fanfiction rec: Equilibrium

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Title: Equilibrium
Author: Augustbird
Pairing: John Watson/Sherlock Holmes
Length: 12351
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None
Verse: BBC Sherlock
Author's summary: At Baskerville, John is infected by a virus that turns him into a genius. But when the infection progresses into neurodegeneration, it's a race against time to save himself. Flowers for Algernon fusion.
Reccer's comments: This was more emotionally gut-wrenching, to me, than Alone on the Water. The arc that happens within John's mind; the joy that he gets when he realizes he is a genius and the way Sherlock treats him feels so realistic. Then we are tossed into the development of Sherlock and John's relationship alongside the degeneration of John's mind and it's absolutely incredible. You can feel John's pain as his mind slips away from him. The author also takes the time to research/include medical journal articles which makes for a nice piece of world building.

Excerpt: But John’s been devouring research articles in his free time, because understanding them keeps his mind occupied and he gets anxious when he’s not thinking. Figuring out the puzzle of the human body is infinitely more interesting than what he’s going to have for dinner or what Sarah’s going to think about his new tendency to remain motionless and stare out the window for long periods of time after lunch.

This must be what it’s like to be Sherlock, John realizes.