My March April/May Madness Fic Bracket
Round 1 Match 2
Family Ties series by saziikins (E, 33k) Sherlock Holmes/Greg Lestrade; SUMMARY: Over a decade of knowing each other, Sherlock and Greg have always had a complicated - and at times, turbulent - relationship. Ultimately though, Greg will always wait for Sherlock and Sherlock will always want to come home to him.
vs.
Over Fathoms Deep by bittergreens (E, 504k) Sherlock Holmes/John Watson; SUMMARY: When the youngest son of the aristocratic Holmes family is shipped off to sea in an attempt to cure him of his poor temper and bad manners, he fully expects to spend a long tedious voyage as miserable as ever. What he does not count on is having his heart stolen by the strapping young crewman, John Watson.
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Two fics from 2014--one completed that year, one still in progress (last updated in 2025).
In Family Ties, a series of ten stories that read almost like chapters of a single long work, saziikins presents the portrait of a long-running but fraught romance between Greg and Sherlock, complicated by Sherlock's lengthy absence (and PTSD) after his Fall, Greg's marriage (and divorce) as well as a pair of toddler twins, and their tendency to orbit each other but rarely land in the same place at the same time.
The stories range from a first meeting placed a decade before the events of the TV series through the events of S3, and the relationship between the two is vivid with mutual affection and longing, a desire on both parts to settle into place. Primarily it is Greg who is anchored in place, unshakable, while Sherlock free-floats, finding reasons to withdraw despite a palpable wish to be "at home" with a man he loves.
The writing is capable and compelling; the dynamic is well-established and tugs at the heart--if only Sherlock would give in to his own need to be secure in Greg's arms, home, life!--and the overall atmosphere is imbued with a sense of warmth and home that informs the experience of reading these stories. The sex scenes carry both heat and romance (and not a little melancholy), though they are slightly "same-y" from story to story.
(Saziikins and I were both members of a panel discussing the sherstrade ship on the Three-Patch Podcast, I'm going to say probably in 2015? I have almost no memory of it except that I asked EmmaGrant if we could swear.)
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If you love Regency romances, stories set in the golden Age of Sail, canon characters slotted in everywhere, casefic, schmoop, and/or smut (or, better yet, all of the above!), bittergreens has it all for you in the ongoing epic, Over Fathoms Deep. This is the story of the--what was it? quivering petal? wilting flower? something like that--young Sherlock Holmes as the unhappy passenger on a trans-Atlantic crossing, and his blossoming romance with the almost too-capable sailor John Watson (he of superhuman skills in ropes-climbing, swimming, singing, and--of course--lovemaking). An on-board mystery unfolds which invites Sherlock to do some detective work with his big brain; our men must meet in secret and keep their feelings to themselves in the face of period-typical homophobia; and there are all the typical crises of sailing--storms and close quarters with clashing personalities, endless work for the sailors and endless boredom for the passengers.
This story is so rich with sensory detail, it is completely absorbing, utterly transporting. It's clear the author did deep research into the period, its fashion and manners; sailing and ships; music, amusements, and general culture of the era--her use of carefully placed detail, as well as an overarching "rightness" of the setting fully immerses the reader in the characters' world from the story's first word. In every scene, we get information for every sense, making it easy to not just envision the surroundings, but to taste the salty air; feel the texture of ropes, wooden walls, linen or velvet clothing; see the blinding-bright sunlight out on the decks, or the mellow candlelight in Sherlock's cabin. Every kiss is described in exquisite, careful detail; all the dialogue is natural and reinforces characterizations (Sherlock, mostly hesitant; John, largely confident); the scenes of ship-work are as vivid and lively as the sex scenes are blissful and blistering. This story is a feast, and it keeps on giving.
There's little here to be critical of; it is among the best-written works I have ever read, by any author, fic or original, published freely or published for pay. It is simply a beautiful read; the words just sing off the page. It is sprawling, no doubt, but even so can't be faulted for its meandering length--the joy of a beautiful big fic is that it's allowed to sprawl, taking time to rhapsodize about the gorgeousness of the ship, or indulge a tributary journey as Sherlock plays or composes music, and of course, revel in a lovely long (sometimes two chapters!) love scene.
Chapter 22 is particularly steamy; I've never forgotten it. Now up to 62 chapters, even though it's (as yet) incomplete, it is always a joy to revisit this classic, beloved fic.
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A reminder that my only criterion for judgement is Which of these fics would I choose, if I could only read one of them again, forever?
The WINNER in Round 1, Match 2 is Over Fathoms Deep by bittergreens. While Family Ties has a special, cozy place in my heart, Over Fathoms Deep just sets an extremely high bar to meet, in every rubric.
