Re: Mycroft saying please. When powerful men beg it is hotter than the sun.

There’s a lot of reasons I fell for Mystrade. 

I like how their differences match up as tight as jigsaw pieces. Openhearted bravery, and emotionless logic; a man who clearly once owned a motorbike, and a man who takes time each morning to match his pocket handkerchief to his suit. Mycroft delegates; Greg rolls his sleeves up. 

Mycroft is, in a word, difficult. Greg is easy. 

I like the emotional quality of the things they share - a certain weariness, a touch of impatience, a force of will. 

And I really like that when you put them together, it’s not at all obvious who’s coming out on top.

In every sense of the phrase.

These two are decisive, intelligent, successful men - committed professionals, used to being listened to, used to a certain level of respect.

I fucking love that.

It reminds me of the whole reason I fell so hard for slash fiction. 

A romance between two heroes? Yes please. I don’t want to read about one heroic bell-end and a suitably accommodating love interest, who’s only there to reflect back at him how heroic he is. I want to read about two people, who both deserve my adoration as a reader, and the things that they do together. 

I like reading about characters who have weaknesses and cracks and flaws, but are strong enough to do something about it - and strong enough to look out for someone else on the way.

I love reading stuff where two men manage to fall in love while remaining as the men they were. Slash couples shouldn’t be crammed into some creepy “I’ll be The Man, you be The Woman” parody of that heterosexual fairytale we’re all so forcefully told is the only possible True Love.

It’s not. 

And Mystrade is so awesome for illustrating that. 

Isn’t it fascinating that Established Relationship stories are so easy and plentiful in our pairing? Because we all know it works so well. 

All those “I had a terrible day at the office” stories work because that’s the kind of thing two real, rounded people do in an actual relationship. 

Here’s the thing. 

Mycroft and Greg, as characters, both contain a huge amount of strength and weakness. Mycroft in particular runs the full gamut from “I am the power of the British nation” to “oh shit, I absolutely cannot cope”. 

And yeah… I like it when he begs.

Because that’s the utter joy of most slash pairings. Two decisive, intelligent, successful people who can occupy the entirety of the emotional scale in their own right - from way up on high, “I’ve got this, we’re going to be okay,” all the way down to, “I need you to help me, I am not okay”. They can occupy that scale around each other, transform each other, drag each other up from the dirt - kicking and screaming if necessary. But there’s movement. There’s dynamism.

And that’s really sexy.

And it means more to us as readers. 

That’s all of our lives, right? One day you’re leading the front line attack. The next you’re curled in a ball somewhere. We’ve all done it. And we’ve all known what it feels like when someone reaches down for you and says, “I’m strong today - because yesterday, you dragged me up here. Now you’re down there. So get a hold of my hand.”

I like when powerful men beg because there’s not actually any such thing as a powerful man.

Society has tried convincing us of it for years, and it’s not true. We’re constantly fed these Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows and cultural myths about supposedly Powerful Men who blow up the helicopter, get the girl and save the day.

It’s unrealistic. It’s boring. 

It doesn’t mean anything to us. 

I’d much rather have the story about two blokes who try their hardest, feel like shit sometimes but don’t give in, get hold of each other, and together become more than the sum of their parts.

Who wouldn’t rather have that?

So yes, he’s The British Government - and yes, he can have people dragged off into limousines - and sure, he could probably have the whole world moved an inch to the left if he wanted…

But now and then, he needs somebody to say, “I know you’re not alright. Just show me that you’re weak, and I’ll give you my strength.”

That gives me shivers.

That’s why I like it when Mycroft says ‘please’.