I must confess I am none the wiser

Words: 43k
Warnings: off-screen murder, dead people, mentions of drug-use,
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Genre: romance, case-fic, crime, university AU
Pairing: John/Sherlock, Irene Adler/Sally Donavan, Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade
Summary: Set at the very fictional St Benedict's College, Cambridge. 21-year-old John Watson, recently invalided home from Afghanistan, begins his first year at university. The student he's sharing rooms with takes up entirely too much of his time. The only parties he gets invited to are hosted by a would-be dominatrix. Oh, and he's probably being targeted by a serial killer. At least his life isn't boring.


I must admit it sounds a little crack-ish, but isn't that at all. You see before you a wonderful university AU with romance and suspense and quite fun parts in between. The relationship that develops between Sherlock and John is so wonderfully canon and yet a little more romantic, Irene is hilarious but you feel with her and Molly - I always love a well-written Molly, and this one is just enough of smitten with Sherlock to be believable, but her own person, strong and yet in need of some serious hugging.
Am I gushing?
Anyway, quite funny in parts, but engaging and with a good dose of suspense. And Moriarity!
What else is there to say? The reader reads from different perspectives - John narrates most of the time, but sometimes Sherlock, Molly or Irene (I felt I needed to say that). Oh, and Sherlock is wonderfully in character (see favorite chapter, there is a wonderful Sherlock in there!)

Favorite Chapter: Chapter 5: From the Reminiscences of John H Watson - In which Mycroft shows his love in scary ways, John has occasional bloodlust, Sebastian Wilkes really deserves to be punched in the face, and creepy Irishmen hide in bushes. It's actually a pretty happy chapter, though! (description by author)


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Words: About 70k
Warnings: Murder, dead people, mentions of drug use, self-harm, mental illness
Rating: R (for murder, not very graphic descriptions of dead bodies and swearing), the porn-y bonus chapter is rated NC17 (because of porn-y things, obviously)
Genre: Romance, Crime, Case-Fic
Pairing: John/Sherlock and two OC's (more or less)
Summary: Sophie Heaney is suspected of killing her mother and her mother's lover; John and Sherlock arrive at Oxford University to work out whether that's true. In the course of their investigation they can't help but notice some uncomfortable parallels between Sophie's relationship with her friend Amy and their own increasingly tension-filled friendship. *Feelings* ensue, which the two not-quite-couples attempt to deal with while simultaneously trying to catch a murderer. (Written forthis kinkmeme prompt.)

This is wonderful. Brief collections of things that I loved about this fic:
1.) The moment when I understood why it was called what it was called - several chapters after the reason had been subtly revealed ( I genius)
2.) The crime isn't obvious, it leaves you guessing and I had several suspects through the curse of this fic. When the plot thickened my heart sped up and I had to stop myself from hopping up and down in my seat.
3.) THE SHERLOCK AND JOHN IS JUST SO FLUFFY AND SWEET AND SQUEEE - but not out of character, which is a miracle in and of itself. Kudos, author! That's not an easy feat.
4.) How Sherlock was floundering through most of it - basically the whole portrayal of Sherlock. He is so incredibly human and vulnerable in this fic, all sharp edges and hidden wounds and it is just so perfect. His feelings for John felt perfect to me, as well as his constant fear and insecurities. Plus the problems Sherlock had with dealing with emotional attachment to people involved in the case. We've never seen something like that in canon until Irene Adler came along and I feel his reaction in the fic was spot-on.
5.) John! I can't even say why, he just felt so solid and warm to me but so vulnerable and unsure at the same time. His feelings for Sherlock were just delicious and his reaction - I can't go on lest I spoil you, but it is too good!
6.) The OCs. They were so, so similar to John and Sherlock, but still their own people and it was wonderful to watch.

The only problem I had was Sherlock's floundering when it came to the case (yes, contradictory, I know, but let me explain). It wasn't that it was out of character, because it wasn't, not from my point of view. The problem I felt it created was that the suspense of the case did not quite pick up until the last third of the story. It's not really that much of a deal because the characters, their emotions and struggles were enough for anyone to keep reading and cover up the slow progression of the crime. Just a side note.

All in all incredibly entertaining, captivating and emotionally touching - loved it to pieces!


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