shadowfireflame | Sherlock Parentlock Recs

Stories tagged with the term “kidfic” (or kid!fic, or kid-fic) seem to fall into one of two categories: 1) ones in which the main characters raise a child, and 2) ones in which the main characters are children. We as a fandom needed better vocabulary terms to differentiate these, so people got creative and came up with:

parentlock—where the characters have children

kidlock—where the characters are children, either going back in time or through magic or something

teenlock—where the characters are teens, often an AU

unilock—where the characters are in university or professors

But it works for my purposes because I adore all the categories (though I’ve read more widely in the parentlock category than the others). :)

I like kidfic for lots of reasons, but two important ones are: 1) Sherlock + a baby = precious (don’t believe me? Here, have Benedict holding a baby), and 2) they tend to be epically long and plotty, with a focus on characterization, and there’s really nothing I love better.

So onto the parentlock recs (where canon characters raise children). Some could fit into both parentlock and kidlock (i.e., canon characters raise other canon characters who are children):

Ain’t Seen the Sunshine (Since I Don’t Know When) by emungere
Pre-John/Lestrade. The “Nanny John” series where Mummy Holmes hires John to take care of her two sons, ages 12 and 5. What follows is a wonderful re-telling of Hound of the Baskervilles. So this is two types of kidfic—parentlock and kidlock! It’s really sweet how they all came together to form their big family and how well John fits into it all and holds them together. My favorite parts are when Mycroft and Sherlock actually act like brothers their age—so adorable. This story is the first of a verse which includes character blogs (John’s and Lestrade’s). Also check out: Please Please Please by thirdbird_fic, an AU to this verse (recced below).

Always a Neverland (11,375 words) by suitesamba
John/Sherlock, past Mary/John. Sherlock takes ten years to return to John, and by that time John has a six-year-old son (Will) with Mary, who has died in an accident. Sherlock Holmes coloring a picture with a child = so adorable. Also, Mary’s backstory, the role of the violin in the story, and the details we get about what Sherlock was doing post-Reichenbach are all intriguing and very moving. Warning for discussion of past drug use.

Applications and Practices of Basic Arithmetic series by 1electricpirate
John/Sherlock. Post-Reichenbach, Mycroft comes up with the idea of combining Sherlock’s frozen sperm and Harry’s egg to make a baby to give John a purpose after Sherlock’s “death.” This story is an epic roller coaster of emotion: John’s grief and then determination, Sherlock’s angst and frustration, the Holmes family’s veneer of coldness to hide how much they care. This story has a fascinating and unique premise that the author treats seriously and totally makes plausible. Quote that perfectly sums up Sherlock’s inherent danger and John’s attraction to it: Sherlock is a bomb in his hands, ticking and ticking and just waiting to explode, and John has always thought that bombs were fantastically, tragically beautiful.

At Least There’s The Football series by sheffiesharpe
Mycroft/Lestrade, Sherlock/John. (A very epic Mystrade!) After the explosion at the pool, both Lestrade and Mycroft desperately rush into the rubble in search of Sherlock and John. From that, they bond over music and football matches, flirting and slowly becoming more comfortable with each other as Lestrade’s down-to-earth friendliness and realness helps Mycroft to unwind. The characterizations of Mycroft (with his endless patience and heartbreaking body image issues) and Anthea (who may actually be a ninja) are great, and the story has a very well-rounded portrayal in particular of Lestrade, who plays football and cooks and loves punk rock and has nieces he absolutely adores. Lestrade’s love for his nieces—Betsy and Corrie—is why I’ve classified this as “kidfic,” though technically they live in the States and are only visiting him in London. There are lots of cute moments they all have together (particularly with Mycroft and Sherlock). Speaking of Sherlock, I loved his cameos with John. This series makes me feel warm and relaxed about life. :)

Ava Watson verse by KeelieThompson1
John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Five year old Ava Watson's life is changed forever when her Daddy's old friend comes calling. Post-Reichenbach, John has a little girl, and they and Sherlock (and Mrs. Hudson and Mycroft) start a little family together when Sherlock returns. Telling the first story from Ava’s perspective was totally genius. I loved her instantly; she feels so real, and her worldview is precious, as are Sherlock and John’s attempts to give her as happy a childhood as possible. And the scene when Sherlock takes her to a crime scene had me holding my sides, I was laughing so hard. But while there are definitely very funny parts, the story delves into some serious angst, as well. Ava’s background, including her mother, is a mystery for the reader to discover throughout the course of the story, which was fun to determine, and the take on Reichenbach, the rooftop, and the Yard’s reaction to Sherlock’s departure and return is one of the best I’ve read. Warnings for homophobia, violence, child kidnapping and endangerment, drug use.

Baby Formula by chicaintcheap
Gen. Mrs. Hudson press-gangs Sherlock and John into babysitting her infant granddaughter, Madeline, for the day. Sherlock is surprisingly competent with her. Let me repeat my mantra: Sherlock + a baby = so freakin’ adorable. Very well done little story.

The Blog of Eugenia Watson by madlori
John/Sherlock, John/OFC. An epic first-person blog written by Eugenia “Genie” Watson, who lives in one of the most unconventional families ever but is quite satisfied with her life, as are all participants of her family (her mother, John, and Sherlock). I fairly flew through reading this, it was so easy and addictive and flowed so well. I love Genie’s conversational writing style, and I adore her confidence in her family. I’m stunned at how well the author has written the original characters here—Genie and Grace (her mother) especially are perfectly real, complex, and wonderful. But it’s Genie’s (and John’s) deep and loving relationship with Sherlock where this story really shines for me. Unusual way of presenting the story, but extremely effective.

Christmas Future (Abby Watson ’verse) by awanderingbard
Sarah/John + Sherlock. John and Sarah are married and have a toddler, Abby, and a dog named Gladstone (aww, like in the Richie movies). In the first story, Sarah and John have Sherlock over for Christmas dinner. In the second story, Abby has an ear infection, and John enlists Sherlock’s aid to help her quiet down and be more comfortable, using various...er, totally “scientific” remedies. The third story is Sherlock’s perspective on John’s family when they come over for dinner while Sherlock and John have a case. I love kidfic so much, particularly when it’s Sherlock impromptu babysitting, and these stories are totally adorable. The best parts are Abby’s catchphrases (“Oh, no!”) and how much “Uncle” Sherlock actually loves John’s little family, though he pretends not to. :)

The Cinnamon series by lbmisscharlie (writing at oh_god_yes)
John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: When Sherlock invited John to live with him in 221B, he forgot to mention he was a single father to a four-year-old girl. Awww, Sherlock as a daddy—and that backstory is awesome. This epic story retells series 1 with new mysteries due to the addition of Imogen, Sherlock’s daughter, and it’s so fascinating to see what changes and how it changes based on her presence. There are also some delicious hints toward series 2 and some fantastic plotting. I think my favorite line was Mycroft’s “I worry about them. Constantly,” referring to Sherlock and Imogen. Adorable. My favorite part was the fact that Sherlock sets alarms for times when Imogen should wake up, go to sleep, and eat so he doesn’t forget. I’ve grown to know and love Imogen so well now that it’s hard to imagine Sherlock and John without her. Really convincing and one of my absolute favorites. <3

Cracks In the In-Between Places by swissmarg
John/Sherlock. An AU sequel to the wonderful Getting Better by nox_candida (recced below) with Sherlock and his eight-year-old son, Tristam, and John and his nine-year-old daughter, Emily. Incredibly tense and exciting, with multiple ongoing problems to face: the fallout from events in the first story regarding Mary’s death, both Emily and Tris facing their own PTSD, John and Sherlock’s burgeoning relationship and Tris and Emily’s wildly differing reactions, everyone’s home and family life, and growing up. I was a bit worried after reading nox-candida’s original series that no one could possibly capture its complex magic with relationships, but this author blew my expectations out of the water, perfectly portraying what’s so special and unusual Sherlock’s unorthodox parenting method.

Crazy for Love (98,787 words) by prettyvk (tumblr)
John/Sherlock, Mary/John. After taking out Moriarty’s web, Sherlock discovers that Moriarty has a son named James. James asks to return to Baker Street with Sherlock. Mind-blowing premise, right? And everything is taken to its logical conclusion, including what it might be like to be James Moriarty’s son, the similarities between James, Moriarty, and Sherlock, and what kind of father Sherlock has the potential to become to a very damaged child. Then there’s a whole other side to this story, which is Sherlock’s return and his desperation to see John again—John who is now engaged to Mary. Begun pre-series 3, this story is very impressive because the author manages to write a 100% in-character Sherlock, particularly so taking into account his development in series 3. Extremely self-sacrificing, wildly lovely, surprisingly sweet, and painfully angsty in equal amounts. Rarely is angst this exquisite. I’m ridiculously excited for a sequel (EDIT: and it’s out and brilliant! See The Risk of Absence). Warnings for violence, discussed child abuse, drug abuse, and self-harm.

DragonTide by corpsereviver2
John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Every fourth year, the dragons return. Ooh, parentlock set in a fantasy AU with dragons! Sherlock is a consulting alchemist, and he and John have two kids (Hal and Cecily) on this outing to see some dragons. A really cute snippet that kept me guessing what Sherlock was up to.

Eight Days a Week by round_robin (tumblr)
John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: When John gets kidnapped, it's almost all Sherlock can do to keep things together. For himself, and their son. Sherlock, Hamish (their son), Lestrade, and Mycroft are using Mycroft’s house as headquarters for finding John, and Hamish finds that he has to take care of both himself and Sherlock. I think with John temporarily missing, this story does a good job at indirectly addressing some of the issues readers may have with parent!lock, i.e. the fact that Sherlock can hardly take care of himself, much less a child, and that Sherlock’s work is so dangerous, but both he and John need it to stay sane. Working out some of these issues is what makes the trope so interesting to me, so I’m glad the author brought them up here. And I really like that Lestrade, Mycroft, and Mrs. Hudson are so involved with parenting Hamish. :)

Getting Better by nox_candida
Background John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Tristram Holmes dreads attending his new primary school, fearing he'll be teased and bullied as usual. Only, nothing goes exactly as he thinks it will when he finds himself with a seemingly unlikely friend in Emily Watson. I love how the author explores Sherlock’s nontraditional, hands-off method of parenting, both the good and the bad aspects to it for Tristam. That said, I squeed whenever Sherlock did go out of his way to show his affection: holding Tristam’s hand, playing the violin, stroking his hair. I love that seeing Tris with John and Emily has started to affect Sherlock’s parenting technique and has definitely given Tris more confidence. But the best part of this story is how well the author stays in Tristam’s head and shows things from his child perspective. There is also a sequel series to this story by swissmarg called the Tristam Holmes AU that I adored.

The Infiltrate Series by ladyflowdi and mirrorskippy (also here on AO3)
Sherlock/John. A massive, stunning, plot-tastic arc with fascinating cases, torture, murder, bombs, hate-sex, hurt/comfort elements, a take on Reichenbach, Mycroft’s wife, an AU kidfic in the later stories (Infiltrate Interludes), a spectacular shouting match at Tesco’s—oh, and Sherlock’s mother, who is a force to be reckoned with all on her own. I enjoyed the wry narrative voice the authors often take, and I loved the characterization and plot. The kidfic Interludes can be read as part of the verse or all on their own, and in them, Sherlock and John have adopted four kids (Lucy, Andrew, Monica, and Kaden). :)

Innocent by abundantlyqueer (tumblr)
Gen. Sherlock and John find an abandoned baby while on a case, and Sherlock tries to warm him up. It’s 500+ words of adorable that instantly became my headcanon for Sherlock when dealing with infants.

Intentions series by KeelieThompson1
Gen (past Sherlock/OFC). Sherlock sends a woman to prison for murder before discovering that they have a ten-year-old son together that Sherlock never knew about. The son’s name? John Watson. What follows is a fascinating account of Sherlock working hard to keep custody of John while dealing with the complications of his family (Mycroft, their parents, and John’s mother’s family) and long-buried secrets. I really love the relationship between Mycroft and Sherlock here, how Mycroft can “read his little brother like a book” even when they’re fighting. But it’s the interactions between John and Sherlock that carry the story, and they are very convincing and adorable. I’m amazed that the author pulled off a “Sherlock is John’s father” story while still keeping everyone firmly in character. The second story, “A Series of Firsts,” has delicious hurt/comfort elements. Warnings for implied child abuse and drug use.

John and Sherlock Make a Baby (From Stuff they Find Around the Flat) by annlarimer/Phosfate and Rosencrantz
Gen that can be seen with John/Sherlock slash goggles. Sherlock gets bored, decides he wants a baby, and takes steps to get one, while John looks on in amused horror. So basically crack. Delicious, delicious crack. The kind of crack that still rings very true to their characters and...in all honesty, I fear this is realistically what might happen should Sherlock be given care of an infant. Mycroft has what is possibly the best cameo in the history of all cameos. Also, they name the baby Sherlockina. Really funny story.

Lines Written in Kensington Gardens (6,120 words) by CaitlinFairchild (tumblr)
John/Sherlock, Mary/John. This is a wonderful post-series 3 story about how Sherlock went from being a great man to a good one as well. Really beautifully written and a realistic possible outcome. I personally love the scenes with Sherlock and Violet, John and Mary’s baby daughter, and how Sherlock is there for John’s family after a trauma. Lovely characterizations, particularly of Sherlock. Warning for character death (not John or Sherlock).

Living Witness (20,777 words) by impishtubist
Mary/Sherlock, past Mary/John, past Victor/Sherlock. Author’s summary: Alice Watson is four months old when her father walks out of her life. This is an unusual post-series 3 parentlock story. As you can tell from the summary, this story takes a grimmer view of John’s reaction to Mary’s past. Fortunately for Mary and Alice, they have Sherlock there for them; Sherlock, who has vowed to do anything to keep them safe and who has already killed to keep that vow. A gorgeous and understated story with a slow, unconventional relationship growing between Mary and Sherlock. Warning for offscreen character death.

Lizzy Verse by Anonymous
John/Sherlock. Non-linear fashion, which makes figuring out what happened a fun challenge. As far as I know, the title is something fandom made up, since I don’t know if there’s an official name for the series yet. Maybe one day the author will de-anon (I really hope so). In case you have trouble navigating the kinkmeme, here are links to each story: (1) Meet the Family, (2) For Want of a Babysitter, (3) 5 Conversations, 7 Meetings and Several Unexpected Gifts, (4) Things My Father Taught Me, (5) 10 Birthdays, (6) Blowing Out the Candles, (7) Thrill of the Chase, (8) Making Time, and (9) Not Quite the Usual Way.

Murderous, Co-Dependent by rageprufrock
Gen (canon pairings). In which Lestrade purchases for his daughter (from one Mrs. Hudson) a pair of violent kittens who are not to be separated under pain of stitches. Two guesses what their names are. A hysterical and adorable little story I loved. Lestrade’s parental divorcé guilt towards his daughter, Amelia, is written particularly well. Considering the amount of lovely cat!AU fanart I’ve seen, I’m surprised that this is one of the first stories I’ve read where they’re cats. (Sidenote: as someone who has adopted both a cat and a dog, I can attest that while it was not nearly as difficult as Lestrade finds it for us to adopt our kitty from the shelter, it was almost that hard to adopt our puppy.)

Nature and Nurture (203,273 words) by earlgreytea68
John/Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade. Author’s brilliant summary: The British Government accidentally clones Sherlock Holmes. Which brings a baby to 221B Baker Street. A beautiful headcanon for how Sherlock would be as a father: a good one, a little insecure, but totally doting and devoted, obsessing over each detail in his baby’s life. Except there is the added complication of the baby (Oliver) being Sherlock’s clone, with all the drama and health worries that implies. But it’s also a chance to re-do Sherlock’s childhood in a way, except this time as a happy one with a whole family of people who adore him (and two fathers who utterly understand him and love to spoil him rotten). And to top it off, there is the backbone of Sherlock and John’s relationship blooming and flourishing. Fluffy and angsty and gorgeous and devastatingly adorable. I’m salivating for the planned sequel (yay!!!) already.

On the Steadfast Approach of an Oncoming Darkness by joolabee (otterbatch on tumblr)
John/Sherlock. The result of a prompt mixing “accidental baby acquisition and the apocalypse.” What an unusual combination, right? The result is a gorgeous, atmospheric, and heartbreaking story about our boys, the end of the world, and the baby girl they unadvisedly start taking care of when they can barely feed themselves. The author is a master at imagery; I can see this story in my head. John sneezing at the baby, for example, is an amazing moment. (Do be advised that this is, after all, a story about the apocalypse, and there is nobody to save the day at the end.)

Please Please Please by thirdbird_fic
John/Lestrade. An AU to the Nanny!John verse (Ain’t Seen the Sunshine (Since I Don’t Know When) by emungere, recced above) in which Lestrade gets seriously ill with an unknown ailment, and Mycroft and Sherlock work together to figure out what’s wrong while John slowly falls apart. It was wonderful to see Mycroft going through adolescence here: unsure of himself at times, thinking about girls in the shower, but also it was so sad seeing how emotionally stunted he is. Oh, Mycroft. Still, his relationship with Sherlock is perfect and delightful. Lestrade-whumping lovers will roll around in heaven at this one.

Phrygian Choices series by fresne
John/Sherlock, background Irene/Sherlock, Omegaverse. Woot, an Omegaverse entry! I’m specifically referring to the fourth story in the series, Searching for the Archimedean Point, in which we learn more about each of the kids, but it won’t make sense unless you’ve read the other three. The adventures of Charity and Nero in particular are enthralling. This author deserves tons of kudos for creating such believable and deep original characters who are children having to deal with discovering their gender presentation (or choosing to not discover it). You can see here for more of my Omegaverse reviews.

Rough Edges series by basingstoke
Gen, I think. Ostensibly a crossover with the British sitcom Black Books (which I haven’t seen), this is one of the most memorable and plotty John-meets-the-Holmes-family stories out there because it is completely different from all of the others. Because in addition to crazy cousins and an American mother and a racist father, Sherlock has six siblings with varying levels of mad and terrifying: Mycroft, Elliston (deceased under suspicious circumstances), Wollstonecraft (brilliant, contrary, insane), Darwin (a fascinating autistic young man whom Sherlock adores), and Easter (a seven year old who loves horses), and Lovelace (just a baby), spaced seven years apart. After reading this, all the OCs are absolutely cemented in my mind, some of the most real and fleshed out ever. Plus, Sherlock has a tattoo in this. :) Basingstoke is a master of characterization and subtle, dark humor, especially in dialogue and when describing distasteful places and situations; it’s the little details that really make this hysterical at turns while still being deep and occasionally rather disturbing. Also has one of the best Mrs. Hudson-and-her-nasty-husband stories ever. Again, not technically parentlock, but Sherlock’s relationship with his siblings (particularly Darwin) hits that same spot for me. :)

Saving Sherlock Holmes by earlgreytea68
John/Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade. Not technically parentlock, but Mycroft essentially parents Sherlock, and I adore this story, so I’m including it. A school AU from the time Sherlock is eleven to the time he is seventeen, with both Sherlock and John attending Eton for a year. *happy sigh* Sometimes you read something, and the characters in it are so perfect for each other in every way that they’re like soulmates; well, reading this was one of those experiences. The author in this story systematically goes about fixing canon by giving everybody what they need to be happy, just about twenty years earlier, and it’s riveting, exciting, and very moving. The relationships between Mycroft and Sherlock, and then John and Sherlock, are the focus of this story really stole the show for me, with a nice side of Mystrade, but each character from canon has at least a cameo (Mrs. Hudson being the most notable). Sherlock in love—irrationally, recklessly—is possibly the most adorable thing on the planet. This also story gives such a perfect explanation for Mycroft’s umbrella and Sherlock’s refusal to wear ties that it instantly became my headcanon.

The Sign of Three by emungere
Gen. Author’s summary: Mycroft takes his little brother to the park, where they meet John and pretend to be pirates. Story manages to be slightly depressing anyway. Sorry about that. A story with young!Mycroft, John, and Sherlock playing pirates that is cute while being simultaneously very poignant and sad. Superb characterization of Mycroft in particular, but little pirate captain Sherlock is spot-on.

Sins of Our Fathers series by dragons_muse (Vera-Dragonmuse)
John/Sherlock, implied Mycroft/Lestrade. I mentally label this “that one where Sherlock and John adopt Jim,” but that doesn’t happen until later in the series. Until then, this is an extremely convincing, plotty, and romantic account of John and Sherlock had they met as teenagers. Their home lives are explored in fascinating detail: John’s PTSD stems from his house burning down, Sherlock acts “normal” for his sickly mother, and John parents Harry like Mycroft parents Sherlock. We also, as the title suggests, get a wonderful look at Sherlock, John, and Moriarty’s fathers, as well as their mothers and Sherlock’s kickass grandmother, which is a real treat because their parents are sometimes never mentioned in stories. (Unfortunately, none of these boys have had pleasant childhoods.) There is sex (yay!), though it is non-explicit (boo). My favorite thing is how the author characterizes Sherlock, both as an adolescent and an adult, as the abrasive and irritable but endearing genius we love. And John says, “Hey, disaster,” to Sherlock in this adorable way. Quote: “One day, very soon,” John said softly, “I’ll kiss you.”

Smoke and Ashes by luchia13
Gen. Author’s summary: The only person who helped Lestrade find his little boy was a half-dead junkie in a condemned townhouse. Not necessarily “parentlock,” per se, but Lestrade does have a thirteen-year-old (Adam) who drives the plot and facilitates the first meeting between Lestrade and junkie!Sherlock. Really beautiful in a painful kind of way. Lovely characterizations: to borrow the author’s phrasing, they’re “brutal, but honest.” Warnings for underage drug overdose.

There Was a Boy (a.k.a. the Parentlock Series) by dramatisecho
John/Sherlock (could be read as gen) and their son Hamish Watson-Holmes (biologically Irene and Sherlock’s). I was drawn in by the cool multimedia element of the jaw-droppingly beautiful art/photo manips here, but stayed for the story (moving little one-shots). Sherlock and Irene having a son named Hamish has been a secret fantasy of mine ever since seeing their chemistry together and having John suggest baby names. There are some grammatical errors, but the author improves her writing with each story, and the characterizations are very compelling (particularly of Sherlock and little Hamish), coupled with the gorgeous, professional-quality art and the genius stroke of casting Asa Butterfield as Hamish (and as young!Sherlock in the kidfic series by this author). Now I can’t picture anybody else in that role. (He was very good in Ender’s Game, by the way.) I highly recommend checking out this author/artist’s tumblr here. Amongst other things, current Sherlock-related series with lovely pictures include: #wholock, #kidlock, #femlock, #orphanlock, #unilock, #Moran series, and #I-believe-in-Sherlock-Holmes.

Too Much to Hold by Sparkle_Free (sparklefree on tumblr)
John/Sherlock. Author’s summary: John becomes guardian of an old friend’s autistic son, and learns something about Sherlock’s diagnosis along the way. We get to witness some adorable tickle fights and Mycroft’s meddling and John and especially Sherlock bonding with Julian (the child), and Harry plays a pretty big role, too. A very moving story about what it means to be a parent/guardian, particularly of a child with autism. I found the casefic profoundly disturbing, as was Sherlock’s “how to survive” session with Julian—so sad. Warnings for ableism, alcoholism, references to child abuse and child sexual assault.

Unfair Fights by jdmcool at dreamwidth
Gen. (Offscreen Mycroft/Harry the non-smoking equerry who enlists Sherlock’s help from Scandal.) Sherlock, John, and Lestrade are trying to get Mycroft’s help to solve a case and unexpectedly meet Mycroft’s son, Adair (Addie). Cute moments ensue with Uncle Sherlock and a baffled John and Lestrade. I think my favorite moment was the battle of deductions between Sherlock and Mycroft over how Addie had hurt himself. :)

Various stories with Hamish Watson-Holmes by Valeria2067
John/Sherlock. A series of adorable and angsty stories about John and Sherlock’s son, Hamish (who turns out to be quite the BAMF when he’s older!). The author hasn’t put them in a series or anything, but many of these relatively short stories all go so well together in my mind that I like seeing them all in one place (the link is to the author’s AO3 Sherlock masterlist with a Hamish character filter). I like Mycroft’s role in their family and how things aren’t always rosy.

A Waste of Hard Drive Space (2,635 words) by awanderingbard
Gen. Sherlock’s case leads him to a little girl with hypothermia whom he has to keep awake. She wants to be a pirate, too. This is such a lovely, such a nuanced view of Sherlock, who has some sentimental memories buried deep after all (like treasure, whee!). Quote: Aside from the Jolly Roger over her bed and the ship in a bottle on her dresser, she had obviously tried to prevent her abduction with a toy cutlass.

What Comes Undone series by songlin (greencarnations on tumblr)
John/Sherlock, genderswap. Female!Sherlock gets pregnant with John and has Rosie. While dealing with fem!Moriary and Reichenbach issues. Ahaha, this story goes on allll my themed lists, lol. But damn it, it’s so good and plot-tastic and Sherlock is such a badass. I love it. :)

Winter’s Child series by impishtubist and canonisrelative
John/asexual!Sherlock + paternal Lestrade. This is a beautiful, complex, and adorable kidfic in which Lestrade and Sherlock have a very deep paternal relationship that stems from Sherlock’s fondness for Lestrade’s deceased son. Meanwhile, Sherlock deals with the complications of being asexual and how that affects his relationship with John, and then they decide to have a child together. Very poignantly written with some amazing physical and emotional hurt/comfort elements for (uncle) Lestrade, Sherlock, and John as they raise little Calvin as part of their “mad family.” The writing is very respectful to each character and runs the gamut from heartbreaking to squee-inducing. You can see the full chronology of the series at this link, which I found very helpful.

Some sites I found helpful while compiling this list:

fuckyeahteenlock, a tumblr basically dedicated to this list (yay!)

sherlockbbcficrecs (the High Functioning Fangirls), specifically this recs post

fuckyeahjohnlockfanfic’s parent tag

Hamish Watson-Holmes’ tumblr with contributions from different authors and artists. I particularly like the gifsets!

sherlockbbc’s Sunday Recday themed recs post for kidfic

Back to the Sherlock Recs Masterpost: (Taxi!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks very much!

<3 Such a lovely story. :)

Wow, terrific list! It's so cool that you do these themed rec lists, it's a wonderful resource for everybody. Thanks so much for all the effort you put into it!

I'm trying to think if there are any others that I could recommend that you might like...

The Ain't Seen the Sunshine series by emungere has John and eventually Lestrade acting as parental figures for children Sherlock and Mycroft. I find the characterizations stunningly good across the board, especially 5 year old Sherlock and the bond he forms with John, and 12 year old Mycroft trying so hard to be the adult in the family. You might also like The Sign of Three by the same author -- it's kid!fic rather than parentlock, but again I find it remarkable for showcasing how Mycroft tries to be a parent to Sherlock in terrible circumstances, even though he's still a child himself.

I really like Cartilage by Basingstoke, in which John and Sherlock babysit for Sherlock's younger sister Easter. Unique, verging on crack at times, and yet somehow dysfunctionally charming, heartbreaking, heartwarming and real. It makes a bit more sense if you read the prequel, Eggcrate, first, and meet all of Sherlock's large family. His relationship with his younger brother Darwin is also amazing and moving.

There's also the lovely An Education by krabapple, in which Sherlock is a kindergarten teacher. Totally charming. The same author has also written a complex little portrait of Sherlock's mother (now AU'd by Series 3) and child!Sherlock's relationship with her, A Careless Child.

There's also nox_candida's epic-length Getting Better and SwissMarg's even more epic-length spin-off, Cracks in the Inbetween Places, involving Sherlock's son Tristram and John's daughter Emily.

And for another version of Sherlock and John raising a Moriarty, this time Jim Moriarty himself, you might enjoy the last two stories in Vera_DragonMuse's sins of our fathers series, namely raising cain and the field beyond ideas. The first two stories in the series are also excellent and well-worth reading -- they are teen!lock rather than parentlock.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy some of those! Thanks again for the wonderful rec list <3 <3

Weirddd, I have actually read and adored most of those stories. I must have just forgotten to put them on the list. Or maybe I read them before I started compiling, lol. That happens. Thanks for the reminders, though! The Sign of Three is one of my favorite stories, period, and I agree with you that Mycroft acts so much like a parent there that it should be included.

Haven’t heard of the kindergarten one yet, but I will definitely put it on my list! Thanks again!

And oh my God, I’ve just realized I neglected to include the Intentions series by KeelieThompson1, which is fabulous, another of my absolute favorites. I also threw Saving Sherlock Holmes in there because I adore it, and Mycroft is very parental there.

Glad you like the lists! I have a ton more in progress...I find myself binge-reading one trope and then thinking, “Oh, if only there were more like this with little reviews!!” So I made some lists myself. :)

Sherlock Parentlock Recs

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