Coda To A Waltz by thevampirepam
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie’s)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Romance
Word count: 2,000
Warnings: Spoilers for A Game of Shadows
Summary:
Coda to “A Game of Shadows” (spoilers lie within). The events of Reichenbach and the ensuing weeks force Watson to come to some startling revelations about his priorities. This does not, however, mean he’s going to let the great detective off the hook..at least not at first.
I SAY: Nothing special, verging on nothing at all.
The writing is modest, the plot unoriginal (if there is a plot at all) and the characterisation pretty poor.
There are few things in this fandom that disturb me more than a badly written Mary, and here she is dreadfully neglected. She is an astonishing character and she would fight for John, it’s clear as day for whoever has actually watched the movie. She understands what profound bond lies between her John and Sherlock Holmes, but she loves John and she wouldn’t just let him go like, oh it’s ok John my dear, you can freely go be sodded by your friend Holmes, it’s good for me we can still be best friends. C’mon, please. I know that she is so hard to write and so hard to hurt, because she’s so good, but it’s better to leave her out of the picture than mistreat her like this.
Also Holmes and Watson need some serious revising in this fic: their character’s coherency is stripped to nothing and most of the dialogues drive them completely OOC.
I know, I am picky as ever about this fandom, but is there someone out there able to get them right, for once? I don’t know. My headcanon is so specific, I can’t stand anything different.
Whatever.
“You are the best woman I have ever known, Mary,” John swore, embracing her with no small amount of regret. “You shall make some man a wonderful wife one day.”
“Well, you’ll get no argument from me there,” she said with a smile. “Now, it’s time you were off. I’ll have your things sent round later. I certainly know the address by now.”
John gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of the hand before departing from the room and the house to confront a newly resurrected detective.
The Way You Know Me by Dirty__Corza
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Slash; PWP
Word count: 1,766
Summary:
Sherlock needs a distraction, John is more than happy to oblige.
I SAY: What is this? No plot, no characterisation, no depth, no sense, no nothing, no wit, no irony, just a smutty, sloppy, badly written blow-job. Wow, really.
They are both completely OOC, they make no sense if you actually watch the show and probably not even if you don’t. There is no trace of any kind of depth in neither of them, and John is a slut.
Boringly written, no twists, no story of any sort, it’s not even hot.
Ridiculous, absolutely unnecessary detailed descriptions spring out of John’s mind and why would you write something like that?
Gha, why did I even read this?
He couldn’t help comparing the size of the dick in his mouth with his own. It was longer than his, but not as thick, much like Sherlock was taller than he, but skinnier.
A Quiet Murmuration by cathedralcarver
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Romantic/Fluff
Word count: 4,600
Summary:
Just pay me back with one thousand kisses.
I SAY: Mh, this. Well, I enjoyed it, it’s lovely written and I’m a sucker for fluff but it’s inevitably OOC, and this I don’t like.
The idea is positively corny, which I don’t despise in principle, but applied to Sherlock and John is simply not working.
The author is undeniably talented and this is what led me to read it all, because her style is simply irresistible for me, I am just not able not to read everything she writes, but this one hasn’t convinced me.
It’s cute, but it casts aside their complexity as people, preferring a much simpler approach. It has the sugary taste of a fairy tale, but anyway my stomach did funny butterfly-like things when they properly kissed for the first time.
To conclude, this is fine, perfectly enjoyable in a moment of low sugars and bad mood. It made me wish to be in love, at least a bit.
Actually, the thing is, that there are sparkles of perfection in this, but they generally fade very quickly.
So yeah, ok.
This. This was. This was a different kind of kiss. This kiss was tender and warm and persistent and deliberate and fucking bloody sensual.
This kiss had nothing to do with restitution.
John wasn’t sure what the hell this kiss had to do with at all.
The Good Old Days by cathedralcarver
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Romance
Word count: 6,200
Summary:
How did it get so late so soon?
I SAY: I love fics that follow Holmes and Watson into their old age, and this one is an extremely fine specimen.
It owns a grey, soft, slightly gloomy, melancholic atmosphere and Sherlock and John are both in character and simply beautiful, so very much them.
The thing I love the most about Sussex fictions is that neither John nor Sherlock (especially Sherlock) seem to ever really believe that they’ll grow old, let alone grow old with someone. They have been to war, all their lives, so many wars, so many victories, so many losses, so many gains; feeling everything and nothing so strongly, so often, took tomorrow away from them so many times. And yet they meet, and yet the fall, and yet they grow old. Together. It’s beautiful, it’s a long and not rarely painful sunset, but it’s as good as it can be.
We know them young, we see them running and running, we think them as forever and always, and yet everyone grows old, Sherlock and John being no exception.
And what this author has been incredibly good in portraying is how surprised they both seem to be. They survived everything until there is nothing more than themselves to survive to.
It’s naturally sad and yet so romantic that it inspires that naive feeling of forever after that it’s supposed to be felt when young and together and invincible.
Here together is all that is left, and the beauty of it is that, after it all, it still feels like it’s enough.
Back then there was a time when they both thought they’d spend the rest of their lives alone.
Then, they fell in love.
A Failed Experiment by lovelornity
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie’s)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Angst/Romance
Word count: 3,121
Warning: Spoilers for A Game of Shadows
Summary:
The drunken haze of gypsy moonshine accompanied by frenzied music and dancing can be a dangerous combination.
I SAY: I quite liked this, but I wasn’t completely satisfied, even though it’s surely well written and to my amazement pretty much IC.
I have to be very sincere here, I should have liked this one much more, but I fear I am unable not to whine when it doesn’t work in the end. My headcanon is heavily in the way once more.
But this fic is wonderfully written. There’s a nice building up of the situation and Holmes’ point of view is faithful to Holmes’ nature, and this is not saying little, it’s rare. Watson’s personality is also very well portrayed and the tension between them is very well mastered.
Also the setting wholly met my taste, because the ‘what happened that drunken gypsy night’ is one of my favourite prompts in the new movie.
Overall, this is very very good, really a great one, no matter how frustrated it left me for wanting more of it.
So, yes, I liked this, and I wish this author would write more in this fandom because her talent and her style go along perfectly well with these Holmes and Watson.
A hand appeared on the small of Holmes’ back as Watson leaned in closely, his breath caught in his throat from exertions and laughter. “I was unable to heed your warnings, old boy.” He hooked his thumbs behind the fabric of his braces and bobbled a bit, oblivious to his missing shirt. “I have drunk and I have danced.” He pointed a wobbling finger at his companion, narrowing his blue eyes. “And so have you.”
Sharp Dressed Man by Kate_Lear
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Slash; PWP
Word count: 12,392
Sumary:
Sherlock is very appreciative of how John looks in a suit.
I SAY: Ok, porn. This is first-rate shameless gorgeous porn. It is a brilliant roller coaster of sex.
There are a few details that bothered me a bit (like the silk underwear) and this usually could be enough to make me abandon the ship, but this fic has such a great building up of tension that I just couldn’t.
Both John and Sherlock are a bit OOC, from my point of view. I have to say that I haven’t found yet a perfectly IC sex scene, but I guess this is due to my massively specific headcanon. In this piece, however, it’s never excessively disturbing; it works pretty good.
Anyway, this fic reached that point in which I literally didn’t care about characterisation, but just get a room you two, right now.
I don’t know if, when I read this again (because I think I eventually will), it’ll take me as much as it did the first time, but this is anyway most entertaining.
It left me positively breathless and all the cockblocking (Mrs Hudson, you jolly woman!) never lets the tension fade (not in the reader, nor in Sherlock’s pants).
It’s a good read, explicit till it leaves absolutely nothing to your imagination and when you think it’s now enough, it’ll drag you back into the sack (or the bathroom, or the landing of 221B).
‘God, Sherlock,’ he murmurs, his hand gentle in Sherlock’s hair. ‘Christ… you look obscene…’
His Favourite Four-Letter F-Words by cathedralcarver
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Romance
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Word count: 3,500
Summary:
John isn’t the most eloquent of men.
I SAY: Now, this I liked very much indeed.
The structure of the fic works perfectly: without following a strict cause-consequence plot line, nor paying any attention to a specific chronological order, this piece gives a wide and deep insight into Sherlock and John’s life together.
It’s beautifully in character and John’s point of view is stunningly written.
Fics with a structure like this are amidst my personal favourites and this one had not disappointed me in any aspect.
I am usually a porn addict, meaning that I often need them to get to an actual conclusion to the building up of the relationship, but in this story their life is so fully grasped that there really is no need to focus on that, even despite my unfortunate addiction.
Fine and Fury are my two personal favourites, but it is in Fall that, in my opinion, the fic reaches its highest point with John’s Gone where?
He thinks about it in the hospital, after the doctors, more than one, he remembers, tell him Sherlock is gone. Gone where? John actually says, stupidly. He asks more than once. Gone where?
It’s heartbreaking and powerful in its simplicity and so deeply John than I heard it in my head spoken in his voice.
This is one of those fics that I’ll read again, many times probably, over time; because these little portraits of life in f-words form a tiny yet detailed mosaic of the beautiful life of two madmen so painfully in love with each other that it makes it impossible not to fill in the gaps with f-words of your own.
404: error: file not found by nejem
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Slash; Romance/Angst
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Word count: 1,237
Summary: from the Sherlock BBC Kink Meme:
Old!Sherlock is diagnosed with dementia. As his memory loss progresses, he writes little reminders and puts them up everywhere—reminders on pretty much anything, from the day’s errands to observations or random facts to memories.
I SAY: Well, sad fics are usually not my thing because they’re -well- sad and make me sad and then everything hurts, but this was beautiful. It’s so well written and in its simplicity is stunningly sweet and quiet. It is worth all the pain that leaves behind.
“He gets up, puts on his old blue dressing gown, leaving it open and free to swish around him as he walks downstairs…”
It’s so domestic and you can smell the faint scent of 221B and ear the floor boards crack ever so softly under Sherlock’s unsteady steps.
It really is worth the ride: it’s a fic to be read alone and then to stand up, quietly, go to the kitchen and make yourself a nice cup of hot tea to swallow the hinted taste of tears down.