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noelnoel545-blog · 8 years

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Why everything in TST seemed weird – INCEPTION Theory

*** very long post ahead, sorry for flooding your dash ***

There is an almost endless list of things that seemed wrong or off in The Six Thatchers. By now I don’t think I have to sell that idea to anyone in the fandom. I’m convinced the people involved in the show put in a great deal of effort to make everything so different from what we know from previous Sherlock episodes. The question is: WHY? Why change well known aspects from the 221b set? Why go through all the trouble to create special overlay effects when transitioning between scenes? I’ll tell you why: If you look closely you’ll see that not everything is off. Many things, yes. But not everything. Someone went through a lot of trouble to make a distinction between reality and altered reality/whatever you want to call it, possible. If they were going to use parts of TST in TLD – which I believe they are because OH BOY OUR DETECTIVE IS LYING HERE – they would make sure the truth would come through if you know what to look for. And we do.

What I want to do here is tell you about a theory I came up with two days ago – it took some time to wrap my head around it, find support and write it all down.

Rewatching TST with the belief that there must be a way to determine which parts are fake and which are not gave me an interesting sense of déjà-vu. The whole episode reminded me of the 2010 movie Inception (hence the title of my theory).

I think the writers are trying to perform an inception on us. In the movie Inception, Cobb and his team invade people’s dreams in order to steal information. However, their most difficult assignment is not a theft – it’s planting an idea in someone’s head which will subconsciously influence their perception of reality and their behavior (or here: which will make us believe completely idiotic things like Mary suddenly dying a hero) just to create an even more powerful rug-pulling moment. A shattering climax. And we know for sure they are going for that.

Planting ideas - We’ve heard that before. What if everything in TST that seems off is just part of a scheme to set the audience up for Johnlock? To show us things even the casual viewers find wrong, set it all right in the next episode, pull the rug and confront us with what they have been going for all along – which is John and Sherlock in a relationship. It’s difficult to do, it’s even more difficult to pull it off in a way which would make even casual viewers believe this is the right thing to do. What if this is why they created an episode which seemed so wrong in the first place? What if we are being manipulated without knowing it? A planted idea which sticks – the idea that John and Sherlock together is how it should be – anything is better than the complete chaos we saw in TST. WHAT IF we are part of an Inception? What if this inception is part of setting the audience up for the big moment of revelation? Telling us a bunch of lies to make the final truth more palatable. What if we are the ‘victims’ and the Inception is being performed on us?

Also, what struck me is this: The dreams Cobb creates in Inception feel totally real. They are such perfect copies of reality, that to be able to tell if they in a dream or not, Cobb and his colleagues carry special items which enable them to differentiate between reality and dreams. They call it a totem. It’s a well-known object which has very distinct qualities in reality which radically change and seem off in dream/ in a place which isn’t reality. By looking at their totems they can determine whether what they experience is real or a dream.

In order to pull of the kind of revelation they are going for the audience needs to be able to rewatch TST and see exactly which parts we have been lied about, right?

The lie is literally projected on us. Why? Because we get hints throughout the episode that even if we are presented with fake/surreal versions of reality IT’S NEVER COMPLETELY MADE UP. WE ARE BEING TOLD THAT SMALL CHANGES ARE MADE IN ODER TO MAKE IT PLAUSIBLE BECAUSE YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN EVERYTHING AWAY. You were told – but did you listen (pun to my username totally intended).

In one of the first scenes, Sherlock watches the altered account of Magnussen’s death which clears his name. They didn’t change everything, just one tiny detail (who shot him). They changed literally 4 seconds of footage in that clip. The rest is real. However, we also get this shot. The viewer takes the place of the screen on which we saw the altered version of events. We are there. The beamer is literally projecting an altered version of reality on us! An altered version, not a completely fake one. The outcome stays the same (Magnussen dies) but the events which led there are altered.

We hear the merchant story three times. It always ends with the merchant being unable to outrun death. But what are Sherlock and Mycroft telling us here? Sherlock himself says that he never liked that story. And Mycroft? He says Sherlock wrote his own version. An altered version, where the merchant did succeed, Sherlock wrote an optimistic ending but all in all not a completely fake account of the events. Sherlock altered the version of the story and gave it a happy ending – the merchant runs off and becomes a pirate. What happened before the key moment – meeting death in Samarra – stays the same. Different outcome, same story. The writers are telling us that Sherlock wants happy endings, more specifically: he wants his personal happy ending.

So we know now that what people are going to see is an altered version of reality and also if Sherlock doesn’t like a story he will rewrite it. And the writers told us that creating BBC Sherlock is their attempt to set things right. They are literally doing the same thing Sherlock does here – telling a seemingly dark and hopeless story but rewriting the ending.

Let’s find some more things that support the idea that the whole episode is actually an inception being performed on us (the viewers). Let’s focus on the part where Cobb in Inception talks about totems.

I think that the writers have given us totems in TST so we can find out what’s real and what’s not. Because we are supposed to figure it out – if not, how would they be able to create an I-told-you-so moment, which is again something Steven said in an interview, so we know they are going for that, too. They are actually being nice – they are using things we’ve seen before, similar tells/totems to the ‘dream’ in TAB.

A totem is a well known object with distinct qualities. Well known objects in Sherlock are the signature skull painting and the actual human skull on the mantelpiece. And those have been changed! And the writers and set designers made those deliberate changes public. They talked about it, tweeted about it. If these changes were unimportant they would simply not talk about them. They are telling us to pay attention because – and here comes a crack theory – the skulls and also very over-the-top scene transitions can be used to determine which parts are real and which are fake. Again, I don’t believe that it’s all a lie. Like the events revolving Magnussen’s death and Sherlock changing the merchant story so it would have a happy ending, I actually believe the frame of TST is real. They only lie about details.

In TAB there is a ‘Victorian version’ of the skull painting showing both a skull and a young woman looking in a mirror. In TST we get the creepy glowing skull painting which is seen in countless shots. And if we can’t see the painting there is the human skull which has now added spectacles, another hint that reality is being obscured.

But what can we as a viewer (and also Sherlock himself) take as an indication that something is imagined? Which totems/tells are being used to enable us to see what’s real and what’s not? Let’s take a look at things the writers and Arwel have kindly been pointing out and let’s also look at everything that’s different from how the show normally is. Keep in mind, totems are well known items which are altered if you’re in a dream. Which are the totems and tells we are given?

1. The new, glowing skull painting. If it’s visible (and sometimes it takes up about half of the screen) something is fake/a dream. The more clearly it is visible, the more Sherlock is altering realitiy.

2. If other objects which create a changed version of reality (such as mirrors, cameras, magnifying glasses, spectacles, and also events seen in the windows of a bus or a plane) are visible, it’s a fake version of reality, too. There’s also a great post by @sherchemistlock about the use of mirrors in TST. This basically means: every time we see an objects which is known to reflect/alter vision/reality, we are not being told the whole truth. A part of is is withheld (but not all of it is fake – more on that later).

These objects are being used as totems/tells:

SPECTACLES: Most important here: The skull on the mantelpiece. If it’s missing like in TAB (where it is replaced by a tiny hound statue btw), and if it’s wearing spectacles like in many shots in TST, it’s all imagined. Mark even tweeted a picture of the skull wearing spectacles, which means it must be important.

MIRRORS (which show you a flipped version of reality): John and Mary only lie on their correct sides in bed IF YOU SEE THEM THROUGH A MIRROR.

BINOCULARS: Sherlock’s looking though something else, changing his natural vision and therefor reality. Altered account of events, too.

And also:

CAMERA (or: creating a picture of reality) Mrs Hudson can’t get a clear picture in this scene. Mrs. Hudson, who, moments before Sherlock jumped off St. Barts said “Oh god John, you made me jump”. Mrs. Hudson who’s been foreshadowing events from the start, creating parallels to John and Mary’s marriage by using her own husband’s life, who predicted that Sherlock would leave the wedding early, who is basically an oracle – MRS. H. CAN’T GET A CLEAR PICTURE HERE BECAUSE IT’S NOT REAL. There is no happy-family-baby shower party. Because there isn’t actually a happy family.

Going by this theory, which scenes are definitely altered? Some of the cases, especially the actual six Thatcher case (since we see Lestrade in front of the fake painting). The baby shower scene. Sherlock babysitting Rosie at 221b while John and Mary take a nap (skull with spectacles can be seen there). John ever meeting the woman on the bus since he later plucks the flower from behind his ear while looking at his reflection in the bus’ window. He never met her, therefore he never cheated with her. We are being led to believe he did. This makes the viewer dislike John and like Mary better. A part of the inception perforemd on us is making us believe he’s a cheater and she saved Sherlock’s life.

And also, if the transitions between scenes create an overlay that seems weird, it’s also fake. I specifically mean every scenario that doesn’t make sense in the ‘real world’ and instances when it seems like characters are in two places at once. This includes pieces of the bust projected on Sherlock’s face, walls exploding behind Mycroft, the Thatcher shrine looking like it’s submerged in water, Vivian Norbury being led through a hallway while a shark swims through the picture and Sherlock’s face being on fire. Probably many more scenes which I can’t all remember. Those are all fake.

Note that only half of Sherlock’s face is covered. Maybe only half of this is fake. After all, there was a six thatchers case which we can read on John’s blog. Maybe this TST case is made up, Sherlock based it on the version that has already happened. Also, this looks like he is wearing a mask which only coveres half of his face. Again – we can still suspect that some parts of reality are altered but some are probably true.

Sherlock has his eyes closed, imagining things while we see events projected on glass (also, remember the mirror-illusion in TAB?) Notice how the picture is split in half – we see almost equal parts of Sherlock and the case. Could this mean it’s a half-truth?

The altered reality Sherlock has constructed literally breaks apart at this point

And his eyes are closed again while there is the allusion of half of his face being on fire, indicating again that half of what we see isn’t real. He always has his eyes closed, it really looks like he is making it up.

In the picture with the Thatcher shrine, reality is overlapping with the aquarium-scene or the pool-fight with Ajay. Not sure which, but this kind of overlay also indicates that what we see is not real.

Everything involving the aquarium also doesn’t seem right. It’s too bizarre to be real. The bullet flying in slow motion. Mary being able to jump in front of Sherlock in time even though we don’t see her near him in this picture. Vivien Norbury using lines from other episodes. Vivien being led through a hallway while a shark crosses the picture. It sounds like a story Sherlock is making up.

If we can use the totems and editorial tells to say which parts are fake, we can also use the lack of totems and tells to determine what is real.

AND SOME PARTS ARE! This scene with John where they are in 221b discussing cases would be real. The skull is clearly visible. Even though it’s been seen wearing spectacles only minutes before, here they are missing. No totem = no alteration. Reality. It makes sense that John and Sherlock would work cases together after Sherlock came back from the tarmac. They seemed on friendly terms at the end of HLV. Hell, in TAB John basically promised Mycroft to look out for Sherlock, they get in the same car. Solving cases together makes sense.

Many things outside 221b could actually be real – they are missing the totems, the clear signs that they are fake. When Sherlock talks with Craig, the IT guy, all totems and overlay effects are missing. This could be real. Everything with Ajay is missing the totems and tells, too. In fact, I’m talking about the whole AGRA, Mary and Ajay scenes. In the pool fight scene for example, we get the cool fight effects and only a touch of drama – nothing out of the ordinary. We also get Sherlock’s flashback to John destroying the memory stick at his parents’ house. And when the scene is finished? There is no weird or special overlay to the next scene (Tblisi). Ajay shoots the light, leaving Sherlock literally in the dark about Mary and her past, and the screen goes dark and lights up again Tblisi. I repeat: there was no special overlay, no totem no nothing. In fact, if you watch this on your own you might realize that the whole “something is off” feeling that accompanies us during this episode is absent in this scene. It makes sense because it’s real (except for the fact that Sherlock is lying to Ajay about who destroyed the memory stick).

I also think the last scene with Mrs. Hudson in 221b is real. Can’t see any weird objects which obscure reality lying around, the fake portrait on the opposite wall isn’t visible at all and even thouugh it’s a bit blurry here it seems like the skull is sans spectacles.

By applying the theory that every time we see some sort of totem the scene is part of the inception – either a wrong skull, an object which blurrs or changes reality if you look through it or also if pieces of one scene are plastered or transformed into another. And if the tells are missing, we are confronted with reality.

So the last part of the episode which involves Mrs. Hudson and Mary’s ‘Miss Me’ message could be true – no inception here. And what do we get? We get Mary shaking her head when she says “Save John Watson”. We get Mary telling Sherlock to go to hell. If we believe she did in fact not die a hero but died the way Mycroft predicted (‘Agents like Mary don’t reach retirement age. They get retired in a pretty permanent way)… If we take that and watch the ending, we don’t see a Mary who sacrificed herself. We definitely don’t see a heroic act and a herartbreaking ‘being Mary Watson was the only life worth living’. We see a villain. What if that is the Inception? Make the viewer believe the worst of John and the best of Mary? The rug that will be pulled before the final revelation?

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noelnoel545-blog · 8 years

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Can you make a list of the hottest johnlock fic you've read, I've run out

Oh nonny, it’s so hard to chose! I can’t say these are the hottest fics I’ve read, but here’s a few scorchers I pulled out of my lists. Hope some are new for you!

HOT Sexytimes Johnlock Fic Recs

The Red Box by Cleo2010, 12 k, explicit. PWP. Existingrelationship. Sherlock uncovers John’s secret kink – he likes to wear women’sunderwear in the bedroom. Sherlock indulges him by adding to his collection. Ohmy! Hot sex!

CuriousCase by Cleo2010, 44 k, explicit.Some of the hottest getting-together sex ever. Sherlock has burns on his hands,and has to ask John to jerk him off to relieve his sexual tension and clear hismind. For some reason, this must go on for 11 searingly-hot chapters as Johnnavigates his sexuality crisis, and admits he’s in a relationship withSherlock. DAMN! Unnnf.

001 by tepidspongebath, 5 k, explicit. Part of aseries of number porn stories. When John comes home from having sex, Sherlockdeduces what happened while John jerks off to his voice. HOT.

Symposiumby sweetcupncakes, 2.5 k,explicit. Hot little PWP of John and Sherlock in a clench in the kitchencheating on Mary. Infidelity. Very thinky. WOW.

Best of Three by SilentAuror, 17 k, explicit . Utterly hotbet that Sherlock won’t turn on “Not Gay” John in a little three-nights-runningexperiment. Hot, and sweet, and bewitching.

Evening Ride by lapislazuli, 8 k, explicit. Short little PWP that is so freaking hot, I can’tstand it. John literally bumps into a tall posh stranger in a crowded tube car,and the resulting anonymous humping is something they seem to keep(accidentally on purpose) repeating on a bi-weekly basis. A fav.

How To Remove A Bra by flawedamythyst, 2 k, explicit. John showsSherlock how to remove a bra for a case, and bit of cross-dressing andproximity has our lads going from pre-slash to slash. Hot and cute. Yum.

Nothing everhappens to me byPlainJane, 5 k, explicit. Short PWP. John is working as a security guard atHeathrow airport when a certain posh subject needs a pat down. HOT sexy times.

Distractions by allonsys_girl , 9 k, explicit. Sherlock isa detective on a case in a bar. John is a pretty shots boy working the roomwith a tray of drinks. Sherlock texts Lestrade that he’s off the case for thenight as he and John find a private spot. Ooh la la, lip gloss, gold shorts andarmy boots, oh my! Switchlock.

Best Seat in the House by wendymarlowe, 5 k, explicit. Stripperlock!Sherlock dances for money in a club, and John is the new bartender. Sherlocktakes him home one night, and John takes him to see God. Very hot, and verysweet.

Sacrifices Must Be Made by Winter_of_our_Discontent, 4 k, explicit.Dragonlock AU. This was just an adorable blend of a dragon world with BBCSherlock. John is sent as a human sacrifice, but somehow they hit it off, and adifferent relationship unfolds between John and his shape-shifting new dragonfriend. PWP – very hot.

Keep Each Other Company by agameofscones (orithea), 4 k, explicit.Sherlock is a Time Traveler and one night, John ends up in bed with twoSherlocks – as if one isn’t enough.

A Thorough Examination / InDepth by emungere, explicit, 15 k.Dark!John. This is a prime example of medical kink – but wrapped up in a rape,noncon situation. John convinces Sherlock to have a physical done, but hismedical attentions stray much darker than Sherlock was expecting. Something ofa happy ending, very hot, but beware the tags!

Just Browsing by bendingsignpost, 3 k, explicit. Alternatefirst meeting, Sherlock and John meet in a bookshop and have it off in astorage room. Sooo hot, and a bit of Darkfuckprince!Sherlock.

Caring for John series by SailorChibi, 5 works, mature-explicit.John has searched his whole life to find someone he can submit to. He justwants someone to take care of him but he’s never found the right person. Untilhe started dating Sherlock. Together they explore what works for them both.Hot, caring BDSM. Thumbs up!

Whenthis is all over, let’s meet in New York by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for, 12 k, mature. Freelance photographer John Watson is onassignment in a city verging on war. When he meets the mysterious SherlockHolmes, tension crackles and the night takes a decidedly sexy turn. A grittylittle love story inspired by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Under theGun by justacookieofacumberbatch(buffyholic), 24 k, John is an assassin sent to eliminate Sherlock Holmes.Unfortunately, John finds himself too fascinated with his target to completethe mission. Good plot and very hot! Bamf!John.

Lock and Key series by 221b_hound. 8 parts, explicit. John is back at Baker street after Mary, andslowly he and Sherlock find their way together. Sherlock wants to knoweverything once he and John are intimate, all the fantasies that turn John on.

What did you think about series by Chryse – 6 parts, explicit JohnlockPWP shorts that involve John and Sherlock trading their sexual fantasies backand forth as they find ways to act them out. Wows! So Hot!

The One Where Sherlock Comes InHis Pants by ellie_hell, 5 k, explicit. The five times Sherlock came in his pantsand the one time he came in someone else’s. Aaarrgggh. Hot kinky sex thatremains sweet.

The Matter Series by bees_stories, 2 parts, explicit. Sherlockasks John to give him a hand (for both health and science) in getting rid of anunwanted erection. John acts strangely thereafter until Sherlock can confronthim. Hot and sweet and just a touch of angst. THUMBS UP!

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noelnoel545-blog · 8 years

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Hello there! =) I love your recs and I wondered if you have any recommendations for stories in where Sherlock suffers deeply from his time in Serbia (torture or rape) and John finds out and is ashamed of his impulsive actions when Sherlock came back. Johnlock of course would be awesome.

Hey sweetie, I’ve got some fics that should fit this!

Sherlock & Scars

ICome to You With All My Flaws by hogwartswitch, 4 k,mature. John sees Sherlock’s scars for the first time and it plunges him intomemories of his relationship with James Sholto and the heartbreaking way itended. When will he learn to stop falling for men who can’t love him back?

Scars bySilentAuror, 60 k, explicit. Warnings for rape. Mary wants John to be apartfrom Sherlock, in any way possible. Still, the more she tries to break them,the closer they get.

Frailtybymoonblossom, 1.5 k, teen. Sherlock’s imperfect now. Flawed, and unworthy.

Scars- 3part series by mildredandbobbin, mature & explicit.Over time, John uncovers how Sherlock was tortured and raped during his twoyears away. John steps in with some sexual healing. Angsty and hot, and a goodfix-it fic for series three at the end. (Locked to AO3 users)

ifnobody speaks of remarkable things bydarcylindbergh, 34 k explicit. With Mary and the baby gone, John moves back inwith Sherlock and tries to start over. Slowly John works his way through hisgrief and mourning as he and Sherlock come closer together bit by bit, bothhealing from their scars.

LandmarkbyMay_Shepard, 2 k, not rated. On the night of Sherlock’s return, John finds outabout the scars. Fix-it fic for S3.

WhatJohn Doesn’t Know (Won’t Hurt Him) by blueink3, 4k, not rated. Five people who see Sherlock’s scars before John Watson. ButSherlock’s secrets were never something he could keep from his blogger forlong.

Is This Permanent, Then by loveanddeathandartandtaxes, 5 k, mature. If hehadn’t barged into Sherlock’s room uninvited (the thought of being invited intoSherlock’s room threatened to derail his train of thought entirely), hewouldn’t have to spend the two hours on the train musing on those scars, wherethey came from, and why the hell Sherlock hadn’t told him about them.

Taking the Blame by artfulinanities, 16 k,explicit. The detective’shead snaps up, his pupils wide and dark. “It was to protect you,” he hisses,face contorting into something ugly and foreign. “Everything I’ve done was toprotect you! Leaving you behind, taking down Moriarty’s network, watching youchoose her -” he cuts himself off, running a shaking hand through his curls. “Ididn’t know she would try to finish the job, John. I honestly didn’t know howfar she was willing to go.”

The Ground Beneath Your Feet by Chryse, 68 K, explicit. PTSD. Sherlock comesback from a secret mission broken in body and spirit. Mycroft finds a composerposition for Sherlock at an Abbey, and with music, and visits from John, hestruggles to find his way back to wholeness. This is a stellar story withspies, and falcons and flashbacks - so well written!

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Passionate kissing

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The annual meeting of the I Faked My Own Death Club.

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noelnoel545-blog · 8 years

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Hints at Marriage/Wedding between Sherlock and John.

We know we have plenty of evidence for Sherlock and John becoming a stable romantic couple/life partners/canon johnlock. But I wanted to see an exclusive list of every suggestion at the possibility of Sherlock and John in a bond of marriage/wedlock/tying the knot/putting a ring on it.

I surprised myself clueing for looks for this, because the list kept going on and on! I wrote it on the basis that if anything I see or hear in the show makes me even consider the idea, then it’s most likely deliberately put there to trigger in me that association. I’ve learnt that’s like a rule of thumb for reading the subtext in ‘Sherlock’.

ASiP

💍 John implying that marriage = nice stuff that could happen to you.

These entries are from before and after he meets Sherlock.

💍 Mrs. Turner’s “married ones”. In the canon, ACD referred to Mrs. Hudson as Mrs. Turner in ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’. Mofftiss took this original continuity error and ’fixed it’ (as they like to say, it’s what they’re doing with this show) by getting Mrs. H. mistaken for Mrs. Turner on John’s blog, the neighbour from next door, whose lodgers are a married gay couple.

💍 Mrs. Hudson comparing Sherlock to her ‘husband’. Her natural emphasis on ‘my’ makes the equation more evident. As in, ‘Yours is just like mine was’. They do this type of thing again in THoB, when Billy asks John ‘Is yours a snorer?’.

💍 “Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?”. Right off the bat and in John’s face, Mycroft is blatantly implying marriage. Also, ‘end of the week’ = end of the show? He basically kidnapped his potential brother-in-law to make sure he’s a keeper, with physical examination and all.

💍 Sherlock delicately slipping the ring back on mirror-John’s finger. My favourite. We’re familiar with Jennifer Wilson being a mirror of John, and the fact that Sherlock’s deduction about her ring foreshadows John’s marriage with Mary… but can we just take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this particular shot?

💍 “I’m married to my work”, says the man who by season three keeps ignoring cases in order to plan the perfect wedding for John. The writers could have chosen ANY other way to phrase it, but they chose the word ‘married’. This trope has allowed Sherlock to have an arc in which he eventually realized he needs to make amends and focus on the things that ‘keep him right’ (his love for John).

TBB

💍 John literally saying his name is “Holmes” to the ticket guy at the circus, because he made reservations under Sherlock’s name. Sherlock is so inserted in his life at this point that he practically ‘took his name’ too. It just sounds so natural on John’s lips. Sarah is Not Impressed.

💍 Lucy & Westie were engaged to be married, and we know that they mirror John & Sherlock respectively.

THoB

💍 Sherlock admitting he can no longer “divorce” himself from feelings. Again, they could have chosen ‘separate’, ‘detach’, ANY other word, but not if the writers wanted us to make an association with a marital bond.

💍 The ‘sentimental widow’ who still wears her late husband’s ring around her neck, could mirror John, mourning Sherlock like a widower.

TRF

💍 This visual of Sherlock and John tied together by their wrists:

We’ve always seen this as romantic. But it’s interesting that the idiom we know as “tying the knot” actually comes from ancient wedding traditions were bride and groom were literally tied by their wrists with some sort of cord to symbolize the binding together of their two lives into one. Many people still do this today, even in the uk, like THIS same-sex couple. (My mind blew when I saw this connection, and was the reason why I started this post.)

TEH

💍 Visual metaphor of Sherock ‘walking down the aisle’ and John as the waiting groom. Like you all flailed about in this lovely post.

💍 Sherlock teasing that weddings are ‘not his thing’ with a wink. When we know he ended up being the best wedding planner you could possibly ask for. (Also everybody in this show seem to contradict themselves.)

The whole of TSoT

💍 This promo picture personally attacking me.

💍 This exchange on John’s blog. If you didn’t know them and just stumbled upon this entry, you’d think they’re talking about John and Sherlock’s wedding, since Mary’s not mentioned even once on that page:

Sherlock’s little “we” there does the trick. Bonus points for domestic banter.

💍 John says “My husband is three people”, Sherlock is one of them!

💍 Sherlock’s motif -instead of Mary’s- plays when John and Mary come out of the church as newlyweds, like Rebekah pointed out. ALSO, you can hear the beauty of Sherlock’s motif actually played in a special way underneath that loud bell-pealing sound, if you isolate the audio on channels 1 and 2:

youtube

💍 “Just the bride and groom, please” *Sherlock lingers*

💍 Sherlock first talking against ‘love’ and ‘weddings’, and later contradicting himself by declaring his love for John, calling John his ‘helpmate’ and saying ‘weddings are great, love a wedding!’, all in the same speech.

💍 John popping ‘the big question’ to Sherlock like he’s proposing.

So, we didn’t get to see John finish his -already awkward- interrupted proposal to Mary, but we did have this loving, heartfelt, beautifully framed scene instead. After all, John did indirectly confess that he loved him, and we saw them softer than ever. Sherlock later says this ‘request’ made him feel ‘flattered’, ‘suprised’, ‘a little daunted’, and ‘very close to being moved’. Also, come on, asking someone ‘the big question’ is asking them to marry you, NOT to be your best man. And finally, this was a ‘relationship upgrade’ for them (from Friends to Best Friends), so this scene was indeed about them ‘taking things to the next level’.

💍 Just like Bainbridge’s murder was a rehearsal for Sholto’s, this very wedding might be a sort of first try in the show’s story too; another ‘inside joke’ from the writers, as in they planned the johnlock wedding and rehearsed it. After all, the paper Sherlock stares at in his MP was about the wedding itself:

💍 The general way in which Sherlock behaves like one of the grooms instead of the best man. (ie. sitting next to John in the center like they are the celebrated couple, or even throwing his buttonhole flower like a bride would a bouquet)

💍 Sherlock’s Vow as a ‘Declaration of Protection’:

Like the trope’s definition specifies, this could perfectly have been a comradely statement, but instead they chose a wording ‘akin to a Love Confession’. Fitting, given that Sherlock is making a vow to John (and not-Mary and not-John’s/inexistent-baby) AT A WEDDING.

💍 Sherlock teaching John the wedding waltz AND dancing it with him (which they couldn’t show because for two ‘just friends’ who have unspoken feelings for one another that’s literally a Convenient Slow Dance). Also Sherlock didn’t get his dance after confessing he loves dancing, and that he lives ‘in hope of the right case’.

💍 This dialogue and framing, which just scream ‘husbands’:

💍 Sherlock angrily writing about a ‘next wedding’ on John’s blog:

Also, when Sherlock is sarcastically posing as John at the beggining of the entry, this is what comes to his head as he writes:

HLV

💍 Waking up from dreaming of Sherlock, John tells Kate that Issac, who he knows is “the drugs one” is her “husband”, when it’s actually her son. Freudian slip?

💍 Lady Smallwood’s pressure point is her husband; Sherlock’s is John.

Since she’s not only a foil to Mary in the plot, but also a mirror for Sherlock. Magnussed used both of them as leverage and sexually harassed them. (Yes, it was sexual harassment) I mean look at how he treated them (deleted scene on the right). We didn’t see Magnussen doing that to Mary, did we?

💍 Missis Hudson saying “It was my husband’s cartel, I was just typing”.

💍 When Sherlock proposes to Janine, the first time we ever see the ring and realize what he’s doing we get this shot:

And then of course this heartbreaking one:

💍 John sees Sherlock’s parents as “a fine example of married life”. Mummy and Daddy Holmes mirror Sherlock and John respectively. So much so, it’s astounding.

💍 Sherlock thinks that naming someone ‘Sherlock Watson’ could work, like pointed out by this lovely person.

TAB

💍 Maybe Lestrade explaining the crime scenes had “rice on the floor like at a wedding and the word YOU written in blood on the wall”? Since ‘YOU’ means ‘John’? I just added it here because it made me associate the ideas of ‘wedding’ and ‘John’ yet again. But I think this may as well be Sherlock equating ‘John marrying Mary = death’. Either as in ‘I died that day!’, or as in ‘marrying Mary was John’s doom’. Please feel free to let me know your perspective on this.

💍 Mary calling John “my husband” while embodying Sherlock:

Since we are inside Sherlock’s head, this looks like Sherlock proyecting himself on Mary, since he recognizes they are similar (and rivals for John’s affection). Therefore, he visualises her having his mannerisms and same dramatic way of storming out when an exciting case arrives.

Also, “Just a friend in need (…) England.” = “Who needs me this time?” “England.”

Remember that in this episode Hopper dressed up as a man. Sherlock mouthed other charaters’ voices. The sharp and observant brunette Maid told John things Sherlock would say (I’m not the only one seeing this). So why won’t he be proyecting himself on Mary as well? I’m 100% sure this was the creator’s intention. Mofftiss managed to have a personification of Sherlock calling John his ‘husband’ in Victorian times.

💍 Hooper saying that Emelia was “positively identified by her own husband seconds before he died”. Which always reminded me of John checking Sherlock’s pulse seconds after the fall. ouch

💍 The Bride, Eustace and Lady Carmichael in the maze framed like Sherlock, Mary and John in the empty houses. We know the Bride is meant to represent Emelia, to whom Eustace once promised marriage, while Lady Carmichael is his current wife. Of course, I’m not denying that Lady Carmichael is the mirror for John and Eustace is Mary’s. I’m only pointing out the parallel that IMO these specific visuals are making; both are love triangles. The two women are romantic rivals, just like Sherlock and Mary are.

SETLOCK, June 16th, Kennignton Street

💍 Extreme likeliness of ‘The Wedding Wardrobe’ boutique appearing in the background of that scene.

(x)

Here’s the full front of the boutique behind that bus stop in Google Street View:

Now, I needed confirmation of the position of the camera when filming there to account this as the possible background for that scene and I remembered the extra that took this picture from inside the bus:

After all, why would you choose THIS location out of 19,000+ bus stops in London, if not for its surroundings? (Also, ‘wardrobe’ = ‘closet’?) I can’t wait to see a confirmation of this.

So, in a show that pays SO much attention to detail, wording in dialogue, cinematography, etc. Why would they want to introduce in my head the idea of marriage with things related to Sherlock and John’s relationship? I mean most of these aren’t even necessary to set them up as a couple -the rest of the show already does that. See what I mean?

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to add your perspectives on this. If there’s any other hint I missed, or if you can think of arguments against this reading please don’t hold your thoughts back. I learn a lot from you all. :)

[Sorry if there’s anything unusual in the layout, I’m learning how to do all this. Tagging some geniuses: @inevitably-johnlocked @quietlyprim @vauxhallandi @consultingeastwind @teapotsubtext @deducingbbcsherlock @warmth-and-constancy @sussexbound @vanetti @skulls-and-tea ]

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