"If I wasn't everything that you think I am"

 (Sherlock meta by notagarroter and vulgarweed)

notagarroter:

This is a favorite sherlolly moment for me, because of the contrast with John.

The key to John is that John never doubts Sherlock. Sherlock asks him in The Reichenbach Fall if he is 100%, if he has any doubts at all, but even when Sherlock is on the roof, John never questions for a second that Sherlock is the genius he always claimed he was.

But Molly… Molly doesn’t care. Molly will take care of him, will protect him, even if he *is* a fraud. No questions asked. I think for John, it is at least important that Sherlock be one of the Good Guys. He couldn’t tolerate it if his hero, his idol had actually kidnapped and poisoned children. But Molly… Her loyalty extends even beyond morality.

And that’s why she’s the one who matters.

It’s also why I hate to see this ship dismissed as cute fangirl fluff, as nothing more than the “heterosexual option”.

There is something dark and tragic and a little twisted going on between these two. And I like it.

vulgarweed:

Molly kept Sherlock’s secret. She knew how John was grieving, and probably Mrs. Hudson too. She knew that Lestrade blamed himself and Anderson descended into madness to the point of losing his job. She knew all sorts of fallouts and repercussions of Sherlock’s “death,” including ones that deeply hurt people she knew and liked.

And she kept the secret anyway. No doubt she too played the grieving friend, probably put on a little extra devastation-performance for those in the inner circle who knew how she really felt about Sherlock.

She faked his death certificate. She prepared the lookalike corpse. Whatever witchcraft had to be done with DNA and whatnot to make Sherlock Holmes as “dead” as a living man can be, she did it. She broke so many laws and risked her own career, stone cold, and got away with it even after the truth came out.

She played them all. With her sad little sniffles.

Molly is that ‘best friend’ who REALLY WILL help you hide the body - or the lack of one if the death is your own. Girl is STONE COLD SCARY and it’s all the more effective because she looks mousy and normal and cute. She will be the last one to break at the end of the world.

Shipping aside, how do people not see what a great compelling character she is? I would watch BBC Molly so hard.

On Mycroft, Molly and Sherlock 

and the Christmas scene at Bart's

 (Sherlock meta by penelope1730 and theleftpill)

penelope1730:

How do Mycroft and Molly know one another? I understand this is Mycroft, who has greater vision than the All Seeing Eye of Sauron, but he seems rather comfortable – all things considered – in thanking Molly for her help. [...]

The Christmas scene from ASiB is the awkward gift that keeps on giving. Mycroft tells Sherlock he had Irene’s body brought to Bart’s, Sherlock’s “home away from home.” Molly is there to present the body for identification, with Sherlock telling her she didn’t have to come in.

Sherlock’s comment has always bothered me, though, beyond the lingering weirdness shared between he and Molly. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was a bit pretentious to tell Molly she didn’t have to come to work and, like, do her job. Although he’s self-employed, it’s doubtful Sherlock doesn’t understand that people actually have to show up for their employment when expected, even if he somehow feels entitled to tell them they don’t. Nice of him to want to spare her his presence, tho.

Molly’s reply also doesn’t make sense — “It’s okay, everyone else was busy with…Christmas” — if it’s actually her job to be there. Something along the lines of —- “Ummm, Sherlock, I’m not simply showing up for your convenience, especially as you were rude as fuck to me. This is my job and while it sucks to have to work on Christmas, it’s double-time with holiday bonus pay — cha ching! Let the other schmucks enjoy their turkey or goose – I’ll still be able to fit into my skinny jeans tomorrow.” would seem more appropriate.

Okay, so Molly probably wouldn’t say that – she hasn’t quite got her righteous snark down yet – but you get the drift.

Unless, of course, she wasn’t scheduled to work or on-call, which Sherlock might know, and someone (ahem, Mycroft) called her personally. Then Sherlock’s comment “You didn’t have to come in, Molly” makes sense, along with Molly’s “I don’t mind, everyone else is busy with…Christmas.”

So, if that’s what happened (and not saying it did), why would Mycroft call Molly, or have her on speed dial? Why not let the morgue attendant deal with the body, especially when one is always working? What difference would it make? It’s not like the morgue attendant would care. Was it about convenience? Mycroft circumventing normal channels? Moffat and Gatiss just wanted to give us one more angsty / awkward scene between Sherlock and Molly?

Or, did Molly decide, having just experienced the *worst Christmas party* in history, that going to work was like the best thing ever?

I gotta give Molly props for wanting to know who the dead, naked women was – and actually asked, without hesitation. She asked Mycroft, Mister Warm and Fuzzy, and people don’t think this chick has got a spine, or that she only grew one post Reichenbach. HA! And, then, later on – when she pumped Sherlock for info about whose phone he was x-raying. Seriously – how many people actually pump Sherlock for information, where he actually answers? This girl is far from spineless.

Any thoughts anyone???

theleftpill:

I think it’s clear from the context of this scene and the one before it that Molly’s presence in this scene is out of the ordinary - she’s not just “doing her job.” Since she was just at the party it’s clear that she had the night off, so simply fulfilling her duty isn’t at play here.

On a superficial, basic-viewer level, Molly’s there for subtle comic relief. She’s just been humiliated by her crush, (presumably) leaves the party when it breaks up with Sherlock’s departure, and takes a “hey can you come in to work, we’ve got a situation” call to get her mind off things. And is immediately confronted by same crush who identifies a woman by “not her face.” On the surface it’s another sucker-punch. But as I’ve asked before - Why Molly? Why is it Molly attending the viewing? Why not the on-duty attendant, or, given the political sensitivity of the matter, a government official? You’ve hit another key moment showing Molly’s importance, which I think goes deeper than quick comic relief.

I think you can safely draw the conclusion that Mycroft had Molly called in (I doubt he would have called her himself.) He’s working very hard to control the situation; he has control over the location and therefore would also have control of personnel. This is not just his brother’s conflict; it’s also a security risk. Mycroft trusts her with this rather delicate security situation - in a small way, she’s in the inner circle. He trusts her to be discreet and professional.

But the biggest reason, if you’re digging deep, is clear from Mycroft’s establishing line: “We had her brought here, your home [away] from home.” Mycroft understands that this moment is going to throw Sherlock. He’s trying to soften the blow as much as possible - putting him in a comfortable environment, surrounding him with people he trusts. Mycroft knows that Molly will handle the situation with delicacy and care. She can be trusted not only with the security risk but more importantly with Sherlock’s psyche. He must be aware of some emotional connection Sherlock has to Molly; in this delicate moment, if he’s controlling the environment, he’s not going to bring in someone who would upset Sherlock. He’s going to bring in someone who represents grounding and comfort: Molly.

And note who’s already present in the scene when Mycroft says “home (away] from home.” Home is not just a location, a structure. Home is where those you love reside. Home is where the heart is. Molly is the one who lives in that “home.”

And I love your points about Molly confronting both Mycroft and Sherlock in the following moments/scenes. I never gave much thought to this scene between Molly and Mycroft, but it goes so much further to prove Molly’s importance to Sherlock. Beautiful catch.

Storytelling and the Sherlock x Molly Relationship 

 (Sherlock meta by strawberrypatty)

Okay, so I’ve been talking about Sherlock and Molly a lot in the past few days and of course I’m TERRIBLY biased because I’ve shipped them for a long time, but I really think that it makes sense based off the story we’ve been presented from them that Sherlock romantically loves Molly and tells her so in The Final Problem. 

The story between Molly and Sherlock has always been one with romantic overtones. In their very first scene together, Molly asks Sherlock out on a date and he is completely oblivious to the implications, because at this time, Sherlock is socially incapable of understanding that sort of thing.

Series One is primarily about Sherlock not understanding Molly’s emotions and her feelings for him. But those feelings are ever-present in their interactions. Romance plays a part in every scene they’re in. In A Study in Pink, Molly is asking Sherlock on a date and he doesn’t get it. In The Blind Banker, Sherlock flirts with Molly in order to receive access to the morgue. In The Great Game, Sherlock coldly dismisses Molly’s romantic interest in “Jim”, trying to be kind to her, but mucking it up horribly, because, well, Sherlock.

Their dynamic changes in A Scandal in Belgravia. It is only then that Sherlock realizes the depth of Molly’s feelings for him. She is actually in love with him. He does not reciprocate them, but we’ve reached a point where he doesn’t want her hurt.

In The Reichenbach Fall, Sherlock tells Molly how much she means to him. This is a huge moment. Sherlock is honestly telling someone their value to him. It is not just because she’s useful, but because he trusts her because of who she is. She has surprised him by being able to understand what he is going through and he chooses to trust her above everyone else in his life.

In Series Three, Molly has attempted to move on from Sherlock and he wants her to be happy. I’ve written a lot of meta about the hallway scene and how both Benedict and Loo play it. There is a melancholy in Benedict’s performance that indicates he might not be happy with the idea of Molly moving on. At the end of the scene, we hear Molly say “Maybe it’s just my type.”, telling us her feelings for Sherlock remain. When we meet Tom it becomes a certainty that she’s still hung up on Sherlock. Their relationship is continued to be framed in a romantic light. Molly turns Sherlock down for dinner because she’s engaged. This has heavy romantic implications on both sides.

The Sign of Three doesn’t have a lot of Molly in it, everything is incredible subtle, but is textual none-the-less. We see how she’s become unhappy with Tom, but she tries to show that she’s happy with him (her repeatedly kissing him and telling Sherlock they’re having quite a bit of sex comes off as overcompensation). Molly is the only one who notices Sherlock leave at the end, but she doesn’t go after him, because she’s trying to move on.

In His Last Vow, Molly becomes angry at Sherlock’s abuse of drugs. She has no problem yelling at him for hurting himself and those around him. It shows that Molly’s feelings for Sherlock are not romantic fantasy. She loves him, but she’s realistic about it. She loves who he is, but she’s also not going to put up with his crap.

When we see Molly in Sherlock’s Mind Palace, she is the only one who is HELPING Sherlock. She is telling him what he needs to know and is providing him some level of comfort. Mycroft is mocking, while Anderson is just reciting facts. While Molly is not what pulls him from death (it is the idea John is in danger) she plays an absolutely key role. Molly is utterly important to Sherlock. We still don’t know to what extent and as The Final Problem reveals that’s because Sherlock himself doesn’t know.

Molly’s part in The Abominable Bride is interesting. This is the only time we ever really see her in opposition to Sherlock. This is likely because of her angry at Sherlock (there had been no resolution to Sherlock’s drug use) and Sherlock’s guilt over hurting her repeatedly.

There isn’t a lot about Molly and Sherlock’s relationship early in Series Four. This is because Molly’s part was WOEFULLY underwritten, but there are still things we can glean. Molly is no longer the Morgue Mouse who squeaks “okay” if Sherlock insults her. She’s able to criticize him and when she tells him to do something, he does it. She makes him better.

Molly and Sherlock’s relationship in The Lying Detective is interesting because most of the salient details don’t actually come from their interactions, but from John. Yes, they do have moments together, but it is largely a retread of what we saw in His Last Vow. Molly is concerned about Sherlock’s self-harm.

But John’s comment on Molly is incredibly telling, “The one person who— unlike me— learned to see through your bullshit long ago.” It is a huge compliment to receive. Now I don’t think it’s true that Molly is the one person (I think Sherlock has an affinity for women who can do this. Look at Irene and Mary.). Molly is able to see past Sherlock’s charm and sees him for what he is. But we still see how much she cares for him.

At the end of that episode, we get a speech from John. The speech is primarily about John’s relationship with Mary and is framed as being about Sherlock and Irene, but it can be applied to Sherlock and any woman. John’s not preferential as to whether or not Sherlock is with Irene. He just wants Sherlock to find happiness with someone, because John has been robbed of it with Mary’s death.

I’m not trying to defame the ship of Sherlock and Irene, but in terms of the show itself Sherlock dismisses Irene as an option. He admits he texts Irene, but says it’s a “Bad idea” and he “Tries not to”. Even after John gives his speech, he doesn’t believe he wants to go down that path with Irene because that is not the type of relationship they have.

While initially Sherlock tries to brush aside John’s speech about romantic entanglements, saying they’re not for him, once John gets into it, he stops protesting. He listens to everything John has to say without comment. And there are some very important things John says:

“She thought that if you put yourself in harm’s way I’d … I’d rescue you or something. But I didn’t – not ’til she told me to. And that’s how this works. That’s what you’re missing. She taught me to be the man she already thought I was. Get yourself a piece of that.”

This is a huge scene in the episode and is textually about John and Mary, but as it is framed as a speech to Sherlock to find himself someone who would make him a better man. As I’ve already pointed out, Molly has been portrayed as this type of person since the beginning.

Another line from John’s speech which is incredibly important:

“That chance doesn’t last forever, Sherlock. It’s gone before you know it. Before you know it.” 

None of this relates to Molly, but it does relate to Sherlock. The issue of Molly and Sherlock’s relationship isn’t just one of will-they-won’t-they, it is Sherlock being emotionally ready and willing for a relationship with someone. This speech— given by one of the people most responsible for Sherlock’s emotional development— is important to him as a character. Sherlock also says that emotional entanglements are not for him and in the next episode, we find out why.

Welcome to The Final Problem.

In the beginning of the episode, Mycroft says that Sherlock had been an emotional child. He only cut himself off from that because of the extreme trauma he had suffered from his sister murdering his best friend. It’s not that Sherlock doesn’t feel anything, he feels TOO MUCH. He can’t deal with it, so he locks it away.

Eurus exploits Sherlock and Molly’s relationship. Here is my problem with the idea that Sherlock doesn’t love Molly: Eurus wouldn’t have an interest in her otherwise. She is entirely focused on hurting Sherlock, John and Mycroft, with most of her focus on Sherlock. She wouldn’t be content hurting Sherlock by having him hurt Molly. It’s not enough. I’ve written on this before, so I won’t rehash everything here.

The moment Sherlock sees the “I Love You” on the coffin, he knows who it is meant for. Yes, he has already made the basic deductions about the coffin, but it’s an abstract. When he sees the words he absolutely knows who the coffin is for, because he knows Molly has always been in love with him. Benedict plays it as a devastating discovery, closing his eyes and turning himself away from the words. He starts to blink a lot, generally becoming agitated.

This moment brings all of the previous Sherlock and Molly moments into focus. Everything is stripped down. There are only a few minutes to get everything done. Sherlock is fighting against the clock (“That chance doesn’t last forever, Sherlock. It’s gone before you know it. Before you know it.”) The scene is entirely between them. They aren’t interrupted by text alerts or fiances. They finally have the chance to be honest.

For all Sherlock claims not to lie, he’s never had a problem with bending the truth in order to get what he needs, especially in a life or death situation. There were a lot of ways he could’ve gotten Molly to say the words I love you. Hell, he could’ve asked her to sing the third verse of The Beatles’ “Michelle” and they would’ve been done in five seconds. But he can’t imagine Molly saying those words without it being a declaration of love to him. 

But Molly doesn’t want to to say it.

“Because it’s true. It’s true. It’s always been true.”

She also knows that Sherlock knows she’s in love with him. Their relationship has always been one with romantic elements, albeit heartbreakingly unrequited.

When Sherlock tells her to say it anyway, Molly tells him to say it first.

Like I said: Sherlock has never had a problem with lying. And as Molly said, she doesn’t want to say it because it’s true. Molly’s life is on the line and Sherlock doesn’t want to say the words, not because it’s a lie, but because he feels something for her and he’s still emotionally constipated from the trauma of Victor’s death.

But Sherlock struggles to get out the words. He isn’t able to look. And once he does get the words out, Benedict’s body language completely changes. Sherlock’s body relaxes and he opens his eyes and looks at the camera image of Molly while he says the words for a second time with no hesitation. Benedict acts like a dam has broken in Sherlock.

As stated in The Lying Detective, Molly is the one person who can see through Sherlock’s bullshit. If she didn’t think that he meant it, she wouldn’t have said it in return.

In the end, Eurus mocks Sherlock for it. Emotions are foolish and he’s stirred so many of them up. She’s been able to destroy both Sherlock and Molly by confusing them.

I’ve seen people critical of the scene between Molly and Sherlock in The Final Problem, but most of those are from people who don’t think Sherlock meant the second 'I love you'. They feel it’s just toying with Molly’s emotions yet again. But if Sherlock does truly mean what he says then it is the culmination of four series of back and forth between them.

Them admitting their feelings also fits with a lot of the tone of this episode and that is Sherlock letting go of the pain of his past, which will finally allow him to grow as a person. He has reached the point where he CAN admit he loves Molly, really and truly.

So… Why isn’t there any follow-up at the end? Well, I think part of that comes from the fact this scene was written very late in the process. The original scene sounds like it cut out any of the emotions, making it just about a puzzling where Molly was in danger. Mark and Steven liked that scene, but everyone else hated it. I’m betting Sue was a big opponent of it (as they have pointed out, Sue is the real boss). As I said, they needed to address Molly and Sherlock’s relationship with each other, because it has been a reoccurring element since Sherlock’s very first scene in the series.

The other reason we don’t get any follow-up is because… Well, it’s not about that. There was so much in this episode, it would’ve been incredible awkward to fit a scene in where Molly and Sherlock hash out what their actual feelings are. Sherlock might not even be entirely sure yet (Which is how Benedict played it). But the thing is, if Sherlock isn’t sure… That means he probably DOES have romantic feelings for Molly. It definitely means he does love her. He wasn’t just lying. A lie wouldn’t need any time to unpack. Also, if he just had platonic feelings for her, it wouldn’t be so complicated. But romance is something that is foreign to him so something he has to think about for longer.

By the end of things, we do know that everything is all right between Molly and Sherlock. Molly shows up at 221B, smiling and happy. They have been able to sort themselves out.

While canonically, it might be ambiguous, there is a clear thread throughout the series from the first moment in A Study in Pink. Sherlock and Molly have come a long way and they do have an ending in The Final Problem. Sherlock absolutely does love her.

It Comes Back To Reichenbach

 (Sherlock meta by Ivy Blossom)

 It seems to me that how you understand S4 comes back to how you understand Sherlock’s fake suicide in The Reichenbach Fall. What actually happened there?

Sherlock prepared a number of different scenarios. He was concerned that he would not survive. He knew John, Lestrade, and Mrs Hudson would be at risk. He knew he had to play along.

He was not required to make John a witness to his fake suicide. He was not required to keep John in the dark about it, either. Not for two years. That was Sherlock’s decision, against the advice of his brother.

This is the point where I think either you agree that Sherlock’s fucked up badly, or you think he sacrificed himself for the greater good and should be praised for it. Either John has a right to be deeply hurt and angry, or John should be thanking Sherlock for his noble sacrifice.

Many fans are deeply invested in Sherlock having been required to lie to John in The Reichenbach Fall because so much depended upon it, including John’s own life. We wanted that hurt to mean something big and emotional, but what we learned from The Empty Hearse is that it meant nothing. It was just a miscalculation.

That’s why Sherlock can arrive back in John’s life making jokes and being jolly. He didn’t understand the hurt he caused; it never crossed his mind that he had torn John to shreds. He had no idea he was loved. It was an emotionally tone deaf, cruel mistake, one Sherlock learns from in S3 and will not make again.

With the perspective of S4, we can say that S2 Sherlock didn’t believe he was capable of having a friend who cared so much about him. He’d believed his whole life that that would be impossible, he was unlovable, only entertainment at best. He constructed a self-image where he wouldn’t and couldn’t have friends who could be taken from him and hurt, and he didn’t know why.

Knowing what we know now, It looks as if he might have deliberately destroyed his extremely close relationship with John out of some kind of subconscious fear of loss and pain, out of fear that someone would take his beloved friend and kill him just to watch Sherlock squirm. But he doesn’t know that he’s reliving a traumatic memory from his past. And that means he doesn’t really understand why he’s crying on the roof before he jumps.

Either you believe Sherlock is emotionally aware and noble at the end of S2, or you think he fucked up. Which side you land on may determine how you read S4.

Molly has no idea how important she is to Sherlock

 (Sherlock meta by broomclosetkink)

I’ve always understood Sherlock’s reaction to Molly in this particular scene [at the hospital in TRF] to be him being truly BAFFLED by the fact that she has no idea how important she is to him. Because if you look at their relationship from Sherlock’s point of view: they not only work together in the lab, they work WELL together, which is rare; she is obviously kind to and thinks well of him, which would be equally rare for him; in his own, stunted way, Sherlock does his best to be kind and good to Molly Hooper, though in series 1 and 2 he’s just a raging dick because he can’t get over the fact the world does not, in fact, revolve around him (while simultaneously being filled with self-loathing this man I can’t even); he not only trusts her opinion, he respects her work and intellect; Molly may well have been the closest thing he had to a friend before John came along. We know they had interaction before John showed up and the show started, because of the way they work together.

So when Sherlock just sort of blinks at her you can see his brain going “ERROR ERROR INFORMATION DOES NOT COMPUTE FILE CORRUPTED”, he is truly STUNNED that she has no idea of how highly he thinks of her. Of how far she’s been allowed into his life. Of what, exactly, she means to him. (In truth, I think that at this point in the series, Sherlock himself doesn’t fully understand how much Molly means to him.)

And when she offers him chips but then shoots his stunned agreement down because she knows he doesn’t really want any... [...] He’s trying. He doesn’t try for just anyone. I mean, like, ever. But for Molly Hooper? You bet your sweet ass he will. And it’s for a case. There’s no motive behind it. He just wants to make Molly happy. 

[...] The very first time I watch this scene, I just paused it and cried. I mean like full on gross sobbed, fogged up my glasses, went through God knows how many tissues. Because Molly is fucking heartbroken and she wants so desperately to help, even though she believes Sherlock thinks about as much of her as one might a tolerated pet. She’s just good. And Sherlock can’t believe that she, who sees so very clearly, DOESN’T see what is right in front of her face (to his mind), which would be how he feels about her. That they are friends.

And he’s hurt by it. Look at his eyes. Look at his expression. Go back and watch The Great Game, when Molly storms out. Watch his face crumple and his eyes go all wide and hurt. He was trying to be kind to Molly. And I feel he does that often with her; tries to be kind, fucks up royally, hates himself for hurting her worse.

[...]

Molly Hooper and the Science of Attraction 

 (Sherlock meta by notagarroter)

There is great variety in sexual behavior and response throughout the mammalian class, and particularly among human animals. Males of the human species are generally considered, in the existing literature, to have a heightened perception of and reception to sexual advances by females, but there exist, of course, many exceptions to this norm. One outlier of particular interest to the Experimenter is the subject of this experimental trial. The Experimenter has designed a series of experiments to investigate the sexual awareness and responsiveness of this male human subject (referred to henceforth as the Subject). Results and conclusions will be reported.

Experiment 1: Lipstick.

Method: The Experimentor left the room to apply some lipstick, then returned to observe the Subject’s response, if any.

Results: The Subject explicitly commented on the lipstick, therefore it can be concluded that it did have some effect on him. However, he does not seem to have interpreted it as a sexual advance.

Conclusion: While the Subject is aware of typical female body-modifications, his response to them is decidely negative.

Follow up to Experiment 1:

At the conclusion of the experiment, the Experimentor removed the lipstick. The Subject responded to this action negatively, and insisted that the Experimentor’s appearance was improved by it. Initial conclusion may need to be revised. Further data to be gathered at a later date.

Experiment 2: Denial of favors. 

Method: In the past, the Experimenter has generally been accommodating of the Subject’s requests. For the purposes of this experiment, the Experimenter denies a request and observes the result.

Results: Subject compliments Experimenter on her physical appearance.

Conclusion: Subject understands common human mate-attraction behaviors (“flirting”) and can mimic these behaviors in appropriate circumstances. The sincerity of the sentiment underlying the behavior remains in question, however. Further study required.

Experiment 3: Jealousy. 

Method: Experimenter seeks to incite jealousy in Subject by introducing him to a sexual rival.

Results: Subject is largely unperturbed by the rival. Unforeseen flaw in experimental design: the chosen rival seems more sexually interested in the Subject than the Experimenter, skewing the results.

Conclusion: Despite some experimental error, jealousy does not appear to be a useful motivator for the Subject.

Experiment 4: Glamour.

Method: Seeking clarification from the mixed results of the Lipstick experiment, the Experimenter uses the excuse of a Christmas party to test the effects of sexually provocative clothing on subject.

Result: While other males in the area responded to the display, the subject did not. In fact, subject reacted aggressively to the display. Further observation: Unexpectedly, the Subject reacted positively to being challenged and scolded by the Experimenter.

Conclusion: Visual displays of sexuality are not effective on subject. Surprising, given the subject’s tendency to dress in sexually provocative clothing himself. The Subject’s response to extra-experimental stimulus, however, warrants further study.

Research note: 

Subject appears to have intimate familiarity with the naked body of another woman. This information is unaccountable, based on what the Experimenter knows of the Subject. Further research definitely warranted.

Experiment 5: Bonding and Sympathy

Method: Experimenter initiates intimate conversation, including sharing personal history and offering friendly support.

Result: Subject seems at turns offended and baffled by overtures.

Conclusion: Total failure. No need for further research on this approach.

Edited conclusion: 

Experimenter may have been hasty with initial conclusions. Subject appears to have experienced a delayed reaction to the experiment. Subject returned later with an altogether different response to stimulus.

Experimenter has decided to discontinue experimental trial. Due to the shifting nature of her relationship with the Subject, the Experimenter can no longer maintain adequate objectivity for this study. The trial is on indefinite hiatus.

You Clearly Don’t Understand. Play You. 

(Or: Things That Everybody Thinks Make Sherlock Canonically Straight But They Really Really Don’t...)

 (Sherlock meta by moffat-rocks)

[...] I. Loved. Series. Four!!! In particular, I loved The Final Problem. I loved Sherlock calling John family, I loved the smashing of the casket, the touching of non-existent glass, the air plane metaphor, Mycroft outside his comfort zone, etcetera etcetera etcetera. I loved the whole bloody thing.

But my favourite, favourite moment was the one when Eurus asks Sherlock to “play you”. And he plays the theme of The Woman. 

Because it is the bravest thing Sherlock has ever done. And it makes this moment incredibly powerful. 

MIND OVER MATTER 

Irene Adler - “The Woman” - is, mildly put, a disputed character of the modern adaptation. Among other things, she is thought to be Moffat’s attempt to make Sherlock “ungay”.

But it really is quite the opposite. The Woman is not a love interest for Sherlock - she is a psychological interest, because she is everything that Sherlock is not. Or more precisely, she is everything Sherlock does not allow himself to be.

Sherlock is a man who suppresses his emotional and physical desires - not the sociopath he would like everyone to believe, but still someone who views emotional and physical desire as a distraction from the true power that is his mind.

Irene fundamentally challenges this belief by being all about desire and being extremely powerful because of it. If Sherlock cannot beat her, it would be an existential defeat to him, as it would question the very foundation of his self-imposed refrain and celibacy.

And so it is no coincidence that Irene is wearing Sherlock’s coat and that her dark hair and blue eyes mimic those of Sherlock. Irene Adler, in a way, is Sherlock. She is the human version of his desires. And A Scandal In Belgravia is entirely about Sherlock’s internal battle between his heart and his head. 

Let me make it very clear at this point that I she is not the human version of Sherlock’s wet dreams. This is an easy confusion to make, but Sherlock does not at any moment show any sign of sexual attraction towards her. (He really doesn’t. Go back and watch it again.)

He is mesmerised by her, yes, and flustered when she calls him sexy, yes, but when she flirts with him, he doesn’t flirt back, when she wants to have dinner, he is not hungry, when they spend a would-be intimate moment in the living room, Sherlock asks for John. Because that is who he really wants to see, as we can tell - not least by the fact that the human version of Sherlock’s desires is, very specifically: gay. 

But what is really interesting about A Scandal In Belgravia is, again, how incredibly powerful Irene is and how much Sherlock underestimates her. Because it shows us just how strong Sherlock’s emotions are and how hard he has to work to contain them. And now that we have seen The Final Problem, we can understand just how tragic Sherlock’s story really is. 

WHAT MIGHT WE DEDUCE ABOUT HIS HEART?

The moment when Mycroft tells the story of Redbeard, we finally learn really why Sherlock chooses to suppress his emotions:

Mycroft: “Sherlock was traumatised. Natural, I suppose. He was, in the early days, an emotional child. But after that he was different.” (The Final Problem) 

Sherlock, the child that is taunted for his lack of cleverness, is traumatised and blames himself for not solving the riddle that could have saved his friend. Sherlock blames himself for being too emotional. 

And from that moment on, he puts his entire existence into getting it right, into becoming a calculated, unattached, high-functioning sociopath, who is above all physical needs and the very best at solving crimes. Sherlock is a consulting detective - not out of vanity, but out of guilt. 

But his emotions, his desires, his yearning for affection - they have never left him. They distract him, they slow him down, they burst out of him. I think even Sherlock’s constant state of withdrawal is a conscious choice made by the writers to symbolise just how bad his mental state really is. Sherlock is forcing himself not to give in to any emotion or physical desire. And it is tormenting him. (Trust Moffat to make me tear up over a nicotine patch…)

In the form of Irene Adler, Sherlock’s emotions tease him, flirt with him, and frequently try to get his attention. But he never ever allows himself to act on it. He never texts back. Or almost never. Because sometimes, he can’t help it. Deep down, Sherlock wants to let his emotional side win.

PLAY YOU 

And then comes the moment when Sherlock finally faces the demons of his past; when he meets his long forgotten torturer, the sister who has forced him to incarcerate himself inside his own mind, the person who, according to Mycroft, has influenced Sherlock’s every choice ever made and every path ever taken. And she asks him to “play you”. 

And at first, Sherlock does put up a front and plays Bach. Look at me, sis, I play highly complex, mathematically structured pieces. Even the name, “Bach”, fits beautifully here: Water from the past creating Sherlock’s rational façade.

But Eurus interrupts him. No, you clearly don’t understand. Play you. 

And at that moment, Sherlock decides to play the theme of Irene Adler. 

The mastermind, the high-functioning sociopath, the consulting detective is told to “play you”. And his answer is: I am emotion. I am desire. I am love. 

He doesn’t know it at that moment, but Sherlock is standing in front of the person who has caused him the greatest damage of his entire life. But instead of hiding himself away as he has done all his life, Sherlock finally shows his true self. The man he wants to be. The man he really is.

Sherlock is coming out as a human being. And it is the bravest and most beautiful thing he has ever done.

I’d like to have a discussion... (about Sherlock's sex life)

 (Sherlock meta by sherlollymouse, emmyjeanb, justanotherfangirls, poetattemptsfiction and 

waitingforthemaninthebluebox)

sherlollymouse:

See, I wouldn’t be surprised either way if found out for sure some way that Sherlock and Irene definitely had sex, but, I always lean towards ‘no’ because I think trust is incredibly important to Sherlock and I’m not convinced he trusted Irene.

She played the same types of games with him people all his life did, before John… Remember Sebastian in The Blind Banker? The letter was very friendly, but he even said they hated Sherlock at uni (“Put the wind up everyone, we hated him.”)… but Sherlock still tried to be friendly (calling him Seb) and felt obviously slighted by John when Sherlock went to great lengths to introduce him as his friend and he corrected him….

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that you don’t have to trust someone to sleep with them. Thats not my point, I just am not sure Sherlock is the type of man that would…

Also, there’s the is he or isn’t a virgin debate.

Heres where I stand:

- If he has had sex, it probably wasn’t the best experience or he regretted it later. (perhaps it was someone he mistakenly thought he could trust or couldn’t)

-He may not have been sober… perhaps he exchanged sex for drugs at some point when he needed a fix and couldn’t pickpocket enough money

-He finds it a distraction and the more he has, the more it’ll distract so, having as little as possible and fulfilling these urges with masterbation instead of involving another person is always preferable.

But, yes, it is bothering me a bit. It feels so silly, not being able to sleep because of the thoughts I’m having about a fictional characters sex life, but it is really bothering me.

Moffat has said something along the lines of not being able to ask Sherlock whether or not he was a virgin and Benedict seems to think he probably had sex with Irene… well, then why not Janine as well?

Again, I think it all comes down to trust with Sherlock when dealing with interpersonal relationships, so, I’m very curious to talk to others about this.The upside is IF he did have sex with Irene, than he definitely had sex with Molly (unless she turned him down) because he’s told us he trusts her and needed her for something pertaining to faking his death.

Does anyone out there agree with me on my thoughts or have more to add?

emmyjeanb:

I enjoyed reading your analysis. BUT, I’m going to have to go against the curve. Here’s my analysis, for what it’s worth:

I think that if he’d never had sex, then it would be indicative that he has some sort of hangup about sex itself. Based on things show people have said about Sherlock’s sexuality and why he is the way he is, I’m more inclined to think that celibacy is a personal choice that he didn’t always make. Part of the whole ‘the body is transport’ thing. He has eaten rich meals, had good nights sleep and had sex before…he’s just mostly cut them out as 'bad for brainwork’. My impression is that this started post-drugs and before that, he didn’t impose these strict rules on himself. Not to say it’s a religious conviction either…every once in awhile, he partakes in each, or at least thinks of doing so. Of the three, sex is the one that’s the most troublesome to come by, so it’s definitely a 'once in a blue moon’ thing.

I think that Irene was one of those times, the first woman in a long while to attract him to the point that he decided to press pause on his monk-like existence. I don’t see Irene and Sherlock’s relationship as love, more like a strong mutual attraction/admiration (their interactions were very sexually charged). They dueled, flirted, he saved her life and it culminated in consummating their attraction, at which point they both went on their merry way. I doubt either of them regrets it at all, in fact I think it’s probably a source of some very fond, tingly memories (hence Irene’s cameo in Sherlock’s mind in The Sign of Three) but not something either of them pine after in an emotional sense.

He didn’t sleep with Janine, per say. Even if he were inclined to deny it out of some sort of shame or pride, it was Janine herself who said she wished she’d gotten at least one shot at it. I’ve heard people come up with ways to read what she said in a different way that changes the meaning, but I personally think any other reading is a stretch. Although I do think it’s obvious there was some stuff going on - she slept in his bed and had no problem getting in the bathtub with him. Maybe even some non-penetrative stuff, which I guess could be called sex, depending on your classification. Janine seemed to think she was ripped off in that sense, though, so there’s that.

As for Molly - that relationship is the most complicated, in my opinion. Basically, I don’t think Molly and Sherlock’s relationship is sexual. I think you’re right in that trust is huge for Sherlock, which puts Molly on a different level than either of the other two because he doesn’t/didn’t trust Janine or Irene. Molly isn’t someone he could have 'fun’ with without lasting emotional impact/consequences, and he would never use her in that way at this point. The tone of their most recent interactions is tinged with a kind of fondness, gravity and a respectful deference that is unique to Sherlock’s interactions on the show, IMO. Something’s simmering there that hints very vaguely (tantalizingly, to me) of romantic yearnings on both sides, but it’s not exactly sexual. Yet. Of all three, Molly is the least likely person to have had sex with him, because it would never be 'just’ sex. She’s the one with whom he shares the deepest emotional connection by far.

[...]

sherlollymouse:

I don’t think you went against the curve at all… in fact I agree with you about having sex with Molly being more than sex.

I’m just trying to make sense of the obvious reactions he has when sex is brought up.

I’m inclined to think he doesn’t have the fondest memories because Janine was right, it wasn’t just discomfort, there was a bit of fear… as if those comments made her seem predatory to him.

Irene just boggles my mind… because I genuinely do think they were attracted to each other, but I still think trust is paramount to him BECAUSE he doesn’t have sex that often.

I dunno…like I said, it wouldn’t surprise me either way, I just wouldn’t get it because of the things I mentioned.

justanotherfangirls:

I do think that Benedict and Moffat heavily implied that Sherlock and Irene had sex in Karachi, so I had found it a bit inconsistent that the Irene in his mind palace had the hairstyle she had when he saw her naked the first time they met. I would have expected her with her hair down like what we saw of her in Karachi, because surely that memory would be fonder than when he met her for the first time. Unless she fixed her hair like that after Sherlock saved her life, I am inclined to believe that’s the only time they confirmed that he saw her naked. And he had memorized how she looked because he is attracted to her. I mean, I’m a straight girl but I’m attracted to her. Also his porn preference is basically “normal” in canon, whatever that means it is not the dominatrix wild kinky thing I would associate with sex with Irene. They left it open like that so viewers would think what they want, I mean you could believe that they did, but you could also believe that they didn’t. Much like what they implied with him having sex with Molly as I have previously written in another post. You could believe that they did, or you could believe that they did not.

poetattemptsfiction:

Interesting. I don’t think that he slept with Irene or Molly. I don’t think he’s a virgin, but I think he likely stopped having sex once he became a detective and was off drugs (I’m assuming here the two coincided as he alluded to the fact that he solves crimes to stay clean in His Last Vow). I think he’s stubborn, and he’s convinced that sexual intimacy would interfere with his work, so he’s celibate. Dunno, though. He could be a total slut and has had sex with the lot of them.

waitingforthemaninthebluebox:

I think it’s highly unlikely (even if his asshole does clench up at the mention of it) that at 35 or whatever age Sherlock is supposed to be that he is a virgin. I think your theory about bad experiences/trust issues is pretty solid. I know people that HAVE had sex but still don’t like to talk about or have other people talk about it. As for not having sex with Janine some girls like Janine (confident, successful and sexually confident as well) would probably get frustrated being in a relationship for a month and not having had sex or discussion about it.

[...]

If it does turn out to be revealed that he’s a virgin I dunno it makes me feel a little weird. Like I was a late bloomer but damn in your 30's? He must have had sex.

Time for another speculative theory about the Christmas scene

 (Sherlock meta by kathleenkellly)

Time for another speculative theory… In A Scandal in Belgravia prior to the Christmas scene, suppose Sherlock had been mistakenly informed that Molly had a boyfriend. He was especially agitated during this scene. Now this was probably due to the fact that all these people were in his flat. But maybe there was more to it. Why did he go after Molly here unless there was something that we don’t know about. He seemed so determined to prove that Molly’s present was for her boyfriend that it completely blinded him from the fact that it could be for anyone else (or himself!).

Let’s work through the whole scene. It starts out with Sherlock playing the violin near the window. As others have pointed out, every time Sherlock is expecting Molly at Baker St., he is near or looking out the window prior to her arrival. In this scene, it cuts away right after he steps toward the window and shows the outside of the building just as a cab drives by. I watched this very closely and it appears that he looks out just as it cuts away. In the previous scene, Sherlock is playing the violin and watches out the window as Mycroft leaves so it would make sense that in this scene he would be playing as he watches for as someone arrives. Playing the violin would give him an excuse to casually walk around and look out the window for Molly without anyone noticing. I’m guessing this party is just a casual, drop-by-whenever type of get-together. We know that Molly was invited because no one was surprised to see her, so Sherlock would have known to expect her. He finishes playing his song and proceeds with trying to figure out Jeanette’s name in his slightly annoyed mood (which gets worse when Molly arrives), not caring about her or John’s feelings. In fact, he seems to want to ruin everyone’s relationships as he later informs Lestrade that his wife is sleeping with a p.e. teacher and that John’s sister is still drinking, again all without remorse.

Molly arrives all dressed up, bearing gifts. “Oh, dear Lord.” Now this comment can be taken different ways. I think it’s due to her fancy appearance. Look at his eyes when he sees her walk in. They’re wide open and he stares at her for a minute. He wasn’t expecting her to be so dressed up and he’s probably never seen her like this before, since he mostly sees her at work. He says it sarcastically, but I think he is hiding his genuine surprise. After Molly walks in, Sherlock avoids looking at her. She takes off her coat with everyone in awe. She tries to make eye contact with Sherlock, but he busies himself with the computer, deliberately trying to distract himself. He can’t help but listen to the conversation though and add his biting remarks.

Molly makes conversation with everyone. She makes the joke to Mrs. Hudson about doing post-mortems. “Don’t make jokes, Molly” Sherlock says almost affectionately. I think Sherlock liked this joke. He couldn’t help commenting. He has a morbid sense of humor just like Molly. To me the subtext here is “I appreciate the joke but these people don’t, so it’s probably not a good idea”. We find out that Sherlock chats with Molly, possibly as they work together at Barts, and has told her about everyone’s holiday plans. She finally gets Sherlock to look over at her briefly by teasing about his complaining.

Sherlock proceeds to get crankier until he finally can’t stand it anymore. He has to find out who Molly’s boyfriend is. He has been thinking about it since she walked in and has now reached the breaking point. He picks up the present to peek at the label, but not before showing off a little. His deductions seem like rather a stretch unless he had heard something about a possible boyfriend. He jumps to some pretty hasty conclusions (she’s serious about him? long-term hopes?… getting a little ahead of ourselves aren’t we, Sherlock?). He thinks the reason she’s dressed up is because she’s seeing him later. This would explain why he’s gotten more agitated since she’s arrived. His jealousy has manifested itself as annoyance with everyone and trying to prove he is right.

Sherlock has a reason to worry about Molly having a boyfriend. The last guy Molly dated was Moriarty so Sherlock is probably feeling protective of her knowing what he does now. I wonder if he’s told Molly who Jim from I.T. really is. Either way, he has now met Moriarty and knows this same man went out with Molly. It would seem natural that he would worry about her since they work together often.

Sherlock’s focus on Molly’s boyfriend causes him to be wrong. His jealousy has gotten in the way of his deductions and causes him to hurt her. For the first time we see his feelings get in the way of his reasoning, the very thing he tries to avoid.

Sherlock is shocked. You can see it on his face. Not only is he wrong, but even worse he has hurt Molly. What started out as friendly teasing ended up going horribly wrong. She calls him out on the awful things he says. He tries to walk away, but can’t. Whether he was aware of it before or not, Sherlock realizes now that he cares for Molly and that he really screwed up. He apologizes and kisses her on the cheek to the shock of everyone else. His phone goes off and he gets distracted with Irene’s present still feeling awful. John tries joking with him about about the number of texts he’s gotten, but he’s not in the mood. He sets Molly’s present on his desk and we are left to guess what it could be. I also wonder what would have happened had his phone not gone off…

Later on in the episode Molly asks him about Irene’s phone: “Is it your girlfriend’s?”. “You think she’s my girlfriend because I’m x-raying her possessions.” Molly says “well, we all do silly things”. I think Molly is referring to how he deduced she had a boyfriend because of how she wrapped a present. They were both trying to figure out if the other was seeing someone or not and made hasty deductions. They are both interested in each other’s relationship status.

This is all before the big breakthrough Sherlock has with Molly in TRF, but I think it’s where their relationship really starts to change. Sherlock, who has never cared about what he says to others, including everyone else he taunted at Christmas, realizes Molly is different. He didn’t like how he felt after he hurt Molly and I think at this moment he resolves to treat her better. And Molly knows that she can stand up for herself and challenges Sherlock to be the better man that she knows he can be.

A thought: why did Sherlock go to Molly for help in S2?

 (Sherlock meta by therealbucky05, irisang and bassfanimation)

irisang:

I mean, he didn’t go to her because he had to fake his death. According to him later in S3, he and his brother had already been working on that. But he still went to Molly just moments before he jumped off that roof. He didnt go to her because of her profession. Because he and Mycroft must have already arranged everything they needed. So, the question remains.

What did he really mean when he said he needed her?

therealbucky05:

Moffat said in one interview that the emotional display on the rooftop was a show for John, but that the emotions with Molly where real - in my opinion he wanted a reassuring presence during that trial.

irisang:

I agree. He didn’t really need anything technical from her when he faked his death. Molly was about to leave her work place when he went to her. And we know that the building was supposed to be closed for other people when he jumped. But Sherlock wanted her on board.

bassfanimation:

This is probably a good post to talk about something that I thought about at 221B Con, during the Molly Hooper panel.

This gif shows exactly why Molly Hooper is in Sherlock’s mind palace, and why he goes to her for help when there’s no one else to turn to. It also shows why Lestrade, and more specifically John, are not in Sherlock’s mind palace.

“If I wasn’t everything that you think I am, everything that I think I am…” 

Sherlock, for all intents and purposes, appears to be superhuman, almost a magician, to John and Lestrade. You see it in how Lestrade looks at him, and how John looks at him. They really do think it’s all magic, that Sherlock alone has this amazing ability to dodge death and figure out every single problem on Earth with little or no assistance. They think he alone can rid the world of every evil. They truly ‘believe’ he is more than what he really is. Sherlock himself, as stated by Irene Adler, believes he is a higher power. Lestrade and John believe this as well, whether they admit it or not.

In this scene, Sherlock is effectively lifting the veil for someone he trusts. He’s showing Molly Hooper (and the audience) that he isn’t the Wizard of Oz…he’s just a man who needs help. Despite everything he has built around his reputation, his facade, his image, he is simply still a man, and he can’t do it all on his own. He is showing Molly, “This is actually something I can’t do, because I’m not a higher power…and I want to know if you are ok with that. Will you still care for me? Will you still help me even though I’m showing you what I am behind the curtain?” The funny thing is, Molly already saw what was behind the curtain…he is simply saying she was right.

Molly accepts Sherlock, without the magic, without the curtain, just as we, the audience have.

John and Lestrade are not allowed to see how the sausage is made (sorry, people said not to use that analogy for obvious reasons, but it’s so apt here). They can’t see behind the curtain. Sherlock is quite addicted to the feeling of people thinking he’s super human. John and Lestrade’s opinion of him, and what he can do, means more to him than logic at this point. He needs at least someone to believe he’s special, that he’s THE genius, THE BEST. We saw in His Last Vow that Mycroft constantly taunted Sherlock, calling him stupid, making him second guess himself. John and Lestrade believe Sherlock is not only not-intelligent, but they truly see him as the very pinnacle of the best. He must preserve that for them. For himself…and even for them. (It’s actually hugely selfish of all three of them to feed into this, but that’s another discussion.)

Lestrade and John, both having been in services that show the worst of humanity, need to believe in something good. Something far, far better than the humanity they’ve come to know. Sherlock is that answer for them.

For Molly Hooper, she’s also seen death, but it’s the aftermath. Because of her natural optimism, she doesn’t need all this reassurance that humanity is amazing or magical. She sees beneath the curtain all the time, in a very odd way. Her job is to see to what other people miss. To see inside. She does this with living human beings as well, and she’s not afraid of it. Sherlock, I think, notices this about her very slowly, but it becomes something very special to him later. This scene marks the real turn. He is allowing her to see inside him, because he trusts her to see inside him and not hate what she sees, as so many others have before.

This is why Molly, Mycroft, and even Anderson are in Sherlock’s mind palace. Most importantly, Molly is the only one who consistently encourages him. She’s the one who he trusts every time.

The Virgin Genius and the Power of Molly’s Desire 

 (Sherlock meta by drinkingcocoa)

The first time I watched “A Scandal in Belgravia,” I was startled by Sherlock’s viciously personal putdowns of Molly Hooper. Who is he to comment on the size of her mouth and breasts? “Don’t make jokes, Molly”? It’s not as though dating or small talk are Sherlock’s forté, either.

Ah.

In a discussion on LiveJournal, dis_quiet commented about the Christmas party scene: “Sherlock got a little jealous, or in any case, left behind. He thought he could always rely on Molly, in a way she’d never know, but there she was, all dressed up, ready for a date. I think Sherlock felt, or wanted to think that there was a sort of kinship between him and Molly. How he loved emphasizing her awkwardness. All your future attempts at a relationship, Molly, should be nipped in the bud. For him she was that Other that he felt comfortable with as far as sexual inadequacies were concerned.”

This is one of the many instances of mirroring in Steven Moffat’s beautifully structured script. Having been bested, for the moment, by a far more sexually savvy opponent, the suddenly inadequate Sherlock is sensitized to Molly’s similar shortcomings. Sexual knowledge has been on Sherlock’s mind.

He learns so much from the ways in which Molly and Irene are doubles. Where Irene hides her heart behind a mirrored safe, elicits desire from people and reflects it back to them, Molly is the opposite: her Freudian slips and blunders are a constant betrayal of her desire. So that’s how desire looks when it’s real. The same red lipstick as Irene, the same small breasts, but with nothing hidden, from her bra straps to her stammers…and the same arousal at Sherlock’s touch.

Ah.

The wince of shame on Sherlock’s face when he realizes what he’s done to Molly at the party – it’s not unrelated to his shame when he’s disgraced in Mycroft’s office. His dismissal of the relevance of sexual knowledge has hurt people, perhaps destroyed them. Whether one reads this virginal Sherlock as sexual, asexual, or celibate, he has avoided sexual interaction at least in part because it involves interpersonal communication. That has always been a source of disconnection and torment for him, an area so fraught that it’s too stressful to bother.

And he thought himself detached from sex because the rest of the world had passed him by so long ago in this area, in all its irrational stupidity and mess, and none of this folly had anything to do with him…until it did. Molly’s desire implicates him and he hadn’t seen it and look how he brutalized her honest overture. She desired him as though he were…valid. A part of all this. She was inviting him into the dance. Whether he wanted the dance or not, he’d thought himself apart from it. And then he showed that we must not ever underestimate Sherlock Holmes; we must not think that just because sometimes he doesn’t understand sentiment, he is always incapable of it. He crossed over and apologized and kissed her. And if he overshot and the quality of that physical contact was more sexual than it should have been, well, he didn’t have much experience, did he? He didn’t know yet how it feels when the object of one’s fantasies comes close and touches lips to the face and speaks one’s name, close and low. He didn’t know he was being seductive. How was he to have known? He didn’t mean to be. He only felt dreadful, and sorry.

But he learns from Molly’s undone response to his inadvertent intimacy. He recalls it when he takes Irene’s pulse. He learns more, to his shame, when Irene kisses his left cheek as he spills state secrets. And in a glorious bit of actor improvisation, when it comes time to undo Irene, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock comes close to her in the same way he kissed Molly, on the right cheek, which is more emotional for most people than the left. But this time, the proximity is completely intentional in its intimacy: dangerous, fully knowing. He has learned Irene’s game.

It was not Irene, then, but Molly whose desire pulled him into mortality and sexual knowledge.

In “The Reichenbach Fall,” Molly asks what he needs and his answer, “You,” is laden with portentous meaning, verging on sexual. Whether this was intentional or appropriate, the intimacy seemed to acknowledge the sexual content of every anguished slip Molly has made over two seasons about her desire for him, amplifying and dignifying that desire. Molly sees Sherlock at his worst, sees him more clearly even than John Watson does, and still loves him. She sees him not as an overgrown child, a virgin to mock, or an unfeeling genius, but as a romantically valid adult. Whatever illusions she has about the kind of lover he’d be…oh, would you look at that. She doesn’t have any. She knows him.

That is what Moriarty cannot imagine even though he has played at romance with Molly. Nobody could see the true Moriarty and love him. The kind of sexual desire that can know the whole person and grow only stronger: Moriarty cannot see that at all. But now, Sherlock can. It is Molly’s desire that brings about Sherlock’s fall into sexual awareness, a fall in the most classic apple-of-knowledge cast-out-of-paradise sense, never again to be an angel. Not that he will necessarily desire Molly in return or be physically involved, but now he knows the thrilling humility of having been known truly and truly desired, not only in spite of but because. He’s part of the mortal world now.

A toast. To Molly Hooper.

You. 

 (Sherlock meta by mae-jones)

Molly asks, “What do you need?”

Sherlock Answers, “You.”

Not, ‘your help’. Not, ‘help’. Not anything else.

Sherlock needed Molly, not just her assistance. I would argue there were agents Mycroft could have employed better than Molly. She was actually a huge liability and potentially detrimental to his plan. She’s not experienced in subterfuge. In fact, she wears her heart on her sleeve. I tend to doubt very much that she flitted around acting all cool and collected that day. Also, she would have been exhausted after pulling a double shift. Molly Hooper’s activities should have raised some serious red flags regardless of how ‘important’ anyone thought she was to Sherlock.

So, why did he risk it? He told us.

“You.”

He needed Molly Hooper. He wanted to be in the company of someone who loved him absolutely unreservedly in what might be the final hours of his life. He needed her emotional strength and support. He needed someone to save him while he saved others. No one else would do.

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.

Rewatching Sherlolly: A Scandal in Belgravia

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

I would be lying if I said I did not compare the scenes with Irene with that of Molly’s, but it was really hard not to. Because, and this may be biased, Sherlock was never more sincere, honest, or caring, as he was with Molly. It’s almost as if her vulnerability, kindness, and awkwardness bring out the exact same traits in him.

At the Christmas party, Sherlock was in a good mood, even playing the violin for Mrs. Hudson. He does not look uncomfortable when Lestrade, John, Jeannette and Mrs. Hudson were there. When Molly arrived, he suddenly became irritable; honestly, his oh, dear Lord, was an overreaction. No stopping them apparently – was that Sherlock trying to look cool, or at least too cool for Christmas drinkies? He even distracts himself with the computer, typing and then checking John’s blog and his picture there. Which I do not think he normally does. He seems unnerved by Molly’s presence yet does not leave his flat. I think he does want to be in that party but does not know how to socialize so he pretends to be busy. Molly made him self-conscious.

He does pretend to be busy, but he listens to Molly’s every comment and comments on that. The attention just had to be back to him. Interesting, this part. I read somewhere that Sherlock invited Molly rather than John. That is also what I believe. Molly said there was a note on the door saying to “just come up”, which was probably Sherlock rather than John, he’s more of the notes type (Crime in progress, please disturb) and John would have just texted or told her so. He was more involved in this party than I initially thought. And he was thoughtful of his two guests (3 if you count Jeanette, but John would have advised her) who would need that note. Molly also knew stuff about the guests which I think she got from Sherlock just because she did not seem to be in the gossiping stage with John – notice that the only interaction she had with John was when he took her coat, and that they had not been talking about where he would be at Christmas before this, which would have been brought up if he was the one who told her about Lestrade, or if he was the one who invited her.

There were moments that suggested a familiarity and closeness between Sherlock and Molly, almost as if they had their own language. Quite inevitable as they worked closely often. Him advising her social cues – 'Don’t make jokes, Molly'. She probably makes jokes with him and he was used to it. There may even be times that she successfully made him laugh. And he just knows that those jokes would only work on him and not on other people. There was also his quick glance at her when she revealed he has been complaining to her about John, which she had correctly translated as, I have NOT been complaining, and that was supposed to be our secret! That she had immediately changed, no he was not complaining – he was saying.

Finally Sherlock decided that it was Molly’s turn to be deduced. He is clearly not pleased that Molly has a boyfriend, she’s serious about him, and that this boyfriend’s present is prettily wrapped while his was slap dash at best. He is also not pleased that Molly had prettily wrapped herself for said boyfriend and adds that her long term hopes are probably forlorn. He is socially inept, but I think he is also jealous which would explain the out of proportion meanness even for Sherlock. (He is often mean, but almost always for a reason. Drugs John as an experiment, harasses an old lady for accurate information.)

Sherlock maintained his defenses, an armor of brilliant, but cold, calculating, and cruel deductions; that same armor breaking down as he read the words that Molly had filled with her hopes and love, complete with the words Dearest and Love and the 3 x’s to seal the deal. (Not that I was comparing, but Irene herself only gave him 2 x’s.) Leaving him fully exposed and unsure of what to do next. He wanted to run away from them, from her, but decides that she does not deserve this and that he would do anything, even something as taxing as to apologize, something as sentimental as to kiss her, just to show her that he cares enough for her to compromise himself. He did not look exactly pleased when his phone interrupted them, knowing fully well that it would hurt Molly’s feelings if she assumed that he had a girlfriend. I think he even hid in his room so people would not see Irene’s gift and make these assumptions. Sadly she assumes anyway.

The scene at the morgue was for me the most emotional scene of the episode. Still reeling from the realization that Molly was seriously in love with him all this time, and that he had hurt her feelings by being himself, he now had to be in the same room as her and identify the body of a woman whom Molly probably would be jealous of. It is very touching that he tries to be as gentle and considerate as possible to her. For a man who in ordinary situations is already rude and inconsiderate of other people, he had shown a superhuman ability to actually be nice, in a situation where a woman, who canonically is important to him, could be dead. It is also interesting that Mycroft refers to Bart’s as his home away from home, and as Molly is a consistent part of his life there, she is, in part, his home. Sherlock however does not appear to hear any of this, all of his attention is on Molly. He tells her she didn’t have to come in. Probably because he just now realized how he was always inconsiderate of Molly’s time when he makes her help him. I think he also doesn’t want Molly to see how, and when, he identifies the body because it would break her heart. The way his face becomes gentle, caring, and sympathetic when Molly says she had nothing better to do at Christmas, unlike everyone else, is perhaps the most emotional, honest, and human Sherlock had looked in this whole episode.

It has always been my headcanon that Sherlock had chosen Molly to be in his life, not only because she is smart and competent enough to help him, as I’m sure many others were. We don’t see him try to be nice to these other competent people, it was only ever Molly. What made her special I think was that he sees himself in her, that lonely, socially awkward, weird person who cares too much, that he constantly hides under his cold, brilliant exterior. He understand her in a level that most other people can’t. And so he feels he needed to protect her, even and especially from himself.

It is worth noting that Molly was the one who made the move to reveal the body, as Sherlock was still surprised, and concerned, and gazing at Molly intently, his curiosity over the identity of the body momentarily forgotten. Only then did he break away from looking at her. There was one moment of hesitation on his part when he asked her to show him the rest of the corpse’s body, knowing that she would assume they were together and it would break her heart. I noticed that he had avoided looking at Molly during and after he identified the body, only glancing at her for a millisecond and quickly looking away as if he cannot bear to see both the pain and the sympathy in her eyes, as if it physically hurt him.

We next see Molly in the lab. They are apparently back to normal, working together and talking comfortably again. Molly seems to be pretending she’s okay with him around, even with him having a girlfriend, to make him comfortable around her. I do think Molly somehow led him to believe that she isn’t that serious about him so that they would return to their status quo and that horrible party would be forgotten (deleted). So he becomes as oblivious as ever. That, or he was a bit disappointed and then proceeded to flaunt that he does have a woman acquaintance, who loves to play games, and neglected to say that he in fact doesn’t do girl- or boyfriends. And then goes on to distract himself with the puzzle and the game to avoid this girl who had made him feel, making himself believe that she means nothing to him. But then it’s not that surprising. We all do silly things, after all.

Rewatching Sherlolly: The Reichenbach Fall (part 1)

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

(Note: I split this into two parts because the whole Sherlolly in this episode just overwhelmed me. In a good way.)

This is the episode that changed everything for me. I was pretty much comfortable with Sherlock and Molly’s setup in the past five episodes. It’s cute, sweet, and Not Happening, and I was okay with that. Until they made Molly much, much more than a fangirl with a crush. Here we come full circle from episode one of season 2, when he had believed that caring is not an advantage, love is a dangerous disadvantage, and sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side. Molly became the key that made him realize just how wrong he is. She had saved him, not only from Moriarty’s intricate, diabolical plan, but perhaps more importantly, from himself. With the caring, sentiment, and love that he had loathed so much.

Let’s first take a look at the scene with Kitty Riley, which had some Molly references. Sherlock classifies his fans into two types: Catch me before I kill again, and Your bedroom’s just a taxi ride away. Molly had always been labeled as a representation of the fans, but Sherlock himself doesn’t see her as a fan at all, as we would later see.

Kitty tries to seduce him into agreeing to an interview, and Sherlock then decides to beat her at her own game. He becomes so mouthwateringly seductive and dangerously sexy, taunting her just to say at the end, to her face, that she is never getting an interview - or him. He is being deliberately cruel. He never does try that trick with Molly, their flirting was always so gentle and innocent. Never cruel or dangerous. We also see Sherlock judge Kitty as someone who tries hard to be noticed, keeping up appearances with the posh skirt and polished nails, and a hunger for something, attention or money or fame. He emphasized two traits he found her severely lacking: being smart and being trustworthy, with the latter stressed more. It could be coincidence, but it’s as if in his mind, he was comparing Kitty to Molly. Molly who is content to stay in the background while he focuses on his work, who dresses with cherry blouses and baggy pants, and who never, ever asks or demands for anything. Who is awfully smart he elicits her help in cases. Who he had always trusted. He even treats them opposite. It looked a lot like Molly was his gold standard and he may not even realize it. The complete opposite of what repels him. (And I don’t know about Sherlock, but don’t people usually compare the person coming on to them to that one person they set apart from the rest?)

The first actual scene with Molly was when she was on her way to a lunch date. She is apparently trying to move on from Sherlock, who never does notice her. Only Sherlock then barges in, Molly says she has a lunch date, and he says easily, cancel it, you’re having lunch with me. He even spins her around and it seems familiar he might have done it several times in the past. He had technically offered that she have a lunch date with him. He didn’t say us even if John was there. And remember, his idea of a date is two people who like each other would go out and have fun, by solving a case. And he brought crisps, he doesn’t eat, and he wouldn’t carry John’s food in his pocket. He had planned this. And he was oh so very sure, he knows that Molly would always choose him, would rather be with him even if she would just have crisps in the lab, than a real meal in a restaurant with anyone else. He knows what she was trying to do - get over him, and he consciously prevents it. He wouldn’t do that if he also intends for her to do so. He would have some other clever way to make or trick her into helping him.

Sherlock knows how Molly feels about him, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. He doesn’t outright reject her, in his words to save her time. He also seems to make her feel that he doesn’t notice her. I remember his line in THoB, when he said that he had always divorced himself from feelings, therefore acknowledging that he had them. I wonder if this would be one of the cases he does that, where he pretends there’s absolutely nothing between them, only for the truth to resurface at the mention of a lunch date.

Molly’s confused what? made Sherlock show more of his cards. One of her old boyfriends, he says with such spite. Interesting that he uses the plural form. Oh he is jealous. And he even knows that Jim wasn’t her boyfriend, they went out three times, and she ended it. She looks at John when she says that last bit. Because Sherlock knows all of that already. As I said before, he just maybe liked her to correct him and to say it all again. And then he becomes unbelievable. He actually blames Jim’s crimes on her dumping him, implying that the consulting criminal psychopath was too heartbroken that he decides to terrorize London. He never believed that, Molly would never believe that. But he uses this as reason for her to avoid all future attempts at a relationship, “for the sake of law and order”. Sherlock is nothing if not logical, and even with his insults, manipulation, and lies he always manages to make sense. Except here. He wanted her to avoid relationships - all of them. But he uses a silly argument for that. And the only logical reason for that is something he cannot say aloud. Of course, although she looks so very confused at his mixed signals, Molly could not say no. But it still makes me happy watching him try to win her.