Five@Five: @kaci3po
As a part of our author spotlight, we’ve asked each writer to highlight 5 fics and tell us a little about their experience writing (or reading) them.
Modified Aspect Ratio by @sabrinachill
“So how is this possible? This is supposed to be 1960s America and we’re…” He trips over finishing that sentence, over saying the word married to Eliot.
Eliot has no such qualms.
“No one at the office thought our marriage was strange at all. Apparently the monster is as tired as we are of seeing predictable, homophobic bullshit on TV.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
This fic made the hiatus bearable and we are blessed as a fandom to have it.
spring sooner than the lark by @greywash
Eliot stares up at the ceiling. Silent.
He is peculiarly aware of his heartbeat. Its warm, trembling instability under his skin. Quentin is so warm, so solid, so present beside him: his one perfect, compact little anchor.
“You’re not—stuck with me, Q,” he says; and Quentin barks out a laugh.
“Oh, I—definitely am,” Quentin says, “but if you think that’s why I asked you to—why I’ve been. Fucking all in, on you and me, for the past—God, ten fucking years, while you—helped me raise our son and fell in love with my wife—I’m not pining for Earth, Eliot, I’m in love with you.”
I admire the hell out of this style of writing. It’s so punchy and says so much with very tight, compact sentences. Plus it’s turned out to be weirdly accurate to canon since 4x05.
Make a list of things you need by @longnationalnightmare
“What’s wrong?” Eliot said as Quentin was contending with that startling vision. He smirked and added, in a slow, condescendingly jokey tone, “Do you not think I’ll be a good fake husband? Because I promise—”
“Shut up,” Quentin finally actually said, and couldn’t follow it up with anything else because his breath was caught in his throat. He wished he could explain it: why it was so horrible to watch Eliot lean placidly against a wall and smirk in the face of marrying someone he didn’t choose.
The way Eliot looked right now—it was the same way he looked when he said things like, “Some people need their families,” ashing a cigarette in a careless, supercilious way that screamed, not me, of course, thank God. Eliot was like that with everything: acting as if it were better to make a joke about the impossibility of having something nice than it was to say, simply and plainly, I wish I could have it. I deserve it.
This fic is so lighthearted and fun. Eliot and Quentin have to get married Because Fillory which is one of my favorite tropes. This fic is a joy to read.
Shell Game by Giddygeek
“This is like a fairy tale,” Eliot said. “The sleeping prince, alone in his curse’d bower.”
Quentin’s body lay in Quentin’s bed. He wasn’t in the pose of a fairy tale prince, peacefully on his back, arms at his sides like a corpse in its coffin—like Sleeping Beauty. He was on his stomach, one leg drawn up, his face mashed blankly into his pillow. His pillow had a drool spot. The room was dark, and too warm, and everything seemed entirely normal, except for the fact that Quentin had never been outside of his body watching it sleep before.
It was enough to make Quentin sit down hard on his one uncomfortable chair. Dust rose around him. He bent forward, his elbows on his knees, and tried to take a deep breath.
“I’m in a coma,” he wheezed.
Eliot poked his shoulder. “A magical coma. There’s always a way out of those, Q. Maybe you just need true love’s kiss or something.”
“True love’s kiss.” Quentin sank lower, forehead almost on his knees. Eliot’s knees. He missed having his curtain of long hair to hide behind. “I’m a goner.”
This fic is so good. So very, very good at mixing humor and genuine emotion. I love everyone in this story, from the main characters down to the background OCs. It’s just so well done and put together.
All’s fair in love and war by @numinousnumbat
“Hi, I’m Eliot,” the man said standing in front of Quentin. He was wearing a suit with a flowered vest. It wasn’t what Quentin thought an epic quest outfit would look like exactly, but it was closer than his own getup. If only he owned more than black pants and t-shirts.
“Hi,” Quentin said, looking up at Eliot. He glanced to his right where the two new women were doing the magical equivalent of pulling pigtails against Julia and Alice.
“I did not flirt with a librarian to let you have our key,” Alice yelled.
“I’d flirt with you so hard that you’d forget what you were looking for,” said the other woman, who was somehow walking on sand in heels.
Quentin turned back to Eliot. “We should probably just let them figure it out amongst themselves, right?”
“Yeah, I’m wearing vintage cufflinks, so I’m avoiding magical battles today,” Eliot said. He reached out and brushed some coconut off Quentin’s shoulder. Stupid exploding locator spell.
This fic is such glorious, hilarious crack. It’s an AU where half the characters don’t know each other and keep running into each other and having meet-cutes while searching for the keys. I re-read this fic often when I just want to have a good laugh after a long day.
Thank you for the rec, @kaci3po!! *bluuuuushes*
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NEW CHAPTER! “The Sexual Awakening of Sherlock Holmes” (Holmes/Watson, Explicit)
Read from the beginning: The Sexual Awakening of Sherlock Holmes
Skip to new chapter: Two
Author: Berlynn Wohl
Rating: Explicit
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Word count: 2,377 (this chapter), ~22,000 (eventually)
Summary: Sherlock Holmes might have happily lived his whole life in ascetic solitude, had he not encountered Doctor John Watson.Please note: This fic is COMPLETE but is being posted in installments. New chapter every Wednesday and Friday. If you prefer to wait until the fic is posted in its entirety to read it, bookmark/subscribe and come on back on March 22nd. The rating and tags are for the later chapters (smut begins in Chapter Four).
LUPITA NYONG’O, DANAI GURIRA
2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Los Angeles | February 24, 2019
Do you know of any fics where Sherlock and Mycroft are working class? Still clever, still fancy, but dirt poor. Something like them trying to muddle through state school because the UK schooling system isn't made for smart people. I wouldn't mind if it was Johnlock or Mystrade, it just seem like a cool idea. Anything like that? Thank you!!
Anonymous
Reply: The one that probably comes closest from my bookmarks is this:
The Burning Life by morwen_maranwe (229K, Explicit, Johnlock)
After being shot and invalided from the Army, John is living a despondent life with a wife who has no respect and no love for him any longer, yet he is desperate to make their marriage work. In a last ditch effort to save their marriage, he moves them out of London and to some small, nameless town where his good friend, Mike Stamford, has been able to get him a job as a teacher at a secondary school. There he meets a teenage boy who he has an undeniable connection to, and who has the ability to make his life seem less meaningless. Though he knows that it’s wrong, John just can’t stop the relationship he is developing with Sherlock from growing. It slowly begins to spiral out of control, consuming his entire life like a wild fire and changing him in ways he didn’t think were possible anymore.I have more where Sherlock is poor(er than John), either as a homeless teen or as adults, but they don’t have anything about school, which seems to be your main interest. Let me know if you’d like any of those anyway.
Anon asked for the rest, so here you go. Note that Sherlock’s family (including Mycroft) is not necessarily poor in all of these.
Fics where Sherlock is poor
Breck Verse - orphaned work (22K, E, Johnlock). Dr. Watson, world-renowned cardiac surgeon, accepts an invitation to be keynote speaker at a medical conference in Breckenridge, Colorado, a ski resort town in the Rocky Mountains. He meets a sexy young bartender at the opening dinner then spends the week making his baby happy.
Deflowered - Director’s Cut by Lorelei-Lee (328K, E, Johnlock, Mystrade and others). It should have been strictly business. Being a Mafia boss with a sadistic sexual streak, John had long since realised that his playthings were in it for the money only. Being a masochistic rent boy, Sherlock seemed too good to be true. Little did they know…
it’s the law (and it wasn’t made to be broken) by SailorChibi (16K, E, Johnlock). John doesn’t mind treating the homeless in the A&E. He only minds when they follow him home.
Say You’ll Stay With Me by justacookieofacumberbatch (buffyholic) (63K, E, Johnlock). It was just supposed to be an ordinary business trip, but when John’s car stalls out on Hollywood Boulevard, he meets someone who just might change his life.
Strays by keelywolfe (13K, M, Johnlock). His mother had told John once, years ago, that he had an affinity for strays.
Sugar Daddy John by Sexxica (22K, E, Johnlock). AU where Sherlock is a homeless teen picked up by John.
The Bone Fiddle by htebazytook, Vulgarweed (61K, E, Johnlock). Appalachian AU! In November 1973, Vietnam vet John Watson returns to his family’s old home in Arthel County, West Virginia, deep in coal country. His low expectations include recuperation and boredom. Instead he finds a ruined landscape, a series of grisly murders, and one of the world’s weirdest neighbors.
Orphaned fics by sweetcupncakes
@thetimemoves astutely alerted me to the fact that sweetcupncakes has orphaned all of their fics, reason unknown. Luckly they were not deleted. But in case of eventualities, you may want to download them for yourselves: And please let me know if I missed any!
A Sense of Propriety (3K, E, Johnlock)
Sherlock begins stirring, but John places a hand in the middle of his back. “Be still. Just–” John’s mouth waters a little at the sight of the whitish fluid and he clears his throat, “Hold on.”Sherlock looks over his shoulder and meets John’s eyes in momentary bafflement before something like recognition rolls across his features. The familiar blend of smugness and deduction, and he snuffles down against a pillow.Corner the Market (3K, E, Johnlock)
John bites the vulnerable skin that maps over kidneys. Sherlock moans and struggles, which seems like a worthwhile thing so John does it again.“You can want it. You’re allowed to want it.” John tells him.Sherlock closes his eyes and shakes his head in disagreement.Cracks in the Wall (83K, E, Johnlock)
After losing his mother to illness, John’s family must figure out how to move on with life. John finds comfort in a place he never expected.Mind the Gap (45K, E, Johnlock)
An introspective journey through the life and relationships of Sherlock Holmes.Mutability (7K, E, Johnlock)
When Sherlock gets angry and asks why they must they suffer so, John says he doesn’t know. The universe is unkind, God is unfeeling or nonexistent and this is how you put back together the pieces.Nocturnal Conversation (4K, E, Johnlock)
“I almost never met you.” Sherlock whispers into the darkness. His tone neither forlorn, nor indifferent. He says it as if he’s bewildered by the thought. Statement and question all at once.John has no idea what to say to that. He kisses Sherlock instead, dips his fingers just under the waistband of pyjama bottoms, begins tugging them down.Our Burning Fragments (2K, E, Sheriarty)
“Do you love me, Sherlock?” Jim asks as he fits himself against the longer lines of Sherlock’s frame. Grabs the knot of his navy blue school tie, tugs until their mouths nearly touch. He knows the answer. "No,“ a breathless murmur, “I scarcely tolerate you at all.” The same, always the same. Jim tightens his grip on the tie, listens as Sherlock gasps past the restriction of oxygen. He takes that plush bottom lip, worries at it with teeth and tongue.Public Decency (<1K, E, Johnlock)
John watches pale eyes track the movement of waitstaff and patrons alike, then he sees the upward twitch to Sherlock’s lips and suddenly John is climbing down to get his napkin. It must look hilarious, like when kids drop the crayons under booths and go in after them. Ah, well.Relative Incandescence (35K, E, Johnlock)
Two musical notes: Every parrot and every construction worker knows them. Shrill and salacious, so Sherlock will remember: You are on display. It’s supposed to be a compliment. Supposed to make him feel good, that they have laboured to remind him.It makes him feel like a package of meat, set down into the cooler, raw and waiting to eaten.Slowly (2K, E, Johnlock)
Sherlock’s eyes close as John licks and kisses his way down that lithe body, long fingers trace up and over John’s shoulders, cupping over his ears. John rests his chin above Sherlock’s navel. “Tell me what you need, love.”Spoils of War (3K, E, Johnlock)
John brushes his thumb over the gun’s slide, over the rear sight. Sherlock’s mouth feels too wet. He could lick John’s fingers, suck on them, bite down softly on that callus that is a direct result of John’s frequent need to handle the gun at all. Sherlock could do that, John might like it, really. Sherlock has been told his mouth is absolutely lovelyThe Symposium (2K, E, Johnlock)
“You’re going to regret this,” Sherlock manages while John sucks on his neck, “Whatever you’re doing, I’m not going to stop you, and you’ll regret it.” He doesn’t want to be that, some guilty secret John carries about. Sherlock might not have much in the way of qualms in general, but he does have some standards.“I’ll just add it to the list then, shall I?” John’s voice is rueful, bitter.The Want and the Wild (5K, E, Johnlock)
“Has anyone ever claimed you for their own?”The silence is loaded, Sherlock slowly turns his head to peer up at John, “No one has ever wanted to,” he nestles his ear against a forearm, “Not everything, not really.”Translation and Rotation in the Euclidean Plane (27K, E, Viclock, Johnlock)
Sherlock’s first kiss is with Lydia Mottershead on Pentecost Sunday. The event is largely unremarkable.Apparently the same author wrote under the pseudonym AuthorGod as well, so here are those fics (also orphaned):
Holiday Trimmings (3K, M, Johnlock)
“I’ll get you a nice Christmas present?”Or, John and Sherlock have a nice holiday for once.Inept Method of Flirting (2K, M, Johnlock)
It’s not Sherlock’s fault that he’s responsive to inept forms of flirtation, but nevertheless this is the reality.Long Division (17K, E, Johnlock)
Locked into his bedroom that night, John looks at his bloody knuckles. Cut up from repeated impact.He watches himself in the full length mirror, his body seems too open. Too unsafe. He takes the anger, folds it up, buries it deep where no one can touch it. This will keep me safe, he thinks, make it a part of you.Residuum (7K, E, Johnlock)
He would do this as a child when his mum and dad fought. Pick a point on the wall. Stare hard until he felt anchored, just there, right where the damp is making the wallpaper peel. If you look long enough, it’s the house that’s falling apart and not you. For a moment you forget how you feel and how later you’ll still feel– and how later, he’ll remember Sherlock’s gone in the middle of the night, and what is to miss him so much John could scream from it.
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