Through a glass, darkly.

Dear author,

I love how you managed to write a fic that, given Schmiezi's request, can't but have gratified her extremely. You've so cleverly worked in everything she's asked for. To have a fic written for oneself that so perfectly suits is wonderful indeed.
My personal view on these relationships differs greatly, which is one of the reasons I admire your fic while I didn't particularly enjoy it. But I think you've written a very good and special fic nonetheless.

Well done you!
 

La Vita Nuova - A New Life

What a strange irony of fate that this beautiful story about pain and sadness and a slow overcoming of that inner torture comes here exactly on this miserable day! And yet I really needed something so soothing right now. You were able to make my distress more palatable with the magic of your writing, my dear author, I am much thankful to you for that.

Not only was your work - dealing with such a difficult subject - tenderly and wonderfully written and filled with most lovely emotions, but you also made every chapter of your story incredibly poignant and self-contained, turning our attention to the new aspect of John´s and Sherlock´s misunderstanding and dilemma with every one of them.

I really can´t enumerate all scenes that deeply moved me, because this story is so full of them and most of them were ciseled to make a maximum effect on the reader with incredible skill. Still, I very much loved your description of John´s gradual warming to Sherlock and the way he came to accept him in his life again, as well as Sherlock´s tentative efforts to come to John´s good side again. I enjoyed your play on Dante´s words and your idea to give John "mystical" book of life at last. The moment the misunderstanding was cleared, Sherlock´s gentle claim that "there is still some hope...", the inner dialogue of John and Isabelle... every one of these little "acts" was a thing of maximal beauty and nostalgia.

The light case of James was interesting too and proved that Sherlock´s cases didn´t have to be about murders to be interesting. James´ humorous delusions were a skillful touch that emphasised the tragedy of John in an unexpected way. And yet I loved Sherlock´s compassion towards this man - a compassion only a commiserating lover could experience...

Warm flicker of light in the darkness of these days. It lent the very much needed heat to my heart....

Last edited by nakahara (December 20, 2016 2:08 pm)

I've been so absorbed by a good book lately that I haven't been reading anything else, so unfortunately I've fallen far behind with these fics. I'm going to try to read them on my holiday though!

Schmiezi, I won't be able to help with posting any more, sorry...

Dear participants,

I need to discuss the next postings with you because it's a bit complicated.

I had planned to post the last three fics over the next three or four days. But of those three fics I only got one so far.

One of the other two is written by a volunteer who took over the prompt from a drop-off. She won't be able to finish before Christmas which is perfectly understandable for she only got the "assignement" yesterday. That means that there will be two fics posted after Christmas.

As for the other missing one, I got a message today that it isfinished but won't be beta-ed before Christmas.

So I only have one fic to post right now. (And that is basically how the entire exchange worked. I barely ever had more than one finished fic so I could not for example put them in a good order.)

That means that the Fix Exchange will go on until after Christmas.

But I know that many of the other authors are eager to post their fics on AO3 before S4 airs.

So what am I to do? It looks like it cannot be helped, the authors will have to be revealed before the last fics are posted. That's not satisfying.

Do you see a better way to handle it?

Actually, there was only one day where I had two fics to chose from, other than my own. That one, I held it back for a long time because I needed the feeling to have one fic left in case there would not be another one soon.

La Vita Nuova - A New Life

Wow, dear unknown author, what a beautiful story. I absolutely loved every moment of it. So very well written, masterly describing John's pain and journey as he tried to process it all. And Sherlock always so patient and understanding.

I felt they were both very well in character, and I really liked how you gradually unfolded the backstory to John's pain. The case was funny and interesting, and I liked how easily John fell into his old life again, even though not really ready for it or wanting it - on the surface.

Very well told story, thanks for this little gem. (And smoking hot too). 

Don´t mind one way or the other.

First off, in terms of fic posting and author reveal, whatever is easiest for you Schmiezi is fine with me.

Second, I am so sorry I have yet to comment on any of the fics , real life has been a pain in the arse in many ways, and for the past little while I've been helping look after my 4 month old nephew.
I have FINALLY gotten some not busy free time, and I'll spend Christmas eve reading the stories that have been posted so far! Very excited to finally get to read them! 

Wonderful, thank you!

That sounds just fine, Schmiezi.  As nakahara and Susi already said, thank you for everything you've done for the exchange this year!