#myjohnlockficrecs

[my-johnlockficrecs]

it's may, oh thank god. summer is here and time is finally behaving more or less properly. i can breathe! it is also my birthday month🤭 i hope april was kind to you, and if it wasn't, here's hoping for a better may! i think i say this a lot, but i genuinely thought i hadn't read much fic last month, but clearly i did. i think because i mostly stuck with short fics, i didn't realise precisely how many i went through. in any case, here is my (slightly belated) april round up! enjoy 💌

key: blue: reread •🔥 spicy fics

spotlight recs

✰ Out of the Shadow of Missed Chances by MargueriteSomebodyoranother (1k, teen)

He’d had eighteen months - it seemed like a goddamned eternity at the time - and he never uttered a word.

a short, TEH fix-it fic, Out of the Shadow is a spectacular example of precisely how much of a punch short-form stories can pack. the emotion in this fic, so carefully reigned in yet so deeply felt, gets me every damn time. the elegant way mary bows out, john "half-imagining" choking sherlock but actually only grasping his neck to check sherlock's pulse, leaning down to kiss him as irrevocably as the earth moves around the sun—utterly beautiful. this is the reunion we all wanted and the reunion sherlock and john deserved. i can only thank the writer for sharing this with us 💖

✰ In His Care by @the-pen-pot (20k, teen)

It was only a matter of time. John knew that from the start. Now, he stared at the read-out on the thermometer before examining his reflection in the bathroom mirror. A glassy blue gaze stared back at him from beneath the dishevelled nest of his hair. Dark shadows smeared their warpaint beneath his eyes and his skin had an unhealthy, greyish tinge.

John catches Covid-19, and it's up to Sherlock to take care of him within the sanctuary of Baker Street.

so i may or may not have stalked @the-pen-pot's entire ao3 catalogue. and it is, as i'm sure many of you already know, immaculate. (go see my humble rec of Electric Pink Hand Grenade by the same author.) but this fic. clearly, i have a thing for how this author writes sick!fic, because In His Care just hit all the right spots for me. the way sherlock is so tender in his care for john, but tender in his own way? very recognisably gentle and caring, but not in a facetious way at all. and the way john slowly leans into sherlock's care, oh. (and the way he physically leans into sherlock as well! i love me some back-to-chest cuddles. which was also a thing in Electric Pink Hand Grenade, where it was john caring for sherlock.) i love the dual-pov and how we get to see sherlock's thought processes and emotions alongside john's. it adds a lovely bit of additional layer to the events of the fic. oh, and that cathartic moment of forgiveness in the middle. my heart 🥺

bite sized (5k and less)

1. Lines in the Sand by @jrow (3k, G)

"He examines the plain white box, which clearly holds a new mug. John must have purchased it and he’s written a note on the top.

First time for everything. – J

Sherlock smiles and feels excitement as he opens the box. As expected, it’s a mug. It appears to be a boring, white mug. Sherlock pulls it out of the box and his breath hitches as he sees the image decorating the side. It’s not boring at all."

2. Exceptions by lily_winterwood (1k, M)

Perhaps it's because it's Sherlock, because Sherlock has always been the exception in John's mind.

3. We've Only Just Begun by SherlockWatson_Holmes (936, unrated)

If the pilot universe had continued into canon, what might have happened on that fateful evening as our boys leave the scene of Jeff Hope's death and head for the Chinese restaurant?

4. rainy days by @simplyclockwork (307, G)

“Haven’t danced with you in a while.” John’s voice was a warm murmur in the space between them. “Thought I should fix that.”

5. Reverie by @finamour (3k, E)

“You fancy me.”

Sherlock is drunk, and he’s probably not making any sense.

6. Golden Hours by stopthat (4k, M)

John is too quiet. Sherlock whisks him away to the sea.

They sit in silence for long moments, watching the sun begin its descent into the horizon as the light slowly fades to a glorious gold. Their arms brush occasionally as they sip their stout, and Sherlock feels each touch like an open flame, waiting. For what, he's not sure.

7. A Quiet Murmuration by cathedral_carver (4k, teen)

//

Just pay me back with one thousand kisses.

//

8. Home and Dry by @the-pen-pot (1k, G)

Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and comfort can come from the most unlikely source. John and Sherlock pre-slash blanket-fic fluff.

9. Puzzled by @the-pen-pot (1k, teen)

"It was a jigsaw. Thousands of petite pieces were strewn across the scarred surface of their kitchen table, and every single one was plain black."

10. The Joye of Snacks by @khorazir (3k, teen)

Christmas is approaching, and Sherlock surprises John with newly acquired culinary skills. John, in turn, simply ... surprises Sherlock.

11. Shape of My Heart by MissDavis (4k, teen)

February, 2021: John (finally) moves back to Baker Street.

John opened his eyes. "Thought we agreed we weren't going to get takeaway for every meal."

"We won't. This is a special occasion." Sherlock stepped back from the chair, unable to keep a smile off his face, knowing that when John got up, it wouldn't be because it was time for him to leave. He lived here now. Again. Finally. It wasn't everything Sherlock had ever wanted—John would still be sleeping upstairs, not next to Sherlock in his bed—but it was still very, very good. Nearly perfect. He exhaled, letting his shoulders sag as a tension that had lived in him for years began to dissolve.

12. The Old Familiar Sting by songlin (2k, teen)

He calls himself a sociopath because he’d rather be hated than pitied.

13. The Secret Life of Bees by orphan_account (1k, unrated)

'John finds it ironic that the most emotion he has ever seen Sherlock show is to a dying insect'

It takes John Watson a little while to discover Sherlock Holmes' obsession with bees; but when he does, he wonders how he ever could have missed it.

14. Make Perfect the Present by @thetimemoves (221, G)

John Watson waits to be seen.

15. choke, hold by @thetimemoves (221, teen)

John reaches for Sherlock’s throat with his hands, not his mouth. Warring wants. He remembers this feeling.

16. The First Law by @thetimemoves (221, G)

Mike Stamford sets change in motion.

17. Is It Any Wonder by @thetimemoves (221, teen)

He will fix it, fix them.

18. What Happens in Vegas (is legally binding in the United Kingdom) by moonblossom (5k, E)

When a case sends the boys to Vegas, John comes out of it with a bit more than he bargained for.

19. Don't Read the Last Page by @raina-at (4k, teen)

What does it mean to be brave?

Or: Sherlock and John spend New Year's Day with a grumpy toddler and have a long overdue conversation.

short fics (5k-15k)

20. Drunk Drialing by @bertytravelsfar (6k, teen)

Inevitably Johnlocked posted an ask on Tumblr a couple of weeks ago from someone who wanted to know if there were any fics with one of the boys drunk dialing the other to declare their love. I adored this idea and I know some others did too, so here's my take on that. Other drunk dialing fics are available!

21. The In-Between by @blueink3 (10k, M)

Beginning in a Chinese restaurant and ending at the bottom of a well, what about the moments we didn’t see?

22. Distractions by allonsys_girl (9k, E) 🔥

Sherlock's on a stakeout and John's very pretty - distractions ensue

23. come undone by @simplyclockwork (7k, E) 🔥

At his stag night, John discovers just how much Sherlock loves dancing

24. Oblivion by @algyswinburne (8k, teen)

I can't even stand looking at you anymore, John had written in the Letter.

But this is certainly a whole lot more of Sherlock to look at.

25. Because I Care by CarmillaCarmine (7k, G)

During the epidemic, John comes back home from the clinic with a fever.

26. Isolated by CarmillaCarmine (10k, E)

Due to an ongoing pandemic, John and Sherlock find themselves isolated at 221B.

27. A Grave Situation by @the-pen-pot (6k, teen)

"The idea of being sealed inside a sarcophagus was morbid at best, even if he did have John for company."

Trapped and awaiting rescue, Sherlock and John finally have a chance to talk about more than just a case.

28. A Brand of Gold by aquabelacqua (12k, M) 🔥

What am I doing? he wondered. The answer came back at once:

Flirting.

He sank deeper into the pillows, let the mist and blur of the wine settle around him, let it shore up his nerves and dim the warning signals that flashed dully in the back of his mind. He let the rest of the disappointment about Lucy and his strange accommodations and about the weekend as a whole fade into obscurity. He let the vital, missing piece snap into place as surely and as cleanly as if it had always been there.

He was flirting with Sherlock Holmes.

mid length (16k-50k)

29. The House on Rue des Boulangers by @bertytravelsfar (24k, M)

After being invalided out of the army and without any other prospects, John Watson has relocated to a small town in northern France. Now he has to decide what to do for the rest of his life. One morning there's a mad stranger in his garden chasing a swarm of bees, and it seems John's decision is made.

30. In Need of Quiet Affection and Gentle Words by @kinklock (16k, E)

After John's girlfriend (of sorts) sends him an online sex guide, John finds himself more intrigued by the guide's author than anything his girlfriend might have had in mind.

31. Love or What You Will by miss_frankenstein (31k, teen)

John is an English professor who specializes in War and Post-War Literature and Sherlock is the brilliant yet impossible Ph.D. student assigned to be his TA because no one in the Chemistry Department is willing to put up with him. And - somewhere between Waugh and Plath, e-mails and takeaway, novels and villanelles - they fall in love.

32. Lockdown by johnwatso and Salambo06 (23k, E)

The world is in lockdown due to Covid-19. This is how Sherlock and John spend their time.

long fics (50k and above)

33. All Things Inherit by @the-pen-pot (53k, E)

"For John, it's not a bullet that throws his existence into disarray – it's a bite."

In a world where twelve percent of the population are Mactiri - people with the ability to turn into wolves at will - John finds himself struggling with a new and horrifying existence. The victim of a shocking attack, he is discharged from the army and sent home, determined never to acknowledge what he can now become.

However, when his health starts to fail, it is up to his enigmatic new flatmate to show him that perhaps his life is not the nightmare John believes it to be.

34. Quarantine by wendymarlowe (53k, teen)

John and Sherlock are stuck at 221B together due to coronavirus concerns. Sherlock slowly drives John barmy.

Updating in real time (daily).

series

35. Cat Among the Pigeons series by @the-pen-pot (56k, 10 works, incomplete)

As days became months, John found himself overlooking the cat-like characteristics or the occasional moments of Felisian behaviour. He forgot about Sherlock's sharper-than-usual canines and the way he could see in the dark. So what if he lived with a rare genetic variant of Homo sapiens, rather than a bog-standard example of the general population?

It was just Sherlock, unique in every respect and captivating for his mind as much as his physical appearance.

36. One Fixed Point series by @the-pen-pot (4k, 2 works, complete)

Every meeting is different, but somehow the result is always the same.

I opened up prompts briefly on Tumblr to AU scenarios. This is where I'll be putting the results. Each one's different, so each part will be like a different story.

37. parts 2-6 of A Doctor in the House series by @kitten-kin