#Like... I always wondered why my depression was classified as 'mild' when I knew I felt worse but then I thought maybe I'm just overreactin

[blondedingdong]

Aight, blood samples taken. 👍 Tomorrow I'll get the results and also talk to the doctor. I hope it's really just the depression messing with me and making me THIS tired.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello Steph, you wonderful person!! Thank you so much for all the work you put into your blog. It’s such an amazing resource for the fandom! I was wondering if you knew any fics where either John or Sherlock are super!BAMF specifically under the circumstances when the other is threatened. I’d love to read some kind of scenario where one of them is threatened and the other says something along the lines of “if you touch one hair on his head...” Thank you for any suggestions on this theme!

Hi Nonny!

AHHHH I love those kinds of fics! I think I classify those ones under “Protective Johnlock” so it’s sort of… shoved into those ones? LOL. I’ve recently posted a Protective Sherlock list, so you can check out that one, and see these others below! I know I have a tonne more but I am still sorting through all my fics, LOL. So I hope what I have sorted for you, hope that these are what you’re looking for!!

PROTECTIVE JOHNLOCK (BOTH)

See also: 

Protective Sherlock

BAMF! But Insecure John

New World, Old Words by thedeafwriter (G, 641 w. || Deaf Sherlock, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Marriage Proposal, Fluff, Always John) – It was disconcerting to experience. One second, he was laying on the table, breathing in the gas that would make him sleep, the next, he was dragging his eyes open to look around the bright room, trying to wake up.

Idiot by Anesthesiologist (T, 1,229 w. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Alternate TGG / Explosion, BAMF John, Sherlock Whump, Inner Monologue, John Saves Sherlock, POV Sherlock) – What the heck happened? He remembered the pool and Moriarty, but then what? Had he been dying?

29 January 2017 by wearitcounts (Sher_locked_up) (E, 1,765 w. || Anniversary, First Time, Insecure Sherlock, Love Confessions, Post-S4) – “That,” John says, “should have happened years ago. Maybe even the first time.”

Loudly Unspoken by Mount_Seleya (M, 1,871 w. || Post-TAB, Love Confessions, Vulnerable Sherlock, Frottage) – John confronts Sherlock about the words he left unsaid on the tarmac. Set immediately after TAB

The Rational Machine by Solstice Zero (K, 2,924 w. || Hurt / Comfort, Malnourishment / Fainting, Doctor / Minder John) – Sherlock passes out. John muses on the reasons why. Containing an absorbing case, two bags of shopping, and a few apples.

It Was All Right There In Front of Him (A Five Times Plus One Story) by bees_stories (T, 3,191 w. || 5+1, Protective Idiots, Grooming, Bed Sharing, Lestrade POV) – DI Greg Lestrade is a good detective. But sometimes he doesn’t trust the evidence in front of him, until there’s a compelling reason to do so.

Breakfast, acronyms and brotherhood by Rose de Sharon (K+, 4,074 w. || TBB Fic, Friendship/Bromance, Hurt/Comfort, Protective John, Fluff) – Set after The Blind Banker: my take of Sherlock and John’s conversation over breakfast. S/J friendship, bromance, no slash.

Unforgiven by 221b_hound (M, 4,721 w. || Marriage Proposal, Victor Trevor, Jealous / Protective John, Jealous Sherlock, Sherlock’s Past) – Sherlock’s latest case is for his ex boyfriend, the brilliant and handsome Professor Victor Trevor. John is not too happy about that. But things aren’t what they seem, an old friend of John’s is involved in the case, and John has a few surprises up his sleeve. Also - a proposal! Part 16 of Unkissed

The Refining Fire by Arwen Jade Kenobi (T, 5,451 w. || Post-TGG AU, Angst, Friendship, Alternating POV (Lestrade, Mycroft, Sherlock), Worried Sherlock, Hospital Recovery) – Fire can burn things to ashes, but it can also burn things together.

Coldness/Heat by agirlsname (E, 3,790 w. || Cuddling & Snuggling, Body Heat, New Year’s Eve, PWP, Bedsharing, Frottage) – The inn is booked up on New Year’s Eve. The train home is cancelled because of the snow. The only option is to sleep in the non-heated guest room of a client, and John and Sherlock are freezing. You know where this is going. Part 1 of New Year’s Kiss

And Here We Are by J_Baillier (T, 12,416 w. || ASiP Fic, Alternating First Person POV, Drama, Friendship, Mild Case Fic, Autism Spectrum Sherlock, Insecure Sherlock, Protective John, Pining, Homophobia, Loneliness, Angst, Humour, Domestics, Morbid Fluff, Kidnapping) – All the little things we never got to see when an army doctor and a consulting detective were adjusting to sharing a flat. And a life.

Just Like That by sussexbound (E, 8,442 w. || First Time/Kiss, Frottage, Virgin Sherlock, French Kissing, Anal, Emotional Lovemaking, Enthusiastic Consent, Tenderness, Crying John, Bathing/Washing, Insecure John, Toplock) – John doesn’t want to talk anymore. He wants. Oh dear god, how he wants. For the first time in what feels like years he WANTS.

Shuteye Shenanigans by Ayakae (K+, 13,263 w. || Post-TRF, Friendship / Epic Bromance, John’s Nightmares, Angsty Fluff, Bed Sharing, Humour, Cuddles, Taking Care of Each Other, Domestics) – John Watson has never slept with Sherlock Holmes. Never ever ever. And never will, thank you very much. Well, there was that one time, but John didn’t count that. It was completely different, just like the second time it happened. And the third. And the fourth. Epic bromance, but it can be read as pre-slash if you wish.

First Response by Arwen Jade Kenobi (T, 13,516 w. || Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Five and Ones, Whump / Injury) – Five times John had to perform first aid on Sherlock and one time Sherlock had to perform it on John.

In A Changing Age by allonsys_girl (E, 15,590 w. || Victorian AU, Virgin / Demi Sherlock, First Kiss / Time, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Mild H/C, Bottomlock) – Sherlock wakes up in the 19th century, with no idea how he got there.

Hellfire by testosterone_tea (E, 28,596 w. || Fantasy / Magic / Mages / Elementals AU || Mage Sherlock, Elemental John, Developing Relationship, Torture, Powerful / BAMF John, POV Alternating, Dark / Blood Magic, UST, First Kiss) – Sherlock is a Mage that gets involved with a case involving Dark Summoning rituals, leading him to John Watson, a man with Berserker blood. The only thing is, Berserkers have been extinct for centuries. And of course, nothing involving Mycroft and his interfering ways is ever simple. This time, even Sherlock may have bitten off more than he can chew.

(Never) Turn Your Back to the Sea by DiscordantWords (M, 39,968 w. || Post S4 Fix It || Grief / Mourning, Victor Trevor, Friendship, Sherlock is Not Okay, Nightmares/Flashbacks/Panic Attacks, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John Comes Home) – Baker Street is very much the same. Only different. And Sherlock is just trying not to drown.

The Real Great Perfumers by shelleysprometheus (E, 45,355 w. || Case Fic, Alternating POV, Gay Sherlock / Bi John, Canon Compliant with Divergence at TRF, Friends to Lovers, Oral / Anal, Pining, First Kiss / Time, Dev. Rel., Drugging, Body Worship, Bathing, Love Confessions, Travelling, Bottomlock, Cranky Sherlock, BJ’s, Alternating POV, Jealous John) – The case, this case. This extraordinary, fascinating, scintillating case. A house. Designed entirely by its eccentric owner, built by no less than five hundred expert tradesmen in the heart of Marrakesh. A house that had, seemingly not only driven its owner out, but also to his quite unpleasant death. And a perfumer, a chemist no less, the very thought of the secrets that house could reveal, would reveal was irresistible. Sherlock had to have this case … and it seems, he also had to have John! Part 1 of the Forethought and Fire series

A Hundred Crimson Sols by elldotsee (E, 55,536 w. || Astronauts AU || Mars Exploration / Space Travel, Slow Burn, Shy Sherlock, Scientist Sherlock / Biomed Engineer John, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, UST, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injuries, Suicidal Ideation, Zero-G Sex) – Will Holmes is a chemical researcher recognized widely for his contributions to the new Mars exploration program. Thanks to his ground-breaking developments, the IMMC (International Mars Mission Corporation) is one step closer to Martian colonization. Will and his team of scientists are headed out on the first of three manned missions before the first group of settlers arrive. Three days before launch, one of the crew has to be replaced. Will panics because…new people. The replacement is of course one John Watson, biomedical engineer and space hottie who was pretty sure he had retired from actual space exploration and was now content to work in the nice, quiet research lab. Can the crew survive this TOTALLY ROUTINE trip? Will they be able to endure each other for the looooooong trip in close quarters? Gonna be a wild ride… prepare for blast off. Part 1 of the SpaceBois go to Space series

The Burning by SrebrnaFH (M, 60,658 w. || Reverse Reichenbach, Suicide, Depression, Hurt Sherlock / John, Separation, BAMF John, Good Big Brother Mycroft, Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Fake Character Death, Rescue Mission, Reconciliation / Reunion, Hospitalization, Marriage Proposal, Illnesses, Physical Therapy, Happily Ever After) – Something went very, very wrong. John had seemed, if not happy, then reasonably content with his life. Sherlock had never predicted something like THIS might have happened. Not in his worst nightmares. He was the lousiest friend ever, apparently. At least Mycroft found him something to occupy his mind with, so that he didn’t have to go back to 221B and stare at the walls and the chair, where John Watson would never sit again.

The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (CanadaHolm) (M, 72,684 w. || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sickfic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him.

The Cost of a Wish by slashscribe (E, 102,493 w. || xxxHolic Fusion || Spirits / Ghosts and Magic, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Soul Mates / Fated Lovers, Adventure, Immortal Sherlock, Powerful John, POV John, Frottage, Wish Granting, Angst with Happy Ending, Nightmares) – John has been plagued by a secret his entire life that has made him feel hopeless until he meets a mysterious, seemingly omniscient man named Sherlock Holmes who owns a wish-granting shop. Their meeting sets off a series of inevitable events that will change the course of both of their lives forever.

Two Two One Bravo Baker by abundantlyqueer (E, 114,574 w. || Military AU || Afghanistan, War Story, Thriller, Switchlock, Rimming, Emotional Lovemaking, Lots of Sex, HJ/BJ’s) – Captain John Watson of 40 Commando, the Royal Marines, is assigned to protect and assist Sherlock Holmes as he investigates what appears to be a simple war atrocity in Afghanistan. An intense attraction ignites between the two men as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens everything they’ve ever known, but Sherlock is as much hunted as hunter, and everyone close to him is in deadly danger. Can he solve the case in time to save himself and John? Part 1 of Two Two One Bravo Baker Universe

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship’s surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there’s more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin’ the eye, he has to choose… is it a pirate’s life for him?

Unkissed Series by 221b_hound (T to E, 184,168 w. across 46 works || Established Relationship, Ace Sherlock) – Sherlock returned from the dead a year ago. John returned to Baker Street six months ago. They’ve been in a couple since then. or at least, not NOT a couple. For two smart men, they sure can be dumb. Luckily, an art thief tries to drown Sherlock, Sherlock has a fever dream and things are about to change.

[cornyregans]

Since this headcanon is depressing and requires a lot of background information that I may or may not have touched upon in the past, I’m going to be adding a read more so I don’t throw a giant wall of text at you all.

Here’s a little headcanon about why Contessa and Cordelia’s urns are in the master bedroom, as opposed to out in the cemetery with the rest of the ghosts.

Placing Contessa and Cordelia Capp urns in the master bedroom were Consort’s doing, not only because he misses both of them dearly, but also to punish himself since he blames himself for both of their deaths.

Even though there’s nothing in the game’s programming that implies Consort is keeping the urns in there to punish himself, I have added some things in previous essays that led me to interpret things this way.

Cordelia’s Death

Let’s start with Cordelia since the bulk of this revolves more around her than Contessa (who will only get a cursory mention at the very end). I brought up her canon cause of death being due to fire in my “Six Veronaville Tragedies” essay.

In the theory part of that essay, I had this to say about her death:

“…While most of the patrons left the restaurant in a panic [when the fire started], Cordelia, always the kind of person to help others, instead ran off to the kitchen to make sure the staff was okay.

By the time Caliban got outside, he realized his wife was nowhere to be found, and rather than secure his safety, he ran back into the burning restaurant to look for her, despite pleas from Goneril and Regan to wait for help to arrive. After not seeing her in either the dining room or the bathroom, Caliban knew there was only one place he had yet to check, the kitchen. Upon walking into the kitchen, however, he found Cordelia on the floor not too far from the fiery inferno that emerged from the stove. When he saw death’s visage looming above her, his worst fears were realized, and it wasn’t much longer until he too died of smoke inhalation.”

Look at the words I used to describe Cordelia and Caliban’s deaths, “smoke inhalation.” Now, you’re probably wondering just what this has to do with Consort, and I’ll get to that; however, I first want to make a distinction between Cordelia’s death and her husband’s.

The distinction between the deaths two lies the words used to describe the fire. The restaurant was described as “burning” when Caliban realized Cordelia was nowhere to be found; however, when he finds Cordelia in the kitchen, the room was described as a “fiery inferno,” meaning the fire was stronger when he died than when she died.

“And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!” —King Lear, Act V, Scene iii

The choice to interpret Cordelia’s death in TS2 being due more to the smoke from the fire than the fire itself was not an accident. The reason for this interpretation makes much more sense when taking Shakespeare into account. As for why this is the case, here’s another quote from that same essay, this time about the fate of the Shakespeare character she was named after:

“…[Lear and Cordelia] are sentenced to death for treason. While Lear is able to escape his sentence by killing the executioner, the pardon that would have saved Cordelia arrives too late to stop her death by hanging.”

“If that her breath will mist or stain the stone” —King Lear, Act V, Scene iii

“And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Never, never, never, never, never!” —King Lear, Act V, Scene iii

Both deaths involve suffocation in some way, shape, or form. However, to tie these two deaths together, I spent quite a bit of time researching a specific, well-known medical condition that impacts one’s breathing: asthma.

When it comes to the correlation between smoke inhalation and asthma, New York’s State website states:

“Individuals with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions (e.g., asthma), fetuses, infants, young children, and the elderly may be more vulnerable to the health effects of smoke exposure.”

If you haven’t already guessed, one of my headcanons about Cordelia is that she had mild asthma. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the smoke from the fire triggered her symptoms before she had a full-on asthma attack, which was not helped by her dropping her inhaler in the dining room during the chaos (which Caliban later found when he was trying to find her).

Ancestry and Asthma

Back when I was working on my “Beginning of the Feud” essay and theory, I realized that I put myself into a bit of a corner when discussing some of the supporting players: the parents of Contessa, Patrizio, and Consort. The reason for this ties into how two of these sims, Scribonia and Octavius Capp, died due to old age despite being adults, and eventually I came to this conclusion:

“…I tend to look at these two and classify their deaths as being due to natural causes. While this might sound similar to death by disease, I believe there is a distinction between the two. In TS2, the diseases that cause death tend to be contagious or acquired from external forces; however, the conditions that I believe could be in play for determining Scribonia and Octavius’ deaths would have been internal and non-communicable, like heart disease or cancer.”

The examples I provided for the non-communicable conditions were the ones I ended up going with when touching upon Scribonia and Octavius’ deaths, the former dying due to cancer, and the latter dying from a heart attack (or a defibrillator malfunction since Octavius’ cause of death is electrocution in TS3).

Scribonia and Octavius are the only sims in this group with canon causes of death, meaning that the player has more room to play around with when interpreting the deaths of Consort’s and Patrizio’s parents. However, for this headcanon, we only need to look at how I previously interpreted the death of Consort’s mother, Andromache, whose death by old age in Greek Mythology is contradictory to how she died as an adult here. As a result, I instead came to this conclusion about her death:

“Andromache also did not live much longer after her husband’s death, as she ended up dying of respiratory failure.”

I will admit that, at the time, I just picked her cause of death out of a metaphorical hat, so there’s not a basis for it anywhere. However, as I thought about it more, I looked up some conditions that fell under that umbrella (asthma being one of them), and things suddenly came together.

The Thebe Family

Part of why Consort blames himself for the deaths of his wife and daughter ties into the reason the Thebe family became extinct in the female line in the first place. Personally speaking, Andromache and Hector only having a son who was unable to carry on the former’s family name is something that always made me raise a few eyebrows. While this probably has more to do with how the family trees tend to be structured among the premade families; however, that doesn’t help things in a narrative sense, so I came up with this instead.

I think Andromache and Hector not having a daughter to carry on the Thebe name wasn’t exactly their choice. Instead, I think they probably considered it a necessity to stop once Consort was born out of fear for Andromache’s health since she, like Cordelia, had issues breathing.

While researching things that could potentially cause asthma, one of the causes that stuck out to me was hormonal changes, specifically that one can develop asthma while pregnant. This is what happened in Andromache’s case. She developed asthma while pregnant with Consort, and the severity of her symptoms combined with the lack of medical assistance she had available to her back then, ended up causing her death before she could see her son get married.

Why Consort Blames Himself

Like Andromache, Cordelia’s asthma came about during one of her pregnancies (her third, to be precise). This, combined with being more susceptible to asthma if the condition ran in the family, is why Consort blames himself for her death. His feelings of guilt were not helped by one of the firefighters finding the inhaler next to Caliban once they found the bodies.

The reason he blames himself for Contessa’s death is pretty self-explanatory since I believe that her death, like King Lear’s, was in large part due to a broken heart.

Even though I covered Contessa’s death in the past, I want to highlight what I said regarding Consort’s reaction to the event in a prior essay:

“Contessa’s widower, Consort, was absolutely beside himself. According to him, Contessa had never been the same after Cordelia died, and no matter how much he tried to console her, she would always talk about wanting to be with her daughter again. Though he knew Contessa was deeply saddened by their daughter’s death, he never in his worst nightmares imagined that the resulting despair would end up claiming her life.”

Final Thoughts

This is a headcanon that I’ve had for a while now, but never really had much of a chance to touch upon before. Part of this is because there are all these little interwoven parts that I needed to get in order, but also because I wanted to put out some shorter, fun headcanons before I began tackling some of my more serious and long-winded ones.

Most of my headcanons have some basis in outside sources, mostly Shakespeare, but there’s some history and mythology when it comes to some of the ones I have for certain ancestors. One of the many reasons why I find Veronaville so fascinating and why I write about it here is because of the variety of sources one can use in interpreting things. Sure, it can be convoluted sometimes, but it also helps in things like character and world-building, two things I greatly enjoy.

I hope to cover more of these bigger headcanons in the future with all of you. They’re not all this depressing, I promise.