#Teh

[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.

[bettercallcohen]

"I think I'll surprise John."

"The Empty Hearse" S3E1 - Sherlock (2010 - 2017)

[bluebellinbakerstreet]

60/100 Sherlock in black and white

[helloliriels]

I can't even get through The Empty Hearse ...

Sherlock deducing with Molly along, as he's constantly hearing John's (now derisive voice) in his head, talking at all the points John would normally have spoken ... 🥺 (knowing his timing and cadence like his own heartbeat).

How many times did he hear "brilliant"? And "amazing"? And "fantastic"? Whispered in breathless wonder ... while he was dismantling Moriarty's network for 2 whole years? How many times did John's voice save him and keep him going???

John was with him the whole time. Because John is always there.

(There's always the two of us).

And now ...

"Not really in the picture anymore"

Like he knows now what it's like to be half the person he once was ... and will never be again.

[safedistancefrombeingsmart]

@giftober2023 | Day 14: Reunion.

It was a painful one.

[heartduct]

*sound of birds cawing and flapping their wings as they flee*

[holdmyscripts]

If you don't call this “flirting” then how do you call it?!

[noraaron]

CHNT REFRENCE IN WILL WOOD😱😱

[if-came-the-day]

John looks over at Sherlock, his expression bleak. Then the cab drives off. Sherlock’s left on the pavement. Alone. This wasn’t how it was meant to go.

--The Empty Hearse Final Shooting Script

[bl-bracket]

Horny on Main Round 1: Teh (I Told Sunset About You) vs Togawa (Old Fashion Cupcake)

[Submitted Reasons Under Cut]

Teh: "look I was told before watching itsay that it was similar to call me by your name and I definitely saw the connection but as the series I progressively got more and more worried that there was going to be a scene of Teh fucking a coconut. that didn’t (thankfully) happen but boy howdy Teh was definitely confused horny teenager having the bi crisis of his life"

Togawa: "he is so horny for nozue like this guy is just constantly thirsting over his boss like nobody's business. iconic finger in mouth part of the kiss scene. oh yeah he also talked to his boss who he is in love with about masturbation. insane"

[n0bluev]

im sane, really

(just checking how tumblr works with a gojo doodle i made to check how ao3 works lmao, bam! two birds with one stone. kind of like how toji-)

[winterdaphne2]

I think a lot about the fact that Sherlock looks so much older in S3 than he did in S1-S2. Even if it's just Benedict Cumberbatch aging naturally, within the universe of the show it's really like Sherlock aged so much during those two years away from John. He would have missed John so much and endured so much while he was gone. And visually, it's like we can even see in Sherlock's face that when he returns to London and to John, he's a different person. He's more willing to show the parts of himself that are gentle and wise, and he's finally ready to reveal a little more of his heart. If only John had been ready, too.

[bluebellinbakerstreet]

53/100 Sherlock in black and white

[helloliriels]

Some secrets he thought buried deep ...

Like how he's still trying to keep,

His heart moving on;

But the feeling's so strong,

It keeps waking him up in his sleep.

@johnlocky @fluffbyday-smutbynight @chinike @rhasima @jrow @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @raina-at @khorazir @keirgreeneyes @lisbeth-kk @chriscalledmesweetie @kittenmadnessandtea @missdeliadili @masterofhounds @purplevatican @whatnext2020 @thegildedbee @safedistancefrombeingsmart @loki-lock @sarahthecoat @bluebellofbakerstreet @weeesi @solarmama-plantsareneat @momma2boys @gaylilsherlock @copperplatebeech @sakshisahu @bs2sjh @meetinginsamarra @dontfuckmylifewtf @marta-bee @wizama @ninasnakie @impalaparkedat221b @dapetty @notjustamumj @thalialunacy @naefelldaurk @sgam76 @janetm74 @friday411 @a-victorian-girl @topsyturvy-turtely @theofficialinternetloner @iwlyanmw @kabubsmagga

[smarthily]

For @sherlockchallenge April prompt FIRE

[tehawesomestkitteh]

"family"