venusinthenight: a camera in a woman's hands (stock - camera in hands)
[personal profile] venusinthenight
Title: In Context
Author: [livejournal.com profile] amindamazed
Pairing: Joan Watson & Alfredo Llamosa, mentions of Joan Watson & Lin Wen
Length: 1642 words
Rating: Gen
Warnings: None apply
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: "So I guess you two don't have much else in common."

A short snippet of Joan and Alfredo conversation.

Reccer's comments: Found/Chosen Family is one of my favourite tropes. Struggling with Blood Family Feels is something I also connect with. Here, we get a bit of both. Joan and Alfredo -- part of a "chosen family" -- end up in conversation about her newly-discovered half-sister -- a found family member. (Excerpt behind the cut.)

ExpandAn excerpt... )
venusinthenight: joan watson, in a designer batman t-shirt, leaning in a door frame (elementary - joan leans in doorway)
[personal profile] venusinthenight
Title: The Gift
Author: [livejournal.com profile] fenm
Pairing: allusion to Sherlock/Alfredo
Length: 1830 words
Rating: PG
Warnings: references to drugs
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: Joan and Sherlock celebrate Christmas.

Reccer's comments: Yes, I am reccing a Christmas-themed fic in June. ;)

It is so delightful, and Sherlock is at Peak Sherlock with regards to doing stuff behind Joan's back, only this time it isn't malevolent. But there is an ulterior motive all the same.

An excerpt behind the cut...

ExpandExcerpt! )
amindamazed: sun from summer panel of Ecocalendar (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: Guided by the Beauty of Our Weapons
Author: cjmarlowe
Pairing: Gen
Length: 11690 words
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: Even for Holmes and Watson, some of the most important things in their lives take place in between cases, and adjusting to the new status quo is going to take some work on both sides.

Reccer's comments: A study in the life of a bored consulting detective and the effect that dealing (or not dealing) with his boredom can have on his partner. Gregson hasn't called with a new case in weeks and Holmes isn't taking it well. Set toward the end of season one, Joan juggles increasingly bizarre investigative training activities with Sherlock's anxieties about the lack of work. Interspersed are stray observations from outsiders and friends who jump to a wide range of conclusions (some accurate, some not so much) about what exactly is going on between them. This fic is replete with clever dialogue, beautiful moments of insight, creative and amusing activities, and a few fun facts about obscure ways people have died.

"Do you actually have an encyclopedic knowledge of the ways in which people die?"

"Encyclopedic might be overstating," said Sherlock, "but it's hard to think of another word that suffices. Ask me about the perils of cheerleading some time. Or ice cream. Terribly lethal, ice cream."
amindamazed: sun from summer panel of Ecocalendar (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: La Chanson des Vieux Amants
Author: language-escapes
Pairing: Gen (author's tag: platonic soulmates)
Length: 15,000
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: There are two constants in Joan's life: Sherlock and bees.
Reccer's comments: This gorgeous fic. A journey through Joan's life from a formative moment in her childhood to meeting Sherlock and continuing into the future with retirement on the horizon after a detour by way of a certain pivotal ACD!canon story. As her relationship with Sherlock develops and evolves, so does her connection with bees, and specifically the bees named for her. At the same time, as a commenter to the fic wrote, this is simultaneously all about bees and not about bees at all. There's joy and sorrow and anger and reconciliation within, and at the center, the Holmes & Watson bond. Surrounding them are the wonderful cast of characters introduced in the show: Alfredo, Ms Hudson (even a gleeful hint of Alfredo/Ms Hudson), Pam, Clyde... Summarizing it further would either flatten what's so lovely about it or simply result in me copying & pasting 15K words in this entry. Please read it. Please.

For an extra emotional workout, check out the Jacques Brel song "Ne me quitte pas" (youtube) and reread the relevant part with it playing.

(full disclosure: I wrote a short fic inspired by this one.)
venusinthenight: a camera in a woman's hands (stock - camera in hands)
[personal profile] venusinthenight
Title: a bit of breaking and entering for the holidays (on LJ | on AO3)
Author: [livejournal.com profile] celaenos
Pairing: None
Length: 1972
Rating: Gen
Warnings: None apply
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: Alfredo tags along to help Joan on one of her cases, and Joan multitasks with a bit of matchmaking.

Reccer's comments: First off, no Sherlock! Yeah, I know, right? But that's okay, because one doesn't always need a Holmes present in order to solve a case. Or to matchmake. Joan is more than capable of solving a case and setting up two people in her life without him. Which she does, with much humour and fluff. Including Alfredo pretending to be Joan's boyfriend. :)

(Mods, may I have a character tag for Mary Watson? (She's, in the Elementary 'verse, Joan's mother.))
amindamazed: sun from summer panel of Ecocalendar (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: at least you know you were taken by a pro
Author: beanarie
Pairing: Gen, Sherlock/Irene (past)
Length: 3553
Rating: Teen
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: "Moriarty said you was obsessed with puzzles," Moran had said, his eyes shining. "But he's the greatest puzzle you'll ever come across." And through the rage and growing tendrils of doubt, a distant part of Sherlock had laughed. No puzzle could be more challenging or complex than the one these people had taken from him.

Reccer's comments: In which beanarie is a deductive genius and writes several key aspects of the season one finale months before it aired. The result is now jossed but it's a fascinating alternate finale that sheds light on Sherlock as addict, Irene as both exactly and not at all what she seemed, and Watson as heroine. In the end, Sherlock is saved because of his history and connection with Watson. Their shared past makes understanding possible at a crucial moment, and her caring and anger about what happened carry him through the aftermath until he can pick up the investigative thread himself again. Excellent characterization across the board (including Alfredo and Teddy), with evocative detail in Sherlock's experience of altered mental states and in Watson's effort to help him back to recovery.
Note: the non-con content is for drug use
[identity profile] phoenixfalls.livejournal.com
Title: You Say Surrender Like it’s a Bad Thing
Author: [livejournal.com profile] goddessdster
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3,421 words
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: The Third Step is just about making the decision. Just that, and nothing more. So why is Alfredo having such a hard time getting Sherlock to do it?

Reccer's comments:
I’ll start with the caveat that I know very little about 12-step programs like Narcotics Anonymous, as I have neither first-hand nor second-hand experience with them. That said, this fic, which is all about Alfredo’s work as Sherlock’s sponsor, rings incredibly true to me. Sherlock is balking at the step where he has to submit to a higher power, and the way Alfredo works his way to the core of Sherlock’s objection and finds a way to coax him through it is just beautiful. The bits of Alfredo’s back story that are cut in really flesh out a character we haven’t seen nearly enough of on the show, and the way goddessdster shows Alfredo maintaining his cool with Sherlock, then opening up a little to Joan, and finally really leaning on his own sponsor is deeply compelling.
[identity profile] phoenixfalls.livejournal.com
Title: Team The Best Team
Author: [livejournal.com profile] neveralarch
Reader: [livejournal.com profile] susan_voight
Podfic: mp3 posted on audiofic
Pairing: Marcus Bell/Ms. Hudson/Alfredo Llamosa
Length: 5,715 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None apply
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: Marcus gets along really well with Holmes' friends.

Reccer's comments:
Some of Elementary’s supporting characters get a chance to shine in this fic. Marcus meets and begins crushing on both Alfredo and Ms. Hudson, and Sherlock is a little appalled.

"I find it disturbing that you are forging relationships with my inner circle for reasons unknown," said Holmes. "You have ulterior motives."

Marcus took a second to parse that out, and then another second to figure out what to say. "Yeah, I guess," he admitted, finally. "My ulterior motive is that your friends are hot, Holmes."


Every character’s voice is spot-on, particularly Marcus’s as the viewpoint character, and the fic overall is just so delightfully fluffy, capturing perfectly the heady feeling of a burgeoning relationship. There are also some lovely moments between Sherlock and Joan, bickering and being domestic, and it’s wonderful to see Joan and Alfredo especially continuing to help Sherlock manage his sobriety.

I don't generally listen to podfics, but susan_voight's reading is very clear and smooth, and it has a sort of sly humor that really suits Marcus's flirting.

All in all, however, you consume this fic, the experience is a delight.
[identity profile] unovis.livejournal.com
Hi!
Just a few words on our tags and tagging your recs.

Tags are useful search tools for grouping the recs by categories: by pairing, genre, content, and sources for the stories or other fanworks.

We ask that reccers attach tags that are relevant to the works they rec. You don't have to add everything that applies-- for example, not a character tag for everyone who might appear in the story, or every theme or content. But if Molly has a significant cameo, say, that you think people searching for her might appreciate, then by all means list her in a tag. Likewise if you think this is the addiction story people should read, then use the content: addiction tag.

The required aspects to tag are pairing (if it applies), relationship genre (i.e., gen, slash, or het*), and verse (the source: ACD books, Sherlock BBC, Granada, etc.).

The easiest place to see all of the tags available is in this list of tags.

Tagging is enabled only for the author of the post and the mods. Only the mods can add new tags. We have a beginning list up now, anticipating likely categories and characters. We'll add more as recs are made, if characters and pairings, for example, aren't covered already. You can request a new tag to be added by commenting here or by contacting one of the mods. Keep in mind, again, that we'll be adding character tags as additional characters appear in recs.

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have been abbreviated as SH and JW in pairings and some other places (e.g., content: sick jw). Since this recs comm is open to all versions of Sherlock Holmes, it seemed the simplest way to identify the characters. Lestrade, Gregson, and Dimmock are listed as "inspector" following ACD book canon, and Moriarty is listed only once by his (their) surname alone. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is abbreviated throughout as ACD.

*We won't add a category for "slash-if-you-squint" or similar invitations for the reader to see subtext in a story. If the author hasn't labeled her work as slash, then it's genre: gen or genre: friendship.

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