Fic Rec: The Very Best of Times

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Title: The Very Best of Times
Author: Moranion
Pairing: Mary Morstan/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mrs. Hudson/Margaret
Length: 24,009
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: N/A
Author's summary: John and Mary get divorced, but it doesn't really go the way divorces are supposed to go. In fact, nothing happens the way it's supposed to happen, but it still works out.

Reccer's comments: I do realise that Mary is a controversial character (understatement of the year: first place in its category). I like Mary and find myself able to sympathise with her but I appreciate that a story that shows her in a positive light may not appeal to everyone. However, this is an exceptional fic that certainly deserves an even wider readership.

The author has attempted something a bit different I think. The situation we are presented with at the beginning is that John and Mary love each other, John wants to trust Mary, and they had both wanted to try and save their marriage—however, it doesn’t survive. The author does say in their notes that they wanted to write a story in which John and Sherlock get together but Mary isn’t dead or a villain. And perhaps oddly, the major appeal of the fic is that nothing terribly dramatic happens: this is mainly the story of three extraordinary people having to deal with the traumatic but still everyday experience of one relationship breaking down and a new one beginning.

It’s a sweet, ultimately feel-good fic but it’s never sentimental. There is one of the loveliest descriptions of a first kiss and first time between John and Sherlock that I have ever read. And by the time we reach the conclusion we are knee-deep in happy endings but none of them feel forced or artificial. It’s just a really, really delightful fic.