I was reading a book recently - one of the many approaches to fan writing communities from the perspective of academia - and it featured very detailed discussions of specific works in one fandom. I felt the same way I had when I had to sit through movies in film studies class because the teacher loved them and thought they were perfect examples of XYZ. I kept thinking there had to be better examples. Or more examples. Anyway. It got me thinking about my favorite stories I've read over the years and I figured I'd share my reading list. Literally all but the very last one of these are slash m/m pairings.
General Sherlock:
Electric Pink Hand Grenade by BeautifulFiction
BeautifulFiction has a talent for painting images with words that I envy. Her writing is always gorgeous and visceral, but I always come back to this one as my favorite. The non-sexual intimacy between Sherlock and John throughout the story is almost better than the actual sex when it happens at the end. It is also a great demonstration of fan writing (as opposed to original writing) in general because everyone is SO in character that it is easy to imagine the story being canonical. People often think writing other people's characters is easier than writing original characters, but that is just not true. It takes a certain ability to write someone else's characters WELL and BeautifulFiction has it.
The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by XisetentialAngst
Okay, so I guess I should say that the book was "Sherlock's World" and this was the story I thought of when the author was going on for pages about "A Cure for Boredom" and how Sherlock approaching sex from a scientific angle made it totally believable. I kept thinking this was a much better example because not only were they conducting a full study with variables to determine sexual prowess, but the whole thing was concocted as a competition to most accurately decide which of them is the better lover. It's hilarious as well as hot.
Time Travel/MultiWorld Sherlock:
In a Changing Age by allonsys_girl
The author of the book also referenced a story floating multiple universe theory as a way of blending real and fictional worlds. I'll get to real world fics later, but this is one of the best JohnLock stories I read that explores other variations on Sherlock Holmes canon.
General MCU:
A Measure of Mercy by MianMimi (character abuse and angst)
Achingly beautiful and tragic. I couldn't stop thinking about this one after I read it. My first bookmarked MCU story.
Alternate Universe:
I'll Carry the Moon series by 1electricpirate (Sherlock Omegaverse)
I firmly believe that people who rant about how awful A/B/O fics are have just never read a good one. All of my favorites present a world that isn't all that far removed from "The Handmaid's Tale". One of the most striking and obvious examples of this I unfortunately can no longer find (it was in a different fandom pre-AO3), but this is one is probably better written anyway.
Ship of Dreams by eponine119 (Lost, historical AU)
One of the tragedies of the various purges fandom has gone through over the years is that this story may no longer on Livejournal where I found it. What was striking about it was that it didn't just drop characters from "Lost' into James Cameron's "Titanic" and call it a crossover AU, eponine119 effectively wrote an entirely new (if similar) story featuring details that were never in the movie even though they were documented as part of actual history. Basically, she rewrote "Titanic" entirely with characters from "Lost" and a focus on a slash pairing (Jack/Sawyer). It remains one of the best, well researched AUs I have ever read in any fandom.
gemjam's
college AU (Lost)
I love gemjam, although I'm not sure she ever thought much of my socially awkward ass. This is one of my favorites of hers: a fully realized series where Jack and Sawyer meet in college and have a fairly normal romance absent of all the crazy island stuff going on in the show.
Reality Bluring ("real person"):
berlynn_wohl's
Hiddlebatch seriesI know people have a weird relationship with RPF/RPS in fandom. I was once shamed and barred from recommending an author because she found out I read "those stories". The thing is, like A/B/O, it totally depends on WHAT you are reading. I tend to avoid self-insert and reader-insert stories but I'm pretty sure even most of the authors who write those are perfectly cognizant of the line between reality and fiction, even if the stories are self-indulgent Mary Sues. This series is an example of RPS done well AND an example of sex scenes that have a perfect amount of realism (Tom ruining the moment by slipping into a Matthew McConaughey accent is hilarious).
A Day Out with Benedict Cumberbatch by Detective in Training
This one doubles as a parody. A brilliant send up of every self/reader-insert story, so exaggerated it's hard to imagine anyone actually taking it seriously. The surprise ending makes reading comments especially fun: a mixed bag of "WHAT DID YOU JUST MAKE ME READ?!" and cackling laughter.
I'm sure there are many others, but these were the first that sprung to mind.
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