Welcome! (Prompting: part i)

[sherlockbbc_fic]

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This is a fic prompting meme based around the BBC series Sherlock, written by Stephen Moffat & Mark Gattis.

Comments

[anonymous]

I'd love to see something negating or contradicting the "high-functioning sociopath" line. (Frankly, I must admit I'm a bit dismayed how what I thought was a throwaway witticism has been adopted as fact.)

[anonymous]

Although I'd be thrilled to read that fic, I don't think that's extra-canonical. Holmes in the original stories had symptoms of sociopathy and I think it's written into the show:

Substance abuse (the traditional heroin is implied and he's abusing the purpose of nicotine patches), persistent stealing (demonstrated with Lestrade), inability to tolerate boredom, disregard for personal safety, poor behavioral controls (spontaneous excitement, his twitching and snarling face confronting the cabby, general impatience, etc.), total lack of empathy (the lipstick comments first come to mind, among other things).

Absolutely clinical and probably to be pursued in future episodes. But! Again, open to other interpretations. More of a forewarning that I'm pretty sure the next two episodes will further present sociopathy.

[anonymous]

I forgot outbursts of total violence (screaming at while stomping on a man). :(

[anonymous]

Except it's cocaine, not heroin.

[synekdokee]

My theory is a bit reverse - I think his behaviour was so extreme because they want to show his character development when he starts associating with John.

At least I hope so. Book!Holmes clearly had a big heart and was closer to being autistic than a sociopath. I hope Sherlock is the same.

[keenoled]

Yes so much, on all these points. :)

[anonymous]

Agreed, agreed, agreed.

[anonymous]

I have a similar theory! I feel like this Holmes is younger and not yet grown into the warmth of book!style!Holmes. And maybe his association with John helps in that regard, as you said. =3

[synekdokee]

I have adopted it as a fact about how Sherlock perceives himself, rather than what he really is. His reaction to John's "I don't need to (use my imagination)" was subtle, but certainly not that of sociopath.

[anonymous]

My thoughts exactly. It's probably book!canon informing my interpretation, but I just can't see Sherlock as a genuine sociopath even if he has certain traits that could be consistent with that.

[randomfandom93]

Agreed.

However, the 'Not Good?' 'Bit Not Good, yeah.' scene was clearly evidence of at least something, be it Asberger's, Sociopathy, or another mild form of autism.

[synekdokee]

I honestly kinda love that scene, because the expression Cumberbatch pulls is just *fantastic*. And yes, it's evidence of the fact that he has issues reading social norms and situations, but that at least to a certain point, he *cares* about them. He clearly realised he'd crossed a line there, and wanted to gloss it over as quickly as possible.

[irisbleufic]

I also love the bit at the end where he retracts his assessment of the shooter's characteristics when he looks over, sees John, and realizes it's him. That awkward sort of, uh, no, wait, just forget all that shit I just said, um, thxbai - it said everything, really.

[mariana_oconnor]

And yet his ability to charm - as evidenced with Mrs Hudson, whom he clearly has a rapport with, and his acceptance of touch so readily (he kisses her on the cheek and hugs her voluntarily) would be incongruent with what I know of Autism. However, sociopaths are often charming and manipulative, which he is, and he can read facial expressions.

He does like to play with people (the game is on), which is far more sociopathic than autistic. And he doesn't seem to have a problem with metaphors and figures of speech. I admit to not being an expert on the subject, but generally these are accepted signs of autistic behaviour as well as not being able to read subtle facial expressions.

(I'm generally in favour of the sociopath theory because the first time the word 'psychopath' came up (Sally to John?) I immediately said: 'no he's not, he's a sociopath, idiot woman', so the fact that they actually said that made me ridiculously happy. ^_^)

[synekdokee]

I suppose it depends on whether you choose to interpret his affectionate behaviour as genuine, which I do.

If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't really see why he needs to have a personality disorder or be autistic. Like House, he could simply be an honest to God jerk. I personally find that much more interesting, because it leaves room for character development (incurable ilnesses don't) and it means there is something in his past that made him this way.

[mariana_oconnor]

I'm torn, because I do like sociopathic characters, especially when they are written well enough to be sympathetic (which is difficult), but I also like the idea of character development and true affection. As I'm not a psychiatrist (or in any way trained or educated in that line) I don't know if there's a nice middle ground between sociopath/etc and just plain antisocial... but if there is that would be nice. However, as mentioned above, his lack of understanding involving emotional responses does imply some mental inhibition on his part. I mean, I'd probably judge myself as anti-social and with low levels of empathy, but I wouldn't question a woman still being upset about a dead child even years later.