#pj-gingernuts

I’m not sure any of these things on their own require any more suspension of disbelief than other plot points in this series, to be honest with you. But I think I know what you mean. 

You’ve raised a lot of issues, but let’s talk about the problem of Eurus.

Secret crazy psychopath sister locked away since early childhood doesn’t really require that much more suspension of disbelief than we’ve already been primed for, and that may be the problem. We know there’s a third Holmes sibling who Sherlock never mentions and the Holmes parents don’t invite to Christmas. It isn’t actually that far out of the realm of possibility that she’s the smartest of them all. 

They give us an explanation for why she’s locked away: she kidnapped and killed a child, burned the house down, and was threatening to kill Sherlock. She was institutionalized as part of treatment and to protect others, something that happens when a child is uncontrollably violent. I don’t think that’s too far out of the realm of believability.

Her superskill of controlling the people around her i actually like, as it’s a call out to Arthur Conan Doyle’s belief in mesmerism. It could have been more subtle, but it was wrapped up in an action-adventure film, so I think it comes off more heavy-handed than it could have.

The existence of Eurus answers a lot of big questions about Sherlock himself. We’ve been asking all along why Sherlock is determined to see himself as a sociopath when it’s clear he isn’t one: well, now we know why! It also answers the question about why Sherlock turns to drugs, and why he’s so driven to solve puzzles, particularly crimes. He’s reliving that key moment where solving a puzzle would have saved the life of someone he loved, and if he’s not busily doing that, the inside of his head is a fresh hell.

I think the essential problem with Eurus isn’t so much Eurus herself, but the fact that “extra-smart people exist and are terrifying” is the go-to trope for this show. We’ve got Sherlock, who is dazzlingly smart, and we’ve got Mycroft, who is extra-dazzlingly-smart. Then we get Jefferson Hope. Moriarty. Irene Adler. Mrs Holmes. Magnussen. Mary Morstan. Culverton Smith. Even, possibly, Mrs Hudson. And finally, Eurus. There’s just too many of them. 

This problem is, I think, a sign of limited planning and probably insufficient brainstorming. When you don’t plan to generate enough ideas to choose between, you tend to reach for the same solution to a plot problem over and over again because it’s sounds so great every time. Moriarty is a threat to Sherlock because…he’s smart in the same way Sherlock is. (So creepy!) Irene Adler is a threat to Sherlock because…she’s smart in the same way Sherlock is. (Forcing him to re-evaluate himself!) Magnussen is smart enough to keep a mind palace full of undocumented facts, just like Sherlock does! Culverton Smith is so smart he can be a serial killer hiding in plain sight, acting one way but secretly being something else (just like Sherlock!). Mary is sweet and nice, and you think she’s going to be a normal person in the mix, but she’s actually super-smart and dangerous, just like Sherlock! Individually these are great story decisions, but taken all together, the repetition of the theme undercuts them all, and fundamentally undercuts the final antagonist.

This is a delightful question, thank you!

I’ve thought about this quite a bit since TLD aired, and I haven’t come to any conclusiveheadcanon.  I don’t think I want to!  I don’t want a definitive answer,because it’s more fun to play around with the possibilities. 

But let’s look at what we know.

Whatever it was, I think we can be certain it wasn’t“casual”. Irene Adler is not someone one texts casually.  Did Sherlock occasionally try to make it*look* casual?  Haha, maybe.  I can just about see him spending 20 minutestrying to compose the perfect “off the cuff” text to her, one thatwill betray nothing of his feelings, one carefully calibrated to convey theimpression that he really couldn’t give a toss about her.  Isn’t that what everyone does?

Though maybe it’s hard to maintain an air of studied indifference onceyou’ve flown to Karachi to save someone’s life. ;)

Of course, maybe there’s nothing more to it than what we already know.  Sherlock says, “Even I text. Her, I mean, TheWoman.” But we knew this:

It’s possible that’s all he meant! Literally one text, telling her Happy New Year five years ago. In which case, what did it mean?  Looked at one way, it’s about as impersonal as you canget.  Anyone on earth could reasonablytext “Happy New Year” to anyone else and not mean anything inparticular by it except “It’s January 1st”

And yet…  The context is thatshe has sent him 57 texts that he has ignored, then convinced him she wasdead.  And then showed up again,texting him "I’m not dead, let’s havedinner.”

How does he respond to that?  Hecould have been angry, or dismissive, or hurt, or impressed.  But what he says is, “Happy NewYear.”  What’s that mean?  I imagine Irene tied herself in knots tryingto figure it out.  My best guess is itmeans: “I’m glad you’re alive.  I’mnot angry, but I don’t trust you, so I’mbeing extremely cautious and have no intention of revealing anything more ofmyself than I have to.  But consider thisan invitation to continue texting me.”

Frankly I think Sherlock was probably thrilled that New Year’s gave himan excuse to text her without having to come up with anything personal tosay.  Have you ever tried to text someoneyou’re sort of interested in but don’t know well?  It’s excruciating!  I’m sure many of us have defaulted toconventional scripts like “Happy New Year” that allow us to say“I’m thinking of you, and want you to be thinking of me,” but withoutactually *saying* any of that. 

So maybe that’s it.

But Sherlock does say in TLD, “you know, sometimes.” Plural.  So let’s assume there’s more than just thatone text.  What might these texts say?

Given that Irene is texting him on his birthday, I kind of like theidea that they have kept up this awkward, excessively formal and impersonalmode of texting-only-on-holidays-and-special-occasions because they’re both tooterrified to express any actual emotion without a buffer of plausibledeniability.  I can imagine that at somepoint in the past five years, Sherlock texted Irene on her birthday, and she wonderedhow he knew (I mean, she’s probably changed identities three times, so it mightnot be an easy thing to uncover.).  Ofcourse, he was showing off his detective skills, so she had to respond bymeeting his challenge and figuring out when hisbirthday was.  Maybe that’s the gamethey’re playing?  That could be fun.

But to me, the most intriguing part of Sherlock’s admission is that hesays, “Badidea; try not to."  Whyexactly is it a bad idea?  Why does hetry not to? 

I’ve sent a few "bad idea” texts myself, over the years, so Ithink I can conjure up some possibilities. ;)

– maybe it encourages her to text him more often, which distracts him fromhis work.

– maybe they’re sexting, which is enjoyable at the time but alwayskind of embarrassing in the light of day (especially if Sherlock is really badat it).  

– maybe he feeds her clues from cases and asks her opinion (since shelikes detective stories).  Maybe sheresponds to these overtures in a more frankly sexual way than he is comfortablewith, leading to blushing at crime scenes, etc.

– maybe texting her makes her expect more out of him than he’sprepared to give, and he then has to spend five months blowing her off so shedoesn’t think they’re “dating” or anything so commonplace.

– maybe his texting back freaks her out because she doesn’t wantanything more than a light flirtation, and he gets hurt when she backsoff.  

– I can totally imagine Irene as the kind of person who doesn’trespond to a text for months and months, until the sender has gone fromintrigued to annoyed to frantic to humiliated to despairing to blocking thenumber (just let her *try* to text me), then surreptitiously unblocking it(because that was juvenile, I’m bigger than that), to finally deciding she’snever going to text again and he doesn’t even care because it’s not like heliked her anyway.  And that’s the momentwhen she texts back and starts the whole cycle over again.  Talk about a power play!  I can imagine Sherlock would *really* hatethat, but not be able to resist it either.

– maybe Sherlock asks about work and she describes what she’s doing toher clients and that’s both interesting and alarming.  And distracting.

– maybe he occasionally asks for advice on personal matters (like, how can I suggest to my friend and his wife that I’d be up for a threesome?), and she responds with what might be good advice, but he’ll never know because he never takes it.

– maybe no matter what he texts, sheinvariably responds that he’s been a bad boy and could use a good thrashing,and he’s…  not at all sure if he shouldtake her up on that.  

– maybe they text each other the same kind of banal, idly flirtatiouschatter that we saw John exchange with Eurus, and it all simply drives him madwith frustration.

– maybe they reminisce about Moriarty, and what he meant to them both, and that dredges up uncomfortable feelings he’d rather not examine too closely.

– maybe they exchange n00ds.

– maybe they discuss philosophy and literature but it always devolvesinto an argument over some minor theoretical point, and neither of them is precisely surewhat the hell they’re fighting about but it gets vicious really quickly becausethey’re both hate backing down. (that one might be borrowed pretty directlyfrom my life, oops.)

– maybe he sent her a dick pic and she rated it against all herclients and well if that wasn’t humiliating! He will definitely not try that again.

Love does come in non Romantic

While that is true, they still chose to tease several different romantic relationships, and not give any of them a satisfying resolution. I made several other posts at the same time I made that one detailing my frustrations about the issue.

The issue that most people have with Ben saying “Love Wins” is that it’s become something of a slogan among the same-sex marriage and LGBT+ right movements. That phrase has a certain romantic (and queer) connotation. For him to use it to describe the frankly undeserved “brotherly love” that Sherlock uses to save Eurus is a bit out of place.

@pj-gingernuts@

replied to your photoset “TOASTYSTATS: Sherlock fanworks on AO3, S1-S4  Date of post: February...”

I really enjoy these comparisons. I have only begun to reap the rewards of fan fiction post-S4, as I am desperate for MORE Sherlock and there is no guarantee of future series. Fascinating to see how A03 has trended over time. Thanks.

Thank you!!  I missed this reply at first, but really appreciate the feedback.  And may all of (y)our fanfic and canon desires be fulfilled!  <3

redbuttonhole replied to your photoset “TOASTYSTATS: Top fandoms on AO3 As of February 26, 2017 I’m doing some...”

obviously the "top" fandom is the one that penetrates the "bottom" fandom during anal sex. ;)

AHAHAHA, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. XD

@teaforlupin replied to your photo “kedgeree11: devilduck: “I always like toast in a crisis” –James...”

Those are the best goddamn toasters I've ever seen

AREN’T THEY, THO 

@anonsally replied to your photo “Brave Bennet bravely kneading the soft blanket, between my knee and my...”

Look at brAVE LITTLE BENNET ACTING ALL TAME AND CUTE AND FUUUUUZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

i knOOOOOOWWWWWW  ASDFL;KAJSDF;LADFSFSAL;KJFASD;

@recentlyfolded replied to your post “Someone just bluetooth paired with my TV speakers, changed the volume,...”

Ooh, ugh. Thanks for reminding me why I like hard-wired things. The IOT isn't all it's cracked up to be; sometimes it seems it's just cracked.

Ugh, yeah. I still haven’t figiured out what happened or how to definitively turn off access to the damn things.  At least bluetooth has a very short range...  Thanks also for the sympathy, @anonsally @goblinhorde @mugenmine !

@anonsally replied to your post “Bennet sometimes meows, seemingly unhappily, when looking in the...”

awww. Poor Bennet. Mirrors are very confusing.

They are!  Especially when there are multiple of them at angles to one another, as in my bathroom.  Though she also gets confused by empty corners in ways I don’t understand...

@shinythedragon replied to your post “Bennet sometimes meows, seemingly unhappily, when looking in the...”

Perhaps she sees something we do not. Perhaps rename her Alice? :P

Hee!  New nickname!!

@tiltedsyllogism replied to your post “Meme!”

aaaaaa I love girlyman

I did take it at face value, yeah. I agree that Mary’s death was clumsily accomplished, but I think it’s meant to show an emotional story rather than a clinical one. 

When the bullet is fired, we have two internal stories to follow: Sherlock’s and Mary’s. Both of these stories have to be shown without dialogue, because once we’re into the seconds before and after a trigger is pulled, there’s no time for talking.

For Sherlock, this moment feels very slow. As much as Mary has an appointment in Samarra, Sherlock himself has had one for much, much longer, and he knows it. He’s felt marked for death ever since his sister threatened to kill him as a child, and has been dangling himself in front of life-threatening danger ever since, even without knowing why. He pushes Mrs Norbury too far, and as that gun is fired he’s certain this is finally it. Take a deep breath, Sherlock, it’s showtime. 

So the story shows some slow, slow beats as Sherlock realizes what’s about to happen, sees that there’s nothing he can do about it, understands that he’s about to die, finally, this is how it was always meant to end, and takes a deep breath. He recognizes it and accepts it. This is his fate, and he’s meeting it. And it’s all happening underwater, which must feel especially apt to him. But of course given the speed of a bullet, Sherlock can’t have all those thoughts after the gun is fired. So it’s in the moments between knowing it’s about to happen and it happening.

Simultaneously for Mary, it’s a very fast moment. She sees that Sherlock is about to take a bullet again. She’s tries to be a good guy, but her instincts keep taking her in the wrong direction. She hurts the people she loves instead of protecting them. This time she’s bound and determined to do the right thing: put yourself in the way, take that bullet. You owe him one. Not really a terrific idea, but there’s no time for more thought, no time to consider how terrible this is about to be or what the right thing to do really is. She jumps.

Can you do that? See a bullet fired and decide to get in the way of it? Can you take a deep breath and prepare yourself for a bullet that’s just been fired? No. So technically both of these things had to happen just before and as the gun is fired. 

As with many other scenes in Sherlock, it’s a depiction of what this moment felt like more than what it actually was. A bullet is fired. Sherlock has time to take a breath, and Mary has time to jump.

Is it melodramatic? I suppose so. 

I agree that we’re meant to feel off-kilter after that, but I think more so because John is so irrationally angry at Sherlock. Sherlock is in pain as well, but now he has to endure the ultimate rejection of the most important person in his life exactly when he wants to be there for him. He’s devastated and at a loss, and I think we’re meant to feel that. Mary made a decision, and since she isn’t there to be angry with, John will be angry with Sherlock. It’s unfair, but John is utterly broken, and broken people often lash out sideways.

I forgot about "Happy New Year". I am going to run with the idea that he texts her puzzles from his cases as a salute to her intellect. She's gay and wasn"just playing the game". He might be gay but at least women are not "his area". I just can't imagine Sherlock in a romantic relationship with a woman. I can only imagine him being interested inJohn, but even

You’re of course free to your own headcanons and ships.  I’m sorry if my answer was not what you were seeking, but I’m afraid that if you wanted someone to reassure you that Johnlock is the Only True Ship, you were very much barking up the wrong tree.

I have to admit I’m a bit baffled that anyone could follow me and be unaware of my status as a proud and flagrant multishipper.  I ship Sherlock with anyone and everyone, and I’ve never been shy about that. 

But in case anyone out there is still confused, please see my Multishipping Manifesto. 

Ew. Never noticed his hand’s reaction to the...

@pj-gingernuts replied to your post “@moonlightlock replied to your post “A new rant” ...”

Kind of like the cop-out Fall explanation. How did he REALLY do it? Or the ambiguous "I love you" in TFP. Was that a realization of platonic love or romantic love? Or just a good fakeout? What's up with that "establishing" shot panning into 221b  after The TLD Hug? Did they get it on? No. But the camera is acting like they did. What was Sherlock going to say on the tarmac? Was he going to tell John something deep and personal, like I love you? You decide! Decide all those things! Not only will the writers not spoon-feed warm paste to their viewers, but they won't even figure it out for themselves, it seems. I get mad when I think about it.