Trippin' on Three Patch again.

In the mass of things on my to-read list, Sherlock fanfic remains a vast library that I've barely poked my head in the door of. There is just not enough time. And yet I love it anyway, from afar. Perhaps it's better that way, hearing Sherlockians enthuse about its high points without getting into the parts where penises and orifices become involved. And, yes, yes, there is plenty of fan fiction without the interaction of those two bits, but there's plenty of fan fiction of every possible sort, and where there isn't, someone is bound to get to it one of these days. And like I said, just not enough time.

Soooooo, the reason I adore fanfic so greatly from afar?

Three Patch Podcast.

I don't even listen to their "Spoilercasts," which, bless their hearts, is a completely wonderful concept for those of us that want to get to the next Sherlock somewhat untainted in our ability to enjoy it fresh.

Every time I start listening to one of their massive, multi-part, monthly episodes, it just makes me think. Three Patch Podcast is not one of those things one listens to to reinforce one's own view of the world, if one is a middle-aged white male whose Sherlockian education goes back to the Shaw workshop days. (It's funny to think that we once tittered over lines like "I heard a little sigh of satisfaction as he cuddled the butt into his shoulder," given the level of the new fanfic.) I mean, seriously, I don't get why Sherlock and John would want to !%#@ each other, in any universe. (Sorry, ghosts of editors past and present won't let me write "fuck" even now. Oh wait. I just did. But it wasn't in context, so maybe the internal censors let that slide.)

Didn't I say Three Patch makes me think? Perhaps too much.

The latest non-Spoilercast episode had me actually starting to think Sherstrade makes sense. Rupert Graves and the writers have done such an amazing job with that character that there's material to work with. And just as the Sherlockians of old analyzed the Doyle Canon to piece together an exact location for 221B, the new Sherlockian scholarship takes the Moffat/Gatiss Canon and pieces together the exact relationship between the consulting and government detectives. Only now it's in fanfic and podcast discussions instead of the printed page.

And that's cool. Once upon a time, all a fan could hope to do to communicate his or her thoughts was write -- letters, articles, full-length books -- and hope to get any one of those published so more people could share the thoughts than just those you could hand it to. It wasn't a superior medium, it was just the only one we had. So many more now, all equally valid ways to share one's thoughts.

And as much as one might like to complain about the quality of material that doesn't go through some gatekeeper filter and editorial improvement process, the amount of sheer creativity that is out there and being talked about on a very thoughtful level . . . well, while I still haven't read any of jinglebell's Merlock works, hearing her interviewed on same is fascinating. (Even though "Merlock" still sounds like "murloc," and man, do I hate murlocs. "HEH-ROOOOOOOOOOO!" Yuck!)

I'm sure Three Patch Podcast isn't for every fan of Sherlock Holmes, focusing mainly on Cumberbatch and company Sherlock, but if you've got a fairly open mind and some time to let some different point of views in, it can be a little trippy.

I mean, look how much I just babbled here, unable to really even start to express all the thoughts that pour in during on episode, on culture, on creativity, on . . . not more rain. I think Peoria shall wash away soon. Sorry. Like I said, trippy.