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03 January 2014 @ 10:47 pm
Misc. Stuff  
I've had a few random things that didn't seem worth making a post about individually, so I thought I'd combine them.

1. We've been experiencing a bunch of frostquakes happening around here, lately. They happen when the temperature changes rapidly, and water gets into the ground and then freezes and expands. It's sort of like something giant has just landed on your roof, or a sonic boom. It's not dangerous, apparently, but it's slightly unsettling. But kind of cool, too. No pun intended.

2. I have a new laptop! It is pretty. Its name is Oliver, and it does everything I ever wanted anything to do. I love it.

3. I stumbled across this article today, and it made me lol. Because I do enjoy it when non-fandom people report on the Sherlock fandom doing things all fandoms do as though it were particularly weird for that fandom. Also: Curly Fu and Peanut. I don't know which one I like better.

4. AU's are successfully mended, for the most part, but as usual with a Sherlock episode, I have no clue how many days it's supposed to take place over. So, I'm having a bit of trouble trying to decide when people should know what they need to know. Also, what is [Spoiler for Series Three]Mary's profession? Is she John's secretary at the surgery, or some sort of RN or RPN? I couldn't catch Sherlock's deductions of her, so I don't know if it's ever explictly stated.

ETA: Sherlock spoilers in comments, too.
aelfgyfu_mead: Sherlock and Johnaelfgyfu_mead on January 4th, 2014 07:55 pm (UTC)
I actually got quite a kick out of how fixated on the mustache he was. It was like he couldn't process John properly because the mustache kept getting in the way. :-D
And inspired him to draw on his own little tiny silly mustache to go with his silly French accent!

I totally sympathized, because I have been laughing at that mustache since I saw the first photo months ago. I'm not entirely sure why. Brilliant Husband defends it as a fine mustache, although he suspects they may have darkened it a little; something looked just a tiny bit off about it, and darkening makes sense. (If it were totally blond, or worse, gray, it would be hard to see at times, and look like it was coming and going. And I won't tell you know about people I know who shaved their facial hair because they couldn't stand having grayer facial hair than head hair.) I think I'd have been fine if I'd seen him in action with the mustache before, but my eyes were drawn to it over and over.

For Sherlock, I think it represented visually the fact that John had changed, and he really didn't want to believe that John had changed. I thought his "you and me against the world" bit sounded convincing in the preview, but in the episode, when he delivered it with Mary standing next to John, it was quite jarring and showed him to be in denial of what was right in front of him.

I love the way all the different physical and verbal aspects came together to shed lights on the characters' psychological traits. I've seen people complain that the episode didn't have much plot. I think it didn't have much mystery. I thought the plot was about Sherlock's emotional growth (and failures) and secondary John's, and for me, that was plenty of plot.
The Writer They Call Tayawanderingbard on January 4th, 2014 09:27 pm (UTC)
I just thought in the close-ups, it looked like a stuck on mustache (which it was), and you could see just where it met his nose the little white section where it was glued-on. Otherwise, I managed to focus on other things. I think Martin actually pulled it off quite well. If they put a bowler hat on him, I think I would have found him believable as canon Watson, which is unusual because I find Martin to have such a modern sort of face, where Ben has a very period film face. It wasn't a creepy mustache, and I generally find mustaches rather creepy. BH is right. It was a fine mustache. But I'm glad it's gone.


I was super pleased it didn't have that much mystery. I think with all the build-up, we needed 90 minutes of character stuff. I also loved that with all Sherlock wanted John back, he did not do a single thing to actively break-up him and Mary. That's growth right there. He just respected that they were together and he was going to have to work around that.

My only complaint was that in focusing, rightfully, on John, I felt like the other characters were a bit rushed in their reactions. It seemed like only John had a reaction other than That Was A Thing That Happened, Oh Well. I loved Lestrade's fatherly hug, and I accept that there was not enough time to have Sherlock have a long scene with each character, but everyone seemed quite willing to forgive him. Mrs Hudson was angrier at John than Sherlock.