Yuletide gifts and gift-recs, 2019

[keerawa]

 I have no idea what I did right, but this year I am blessed beyond measure.  I have 5 gift stories written for me (6 if you include the NYR story, which I am!) spread between two different fandoms. And they are all incredible, each revealing very different facets of canons that I love.

Come on in. Sit down. Let me tell you why you should read all six of these stories!

221B Baker Towers fic - you don't need to know canon, because these fics will teach you all you need to know


Full House (9115 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 221B Baker Towers
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Summary:

"Who are you?" is the first and perhaps hardest question to answer.

If you ever read a Sherlock Holmes story, if you ever watched Sherlock or Elementary or any of the versions of this ancient and venerable canon, start here. Meet John, a first-generation Londoner from Afghanistan who works as a cleaner at St. Barts. Get to know his family, three generations under one roof, around one table, speaking three languages and loving each other across a massive generational and cultural gap. Meet Sherlock, not-his-boyfriend, with the mad-wavey brain and the drugs habit, covered in someone else's blood. Enjoy the deeply satisfying casefic and join me in being terrified by this version of Moriarty.


A Survey of Red (2375 words) by mechanonymouse
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 221B Baker Towers, Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Additional Tags: A Study in Scarlet
Summary:

Yahya Sultana's search for a flatmate to help cover the rising costs of renting 221 Bakers Towers introduces him to Sherlock Holmes.

Next, read this story. Yahya's living in an unfurnished tower block flat with a window that won't close, with bits from a veteran's charity and a leg that won't work right. Sherlock is the brilliant junkie he's illegally subletting a room to, to make ends meet. When a security guard is  fingered for the murder, even though Lestrade won't put the boot in, there's a two-year wait at the County Court for trial unless Sherlock can find a way to get him off. Check it out!


Baker Tower (1071 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 221B Baker Towers
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Summary:

London is his balm, his bane.

Then finish up with this story. It's a short read, but a dense one. The author has managed to capture Sherlock's frenetic observations and thought-processes in a way that should probably come with a warning label. He solves the case, rapid-fire, leaving Lestrade and the rest of us to fill in the blanks. It's unforgettable.



The Expanse & Black Sails fic 


Across the Divide (5105 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Chrisjen Avasarala & Bobbie Draper
Characters: Chrisjen Avasarala, Bobbie Draper
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

Avasarala was a politician and an Earther, inherently untrustworthy. But she had been the only one in that room who had tried to find out the truth of what happened on Ganymede.

I would warn for canon-typical violence here.  Bobbie and Chrisjen work through their issues and come to trust each other. If you ship it, there are moments here that will make you very happy. The image of Bobbie bringing Chrisjen water to help her after a nightmare, and Chrisjen bitching about it even as she desperately reaches out for that comfort, will stick with me. Excellent world-building about growing up on Mars, too.

 

Moral Dilemmas and Other Topics of Conversation (1310 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Expanse (TV), Black Sails
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Max (Black Sails), Amos Burton
Additional Tags: Crossover, Discussions of sex work, Two for One Challenge, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Discussions on morality in a brothel.

After leaving the corps, Amos needs a job. More than that, he needs someone to tell him right from wrong. He finds it in Max, a brothel-owner in the Belt. Yes, that is Max from Black Sails, and the system may never be the same. The author really captured Max's perceptiveness and Amos' strangeness in this piece.

 

losing the stars without a sky (3847 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Expanse (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Camina Drummer/Naomi Nagata
Characters: Camina Drummer, Naomi Nagata
Additional Tags: Trauma and recovery, Yuletide Treat, Femslash Festivus, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

Many of Naomi’s messages end with a not-so-subtle inquiry about Drummer’s recovery, which Drummer then ignores or dismisses with some off-hand comment. It almost becomes a routine.

The road to recovery is messy and complicated. Drummer has never been good at patience.

The author has either experienced a long, slow recovery after a serious injury, or is an excellent researcher. Drummer's exhaustion as she works through PT and refuses to admit to any pain or weakness while running negotiations for the Belt is marvelously, meticulously drawn here. There is a fantastic OC, and the way Naomi knows Camina well enough to see through her bull-shit from a million miles away is brilliant. 

Those are my gifts this year, and I honestly, wholeheartedly recommend them all to you. Enjoy!

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

THANK YOU for requested 221B Baker Towers, which may just be the best fandom creation ever.

[keerawa]

And the stories were SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!