Thanks a lot, ukaunz, for posting the link to the floor plans! I never could make sense of the flat (though the drawn plans fit with what I saw), so it's nice to see that there is none (because the kitchen window looks out to Baker street, so Sherlock's bedroom and bathroom would jut out over the street)...

Don't they (and we) see the flashing lights of the police cars out of the kitchen window in ASIP? Also the cabby walks up the stairs from Baker Street. It's just Sherlock's bedroom and bath room that don't make sense. I'd prefer them to be upstairs - because only John's bedroom being upstairs doesn't make sense either - from what we see the house is the same width from top to bottom, there's no reason to have lots of space on the first floor and a single bedroom on the second. (And "There's a second bedroom upstairs, in case you should need one" does not necessarily mean that the first bedroom is downstairs, even though that was my first thought.)

But of course, if bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs we couldn't hear Janine splash into the bathtub with Sherlock...

Last edited by Kittyhawk (October 30, 2016 11:01 am)

Hmm, going back and watching the scene with Sherlock choosing his costume for meeting Irene, it doesn't show as much of the flat as I remembered. But you can tell that John is sitting at the kitchen table and the camera shows the foreshortened hallway and then Sherlock's bedroom, so it's all on the main floor.

The 221B kitchen window is frosted, so you never see much out that way. Maybe you're thinking of Mrs Hudson's kitchen window, when the CIA man is dropped from the floor above and lands on her bins?

One thing that doesn't quite make sense is the little window in the stairwell, if the bathroom is behind that wall. The person who made the floorplan above solves this by having a weird little shaft between the stairs and the bathroom. Sherlock's bedroom appears to be too big to make sense as well. I don't think Arwell and co. thought the whole thing out beforehand and have had to shoehorn some rooms in 

ukaunz wrote:

Hi there, welcome to the forum, the fandom and writing Sherlock fanfiction Have you done any writing before? I agree, it's hard!

You asked these questions a couple of weeks ago, and you had some answers on the other thread, but I thought I'd add my comments anyway.

1. I always imagined that the top floor of 221 Baker Street was quite small, consisting of John's bedroom and perhaps a small bathroom, but there's no reason there couldn't be another room, perhaps stuffed with boxes and junk that Mrs Hudson has stored up there and forgotten about. I can envision a scene where Sherlock and John clear it all out for a small child to move into when she's old enough.

I found some interesting images when I googled "london victorian terrace plan layout" for my own story a while ago. There's also a great floor plan of the main level of 221B that someone created that was helpful to me http://spiceinthecoffee.tumblr.com/post/28316664217/221b-baker-street

2. Others have answered this, but I thought it worth pointing out that heaps of people living in London have kids and don't own cars. I'm not sure how practical or fun it is, as I didn't have kids when I lived there, but people must manage to do it somehow. Sherlock and John use taxis a lot anyway, so you could keep them doing that, although John does use the tube at least once in the series (when he's travelling to Baker St to see Mrs Hudson in TEH). There's also Uncle Mycroft to help out with emergency transport. If John did need to get a car, he would have to get a resident parking permit, you can read more about this at the Westminster City Council website https://www.westminster.gov.uk/where-you-can-park-resident-permit

3. I just feel in my gut that Sherlock would do brilliantly with children but they would occasionally stump/surprise him.

4. Ask away, I'm happy to try to help

Hello, ukaunz! Bless your soul for posting all the incredibly helpful information. I am so very grateful. I have done writing before! I absolutely love writing (although I am not very talented with the more technical parts of language and structure.) I also love Sherlock, so this is a match made in heaven. It's incredibly hard, and I am constantly resisting the urge to simply light myself on fire and trash everything. But it's so very rewarding.  

I absolutely ADORE the extra room full of junk idea. I think I could really work with that. Brilliant.
Oh my gracious, thank for you for the floor plan! I will definitely use that for reference. 

Thank you so much for this, it eases my nervous heart. I've struggled so much with the vehicle problem. You've gone above and beyond the call of duty, thank you, thank you. I feel so much better now. 

I so so SO appreciate all the time you took to gather these links and layouts. You've brightened my day and probably prevented me from lighting myself on fire. Kudos to you.

Since you ASKED...I might just throw in a few of my pondering as you seemed to have a marvelous mind. I hope you don't mind.


4. How do you feel that Sherlock would react to John and Mary getting a divorce? John would obviously be in tremendous grief, and I wonder if Sherlock would try to comfort him or if he would be his usual, cold-ish 'I don't care but I really do I just pretend not to" way?

5. Sherlock pretends (in my opinion) not to really care about people or sentiment. But we know he cares about John, Mrs.Hudson, Mary...etc. How do you think Sherlock would react when directly confronted by an affectionate emotion towards someone? Like say he felt love...which is something that goes against what he stands for. Would he push it away? Would he try to distance himself?

Theses are both fairly hypothetical and abstract and also subject to individual opinion, I realize. But I'd love to hear you thoughts, or anyone else's. Character analysis is fascinating.

Ta! --Sky  

Hello again Sky,

My marvellous mind, lol. Thanks though

4. I think Sherlock would be quietly sympathetic and comforting in his own way, and then try to take John's mind off his problems with a good case.

5. Sherlock is very restrained in his expressions of affections, but he does try to show them, just not in conventional ways. I'm thinking of the way he is with John and Mrs Hudson in the show. He doesn't push these feelings away exactly, but he doesn't make a big deal out of them. I don't really know... I wasn't able to write much emotion into my one fanfic story because I didn't feel like I could get into the characters' heads. Maybe I lack imagination. There are plenty of others on this forum who have done a great job of it in their fics, hopefully you'll get some more answers!

I feel really sad when I read comments like this here, on the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum. So you've become more of a BBC Sherlock Fanfic fan? (I'm not judging you, I just personally find it sad that you've lost respect for the show itself).

Last edited by ukaunz (November 2, 2016 11:52 pm)

Thank you Ukaunz! I appreciate it so much. I am having similar problems with the emotional aspects. Minds are hard...especially ones like Sherlock's.

The thing about the fanfiction vs the tv show is really interesting, Kittyhawk. Fanfiction is a wondrous world.

Concerning affection, didn't Moffat or someone say that Sherlock doesn't have a problem with physical affection, he just doesn't have many he's that close to. He easily hugs and kisses Mrs Hudson, for instance.

I agree. I think Sherlock has developed more over the show compared to John. John is still very much the one who does not allow physical contact or at least does not actively seek it, who cannot speak about his feelings. There is not much physical contact even with Mary which surely is deliberate.