Nope. But I see why the difference might be hard to tell - considering Mofftiss saying they were big Sherlock fans so one might call all BBC Sherlock fanfiction anyway.

Swanpride wrote:

No. It was way too complex for the run-of-the-mill fanfic. There are few fanfic writers which are that clever. It was a homage, though.

Well, I have read some incredibly well-written fanfics. Stories I would call literature, both from a narrative and poetic POV, e.g. wordstrings who is a genius with words. Or Ivyblossom to name just a few. So this is not an argument against Vhanja's theory. 

I understand your point Vhanja. I also thought there was a lot of "fan service", just like there had been in TEH (ie. Sherlock and Moriarty almost kissing, even if it wasn't "real") but i have to disagree on one thing:

Vhanja wrote:

- And not to forget: Mycroft suddenly abandoning all fasade and stoicm, telling Sherlock he will always be there for him, asking John to take care of his little brother (even with a "Please"!), picking up Sherlock's teared list... if I read that in a fic, I would've thought they'd written Mycroft way too OOC! (First time I wrote a sentence with four "O"'s in a row...).

>> That wouldn't be OOC but very IC in my opinion. Mycroft never tried to hide his brotherly love for Sherlock. It was clear from the very first episode that Sherlock was the most important thing in his life and that he would do anything to protect him ("I worry about him. Constantly.") The bickering is just a façade. He's always there for Sherlock (ie. In SIB, he gives him a cigarette, and then calls John and asks him to look after Sherlock, to make sure Sherlock doesn't take any drug), he goes to Serbia to rescue him, he's worried about how John's wedding could affect Sherlock because he knows how John is important to him ("Don't get involved"), when John calls him to say he found Sherlock in a drug den, he stops whatever he was doing (be it an important meeting or working on urgent files) to go to Baker Street and see if the flat is clean because Sherlock is his n°1 priority, he's all worried when Sherlock tells him he met Magnussen because he knows how dangerous the latter can be, he's clearly devastated in the copter when he realises Sherlock has killed Magnussen, and in that same episode, he even tells Sherlock "Your loss would break my heart".

And there are other examples. I think there is nothing Mycroft wouldn't do for Sherlock. He's always there for him. Always. In TAB, he wants to make sure that Sherlock doesn't forget he'll always have his support. He could be angry at Sherlock, but he's not. He's just sad, and frightened. He doesn't want Sherlock to become addicted again. "Promise me."...

Sherlock loves Mycroft too, but he wouldn't admit it like Mycroft would. He's too resentful (or pretends to be at least). Mycroft knows that. He knows Sherlock won't listen to me. So he does what he's been doing for a couple of years now: he relies on John. There is nothing surprising that he asks John to look after Sherlock. He's already done that in the past, even if it was less "direct" (ASiP, TRF...)

I wrote a couple of Mycroft centric fanfics, and I've always made him a very caring big brother, often relying on John to look after Sherlock (in an old fanfic, I had actually made him text John to say "Please, John. Take care of him" hehe  ), and often feeling guilty about Sherlock, always blaming himself for Sherlock's addiction (and that's somehow what he does in TAB, he says "It was my fault").

So I think TAB Mycroft was just "true to form": he cares about Sherlock more than anything in his life.

It's interesting to see that MP!Mycroft doesn't show any of that. That would mean Sherlock doesn't see how much Mycroft loves him. I once wrote in a fanfiction (Mycroft is addressing Sherlock in his thoughts, not in real): "Therefore, you only see in my attitude towards you a will of interference and a superiority complex. You are blind to my true motivations. Somehow, I have to confess that it suits me. You are my unique weakness, and if you ever knew how important you are to me, no doubt you would use that power against me."

I don't know if i'm right about that but I like to see things that way...


 

I got the fanfic feeling a bit (not in a bad way), but it did not surprise me at all. Mofftiss are fanboys, always have been and never been apologetic about it. Moffat has time and again called himself the possibly best paid fanfic writer in existence (or a variation of that). I don't find it surprising that the two most successful fanboys have had ideas similar to a few less known ones. They always poke fun at their fanbase, and it works, because they are fans themselves ("It's never twins"..."What about secret twins" or "Why don't you just elope"..."Would you mind" *pushes Moriarty over the edge*) 

As for Mycroft, his caring has always been evident, but it often comes out in weird ways ("I worry about him...constantly"... said to the man he just kidnapped so they could talk in private, etc). I do not think we have often seen him caring whiole not getting disturbed by other matters. We got glimpses in the morgue in SIB and during Christmas and after Sherlock shot CAM during HLV, but there was much more going on in the episodes to keep out attention focused elsewhere, while in TAB, if one  only considers the "real" parts, they are all sitting in a landed plane, there is very little action to distract us from how this group of people is dealing the drug problem of the one person that connects them.

Last edited by Lola Red (January 4, 2016 1:59 pm)

In my opinion, pretty much all of Sherlock is Steven Moffat & Mark Gattis' fan fic anyway. They're hardcore fanboys and nerds, and they're just writing what they want and what they love and how they imagine THEIR version of Holmes & Watson to be. The fact that millions of people have leapt on it and come along for the ride is just a bonus.