#Johnlock Meta

[lightning--bug]

[221b-johnlocked-1895]

I was rewatching "The Devil's Foot" from Granada Holmes and I thought something. Since I've never read anything about it, I decided to write it here.

Holmes decided to let Sterndale return to Africa, despite the fact that he had killed a man.

(For those who don't know or don't remember, Sterndale killed Mortimer Treggenis, because he killed his sister Brenda Treggenis, with whom Sterndale was in a romantic relationship)

Holmes himself says that he didn't get him arrested because he would have done the same. In fact, later in the story he says: “I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done. Who knows?"

Well, we know, thanks to what Holmes himself said in "The Adventure Of The Three Garridebs": "If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.".

I think that it's quite clear that the "woman" in question, or better, the person who Holmes loves, is Watson.

[gregorovitch-adler]

The codependency in Johnlock-

I was thinking about this today.

In Many Happy Returns, John says, "I can tell you what to do. You can stop being dead."

He's drinking a lot and he still hasn't moved past the 'please stop being dead' thing since TRF. Everyone else has moved on with their lives but John is still stuck at that point. He's still grieving deeply even after two years.

If Sherlock hadn't returned to London, if he'd actually died, John would've been fixated on that thing for the rest of his life. Sure, he started dating Mary and was going to propose to her in that restaurant but I really don't think he would've been quite invested in that relationship with her

(He's not invested in that relationship with her even in Sherlock's presence but still. You get my point.)

If Sherlock had died, he would've just drunk a lot, with sleepless nights, self blaming, survivor's guilt, etc and his suicidal tendencies would've returned.

He would've married Mary, life would've continued normally (on the surface) and at one point John would've come to about Mary's criminal record. He would've still got to know about that even in that situation because of CAM (or through some other source).

Double heartbreak. John would've been completely alone in this whole world.

He doesn't get along with Harry, he doesn't mention his parents at all- probably they're not in the picture- and he doesn't have any other friends apart from Sherlock. Mike tried to reach out him in ASIP but John's response, in turn, was quite cold.

He wasn't quite keen on continuing his profession as a GP (we'd seen that much in The Blind Banker). He would've gone to his new clinic for some time but he would've done his job in a half-arsed way.

He didn't have any other hobbies either. He'd stopped updated his blog after Sherlock's supposed death.

I believe if Sherlock had died for real with no possibility of coming back, it's quite a high possibility that John would've committed suicide, eventually.

The same thing happens in Series 3. John gets married. Sherlock's drug addiction has relapsed.

J-What kind of case would need you doing this?

S-I might as well ask you why you’ve started cycling to work. (X)

This theme is surprisingly carried over to S4 as well even if that season doesn't feel connected to the rest of the show.

John abandons Sherlock after Mary's death. Sherlock is high out of his mind, weeks away from death, he's going crazy in 221 B.

John is at his own place in The Lying Detective, drinking way too much once again, clearly not okay. He's just this 👌🏻 close to dying as well. (He's grieving for Mary but lack of Sherlock's presence is also a contributory factor).

John has pushed Sherlock away himself and he's actively hating on him in this episode but he even in that state he obviously needs Sherlock (he'd never admit it but it's quite clear that he does).

John's desperation was obvious in the beginning of His Last Vow too.

J-Is it Sherlock Holmes you're looking for? Because I haven't seen him in ages.

M- A month.

He's visibly angry and frustrated at literally everyone who's NOT Sherlock. He's dying to meet him even if it's only been a month since his wedding day.

So what I'm trying to say is, as much as I love Johnlock, I can't overlook this unbelievable amount of codependency in their relationship. It's unhealthy but fun to have a close look at.

You try separating them from each other, they'll become physically miserable and they will throw themselves in front of fatal danger which would eventually lead to their death in quite a short period of time.

I used to think that 'I can't live without you' was supposed to be a cliché. Just an exaggeration that people say to their significant others.

Apparently that's not the case with Sherlock and John. It becomes quite literal when these two are concerned.

Conclusion- If you write a Holmes adaptation or a story, you don't ever seperate Holmes and Watson from each other. You do that and you watch them die (for real, this isn't even an exaggeration).

D'you know what's actually frustrating?

It's the fact that the creators of this show already knew about this. They were the ones who wrote their version of Holmes and Watson like that and the above mentioned subplots are taken from their show. They wrote it in that way themselves. The codependency and everything.

And yet they did exactly that. Separate Holmes from his Watson, that is (in TST and TLD).

They broke the rules of their own show and that's why here I am, ranting about the show even in 2023 lol.

[notyourmom4]

I just stumbled upon this article by Cinema Blend. Is this legit?

[thekettlesoverthere]

"Phone her, text her, do something, while there’s still a chance. Because the chance doesn’t last forever. Trust me, Sherlock, it goes before you know it. BEFORE. YOU. KNOW. IT"

And then Sherlock looks like that

Looking at John helplessly, eyes intermittently twitching towards him.

Look, I know John is talking about Mary here, and I also know our dear detective's aware of that.

HOWEVER !

The way Sherlock just. Looks devastated. means he understood perfectly what John said.

More than that, he feels it.

But at the end of the conversation, Sherlock doesn't go "ah, yes,you're right, let me phone her, let me go to Irene Adler."

No, he goes to comfort John. To stay with him. He embraces him.

And when John admits the "cheating" part, Sherlock immediately connects this to "even I text her sometimes. The Woman"

Sherlock associates texting Irene Adler with cheating on someone. I'm pretty sure that's why he never does it.

On who, I wonder ?

[kingstoken]

I saw a tumblr post not that long ago about Granada Sherlock Holmes, that said David Burke’s Watson was boyfriend!Watson and Edward Hardwicke’s Watson is husband!Watson, and I'm thinking truer words have never been spoken.

Burke’s Watson looks at Holmes with excitement, almost adoration at times. Something you would expect from a newer relationship.

Harwicke’s Watson looks at Holmes with a gentle fondness.

Burke’s run includes a lot more incidental touches, of the arm, the shoulder, etc. The type of stuff that is great for gif sets, and prefect for shipper fuel.

The touches are less during Hardwicke’s run, from what I’ve seen so far, but he shares these looks with Holmes like they’re communicating without talking, which don’t particularly gif well, but are such great little character moments when you’re watching the show.

I was disappointed at first that they switched actors part way through, but they made it work. There is about 7-8 years between Burke and Hardwicke for age, and I know canonically only three years are supposed to have passed between The Final Problem and The Empty House, but if you widen that gap the changes in Watson make more sense. Older Watson is more staid, he has known grief and heartache, and he has settled into his middle age. He seems exasperated with Holmes much of the time, and yet you know he would follow him almost anywhere. Older Watson more readily accepts Holmes with all of his foibles, because he knows what life was like without him.

Young Watson and Holmes are two men in their prime, ready to take on the world.

Older Watson and Holmes are the bickering old married couple, that would be lost without each other.

[topsyturvy-turtely]

“That’s not a sentence you hear every day.”

You’re right, John, it isn’t.

We’re all very familiar with the sort of cringe-worthy yet sweetly honest scene in TEH where Sherlock and John have this little exchange (and thanks again to Ariane DeVere’s transcripts):

SHERLOCK: See you’ve shaved it off, then. JOHN: Yeah.  Wasn’t working for me. SHERLOCK: Mm, I’m glad. JOHN: What, you didn’t like it? SHERLOCK (smiling): No.  I prefer my doctors clean-shaven. JOHN: That’s not a sentence you hear every day!

Sherlock outs himself as a gay man to John.

John is surprised and focuses on the sentence rather than the meaning, the format instead of the content, as the viewer is supposed to do too.

Keep reading

[221b-johnlocked-1895]

From "The Creeping Man" (Sherlock Holmes (1984))

From "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" (The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes)

In Granada Holmes, they didn't make an episode about "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" but they chose to use Holmes' last words (of the book, thus of the canon) in another episode, that is "The Creeping Man".

I think that they knew the real meaning behind those words and that's the reason why they wanted Holmes to say them.

Holmes is apparently referring to the fact that he was the one who had solved the mystery, but it doesn't make much sense. In fact, the readers of Watson's stories already knew that Holmes had solved many cases for which the police took the credit. I mean, Watson wrote and published the stories; it wasn't a secret!

Therefore, what's Holmes really talking about? What's the "true story"/"entire truth" that Watson couldn't write about in those years?

I think we all know very well what it was.

Today, we can and we must talk about their love. We owe it to them. We owe it to Doyle. We owe it to all the people who had to hide their love.

[winterdaphne2]

Gay Easter Eggs in BBC Sherlock

(I trust the above requires no explanation.)

Perhaps someone has done this before, but I wanted to put together a compilation of gay easter eggs in the show that I’ve seen other people point out and/or have thoughts on myself. So here it is!

When I say “easter eggs,” I’m thinking of small clues that the show creators included in the set designs, music choices, and other details of the show to reference that Sherlock and John are in love. I’m thinking of things you could miss at first, especially little clues that often require a bit of extra information or require observations across episodes to understand.

Of course, there’s also lots of subtext woven into the show, moments where interpreting the dialogue or visuals in a certain way tells us something about Sherlock, John, and/or the state of their feelings for one another. I’m not sure if I can clearly define “subtext” versus “easter eggs” and explain what distinguishes them, but at least to me, several of the things I’ve listed here seem a bit different from what people often refer to as subtext. Maybe subtext is about uncovering the layers to a piece of dialogue or an action that takes place in plain sight and seeing how that impacts our interpretation of the story, but easter eggs are about spotting smaller, hidden details. I’m not trained in literary or film studies, though, and I’m not trying to be doctrinaire about this at all! This list is just for fun, anyway. (The above image might not actually count as an easter egg, but I couldn’t resist including it here. Indulge me.)

The more I read about this show and the harder I look, the more I think that hardly anything is there on accident. All these easter eggs must have been included on purpose. The creators knew they were telling a love story all along.

I’ve linked to the posts where I initially saw people point these out or to other good sources, and for some of these I’ve added my own commentary/observations/interpretations. I’m sure there are many other easter eggs that I’ve missed! What have you spotted?

John’s PIN in TBB – When John tries to pay for his groceries at the beginning of the episode, we see that his PIN is 743. In ASIB, Irene’s code to unlock her phone is SHER, which would be 7437 on a phone keypad. So, John’s PIN is a clue that he is or will be in love with Sherlock. Source: @loudest-subtext-in-tv, here.

Shaftesbury Avenue, 20m from Piccadilly Circus in TBB – While investigating in Chinatown, Sherlock and John bump into each other at what used to be a cruising spot for gay men in London. Source: @the-signs-of-two, here.

Archer the American in ASIB – In the scene where the American CIA agents try to get Sherlock to open Irene’s safe, the head CIA agent pressures Sherlock by threatening to have one of his men shoot John. The agent says: “Mr. Archer, on the count of three, shoot Dr. Watson.” Ordering someone named “Archer” to shoot John could be a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle’s poem “The Blind Archer,” which is about Cupid and describes Cupid shooting two men who sound an awful lot like Sherlock and John. Source: couldntpossiblycomment, here.

“¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” in TEH – The song that plays during the scene with John and Sherlock’s disastrous reunion at the Landmark restaurant is a cover of the song “¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” performed by the band Pink Martini. The Spanish lyrics to this song are about searching for a long-lost lover, which is fitting for the scene where John sees Sherlock again for the first time since his fall. Notably, the creators didn’t use the first of the two versions of this song that Pink Martini has released. The band’s first version appears on their 1997 studio album Sympathique and features a man singing about a woman. Instead of using that version, the creators used the version from Pink Martini’s 2011 compilation album A Retrospective, in which China Forbes performs most of the vocals. So, the creators deliberately chose a remade version of the song in which a woman sings about a woman. They chose a gay song about searching for a long-lost lover for Sherlock and John’s reunion. abrae (@tea-and-liminality on tumblr) has a meta with more to say about the use of this song here.

John’s “oscillation on the pavement” in TEH – In TSOT, John observes a potential client standing outside 221B and trying to make up her mind as to whether to come in. Sherlock tells John “I’ve seen those symptoms before. Oscillation on the pavement always means there’s a love affair.” In the previous episode, John came to visit Sherlock at 221B but hesitated on the pavement outside, staring at the door and trying to decide whether to go in. Sherlock’s comment, “I’ve seen those symptoms before,” is a hint that we, the audience, have also seen those symptoms before—with John in the previous episode. Source: @bidoctor, here. (I saw someone else point out that last part about Sherlock’s hint to the audience, but I can’t find that post, sorry!)

Lilac dresses in TSOT – While planning John and Mary’s wedding, Sherlock chooses lilac-colored dresses for the bridesmaids. When John tells Sherlock that he likes the bridesmaids in purple, Sherlock pointedly corrects him by stating that the dresses are lilac. Apparently, “In Victorian times, giving a lilac meant that the giver is trying to remind the receiver of a first love.” So by dressing the bridesmaids in lilac, Sherlock is trying to remind John of his first love: himself, Sherlock. My heart breaks. Source: @asherlockstudy, here.

Putting the horns on Mary and Janine in TSOT and HLV – In TSOT, there’s a shot where Mary gives Sherlock and John a thumbs up before they head out on a case. The way Mary is standing, the horns on Sherlock’s cow skull thing on the wall behind her are placed right over her head. (I always thought this shot looked pretty weird, but now I see that it must have been intentional!) In the HLV scene with Janine at 221B, there’s a moment when Janine steps in front of John in the frame to kiss Sherlock, and her movement positions the horns right over her head. “Putting the horns” on someone means cheating on them. So in both cases, placing the horns right above Mary’s and Janine’s heads indicates to the audience that Sherlock and John are the real relationship in this show. Source: this post from multiple users on the @sherlockmeta blog.

The architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace in HLV – In the mind palace scene after Mary shoots Sherlock, the architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace is based on locations from ASIP. Sherlock literally built his mind palace out of places from his first case with John, illustrating that his relationship with John is what grounds him and that it means everything to him. abrae has some very helpful screencaps of this here (and I would recommend that whole meta, btw!)

The glasshouse scene in TAB – In TAB, the Victorian John tries to ask Sherlock about his sexuality and sexual history while they’re sitting in a glasshouse. In Victorian Britain, “glasshouse” was another term for a military prison. So John, a military veteran, asks Sherlock about his sexuality in a setting that represents where he would have been sent if he had acted upon his homosexual desires at a time when homosexuality was criminalized. Source: @haffieliesel, here.

What do we say about coincidences? The universe is rarely so lazy.

[helloliriels]

LIRI CELEBRATING 150 WORKS!

I passed a milestone last month with May is for Limericks! I now have 150 works on AO3 and 525+ op posts on Tumblr! All since July 2020!

💜💜💜 tysm to everyone who has commented, shared, or said hi!! And the few I've been lucky to meet or write to irl!! ily sm xoxo ☕️ 💜💜💜

Edit: No plans to do anything, just wanted to freak out a bit!!! 🙃😄 haha

[a-victorian-girl]

I'm crying like a babyyyyy, jeez!!!

If you're... looking for baby names

There have been many metas written on the famous tarmac scene, analysing all of the implications the one line presents. Sherlock is actually a girl’s name. It has become a famed unspoken love declaration, I suppose there are no doubts about that. However, in this meta I would like to elaborate on what particularly this one sentence means, taking into account everything that has happened, Sherlock’s and John’s body language during the scene and the parallel scene in “A Scandal in Belgravia.”

Warning: If you don’t ship johnlock, you will probably want to stop reading now.

Let’s begin.

Keep reading

[dareduffie]

talking to someone (in the wild) about TJLC (in 2024) makes me feel like old lady rose from titanic (1997) staring at the waterlogged naked drawings of herself. that will always be me, in a sense, but it's been 84 years...... i hardly recognize her now..........

[buckingham-ashtray]

Hello just a friendly reminder that Eurus used a bomb to make Sherlock say “I love you” to a John mirror and Sherlock also using a bomb to make John “say something nice”.

have a wonderful day xx

[inevitably-johnlocked]

do you have any recs for full-series rewrites? ideally ones without the Mary storyline or John lashing out?

thank you for all that you do!!!!

Hey Nonny!

OH Gosh, ah... This is a tough one because like technically "episode specific" and meta-fics can work for this. Check them out:

Pre-ASiP fics

Season 1 Fics

Season 1 Fics Pt 2

TGG Related Fics

TGG: Pool Scene

ASiB Fics

THoB Fix It Fics

THoB Fics Pt. 2

Post-TRF Divergence

Post-TRF No Mary (Jan 2023)

Reverse Reichenbach

Reverse Reichenbach Pt. 2

Reunion and Other Post TRF Fics

Reunion and Other Post TRF Fics Pt. 2

Reunion and Other Post-TRF Fics Pt. 3

John Finds Out About Hiatus

John Joins Sherlock During Hiatus

Johnlock Against the World

Sherlock Returns from Hiatus Injured 

Serbia / Aftermath of Hiatus Fics

The Empty Hearse-Related Fics

TSo3-Related Fics (Updated Sept 2023)

Post John’s Wedding Fics

Gay Bar Scene

Stag Night

HLV Fics

After the Gunshot (HLV)

Tarmac Scene

Post S3 Fics

Long S3/Post-S3 Fics (20K+ w.) [Apr 2020]

TABlock (Apr 2020)

TLD Fix-Its / Aftermath of TLD

TFP Is Canon

Post S4 / S4 Fix Its

Post S4 / S4 Fix Its Pt. 2

Post S4 / S4 Fix Its Pt. 3

Post S4 / S4 Fix Its Pt. 4

Post S4 / S4 Fix Its Pt. 5

S4 Rewrites / MetaFics

S3 / TAB / S4 [FIX IT] Fics (March 2019)

Post S4 and Mental Health

Unseen Moments (Updated Sept 11/23)

=====

I wish I could help you out beyond that, and I'm pretty sure I'm misunderstanding exactly what you're looking for, but I hope these help you out <3 I'm working on an S3 No Mary list, so one day that will be done LOL.

If anyone wants to suggest their own fic or a fave fic, please do <3

[iheardyou]

Oh wow 🤯

NEW DISCOVERY FROM TSOT❔❕

A few questions:

Is that Sherlock’s mum?

If it is, what is she doing here at her son's best friend’s wedding which he isn’t the husband?

If it isn't, why did they put someone of such conspicuous resemblance to Sherlock’s mum at John's wedding?

Why is she mirroring Mrs Hudson in such a blatant manner? (the hat? seriously??)

Could this mirror mean anything important further than indicating the maternal qualities of Mrs Hudson to Sherlock?

*May apologies for the repetition if anyone has pointed this out before, but I did notice this detail on my god-knows-how many-times-who’s-keeping-count rewatch a few days ago.

[topsyturvy-turtely]

HOLD TF UP FOR A SECOND-

so we all know john couldn't find sherlock's pulse because of this "ball under an arm" trick, right?!

but-

WHAT IF JOHN HAD NEVER TRIED TAKING SHERLOCK'S PULSE AT HIS WRIST BUT HIS THROAT?!