Hermione Granger and the Intended Vessels

Title: Hermione Granger and the Intended Vessels
Author: Severely_Lupine
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Snape/Hermione, Dumbledore, Remus/Tonks
Warning: NC-17, dub-con, pregnancy, illness (tumor), war, school
Length: Novel
Status: Completed

 Sometimes all it takes to change the world is one small, simple choice. On the night the Death Eaters attack Hogwarts, Hermione Granger makes such a choice. Her life—and her world—will never be the same.

The guilt from killing Draco is bad enough, and knowing she saved Dumbledore doesn’t help it, but when a Ministry decree forces her to marry Professor Snape—a cruel, cold man who’s apparently hated her since she was a child—in order to be used as a breeder of superior wizards, Hermione doesn’t think her life can get any worse. But, of course, she’s wrong.

Soon, Voldemort’s after her and her friends (again), her life is in grave peril, and all her hopes for a future at all, much less a happy one, rest on her own shoulders—and on Snape, her unwanted husband, whose heart still belongs to a woman long dead.

AO3


It takes some time to like the plot. I never was very impressed with the pairing, but the story makes it a bit more believable how Snape could fall in love with her. Or in which ways he could not.

The Warehouse

Title: The Warehouse

Author: Loonymoon
Fandom: Harry Potter

Characters: Snape/James, Remus, Lily(/James, /Snape), Sirius

Warning: NC-17, het, slash, drug abuse, war
Status: Ongoing

Length: Novel

This jumble of emotions could be called love. I never expected it to be this cruel or complicated or humiliating. Love that’s not… convenient.

FF

Snape and James re-meet in very different circumstances. And this leads to a severe crisis for both of them.

Love triangle, well, but not the way you'd think.

Not Quite the Shilling

Title: Not Quite the Shilling
Author: Annie D
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Snape/Harry, Dumbledore
Warning: NC-17, slash, potion, post-war
Length: Medium
Status: Completed


Harry's back to teach at Hogwarts. It's mostly boring, but he likes it that way. Snape likes it that way, too.


AO3


Young(er) Snape and Harry. Not quite in character, but nonetheless a very enjoyable reading experience.

Ink Your Name

Title: Ink Your Name
Author: prettyvk
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Mycroft, Mary
Warning: NC-17, slash, disability (Sherlock), amnesia (Sherlock)
Length: Novella
Status: Ongoing


he metaphor is imperfect but still workable. If my long term memory is a hard drive, then my short term memory is RAM. The hard drive became read-only following the illness. New data is stored in RAM and can be used while I remain awake. Going to sleep – ‘turning off’ – wipes the RAM, returning the system to what it was prior to the illness.


AO3

This is absolutely brilliant, and heart-warming, and the end is a hopeful outlook. There's another story like Ink Your Name out there but it ends rather sadly. This one does not. You end the story on a cheery note. It's lovely.

Other works:
Crazy Love

Spare Change

Title: Spare Change
Author: Ermerness
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock (switch), Mycroft, Jim, Mummy Holmes
Warning: NC-17, slash,AU, slash, marriage
Length: Novella
Status: Completed


The Holmes family is one of the richest and most powerful in England. Sherlock spends his time flying around the world on the family's private jet drinking a lot and shopping at expensive boutiques as a way of trying to alleviate his endless boredom. His mother decides it's time he settles down with someone powerful, wealthy and well connected. John Watson happens to be none of those things.


AO3


A nice AU with rich!Sherlock who is supposed to marry a dull person. Then John Watson happens. And Sherlock is no longer bored.

This Thing All Things Devour

Title: This Thing All Things Devour
Author: cypress_tree
Fandom: Sherlock / In Time
Characters: John/Sherlock, Mycroft, Molly, Sally, Lestrade
Warning: NC-17, slash, AU, crossover
Length: Novella
Status: Completed

 In 2169, time is money—literally. Humans are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, when the numbers on their arm start counting down from one year. When that time is up, they die. The only way to get more time is to earn it, borrow it, or steal it.

John Watson lives day-to-day in the crowded slums of Zone 13. He never imagined living any differently—until he meets the practically-immortal Sherlock, and helps him on a case to track a local time-thief...

AO3

Brilliant story. I didn't know "In Time" but I think the main elements of the universe are very conflicting and dark. Putting Sherlock and John in there... yes, it works. It does.
I loved the general mood. You can feel "the time is running." You expect it to run out.

Curved Space

Title: Curved Space
Author: taylorpotato
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: Lestrade/Sherlock
Warning: NC-17, genderbender, slash/het
Length: Short
Status: Completed

Things can be difficult when you don't fit into a neat little box of gender or sexuality. Some days, everything is fine. Other days, it feels like Sherlock has woken up in the wrong body. They cope with it as best they can, perhaps by drowning in an opiate high more often than they should. But there's always the work. Puzzles to solve. Ways to keep busy. There's also Greg Lestrade. Who Sherlock is definitely not dating. At least, not on purpose.



AO3


The gender issue is well-described, and I consider this important and educational enough to rec it. No, you are not bombarded with facts. It's more like an impression, a "human story."

Same author as:
Blank Canvas, Warm Bed

Against the Rest of the World

Title: Against the Rest of the World

Author: SilentAuror

Fandom: Sherlock

Characters: John/Sherlock, Mycroft, OMC (Duncan)

Warning: NC-17, slash, cheating (John), injury (Sherlock)

Length: Novel
Status: Completed

Sherlock has been away from London for nine hundred and twelve days and counting, and has no idea what sort of reception to expect when he finally returns. 

AO3

A bit more action-based than the original series. The relationship is important but I like this story as an action story better.

Same author as:
Deductions of a Lesser Mind
Vena Cava
Resurrection

Safe Distance

Title: Safe Distance
Author: merripestin
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock
Warning: NC-17, slash, injury (John)
Length: Novel
Status: Completed

The mother was apparently poisoned, the son seems to have killed himself playing Russian roulette. It's a murder and a suicide. Or is it a suicide and a murder?

At least the case is distracting John from the fact that sex with Sherlock was probably a mistake right from the start.

John will learn to cope, one way or another.

AO3


Heterosexual John in a homoromantic relationship with homosexual acts on the menu.
Basically, it's about him coming to terms with loving Sherlock, and accepting his masculinity when he does not particularly feel attracted to the male body. It's a very honest approach, and I love this story. I do. I've read well-done asexual!Sherlock in sexual relationships stories, and this is basically part of the trope family.

The Circle of Fifths

Title: The Circle of Fifths
Author: Nikoshinigami
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, John/Mary, OFC (Billie), Mycroft, OMC (Church), Jim, Moran
Warning: NC-17, slash, injury (John, Sherlock), character death (Mary)
Length: Novel
Status: Completed

John writes a blog entry.

E-mails between John and Mr. Sigerson.

John's life is not only in danger but caught in a delicate balance between love, friendship, and his own desires. A supporting character in his own life's story, it may already be too late to affect his life's course.

Nothing is ever simple for John Watson when it involves Sherlock Holmes. With the world doing its best to outdo even its only consulting detective, can the things left unsaid ever finally be spoken?

John has enough to deal with in his normal life as it is, but when a stranger arrives with a new case that cannot be turned down, can he juggle his choices with their repercussions well enough for them all to survive?



AO3



Oh God. Oh God.
I just have to quote.

I don't come first anymore, John," he admitted, not as blind to the fact as some of his actions seemed to indicate. "Things come up, girlfriends or wives make requests. Schedules aren't as flexible. I'm asking you to save a date for me. I want, when this is over, one more day where I am the most important thing you have planned for that evening."

Then there's the brilliant ""hurt my brother.." talk with awkward Mycroft, more awkward John, and uncomfortable Sherlock.

John would wait. John would always wait. Because Sherlock couldn’t come to him if he didn’t.

Just have to love that line. Especially when you remember it from the second instalment, the one when Sherlock tells John that he will be waiting because if he won't, John can't come to him.

You have to love this story. Everybody does.

Same author as:
Naked, Stripped, and Raw
Two of Every Kind
The Ichor of Talos

Things You Don't Tell Me

Title: Things You Don't Tell Me
Author: etothepii
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Lestrade/Sherlock
Warning: NC-17, slash, bdsm
Length: Medium
Status: Ongoing


The first time he sees Sherlock's driving license, Lestrade is sure it's a skilled forgery, though why Sherlock would want the little black S as his role instead of a D, he has no idea.


AO3

No, I am not adding it for the smut's sake. Sherlock's insistence on not being property is a beautiful entry to Sherlock!whump. It hints at bdsm gone bad, and that's something I like in these stories. Some depth to it.


Same author as:
Westermarck, Refuted

The Fall of Gods

Title: The Fall of Gods
Author: ImpishTubist
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: Victor/Sherlock, John/Lestrade, Moran
Warning: NC-17, slash, injury (Sherlock), illness (Victor), character death (Victor)
Length: Novel
Status: Completed

Sherlock remembers a time before Moriarty. It seemed to go on forever. It was over all too quickly.

Sherlock finds an ally in death and begins the slow process of dismantling Moriarty's network, not knowing if he'll ever be able to return home. Meanwhile, back in London, John and Lestrade mourn, remember, and move on.

AO3

And when it rains, think of me.
Think of me, and know that you were loved.

This fic is cruel. It is. One of the few stories that made me cry.
I knew he'd die from the moment he joined Sherlock. He was too perfect, too big a character for life...
Still it hurts. I ache for Victor, and I ache for Sherlock.
Marked classic because this is... the story.

Part of the Until the Night is Gone Series. To my shame, I haven't read all instalments yet. I felt like this piece of fiction is too valuable and emotional to "taint" the rec with the almost fluffy instalment before it, and the pondering mood of the following one...

ImpishTubist managed to make me cry once again.
God damn, I hope they'll give Victor an appearance in season 4. I feel ridiculous crying over a OMC. If this continues, this will be my favorite pairing... with one character that has never appeared in the actual series. I begin to see why so many Mystrade fans went crazy when Mycoft and Lestrade finally were seen in the same room.

Same author as:
They're Gonna Be All Right (Lestrade/Sherlock)
Winter's Child (John/Sherlock, Lestrade)
The Coming of the Night (Lestrade/Sherlock)
The First and Only Convention of the Scotland Yard Matchmaker Committee
A Memory That Never Forgets
An Age of Silver

Terms of Service

Title: Terms of Service
Author: kres
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Lestrade
Warning: NC-17, slash, bdsm, injury (Sherlock, John)
Length: Novella
Status: Completed

John finds out from the telly.

AO3

The story is well-written...
and yes. Well. The BDSM is somewhat... dubious consent, I guess. The NC-17 parts feel a bit wrong until they sort themselves out. It's more like the process leading up to the final "understanding."
However, I totally buy into John's violent side. And when Lestrade notices Sherlock's wounds, I had a small bout of Sherstrade :)

Same author as:
End of the Story

Off on the Wrong Foot

Title: Off on the Wrong Foot
Author: Unloyal_Olio
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, John/Jim, Mycroft, Irene
Warning: NC-17, slash
Length: Medium
Status: Completed

John and Sherlock aren't flatmates. Instead, John gets a job in Bart's morgue, and Sherlock attempts to abscond with body parts.

Which is just not on.

AO3

Quite nice.
It's something new, a new approach to how Sherlock and John meet. So it goes here.
The slash has a nice dom/sub touch.

Be Here Now

Title: Be Here Now
Author: Todesfuge
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Irene, Mycroft, OMC (James Moriarty)
Warning: NC-17, slash, illness (Sherlock), drug abuse (Sherlock), injury (Irene, John), PTSD (John), suicidal (John), amnesia (John), locked (John)
Length: Novel
Status: Ongoing


John Watson was already fighting demons when he and Sherlock met. With Sherlock's suicide, it all comes flooding back, forcing Sherlock to intervene before he's solved the persistent riddles of Jim Moriarty and his game. Together they find that something darker lurks behind Moriarty, forcing Sherlock, John, and Irene Adler into an even deadlier game with a much more dangerous foe.


AO3

Amazing series, for sure.
Todesfuge has got the ability to make the story seem really dense, no matter how long it takes for things to proceed. There are many facettes to this work that make it worthy to be read. There's revenge, love (mutual, unrequited, brotherly), anger, despair, a case of sorts, meeting old friends, saying goodbye to them, mental problems, health issues, recovery, ... and so on. Dense, as I said, but by no means overloaded.

Possessions

Title: Possessions
Author: lostwithoutmydoctor
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Mycroft, Jim, Mrs. Hudson
Warning: NC-17, AU, vampire, animal ( bat, cat), character death (John, John Watson)
Length: Novel
Status: Completed

Sherlock Holmes was a bored, socially isolated vampire living in London, and John Watson was just a bloke looking for a flatshare after returning home from a war that left him a wounded, broken man. Lets all take a moment to thank Mike Stamford for bringing them together. Maybe, just maybe, they'll survive together instead of fading away apart.

AO3


I loved the first part, the second part was a bit mushy. Still, one of the best vampire fics out there. Deserves to be rec'ed.

Above, Below (Through the Cracks)

Title: Above, Below (Through the Cracks)
Author: doodle
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock, Mycroft, Jim/Moran
Warning: NC-17, slash, character death (Mycroft, Jim, Moran), murder (Sherlock), AU, crossover (Neverwhere - book)
Length: Medium
Status: Completed

London is a city with two faces. There is Above and there is Below. And Below is the city of people who have fallen through the cracks, the lost, the forgotten and the broken.

John Watson returns to London from the war, broken and lost until fate leads him to a man who calls himself the consulting detective and the mercenaries who are hunting him. As the result of a single act of kindness John finds himself pulled in the strange, and wonderful, world of Below as the consulting detective attempts to get to safety and solve the string of violent deaths plaguing Below before he is next.

AO3
also on LJ

Brilliant AU. Truly. The universe is fascinating, and the plot is a bit thin for the great setting, but the characterizaton was on the spot.
Mycroft as a baddie, well, okay. I prefer him to be besotted with Sherlock but he is a terrifying power. I buy that because it's an AU.

Long Ago and Far Away

Title: Long Ago and Far Away

Author: lotherington
Fandom: Sherlock

Characters: John/Sherlock, Mrs Hudson, Mommy Holmes, Mycroft

Warning: NC-17, slash, injury (John), war, AU

Length: Novella
Status: Completed

‘Are you in the habit of inviting queer men back to your flat, John?’ he murmured, his eyes half-lidded as he stared at John again.

John huffed a breath through his nose. ‘None quite so peculiar as you,’ he said after a long pause, lifting his eyes to Sherlock’s.

October, 1937. A chance encounter late one night leads to Sherlock following John home. I can’t really put it much better than Vera Lynn herself: That certain night, the night we met / there was magic abroad in the air.

AO3

Frantic relationship in a very gloomy setting. The narrative is beautifully done, it makes you feel the pressure of the war.

Spans from 1937 to the beginning of 1945 (exception: one story set in 1951).

The Sustain Stories

Title: The Sustain Stories
Author: maybe_amanda
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: Sherlock/Molly, John, Mycroft, OMC (Edmund - baby), Daddy Holmes, Mommy Holmes, Jim
Warning: NC-17, het, pregnancy, cheating ( Daddy Holmes)
Length: Novel
Status: Completed


"So now you're behaving like a six year old 'cause he didn't take you along on his honeymoon?" Lestrade said. "Grow the hell up." 


AO3

Second instalment has got a rather gruesome crime.

Actually this is less about Sherlock and Molly than about Sherlock growing into the role of a father. The couple relationship actually develops slowly, it comes to the front of the story at the third instalment.

On the Ice

Title: On the Ice
Author: berlynn_wohl
Fandom: Sherlock
Characters: John/Sherlock
Warning: NC-17, slash, illness (Sherlock - depression)
Length: Medium
Status: Completed


"Sherlock, I once saw you taste a vacuum cleaner attachment that had been used as a murder weapon, so can we please not pretend that Dungeons and Dragons is too weird for you?"



AO3

Yes. Sherlock all bored and depressed. One of the best Sherlock!whump stories I have ever read. And I can totally see him get all geeky about some game.