#moriarty’s a great choice btw

[paranoid-rhythm]

FGO Fes 2023: Bierzelt Chaldea Bar Spiderweb - Ashiya Douman [Translation]

Hello, I'm back here just to dump the Bierzelt Chaldea translations. And yes, it's me, the same person on twt posting these lol.

Setanta Lady Avalon Saitou Hajime Xu Fu Charlemagne Ereshkigal Alter Ashiya Douman Ibuki Douji (Summer)

Huh? Did I get lost…

"Nnn! My, my, if it isn't my Master! Did you perhaps, lose your way? If so, then please continue straight ahead while following this road."

Douman?

"Yes. Do excuse me, if you can only hear my voice. This Douman will guide you until you reach the Bar."

Why are you here?

"Yes, well, I've just arrived with Lord Moriarty dragging me, or rather, his guidance when I just so happened to see the Master's figure. So I released a shikigami to protect you.

Aah, Master? On the forked road over there, it would do you best to follow the path on the right."

(Go to the right.) There's no one here though…

"Oooh! Master! I'm glad to see you well! And so, I would like to greet you again."

You're the real Douman, right?

"But of course! This Ashiya Douman is so thrilled to have met the Master in person at this Bar!

I've heard that today is a once in a year event, nnnnnnn! So as you can see, I've prepared an outfit for such a festival! Festivals truly are great, are they not! Naturally, I am getting excited! Nnnnhahahaha!"

Douman.

"Yes?"

What have you been up to today?

"With the permission of the owner of this bar, Lord Moriarty, this Douman has arranged for a drink for this occasion.

Though it looks like sake, well, this humble priest is of course a Servant at your service, so naturally, I've made this non-alcoholic."

(Drink it.)

"Oh?! My, my! My, my, my! This… this is! Fufufufu! Fufufuhahahaha! Nnnnnnnn!!! Master, this humble priest is at the height of excitement! Ah, please do not worry as there is no poison in it. Yes, there is. No poison. It's the truth.

This Ashiya Douman would like to offer his devotion and respect for the Master, with the hopes that it would serve to encourage you on your final, or rather, your new journey.

Aah, as expected. Seeing your face from the side and seeing the back of your neck truly excites me.

So, what do you think, my Master? Since we're already here, why don't weー…

Hm? It suddenly became quite noisy, huh.

Dear, oh dear. It seems like there's a certain someone making their way straight towards us while shouting "Mambo-chan!"

Good grief. My apologies, my Master. I was thinking of getting something in return for the alcohol while we're here, but it seems that I have no choice.

Though I am regretful to leave, I must get going.

Well then, I shall see you later."

Ah. He really left, huh… That was fun though! Oh well!

PS

btw if you choose "not to drink" …

Guda sees the drink, while not poisoned has a lot of curses.

Douman gets worked up about it, drinks it himself while going NNNNN! and then forces Guda to drink it by grabbing Guda's chin while saying that with the difference in strength between Servants and humans, resistance is futile.

(Raikou saves Guda this time.)

PPS.

I'm dead, I went to Morikawa Douman heaven, good bye.

[m-an-u]

Hell yeah english is red! My fav character of all time is regina from once upon a time (i LOVE her development). Fav (actual) villian is moriarty from sherlock,, he's truly a psychopath it's very fascinating (hope this doesn't make me weird lmao) My question to you is do you like arts? If yes which kind(dance or music or drawing or writing like that)

Okay gonna be honest here- I tried watching once upon a time just for the mad hatter (because he’s seb stan) but I could never get past the first few episodes. And yeah I LOVE art- I love drawing, music and writing even though the last one is SO hard for me. What about you? You ever dip your toes in fanficition or something?

[theanimeview]

My Nitpick Issue with Sherlock in Moriarty the Patriot

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting​

It may surprise some of you to know that I have degrees in book reading and writing. While earning those degrees I studied one specific time period more than the others--that being British Literature from late-17th/18th century through the early 20th century. This is to say that it is a time period I know a little more about than you might think. And early 1900s is probably my favorite period out of that timeline, particularly England under Victoria’s rule. 

And, perhaps, because of this strange obsession I have with the period, I presently have a small bone to pick over Moriarty the Patriot. 

It’s not the minor inaccuracies of the clothes, nor the adaptation of character designs. It’s not even the adjustment to social tendencies depicted that are more Japanese than British-English of any period thus far either--because those kinds of things happen frequently in adaptations. And it's not Moriarty or his backstory too! Because, again, this is an adaptation, and liberties will be taken to fit the new story (besides, even in the original works by Doyle the man’s backstory was inconsistent). 

My issue is with the character of Sherlock and his supposed “deductions.” Well, maybe more accurately it's with the writing of Sherlock. 

You see, Sherlock is almost always introduced the same way in an adaptation. He makes a judgment about someone (usually about Watson or the Watson stand-in) and then proves it using his observational skills. This introduction is important because it clarifies that the world of the characters is one based on where common sense and science not only work but make sense. His deductions are logical and based on some semblance of rationality. Here is an excerpt from the original novel: 

“I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind, that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps. There were such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran, `Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.' 

How does this prove we are in a world where common sense and logic works? Well, because he didn’t pull any of these deductions from thin air. He just used his eyes and common knowledge to make a quick judgment. 

In the example above, everything that Sherlock assumes is true and based on reasonable assumptions about the time period and about what he can observe of the person before him. 

The tan of Watson’s skin is something he notes because London is usually dark and wet around this season, so you’re unlikely to get a tan. The way the man walks and stands is also a thing he can observe, and fresh military men walk very differently from the average citizen or gentleman. These two observations, coupled with noticeable injury and limp could lead one to think that maybe he has just come back from the current war (the First Anglo-Afghan War). Of course, maybe he wasn’t injured in the war at all--maybe something else happened; however, you can make a pretty good guess that an abled bodied soldier would not be home and looking for a room in the middle of war-times if something hadn’t happened to him on the battlefield.

My point is that all of Sherlock’s deductions come from observing details, paying attention to the basics of the world (such as the ongoing war or understanding rigor mortis), and using your senses. Sure, there may be a few things the average person doesn’t know that Sherlock does, but that’s because Sherlock has studied different things and to a more serious degree. The level of understanding is different, but not impossible to achieve in one’s own time or effort. And, as another note, Sherlock is not perfectly observant all of the time. There are plenty of examples of him needing to take breaks, of him closing his eyes to block out distractions so he can better focus on what someone is saying, and of him smoking to zone out for a bit so that he can come back to a problem with fresh eyes at a later time. 

It’s absolutely vital to Sherlock’s character, and the original story, that all of the deductions are based on the “possible,” which is why the introduction of Sherlock in Episode 6 of this adaptation immediately irritated me. Here is the scene:

Side note:  I’m sorry it’s shown as a poorly made gif--I literally could not find a copy of the clip with English subtitles on YouTube so I could not include it as a video. If you want to look at it in the episode itself, it starts at about the 13:00 minute mark. EPISODE LINK)

Here is what bothers me so much. Why would a mathematician be checking to see if the staircase on a ship fits the golden ratio? More importantly, why would that in any way matter to Moriarty as a character? Based on what we’ve seen so far of this character, and we’ve had 6 and 1/2 episodes to define him so far, none of Sherlock’s statement makes sense here. 

Like, at all. (And I know that this also happens in the manga--doesn’t make sense there either.)

You know what would make sense though? For the time period and the character development we’ve seen of Moriarty thus far? A pause to consider-- and maybe even compare--staircases on the ship between the main steps for passengers and the steps for commoners or staff. 

Why would that make sense? Oh, thank you so much for asking. Time to get real nerdy here for a minute: 

Class issues were a serious problem in Victorian England (as they are now, though in a different way). These issues were not necessarily the same as depicted in the show but it was still consistently present throughout the society as a whole. (A good, short read on the subject can be found here for those of you interested: Social Life in Victorian England.)

One way that this issue came out was in the very architecture of homes. In Victorian England, nobleman homes and estates were built with main staircases, where the residents and guests walked, and servent staircases, where the staff and other temporary employees walked. The difference in these stairs was huge, as the servant staircases were basically death traps. 

In the late 1800s, a mathematician (and architect) named Peter Nickolson figured out the exact measurements that would generally ensure a comfortable and easy walk upstairs: 

BTW: Here is a great video on the subject and how they were death traps: Staircases in Victorian England

However, Nickolson’s math and designs were not used regularly in the design of houses for years to come. 

By the setting of the story, and given Moriarty’s interest in maths, his understanding of class issues, and beyond--this kind of knowledge would make far more sense than searching for the golden ratio in a man-made set of stairs. 

Moreover, the golden ratio is generally interesting to mathematicians (to my understanding) because it can be seen in nature frequently. It is a pattern found everywhere, from the way that petals grow on flowers, to how seashells form, to freaking hurricane formations! So why on Earth would Moriarty be interested in an architect's choice to use such a ration when planning a staircase? 

He wouldn’t, I believe. Nor would Sherlock generally be able to make that assumption based on his time gazing at the staircase, distance from said staircase, nor angle. 

So what can he deduce, if not that? Well, he may be able to deduce that Moriarty is a nobleman based on his attire. He may also be able to deduce that the man is a student based on age, as in an earlier episode we were told he’s quite young to be teaching in university and appears close in age to his students. Maybe he’s a student of architecture? But, if he’s a nobleman--as we suspect he is based on his attire--then it's unlikely he works a labor-intensive job or one close to it. So, he must be in academia for academic reasons such as mathematics. Physics during that time, as an academic subject, focused more on lighting, heat, electricity, magnetism, and such. And, Sherlock notes that Moriarty is specifically looking at the stairs, not the lights of the ship. 

So, BAM! I’ve deduced Moriarty is a young nobleman who is likely a student of mathematics. Perhaps he’s recently had a lesson on staircases or another algebraic concept that’s caused him to pause with momentary interest. 

It makes a heck of a lot more sense than finding a “golden ratio” in a man-planned and man-made staircase... don’t you think? And, maybe, we can even deduce that rather than a student he’s a professor who has just thought up an interesting lesson--though that would be a BIG jump from the data we’ve been provided here. 

Deductions that come from major leaps in logic make it seem like Sherlock is doing magic... and he is--because it is magical that people find it impressive or believable. It’s not. And I would argue that the original character would find it insulting based on his comments to Watson regarding being compared to other fictional detectives.

Pay in mind, I have this feeling about several adaptations, so my judgment on Moriarty the Patriot isn’t technically exclusive. It just hit me so hard in my first viewing that I felt I needed to share because generally, this issue of deductions becoming magic rather than stemming from logic doesn’t happen in the first two minutes of meeting Sherlock Holmes.

So... yeah. Thanks for coming to my absurd history/lit lesson through Moriarty the Patriot. I appreciate you sticking with me to the end and hope it was enjoyable.

You can watch the series on Funimation.com right now at: https://www.funimation.com/shows/moriarty-the-patriot 

Overall, it’s a pretty good series; although there was a lot more child-murder than I expected...

[loveismyrevolution]

the symphony is finished - but it’s just the beginning

was S4 predicted by the music of promotion clips??

Actually I just wanted to re-read one of my own metas because I remebered something I spotted in one of the promo clips, but now I have to bring it back and amplify new context....

Before series 4 aired I posted some music metas about the promo clips of Mark counting down 4 minutes (released after showing TAB on screen in december) here (X) and about the montage shown at the bafta event in december here (X)

In both of them I tried to analyse the clips on how they could predict something for series 4 by the music they used. Surprisingly they did indeed after all!!!

In the first meta I compared BBC Sherlock to a symphony, where just the fourth set was missing

Therefore it is good to know, that all classic symphonies are set in four movements as follows: 1. an opening sonata or allegro ( Allegro – fast, quickly, and bright) 2. a slow movement, such as adagio ( Adagio – slow and stately ) 3. a minuet or scherzo with trio ( “scherzo,” meaning “I joke,” ) 4. an allegro, rondo, or sonata (Allegro again)

Following that theory of the symphony you can see that the fourth movement (thus series 4 for s) again has to be “fast, quickly and bright”... and fast and quick S4 was indeed... but where is the bright??? Let’s come back to this later...

The great thing was, that in the clip I referred to, Mark talked about different things about Sherlock, but when it came to series 4 and what it would be like the whole scene was accompanied by the theme of the “Waters Gang” called “Lestrade - The movie” (listen here)!!!

This is in two ways very telling!!! First of all, the ‘subtext’ of this music is (short version): that it is all action packed and can’t be real.... hmmm, sounds familiar?? My assumptions back then:

So what does that tell us about S4E1? Will we get crimes that actually can’t be done? Will it be set up like a movie? Is there anybody who must be ‘caught in the act’? Is it all ‘scherzo’ = ‘a joke’??? I leave you to your deductions…

It turned out after watching S4 that it wasn’t only E1 where we could find crimes that actually couldn’t be done like that, that was set up like a movie (hello TFP... how many movies have been in there??) or someone who has to be caught in the act (Mary? Eurus?)

Second “feature of interest” is, that it is “Lestrade - The movie”!!!! There were great posts about speculations that whole series 4 could be “fake” and could be literally like “a movie” within a movie like this great one of @jenna221b and also this and this and probably many more! So does this confirm this theory? Did they predict something by choice of music? Who knows?? But I already came to that conclusion by analysing the music (see above)!! This definitely supports the rumors.... !!!

The second meta was a rather long analysis of the weird choice of music for the montage used at the BAFTA event. There I pointed to the used themes and their subtext and possible meaning in connection to the used clips. I came to this conclusion for what will happen after the ‘Miss Me’ clip at the end of TAB:

So if we follow this weird little piece of montage and this really weird choice and cut of music, I have to come to the conclusion that all of series 3 could find place in Sherlock’s mind! And at the point that he is ‘coming back’ (btw they were still landing, Sherlock is not really back at all = not really awake yet??) he will start solving the case of Moriarty and his own feelings for real

Sounds familiar too???

In my analysis then I concluded by the music that S3 maybe wasn’t real either, that Sherlock was waking up to solve the Moriarty case... but combining both of the metas and after having seen S4 now, I’m wondering if we are still in Sherlock’s mind after all!!!!

He WAS solving the case of Moriarty and he WAS solving the case of his own feelings but it was still as “movie-like” as S3 was as came out of the second meta!! They literally even used the same little initially not very important theme!! That is a deliberate choice!! This is no coincidence!!

But the conclusion that induced to write this meta was the same outcome of both of them!!! What was my prediction where all this would lead to??? In both metas I came to the same conclusion:

meta1

The score playing while Mark talking about episode 3!! It is the same score as during the pursuit through London in ASiP which ends in …. well you all know … one of our favourite scenes: the ultimate “in-the-stairway-of-221B-intimate-giggling-above-bed-post-coitus-shot”!!!!!

And as in the great symphonies they are going back to the beginning!!! And the beginning is the Allegro! And the Allegro is fast and quickly but also bright!! THIS will be our fourth movement!!!! This will be the ‘shattering climax’!!!!! We are going back to the beginning! We will get back all the intimacy and gaiety (word play, guys ;-)!!!) of ASiP! Back to the moment, when their relationship was free of all outside influences and threats, when they had fun together, only the two of them against the rest of the world and the only important question was : “Dinner?”

and meta 2

finally go back to normal, to having fun to go back to this:

“Back to the beginning then!” Surprisingly I came to the very same conclusion with my other music meta on the Symphony of BBC Sherlock!!! Is this wishful thinking or does the music has to tell us something?? Is music important or is all this coincidence??

And what did we get in S4???

Most of you will say, this isn’t at all what they gave us!!! BUT listen to the music!! The theme playing here

is “the pursuit” from ASiP (listen here X) but then lovely, in perfect harmony and bright!! Remember the beginning, when we missed the bright part of the Allegro, the fourth movement??? Here it is!!! And above all it’s played by Sherlock on his violin (expressing feelings)!!! listen here (start about 29:39)

And where did the pursuit from ASiP lead to??? Exactly! This:

....I leave you to your deductions...

To make his whole thing round I’d like to add a quote from a recent radiotime interview of Mark and Steven about where Sherlock S5 could go:

Moffat also revealed to RadioTimes.com that he and Gatiss toyed with the idea of flashing the line “The Beginning” across the screen at the end of The Final Problem. But while it accords with the theme of the episode, he said that in the end they decided it would have been “too cheesy”. And, of course, it would have meant a few hundred more questions from the audience about series five...

(what do you think would be the questions the audience asked  ;-) ???)

This brings me to the conclusion, that the end of series 4 is actually just the beginning!! “back to the beginning then” (Sherlock TAB)!!

Maybe Sherlock so far was in a way like the last 3 Bond movies (John - we see you!)... in which the background of James Bond was revealed and we learned how he became the Bond we knew, only to carry on then with the story... a little weird twisted timeline....

And with BBC Sherlock we are just now at the point where all other Sherlock stories started ... ”back to the beginning then”  ... we will start with THIS shot above after the pursuit and John and Sherlock with Rosie back in 221B!

(here it overlaps with a following meta about Mary’s speech at the end of TFP which I will link here when it’s posted!)

tagging my usual mates and some who might be interested or liked the other two metas @ebaeschnbliah @gosherlocked @monikakrasnorada @isitandwonder @tjlcisthenewsexy @yan-yae @longsnowsmoon5 @tendergingergirl @the-7-percent-solution @may-shepard @skulls-and-tea  @mylastvow @waitedforgarridebs @impatient14 @doomsteady @shawleyleres @rozzychan @shylockgnomes

[twotwentyonebbakerstreet-blog1]

I watched TFP again and...

So when I watched TFP last sunday it was such an emotional rollercoaster. Yeah there were plot holes..but overall I thought the episode was great by itself, however, made no sense compared to the rest of the series. So in spite of everything and all the tinhatting thats happened since I decided to watch TFP again, with a clear(ish) mind. A lot of this is common knowledge, some has been mentioned before by other users on tumblr, and some are some new observations I made. I know its long but theres some good stuff down there so here are the comments I made while watching TFP once again:

-”The Final Problem” caption flickering just as the film Mycroft is watching

-the entire production when sherlock is “scaring” Mycroft. clowns? bleeding paintings? rly wtf? when I watched it the first time I truly believed Mycroft was dreaming

-did sherlock saying “hey bro?!” make anyone else uncomfortable

-wHy is sherlock wearing the deerstalker just to go spook his ‘bro’

*loOOOoots of weird stuff*

-Who’s the man pictured in the car when the governor calls to ask about mycroft?

- ”clown costumes satirically relevant”-Mycroft

- wHaT hairband euros 

-happiness is a pop song, sadness is a poem ? idk i thought this was gonna have some significance

-Sherlock igNOring “Vatican Cameos” babe why

-Sex has always made sherlock obviously uncomfortable but when Euros brings it up?? he does? nothing?? no reaction???

-the glass in the ceLLs: ELePHANt glass

-Johns swirling camera shot??? what ??

-If “redbeard” was moriarty’s gift, why didn't he take advantage of it ???

-We see a nativity scene in the governor’s office during the moriarty flashback, but when john asks if he’d like to pray (before shooting him) he says “who would I pray too?”

- why is CONTExt ContExT coNteXT soooo in your face throughout this ep

-when sherlock begins deducing the coffin and stating facts about the price john says “that was a lonely night on google”

-why was molly having a bad day?

-JOHN WITH HIS HANDS ON HIS FACE WHEN MOLLY SAYS “it’s always been true”

-”explosives? why would I be so clumsy?” bITCh didn't you just blow up baker st??? (which BTW why would sHE do that if she wanted sherlock to play this crazy game her and moriarty so ‘cleverly’ worked out????!!!)

-JOHN SQUARING UP TO FACE SHERLOCK ACTUALLY BELIEVING SHERLOCK MAY BE ABOUT TO SHOOt HIM (oh john u poor bby ily)

-”moriarty thought you'd make this choice, he was so excited” aGAIN WHY THE BOMB N RISK BLOWING THEM UPOMG

-okay so the first time I watched this scene I thought that euros was more upset about sherlock’s impending suicide and john was just standing there. BUT. watching it again I realized that john is shell shocked. paralyzed. you can see his lips quiver as he tries to say sherlocks name but he can't even get it out (all we hear barely audible is “sher-”)

-the black goo?! i mean cool visual but wHat???

-the fake room at musgrave ???

-where’s the water in the well coming from if euros is talking to sherlock?

-victor trevor n BENEDICT IN THIS SCENE OH MY WORD

-theres so many things off about euros killing victor in the well but I won't go off on that

- Culverton and “anybody” vs Euros and “nobody”

-If the girl on the plane is really Euros’ coping mechanism, how can she speak it  so casually and turn it on and off in “the game” but it seems to be tearing her apart at musgrave and sherlock has to snap her out of it??? wHAT hoW does thAt maKE anY sENSE

-agAin she's CRYINg while tALKing about iT!! its obviously traumatizing so HOW could she turn it on and off

-SHERLOCK HAS A TEAR RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE WHEN HE PULLS AWAY FROM EUROS AND SAYS ‘HELPMESAVEJOHNWATSON’

-’HES A GOOD ONE’ UGHHHHH

-srsly though who is uncle rudy

-The book lying on the FLOOR OMG (I'm about to make another post about this)(stay tuned) (oh look there it is, this is huge folks)

https://twotwentyonebbakerstreet.tumblr.com/post/156201228754/the-book-at-the-end-of-tfp-its-a-huge-clue-and

-ANEMOI

-I think we can all agree lil Tom as bby sherlock is the best thing to have happened to TFP

The end.

[blueboxsteastroll]

Sherlock: The Final Problem - rant

I am so glad I watched the last episode of Sherlock in the cinema in a great company as it gave me some resemblance of enjoyment of this shitty episode. It felt like I was watching a compilation of 'highlights' instead of a full episode, which would explain why there were so many plotholes and loose ends. I mean, it is kind of entertaining if you don't think much about what you are watching but the moment you start processing, it hits you with how absolutely dreadful it is. And even Mrs Hudson hoovering cannot save the mess it is. I mean, I am quite impressed that Moffat managed to combine every single one of his flaws as a writer into one episode, from prolonged exposition, leaps of logic, inability to let dead characters just go, and cliches... cliches everywhere.. oh, and things are true just because we say so - this must be my favourite one, why show that someone is clever when you can just say they are, or explain how this mind control thing works when you can just say it does. what a great way to tell a story! Oh dear...

Before I start the list of the thoughts that went through when watching the episode, I should really mention that I really liked the performances, especially Molly, Moriarty, Mycroft and johnlock. 

Despite the fact I sort of enjoyed watching it with a great audience, I still had some pretty “ranty” thoughts: 

PRE-SCREENING SECIAL

1. It’s all about Mary? Why? 

2. So when will the film start?

3. It had no information that I found remotely interesting, nothing about creation of Mary as the character, no comparison with the books, nothing about her relationship with John, Sherlock and others. How pointless!

SHERLOCK: THE FINAL PROBLEM

1. How are they doing the paintings crying blood? Oh, ok. I guess I’ll never know.

2. So he wasn’t properly shot. OK. But the psychologist + family were still dead somewhere in the cupboard or whatever of that house. How has Mycroft not been informed about dead bodies found in a place Sherlock was picked up from an episode earlier. He was watching his every step so this is just bizarre.

3. Oh, exposition. Great! It’s a sign of a truly wonderful storytelling when you have a character just sit and explain someone else’s backstory for 5 min.. Riveting. 

4. How can you completely not remember your sister? What sort of pathological family do you come from where you have so few memories of your sister that she can be completely erased? And your parents never explain to you why your sibling disappear or even reminisce about her after they thought she’s dead.

5. Love Mrs Hudson. So far the best part of the episode. 

6. So she wants to kill them. Fair enough. How did this bomb not succeed at least a little bit? How are they so unharmed but the explosion and the jump? BTW, have you ever seen how flammable hair with produce in it is? I have seen how quickly it disappears, so there is no way Sherlock keeps his lovely hair-do.  

7. That guard behind the prison boss is definitely Sherlock. Am I supposed to be able to tell? 

8. So if Mycroft is with them and he is the British government, how do they not have a clearance to just enter this prison?

9. She talks to people and they get reprogrammed. I can buy the mind manipulation, as I do think it is totally possible. They did something similar in the last Poirot, but what I am seeing here has no credibility. Did they actually research anything related before making this episode? 

10. I don’t think there is any glass there. I mean there is the writing so it must be there, but it just kind of looks like those glass-free spectacles used in films. 

11. I like the come back of the violin. I missed it. 

12. Oh, so there isn’t any glass there. I am not smarter than Sherlock. How did he not realize?! Even in his distracted state, he was always able to sense something was off. 

13. Moriarty? Oh, ok. He is dead. It is lovely to see him though, as always accompanied by some amazingly suitable music. Makes me think of the good old times. 

14. Is this one of the Saw films? 

15. The playing games thing worked way better the first time they did it in The Great Game episode. 

16. Poor Molly. Although, I can’t wait to see their meeting after this weird game is all done. 

17. I am reaching a point where I seriously do not care about the girl on the plane. And why is Sherlock not doing any clever stuff like in ALL the previous episodes. There are hardly any deductions at all. 

18. Mycroft is kind of obvious but makes this scene really good. I am appreciating his relationship with Sherlock more and more. Very logical, but not getting too emotional. Fits him well.

19. Why does she not want him to kill himself??? She wanted to kill them with the bomb in the apartment, so what’s the deal here?

20. So John found Redbeard’s bones. WAIT! He is in a well. In a freaking well and no one could find the dog, even after she started calling him a ‘drowned’ one. It’s a WELL! It’s not some sort of super secret place that will not be on any maps. I am so done with this episode. 

21. Oh, so he was a boy not a dog. This makes me care even less as it brings another level of the lack of logic to the whole event of his drowning. 

22. So SHE is the girl on the plane???? WTF? Who approved this stupid-ass idea? Maybe if she was alone on that plane and there were no other people there as it would make it a little stranger and give some indication that this may not be actually happening? Why would this be the reality she decided to create in her mind, with all the people, the pilot, the city? They have given me no basis for this to be a probable choice (showing her play with a plane is not enough to justify this whole picture).

23. So we are running out of the time allocated for the episode therefore the pacing has to go crazy. The solution to the riddle is done in seconds, the “reconciliation” and saving of John is another blink of an eye. If there was any way of maybe, I don’t know,  editing the film so that you have enough time to finish properly all you started. If only such things were possible.

24. The power of a hug. The worst is that this could have even been a decent plotline exploring the need for acceptance, the sense of loss and the power of reconciliation, but in the hands of an unskilled writer it is just poorly presented cheese platter. 

25. Why on earth is Mary still here? Let her go, Moffat, just let her go. We should all send BBC DVD discs with some random monologues on them. 

26. Wait, what? A compilation showing how rosy everything is at Baker Street. So no conclusion to the Molly thing I guess. And all the characters deserved so much better than this ending. 

27. I like the whole violin conversation. Wish it was attached to a better plot. 

28. I like the idea of 221B Baker Street being the place where desperate people can turn to. 

On the whole this is what I think:

[ghostlyauroras]

I have some thoughts in defence of Mycroft that I need to get off my chest.

First of, I do think the situation is his fault. I do think he was mistaken in the way he handled things, and severely so. But I also think he couldn’t have known any better.

Let us remember that when Eurus did what she did, Mycroft was only a teenager. Yes, Sherlock was so traumatised that he repressed the entire experience. But Mycroft was old enough to understand the terrible things his sister had done, and the terrible way it was hurting his family. And he was traumatised, too. He said to Sherlock that everything he has done in his life, the man Sherlock is, is a result of Eurus. But that is also the case for Mycroft, because Mycroft remembers.

I relate to Mycroft a lot, because I am the eldest sister, too (and I’m the smart one too). My brother is also 7 years younger than me. We too had a sister that we lost (different circumstances entirely, and she died for real). I’ll leave the rest of the story of why I relate to Mycroft under a read more, at the end of this meta, in case you’re interested.

Us, eldest siblings, often get the worst of these difficult situations (deaths, traumatic events, etc), because we are old enough to understand, so parents think we can handle ourselves, and they turn their attentions on the younger siblings. The younger siblings have to be protected and helped and cared for, and us, Eldest ones, have to buckle up take care of ourselves, while also helping in taking care of the younglings.

This “having to grow up too soon” concept is misinterpreted, imho. We do not grow up faster, rather we skip parts of the process of growing up, to begin imitating the behaviour of the adults around us. And since we are then treated as adults by our parents, by our figures of authority, we think ourselves adults, too. We think ourselves so much wiser, so much cleverer than our siblings, so much more mature (that’s why we think in terms of controlling them, I guess).

But still, there is a part of that growing up process that we skipped, in favour of starting to take care of our siblings. I couldn't tell you exactly what it is, I can’t quite put my finger on it. But it’s just different. We just become different adults than our younger siblings. Supposedly more responsible, but also more prone to thinking ourselves infallible.

And we learn to be adults from the adults we imitate, because we have no time to learn by trial and error. 

The person who made those choices for Eurus (the mental/government institutions) was that mystery Uncle Ruddy. I’d assume he was a government agent, and that he is the reason Mycroft got involved in the government, and has risen so far up the ranks at such a young age (he’s in his 40′s right?).

Imagine Uncle Ruddy taking Mycroft under his wing. Imagine young Mycroft just starting to get involved in the government, when Uncle Ruddy moves Eurus to Sherrinford. Imagine a young adult, trusting his uncle to be doing what’s best for his sister.

Imagine Uncle Ruddy, about to tell Mycroft’s parents about Eurus’ fate, forever locked up in a high-security facility, and imagine young Mycroft, who has witnessed his parents’ despair first-hand, as most eldest siblings do, and wanting to spare them that pain, and volunteering to tell them, instead, that she is dead.

Then when the time came for Uncle Ruddy to pass the baton over to Mycroft, how would he know a better way to handle things, other than continue what his Uncle started? He was so young when it all unfolded, and the adult who took responsibility made these choices, and they have worked so far. How would he know differently? There is only so much we can blame on adult Mycroft, without taking into consideration the experiences of a younger Mycroft.

(even the very stupid decision of letting Eurus have 5 minutes unsupervised with Jim Moriarty as a Christmas gift, shows the depth of Mycroft’s true ingenuity. He loves his sister, and he feels such an endless guilt, that he would disregard common sense in order to give her whatever she asks for. Isn’t that the most disgustingly sentimental thing you’ve ever heard?)

So I ask you to consider that even though Mycroft is an adult now, with a genius intellect, he never matured enough, emotionally, to have known how to handle the situation any better than he did. He was traumatised by Eurus’ childhood actions too, in a different way, and this too stumped his emotional growth. And he learned how to handle the situation from the actions of another adult, his Uncle. 

How would he have known differently? Where would he have learned differently?

I feel profoundly disturbed, on a personal level, by the results of his actions, because he had the best intentions in mind, he loved his family so deeply, and he has fought so hard to spare them pain (Sherlock and his parents) and give Eurus what he thought was appropriate help, and it backfired. Horribly. It blew up on his face. All his sacrifice has been for nothing. Worse, it has only brought on more pain.

He has suffered a great blow. He will need help, as Sherlock told Greg (btw my Mystrade shipper goggles exploded at that part omg you guys??) because, trust me, he will have enough punishment from himself, for the way his actions have affected his loved ones.

I hope I have learned a lesson, as an eldest sister, from this episode. I hope I might be a better one, even if only out of fear of becoming Mycroft (love him as I do, I do not want to repeat his mistakes). 

I hold him accountable, yes, but I also have a great compassion for him.

And it breathes life into my soul when Sherlock defends him to their parents, saying “He did his best”. It proves, beautifully, what his parents say, a moment later: “You were always the grown-up” 

If I have learned anything at all, it is that our little siblings are always, always, the grown-up ones, and we must strive to learn from them.

*I relate to Mycroft because my brother, some doctors think, has Asperger’s Syndrome, and taking care of him will be, according to them, a lifetime responsibility for his family. My mom can sometimes get him to do things, but he doesn't listen to me. I can never get him to go to bed, or take a shower, or do homework.

And I worry, so very much. Because I’m painfully aware that one day, my Mom won’t be here to take care of him. One day, none of the Aunts and Uncles who have expressed interest in helping him will be here. One day, I’m going to be responsible for him.

Not saying I’m worried he will become like Eurus, of course. He is rather more like Sherlock, sensitive and repressed and caught up in his own world, with a deep aversion to violence. Still, I relate to Mycroft, in that I don’t know how to help my non-neurotypical brother, not the way he is right now, and certainly not in the future, when it’s just the two of us.

And I feel guilty in advance: 

That I won’t be enough, 

that I won’t know how to handle him (because eldest siblings, we think in terms of control, I guess). 

That I’m not caring and selfless enough to take this responsibility in the first place. 

That I find a measure of comfort and relief in the thought of a clinic where trained professionals could take care of him, no matter how revolted I am by the thought of leaving him to be attended by strangers.

And I look at Mycroft, cold and distant and seemingly uncaring, making terrible decisions in the way he takes care of his non-neurotypical sister, and I feel I’m looking at my future self. And I feel terrified. Not that my brother could ever be like Eurus, he won’t be, but that I could very well be like Mycroft.

So yeah, this episode poked and prodded at all my insecurities about being an eldest sister, hahaha fuck you mofftiss.