#this is canon-divergent by requirement of the prompt. unfortunately the divergence does not apply to the twins

[billdenbrough]

local girl is writing about the twinyards again for a prompt that is not even about them. what a shock

[ravensilversea]

Use Your Words (Here's a Ouija Board)

Title: Use Your Words (Here's a Ouija Board)

Author: Raven_Silversea

Rating: G

Pairing: Mammon (Viper) & Skull

Prompt: Monster Hunter AU, Ghosts

Tags/Warnings: No Major Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ghosts, ghost!Xanxus

Summary: Mammon has a ghost problem, so they call Skull to come help them deal with it.

“Have you tried a Ouija board?” Skull asks, voice almost tinny over the phone. For once, the stuntman is quiet, almost cautious in his suggestion, but Mammon wants to throw the phone across the room anyways. Of course they haven’t tried a Ouija board. The suggestion is firstly ridiculous as the sheer fact they are calling Skull about the possibility of ghosts in the first place is truly a moment of desperation, and secondly Ouija boards are notoriously easy to mess with, even if one isn’t living with a horde of constantly bored, Varia assassins.

“Myu, why would I call you when I could simply acquire a Ouija board myself if I desired?”

“… so that’s a no then?”

Mammon refuses to deign that with an answer. Instead, they finish reading the report in their hands, sign it, and put it in the completed stack while they wait for Skull to continue.

“Why did you call the Great Skull-sama then? Perhaps you have finally realized his greatness at everything he sets his mind to?” Skull’s voice grows louder and more dramatic as he talks, but where Reborn says such things dead-pan with a straight-face, there’s a grin in Skull’s voice.

Even so, Mammon feels obligated to pop Skull’s bubble. “Myu, like when you exploded half-blended smoothie over the kitchen?” Skull splutters on the other side of the phone, and they allow themself a self-satisfied smirk. Tugging another report off of the steadily diminishing pile, they say, “Out of my contacts, you are both the one most likely to be familiar with potential hauntings as well as hoaxes and the cheapest-” Skull squawks indignantly- “to hire to make this determination.”

“You’re saying that you are willing to pay me to figure out whether or not you are being haunted? You? Give me money?”

“Myu, it is an unfortunate side effect of the exchange of goods and services yes. I expect you to arrive by next week unless you have actually died. In which case, I shall see you at your funeral.”

Ao3

“Now hang on a minute! I didn’t agree to-”

Mammon ends the call and clicks their phone closed, setting it aside on their desk and turning their full attention to the reports requiring their attention. They’ll know when Skull arrives in Sicily when he inevitably calls them to gripe about ‘not having directions, Viper’. Until then, they have assassins to terrorize because this report is not filled out correctly.

The phone call comes first thing in the morning, right as Mammon steps into their office and finds the contents of their bookshelves have exploded all over the place. Their furniture has also all been moved slightly out of place. Though, thankfully, the furniture has not been moved enough to require them to find somebody currently not in the body of a toddler to move it back into place. They answer Skull sharply, giving directions to the Varia castle when he does indeed indicate he managed to follow their trail to Sicily but no further.

Skull’s strangled whimper in response almost made their day. Would have, if their office wasn’t the scene of a disaster.

They spend the subsequent hours until Skull arrives cleaning their office. The sea of papers and folders interspersed with books turns into towering stacks on their desk, couch, and chairs for sorting after they move the furniture back into position. Moving the furniture takes a lot more effort than it would have almost two decades ago, and they vow vengeance on Checkerface yet again.

It doesn’t help that their progress is impeded by the occasional shower of rethrown paperwork.

 Skull walks into their office, shuts the door, and slides down it to the floor, which is admittedly appropriate reaction to the Varia for anyone who isn’t Quality. “How do you manage them?” he asks, not looking at Mammon.

“Myu, I charge them money every time they inconvenience me. Eventually they stop in order to save their paychecks.” Mammon floats with another of their more valuable books to the top shelf of the bookcase behind and to the right of their desk. Whoever this ‘ghost’ is, they’re lucky none of the truly rare or antique books were damaged, if they were thrown at all. Mammon is not above charging the dead.

“Of course you do,” Skull sighs. He stands and brushes himself off. “So what happened here?”

Mammon pauses in their tidying to give him a deadpan look, and Skull responds with one of his own. The camaraderie Skull displays sometimes is disgusting. They’ve clearly known him for far too long. “My office was totaled when I walked in this morning.”

“You think it’s the ghost?” Skull pulls off his helmet and sets it on an empty spot of their couch, hopping up next to it. There’s a gleam in his eyes that Mammon’s only seen when he talks shop with mechanics and other motorcyclists. “That’s one hell of a haunting you’ve got here if so.”

Another book to its appropriate place on the shelves, and another pile of paperwork that needs to be skimmed over and resorted into the proper file placed to the side. “It needs dealing with,” Mammon says sharply. “This,” they throw their arms out to the side in mid-air, “cannot happen again. There are financial reports, mission reports, mission assignments, and my books! all mixed together, and I can’t find anything in this mess.”

Skull nods. “And you’ve wasted an entire day just cleaning up and it’s still a huge mess.” He hops off the couch and approaches a stack of books. “I think I remember your book organization system, so I’ll start putting these away while you get started on sorting the paperwork.” He picks up a thick reference book and playfully staggers under the weight.

Mammon’s lips definitely do not twitch at his antics as they settled in their desk chair. “Myu,” they say, “you have thoughts.”

“Well,” Skull gently tips the reference book on to the bottom shelf of the bookcase to the immediate left of the door, “it’s certainly not any of your people given the size of the mess- they wouldn’t see their paychecks for weeks! So it is likely to be a ghost, but the exact reason why…” He trails off, watching as some of the paperwork is thrown into the air again for seemingly no reason. “Hey now! Stop that!” he shouts toward the ceiling. “We can’t do anything if you keep making a mess of things!” Picking up another book, he reshelves it and then another one. Every now and then he glares in the general direction of the ceiling.

Taking a deep breath, Mammon refuses to cave to their impatience and demand Skull finish his thought. Instead, they focus on sorting the paperwork into piles by type, a much easier job now that the ghost appears to have ceased and desisted. When that’s done, they can then move on to putting them in chronological order.

“It’s like the ghost had something very important for you to notice,” Skull finally continues, “but they’re not skilled enough with manipulating the physical world to pick out the specific thing. They ended up trashing the place by accident, or at least in part. Given it’s likely to be a Varia ghost, they may very well have thrown a few extra things from sheer frustration and rage.”

Mammon twitches at the thought of a long-dead Varia assassin throwing their things around just because it wanted to draw their attention to one specific paper now lost in the mess. So help them, they will bring the culprit back to life just to kill them again if it happens again.

It takes the two of them until close to Midnight to get the office back in order, and Mammon repeatedly curses their tiny sizes over the course of those hours. They could have reshelved their books so much faster if the books weren’t almost as big as them! And Skull simply cannot handle any of the paperwork due to not being Vongola, much less Varia, though he does crack a joke about the hypocrisy of a criminal organization being concerned with Op-Sec.

Mammon threw a pencil at him and pointed out being a criminal organization made keeping Op-Sec arguably even more important. The ghost must have agreed with them as an additional fistful of pens is thrown at the stuntman.

However, the books are finally put away, and the paperwork is no longer teetering in towers on Mammon’s desk. The two Arcobaleno both flop onto Mammon’s thick rug, heads next to each other and feet pointing opposite directions, and stare up at the ceiling. “So…” Skull drawls out. “Did you figure out what the ghost threw a fit over?”

Mammon sighs disgustedly.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then.” There’s a distant thud somewhere in the castle, and a loud shout in response. “What would a Varia ghost want to bring your attention to anyway?”

Mammon shrugs. “Myu, most of the Varia are here to prove they’re the best and to do work that challenges them. Once they die, they are dead.”

“And by dying have proven they are no longer the best, so if any of them end up haunting the place, they’re more likely to generically throw a fit about it,” Skull says. “Or work to become the first literal ghost assassin.”

Turning their head to glare at Skull, Mammon hisses, “Do not give any of them ideas. The paperwork alone would be a nightmare.”

Skull laughs and heaves himself upright. “Right well, time for the Ouija board.”

“You did not.”

“I did,” Skull says gleefully, pulling out the board in question and laying it out on the ground. Mammon sighs but sits up and settles themself on the opposite side of the board from Skull.

The board is more solid than what Mammon was expecting. It’s a solid piece of wood, almost like someone took a cutting board and carved letters and numbers into it. Skull sets the planchett in the middle and then pulls a handful of candle jars seemingly out of nowhere, placing them at the corners of the border. “Myu, how does this work?”

“Well,” Skull strikes a match on the matchbox he also pulled out of hammer space and begins lighting the candles, “your ghost has already proven themself able to move physical objects around, so I was just going to let them move the planchett on their own.” He gives Mammon a raised-eyebrow-knowing-smirk. “That way it can’t be argued one or both of us is influencing the results.”

“Myu, fine.” Mammon pulls their miniature notebook out of the pouch they keep on their belt under their cloak. At Skull’s questioning look, they say, “Someone should take notes. If the ghost has something so important to say, I want evidence.”

Skull doesn’t say anything in response, but his face says he’s putting all sorts of endings onto Mammon’s assertion. Such as, so they can charge them in ghost taxes or have proof it wasn’t actually important and get a priest to exorcise the problem. With all the candles lit, Skull sits back and wraps his arms around his legs. “Ready?” he asks.

Mammon nods.

Skull takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment before saying, “Are there any spirits here?”

The planchett rockets across the board toward ‘Yes’ so hard it flies off into the corner. Mammon stares blankly at the now empty board.

“Right, um,” Skull chews on his lip piercing. He stands and collects the planchett, putting it back in the center of the board. “A bit less force next time, I think. It’s like blowing on hot soup, not moving a mountain with your breath.”

“Myu, you would know this how?” Mammon asks, ignoring the planchett now inching slowly back towards ‘Yes’.

Skull shrugs. “I don’t. It’s just something my aunt would say. This was her board,” he gestures at the board. The planchett settles on ‘Yes’, and there’s a feeling of anticipation in the air. “There you go,” Skull says with a smile. “That’s so much better, isn’t it? Can you tell us what you were trying to bring to Mammon’s attention earlier?”

The planchett seems to shiver before it starts moving again, picking up speed as the ghost becomes more familiar with the motion. M-I-S-S-I-O-N W-R-O-N-G I-N-F-O F-I-L-E-D.

Mammon makes a sound not unsimiliar to a tea kettle. “Myu, what mission? Who filed the misinformation?”

O-T-T-A-B-I-O.

Oh that mission. Mammon would be lying if they said it didn’t seem somewhat off. Everything about it was just a little too perfect, a little too lined up, a little too placed in their lap. They had been planning on sending one of their junior squads on it as a learning experience for how exactly one conducts a financial assassination but now… 

Mammon scowls. They’re going to have to double-check all of that information with their own contacts, which will spend precious time and money. If they’re going to do that…

“Myu, who exactly are you?” they demand. The ghost must prove their own credibility before Mammon takes their information with anything less than a grain of salt.

Skull makes a strangled noise, and Mammon’s heart drops into their stomach when the planchett moves to ‘X’. “There’s no way,” Skull whispers. He glances up at Mammon, “Maybe it’s a different assassin? From before your time?”

Mammon wouldn’t gamble on those odds, even with the Varia’s general turnover rate over the past few decades. Why would the ghost linger for so long and how would they have not been noticed before?

The planchett moves to ‘A’.

“Don Vongola says he’s imprisoned, not dead.” Skull’s very clearly grasping at straws, and Mammon’s a bit touched by his attempt. But-

The planchett moves to ‘N’, and Mammon doesn’t know. None of the Varia, not even Squalo, has been allowed to know anything about their Sky and what happened to him after the Cradle Affair. For all they knew, he could very well be dead and the Ninth’s covering it up.

The planchett moves to ‘X’ again.

Skull reaches over and grasps Mammon’s hand. He has a strong grip, and it’s the only thing grounding Mammon. Without it, they might have been able to convince themself this was nothing but a nightmare.

It moves to ‘U’. Then ‘S’.

Xanxus, their boss, their Sky. Mammon’s eyes narrow, and they burn like they haven’t since the Promised Day. They wrench their hand out of Skull’s grip with a snarl, cursing Vongola Ninth in every language they know. Their Sky is dead, and there will be hell to pay.

“Mammon,” Skull says, slowly, quietly. When they turn to face him, his eyes are bright but serious. His voice cold, he asks, “What do you need me to do?”

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi! Recently I've been interested in old fics, can you make a fic rec of season 1 fics written before s2 happened? (Old in age and old in theme lol) ps. I love your work and admire you a lot 😘

Hi Nonny!

Ohhh, this is an interesting prompt indeed! This one required me to 1) figure out when S2 aired (Jan 15, 2012) and 2) to use the “sort by date” feature on Ao3 I have never ever used. I got tired from trying to find all the Pre-S2 fics in my FFNet recs, so I haven’t many of them on here. When I have more free time, I’ll do a part 2 list from FFNet. So, yeah, sorry about how long this one took to do. Hopefully you’ll find something you like!

And if I got any of these wrong, well at least you can read more fics lol.

(and thank you so much!! I’m all blushie!!)

FICS WRITTEN BEFORE S2

See also: TGG Related Fics

You Lead, I Lead, You Follow, I Follow by BrighteyedJill (M, 862 w., 1 Ch. || Fever, H/C, John Whump) – John wakes up after a chase gone wrong to find Sherlock watching over him, but he’s a little hazy on the details.

Easy like Sunday Morning by lbmisscharlie (G, 910 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Breakfast in Bed, Epic Friendship, Platonics/Domestics) – John and Sherlock and their lazy, dysfunctional Sunday mornings in bed. In which Sherlock has difficulty sleeping and John makes lots of toast. Shameless fluff. Part 1 of No Mushrooms Please

A Metaphorical Gesture by cyparissus (T, 1,578 w., 1 Ch. || Marriage Proposal, Fluff) – "Sherlock, are you--" the words die in John's throat and he has to swallow and start again, "Are you asking me to marry you?"

Personal Space by probablyquantum (T, 1,814 w., 1 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Cuddles, Nightmares, Awkwardness) – John and Sherlock renegotiate the rules governing personal space. Pre-Slash.

But Love Is A Voice On The Wind by Snow (M, 1,832 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Meddling Mycroft, Texting) – Sherlock keeps getting texts from Mycroft with tips on wooing John.

In Which John is a BAMFy MoFo, OMG! by Kantayra (T, 1,835 w., 1 Ch. || Humour) – John's BAMFness and Sherlock's damsel-in-distress act are caught forever on camera. So Scotland Yard can mock. A lot.

Duvet (green) by Mazarin221b (G, 2,021 w., 1 Ch. || Post-THoB, Mind Palace, Revelations, First Kiss) – Sherlock recalibrates and restructures his mind palace so it looks like 221b. What he chooses to put in John's room is a bit of a surprise, and a revelation.

Seventeen Letters by out_there (G, 2,357 w., 1 Ch. || Love Confessions) – "I love Sherlock," John says out loud, testing how the words feel in his mouth. It doesn't change anything. Sherlock's still the pillock who fiddled with his computer password.

Nothing Left Untouched by ForeverShippingJohnlock (K+, 2,617 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Romance, Bed Sharing, Oblivious Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Grumpy John, Fluff and Cuddles) – Sherlock rearranges the flat. So what if John's bedroom is now a research library. It's not like John needs a bedroom, he can share with Sherlock. They're friends and John has obviously slept in close quarters with men before and it's not like Sherlock sleeps much anyway. It'll be fine.

Crime Scene Procedure for Death by Drowning by paxlux (T, 2,668 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TGG, First Kiss, Sherlock’s Violin, Fluff) – He lies back in bed and listens to the notes and pictures them gathering around Sherlock’s feet like water. Part 1 of proper procedure

and stand there at the edge of my affection by coloredink (G, 2,683 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Letters, Clueless John) – "You've written love letters," Sherlock asserted.

Undercurrents by entanglednow (E, 2,996 w., 1 Ch. || Disturbing Things, Crime Scene Fetish, Pseudo-Necrophilia, PWP, Masturbation) – “There, that's it, perfect, shut your eyes and don't move - and don't speak."

First Night Out by verityburns (M, 3,251 w., 1 Ch. || Romance, Christmas, Dev. Rel.) – As John recovers from the effects of a brutal kidnapping, he and Sherlock attend the Yarders' Christmas Party. There are... developments on the dance floor...

Bagged & Tagged by Regency (T, 3,339 w., 1 Ch. || Drunken Confessions, Fluff and Crack, Marriage Proposal) – A very inebriated John devises a clever means of proposing marriage to Sherlock. Unfortunately he's forgotten all about it by the next morning.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics by entanglednow (T, 3,614 w., 1 Ch. || Asexual Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Sharing Body Heat) – In which there’s no heating and there’s a dead owl in Sherlock’s bed. Part 1 of Thermodynamics

All That I Have by the_arc5 (M, 3,721 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TGG Canon Divergence, Pining Sherlock, John Whump, Anxious / Worried Sherlock, Light Angst) – In the aftermath of the Great Game, Sherlock finds himself with a new weakness. John is both the cause and the cure.

Water Is Another Matter by cathedral_carver (T, 3,903 w., 1 Ch. || Sick Fic, Pining, First Kiss, Heat Wave, Skinny Dipping) – He thinks it’s in trouble, his poor heart.

Someone Else’s Heart by thisprettywren (E, 4,188 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, H/C, POV Sherlock, Caretaking John, Pining Idiots) – A crime scene, a rainstorm, and something they both should have known all along.

Obsession, Appassionato by shinychimera, Yeomanrand (E, 4,249 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive Sherlock, First Time, Jealous Sherlock, Music / Sherlock’s Violin, Present Tense, Frottage) – John is late, and he hasn’t called, and Sherlock works himself into a state. Part 1 of Love and Ysaye

Practical Johnkeeping by what_alchemy (M, 4,330 w., 1 Ch. || Beekeeping, Aging, Gladstone, Tooth Rotting Fluff) – Sherlock predicts nectar flow the same way he deduces a murder, but he harvests the honey like John coddles the dog.

Sink Like a Stone by pennydreadful (T, 4,348 w., 1 Ch. || Angst / Dark, Cuddling/Snuggling) – After defeating Moriarty at the pool, life isn't quite the same around 221B Baker Street...it's more peaceful. And stranger.

Butterfly, Pinned Under Glass by billiethepoet (E, 4,648 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive Sherlock, Jealousy, Barebacking, BAMF!John) – It started as a desire to keep John safe and whole, and ended up as just desire.

A Quiet Murmuration by cathedral_carver (T, 4,684 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Kissing) – Just pay me back with one thousand kisses.

Applied Linguistics by what_alchemy (M, 4,837 w., 1 Ch. || Possessive / Anxious Sherlock, Introspection, Bed Sharing, Past John Whump, Est. Rel., Marriage Proposal, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Word Play) – “He wants to shake John by the shoulders, wants to open his mouth and swallow John whole. Wants to marry him.” Sherlock searches for the right words.

Finding John by orphan_account (T, 5,456 w., 1 Ch. || Soul Bond AU, Symbolic Rings, Soul Mates) – Sherlock Holmes has met exactly twenty-four Johns in his life. They have all been the wrong John. He's getting tired of waiting, staring at the inscription on his finger and wondering when his John will turn up, if ever. Part 1 of Inscriptions

Fa Subito by kim47 (E, 6,659 w., 1 Ch. || Suit Porn, Cockblocker Mycroft, Obsessed Sherlock, PWP) – John wears a suit. Sherlock finds it extremely distracting.

Sherlock’s Laboratory, Episode 1: Romance by berlynn_wohl (E, 6,900 w., 1 Ch. || Clones, Sci-Fi AU, Clone Sex, Foursome, Double Penetration) – “John, this isn’t one of your science fiction programmes. This is reality.“ Part 1 of Sherlock’s Laboratory

that thing you like by misspamela (E, 7,165 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers) – "Happy Christmas, etc. etc." Sherlock and John go to the Holmes’ for Christmas, and everyone thinks they’re together.

Galapogos by anchors (E, 8,460 w., 1 Ch. || Hurt/Comfort, Angst, 5 and 1, John Whump) – Somewhere in the depths of the universe, and somewhere in the middle of Sherlock's chest, a star goes into supernova.

To Quote Malcolm Tucker; or, Get The Fuck In or Fuck The Fuck Off by kim47 (T, 8,484 w., 1 Ch. || Jealous Sherlock, Flirting, Cockblocking) – Sherlock is cockblocker and a prick tease and John is not amused.

High Tide by stardust_made (T, 8,540 w., 1 Ch. || Jealousy, Angst, First Kiss) – A little favour Sherlock stupidly agrees to do for Mycroft leads to John meeting a handsome, affluent man, who is going out of his way to woo him. Sherlock struggles with the situation and with his own reactions to it. Part 1 of The High Tide Series

Let You Kiss Me (So Sweet and So Soft) by out_there (G, 8,659 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Kisses, Stroppy Sherlock, Confused John) – The first time Sherlock kisses him, John keeps his eyes open, and so does Sherlock, and mostly, he wonders what Sherlock could possibly be up to. There'll be some logic to this. Some ridiculous experiment about body warmth or respiratory rates or testing a new way of picking pockets. Sherlock does the unimaginable for bizarre reasons, but behind it, there's always logic and curiosity. Sometimes, it just takes him a while to explain it to John.

The Important Bit by Solshine (G, 9,984 w., 7 Ch. || Platonic Marriage, Domestics, Asexual Sherlock) – Just where exactly is the line between “to love” and “to be in love”? What difference is required between “flatmate” and “husband”? (Besides the rings, obviously.) No, the important bit is that they have each other. Thirty years, give or take, in an atypical marriage. Basically a long bit of platonic domestic fluff.

I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You by etothepii (T, 11,052 w., 1 Ch. || Winglock || Angels / Demons, Supernatural Elements, Occult) – Where Mycroft is an angel, Sherlock is a demon, and John is still John.

I See You Through by belovedmuerto (T, 12,078 w., 8 Ch. || Psychic AU || Empath John, Alternate TGG, Whump, Nightmares, Bedsharing, Slow Burn, Pre-Slash) – John has never asked Sherlock about his past, his childhood, the reason he quails in lonely misery almost every time he sees his brother. He’s never needed to. Part 2 of An Experiment in Empathy

The Velveteen Doctor by Lantean_Drift (M, 12,815 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, Dev. Rel., Introspection, Mild Whump, Taking Care of Each Other) – A series of events that show John just how real he has become to Sherlock – like a bright, brilliant flash of colour in an otherwise greyscale world.

Fucking Cake by Random_Nexus (E, 12,965 w., 1 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Humour/Crack, Inanimate Object Smut, Frottage, “For a Case” / “Experiment”, PWP / Kinky, Mutual Pining, Fluff) – Sherlock brings home a chocolate cake, John finds him about to have sex with said cake, then exceedingly weird hijinx ensue. Part 1 of "Fucking Baked Goods" - Sherlock BBC

Lacuna by coloredink (E, 15,607 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, Consent Issues, Drama, Amnesia) – God, it must have been terrible, to think that he would never have this again.

Never-Ending Cycle by orphan_account (T, 17,211 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Est. Rel., Proposal, Fluff) – Or, four times Sherlock Holmes attempted to propose to John Watson, and the Christmas Party at which he finally did. Sherlock thinks he's a miserable failure, John is confused, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade provide some unsatisfactory advice, and Mummy is, as always, the solution. All in a lovely, fluffy holiday theme.

Let's Make a Bed Out in the Rain by theimprobable1 (M, 17,664 w., 11 Ch. || Pining Sherlock, Angst & Fluff, First Kiss, Unrequited, Jealous Sherlock, Protective Sherlock) – John is devastated after his long-term girlfriend leaves him. Sherlock helps him through it.

I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.

A Life Well-Lived by Kate_Lear (E, 20,121 w., 1 Ch. || Original Male Character, Sherlock Woos John, Jealous Sherlock, Reluctant Bi-John, Past Abuse, Insecure John, Reassuring / Caring Sherlock, Protective Sherlock, Understanding Sherlock) – John got scared off men by an abusive past relationship. Sherlock has to try and woo him while not scaring him off with protective possessive rage.

Winter's Delights by Kate_Lear (E, 21,173 w., 1 Ch. || Holmes Family, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Bed Sharing, Domestics) – Sherlock takes John home for Christmas to meet the extended Holmes family. Part 1 of Winter's Delights

Once More, With Feeling by cellard00rs (T, 21,178 w., 7 Ch. || John’s Family, Fake Relationship, Romance, Fluff, Humour) – To put off his meddlesome, matchmaking mother, John convinces Sherlock to play the role of his significant other. Unparalleled awkwardness ensues.

You Can Imagine the Christmas Dinners by ardenteurophile (T, 23,584 w., 9 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Drama, Fluff & Angst, Humour, Romance) – Sherlock takes John along for Christmas dinner with Mycroft and Mummy (And "Anthea", too). Over the course of the evening, John realises that everyone in the room - apart from him - seems to think that he and Sherlock are a couple. Part 2 of Xmas Dinners Verse

26 Pieces by Lanning (E, 28,236 w., 1 Ch. || H/C, Torture, First Time, Happy Ending, Schmoop, Past Abuse) – Mycroft gives Sherlock the apparently simple task of solving a puzzle box containing a stolen microchip. It isn't simple.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John's head.

A Love with No Name Series by aceofhearts61 (G to M, 49,955 w. across 20 stories || Asexual Sherlock / Straight John, Est. Rel, Queerplatonic Relationship, Romance, Cuddling, Fluff, Platonic Romance, Domestics) – In which Asexual!Sherlock and Straight!John are platonically in love life partners.

The Progress of Sherlock Holmes by ivyblossom (E, 62,006 w., 25 Ch. || First Person Sherlock POV, Pining, Angst, Slow Burn, Infidelity, Sherlock Learns About Himself, Happy Ending) – Sherlock struggles with his feelings for John, makes a mistake, and learns just how important he and John are to each other. Non-BBC Mary / John, but it’s a *complicated* relationship.

The Green Blade by verityburns (T, 72,929 w., 15 Ch. || Casefic, Bromance) – As a serial killer hits the headlines, the police are out of their depth and the next victim is out of time. With faith in Sherlock Holmes at an all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit...

The Heart In The Whole by verityburns (E, 101,650 w., 21 Ch. || Post-TGG Canon Divergence, Drama & Angst, H/C, First Time, Blind Sherlock) – Events after ‘The Great Game’ leave Sherlock dependent on his best friend and colleague. But John has a secret of his own…

Performance In a Leading Role by Mad_Lori (E, 156,714 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Hollywood / Actor AU, Secret Relationship, Falling in Love, Slow Burn, Romance, Coming Out, Fluff and Angst, Pining) – Sherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto. When they are cast as a gay couple in a new independent drama, will they surprise each other? Will their on-screen romance make its way into the real world? Part 1 of Performance in a Leading Role