Following my newest "addiction", I decided to search for some good fanfictions explaining away how Sherlock survived.
One story that crossed my way impressed me a lot. It's actually Slash so not everybody's case. Still, here you go:
Title: The Quiet Man
Author: ivyblossom
Fandom: Sherlock (TV)
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Warning: R; Slash, Het,
Length: Novel (150k+)
Status: Completed
"Do you just carry on talking when I'm away?"
The Quiet Man at AO3
What struck me first when seeing this was actually not the description or the rating - no, it was the author's name. I recognized it, I knew it from somewhere.
ivyblossom also wrote some fanfictions in the Harry Potter - Fandom, namely one called Blue Vase. I remember it fondly, there was a lot of undealt grief, a lot of insecurity and inner monologues. ivyblossom's wrinting style struck me as quite enjoyable.
Remarkable about it is the way action is handled. Mostly, her chapters are directed to the consciousness of the main characters. There's a slice of life tone in there, quite a bit of drama. The characters get more depth than in most fanfictions, it's ivyblossom's speciality. The Quiet Man is just like that. You virtually see ivyblossom, you can grasp the author through the writing. I consider this remarkable.
Even in this story which is mostly about John grieving, it doesn't drift into whining and whinging about how unfair life is - it's more like that. She shows the ambivalence in their minds, she doesn't force you to sympathize with the characters. They do not need sympathy.
Other stories of ivyblossom that struck me as recommendable (still going through the others):
Blue Vase at AO3 - HP, Drarry
