That Unicorn Looks Happy, Eh?

A photoset with Kathryn Janeway and her hands.

You know... this scene!

I know that a lot of fans are angry at Moffat and Gatiss for a lot of things, and most of all for Season Four.

I personally am mad at them for a few things. Mostly things that I can easily let slide given the immense enjoyment I've had and continue to have from their BBC Sherlock series.

But THIS FUCKING LINE!!!

A woman's wedding ring is dirty even though the rest of her appearance is carefully curated? I'll handwave it and maybe google when we started using soap.

Man wears same large thick coat outdoors in all seasons? Fine. It's England. And I have an old (autistic) friend who actually does this.

John's eyebrow says that he hasn't rung his sister, and Mary's a bread baking disillusioned Guardian reader with a secret tattoo? Hahaha why not?

Sherlock has to use his incredible mind over matter to restart his heart but also "it was surgery"? Bit much, but I'll overlook it. For you.

Evil genius simultaneously hacks every screen in the country? Eh, ok.

Secret island prison? Sure. Let Sherlock live his pirate fantasy. Let John point his gun at someone. Let Moriarty play Queen while dramatically disembarking from a helicopter.

Predicting multiple terror attacks at lightspeed from Twitter? Well, we've come this far.

I do not watch Sherlock for 'slice of life' realism and dear lord I hope no one else does. I do not WANT realism. I want to forget that I am vast majority bedbound and that people are out there having coffee and going for a pint and working at normal jobs with payslips and lanyards and spreadsheets. And generally speaking, BBC Sherlock has helped a lot with that!

But WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK were they THINKING WITH THIS LINE???

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

Sherlock is barely a fucking grown-up on his own, but I'd allow it. Especially after the "baby" jokes John, Lestrade and he himself have previously made at his expense.

But COMPARED TO MYCROFT?!?!

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK. LADS?????

WERE YOU HIGH? WERE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MINDS? WHAT THE FUCK???!!!

See, after I first heard this, I quickly recon headcanon-(is this a thing? Is there a name for this soecific thing?) -ed it into Mrs Holmes the mad genius being completely out of touch with the social reality of her children- especially as she's been so harsh to Mycroft in this scene and not massively had to look after adult Sherlock herself. Because, y'know, Mycroft was doing it!

Then I complained about it on Reddit.

To my HORROR, another user told me that Steven Moffat had said in an interview that it was meant to be taken as true. But y'know, we're all just randoms on the internet and people get things wrong.

Then another user told me they theorised that Eurus had reprogrammed her parents to favour Sherlock, which is an interesting theory.

But clearly in the script, everyone... including Sherlock and Mycroft... just quietly agrees.

What....

What is the reasoning for this?

I know some will say "mate, welcome to all of season four" or even "three and four" or all of it.

I know some people consider Mycroft a bully, but I really don't. Certainly not after the scene on the plane and the 'Redbeard' reveal.

I'm open to persuasion though. If anyone has any thoughts on this, feel free to share! I might well not agree, but I won't attack you either.

Or the writers. But again, if I ever end up trapped with them in a lift or some such... I WILL have questions!

I truly don't know what they were going for with that. They spent all season four (which I quite like, despite everything), and even the XIX century special, building Mycroft's character and backstory: a severely traumatised child who had to care first for her deranged sister, then for his junkie brother, from a very early age. A man who offered his own life because he knew that his brother loved and needed John more than he needed him; because he knew that, despite his best efforts to get his brother clean, it was John, and Lestrade, and Molly, and all the others, keeping Sherlock away from the drugs. They humanised him throughout the whole of episode 4, and before that. The helicopter scene in the final episode of season 3! His voice saying "Do not fire against Sherlock Holmes!" and "Oh, Sherlock, what have you done?"! (And ofc the famous "Your loss would break my heart"). We even get Sherlock's white flag towards his brother when he asks Lestrade to take care of him because he is "not as strong as he seems". In short, they depict him as a likeable character whose odd behaviour does not keep him from being, in essence, a good man that the fans can fall behind.

To me the line screams "Sherlock is being parentified" which is when parents behave in a manner that necessitates a child behaving as an adult in an unhealthy way. It's obvious in this episode that when they were children, Mycroft was the one being parentified. He tried to tell their parents that something was up with Eurus, that she was threatening Sherlock, and they didn't listen. So he took on the responsibility of saving his little brother from their violent sister and he carries the blame for his failure.

Now, when they're all adults (and this behaviour is decidedly less harmful), suddenly Sherlock is being targeted with parentification.

Maybe Mycroft is relieved. They've given up on him because they agree that he failed. They parentified him, and he could not rise to the occasion. Doesn't matter that he was a child himself at the time. He failed to keep his family safe. He was responsible for Eurus and for Sherlock and he allowed Eurus to commit multiple crimes. Never mind that the adults in charge also failed.

See full comic strip "Thornographic Botany" on AO3.

When they defund public programs, it helps them prove their point they make when they are in opposition.

"See?" they say, "Government can't do this well, so they shouldn't do it at all. This should be managed by private corporations and the free market. And it just so happens that a good buddy of mine runs that exact type of corporation."

She is giving a nod and a wink To what Sherlock had John do, I think. But not in the face; This gift is a place For putting the kind they can drink.

'Tis a Gift is on AO3.

I wonder if you think you know What gift that could be? Well, if so, Please share it with me And fill me with glee By putting your guess down below!

Tags under the cut. Thanks for reblogging!

@ceilingfan5 and i went off the deep end and effectively had a group project sleepover to present our thorough examination of only the parts of amok time spent in spock's quarters (9min 21sec) and only really through the lens of set design and framing :D huge thanks to @startrek-bookclub for encouraging our type of madness

if needed, there's a view only link below the cut where the text is still text and not an image.

John may crack it open tonight If it goes with their dinner alright. ‘Cause Sherlock can gauge If it’s better with age And whether it’s red or it’s white.

'Tis a Gift is on AO3.

I wonder if you think you know What gift that could be? Well, if so, Please share it with me And fill me with glee By putting your guess down below!

Tags under the cut. Thanks for reblogging!

Because he was thinking about The parts of his head that stick out, He gave Sherlock and John Matching gifts to put on To muffle the cold or a shout.

'Tis a Gift is on AO3.

I wonder if you think you know What gift that could be? Well, if so, Please share it with me And fill me with glee By putting your guess down below!

Tags under the cut. Thanks for reblogging!

(Fluffbruary, July 14, 2026)

Summary: John and Sherlock marry without witnesses, church, or state. [This continues Ch. 100, which is short enough to reread if you ... you know. Ch. 103 will be ]

*

I grasp Sherlock’s elbows, not his hands, which I watch startle and then settle. In the millisecond before I open my mouth to speak, a hundred memories push in to stop time.

His hands on his violin, on the bow. His calluses, known by touch and by heart.

His hand cuffed to mine in the most terrifying chase of our whole, terror-rich career.

His hands gripping mine when we strain and thrust to melt the boundary between us.

His hands newly scoured by some caustic chemical or other, the small wounds a matter of indifference to him but not to me.

His hands, dexterous as a magician’s (illusionist, John, he’d say impatiently, magic isn’t real), quick and precise as a surgeon’s.

His hands, the unseeing version of those mercurial eyes: both are like no one else’s, hungry for data that they can shuttle to the sense-making organ faster than most people can even register its presence.

read the rest of Ch. 102 on AO3

*

The @fluffbruary prompts for June were grove, arbor, and formal, and a glorious patch of crocuses. June blew past me so um here we are.

Thanks for reblogging--let me know if I should tag or untag you.

Is it too soon?

Greg is investigating a murder.

Mycroft is playing his role as the British Government, protecting the reputation of the Royal Family.

After six weeks of uncertainty, one of them finally decides the time is now.

Spoilers? Oh, go on, then.

Mycroft’s gaze sharpened. Greg met it, then entered the salon and checked the empty corridor. When he turned, Mycroft stood between him and the door. “What’re you playing at?” Mycroft advanced until Greg’s hips met the table. One hand settled beside Greg’s, close without touching. His breath warmed Greg’s ear.

@mystradepromptsandscenarios @lavenderandvanilla

Read on AO3

It isn't always wrong. It's often correct enough for the average person's day to day usage. If you say, "it always gives misinformation", they're going to ignore you because just that morning it gave a perfectly functional summary of their meeting's notes. It correctly identified some vegan restaurants in their area. It accurately calculated some math for them.

If that's what the tech companies were trying to create, that'd be fine.

Instead, they've made syncophantic, theft-fed, plausibly deniable lying machines that they trained with the labour of thousands in nations with atrocious protections for workers and that they sell by telling management that the latest version of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's Inconsistent Reinforcement device 5.0.0.6.7 will totally be able to do your job better than you can. And the bosses are buying in.

That's not the computer from Star Trek. That's not even Data.