221B Recs

Title: Like Spinning Plates
Author: Anonymous
Pairing: Gen, with particular focus on Sherlock and Mycroft, but also features Lestrade, Moriarty, and John
Length: 3,500 words
Rating: not rated, I would say PG
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC fusion with Antoine de St. Exupery's The Little Prince
Author's summary: none given

Reccer's comments: This is one of the very first fics I ever read in the BBC fandom, a kinkmeme entry from 2010 that has stayed with me for half a decade now. It is a haunting, lovely fusion in which Sherlock is The Little Prince, just arrived upon a world that is wholly new to him. The story splits itself into fragments of possibilities -- what might happen to this otherworldly child, and who might he encounter? The glimpses of his alternate futures are poignant and in most cases quietly tragic, but they are ultimately "what didn't happen," while the through-line of the tale follows "what did happen" to Sherlock -- he met Mycroft, the one person in the world who was prepared to recognize him for what he was.

In relatively few words, the author manages to create a story of complicated happiness in which we see just how many bullets Sherlock dodged on the way to his own unique destiny. I have rarely loved Mycroft more than I love him in this story.

(Note: If this is your first time reading a fic on the meme, please be aware that comments from readers are interspersed between installments of the story -- don't let the comments fool you into thinking you're at the end! The story isn't over until you reach part 5 of 5 and the happy conclusion).