OF COURSE I DID. I CRY EVERY TIME. OH GOSH. THE DANCING LESSONS ARE STILL FOREVER ENGRAINED IN SHERLOCK’S BRAIN. HE THOUGHT THEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON IT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TIME TALKING.
OMG. Mini meta time:
Since this sequence is in Sherlock’s head, can we presume that Sherlock thinks they spend too much time DANCING AROUND EACH OTHER instead of TALKING TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER?? Sherlock doesn’t think John understands the things Sherlock is trying to say to him. Because what does Watson do in this scene?
John’s confused at the whole conversation that transpired. The same one where Sherlock told Wilder that he and John were ‘together’. Yeah, Sherlock wants to talk about them being together for real, and he thinks John won’t understand when Sherlock will eventually bring it up.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how ashamed and embarrassed John is of his limp in asip? ESPECIALLY KNOWING IT WAS IN HIS MIND BUT THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO TO STOP IT. Ladies and gentlemen, John Watson thought this would be the rest of his life. He never expected that limp to be gone. He would spend his life with a cane despite being in his 30s, hobbling around like an old man, unable to participate in life the way he wanted, doomed to a permanent sedentary mundane sad life. And he HATED IT. Now imagine a person came along. And within 24 hours of meeting you had fixed that. Sherlock cured John of something John considered a likely permanent disability. Imagine how that would feel.
John was a goner from the start. It wasn’t just attraction, it was help and hope that Sherlock gave him.
Agree with this so much. He literally must have felt like Sherlock had given him his life back, like magic.
I think in a way this is why John is wary of falling for Sherlock and goes ahead with the wedding to Mary. When the Fall happens, John experiences the reverse of ASiP: Sherlock can give life but he can also take it away. In MHR we see John struggling, and John himself says that #sherlocklives means that #johnwatsonlives.
I imagine that, amongst everything else, one of the worries John had when Sherlock ‘died’ is whether his limp would stay away without him. Knowing that someone has that kind of power over your emotions, psyche and whole life is beyond the standard amount of terrifying. I think it goes a long way towards showing why John tries to cling to ‘moving on’ even when Sherlock returns.
The car ride at the end of Tab would have been so tense like at this point
-John knows that Mary is bad news, and he also knows that, for the moment, he has to stay with her.
-But there’s something else he is learning, has been learning for a long time
-And Sherlock’s drug addled ramblings only confirmed his suspicions (his tentative hopes, his most secret dream)
-“Why… Why don’t you just elope… I wouldn’t mind…”
-So they are driving, with John in the middle of the backseat, literally between Mary and Sherlock, and its agonising
-There’s only so much he can take
-So when Sherlock’s hand falls onto the leather of the scant seat space between them
-Slowly
-So slowly that it would seem to anyone else like this hand wasn’t moving at all
-He makes his way to touch Sherlock’s palm
-Tracing the lines and callouses so softly that Sherlock almost doesn’t look to see what is going on
-But when he does see he swallows hard and twitches his hand, which makes john freeze in his travels, but then Sherlock’s thumb is stroking along the back of his palm
– An unspoken reply of ‘yes, I have been waiting for this’
-So John links their fingers together and squeezes in a staccato rhythm and prays to god he understands
-And Sherlock’s eyes are watery red but he doesn’t look around, not while Mary could look and see this moment and destroy him
-So he simply squeezes back and holds on tight, wishing that he didn’t have to let go
-Mycroft watches in the rearview mirror and his heart breaks for them, because there is a plan and they would all need to stick to it or risk losing their lives
-But was there anything worth living for if they couldn’t have each other?
(The Morse code reads “I am so in love with you and I have been from the start”)
Holllyyyy crappppp just K I L L M E
This is canon. I will accept no other car ride scene.
