221B Recs

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).

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.