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victorianwallpapers · 8 years ago

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Happy Endings For Everybody!

“Nothing But A Happy Ending” Endings

(Super Long Post)

Because apparently Moffat and Gatiss can't write their way to a decent finish with literally both hands and a map...

I tried to pick longer fics, and while there is drama and angst in many of them, I tried to keep the fics with at least hopeful endings and in this case, have tried to avoid total AU's. Small world changes I've included but completely different settings have been excluded. Also have avoided WIPs.

Gen-Fic/Non-Pairing

The Green Blade

verity burns

Rated T, 75 k

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 all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit.

Friendship only, lovely case fic for those of you who enjoy that.

Here Be Dragons

Winter_of_our_Discontent

Rated T, 16 k

Sherlock is Merlin, powerful, immortal, and bored out of his skull (both of them) waiting for King Arthur's return. John, on the other hand, is completely average. Sure, he's had odd dreams his whole life, and a bit of an obsession with Stonehenge, and now ravens are visiting him...but he's still a completely ordinary bloke. Really.

The King has returned, and London wakes.

Sort of Pre-Slash, I suppose, but a very enjoyable read if you like mythology.

Johnny Blue-Eyes

navigatio

Rated T, 87 k

A burglar with a conscience sends DI Lestrade something obtained in a break-in: a box of homemade videotapes recorded by a paedophile with his victims. Sgt Donovan, assigned to the case, thinks a child featured in one of the videos looks familiar...

Lovely John and Sherlock friendship in a very intense case fic, with a very nice supportive Mary, and one of the best depictions of Sally Donovan that I've ever encountered. This was incredibly depressing to read, but very well written.

Sympathy for the Devil And Mycroft Holmes

scifigrl47

Rated G, 17 k

Mycroft has always protected his younger brother, but there are some things he just can't control. Sherlock's relationship with John Watson is one of them. That doesn't mean that he's not going to try, but in the end, sometimes Sherlock makes his own choices.

And John Watson might just be a match for Mycroft when it comes to protecting Sherlock.

Can be read as friendship or pre-slash, I think, and I love any good Mycroft-centric story :)

Johnlock (of various ratings)

The Adventure of the Consulting Woman

DancingGrimm

Rated E, 39 k

“So the plan is, you have until Saturday night to make that,” he pointed at Sherlock, “look and act convincingly like a woman, so she can go and be a damsel in distress and in doing so trap a serial murderer. Have I got that right?”

This is how you write a good OC. I wanted to be Kristen's friend and have coffee together. Features John and Sherlock pranking Anderson, John getting uncomfortably in-touch with his angry side, and a Sherlock in drag – for a case, of course. Believably written case included.

Against the Rest of the World

SilentAuror

Rated E, 151 k

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. Post-Reichenbach.

This is the fic you should be reading if you crave some action-adventure and suspense in your reading. The relationship is uncertain...until it isn't, if you know what I mean. Also: Mycroft is a very good big brother.

All the Rest (of What I Want)

philalethia

Rated E, 68 k

After being invalided home from Afghanistan, John takes his therapist's advice and tries to meet people online. Specifically, he joins a fetish site, where he ends up interacting with a man called SH who keeps paying him money to perform odd tasks and seems very keen to take care of him.

Basically: slow-build daddy kink.

Hoooo-boy. Let's see, how many of my favorite things are in this story? Daddy kink, an insecure and socially awkward Sherlock, John Watson's filthy fucking mouth, bossy bottom John, generous use of sex toys, begging. What more could you possibly ask for in your smut?

Anytime

SilentAuror

Rated E, 17 k

Sherlock blinks and attempts to focus. There is a little too much vodka in his veins at the moment and it's having an unfortunate effect on his brain and retinas both. There are two Johns sitting across from him, and both of them are frowning at him.

“You're drunk,” the Johns tell him.

Sherlock blinks some more. “Says the man with Mrs Hudson's doily on his head.”

Lots of drunk sex on various surfaces, and I'm-not-gay-John trying not to give himself away. P.S. John is not actually as dumb as he looks here.

As long as it takes

PlainJane

Rated E, 14 k

Anything Sherlock wants. All night. No strings attached.

Smut, smut, smut, smut. Tasty tasty smut.

At the Edge of Desire

philalethia

Rated E, 16 k

While helping John move back in to the flat, Sherlock discovers a strap-on among John's things. He finds the discovery considerably difficult to move past.

Sherlock is so awkward and insecure throughout this entire fic, I honestly...if you want smut that makes you laugh, this is it.

Between each beat are words unsaid

darcylindbergh / hudders-and-hiddles

Rated T, 107 k

On their wedding night, John and Sherlock gift each other with the things they each said when the other could not hear, the things they each put down where the other could not see: a collection of writings that illustrate the way their love for one another has grown over the years.

You can see through the back-and-forth letters how long and how tenderly John and Sherlock have loved each other in this fic. So much angst! But the ending is very satisfying.

Cicatrice, Or: The Ornaments of Forgetting

hitlikehammers

Rated E, 16 k

In order to survive, to protect, to save his mind from the distraction, to spare his heart the ache, Sherlock deletes John Watson.

Sherlock deletes John Watson.

And then he comes back home.

A beautifully painful exploration behind how Sherlock's mind palace works, and the pain of John missing him. Happy ending, I swear!

Command Structure

221b_hound

Rated E, 49 k

Sherlock Holmes returns from his hunt to destroy Moriarty's network. He comes home to John, and at long last they start this thing between them that couldn't begin while Moriarty threatened them.

But Sherlock has returned fractured and suffering anxiety attacks. He thinks he needs discipline – the whip – to help him focus and be strong. But his problems are deeper and run back to a childhood of neglect.

John Watson is prepared to be Sherlock's Captain, but he's a doctor, too. His command style isn't about pain and subjugation. It's about care and responsibility: and those concepts go in both directions in Captain Watson's command structure.

Flavors of D/s, but this fic details a lot of the service/care aspects and throws out the punishment – with good reason. Emotional and painful. Explores the neglect and coldness experienced by both Holmes brothers, and the ways in which their parents alienated them from each other.

Common Tongues: Unassuming Brilliance

jinglebell

John may be predictably average in most things, but there are a handful of areas in which he knows he is uncommonly skilled. He can make a great cup of tea, for one. He's also good at patching folks up, putting bullets precisely where he wants them, and listening.

The one skill that John is perhaps most exceptional in, though, is language. John is a polyglot. Umm...getting turned on by a partner with foreign language skills? Yes please!

Cooperative Principle

bendingsignpost

Rated E, 56 k

As the newest instructor at St Bart's, John has been explicitly warned to never do Sherlock Holmes any favors. Too bad the sex is so good.

This is admittedly just a giant work of angst and porn. Sherlock is so slyly seductive in John's eyes that you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, not realizing what's actually going on until the moment comes. Stay all the way through the end because you get the feeling that they're both pretty okay in the last chapter.

A Cure For Boredom

emmagrant01

Rated E, 81 k

They'd never talked about sex in the year they'd known each other. Well, that wasn't quite correct: Sherlock had never said a word about sex; John had bemoaned his personal dearth of it on many occasions.

Do I need to tell people about this anymore? It's pretty famous by now. The fic when you want smut now, but also want slow burn at the same time (I have no idea how that works, it just does).

Dear John series

wendymarlowe

Rated E, 30 k

Podfic! By bagofthumbs

Also in Spanish

With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint it turns out to be Sherlock.)

A sexy fic that tries to explore Sherlock and John's relationship backgrounds – and will have you sweating with anxiety about John's reaction the whole time.

echoes through time

chellefic

Rated E, 21 k

Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents after the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another. A brilliantly-written crossover with the ACD version of Sherlock, very sexy and sweet.

Electrical Pink Hand Grenade

BeautifulFiction

Rated E, 67 k

Podfic! By sevenpercent

Also in Russian and French

“If Sherlock's brain is a hard drive, then these attack are an electro-magnetic pulse.” Sherlock Holmes does not do anything by half, not even a migraine. It falls to John to witness one of the greatest minds he has ever known tear itself apart, and he must do his best to help Sherlock pick up the pieces.

Sick!fic done right! I especially love Sherlock's weird pain-induced descriptions of his surroundings.

Flash Bang

mydwynter

Rated E, 27 k

The fantasy is so affecting it pulls a whimper from John's throat.

From whimper to bang. Brighter than the sun.

An emotional exploration of John realizing what he wants from his flatmate.

Gifts from the Sea series

patternofdefiance

Rated E, 19 k

One of the few fics I've ever see that contains all of the following: consensual tentacle porn, interspecies sex, and mating pheromones.

Gold Rush

ShirleyCarlton

Rated E, 71 k

John has divorced Mary and pops round to 221B one evening to find Sherlock in the middle of a case. As Sherlock tries to find the identity of a young woman's stalker, John realizes he can no longer deny his feelings for Sherlock – which then, to their befuddlement, turn out to be mutual. Shy kisses and tentative embraces ensue. But will Sherlock be able to cast off a shadow from his past that he thinks might prevent John from wanting to stay?

Yay for cool, interesting cases! Good references to ACD, too! No Mary, no Moriarty, and John deals well with Sherlock's anxiety and jealous insecurity.

A good old-fashioned happy ending

darcylindbergh

Rated E, 32 k

Podfic! By Lockedinjohnlock

And Sherlock stands there, in the middle of a Christmas market as John hums along to Silent Night, John's hand warm in his with fingertips a little gritty from the cinnamon-sugar doused churros they'd shared, and thinks, oh, that's-that's an idea, isn't it?

For Christmas this year, Sherlock wants to get John something special: something every fairytale deserves.

The softest, fluffiest thing you could possibly imagine, including Sherlock proposing at Christmas.

The Ground Beneath Your Feet

Chryse

Rated E, 68 k

Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.

This story is filled with bittersweet angst and ends in a hopeful, happy ending. I won't spoil the rest for you.

Hitting the Water at Sixty Miles an Hour

what_alchemy

Rated E, 30 k

“You love your mother, Sherlock?”

John watched the muscles in Sherlock's jaw jump. He nodded in one sharp jerk.

“Then we're going to her party and making her happy.” John let out a resigned sigh. “As a ruddy couple, you bastard.”

Fake relationship, Mummy Holmes, and the Holmes brothers being enormous insufferable gits.

HOT DOLPHIN SEX series

cwb

Rated E, 47 k

Far from being about dolphin sex or honestly...dolphins at all, this is what happens when a great author writes Evil!Mary, and an incredibly competent John who tries to take ownership of his life.

Hounds

quietasasleepingarmy

Rated E, 21 k

Sherlock enlists John's help with a case that falls far beyond his area of expertise.

Very creepy case-fic with John realizing that his jealous and protectiveness aren't entirely platonic. Also you gotta love John going badass on the villain.

How Long?

Camerasparring

Rated E, 23 k

Not long after meeting John, Sherlock receives an email from an old acquaintance. Unfortunately, Sherlock has neglected to tell anyone he was once married. Past Sherlock/Sebastian Wilkes, emotional abuse Internalized homophobia and terrible terrible sex (none of this involves John). Sebastian is a dick and no one is surprised.

If nobody speaks of remarkable things

darcylindbergh

Rated E, 34 k

Maybe that was why: you only get the one miracle.

This fic is basically agony, but only in the best of ways.

In A Changing Age

allonsys_girl

Rated E, 15 k

Sherlock wakes up in the 19th century, with no idea how he got there.

A beautiful and tender crossover with ACD/TAB Victorian Holmes. Very slow and lovely.

Just a Kiss

emmagrant01

Rated E, 19 k

Five times John and Sherlock kissed because of a case and one time they kissed for real.

A cute adventure featuring a very BAMF John and somewhat clueless Sherlock.

Kill a Mockingbird

GwendolynnFiction

Rated T, 134 k

John had found perhaps the only way to bring Sherlock home from his self-imposed exile after TRF. He is abducted and tortured at the hands of Moriarty's contingency plan. Sherlock hears that John has disappeared and must ally with Lestrade, Donovan, and Scotland Yard to get him home.

This story is the essential definition of BAMF!John, and also shows Sherlock dealing with the very real and terrible consequences of his decisions.

Lock & Key series – can be read individually or all together

221b_hound

Rated E, 58 k

Just love and kink, my friends.

The Military Kink series

Silent Auror

Rated E, 29 k

A sweet and sexy two-part series flavored with Sherlock of the every-body-loves-a-soldier variety and watching his Captain give orders.

The Moonlight and the Frost

CaitlinFairchild

Rated E, 77 k

Podfic! By Lockedinjohnlock

“And once again, you think you know what's best for me.”

John rises from the chair, the anger and frustration and hurt overwhelming him, bursting out of every pore, and he doesn't even know for sure if it's Sherlock he's angry at, really, but the only reason he tied himself to Mary in the first place is because the person he really loved left him behind, and the woman he married once sat in the shadows above a darkened swimming pool and aimed a sniper rifle at his heart and later shot his best friend in cold blood and cuckolded him and just gave birth to a child that wasn't his and right now he just can't do this, he just fucking can't do this anymore.

This is how you write John suffering. This story is painful to read, and not recommended if you like Mary, but the ending is hopeful and the two men seem much more healed by the story's finish.

My Phone's on Vibrate For You

misslucyjane

Sherlock texts all the time. Today's different.

Flirty and very sexy, but not too angsty. Just enough sexual tension.

The napoleon

darcylindbergh

Rated E, 24 k

Halloween, 1989: John and Sherlock both have big plans for the night, but some serial killers have the worst possible time.

Fun and sexy adventure set on Halloween. Mycroft is not impressed with your shit.

Nature and Nurture

earlgreytea68

Rated M, 203 k

Podfic! By AxeMeAboutAxinomancy

The British Government accidentally clones Sherlock Holmes. Which brings a baby to 221B Baker Street.

A slower burn fic where John and Sherlock do this whole relationship thing in reverse. Move in, have baby, fall in love, get married. (Also Oliver is god damn adorable).

Never Change a Running System

Lorelei_Lee

Rated E, 54 k

Sherlock discovers his sexuality – with far-reaching consequences for John.

“John I would be grateful if you would stop staring at my penis,” Sherlock remarked into the gaping silence, without removing his empty gaze from the window.

The doctor, caught out, couldn't do anything other than swallow, loudly and with difficulty. “Believe me...you couldn't be any more grateful than me.”

A fun romp of sexual tension, smut, and comedy of errors.

The One You Win

TheUniverseWillSing

Rated G, 17 k

In which a homeless child follows Sherlock home one day, and he isn't as heartless as one might think.

The FLUFFIEST, CUTEST FUCKING- okay, okay, I'm fine. Married Johnlock and a cute little girl who loves science that Sherlock becomes hopelessly attached to.

The Progress of Sherlock Holmes

ivyblossom

Rated E, 62 k

Podfic! By cellardoor

“I had,” he said “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data.”

- Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Or: “Wow, Mycroft, You Are Such An Unrepentant Dick”. Mary is not a villain, but also just not terribly nice, either.

Read Our Futures in the Rising Steam

xzombiekittenx Rated E, 22 k

An unknown killer begins kidnapping and vivisecting men who bear a strong resemblance to one John Watson. Lestrade wants both John and a newly-resurrected Sherlock as far away from the case as possible – and not just because Sherlock is the Met's prime suspect. But this is a case that Sherlock, still feeling out the limits of John's grief and his own guilt, can't just ignore. Very possessive Sherlock, TW for references to sexual assault and torture. Points for a well-featured Donovan!

Scotland series

snorklepie

Rated E, 303 k

Podfic! By Lockedinjohnlock

The third part of this series is still incomplete, but read the first two if you haven't already! This series really does have everything I love about fiction in general, never mind in Sherlock. Lovingly written smut, suspense, a well-crafted and interesting mystery, murder, secrets, lies, interesting side characters, humor, and life-or-death situations. The podfic by Lockedinjohnlock is terrific and if you listen, please dear god give her and snorklepie some love. I have no idea how she managed to switch between so many accents and I covet her gift jealously.

Shadows on the Wall

AraSigyrn

Rated T, 18 k

Podfic! By Lunchee

Also in Spanish.

John came back from Afghanistan psychic.

One of the best magical realism stories out there, in my opinion.

Shallow Grave

SilentAuror

Rated E, 31 k

Starts as Sherlock's plane is taking off at the end of His Last Vow. When he finds out that Moriarty is alive and that he's being recalled from his mission, Sherlock decides that he should have told John how he felt before he left. So he walks off the plane and kisses him.

Wow. Possibly the only fic that has ever made me feel sorry for Moriarty. Mary is not a good girl here.

Small Screen Valentino

DancingGrimm

Rated E, 43 k

“Oh God,” John breathed, horrified.

It took a lot to horrify John H. Watson. Worried now, Sherlock got up and stepped around the table, only to be foiled when John quickly turned the laptop so he couldn't see the screen.

“John, what is it? What did she do?”

“She put a video online...oh God...”

“What? What sort of video?”

“Our video, Sherlock! One that she and I made!”

Poor John. It really is very uncomfortable seeing him so embarrassed and ashamed of this and the real reveal over it is very sweet. And Sherlock trying to help and battling his curiosity is quite sweet.

Sonatina in G Minor

SilentAuror

Rated E, 22 k

John has come back to Baker Street, but Sherlock doesn't understand the strange tension between them, even after he begins teaching John to play the violin at John's request...

A lovely slow build to the romance with music and a sort-of case melded in the middle.

Spoiled Kitty series

philalethia

Rated E, 20 k

Stories featuring pet play scenarios in which Sherlock is John's treasured pet.

Very hot if you like D/s and pet play, for the kinkier among you. Do read story tags, some feature different aspects of the dynamic. Both men are clearly more into the caretaking portions of power play and neither are too interested in the punishment portion.

State of Flux

Atiki

Rated E, 24 k

John's marriage is over and he is finally back home (i.e. at Baker Street, where he belongs). Sherlock is awfully insecure and John is awfully hesitant, and they're both awkward idiots, of course, but they figure it out. Many First Times happen.

Honestly who the hell doesn't know this fic at this point?

Stick to the Script

thisisforyou

Rated E, 43 k

Maybe Sherlock should have guessed that asking John to pretend to tie him to the bed and shag him through the headboard – for a case – wasn't such an intelligent idea. Or, the one in which a femme fatale murder causes Sherlock and John to role-play sex. Repeatedly.

Not only grade-A kink, but one of the more odd and interesting cases in this fic.

Stood in History

philalethia

Rated E, 18 k

He discovered the ring in John's sock drawer.

It all went a bit downhill from there.

Oh dear. Sherlock anticipates John's proposal and has increasingly large meltdowns thereafter.

Synapses

theshopislocal

Rated E, 52 k

“Thrice”

“Yes.”

John blinks. Shakes his head. Blinks again. “Thhhhrice.”

“Yes.”

Is my mouth moving right n- “Thrice in your entire life?”

“Yess, John,” Sherlock growls, hissing like a snake grabbed by the tail. “Thrice, three times, twice more than once and once more than twice, a veritable triptych of onanism. Thrice.”

John discovers that Sherlock has only had an orgasm three times in his life and he finds this very interesting for some reason. Sherlock struggles with the aftermath of his time away from London and his repressed sexual urges, aided (or not?) by John. ANGST

This Doesn't Feel Like Falling

Dark3Star

Rated E, 148 k

When he fell from St. Bart's Sherlock knew he loved John Watson. John couldn't love him back (or so he thinks). Now that he's back from the dead things are back to normal...sort of. When a serial killer targets increasing high profile gay couples Sherlock is on the case. With a, possibly ill-advised, plan Sherlock and John go undercover as a gay couple to uncover the truth. Fake relationship, slow burn-ish with a very nice attached case fic. Does feature homophobic themes and graphic depictions of violence, as well as a few smutty scenes.

Vena Cava

SilentAuror

Rated E, 27 k

Sherlock has been shot in the chest; John has been shot in the heart. Though everything is broken, they do their best to heal the wounds that Mary left on them both.

Mary-as-villian story that appropriately addresses the anguish John feels at his friend's near death.

Wars We Fought, Things We're Not

blueink3

Rated M, 55 k

“Oh come, John. Could be fun,” Mycroft taunts, accompanied by an eyebrow arch he's gotten far too good at. “Besides, it's not as if it's your first time pretending to be a couple.”

Five months after John's world has fallen apart, Mycroft sends the consulting detective and his doctor on a case that neither is prepared for.

I'm a huge sucker for well-nuanced side characters and good casefics, and this delivers on both. Bonus cute baby and gut-wrenching emotional turmoil, as well as all-encompassing sexual tension. Mm-mm.

A Waste of Breath

Chryse

Rated E, 95 k

Podfic! By Aranel_Parmadil and Consulting_Smartass

John had always assumed Sherlock was uninterested, untouchable, married to his work. He was wrong on all counts. But when Sherlock embarks on a relationship, John worries that he is in over his head...and this time he might be right.

Features Sherlock/Sebastian Moran. John grows slowly into his love for Sherlock but the affection is obvious even in the beginning. His patience and fondness shine through every chapter. This is one of my favorites, and John's steadily growing concern for Sherlock's safety kept me on the edge of my seat.

What Did You Think About series

Chryse

Rated E, 30 k

Podfic! By Aranel_Parmadil

A series of excellent smut with an ending twist I definitely would not have guessed was coming.

The White Lotuses

SilentAuror

Rated E, 20 k

Podfic by Lockedinjohnlock

One day John realizes that he just isn't where he belongs, which is back at Baker Street with Sherlock. So he goes back and Sherlock, in his own way, courts him. Romance. A nice romantic-tension filled slow-burn story with some beautiful Hindu imagery thrown in.

Your Perfect Offering

CaitlinFairchild

Rated E, 44 k

“Sherlock,” John continues, careful and quiet. “I've seen your back. I know you were hurt. I don't want to pry, I don't want to cause you discomfort but...I'm starting to think something else happened there. In Serbia.”

Sherlock rolls away and sits up on the edge of the bed, his back to John.

“A great many things happened in Serbia,” he says, flat and remote. “None of them were pleasant.”

This shows a very painful and realistic view of trying to help someone you care about past a traumatic experience, while dealing with the hard frustration of feeling them push you away. Happy ending, I swear.

Mystrade

The Least of All Possible Mistakes

rageprufrock

Rated M, 118 k

Podfic! By Lazulus

If ever a people deserved tasering it's Holmeses.

Featuring an excellent Fem!Lestrade, this may literally be my favorite story in the whole fandom. I come back to it again and again, because it’s beauty is profound, but simple and comforting. Hilariously funny, witty, charming, and frank, I highly recommend getting the podfic if you aren't trying to read this on mobile. Also has a very emotional and well-written female friendship between Fem!Lestrade and Anthea. If you don't love this, I honestly don't know what to do for you.

So Full of Light

mydwynter

Rated E, 20 k

It seemed that Lestrade's salt-and-pepper hair grew in the same on his face as it did on his head. His beard was bristly, patchy, viscerally appealing in a way that had little to do with aesthetics and more to do with masculine sensuality. Mycroft stood rapt, conjuring up the rough brush of the beard against his lips without having moved an inch. His apprehension dropped away, lost behind a painful stab of want.

Christmas, when he and Lestrade had both been strong-armed into growing beards for a cause, proved to be the turning point for the whole desperate, shattering, uncomfortable scenario.

Or “Mycroft has the same crush on Lestrade that we do”. Also, if picturing Rupert Graves and Mark Gatiss with beards doesn't do it for you, I seriously can't help you.

Unlikely Connections We Make

Linpatootie

Rated E, 31 k

Greg's life has gone to the dogs. In a spectacular show of really bad judgment he tries to improve things by hitting on Mycroft Holmes.

This is just...really cute? And sweet? One of the best just plain old feel-good fics.

#sherlock #fic rec #v recs

8 notes · View notes

victorianwallpapers · 8 years ago

Text

I had time to think about this and order my thoughts now (especially since my laptop crashed 3/4 through the first draft of this).

Let me first say that while I agree there are problems with The Lying Detective, I did love the episode. It pushed both characters to their limits in several respects and they need this final push. But they need to fix two things to be in healthy relationship, and unsurprisingly, those two things are John and Sherlock. To tell the truth, John's actions in this episode are the latest in a line of mutual abuse that John and Sherlock have been cycling through almost their entire relationship, even if you don't read them as being romantically interested in each other.

Sherlock has repeatedly lied to or manipulated John in order to get desired reactions from him (see every single damn episode), abandoned him whenever it suited his purposes (see all of season 1, The Hound of Baskerville, The Reichenbach Fall), drugged John without his knowledge (The Hound of Baskerville, mentioned during The Sign of Three), and faked his own death in front of him, while making John his suicide note (The Reichenbach Fall – the reason for this was also never logically explained).

John has called Sherlock names in a less than friendly way at least twice that I can recall (The Reichenbach Fall “you machine!”, The Lying Detective “he's not a monster.” “yes he is” “yes, well, but he's our monster”), made snarky comments about him being on the Autism spectrum (The Hound of Baskerville), tried to distance himself from Sherlock socially at least once (The Blind Banker), and physically attacked and assaulted him I believe...five times? Once in A Scandal in Belgravia, three individual times in The Empty Hearse, and now the most severe of these in The Lying Detective. The first time at least, Sherlock did it deliberately, even if John probably got more carried away than he intended to. After Sherlock's return from the dead, I agree that a good slap would certainly have been warranted, even a classic punch to the nose, but John strangles him and attacks him in three separate locations, giving him a bloody nose before storming off for good. There is no possible justification for what he did here. Sherlock was physically very sick, mentally unwell, and made no move to defend anything John did to him.

John is not unaware that he has a problem. It was the main reason I was disappointed that Euros wasn't the real therapist. Her Holmesian insight seemed to be working much better for John than Ella and Ella was actually giving Sherlock good, relevant advice. Unfortunately, John never does tell a qualified professional that he went into a blind, uncontrollable rage and beat his (potentially terminal) sick friend until the hospital staff stopped him.

He looks upset when he is retelling the incident to Lestrade, looking down at his knuckles and sounding guilty when he says “I hit him hard”.

Which moves me to the hug in Baker Street.

Martin (and Ben, too, honestly), did a really terrific job with this scene. John doesn't really sit still for long, barely chokes down his tea. He doesn't seem to look Sherlock in the face either. If you watch the scene he actually appears to be looking over his shoulder at ghost Mary, as Euros pointed out in the beginning of the episode. (Sherlock on the other hand, still has visible stitches in his eyebrow and all of his clothes are looser fitting than he normally chooses). He takes the opportunity to flee the flat at the first offer, despite his subconscious (ghost Mary) pleading with him to stay and talk. Now why would a man who consciously knows that Sherlock is always on his mind run from a conversation with him as soon as possible, despite wanting to stay?

John is guilty, guilty, guilty.

It's amazing – you can almost feel it coming out of his pores in the beginning of this scene. He confesses to one source of his guilt, the illicit text messages to the woman on the bus while Mary was still alive, and I have no doubt that this is genuine, but this conversation only starts after Irene's text message. So why would he still be focused on this guilt while sitting with his best friend and not talking about his wife at all?

Euros was right in the beginning – John is holding himself to an unreasonable standard. I honestly think that if a few text messages caused him to feel this ashamed of himself, I don't think he can even face himself for what he did to Sherlock.

Which brings me to my second thought about John's part in this. In a strange way, I'm almost happy that he didn't apologize? Which is not to say that I don't think he did something wrong – he absolutely did. I'm not sure what the British middle-aged army doctor version of “I'm sorry baby, I promise I'll never do it again” is, but I don't know if I would believe it even if he did. I'm sure John is sorry – the problem is that “sorry” is worthless when you don't take actions to prevent something like it happening again, and we haven't seen that so far. This is a pattern behavior, and one John consciously needs the skills and will to control. Apologizing at this point would be nothing more than fulfilling a social expectation, a meaningless promise one must take at face value.

Sherlock is the other problem here, and now I'm going to be very clear about something: this was not Sherlock's fault. Nothing Sherlock's done, now or ever, was enough to justify this level of violence, and certainly not while he was mentally and physically comprised already.

The problem I'm talking about is that Sherlock thinks he deserves to be treated this way. Sherlock is clearly guilty himself and is willing to take whatever punishment John sees fit to give him. He seems to think “I can take the pain, I can handle it as long as he comes back again”. I'm a little worried actually because this episode's outcome sort of reinforces this idea for him. If he does something wrong, he doesn't mind taking a beating – ending up in hospital, even – if John forgives him again in the end.

This is the other reason I'm okay with no apology – yet. Because Sherlock wouldn't understand why he was apologizing to begin with. The most heartfelt, sincere plea for forgiveness in the world would probably be brushed off, because in Sherlock's mind, John has done nothing to be forgiven for. Until he understands he's worth better than a bloody nose and fractured ribs, apologizing to Sherlock would just go right over his head.

Therein lies the real final problem for our two men, as far as I'm concerned. At their heart, neither of them believe themselves to be good men.

John holds himself to inhuman standards of Stiff Upper Lip, and seems to think anything less than this is something to be ashamed of.

Sherlock, on the other hand, seems to feel that there is something inherently wrong with himself, that he is somehow worth less, in spite or because of his great brain.

There's no real way to fix these things in 90 minutes, but I would at least like a hint here and there.

Ultimately, if this doesn’t happen...frankly the fanfiction will do it better, anyway :)

Genuine Question

Because I’m looking for other readings.

If you are still 100% on board with actually wanting Johnlock to be canon, how are you justifying the fact that a) John beat Sherlock in a moment of rage to the point that he could have killed him and never apologised, and that Sherlock just sat back and took it because he thought he deserved it, and b) that John told Sherlock that he needed romance and sex to be a complete human being in that hug scene?

If you’ve really found a reading that works for you there, even if it is something as wild as some sort of unreliable, ‘all in sherlock’s head’ theory, please share. Both of those things have got me to the point where the hug just made me sick to my stomach, and I don’t even want Johnlock to happen, and I just can’t think of a thing that could ever make me want it again. At least not something they can pull off in 90 min of screen time.

#sherlock #john watson #sherlock holmes #johnlock #abuse tw #mental illness #meta-ish #i guess #the lying detective

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