Now that is what we should have seen onscreen.

Thank you so much for creating something which managed to be more believable, more in character, and more entertaining than the utter travesty we were subjected to at the end of S3 and in S4. You did a marvellous job of coming up with a complex and credible alternative both for Mary's actions and to cover the entire Magnusson/Moriarty story-arc (without inventing a Mary-Sue, omniscient, mad sister out of nowhere).

Turning Mary into a genuine bad guy worked, even in the context of what we'd already seen. Since we lost her anyway onscreen it didn't even radically alter things as it turned out, EXCEPT in a good way. In your 'universe' Sherlock and John's friendship and bond remained precisely as it was (and should have been) without the awfulness we had to sit through in the later episodes, which pretty much destroyed everything it had gone to so much trouble to create.

Mycroft also came across much better here, particularly in terms of his actions being more about protecting Sherlock than anything else.

You managed to capture the depth of Sherlock and John's bond without ever making it mawkish, and there was also just enough humour to fit what we (used to) see onscreen.

I think in my head I may actually replace the awful cannon with this. It really was so, so much better.

I can't express in words how much I like your stories and the way you write them. I wasn't very satisfied with series 4 and I wish you'd write something about it. I'd like to see your point of view about Sherlock's character development.

I finally got around to reading this. It's excellently crafted! I felt the time you took in the beginning to get into John's and Sherlock's heads regarding Mary was necessary, as the circumstance is certainly not to be taken lightly. I also love how true you are to the characters as you present them even while they are developing, especially in Sherlock learning about friendship and what it mean to murder someone. I enjoyed the story thoroughly, and it plays like one of the TV episodes might with Sherlock investigating one thing and then discovering something else profound along the way. I have to say, I was on the edge of my seat in the chapters where Sherlock & John had decided to target CAM because my mind kept screaming, 'but what about the threat of Mary!?' And you came back to her brilliantly. I deduced Janine's involvement on my own from the very beginning; no reason to mention her otherwise. Yours & your partner's writing is of the quality that I aspire to, and I am grateful to be able to not only enjoy it but study it.
The entire episode of HLV was where the show finally, truly changed for me. For the first two seasons I considered it a unique, honorable, and valid interpretation of timeless characters. I was also able to buy in to the first two episodes of season 3. But HLV dropped it down to bizarre fanfiction. From that point I chose in my mind to stop thinking of it as an adaptation of Conan Doyle and just...as its own unique entity. "Sherlock & John" were no longer a version of "Holmes & Watson" after that episode. They became their own thing. So in no longer thinking of them in that way, I could continue to enjoy the show. Although season 4 was so different from the rest of it, I'm still not quite sure how to qualify it. I don't know yet whether to call it "good" or "bad" in terms of how it continued the story of these characters. The fact that it gives me pause does say a lot. But I can say it was entertaining, and I am willing to take up the challenge of writing for that universe. It's just...different.
I do wonder though about the psychology of becoming so invested in a fictional universe that you feel you know what's going to happen, and you know it so surely that when something else happens it just feels wrong. It speaks to how well the creators presented their characters if we believe we know them so deeply, I guess?
All that said, I'm glad there are talented writers out there like you two who can bring us back to the universe we fell in love with when the show started. Thank you!

How the fuck this has no reviews this is amaaaaazing it fixes every thing please continue you awesome writing I hated the fourth season with all my heart and this just helps everyone great au!

I have to say I was hooked when I saw the title. Fitting. Brilliant idea! The whole story was brilliant though. I believed everything everyone did. The dialogues were so real. I loved the interactions. You captured the characters perfectly. The human side of Mycroft was a fascinating point. Although I Iike Marry, this was rather interesting. You built a great plot with that and I loved it. Thank you!

That was rather enthralling. I'm new to the series but I'm having a little obsessive patch with it. That explored a lot of interesting themes as well as the fact that I agreed with your first statement that it made no sense for John to stay with Mary after he discovered that she shot Sherlock.

I didn't enjoy this as much as your other Sherlock stories.

It was as well written as always but the hatred you have for the Mary character overshadowed everything else. You took it to a rather ridiculous extreme with the fake baby etc.

Wow! Brilliant story I've loved every word of it. Thank you.

A tour de force! Fantastic story, incredible twists and turns. Wonderful dialogue, esp. Mycroft vs Sherlock. One of the best Sherlock fics ever.

I enjoyed the story. I was glad that Mycroft ended up not being quite so bad after all. You did a great job with his dialogue in the last few chapters. For me, I didn't really enjoy the confrontation with Mary. She seemed a bit more like a caricature to me, and didn't completely make sense to me. But otherwise, I felt your characterization in this was really good.

I like how this is all coming together! As soon as the Countess said that her tutor stepped in, my mind immediately jumped to Mycroft. I think it's a clever explanation, and I'm still waiting to see how all the pieces come together.

Yep, Sherlock definitely did panic; at least John stopped him here. I like John's theory on Magnussen.

Laughing at the last line. Yep that last clue that there was something wrong was indeed a bit hard to miss...

Of course, Sherlock *would* travel to Brussels less than 2 weeks after his 2nd lifesaving surgery.

I thought Sherlock's reasoning was pretty good for calling Mary a psychopath. And she was indeed most concerned about not wanting to lose the relationship because that's what *she* wanted. The concern about John was minimal. After all, the reasoning that finding out the truth would break John as a reason for killing Sherlock makes no sense when Sherlock's death would break John too.

How interesting that Janine is involved in this. I'm not sure if I've read a story where Janine was in evil cahoots with Mary. Great idea. But that throwaway line about telling Mycroft that Mary shot him... I really want to see Mycroft's reaction to all this. Interested in seeing what happens next...