FIC: The Trick is to Keep Breathing, BBC's Sherlock, R?, Sarah/John/Sherlock.

[saathi1013]

Title: The Trick is to Keep Breathing
Author: saathi1013   
Fandom: BBC's Sherlock
Pairing: varying permutations of Sarah/John/Sherlock (established)
Spoilers: just watch the series, it's only 3 episodes.
Rating: R? but just barely.
Contents/Warnings: Angst, h/c. Mention of bloodplay/needleplay.
Series: This is the fifth in the Lorem Ipsum Series. Also,

Comments

[saathi1013]

It feels like this series is finally getting to where it needs to go, which is a relief, because for a while I had no idea what it wanted from me. :P

But I'm glad you're enjoying the ride with me!

(Also, re: your icon - the grin John has in the 'big' frame will never fail to give me the warm fuzzies. Damn that man.)

[rabidsamfan]

And you've gone and made me curious as heck about the next bit. I love Sarah getting mad. Surely Moriarty realizes he's just pushed them back together? Or is that the plan. Grab John and Sarah and split them apart so that Sherlock can only save one of them...

Gah, now I'm sorry I thought of it.

[saathi1013]

God damn. God damn, that is the perfect solution to the problem I was having with the climax, and now I can't use it. (but then: Batman did it first and better than I ever could, so.) At least you don't have to worry about it happening here, now. =/

[rabidsamfan]

You can use it. (I'll just read through my fingers, right?) No one said Moriarty had to be original! (And plot bunnies are Free! and will attach themselves to any ankles they like.)

[saathi1013]

Nah, I don't mind in the slightest. Besides, it's more fun (wait, fun?) getting into Moriarty's head myself and figuring out the whole nefarious scheme from the inside. ^_^

[websandwhiskers]

Very nice! I admit Sherlock's, erm, declaration? . . would make me kinda nervous, were I Sarah, but I can see it working for the characters. I think her leaving was appropriate and something that had to happen - she had to really choose this, to feel comfortable with it in the long term. I eager await more!

[saathi1013]

Thanks! It was rough to write, but I wanted to be honest about the toll all these risks were taking on them, physically and emotionally. It didn't seem right, otherwise.

...I've never made any secret about this series having darker kinks at play - I hope that isn't a deal-breaker for anyone, but things started off rather, um, intense, and it made sense that it would only get more so once the relationship deepened and they all developed really strong, trusting bonds with each other. =/

I will always, *always* warn for these things, though, whether they be brief, non-explicit mentions or otherwise.

[websandwhiskers]

Oh, I wasn't complaining! . . . one of the things I love about Sherlock's character (in canon, I mean) is that Donovan isn't precisely *wrong* about him . . . except in that she underestimates the degree to which he's self-aware. I don't believe he's a true sociopath, but he's very close to that edge. I don't think he'll ever tip over for the simple reason that he will choose not to. Or perhaps more to the point, he is continuously choosing not to. And I think the way you've written him fits that nicely.

In another fandom and involving another Sherlock and a crossover that involved vampires (this was never posted, don't ask where it is), I had a character put it that Sherlock has a predatory instinct - he's just learned to direct it towards a goal he finds morally tolerable. This does not make him any less a predator - but nor does being such, given that choice, make him any less a good person. I think maybe it makes him more of a good person than the average joe.

[saathi1013]

I like that... what's that old saw about 'walking is just a series of controlled falls'? Functional "dysfunction," if you like.

(I'm going to pretend that Mycroft read him essays by Ayn Rand in the crib. Enlightened self-interest; exposure at a impressionable age... ^_^)

I have fretted that the needleplay/bloodplay (even the merest mention of it) would lose people, but I have an Idea in my head that won't go away... *shivers* It may show up in the next installment.

[beansidhe_baby]

That was quite cathartic. It's good to show that Sarah's not a saint, it's normal to find everything difficult. Poly relationships are hard enough to navigate without people slinging bullets into the ones you love.

[saathi1013]

Awh, spoken like someone who knows. But thanks, I am glad that it reads 'true.'

[beansidhe_baby]

I wouldn't have personal experience, more from friends who have and such :) But yeah, it's not easy- otherwise no one would ever angst about being in love with two people at once!

[saathi1013]

Fair enough. I think *everyone's* had at least a little experience being in love with two people at once... It does not often get solved like this, though, lol.

[saathi1013]

yay, I didn't fuck everything up by derailing the shippy stuff for an installment! *dances* (that was the most I was hoping for, really)

I am - right now - writing humour and smut and ridiculosity to make up for the angst in this installment, though. Because I feel Bad.