Close up of my favourite consulting detective.
Hand embroidered by Felix + Flower
When Sherlock pulls out his John File in TSoT, there are many interesting papers. However, I’ve only managed to take a readable screencap of only one of them. There’s been a surprise, though, Here is John’s signature, I’m sure some of you wondered what it might look like.
GUYS. OKAY.
John’s signature is not all we get here. We also see that he is signing to consent to organ donation. But also: he is refusing to sign consent for a blood donor program, and we see that he has not donated blood in the past 3 years. Americans might know where I’m going with this already: in the US, men who have sex with men (MSM) are banned from donating blood. What about in the UK though? Per the NHS, Men cannot donate blood if they have had sex with another man in the past 12 months.
Isn’t that interesting.
I hate to be a downer but If you’ve ever been given a blood transfusion, you cannot give blood in the UK. John was shot and likely received a transfusion at some point during the process hence he cannot donate blood
tjlc really did embolden me to get as weird with theory as I please
TJLC Month in Review: July
Welcome to the fifth installment of the TJLC Month in Review! Below, you’ll find most of the meta published this month. Questions, comments, and additions are welcome; please check the About page (below) first.
People Are Talking About…
The Game is Now
A new trailer for the London-based escape room came out, sparking several discussions:
- Where is Mycroft?, by @ebaeschnbliah, @loveismyrevolution, @sherlockshadow, and several others
- Is Mycroft in Battersea? by @mollydobby
- On parallels between Moriarty and Mary, by @waitedforgarridebs
On “crises” in Sherlock’s career:
- General discussion, by @ebaeschnbliah, @green-violin-bow, @devoursjohnlock, and many others
- On The FInal Problem, by @green-violin-bow
- On “crises” and story arcs, by @garkgatiss
- On John’s beard, by @marcelock
Answer Time
Moffat and Gatiss answered bloggers’ questions on July 9th. You can view all the Q&As here; TJLC highlights include the ones on plot twists, Eurus and Irene, and those that inspired these theories:
- On ASiP and the two pills, by @killing-guns and @soul-or-not-this-is-bunny-221b
- On Sherlock’s hat, by @gosherlocked, @i-believe-n-sherlock-holmes, @dhae-knight, @possiblyimbiassed and several others
- On the Gillette adaptation, by @bakerstreetcrow
- On “loose threads” and John, by @waitedforgarridebs
- On Oberstein, by @waitedforgarridebs
Culverton Smith Articles
Articles about Culverton Smith created for TLD were released and found by @finalproblem.
- On the significance of M.R. James, by yours truly with additions by @devoursjohnlock
- On allusions to The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, by @devoursjohnlock
Fandom News
@threepatchpodcast released extended cuts of their episodes on Translock and Check, Please.
@88thparallel created a meta chat on Discord that provides a relaxed, less structured environment for TJLC discussions.
Billy Eilish released a song inspired by BBC Sherlock.
CrimeReads published an article on Holmes as an avant-garde feminist.
@justasociopath discovered that someone hung a pride flag from the 221B window. (Who was it? Confess.)
Longer Meta
@devoursjohnlock wrote a starter kit for getting back into meta after Series 4.
On children on Sherlock, by @gosherlocked (Part 2 of a series; start here)
On the small carpet in 221B, by @ebaeschnbliah with additions by @sarahthecoat and @gosherlocked
On guns in the 221B set, by @teaandforeshadowing and @i-believe-in-sherlock-holmes
On Sherlock’s motives for saying he forgave Mary, by @silentauroriamthereal with additions by @raggedyblue and @possiblyimbiassed
Comparisons between the confrontation in HLV and Mary’s death, by @gosherlocked
On EMP and inconsistencies in ASiB, by @fellshish, @sarahthecoat, and @hemlock-her-loss
On John’s therapists, by @gosherlocked with additions by @raggedyblue, @ebaeschnbliah, @possiblyimbiassed, and others
On parallels between TRF and TFP, by @mikabee
On Mary as John’s facade of heterosexuality, by @beingallmysterious
On Moriarty’s “death” and twins, by @pretty-damn-smart
Mini Meta
- On parallels between Janine and John, by @mapleseed
- On public perception and TLD, an anon ask to @garkgatiss
- On lighting, by @thingssherlockshouldwear
- On ghosts and updating the canon, by @marcelock
- On ASiB, babies, and guns, by @redvanillabee
- On Mary’s anticlimactic death, by @fellshish
- On 221B, by @sherlock-nanowrimo
Meta about the Original Stories
On “The Parasite” and TLD, by @devoursjohnlock
On husbanding in “The Dancing Men”, by @ummzaksbest
On parallels with “The Nightmare Room”, by @garkgatiss
On coding in “The Valley of Fear”, by @garkgatiss
On the history of Sherlockian gender discussions, by @granada-brett-crumbs
On references to queer-coded literature in the canon, by @dearestwatson
On being a “conductor of light” and the biblical John, by @dearestwatson
On Balzac and A Case of Identity, by @adventureofthedancinggirl
Intertextual Meta
On primroses and Maurice, by @kinklock
On unrealistic deaths and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by @garkgatiss
Cast & The Powers That Be
Arwel retweeted some fanart depicting John and Molly as mirrors. Well, back to the basement for him.
Mark Gatiss gave an interview for The Sunday Times. Screencaps here courtesy of Ruther and @fuckyeahmarkgatiss.
Back from the Dead
An old interview of Mark Gatiss, on Bond and queer subtext, was rediscovered by @seriesfive
The Heimish test (invented by @heimishtheidealhusband, @roseinmyhand, yours truly, and @obotligtnyfiken) is recirculating in light of @garkgatiss‘s metas on five-act structure and new comments by @gosherlocked and @possiblyimbiassed.
@raggedyblue added similarities between Casablanca and Series 4 to a classic post on TJLC/Casablanca parallels.
Several confirmations of Series 5 by people involved with Sherlock from a while back have been found:
- By the people who run Speedy’s, found by @gosherlocked
- By Tobias Forrest, found by @honeylocked and Ruther
- By Andrew Scott, found by @tjlcisthenewsexy
In Case You Missed It
Bad news: An unfavorable and frankly biased Slate podcast about TJLC came out. Several of us wrote replies (here, here, here, and here).
Good news: Benedict Cumberbatch won an Outstanding Achievement Award; meanwhile, In a Heartbeat won a Student BAFTA!
Did you write some cool stuff that I missed? Drop me a message and I’ll stick it in next month’s review. Check out the About page first.
Tags under the cut. If you would like to be tagged or would like me to stop tagging you, please let me know.
*warmly, with great affection* gark you trick ass bitch
Sherlock Fandom Archive 