Story: What if...?

I was thinking more about John after Reichenbach. And this is what came into my head last night:


A note from Mrs. Hudson sat on his desk.

John, I shouldn't trouble you, but there's been a lot of post arriving at the flat for you. I had to put it into the downstairs flat. Would you come round and fetch it, please? There's quite a lot.

Do you think you might like to have some tea after?

Cheers,

Mrs. H

John looked around the room. Mrs. Hudson was chattering away, "And so you could see why I couldn't just put it into a parcel for you. There's so much of it!"

The one stack opposite the door wasn't teetering, not quite yet. The parcels ranged from bulky and lumpy -- like presents you get from your great-aunt -- to boxes of all sizes, and letters, and cards... He couldn't imagine where they'd all come from. It was exactly like being inside a cupboard full of packages.

And they were all addressed to him, John Watson.

He picked one up, trying not to think, and shook it a little. Too bulky, definitely not rattling. Then John ripped off the paper. Yes, a knitted cardigan. A nice one. Quite like the ones he often wore, in fact.

Mrs. Hudson made a pleased sound. "How nice that is! Someone thought you needed cheering up," she said. John handed it to her.

Gingerly, he took an envelope, and opened it. "Watson's Warriors: Moriarty Was Real" proclaimed the outside of the greeting card. Inside, someone had written "We believe in Sherlock!" A picture of a chalk drawing with the same words fell out of the card. He caught the picture, then slid it carefully back into the envelope.

John's throat closed.

Tucking the card under his arm, he opened another parcel at random. This was a small poster. "I believe in Sherlock Holmes!" was written over a picture of Sherlock. He heard himself suck his breath in hard -- almost as if he were listening to someone else.

Someone who was quite distinctive when he did that same thing.

He murmured something wordless.

"What, John?" Mrs. Hudson asked. He handed her the card. She read it. He watched her eyes widen. She looked around at all the parcels, the boxes, the letters, and turned back to him.

He held up the poster so she could read that too.

Finally she managed, "Is that what all of this is?"

John cleared his throat. "I don't know. I think so. Yes." His voice caught a little, but he said, "How long-- no, how many trips did the postman take to get all this here?"

"Yesterday. This lot all came yesterday." She gestured at the teetering pile right before them, not the other stacks. "I don't remember how many, he brought helpers. It... it took some little while. At first I thought perhaps you hadn't told someone you'd moved, but then I realised that couldn't be it. Not all those bags they brought!"

The wrapping paper he'd opened said New York City. The poster came from Sweden. The card -- John smiled. It was from Cardiff. He looked at others. Stamps from all over. He began, "Mrs. Hudson, I have an idea..."

"Will there be more? The postman said this is a week's worth!"

John managed to keep the smile. It hurt, but there was something else there now. Something new. He said, "Have you rented out 221B yet? There's... more space up there. At least until I get something arranged. I promise I'll call you tonight and tell you."

He thought about how Mycroft would feel about having to store all this, and smiled grimly to himself.

Sherlock Holmes Is Not a Psychopath, Anderson

Coming back to SherlockCares.com. Also, it's got lots of goodies therein. Go visit, do.

Sherlock Holmes Is Not a Psychopath, Anderson

Of course not -- we know that. :D I feel terribly like I could write a great deal just on a few of the lines in that vid.

Sherlock's summoned John. Why? Well, because... That caressing reply that Sherlock makes to John ("There's no hurry") sounds like a purr.


I should thwap Sherlock on a regular basis were I John. I just would. I distinctly recall a friend two decades ago pointing out to me that he wouldn't let my being female stop him if I hit him; it was an antisocial habit of mine instead of saying stuff like "Shut up!" all the time. And strangely enough, I became somewhat less obnoxious after that.

Sherlock mightn't need constant thwapping. But it does seem that his ability to notice other people's reactions as valuable is impaired. Versus just as useful data.


Boundaries. Sherlock has an awful inability to recognize boundaries. It's not just manipulation. I say this with a big half-smile on my face, which is not what you might expect.

Lord, he really is like a thirteen-year-old boy. Not fourteen. Isaac Asimov explains the difference in one of the Black Widower mysteries. At age thirteen, a boy hasn't been pummeled enough, hence he is full of himself and extremely obnoxious. By age fourteen, the boy has annoyed enough people who have taught him to be a little more cautious and [one hopes] less antisocial. If you're wondering, at age twelve the boy will be a little less forward.

I am paraphrasing, but you can actually tell a kid of that age. I remember explaining this to a thirteen-year-old boy that I didn't know -- and his mother. I'd never met them before. I'm not sure which was more thrown, the boy or his mother. It's harder to be sure when you know kids well and their ages; are you observing the behavior because you know, or observing the behavior without prejudice?

I'd be pleased to hear other people's thoughts on this. Recognizing that Asimov was as much a know-it-all as Ellery Queen or Sherlock, it'd be... interesting.


About that video's final piece: Poor John! The look of shock on his face is priceless.

Martin Freeman, you are amazing. Thank you so much.

And Mike: "Yep, he's always like that." Mike must have been a genius.

A clutch of links.

Did you really think I'd run out of links? Of course not. Bite your tongue. ;d

How many millions of Sherlock fans are there? I don't know. Whoever does -- definitively, and not guessing -- must be in some severe shock.


House of Darkly -- bless you! -- has the same idea (suspicion?) I did about the gun, but expresses it far more elegantly and in more detail. A. Darkly, you have no idea how appreciative I am. Truly.

Diane Duane ponders some of the problems Sherlock will face After The Fall. Had you thought of them yet? I hadn't gotten past the bullets, myself.

She's on Twitter as @dduane. If you read about the Black Armbands before now, that's hers too. Diane's one of my favorite authors. =happy=

Also, if you saw this tumblr before Diane's previous post, well, I did not know it was based on Martin showing Benedict tumblr. O symmetry!


It should be frightening that my first play of the "Your Sherlock personality is" quiz got Moriarty. I just cracked up. I'm betting a certain answer is the key. :D But third try got me Sherlock. Second was Mycroft. Hmmm... possibly it's just an algorithm. Ahem.


Ohhh, and here's a lovely explanation of Sherlock -- the show and the phenomenon * -- as well. Go read it. It's not what you think it is, and to the unabashed fan/maven/addict, maybe you knew this in exactly these words already. Maybe... not. Like John with Sherlock, I am fast running out of good superlatives!

ETA: * I.e., that word I try not to use, Cumberbitch, but added here as a keyword; I prefer Cumberladies.

What's first?

I was thinking we ought to have a poll running -- possibly taking bets, for that matter! -- about what John does first upon Sherlock's return.

The absolute first thing when Sherlock walks in the door.

Y'know: punch Sherlock [in the face, of course], sucker punch in stomach, hug, shake him until he rattles, rant like mad, shout, weep, make faces of shock, shout something, knock him down, throw something, tell him off....

I forgot one: go frozen, like a man seeing things, and probably absolutely white. (God, Sherlock, if you make John faint, I shall never forgive you.)

You can see that I'm more predisposed to violence myself. There's a reason for that. :D Parents, loved ones, dear friends -- they tend to react strongly in stressful situations. Like when you think your kid sister/partner/little boy has gone missing.


I think caffienekitty, bless her, has got the winning KO. Go down to "You were wrong. It wasn't in the sugar. You got it wrong." for Baskerville, part 2. That is the right move.

John knows Sherlock so well. I wonder if that's how he and his quick temper will respond?

Caught for good.

I remember the first time I saw Sherlock on PBS.

Let me back up slightly. Dad had gotten me to watch the first RDJ movie by the clever expedient of turning it on and walking out of the room. I'm the curious sort, so I'd stopped for a moment... and was sucked in.

This was like that.


Again, Dad turned on a show and skedaddled. I had read an article about Sherlock Holmes being a SF sort of character [pretty sure this is over on Clarkesworld, will link at end of post]. But otherwise, I really had no idea there was any new Sherlock Holmes loose in the world save the new movies.

There was a man. I saw his silhouette. I was caught. I knew that shape. Knew that coat, knew who it had to be. I knew who it was.

Then he spoke. And it was Sherlock Holmes's voice.


Had you said to me, "Who is your Sherlock Holmes?" I wouldn't have had an answer. Nor did I care. Onscreen, I'd seen various actors, but none of them was him. I'd read Arthur Conan Doyle, of course. I think that was my first introduction to mysteries, which I'm yet addicted to.

When I say "Nor did I care" I mean that I didn't have a preference, didn't really have someone who was definitively Sherlock Holmes. At best, I had the illustrations in my head, vaguely. That was all.

It wasn't a matter that troubled me.

Because to me Sherlock Holmes was a character in many places, first in ACD, but one I'd seen [read] all over. Someone I knew as a shadowy figure but who I knew by the words -- by the stories. I am a text-based lifeform.


But that moment, watching that man speak to a prisoner in a jail, with cold white light faintly coming through the far window... I knew. This was Sherlock Holmes. This was MY Sherlock.

Almost scary in a way. That absolute recognition.

A friend had me watch a Youtube episode where a New Doctor Who gets to speak with Peter Davison. He tells the Fifth Doctor, "You were MY Doctor."

Yes. Exactly like that.


That was The Great Game. I always remember that first scene, and then I have to remind myself later that I didn't see Sherlock in order; I saw the third ep first.

Because after that, that scene where Sherlock is so very Nero Wolfe -- correcting his speech, impatient, sighing a little with boredom -- came the next bit. There was 221B, and I saw the ugly wallpaper, and I distinctly heard a tiny mental voice say [gasp, really] "It's in modern day... glub."

And my brain went down like a swimmer going underwater. I was lost. I was sucked in, pulled completely under. There was no disbelief after that, no debate, nothing. This was the world, and I was watching.

I really heard the glub.


I didn't know my Sherlock could exist; I didn't dream of him. Moffat and Gatiss, bless their wickedly clever brains, made him out of all the right damned things. Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect [and a stellar actor]. So is Martin Freeman, who -- I'm sorry, Martin! -- I probably won't say enough about. Because, like poor our John Watson, my eyes are almost all for Sherlock.

Their chemistry is just exactly right.

People talk about the bromance. Bah. It is the friendship. Haven't we all dreamed of a best friend forever? Who's always there, who sticks by you no matter what you say, who puts up with you and doesn't wring your neck at the worst of times. I know that I'm desperate to think of how to help Sherlock get back to John before both of them crack into little tiny pieces. Come home, Sherlock; come home. Find ----- and return.

Your best friend needs you so much, Sherlock. :( Hurry up.



Yep, Clarkesworld: Sherlock Holmes & the Science of Deduction.

The show... And also Benedict.

Thanks to all the folks I've been meeting through Twitter and blogs who are Sherlockians too. This is so much fun! I love sharing an obsession.


In case you hadn't guessed, yes, I am Sherlocked. :D Aren't you??


A mix of Sherlock links and a few on Benedict Cumberbatch. (You know how New Scotland Yard isn't on the drug squad, but are very keen. Yes, well -- very keen on Benedict. Ahem.)

Benedict Cumberbatch really does have a cool name. :) Despite what he may think. TV Tropes agrees; he even has his own page there. I'm not sure what one must do to get your own TV Tropes page, but that boggles my mind. They've got some great links there.

There is a Benedict Cumberbatch Appreciation Society website. Of course. I found it while hunting quotes for The Great Game. I like reading the quotes en masse. :D


I'm not usually into fanfic, but I asked Google "Sherlock did you save Irene?" and got this: Goodbye, Irene.

I have mixed feelings about the ending of Scandal -- not about Irene.


Broken link: A poster from @Stephanie_MDWho summing up John right now.  :(


Den of Geek reviews Reichenbach.

Another website with lots of Sherlock links, SherlockCares.com. I love the caption on this post.

But this, oh, this! Sherlock Holmes Is Not a Psychopath, Anderson I watched it three times in a row, and oh-mi-god, I want to watch it again. The best part is circa 1:12... it's full of wonderful, but I don't remember that bit -- possibly a cut scene, or simply because it's Been So Long! since 2010.

Planet Claire has quotes for all eps. Selected quotes by characters, first time I've seen that. Handy. :]


Discovering Sherlock: The Final Problem. I also posted this same link to Twitter, the evening that Reichenbach Fall aired in the US.

Okay, this is plenty for tonight.

New topic: Sherlock.

ETA: Here be spoilers. If you haven't seen ALL of the second season of BBC Sherlock or the PBS version of same, you won't want to be here. Trust me.




I decided that since it's very likely I'll have oodles of Sherlockery, I might as well put them all somewhere in one place.

I'll move the Sherlock candy post from my other blog over here next, and then update my Twitter profile with this link for my Sherlockery. :)

So, oh my fellow Sherlockians, watch this space for links and suchlike. Probably also my thoughts. But whatever you do, if you're in shock after Reichenbach, get thee to the Sherlock candy at @mkhey88's blog, I pray you.  (Link broken.)

If you're wanting the Reichenbach blueprint/solution, in great lovingly drawn detail, there is the tumblr for that.


Do note that I am not MK Hey nor did I create that tumblr. I just like spreading around the wealth of work by fellow fans -- sharing the good stuff, as it were -- or "pushing it" if you like. I do like. :)

Last night I found caffienekitty, who does screen captures and her reactions to Sherlock eps over on LJ. They are wonderful. If MK Hey's blog makes you weep over Reichenbach, the caps will hurt you too. I had the worst time getting to sleep last night!



I don't (yet) have a tumblr account. I may get one so's I can reblog tumblr. I don't know, it could happen.

If you're still hungry for more more more Sherlock, do use tumblr, deviantart -- and possibly fanfic if that suits you.

For some lovely artwork, there's lots to choose from. One of my favorite discoveries is this portrait [NOT a picture] by the talented Puppet-Girl86.

So do consider this quick summary a repository of the Reichenbach Support Group, which was thought up t'other night on Twitter by another Sherlockian, the very fine @lochnessloz. It too was not my idea. :D

Sherlock links today...

(Originally posted at AZ Shea 22-May-2012.)

BBC America's Reichenbach recap. Some really fine pictures in that link.

I was informed during a nice Twitter convo that BBC America was still around. It made me wonder if that was a way to get BBC Sherlock without the PBS cut versions. I still don't know the answer.


Baffled as to how ------ faked death... it is a bit surreal that people freaked out about the full headline. I'm all for not spoiling things; still, the first battle at Reichenbach Falls was over a century ago!

Maybe that's the difference between people who read Arthur Conan Doyle before Sherlock came out, and those who might -- even now -- be reading the original stories.

I'm not saying everyone has to read them. Gods, no. I read probably half the ACD stories as a kid. I devoured every mystery I could lay hands on, actually. I've reread some since Sherlock appeared to devour my psyche. :D


Anyway, the Daily Mail has some good points. Physics is a problem with authors, and using Hollywood as one's research [or understanding] is a problem sometimes when I'm editing. Particularly when I know something that I don't know how to properly articulate, about biology, or whatever.

Or choreography, come to think of it -- the way Hollywood makes things look, how they stage things, when IRL they never would have looked that way.


Interesting take on Sherlock as a kind of costume drama/revamp. This line, wow: "Cumberbatch plays Sherlock as messenger from the old Greek classical plays."

A bit of creepy insights on Moriarty (and Sherlock) from the writers and Andrew Scott. Gatiss: "Like a lost soul who no longer knows what he is. That sense of an empty human being with something dark and terrible inside him, Andrew can do like no one else." Brrrrr!


Also, if anyone can explain the pink wafers, I haven't figured them out; they must be in a cut scene. :/

The Sherlock candy, etc.

(Originally posted at AZ Shea 21-May-2012.) Amused. Having so much fun with the other Sherlockians!  Really want those cut scenes of BBC Sherlock/PBS version, but that's another post. 


Monday May 21, 2012 1:49 Eastern; PBS live chat.

Shawna: Have you worked out how senseless John is going to throttle Sherlock when he discovers he's not dead?

Steven Moffat: Wait and see.

Monday May 21, 2012 3:04 Eastern; Guardian live chat.

Mark Gatiss: Yes. As a nice surprise for our US fans, I can exclusively reveal that Sherlock faked his death by
Mark Gatiss: Oh God! We're out of time!

Full goodbye here.

Ah, the glee! :)


Lots of Sherlock links. Seems easier than cut-n-paste on Twitter. Also, I shouldn't like for my non-addicted friends to kill me. I imagine they're feeling that way.



If you really want a blueprint of HOW The Final Problem worked, try here. Lovely.

My most favorite Sherlock blogger, MK Hey. In-depth focus, well written, a balm to the lonely Sherlockian heart.  I call them the Sherlock candy.  (Website no longer works as of July 2013, sadly.)  Sweet, tasty, thought-provoking, wonderful -- I could go on and on!

Other Sherlock posts or series I'm fond of: Moniqueblog's Sherlock recaps; Flick Filosopher's Scandal, Baskerville, and Reichenbach. More to come later, I'm sure.

Tor.com, of course, has the three eps -- love the Reichenbach post especially! and one of the missing images/cut scenes is shown in that same post.  But also the believe in Sherlock movement.  How cool is that??  Fans expressing belief in our Sherlock, supporting John -- all going VIRAL.  Which I discovered early [after Scandal?] and find enthralling.  


That moment when Sherlock is afraid of his bluff being called? Yes, that expression. Also a very fannish adoration moment. Mycroft, you are such a rat-bastard. :/

Living with Sherlock... a brief pictorial moment.  Per indiewire: Benedict as the greatest Sherlock ever? Since he's Our Sherlock, I'd say yes, being biased and all. :D

And because everybody needs a funny poster, here's a variety pack, ranging from Harry Potter to Sherlock and Star Wars. :)