An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Sherlock is dead. Monsters are real. And as the remaining half of “just the two of us, against the rest of the world,” John is left to face it alone, or at least without Sherlock. Thankfully he’s not a man without resources.
This story takes the central conceit of the Slender games, of which I’m not familiar, and writes a post-Fall story where John is targeted by a serial killer whose killings and even his existence shouldn’t be possible. Even without knowing the game, that device made for some really fun and original supernatural elements.
What I loved most, though, was how the characters were still allowed to be imperfect and got some characterizations that had some teeth. John is not stupid, but he’s also not Sherlock. He’s mad at Lestrade for reasons that make sense. Lestrade is trying to be a good loyal friend but also is facing the realities of being an official cop if he’d like to hold on to his pension, thank you very much. Mycroft is well-meaning but not omniscient. And there’s a honkin’ big Sherlock-shaped hole at the heart of it right until --spoilers for those of you who haven’t read the AO3 tags-- there isn’t. It makes for some more biting characterizations than you usually see in post-Fall fics, where everyone has a lot of drive to just get along.
All of which makes for a fun read from start to finish where John’s resilience in particular really gets a place to shine. Really, a very fun and original read.
