Fic for cleflink: The Inferno Club, Part 1/3

[holmesticemods]

Title: The Inferno Club
Recipient: cleflink
Author: swissmarg
Beta readers: thesmallhobbit, lorelei_lee1968
Verse: ACD
Rating: Explicit
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Word count: 20K
Summary: "I'm easy to find," said the young woman. "Hell, London, gets me every time."
The real story behind The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.
Warnings: Mention of non-consensual BDSM (not involving Holmes or

Comments

[mundungus42]

*whistles in awe* Holy mother of pearl. I suspect I might not be entirely coherent if I try to write a detailed review, but please consider this an enthusiastic thumb's up before I run off to read the rest!

[swissmarg]

Your final comment was coherent enough... ;) I appreciate your enthusiasm greatly!

[snarryfool]

Holy smokes! (Well, it is the Inferno Club.) This is insanely hot, and your Victorian voice is superb.

[swissmarg]

Thank you, it's only the second ACD fic I've written so it's still not so easy for me to do this style. It's great to hear that it comes across well for you.

[jcporter1]

What a wonderful mixture this is.

[swissmarg]

Thank you!

[sanguinity]

I honestly cannot decide what the ratio is of Holmes being a sly dog to the potential sneaking up on him blindside. It's a lovely, delicate kind of tension, reading-wise.

And I love the bit about Watson being a "pugilistic fellow" who has very strong feelings about who should and should not be hit. That whole conversation is a delight, of course (Holmes's fierce pride and tenderness!), but that little bit of characterization in particular.

[swissmarg]

Eh... sly dog all the way. ;) I don't suppose it matters all that much in the end, but I did have in mind that it was a set-up. I mean, Holmes had the collar ready but had never been to the Inferno Club before. Clearly he had to have made some advance arrangements...
And yes, I see Watson as having very strict morals in some regards... and rather flexible ones in others!

[cleflink]

I had long since recognized that Holmes truly was my commander in this strange civilian world, the one upon whom I relied, in whom I had implicit faith, not because of his great intelligence but because of his great heart.

Oh my goodness, author anon, I don't even know how to begin describing how amazing this is. You writing style is utterly perfect for ACD Watson, and I love him more with every thing he does. His refusal to hurt Holmes - and Holmes' reaction to that realization - was so lovely, and so very them. Your take on a Victorian omegaverse is fascinating, as is Watson's baffled but not condemning reaction to the goings-on in the Inferno Club.

I agree with Holmes that what comes next is going to be quite interesting indeed. Onto part two!

[swissmarg]

Thank you, I still have to wrangle this style a bit to get it to do what I want so it's really nice to hear that the voice hit the spot for you. Watson really is a terrific character, and he and Holmes are the perfect partnership. This was also a first for me with writing Omegaverse so I'm especially tickled that it appealed to you.