Fic Rec: Sparks Fly Upward

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Title: Sparks Fly Upward
Author: VizardMask
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 6,344
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: “I play the violin, sometimes I don’t for talk for days. Oh, and occasionally I spontaneously combust.” Sherlock has an inconvenient habit of bursting into flames. Fortunately, John has a theory to explain it.

Reccer's comments: This fic first stuck in my head because of the beautiful descriptions of the flames—they appear in different colours and different forms depending on the circumstances. I’m not a terribly visually minded person but I can absolutely see them as I read. But there’s more to this story than Sherlock having this strange involuntary ability. The flames are also a subtle metaphor for the way the canon Sherlock views feelings.

The fic deals with Sherlock and John’s developing relationship, and Sherlock’s fear of John coming to harm because of him. It’s an elegant example of the magical realism genre—apart from Sherlock bursting into flames, this world is matter of fact and recognisable, which just goes to make the magical aspects feel even more so. And after a very sweet ending, the writer tops things off by giving us a wonderfully disarming author’s note.