Irregular Sherlock recs - The Good Morrow
I am surprised that I never recced this before... . It was the story that made me get my ao3 account so I could subscribe it. It is amazing beyond words. Now the second story in the series is complete, and this seems like a good time to rec it (again):
No rec will ever do this story justice, it is so amazing. Probably the best Post-Reichenbach John/Sherlock fic in the fandom. So no matter what I'm writing down there, just go read it, it's worth it!
Story: The Good Morrow (part 1: "the sensation of falling as you just hit sleep", part 2: "in deed accomplish our designs")
Author: greywash,
greywash,
greywash
Rating: NC-17
Length: 178,355 words in 28 chapters
Warnings: Sherlock is a hot mess :)
Summary: Post-Reichenbach: John is seeing lots of women and trying to revenge Sherlock (egged on by Mycroft). Sherlock is trying to bring down Moriarty's empire himself and lets Irene impersonate him online to keep John occupied and out of danger.
My opinion: A beautiful envisioning of how things could go after Reichenbach. And by beautiful, I mean heartbreaking and visceral and painful. Greywash's style is very show don't tell Her Sherlock is very vulnerable. His feelings tend to overwhelm him and he loves John so much it hurts. There is a lot of conflict between Sherlock's rational side and his emotional side, and it's so well written. John's side is no less interesting, dealing with his grief, and then shock and betrayal and love. The story takes its time, the build-up is incredible. And all secondary characters are great: Molly is awesome, Mycroft is headstrong, Irene is Irene :), and Moran is devious. The second part is much more than just PWP following the reunion, even though it is advertised as such. It is a look at a real relationship, and touches on the most important rule of relationships: be honest even if you think what you're about to say is going to make the other person respect you less, or even leave. Of course it takes them a while to get there.
Quote: (from part 1)
[John] ends up falling asleep and napping through the bulk of the afternoon, and this time he dreams of nothing; it makes him feel lonely, chest aching when he wakes. With the early evening light going grey-blue outside his closed curtains, he sits at his desk with his laptop closed and rests the palm of his hand against the wood, just over the drawer, like he can feel his way to the photograph at the bottom, touch Sherlock's white ribs spread out and life-sized beneath his spread hands. It doesn't hurt in quite the same way, today; he isn't entirely sure why. There are still things his mind slips off of, harsh and achy, like the idea of Moriarty cackling over John's belated love notes and Mycroft's machineries of overcomplicated revenge and John's own aching and twisted confusion, but then he thinks of his bones folded up over Sherlock's bones laid flat in the graveyard in the night, and something fluttering and desperate inside him goes quiet and still.
Quote: (from part 2)
John exhales, rubs his hand against his mouth, drops it back down to his knees. He looks down at his bare feet and shakes his head and says, "I never have any doubts, about anything, when I'm touching you."
Sherlock swallows and says, "You should touch me more, then," very quietly, and John exhales and says, "God, I wish it were that easy."
Sherlock licks his lips. "I want-I want for you to not leave," he says, somehow.
"Right," John says, and sighs.
"If-if I have made a mistake," Sherlock tells him, "if I-if I am making mistakes, that's-that's always." He stops, and shakes his head. He says, "I don't want you to leave."
"That's not actually at the top of the list of things you need to worry about," John replies. It sounds defeated, which is terrible, pulling at all the uncomfortable parts of Sherlock, like his voice box and his liver and the corners of his mouth.
x-posted to dw (comments:
)
No rec will ever do this story justice, it is so amazing. Probably the best Post-Reichenbach John/Sherlock fic in the fandom. So no matter what I'm writing down there, just go read it, it's worth it!
Story: The Good Morrow (part 1: "the sensation of falling as you just hit sleep", part 2: "in deed accomplish our designs")
Author: greywash,
greywash,
greywash
Rating: NC-17
Length: 178,355 words in 28 chapters
Warnings: Sherlock is a hot mess :)
Summary: Post-Reichenbach: John is seeing lots of women and trying to revenge Sherlock (egged on by Mycroft). Sherlock is trying to bring down Moriarty's empire himself and lets Irene impersonate him online to keep John occupied and out of danger.
My opinion: A beautiful envisioning of how things could go after Reichenbach. And by beautiful, I mean heartbreaking and visceral and painful. Greywash's style is very show don't tell Her Sherlock is very vulnerable. His feelings tend to overwhelm him and he loves John so much it hurts. There is a lot of conflict between Sherlock's rational side and his emotional side, and it's so well written. John's side is no less interesting, dealing with his grief, and then shock and betrayal and love. The story takes its time, the build-up is incredible. And all secondary characters are great: Molly is awesome, Mycroft is headstrong, Irene is Irene :), and Moran is devious. The second part is much more than just PWP following the reunion, even though it is advertised as such. It is a look at a real relationship, and touches on the most important rule of relationships: be honest even if you think what you're about to say is going to make the other person respect you less, or even leave. Of course it takes them a while to get there.
Quote: (from part 1)
[John] ends up falling asleep and napping through the bulk of the afternoon, and this time he dreams of nothing; it makes him feel lonely, chest aching when he wakes. With the early evening light going grey-blue outside his closed curtains, he sits at his desk with his laptop closed and rests the palm of his hand against the wood, just over the drawer, like he can feel his way to the photograph at the bottom, touch Sherlock's white ribs spread out and life-sized beneath his spread hands. It doesn't hurt in quite the same way, today; he isn't entirely sure why. There are still things his mind slips off of, harsh and achy, like the idea of Moriarty cackling over John's belated love notes and Mycroft's machineries of overcomplicated revenge and John's own aching and twisted confusion, but then he thinks of his bones folded up over Sherlock's bones laid flat in the graveyard in the night, and something fluttering and desperate inside him goes quiet and still.
Quote: (from part 2)
John exhales, rubs his hand against his mouth, drops it back down to his knees. He looks down at his bare feet and shakes his head and says, "I never have any doubts, about anything, when I'm touching you."
Sherlock swallows and says, "You should touch me more, then," very quietly, and John exhales and says, "God, I wish it were that easy."
Sherlock licks his lips. "I want-I want for you to not leave," he says, somehow.
"Right," John says, and sighs.
"If-if I have made a mistake," Sherlock tells him, "if I-if I am making mistakes, that's-that's always." He stops, and shakes his head. He says, "I don't want you to leave."
"That's not actually at the top of the list of things you need to worry about," John replies. It sounds defeated, which is terrible, pulling at all the uncomfortable parts of Sherlock, like his voice box and his liver and the corners of his mouth.
x-posted to dw (comments:
)