One of my friends started shipping Sherlock Holmes x Hastur (a.k.a The King in Yellow) with the trope "Greatest Detective x Greatest Mistery" as a joke...
And it started infecting me as a joke...
But bro...
I don't think it's a joke anymore
JUST TO BE CLEAR!
This all started because we were thinking about how would a play with Sherlock Holmes and The King in Yellow be and there's this specific things we tought that led to this crack ship.
- The play’s central premise would be that Sherlock Holmes, of his own free will, begins investigating matters related to the King in Yellow. This draws Hastur’s attention, given that, up to that point, 99% of those who sought out Carcosa did so purely by accident—precisely so that madness would be inflicted upon them.
- So, Hastur comes up with a brilliant plan: he disguises himself as a "character" and actively helps Sherlock Holmes with his investigation, even though he knows how it's all supposed to end.
- "But why Hastur and Sherlock? Where's Watson?" Watson is busy enjoying his marriage to Mary, so Sherlock was essentially on his own at the time and in need of help.
- All Eldrich horror characters appear in the audience, and Hastur actively moves on and off the stage at certain moments—unlike all the other characters in the play, who remain either on stage or in the audience, thereby separating the "Characters" from the "Gods."
- This is also depicted in the play's script—which ought to exist, given that the Gods' lines do not appear in it, including Hastur's off-stage lines.
- This back-and-forth continues until the climax of the third act, where Sherlock Holmes finds himself cornered by a cult linked to the King in Yellow and Carcosa; the script called for Sherlock Holmes to die and for the King in Yellow’s curse of madness to spread to yet another universe—yet Hastur, defying all the rules, raises his hand from the audience, right in front of Sherlock, and calls out to him.
- At that moment, Sherlock hears Hastur's voice and, for the first time, genuinely turns toward the audience and gazes at the hand Hastur has extended to him.
- Hastur helps him leave the stage, becoming the first character to enter the "Realm of the Gods."
- This would consequently unfold into a secret fourth act. It would consist entirely of Sherlock freaking out upon discovering that Hastur is the King in Yellow and trying to save his friends and family from the cult, all while unable to step onto the stage—because, according to the script, the moment he set foot on stage again, he would die and the play would end.
- Act 4 would conclude with Hastur practically begging Sherlock to stay with him in the "Upper World," as Sherlock was the only human—not just a character, but a human—he had ever cared about (at the time, it was purely platonic, I swear). Sherlock would then simply let go of the King's hand and, with determination, run toward the stage at the exact moment one of the cultists was about to fire a bullet into Mary's chest.
- The play would end, and the actors would leave the stage to celebrate its conclusion, yet neither the actor playing Sherlock nor the one playing Hastur could be seen at the end. This could mean one of two things: either it was all a setup and Hastur was merely toying with the audience and Sherlock, or he refused to leave the stage after losing his first and only friend. Finally understanding the price of insanity.
...
Do you get now why my friend started shipping those two? It was just meant to be a joke idea—maybe for a fanfic or some fan art...
Now they'r actually crying because this play will never exist outside our minds.
