#johnlock meta

Holmes decided to let Sterndale return to Africa, despite the fact that he had killed a man.

(For those who don't know or don't remember, Sterndale killed Mortimer Treggenis, because he killed his sister Brenda Treggenis, with whom Sterndale was in a romantic relationship)

Holmes himself says that he didn't get him arrested because he would have done the same. In fact, later in the story he says: “I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done. Who knows?"

Well, we know, thanks to what Holmes himself said in "The Adventure Of The Three Garridebs": "If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.".

I was thinking about this today.

In Many Happy Returns, John says, "I can tell you what to do. You can stop being dead."

He's drinking a lot and he still hasn't moved past the 'please stop being dead' thing since TRF. Everyone else has moved on with their lives but John is still stuck at that point. He's still grieving deeply even after two years.

If Sherlock hadn't returned to London, if he'd actually died, John would've been fixated on that thing for the rest of his life. Sure, he started dating Mary and was going to propose to her in that restaurant but I really don't think he would've been quite invested in that relationship with her

(He's not invested in that relationship with her even in Sherlock's presence but still. You get my point.)

If Sherlock had died, he would've just drunk a lot, with sleepless nights, self blaming, survivor's guilt, etc and his suicidal tendencies would've returned.

He would've married Mary, life would've continued normally (on the surface) and at one point John would've come to about Mary's criminal record. He would've still got to know about that even in that situation because of CAM (or through some other source).

Double heartbreak. John would've been completely alone in this whole world.

He doesn't get along with Harry, he doesn't mention his parents at all- probably they're not in the picture- and he doesn't have any other friends apart from Sherlock. Mike tried to reach out him in ASIP but John's response, in turn, was quite cold.

He wasn't quite keen on continuing his profession as a GP (we'd seen that much in The Blind Banker). He would've gone to his new clinic for some time but he would've done his job in a half-arsed way.

He didn't have any other hobbies either. He'd stopped updated his blog after Sherlock's supposed death.

I believe if Sherlock had died for real with no possibility of coming back, it's quite a high possibility that John would've committed suicide, eventually.

The same thing happens in Series 3. John gets married. Sherlock's drug addiction has relapsed.

J-What kind of case would need you doing this?

S-I might as well ask you why you’ve started cycling to work. (X)

This theme is surprisingly carried over to S4 as well even if that season doesn't feel connected to the rest of the show.

John abandons Sherlock after Mary's death. Sherlock is high out of his mind, weeks away from death, he's going crazy in 221 B.

John is at his own place in The Lying Detective, drinking way too much once again, clearly not okay. He's just this 👌🏻 close to dying as well. (He's grieving for Mary but lack of Sherlock's presence is also a contributory factor).

John has pushed Sherlock away himself and he's actively hating on him in this episode but he even in that state he obviously needs Sherlock (he'd never admit it but it's quite clear that he does).

John's desperation was obvious in the beginning of His Last Vow too.

J-Is it Sherlock Holmes you're looking for? Because I haven't seen him in ages.

M- A month.

He's visibly angry and frustrated at literally everyone who's NOT Sherlock. He's dying to meet him even if it's only been a month since his wedding day.

So what I'm trying to say is, as much as I love Johnlock, I can't overlook this unbelievable amount of codependency in their relationship. It's unhealthy but fun to have a close look at.

You try separating them from each other, they'll become physically miserable and they will throw themselves in front of fatal danger which would eventually lead to their death in quite a short period of time.

I used to think that 'I can't live without you' was supposed to be a cliché. Just an exaggeration that people say to their significant others.

Apparently that's not the case with Sherlock and John. It becomes quite literal when these two are concerned.

Conclusion- If you write a Holmes adaptation or a story, you don't ever seperate Holmes and Watson from each other. You do that and you watch them die (for real, this isn't even an exaggeration).

D'you know what's actually frustrating?

It's the fact that the creators of this show already knew about this. They were the ones who wrote their version of Holmes and Watson like that and the above mentioned subplots are taken from their show. They wrote it in that way themselves. The codependency and everything.

And yet they did exactly that. Separate Holmes from his Watson, that is (in TST and TLD).

Watson: Guess what Holmes, I'm going to marry Mary Morstan! :))

Holmes: *groaning in a way defined as "sad and without hope" by the Cambridge Dictionary* Oh shit nooo! I really can't say I'm happy for you.

Watson: Rude. -.- Seriously, what's your problem? Don't you like Mary??

Holmes: No she's okay I guess. It's just that ... love is really useless. Clouds your thinking. I never wanted it anyway. :/ Guess I'll be forever alone then ...

Watson: Errr okay. *awkward laugh* Hey, are you alright? You look a bit ... sad?

Holmes: Nope, no, definitely not, just super tired. Excuse me, I think I will go and hide in my bed for a week.

Watson: Okay that's a bit strange, you were buzzing with energy a minute ago. You literally seem like a different person now.

Holmes: Well you know how they say you can be whoever you want to be and I think I will be wasting a lot of this potential now, but I guess the only thing I am right now is a fool and anyway *goes on about the case*

Watson: Seems a bit unfair that I got engaged and the police got the credits and you got nothing.

Holmes: Yeah haha, well obviously I don't care as I didn't want any of this in the first place *choking back tears* Where tf is the cocaine?!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle deliberately chose to allude to the date and year of Oscar Wilde's trial, a queer man convicted of "sodomy" or "gross indecency" (homosexuality), whom he was friends with – one of the worst periods for queer people in England, when queer men and women travelled from England with their partners to feel safer – and openly chose to get Watson and Holmes out of central London, which a lot of gay couples did at the time, and still "not mention the events" that led them to this in the first place...

And people still don't believe Sherlock Holmes is the most queer coded work in Victorian history and that Holmes and Watson were totally coded as a couple.

I have this weird theory that Sherlock was absolutely miserable before meeting John and it has to do with a subtle acting choice of Benedicts.

So here we are, at the Reichenbach fall, Sherlock's whole world is crashing down around him. He suspects John has been played by Moriarty too.

He has this horrible snarl on his face until John makes a Joke, which gives him this half-smile. The sad eyes and tense face, however, remain.

I was so taken by the complexity of Ben's acting from this scene, that upon rewatching the series again for the hundredth time I realized that he makes the same face upon his first encounter with John in Barts Morgue:

Just to compare, here are the two faces as still images:

In TRF Sherlock is being tormented by Moriarty. He is left to watch helplessly as Jim dismantles his reputation bit by bit. Sherlock is at his breaking point when he accuses John of being fooled by Moriarty's mind games. John, who sees Sherlock under duress restates that he knows Sherlock 100% and makes a joke to lighten the mood. Sherlock softens slightly.

My theory here is that not only was Sherlock just as lonely as John was when they met but that he was going crazy being alone and was desperate for some companionship; just as affected and unstable as when Moriarty came into the picture. I would further argue that his phone never lost signal and he knew that Mike always keeps his phone in his other coat pocket.

Before John came into Sherlock's life he was miserable and he was off the drugs now so there was no respite aside from the distraction of the game. He wanted a friend.

So in conclusion, #Sherlocklives means #Johnlives. I rest my case.

peeps under the cut, am I tinhatting too hard??? LOL

The scene for reference ↓↓

And does everyone remember that scene in His Last Vow where Sherlock goes to his mind palace and we realise that mind palace Moriarty represents the part Sherlock keeps hidden and chained. Moriarty is his evil part. He's the side of Sherlock that is Wrong and Not Good.

Now for the connection between the two scenes. Since we have established that mind palce Moriarty is Sherlock's Not Good part I think that Moriarty is formed of thoughts that real life Sherlock thinks are Not Good. Of course most of his definition of Not Good comes from John so there'll be things that real life John considers Not Good which will be represented in mind palace Moriarty.

What does John consider Not Good? People assuming that he and Sherlock are in a romantic relationship which he constantly makes clear by saying, "I AM NOT GAY," or variations of that.

In conclusion, I think that mind palace Moriarty says that they should just elope or uses John to wake Sherlock up in both scenes respectively because Sherlock wants a romantic relationship with John but at the same time thinks it's Not Good because John thinks that.