Author’s Summary: On John Watson’s sixth birthday, his mum gave him a flat wooden box to hold his wish stones.
Follow up: I Leave a Trail of Breadcrumbs to Show You Where I’ve Been.
I don’t do a lot of magical realism AUs where John and Sherlock are werewolves, or vampires, or ghosts, or what have you. But what I do love are magical realism AUs where the magic is just a part of an everyday life we’d still recognize.
Machshefa is not only a beautiful writer (though she is, oh God, she is), she creates a gorgeous world where people’s emotions, their hearts, dreams, hopes and fears are manifested, physically, through the manufacture of “wish pigment” that stains their skin. The wish pigment leads to the creation of wishstones, or, more significantly, touchstones, for everyone except Sherlock, that is. His skin remains stubbornly, disturbingly blank. Until he meets John Watson.
I’m really horrible at summaries and reviews, but let’s just say every time I read this I fall in love with it all over again. It’s one of my very favorites – in my top 10 all time, at least. I really encourage you to give it a try if you haven’t already.
What Maz said.
Fic Rec: Touchstone, by Machshefa