Current resident of the Baker Street Irregulars TM universe

Ah, the Mandela effect, that lovely new phenomenon when people blame shifting universes rather than admit their memories might just be a tad faulty. Now that we're all connected by cyber-umbilicals to the great Avatar tree of digital consciousness, we often discover that "Hey! We're all making the same mistake!" and therefore it somehow feels like it's not a mistake. (Insert political comment here.)

What does this have to do with things Sherlockian?

Well, the Baker Street Irregulars just came out with an official website at long last, and I realized that I had always thought the club's official name was "The Baker Street Irregulars of New York." I was certain of it, sure that it was referred to that way all over the place, no doubt about it.

But the website, with its logo seen below, very plainly stops at the "TM," and that same "TM" makes the official statement that, yes, "The Baker Street Irregulars" is the official name of the club.

Now, if I were an insistent fellow, I might cry out "Mandela effect!" and make the supposition that I was once in a universe where the club's official name was "The Baker Street Irregulars of New York," and then somehow side-slipped, as Mandela effect believers sometimes claim, into the parallel universe of "The Baker Street Irregulars" period, done.

This would be an exciting thought, if I could also pick up a copy of the Canon and find a few stories there that I didn't remember reading before, or find a new, surprisingly different ending to "The Final Problem" or "A Scandal in Bohemia." But, alas, I fear that my having developed a headcanon about the Irregulars that diverges from the group's official paperwork is not going to yield any some remarkable benefits.

Dealing with reality isn't always fun, but it's a muscle we are really going to build up as we see more folks trying to believe their own wish-fulfillment or dodging guilt of late. And it probably has to start with the little things.

I just kind of wish it was still "the Baker Street Irregulars of New York," though, just in case a very, very old former Victorian lad named "Wiggins" ever shows up and tries to make a few more shillings, only to find himself sued and having to use "Former Street Urchin of Baker Street" at his con appearances. But I suppose there might be an exception made for him if he does.

Unless Disney buys the trademark at some point . . . but that's another discussion. Back to reality.

This one, anyway.