Underrated Sherlock Fics, Part 5
Nov. 25th, 2015 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swissmargContinuing my series of recs of less well known fics in the Sherlock (BBC) fandom...
My qualifications for this list are:
- Fic complete
- Last chapter posted prior to November 1, 2015
- Fewer than 200 kudos as of this posting
- Earned a 'favorite' from me on AO3
Previous installments:
Part One from October 2013
Part Two from May 2014
Part Three from November 2014
Part Four from May 2015
======
In descending order of length:
This is one of the best fics written this year. It has plot out the wazoo, breathtaking twists and turns, wonderful original characters, and an incredible way of incorporating canon and making it ten times more brilliant than in the series. There are creepy psychopaths, political plots, secret societies, skeletons in closets, and a sexy visit to my hometown Chicago. I honestly, honestly do not understand why this doesn't have over a thousand kudos. Please don't be put off by the first-person OC point-of-view in the first chapter. Stick with it. Trust me.
Prior Engagements (125520 words) by PlaidAdder
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Janine/Harry Watson
Summary: Eight years after Mary melted into the darkness, John and Sherlock are at their wits' end. Rachel Watson, aged nine, is about as difficult as you might expect a child raised by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson to be. But life is no picnic for Rachel, either. John won't even talk about her mother; and ever since Uncle Mycroft was assassinated, Sherlock just hasn't been himself. John hopes that the right boarding school might give Rachel the structure she seems to need. Not until after Rachel disappears do he and Sherlock discover that someone else has had the same idea.
======
Don't worry about all the angsty tags, this is really more of a romance about John discovering his bisexuality. And Sherlock is a porn star. I mean come on, what else do you need?
Sherwood (70382 words) by The_Lady_of_Purpletown, Jlocked
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Mary Morstan/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty
Summary: John is happily married, but after some vague fantasies he has started questioning his sexuality. In his search for answers, he is helped by an old friend from medical school, who introduces him to the work of the unusual actor H. Sherwood.
======
Heart-wrenching and tender retirement fic, made me cry but also feel all the love.
Retirement in Sussex (30215 words) by iriswallpaper
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Relationships: John Watson/Mary Morstan, Sherlock Holmes/Victor Trevor, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock and John both had two great loves of their lives. They had waited more than half their lifetime for each other. They’d both married and had good lives and now as widowers the time for their relationship had finally come.
======
A very engaging and well-done AU, with plenty of historical details and enough tweaks to the plot and characters to make it fresh.
A Death in Harfleur (22447 words) by OssaCordis
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: October 1415. Surgeon John Watson arrives in France in the days following the siege of Harfleur, only to find the English camp haunted by a series of suspicious suicides…Lord Sherlock Holmes wants nothing more than to understand the cause of these deaths, but finds a certain surgeon rather distracting…A slash retelling of A Study in Pink set during the Hundred Years' War.
======
Mindfuck with Inception-like overtones, this was creepy and well-wrought. It does have a happy ending… depending on what you believe. ;)
La plus belle des ruses (22141 words) by unpopcultural
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock expects to wake up in Baker Street, ready to hunt down Jim Moriarty for the last time. Instead, he awakens in a mental hospital. According to Mycroft and the doctor, the events of the past five years never happened. They tell Sherlock that his memories are an elaborate hallucination brought on by drug addiction and mental illness. The good thing: Moriarty may not exist outside of Sherlock's mind. The bad thing: Neither may John. What is real, and what is a lie? Can Sherlock trust anyone? Most importantly, what will the mind do without his heart?
======
A troubling yet well-conceived take on the possibility of Sherlock having been sexually assaulted during his time away. Both painful and tender.
Sharp Bits and Safe Paths (22038 words) by midgetnazgul
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: John learns Sherlock sacrificed much more than he ever could have believed in his time away.
======
A sickfic that skirts the line between bromance and full commitment, the beauty is in what's not said.
Harmless Things (16771 words) by J_Baillier
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Summary: This is definitely not how John had imagined their Saturday night.
======
A tender, touching AU return fic that's all about reconnecting with each other.
Falling and Flying (15901 words) by Joules Mer
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock returns from dismantling Moriarty’s network, thinner and with a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. Mycroft is a caring brother and does what he can, and John dreams of ravens. Post-Reichenbach, reunions (and getting Mary out of the picture).
======
An angsty and sweet series of vignettes throughout John and Sherlock's life together. It does get really sad toward the end so read it when you're in the mood for a good cry.
The Intricate Dance of the Butterfly Observed Over Time (14671 words) by mydogwatson
Rating: Not Rated
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: The story of Sherlock and John. Fragments of a life. From the start, but not quite all the way to the end.
======
Lust, pining, and fantasy converge in this fun and insightful piece that was both eminently fulfilling and left me wanting more.
Parthenophilia (13128 words) by LyricaXXX
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Something bright and crystalline exploded at the base of John’s brain. Arousal, hot and treacherous, blossomed in his belly. And the desire, the need, to be the first to run hot, greedy hands all over Sherlock’s pale skin erupted, unbidden and unexpected, pushing out all other thoughts.
======
Part casefic, part gen, part romance, part established relationship, this is a perfect mix of mystery, deductions, and bromance with a spooky twist that hits just the right Halloween note.
Obsidian and Moonlight (11471 words) by PenelopeWaits
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: John and Sherlock make a detour on the way home from Baskerville. The question is, which is more inexplicable, the rites of human violence or the depths of human love?
My qualifications for this list are:
- Fic complete
- Last chapter posted prior to November 1, 2015
- Fewer than 200 kudos as of this posting
- Earned a 'favorite' from me on AO3
Previous installments:
Part One from October 2013
Part Two from May 2014
Part Three from November 2014
Part Four from May 2015
======
In descending order of length:
This is one of the best fics written this year. It has plot out the wazoo, breathtaking twists and turns, wonderful original characters, and an incredible way of incorporating canon and making it ten times more brilliant than in the series. There are creepy psychopaths, political plots, secret societies, skeletons in closets, and a sexy visit to my hometown Chicago. I honestly, honestly do not understand why this doesn't have over a thousand kudos. Please don't be put off by the first-person OC point-of-view in the first chapter. Stick with it. Trust me.
Prior Engagements (125520 words) by PlaidAdder
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Janine/Harry Watson
Summary: Eight years after Mary melted into the darkness, John and Sherlock are at their wits' end. Rachel Watson, aged nine, is about as difficult as you might expect a child raised by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson to be. But life is no picnic for Rachel, either. John won't even talk about her mother; and ever since Uncle Mycroft was assassinated, Sherlock just hasn't been himself. John hopes that the right boarding school might give Rachel the structure she seems to need. Not until after Rachel disappears do he and Sherlock discover that someone else has had the same idea.
======
Don't worry about all the angsty tags, this is really more of a romance about John discovering his bisexuality. And Sherlock is a porn star. I mean come on, what else do you need?
Sherwood (70382 words) by The_Lady_of_Purpletown, Jlocked
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Mary Morstan/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty
Summary: John is happily married, but after some vague fantasies he has started questioning his sexuality. In his search for answers, he is helped by an old friend from medical school, who introduces him to the work of the unusual actor H. Sherwood.
======
Heart-wrenching and tender retirement fic, made me cry but also feel all the love.
Retirement in Sussex (30215 words) by iriswallpaper
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Relationships: John Watson/Mary Morstan, Sherlock Holmes/Victor Trevor, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock and John both had two great loves of their lives. They had waited more than half their lifetime for each other. They’d both married and had good lives and now as widowers the time for their relationship had finally come.
======
A very engaging and well-done AU, with plenty of historical details and enough tweaks to the plot and characters to make it fresh.
A Death in Harfleur (22447 words) by OssaCordis
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: October 1415. Surgeon John Watson arrives in France in the days following the siege of Harfleur, only to find the English camp haunted by a series of suspicious suicides…Lord Sherlock Holmes wants nothing more than to understand the cause of these deaths, but finds a certain surgeon rather distracting…A slash retelling of A Study in Pink set during the Hundred Years' War.
======
Mindfuck with Inception-like overtones, this was creepy and well-wrought. It does have a happy ending… depending on what you believe. ;)
La plus belle des ruses (22141 words) by unpopcultural
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock expects to wake up in Baker Street, ready to hunt down Jim Moriarty for the last time. Instead, he awakens in a mental hospital. According to Mycroft and the doctor, the events of the past five years never happened. They tell Sherlock that his memories are an elaborate hallucination brought on by drug addiction and mental illness. The good thing: Moriarty may not exist outside of Sherlock's mind. The bad thing: Neither may John. What is real, and what is a lie? Can Sherlock trust anyone? Most importantly, what will the mind do without his heart?
======
A troubling yet well-conceived take on the possibility of Sherlock having been sexually assaulted during his time away. Both painful and tender.
Sharp Bits and Safe Paths (22038 words) by midgetnazgul
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: John learns Sherlock sacrificed much more than he ever could have believed in his time away.
======
A sickfic that skirts the line between bromance and full commitment, the beauty is in what's not said.
Harmless Things (16771 words) by J_Baillier
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Summary: This is definitely not how John had imagined their Saturday night.
======
A tender, touching AU return fic that's all about reconnecting with each other.
Falling and Flying (15901 words) by Joules Mer
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Sherlock returns from dismantling Moriarty’s network, thinner and with a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. Mycroft is a caring brother and does what he can, and John dreams of ravens. Post-Reichenbach, reunions (and getting Mary out of the picture).
======
An angsty and sweet series of vignettes throughout John and Sherlock's life together. It does get really sad toward the end so read it when you're in the mood for a good cry.
The Intricate Dance of the Butterfly Observed Over Time (14671 words) by mydogwatson
Rating: Not Rated
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: The story of Sherlock and John. Fragments of a life. From the start, but not quite all the way to the end.
======
Lust, pining, and fantasy converge in this fun and insightful piece that was both eminently fulfilling and left me wanting more.
Parthenophilia (13128 words) by LyricaXXX
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: Something bright and crystalline exploded at the base of John’s brain. Arousal, hot and treacherous, blossomed in his belly. And the desire, the need, to be the first to run hot, greedy hands all over Sherlock’s pale skin erupted, unbidden and unexpected, pushing out all other thoughts.
======
Part casefic, part gen, part romance, part established relationship, this is a perfect mix of mystery, deductions, and bromance with a spooky twist that hits just the right Halloween note.
Obsidian and Moonlight (11471 words) by PenelopeWaits
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary: John and Sherlock make a detour on the way home from Baskerville. The question is, which is more inexplicable, the rites of human violence or the depths of human love?
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Aw. Thank you for plugging Prior Engagements!
Date: 2015-11-29 12:16 am (UTC)Re: Aw. Thank you for plugging Prior Engagements!
Date: 2015-11-29 06:06 am (UTC)