rachelindeed: Paget waterfall Reichenbach (Paget waterfall Reichenbach)
[personal profile] rachelindeed
Title: The Men Who Talked Between the Words
Author: Odamaki
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, brief John Watson/Mary Morstan, Harry Watson/OFC, James Sholto/OMC, Billy Wiggins/OFC
Length: @460,000 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: past abuse (including implied/referenced child abuse), implied/referenced suicide (not of any character from the TV show), implied/referenced drug use
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: John expected to be a father some day; he expected to have the house, and the wife and the nice suburban job. Sherlock never expected to have children, in part because he never expected to make it past 30. As it turns out, you don't get a choice. Crammed into Baker Street with a baby, John struggles with single-parenthood and his own fears, while Sherlock treads the fine line between doing too little and saying too much.

Reccer's comments: It's hard to think of what I can say about this fic that hasn't already been said. Four years in the making, of a length comparable to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this story took extraordinary commitment to create and the end result is simply astonishing. I've been reading Holmesian fiction for quite a long time, and I've never run across another story that felt quite like this one. There's something so authentic and keenly observed about the details. There's a realism here that reaches out and never lets me go. The characters - both the main and the secondary ones - have such distinct voices, and their lives and relationships are deeply grounded and believable.

This is a realistic parentlock fic, and it's the deliciously slowest of slow-burn romances, and that heart of the story is beautiful. But that's really not all there is to it. Odamaki doesn't allow Sherlock, John, and the baby to live in a bubble. The story is full to bursting with the many other people who know them, who affect and are affected by them. Both Sherlock and John have important inward work to do before either is ready to think about romance. It's a story about growth, about healing, about hard-fought and hard-won maturity. About friendships and familiar places that won't stay neatly unchanged, and about painful habits and histories that won't fade away without long and deliberate effort.

When I think of this fic, the love story and the family Sherlock and John make together stands at the center. But I also think of Sherlock and Molly's quiet happiness working on her research together at Barts; James Sholto walking John through his fledgling orchard; Billy playing chess in hospital; Harry lounging with her girlfriend on the couch; Greg's tiepin; the moms in John's playgroup; the voice at the other end of a helpline.

This is a compelling fic about love and family, but it's also about all those other nooks and crannies of life that too often get left out of love stories. There's a village of vivid people wrapped up in this story, and I love them all.

(Also, I should add: 1) the story is complete. It ends at chapter 27. There are still new chapters going up, but they are 'bonus material' like deleted scenes and FAQ responses from the author. 2) The story goes AU after series 3, and incorporates no elements of series 4. The baby is a girl, but she is not the canonical 'Rosie' of the TV show).
rachelindeed: Havelock Island (Default)
[personal profile] rachelindeed
Title: Autumn in Wimpole
Author: sanspatronymic
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: 2,100 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: Watson struggles to uncover a mystery in a seaside village. Holmes is less than helpful.

Reccer's comments: The ACD Holmesfest is underway with so many delightful entries already and more to come! While this comm has an open recs post for the fest, it's also nice to have some more detailed recs. So let me start by calling your attention to this unique and lovely piece.

Here is a glimpse of Holmes and Watson, on the cusp of retirement, making their way through what Watson considers a lack-luster investigation amid the chilly ambience of a seaside resort town well past its summer prime. The author creates the details of the scene - the emptying streets, the dusty police station, the cramped local pub, the dark cliffside path - with an excellent eye for the most telling details.

The real marvel, though, is the keen and convincing take this story offers on Holmes and Watson's relationship, obviously established for many long years and deeply imbued with both affection and irritation. It is comfortable and prickly, teasing and sharp, boring on one level while obviously content and loving in its fundamentals. Here are two men who have made a life together for so long that they get on each other's nerves precisely because they know each other so well and are so completely synchronous in their routines.

Heart-warming with a tinge of melancholy, this fic left me feeling as if I had gotten a realistic and affectionate glimpse at this couple who, even ensconced in the mild aggravations of daily life, clearly can't live without each other.
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Escher Snakes)
[personal profile] sanguinity
Title: The Domesticated Detective series
Author: sans_patronymic / [livejournal.com profile] sanspatronymic
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: currently 15K words in three stories
Rating: Teen
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD canon
Author's summary: Holmes's inability to attend to basic domestic chores causes friction between him and Watson. Featuring musings, squabbling, and eventual makeup sex.

Reccer's comments: Holmes and Watson have retired to Sussex together, and while living out his life with John Watson should be the stuff of Holmes' dreams -- nay, is the stuff of his dreams -- there yet remain all the pesky domestic details that must be solved again, and again, and once again after that. Such as the dishes. The everlasting dishes, which were washed yesterday, and must be washed again today, and will certainly need washing again tomorrow. For, as Holmes tells us in the opening of the second story, "The Sisyphean Art":

These recent years have brought to light many interesting truths regarding the complexities of human relations, and foremost is this: It is one thing to live with a man and quite another to set up a household with him.


This series is exquisite in its detailing of the frustrations and grace of a marriage: not only how a petty fight about making the bed can spiral beyond all reason or a sink of dirty dishes can drive one to despair, but also how well-earned exasperation from one's partner in one moment can transform to forgiveness and compassion in the next. The author has tagged these "domestic fluff," which is accurate enough, but also fails to capture the rindokulousness of being human, and the wrench of being loved far better than you (or really anyone) could possibly deserve.

And the writing is gorgeous, too.
[identity profile] pipmer1.livejournal.com
Title: The Walking Man
Author: suitesamba
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 2200 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: When it was all over, when the east wind had blown through and they picked themselves off the pavement, Sherlock said enough.

Eighteen years later, the real journey begins.

Reccer's comments: So we'll start things off with a Series 4 fic already! If you don't want any spoilers for series 4, best to stop now.


Even though this one was written before The Final Problem aired, it still fits in very well with the canon we ended up with. It's a quietly lyrical piece, more of a character study than anything else, that takes a quote from The Lying Detective and shows how Sherlock puts it into practice. Your life is not your own.

In only 2200 words, the author shows how Sherlock and John remake themselves into the men they need to be so that after eighteen years, they can finally come together as they were always meant to. Told from Sherlock's point of view, we get a sense of how he has made fruitful use of this long period of waiting, and how it all pays off in the end.


A little preview )
verdant_fire: (shr: the head and the heart)
[personal profile] verdant_fire
Title: Someone at the Scent of Orange Blossom
Author: [livejournal.com profile] rachelindeed
Pairing: Sherlock/John, past John/Mary
Length: 3433 words
Rating: Teen
Verse: ACD
Author's summary: During the years of Holmes’s absence, Watson’s hands had changed.

Reccer's comments: This lovely fic was a standout two Holmestices ago, and I've remembered it ever since.  It's beautifully written and very touching, with great clarity of emotion and character and an excellent Holmes POV.  The themes and symbolism are handled with subtlety and skill, and both Watson's grief for Mary and Holmes' silent devotion to him are treated with respect and tenderness.  The way all of those branches twine together and come to fruition in the ending is memorable and moving, and makes for a welcoming warm hearth of a story every time I read it.
[identity profile] lijahlover.livejournal.com
This will be my last rec this lovely month of November it has been fun.


Title:Through The Clouds
Author: mazarin221b
Pairing: Johnlock
Length:20,004
Rating:Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary:Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing.

They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you're living to find the life you want.


Reccer's comments:I have such a thing for retirement stories, they melt me into such happy goo. This one is warm and so charming. This was gorgeous from start to finish, it made me all warm and fuzzy inside. This fic was like a warm fuzzy blanket wrapped around me. :)))))

I adored the lovely imagery the bathtub scene and bees(Sherlock must retire with bees) were delightful. Also the slow burn between them she captured the ache of finally requited passion.

Here is a small excerpt....Sherlock takes one last look out to the horizon, mouth downturned and brow furrowed, before seeming to shake himself and catching up to John with a few long-legged strides. John turns back toward the path cut into the cliffs, climbing steadily toward the rolling downs already green and lush in the weak April warmth.

They reach the top and Sherlock strikes toward the west, back to where their hired Land Rover sits a mile away in a public carpark. John falls into step beside him and takes a deep breath.



“I expected a case,” he starts. “A bit chilly for a walk, really, so. D’you mind telling me what we’re doing out here?”
Sherlock doesn’t even pause, simply tucks his head down against the wind and continues walking.

“I’m retiring,” he says simply.
[identity profile] pipmer1.livejournal.com
Title: Public, Private, Secret
Author: 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 14,000 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: To the outside world, Sherlock and John are just friends. In private, they're much, much more. They've agreed to keep their relationship a secret to protect John's daughter, but it's not going to be as simple as they hoped.

(Or, bittersweet, hot, angsty, secret-relationship-while-coming-to-terms-with-emotional-baggage johnlock with parentlock as a background.)


Reccer's comments: This is a companion piece to the story Coming of Age, which is told from John's daughter's POV. In my opinion this story stands just fine on its own, although "Coming of Age" will provide additional context. In fact, if you're someone who generally doesn't care for parentlock it may be just your cup of tea, because Olivia doesn't have much of a physical presence in this one. The story's focus is on Sherlock and John, and how they navigate the minefield of a secret relationship that spans several years, and told from their points of view.


I like the sense of inevitability that we feel throughout this story. It's series 3 compliant, and at the start we find John as a single parent to six-year old Olivia. There's a lot of pining and yearning going on, and it doesn't help that John is initially firmly resistant to entering into a romantic relationship with Sherlock. But of course it happens that the two of them just can't stay away from each other for long. The angst is bumped up a notch just from the very fact they decide to keep their relationship 'private and secret'- from everybody, not just Olivia, and for a variety of reasons. Several years pass - over a decade - before a conversation happens that teaches them they had nothing to fear after all.

A lovely story that ends with Retirementlock, I hope you enjoy!
venusinthenight: a camera in a woman's hands (stock - camera in hands)
[personal profile] venusinthenight
Title: Our Hospitality
Author: [livejournal.com profile] rachelindeed
Pairing: Gen Holmes & Watson
Length: 1200 words
Rating: G
Warnings: None apply
Verse: ACD Canon
Author's summary: Sherlock Holmes did not expect to enjoy film.

Reccer's comments: Retirement fic! Involving the cinema! Naturally, Holmes would be fascinated by the filmmaking process as opposed to actual movies... at least until he sees the title film starring Buster Keaton, along with a certain scene in said film.
[identity profile] rachelindeed.livejournal.com
Title: All Nature Is Our Satellite
Author: prof_pangaea
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 1,500 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: Holmes is living in the country, retired from detection, keeping his bees. Watson is living in London, remarried, and back in practise. A rare weekend visit to Sussex gives Watson a little insight into his best friend.

Reccer's comments: This is an ACD fic set at a stage of the canon that I almost always avoid – namely, the time in which Holmes has retired alone and Watson only rarely sees him. I think, to many readers, and certainly to me, it is sad to imagine them growing apart in their old age. However, this story does something remarkable: it suggest that, in Holmes’s eyes, they have not grown apart at all.

The story places at its center a meditation on friendship which was written by Henry David Thoreau. It is truly a remarkable and breath-taking essay, and through it the story seeks to show how Holmes has been able to craft a solitude of true contentment without in any way diminishing the depth of his feelings for Watson. There is a strong bittersweet element, as the story suggests that Holmes is sublimating his passionate and romantic attraction to Watson into a more safely platonic form, but the story honors the complexity both of its protagonists and of Thoreau himself, and in the process creates something beautiful.

This is a story about a friendship so strong that it cannot be damaged by lapses in distance and time. It shows two people who can fall back into familiarity with each other effortlessly, two people who often bypass the need for conversation altogether and rise to wordless communion.

In one of Doyle's stories, The Yellow Face, Watson wrote about taking an afternoon stroll with Holmes: "we rambled about together, in silence for the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately." To me this story is a thoughtful, perhaps wistful tribute to that intimacy and the attendant silences which filled their relationship without eroding it.

(Here's wiki's page on Thoreau, if readers are unfamiliar or curious.)

Possible warning: please be aware, the author's tags make it clear that they are writing about "repressed homosexual love," which may be a painful or triggering topic.
[identity profile] dioscureantwins.livejournal.com
Title: Now it is September, and Change is on the Wind
Author: [livejournal.com profile] beesandbrews
Pairing: Sherlock/Irene
Length: approx. 2,500 words
Rating: teen and up
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: It's the end of an era as Sherlock's life at Baker Street, and his days as a detective draw to a close. Summoned to Paris by Irene Adler, he can't resist one final stroll down the road not taken.

Reccer's comments: A retirement fic with a twist and a lovingly crafted outlook on a relationship between Sherlock and Irene that is actually conceivable. Both are sadder and wiser and yet they’ve remained themselves. Irene is as playful and sly as when we first met her and Sherlock just as weary of her, but also, as much in love with her wit.

The tone is mellow, the language beautiful.

This story is a perfect little gem told by a talented author at the top of her form. A gift to enjoy… and cherish many times.
verdant_fire: (shr: it's all fine)
[personal profile] verdant_fire
Title: The Good Old Days
Author: cathedral_carver
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 6254 words
Rating: Teen
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: How did it get so late so soon?

Reccer's comments: This really captures both the beauty of long-standing love and the pathos of being near the end of life. The emotions and imagery are immediate and visceral, and the structure is great as well; the way this flips back and forth between their youth and old age only makes it more affecting.  It's lovely and heartbreaking work, and one of my favorite Retirementlock fics.
[identity profile] pipmer1.livejournal.com
Title: Spectacularly Ignorant in a Nice Way
Author: fleetwood_mouse
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 5754 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Drug Use
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: In which Sherlock Holmes soils expensive shoes, smokes 243 brands of cigarettes, cooks for a former drug runner, experiments with cosmetics, plans a wedding, and earns himself a very happy retirement.

Reccer's comments: 5+1 ficcery at its finest. This little gem is sweet and funny, with just the teeniest bit of angst - but just a tiny bit. It follows Sherlock through five phases of scientific experimentation during five different phases of his life, and concludes with Sherlock and John being happily retired in Sussex where they continue to experiment together. My favourite part was the first section, in which Mycroft's reaction to Sherlock's antics is priceless and will resonate with older siblings everywhere. Enjoy!
verdant_fire: (shr: prepared to burn)
[personal profile] verdant_fire
Title: The Last of the Honey Bees
Author: what_alchemy
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 2000 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: N/A
Verse: BBC
Author's summary: "When we’re all space dust… when all of this is gone? My molecules will find yours.”

Reccer's comments: This fic combines retirement and the end of the world into one cohesive, gorgeous whole.  It does a great deal with very few words.  what_alchemy's use of imagery and metaphor is stunning, and the story really captures the love and transcendence in the midst of the tragedy.  It's arresting, indelible work.  (Full disclosure: this fic was technically my gift for Holmestice, but I would have loved it regardless.)
ext_1620665: knight on horseback (knight)
[identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com
Title: Bee Swarm (Also on dA.)
Artist: [livejournal.com profile] elina_elsu
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Verse: ACD Books
Artist's summary: [From dA] The story behind this picture is based on two real life events:

1. My dad and my mum’s father (ie. my grandpa who was an amateur beekeeper) once climbed into a tree to catch a beeswarm like that. IT DID NOT END WELL.

2. Everytime my dad (who is now 62) climbs on the roof (wtf dad), mum is horrified and goes stand outside to watch over him with her finger on emergency call button on her phone.

Reccer's comments: This artist has a unique style and this is another wonderful piece from her. The palette is gorgeous - the picture is done in a muted yellow and green, with just a suggestion of pink. What I love most about this one though is the subject matter. Holmes and Watson have retired together to Sussex, and Watson has just looked out of the window of their home to find a scene unfolding in the garden. Namely one Sherlock Holmes climbing a ladder up a tree to collect what looks like potentially rather an angry swarm of bees…

Watson’s expression of horror as he anticipates the coming disaster is so, so funny. You’ll be torn between feeling sympathy for poor Holmes and falling over laughing.
amindamazed: bare tree and full moon against the sky (elementary)
[personal profile] amindamazed
Title: The Years Play Out as Days
Author: mrsvc
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/Joan Watson or friendship/gen
Length: 1572
Rating: Gen
Warnings: none
Verse: Elementary
Author's summary: No one would say that Sherlock and Joan retired quietly to Upstate New York.
Reccer's comments: Charming and bittersweet story set near the end of the partnership, when the nemesis that can't be defeated is simple physical frailty, i.e. a realistic portrayal of old age. The two face it together as long as they can with plausible denial, seasoned by reminiscences of adventures-past, and eventual acceptance. No one dies in the fic, but it's not far off and they know it. They take the opportunity to be grateful for their decades together. The author tagged it as Holmes/Watson but it's easily read as platonic OTP if you prefer.
frozen_delight: (sharp)
[personal profile] frozen_delight
Title: My Heart The Red Sun, Your Heart The Moon Clouded
Author: [livejournal.com profile] tiltedsyllogism
Pairing: None
Length: 1,600 words
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Not all mysteries need to be solved. John and Sherlock spend an evening on the porch, thinking about the past.

Reccer's comments: This is a thoroughly lovely story in which Sherlock and John sit on the porch outside of their new domicile in Sussex on a late summer's eve, share a glass of wine and muse about life and fate. I'm really impressed with how well [livejournal.com profile] tiltedsyllogism captured the tranquil, slightly melancholy atmosphere of a summer evening on which the first chills of the approaching autumn can already be felt. This mood blends in really well with the theme of retirement and provides an excellent backdrop for Sherlock and John's retrospective conversation.

The friendship or whatever else it might be that Sherlock and John share here is depicted beautifully. It's palpable how content they are with their present circumstances, how they've finally found the life they wanted and accepted their own place in it, how much they care for each other and how all they really want to do is grow old together. Despite the slightly philosophical conversation they have which revolves around the fact that nothing can be taken for granted and that their lives could have developed in many other ways, there's something about the way they are together which makes you think that, of course, they always had to end up here, together. And that's truly heartwarming.

If you're still looking for a gorgeous read to brighten up one of the last days of summer for you, here's your fic.
frozen_delight: (sharp)
[personal profile] frozen_delight
Title: Green Improbable Fields (also on AO3)
Author: [livejournal.com profile] parachute_silks (evadne on AO3)
Pairing: Mary Morstan/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson (friendship)
Length: 2,100 words
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: Sherlock works out what he needs to be happy. But he knows he doesn't deserve it, and he certainly never expects to get it.

Reccer's comments: This gorgeous little story was written after Season 1 and shows Sherlock and John as platonic soulmates through the years, starting from their traumatic experiences at the pool. Sherlock understands quite soon that all he wants from life is John's companionship; it takes John a little longer to realise that this is what he really wants too. In that it's a quiet and understated but perfect little love story. The line between friendship and romantic relationships is drawn very fluidly here, so that everybody can read into Sherlock and John's relationship what he wants to.

What I particularly like about this story is the many little nods to themes and motives that were introduced in S1, the authentic and sympathetic portrayal of both Sherlock and John, the tranquil, slightly melancholy mood that pervades it and the slightly removed, timeless atmosphere. There is something nostalgic and sweet about it, and in its essence this story still rings true. Even though it neither incorporates S2 nor S3 canon, it still feels like something that might happen to Sherlock and John as the show progresses through the years.
[identity profile] rachelindeed.livejournal.com
Title: Practical Johnkeeping
Author: what_alchemy
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 4,300 words
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Sherlock predicts nectar flow the same way he deduces a murder, but he harvests the honey like John coddles the dog.

Reccer's comments: My favorite retirement fic, although it's definitely not smooth sailing. Sherlock is going through a difficult time, struggling with deep-seated fears about John's health, powerful insecurities about John's faithfulness, and magnificent irritation about John's bloody bulldog. (I thought it was inspired to pick up that throw-away line from A Study in Scarlet about Watson's "bull pup" and make it into an ongoing source of conflict at the other end of their lives). Sherlock in this story is, by turns, stroppy, frantic, achingly tender, painfully vulnerable and at a loss, but ultimately this is the story of a love that stands the test of time. No relationship, no matter how long established, is easy, but it doesn't have to be easy to be beautiful.
[identity profile] chapbook.livejournal.com
Title: Untitled Portrait of Sherlock Holmes in Retirement
Artist: Johix
Pairing: Gen
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: Books

Author's summary: …after my withdrawal to my little Sussex home, when I had given myself up entirely to that soothing life of Nature for which I had so often yearned during the long years spent amid the gloom of London.

- Sherlock Holmes The Lion’s Mane

Reccer's comments: A melancholic yet lovely portrait of Holmes in the Sussex countryside. I could easily imagine this as a stained glass window, not just because of the stylization of the background and how the coloring is handled, but also because Holmes is presented as a saint. "Saint of what?" you might ask. Perhaps a Saint of Detecting, or of Deduction? The artist is wisely silent on this; wise because it gives the reader room to imagine not only what type of saint he might be, but also Holmes's reaction to being "canonized". :) Whatever title you assign him, it's the placement of the sun or moon behind his head that evokes a saint's halo. Add to that the pensiveness of his expression and his clasped hands and the similarity to portraits of Christian saints is quite obvious. Joking aside, I love this conceit, for it suggests the power of Sherlock Holmes on the human imagination, a power which has inspired many incarnations and a century of fannish creativity.

The melancholy comes in with who is missing from this portrait, coupled with a quote from "The Lion's Mane". No John Watson. Holmes may love the countryside of the South Downs, with its abundance of growing things, bees, and the nearness of the sea, but his Boswell is not with him in TLM. No, the good Watson only visits very occasionally, according to TLM!Holmes. We are left to imagine Holmes alone at the end of his life, bereft of the things which seemed to give him so much pleasure in the past. It may very well be that he is quite content in his solitude. Or. We might rebel, considering the controversy that surrounds TLM, and therefore might imagine it a cover to protect both men in a culture hostile to same-sex relationships of any stripe. Dr. Watson may be out of frame, perhaps standing behind him, or sitting on the same seat, facing the opposite direction. What do you think? Choose your adventure.
[identity profile] tripleransom.livejournal.com
Title: Bone China https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3471204/1/Bone-China also at http://liquidfic.org/china.html
Author: Lyra/Lyrastar
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: 3,500
Rating: M
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD Books
Author's summary: The cracks in fine china cannot be undone, but shall we value it less for that?
Reccer's comments: Another celebration of the enduring friendship between Holmes and Watson. It's the end of an era as Holmes is retiring to Sussex. but it need not be the end of everything. A lovely, delicately-written tribute to a love that will always endure.

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