Perception (Sherlock/John, R)

[holyfant]

It's quite interesting to work with prompts, because sometimes it really feels like writing against my own grain, fleshing out a character concept that differs from my own, and it's actually quite a nice exercise to see how to make it work. *shrugs

Comments

[paperclipsnglue]

Oh God. This was painful to read. You handled the subject matter beautifully. The confusion, the victim blaming, the "is it rape if I didn't say no", the pain, this easily could be a short story outside of the fandom.

Brilliant. xx

[holyfant]

Thanks. It was actually quite painful to write, too. Wanted to handle it with the sensitivity it deserves; not quite sure I succeeded, so very glad and relieved it works for you. <3

[uniquegrl7]

As always, this was brilliantly written, and I thought you got John's emotions down pat. I really enjoyed Harry in this, and how she could see things clearly. At first, I was a little surprised at the choice, but then I realized that if John had gone to Lestrade, Lestrade would have told him that he was right, because Lestrade's too close to the issue himself. I loved it.

[holyfant]

Thank you <3

It was hard to write this with some of the prompter's details - Lestrade turning Sherlock away, and especially Mrs. Hudson kicking him out; it was quite the exercise to attempt to make that work, because I didn't quite see that, myself. I'm glad that you thought John's emotion was genuine, as always, that's what I work with most. Quite a hard piece to write, so I'm glad you liked it.

[drinkingcocoa]

I'm so glad John knew where to find him. I'm up way too late so you'll be cheated out of the comment you deserve, but I loved especially that Sherlock doesn't mock John for repeating platitudes here because for once he needs that simple repetition.

[holyfant]

I do think John will always know where to find Sherlock. *squeezes them*

I'm glad you enjoyed this; I'm not quite sure how to feel about it, myself, because the prompters' details did push me in a direction that I wasn't quite sure about (the scene about Mrs. Hudson evicting Sherlock actually hurt to write). It was an interesting exercise, but I worried about treating rape with the gravity it deserves, so I didn't *just* want to have it be an exercise, either.

*holds fic up to light, ponders it some more*

[poetic_self]

Oh, this was a really hard read. But you've been walking the line strangely balanced and did that through-out, so it somehow really worked, imo.

[holyfant]

Glad to hear it, really. I do worry about treating non-con and rape with the nuance and gravity it deserves; I'm thankfully quite ignorant on what it would do to someone, so I'm silently grateful that it works.

[green_key]

I thought you handled the entre piece very well, especially working through how Sherlock might not have realized what happened to him. And as you've said in previous comments, how his personal support group might at first turn him away at first, knowing how brash and seemingly thoughtless he can appear at times. Very nicely handled.

Oh, delicious Sherlock angst. Nom.

[holyfant]

This means a lot to me - I had more issues writing this than I'd expected when I first decided to fill the prompts; I wanted to handle it with the care it deserves while still having it be a useful exercise in bending situations until they work (like Mrs. Hudson turning Sherlock away - I couldn't quite picture it, but I tried to make it work, somehow).

Glad you enjoyed :)