Escape Route
Escape Route
@sherlocktember2024 prompt - "Victorian"
It had often been difficult or impossible for Holmes to remotely fit into the dictates of society. On occasion, he wondered whether some past era might have been kinder to him. But then, at least based on his forays into historical research, it seemed that society had always operated along strict lines to which he could not conform.
He particularly wondered about this little problem when he was obligated to attend social functions. Thankfully, such occasions were rare. He had, after all, structured his life in a way that let him be his own master, not obligated to go to parties, socialize, or do anything he did not wish to do.
Or at least, that was the situation on the whole. Sometimes, however, his work required a foray into that most Victorian of social functions, the week-end country house party.
Holmes utterly loathed all such occasions. A trip to the country was not always objectionable provided he was not required to interact with anyone he did not wish to, nor to participate in social rituals and the horrors of polite conversation.
On this occasion, he was investigating a complicated string of extortions, and there was no better place to become acquainted with both victims and suspects. As a result, he had obtained an invitation for himself and Watson, and was now being thoroughly tormented.
He had endured it at first. As he was a known eccentric, he could get away with merely wearing his ordinary, comfortable outfit. He could not tolerate more formal attire, not while also struggling to cope with the unending social barrage, the overwhelming roar of voices and stench of perfumes, and the misery of unfamiliar food and drink.
Those factors, however, became less and less bearable as the evening wore on. He had been engaged in conversation by a gentleman who seemed determined to force Holmes to reveal his “secrets”, and was not in fact interested in an explanation of his work. Watson gently intervened, peeling the gentleman away for more romanticized conversation, and Holmes fled for an isolated corner.
This did not, however, solve the trouble. There were so many voices, and while on a case he could not afford to distract himself with something more interesting like examining the flower arrangements. There had been no sign of tension among the existing guests, and so he suspected that whoever was responsible for the extortion had not yet arrived. Still, he must pay attention.
The clamor rose higher and higher. Laughter and shouts from one person to another, the clink of glasses, the chatter of a metal tray as someone began some insipid party game. More clattering followed, and Holmes flinched.
He pressed all the way back into the corner, his chest tight and breaths restricted. Even thoughts of his case became impossible.
He could not endure this torment, the barrage of pointless overwhelming stimulation. It was not the sort of stimulation he loved, and without any form of mental exertion, the boredom manifested as something like physical pain. Aches all through his body, his muscles burning with the desperate need to do something, anything, before he went utterly mad—
“Holmes, can you hear me?” Even Watson’s gentle voice was like a blow, and Holmes jerked in pain. Watson did not touch him, but gestured to the door. “Come on, old man. Let’s go to the garden.”
Moving at all risked causing additional overwhelm, and he wished only to sink to the floor in the corner, shut his eyes, and try to center himself before he exploded. But this environment would not aid in that quest.
He followed Watson, focusing as intently as possible on his friend rather than the tumult of the party. He must control himself. The shame of erupting into distress would do damage to his ability to continue the case once it progressed again, and he could not allow that.
It was too cold outside in the garden, but he could at least breathe here. He sank onto a bench, folding his hands together, and stared at the path. His heart pounded in his chest, racing out of control. Even from here, the sounds of the party overwhelmed him.
“It’s all right, Holmes.” Slowly, Watson took his own coat off and settled it around Holmes’ shoulders without otherwise touching him. Holmes still tensed. “Easy, it’s just me. I’m right here. Take your time.”
With Watson here to watch out for him, Holmes covered his ears, closed his eyes, and bent forward. The whole world had gone blurry, his control over himself shattered. If he could not calm down now, he would utterly explode. This was already far past the point that he would ordinarily allow himself to slip.
But that was the trouble with being out of his ordinary routine. Back in Baker Street, he had all his familiar things in their proper place, ready to soothe him. Even in London itself, the familiarity often permitted him to ground himself. He could retreat to some quieter area, and calm his agitation with predictability.
A house party had none of that. Here, he had only Watson. Thankfully, that seemed to be enough.
When Holmes came out of the fog and opened his eyes again, his memory had blurred. He remembered leaving the house, and being here on the bench, but the moments between had become indistinct.
Watson, however, was solid and present. The good doctor had taken up a position at his shoulder, as if on guard. He wasn’t looking directly at Holmes, instead watching the path to the house.
“Do you intend to chase off anyone who would bother me?” Holmes asked, curious.
Watson glanced down, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he gave a gentle, warm smile. “Well, I was certainly considering it. Do you feel any better?”
“I’m all right.”
“You were on the verge of a complete panic.”
Holmes sighed. There was little point in attempting to downplay his difficulties to Watson, who knew him so well. Who had so often sat beside him in the dark when he could only hide from the world. “I fear I became a little overwhelmed, yes. I owe you my thanks for retrieving me before I could be more of an embarrassment.”
“You are never an embarrassment.” Still moving slowly, Watson sat beside him on the bench. “I was glad to help. I’m only sorry I wasn’t there sooner, but it took some time to extract myself from Mr. Brixton.”
“Was that the gentlemen who kept shouting ‘rubbish’ at me each time I attempted to explain the art of deduction to him?”
“The same. He is one of the extortion victims, if you recall.”
“Ah, yes.” Holmes considered the matter, touching his fingertips together and then resting his hands in his lap. He was still dizzy, and felt as if additional strain might shatter him. Perhaps he would simply spend the night in the garden. “He almost makes me wish to abandon the case and leave him to his fate. He was exceedingly rude to me, Watson.”
Watson gave him a mildly alarmed look. “Surely you would not abandon the others!”
“No, no.” Holmes watched as another carriage parked in front of the house. Hopefully a more interesting late arrival. “I will not abandon any of them, Watson. But you must permit me my little amusements. I am very frustrated with the case at present.”
“I will gladly permit you any amusement,” Watson said softly. “I’m sorry the case is frustrating. I’m sure something will happen soon.”
“I am less certain. I begin to think these is no substance to this matter at all. Perhaps I am wasting my time, and subjecting myself to this torment for no reason.” Holmes sighed and pulled out his cigarette case and matchbox. He struck a match, lit his cigarette, and sank into the comfort of familiar smoke.
He had only been smoking for perhaps a minute, soothed by both that and Watson’s quiet company, when a gunshot rang out inside the house.
Watson jumped to his feet at once. “My God, what’s happening in there?”
“I have no data yet to be certain.” Holmes rose, much calmer and much more interested now, and tossed Watson’s coat back to its owner. “But it is quite possible that the person who has been extorting these people arrived in that most recent carriage, and was promptly shot by one of his victims.”
“You don’t sound very alarmed by that,” Watson said as they jogged towards the house.
“Well, there are no more gunshots, and very few screams, so I surmise there will not be too many injuries for you to attend to. And this may allow us to close this case more quickly.” Pleased, Holmes flashed a smile at his companion. “And then, we shall be free to return to Baker Street!”
More Posts from Galaxy-with-googly-eyes and Others
Captain Arthur Hastings is so ADHD coded.
Every episode he has a new hyperfixation, that he has abandoned by the next one. His car is pretty much his only constant interest but even then he plans to participate in a 24 HOUR race without having any experience with racing. We see how easily a new hyperfixation is triggered with Hastings in one episode (don't know exactly which one) when he and Poirot visit some attorney who deals with the stock market and not shortly after Hastings is absolutely obsessed with it. It screams ADHD to me.
In 'The Wasps Nest', when Hastings is currently obsessed with photography, Poiroit even says something along the lines of "his newest tick, I'll give him two weeks" (rough translation from the German synchronisation since the English original is not available anywhere in Germany as far as I know ...). So we have canon proof that Hastings getting new obsessions/hobbies and abandoning them shortly after is indeed happening and not just the writers not showing us how he pursues his interest anymore.
I'd also attribute his naivety/slowness (some people say he's stupid but I won't) to ADHD. I myself and most people I know with ADHD keep getting told that we are naive or gullible. Taking people at face value and generally not assuming ill intent is common in people with ADHD and something we also see in Hastings.
His slowness / him not being really smart is a characteristic that is certainly being amplified by the fact that we constantly see him in comparison to Poirot (I doubt that he would be seen as that stupid if the show was just him and Japp). I'd also say that him not being able to follow Poirot's deduction and reasoning doesn't mean that he is necessarily dumb, just that he is not as intelligent as Poirot and he does have his smart moments. (Also I think he was meant to represent the audience, and we often also have no clue what'S going on) But his less bright moments can also be attributed to ADHD. ADHD causes brain frog , as well as concentration and memory issues ( If I don't write important appointments down on my arm I will forget them no matter how important, but I can tell you everything I've learned about vulcanos when I was 8). He gets distracted easily, fails to pay attention to the 'important aspects' of cases and would rather tell everyone about his newest hyperfixation or work on his car, but he's trying his best. In his areas of expertise (cars, or whatever he is currently obsessed with) he is smart and knows his way around, he's just at loss when it comes to everything else.
I forgot halfway through where I was going with this soooo....
Captain Arthur Hastings OBE has ADHD!
WTf bahahah. I wrote this at 3am and thought it made perfect sense. Well...
If clubbing and partying was a video game I would be the perfect supporter. Hear me out, I am that asexual arospec friend who doesn’t drink but does Krav Maga and drinks way too much energy drinks. So I will never leave you alone for an attractive person and I will never be too drunk or too tired to help you. Got a creepy man annoying you? I can kick his ass. Drank too much? I’ll make sure you get home safely. The only thing that might be a little tricky is my noise sensitivity due to my autism but that can be fixed with noise cancelling headphones or earplugs. Also my social skills are not very good, so I won’t disturb your conversations. I will just lurk in a corner and wait until somebody needs my help. All in all I’m a good add on for a team of friends who want to go partying and need a supporter.
I saw a post that said something about wanting
on a t-shirt and I wanted to add something
Other people want Doctor Who to go back to it's roots by having the Doctor be a white man. I want Doctor Who to go back to it's roots by having the Doctor tell a Dalek to kill itself. We are not the same.
TW: SA.
Addition to the discourse of Kirk being a victim of SA and how it reflects in his behavior.
During watching Plato’s Stepchildren (s3e10) there’s one of very uncomfortable scenes where Spock, Chapel, Kirk & Uhura are forced to kiss. And I’ve noticed a very interesting detail of the difference in behavior between two “couples”.
Chapel expresses how she is ashamed and I would say scared would be a right term. Spock isn’t trying to comfort her, he himself is struggling. He thinks he failed her. They both are ashamed, disgusted, uncomfortable and visibly hurt and they try to fight even during the kiss, which makes it a very tough watch.
But then we see a dialogue between Uhura and Kirk.
Kirk, unlike Spock, is able to comfort Uhura, by asking “not to think of them”, because “they want [us to feel frightened]”. And he is succeeded. Uhura starts thinking about something else, something comforting — about him as well (as she has to kiss him), because she is now in a very vulnerable, traumatic position, she is trying to associate Kirk with safety despite him on this moment not being safe for her. So when they have to act, they don’t try to fight. When kiss happens they are more relaxed then Spock & Chapel, not trying to break the kiss. And Kirk is just staring, not at her, but on their sadists, with eyes full of anger and hatred.
What he advices to Uhura is something what many SA victims would experience, when they are in the similar position. Not thinking of what is happening. Not focusing on what exactly is happening. Not thinking of their bodies and the body of the other. Not showing their fear, or even shame. It’s because, unlike Spock, Kirk has an experience. He uses his body many times during the show to escape, to save his ship, his people or himself.
Kirk’s pretty rightful advice, I would say, proves, that the fact that he is a SA victim was the writers’ intention once again and it aligns with his behavior in other episodes where he has to use his body. Not thinking, thinking of comfort, not showing true emotions are his coping mechanisms.
He’s not a manslut. He’s a victim.
Definitely not the last time I’m going to talk about this but the relationship that Holmes has to Watson’s writing is so so interesting to me.
He obviously loves the attention to some extent, (Holmes’ relationship with attention seeking is a whole bag of worms) but in addition to his obvious gripes about the way in which Watson writes (tales rather than lectures etc, etc) he seems to have complex feelings on how much they focus on him.
Post retirement Holmes says he wants to reject notoriety altogether, implying that he only allowed Watson to help him gain it because it would be of professional value to him. While I’m not sure I fully believe him there, I can definitely see how that would be the easiest way for him to rationalize the stories and their popularity. But still, this is the same blushing sensitive to flattery Holmes who is constantly putting on a show for Watson and by extension his readers.
Even if Holmes is embarrassed by it, he enjoys it. Full stop. But he also hates it. And there are definitely a bunch of different reasons why he could dislike the stories, but I think the most obvious reason is that Watson can’t seem to decide weather to idolize or humanize him. Holmes dislikes that Watson doesn’t include many of his failures while at the same time hating when his magic tricks are explained. And maybe thats unfair of him, he can’t have it both ways, but if he can’t then why can Watson?
I also can’t help but think about all the times where Watson describes Holmes as cold, machine like, etc. I’m not sure how Holmes feels about that in canon (if he refers to it at some point let me know) but I know that when people have described me in similar ways it really fucking hurt. At the same time it’s tempting to take pride in it, an insult that becomes a complement if you lock enough parts of yourself away.
IDK like I said I’m not done talking about this just wanted to ramble for a second.
out of curiosity what's the legal age for buying/ drinking alcohol in your country?
I propose: A raccoon!
Anyone who says Sherlock Holmes would be a cat is wrong. He is not. That man is the most dog-coded anyone can get. Watson literally describes him as a golden retriever in The Adventure of the Dancing Men. If anything, Watson is the cat of the duo.
Edit: me when I’m called out by sherlock is a cat blogs 💀. he does have cat traits lol but the amount of times I’m reading acd and I’m reminded of dogs I know-
Let me introduce you to Peter Cushing, the Holmes actor that looks insanely similar to the Sidney Paget illustrations!
I've got a question for my fellow autistic and ADHD people. Has it ever happened to you that your brain doesn't recognize people anymore after they got a haircut? Like a friend of mine got a haircut and logically I know it's him, but my brain doesn't link the information it has stored about him and the emotions connected to those to him, so when I see him it feels like he is a complete stranger. Even tho I logically know that I know him. Has this happened to anyone else? And if so what can I do about it?
-
galaxy-with-googly-eyes reblogged this · 3 months ago -
galaxy-with-googly-eyes liked this · 4 months ago
-
serris9k liked this · 4 months ago -
small-cog reblogged this · 5 months ago -
unmarkedinlife reblogged this · 5 months ago -
sanpellegrinosips liked this · 5 months ago -
andy-the-irregular liked this · 5 months ago -
tremendously-crazy liked this · 5 months ago -
timothy06-24 liked this · 5 months ago -
son-of-drogo reblogged this · 5 months ago -
son-of-drogo liked this · 5 months ago
-
bazzpop reblogged this · 5 months ago -
bazzpop liked this · 5 months ago
-
thewaytonowhere liked this · 5 months ago -
friday411 reblogged this · 5 months ago -
friday411 liked this · 5 months ago
-
usergreenpixel liked this · 5 months ago -
amypihcs reblogged this · 5 months ago -
amypihcs liked this · 5 months ago
-
sherlocktember2024 reblogged this · 5 months ago -
darkhorse-javert liked this · 5 months ago -
tropicalenergy liked this · 5 months ago -
eisenkrahe reblogged this · 5 months ago -
eisenkrahe liked this · 5 months ago
-
starryfull13 liked this · 5 months ago -
edosianorchids901 reblogged this · 5 months ago
Galaxy | she/her | autistic | ADHD | This is a place for my hyperfixations,They may change often, but I'll always be obsessed with murder mysteries
102 posts