Beautiful first sentence, beautiful character study!

I'm laughing so hard about the baby mobile!

Oh yes! He didn't know Sherlock's real name (well, not all of it), but that wasn't important because he knew Sherlock for real. 100%. He didn't know Mary's real name, and that was much more important, because he found out he didn't know her for real.
This was an interesting fact I hadn't thought about before. And both the revelations happened in HLV.

I believe John does love Sherlock, not just the idea of him. But he won't express it in that way because people so easily misunderstand the type of love they have. It's not the ordinary type everyone is expecting; in this as in everything else they are anything but ordinary.

Gorgeous chapter! The last sentences keep surprising me.

Yes, I admit, I was in a hurry and looked it up in the reviews. But interesting idea! I have not seen code used in a story before without translation.

Very sad, and true. I don't believe even Sherlock is unaffected by seeing people die. He simply knows how to remain calm so he can help as much as possible in the situation.

Yes; beautiful, gorgeous patterns! That last sentence was really a shock, though.

Interesting how Sherlock describes his work as putting together notes, and his mind singing when it is complete. Oddly enough I have felt that exact type of feeling when working on some project and seeing everything come together.
John's description is just sad, when he promises himself "never again", all before Reichenbach and now also Mary.

Best description! This is true at all times and in all worlds.

i liiovess. and then i went no further because that's a mess. unless it was a different code, in which case, what is up with the i in the middle?

I love chapter 24!
You're description of what Sherlock did while he was gone was excellent, and no one could have asked for better. Perhaps you could do a fic based on what Sherlock did while he was gone and the aftermath thereof? Just a suggestion.

He could probably do pens. Write it all down, have tangible evidence of it, then it would wash off in a few days.

Well, that's an interesting question! I'll have to ponder this... Scars and tattoos, voluntary; both damaging physically, both initially painful, both revealing by design. But then, tattoos are considered 'art' by many, and that term is not applied to scars (except in a few African cultures)... Hmmmm...

No, he really doesn't. Terrific vignettes. Love the way you make us see the world through Sherlock's eyes.