Favorite Sherlock (BBC) Fics of 2019

swissmissficrecs:

Once again, my hopes of getting through some of the very tantalizing fics that finished up in December are simply not going to materialize anytime soon, so rather than delay any longer, here are my personal picks for the fics I enjoyed the most last year.

Disclaimers: This list is obviously skewed toward my
own personal preferences and reading
habits. There are plenty of other fics that I enjoyed, and even more that I
simply didn’t get around to reading (yet), so it’s not a judgment if
your favorite (or one you wrote) isn’t on here. Think of this as a
sampling rather than a definitive list. I hope this will help you to
re-acquaint yourself with fics you loved, give a chance to others you
may have skipped the first time round, and possibly discover something
entirely new and
astonishing.

And now, in descending order of length:

Voyages
of the Bakerstreet (528,359 words) by fresne
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, John Watson/OCs
Summary: Starfleet never really
intended to assemble a crew with a half trained doctor and an alpha
Augment with authority issues. But they also didn’t really intend for
the Borg to make it quite as far as they did. And so…These are the
Voyages of the USS Bakerstreet. Her five year mission (make that ten
(okay fine twelve year mission + time travel)), to seek out new life
and new civilizations. To go boldly.

Proving
A Point (186,270 words) by J_Baillier, elldotsee
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Invalided home from
Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical
career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide
care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how
much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his
new life at Musgrave Court.

Riptide
Lover (114,090 words) by jinglebell
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: The year is 1866. When John
becomes swept overboard, he never expects to encounter a living
creature of myth. When the merman absconds with John, the lost sailor
must use every tool at his disposal to convince Sherlock not to kill
him. But it seems that killing John Watson is not what the deadly,
beautiful creature has in mind at all… Victorian mermaid AU. Heed
the tags.

By
A Thousand Cuts (95,774 words) by 7PercentSolution, J_Baillier
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: It’s hard to let go of the
past, especially when going home for the holidays. An incident just
before Christmas brings unpleasant memories to the surface, and the
wounds Sherlock carries may take more than just time to heal.

Rebuilding
Rome (94,000 words) by SilentAuror
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: When a case unexpectedly
forces John to acknowledge some difficult truths about himself and
his life, he spirals downward, leaving Sherlock to do his best to
rescue him from his own darkness and somehow try to build something
new on broken foundations.

Side
Effects (86,730 words) by MissDavis
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Life is a lot better for
Sherlock and John than it was a year ago. Yes, John still can’t walk
and Sherlock is still on antidepressants, but they’re married now,
and almost everything else is back to their version of normal. They
have a dog. Sherlock’s solving cases again. But when Moriarty learns
of their marriage, he escapes from prison and takes it upon himself
to make their lives miserable. Is Sherlock really up to the challenge
of catching a criminal whose only goal is to make sure that he and
John don’t live happily ever after?

The
Monument of Memory (79,663 words) by J_Baillier
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: A genius traumatised by a past
he’s only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time
forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a
murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

Repairing
the Broken Things (75,151 words) by BakerTumblings
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: “I’m calling today to
notify you that there’s been an accident.”

Just
to Hold You Close (70,841 words) by sussexbound
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: When a woman is murdered and
the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet
turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson,
Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he
never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet
reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly
drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never
has before.

White
Knight (69,840 words) by DiscordantWords
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Green. The word green
was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience.
Standing there amidst Janine’s chattering bridesmaids, watching
Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him
smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour
choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the
source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had
absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to
fake a relationship for a case. He doesn’t ask John.

I’m
coming home, John. -SH (67,247 words) by Ranowa
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: In the two years after
Sherlock throws himself off the roof of St. Bart’s, crunches into the
pavement below, and dies in John’s arms, John starts texting. He
doesn’t know that his text messages are being read.

The
Low Road (57,327 words) by Jupiter_Ash
Rating: Explicit
Relationships:  Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Low Road - n. Behaviour or
practice that is deceitful or immoral. The last thing Sherlock
remembers is shooting up in his university room in Cambridge. Now
he’s miles away, in the middle of nowhere, trapped with a man who
wants to have sex with him. Where is he? What’s going on? And more
importantly, who the hell is John Watson? The game is on. But what
happens when the other player seems to know you better than you know
yourself?

Isosceles
(56,609 words) by SilentAuror
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Original Male Character(s)
Summary: After solving a case for a
major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he
discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until
John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for
his date…

The
Alphabet Vignettes (49,141 words) by suitesamba
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Twenty-six vignettes featuring
Sherlock and John’s life after S4.  These begin just after E3 and
continue into retirement in Sussex, but are presented in a non-linear
fashion.

The
Lying Doctor (44,285 words) by pagimag
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan
Summary: Sherlock and John’s
relationship is fragile after the events at Culverton Smith’s
hospital.
John struggles with guilt and anger issues. During a
case he decides to visit his aunt, which leads to an unexpected
development. He’s forced to reevaluate ingrained behaviours,
confront long lasting issues and question how he leads his life.

Complete
as a Human Being (41,661 words) by LollipopCop
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan
Summary: One week after Sherlock’s
birthday, Irene Adler is back in their lives, living at Baker Street
and bringing up old wounds from the past while aggravating new ones.
John is not pleased.

Reconcile
(36,464 words) by illwick [plus all of the other installments of this
terrific series]
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: John views his past through a
new lens when he finds his relationship with Sherlock on thin ice.

The
Change (28,841 words) by Laur
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Sherlock and John struggle to
accept the Wolf as they begin their new relationship.

A
Quiet Life (25,176 words) by DiscordantWords
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: There had been three days of
silence and a funeral. Sherlock had the terrible feeling that
whatever happened next would depend, entirely, on him.

Haunted
(22,369 words) by Vulpesmellifera
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Plagued by the past, John
moves himself and his daughter to a new flat for a fresh start - and
it’s not 221B Baker Street. While he grapples with new knowledge and
old guilt, he’s confronted with odd neighbors and strange noises in
the night. But is it the new flat, or is John Watson losing his grip
on reality?

John
Watson and the Three Spirits (aka A Ghost Story of Christmas) (18,788
words) by PipMer
Rating: Teen
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: John hadn’t planned on
becoming a grumpy old man. Well, he wasn’t old quite yet. But he
wasn’t getting any younger, and as he thought back on his life so
far this Christmas Eve, he was coming up with a lot of regrets. He
had been here before, at a crossroads. Feeling as if his life were
over, only to have it turned around in the blink of an eye. Could it
happen again? Or was it finally, truly, too late?

The
Palmyra Atoll (16,069 words) by elwinglyre
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: As John’s preparing for the
wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is
prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter
Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John
is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old
island.

stay
(just a little bit longer) (15,155 words) by
subtext-is-my-division
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: John may not be an expert, but
he’s pretty sure that shagging your ex is a bloody awful idea. (Shame
the sex is so good, though.)

Boat
Chase! (14,314 words) by shamelessmash
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Summary: Sherlock, John and Lestrade
are on a case that lead them to Brooklyn, NY. Reluctantly, Sherlock
accepts the 99th precincts offer to help with the legwork. Welcome to
this Sherlock/Brooklyn 99 crossover, where everyone ships Johnlock,
and the case doesn’t matter.

The
Death and Resurrection of a Beekeeper (12,923 words) by
shiplocks_of_love
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: Sherlock escapes London for a
quiet, solitary life in Sussex, exhausted after the whirlwind of
drama following Mary’s death. One day, a letter arrives.

In
July of This Year (12,078 words) by yaycoffee
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: There is an oft-cited
experiment discussed in classrooms and cocktail parties alike, a
convenient analogy when one endeavors to make a point about not
noticing the obvious until it is inevitable. Simply, if you place a
frog on a hot plate, it will jump off immediately, but if you put
that frog on a cool plate and turn up the heat slowly, slowly, it
will simply burn. Or: How these two idiots melt together, finally.

Afraid
of the Light (12,063 words) by hippocrates460
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: After everything, comes a time
of quiet. There’s cases, and Baker Street, and really, life is good.
It gives John time to work through something he’s been struggling
with.

Below
Zero (10,912 words) by Calais_Reno
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson
Summary: 10,000 miles south of London,
John Watson sits in a research station in Antarctica.
210 miles
above London, Sherlock Holmes is floating in a space station.
They
are Earth’s only survivors.

Bloodsicles
and Bay Leaves (10,724 words) by Zingiber
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John
Watson, Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade
Summary: When Sherlock struggles to ask
for John’s hand in marriage, he turns to the animal kingdom for
inspiration. Biology may be the key to John’s heart - or it may kill
them both.

Inktober
2019 (31-panel comic) by thinkanddoodle-batch
Rating: NSFW
(only 1 panel)
Relationship: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Summary:
None given but this is an utterly charming friends-to-lovers story
centered on Sherlock’s bed… which he is desperately trying to get
John into!

I’m so honoured to be on this list! Reblogging bc there’s stuff on here I need to discover!