Fic Rec: The Ashes to Prove It

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Title: The Ashes to Prove It
Author: currently anonymous
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Length: 4,275 words
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: John should probably be more afraid of the Dark than he is. AU-ish

Reccer's comments: Full disclosure - this story was written for me. It is my very favorite type of AU - one where the rules of the altered reality reveal something about the canonical characters in unique way. The world-building is subtle and exquisite! John Watson is a good man who sometimes does Dark things, and Sherlock Holmes is very much at home in the Dark. The tension and temptation between them is palpable.

Here's an excerpt, so you can see what type of world you'll be stepping into with this story:
( excerpt )

Enjoy ( The Ashes to Prove It ).

Fanfic Rec | Robot!John 'Verse Series, by cypress_tree

[bowl-of-glow.livejournal.com]

Title: Robot!John ‘Verse (series: Damage/Repair | Criminal Damage | Irreversible Damage)
Author: cypress_tree
Pairing:Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 3172 words (the whole series so far)
Rating: Teen and up Audiences/Mature (latest part)
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: John’s shoulder is full of torn wires bleeding out their copper insides. Shredded metal twists around his gears.

Reccer's comments: A fic set in an alternative universe. Sherlock Holmes falls in love with John. John is a humanoid robot.

I love sci-fi, and this story is heartbreaking and disturbing in all the right ways. Sherlock’s palpable loneliness and his self-delusion, broken by intervals of lucidity and self-deprecation, are nothing but tragic. We catch glimpses of Sally and Anderson’s contempt, of Lestrade’s barely concealed pity. All warnings fall on deaf ears.
And John? We do not know. The author keeps it deliberately ambiguous, so that the reader can never be sure whether John is actually capable of reciprocating Sherlock’s feelings or it is all in Sherlock’s head.
I hope the author will continue this series, but it can be read as it is, and all fics can be read as stand-alones.

Excerpt: “Why did you do it?” Sherlock asks. “Why did you take that bullet?”

Something whirs in John’s chest.

“The first law of robotics states that a robot may not injure a human being, nor, by inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”

Sherlock purses his lips. “Is that really the reason?”

“I am programmed to tell the truth.”

“You are also programmed to protect me.”

“Correct.”

“That’s really the reason, then? The only two reasons? Your programming and your law?”

“Yes.”

Sherlock swallows. Closes his eyes.

“Sleep, John,” he says. Then, louder— “Hibernate.”

John’s humming gets faster, then stops altogether. Sherlock opens his eyes. Presses his lips to John’s side. Pretends that John smells of sweat and pheromones.

“You are a machine,” Sherlock whispers. “You are a machine. You are a machine.”

(Damage/Repair)