Fic: "A Near Routine"

[beeinmybonnet]

If you think the text is too difficult to read here, you can try to read it at whimsical scribbles.

Title: A Near Routine
Summary: 1886. The conclusion of a case and its aftermath; a story in which Holmes can rely on Watson.
Characters/Pairings: Watson, Holmes; Lestrade and assorted minor characters
Rating: PG
Warnings: Reference to rape of minor OFC character
Genre: Gen; Friendship/Pre-Slash
Word Count: 1 511
Spoilers: Vague references to one, plot-irrelevant scene in the film.

Disclaimer: This is a transformative work of fiction based on Guy Ritchie's adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original works.




Hurrying down an obscure East End street which Watson had never travelled before, but with which Holmes was doubtlessly familiar, and Lestrade's forces not far behind them, Watson exerted himself not to lose sight of Clark Samson's dark form. His right calf blazed in protest to this treatment, but Watson was not prepared to succumb to it.

A strong hand grasped his shoulder and there was hot breath against his ear. "He's going to turn left at the next intersection," Holmes whispered, the words twice as fast as usual. "Run down that alley and you'll intercept him."

Trusting Holmes' knowledge of the maze that was London's road network, Watson dove into the narrow alley to his left. It was even more difficult to half-run in the limited space than it had been out on the street, but when he exited the other end he nigh on collided with Samson's great bulk. Holmes was hot on his heels and he grabbed Watson by the sleeve almost in passing, not even glancing at him. "Excellent; right on time. We'll have him now."

Barely had Holmes finished this sentence when Samson suddenly slowed down his running by half. With a terrible feeling of foreboding, Watson tore his arm away from Holmes and reached for his revolver. It was just in time; when Samson turned around and the unmistakable glint of metal glimmered in his hand, Watson did not hesitate to fire.

The bullet found its way into the blackguard's arm, and with a yell of pain he fell to his knees, pistol hitting the ground with a clatter. Watson kept his revolver raised as he leant heavily on his cane, watching out of the corner of his eye Holmes confiscate the forsaken pistol. He was not able to give his friend his complete attention; not with the monster of a man, whom he still had at gunpoint, in front of his very eyes.

Again the familiar hand fell upon his shoulder, but much gentler this time around. "That's enough, Watson. That is quite enough."

Watson hesitated, eyeing the whimpering mess before him, and then reluctantly lowered his revolver. Holmes gave him a quick pat just as Lestrade and his men caught up with them.

"I see you've got your man," Lestrade remarked when he came to a halt by Holmes, with a furtive glance at the firearm in Watson's hand. Holmes, whose eyes were still bright with alertness, held up Samson's pistol for the inspector to see.

"It was self-defence," he said in a matter-of-fact manner as he handed it over. "If Watson had not fired, the one lying here bleeding would either be a doctor or a consulting detective, and a criminal would still be at large."

"Indeed," Lestrade said. He did not appear to be wholly convinced. "Still, seems to me you've put an awful lot of work into this for a common burglar."

Watson holstered his revolver with more force than was strictly necessary. He wished more than anything to shout at Lestrade to take the vile being to the gallows, but he could not; when Nicholas Grey asked for them to find the burglar, he had made both of them swear that the rape of his sister would not be disclosed.

"You think so? The notion has never even crossed my mind. Come, Watson; I am more than certain Lestrade can handle things on his own from now on; let us hail a cab and head home for Baker Street."

Watson nodded his farewell to Lestrade and followed Holmes out onto the more open roads. They waited there in silence for a cab to pass by; Watson while trying to restrain his outrage, Holmes lost in thought.

By the time they managed to hail a hansom, Watson's anger had cooled down to a sense of despondency and he had regained most of his clarity of mind. It thus worried him when Holmes sat down beside him in the hansom and had still not spoken a word. The frown on his face, his drawn up shoulders, the way he subtly flinched at every sound; all of this spoke volumes to Watson, and only fuelled his concern.

"Holmes." When Holmes did not acknowledge him, Watson repeated his inquiry. "Holmes."

"Hn."

"Holmes, tell me how you solved the case. Tell me how you deduced Clark Samson was the culprit," Watson requested and laid his hand on Holmes' shoulder.

"It was simplicity itself," Holmes muttered, leaning ever so slightly into the touch.

Watson partway agreed with him. Compared to other cases, this one had been relatively simple, if horrendous; he himself had managed to roughly puzzle the pieces together by then. "Tell me anyhow."

"The fact of the matter is that however heinous Samson might be, he is a hopeless burglar," Holmes said and looked up at Watson. "He left traces of himself in all places of the house. A swift examination gave me such a complete profile that all I had to do was to pay a visit to the Hare & Hunt pub and ask for the name of the large, red-haired sailor habitué who always ordered their cheapest stout and smoked even cheaper cigarettes."

There was still quite a bit of the journey left before they reached Baker Street, with Holmes steadily growing worse by the second, and Watson wheedled him into continuing talking with him, grasping for every subject his mind could come up with.

"Holmes," Watson called when his friend's attention strayed for the twelfth time. "Concentrate on me. Focus on me."

Holmes turned his head towards Watson but his lacklustre eyes kept darting hastily without fixing themselves on anything.

"Tell me about— Tell me about tobacco ashes. Tell me about the differences between them."

When they finally reached Baker Street, Holmes was all but exhausted from the ride and could barely sit up straight. Watson had to pay the driver and then physically haul Holmes out of the hansom.

"Come on, old fellow, don't collapse on me just yet," he said as Holmes leaned heavily against his side. His leg started protesting vehemently again. "We're almost home."

"My head. Hurts," Holmes mumbled into Watson's shoulder, his voice muffled but the note of pain in it still quite clear.

"I know." Watson ran a soothing hand over Holmes' hair. "Only one more effort and then you'll be all right."

Half-dragging Holmes up the steps, Watson knocked on the door and then regained his hold of Holmes' arm slung over his shoulders. Between keeping Holmes upright and supporting himself on his cane, he had no hands left to open the door with.

It only took Mrs. Hudson moments to open the door. She cast one look at Holmes, shook her head and stepped aside, letting them in. "Been working himself to half to death again, has he, Doctor?"

"Indeed, he has."

Watson did not wait to doff his outdoor clothes, but made directly for the stairs. He contemplated whether he should lug Holmes up the two flights to his bedroom, or just one to the sitting-room. Seeing that Holmes now rested more than half his weight on him, Watson decided on the latter. The seventeen steps were laborious, but after a lot of effort they made it into the sitting-room.

"There, Holmes; now you're home."

Watson had to untangle himself before he could let go of Holmes, and when he had contrived he whipped off his coat and dropped down into the nearest of the armchairs with a deep-drawn sigh. Holmes in a greater or lesser degree tumbled down onto the floor, where he shakily crawled the two feet to the chair so he could rest himself against Watson's leg. His head lolled on Watson's lap and he let out a small sound of contentment.

With a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Watson closed his eyes and laid his head back against the headrest. Holmes could be infuriating—especially so when he worked so hard, rested so little and ate so scantly that he could not even suppress the intense sensory impressions that constantly plagued him—but there was something which invariably made it impossible for Watson to be whole-heartedly vexed with him. Perhaps it was the knowledge that a fully conscious Holmes would hide his face in shame if Watson would ever refer to his frankly childlike behaviour in these instances; it gave him some much coveted leverage over Holmes, should he need it one day.

Through the floor he could hear Mrs. Hudson clattering in the kitchen, although it was almost drowned out by the crackling of the fire. Holmes' breathing had evened out and he was emitting small sniffing noises that could hardly be attributed to snores, his breath warm on Watson's thigh. Watson ran his hand over Holmes' untamed locks, his affection for his friend slowly spreading through his whole being, shoving all lingering feelings of anger aside. Sinking further into the armchair, he banished the last traces of Samson the blackguard from his mind, and slowly dozed off to sleep as well.




Author's Notes: Billions of electronic hugs and kisses to ladylovelace for a lovely and speedy beta. ♥
Yes, this is pre-slash. Only, it's Holmes/Watson pre-slash, which makes it near indistinguishable from "proper" slash. It's one of their more favourable features. ♥
This supposed-to-be ficlet (hah!) was an exercise in writing the characters, in preparation for my holmes_big_bang fic, so fire away the constructive criticism. I'm thick-skinned, so don't worry about employing any kid gloves.
(And in case anyone wonders: yes, Holmes is supposed to have Asperger's Syndrome here, as well as an attention deficit disorder, though I'm not quite sure if it's ADD or ADHD yet—the jury's still out on that one.)

Comments

THis is VERY good.

[checkyagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm really loving this and don't have anything bad to say at all. you are a wonderful writer. So instead I'll tell you that ADD and ADHD are the same disorder the only difference being that when you have ADHD you are more hyper and impulsive. Everything else is exactly the same, and since Sherlock seems prone to staying indoors and while being active inside he is not all that impulsive, thinking through everything he does. I'd say he'd be more likely to have ADD than ADHD. Unless you want to write him as impulsive,lol. All the little symptoms you've shown are characteristics for either disease so you could go either way.

Re: THis is VERY good.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

First of all, thank you very much for the praise! ♥

I'm intimately familiar with both ADHD and ADD, seeing I myself have the former and my younger brother the latter.
What you say about Holmes having ADD is absolutely correct; I agree whole-heartedly with you. Only, that's book-canon!Holmes we're talking about. Movie!Holmes is a bit different; I blame that on the amazing Robert Downey Jr., who always seems to slip some ADHD-esque traits into each character he plays. So movie!Holmes ends up having some kind of mesh-up between the two. I'm starting to lean towards him having ADHD, though, since it's perfectly possible to have it and be ridiculously lazy at the same time, and one can learn to control one's impulsivity, to an extent, if one really puts work into it.

Also, I must voice my objections to the use of the term "disease" when referring to ADHD/ADD. To call something a disease implies that it's A) bad, and B) curable, neither which fits ADHD/ADD. I won't take offence, I'm sure you didn't mean any harm, but please refrain from calling them diseases again. :)

[lucife.livejournal.com]

oh, I shall be waiting eagerly for your big bang, because this is excelent. I have such a soft spot for crazy Holmes, and you write him beatifully.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you so much! ♥

[ingridmatthews.livejournal.com]

So well-written and full of those USTy sparks. Loved it!

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! ♥

[zarah5.livejournal.com]

This is wonderfully written, especially for a first-time effort! I think you did a really good job with the characters and their relationship, the affection and care - the only thing I can think of is that their dialogue might lean slightly more towards the bickering, but I think that given the situation, that maybe wasn't called for.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! ♥

Yes, they bicker quite a bit more than they do here, but I know from personal experience that trying to match wits with a person with Asperger's and/or AD(H)D when they're having a "backlash" is pretty much near impossible. I think Watson knows Holmes well enough to let him be for the moment. ♥

[leafyaki.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, nice :D I really, really like the communication between Watson and Holmes, how they both offered comfort when they knew the other needed it. The reciprocity of their actions made me sigh internally, and it was subtle and natural to boot, which makes it even better ♥

I'm trying to figure out here though what could be improved on, because I want you to do really awesome on your Big Bang fic ♥ There're some parts which don't quite sit right with me, so I'll try to explain what I mean...

1. Watson nodded his farewell to Lestrade and followed Holmes out onto the more open roads. They waited there in silence for a cab to pass by; Watson while trying to restrain his outrage, Holmes lost in thought.

I loved the pacing in the first part before this - you managed to convey the action well while interspersing it with thoughts and dialogue at the same time. This part though, I'm a little iffy about. Watson nodding his farewell and them leaving is fine, but the transition from action to inaction is still a little sudden.

Perhaps it'd be easier to ease the transition in with a couple more description? Perhaps a line or two of Watson feeling irritated at Lestrade's attitude, or the feeling of being watched by him while Lestrade's forces scurry around Samson. Maybe the narrowness of the alleys, or the sense of gradually hearing the noises of the streets pick up volume and then them waiting in silence for the cab.

2. There're little things like word choice which is more of a personal thing. Like:

when he had contrived he whipped off his coat

"Contrived" is not a word I see often - that could be just me, but in its place I would choose to put in "managed to". It feels more natural to me.

"Indeed," Lestrade said. He did not appear to be wholly convinced. "Still, seems to me you've put an awful lot of work into this for a common burglar."

I see the feeling you're conveying here. However, the second part of his lines is enough to tell us how Lestrade is unconvinced. So in its place I'd put something along the lines of:

"Indeed," Lestrade said with a small furrow in his brow. "Still, seems to me you've put an awful lot of work into this for a common burglar."

3. Watson ran his hand over Holmes' untamed locks, his affection for his friend slowly spreading through his whole being, shoving all lingering feelings of anger aside.

This last comment has more to do with the building up of their relationship than technical issues. What I feel is that toward the end, you're doing more, mm...telling, rather than showing. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, since in your second last paragraph you built in Watson's feelings naturally, with a touch of humour in how Holmes' actions would give Watson leverage. But for the sentence quoted above, because you established his affection for Holmes in the previous paragraph, it is not necessary to repeat it again. Instead, it might work better with:

Watson ran his hand over Holmes' untamed locks, warmth slowly spreading through his whole being, shoving all lingering feelings of anger aside.

Tiny nitpick: there was hot breath against his hear. "Ear", yeah? (:

Mm, yeah, that's it from me! Basically I love the pre-movie-universe you're building up for them here, and the pre-slash, which is one of my favourite parts about this pairing. The whole UST, yeah? ♥ And of course, the little subtle touches and general sweetness here :D Keep at it! I look forward to how your Big Bang fic will be like, and any other fics you choose to write for them! *hugs*

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

I am so happy I have you as a beta for my bigbang fic. ♥

First of all, thank you so very much for the praise! I'm blushing and squirming in my seat and THAT'S NOT AT ALL SUPPOSED TO SOUND SUGGESTIVE, WTH SELF? D: Sorry about the accidental innuendo! What I meant to say is that I'm tickled pink and behaving very silly.

CON-CRIT! OMGGLOMP♥

1. Transitions are horrible; it's one of the reasons I prefer writing staccato scene-by-scene rather than streamlined "and then we did this and this and this" which is more common. But yeah, I definitely understand what you're saying.

2. This is what I meant with pseudo-Victorian; a sorta archiac feel to the language and with some oddish choices of words. Of course, this is like shooting in the dark for me; I have a decent feel for contemporary English at best, so trying to be stylistic about it is near-suicide. Why, self, do I torture myself so?

2,5 & 3. Show-don't-tell is a constant battle of balance. I try to lean towards "show" rather than "tell," but I know I don't always succeed. Tricky business, isn't it?
Also, just so you know, I hate endings and beginnings, even more than I hate transitions. Beginnings are bearable, because at least you can start in media res, but endings are pure torture. My mind always freeze up when I come to the point where I have to round everything up. I'll keep in mind that I have to be extra harsh with myself about this.

Ah, so that's where the stray 'h' went! I wondered about that. Thanks for pointing it out!

Again, thank you so, so much for this review! It definitely made my day. ♥

[leafyaki.livejournal.com]

Just received your email ;D Reading through it now and seeing how I can help ♥ In the meantime I'm glad you're happy at my small comment :D

2. Oh, I see what you mean. Mm. Let's see how we can do this...

Going by the tone of this fic, I would characterize it as still...modern, rather than an archiac feel. Mind, it is not a bad thing in the least - content, dialogue and emotions still jump out at me first in any fic I read, regardless of the time they're set in. But I understand how using a psuedo-Victorian tone sets the whole fic in the mood.

I'm definitely not at all good with tones though D: Is there an excerpt online that you can point me to? Of any Sherlock Holmes story, anything you like at all. Preferably one that you feel captures the essence of "Victorian" writing? I'd like to read it to see what you're hoping for (:

I've taken a module on 19th Century Literature before, if that helps any, and there're some distinctive aspects to every author's works that make it feel like it belongs to the 19th Century proper. Let's see how this goes, yeah? ♥

Oh, about the endings and beginnings, I feel you. It helps to have a beginning and ending in mind when writing any story, so that might help you in terms of rounding things up. Alternatively, you could try writing both the beginning and the ending first? Then if there're any changes you need to make after writing the body you might find it easier, since there's already a draft to work with.

Thank you for this story! It is a great exercise :D I'll try to reply your email when I've gotten some of my thoughts out ♥

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to your reply! :D

2. Yes, that's the tricky part. I don't want to write in a pastiche style, because while that works wonderfully (when done right) for book-canon, this is movieverse, which is this strange and awesome mesh of archiac and modern. So I'm trying to find that exact tone of mesh, with a blindfold and my hands bound behind my back. ::facepalm:: And just to confuse things even further, I have this impression that Holmes' voice should have even less of a periodic feel than Watson's, so I'm in deep waters indeed.
(You can read "A Study In Scarlet" here (http://www.literaturepage.com/read/astudyinscarlet.html). Just skip parts I-V of the second part of the story; they're irrelevant to the plot. Other than that, awesome story and my personal favourite. :D)

I've taken a module on 19th Century Literature before, if that helps any, and there're some distinctive aspects to every author's works that make it feel like it belongs to the 19th Century proper.

YES, LET'S. ♥ ::glomps::

It's not that I don't know how to begin or end a story -- I always have a rough idea where I'm going when I sit down and write -- but the problem lies in how to put it in words. Like, for this fic, I knew it would end with Holmes sleeping half in Watson's lap, but not exactly what sentences to use.

Hm, I could try that. Which, you know, just makes me flail even more over my bigbang fic, since I have no ending. I think that's the main reason I haven't started writing it properly yet. ::flails::

Ah, are we going to bandy thank-yous now? ♥ In that case, no, thank you for helping me!

[januaryfreeze92.livejournal.com]

Amazing, amazing! I loved this so much. :) I think it adequately revealed another facet of Holmes' and Watson's relationship.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you!! That was exactly what I was going for. ♥

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

I may have already mentioned this, but I forget - I love the notion that Holmes might have Asperger's and an associated attention deficit disorder, and I love how you've played it here.

Of course I also love the snuggling but I am certain I said that already.

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

No, you didn't mention that! :D (The snuggling, yes, but not special-needs!Holmes.)

I'm thoroughly convinced Holmes has these conditions, and while "labelling" him might annoy others, it helps me remember exactly what kind of problems Holmes would have in his day-to-day life. Like, for example, a carriage ride; so-called "normal" persons might not think it any special, but for a person with an AS/AD(H)D combo (or just one of them) it takes a lot of energy to filter out all the different impressions. (Why, no, I have absolutely nooo experience with this myself -- what makes you think that? ♥)

Snuggling = HUMONGOUS kink of mine, especially so after having seen the movie.

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's labelling as such (and am in full agreement with you that he is at least somewhat affected by a disorder of that nature) but then I am far more comfortable with internet armchair psychology than most - what did impress me was that you approached it in such a way that was not offensive at all to sufferers, IMMHO. And that isn't something you see every day, because I will admit to being slightly terrified of fictional representations of mental illnesses and disabilities precisely because they are so often awful and degrading. This was not.

Completely sharing that kink, here (but then my list of kinks is a frightening thing).

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Book-canon!Holmes definitely has traits that fit both diagnoses, but it's cranked up to eleven in the movie, which I personally think is awesome. The resturant scene made me have to stifle high-pitched squeeing, because it was basically like someone had read a biography of an Aspie and copy-pasted it into the script. That's exactly how it feels when I'm in a crowded place. (Unfortunately, I don't have a Watson so I have to make do with my MP3-player.) And then there is the scene where Holmes creates order out of chaos with musical theory, which also rings clear as a bell. Because Holmes has two special interests -- deduction and music -- and spending six hours immersed in one of them is not a strange thing at all for him. Of course it isn't; it's connected with his special interest, and thus of utmost priority. (My own studies may have suffered from this, seeing I've lived by the formula "fandom > school" for the last five years.)

I would never dream of portraying functional disorders as something wholly negative, and would be horrified if I inadvertently did so. It'd be much too close to shooting myself in the foot. Functional disorders like Asperger's and AD(H)D have negative and positive traits. Yes, one gets tired easily, is awkward around people and has a private circus inside one's head, but one's also incredibly focused and knowledgeable on certain subjects, often very honest and creative. So they're double-edged swords, like all personality traits, and should be portrayed as such.

If you watch a TV-show or even a movie, and it's said a character has Aspeger's Syndrome, don't believe them. I don't think I've ever seen a character with any kind of autism that hasn't been portrayed as having classic autism. It's sad, isn't it, that everything has to be pushed to extremes?

(One thing fandom has taught me is that no kink is too bizarre to have. It's very reassuring.)

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

Indeed, the ocassionally brilliant focus is nice, but the "my-brain-is-a-scary-place" part is less fun *empathises*. (I am also affected, but mildly, very mildly indeed - quite highly functional etc. - I shudder to think what it is like for those worse off.)

I suppose the average TV writer thinks that an "interesting" character is more important than any sort of accuracy *le sigh*.

(This is so true it is very nearly frightening. Kink memes are so educational.)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

I love the fact that I can quickly read something through and remember at least 80% of the content (remembering dialogues verbatim is no problem for me) and that I can cram my brain attic to the bursting point, but the whole can't-stand-all-these-sensory-impressions-I'm-going-insane-argh! thing isn't fun, no. Personally, I like the randomness of my brain, but I hate the fact that it can't concentrate very long on anything. TVTropes.org has a brilliant entry (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitlem4f37xq499gk?from=Main.AttentionDeficitOohShiny) on AD(H)D, and about this phenomena.

Many people come to think that being casually ditzy, or good at thinking outside the box, are signs of ADHD and claim the diagnosis even though they don't have any real traits. This has gotten to the point where a fanfiction.net list of "top ten signs you are a writer" lists "You have ADHD, or wish you did." Ignoring the fact that — as stated above — ADHD is a concentration disorder and makes writing anything extremely difficult. (Although those with ADHD tend to be very creative, they are also noted for starting new projects, then loosing interest in favor of an even newer one. So while ADHD may assist in coming up with great ideas for stories, it makes finishing those stories incredibly difficult.)

Yes. Just... Yes. That's exactly how it is.

Oh, really, you too? Please, misunderstand me correctly when I say "Yay! :D" because I'm not happy that you have to suffer the negative traits, but rather that there is someone else who understands what I'm talking about. Does that make any sense at all? I hope it does.

::shakes head:: With all due deference to "interesting characters," they are actually more interesting when they're "correct." I find Holmes, who is realistically autistic, much more captivating than any autistic "freak" I've seen on CSI.

(I love kink memes! It's got to the point where I'm the most open-minded in my family. My mum still twitches when BDSM is mentioned, but at least I've rubbed off enough on my brother that he thinks homosexuality is no strange thing at all. [I still don't get the whole tentacle-rape fascination, but I'm pretty sure my fetishes have doubled since I discovered the internet. Incidentally, have you noticed that people never talk about sexual preferences in real life, but it's perfectly normal on-line? ♥])

[ladylovelace.livejournal.com]

I am not going to click the TVTropes link, because I know that it is a dangerous website when I am in an inquisitive mood and do not have seven hours to spare. *But* the bit you copy-pasted is...yes, that is exactly the problem *looks woefully at half-finished fic folder, and the basket full of half-knitted jumpers*. (Also big YES to remembering every conversation I have ever had, which I now automatically hide because it freaks people out)

I get the "yay" impulse, most whole-heartedly :)

Oh yes, far more interesting to me certainly, if someone puts some effort in, however most of the crap on TV these days (especially American TV *grumbles*) is just...yeah, crap. Hastily cobbled-together crap. Most people are happy to watch mindless drivel (and to be honest if it was intellectual engagement I was after, I would pick up a book).

(My mother twitches at the mention of sex, to the point where you'd think she had no idea what it was. I am happy enough not knowing my brother's views on sex of any sort. [I suspect (hope) that the tentacle-rape thing is mostly a joke. But I have come across few fetishes that I couldn't at least see the reasoning behind, and picked up a few odd ones. I must say that whilst there are some real-life friends I don't discuss sex with, I do have plenty of real-life conversations about sex - however that is probably a symptom of hanging out with writers entirely too much, and I am aware this is not usual. I suspect the anonimity of the internet, coupled with the typically sexual nature of fandom contributes to this. And I'll shut up now because it is best if I don't start on psychological theory :D)

[monkiainen.livejournal.com]

I loved this to bits :) I'm superbad at giving anyone any constructive criticism so I'm just going to say I truly loved the interaction between Watson and Holmes - it was just aww :) :)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! ♥
Don't worry about any lack of con-crit -- this comment is very much appreciated.

[crazytook.livejournal.com]

That was a really fun fic! I love this version of their dynamic, with Watson just being such a...well...friend. And Holmes completely disregarding his own well being. And I actually liked how you had them both interact with Lestrade. I really like the simplicity of Holmes just falling asleep on the floor, leaning on Watson. I've totally had to pull the same thing with friends of mine in college, it's so a thing ppl do.

My only thing is actually not at all a problem with the story, it was just something i thought of when i read the author's note. You said that this holmes is supposed to have Asperger's? If that was your goal, it was not clear at all in the story to me. Asperger's is a form of high functioning autism and is a great deal more than a person being anti-social, it is marked by a lack of empathy(not at psychopathic levels or anything, tho), confusion/inability to understand sarcasm or slang, and a difficulty in being able to "read" others, among other things, and of course not every person with diagnosable Asperger's has Every symptom. You do write Holmes as being capable of "reading" ppl (i.e. Holmes seeming to realize Lestrade is slightly suspicious) and the background with the rape causing Holmes to work so hard to solve the case (at least that's how I read it) while VERY holmesian, that kind of emotional/empathetic reaction is less likely in a person with Asperger's-especially in an era where it is not a recognized thing. The ADD is a little clearer, although, Holmes does become far to singularly focused with a case (what with ignoring his own well being and all to solve it) for ADD to be a likely thing for him, and the combo of writing Holmes as BOTH ADD and Asperger's is slightly odd, since the one real argument that Holmes has Asperger's is that he focuses in on cases so singularly, but that kind of contradicts him having ADD. Wikipedia actually has a decent entry on Asperger's and there is this site:http://www.autreat.com/dsm4-aspergers.html for further inquiry, if you're interested.

Anyways, whateves, it was a good story and I really enjoyed reading it. I just have a firm familiarity with psychology and I couldn't help but notice the author's note. The psych comments are supposed to be helpful to you and I super apologize if they came off as haughty or rude. I really, really enjoyed your story. You are a fantastic writer and I think you did a great job with these characters!

Kudos!
crazytook

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

First of all, thank you so much for reading this fic -- I'm glad to hear you like it!

Secondly... ::cracks fingers:: Discussion time! ♥
The reason I'm such a strong advocate for Asperger's!Holmes and AD(H)D!Holmes is, simply enough, that I have the diagnoses myself, and I recognize far too many of the "traits" for it to just be a coincidence, imho. (Since I wrote this fic, I've thought much about this and come to the conclusion that while book!Holmes has ADD, movie!Holmes is more likely to have ADHD, so I'll refer to it as such from here on.)
The Asperger's/ADHD combo isn't an unusual one, actually; there's not an abundance of them, but they're not rare either.
Now, I'll try to keep myself cheerful and calm, but if I do come off rude or snappish, please, do forgive me. It's nothing personal, just a jadedness directed to the general public, and definitely not at you in particular.
People with high-functioning autism differ greatly. There are those who are borderline "low functioning" autistics, and those who are almost "normal". As for lack of empathy and inability to read people; it varies. Greatly. The empathy thing I know is a "common" trait, but neither me nor my autistic brother have ever identified us with it. On the contrary, we are too emphatic and feel much more than what people consider "normal". As for reading people and not understanding slang and/or sarcasm; again, it varies. I believe that a clever person with Asperger's "learns" how to read via trial-and-error and study. (For an overly-simplistic example, frowning = anger and/or confusion.) Humour is and always will be, I suspect, a great mystery. But just because a person has a form of autism doesn't mean that he/she does not have a sense of humour.
I've always suspected Holmes has Asperger's Syndrome, but it was the film that made it obvious to me. The resturant scene is a brilliant example; the inability to shut out all sensory input is a classic "thing". And then there's his monomania, his "eccentric" quirks, his awkwardness with other people, etc. I'm thinking about writing a short essay on this just to explaint his theory in more detail. But suffice to say, I identify far too much with Holmes for it to be a mere coincidence.

Then again, I'm not a typical Aspie; I love sarcasm, I look people in the eye when I talk to them, I'm overly emphatic, I enjoy social interactions. But I'm me, Anna, first and foremost; the diagnoses are just a small part of who I am.

(I do apologise if I jumbled up some of the terms and/or definitions. English is not my first language, so I'm not sure what everything's called. [And I'm also writing this at eight o'clock in the morning, so I apologise for awkward and incorrect grammar!])

[crazytook.livejournal.com]

Hello, again! Thanks for the reply. And I had no idea English wasn't your first language. On the "Holmes has Asperger's" issue, admittedly, that was not my finest explaining, I tried to get too specific with my comments (wow, first time THAT'S been a problem for me.) and I believe I explained myself poorly. Especially on the "empathy" count.

My point was not to say that all people with Asperger's are X or that they have Asperger's before they are ppl, I'm just saying that as far as actual canon goes (both the books and the 2009 film, dunno bout the TV shows), not personal canon, fanon, etc... but actual canon, I don't think there is any set of traits that Holmes displays that would diagnose him as someone with Asperger's anymore than it would diagnose him as being Bi-Polar. What I mean, is that while there is very little that actually contradicts Holmes as being someone with Asperger's there is also very little to contradict that he's Bi-Polar(he has fits of depression for long periods of time, followed by extreme happiness/excitement). But, I highly doubt that Holmes is Bi-Polar by canon. And, really, if there isn't anything to say that a person DOES have one thing or another, than you can't diagnose it. Just because they Could have something doesn't mean they DO.

And that was really what my comment was all about. You write a very lovely Holmes, and I think your own personal identification with the character makes your writing of him very specific and human. And, really, who am I to say that you can't write a version of Holmes with Asperger's-cause you absolutely can. I'm just saying that if that was your intention, it wasn't clear to me. which is fine, i loved the story. But, I do think it was not properly communicated that he has Asperger's/ADD. And, honestly, I think that's totally OK, I never would have even said a thing if I hadn't seen the tiny author's note at the bottom. And I think it's fine, I don't think it's a weakness at all when writers don't always communicate what they mean to. I'm pretty sure that Joss Whedon didn't mean to ship Topher/DeWitt originally, but they seemed shippy in one episode quite against his intentions, and he went with it. I guess I was just commenting on the disparity between your intent and what I was experiencing as a reader. And I am just one, singular opinion, so take it with a grain of salt-hell, take it with ten. :)

On a totally different note, I do have a friendly question, that my friend and I have been asking around. You mentioned that in the movie when Holmes is sitting at the restaurant that you saw that as his "inability to shut out all sensory input". I find that really interesting, because my friend and I saw it as Holmes consciously "practicing" his deductive/observant skills. That he was bored, and decided to deduce some stuff while waiting for Watson. Basically, we saw it as a very conscious choice on his part as opposed to something he just couldn't help but doing. And I just find there are very mixed responses about what exactly he was doing in that scene. So, if I may ask, what about that scene makes you think it's sensory overload as opposed to something more conscious like practicing?

And I, in turn, if you are curious, will be more than happy to explain my interpretation of that scene.

Thank you for the lovely chat! I apologize if I say anything like...that ticks you off or offends you or whatever, I know what I think I'm writing and how it reads to you will probably be two different things, so I apologize for my own shortcomings as a non-fiction writer. Just assume I mean what I say with every kindness, cause that's how I mean it.

Again, lovely story, and it's great chatting with you!

-crazytook

[magnifica7.livejournal.com]

Oh, such a wonderful after-the-case scene and I followed your story willingly and fascinated. Well-written, full of convincing imagery, and with food for thought - just my kind of story. It being pre-slash, well, that's definitely an immense added bonus! :)

[beeinmybonnet.livejournal.com]

Oh, so much praise, my blushes! Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you ejoyed it. ♥