Entries tagged with content: food

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Fic Rec: Ripe, Strawberries Ripe

Title: Ripe, Strawberries Ripe
Author:

gardnerhill
Pairing: Ms. Hudson/Joan Watson
Length: 1671 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None apply
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: Summertime and the eating is easy.

Reccer's comments: This is so yummy in multiple ways. It gets the reader to use their other senses -- namely smell and taste (if said reader has them, of course) -- in conjuction with imagination to put themselves into Joan's place as events unfold.

Also: ZOMG THIS IS HOT.

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Fic Rec: The Only Emperor

Title: The Only Emperor
Author: coloredink
Pairing: gen; Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Length: 12,000 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: It never occurred to Sherlock Holmes that an ice cream shop might attract children.

Reccer's comments: There must be hundreds of 'alternate profession' stories out there for Sherlock and John, but this one is special to me. I love coloredink's writing, and this story consistently charms my socks off.

Sherlock is determined to revolutionize the field of ice cream, largely by creating the strangest flavours imaginable and making them work, and John takes charge of paying the bills and keeping a firm separation between Sherlock and the customers. In some respects this is a fairly faithful alternate version of series 1, and I love the creative way the author translates the dramatic conflicts into the world of ice cream. Sherlock makes quite a wonderful Willy Wonka-esque figure, so deadpan and so bizarrely committed to creating something new in the world of food. I love the easy camaraderie between Sherlock and John, the charming whirlwind of their shop where most of the series regulars eventually pass through, and the imaginative appearance of The Blind Banker and other motifs from the earliest days of the show. Quietly funny, off-beat and warm, it's a strange and lovely (and tasty!) AU.

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Fic Rec: The Oxford Suite

Title: The Oxford Suite also here on AO3
Author:

stardust_made
Pairings: Sherlock/Mycroft
Length: approx. 10,200 words
Rating: explicit
Warnings:none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author’s summary: Mycroft remembers the last time he and Sherlock were together. Set a few months after Sherlock's start at Oxford university.

Reccer’s comments: This series turned me into a dedicated Holmescest lover. The essence of the genre is all there; Mycroft’s sense of guilt with regard to their innocent parents, the sense of awareness of and disregard of the social taboo, the need for secrecy. Then there’s the careful manipulation of the brother who thinks he’s the one doing the manipulating. The thrill of the chase, over and over again. The mutual trust and understanding. Their realisation that they’re unique and this is who they are. Sherlock has already understood this a long time ago, and steadily works at undermining Mycroft’s heroic attempts at resistance. Poor Mycroft, there’s so much at stake for him – a career, a life – but much like any great hero his fate is chiselled in stone with capitals and all the gods are working against him. This, after all, is what Holmescest is about. Really, it’s so much more than the Holmes brothers having sex. If that was all there was to it, it would be boring. There is sex in these stories as well, gushingly hot sex in fact, but at the same time it’s so heartfelt and tender it makes something catch in your breast while reading.

All that, and in

stardust_made’s achingly beautiful language to boot. What more could one possibly want from a story.

Note: the LJ-link connects you to the first story of the series.

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fic rec: Cake and Other Sins

Title: Cake and Other Sins
Author: Indybaggins
Pairings: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes/Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 100.673 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: none
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: AU. Sherlock and John meet as competing bakers on The Great British Bake Off. There’s intense baking, lush recipes and enticing food. Mycroft, guilt, past sins in chocolate and gingerbread. And love. That too.

Reccer's comments: I've read the summary and I've read the warnings and neither had prepared me for this fic. There is crack in this fic, yes. But there's also plenty of angst. It's way more intense, disturbing and serious than you'd think upon seeing it's a Great British Bake Off AU.

I freely admit that while I appreciate this threesome and how John somehow balances things out, and I also quite enjoy Johnlock in here, this fic for me is won by holmescest and quite probably the most fascinating description of this relationship in fandom. Almost all fics that describe Holmes' brothers relationship somehow touch the subject of food, diets and fat jokes, but this is the one ties it all up into one perfectly twisted mix.

I feel I have to say that even if these pairings are your cup of tea, this fic might not be, might be too much in the wrong direction. However it just might hit all of the right buttons and you will realize what a gem it is and how quite possibly it's the most perfect, most twisted love story ever written. Plus, there will be cakes.

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Fic Rec: Dégustation

Title: Dégustation
Author: daasgrrl
Pairing: Mycroft Holmes/Hannibal Lecter
Length: 7799
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Minor character death
Verse: Sherlock (BBC) x Hannibal (NBC)

Author's summary: Hannibal meets up with an old friend for dinner. Amongst other things.

Reccer's comments: What do you know, it's the end of October already! Themed recs all around!

Mycroft uses Hannibal professionally, and Hannibal takes Mycroft apart for pleasure. Well, not that way, though one always has reason to worry. Worrying is half the fun in this unnerving game between complex and dark characters who might be underestimating each other.

Tags include painplay, edgeplay, implied cannibalism (there are also implied incestuous feelings). The author skirts around some very dark material without plunging right over the edge. Well, maybe a little dangling - it wouldn't be a crossover with Hannibal without archly revolting references to unsavory savories: "Before I set foot in here again, everything must be tidied away, do you understand? Including any … smells."

The pacing is languid but not frustrating. Hannibal and Mycroft both have secrets, and while the author gives us Hannibal's point of view, they don't give everything away at once - both characters' motives remain enticingly opaque. There's plenty of character development through conversation (and Hannibal's interior reflections), plenty of sensual pleasures, and plenty of spot-on imagery and turns of phrase.

Mycroft sighs as Hannibal’s fingers dig in, loosening his tight flesh, and Hannibal is irresistibly reminded of the way Japanese farmers massage their prize Wagyu cattle for the slaughter. He knows well how very tender that portion would be, just beneath the shoulder blade.

Read the follow-up, "Displacement," for more crossover cleverness and a couple of creepy twists. The action and implications get darker, though, be warned.

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Fic Rec: Full English by kay_cricketed

Title: Full English
Author: kay_cricketed
Pairing: Gen
Length: 1,396
Rating: G
Warnings: Major character death
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: [Post!Reichenbach Falls] A study of grief as displayed by the variety of jams in the cupboard. John regrets his habit of saving the best for last.

Reccer's comments: John sublimates his pain into meals described with such mouth-watering, pleasureful detail that the lingering taint of grief in every buttery crumb comes as a surprise to me each time I read. Word choices subtly reveal the underlying darkness. This fic is a sorrowful sensual joy, a bit of time out of time.

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Fic Rec: Eat.

Title: Eat.
Author: sickofit (inthegarden)
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 4 426 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Warnings Apply.
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Sherlock likes seeing John eat. And eat. And eat. And, when he's not able to eat any more, bring it all back up.

Reccer's comments: This is an emetophilia BDSM PWP-fic, which is exactly what I want from life and didn’t even hope for until I found this one. Emetophilia fics are rare and good emetophilia fics are even rarer. This is one of the really good ones. It has build-up, double perspective, and explicit descriptions of everything. And aftercare! Sweet, lovely aftercare.

Emetophilia, for those who don’t know, is arousal by vomiting and/or observing others vomit and can be “a kink too far” for many. I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it, because it’s a really well written fic even if this isn’t your thing, but everyone should know going in that this fic is about John eating until he throws up, repeatedly.

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Art Rec: GQ

Title: GQ There’s also a version on tumblr but hey, I prefer LJ
Artist:

daasgrrl
Pairing: none
Rating: gen
Warnings: none
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Reccer's comments: Do I really need to recommend this? Let’s admit, if this hefty magazine appeared in the racks at your very own newsstand you’d immediately dig up the cash to acquire it, wouldn’t you?
It seems the most dangerous man in London has agreed to give an in-depth interview about… everything but himself, I assume. And, seeing as the minor Government official harbours a craving for cake beneath that trim suit we would really like to know which London patisserie serves the best gateaux and petit fours, and what that workout schedule for the busiest schedule looks like, for it appears to be a pretty effective one, judging by the flat front of the waistcoat.
Sadly, the magazine doesn’t exist. But this wonderful cover does. Every time I look at it I feel a chuckle rising in my throat. Never mind that Mycroft obviously does not approve.

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Fic Rec: Sketchy

Title: Sketchy
Author: serpentynka
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 186,281
Rating: E
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Sherlock takes on an obvious case (barely a 4) and is forced to re-examine what it means to see and observe.

Reccer's comments: Serpentynka is new to fanfiction, but I was blown away by their magnum opus, Sketchy. Blown away as in they have written what will doubtless be on my list of best Sherlock fics of 2014. I was first drawn in by the masterful Sherlock POV, then charmed by the main OC, Alex Nussbaum, an artist who reluctantly agrees to tutor Sherlock in drawing (some of Sherlock's art is scattered about the text). Initial distrust eventually grows into a warm, honest friendship:

( Long non-spoilery excerpt... )

The rich depiction of places (primarily Norfolk, London, and Vienna) and an organic sense of structure brings additional depth to the world of this story. What kept me enthralled, however, what made me feel 100,000+ words were not enough, was the slowly evolving relationship of Sherlock and John, underlined by rapid POV switches and a dynamic approach to combining narrative, dialogue, and interior thoughts:

( Another non-spoilery excerpt... )

The reader is treated not to just the movement from friends to lovers, but a detailed evolution of their romantic and sexual relationship in the months that follow the admissions of love and attraction. We experience the external and internal obstacles that challenge Sherlock and John, realizing before the end how much that relationship has deepened, despite their own considerable flaws and Mycroft's well-meant but heavy-handed "tests".

Add to all this erotic storytelling, initiated by John and later attempted by Sherlock. John's steamy fantasies are realistic enough to be re-imagined in the "real world" (as some are!), whereas Sherlock's are more overtly biographical and can be hot or intensely moving (sometimes both).

( One of John's stories... )

If you love reading about the visual arts and the skill of craftspeople, this is a work for you. If you adore sophisticated, sensual fiction that repays multiple readings, if you enjoy memorable OCs, and treasure IC romance between two flawed characters who struggle (and sometimes fail) to communicate, this is the work for you.

----

Note: this is set in an imagined S5, but was begun before S3 aired, so no S3 characters or spoilers are included. See comment below for additional information.

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Fic Rec: We Are the Only Two Speakers of Our Language

Title: We Are the Only Two Speakers of Our Language
Author:

innie_darling
Pairing: Gen
Length: 660 words
Rating: G
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: She's the one who taught him another language.

Reccer's comments: The idea of Sherlock's French grandmother, and the art they share in their veins, has always intrigued me. In this beautiful, succinct snapshot, Grandmere and Sherlock share a kitchen in his childhood where the herbs are sweet and the insights sharp.

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Fic Rec: Intimations

Title: Intimations
Author: nlr alicia
Pairing: Lestrade is the main character, the pairing is Holmes/Watson
Length: 10,500 words
Rating: it's unrated, but I would call it Teen/PG-13
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD
Author's summary: The first in a series of stories exploring the friendships between Holmes, Watson, Lestrade and the Lestrade family. All of the Lestrade Chronicles are based on documents entrusted to the care of Samuel Lestrade by various first-hand sources.

Reccer's comments: It's been a long time since this classic author has been recc'd, it looks like, and I think this is my personal favorite of their stories. It's a beautifully rendered Lestrade POV, and we see the ups and downs of Holmes and Watson's relationship through Lestrade's diary entries and family letters. Often it is clear that Lestrade does not understand what he is seeing, although his understanding grows over time. We are free to make the backstory fit our own preferred imaginings -- in that way it is a remarkably open story that really invites our creativity and lets us fill in the blanks of the stormy Reichenbach era as we choose. I appreciate that.

The story is really about Lestrade's friendship for John, and how through that friendship he begins to accept the truth about John's heart and where it lies. It's also the story of how he comes to know Holmes for who he truly is.

Although Lestrade is the only narrator, the story contains numerous narrative voices: Lestrade's own voice changes between his letters (a more public forum) and his diaries (more private thoughts), but we also can piece together the voice of offstage characters, like his sister, by watching the way that Lestrade responds to her. Eventually Holmes, who has been silent through most of the story, speaks through Lestrade's pages in a stunning moment of revelation. This author has always excelled in the voice they create for Holmes, and this story does not disappoint in that regard.

As you can see in the author's summary, this was intended to be the first in a series. In fact it does have one sequel, which is also delightful (though it does not involve Lestrade at all), and if you like this story, I recommend reading its Holmes & Watson centric companion piece, The Taste of Love.

Some readers may want to know that the story does contain description of violent injury. Also, this is just to note that this story and its sequel are finished works (several of the author's other works are abandoned).

A wonderful work from a wonderful author.

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Fic rec: Yards: We Go The Extra Mile!

Title: Yards: We Go The Extra Mile!, also here at AO3
Author:

flawedamythyst
Pairing: Sherlock/John, however it’s more of an ensemble piece
Length:approx. 2,000 words
Rating:PG
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Supermarket AU

Reccer's comments: A wonderfully cracky fic in which, believe it or not, the Yarders, the residents of 221B, and Molly work in retail, manning a supermarket. Each member of the cast is cast in the role that fits him or her best. The author has really been amazingly inventive and the different positions suit the characters down to the ground.

I can’t elaborate too much on the fic for then I would be giving away a lot of the fun. Just go ahead and read it and crack up over a perfect piece of marvellous silliness.

Enjoy!

Fic Rec: Mise en Place

Title: Mise en Place
Author: azriona
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 161,000 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good – the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes.

Reccer's comments: In the author's own words: the one where Sherlock Holmes is Gordon Ramsay. This epic restaurant AU is delightful in so many ways. Almost everyone from the show is here, but don't worry that they'll be unrecognizable as themselves. Everyone is perfectly in character. Sherlock may be a chef and restaurant owner in this 'verse, but he's still a detective at heart, still a master of observation and deduction.... and of course, still his abrasive self. John is still an invalided army doctor, only saddled here with a failing restaurant that has been in his family for generations. And the two of them still have an inexplicable connection almost from the moment they meet.

You have angst, humour and fluff in almost equal amounts in this story. Plus you have the added bonus of delicious recipes included with almost every chapter! What more could you ask for?

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Fic Rec: Goose

Title: Goose
Author:

rabidsamfan
Pairing: none
Length: 8,626
Rating: Gen
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: Watson recalls an early Christmas at Baker Street.

Reccer's comments: We are still within the twelve days of Christmas and I am experiencing quite the winter where I am, so this delightful fic feels just right: Holmes and Watson sending Mrs. Hudson off to visit her family and fending for themselves (with a little assistance from the Irregulars), all of them struggling to create a Christmas feast in the midst of terrible weather.

One of my favorite things about this story is how the author demonstrates, without being overtly didactic, how much skilled and unskilled labor goes into running even a modestly sized household in the Victorian period. Without Mrs. Hudson and her countless counterparts, many a British home would have ceased to function. Also superb are Watson's voice and the dialogue, as well as the references to the details of daily living in London, which believably situates the reader in the late nineteenth century.

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Fic Rec: Sickly Sweet

Title: Sickly Sweet
Author: wiggleofjudas
Pairing: Gen
Length: 1,313
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Minor Character Death
Verse: Sherlock BBC and Hannibal and a Certain Oft-Told Tale*

Author's summary: The Holmes brothers are lost in the woods.

Reccer's comments: Beware of the woods, dear children. Beware of the stranger who lures you with sweets cunningly made. Beware of the cottage that appears where no compass may work...

Although fairy tales may be derided as fluff by the ignorant, fans and folklorists (or more properly, fans whose rabidness recognizes few bounds) know these stories and songs can be as terrifying as any horror film. Set against the dread closing in on Mycroft and Sherlock is the tart brightness of the brothers' love for each other. Mycroft really shines here, the resourceful savior and sheet anchor of his shrinking family. Yet neither child comes across as more than extraordinarily brilliant children. So follow the virtual bread crumbs, my dears, if you dare!
-----

* = no knowledge of Hannibal is required, but familiarity with the fairy tale that inspired this may cause you to forswear these, these and also these and to hide under your desk with a flashlight and your Ted/Cat/Canine Friend

Excerpt: ( Read more )

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Fic Rec: Fucking Cake

Title: Fucking Cake
Author: Random_Nexus
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 12,967 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Sherlock brings home a chocolate cake, John finds him about to have sex with said cake, then exceedingly weird hijinx ensue.

Reccer's comments: Crack of the highest order. Extremely hot crack of an even higher order. With a large helping of silliness. And enough chocolate to sate even the most extreme addiction. You get high off chocolate fumes just reading this fic. Warning for onset of extreme cravings for sex and/or chocolate and/or cake - ideally all together. Don't say I didn't warn you!

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Fic Rec: A Hundred Thousand Miles

Title: A Hundred Thousand Miles LJ AO3
Author:

what_alchemy
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2,107
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Original character death
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Sally Donovan didn’t daydream of being a police officer when she was young.

Reccer's comments: A nuanced, sympathetic character study of Sally Donovan. The Sally of this one-shot is a hard-working, determined, flawed human being, loving and loved. Tragedy mars her childhood, causing her to choose a path that clearly is intended to fix what was destroyed. Food is a central motif: a reflection of familial love, something to be strictly controlled (when all else seems uncontrollable), and one step in the healing process.

What-alchemy's ability to sketch a character swiftly and vividly is admirable:

Sally remembers her father removing her from school on 22nd April, 1995. She was fifteen, he was forty-seven, and when she met him in the head’s office, he was not her father but a waterlogged study in reds and whites, a diminished spectre of himself in the chair. The head herself, a starchy woman with a dour disposition and a belted waist, seemed to be having trouble keeping her own upper lip suitably stiff.

Sally's mother is a wonderful OC, fierce in her love, strong, and set in her ways:

When Mummy drew back long moments later, she wiped Sally’s face with her bare hand, pinching at her nostrils when she was finished. Mummy reached up to wipe that hand on a tea towel, but then she knelt back down to cup Sally’s head with two firm palms. Her black eyes shone with banked fire, and there was no looking away.
“Listen to me, Sally girl. Are you listening?”
Sally’s breath stuttered and a keening whine seemed to be rising from her throat, but she managed to nod.
“You’re whole. A whole person, no matter what anyone else says, no matter where your family’s from, no matter how it feels on the darkest days. And you are exactly as God Almighty made you. No one can take that away from you, understand?”

The Sherlock fandom could use many more quality efforts at rounding out this too-maligned character.

Fic Rec: Fearful Symmetry

Title: Fearful Symmetry
Author:

irisbleufic
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 20,500
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Of nightmares, family, and forgiveness.
Reccer's comments: If you have been searching for a fic that features Harry Watson as a nuanced character rather than a stereotype or a plot device, then here you will find one marvelous example. John and Harry's troubled relationship is explored, with both siblings portrayed as flawed but ultimately able to use the love they share to forgive each other. John's developing relationship with Sherlock is treated with equal care. Iris demonstrates the tremendous courage it takes to forgive and to love without making the ust and brother-sister conflict melodramatic.

Excerpt: “John, what are you doing here?”

The question hung in the air between the four of them, inescapable.

John wiped his mouth and blinked at her, forcing himself to smile in an attempt to stave off the fierce, sudden anger that rose in him. She'd been gunning for an argument all evening, hadn't she?

“Let's see, Harry,” he began, “what am I doing here? Well: first, there was the part where you collected me at the airport smelling of gin, cider, and God knows what else. Then, there was the part where, instead of having the whole tearful-reunion-and-catch-up thing that all my mates had―the ones who made it home, anyway―I spent the next forty-five minutes navigating both you and my luggage through the entire bloody underground just to find the place they'd sorted out for me in the meantime, and you were mostly asleep on my shoulder any time we weren't walking, and oh, by the way, you didn't even mention the cane. Not once.”

Mrs. Hudson was staring down at her plate, and Sherlock was listening intently, his head tilted ever so slightly in John's direction. Harry, on the other hand, was biting into her lower lip so hard that she'd probably draw blood if she didn't stop soon.

If John didn't stop soon.

It was the brush of Sherlock's hand, again, under the table, that snapped him out of it.

Harry took a shuddering breath and opened her mouth to speak. “John, I―”

“No,” John said. “I'm the one who's sorry. Believe me.”

Harry lifted her head and gave him a hard, defiant look.

“For what, John? Which part of it?”

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Cinnamon, by Skinandpit

Title: Cinnamon
Author: Skinandpit
Characters: Sherlock, Molly; Gen
Length: 918 words
Rating: G
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: After the Fall, Sherlock keeps in touch with Molly. As he's terrible at small talk and they need to keep identifying information out of their correspondence anyway, she sends him recipes instead of conversation.
Reccer's comments: Story contains spoilers for Season 2.
This is a pleasant hiatus story, in which Sherlock discovers that food and its preparation have their uses. I'm particularly fond of stories about food. Cinnamon is a lovely little amuse bouche, with a touch of melancholy and sweetness.

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Tags and tagging

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.