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...

Excerpt! )
swissmarg: Mrs Hudson (Molly)
[personal profile] swissmarg
Title: A Study in Scarlet
Author: tiger_in_the_flightdeck
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Stamford, Sherlock Holmes/Tobias Gregson
Length: 49,977 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: ACD Canon
Author's summary: An indiscreet photograph ends up online, forcing Watson to postpone his pursuit of a medical degree. Turning to the life of a soldier, he takes a bullet through the shoulder and is sent home to London a lost and broken man. Friendless and facing homelessness, he is introduced to an eager young man in the chemical labs at Bart's Hospital.
As a friendship begins to form between them, a murder investigation pulls Watson into Holmes' world. Between crime scenes, a killer with an eye on revenge, and frustrating police officers, their friendship grows into something neither of them had expected.

Reccer's comments: This is an independent modernization of the original canon that has nothing to do with the BBC version, recasting Conan Doyle's characters in a 21st-century setting and basically giving them free rein to live out their natural inclinations. It's an exciting, smart, raunchy adventure with lots of casual sex, dark humor, and questionable morals. The author has done a fantastic job with bringing things into the modern era, with enough tweaks and surprises that even a reader who knows STUD backwards and forwards will find plently to hold their interest. Not least of which, of course, is Holmes and Watson’s relationship, which is given a chance here to flourish naturally without any of the hangups and dancing about that is often seen in the BBC version.

The author has also continued the story as an RP on tumblr, although I admit I have not gone through those blogs thoroughly. If you're interested, though:
Holmes can be found here: http://bakerstreetbranch.tumblr.com/
While Watson is here: http://medschoolandmysteries.tumblr.com/
amindamazed: bare tree and full moon against the sky (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: The Signal, The Notice Given
Author: cand86
Pairing: Gen; Tommy Gregson/Cheryl Gregson (background)
Length: 728
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: They're both talking about betrayal, but different kinds.

Reccer's comments: One of the few fics that focuses on Captain Gregson, providing a character study and possible backstory to explain the tension between him and his former partner in "One Way to Get Off," 1x07. I love this episode for many reasons, and the uncertainty about what went wrong between Gregson and D'Amico in the past is one of them. The history imagined here complicates the mistrust between them, suggesting a reason why Gregson was so willing to be in denial about her actions then, not wanting to dwell on the principles he was considering betraying at the time. A nice little bonus is a cameo by Detective Javier Abreu (last seen in the pilot).

ETA: in response to a comment, I added Het to the Pairing label as such relationships are a topic of consideration.
amindamazed: bare tree and full moon against the sky (Default)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: Don't Blink (You Might Be Missed)
Author: anamatics
Pairing: Gen
Length: 31000 words
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: In mid-December Jessica Delhaney, teacher, 27, wife of an NYPD beat cop, goes missing. A massive manhunt follows, Sherlock and Joan are called in to consult and soon it becomes obvious that nothing about this case is as it seems. A cryptic warning comes from Newgate telling them to be careful, and that the killer has a type. What they don't know is just how accurate that assessment truly was.

Reccer's comments: While still at Newgate, Moriarty learns that Sherlock and Watson are working on a case she knows something about, one that could put Watson in danger. Moriarty isn't finished with Watson herself, and the need to understand how Watson defeated her prompts her to warn Sherlock, even as she questions her own motivations. Joan wants nothing to do with Moriarty because of her continued cruel manipulation of Sherlock, but she can't bring herself to step away from the challenge to beat Moriarty again. She responds to Moriarty on multiple levels: feeling protective of Sherlock; morally and professionally affronted by her crimes; proud and maybe a little arrogant about having defeated her once and wanting to do it again.

I very much appreciate the way Moriarty is presented in this fic, violent and dangerous without remorse. She's confused by her own interest in Joan, especially when it starts to eclipse her wish to yank Sherlock's chain. This isn't a Joan/Moriarty story (although over the course of the 3-part series, of which this is part 1, it gets closer to that) and no one forgets that Moriarty has done terrible things and will continue to do so, despite her surprising-to-everyone actions to save Joan's life.

Written before 2x12, "The Diabolical Kind," and divergent from the show after that.

I also have a soft spot for this fic's verisimilitude in describing the brownstone in winter as a cold, drafty place to live. I've never been able to suspend my own disbelief regarding its apparently magical climate-control on screen. (I'm the first to admit I'm a little obsessed about brownstone details.)
amindamazed: bare tree and full moon against the sky (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: Complicated
Author: NyxEtoile
Pairing: Gen, Joan/Sherlock
Length: 50,000 words
Rating: T to M
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: [No series summary provided. Six stories cover friends-to-lovers developments after season 1 through multiple cases. The series is listed as not complete, but nothing has been added since October 2013, and it reaches a satisfying conclusion as is.]

Reccer's comments: I love the slow build of this series, a mix of case-fic and personal moments with a subtle but consistent weaving of character development and history. There's not a lot of case-fic for Elementary, but the first two longer installments of this series include some of the best. One with faint echoes in this reader's mind of the X-Files' "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," and another more explosive case, so to speak. The third long fic, which is also the last installment, brings back a familiar villain. Joan plays a central active role in working and solving all the cases. The three shorter pieces each bridge a transition from one level of relationship to the next. Both partners experience physical and emotional hurt over the course of the series and offer corresponding comfort to each other.

“I mean it.” She put every ounce of fear and worry and panic she’d felt in the last few seconds into those three words. “That is the last time you tell me to run and leave you behind.” His fingers flexed against hers, but he didn’t respond.

“This thing between us. The complicated. It’s strange and a little scary. But I want it. I want to see what we’ll become. Even if it’s never more then this. Even if it fizzles out in a year. Whatever happens I want to know. But it needs both of us to get there. So from here on out whatever happens we do it together. If I’m running then you’re running with me. If you’re standing and fighting then I’m right there next to you. That’s the only way this is going to work.”
venusinthenight: a camera in a woman's hands (stock - camera in hands)
[personal profile] venusinthenight
Title: Last Christmas (on LJ | on AO3)
Author: [livejournal.com profile] mistyzeo
Pairing: None
Length: 1701
Rating: Gen/PG
Warnings: None
Verse: ACD Canon
Author's summary: A final Christmas at Great Scotland Yard deserves a proper party.

Reccer's comments: A very festive offering for this past Holmestice, told in the first-person singular, from Inspector Lestrade's point of view. I love the surprise Holmes gives the Inspectors and others at Scotland Yard, and the merry atmosphere around the place in general. I recommend having a favourite warm beverage at hand while reading this. *nods*
[identity profile] phoenixfalls.livejournal.com
Title: Death Before Dusk
Author: [livejournal.com profile] yahtzee63 (Yahtzee)
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/Joan Watson
Length: 15,816 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None apply
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: The bad news: In 111 days, an asteroid will strike the Earth in a cataclysm that promises to destroy human civilization as we know it.

The good news: There's been a murder.

Reccer's comments:
This is, without a doubt, the best longfic I have read in the Elementary fandom. It's a story about things on the cusp, the world on the verge of annihilation and Sherlock & Joan balanced precariously between simple friendship and something more. At the start of it they have been separated, each dealing with the impending apocalypse alone. As they investigate one last case Yahtzee digs in to their characters, getting to the core of Sherlock's reasons for investigating murders and what Sherlock gives to Joan. Yahtzee has captured Sherlock's and Joan's voices from the show exactly, but at the end of the world it's also crystal clear that these modern adaptations are, always and forever, no matter the trappings, Holmes and Watson.

This is a fic of high emotion rendered in a gorgeously understated way. The case is involving in itself in addition to the way it brings clarity to the characters; Bell, Gregson, Ms. Hudson, and Moriarty all appear, each dealing with the end of the world in perfectly characteristic and heartbreaking ways. There is a great deal of anguish here, imbuing virtually every scene, and yet ultimately the story is incredibly hopeful.

If you are only ever going to read one Elementary fic, I beg that you make it this one.
[identity profile] phoenixfalls.livejournal.com
Title: Cops and Robbers
Author: [livejournal.com profile] manic_intent
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/Tommy Gregson
Length: 3,252
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: When Tommy Gregson first meets Sherlock Holmes, he's briefly convinced that the man's a psychic. God knows he's seen stranger things during his beat in New York.

Reccer's comments:
The dynamic manic_intent writes between Sherlock and Gregson here is fabulous, Gregson entirely centered, confident in his skin, and able to throw Sherlock off-balance as a result. The POV switches between Gregson and Sherlock in scenes set both before the start of the show and after the reveals of season 1, and watching their relationship develop, always casual but increasingly important to both of them, is deeply satisfying.

Elementary was never going to make anything like this Sherlock’s backstory with Gregson – they certainly weren’t going to include the stealth Sherlock crossover! – and some details have indeed been Jossed by season 2, but the relationship this fic portrays is so richly textured that it nonetheless remains incredibly convincing.
[identity profile] mainecoon76.livejournal.com
Title: Dr Watson, Mr Sherlock Holmes
Author: [livejournal.com profile] kcscribbler
Pairing: Gen with occasional mention of Watson/Mary
Length: 6188
Rating: Given as K+; I’d say it qualifies as G, more or less.
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD canon
Author's summary: Written for differing LiveJournal communities, various sentences depicting moments in the lives and friendship of Dr. John Watson and Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Non-slash, no particular order, some obscure Canon references. Third table added.

Reccer's comments: [livejournal.com profile] kcscribbler (aka KCS on fanfiction.net) has been mentioned before – and rightly so – for her BBC Sherlock fic, but she’s also written some completely amazing ACDverse fiction, which is stored on fanfiction.net. All of it is warmly recommended, but since I have to choose one, I’ve decided to take the most unusual. Dr Watson, Mr Sherlock Holmes is a series of basically unconnected one-sentence-… drabbles, for the lack of a better word, and they leave me baffled as to how much atmosphere and emotion can be condensed into, indeed, one single sentence. All of them are strictly canonical, there is no slash and no pairing beside some canonical Watson/Mary, but as in all of KCS’ fiction the relationship between Holmes and Watson is a deep platonic love which is beautiful, heartwarming and thoroughly satisfying.
[identity profile] allonymity.livejournal.com

Title: The Shattered Marque

Author: Kryptaria

Pairing: Sherlock/John

Length: 19,330 words

Rating: Teen and up

Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: After living at Baker Street for almost two years, John Watson thought he’d learned everything there was to know about his flatmate, Sherlock Holmes. But when the gruesome murder of a foreign fashion designer opens a door into the exotic, mysterious world of the D’Angelines, he realizes just how little he actually knows.

Reccer's comments:  This amazing crossover story is a Sherlock BBC AU fused with a modern adaptation of Kushiel’s Legacy by Jacqueline Carey.  I would’ve never have imagined it, but the two worlds work wonderfully together.   Kryptaria has done a masterful job of taking Carey’s worldbuilding and updating it to the 21st century.   And of course Sherlock would canonically be a quarter D’Angeline, from his Vernet grandmother (who is a fantastic OC in this story).  But you don’t need to be familiar with the Kushiel books to enjoy this story.  Because it’s written from John’s POV, the reader can learn about the D’Angeline culture the same time John does, so if you enjoy a good fantasy AU case!fic, then don’t pass this one up.

[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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