(no subject)
So, somebody prompted The reason why Mycroft and Sherlock don't get along is because, when he was desperate to quit cocaine/heroin (not sure what's the usual canon drug here) and asked Mycroft for help, all his brother did was lock him in a clinic and not bother to visit or call for months, even though Sherlock often tried to reach him on the kinkmeme.
I was going to comment with this, just noting how interested I was in her prompt because my head!canon is almost the exact opposite, but then it got long and idk if it even makes sense because it's almost past 5am, and whatever I can get between now and 7:30 is all I anticipate sleeping in the next 30 hours so I can't be arsed to look at it any more to make it more clear.
But basically, this is an idea I've had for a really long time, and something I'd like to write into a stand-alone fic/work into an existing in-progress fic/something at some point for BBC Sherlock, because it all really makes sense to me to explain the Mycroft/Sherlock feud and how lopsided it is (Mycroft is genuinely concerned; Sherlock won't even text him back). Sure, it might all be explained away by the sheer resentment you would expect with a brain-driven younger sibling whose older brother is better at people, and being accepted into society, and not becoming addicted to things like a common junkie, and even brainwork (which would be the real insult), but my head!canon likes to combine Sherlock getting clean-but-not-really with their rocky relationship.
Sometimes, you may really need help, and once you're past whatever, you don't really want to go back to the way things were, but being forced into treatment/getting help/whatever when you weren't ready, when it wasn't your decision can cause this resentment to build up for the person who did the forcing. It's fed by the misery/withdrawal/horribleness of the early days of treatment because you're sure things wouldn't be this bad if you were still in the throes of it, and it's allowed to fester over weeks of forced therapy and being treated like a child or a convict with rules and restrictions and no trust whatsoever. You come out of the other side healthier and possibly happier and on top of everything you owe that person your life because they saved it when you didn't want to be saved, and even though you may acknowledge that you're better off now, you fixate on how it should have been your choice and sometimes there's no salvaging that relationship.
Sherlock knew he needed to get clean if only for the work, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to take on police cases. Once he was, he stayed clean (even though his flat isn't--it's both a test of his own willpower and because to be honest, he doesn't really care that much if he goes back under), but he could have done it himself. Now, instead of getting to prove that to himself, he's spent ages in withdrawal and being treated like a child and patronized by two-bit counselors with a certificate from a semester of night school, and it's all Mycroft's fault.
For someone like Sherlock whose self-determinacy is such an important facet of his character, being forced into rehab (and we know God Mycroft could do it, not by brotherly influence but by tugging on the appropriate strings) would be an egregious affront to his person. I don't think they've ever had a particularly great relationship because of aforementioned general resentment from the "Mycroft is smarter/better/more social/nicer/not a junkie/did I mention smarter" type of thing, but Mycroft forcing Sherlock into rehab was the straw that broke the camel's back. They may couch it in cute sibling-ness like "arch-enemy" and little passive-aggressive things like not returning phone calls, and they're not bursting out into shouting fits because they've had a few years to calm down, but my head!canon has much of the underlying resentment (especially considering the shape of the dynamic we saw, with Mycroft's sincere caring about his brother and Sherlock rebuffing it) coming from this type of situation.
I was going to comment with this, just noting how interested I was in her prompt because my head!canon is almost the exact opposite, but then it got long and idk if it even makes sense because it's almost past 5am, and whatever I can get between now and 7:30 is all I anticipate sleeping in the next 30 hours so I can't be arsed to look at it any more to make it more clear.
But basically, this is an idea I've had for a really long time, and something I'd like to write into a stand-alone fic/work into an existing in-progress fic/something at some point for BBC Sherlock, because it all really makes sense to me to explain the Mycroft/Sherlock feud and how lopsided it is (Mycroft is genuinely concerned; Sherlock won't even text him back). Sure, it might all be explained away by the sheer resentment you would expect with a brain-driven younger sibling whose older brother is better at people, and being accepted into society, and not becoming addicted to things like a common junkie, and even brainwork (which would be the real insult), but my head!canon likes to combine Sherlock getting clean-but-not-really with their rocky relationship.
Sometimes, you may really need help, and once you're past whatever, you don't really want to go back to the way things were, but being forced into treatment/getting help/whatever when you weren't ready, when it wasn't your decision can cause this resentment to build up for the person who did the forcing. It's fed by the misery/withdrawal/horribleness of the early days of treatment because you're sure things wouldn't be this bad if you were still in the throes of it, and it's allowed to fester over weeks of forced therapy and being treated like a child or a convict with rules and restrictions and no trust whatsoever. You come out of the other side healthier and possibly happier and on top of everything you owe that person your life because they saved it when you didn't want to be saved, and even though you may acknowledge that you're better off now, you fixate on how it should have been your choice and sometimes there's no salvaging that relationship.
Sherlock knew he needed to get clean if only for the work, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to take on police cases. Once he was, he stayed clean (even though his flat isn't--it's both a test of his own willpower and because to be honest, he doesn't really care that much if he goes back under), but he could have done it himself. Now, instead of getting to prove that to himself, he's spent ages in withdrawal and being treated like a child and patronized by two-bit counselors with a certificate from a semester of night school, and it's all Mycroft's fault.
For someone like Sherlock whose self-determinacy is such an important facet of his character, being forced into rehab (and we know God Mycroft could do it, not by brotherly influence but by tugging on the appropriate strings) would be an egregious affront to his person. I don't think they've ever had a particularly great relationship because of aforementioned general resentment from the "Mycroft is smarter/better/more social/nicer/not a junkie/did I mention smarter" type of thing, but Mycroft forcing Sherlock into rehab was the straw that broke the camel's back. They may couch it in cute sibling-ness like "arch-enemy" and little passive-aggressive things like not returning phone calls, and they're not bursting out into shouting fits because they've had a few years to calm down, but my head!canon has much of the underlying resentment (especially considering the shape of the dynamic we saw, with Mycroft's sincere caring about his brother and Sherlock rebuffing it) coming from this type of situation.