The Empty Hearse

 A Meta By A Sceptical But Hopeful Sherlollian

 (Sherlock meta by barriss)

As many Sherlolly shippers out there, I was completely ecstatic over the multiple moments between the two in The Empty Hearse and, in the surge of the moment, was led to believe that ["my ship has sailed"]

Now, however, after rewatching their scenes for at least 30 times in the span of a few days, I have come to the conclusion that my previous thoughts were far too optimistic and blinded by the light of new content and material to be considered logical. Now, as I watch their scenes with a clearer head I can notice some things are in fact not what they may seem and have led me to become extremely skeptical that Sherlock’s new behavior towards Molly leans towards romantic, while still desperately holding on to that small hope that, in fact, it is.

Now, before anyone jumps on my ass, let me just mention that I am a complete Sherlolly fanatic. I have shipped it actively for quite a while now and I will ship it till my dying breath.

Secondly, I want you to know that I am an engineer. I am not a literary major, I don’t know how to write analyses, nor am I very good at picking up on things like how what someone’s wearing in the scene and how it affects them. I’m a logical person and I can only call it how I see it through these two eyes of mine. So I may be very incorrect about my assumptions in this meta, but for all intents and purposes, I think it’s not a bad thing for someone like me to give it a go, if only for others, who are better at this than I am, to compare their own theories with mine and perhaps reevaluate or rethink theirs under a new light.

Now, enough rambling from me, let’s get this show on the road.

Obviously, major spoilers for The Empty Hearse below, so thread with caution if you haven’t watched it yet, though who are we kidding, you probably have already. Also, all GIFs and Edits are mine and have not been stolen from anyone. 

Let’s begin with the beginning.

We’ve all been going completely GA GA over the bond-esque Liplock moment between Sherlock and Molly from Anderson’s overly exaggerated scenario.

[Yes, this is Liplock. Use the term as you see fit.] 

Fake as it was, it led me to remember a very important quote from the show’s producer, Sue Vertue, at the Sherlock Comic Con panel in 2013 regarding the Sherlock/Molly relationship:

“It’s not going to go the way Tumblr thinks it’s going to go." 

I firmly believe that this scene is what Vertue was hinting at. Sherlolly happened, in a way we completely did not expect, while in fact didn’t happen at all. Sly, evil bastards!

Nevertheless, the fact that Molly was used for such an intense and expectantly iconic moment leads to believe that the writers do indeed acknowledge the Sherlock and Molly relationship and its following, even though it was meant as a bit of a joke and blatant Cumberbatch fanservice.

I also want to point out the fact that Molly was present during each and every scenario, even the one with the almost Sheriarty kiss, even though she legitimately had no business being in the headcanon of some random slash fan who probably didn’t even know she existed. This again could be considered as a nod to Molly’s importance in the show and in Sherlock’s not-death.

Next in the scenes I would like to talk about is the one in the food joint, after Sherlock reveals himself to John and Mary and they are discussing those who knew of his survival.

When asked who else beside Mycroft knew, while being very awkward and visibly guilty, Sherlock blurts out ‘Molly.’ He only says her full name the second time, after being asked by an incredulous john ‘Molly!?’ He instinctively calls her by her first name and is one of the very few people Sherlock does this with, the others being John, who is his best friend, and his brother, whom he can’t very well call ‘Holmes’, can he? He always calls Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Hudson, and after all these years he still can’t remember [...] Greg’s name. She is named several times throughout this scene, twice by Sherlock and twice by John, while Mycroft, who was the only other known person in on it is only named once. Again, a nod to Molly’s importance.

Now, I don’t believe there are any romantic implications in this scene, as the way she is mentioned is devoid of any gravitas and more in an ‘I’m sorry she knew and you didn’t’ kind of way.

Next is the moment when John and Mary drive away and Sherlock is left alone, slightly taken aback by Mary, [...] because she’s just so frickety frackity awesome, and we see him walking away all alone. This is the moment he decides to go to Bart’s and see Molly.

He looks down and then slowly turns, his body is relaxed and his head held low as he walks towards the hospital (even though he really should keep it up to stop the blood from flowing down his chin.) Perhaps the image of Mary, a woman and a significant other to someone prompts him to go to Molly. This could be believed to be a parallel between the two pairs, one departs together, while the other is destined to meet.

What’s interesting here, and slightly fangirlish squeal worthy, is how the scene fades from Sherlock walking away from the camera to Molly walking towards it.

Though this could be a random way to fade to a scene, since we get a different one from where the scene switches from Molly to Lestrade and we see Sherlock in the back walking in perfect synchronicity with the DI.

Also, as many other metas have pointed out, the fact that Sherlock went to see Molly first is extremely important. Besides John, he went to see Molly before all of the others who were known to be held dear by him and who were among the ones targeted by the assassins in The Reichenbach Fall. 

He waits for her in the locker room and remains silent, watching her and waiting for Molly to be the one who acknowledges him first. We could go ahead and say ‘oh he totes wanted to look at her a bit more and also he was shy and didn’t have the guts to call out to her because he’s emotional’ and whatnot, but I think that’s just wishful thinking and it was nothing but a way to make the scene more interesting. Him appearing in the mirror was a pretty cool effect and probably nothing more.

I am not the only one who noticed the similarities between this scene and their last during The Reichenbach Fall. Molly walking in the room, tired and strained from work, to be surprised and made to jump around by Sherlock, who was standing behind her. I thought it was an awesome addition and an obvious imply that he is back and everything should go back to normal.

Now, some have been speculating that the fact that he does not smile until she turns around is a +1 for the good ship Sherlolly, but I disagree.

His stance is cold and his face shows no expression as he watches her and it is only when she gasps and whirls around that he smiles, amused by her reaction. The smile, although blurred, gives off a conspiratorial vibe, and he nods at her in greeting. He is implying: ‘We did it, Molly. The plan worked.’ He playfully smiles at her like she is his partner in crime.

Molly, in turn, is surprised by his presence, as she should be, but it is not overwhelming shock like with John, Greg and Mrs. H experience. Molly knew it was only a matter of time before she saw him again, and if anything she is pleased and relieved that he is safely home. Her eyes and the breaths she lets out speak volumes in this shot and I believe it’s in this vulnerable moment that we see her feelings for him spill out. She is not guarded like the next time they meet, now, she is overwhelmed and happy and beside herself.

Now, we get to the good parts.

I think it’s extremely interesting how fidgety Sherlock is just before Molly’s arrival.

In the first pane, he could be looking at her as he enters 221B. His lips look like they are mumbling words and he looks like he is mentally rehearsing something.

Then, the moment she enters the door and very sweetly asks ‘You wanted to see me?’, we get a glorious close-up of his stupid, pretty, stupid face, and we see he is wary, afraid even.

This moment could be very easily misconstrued. Many believed this to be Sherlock being nervous in Molly’s presence, and indeed, he is about to do something he has never done before and he knows how very easily he could fuck it up. I don’t think he’s nervous because she is there per say, or because he’s about to make some sort of declaration to her, but because the following hours will be very delicate and he needs to be on his best behavior.

I think he’s been planning this for a while, this day where he pays Molly back for everything she’s done. It’s an effort for him, he doesn’t seem very eager, nor excited, but he wants to thank her and he wants to do it right. He’s not wary of her, he’s wary of himself.

He turns around and lets out an artificially excited ‘Yes!’ 

Now, as I did my best not to stare at Sherlock’s newly evolved pectoral muscles, this shyness of his as he prepares to ask her The Question had me a bit confused. I honestly don’t know if this was genuine or just Gatiss pulling our leg or Ben exaggerating on the acting and all was nothing but a bit of a joke. The music and the overall ambiance of the moment leans towards the wishfully romantic side, yet the exaggeration of Sherlock’s behavior makes me skeptical about this scene. It’s just so out of character for him and so completely random.

What we do know is that this was definitely not an easy thing for him to ask of her, judging by his apprehension prior to her arrival and his behavior during his speech. He is asking her to replace John, he is asking her to be his partner (again), he is asking her for help, all the while doing this for her.

It’s a wonderfully sweet moment between them that’s cut short by her blurting out ‘have dinner’ at the same time as his ‘solve crimes’. The very similar faces they make are priceless and it’s a very funny moment that’s just begging to be screencaped.

[Haha, u sillies!]

But let’s be serious for a bit. I think this is excellent proof of Molly not having in fact gotten over Sherlock. Besides the fact that she practically asked him out to dinner (a nod perhaps to Irene Adler and her double entendre, but with definitely a much more innocent connotation, as in going out to eat, and NOT going out to eat *winks*), Molly seems genuinely very happy to meet up with him again.

This also leads me to believe that his request wasn’t actually him asking her out on his version of a date, as the prospect of an actual date left him confused, bothered and bewildered.

Now, let’s get on with their first client.

Judging by her sitting position, Molly is at first stiff and uncertain and the atmosphere is uncomfortable.

I absolutely love how supportive and encouraging Sherlock is with her during this scene. Molly believes she is there as nothing but a replacement for John, someone to keep him company while he mourns the loss of his real partner, but this is not the case. He genuinely tries to make her at ease, lets her do what she wants and says probably the nicest thing he could ever say to her:

“You’re not being John, you’re being yourself.” 

*takes a moment to clutch at her heart at how revolutionary this moment was* 

Look with how much ease Sherlock says this to her. He sounds impatient and even frustrated by her believing she is John’s replacement and her actually trying to become it. This is not what he wants. He wants Molly to be Molly and he wants her to be her own person around him. He wants her there with him, not John, nor anyone else…. Aaaaand there I go giving myself feels again.

[Pretty bby!]

And look how visibly pleased and relaxed Molly becomes. That nod of the head is very important, as she realizes that Sherlock isn’t looking for another John, but merely for another partner. This makes her happy, and she in turn acknowledges that Sherlock has changed. She’s pleased and gains a whole new level of confidence.

The next client is a woman whose pen pal (LOL, do people even say pen pal anymore?) stopped sending her emails. Sherlock is surprisingly kind with her, patting her hand [...] and being all nice, which is, again, a massive sign of change in his personality.

Molly is behind him, taking notes, looking much more relaxed and now wearing only a blouse. This shows she’s now more at ease and has melted into her role.

The next moment is, I find, a very heartbreaking one. Sherlock says to the woman: “And you really thought he was the one, didn’t you? The love of your life.”

He then turns very slowly towards Molly, who briefly looks up though not seeming to realize anything out of the ordinary.

At first, in my blind optimism, I had held the hope that this implied that Sherlock heard the words ‘The love of your life’ and was unconsciously prompted to look at Molly, because ‘love of his life’… but no, I was wrong. I think Sherlock in fact saw Molly in this poor, broken woman in love. This means he acknowledges Molly’s love for him and this could very well be another hint at Molly not yet being over Sherlock.

*sobbing* 

Sherlock is uncharacteristically angry with the piss pot step dad. He is angry with the piss pot for breaking a woman’s heart, for fooling her into a doomed love that would never be and for being a piss pot, because he sees a bit of himself in the piss pot as well.

*SOBBING!* 

Before we move on to the fake crime scene, I think I need to point out that both of these cases are about broken romances. An affair, an imminent divorce and a hopeless love with someone who never was what they appeared to be.

Just fuck everything! 

Now, at the crime scene, I really like how excited Molly seems. She’s in her element, as in death, bodies and murder. Good for her!

We see here that, in the darkness, in the face of actual death, Sherlock once again begins missing John’s presence. It’s here that we realize that it’s still John Sherlock wants to be out with, and his subconscious is blatantly telling him, and us, so.

Molly, in turn, seems enchanted by Sherlock as he works, as she should be. He is majestic when he deduces and she is visibly impressed.

“This gonna be your new arrangement, is it?” Lestrade asks skeptically, to which Sherlock distractedly replies: “Just giving it a go.” 

As I try my hardest not to make dirty jokes on this innuendo, I notice that, with another person present, Sherlock is much colder towards Molly, barely acknowledging her presence and even looking fairly dejected when Lestrade asks about John.

He is much more distant with her in this scene, barely looking at her and giving her very curt replies.

Something that made me smile widely was the sight of the two of them looking the corpse over, deducing it in tandem and Sherlock finishing Molly’s sentence in excellent synchronicity… oh the person I’ve become.

Sherlock, though in his own element, wants to get away from there as soon as possible, he is distracted and being in a dark crime scene without his main wing man affects him deeply to the point where he finally slips up and as tactless as a bulldozer calls Molly ‘John.’

This understandably hurts and disappoints Molly, and I think the previously warm moments between them are bludgeoned out the window for her, and she once again closes up in front of him.

For the time being, at least, because in the next scene, when they go vising Train Guy they seem to be in pretty high spirits, fooling around and just being a couple of adorable fucking dorks that would look much better holding hands.

This is actually the first time, if I’m correct, where we see Molly touching Sherlock (not counting the A Scandal in Belgravia kiss), and she does it with extreme ease and playfulness. This is not something one does with a person they are not completely comfortable with and you can very plainly see that they are perfectly comfortable with each other in this scene.

This leads me to believe that they went on several more cases between the crime scene and this one, and thus have gotten closer and more familiar with each other.

We see Sherlock making fun of Train Guy because LOL even I find it hard to believe he has a girlfriend and I’m analyzing ships from a TV show, and he turns to Molly, expecting her to laugh along with him, but instead she gives him a ‘bad Sherlock!’ kind of look and he immediately shuts his pie hole.

This means he listens to her and understands her even without any words said between them, a very important development, since we don’t see him do this with anyone else other than John, and maybe Mycroft.

Another thing that caught my eye was how beautifully they matched and how pretty they looked together.

Look at the contrast between them. She, all colorful and warm, with her long pink scarf untied and falling loosely down her front, he, cold and neutral, with his short blue scarf tied neatly around his throat. They are perfect opposites yet they complement each other perfectly.

I am not one to put much weight on stuff like this, since I genuinely don’t think this has anything to do with anything, but the image of it is interesting and quite simply, beautiful, so it deserved to be mentioned.

Again, Sherlock acts playful around her and even tries to make her laugh. I adore how warm he is towards her in this scene and how he fishes for smiles as well as the prolonged, conspiratorial, childish and pleased look he gives her when he succeeds.

After they watch the tapes and Sherlock becomes intrigued, the what I like to call ‘hopefully-maybe-flirting’ ends abruptly and his focus in now fully on the case.

He does, at one point, seem to glance her way and so does she, except in his case it’s brief and fleeting, while hers is extended and lasts until he speaks to her and actually asks for her opinion, which is another thing I really liked in this scene, that she snaps out of her ‘Sherlock’s face’ induced daze.

The look he throws her now is colder and slightly impatient, as he probably acknowledged the fact that she was enraptured with him again, and Molly now looks disappointed in herself for slipping up.

After the Mind Palace scene, we see Sherlock standing at the top of the stairwell, in a trance and Molly looking up at him in concern, because that shit would freak anyone out, let’s be honest.

After he orders ALL the maps, Sherlock then invites Molly out for dinner, echoing her wish from earlier that day. He asks her without looking her in the eye and I noticed that he seemed slightly awkward as he passed her by on the stairs.

He seems to try to keep his distance from her, completely avoids eye contact by purposefully glancing in the other direction as he passes her and the discomfort her closeness brings is evident in his features. I don’t know if this is him being uncomfortable with his personal space being breached, since she did touch him earlier and he didn’t seem bothered, him trying to keep his distance after realizing she still has a thing for him, thanks to the drooling staring at him previously, or just him being a shy because he lurves her, but something is definitely up with him now and he’s trying to distance himself from her, even though he kept rambling on about French fries.

When Molly asks if the extra chip portions are because he got the owner off a murder charge, leads me, and many others, to believe that he had shared the story of Angelo with him, which isn’t implausible, since it has been hinted they sometimes chat (the time Molly mentioned Sherlock complained about John leaving to his sister’s for Christmas in A Scandal in Belgravia), which shows in the ease with which they talk and that they don’t shy away from informalities, like when Molly calls out to him, and he replies with a simple ‘Hm?’ – I actually liked that a lot.

Again he jokes with her, trying to keep the atmosphere light, but like a wrecking ball, she comes in and finally addresses the elephant in the room and asks what the whole day had been about.

He doesn’t hesitate in telling her it was to thank her. He is earnest and eloquent as he speaks, while she begins stuttering and shying away from him. She slips back into the old, lovelorn Molly Hooper from Series 1, but Sherlock doesn’t let her, and keeps the speech going.

And then this happens:

“Moriarty slipped up, he made a mistake. It was the one person he thought didn’t matter at all to me, was the one person who mattered the most. You made it all possible.” 

This is a direct follow up of the ‘You do count’ scene in The Reichenbach Fall, but it’s more sincere, more heartfelt, and more appreciative, now that she helped him, that she risked herself for him and did her job well.

But he also points out that she can’t do this again.

This seems to hurt her, and even though she smiles and claims she had a lovely day, the smile doesn’t show in her eyes. In my opinion, she seems resigned. She knows Sherlock doesn’t feel anything for her, she knows they can be friends and nothing more, and she accepts it, but it pains her nonetheless.

When Sherlock acknowledges the engagement ring on her finger and congratulates her with a smile that also doesn’t spread to his eyes, she bows her head awkwardly and fucking sadness all around.

Then she tells her that the fiancé is not a guy she met at work. He genuinely smiles at this, at the fact that all the known men in her life, her last boyfriend, aka crazy, psycho Jimbo, as well as Sherlock himself was met on the job, and this could only mean good things. He might be relieved and maybe even proud of her for this.

[Ow, my heart, that face!]

She goes on a long winded ramble about boring boyfriend who is nice and has a dog and goes to pubs on weekends, and even she acknowledges the fact that there should be no point telling Sherlock any of this, yet she still does and wants him to know that she is, as she claims, happy.

I think Sherlock here tries to push her a little bit from behind, like he’s trying to make her realize that she does deserve all the happiness and discreetly tries to make her understand that said happiness can’t be found with him.

I think he knows she’s not over him and this saddens him.

Now, my words fail me at explaining what I deduced from the next bit, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

[Pic1: Sherlock approaches and gauges Molly’s reaction.]

[Pic2: Yeah, she loves him.]

[Pic 3: Poor, sweet, darling, foolish Molly. He’s happy she loves him, but he wishes she didn’t.]

[Pic 4: This is him saying he cares lots about her, is grateful to her, and genuinely wishes her all the best.]

[Pic 5: Yeah, Sherlock did more damage than good. Totally not over him.]

Without so much as a goodbye or a look back, Sherlock leaves, and Molly stays back to recover from the kiss of death, and with slightly red eyes acknowledges that sociopaths just might be her type, which they totes are. Again, she seems resigned and aware that this is probably all she’s ever gonna get, which is why she doesn’t follow him, instead going in the other direction after glancing at his retreating form, looking perfectly intent to move on and live her life.

I think Molly has come a very long way since the second season. There’s no more wishful thinking and dreams and hopes. These two years away from him seemed to have done her good, although I believe that what she feels for him is too strong to be simply pushed aside.

Molly still loves Sherlock, I genuinely believe this, but no longer will she pursue him like she did before.

Fast forward to the get-together at 221B. Here, we finally get to meet boring boyfriend Tom, aka Fakelock.

I found it interesting that we can hear Molly’s exactly at the moment Sherlock expressed his dislike of weddings.

Also, another thing that’s interesting is the fact that Sherlock seems averse to weddings in the first place. Yes, he’s definitely not the wedding type, we can all agree to that, but I also think it might be due to he now finding himself losing two of the most important people in his life to holy matrimony.

So, Molly and Fakelock arrive.

I love everyone’s reaction to Tom. John seems completely dumbfounded and we even see him briefly glancing at Sherlock. Lestrade gives a very awkward ‘Hi’ and John seems to not know whether to laugh or just keep gaping.

Sherlock doesn’t acknowledge Molly immediately and decides right then and there that he’s ready to go out and meet the reporters. Now, lots of people claim he didn’t acknowledge her at all, but he does, and quite sweetly at that, as he flashes her a very affectionate smile.

And then his eyes fall on homeboy Tom, and he’s shocked.

[That is the face of a man who has seen true horror.]

He glances Fakelock up and down and immediately realizes what’s up. Molly has found herself nothing but a cheap replica of himself, not only in the clothes, which are scarily similar to his own, but even in the facial structure and hair. And he’s mortified.

I don’t think he’s jealous or angry, I think if anything, he’s embarrassed.

John looks between the two men and you can tell he’s totally expecting Sherlock to burst and just tear the new guy apart, but we’re once again shown his growth and maturity when he cordially shakes the man’s hand and walks away without a single word.

Lestrade comes up and asks Molly whether she and Tom are serious, to which she happily replies:

[And in that moment I swear we were all Lestrade.]

I’m glad that Molly believes she’s happy, I really am, but this whole thing feels like a joke to me. It’s clearly unhealthy and while I’m sure Fakelock is nice and all (in the case he’s not another psycho or anything), but I genuinely don’t think this relationship is good for her. IF they’re gonna find her a man, I want it to be someone that doesn’t reek of Sherlock replacement.

Though once again, I think it’s safe to assume that she has, in fact, not moved on.

Outside, Sherlock still feels uncomfortable, and we can see it when he tried to tie his scarf.

He makes a gesture that expresses how distraught and clearly displeased with the situation he is. He feels so frustrated that he doesn’t even feel like tying his scarf the same way again.

Sherlock promises John not to say a word, even though they both realize how completely ridiculous the whole situation is, and again, kudos to him. He really does want Molly to be happy and I think the fact that he won’t interfere shows a great deal of maturity and kindness on his part.

I think he has come a long way from the man who so callously used to criticize every little thing about Molly Hooper and everyone around him. Sherlock has grown up, and I couldn’t be more proud.

Conclusion time! 

Even though [...] I still ship Sherlolly to hell and back, I genuinely don’t see it ever becoming canon.

Which is not unexpected, I don’t think any serious Sherlolly shipper has ever held on to such a belief, Sherlock Holmes not being a character made to be in a relationship or to love.

Still, there are many scenes in this episode that does make you go: ‘Just maybe.’ 

Molly is clearly not over Sherlock, that I don’t think anyone could argue with me. [...]  I think, after everything is said and done, there is one universal truth that is just as strong now as it was before this episode premiered:

There’s always hope for Molly. 

And that’s what makes it cruel.

Why did Sherlock call Molly “John”? 

 (Sherlock meta by gaelitabis)

This post came out longer than I had expected. Sorry.

Cumberbabeusa commented on my previous post: “So why in the hell did he call her John? I did not care for that part of the scene at all.”

These are my thoughts:

The scene ends with Sherlock dashing out of the crime scene and calling Molly “John”. What happened here?

Well, Sherlock has called her “John” before. He gets oblivious when he is working… But this is different.

During the fake crime scene Sherlock was clearly freaking out. So much that he literally had to run away from the room. The voice in his head was growing too loud. It was all too much.

I think he simply got carried away with the audible hallucination and started talking to John in his head. John is a friend who also provides comfort and guidance in times of need. Specially on things having to do with social interactions.

Sherlock didn’t simply misname Molly this time. He actually answered to the voice in his head. The man was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out.

But why was this so? That is the interesting question. What on earth could have possibly made Sherlock so distressed?

And the answer is: (drums) Molly!!!… being with her, enjoying her company, and knowing she is now off limits.

It is simply too much.

Lestrade’s presence in the scene made Sherlock feel on the spot. Not that Lestrade did anything to make him feel this way (he was being his usual adorable self). But his presence triggered Sherlock’s own feelings of inadequacy (Lestrade did question why Molly was tagging along and Sherlock felt put on a hot spot).

Sherlock found in Lestrade a clear reminder, first, of how Molly is perfectly capable of attracting other males’ attention (we all saw Lestrade gaping at her in the Christmas party), and, second, of how little Sherlock thinks of himself.

Sherlock has got the emotional skills of a small boy and his experience with women is… well… ZERO! So he’s freaking out when he has to face the fact that he has feelings for Molly, but she has finally moved on.

So has his best friend.

Both Molly and John have now got romantic partners. Unlike himself, who is alone. He is scared and hurt.

Even devoted Molly outgrew her crush on him. To his eyes, this proves that he *is* unlovable, after all. A freak. Meant to be forever alone. And why would Molly have ever wanted to be with someone like him, anyway?! She really didn’t (Sherlock is a bit of an asshole not being able to realize Molly is still attracted to him). So Sherlock freaks out in a “Poor little, me. Boo-hoo” fit.

However (and this is important), as soon as they leave the supposed crime scene things get better. They are on their own again and Sherlock gets his shit together. Of course, he’s put a sting on Molly (having called her John), but he is perfectly unaware of it.

Pay attention to the fact that he didn’t ditch Molly right there on the spot, like he has often done with John. He stuck with her. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with her. So they carried on and went to visit the next client, train-boy.

When they arrive to the train-boy apartment we see them in a very cheerful mood. Sherlock has got his shit together. No Lestrade around to make him think those stressing thoughts. Just Molly and a non-threatening stranger. Sweet Molly.

He will just enjoy being near her… as long as he can.

A small Sherlock and Molly moment that get instantly forgotten

 (Sherlock meta by theleftpill)

Consider, Sherlollians

Everyone makes a big deal over “Jim from IT’s” scene in The Great Game, and Sherlock’s deduction and why he makes that deduction and Molly’s reaction to the deduction and Sherlock’s reaction to Molly’s reaction. But all that distracts us from the very start of the scene, when Molly enters the room:

Molly: Any luck?
Sherlock: Oh YES.

Consider:

Molly has just intruded on Sherlock and John’s conversation about The Work. She has broken in, she has interrupted. Sherlock, however, does not respond with annoyance, he does not “humor” her question, he does not ignore her or shut her down.

He responds enthusiastically. Molly walks in, and Sherlock’s happy about that.

Sherlock welcomes Molly in, he’s already engaging with her, he’s excited that he has a result and is ready and dare I say eager to share it with her. This small moment speaks volumes. This small moment shows us - in two lines of dialogue that get instantly forgotten - that they are colleagues, that Sherlock respects her work, that Sherlock relies on her assistance. That Sherlock enjoys her presence and wants to work with her.

They’re both getting ready to do some down and dirty Science. And we’re gonna get to watch!!! And then look who shows up:

DAMMIT, JIM.

And the whole thing collapses like a flan in a cupboard.

Why Sherlocks bolt hole is Molly's bedroom

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

Bolt-hole (noun): a safe or restful place; a place where you can hide or escape from something that is dangerous or unpleasant. — merriam-webster.com

I want to talk about this, so let’s. At first glance it seemed just your regular fan serving, fan-teasing trolling thing that Moffat does to tell us, yes I read your fanfiction. Have some more details that please you but will not affect the plot and won’t be leading anywhere. And it also seems that Molly was back to being the girl with the crush who [Sherlock] takes advantage of, which she allows. Might be why she is uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed in that scene.

Yes, that may well be the case. To which I say, You don’t do that. You don’t just imply that Sherlock casually stays at Molly’s, in her bedroom no less. That is just too intimate a detail I think, and it does affect the plot and characters. Yes Mr. Moffat it will. Especially since this might have happened while Sherlock was faking his death (unlikely, Sherlock himself said he was unfamiliar with London implying he was away for the whole two years), while she was with Tom (that would explain the breakup, unlikely it was after Tom because it seemed he had only known the engagement was over when he noted she didn’t have the ring anymore), and/or while he was with Janine (it was pretty much implied in their scene that he avoided sex with her). I think it would be the latter two. There is a very good possibility that their initial unspoken rule of staying away from each other in The Empty Hearse lasted only until the end of The Sign of Three. And given that their mutual decision was loaded with tension and emotions and they allowed themselves to be together like that. I am not implying they had sex or even kissed. For all we know Sherlock just came marching into her flat, demanding he needed to think and charmed her into letting him borrow her bedroom while she uses the spare one, and then he leaves without as much as a goodbye when the case calls him. And so Molly is left both guilty and embarrassed when she was asked about it. Because in her point of view, it will always be unrequited, embarrassingly so.

It was needless to say entirely different in Sherlock’s point of view. We saw his mind palace. We saw what she made him do in his mind, in the brink of death. We saw how exactly he sees her. And that had conveniently given me some ideas. And now I will try to be as logical as possible. Really.

Of all of Sherlock’s known boltholes, even counting the Big Ben one, there’s only one that sticks out like a sore thumb. What makes Molly’s place special? He could have secluded places and nice views, and he has. He could have larger bedrooms and spacier locations and he could isolate himself all he wants. The answer is easy. It’s Molly’s. Molly is the bolthole. She makes him feel safe and protected, this tiny brilliant pathologist who matters so much she doesn’t even know. He protects John and Mrs Hudson and Irene and all of London, but this woman protects him. And I think the reason he had asked for her bedroom is he was testing her, like he had tested John in The Empty Hearse. Does she still like him enough to accommodate his irrational, demanding requests? (I also think he just likes to be in Molly’s bedroom to smell her pillow and deduce her bedthings but that is already with shipper goggles, so.) Surprise, surprise. She does.

And so quoting Benedict, it’s just so beautiful, their relationship is beautiful. I have read some articles, and even Louise had said people ship sherlolly because we see ourselves in Molly’s place and wanted to be kissing Sherlock or Benedict. But unrequited love is also beautiful and bittersweet, heartbreaking and good, and I would have no problem if that’s all they would give sherlolly. But that is not what I was seeing that they’re showing us. They let us see a potential. How much Sherlock needed Molly. How much he actually loves Molly.

On John leaving his cane

 (Sherlock meta by doctornerdington, workfornow and unreconstructedfangirl)

doctornerdington:

Does anyone have a reading of this that is not just… deliberate cruelty? Because we’ve not seen John being premeditatedly cruel before, and I find this more chilling than the beating, honestly.

workfornow:

Once he goes in to “say good-bye” (and I am not going to try to parse that, there are several readings I’d accept), it’s all just enormously sad at the very best. But I read it [leaving the cane] as a reminder of better days, even as a thank-you, an acknowledgement of how their friendship pulled John back from an edge, once.

(It makes no sense to have a recording device in it unless Sherlock thought he might bring it with him though. And I thought it would make perfect sense if John knew it had such a device, but we were told later that he did not know.)

doctornerdington:

It is desperately sad. But a reminder of better days is – a positive way to read it, at least, and I hadn’t even thought of it. I hope it is that. I read it more as, “hey, remember when I needed a cane and you healed me? Well fuck you, now you need the cane, and I’m not sticking around to heal you.” Fucking OUCH. And possibly Sherlock anticipated this (although, haha, this doesn’t really make sense, does it?)?? Jesus.

unreconstructedfangirl:

I read this as a rueful “thank you” and as a kind of apology for the fact that he is checking out. It’s horribly sad, I agree, but I didn’t see it as 100% cruel. What gets me is the idea that Sherlock predicted, I guess, that John would do this, and that means that even if John is a guy who would leave him alone in the condition he’s in, in Culverton Smith’s murder hospital with his cane, Sherlock loves him and wants him back. That idea hurts me.

“I made me” vs. “Eurus made you”: some rambling and likely incoherent thoughts on this apparent contradiction

 (Sherlock meta by unreconstructedfangirl and anarfea)

unreconstructedfangirl:

Something I really liked in the story from The Abominable Bride to The Final Problem is the whole question of what made Sherlock what he is – and indeed, I think it’s the central question in The Final Problem. I’ve read lots of comments on this in people’s meta around here, and wanted to have a go at saying what I liked about the storytelling in this particular regard.

Many have noted the apparent contradiction between Sherlock’s “Nothing made me. I made me” and Mycroft’s saying that everything Sherlock is, ever decision he’s ever made is because of Eurus. I feel like a mistake we make is taking everything the text tells us as a thing we are being told directly by the text, rather than thinking about how reliable what the text is telling us really is, considering the source and the character who says it.

I loved Sherlock’s “I made me” in The Abominable Bride. It was one of my favourite moments. I loved the idea that in his mind, he was able to take responsibility for himself, and know, somewhere deep inside, that he was the one making the decisions that kept him separate and alone. I feel like, if we can realise that WE choose things, then we have some kind of agency, and power over them, and I like the idea of his having that kind of power over his own narrative. So, when this story of Eurus and young Victor comes along, and Mycroft tells us of that this isn’t true – in fact, Eurus made him? If I’m to take that at face value, it’s disappointing – childhood trauma made Sherlock what he is.

Dull – and done to death, right?

The thing I love, though, is that they are both right, and both wrong, and I really enjoyed thinking about what the constellations are in the spaces between them.

What we all do, every day (and I think being in love with and retelling this story is part of this effort for many of us) is tell ourselves the daily story of what we mean and who we are. In the words of Neurologist Oliver Sacks, we “throw bridges of meaning over abysses of meaninglessness” and create ourselves via narrative – the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. This is what makes us human beings – this continual myth-making – and this narrative of who we are and what we mean is a construct of our minds.

So…Sherlock told himself a story – he made himself. It was a defensive mechanism, and it coincided with his emotional withdrawal, a mechanism he used to protect himself from the pain of love, loss, grief, and importantly, horror. Sherlock made himself, and part of making himself was denying the fact that other people have the power to shape us, and reshape our narrative. He radically claimed agency in defiance of pain. But, it’s not quite true, and what’s more he can’t quite stay away from a world full of horror, can he? As a detective and a junkie, he tries to solve the mystery of horror and pain over and over again while keeping emotional reality at a distance.

Mycroft, meanwhile, sees Sherlock from the outside – sees him as a victim of trauma whose subsequent decision not to feel has kept him safe from further trauma, and he encourages it: “…caring is not an advantage … don’t get involved … Redbeard!” Mycroft sees Sherlock as fragile, prone to self-destruction, and in need of protection – as powerless, and he’s not wrong. Sherlock is compulsive, an addict, and a person in denial of his own heart. Mycroft acts out of love in a paternalistic manner towards not only Sherlock, but the whole family, because that’s the story Mycroft told himself… and the story tells us that this is “limited”, and it is. It’s nice that in the end, Sherlock is able to see that Mycroft did his best, though. That’s real progress.

The fact that both of these things “made” Sherlock isn’t a contradiction, it’s two seemingly contradictory things that are both true from different perspectives; two data points that allow us to see what’s happening when Sherlock remembers Victor and opens his heart to his Eurus, and then chooses the path that will allow him to remake himself, having integrated what he knows into a truer version of events. He DID make himself, and also, she made him. We are not impervious to others, but we do choose which way we go. Sherlock chooses love.

The experiments Eurus runs to try to find out who Sherlock is – what he will do given the choices she gives him all lead to this question of what he will do with her when he knows the truth – and she needs him to know, or she can never come down from her metaphorical plane. She loves him and she needs his love, so she is trying to find out how his love works throughout the episode. Because, Eurus did something terribly damaging, and she needs her brother to know it. She also loves him, and needs him to love her. I love that Sherlock, because of everything that he has been through and felt and experienced is able to have the empathetic response that he has. That he realises that he has a role in healing something in her, as she has healed something in him by finally helping him to see that he is not, never has been, and can never be an island.

And I love, at the end, seeing Sherlock embrace the fact that who we are is a co-creation – a relationship between the people we love and our responses to them. We are not islands of independent myth-making. Sherlock Holmes is not an isolated freakish genius – he is a person of some experience and the wisdom that came from it – he has a past, he lived a life.

The final scenes, in which John and Sherlock embrace what they can be together, and rebuild their home and their hearts to include all that they have experienced and become because of love, and they are surrounded by their village of loved ones were really moving to me. In fact, when I watched it again, I didn’t even hate Mary’s voice over – she was an important part of their shared story, she loved them both, and she belongs there. I really like this as the beginning of them BEING WHAT THEY ARE in legend – a brilliant, humane detective and his astute storyteller who is smarter than he looks, and now the myth they are making is their partnership. It’s a story with both horror and love, and the only way it is what it is, is in partnership. I mean… I loved that! [...]

anarfea:

So, I agree with your analysis but one of the things that always got me about the line, “you do remember her, in a way. Every choice you ever made, every path you’ve ever taken, the man you are today: is your memory of Eurus.” is how true this is –of Mycroft. 

Mycroft says, “what Uncle Rudi began, I thought it best to continue.” Locking Eurus up wasn’t Mycroft’s choice. If we decide that they took Eurus away when she was five (which I’m basing solely on child Eurus’ apparent age and Mycroft’s comment to the governor that “she’s been capable of [enslaving people] since she was five”), then Mycroft was thirteen. He was a child. Rudi decided to lock Eurus up in Sherrinford with the “uncontainables” and lie to Mr and Mrs Holmes about the fate of their daughter. Mycroft simply carried on the lie. Again, he was thirteen and presumably traumatized by knowing that his sister killed his brother’s best friend and his brother no longer remembered her. Presumably he thought it would be best if his parents could also, if not forget that Eurus existed, then move on with their lives thinking she was gone.

But that decision irrevocably changed Mycroft’s relationship with his parents, and with Sherlock. It isolated him from his entire family (ironically, except for Eurus, the only one in on his secret). Mycroft spent Christmas with Eurus and Jim Moriarty and then went home to drink alone while Sherlock celebrated at 221b surrounded by friends.

Uncle Rudi also seems to have set Mycroft on his career path. He seems to have been some kind of shadowy government spook, and put Mycroft on the path to shadowy government spook. Who knows who or what he might have been if he hadn’t spent his entire life protecting this secret.

So yes, Mycroft is the man he is today because of Eurus. And IMO, he’s projecting when he says that about Sherlock. It’s true for him, so he thinks it’s true for his brother. And on some level, it is. Someone on my dash (i think @themissadventurer?) was saying that when Sherlock says “I made me,” in The Abominable Bride, we hear a dog barking in the background and he says “Redbeard,” immediately after. Of course his childhood trauma influenced him. We are all shaped by our childhood traumas (or at least I know I was). So Eurus having shaped them is the truth.

But the truth, as Oscar Wilde said, and The Final Problem keeps reminding us, is rarely pure, and never simple.

The Point Of The Christmas In The Morgue Scene 

(Sherlock meta by mae-jones)

So what was the point of this scene? There was no character development or advancement for Sherlock. He had already had the big, “aha!” moment earlier in the episode when he realized he hurt Molly. Well, this wasn’t for Sherlock’s development, it was for Molly’s. The writers were meticulous with this. It was a bit of foreshadowing of her speach to Sherlock in the lab when she said she wasn’t important.

It gets me pondering. I mean, what if Sherlolly is a part of the end game? I know this sounds like wishful thinking but these two are mirrors of eachother in too many ways to count. There are so many parallels to their growth and development and no other characters, not even John, have changed as much as these two have from the beginning of the show (John has been kind of static since the first episode, has he not?). In fact, Sherlock has become softer while Molly has grown more fearsome. These two are practically colliding in orbit and all of it is deliberately written into the show.

Even without Sherlolly, I desperately want the writers to be frickin’ brave and keep writing her as she is. She’s interesting. She’s good enough. She doesn’t need to be a double agent, or killed off, or become a casualty of any other stupid, hackneyed, ‘gotcha’ trope.

“Moriarty slipped up, he made a mistake…”

 (Sherlock meta by eugeniebatch and anarfea)

eugeniebatch:

Oh, no. He didn’t.
He told Eurus about Molly.

In those 5 minutes, he told her about the things that would drive Sherlock out of his mind. And of course, he also told her about the person who mattered the most, giving her the opportunity to play with Sherlock’s emotions.

Thus, even after death, Moriarty managed to “burn the heart out of him”.

anarfea:

I thought that Eurus deduced this herself. Sherlock made the mistake of having Molly show up at John’s therapy session to diagnose him. And John refers to her as “the one person who can see through your bullshit.” Eurus watches the whole exchange after she examines him where Molly says “I’m stressed; you’re dying.” She sees what they mean to each other, when they exchange those dark, meaningful looks at the ambulance.

Jim thought that John was Sherlock’s heart, IMO. He connected John to Victor via Redbeard (hence the referring to John as a ‘pet.’ as does Eurus). He thought John is the person who matters the most to Sherlock, and he thought that Sherlock would kill Mycroft to save John, and that he would suffer terribly.

Eurus says that “Moriarty thought you would make this choice.” I think she was hoping that Sherlock would kill John to save Mycroft, because she wanted him to chose his family over his friend. The way she wanted him to chose her over Victor when they were children.

I think that Jim and Eurus had a post-mortem bet going on, about who Sherlock would kill. And I think they both lost, because in the end Sherlock chose to kill himself before he’d kill either Mycroft or Sherlock.

And as for Molly. I like to think that Jim didn’t realize that Molly mattered, and that Eurus did. But the real catch of course, is that neither of them succeeded in burning Sherlock’s heart out in the end. He came to the realization that he loves her. And you can see at the end of The Final Problem that she knows it. If anything, they help Sherlock find his heart again, after it was broken in The Lying Detective by his grief over Mary’s death and John’s cruelty towards him.

The Fall and Water

 (Sherlock meta by notagarroter and anarfea)

notagarroter:

Mycroft: fills a plane with dead people.
Sherlock: deliberately overdoses on a plane, nearly dies.
Eurus: invents imaginary planes full of sleeping people who are about to crash.

Forget Victor Trevor and the well. What the hell happened to these kids at a formative age to turn them against aviation? 

No wonder Mummy and Daddy started leaving them home when they went line dancing in Oklahoma.

anarfea:

Looking back on A Scandal in Belgravia post The Final Problem, I’m wondering if Eurus didn’t either suggest the idea of The Flight of the Dead to Mycroft, or if she wasn’t otherwise aware it was happening. Because it seems that the whole meeting with Jim happened at around the same time as the events of A Scandlal in Belgravia, no? Anyway, Eurus’s metaphor/dream/hallucination of being alone in the sky in a plane filled with sleeping people seems to be connected somehow with Mycroft filling a plane with dead people.

As for Sherlock, he would have OD’d on a train or a bus or whatever vehicle they put him on to send him to Eastern Europe to die, methinks.

notagarroter:

I don’t necessarily disagree with you about Sherlock – certainly, that’s how I interpreted it the first time around, and I think that interpretation is still valid.

But I’m open to the idea that the plane is significant to Sherlock and the general narrative mostly because of the scene with Moriarty telling him “It’s not the fall that kills you, it’s never the fall – it’s the landing.” And then the plane lands. So… it’s kind of an almost-pun that seems to point to something larger – Sherlock’s general angst around falling and landing and dying, etc.

But of course, it doesn’t have to be anything more than the dream retrofitting itself around a real-world stimulis – an experience I’ve had myself, whether on a plane or hearing a phone ring or what have you.

Mostly I’m just making this observation because I’m (mildly! it’s not a big thing) annoyed at the retroactive imposition of the water motif over Sherlock’s whole life. Yeah, there was the pool and there was the waterfall and there was the aquarium, but water is a SUPER COMMON THING in everyone’s life, and you just *know* they didn’t have this thread in mind before S4.

Particularly it annoys me because they already *had* a very resonant, meaningful motif working throughout the narrative, and that’s the motif of falling. The Fall is important not just in this incarnation of Sherlock, but arguably in *every* incarnation going back to ACD and that incredibly powerful moment when Sherlock and Moriarty go together over the Reichenbach Falls.

The point of the Reichenbach is not that it’s WET.

The point is, it’s a very tall, dangerous place where Sherlock Holmes died, heroically and tragically. (And Moriarty as well, less heroically but perhaps just as tragically, to some of us.)

This version of Sherlock jumping off of Barts was a re-imagining of that mythic moment (*without* water), and MP!Moriarty was of course making reference to this in TAB when he talks about the fall and the landing. And then we jump-cut to the plane: a landing that does not, in fact, kill Sherlock, just as his Reichenbach landing did not.

And then The Abominable Bride takes us (in Sherlock’s mind) to the actual waterfall, again, not because it’s wet, but because Sherlock still hasn’t fully processed what his fall meant to him. That’s the trauma that he is working through – that we all are.

And I’d argue that MP!Molly teaching him how to fall in His Last Vow is another oblique reference. And there are others dotted throughout the text. For over a hundred years, Sherlock Holmes’s fall and death and rebirth have been the traumatic break that we are all, always, working through and trying to accomodate and process and understand.

And The Fall works on so many interesting levels – it’s a waterfall, it’s a painting, it’s an actual plunge to one’s (potential) death, it’s the metaphor of “falling” in love, but it’s also the Fall of Man, the moment when we gain knowledge we can never unknow, and thus become doomed. It’s just a *hugely* resonant cultural trope.

So no, I’m not entirely serious about the plane thing. I was mostly sort of crankily observing that, once you start imposing patterns on the text, the airplane motif strikes me as at least as resonant as the water one, or in fact more so.

But neither is as compelling to me as The Fall.

anarfea:

Yeah, I totally agree now that you’ve mentioned it that the Fall is a more compelling motif than water. I just for whatever reason wasn’t connecting the plane with falling before. That said, the water motif in The Reichenbach Fall did reasonate with me. I feel like water is sort of a metaphor for the unconscious regardless of context. Also for emotion. Also birth and beginnings. All of us spend the first nine months of our lives sloshing around in water. So I feel the whole thing in The Reichenbach Fall isn’t so much about Victor or drowning in the literal sense as much as it’s about deep emotion and repressed feeling.

The Fall, like you said, is about a fall from grace, a leap of faith, etc. But water is birth, to me. And descent. And regression. We’re going back to the beginning. Or maybe I just like Sherlock sinking into a pool of black goo.

The Holmes Siblings Quotes

 (Sherlock gifset by theaquarhumbus)

The definition of "begging for mercy"

 (Sherlock meta by eugeniebatch)

["Am I the only person in this fandom who knows what it means to beg for mercy? I don't want to crap on anyone's pretty gifset, but merely saying 'please' is not begging for mercy. A person who begs for mercy is admitting that he is utterly powerless, usually in the face of authority threatening torture or death. You beg for mercy when you have no other option but to accept your fate. A dominatrix could be such an authority in a playful sense. If you want an example of begging for mercy, Irene does it after Sherlock guesses her password, when she says 'are you expecting me to beg?' He has the power then, she has none. She is begging for mercy, which he refuses."]

So, I found myself reading [this] from a blogger I used to follow and [...] this really annoyed me because I don’t think this person is right, so I need to express what I think.

First of all, does this person really think Sherlock is “merely” saying please? I mean, I’m quite sure he’s not saying it insignificantly, having into account the situation in which Molly is in.

Secondly, doesn’t this person think Sherlock is, in fact:

• “utterly powerless” (he has no decision power here!) ?? 
• “in the face of an authority” (does Eurus mean something to you?) ??? 
• “threatening torture or death” (“her flat is rigged to explode”) ???? 

Lastly, doesn’t this person also think that, besides Eurus, Molly also has “all the power”? (although she didn’t even know it!). Sherlock is begging for mercy because she refuses to say “I love you”, and as this person wrote in the tags, “you beg for mercy when you have no other option but to accept your fate” (and in this case, he has no other option than accepting Molly’s fate because, by not saying those words, she’s certainly going to die!)

I believe this scene demonstrated us that a person doesn’t only “beg for mercy” when he/she is (actually) in front of an enemy or authority, but also when another person (who he/she cares about) is in grave danger.

Don’t you think so?

My (respectful) thoughts on Johnlock 2017 and why John Watson does not deserve Sherlock Holmes

 (Sherlock meta by sherlolly-locked and penelope1730)

sherlolly-locked:

First and foremost, I will mention that I am an avid Sherlolly shipper but I have always had the utmost respect for Johnlock shippers (and the shippers of other OTPs in our marvellous fandom), but I do have some points I’d like to put forward to Johnlockers after watching [...] The Six Thatchers. 

John Watson is not a good person. 

Over the course of the series John Watson has proved himself deceitful, a sexist and a cheater. (Yes he loves Mary and Rosie but not enough to resist the temptations of a smiling woman on a bus who showed an interest in him).

Sherlock is an evolved individual, who has only in recent seasons began to grow affection for his fellow human beings. He has become close and loyal to those he loves. He is logical and steady and unique. He would never betray the trust of someone he loves.

After watching The Six Thatchers I truly believe that John Watson does not deserve Sherlock Holmes. 

(But this is just my opinion and I continue to have respect for those who ship them, as always).

penelope1730:

I’m not a Johnlock shipper, but even with what went down, I don’t think John is a bad person. He’s just incredibly human - flaws and all. He is as deserving as any other human being (in his position) who’s trying to figure things out in the best way he can. IMHO. His anger with Sherlock over Mary’s death, while not fair or just, stems not only from profound grief, but his own guilt and uncertainty. John made a decision to accept Mary’s past and focus on their future, without fully knowing or even understanding what that meant. As Mycroft pointed out to Sherlock, people with a history like Mary’s tend to “retire” early - permenantly. I had a feeling it was never going to end well where Mary was concerned. Sherlock did his best, even if he did continue to antagonize old lady [Norbury] longer than necessary. No one could have predicted that Mary would take a bullet for him. There were so many ways that could have gone down…Mary could have pushed Sherlock, John could have jumped in, British Security Services could have been more prepared…these were all split second timed decisions, with too many ‘What if’s’ left to wonder about. Both Sherlock and John have evolved & we know they sort it out later on. But, for now, I think John needs to grieve and, sadly, many times that includes blame.

Sherlock in Molly’s bed & Snapping at Mycroft

 (Sherlock meta by mscurious88)

I think the writers’ main intra-episode reason for Molly admitting Sherlock used her bedroom as a bolthole was to explain how Sherlock could be dating a sexually forward woman for nearly a month and still not have sex with her (i.e. he hadn’t been sleeping at his flat for weeks).

Before The Reichenbach Fall, I don’t think [Sherlock and Molly] were close enough for Sherlock to stay at her flat. After the Fall, they were, but while Moriarty’s network still existed, it’d be too risky. I could buy maybe one or two times if he returned to London during the two years he was dead, *IF* he felt it was safe enough, but Molly didn’t make it seem like a one time deal. And once Sherlock returned, he didn’t have a good excuse or any need (as far as we know) for a bolthole except for Janine staying at his flat.

Additionally, I think Molly specified he used her bedroom, not her spare room because the writers wanted to add fuel to the Sherlolly shipper fire. There was really no other reason to specify which room, but they did and for that I wish to say thanks.

Piecing together bits, my head canon is:

A few days after the wedding, bored Sherlock took Lady Smallwood’s case. He discovered Janine’s connection to CAM and asked her out. After a couple dates, it became clear that he’d have to invite her over to his place to keep up the charade and Sherlock didn’t want to have sex with her (“there are limits”). So I think he visited Molly at her lab, happily discovered Molly was rethinking engagement (after “meat dagger” who wouldn’t?) and was living alone again to to slow things down with Tom. I don’t think Molly had given Tom back his ring and made a total break but Sherlock took this sign of trouble as an invitation to use her flat as a bolthole. I think he was testing the waters on Molly’s feelings for him. Would she let him stay? I think he complained the spare bedroom’s bed was too small for him to be comfortable to see if Molly would give him the big bed (which she graciously did) and then maybe sleep in it with him (which I think she did not). I think this lasted for more than a week wherein Sherlock would take Janine out, they’d head back to his place and before anything got too serious, he’d get an urgent call making him leave for a case at which point he would go over to Molly’s and hang out with her until bedtime. I think Tom found out Sherlock was staying at Molly’s and they fought. Molly, not ready to give up on her engagement with Tom, told Sherlock he couldn’t stay at her place and so an ejected Sherlock came up with his plan to be blackmailed over drug use to solve his night accommodation problem, but it was really an excuse to get high because he was feeling abandoned and sorry for himself. I think he did this for a couple weeks until John found him.

This would explain how Sherlock knew Molly’s absent ring was from a broken engagement, not an accidental loss or removal for work and why he felt compelled to comment upon it. (i.e. he wanted Molly to know he noticed). I also wondered if Sherlock’s “sorry your engagement’s over” was suppose to have an edge to it because it sounded a bit snippy to me.

IMO Sherlock was not putting up the polite act about the engagement any more the way he did in The Empty Hearse and The Sign of Three. Yeah, it could be that Sherlock was too high to hide his feelings, but Molly also dropped her shy act. I feel the acting in the scene heavily implies SOMETHING happened between Sherlock and Molly off screen in that month to change their attitudes towards each other because Molly at the end of The Sign of Three was not set up as someone who would slap Sherlock. It isn’t that she loved him any more or less or that she changed who she was as a character but that Molly’s sense of “standing” in regards to Sherlock must have somehow changed to be a person who could touch him in such a familiar way.

This woman wasn’t comfortable enough with Sherlock to say what was truly on her mind. She whispered it when he was out of hearing range. There is no way, she would have presumed to slap Sherlock because he was taking drugs. Lectured him? Expressed disappointment and worry? Yes. Of course. But they weren’t close enough for Molly to physically touch Sherlock in such a sharp/hostile and familiar manner.

Fans have been comparing S3 John and S3 Molly and this parallel is to me one of the biggest. I don’t condone it, but both John and Molly assault Sherlock out of frustration with his behavior in s3. This doesn’t indicate diminished affection on either part. It was that they had both reached their tolerance limit for his bullshit and Sherlock understands that he has betrayed them so he allows both to physically take out their exasperation/frustration on him. It is totally unhealthy, just like Sherlock and it is how the characters get beyond what would be deal breakers in most other relationships.

Sherlock snapping at Mycroft, imo, was an extension of his scene at the lab with Molly. Sherlock blamed his hostile behavior on being high, but he was higher at the lab and he didn’t do anything but passive aggressively bring up her former fiance when Molly slapped him 3x. To me, Sherlock throwing Mycroft against the wall was done to show his real mood. He put on a placid facade in the lab, but Molly Hooper slapped him. Molly Hooper saw him high and said he had BETRAYED the love of his friends. And Molly Hooper was single again and that should have made him happy but it was all ruined now and he had only himself to blame for it. So Sherlock took out his shitty morning on his brother because he had all this anger at himself pented up from the mortifying lab scene and he was itching to let it out.

It kinda stinks that’s where [s3] stops. We have no idea if Molly forgave Sherlock and tried the kind, loving approach after the slaps or if she stayed angry and gave him the cold shoulder. Did Molly urge Sherlock to see a drug counselor or did they awkwardly avoid the topic? We have no idea what Molly’s reaction was to Janine’s stories in the newspapers or to Sherlock being shot. We never see Molly visit him in the hospital, but surely she did. And months pass by the end of the episode and we don’t know what is going on with Molly except she is still working at Barts. Moffat was right. I can’t believe they left [s3] there.

Rewatching Sherlolly: A Study in Pink 

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

So today I decided to rewatch A Study in Pink. Ramblings, speculations, and theories follow. I did try to be as logical as possible, but my judgement may be clouded. Sorry.

Starting off, I found it very interesting that they chose to introduce Sherlock Holmes with him beating a corpse with a riding crop and some cute girl getting turned on by it. This girl asked him out for coffee and he seemed to miss her intentions altogether. So he is eccentric, attractive, sexy and sexually unavailable. His brilliance was not really apparent in the first scene, but in the next scene with John Watson. First impressions are important for any show and this was what they went with. He was firstly, desirable, in his scene with Molly. He was a lonely genius who craves approval, in his scenes with John. He has the ability to earn respect in his scenes with Lestrade. He can be warm, in his scene with Mrs. Hudson. He was rude and arrogant with Sally and Anderson. He was petty and childish with Mycroft. He was ruthless and unforgiving with Jeff. And even if he was not yet physically there, Sherlock holds a fascination to mystery and brilliance that matches his own, even if it reeks of evil, with Moriarty.

Let’s take a closer look at Sherlock and Molly’s first scene. He is about to beat a corpse she knew with a riding crop, and she had no qualms about it. Not just anybody would be alright with that, no matter how hot the guy is. Molly is probably one of the few people who can deal with his eccentricities and get turned on by it. She is an odd one too, in her own quiet way. Later, he says, 'Anderson won’t work with me'. Not the other way around. I think he has a bigger problem getting people to work with him rather than him with them because he assumes everyone are idiots anyway. If only because of this Molly becomes somehow special.

But it gets better. Sherlock then tells her to text him after twenty minutes on what bruises will form. He is very particular in his experiments and ordinarily assumes everyone is an idiot, he’s the type to perform them himself. But he trusts Molly to be right. Also Molly has his number - this is not the first time that he asked her to assist him. I absolutely wanted to know how she was able to prove to him that she is above average, thankfully we have fics to help with that. Later he tells Lestrade that he needs an assistant. Not something one says if they are used to working alone all the time. I think at the Yard he sometimes manages to get one, but that he had no permanent one and no preference there. Something tells me he has one at St. Bart’s though.

Molly adorably turns on her awkward charms during this whole scene to ask him out for coffee. Sherlock speaks to her almost mechanically and busily writes in his notebook while Molly hesitantly tries to ask, but then Sherlock gets distracted. 'Are you wearing lipstick? You weren’t wearing lipstick before'. He is observant, but he doesn’t just deduce and then dismiss it, he asks her. He stares intently, trying to read her face. He is curious. Why does he care? Perhaps Molly had not reached importance to him to more than a reliable assistant, especially considering how oblivious he is of her before, but at that moment she was more important than continuing his train of thought. Maybe alarm signals went at the back of his mind, wondering if she put that on for someone who isn’t him. Maybe it’s just Moffat trying to be funny with the punchline in the next scene. Molly gives a non-answer, Sherlock waits for more but decides to return to his notes when Molly just continued smiling widely at him.

Molly gathers enough courage to complete her question. You could tell that she had thought through this and probably even practiced it in front of a mirror. (She had a really cute expression trying to be seductive.) Considering her hesitation and excitement, it looks like her first attempt. Now it could be argued that Sherlock knew she was asking him out and decided to reject her without looking like it, but as we see later he is more direct with John. Was it because he wanted a good working relationship with Molly? Hardly. He clearly believes clear boundaries are best for lasting relationships. If he knew what Molly was asking, he would have said he’s married to his work, though he’s flattered by her interest instead of black, two sugars. It’s more probable that he is simply oblivious, perhaps thinking that Molly can’t be attracted to him because there’s another guy she put lipstick on for, or simply that he is spectacularly ignorant in the rules of attraction. I personally think he believes Molly likes him and admires him enough to make him coffee, but not in that way. He leaves the riding crop, maybe he’s distracted by this conversation or by the next experiment he’ll do in the lab.

At the next scene, when he sees Molly, he turns all attention to her as he gets his coffee. He stares for a considerable amount of time and notices that the lipstick was gone. Again he asks, 'what happened to the lipstick?' And follows up with, 'I thought it was a big improvement, your mouth’s too small now'. He means lipstick suited her. With that follow up, of course Sherlock is an ass and could do that without reason. But it’s almost as if he was offended by her and was having his little petty revenge. It still may be Moffat trying to be funny, though.

Molly was supposed to be a one-off character to introduce Sherlock, but they loved Louise Brealey so much that they wanted her back. Needless to say they saw much potential in her and the character of Molly Hooper. And with this (very) long post about these first scenes that changed the creators’ minds in having only ACD canon characters, I could say I also think there is much, much potential indeed.

Rewatching Sherlolly: The Blind Banker

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

 Another set of ramblings and speculations, this time on The Blind Banker. Here Sherlock shows off his fighting skills, John shows him how he can overlook the simple things, and we are introduced to some remarkable women. We also get Sherlock and Molly flirtation with confusing motivations. Everything’s good.

In this episode, we get to see a nicer side of Sherlock in varying levels of sincerity. He can appear innocent and foolish enough to lock himself out of his flat. He can also listen quietly and respectfully while a girl recounts the darkest moments of her life, never once interrupting because he is bored, or sneering at her sentiment and emotion. He can comfort a girl who had barely escaped a life-threatening situation. He can even flirt to get what he wants. For the first one he’s pretending. For the next two he seemed more sincere. But the last one, I can’t be too sure.

The first time I watched this scene with Molly, I easily dismissed it as him flirting with her to see the bodies, sort of like a comedic stunt throughout the series. Fast forward to the very last episode where he tells her she’s always counted. That was very clever indeed, and for me easily the biggest twist of the series, yet. There arises the question, So when does always begin? Maybe it’s somewhere along the way that the two became friends. But what if it means, from the beginning, like the actual definition of the word? This is my point in rewatching, actually. It just gives their scenes a different kind of light.

The scene starts with Sherlock approaching Molly with his attempts at small talk, jokes and flirtation. Of course Molly knows he’s doing it so she would help him, she said so in her blog. Explains her initial refusal. But Sherlock then pays her a compliment saying her hair suits her, which is just like saying he finds her pretty. And so she decided to give in. He is adorably awkward here, and so unlike his more assured, confident self when he talks deductions and logic. Not very experienced at flirting, then, despite being a good actor anywhere else. Safe to say Molly is one of the chosen few he treats this way. In the whole series she is the only one shown.

And because it is Sherlock, he drops his smile once Molly wasn’t looking, and checks his watch. In his logical mind his only goal is access to the bodies. But to start with, he lets Molly have her dinner (his first line was, what are you thinking, the pork or the pasta?). He evidently waits for her as they are together on the next scene. It can explain why he looked at his watch and frowned. It also didn’t show him leaving her there. I believe he sat with Molly while she ate, if only so that they could start as soon as she’s done.

Somebody had pointed this out already, but Sherlock’s intentions are, on second thought, less clear. Why would he make such an active effort to do something he is obviously not that good at when he could have other ways to convince her? He might just ask DI Dimmock to show his badge, it might even be quicker that way. He might deduce her or twist some words seeing that he’s good at acting. He did not even tell her the simple truth that two victims were murdered, they are connected, and he needs her help to prevent another one. Instead he says, 'you’ve changed your hair' and 'it suits you better this way'. It would not be so far fetched to think he enjoys this on some level.

In the next scene, we see that he has his full attention to her, stares at her smiling even when she’s not looking. He never once did look at DI Dimmock until after the tattoos were shown. Seems they had maintained that kind of atmosphere throughout dinner. Up until the moment she opens the body bag, he stares at her with a gentle expression on his face, almost with a smile. And I just think, well, maybe as early as here, she already counted.