silverblaze wrote:

Does it have to look and feel like a Sherlock episode? You could have chosen an easier show. 

If so, I'd say that my main worry is that the plot isn't high concept enough. Most of the Sherlock episode have a conceptual element (CAM, Moriarty's robbery in RBF, the signs in TBB, the serial suicide in ASIP). Your plot sounds more like an ordinary crime drama, nothing wrong with that in itself, but Sherlock would need a bit more. 

Well, I don't think it has to be spot on, but it at least has to fit with the style of other episodes, even if it's a little rough.

That's a fair point you've made. Last night I thought of a new idea.

It may sound like a bit of a crossover, but perhaps there could be an episode where a countryside village is suddenly getting a number of reports of missing children. Their parents say their children went to play in the forest nearby, but never returned.

Now, this is where it might start to sound ridiculous, but some witnesses claim they saw a creature much like Slenderman (I don't know if I'll run into copyright issues if I actually use Slenderman, but perhaps it would be easier to use a different name and create a supernatural creature similar to Slendy) during the night and believe he has taken the children to become his "proxies". This creature is famous as the village's oldest myth and it is infamous for its history of missing children who have never returned.

I was also thinking of adding a girl who murdered her friend in the forest because of her obsession with the myth. This would loosely based on that story about those two 12-year-olds who attempted to stab their friend to become Slenderman's "proxies". To make this a little more "strange", maybe their is hardly any Police records of murder, but a lot of missing people (kind of like what Hot Fuzz used with its high reports of "accidents") They find the murdered body with the note that reads CAN'T RUN. They'll discover other notes later on.



This girl later on "kills" herself because she didn't get her wish to become his proxy after murdering her friend. I'm not entirely sure how she fakes it, but I was thinking something like poisoning her twin sister and killing her (I can create a pretty good backstory for her and her sister's relationship, I'm thinking something on the lines of extreme resentment) and then posing as her sister, making everyone believe she is dead. (I know Sherlock doesn't like the idea of twins, but where is a young girl going to find a dead body lying around that looks like her?) She fakes her death for two reasons a) She doesn't want to be filed as "missing" and risk being found, and would draw away any suspicion if the community believed she was dead and b) She personally wanted to get rid of her twin sister and take all her success and praise she gets. Despite being identical, we could get a classic Sherlock "observation" as to why she isn't who she claims to be.

When it comes down to the Slenderman-like creature, I'm not too sure about how to explain that. I mean, a very tall man would be logical, but I'm not sure what else. I'll have to come back to that. I'll have to come back to where the missing children are too. I think Slendy's famous mansion is a little too obvious.

But this is the idea I have for this one (so far, anyway). It doesn't have a completely conceptual element, but somehow, I think with a bit of tweaking, it could possibly work.
 

Schmiezi wrote:

Let me throw in one or two thoughts.

First, I envy you for being able to deal with anything Sherlock for your studies.

Second, just a thought on how you approach the whole thing: Sherlock episodes are never about a case. The case is always there to deal with another topic. THOB for exampla is about Sherlock's fears and to show how his relationship with John has deepened.

So ask yourself: what do you want your episode to be about? At the moment, the show is all about developing Sherlock's humanity (I think), his emotional side.

Once you know where you want the character developement to go, you can chose a case that helps you with it.
 

Haha, thanks. Honestly, the reason why I want to do Sherlock is because I'm a huge fan of the show, and despite how conceptual it is compared to an average crime series, I think it would be fun to do (even if it can be a little stressful at times)

Thanks for your advice. I was thinking it could focus on Sherlock and Mycroft's relationship as brothers and look at the resentment between them (perhaps linking it later on with the girl's resentment with her sister). Also, I don't know if this is right or if this is just fan fiction, but does John have a sister? (I don't remember myself. As Smash Mouth would say, "I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed" XD)

 

A lesbian sister named Harriet, who was married (?) to a woman named Clara until they broke up.

silverblaze wrote:

JojoAskedAlexandria wrote:

It may sound like a bit of a crossover, but perhaps there could be an episode where a countryside village is suddenly getting a number of reports of missing children. Their parents say their children went to play in the forest nearby, but never returned.

Now, this is where it might start to sound ridiculous, but some witnesses claim they saw a creature much like Slenderman (I don't know if I'll run into copyright issues if I actually use Slenderman, but perhaps it would be easier to use a different name and create a supernatural creature similar to Slendy) during the night and believe he has taken the children to become his "proxies". This creature is famous as the village's oldest myth and it is infamous for its history of missing children who have never returned.

I was also thinking of adding a girl who murdered her friend in the forest because of her obsession with the myth. This would loosely based on that story about those two 12-year-olds who attempted to stab their friend to become Slenderman's "proxies". To make this a little more "strange", maybe their is hardly any Police records of murder, but a lot of missing people (kind of like what Hot Fuzz used with its high reports of "accidents") They find the murdered body with the note that reads CAN'T RUN. They'll discover other notes later on.
 

Looks like quite a plot already. Some wonderful twists and twist potentials.  I hope you're still reading this, I'm trying to think along so bear with me. 

I don't know about the story that's in your head but the way you've written it down hear I'd say you'll run into problems with your character motivations. A twelve year old girl would need a very strong motivation to kill someone. Also, writing 'can't run' somwhere is a very strange thing to do if one is trapped. You could write a number of things (mum, I love you, the name of the killer etc.) that would make more sense. 

Concept: Lots of SH stories deal with premises that have seemingly supernatural elements but of course in the SH universe there's also a natural explanation. A monster could be conceptual but doesn't always have to be, much depends on the execution; a conceptual story always has something very familiar. If your story is about children then maybe you could add an element like common warnings to children: don't talk to strangers, don't cross that street, don't stay outside after six, the monster under the bed, and turn that into a horror story. (Which in this universe, of course has a naturalistic explanation.) I personally wouldn't use someone else's monster, I'd either create my own or use ancient myths and folklore. 

Theme: as Schmiezi said, most Sherlock episodes have a theme, sometimes a bit more present than others, usually intertwined with character arc. I've got a little tip to add to that: the writers, especially Moffat, tend to create a thematic foreshadowing moment at midpoint (although that's not a rule) with the actual thematic moment at climax point. Scandal is a good example of that, with Mycroft almost flat out stating the theme of the episode at midpoint.  

I hope you don't feel I'm critisizing you, I'm just trying to help.  Have fun and good luck!
 

Oh no, it's very constructive criticism so thank you for your advice

The girl will be 16, not 12, and I think her motivation for killing would be her obsessive behaviour for urban legends and monsters. There's also the extreme resentment for her smarter sibling (who, although is more academically talented, is much more vulnerable) and how the community praises her sister and sees her as the "pity twin", only worsening her resentment and biterness.

I wrote a few things down the other day.

• Sherlock and Mycroft's relationship (And maybe John and Harriet's relationship?) Main focus is sibling resentment and I think your elements on warnings to kids
• A murdered girl is found in the forest in a village famous for missing people
• Newspapers brand it “first murder in over twenty years” This catches the attention of Sherlock (because I don't really think just an ordinary murder would)
• Going to this village, they are informed of the famous urban myth creature (Inspired by Slenderman) who, years ago, used to kidnap anyone who was out in the forest at a certain time, particularly children. A lot of residents believe the murder to be caused by it
• Village is infamous for high missing persons and suspicious for low recorded murders
• The village was avoided because of the creature and missing persons, and has now come back into the spotlight again for its murder.
• Upon inspection of the murdered girl, they find a note that reads “SACRIFICE” that wasn't there before. On the bottom right, it reads 1/5
• They are then alerted by a distraught mother and daughter, who tell Police the daughter's twin sister, Kyra, had "committed suicide"
• There is another note by her body, reading “HE'LL TAKE YOU TOO” (2/5 on the bottom right) along with a suicide note. They discover Kyra had an obsession with the creature and her note details her desires to be with him, but didn't get her wish. Her bedroom walls have many drawings of it
• They look at the records of missing people in the last twenty years as well as the recent cases. It is discovered that the creature took an absence in the last five years, as reported missing persons suddenly dropped. There was still no recorded murders during that time, but the village seemed normal again, until the sudden rise of missing people and the murder.

That's all I have so far, but I've thought of a fairly good plan as to how Kyra murders her sister.

Basically, Kyra congratulates her twin sister Katy for her scholarship to a private boarding school. Katy seems surprised at her sister's sudden kindness, but appreciates it nonetheless. Kyra then offers to give her sister a "new look" for the boarding school, and Katy reluctantly agrees. Kyra dyes Katy's hair red (as Kyra has red hair, she needs to dye her sister's hair so people will believe it is Kyra's dead body) and makes her a cup of tea afterwards. Katy drinks it, unaware that it contains rat poison, and drops dead. Kyra writes a fake suicide note and places it beside the dead body on her bed.

After this, she attempts to imitate Katy by wearing her glasses, washing out the red in her hair and attempting to create Katy's birth mark on her neck with makeup. Of course, we'll get Sherlock's typical observation later on.

She doesn't want to be filed as "missing" and risk being found, and would draw away any suspicion if the community believed she was dead and b) She personally wanted to get rid of her twin sister and take all her success and praise she gets.