Meta Rec: M-Theory: Mycroft, Moriarty, and Magnussen's Shared Motifs
Title: M-theory: Mycroft, Moriarty, and Magnussen’s shared motifs, James Bond’s “M,” Mary and Janine, and the big gay long game
On Tumblr (with embedded audio) / On AO3 (downloadable but without audio)
Author: Loudest_Subtext_in_Television
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 85,989 words
Rating: Unrated
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Meta analysis of series 1, 2, and 3. Moriarty is alive and controlling Mycroft, Mary and Janine are Moriarty’s minions, Moriarty maneuvered Sherlock into killing Magnussen, Moriarty wants Sherlock to be his boyfriend, and Mycroft has been pushing John and Sherlock together romantically from the start.
Reccer's comments: Okay, look. TJLC.* That's this meta's agenda, and it pushes it hard. But even if you don't really care what the series creators intended or who's meant to be with whom, this piece is incredibly well put together and highly entertaining.
The theory is based to a large extent on an analysis of the musical score and staging, and a reading will thus be slightly impoverished by leaving out the audio and video components and images that are linked throughout, but they're not absolutely necessary if you're willing to accept that what the author says is in the clips is actually in the clips.
The author goes through each episode, meticulously pointing out evidence and building up support for their thesis, as outlined in the summary. The writing can be sassy and irreverent, alternately getting into the characters' heads and having imaginary conversations with them, as in this analysis of the pool scene in The Great Game:
Get real: Sherlock's just not that into you. Look at your life. Look at your choices. You know Sherlock could ruin your whole enterprise. This shit is why love is a chemical defect found in the losing side.
Jim then claims he was just "playing gay" and it was all a game.
...Alright, honey. Keep telling yourself that. Irene will try to claim it was just a game, too.
Sherlock, ordinary and disappointing, says, "People have died," and Jim screams, "That's what people DO!" If only Sherlock were more of a sociopath, right? Then he'd be relationship material. God.
Meanwhile, John wishes Sherlock were less of a sociopath so he'd be relationship material.
Sigh. Everyone's a critic.
It's not just a stream-of-consciousness series of one-liners, though. The arguments are presented and supported clearly, logically, and in great detail, and whether you end up being convinced or not, it's a very compelling - and fun - way of viewing the first three series.
* = The Johnlock Conspiracy: the belief that the series creators have intended either for John and Sherlock to be secret lovers all along, or that the 'endgame' of the series will be John/Sherlock.
On Tumblr (with embedded audio) / On AO3 (downloadable but without audio)
Author: Loudest_Subtext_in_Television
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Length: 85,989 words
Rating: Unrated
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Meta analysis of series 1, 2, and 3. Moriarty is alive and controlling Mycroft, Mary and Janine are Moriarty’s minions, Moriarty maneuvered Sherlock into killing Magnussen, Moriarty wants Sherlock to be his boyfriend, and Mycroft has been pushing John and Sherlock together romantically from the start.
Reccer's comments: Okay, look. TJLC.* That's this meta's agenda, and it pushes it hard. But even if you don't really care what the series creators intended or who's meant to be with whom, this piece is incredibly well put together and highly entertaining.
The theory is based to a large extent on an analysis of the musical score and staging, and a reading will thus be slightly impoverished by leaving out the audio and video components and images that are linked throughout, but they're not absolutely necessary if you're willing to accept that what the author says is in the clips is actually in the clips.
The author goes through each episode, meticulously pointing out evidence and building up support for their thesis, as outlined in the summary. The writing can be sassy and irreverent, alternately getting into the characters' heads and having imaginary conversations with them, as in this analysis of the pool scene in The Great Game:
Get real: Sherlock's just not that into you. Look at your life. Look at your choices. You know Sherlock could ruin your whole enterprise. This shit is why love is a chemical defect found in the losing side.
Jim then claims he was just "playing gay" and it was all a game.
...Alright, honey. Keep telling yourself that. Irene will try to claim it was just a game, too.
Sherlock, ordinary and disappointing, says, "People have died," and Jim screams, "That's what people DO!" If only Sherlock were more of a sociopath, right? Then he'd be relationship material. God.
Meanwhile, John wishes Sherlock were less of a sociopath so he'd be relationship material.
Sigh. Everyone's a critic.
It's not just a stream-of-consciousness series of one-liners, though. The arguments are presented and supported clearly, logically, and in great detail, and whether you end up being convinced or not, it's a very compelling - and fun - way of viewing the first three series.
* = The Johnlock Conspiracy: the belief that the series creators have intended either for John and Sherlock to be secret lovers all along, or that the 'endgame' of the series will be John/Sherlock.