Fic Rec: A Just Sense of Proportion

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Title: A Just Sense of Proportion
Author: plumedy
Pairing: Gen. Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Length: 5,400 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Verse: ACD canon
Author's summary: Some facts should be suppressed, or at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. In a world where illusions are an accepted part of culture and social etiquette, Sherlock Holmes is the great unmasker. And John Watson is, as ever, a hopeless romantic.

Reccer's comments: Hello, friends -- I am going to share a small collection of Halloween recommendations here in the last few hours of the day :) My fellow recc'ers have shared wonderfully unsettling and warm-hearted holiday stories respectively, and this one falls somewhere in between. It is a magical realism Victorian AU set in a world in which ordinary people shape the reality around them by creating visual illusions of varying complexities. This is all well and good until a terrifyingly elaborate false image takes over a London neighborhood and lives are suddenly at stake. I admire the imaginative world-building that went into this tale, and I appreciate many of the moments within that highlight Watson's fundamental decency and Holmes's willingness to forget his own pride when it comes to securing his friend's safety. Although a short story, it took several turns that I, for one, didn't expect. It's an unusual and gently romantic glimpse at two men who manage to be extraordinary even in a world of magic.