you said "we're burning out at both ends" / so i came along

knowmydark's Moment of Inertia: Parts 1, 2, 3.

From an author whose unusual format fic I always love the hell out of (and have recced before), is this glorious piece of tension, angst, sadness, and love. I have been practically pining for this psychopathic!Arthur fic, and it is nothing like I expected; I usually expect psychopathic- or sociopathic-protagonist fic to be... kind of a guilty pleasure (though I don't actually feel guilt over it) -- but honestly, something like a kink: delectably forbidden and sexual and thrilling. This was NOT that. This was lovely and horrifying and depressing and uplifting and how can it be all these things at once?!! The build of tension is as wonderful and painful as its release is a mix of relief and horror.

I said a bit more (with less coherence and more spoilers) in my comment on the fic, and I think the combination of that and what I've said here is probably as much as can be wrung out of me.

I will say that after reading it, you should also read weatherfront's lovely comment, which is almost as moving as the fic, in its understanding and clarity of speaking to the larger implications and depths of the story.

You might be sad, in the end, but you won't be sad to have read it.