A fly on the Sherlollicon wall

 Sometimes, a person just has to work. Jobs suck a lot sometimes.

But with the advent of work from home, a Saturday "in the office" isn't exactly what it used to be. Like today, where I just logged into the Sherllolicon Zoom and let it run while I spent the day working on decision paths. Well, I say "I logged in," but I forgot that my Zoom was last used for an episode of "Sherlock Holmes is Real," so Talon King, the podcaster that shares my Zoom account, logged in. But, in any case, I got to listen.

Sherlollicon may center on fans of BBC Sherlock and Molly Hooper, but hours on Mycroft, Moriarty and Moran, creative processes, and other not-completely-Sherlolly-ship-focused topics are a large part of the the day.

As with 221B Con panels, I often most enjoy the topics where I have no input and get to listen to points of view that are impossible for my brain to have on its own. There are a lot of things tied to the human reproductive cycle that I either have or don't have that influence one's mind -- you know, kids, for one example. And personally, I'd rather ship Molly Hooper with me rather than Sherlock, but I doubt there are any other "Brolly" shippers out there. (I'm sure the membership of the Shingle of Southsea have fan ships like that, with just one person in them.)

In any case, just being a fly on the Sherlollicon wall made for a very entertaining day, and added much grist to the mental mill. The internal life of Sebastian Moran, for one thing -- going to be pondering that for a while. The proliferation of writers, both pro and non-pro, for another, and who we write for and why we write. Glad to hear the novel The Love Hypothesis discussed without spoilers, as I'm only halfway through, and I still can't imagine how its Star Wars fic origins looked. We need more media Mycrofts, I now know that for sure.

"Ask the Artist/Keeping it Fresh" transitioning into "Pridelolly" was a fascinating slice of fan culture discussion as BBC Sherlock fandom moves into that place where Doyle's tales have had to live for ninety years or so now (and Star Trek has lived for fifty years, to find a TV equivalent). In the decades ahead, the fan experience of the 2010s will have a much stronger influence upon our hobby than those in the old world fan bubble might realize just yet, and leaving the old well-worn paths to just listen for a while is definitely not dull. Not dull at all.

Being forced to work almost a full day this Saturday was made much lighter by the company of a Zoom gathering going on in the computer next door all day, and I was very glad of it, even if I didn't get to interact.

But, y'know, sometimes just shutting up and listening can be just as rewarding as speaking your mind.