221B Recs

Title: I Need You To See Me
Author: Mssmithlove
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 12,625 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: After going back to war, John is yet again invalided home, this time with a broken ankle and a chunk of his memory missing, unable to recall the last five years he's spent being Sherlock Holmes' partner and husband.

Reccer's comments: Amnesia fic is one of my favorite tropes, and this one hit me right in the feels. So angsty and beautifully written, I felt Sherlock's pain so viscerally. It does have a happy ending, but *god* the journey towards it is so painful. Totally worth it, though.

From the beginning of John's diagnosis, Sherlock is convinced that the situation is hopeless, that John could never fall for him twice. Even when John starts to rejoin Sherlock on cases and expresses his happiness to do so, Sherlock cannot allow himself to hope that *his* John is not irretrievably lost.

And just when Sherlock has come to terms with the possibility that his John Watson is gone forever - then we get a beautiful resolution that both makes sense within the narrative and is emotionally satisfying.


( sneak preview )

Title: An Innocent Man
Author: Fangs_Fawn
Length: 183,531 words
Pairing: Gen
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Violence, attempted suicide
Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: "And what about John Watson?" Sherlock had asked. He had expected a rather dull answer...after all, he had been away. He had not expected to hear that John had spent the past two years in prison. Series 3 AU. Not slash.

Reccer's comments: If you like John whump, this is certainly the fic for you. Sherlock comes back after two years of being away, only to find out that John has spent that entire time behind bars, convicted of being an accessory to Sherlock's supposed 'crimes.' He's exonerated and released just before Sherlock's return - but not before going through some pretty traumatic experiences at the hands of certain guards and prisoners.

This is a Series 3 AU, but you will still meet some of the characters from that series, only under different circumstances. And some of the same dialogue takes place as well - only, again, in different scenarios than in canon. I particularly liked Bill Wiggins here, as he happens to meet John while they are both serving time, and ends up in a happier place than his counterpart does as a result.

I really liked Lestrade's character her as well, as he ends up being the loyal friend and champion that John needs to secure his eventual release.

A big part of the story is John coming to terms with the fact that the people who knew about Sherlock's fake death - Mycroft and Molly - never came forward with the truth so as to exonerate John before he ever went to trial. Sherlock is off the hook in this regard, at least, since he had no idea what was happening with John while he was away.

Throughout all of this, there is also an actual "Empty House" scenario unfolding through it all. We get an actual Sebastian Moran and an actual, very tense confrontation, something I really missed in the BBC's version.

And one final warning: There is mention of John having attempted suicide while in prison, although the event itself occurs offscreen. Just be aware.

Enjoy!

Title: A River Without Banks
Author: Chryse
Pairing: Sherlock/John, John/Mary
Length: 203,286 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Violence, rape/non-con, character death (Please keep in mind that this is a time travel story, and unfortunate occurrences are not necessarily permanent)

Verse: Sherlock BBC

Author's summary: "You love this, being Sherlock Holmes." He had once. When had it all gone so wrong?

Reccer's comments: First of all, I will directly quote the author from their beginning notes: "I assure you that there WILL be a happy ending, by which I mean John and Sherlock, together exclusively and forever, world without end, amen. (Just so we’re clear.)" So if the warnings scare you, know that EVERYTHING IS TEMPORARY AND IT WILL BE FINE. But the bad stuff still happens, so if it's triggery be aware that parts of this fic get very intense. The first half has a lot of angst, but never fear; there are also happy, romantic times as well.


This story is by the same writer who gave us "The Frost is All Over". The fic begins right where HLV left off, with Moriarty supposedly returning from the dead. In essence, it is a time-travel fic, with Sherlock going back in time in an attempt to put the universe back on its correct course after being shifted out of alignment by Moriarty's actions on the rooftop of Bart's. I am a *sucker* for time travel stories, with all of the paradoxes and twists and turns that that genre entails. And boy, does Chryse deliver in spades. Because not just one journey back in time is required; each failed attempt ends with Sherlock's death in that timeline kicking him back into his own (hence the character death warning). And every time Sherlock makes another attempt, his memory of all the previous timelines is erased, making each journey back its own self-contained story with its own adventure and ending, some happier than others. There's also a case that keeps showing up in subsequent timelines, just biding its time until the 'correct' version of Sherlock Holmes shows up to solve it.


My heart ached for Sherlock during a large portion of this fic, as I watched him struggle, literally time and time again, with the emotional fallout of each and every timeline. The storytelling is vivid and layered, with each timeline building on the previous ones and moving the story forward in Sherlock's search for the 'true' timeline that will set everything to rights. The perfect 'fix-it' fic for Series 3, in my opinion.


( Read Excerpt )