The Dark List: Sherlock Fics Recommendations
A Thorough Examination by emungere
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: Non-con, dub-con, psychological manipulation, thoughts and discussion of suicide, medical fetish, sounding, e-stim, use of a gun during sex. Wordcount: 15884.
It’s not only a medfet fic (which is nice in itself). It’s a wonderfully disturbing thriller, tension-filled and totally IC.
Quote: He found tea bags and milk and made tea with four spoons of sugar in. “None for me?” John said. “People who rape sociopaths should not expect tea for their trouble,” Sherlock said, absently. He caught the flinch it sent flaring across John's face. “Oh, sorry. Was I not supposed to use that word? Maybe you'd prefer lover.”
Breaking Sherlock and
Aftercare of Your Reluctant Sadist by thirdbird
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: Consensual painplay. Not at all graphic, though. Wordcount: 1389, 1549.
Sherlock hasn’t found his own “too far” yet, but he’s fairly certain it’s well beyond whatever John would be willing to do to him.
Quote: It’s brilliant, having teamed up with a doctor, and a military one at that. Sherlock can’t imagine why he never thought of it before. John’s practised fingers seek out all his most vulnerable spots, knowing the intimate and intricate map of anatomy beneath Sherlock’s skin: veins, nerves, muscle. The exact degree of pressure required to hurt without damage, to damage without scarring. Where and how deep to cut. The pain blossoms and kaleidoscopes through Sherlock’s mind in a series of fractals, each more beautiful than the last, until pleasure explodes them all into whiteout. And then the sense of quiet in his brain afterwards is sublime. It’s the purest rush he’s ever found.
Ludus Latrunculorum by phantomreviewer
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: Dub-con, sexual content. Wordcount: 3779.
The Pool. Midnight. If this were a perfect world, the real Moriarty would swing the door open, but why would he reveal himself when it’s so much fun to watch? Sherlock could have fought Moriarty, but it’s more difficult to fight his own bodily reactions.
Quote: “Now that I've got John Watson here like a puppet, is there anything you want me to make him do now?”
Of Scars and Other Demons by Moranion
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: non-con, angst. Wordcount: 8727.
For some reason, Sherlock would not take off his shirt and also doesn't want John to touch his back without at least one layer of fabric between them. Even though they are so close now, there are secrets he’s not going to share.
Quote: “Love, it turns out, isn’t happiness. It is something that is a definition of itself and nothing else.”
Scars In Service to Body by pint_of_boyd
Rating: PG. Warnings: Hurt/comfort fic. Drug remembrances. Other than that, none. Wordcount: 789.
Sherlock is awakened by a nightmare from his past experiences. Of course, guess who is there to comfort…
Quote: He knew it would happen eventually. His careful scheme of hiding his arms like a teen hides a tattoo from watching parents was about to be foiled by a very careful doctor.
Sink Like a Stone by as_i_am (Pennydreadful)
Rating: PG-13. Warnings: Angst, sadness, a bit of making out and naked cuddling. Wordcount: 4,349.
After defeating Moriarty at the pool, life isn't quite the same around 221B Baker Street. It's more peaceful. And stranger… A masterly constructed and beautifully heartbreaking story.
Quote: John dozed off eventually, still wrapped in his blanket and head on the back of the couch. He woke to the television on static and a warm weight against his knee. He looked down and found Sherlock's head there. He had curled into an impossibly tight ball between the arm of the couch and John's body. John thought he was asleep. Then he noticed Sherlock's spider-leg fingers curled tightly in the edge of John's blanket, holding on like a frightened child in the dark. John reached down and slid his hand over Sherlock's and felt his knuckles shift as he relaxed his fingers.
Slave Me by skadi_zlata
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: non-con, dub-con, abuse, violence, mentions of drug use, slave!AU. Wordcount: 15653.
Being a gambler always means you can get in trouble most unexpectedly. In a seedy poker den, John wins an abused slave from the owner of this disreputable establishment. Now he has lots of problems to deal with. For a start, here are the bouncers from the den following him in a dark alley.
Quote: It’s probably wrong, but sometimes John has attacks of deliberate amnesia. He tends to forget the Hippocratic Oath in situations like this. There are people he’s not going to mend. Never.
Stolen Moments by velvet_mace
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: Non-con, hypnosis. Wordcount: 15000.
Sherlock has become obsessed with his flatmate. Hypnotizing John to let Sherlock do what he likes seems the logical solution.
Quote: “Was that good?”
“Very good.”
“Scale of one to ten?”
“Fifteen,” said John.
The Paradox Series by wordstrings
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: dark themes.
The ups and downs of a romantic relationship where one partner is a genius with the need to be incredible constantly (otherwise he’s merely a sociopath who likes to think about dying).
Quote: “Did the corpse explode due to any particular - no, no, strike that, Sherlock, never tell me why the corpse exploded. All right? Not even if I ask about it. Don’t tell me, ever, not for as long as I know you. Got it?”
The Pleasure-Dome Hotel by raiining and velvet_mace
Rating: NC-17. Warnings: BDSM violence, graphic sex, Everyone's a dom or sub AU. Wordcount: 16181.
A case of murder and espionage leads Sherlock to find a very interesting sub. A sub who was used to having things his way. A sub who was trained to kill.
Quote: "It doesn’t really matter to me where you were injured or what the circumstances were of your discharge. Only that I'll have to remember to be careful with your left shoulder when I tie you to the bedpost.”