Sherlock Recs: Dark!John

[shadowfireflame]

Fuck it, I don’t care how out of character it can seem, the idea of a John who is morally compromised in some way (dark!John) is so hot to me. I mean, this is the guy who shot a man, giggled, and then immediately went out for Chinese afterwards (as always, abundantlyqueer says it best). I think what I like about it is the idea that Sherlock looks to John for moral guidance (“Not good?” “Bit not good.”), and if John isn’t okay, how much more messed up is Sherlock going to get? I especially like it when Sherlock suffers for John’s misdeeds. Because apparently I like it when Sherlock suffers. *is a sadist and hurt/comfort junkie*

So let’s have a list! Please let me know of any I’ve missed! Almost all these are going to be John/Sherlock or gen, and most of them have either non-con or dub-con by their very nature, so please avoid this list if that’s triggering for you. I’ve tried to list warnings, but please tread carefully.

Links I found helpful in compiling this:

• this search and this search on sherlock-search
• the theme: dark!john tag on sherlock-search
• tenderly-wicked’s The Dark List recs and Dom/sub recs
• the dark!John tag on AO3
• this discussion by wellingtongoose (warning for some gruesome pictures)

::: Dark!John Recs :::

• All For You (424 words) by TheArchitectProject
  Gen. Post-Reichenbach, Sherlock comes back to 221B to find it covered in blood. I can’t say I completely understand John’s motivations here (I guess Sherlock’s fall broke him?), but it’s short and horrific, taking the reunion trope and making it hellish. Warnings for multiple major character deaths, gore, insanity, creepiness.


• The Attack (11,474 words) by TiffanyF (lexxiescott)
  Lestrade/Sherlock, John/Sherlock (non-con). After the events at the Palace when Mycroft basically calls Sherlock a virgin, Sherlock is violently attacked in 221B, stabbed and raped. But the most painful detail is who’s behind the attack. Lestrade and Sherlock are very cute together, Mycroft is a protective BAMF, and John is...well, perplexing. The author labels this as “ooc,” but to me it’s weird because John doesn’t seem out of character, and yet is accused of this horrific (and scarily out-of-character) crime-and that part makes it, if possible, even creepier. Still, I adore Sherlock hurt/comfort, and this hit all those kinks like whoa. Warnings for offscreen rape, blood, emphasis on importance of virginity, major character death (offscreen).


• Beta (5,337 words) by fireofangels
  John/Mary. Author’s summary: Sherlock, back from the dead, promises to do anything to appease a deeply hurt John. Little does he know what John has in store... Full disclosure, the author so kindly wrote this from a prompt I gave, and it’s simply fantastic. Post-Reichenbach, dark!John is angry and upset and decides he needs to take steps to ensure that Sherlock can never pull something like the Fall again, and so starts corseting him so tightly Sherlock finds it hard to even breathe, much less to think. But it’s also a deep psychological study of Sherlock, of Molly’s friendship, of how manipulative John can become when pushed too far. Chilling, heartbreaking, beautiful. The author totally nails Sherlock’s perspective here and the dynamic of an angry John with a repentant Sherlock. Quote: He wonders if this will work, if this will bring John - or anyone - back to him. He hopes so.


• Beyond Repair (4,404 words) by tenderly-wicked
  John/multiple OCs (both dub-con and consensual), multiple OCs/Sherlock (non-con). Author’s summary: As a youth, John used to be a troublemaker. Since then, bad memories still haunt him. This story totally blew my mind. John isn’t necessarily morally corrupt here, but still he is rather darker than we see in canon. He’s an older man who as a younger man made a horrific choice with his friends and has paid for it ever since. Really fascinating take on John’s character and what such a traumatic event might have done to him. And what an amazing new light this sheds on the drugs bust scene from ASiP, dear God. Warnings for a non-consensual gangbang, homophobia, slut-shaming language, references to alcoholism, drug use, and drug overdose.


• Blood and Seed, We Heed the Moon’s Call (1,914 words) by beesandbrews
  John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Sherlock indulges John's impulse for a late night walk in the woods. It’s a decision they’ll both soon regret. OMG, Beltane fic for Sherlock! Both sexy and chilling. Warnings for dub-con, rough sex.


• Breaking Sherlock (2,295 words) by CaptClockwork
  John/Sherlock, dub-con. Dom!John and sub!Sherlock try a BSDM scene and both rather mess up their parts: John unexpectedly takes things to a new level, and Sherlock forgets the safeword. So, again, not really dark!John, but he definitely should have been more careful in the scene. I love the detail that Sherlock forgets (well, more like “instantly deletes”) his safeword because he’s so sure John could never hurt him. The author does a great job at keeping us inside Sherlock’s head, showing how taken aback he is and how he’s not really ready for this kind of intensity yet, even though he keeps trying to convince himself he can take it.


• Caught (1,516 words) by berlynnsherlock (berlynn-wohl on AO3)
  John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: He couldn’t fight John’s body and his own. This one is a bit complicated: Sherlock doesn’t like the loss of control that orgasm brings out, but John refuses to come until he does. Things come to a head when they have sex, and it’s dirty and really hot. I love the breathplay especially.


• Changed (2,753 words) by fireofangels
  John/Sherlock, very dark and distressing. John won’t fuck men, so obviously Sherlock has to become a woman to please him. Extreme dub-con, forced feminization, body modification, probably some other warnings. Oh, dear God. I’m a huge fan of a somewhat naïve Sherlock being manipulated/taken advantage of by the people around him (“he never says no to John”), so this really worked for me even though I didn’t initially think I’d be interested. When John isn’t going to be Sherlock’s moral compass, who does he have to tell him what’s good or not good? Nobody. The insidiousness of what John is doing to him, the sly narration technique of having John suggest Sherlock do something that at first seems almost disarmingly reasonable but then gets progressively darker, it all comes together in horrifying harmony. Mind the warnings, please.


• Contusions series (4,418 words) by fireofangels
  John/Sherlock. After Reichenbach, John and Sherlock embark on a fucked up, dubiously consensual dom/sub relationship. Ominous and foreboding and sexy all at once, the absolute essence of dubious consent. I love that the author connects John’s increased possessiveness and need to control to Sherlock’s post-Reichenbach return, and that Sherlock would feel the need to please him. Perfect. Quote: It’s sometimes a little bit dangerous. More for him than for John.


• A Curious Sort of Domesticity (2,174 words) by beesandbrews
  Gen. Sherlock comes home injured, and John takes care of him. This is definitely not dark!John, but at the same time there’s something that’s rather dark in him that we don’t usually see in stories, and I find it really compelling. I get a wonderful combination of feelings from this story and it feels really right, John quietly covering up for Sherlock without being asked and doing what he must to take care of Sherlock for his own good. Really fascinating characterization (and Sherlock hurt/comfort, which I adore).


• Dark!John series (19,163 words) by tenderly-wicked
  John/Sherlock (dub-con), BSDM. Sherlock gets handcuffed, gagged, beaten and fucked with the riding crop and a vibrator, beaten with a switch and a spatula, given an enema, subjected to cock and ball torture (a humbler), stuffed with ginger (figging), bound in ropes, put in nipple clamps. Good lord. The series becomes more angsty and well-characterized as it progresses, which I appreciate, though John does get a bit less dark. Warnings for dubious consent, violence, breathplay. Quote: Sherlock is beautiful like this. Completely undone and panicking. There’s also this extra story, Working in a team, which has members from John’s rugby team having a go with Sherlock (dub-con and non-con warnings).


• Doubt (2,266 words) by tenderly-wicked
  Gen. After the fiasco at the lab in Baskerville, John is angry and manipulates Sherlock into an equal trade: the time he spent terrified in the lab for time Sherlock will now spend alone, handcuffed to a tree, breathing in the terror drug in Dewer’s Hollow. Heart-rending, very creepy, with lovely characterizations of a deliciously manipulative John and a Sherlock who would do anything to keep his only friend.


• Greater Than You Know (1,959 words) by radial-symmetry
  Gen. Author’s summary: Five times John Watson isn't what he seems to be, and one time that he is. A disturbing 5+1 story about the layers that comprise John Watson that slowly ratchets up the tension in each section. Creepily plausible. The thing I like most about this story is how Mike Stamford and Harry have their roles to play in John’s life. Quote: Everyone is a lock, and John has the master key.


• The Hard Sell (4,017 words) by berlynnsherlock (berlynn-wohl on AO3)
  John/Sherlock. Sherlock’s a virgin, and John has a magical healing penis that he knows will take care of that problem. Uh, literally magical; it glows and everything. Heavy dub-con. The author manages to take a ridiculous premise literally and still make it come alive and be both disturbing and so, so hot at the same time. God, this is how you do dub-con.


• Hysteria (2,351 words) by berlynnsherlock (berlynn-wohl on AO3)
  John/Sherlock, medical fetish. Sherlock comes into Doctor John’s practice suffering the symptoms of hysteria. John can help with that. Author’s note: It is never specified whether this scene is a ludicrously naïve Sherlock being dub-conned by dark!John, or whether it’s only a perfectly consensual bit of role-playing. I purposely left it ambiguous so that you, the reader, could interpret it whichever way you prefer. Clearly I prefer the dub-con, which is why I’ve included it on this list, though I feel it works well either way.


• Insane (824 words) by SickPhantom
  John/Sherlock (dub-con). John steals into Sherlock’s room and handcuffs him to the bed. There are some grammatical errors in this short piece, and I don’t completely buy the dialogue, but I include it because the imagery of what John does is so vivid and memorable, and John himself is pretty terrifying. Warnings for major character deaths, dubious consent, lots of blood. Quote: He could do anything he wanted to Sherlock right now. Anything. And really, he was planning to do something.


• Invincible, Immaculate (1,068 words) by StoneWingedAngel (bamboo-door)
  Gen. An adaptation of some of the themes from “Snow White” with a very creepy dark!John and a drunk, vulnerable Sherlock. Fantastic imagery. Warning for implied character death, violence, blood.


• Just Before I Let You Down (3,442 words) by too many stars to count (lenorenevermore)
  John/Sherlock. Dom!John and sub!Sherlock are doing a BSDM scene, and Sherlock fails to safeword, causing himself pain. Oh god, oh god, I knew something was wrong-it’s so clear to me, but of course Sherlock can’t see that because, well, he’s Sherlock. I literally had my hands over my face while reading this, it made me viscerally ache for Sherlock. Very moving. And no, this is not dark!John; this situation isn’t really anybody’s fault, but the feeling I get as a reader is very similar, so I’m including it. :)


• Just Transport (3,785 words) by izzygone
  John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: “Don’t move. Don’t turn around. Don’t even look at me.” Sherlock felt something pointed against his back. A gun. Sherlock and his partner roleplay a rape scenario, and the story is written deep in Sherlock’s headspace as a man who’s about to be raped; he’s totally in the scene, so it reads as real, which might be triggering. Obvious warnings for non-con roleplay, guns. I found it really, really hot. I love how Sherlock was deliberately blocking his deductions about who his partner is so that he doesn’t make that final leap. (This isn’t necessarily a story in which John is really dark; he’s just pretending, but it works for me and hits similar kinks.)


• Lamb (2,056 words) by am-hatescaptcha
  John/Sherlock, non-con. Er…after Irene drugs Sherlock in Scandal, John molests him in his sleep. Yup. The moment when dark!John’s temptations solidify was amazing here.


• Naive Sherlock (5,882 words) by tryingtowritefanfiction
  John/Sherlock, John/OFC (dub-con and non-con in both pairings). Sherlock overhears John calling out Sherlock’s name while having sex with another person and deduces that they should be in a relationship together. Too bad John’s an evil, manipulative bastard. There are quite a few grammatical errors here, but I don’t care because the plot is the epitome of dark!John coercing naïve virgin!Sherlock into an unhealthy relationship, which hits allllll my kinks. With no sexual experience of his own, Sherlock is so easy to manipulate into thinking something awful is just normal (“That’s how it’s supposed to feel”), and this author totally gets that. Warnings for dub-con, non-con, physical and verbal abuse, irrational jealousy.


• Nettle Love (2,292 words) by SailorChibi
  John/Sherlock. A story with BSDM in which Sherlock unnecessarily puts himself at risk and John punishes him for it. With stinging nettles. This is such an unusual premise and so interestingly executed that I have to rec it. It’s not necessarily dark!John in that they’re both in this dom/sub relationship of their own free will, but it hits the same kinks for me.


• Obediance (1,156 words) by tiger_in_the_flightdeck
  John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Sherlock Holmes was built to suck cock. John is pissed about everything Sherlock got up to at Baskerville and demands that Sherlock make it up to him, immediately. John’s not necessarily “dark” here, but he is angry and, to quote the story, “John Watson can be terrifying, when he wants to be,” but Sherlock’s not complaining. Sexy and amusing. (Also: poor Lestrade!)


• The Ownership Cycle by cuddles-and-jam
  John/Sherlock. The series with about a million warnings, very dark and disturbing, with abusive!John inducing Stockholm syndrome in Sherlock in order to dominate him in their D/s relationship gone very wrong. Sherlock’s never been with anybody else but John is constantly calling him a slut anyway and training him with casual violence, and he takes it. This author is a master at taking a premise that makes one character extremely sadistic and then convincingly getting inside their heads and showing what their world looks like and how they treat their sexual partners. It makes for a completely fascinating read. Please mind the warnings, which change on each individual story in the series but are superbly documented by the author. Quote: He can feel Sherlock’s fingers tensing and trembling around him every time a blow catches him by surprise. And, God, there’s nothing quite like surprising Sherlock Holmes. (Sidenote: also be sure to check out this author’s dark!John/Sherlock tag for those fics not in this verse but similar in theme. There’s even an incredible gunplay one: Attention. Sooo hot, guhhh.)


• Porn Stars (1,300+ words) by colour-me-troll
  John/Sherlock. Summary: John REALLY wants Sherlock to relearn about the solar system. Denial of orgasm until he remembers the order of the planets. I find this premise and execution just out of this world hot. (Oh, God, that pun was completely unintentional. But I’m still leaving it there because it goes nicely with the title of this story.) A calm, in control, teetering on the edge of dark!John with a petulant, frustrated, and desperate Sherlock?! Hell, yes. Sometimes, it takes a lot to make Sherlock do what you want him to. (Sidenote: you can check out this author’s Sherlock tag here-there’s also some very pretty art!)


• Really Done (1,467 words) by berlynnsherlock (berlynn-wohl on AO3)
  John/Sherlock. Dub-con is so my thing, and this was perfect. We go from sex which is great for Sherlock and not so great for John to sex which is great for John but not so great for Sherlock, and it works very well. I’m always surprised when this author writes something that I’ve secretly wanted but didn’t think anybody would have the balls to do…and then the author totally goes there, and it’s very hot, but also rather complicated. John’s not necessarily full-on dark here, but there are hints.


• The Returning Soldier (3,236 words) by berlynnsherlock (berlynn-wohl on AO3)
  John/Sherlock. A fascinating exploration of John’s character in which danger gets him hard. It makes sense, doesn’t it, that his addiction to adrenaline should extend into his sexual behavior, and that it should take danger to get his equipment working again? Warning for elements of dubious consent at the end. Quote: John’s only sexual partner was danger.


• Sense of Innocence (4,557 words) by tenderly-wicked
  John/Sherlock, dub-con, BSDM. Author’s summary: A violent row evolves into angry sex, and Sherlock - the one who’s been pinned down to his bed and thoroughly dealt with - is more than happy with this turn of events. But it seems that John isn’t. Whoa, what an awful misunderstanding John and Sherlock have here. John’s not necessarily dark here; he feels genuine remorse for what he did, but the fact remains that he did lose control and attack his flatmate in a way that he had no idea at the time Sherlock would actually enjoy. Great characterization of Sherlock in particular, tying in his history with people who have not understood or have shamed him in the past with what he had hoped for his possible new relationship with John. Warnings for violent sex, spanking, dubious consent, self harm.


• Shadows of a Soul Already Sold (11,537 words) by dcfg21
  John/Sherlock, John/Moriarty, dub-con elements in both pairings. Serial killer!John is seriously turned on by gruesomeness and blood. This draws the attention of one Jim Moriarty. A very curious story that is actually much deeper than it seems. This whole story is scary and haunting, in a good way. Warnings for very graphic descriptions of violence, lots of blood, bloodplay, gunplay. Quote: They thought him revolted by the sight. They couldn’t have been more wrong. It was breathtaking.


• Sociopath!John by Anonymous
  John/Sherlock, manipulation. This fill from the kinkmeme is short but nonetheless manages to creepily outline all of sociopath!John’s methods for hiding the fact that he is actually a sociopath from the world-and particularly from Sherlock, who pretends to be a high-functioning sociopath but whom John can tell is obviously not. Don’t forget to scroll down to read the extra little story in this universe, And Then, Mycroft, which is also chilling and great.


• Tether (3,839 words) by Kalimyre
  John/Sherlock. A BSDM scene goes wrong, but Sherlock doesn’t safeword out. The author captures Sherlock’s panic and uncertainty so well in the diction here, and the way John loves him is precious. Very revealing character moments. Again, John is definitely not dark here, but the story hits the same kink for me.


• A Thorough Examination / In Depth (15,884 words) by emungere
  John/Sherlock. Extremely dark story in which John drugs and restrains Sherlock in order to exercise his own intense medical fetish. To me, this story is the essence of dubious consent (or dub-con, which I never knew I had a kink for until I read this story). It’s one of my favorite stories out there, and each time I re-read it, I love it more. To me, it’s all about the characterizations: this is a John whom we don’t get to see much but whom I believe could be in there, a John with a steel interior that is much darker than anticipated and a Sherlock who is not as clever as he thinks he is. Sherlock is at John’s mercy but still completely himself trying to figure out how he missed something so huge and whether or not he really wants it to stop. Author’s listed warnings: Noncon, dubcon, psychological manipulation, thoughts and discussion of suicide. Medical fetish, sounding, e-stim, use of a gun during sex. Dark.


• To sleep, perchance to dream (1,919 words) by fireofangels
  John/Sherlock. Another well-executed dub-con bordering on non-con story by this author, this time in which John drugs Sherlock into obeying him. I really love Sherlock’s perspective here, how he knows what is happening in some corner of his mind but is paralyzed with fear, with the disconnect between what he thinks is happening (something “lovely and nice”) and what is actually happening. (Sidenote: if you like dark stories in general, this author is your friend. You can check out their extensive masterlist here (or here on LJ), particularly if you’re a fan of some extremely dark, occasionally terrifying, kinks. Um, seriously, just reading the summaries on this masterlist will make you feel absolutely filthy. This author has a way of getting inside characters’ heads and making even the most depraved idea seem totally rational. Also, this author wins the award for writing the most disturbing story I have ever read in any fandom ever. I can’t even rec it, it’s so disturbing.)

Back to the Sherlock Recs Masterpost: ( Taxi!)

Please let me know your favorites, too (if anybody else is into this but me!). As always, I will add to this list as I read others. :)