It's Alternate Universe Theme Week!

Title: they tell me their secrets (will you tell me yours too)
Fandom: Sherlock BBC
Pairing: Gen
Categories: AU, End of season one, Anthropomorphism, John has a secret ability
Length: Medium (2,297 words)
Warnings: Minor character death

Author on LJ: etothepii
Author Websites: etothepii (Stochastical)

Author's Summary: In Afghanistan, the supplies tell him when they're running low, and the cars always, always tell him when strangers have touched them, and John gets known as having a knack (paranoia, his men call it, but he's never missed a single car bomb) for keeping his men safe.

Review:
We get a glimpse of another reality here, just long enough to understand a different John's life, and to see how his unusual perception 1) completely changes the end of The Great Game, and 2) opens up a world of possibilities and a new level of trust with Sherlock.

I recced another etothepii AU fic here; etothepii not only writes what I like --- my last rec was for demon!Sherlock, and this one is full to the brim with anthropomorphism, another favorite theme --- but also takes the time to really think things through. Here the world of sentient and sometimes-talkative objects has its own set of well reasoned rules. For example, "It's one thing to ask an object to do something it hasn't been told not to do. It's an entirely different challenge to make it not do something it's supposed to do."

Despite the story's short length, the premise is well described and so matter-of-fact that I felt myself going easily along with the garbage disposal that doesn't like sitting around with dirty blades (who would?) and the many objects that are wary of strangers.

Of course I would've enjoyed continuing on, but I feel like I have a good idea of what the future will hold for John and Sherlock with a new understanding between them and the ways Sherlock will want to use John's ability in their work together.

they tell me their secrets (will you tell me yours too) (AO3)
On LJ

Podfic by littlewolfstar (lunatique), lunchy_munchy (lunchee), & yue_ix