Musings on A Study in Pink (1)

Trigger Warning (General): Mentions and discussion of homophobia and suicide

More specific trigger warnings will precede each part of the meta

Summary: The theme of the show has been clear since day one. Heteronormativity, homophobia, and toxic masculinity will kill John, Sherlock, and Johnlock if the former are not stopped.

This meta is a series with three parts:

All transcripts taken from Ariane Devere Sherlock episode transcripts. Appropriate pages will be linked after each quote.

All S1-S3 screenshots taken from screencapped.net  

Part 1: Shot in the left shoulder – the Cabbie as a John mirror

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussions of homophobia and suicide; image of fake but realistic blood

The main flow of the case in ASiP goes like this: the Cabbie is one of those ‘just want the best for his kids’ parents. He is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Motivated and enabled by Moriarty, he goes on a potentially fatal murder spree, leaving four people dead in his wake. Sherlock eventually solves the case, but the Cabbie is ultimately stopped by John.

In short, the main characters at play are: Moriarty, Cabbie, Sherlock, and John. Moriarty and the Cabbie are the main enigmas. What do they represent?

In Part 1 we will focus on the Cabbie and what he might stand for.

Keep reading

@sherlockshite said: I hope I’m not being repetitive here, but I’m adding also the fact this moment (John shooting John mirror) is very significant as it not only solidified the foundation of trust and friendship between Sherlock and John, but also, it symbolically shows that John was ready to take on a new adventure (solving cases with Sherlock), wherein he shot his father mirror (heteronormativity, and tradition). 

Totally! For me the ending of ASiP foreshadows the happy ending that John and Sherlock will have. In the episodes following ASiP, he hasn’t really shaken his father’s shadow, hence his unsuccessful relationships with women and never ending up with Sherlock. John, my man, you need to tackle your childhood issues. You’ve started doing that in TLD so don’t give up, all right? Love ya. 

@sarahthecoat said: Wow, this is excellent, glad i saw it! i’ve seen the cabbie as a john mirror for a while, but you deepened my understanding considerably. Also, just twigged on his initials, after how many years?! Jeff Hope, John Hamish watson.

Thank you <3 And for the point about Jeff Hope and John Hamish Watson - yes! I totally agree! @heimishtheidealhusband have written several metas on John’s middle name. Here they discussed how Hamish stands for John’s sexuality. In another meta, they suggest that ‘James’ stands for queerness, and Hamish is the Scottish form of James. 

And… I come from a culture where there’s no such thing as middle names, but as far as I know, a lot of times middle names are used to pay tribute to close friends or family members yea? This definitely adds onto the JH-JHW connection. 

YES. Also rb for the other thread of discussion. ASIP is beautifully structured as a hero-journey, ticks all the boxes, but is about John. I forget if i have written up my own notes yet, I twigged on this years ago, before i started reading meta on tumblr. I think in the overall orc of the show, ASIP functions as the “call to adventure” for Sherlock, and if we ever get a s5, then all the boxes may be ticked again, i hope so.

‘Don’t make people into heroes John’ because John is the hero :’)

yes!

rb again just because.

Musings on A Study in Pink (1)

Trigger Warning (General): Mentions and discussion of homophobia and suicide

More specific trigger warnings will precede each part of the meta

Summary: The theme of the show has been clear since day one. Heteronormativity, homophobia, and toxic masculinity will kill John, Sherlock, and Johnlock if the former are not stopped.

This meta is a series with three parts:

All transcripts taken from Ariane Devere Sherlock episode transcripts. Appropriate pages will be linked after each quote.

All S1-S3 screenshots taken from screencapped.net  

Part 1: Shot in the left shoulder – the Cabbie as a John mirror

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussions of homophobia and suicide; image of fake but realistic blood

The main flow of the case in ASiP goes like this: the Cabbie is one of those ‘just want the best for his kids’ parents. He is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Motivated and enabled by Moriarty, he goes on a potentially fatal murder spree, leaving four people dead in his wake. Sherlock eventually solves the case, but the Cabbie is ultimately stopped by John.

In short, the main characters at play are: Moriarty, Cabbie, Sherlock, and John. Moriarty and the Cabbie are the main enigmas. What do they represent?

In Part 1 we will focus on the Cabbie and what he might stand for.

Keep reading

@sherlockshite said: I hope I’m not being repetitive here, but I’m adding also the fact this moment (John shooting John mirror) is very significant as it not only solidified the foundation of trust and friendship between Sherlock and John, but also, it symbolically shows that John was ready to take on a new adventure (solving cases with Sherlock), wherein he shot his father mirror (heteronormativity, and tradition). 

Totally! For me the ending of ASiP foreshadows the happy ending that John and Sherlock will have. In the episodes following ASiP, he hasn’t really shaken his father’s shadow, hence his unsuccessful relationships with women and never ending up with Sherlock. John, my man, you need to tackle your childhood issues. You’ve started doing that in TLD so don’t give up, all right? Love ya. 

@sarahthecoat said: Wow, this is excellent, glad i saw it! i’ve seen the cabbie as a john mirror for a while, but you deepened my understanding considerably. Also, just twigged on his initials, after how many years?! Jeff Hope, John Hamish watson.

Thank you <3 And for the point about Jeff Hope and John Hamish Watson - yes! I totally agree! @heimishtheidealhusband have written several metas on John’s middle name. Here they discussed how Hamish stands for John’s sexuality. In another meta, they suggest that ‘James’ stands for queerness, and Hamish is the Scottish form of James. 

And… I come from a culture where there’s no such thing as middle names, but as far as I know, a lot of times middle names are used to pay tribute to close friends or family members yea? This definitely adds onto the JH-JHW connection. 

YES. Also rb for the other thread of discussion. ASIP is beautifully structured as a hero-journey, ticks all the boxes, but is about John. I forget if i have written up my own notes yet, I twigged on this years ago, before i started reading meta on tumblr. I think in the overall orc of the show, ASIP functions as the "call to adventure" for Sherlock, and if we ever get a s5, then all the boxes may be ticked again, i hope so.

Musings on A Study in Pink (1)

Trigger Warning (General): Mentions and discussion of homophobia and suicide

More specific trigger warnings will precede each part of the meta

Summary: The theme of the show has been clear since day one. Heteronormativity, homophobia, and toxic masculinity will kill John, Sherlock, and Johnlock if the former are not stopped.

This meta is a series with three parts:

All transcripts taken from Ariane Devere Sherlock episode transcripts. Appropriate pages will be linked after each quote.

All S1-S3 screenshots taken from screencapped.net  

Part 1: Shot in the left shoulder – the Cabbie as a John mirror

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussions of homophobia and suicide; image of fake but realistic blood

The main flow of the case in ASiP goes like this: the Cabbie is one of those ‘just want the best for his kids’ parents. He is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Motivated and enabled by Moriarty, he goes on a potentially fatal murder spree, leaving four people dead in his wake. Sherlock eventually solves the case, but the Cabbie is ultimately stopped by John.

In short, the main characters at play are: Moriarty, Cabbie, Sherlock, and John. Moriarty and the Cabbie are the main enigmas. What do they represent?

In Part 1 we will focus on the Cabbie and what he might stand for.

Keep reading

Wow, this is excellent, glad i saw it! i’ve seen the cabbie as a john mirror for a while, but you deepened my understanding considerably. Also, just twigged on his initials, after how many years?! Jeff Hope, John Hamish watson.