decades later as Holmes and Watson try to find a way to honor the debt they owe to the Freud family on the cusp of the first World War. The story engages with the historical realities of Freud and his theories in a way which the original novel does not, creating a delicately nuanced vignette which beautifully explores Holmes's unspoken feelings in the aftermath of addiction and recovery while also bringing a minor character in the novel to new prominence. It also navigates through the subtle conflicts between a Holmes and Watson who have not worked closely together for some time and who each strive to take risks and responsibility in their own ways. A wonderful, subtle piece.

[dioscureantwins.livejournal.com]

I totally second Bright Heart. Achingly beautiful and one of the best fics of this round that yielded a ton of excellent fics.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: Brandy and Soda
Link: http://holmestice.livejournal.com/384038.html
Character/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, references to John Watson/Mary Morstan
Rating: Teen
Warning: major character death (Mary Morstan)
Summary: "My dear fellow," said Holmes not unkindly, holding me by the arm, "you mustn’t take it so hard. I tell you I am going to recover. But I need time. It may be a long time." After a pause, he went on hastily. "But I shall return to Baker Street, you have my word. Please give my best to Mrs. Watson." (Seven Percent Solution)

Rec: This is a sad but beautiful bonus fic filling in another missing scene in Meyer's continuity, imagining how "The Empty House" might have played out with a Holmes who had stayed away not because of Moriarty but because of his own journey through recovery.

[ancientreader]

Does the watsons_woes Advent fest qualify as an exchange? Well, that's a silly question -- it isn't an exchange. Nevertheless, I'd like to rec rachelindeed's "Our Hospitality," in which Sherlock Holmes makes movies of his own, discovers the brilliance that is Buster Keaton, and winds up in an entirely entertaining frame of mind which I won't describe because spoilers. Just delightful.

[unovis.livejournal.com]

It's a seasonal fest, and I'll add it to the post!
I love Buster Keaton in Our Hospitality -- wouldn't have found this, otherwise.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! <3 <3

[ancientreader]

Well, shucks, it was delightful!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Also on WAdvent I'd like to share okapi1895 The Holly and the Ivy (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5403194/chapters/12481946)

It's a selection of ficlets in ACD canon, beautifully showing the relationship between Holmes and Watson. It culminates with a retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol but with a distinctly Holmesian twist.