mazarin221b:I’ve been a Sherlock Holmes fan for a long time. Long enough that I’ve spent probably...

mazarin221b:

I’ve been a Sherlock Holmes fan for a long time. Long enough that I’ve spent probably way too much time Playing the Game - in other words, creating meta based on the Canon, but you won’t catch that old boy’s club calling it that - so I know how fun it is and what a delight it can be to think about. 

But I’ve found these days I have so little patience with it. I read meta about Sherlock and I just roll my eyes, and I think I know why.

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I absolutely agree with this. There are some amazing, brilliant metas out there, don’t get me wrong, but then there are so many others that literally don’t make sense. Points are built on things that are sheer conjecture with no facts to base it on, and conclusions are drawn from those two things that leave me utterly baffled sometimes. I do think that this is a well-crafted, well-written show, but I have to agree with what mazarin221b said about Moffat and the simplified explanations. I’m very much in the let’s-wait-and-see camp. There are certain things that I really, really hope we’ll get, but I think it’s important not to confuse hope with belief. 

The part I find most ironic is that this is a fandom of a universe and character based on logical deduction, someone who, in our particular version, specifically states that it’s dangerous to theorise without knowing all of the facts. And yet, that’s precisely what I see so often! People creating theories that fit some of the facts, while conveniently overlooking others. Choosing to interpret everything the writers say through a certain lens, without acknowledging the possibility that other interpretations are possible. I do blame the length of these hiatuses (hiatii?) a little - it’s been so long that these interpretations take on a certain sense of desperation after awhile, and I feel it, myself! I was also in the Harry Potter fandom and writing between book releases, and I remember when Harry got together with Ginny, how outraged some of the Harry/Draco shippers were. I was angry, but not surprised. I was surprised that other people were surprised, since JKR had strongly foreshadowed that with no subtlety whatsoever basically from the moment of Ginny’s introduction. But that’s human nature, to get lots in our hopes until we start believing that they’re certain to become realities. Personally, I’m just trying to stay as objective as my hopeful little heart can, because I would hate to be in 100% convinced that I know what they’re going to do, only to be shocked and devastated if/when they don’t do that. 

Because I read a lot of these metas, aka strongly skewed and very subjective interpretations, and just think, yeah, I don’t see it. You’d have to really squint hard to come to that particular conclusion. I can acknowledge the possibility, but I’m just not certain, and the reason is that there’s a precedent with Moffat and Gatiss liking the light-hearted, simplified explanation. It’s not bad writing; it’s just their quirky style - which, if we’re being open about it, is not always my favourite - I personally would prefer them to go into more depth in terms of the emotional fall-out of certain events. Amy being forced to give birth in captivity, having her child wrested from her, having had her memory wiped about it, and then only meeting her child when said child is already an adult older than she is - all of that never got in-depth enough treatment, for me. But then, take that with a grain of salt, because I’m a fan of things like The Silmarillion. For me, there can always be more depth! :P 

I know what I hope, and I hope hard. I just don’t want to impose my hopes onto whatever logic I’m capable of applying when it comes to interpreting our canon. Call me a cynic, but I’d rather be cautious than wrong, maybe. :P