BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Secret Santa Fic Exchange 2016

dioscureantwins · December 1, 2016 3:00 pm

I'm afraid I still haven't finished my fic. Am a little over 6,000 words now and sweating away like mad but heavens, it's also Sint Nicolaas so I have to produce masses of poems as well. Doing the best I can, though.
Apologies for not reading yet. Will try and catch up later.

nakahara · December 1, 2016 9:29 pm

Through a Glass, Darkly

And a new season of Secret Santa opens in grand style! And what a beautiful story this first one is! It would be very difficult to top it in quality and the moving content, I´m sure of that, because it is ridiculously well-written, structured and filled with sweetest emotions…

It was sheer perfection to frame this story with quotations from 1 Corinthians 13. That part of the Bible fits incredibly well to Sherlock.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Sherlock in a nutshell and also Sherlock how he appears at the beginning of this story. It was so sad to see him so betrayed, so forlorn when he entered EMP after the ghastly shooting and concluded that he indeed IS nothing, because he can never have John´s love. Realising he cannot give him those four things John craves…

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

I liked it immensely how your Sherlock, although standing at the verge of death brought to him by Mary´s hand, still sought the way to ensure John´s happiness in his EMP and didn´t much care for his own safety even in such situation. Verily, his love is patient and keeps no record of wrongs.

And I stand in awe, dear author, at your unique skill with which you easily managed to put all of S3, TAB, deleted S3 scene and even some S4 into Sherlock´s EMP and make it a part of your narrative so lightly and naturally. I admired the way you gave new meanings or motivations to some situations. I especially loved the idea that John´s face-flicking was Sherlock´s invention to give him an incentive with which he would overcome his humane restraint and shoot Magnussen dead… Poor lost soul.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

John was magnificent in this story. Left to his own devices, he manages to discover the truth through his own detecting. Wonderful how he discovered Mary´s gun hiding in plain sight. Was this a reference to Edgar Allan Poe´s “Purloined Letter”? Very clever!

And how protective he was of Sherlock! How he persevered, always by Sherlock´s side, giving him strength although Sherlock was not aware of his presence. It was lovely how he realized his own imperfections, his own mistakes and yet remained with Sherlock, for it was now unthinkable for him that they could part. They can be whole only together, after all.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

John finally confessing his love and slowly talking Sherlock out of EMP was a very satisfying final touch. You lead us through a roller-coaster, dear author, but after the storm, we floated into a peaceful harbour. I couldn´t imagine anything more perfect for the end.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Last edited by nakahara (December 1, 2016 10:17 pm)

ukaunz · December 2, 2016 12:23 am

Through A Glass, Darkly

What a cracking start to the exchange, thank you dear author for such an absorbing bedtime read
I can't get behind EMP theory myself, but it makes for a great device for this story. I love the idea of Sherlock playing out this amazing series of events in his mind while outside of it, cleverer-than-he-looks John comes to his own revelations. And I love how you changed Sherlock's first word when he awakens!

Note to mods, maybe you could unpin the Midyear Exchange Fics thread from the top of the forum and replace it with the new Secret Santa?

SusiGo · December 2, 2016 7:48 am

I pinned both this thread and the one with the fics.

Schmiezi · December 2, 2016 8:03 am

Thank you! :-)

OpalJade · December 2, 2016 5:13 pm

Through a Glass, Darkly

I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked the flow of the prose and the alternating points of view... so well done! And, of course, the lovely ending with our dear boys together was great,
Oh, and I also love title of your story. Bravo mystery author!

mrshouse · December 2, 2016 6:34 pm

Dear unknown author,
I just wanted to let you know that I have managed only half of "Through a glass, darkly" so far and I LOVE it.
I will finish it tonight and comment properly tomorrow the latest.

Yitzock · December 2, 2016 7:28 pm

Through a Glass, Darkly

I found the Bible verses that you quoted in this piece interesting. They don't seem like something you'd find in the Bible, the way they are written. They sound surprisingly contemporary.
I don't think I know what extended mind palace theory is, but I thought it was interesting how you described Sherlock going through scenarios in his head.
One of the most striking points, for me, that was brought up was Sherlock always being the one to initiate any kind of physical connection, or at least most of the time. That is not something that occurred to me before, but you might be onto something.

Last edited by Yitzock (December 2, 2016 7:29 pm)

mrshouse · December 3, 2016 7:39 pm

Trough a glass, darkly
Dear unknown author,
thank you very much for this wonderful beginning of the secret santa fic exchange season. What a ride! I had to read a couple of snippets twice to get them straight. And I mean that in a most positive way, I love myself a bit of wrestling and struggling with well written texts from time to time. The changing of narrative worked very well. It was all together an incredibly interesting variation on the episodes we got so far without loosing its very own spin, so it remained always interesting. It is known that I am no fan of Mary, so her destiny worked for me as well, though others might see that differently.
I read some metas about the extended mind palace theory. I never could decide for myself if I wanted to believe in it or not, as I don't want to cling to something because I have trouble with things happening in the show. But in this story it was absolutely convincing and neatly plotted out till the (heart wrenching) end.
My favourite parts would be the framing by the bible quotes, the ( again new) little twist on the Reichenbach fall and of course the end.
Brava!

ukaunz · December 4, 2016 7:01 am

It's my turn to post the next story, ~~but I'm having trouble with the HTML. I'm going to have to refresh my memory on converting text! Hopefully you won't have to wait too long...~~

Anyway just so you know, I'm not the author, I'm just helping Schmiezi with the exchange

Last edited by ukaunz (December 4, 2016 8:38 am)

dioscureantwins · December 4, 2016 8:03 pm

I'm still writing away like mad. Sadly RL keeps interfering. But I'm determined to finish my story. Huge apologies to you, Schmiezi, and to Ukaunz for the delay.

Yitzock · December 4, 2016 9:06 pm

Of Decisions and Dogs

This story was very entertaining! Lots of chuckles for me. Some of my favourite lines were about blog titles and eligible bachelor vs. confirmed bachelor. And the ending was sweet.
And on top of the fun moments and the "aw" moments, you were able to put Christmas into it, too, which I liked.
Nicely done! I hope your recipient enjoys it, too.

Last edited by Yitzock (December 4, 2016 9:06 pm)

SusiGo · December 4, 2016 9:46 pm

Of Decisions and Dogs

In the light of all the darkness we have seen in HLV and TAB (and the predicted darkness for S4) this was a lovely and warmhearted read. Nice to see that Sherlock and John are completely at ease with their sexualities and that John just needed this last little push. Some favourite quotes:

"Lovely. 42 years old and I'm spending Saturday night watching a rerun of a dating show."

"Just the thought of seeing a picture of Sherlocks standing arm-in-arm, smiling, with Blonde McYoungandHandsome in The Guardian made John feel queasy."

and of course:

"If you want to go out with David, I won't stop you. But I want you to know that you have options."

Lovely to see how you integrated the five words and the end with the very special Christmas present was wonderful.

Dear unknown author, thank you very much for a heartwarming read.

Schmiezi · December 5, 2016 3:12 pm

Of Decisions and Dogs

Dear author,
thank you for a charming Johnlock fic. After all those S3 fix-it fics I have read over the last years, it was wonderful to read a friends-to-lovers story without Mary anywhere to be seen.

I can totally see John being jealous like that. A very plausible way to start their relationship if you ask me.

And I like the case you wove into the love story. It is nice to read when case and romance are connected like that.

Well done! :-)

nakahara · December 5, 2016 8:23 pm

dioscureantwins wrote:
I'm still writing away like mad. Sadly RL keeps interfering. But I'm determined to finish my story. Huge apologies to you, Schmiezi, and to Ukaunz for the delay.

Same here. I am writing the final scene of my fic tonight and I will send it to Schmiezi tommorow. I sincerely apologise for a delay.

I already read this lovely new fic "Of Decisions and Dogs" and will comment on it ASAP.

nakahara · December 7, 2016 8:07 am

Od Decisions and Dogs

Dear unknown author, sorry for the delay in the commenting of your charming story, it was caused by an incredible tardiness that somehow seized me this year.

I truly enjoyed your work for its light-heartedness, a certain good feeling and an atmosphere of Christmas that spread from it. Also, I love dogs very much and so I was glad that one of them had such prominent role here. The way you described Toby´s friendly behaviour, Sherlock´s instant bonding with him and his interactions with this furry friend warmed my heart immensely for some reason - probably because I would love to have such a dog myself one day. I envy you your job of a dog trainer, it must be a great respite from our human world full of conflict and strife. Anyway, John giving Toby to Sherlock for Christmas was a very sweet touch and it showed how attentive John is towards Sherlock´s needs, because he saw Sherlock´s love for dogs right away and decided to act on it. It was nice to see him like that.

Jealous John is exactly my thing and I relished how insecure he was when he thought that David could win Sherlock´s heart. Of course, David was just an experiment for Sherlock and it was funny how he teased John with their dates. Entirely in character, IMHO. David, on the other hand, was bit of a rascal, wasn´t it? Flirting above the corpse of his colleague, oh my!

Also, your story had a pleasant, easy-going flow that was such a delight to read. This really was a lovely pre-Christmas treat. One could never have enough of Johnlock goodness, so I thank you very much for it.

Last edited by nakahara (December 7, 2016 8:07 am)

nakahara · December 8, 2016 12:10 pm

The Wealthy Bachelor

Wow, oh, wow! Dear unknown author, that was a really tough decision between loyalties you subjected John to. I would not want to have in his skin, really, nor in Sherlock´s or Mary´s and I actually felt sorry for each of them in turn. You gave me a scare there when John agreed to leave to America with Mary and although I am not a fan of her, I also felt sad when Mary turned to John at the airport and found him missing together with their baby. It´s incredible how bottled he keeps his emotions and how he never speaks about them, isn´t it? I found that portrayal of him pretty accurate.

As a big fan of Doyle´s stories I greatly relished your take on Noble Bachelor that you incorporated into your work. It was quite funny to see exactly this case pushed into the modern era and I must congratulate you, you made it work nicely in that setting. Kudos to you!

Initially I was a bit aware of the "drastic way to get rid of Mary" you promised us at the beginning of the fic, but thankfully, it was nothing too gory although it was drastic, in a way. I like you solution to the Mary problem - to let her disappear instead of letting her die some gruesome death. She will live with the need to constantly look over her shoulder anyway, which is crueler as death, IMHO.

Sherlock´s tears at the end very a nice touch, I think. It was heartwarming to see how fearful and moved by John´s decisions he were under that mask of stoicity.

Greath thanks for this Doyle tinted adventure, it was greatly appreciated!

Last edited by nakahara (December 9, 2016 11:37 am)

Vhanja · December 9, 2016 11:03 am

The Wealthy Bachelor

Dear unknown author, what a lovely pre-Christmas gift this story was. An interesting case, that Sherlock of course solved rather quickly. And, wow, what a choice John had to make! As I was reading I was going: "Wait... you're not telling Sherlock that..."?

And then I kept reading, and oh. That was clever.

I like how canon you made Sherlock, how he steps aside to let John have whatever he life he want, but secretly wishing John would choose him.

I loved how it was told from John's point of view, and how he worked himself through his choice. Thanks again for a really enjoyable story!

mrshouse · December 9, 2016 4:56 pm

Of Decisions and dogs

I'm currently having lots of trouble with the web again and that unfortunately delays my readings and my commenting, I want to apologize for that to everybody involved.
But I certainly don't want to miss to comment on this lovely and heartwarming story.
It' so nice to read stories without Mary and baby and the need to somehow deal with them from time to time. ( especially in the light of recent promo videos....) and I want to thank you for some feel good atmosphere in the tradition of S1&2. I loved that.
Also I was pleasently surprised by your beginning all medias in res. As nakahara, I also very much have a thing for jealous John, you wrote him very convincing. And I almost got jealous myself watching Sherlock heading for dates with handsome young men before my inner eye!
Very entertaining the little case fic in the middle. And an extra kudo for bringing Toby and a very cute ending!
Thank you

SusiGo · December 10, 2016 11:13 am

The Wealthy Bachelor

This was good read, dear unknown author. I love parallels and it is very clever how you equal the story of Helen Doran and both her lovers to that of John who is torn between Mary and Sherlock. In the end both decide to stay with the ones "who were first", the ones they truly love. I must admit, I had a fleeting moment of "noooo, not this" when they went to the airport but then there was the solution I had wished for. Also kudos for basing the plot on the Canon story of the "Noble Bachelor".