skyblueactingrocket

Now, I wasn’t exactly looking for a blatant confirmation of a romantic relationship between Sherlock and John, but it seemed logical for it to appear, particularly after The Lying Detective. 

If you put a rifle on the wall in scene 1, it has to get fired before the end of the story. Announcing that John and Sherlock both need a romantic connection in The Lying Detective is one such rifle.

I wasn’t expecting it to be obvious, and it’s not, not entirely, but yeah, it’s there. 

This episode isn’t about Sherlock and John and a change in their relationship, to be clear. It’s about why Sherlock is what he is. But slid in there is the assumption that Sherlock and John are back together, the way they haven’t been since The Reichenbach Fall, but this time with eyes wide open. They’re together and talking this time, that’s where we left them with The Lying Detective. They are finally, finally talking to each other about their feelings in a way they never did before. This story doesn’t address those steps directly, it certainly addresses them obliquely.

First: Mycroft wants to talk about their sister alone because “It’s family.” John stays in the conversation because Sherlock wants him there for the same reason. Sherlock considers John family. John considers himself family as well; they are in agreement about it, and John doesn’t offer to go, or move to step away. On its own, that’s a lovely sentiment shared between them, but what it suggests is that John is not only his friend. That’s nice, but only the first part of why I think they’ve moved their relationship to a new place.

Second: Eurus hears Sherlock play one note on his violin and knows that he’s had sex. That’s news! Who’s Sherlock having sex with? Eurus assumes it’s a woman. That’s the same kind of mistake Sherlock made in  A Study in Pink. But who else would it be? It’s John.

Third: when John finds another DVD left by Mary, he doesn’t watch it alone. Sherlock needs come over to watch it with him. Sherlock is fully engaged in John’s emotional life at this point, just as John is fully engaged in Sherlock’s, family and all.

Most of this story is game face time, so other than a shot of them co-parenting, and them physically putting their lives back together at the end, there isn’t time for them to show much more. Except that’s sort of the point: they are working as a unit through this whole story, a truly complete unit. They are at peace with each other, they trust each other, they know each other. There is not a flicker of doubt left about each other.

∞ Scenes of Sherlock

They’re back at Baker St. LITERALLY picking up the pieces from all the destruction they’ve had over the last two-three years, while also solving new cases, and it’s brilliant!

humans: we’re going to plug two of them together and see if we go twice as fast

vsa: last time we gave you a warp core you threw it into a sun to see if the sun would go twice as fast

humans: hahaha yeah

humans: it did tho

vsa: IT EXPLODED

Impulsive, passionate to a fault, the social structures they build to try and regulate this hotheadedness ironically creates even greater levels of sheer bull-headedness. Even their “cooler” heads take action in months or weeks.

vulcan science academy: get what

klingons: you vulcans are a bunch of stuffy prisses but you’re also tougher, stronger, and smarter than humans in every single way

klingons: why do you let them run your federation

vulcan science academy: look

vulcan science academy: this is a species where if you give them two warp cores they don’t do experiments on one and save the other for if the first one blows up

vulcan science academy: this is a species where if you give them two warp cores, they will ask for a third one, immediately plug all three into each other, punch a hole into an alternate universe where humans subscribe to an even more destructive ideological system, fight everyone in it because they’re offended by that, steal their warp cores, plug those together, punch their way back here, then try to turn a nearby sun into a torus because that was what their initial scientific experiment was for and they didn’t want to waste a trip. 

vulcan science academy: they did that last week. we have the write-up right here. it’s getting published in about six hundred scientific journals across two hundred different disciplines because of how many established theories their ridiculous little expedition has just called into question. also, they did turn that sun into a torus, and no one actually knows how. 

vulcan science academy: this is why we let them do whatever the hell they want. 

I also did no meal prep. I don’t even think I went shopping right before I left.

This is not about apples and oranges. This isn’t even about my husband. This is about the fact that this is apparently WEIRD.

Another mum at my daughter’s school is leaving for ten days. She’s taking her youngest (who is a very small baby) and leaving her husband with their two girls. She has been cooking for days preparing freezer meals. She’s panicking and deputizing her six year old to remind him how to make school lunches. AND I AM APPALLED.

A) He is definitely not helpless. (He’s a doctor or something.) What gendered bullshit. B) THAT LITTLE GIRL IS NOT OLD ENOUGH TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HER AND HER SISTER’S WELLBEING. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. C) Why is she married to this person and creating children with him if he’s this big of an idiot?

While she was laughingly recounting this, the other mums were nodding and smiling sympathetically, like oh yes, I too have my caveman at home!! Such managing required! I was the only one who was like “Dude, he’ll be fine. Literally. He will be fine.” I said it a lot. She was not convinced. She kept bringing up her older daughter. She’ll be like a little mum!

NO.

NO NO NO NO.

NO.

because obviously Michelle’s portrayal is utterly priceless, but it is still the actual script that really solidifies her as a character, because she is still so completely the Master

yes, she’s hilarious and bonkers and wonderful, and in my opinion, the most lovable Master yet, but it’s still made very clear that you’re not supposed to love her because she’s awful and she’d definitely kill anyone who isn’t the Doctor without hesitation  

she’s dangerous because she pulls you in with her lunatic charm and then she turns around and does exactly what you knew you needed to expect of her the whole time - murderous backstabbing betrayal (which you can bet she had planned from the moment she put Clara in the Dalek casing), that’s just how she is, especially after she’s just been sidelined by the Doctor given that she’s an attention seeker at heart

FIREBRINGER UPDATE: 

“We’ve upped the stakes! If you get us funded before Sunday, we’ll release an audio recording of A VERY POTTER CHRISTMAS as well as the script! That means you could get your hands on TWO unreleased StarKid shows if you include Starship Requiem! I think we can do it, and I hope we do, too! AVPX-MAS is a very funny addition to the Very Potter universe. So let’s hit that $88k mark! Also, THANKS FOR GETTING US TO 1600 BACKERS!!! Just last night we had only a little over 1500. 100 backers in one day is YUGE! We’re getting very excited for the summer when we look at how well this is doing :) Let’s bring it home!