Turning Point

Wow, this has to be the ultimate Johnlock romance of this year´s exchange. It´s masterfully written and it emits such warmth, tenderness and gentle care that the reader can almost physically sense it on his/her own skin. No words are needed between Sherlock and John indeed, everything is told most loudly by their caring, loving actions.  

Wonderful kissing scene at the end and fantastic shifts between the reality and Sherlock´s mind. Admirable work, dear author!

Turning Point

OMG OMG OMG, thank you so much, dear unknown author! This was heartwarming indeed. "I am too scared to kiss you"  nearly killed me. This is such a lovely little story, sometimes angsty, sometimes romantic, short but containing their whole world. You have given me wonderful post-Christmas feelings. 
 

Last edited by SusiGo (December 29, 2018 11:36 am)

A Few Steps From Here

Thank you for this quiet, poetic story and the tentatively hopeful ending which I enjoyed reading. No miracles, but a believable take on how their lives could continue and get better. 
 

If it's OK, I was thinking of posting who wrote each story this weekend.
I'll also be posting the link to the AO3 collection I made for this exchange.

Last edited by Yitzock (December 31, 2018 5:45 pm)

Good plan, Yitzock. :-) And thank you so much again!

I am fine with posting the names. Thank you so much, Yitzock, for organising this. It has been lovely to write again after a long time. 
 

I'm curious about the authors now. Thanks again for organsing, Yitzock.


Turning Point

Love with and without words. A lot of romance but also a bit of heartache. That's what I love to read.

A Few Steps From Here

Yes, that could be the way how everything moves on after The Final Problem. Nicely and convincingly written.

Wow, thank you, Yitzock! Some nice surprises there! 

And thank you, gently69, for such a nice gift of a lovely and lighthearted, funny story. It was great fun to read it. 

You also complained, that you could not understand French verses used in the story written by me. I am sorry. The translation of the line was placed right at the beginning of the story - but I know that it could prove the problem to connect those two citations if you don´t understand the French language. I apologise for the inconvenience.

Yitzock wrote:

Low Tide
You definitely did your research for this story. I want to read more about your inspiration for those aspects of the story.

The quote in my story comes from the tale of two famous, enchanted and fated Celtic lovers Tristan and Iseult, whose adventures were very popular in Middle Ages. The full citation speaks of the inevitability of death if these two lovers were separated and it likens the lovers to the hazel and the honeysuckle:

For those two, it´s just like with
The sweet honeysuckle vine
That on the hazel tree will twine:
When it fastens, slips itself right
Around the trunk, ties itself tight,
Then the two survive together.
But should anyone try to sever
Them, the hazel dies right away
And the honeysuckle the same day.
Fair friend, that´s how it´s with us (too):
not you without me, not me without you.

You can finfd full translation of Marie de France´s poem here:  

http://users.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/marie/chevrefoil.pdf

In the mind of the ancient people, there was a belief in some mystical connection between the lovers and those binding plants. They represented the inseparable bounds of love which even defied death. At the end of the story of Tristan and Iseult, you could find an example of this imagery:

"When King Mark heard of the death of these lovers, he crossed the sea and came into Brittany; and he had two coffins hewn, for Tristan and Iseult, one of chalcedony for Iseult, and one of beryl for Tristan. And he took their beloved bodies away with him upon his ship to Tintagel, and by a chantry to the left and right of the apse he had their tombs built round. But in one night there sprang from the tomb of Tristan a green and leafy briar, strong in its branches and in the scent of its flowers. It climbed the chantry and fell to root again by Iseult’s tomb. Thrice did the peasants cut it down, but thrice it grew again as flowered and as strong. They told the marvel to King Mark, and he forbade them to cut the briar any more."

And another example is found in the Irish story of Baile and Aillin:

"And a yew grew up through his grave, and on its top the form and shape of Baile's head was visible. And an apple-tree grew through her grave and was a large tree at the end of the seventh year, and the shape of Aillinn's head on its top.  At the end of seven years princes and seers and prophets cut down the yew which was over Baile and make a poet's tablet of it. In the same manner the wooings of Leinster are written in the tablet made of the apple from Aillin´s grave.

The came Halloween, and its feast was made by Cormac, son of Art. Poets and men of every art came to that feast, as was the custom, and they brought their tablets with them. And Art saw them and when he saw them he asked for them. And the two tablets were brought to him, and they were in his hands face to face. The one tablet of them sprang upon the other, and they twined together as the woodbine round a branch, nor was it possible to sever them. And they were kept like any other jewel in the treasury at Tara."

John has that folk-lore in mind when he offers Sherlock the mussle - another object which is made of two connected parts and which would be entirely destroyed if the parts were ever separated. He offers the thing to Sherlock partly in jest, but partly to demostrate that he too could not imagine being parted from Sherlock.

Of course, Sherlock feels stung and badly hurt when he hears the Marie de France´s quote. After the events of "The Lying Detective" he does not believe that John cares for him anymore and he holds the citation for a cruel joke.

But all ends well, fortunately. 

Nakahara wrote:

And thank you, gently69, for such a nice gift of a lovely and lighthearted, funny story. It was great fun to read it. 

You also complained, that you could not understand French verses used in the story written by me. I am sorry. The translation of the line was placed right at the beginning of the story - but I know that it could prove the problem to connect those two citations if you don´t understand the French language. I apologise for the inconvenience.

You're welcome, Nakahara.
I'm glad you liked your gift. To be honest I wasn't sure about that.

And don't worry, it wasn't really a complaint. It was fun to read. And my comment shouldn't sound that serious. So I have to apologise.
Though... I really don't understand French.

And once again I want to thank you, Susi, for this really nice little story. It sweetened my day.