#post-season 3 sherlock meta

[thegildedbee]

{S1/S2} & {S3/S4} Fics: [Questions] .......................................................................

[well, instead of a few thoughts about the "whys" for the Parentlock fic recs that were the point of starting this post, and then a list of and comments about the recs, this turned into a longer meta -- which, we don't really do meta any more, do we, except in passing? fwiw, then, a throwback post, I guess?]

........................................................................................................... I've been thinking some about differences in Sherlockian fic treatments, when comparing the S1/S2 period to the S3/S4 period - in general, this means 2014 as a dividing line, although that's not a hard-and-fast cut-off point: for example, there were fics that were conceptualized or well-along-the-wip-road prior to S3 that carried on from within the earlier canon-space even if they were completed a year or so later; and there were fic authors who were publishing circa 2015 who had shrugged off S3 when it was being aired, and couldn't have cared less about post-S3 [often disputatious] meta discussions/ speculations.* So, by my figuring, 2014-2015 is a transitional phase, with my guess being that it would be late in 2015 when fics written by authors engaging with S3 canon began merging into a critical mass, creating a second, S1/2/3-transformed foundational reference point for many fics going forward -- and, the later in time one ventures, the reference point for most fics.

It's not that I've been wondering/pondering about the differences because I think pre- or post-S3 fics are better or worse -- to say the least :-) I feel positively about fic from both time periods! It's partly curiosity about the writing of fic in the two different creative contexts: in the "before time" or the "after time" of BBCS' post-Reichenbach canon decisions. And it's also partly curiosity about the differences in length that now exist for the two periods: about 4 years for pre-S3 fic -- which will always remain so, along with the amount of fic it contains [minus deletions and disappearances of specific fic] -- and going on 11 years now (and always stretching further, with increasing content) for post-S3 fic.

I think that one impulse prompting my curiosity is the fact that, realistically, at this point in time [the start of 2025] new canon is unlikely to appear. When BBCS was still in motion as an evolving source for its own canon (in actuality and in potentia), fics were brought to life within a contingent canonical landscape (whether authors were adapting to it or subverting it or anticipating it or transforming it or appropriating it or moving at tangents to it). Of course, the canonical landscape was rendered static when BBCS pulled over to the side of the motorway and killed the engine.

What I'm not saying is that fic is in stasis -- it can't ever be, for lots of reasons! One reason is that, as time passes, the world changes, and we change, and what we see when we look at traditional canon changes . . . and so the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) A second reason is that new people come along to write fic and to comment on fic, and to meta about fic, and their contributions augment and reshape the cumulative corpus . . . and so the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) A third reason is that, through our encounters with other imaginative realms, old and new (novels and films and series and other enthusiasms) and then with each other, there's a continuous glamouring that shimmers the atmosphere . . . and so (say it again :-) the fandom dynamic of fic evolution continues :-) Even so, I've been a bit wistful these days about experiencing Sherlockian canon-in-the-making . . . which is maybe what's prompted me (?) to return to the ur-source, which, because it's been so long since I've visited there, can conjure up that kind of magic :-) And so I've been doing some weekly mini-wanderings through ACD canon, and reading between the lines in a kind of what's-old-is-new-again-familiar-unfamiliarity that's been rewarding :-) But more on point for this post (ha! if you've read this far you've been wondering, is there a point? . . . ) is a sense I have that re-visiting S1/S2 fic is another way of accessing a bit of a present-day sense of canon-in-the-making, because it is far enough in the past now, and because of the post-S3's-interpolated-foundation-for-fic has itself extended outward so far, that pre-S3 fic can be visited in a what's-old-is-new-again kind of way (S1/S2 has familiar beats to it, but when visiting I somehow feel whisperings of a mrs. hudson-like smile of "but we see things somewhat differently here, dear" :-)

Okay, enough with all the preliminaries! All that being said: So, what's an example? Here's one I've come back to many times: One major shift is in fics where Sherlock is a parent, or is interacting with a child of John's, because pre-S3 means pre-Mary [at least the "Mary the (former?) assassin" of BBC Sherlock] and pre-"Rosie." [It is the case that some pre-S3 authors have a "Mary," but it's a version that's drawn from ACD canon, and, as such, is usually a much more understated presence; re kids from ACD canon, that's a null consideration.]

There are an overwhelming number of post-S3 fics where Sherlock-with-a-child means Sherlock&John-and-Mary's-Rosie under various scenarios. And while there are lots of different Rosie personalities, Rosie plots, and Sherlockian encounters with Rosie, a majority (or very nearly all?) post-S3 Parentlock fics share in this background rationale (more or less, to be sure) even as they play out from there in a gazillion different inventive ways. Pre-S3 Parentlock fics don't have that raison d'etre, of course, and the child characters and plottings that feature in the S1/S2 period have a generally wilder set of imaginings, and their S1/S2 fic Sherlocks have a balance of characteristics that have some subtle differences that I've always found intriguing, and keep coming back to (this can hold for Johns as well, although the emphasis is more pronounced with Sherlocks). Being pulled back into pre-S3 fic and re-visiting it through categories like Parentlock has been another way that I've re-experienced a kind of anticipatory canon-in-the-making . . . ambience? aesthetic? aura? which I've found to be intriguing. I'm not sure that looking backwards has much appeal for others -- maybe (?) In any case, I guess I thought I'd try and puzzle it out for myself by writing it down and not just having it float about in wisps in my mind palace :-)

Well, hey now, as this is an epic amount of wandering about, I think it's time to come to a rather inelegant galumphing of an endpoint! Writing up the fic recs will have to maybe happen somewhere down the road...

(For anyone who has wandered along this far as well: if you have any thoughts you'd like to share about S1/S2 and S3/S4 fic partitioning, or [the futility of?] attempts to re-surface a canon-in-the-making-vibe -- feel free to add them in! If so, borrowing these would allow this post a much more inspiriting way to finish :-)

........................................................................................

*(. . . and of course there were a significant number of authors who left the fandom after S3 -- but that's a fic trend reflection for another day :-)

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@calaisreno  @totallysilvergirl  @friday411  @peanitbear  @original-welovethebeekeeper

@helloliriels  @a-victorian-girl  @keirgreeneyes  @starrla89  @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely  @lisbeth-kk  @raina-at  @jobooksncoffee  @meetinginsamarra

@solarmama-plantsareneat  @bluebellofbakerstreet  @dragonnan  @safedistancefrombeingsmart  @jolieblack

@msladysmith  @ninasnakie  @riversong912  @dapetty .............................................................................................

[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

[evilwickedme]

Your elementary posts are inspiring me to rewatch elementary! Which is good bc i love elementary and bad bc i have so much programming homework to be doing.

Anyway, so on the topic of sherlock holmes:

Which screen (movie and tv) adaptation of sherlock holmes have you seen, and which ones do you think are best (true to original holmes) and best (most personally enjoyable to you)?

(I love your meta on fandom stuff in general - no pressure to answer tho! I just feel like you’d give an interesting reply on this)

Elementary is so good, I'm glad I inspired you to rewatch (but also, good luck with your homework lmao)

Now, to answer your question

It's worth noting that I... Did not read the original stories. Or well, I tried, but I didn't vibe with them originally (I tried to read them in high school after receiving a complete copy for my birthday from my sister), didn't get around to giving them a second chance, and eventually just exchanged my copy for some of my friend's books. So I can't really speak to how accurate any of these are to the originals, but I'll guess anyway lmao

So! Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes I've seen, in no particular order

Sherlock (BBC, 2010-2017) - first two seasons and an episode and a half of season 3

My experience of Sherlock BBC was heavily colored by superwholock and the reichenbach pause, which were the reason I watched the show in the first place, as I had not heard of the show previously. 2012-2013 Tumblr was truly another time. I believe around the same time I also binge watched the first two seasons of Game of Thrones, and I had very similar experiences with both of them: investment because they were pop culture phenomenon, and uncritical and quick consumption that left no room for my own feelings to develop. And in both cases when the third season premiered I discovered, much to my surprise, that I didn't actually like the show. I in fact had extremely pointed criticisms of the show, didn't enjoy the characters, and found the viewing experience to be tedious hard work. So... I do not like Sherlock (BBC), and never really did, although I continued to participate in superwholock as a fandom until its decline. The release of Sherlock is Garbage and Here's Why (dir. Hbomberguy, 2017) was an incredibly satisfactory experience, as it experienced my criticisms extremely well, and put to words my feelings that I hadn't even managed to turn into criticisms, plus pointing out flaws I hadn't even noticed. SiGaHW is one of my favorite films, a twice-yearly watch. Highly recommended. That said, Sherlock itself sucks and is both a bad show and has uncompelling "mysteries". Bad as an adaptation of the original stories and bad as in just bad. Bad.

Elementary (CBS, 2012-2019) - all seven seasons

I enjoy Elementary a great deal. I think it's sort of a model modern procedural, with the cases of the week nearly always being compelling to watch and the emphasis on the developing character dynamics being one of my favorite aspects. There are seasons I enjoy more or less but that's nearly always because of the ongoing subplots (Morland and Moriarty were significantly more compelling than Shinwell, for example) than the actual cases of the week, which again, are pretty much always extremely solid. I've rewatched this show several times, and I think it's extremely enjoyable. It's not perfect, but it gets points for, for example, having Mrs. Hudson be a trans woman all the way back in the early 2010s, and having an autistic woman as a love interest who felt like a genuine well rounded woman. It's also occasionally a little critical of the police in a way that stands out for a crime procedural, which is cool, but only a little. All in all, I like the show a lot, although it's not my favorite on this list. That said, the crime procedural is pretty much the most natural way to adapt the spirit of the original Holmes stories into modern day media, and it uses pretty much every notable character from the stories eventually including some of the mysteries (I really like the hounds storyline adaptation in particular!), so I think this wins best adaptation.

Sherlock Holmes (dir. Guy Ritchie, 2009) - just the first one

I'll be real with you I don't remember anything about this movie except that I watched it and had a fine time.

House (Fox, 2004-2012) - all eight seasons

Y'all know I'm currently in House brainrot, so obviously this ends up on the list. Excellent television, especially for people like me who live for a good procedural and were looking for something that wasn't a cop show. House is Holmes, Wilson is Watson, and the occasional Sherlock Holmes canon reference shows up, such as the guy who shot House being named Moriarty in the credits, or Wilson bullshitting the second gen ducklings about a woman named Irene Adler who was The Woman for House. It's a very good show - although not currently my favorite on the list - and any mystery of the week format is going to be at least a little inspired by the o.g., but it doesn't win over Elementary, which has actual murder and crime mysteries.

The Irregulars (Netflix, 2021) - like two episodes

Based on the concept of Sherlock's canon irregulars but it's a fantasy show! I heard great things but did not end up clicking with it. Obviously by virtue of it being a supernatural show it's not very based on the original, but at least there's mysteries that must be solved?

Sanctuary (Syfy, 2008-2011)

This show is the kind of thing I'd watch when it was on, back in the days where I would watch my parents' satellite television instead of downloading whole seasons of shows on my laptop (as I didn't have a laptop yet lmao). I remember it having dense plots, and vaguely remembered that one of the characters was Sherlock Holmes, and I googled it - it's actually Watson. But hey, that counts, so I included it. I remember enjoying the show but I could not tell you if it was actually good because my taste in 2010 was a bit of a mixed bag on account of me being 12. Anyway I would say it's probably a terrible adaptation and they most likely didn't even try considering the kind of show it was, and I wouldn't call it my favorite.

Psych (USA, 2006-2014; movies 2017, 2020, 2021) - eight seasons, 3 movies

Finally we reach my favorite of these shows. Is it the best one? Idk that's probably a competition between Elementary and House, really, because Psych gets quite silly in the later seasons. But I really do love this show and these characters so much. Like House, it is only a little inspired, but even more loosely so, with really only the idea of a guy who's really smart and eccentric and his best friend who seems normal but really is a bit of a freak (in Gus' case, actually way weirder than Shawn) sticking around. Shawn has eidetic memory and is wicked smart, and actually makes for some really good ADHD rep in my opinion. The comedy usually lands and the romance plot is one of my favorite slow burns and the serial killer episodes are high quality as shit and I love that there's a pineapple hidden in every single episode and I just. I love this show I love it so much

Anyway these are all the adaptations I've seen that I could think of. It's possible I missed something but only the kind of thing that doesn't say Holmes on it; I haven't seen Enola Homes, for example.

Thank you so much for asking I really appreciated this thought exercise of trying to remember every single bullshit TV show I've ever seen because, um, I've seen a lot of TV if I'm going to be honest.

Sorry for taking two weeks this was surprisingly hard and I have. A job

[featuresofinterest]

so this post breached containment and people are misinterpreting it and it reached the author of the referenced meta (who blocked me so i can't respond to her comment lol) so i just want to make clear that this post is about my experience in tjlc. i am a graduate of this-season-was-bad-on-purpose university. if you knew your sherlock fandom lore or had any idea what you sound like when you post metas like that you would understand how funny this is. when i skimmed this meta it's like i was transported back to 2017 except this show on its face was actually very satisfying. no one did anything out of character, everyone's actions seemed to make perfect sense, it's clear that everything will get resolved and end happily in season 3, and there wasn't even a girl from the ring putting anyone in a saw trap on shutter island!! you're writing tjlc-style metas for a show where they've already confessed their feelings and kissed and from where i'm sitting that's extremely funny!

seeing people be like "this season was bad on purpose i'm gonna write a 15,000-word meta explaining what's ACTUALLY going on here" for a show where the otp has kissed. on the mouth. in an explicitly romantic way. you are like a little baby

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

/!\ Sherlock Rant Ahead /!\

Rewatching a Sherlock episode (the one with Magnussen, because I wanted to hear Thrawn’s voice in a different setting and oh my god, it manages to be impossibly smooth, pleasant and chilling even on the creepiest face) and wow.

Just, wow. 

I first watched Sherlock back when I had no critical thinking skills to speak of and I never picked up on it, but that series’ attempt at depicting moral conflicts is awful. (Scratch that, that series is awful.)

There’s a pattern of absolving the main characters of responsibility and always pushing the blame back onto the victims that is frankly disquieting, and it happens three times in just one episode. 

First, Sherlock lies to Janine for at least a month (presumably months) and pretends to be in a relationship with her, going as far as to propose to her, just to get closer to his target. But when she learns that he used her in a way that is frankly appalling, what does the show do? It tells us they’re “even” because she sold the story to tabloids. In their words:

SHERLOCK: You didn’t give the story to Magnussen, did you?  JANINE: God, no. One of his rivals, he was spitting. Sherlock Holmes, you are a back-stabbing, heartless, manipulative bastard. SHERLOCK: And you, as it turns out, are a grasping, opportunistic, publicity-hungry, tabloid whore. JANINE: So we’re good then? SHERLOCK: Of course.

Like, god. At no point prior to that was Janine ever established to be anything other than a sweet girl who genuinely cared for Sherlock. Flipping the tables, calling her a whore and pretending that “it’s all good because actually she’s mean too” is so disgustingly dishonest. It pushes the audience to dismiss Sherlock’s abusive and manipulative behavior as just “Sherlock being Sherlock,” like it was all in good fun. Look, it’s not bad! They laugh about it! Yay! 

This is like the “she shouldn’t have dressed like that” to “boys will be boys.” She shouldn’t have been mean and Sherlock will be Sherlock. 

Second, Mary (well, Rosamund, not Mary) lies to John for their entire relationship, marries him when he doesn’t even know her real name or her past, and only comes clean because Sherlock tricks her into doing so after she’s shot him. And then Mary and Sherlock proceed to freaking gaslight John into admitting that marrying a killer was his fault because “that’s what he likes”??? What the hell?

Just look at this exchange:

JOHN: You! Tell me, what have I ever done, in my whole life, to deserve you! SHERLOCK: Everything. JOHN: Sherlock, I told you, shut up. SHERLOCK: No, I’m serious, everything. Everything you’ve ever done, is what you did. JOHN: One more word, Sherlock, you will not need morphine SHERLOCK: You’re a doctor who went to war. You’re a man who can’t last one month in the suburbs without storming a crack den and beating up a junkie. Your best friend is a sociopath who solves crimes as an alternative to getting high - that’s me, by the way, hello - and even the landlady used to run a drug cartel (...) John, you are addicted to a certain lifestyle. You are abnormally attracted to dangerous situations and people, so is it truly a surprise if the woman you fall in love with conforms to that pattern? JOHN: She wasn’t supposed to be like that! Why is she like that?? [On Mary - the pain of hearing this, so much.] SHERLOCK: Because you chose her. [Silence. John, despairing, for a moment lost for words. Then truly lets rip.] JOHN: Why is everything. Always. MY FAULT!! 

It’s completely backwards, and it’s unbelievably cruel. They’re not confronting Mary, Sherlock is ripping into John, for loving Mary. He says “you are addicted” like it’s an intervention. He goes as far as to basically say “you should have seen it coming.” And you might say, well, John gets angered by this, so it’s not like the series is condoning that shift of blame - except it is! It is, because right after that John deflates and agrees to do things Sherlock’s way. And then Mary just plainly gaslights John again. 

MARY: The stuff Magnussen has on me, I would go to prison for the rest of my life. I can never be free so long as he has that information. (So, just pointing out - he’d be putting a criminal in prison, for having committed crimes. Magnussen being an asshole does not detract from Mary needing to face the consequences of her own actions.) JOHN: So you were just going to kill him. MARY: People like Magnussen should be killed. That’s why there are people like me. (Case in point: absolving the main characters again by playing the ‘doesn’t matter if the person we’re dealing with is worse’ card.) JOHN: Oh, perfect, is that what you were. An assassin? How could I not see that. MARY: You did see it. And you married me. Because he’s right, that’s what you like.

That last line right there is insane. “Oh, I didn’t poison our whole relationship by lying about my whole identity, you knew about it. You saw through me, you just liked it so much you pretended not to see. I know better than you what you felt. I’m sorry, love - I’m not sorry that I lied, I’m sorry that you’re attracted to people like me.” 

What the fuck? Just how completely detached from the concepts of good and evil do you have to be to construe this as her being a good person? Because she is construed as being good, because Sherlock urges John to trust her - and credits her with saving his life by having phoned the ambulance after she shot him and not killing Magnussen on the spot so she wouldn’t incriminate John.  Like... this isn’t being good. It barely counts as mitigating the evil of her actions. And she’s again presented as being good by the narrative because the next scene rewards her.

John destroys the usb key with her past without having read it, claiming that the problems of her past are her business (which is presented as romantic, when in truth Mary has given him no reason not to think she might have hurt innocents, or done something terribly, terribly, terribly wrong - which as such wouldn’t be her business but the business of her potential victims as well). Then John forgives her on the spot, after we were told that they didn’t talk for months, but without us having actually seen any of it. Like, wow, I really felt John’s sense of betrayal over this marriage-shattering revelation during the 2 minutes of screentime they weren’t on speaking terms. Really felt the anguish of parents going through a pregnancy while torn and incertain about their future. Really felt the weight of the whole thing.

And then when John tries to remind her that his instant forgiveness (again, forgiveness of crimes that he refuses to know about, even later when Magnussen tells him it’s really, really bad stuff - so his absolution of her past should mean nothing thematically and yet is presented like it does, in the same way Kylo hallucinating Han is supposed to be good enough to justify his redemption) doesn’t mean he’s not still pissed, she haggles him about never mowing the lawn and she says “no chance” when he says he’ll get to pick their baby’s name as compensation. (Lmao, a man who thought he’d have equal say in the upbringing of his child - what an idiot am I right?)

Any display of humility and contrition on her part is immediately undercut by the show pushing the idea that John ‘just needed time to come around,’ and it was ‘just a hard time that they’d get over’ (even making comparisons with the lovely Mr and Mrs Holmes Sr and their own little ups and downs as a couple. This is NOT A LITTLE UP AND DOWN. Their marriage was built on a LIE. It’s a BIG THING). The fact that John still doesn’t know her actual name - after months of this - is lampshaded when she points it out and immediately disregarded when he tells her “Mary Watson” is good enough for him. 

So we’re two for two on relationships built on lies where the injured party is presented as unreasonable or plain wrong and the party who wronged them is absolved instantly. 

And the final and third (major) occurrence of this messed up pattern is with Magnussen himself. Sure, he’s a blackmailer. Sure, he’s a disgusting piece of garbage. Sure, he deserves to go to prison for the rest of his life. But not to die for - as is stated by multiple characters, being a “businessman” - at least, he certainly doesn’t deserve to die for his awful trade if Mary doesn’t even deserve any consequences for her own past. (Yes, she later dies in circumstances related to her past, but it’s presented a heroic sacrifice on her part, not comeuppance). The fact that Magnussen doesn’t even have any physical evidence of his victims’ dirty secrets further muddles the whole blackmail issue. Sherlock and Mary - Sherlock who has destroyed dirty people’s lives by bringing their crimes to light and Mary who has killed people - pretending they have the moral high ground and seeking to slay the dragon is rather hypocritical. And sure, the episode pays lip-service to that and pretends it’s treating the issue like the grey quagmire it is, but it really doesn’t.

Here’s the final nail: Sherlock kills Magnussen because it’s the only way to protect John from the consequences of Sherlock’s botched plan - Magnussen didn’t do anything in this episode - he just let Sherlock mess up and attempt to fake-sell him state secrets, and he let the natural course of events unfold: ie John and Sherlock landing in very, very hot water for betraying their country so that their friend/wife wouldn’t go to jail/be hunted down because of all she’s done. Magnussen being a monster does not in any way mean Sherlock was in the right. But what do we the audience see when Sherlock kills him (in cold blood) to cover up Mary’s past and save John from the repercussions of his involvment in high treason? We see a crying little Sherlock, an innocent little boy. 

Sure, it’s because we see things through Mycroft’s eyes, but what it does is make us more sympathetic to Sherlock. Nothing wrong with that normally, it’s his show. But it comes right after he’s just killed a man because he was dumb enough to try to be justice, gambling away the safety of the nation on the assumption that he was too smart for Magnussen to win. 

And when Magnussen does win, by doing exactly nothing, Sherlock is in so deep that he kills him. And then we see wee baby Sherlock. And then Sherlock gets pardoned the very next episode because they need him to deal with Moriarty, who, as you may recall, isn’t actually back because he’s freaking dead, so the whole reason for Sherlock’s pardon is completely void. Wow, it’s like Sherlock basically did nothing wrong at all. His cold blood killing of a man who was, legally at least, innocent, has no consequences whatsoever on his psyche, future, freedom or relationships. 

So basically, in one episode we have two sociopathic assholes who lie to their partners and gets absolved and reaffirmed by the narrative, and one murderer whose actions are completely dismissed in a matter of minutes because his victim was a piece of shit.

Seriously, if Magnussen hadn’t gotten off licking people’s faces, peeing in their fireplaces and flicking his fingers at their eyes - if he’d just been characterized as a cold, respectable gentleman instead (much like the actual Moriarty, who they saw fit to replace with an overly sexualized lunatic) - then it’d be just about impossible to minimize the sheer horror of what Sherlock has done. 

This entire episode was one bizarre succession of characters deciding the normal rules of society don’t apply to them because they’re right and they’re dragon-slayers, and those were just the three main examples, and it’s a trend that’s definitely prevalent throughout the whole show.

Anyway, I’m never ever watching Sherlock again. Bye. 

[loudest-subtext-in-tv]

Hey you are the best, you were always my fave meta writer and I am so glad to see you are still on your BBC Sherlock bullshit in 2022. I am back at it with a new fic after a short 5 year break to decompress from season 4 and I must say it is nice to be in the company of folks with this level of dedication <3

Oh, thank you so much! I keep hoping to post more soon (meta and fanfic) but real life keeps demanding a lot from me lately.

Link your fic in the reblogs or replies so anyone looking for something new can read it! 💞

[asherlockstudy]

I 've gOt yoU

After a very long hiatus (3-4years?! time flies :@@@) which I believed to be permanent since I don't have hopes for a fifth season, I found myself going back to good old Sherlock and I was happy to see I still enjoy it! Not only that but it seems that this distance from the relentless binge watching I was practicing back in the day helped me notice details that had escaped me and get a fuller picture of Moftiss plot and intentions - something I couldn't do right after S4 when I was mad at them. While I am still very disappointed at the way they finished this beautiful story, my anger has mellowed a little.

One of the things I realized right when my brain was Sherlock-vacant was that the solution of IOU on which I wasted months was hidden in plain sight, in the actual dialogue. I hope there are more people who didn't realise, otherwise if it is only me who makes the connection just now, writing this post is going to make me feel very very stupid.

So yeah, IOU means I've got you. It doesn't seem like much but it is very meaningful in its subtlety. But where is this stated in the episode, what does the code mean, what is it meant for and why is this the code chosen by Jim Moriarty?

After he is found no guilty by the juries, Moriarty visits Sherlock for tea. There he prepares him for what is about to happen next. In addition, Moriarty leaves two codes for Sherlock to decipher. The one is the binary code he taps with his fingers. The other is the IOU (I owe you) which he carves on the apple.

Well, he gave us the meaning, right? I owe you? Well, not quite. Jim plays a little game. The surface meaning is "I owe you (a fall)" but the code has both some usage and an underlying, more important reason it exists. Besides, how does Sherlock owe Moriarty anything? For more on the "I owe you" part, you can read the "I.O.U a fall" meta. I wrote it in 2016 and it is dated but I still stand by some points made there. For example, that the apple is a symbol of lust, sin and temptation.

Back on track now. Sherlock takes the case of the two kidnapped children. While in the laboratory with Molly, he keeps muttering what IOU might be. So Sherlock thinks there's more to it than just being an abbreviation for "I owe you". For some reason, Sherlock hides the IOU riddle both from Molly and especially John.

A little later, after the kids are found, Sherlock is quite shocked when he realizes the children believe him to be their kidnapper. Not only he does not understand how Moriarty achieved this but he gradually starts worrying about himself, his reputation and where all this is heading. Based on his own childhood trauma, Sherlock was probably also shocked to see he inspired terror to a child. Sherlock looks worried and grim out of the windows of Scotland Yard.

And the IOU appears in front of him. Sherlock is scared and realizes the deciphering of IOU is indeed pressing. The IOU first appeared on an apple and the time that Sherlock was feeling bad. The third time is when police turns against Sherlock and John and they are running away.

The dark winged angel graffiti. A fallen angel? A guardian angel? A fallen guardian angel perhaps? It doesn't matter, much.

After he has talked privately to Molly and while John is still with him, Sherlock deduces secretly what the binary code is. He then invites Moriarty there and waits. Moriarty plans a scheme to get John away - sends him to find a supposedly dying Mrs Hudson (oh yes, it was Moriarty who sent John away, not Sherlock, this is canon btw, check this)

and then informs Sherlock he has arrived. This probably means Sherlock had already figured what IOU was before inviting him but I am not ruling out the possibility that he had an epiphany during the rooftop scene.

So then a proud Sherlock tells Jim he found the binary code and it is all over. Jim responds that the code is fake and he is an idiot. Sherlock is shaken and on top of that Jim convinces him that there's no way for this to end other than Sherlock falling to his death. Sherlock tries to threaten him but it's futile. Jim clarifies that only Sherlock's death can call off the killers because he is certainly not gonna do it.

Jim gives Sherlock a moment, during which Sherlock has his epiphany, which is none other than the realization that Moriarty once again does not mean to kill him but has planned his fake suicide. (NOTE! If you are new to my blog, I recommend reading my Analyzing the Rooftop Scene meta. It is the core of my Sherlock theory and the main reason I made this blog. Not only I still stand by it with all my heart five years later but Series 4 also reinforced my faith in it. Well maybe except for one thing which however doesn’t affect the point I am trying to make. In short, the reason Sherlock never explained to anyone how he faked his death is because it was Jim's plan and not his own. Jim did not want Sherlock dead. For detailed explanation, go to the main meta.)

So Sherlock realizes Jim has prepared his fake suicide and starts laughing arrogantly because, honestly, this is kinda telling for Jim's feelings and motives.

Not only the suicide is fake but Moriarty also let something slip. This is turning into a good day.

SHERLOCK: (confidently and mockingly approaches Moriarty) You are not going to do it? So the killers can be called off then. There is a recall code or a word or a number... I don't have to die... (singingly) if I've - got - you!

Jim's legit reaction:

Moriarty: (the hell of surprised but tries to keep calm and intimidating) Oh! You think you can make me stop the order, you think you can make me do that?!

Sherlock: (extremely confident) Yes. So do you.

So IOU was the code in case Moriarty wanted to call off the killers. He planted it in Sherlock's mind along with the binary code. The binary code might have meant nothing in the end but this one did. It was the red herring and the actual solution. Which also means that Moriarty gave Sherlock the chance to work on saving his friends and beating him from the beginning. He literally gave him the code to stop his own plan. The only condition for Sherlock was to understand what the abbreviation truly meant and then convince Jim to actually say it.

Why did Jim take this risk? Well, much like Irene, he couldn't help it. Irene is a mirror for Moriarty on so many levels. I had written this meta but I saw the URL is broken. Thankfully, I have kept archives and I will re-upload it soon. Anyway, Jim used a truth as his code for losing - or surrendering - just like Irene used SHERLOCKED - because he didn't actually expect Sherlock to find this one. To understand the deep root behind all the chaos.

And Sherlock was now sure he could make Jim say it. (again recommending Analyzing the Rooftop scene for that, because I already talk about it there)

"I've got you"

I am not a NES speaker so I visited some websites to be exactly sure of the meaning and ironically this is the first thing I stumbled into:

Yeah... what are the odds... In general, the meanings are:

I'm holding you

I'm helping you

I understand you

I saved you

I am protecting you

In short, Moriarty was telling him that he wouldn't let him die by the fall... or in general. And "I've got you" is as close as Moriarty could be honest about his deeper motives.

Even Eurus, two seasons later, does not want Sherlock dead. It is not clear if this was Moriarty's condition or Eurus didn't wish his death either. But Moriarty himself definitely meant to keep Sherlock alive. Of course, he didn't keep the same stance for the people Sherlock loved. Quite, the contrary. I love this ship but let's be real, it is not exactly a healthy romance. Moriarty's motto was "Live with me or live in pain".

Moriarty understood that once Sherlock knew his deeper truth, he indeed was risking losing and surrendering to Sherlock without being rewarded. When Sherlock tries to persuade him, what?, essentially that they can work it out together, for a mere second Jim has faith. But Sherlock can't hide his fear for long and Moriarty accepts there is no hope. He kills (let me always hope he didn't) himself right there and then because he can not compete with John and thus he will not allow Sherlock to defeat him and go on with his life. And John.

Sorry for being a broken record but I explain all this step by step with images in the main meta, this one already became huge enough.

The summary is that IOU was Moriarty's love, or predatory obsession if you prefer, or both honestly, for Sherlock. Sherlock deciphered it and made Jim vulnerable to defeat. Moriarty finally accepted that Sherlock could not be his and killed himself. Vengeance would follow with his back-up plan, in the face of Eurus.

*There is always the possibility it means "I love you". But it's more OOC for Moriarty and I honestly think they just gave it to us under our noses!

** I always add at pivotal moments that I believe Sherlock was attracted to Moriarty, was lowkey obsessed too and respected him deeply. He had already fallen for John before meeting Jim though and, of course, even if he hadn't, he still wouldn't be able to overcome his moral inhibitions. Romance is already hard enough for him with a "normal" person.

[sidebloggingaway]

Trying to translate the thing to myself, mulling it over: this is a curated pinboard built of 1.) a "map" of a tag-system used by a fandom or exploring a topic; 2.) a directory/list of selected/official blogs dealing with said fandom/topic; 3.) and a feed working from either or both of the previous two.

This tool could be used for: checking out more than one related tags at the same time via the Feed; getting instantly immersed in a fandom; getting to know everything about a topic; following several specific blogs with one single tap; keeping an eye of related fandoms/fandoms that share an universe; starting tumblr as a complete newbie with a few specific interests in mind. This tool might be not that conductive to: keeping a thightly curated dashboard; catching up with your dash; avoiding certain parts of fandom; keeping track of... anything, really.

Question: Is there an "Unfollow all" counterpart of that "Follow all" button?

Mulling further:

Using an example I've seen somewhere here: cute dogs. One could create a collection of "Hungarian dog breeds": under the "blogs" tab there would be a small directory/list of dog blogs, maybe a currently running related tournament, maybe an additional blog about a tumblr-famous dog, and under the "Tags" tab there could be the list the specific dog breeds: vizsla, wirehaired vizsla, transylvanian hound [and additionally it's name-variations], hungarian greyhound, kuvasz, komondor, mudi, puli, pumi, and... And then I seriously don't know what the heck to do with the thing.

I could see a fandom primer: This is the Good Omens collection, this tag is for the book, this is for the tv show, this is where you can look up the radio adaptation, here are the season 3 theories, those are the actors, here is everything about the Reverse!Omen AUs, the fanart is beautiful, here are the questions that had been answered.

Or: There are parts of the Sherlock Holmes-fandom you might not be familiar with! Check out: Granada Holmes, the Guy Ritchie movies, Doyle himself, the Strand illustrations, BBC Sherlock, Elementary, Miss Sherlock, House MD, Enola Holmes, The Irregulars, meta, pastiches, the classic movies, the Russian series... [An aside: Insta-following a tag system of a Holmes-sized fandom probably would make any dashboard completely unusable.]

The blog directory is the easiest part to imagine I guess: currently running cat-related tournaments; the best fact-checking blogs; highlights of museum artefacts; is the x cute?; quality meme content; contemporary art; these blogs post pics/videos of bird cams/trail cams/etc.; confession blogs; the founders of AO3... Wait.

Additional questions: Can you opt out of your blog being add-able to collections? Could this be used to make blocklists? Could this be used to make content filters? Will this be used to harrass people whose blogs are on specific lists? [Who I am kidding.]

I'm not not-interested, but I don't think I'd really use this tool. I can't see myself curating collections and my dashboard desperately needs a downsizing both regarding blogs and followed tags too. But on the whole... I can imagine this working.

Introducing Collections

Hello again, Tumblr. Labs division here!

A while back, we announced our comeback as a new team that would imagine big ideas for Tumblr—and would build them in public (aka with you). We recently announced our first failure, and today we're very excited to announce our first possible success!

A bit of context

As we've said before, an essential part of how we're working in Labs is speaking to people who use Tumblr pretty much on a daily basis and those who don’t use it at all.

In those interviews and focus groups, we learned that curating the Tumblr experience around different interests and fandoms is a big part of making Tumblr feel like your own space — and one of the main ways you do that is through blogs and tags (be it following or creating them).

So here at Labs we're working on ideas to help you curate the content you care about, and to help share what makes your experience fun with other people, even if they are not on Tumblr already.

Ok, but what's the idea?

Have you ever put together a song playlist to listen to when you're in a certain mood, or share with a specific friend? Or sent them books you know they'll love? Now imagine if you could do that with blogs and tags on Tumblr…

Maybe you're a veteran in a fandom and have the best recommendations of who to follow for your followers. Or your best friend won't join Tumblr because they don't know that their favorite TV show is actually really popular here. Or maybe you want to curate and browse content from a specific fandom, or a group of your mutuals, your own way.

That's the idea behind Collections!

You can check out that example collection on the web here!

We want your help

The first way we're testing Collections is by inviting some of you to create your own and share with followers and friends—they'll be able to follow all the blogs and tags in your collections. So we're looking for volunteers!

You want to help? Great! Here's what you need to do:

Come up with your own Collections of blogs and tags, write it down somewhere. Focus on introducing people to Tumblr or recommending stuff to your followers. What would you want them to first see on your version of Tumblr?

Come up with a name, cover image, and description for it. Also try to think of who you would send your collection to, and where you might post about it.

Write out that idea as a reply or reblog on this post!

We’ll give it a few days, and pick a handful of people to play with Collections. We'll let you know. Then we’re off to the races!

If you decide to participate (and get selected), please note that this early release won’t work on the apps yet, only in your web browser. 

What happens next?

Our goal is to keep working on improving and adding Collection functionalities while you test what we've built (and share your feedback with us).

Next we’re exploring making a collection something you can follow on Tumblr, as a way to curate Tumblr around your many interests and moods, and to give you more freedom to curate content on your dashboard.

And if this idea is not for you, remember we have many more experiments in progress, so stay tuned!

With love,

Labs division

[afishlearningpoetry]

why are people willing to believe moffat is the worst person on earth? is he really that bad or is this just a huge telephone game and after each round the rumour worsens and no one cares about the truth anymore?

It’s difficult to describe unless you were deep into fandom on this website in 2012 and the way people turned on him so quickly. I mean first, he’s a man who’s said and written dumb things, he ran two of the some of most popular British shows on the planet at the same time and still gets to make whatever he wants (see dracula) so he’s doing fine.

But it was kind of a domino effect that started with doctor who. Series 5 was a big success, and the next one went overseas with a huge two part premiere set in america, capitalizing on the overseas effect that had been growing with David tennant’s era, so it naturally garnered a lot of new viewers. The issue comes with the River Song twist halfway through the season and the episode after the summer break, Let’s Kill Hitler, which admittedly is one of his weakest scripts, hampered by a rough production schedule. The previous show runner Davies also suffered a lot from the gruel of doctor who and it affected his scripts a lot too. So from what I remember the hitler episode in 2011 kind of hit on a couple nerves people had been dreading, 1. Making light of a serious historical event 2. The other twist of casting a black actress for a character retconned into Amy and Rory’s life only for her to turn into River less then ten minutes later, using race to obscure audience expectations 3. The script being messy - from the regeneration stuff, the robot replica solution which people felt was a cop out in the finale, and the “let’s find River Song” subplot being wrapped up in one episode which rushes everything, adding to the wound of 4. Amy being passive in a mystery pregnancy storyline, which resulted in 5. The biggest criticism of River being that her entire existence revolves around the doctor, and finally 6. Everything revolving around the doctor for no reason. I don’t entirely agree with these, especially the first and last one, but the second half of series 6 and first half of 7 is inconsistent. So after those two episodes people were writing a lot of posts explaining their issues with his take on the show, which would continue through series 7 (Asylum of the Daleks in particular and the finale also join his weakest scripts - 2012/2013 for doctor who was rough and seemed to be motivated again, by scheduling and production issues, he’s talked about it a lot, don’t forget the 50th anniversary was also happening at the time, which was good). The criticisms have merit, but they were overblown by other factors too.

On Sherlock the River Song issue kind of exploded again after ASIB with Irene aired in early 2012. The appearance of the story being Irene falling for a man after describing herself as gay upset people. We’ve been over this a lot. The atmosphere was very different on tumblr at the time… like it was hardcore 24/7 dedication. Everything that happened on our television screens was life or death. Ships getting together or characters getting fridged had mortal consequences. I think it’s easy to forget now but this place was often of miserable after series 2 lol. There was a lot of positive activity and creativity, but also lots of people complaining about everything. It was kind of a formative year for transformative work in fandom. Nearly every tv show I was watching at the time had a fandom that hated it and it’s writers in return, deeply and constantly. Supernatural, glee, teen wolf, so many things. So we’d write tag essays in our reblogs describing in explicit detail how we felt about story, characters, theme, characters arcs, and how we knew better (and tbh we were usually right), read and reblog people writing meta and callout posts like it was a job, and constantly trying to either break the fourth wall with our demands or catch the writers of the month in the act so we could add another bulletpoint to the list proving we were right. No one was ever calm. It was a battle of attrition. It wasn’t really about changing anything, though we hoped we could. Twitter’s a perfect place for that.

He also had the expectations of the old doctor who fans to keep up with on top of new viewers, even though the Davies era has most of the same problems. Running two super popular shows with mega fandoms magnified the exposure so much it was basically an ant against a magnifying glass in terms of numbers. So eventually he left twitter and kept show running, but a lot of people didn’t see series 8-10 of DW to see how the show changed, nevermind what’s going on with Sherlock lol. The scriptwriting process for the two is also so different there’s no comparing them but the callouts surrounding Sherlock are a different story. It started with doctor who coming to america, which no one should ever do.

[therealsaintscully]

Mary and butterflies - the inevitability of death, murderous calling cards and collectors

Some ramblings with links to other people’s excellent meta, in which I suggest that butterflies (and/or moths) symbolize Mary as Moriarty’s reincarnation and or calling card, while also hint at her inevitable death.

Disclaimers: credits are below the cut. I’m not an expert in any of these topics. Thank you, @thewatsonbeekeepers​​ for the beta. In this post I’ll be using moths and butterflies interchangeably, apologies to any entomologists.

Mary’s appearance in the show brings with it new imagery we haven’t seen prior to The Empty Hearse - butterflies. Once Mary’s in the picture, there are butterflies in some very strategic locations, all are either visually or subtextually leading to her. The show has done that previous to season 3; Moriarty is connected to some well established symbols like magpies, apples and IOUs. 

When I first started reading meta I used to think these themes were a bit of a stretch, but I’ve since accepted  that this is a show that puts barely noticeable phoenixes in a restaurant scene that shows us Sherlock rising from his death.

Here are some of the butterflies I spotted so far:

Butterflies (and in the case of this piece of meta, moth) symbolize most commonly resurrection, change and renewal. Behind the symbolism stands the transformation of a small, ungainly creature into something full-grown and unbound. In that case, in the simplest way, one could argue that butterflies were chosen to symbolize her because the ‘Mary Morstan’ persona was a stillborn’s identity that was stolen and used ‘reborn’ to create a new person.

But more than this simplistic idea; butterflies carry multiple symbolisms. When it comes to Sherlock, I and many others tend to look at Victorian symbolism, considering the detective’s Victorian roots. 

I find the appearance of butterflies interesting in Mary’s context, much like I find the skull interesting in Sherlock’s. The skulls, in Sherlock’s case, serve plenty of purposes, but one of them is the idea of memento mori.

Memento mori (Latin for 'remember that you [have to] die') is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. These are representations that can appear in any form of art such as paintings, literature, poetry etc. It’s a concept that existed in many ancient cultures but is also deeply rooted in early Christianity. It serves to remind people of the inevitable; that even if we choose to ignore it, not think about it, it’s always there lurking, and the purpose is not to scare us but to encourage us to make good use of our time when we’re alive. Memento mori was the philosophy of reflecting on your own death as a form of spiritual improvement, and rejecting earthly vanities.

Victorians were obsessed with the concept (weren’t Victorians obsessed with everything?). They would take photographs of the dead and keep locks of hair of those who died in mourning brooches. It is said that they found these practices comforting. 

Another expression of the ‘remember that you must die’ concept was vanitas art;  vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. The Latin noun vanitas (from the Latin adjective vanus 'empty') means 'emptiness', 'futility', or 'worthlessness', the traditional Christian view being that earthly goods and pursuits are transient and worthless. It alludes to Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8, where vanitas translates the Hebrew word hevel (הבל), which also includes the concept of transitoriness. 

This concept reminds me, most especially, of the skull used in The Abominable Bride, which is actually Charles Allen Gilbert's 'All is Vanity' Illusion art.

Back to butterflies - butterflies are a staple component of vanitas art - paintings executed in the vanitas style were meant to remind viewers of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for painting attractive objects - in a way, it’s a justification for the vanity, or the human need of enjoyment of beautiful things.  Below is a vanitas by Jan Sanders van Hemessen:

But butterflies are also considered an omen of death: 

“Butterflies and moths were associated with death, sometimes merely as omens, sometimes as the soul or ghost.” These butterfly omens came in many ways.  For example, in the nineteenth century United States, some people thought that a trio of butterflies was an omen of death.” [x]

Oh.

But I also think there’s more to the butterfly symbolism than Mary’s imminent death; I suggest that, in keeping with @loudest-subtext-in-tv​ M-Theory (suggesting that Mary was planted in John’s life by Moriarty), they symbolize Mary as Moriarty reincarnated following his death in TRF. That Moriarty had indeed not disappointed Sherlock - there was a posthumous game after all! That Sherlock was supposed to understand that while one form of Moriarty died on that roof, another had emerged, continuing the mission of burning Sherlock’s heart. Mary is Moriarty’s calling card, left behind in the crime scene. They’re different, but not separate, which is why Sherlock is so obsessed with Moriarty between HLV-T6T; he’s both wrong and correct at the same time.

So far, what I’ve suggested is that in Sherlock, skulls are Sherlock’s symbolic memento mori - the skulls are associated with Sherlock in some very significant ways. 

However, Mary’s character was doomed from the start - she dies during Sherlock’s hiatus in ACD canon. I believe many fans assumed Sherlock’s Mary expected the same fate when she was introduced to the show. Although the story of Samarra is told by Sherlock, who expects his own death in T6T, Mary is the one who ends up dying. 

Butterflies in ACD canon

Searching for the significance of butterflies in the ACD and BBC canon led me to a number of interesting directions in meta written by others. 

The first and probably the best place to start is this meta post by @tendergingergirl​​, which I strongly suggest you read in full: Butterflies, Sexual Deviancy & The Bloodline Theory in The Hound of The Baskervilles. 

Stapleton also has a hobby. He collects bugs…Butterflies, to be exact. This can often be seen as purely academic, but depending on the actions of the hobbyist, they can indicate more disturbing things. That of holding something vulnerable captive, treating it as your hostage, pinning it down. The torture of animals has come to be a good indicator of someone who would do this to a human. He had already shown callousness by laughing as he recounts to Holmes of ponies wandering onto the Moor, becoming trapped, and dying. In 1974, there was a release of a new edition of Sherlock Holmes stories, with the forward of The Hound of The Baskervilles written by British author, John Fowles. He is responsible for several well-known works, including The French Lieutenant’s Wife. Another, was a novel that Mason finds himself wondering why Fowles doesn’t mention in his introduction, since the villain is such a close parallel to Stapleton.(but as we have learned through the study of ACD, most writers will not come right out and say where they got their inspiration. They like for you to guess!)

A lonely young man, works as a clerk, and collects butterflies, becomes obsessed with a pretty young girl, Miranda, an art student. He chloroforms, and kidnaps her, taking her to his cellar basement, to add Miranda to his collection. That book was called The Collector. But what else does it sound like?

“So yes, I googled. From an article on the release of the movie’s Documentary. "The docu proves a poor reference point for anyone who wants to understand the literary and movie links for “Lambs.” There’s no mention, for example, of how Harris partly based the butterfly-loving Bill on John Fowles’ kidnapper in “The Collector” …And here I thought Mofftiss added allusions to Silence of The Lambs into Sherlock just for fun. SMH.”

@tendergingergirl​ also added this photo to their post:

So what we have here is a chain of metatextualities/inspiration, starting with ACD’s THOB, where Jack Stapelton inspires a book about a disturbed butterfly collector (The Collector by John Fowles), which inspires a the author of Silence of the Lambs in creation of his character Buffalo Bill, a serial murderer who inserts a death's head moth into the victim's throat because he is fascinated by the insect's metamorphosis. Silence of the Lambs served as inspiration for Sherlock  as analyzed by @garkgatiss​ in Bond, Hannibal, and Holmes (I suggest you read the whole Hannibal section) . 

Let’s look again at some imagery from His Last Vow. Mary shoots Sherlock’s heart, essentially burning his heart out, and who does Sherlock meet in his Mind Palace in a very cocoon-like straightjacket? Yes, the dead dude who encourages him to die already (“one more push, and off you pop”).

What’s the next thing we as an audience see once Sherlock opens his eyes? Mary coming to the hospital to hear that Sherlock had, in fact, survived. And what is she wearing? Her butterfly scarf, one which will another appearance later in the episode, during the tarmac scene.

I also find it interesting that in the context of Sherlock and Silence of the Lamb, there’s an element of gender-switching between Moriarty and Mary. Buffalo Bill, the murderer from Silence of the Lambs, skins bodies of women to create himself a woman’s 'suit’; in Sherlock, Moriarty is a man-villain who transforms into a female-villain in the form of a bride and/or Mary. 

By the way, who else is obsessed with his suits?

Also, let’s not forget the worms, maggots and other such crawlers in the grave scene:

Now, let’s go over some of the photos I included in the beginning of this post a bit further.

Mrs. Hudson’s butterfly tea set is first shown in TEH - she uses it to serve John tea when he comes visiting her and tellis her about Mary. We also see it near John’s chair on the day of the wedding. This isn’t Sherlock’s set - his set is different, featuring the British Isles. Moriarty drinks from it in TRF. The next tea set we see, now that Moriarty is dead, is the butterflies one. In TLD, Mrs. Hudson uses Sherlock’s tea set - the butterflies are gone.

Mary’s bedroom wallpaper is very feminine, with flowers and butterflies, both complementing symbols while also very common in vanitas art. Much like Mrs. Hudson’s wallpaper in Baker Street, Mary’s wallpaper is supposed to show the contrast between Mary’s flat/Mary and Sherlock’s flat/Sherlock.

There’s an interesting moth reference in The Empty Hearse, which in my opinion, is Mary & Moriarty related. In short, in a previous piece of meta I wrote, I suggested that the Jack the Ripper case in TEH is subtext alluding to Mary’s skeletons, which Sherlock ignores because he’s upset by his reception by John. And what’s one of the first things Sherlock notices about the skeleton? New mothballs smell, hinting at an attempt to get rid of moth/butterflies - maybe a hint to  the fact that Sherlock has a chance to discover the truth about Mary but misses it. Also, in the context of Mary and the Jack the Ripper case, notice this transition:

Transitions are important on Sherlock - they’re nearly always there to draw our attention.

This, I think, is perhaps the most telling about a possible connection between Mary and Moriarty: we have both magpies (a Moriarty hint) and butterflies together here. This isn’t the only hint of Mary’s past we get in the wedding; there is, after all, the telegram from CAM.

Mary’s scarf is colorful, and it appears by the time Sherlock’s subconscious suspects Mary. Mary’s black butterfly dress - an ominous dress, I’d say - is the one she wears during the labour scene in the car. The third photo is a behind the scenes photo uploaded by Amanda Abbington, although I’m unsure whether this necklace is AA’s or Mary’s (but I couldn’t pass on including this).

Interestingly, the butterflies do not appear in Rosie’s context - either because it’s a telling sign that Mary won’t be with us much longer, or because Rosie is spared being considered a part of the ‘burning Sherlock’s heart’ plan. Sherlock, on the surface, seems to love Rosie and accepts her.

Also, another BTS photograph I came across during my research which I’ve never seen before and ties nicely to the vanity topic is this one (found here):

The Death's-head hawkmoth and ‘Death with Interruptions’

You’ll recall that I referenced The Collector and Silence of the Lambs, both featuring butterflies on their cover art. 

The Silence of the Lambs cover features Acherontia atropos, otherwise known as the death's-head hawkmoth. It gets its name from the sinister-looking skull shape on its back. In many cultures it is thought to be an omen of death. In a bit of another coincidental but stunning piece of symbolism, all three species of the Death's-head hawkmoth are commonly observed raiding beehives of different species of honey bee; A. atropos only invades colonies of the well-known western honey bee, Apis mellifera, and feeds on both nectar and honey. They can move about in hives without being disturbed because they mimic the scent of the bees and are not recognised as intruders.

Anyway, the use of Acherontia atropos reminded me of the book ‘Death with Interruptions’ by Jose Saramago. Interestingly, this is another book about a deathly collector with a butterfly on the cover:

In Death with Interruptions death is a woman, and she falls in love with one of her future victims. She decides to spare his life: Every time death sends him his letter [notifying him of his imminent death], it gets returned. death discovers that, without reason, this man has mistakenly not been killed. Although originally intending merely to analyse this man and discover why he is unique, death eventually becomes infatuated with him, so much so that she takes on human form to meet him. Upon visiting the cellist, she plans to personally give him the letter; instead, she falls in love with him, and, by doing so, she becomes even more human-like.

It’s pretty common to read theories about Mary who maybe was one of the assassins due to kill John both at the pool and in front of Barts. So we have a death harbinger trying to kill someone twice and failing. She then falls in love with him.

But how does the butterfly fit in?

Well, at some point in the story, death (that’s her name, sans a capital d), contemplates that using the death head butterfly, instead of a violet piece of paper, would have sent a much stronger message to those whose death is coming for.

And here’s another last bit of coincidental reference to Sherlock: I’d argue shades of purple, among them shades of violet, are associated with Mary and her secrets. There’s the purple dress she wears in TEH, her bridesmaids’ dresses include various shades of purple (including what I would argue was a violet sash) and let’s not forget:

Oh and, by the way, remember the song Donde Estas, Yolanda from TEH, about a woman called Yolanda? Always thought it was a bit of an odd choice for a song?

Yolanda is a female given name, of Greek origin, meaning Violet.

:)

Thoughts?

Credits: thank you @lukessense​ for directing me to @tendergingergirl​ meta about butterflies. Episode screenshots are from kissthemgoodbye.net.

@sarahthecoat​  @tjlcisthenewsexy​ @devoursjohnlock​ @inevitably-johnlocked​ @shylockgnomes​ @possiblyimbiassed​ @raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @gosherlocked​ @waitedforgarridebs​ @helloliriels​ 

[mentally-unstable-fangirl]

I posted 12,789 times in 2021

257 posts created (2%)

12532 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 48.8 posts.

I added 220 tags in 2021

#bestiee w/ 2 'ee's - 60 posts

#the awkward cat - 59 posts

#prev tags - 33 posts

#<3 - 19 posts

#<333 - 12 posts

#please - 9 posts

#mood - 8 posts

#yee haw bestie yoinkity - 8 posts

#all of the above - 7 posts

#yes - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#at least what she's seen of supernatural agents of shield istg she explains the plot like once a month i forgot them all there are somany

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I haven't been fully awake since like... 2014. is that... normal...?

37 notes • Posted 2021-08-30 03:26:34 GMT

#4

bruh the passage of time is scary

46 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 04:13:25 GMT

#3

Alright since this worked so well last time, I found this cute picrew and I wanted to do it!

tagging: @thelastfunctioningbraincell @the-purple-duck @its-spooky-season-bitches @helloliriels @mychal-is-ok @virgils-eyeshadow

53 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 03:42:56 GMT

#2

guys, dudes, bros, besties, people, folks, humans, comrades, what the ACTUAL FUCK is bbc Sherlock?

like, can someone tell me?

What. Is. This. Shit. Show.

I am convinced the writers are out of their minds laughing at us when we take this shit seriously.

the more meta i read, the more i realize this show just doesn't make any sense. nothing connects, nothing matters, nothing works. we're all just here for the ride.

they've got us wrapped so tightly around their fingers that any dumb bullshit that comes out of the writer's mouths will be analyzed, studied, theorized about, and picked apart until not a breath is without speculation.

at this point i'm practically convinced it's all bullshit. i'm only sorta kidding.

it's a shitshow. but it's our shitshow. and i will fucking stand by it and that till this website burns in superhell

110 notes • Posted 2021-11-04 04:18:34 GMT

#1

let's see if i have enough moots for this

choose 3 images you have pre-downloaded (do not download new images) you have that describe your personality and tag some peoples. I'll go first.

See the full post

1009 notes • Posted 2021-10-02 05:50:54 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[musingsofanunorgainizedmind]

Top 10 Things I Love About Supernatural

It’s been almost half a year since the show ended and now that the dust has settlIed, I just want to list ten reasons I love this show. Despite it’s flaws, it’s been quite the ride.

1. Team Free Will

When I first got the idea to make this list, I originally planned on doing entirely separate entries for “Sam & Dean” and “Destiel”. Except then I wanted to pay tribute to “Sastiel”. And then I wanted to do an entry for “Team Free Dads”. By that point, I was already halfway through the list and I hadn’t even moved on from the main characters. A few months ago, I made a post about why I love every single pairing in this group. Obviously, Sam and Dean are a legendary duo. Obviously, Dean and Cas have an unparalleled story. Obviously, Sam and Cas are an underrated team. As for Team Free Dads, I’ve always had a soft spot for father/mentor figure characters and and all three tackle the role in different ways. I love Jack, too. I love how everyone in this bizarro family is “broken” in some way. We’ve got the Allistair’s prized pupil, the spawn of satan, the boy with demon blood, and the angel who nearly obliterated all of heaven. But they help each other heal by being supportive and seeing the good in each other. They all love each other so deeply and when together, nothing can stand in their way. Not Michael, not Lucifer, and not God himself. They tore up the book and wrote their own story. And it was a pleasure to watch it all unfold.

2. The Suppporting Characters

To list every single supporting character I have loved and lost in this show would take way too long. I don’t know if it’s the writing or acting performances, but I love pretty much every single supporting character on this show. Even villains like Azazel or Allistair are top-notch villains. Hell, I even like characters like Metatron, Lucifer, Mary, and John! Characters like Rufus, Charlie, Crowley, Rowena, Kevin, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Gabriel, Balthazar, Mick...how am I not supposed to love them??? All of their stories were cut so short. I’d watch a show about any of these characters. The Wayward Sisters were robbed. So many ships were gone too soon (Sam/Rowena, Dean/Jo, Cas/Meg, Etc.). So many heartbreaking deaths. I want to be best friends with all these characters. Why be a “dean-girl” or a “sam-girl” when you can be a garth-girl? A kevin-girl? A claire-girl? A bela-girl? There are so many great characters with interesting and compelling backstories and so much untapped potential. I could go on forever on this, but I digress.This show has one of the best supporting casts I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

3. The Themes

It’s no accident that I got addicted to this show at the time that I did. Namely, my Senior Year of College and 2020. Graduating college and entering the “real world” felt like it’s own sort of apocalypse. 2020 definitely exacerbated my worst tendencies. Messages like “family don’t end in blood”, “you can write your own story”, and “always keep fighting” really resonated with me. I could definitely relate to the feelings of insecurity these character’s felt and the ways they suppressed/repressed their issues instead of facing them. I could relate to the feelings of not fitting in and I could definitely relate to the loneliness. This show helped remind me that I’m not alone. That it’s okay if my values and identity don’t line up with the what I envisioned for myself. And, most importantly, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that I should never give up. If Dean, Sam, and Cas can keep moving forward despite their demons and despite how bad it gets, so can I. Regardless of how the story ended, these themes resonated with me and I’ll still hold them with me. A single episode can’t take that away.

4. The Fun Episodes

This show has so many legendary standalone episodes. Changing Channels. Ghostfacers. The French Mistake. Fan Fiction. Tall Tales. Bad Day at Black Rock. When this show goes for the absurd, it goes all-in. It takes the risks it needs to take, it gets completely insane, and it pulls it off. So many of these episodes could have easily been the moment that the show “jumped the shark”. Yet, time after time, the show delivered on it’s potential. I don’t know how much I can say about these episodes except that they made me laugh out loud, made me fall even harder for these characters, and that they’re the episodes I remember best. If I were to rewatch any episode, it would be one of the fun ones. This show knew how to not take itself too seriously and how to poke fun at itself. I’ve always had a soft spot for shows that can make me laugh and cry (X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel, Doctor Who, etc.), and this show definitely nails the fun part. 

5. The Sad Episodes

Death’s Door. Hammer of the Gods. Despair. Carry On. Abandon All Hope. In My Time of Dying. Swan Song. When this show wants you to cry, it doesn’t pull the punches. It gets downright devastating. No character is safe. Literally every character you love will either be forgotten or will die. Or both. The amount of trauma Sam and Dean have to go through is insane. Both have literally been to hell and back. Both have killed countless people, including innocents. When this show decides it wants to wreck you, it’s overwhelming. I sobbed when Bobby died. I sobbed when every single member of Team Free Will died for the final time (I still can’t watch any of those scenes). I still wish Jo, Ellen, Charlie, Kevin, Mick, and Gabriel had been given more time to tell their stories. Being a hunter means a life of endless angst. Being an angel or demon doesn’t get you off the hook, either. I remember going into this show thinking it couldn’t hurt me. My favorite character type is “mentor/father figure”. But holy hell...I don’t think every single sad moment was necessarily good writing, but when it was? Damn. 

6. The Biblical Themes

I’m not a relgious person. But, despite this show being steeped in Christian mythology, it really touched on my feelings about the Old Testament in a profound way. Well, really just Ben Edlund and Robbie Thompson did. I’ve never seen a show really hit the overall feel of the bible the way this show does. The idea of Angels as mystical and terrifying creatures. The idea of God as a flawed father figure with a penchant for wrath. The sheer epicness of the biblical stories. The idea of family members constantly being turned on each other. Cain and Abel. Jacob and Essau. Moses and Ramses. Moses and Aaron. Abraham and Isaac. The bible is full of stories of family drama. This show doesn’t always give angels and demons weight. Sometimes it’s silly and stupid and cheesy. But when it hits right? It’s epic. This is more of a personal thing I love about the show, but definitely a plus!

7. The Music

The early seasons music is so good. I really miss the classic rock of the golden era of the show. I mean, there are still some great musical moments later on, but damn. I loved hearing songs I recognized and I loved learning new songs. I loved when the song and the scene hit perfectly in time (Death’s intro. Cas’s return in Season 13.). Also Supernatural wouldn’t be Supernatural without the ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’ song at the end of every season. Even at the end of a season I didn’t love, that recap would always get me pumped. Also Chuck singing Fare Thee Well? Dean and Lee singing together? Fan Fiction? All great. 

8. The Cast & Crew

I never care about the actors or actresses in a show. I definitely don’t bother with the names of specific writers and directors or their styles of writing/directing. They’re just random people who happen to write for or play these characters I love. They’re not actually the characters. But these guys? Well, for one, I’m pretty sure half this cast actually is their character. At least to some degree. They’re also just...really cool people? Who are all friends? They make a point to do community service, to interact with fans, and to promote positive ideas. Jared’s Always Keep Fighting campaign. Misha and GISH. The fact that they all participate in fundraising opportunities and encourage fan engagement. Do they all have issues? Definitely. Have they said stupid things? Yes. But the good far outweighs the bad. They’re an entertaining bunch whether onscreen or not and I hope they all do well in whatever their future endeavors may be.  

9. The Fandom

I joined this fandom late. To be honest, I thought this fandom was obnoxious before I found myself a part of it. Now that I’ve been in the trenches? It’s got it’s ups and downs like any fandom. There are some parts that are more toxic than others. A lot of people yelling that their opinion is the only opinion. But overall? The good outweighs the bad. And the good? The good is great. Some fanfictions I’ve read are better than actual books I’ve read and just as moving. The fanart? Incredible. I love reading all the metas about random aspects of the show I never would have noticed. I love the music videos and I love the analytical videos. In real life, I’ve made many friends through our mutual love of this show. Hell, even getting sucked into GISH once or twice has given me some solid memories and brought me closer to friends. I wish all fandoms were this much like family. I’m so glad I got to be a part of this fandom and I can’t wait to continue being a fan. After all, nothing ever stays dead in Supernatural.

10. The Chaos & Insanity

Season 16 has been a time. First, Destiel went canon. Then suddenly Sherlock was having a 5th season, Putin was retiring, and Georgia was going blue. Destiel going “canon” and Joe Biden winning the presidency will always be correlated in my mind now. Things in the fandom went from quiet to blaringly loud real fast. Carry On happened. The fandom went into a civil war. I can’t even remember half of what happened in Season 16, but it’s been a wild ride. There’s been ups (my personal favorite being the french dub and the Saileen wedding). There’s been downs (Jared’s controversial statements and the original scripts being leaked). At one point Misha Collins had sex with Bill Clinton???? It’s been a wild time. It’s honestly gotten me through the end of this pandemic. At least it’s entertaining. I would say that at least all the craziness is over, but is it ever really over? Every time I say that something else completely insane happens. But it’s been fun. I’m glad I started watching this show despite my reservations and here’s to whatever happens next. 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

(I sent a similar ask a while ago but it seems you didn't get it sorry if it's twice) Hey so I only recently found your account and first of all, discovering asexuality from watching Sherlock is the funniest identity finding story I've ever heard (I read it on one of your posts), second of all, I love how structured your blog is (you've written SO much and it's surprisingly structured) ANYWAY that was a long introduction, my actual question is: Do you know why season 4 turned out the way it did?

luminescentlama asked: So I found your blog and I have a couple of things to note 1. Your profile picture is so gay (queer) /pos 2. Finding out about your own asexuality through analyzing Sherlock is the funniest realization story I have ever heard 3. I read your one post on why the show isn't queerbating and I feel better now so thank u :)

====

Hey Lovely!

Sorry, I've been sick and feeling a bit overwhelmed with literally everything, so I apologize for not replying right away; I often put off some asks so I have at least one new piece of content daily! I found your other ask and did miss it, so I do apologize!!

In response to your comments:

The larger version of my icon without the flags is here. The flag version was just for Pride month and I forgot to change to my Christmas icon this year, but I just left it because I like the pride version better.

RE: my sexuality, I am assuming you mean that with kindness (it CAN be perceived as not-nice teasing on initial read). Assuming it was one of these posts that you're referencing, and it's completely true. In the early days of the fandom, one of the little running jokes was that this show helped so many people realize that they were queer, LOL. For me, seeing a lot of myself in Sherlock, I imprinted on him and for some reason it jumpstarted my journey of self-discovery in my mid-thirties.

Thank you very much for the kind words on my blog. I work meticulously to keep it tidy and I LITERALLY have filed every single post for at least the past 5 years, so it makes it easier to find posts and reference back to them. I also have a meticulous tagging system (most of the time) that probably only makes sense to me, hahah. I love when you guys notice those kind of things, and I'm glad that my posts please you.

As for S4, no. We've got some tinhat theories, but these days I'm a bit more cynical about the tinhat theories and look more to Occam's razor theories: I just feel like Mofftiss "got bored" with the series, were mad people figured out their planned endgame (you know, like a good show / series ENCOURAGES in their fanbase), took their ball and went home and now just keep teasing to keep Sherlock the Brand profitable; ANOTHER theory is that around TAB, there was a shakeup at the BBC of the higher ups; Another was actor interference; and another was copy right issues at the time with the remaining stories. Who knows anymore, tbh.

Which then segues into your queerbaiting comment, I feel without a resolution in S5, then it is. But again, could be just me goalpost-shifting. But I do have a LOT of thoughts on S4 post-series, which are still entertaining reads and can be binged here on my Post S4 Meta Masterpost (August 2018). I have more recent posts as well, but will need more specific questions to direct you to them, LOL.

Anyway, again, sorry for the delay in a reply, but I hope that this response was worth the wait, and that you continue to enjoy your time here *HUGS*

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: How Umineko Changed My Entire Approach to Fictional Media

All screenshots captured on Playstation 3 by author

  The following article contains a discussion of thematic elements and motives that appear during the second half of Umineko When They Cry. While no actual plot details will be revealed, some might still consider it spoilery. So if you want to experience one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever completely untainted, you should check it out on Steam right now.

  The internet is pretty rad, isn't it? You can follow your favorite creators, watch tons of awesome shows, and talk about your favorite things with other people. How about we do that right now? Well, too bad, because YOUR FAVORITE THING IS BAD, ACTUALLY! You made the mistake of posting about it online, so prepare to be sent lots of negative comments linking to 5-hour video essays pointing out every single flaw about your favorite story and why you are wrong for enjoying it!

    It's a situation I'm sure many of us have experienced at least a couple of times online. While the internet can be fantastic for finding like-minded people to chat with about things you deeply love, it can also be a gamble and sometimes you end up in a discussion where your conversational partner seems more interested in showing off their intellectual superiority over a work instead of openly discussing its merits or flaws. I certainly know — I used to be one of them.

  "As I've eaten my way through countless tales to escape boredom, I haven't really been eating them. I've just been killing them." - Hachijo Tohya

  The rise of social media has opened the gates for some incredible in-depth discussion and has changed the way I experience things over the years. But there is also a dark side to the discussions on the internet and that is the trap of wanting to feel intelligent in how you approach stories, which is often accompanied by not really being emotionally earnest. I myself tried to come off as perceptive by pointing out so many mistakes and bad things about media which led to exactly one thing: me becoming absolutely miserable. All I cared about was consuming as many things as possible (FOMO's also one of the many downsides of social media) and appearing as "smart" about them as I could. Until one fateful 10-month stretch in which I played a certain visual novel known as Umineko When They Cry.

    Umineko really is tailor-made for catching people with that mindset: It depicts a mystery story about how mystery stories are told and consumed — and what genre would be more fitting to challenge someone concerned with intellectual superiority than one that is all about the clash of Author vs Reader? 

  "Books aren't a competition. It's not about who's read the most. But boasting that you've read all your ever need to read is just as wrong-headed" - Battler Ushiromiya

  Umineko starts off with a well-known mystery trope: A family meets up in a mansion on a distant island, gets cut off by a storm, and then slowly gets murdered one after the other until everyone is dead. And just as in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (which served as one of Umineko's main inspirations), a bottle detailing the events of the incident to the public eventually washes ashore. But this only serves as Umineko's prologue, as its main character Battler quickly finds himself facing off against a self-proclaimed Golden Witch known as Beatrice on a meta-narrative level where he must prove these gruesome killings could have been committed by a human culprit, or be forced to acknowledge her existence and allow her to fully revive.

    Thus begins a game of chess filled with exceedingly preposterous murders in which our protagonist's family gets killed by demons, giant goat butlers, and sharpshooting bunny girls — all supplemented by the so-called Red Truth, a truth-revealing tell not unlike Martha's vomiting in Knives Out. Battler must use these authorial proclamations and find a loophole that enables him to explain the murders in a way that does not frame any of his beloved family members as the killer and still allows him to deny the existence of the gruesome and torturous witch.

    Umineko's all about how stories are perceived and told by both their creator and their audience. It explores how remarks by the author in every situation — no matter how off-hand they might be — can be used, applied, and twisted to shed a completely different light on a story regardless of its original intent. It shows how adding meaning to a narrative that wasn't meant to be there can both add to or subtract from its most important element: The heart its creator wanted to convey.

  "If I had found meaning in only exposing the truth, I would have sunk to the level of a truth-revealing witch and fallen into ruin, spreading only hatred, [...], crushing and refusing to acknowledge anything but the particular truth I seek, unable to escape the cycle of misery." - Ange Ushiromiya

  Umineko goes through many different angles of how we create, share, and discuss the tales that fuel our discourse. It ponders the importance of rules when creating storylines and tackles how easy it is to overlook major themes and motives by just focussing on minute details that are open to misinterpretation and irrelevant to a story's soul. It even includes the typical misanthropic yet oh so intelligent detective that usually gets idolized in most media (think BBC's Sherlock or House, M.D.) and puts them at odds with every other character because who would really want to cooperate with someone that completely disregards you as an equal human being and merely perceives you as an amalgation of hints, motives and alibis?

  "Sheesh! Just one more step and I'd have been able to take a heart as innocent as the smooth sand just after a wave had pulled back and tear it to bits. What a shame. This isn't fun anymore." - Erika Furudo

  And just when you start to really get into Umineko, it moves away from its main conflict, providing you important hints for its solution which most readers ignore as they aren't presented with facts and logic but on an emotional level distanced from the characters we long to get back to. But most importantly, it conveys how one single element is so indispensable to enjoying the narrative odysseys we embark on in our lives, to cherishing the characters that are presented to us in these tales, and to truly understand a story's message behind things like story developments, plot twists, and narrative tricks. I, of course, am talking about love.

  Be it the love you feel for characters, for certain staging elements, phrasings of prose, orchestrations of music, design of sound effects, implementations of themes and motives, or cinematographic puzzle pieces — the one thing that is indispensable to truly enjoy all kinds of media, is love. Or, to quote Umineko directly, "Without love, it cannot be seen."

    By the time, I was nearing the end of Umineko's eight main chapters, it had transformed from an intellectual battle between author and reader to an all-out war of a story against its community of readers who simply wanted to tear it down to cold, hard "facts." I had spent ten months and over 100 hours. The first half took eight of those months to get through (owing to a few lengths in Episodes 2 and 4), I finished the second half in less than two despite my busy schedule. I even dedicated a whole 15-hour marathon to the final episode as I was too glued to the grand finale to move away from it.

    A new me came out the end. I no longer had an interest in tearing apart media for minor missteps. I enjoyed them much more deeply and honestly and began taking my time with the things I consumed. Instead of filling my plate at the buffet of stories as much as I could, I gave each dish its own course on the menu so I could appreciate its flavor in a different way — one bite at a time and not stuffed up simply to give the outward appearance of a seasoned gourmet. And for that, I will never be able to thank Ryukishi07 and his co-creators at 07thExpansion enough.

  "The point of theory-making is not to create a culprit or to trample the truths that lie in the hearts of those who have not sinned. If you want to play detective, don't neglect the heart. Otherwise, we're just intellectual rapists. Don't forget it!!" - Willard H. Wright

  If you are interested in reading Umineko When They Cry, you can find both its Question Arcs and its Answer Arcs on Steam, GOG, and MangaGamer. You can also read the manga adaptation digitally on Bookwalker (though I personally recommend the visual novel for its award-worthy soundtrack alone).

  What work of fiction has touched your life in a profound way? Tell us in the comments!

      René Kayser works for Crunchyroll as a PR and Social Media Manager in Germany. You can find him on Twitter @kayserlein where he tries to get people into Umineko every single day.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[charcubed]

Frank Hudson, Greta, Margaret, & Mary

(PSA: If you’ve been tagged in this post, it’s because I’m crediting you or linking to a meta you wrote! I particularly linked a lot of things at the end I think could be tangentially related. No pressure to read all of this!)

Please allow me to take you on a journey in which I present a theory:

Mary is Frank Hudson’s daughter from a relationship with another woman, and part of her motivation (as a villain, as Moriarty’s agent/possible successor) is to get revenge on Sherlock for having killed her father all those years ago and ruining the drug cartel empire.

I was calling this a crack theory, but uh, given that I’ve now written thousands of words connecting weird dots, I’m gonna say maybe this is potentially not as far-fetched as I initially thought.

Before Sherlock series 4 came out, we were given this delightful niche little “clue” in a Youtube video on the official channel:

It’s always struck me as odd that this was specifically shown in a video advertising / leading up to series 4... when it seemingly never connected to anything. Why this, of all things?

Let’s review what we know about Mr. Frank Hudson.

• He was sentenced to death in Florida; Sherlock ensured his execution. (ASiP)

• He was executed for double murder and the execution was via lethal injection. He was arrested for “blowing someone’s head off.” (TSoT)

• According to Mrs. Hudson, about their relationship: “It was just a whirlwind thing for us. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I just got sort of swept along. And then we moved to Florida. We had a fantastic time, but of course I didn’t know what he was up to” and “It was purely physical between me and Frank. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other.” What Frank was “up to” included a drug cartel and “all the other women.” (TSoT)

• Mrs. Hudson was a typist in Frank’s drug cartel (and an exotic dancer, which is in YouTube videos in-universe). This is also the scene where she’s present to hear enough to figure out that Mary shot Sherlock; in the original script, it’s made obvious that she was eavesdropping even after walking out. (HLV)

• We’re also given repeated reminders in TLD that Mrs. Hudson was/is somewhat of a badass. She tells Sherlock “you’re not my first smackhead, Sherlock Holmes,” and whether or not any of that (the revolver, the kidnapping of Sherlock, the car) is actually literally real, I take it mostly as a blatant reminder that Mrs. Hudson has a past filled with “not good” people.

A lot of this info is given in more comedic moments... but I think because it is repeatedly mentioned with consistent detail, especially largely in season 3 when Mary arrives (partially to mirror John/Mary’s doomed relationship), it shouldn’t be swept aside.

Speaking of Mary, let’s get into it. 

In ACD’s The Sign of Four, Mary Morstan’s story centers heavily around the loss of her father. That’s also the story that involves the Agra treasure, and Mary notably receives 6 pearls in the mail as part of the mystery. Keep all of this in mind because it’s going to be relevant as we go.

First, let’s roll all the way back to The Abominable Bride.

(All transcripts I will be quoting are from the inimitable Ariane DeVere.)

Giles, & Morse Hudson

The abominable bride herself–who I trust we all know mirrors Mary at this point lol–stands on the balcony and aims her guns at people on the street while saying “You?” / “You, or me?” One of the people she aims at is this man, who is listed in the credits as Giles. I always found it odd that he was named, so I decided to look him up in relation to Sherlock Holmes.

“Giles” connects to Giles Conover, the criminal in the 1944 Sherlock Holmes movie The Pearl of Death. That movie is loosely based on ACD’s The Adventure of the Six Napoleans. In the movie, Giles (who is not in the ACD story) stole the Borgia Pearl and hid it in a bust of Napoleon. In case there’s any doubt, we can know for a fact that Moffat and Gatiss are familiar with this movie because they referenced it in TGG previously; the Golem assassin is a nod to The Creeper.

So I was like, why that movie specifically? What’s significant, and how would that connect to the bride?

And as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now... they later referenced that movie again in TST. The writers called back to both the ACD story and the 1944 movie, very specifically. 

Referenced movie details I noticed in TST include the following: Sherlock calls Lestrade “Giles.” The Borgia Pearl (movie phrasing, as opposed to “the black pearl of the Borgias”) is mentioned multiple times; we’ll go back to that. We are also pointedly told by Ajay that one of the members of AGRA was killed via a broken back, which is how a murder happens in the 1944 movie.

As for TST’s references to the original Napoleon story by ACD... there are many, but there’s one thing they pointedly didn’t reference (unless I missed it) that I find interesting: in the ACD story, 3 of the 6 busts were at the shop of a Morse Hudson. Beppo, the criminal in the story, worked at Morse Hudson’s shop to have access to the locations of those 3 busts. Even in The Six Thatchers version on John’s blog, Beppo is the criminal but Morse Hudson was not mentioned. 

So I thought... alright, Morse? What morse code have we seen in the show? Well, there’s UMQRA, from The Hounds of Baskerville.

I poked around and some genius anon on @inevitably-johnlocked​‘s blog once said that if you encode UMQRA with HOUND using a vigenere cypher, you get BAKED. Mary bakes her own bread, according to Sherlock’s deductions in TEH. The abominable bride, in the above scene, shoots at/into a bakery. 

Edit: @rosie_ww on Twitter aka @silverybees​ pointed me to this, from THoB:

SHERLOCK: You’ve been to see Mr Chatterjee again.

MRS HUDSON: Pardon? 

SHERLOCK: Sandwich shop. That’s a new dress, but there’s flour on the sleeve. You wouldn’t dress like that for baking.

(Friendly reminder that shortly thereafter we find out that Mr. Chatterjee has other women)

Does this morse code / BAKED business necessarily mean anything by itself? No, and of anything in this post, it’s the biggest stretch. But it’s still kind of wild, because let’s recap so far:

• We have Morse Hudson in The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, a story which is heavily referenced in TST

• TST heavily connects to Mary / AGRA (we’ll get to how specifically)

• TST also heavily connects to The Pearl of Death, which connects to TAB

• And not only that, but The Pearl of Death connects to the exact scene in TAB where the bride shoots @ Giles and the bread shop. The bread shop could connect to the UMQRA morse code in the show... meaning “Morse” (code, and therefore Hudson) could then connect to Mary.

Morse Hudson -> The Six Napoleons -> TST -> The Pearl of Death (“Giles” etc.) -> TAB (“Giles”) -> Mary, the bride

Oh what a tangled web we weave. That’s a Hudson to Mary.

But let’s keep going. Better stuff to come.

The Black Pearl of the Borgias In TST

Let’s play the game of following the trail of the Black Pearl. Shout out to @miadifferent​ and @impossibleleaf​, because their combo post here I came across was very helpful for showing me the best way to write this out to make it easily understandable. I will be quoting / paraphrasing them below!

The first time we hear about the Pearl, it’s from Mycroft, who connects it to Moriarty’s final activities:

MYCROFT: In the last year of his life, James Moriarty was involved with four political assassinations over 70 assorted robberies and terrorist attacks, including a chemical weapons factory in North Korea and had latterly shown some interest in tracking down the Black Pearl of the Borgias, which is still missing by the way, in case you feel like applying yourself to something practical.

We also learn that the Pearl is somehow connected to London.

HOPKINS: Interpol think, the case of the Borgia Pearl trail leads back to London, so..

So we have Moriarty -> Black Pearl -> London...

And next up, there’s Sherlock’s “fake” deduction about Greta Bengtsdotter (who has always very obviously made us all think about Mary.)

SHERLOCK: Your wife is a spy. That’s right. Her real name is Greta Bengtsdotter. Swedish by birth and probably the most dangerous spy in the world. She’s been operating deep undercover for the past four years now as your wife for one reason only: to get near the American embassy which is across the road from your flat. Tomorrow the U.S. president will be at the embassy as part of an official state visit. As the president greets members of staff, Greta Bengtsdotter, disguised as a twenty-two stone cleaner, will inject the president in the back of the neck with a dangerous new drug hidden inside a secret compartment insider her padded armpit. This drug will then render the president entirely susceptible to the will of their new master, none other than James Moriarty. Moriarty will then use the president as a pawn to destabilize the United Nations General Assembly which is due to vote on a nuclear non-proliferation treaty tipping the balance in favour of a first strike policy against Russia. This chain of events will then prove unstoppable thus precipitating World War 3.

The name “Greta” is derived from the name Margareta, which comes from the Greek word margarites. It means pearl. Further versions of this name are Margarita / Margaret / Maggie.

Thus, we add her in: Moriarty -> Greta -> Black Pearl -> London

So when Sherlock finds the AGRA stick in the busts of Margaret Thatcher, he says to Mary...

SHERLOCK: I was so convinced it was Moriarty, I couldn’t see what was right under my nose. I expected a pearl.

Sherlock expected to find a pearl (Greta / a spy), but instead he found AGRA/Mary’s identity. He actually found what he was looking for, but he just didn’t recognize it.

And it actually still makes sense:

Margaret Thatcher’s bust -> Black Pearl -> Greta (“pearl”, spy) -> Mary (spy) -> AGRA memory stick

That’s how it went in the plot. It’s a subconscious connection.

So what’s ACD have to say about all that then?

This is the point where I remind you...

In ACD’s The Sign of Four, Mary Morstan’s story centers heavily around the loss of her father. That’s also the story that involves the Agra treasure, and Mary notably receives 6 pearls in the mail as part of the mystery. 

So all of this does have connections back to ACD canon; who is surprised?

But what do we know about Mary’s past from the show’s canon in His Last Vow? Let’s look at some other reminders.

SHERLOCK: By your skill set, you are – or were – an intelligence agent. Your accent is currently English but I suspect you are not. You’re on the run from something; you’ve used your skills to disappear; Magnussen knows your secret, which is why you were going to kill him; and I assume you befriended Janine in order to get close to him.

+

MAGNUSSEN: All those wet jobs for the CIA. Ooh! She’s gone a bit... freelance now. Bad girl.

Mary’s not English; she could be Swedish, she could be American, but regardless–Sherlock deduced she’s a linguist in TEH. And either way, she’s worked for America.

Americans crop up a weird amount in BBC Sherlock (and ACD canon too really), and usually in negative contexts. I just want to highlight one American connection from The Abominable Bride, about Emilia Ricoletti:

SHERLOCK: So she decided to make her death count. She was already familiar with the secret societies of America and was able to draw on their methods of fear and intimidation to publicly – very publicly – confront Sir Eustace Carmichael with the sins of his past. 

HOOPER: He knew her out in the States. Promised her everything... marriage, position – and then he had his way with her and threw her over, left her abandoned and penniless.

Also, where was it that Mr. Hudson had his drug cartel? Oh yeah. Florida.

We’ll go back to that.

More Margarets In BBC Sherlock

So we’ve officially got one connection where Margaret relates to Mary. TST makes that pretty clear. 

Now, where else have we encountered the name Margaret in the show?

Three places (at least, that I’ve caught):

1. A Study In Pink.

The first victim of Jeff Hope the serial killer is Sir Jeffrey Patterson. He was having an affair with his personal assistant Helen, despite being married to his wife Margaret Patterson. 

It’s a well-known fact in this fandom that the victims in ASiP are considered mirrors for John Watson, highlighting things that would lead to his own unhappiness/death–possibly even by suicide. (TJLCE video)  So, let’s say Jeffrey Patterson is a mirror for John.

Helen the personal assistant (who says “I love you”) is, perhaps, a mirror for Sherlock. She’s wearing a deep purple shirt.

Does that connect Margaret Patterson, who insists her husband was happy, to Mary? 

MARGARET PATTERSON: My husband was a happy man who lived life to the full. He loved his family and his work – and that he should have taken his own life in this way is a mystery and a shock to all who knew him.

[looks at John’s unhappiness in HLV after a month of marriage, looks at series 4 theories about John faking his suicide / trying to commit suicide, laughs nervously]

Well. Moving on.

2. The Hounds of Baskerville.

Project HOUND was a CIA Classified / American project that Major Barrymore was involved in. The Major is apparently a fan of Margaret Thatcher, and the password to his laptop is Maggie. Sherlock types “Margare” then hesitantly backtracks and writes Maggie and it works. It’s worth noting that in the script it was drafted to just be Margaret.

3. The Sign of Three. 

MRS. HUDSON: My best friend, Margaret – she was my chief bridesmaid. We were going to be best friends forever, we always said that; but I hardly saw her after that. [...] She cried the whole day, saying, “Ooh, it’s the end of an era.” She was probably right, really. I remember she left early. I mean, who leaves a wedding early?

So in BBC Sherlock, the name Margaret is connected to...

• The Margaret Thatcher busts in The Six Thatchers, which connects to Mary/AGRA/pearls/Greta the Swedish spy

• Margaret Patterson, the wife of a mirror for John who was the victim of murder that masqueraded as suicide. This Margaret insists that the John mirror was happy in their marriage, but the John mirror was having an affair with a Sherlock mirror

• Project HOUND, of the CIA. I find this exceedingly interesting because the name "Margaret” has connections to Moriarty/Mary, and this could mean it’s safe to guess that this case is/was connected to the wider Moriarty web. We see Sherlock hallucinate Moriarty when drugged by the fog, sure, but otherwise Moriarty’s handiwork supposedly isn’t involved in this case... but maybe it was indirectly, by Mary in the CIA. Just ruminating.

• Margaret was Mrs. Hudson’s best friend, who left the wedding early when Mrs. Hudson and Frank got married

Re: that last bullet point, here is what I am suggesting as a possibility: Margaret was one of Mr. Hudson’s “other women.” Margaret left the wedding early because she was sad about the marriage, obviously, but maybe she wasn’t in love with Mrs. H like we would naturally assume (per Sherlock leaving the wedding early because he loves John). Maybe Margaret was in love with Mr. Hudson.

Maybe Mary is the daughter of Margaret and Mr. Hudson, and (as previously stated) she’s motivated to get revenge on Sherlock for killing her father and ruining the drug cartel empire. Who knows what would’ve happened to her mother Margaret, in that case, too.

This is speculation, of course, yes. Yet [waves to all the ridiculous web of connections I’ve delved deeply into, and the Frank Hudson hangman] can you blame me?

But, maybe you’re wondering... why would I think she’s the daughter of a Hudson specifically, even aside from all this Margaret stuff? 

Well.

Hudsons In ACD Canon

Where is the name “Hudson” used in ACD canon, other than for Mrs. Hudson?

Three places (that I’ve caught; my ACD canon knowledge is limited):

• Morse Hudson in The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, as discussed above; not mentioned in BBC Sherlock canon for some reason, yet strongly tied to the story that inspired TST.

• A name drop of “Hudson” in The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips.

Quick run-down of some aspects of this case: the client, John Openshaw, asks Holmes for help because a series of mysterious letters seems to be connected with the recent suspicious deaths of his uncle Elias and his father Joseph. The letters included 5 orange pips, and KKK on the envelope. When his uncle received his letter, he burnt a bunch of secret personal papers. One paper survived; it’s on that paper that we see Hudson’s name, associated with the KKK, and otherwise oddly unrelated to the case.

Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a book. It was headed, “March, 1869,” and beneath were the following enigmatical notices:

“4th. Hudson came. Same old platform.

“7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John Swain of St. Augustine.

“9th. McCauley cleared.

“10th. John Swain cleared.

“12th. Visited Paramore. All well.”

Here are other ~features of interest~ in this case to me: Openshaw’s uncle Elias was a planter in Florida for many years. Florida is mentioned by Holmes as a “notable” state where the KKK formed a branch; the others are Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and Georgia (hello to Tbilisi, Georgia being in TST seemingly at random). It is also mentioned that the fear of someone or something is what drove Elias from America to England. There’s also a very random name drop of “Mary” in this story that doesn’t relate to the case, told as part of Openshaw’s story, in which I can only assume Mary was a maid?

OPENSHAW, QUOTING UNCLE ELIAS: “They may do what they like, but I’ll checkmate them still,’ said he with an oath. ‘Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.’

The fact that the name Mary manages to be in this cracks me up.

The orange pips / secret societies in America / etc. all heavily tie into The Abominable Bride, and the women’s hoods were visually reminiscent of the KKK. Sir Eustace’s line in TAB of “Death” (when he receives the pips) is a direct quote from Elias in this story when he receives his pips–and a quote that Mary echoes in TST when she completes Vivian Norbury’s sentence in the aquarium.

VIVIAN NORBURY: I’m just like the merchant in the story. I thought I could outrun the inevitable. I’ve always been looking over my shoulder; always expecting to see the grim figure of...

MARY: Death.

So, in summary we have: a name drop of Hudson in a story that factors in Florida, Georgia, pips, secret societies, the KKK, and even a name drop of Mary.

• Hudson is the criminal in The Adventure of the Gloria Scott.

This case is the one Holmes credits as his first case, and it inspired his future profession. He’s telling Watson the story. It happened in his university days and centers on his friend Victor Trevor (TFP says hi, lmao). More specifically, it centers on Victor Trevor’s father. I won’t go into all the details, and the plot summary on Wikipedia is good if you’re curious, but–

A quick run-down of some ~features of interest~ in this case: Mr. Trevor the elder is being blackmailed by the criminal Hudson because of their old criminal past together with others. Hudson is threatening him with exposure / public shame, and Mr. Trevor is forced to employ him. Victor gets pissed about it and eventually upsets Hudson enough that Hudson leaves in a very “this isn’t over” kind of way. Later, Mr. Trevor dies from a stroke after receiving a letter that threatened him via a skip code. It is a skip code of specifically every third word, beginning with the first.

Full skip code message: "The supply of game for London is going steadily up. Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen pheasant's life."

Decoded message: "The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life."

(It’s not a game anymore...)

Who do we have in show canon who recognizes a skip code on sight of specifically every third word, beginning with the first?

All together now: Mary.

(Bonus points for “Save John Watson” being the phrase Mary says in her creepy posthumous DVDs. Bonus points x2 for the fact that this text was sent by Magnussen, the “Napoleon of blackmail,” to Mary when he was supposedly trying to find Sherlock’s pressure point. But anyway!)

Another feature of interest about the Gloria Scott case: Holmes deduces that Mr. Trevor was once connected to someone with the initials J.A. whom he wanted to forget, guessing it was an old lover. Mr. Trevor momentarily faints in shock. Holmes guessed this based on an old arm tattoo that Mr. Trevor had tried to get rid of, where the initials are blurry. This later turns out to be wrong, because Mr. Trevor’s previous name was James Armitage–J.A.–when he was a criminal, and that is the reason behind the tattoo. (JA? AJ / Ajay? Much to think about)

The J.A. tattoo deduction was referenced in The Six Thatchers, when Sherlock deduces that the client had a Japanese girlfriend he is now indifferent about. 

SHERLOCK: You’ve got a Japanese tattoo in the crook of your elbow in the name ‘Akako.’ It’s obvious you’ve tried to have it removed.

KINGSLEY: But surely that means I wanna forget her, not that I’m indifferent.

SHERLOCK: If she’d really hurt your feelings, you would have had the word obliterated, but the first attempt wasn’t successful and you haven’t tried again, so it seems you can live with the slightly blurred memory of Akako, hence the indifference.

I’m bothering to highlight this in TST because after Sherlock explains it, the client remarks upon it being “simple”... and that’s when Sherlock immediately launches into his ~fake~ long-winded deduction about his wife being Greta the spy, as I already talked about above. Wild.

One last fascinating thing about the Gloria Scott: this case is referenced in 2 other ACD stories–The Sussex Vampire (John texting in TST), and The Musgrave Ritual (TFP). Gotta love that.

So, uh, what if Mrs. Hudson’s “case” (getting her husband executed) was one of Sherlock’s “firsts” that inspires him to become a consultive detective full-time? We’re told in ASiP that he ensured Frank Hudson’s execution “a few years back.” The inexactness of that year amount drives me bonkers, but I think it’s potentially plausible.

Short Coda: Ghost Stories...

In Mr. Trevor’s reply to Holmes’ (incorrect) J.A. tattoo deduction, he includes the following line:

“Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.”

Mark Gatiss talked a lot about ghost stories. In the Sherlock Chronicles book (which I own) teasing series 4, he said, “I can certainly give you one word. Ghosts...” and in this interview he said “There’s a conspiracy theory about everything and they’re almost the modern equivalent of ghost stories. And the great thing is, you can have all the tropes of a ghost story. . . There are lots of people in happy marriages who turn out to have terrible secrets or to have done some awful deed in the past that must be paid for in the present. In Doyle’s stories, those are the ghosts you need to worry about.”

And here are the lines we get from Holmes in The Abominable Bride about ghosts (that aren’t literal):

You may, however, rest assured there are no ghosts in this world... Save those we make for ourselves.

+

We all have a past, Watson. Ghosts – they are the shadows that define our every sunny day. Sir Eustace knows he’s a marked man.

+

The avenging ghost – a legend to strike terror into the heart of any man with malicious intent; a spectre to stalk those unpunished brutes whose reckoning is long overdue.

While typing, I’ve now galaxy-brained my way to the realization that Mrs. H was canonically an “abominable bride” to Frank Hudson and literally murdered him (with Sherlock’s help), just like the women in the special. She’s also shown as one of the women ignored/disparaged in the special (”I’m your landlady, not a plot device”) but just isn’t shown in the crypt/society. So that’s, uh... interesting.

In (Semi-)Conclusion: A Summary

We have the following significant points at minimum: 

• A Frank Hudson clue in a series 4 video

• One reference where Mary is undeniably connected to a Hudson who was a criminal in ACD canon (skip code)

• One ACD Hudson who was heavily connected to The Six Napoleons story, aka The Six Thatchers

• One ACD Hudson name-dropped in a story that heavily connects to The Abominable Bride, and Florida

• A bizarre pile of evidence that all Margaret mentions in the show could relate back to Mary the ex-CIA spy, in some way or another

• A Margaret connected to Mrs. Hudson who could’ve been in love with Frank Hudson (in Florida)

• The overall theme of s4 being ghosts from past deeds and un(happy) marriages coming to haunt people. And lest we forget, “ghost” Mary literally haunts Sherlock and John after her “death.”

Does that cover it? I feel like that covers it.

Of course, I absolutely could be reading into a ton of things that are unrelated, but... Who is to say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

Random Related Stuff

Not required reading, but while poking around, I’ve found other things that could or could not connect to the above theory. I’m just gonna... info dump it right here. It could all be meaningless, it could all connect, it could be unrelated! You decide! Lots of meta links involved below, so credit where credit is due.

• I knew I wasn’t the first to come up with this concept/possibility of Mary being a Hudson. While building this post, I ran a search and came across this old one by @the-7-percent-solution​, who posited there’s a letter game at play of AEIOU involving Mary’s monstrous regiment of various characters and connects Amo/Love to Mary. I love this concept, and while I do think there are other elements/aspects in play for the plot besides just this, that post still has pieces that can work nicely; doesn’t matter that it was written before TFP aired.

• Frequently thinking about how Sherlock said “Mrs. Hudson? Leave Baker Street? England would fall,” because what does Mrs. Hudson do in TLD? She leaves Baker Street.

• All of the above cursed elements haunt me. (Arwel’s Instagram post was April of this year.) Note: there’s another tweet Arwel jokingly posted of this photo years ago, but that tweet’s caption was connected to Brexit based on dates / my memory (i.e. “England has fallen”), so I’m not including it lol.

• In TFP, when Mrs. Hudson is vacuuming, she’s listening to Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast.” The lyrics we get are “666, the Number of the Beast. Hell and fire was spawned to be released.” The other time 666 is mentioned was by Mary in TST, in reference to Rosie.

• Mrs. Hudson is in the center of the 221B promo pic for series 4, as noticed by @sherlocks-salty-blog​.

• This cursed pic of Mary’s "ring from her past” on top of a series 4, episode 3 script (??) that Amanda took has haunted me since she tweeted it. Mary wears this ring on-screen in TEH, and you can see it when Sherlock deduces her.

• The Gabrielle Ashdown passport (in TST) is from America.

• Janine (who many of us notice is likely involved with Mary / Moriarty of course) often wears pearls, as @sherlockmeta​ noticed. Mary also wears pearl earrings in series 4 promo shots but never in s4 episodes (that I can find/remember). I also always think that Mary and Mrs. Hudson are dressed very similarly in s4 promo images (see all promos here).

• @raggedyblue​ discussed how Sherlock’s window deduction in TLD sounds a lot like Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen in 221A, and how a sheet of paper being pinned/folded is an opposite element in ACD’s The Sign of Four. The re-folded paper was a map leading to the AGRA treasure, and Mary found it in her father’s desk. Brilliant catch. Of course, in the show, the paper says Miss Me which is also heavily connected to Mary.

• The mystery of the little girls with blond and braided hair, as compiled by @ebaeschnbliah​, is also going to haunt me. I suggest reading the post, but minor summary: during s4 setlock, there was filming with Ben and Mark at Ogmore Castle with a little girl "wearing a skirt or dress, and her hair was blonde and in pigtails,” and she was running circles around Sherlock. There are two separate reports from people who saw this and mentioned it had to do with Mary; at first glance it bears similarities to Eurus scenes we got in TFP, but seems different in description. This also brings to mind the little girl with blonde braided hair in TEH at the bonfire, who notably wears a bright red jacket just like Mary. And there’s also a doll with blond braided pigtails in Magnussen’s mind palace.

• @gosherlocked​ has posts about “The Children of Sherlock” (part 1)(part 2) that highlight how children are frequently victims in this show. Metaphorically, I find this interesting if Mary plays a role of a “wronged child” avenging her father, regardless of age.

• Let’s talk music in TLD–or at least, one piece of it. When Mrs. Hudson drops the teacup, Mozart’s “Andante From Piano Concerto #21” plays. That specific second movement was used in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan. Sweden, of course, immediately reminded me of Greta the spy (aka Mary) being Swedish. After I realized this info, I ran a search to see if anyone else had mentioned this movie and I found this post, where @tjlcisthenewsexy​ and @possiblyimbiassed​ discussed how it’s a story of 2 doomed lovers who die via suicide-by-revolver. This is significant because Sherlock drops a revolver to catch the tea; death replaced by (gay) love?

• Speaking of Sweden: in The Game Is Now, Sherlock is abroad in Sweden. This is mentioned more than once: first, in this audio message between Sherlock and Mycroft (“Sweden sends its regards.” “It does?” “No, not really.”). This audio message also includes “This is not an international game of sardines.” Fish reference? Aquarium?

The second Sweden mention is visually, in this video. See below. (Also, in both, the characters say “real people,” which I can’t help but feel is a fourth wall break of them being fictional?) 

I hate this Sweden stuff specifically. Thank you.

This post is so much longer than I expected it would be, thank you for reading all of this if you did, Johnlock is real, Mary is a villain, etc.

Come yell at me on Twitter @CharCubed! 

Also, I made a secret sideblog @frankhudson​ to just reblog meta or info I might want to be able to find later lmao. Feel free to poke around if you want.

[acdhw]

I was tagged by @granada-brett-crumbs  ❤

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2019. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I’ll list my Holmes/Watson fic and meta:

1. The Adventure of the Vengeful Clockmaker (T, ~5,600) is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s a neat mystery (I think) besides being a Holmes/Watson love story. Post-Reichenbach, set in December 1894, basically their first Christmas together after Holmes’s return. Holmes gets to solve a tricky cipher while worrying for Watson’s safety. Watson gets a piece of the action helping him. It also involves Holmes dressing up as Father Christmas.

2.  Our Norwegian Holiday (T, ~1,700) is a little fluffy one-shot, another story written during the Christmas season. Holmes and Watson go to Norway for the first time and see the Northern lights.

3.  Practice Makes Perfect (T, ~1,200). Holmes persuades Watson to dance with him to cheer Watson up. 

4.  A Little Diplomacy Was Needed (M, ~4,000). A behind-the-scenes for The Reigate Squires. A hurt/comfort, with Watson taking care of Holmes and Holmes being jealous because of Colonel Hayter, Watson’s army friend, who invited Holmes and Watson for a holiday in his estate and obviously carries a torch for Watson.

5.  Sherlock and his Watson (G, ~18,300). My meta for some canon stories and other ACD stuff. Started mostly as submissions for A Study in Canon queer Holmesian readalong on tumblr. Later those posts were united on AO3.

Tagging @gardnerhill, @the-last-day-of-winter, @strampunch, @two-nipples-maybe-more