Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

oscarstardis:

doctorwhom:

nothing-but-color:

You’re me. You’re me! Sherlock Holmes…thank you. Bless you.

So, somehow Moriarty actually ended up as a kind of sympathetic character to me? I mean, obviously he’s a total murderous psychopath, okay, he’s not a woobie. But he’s so psychologically broken and so alone and so bored, because when you have so much, when you’re that fucking brilliant, when anything you could even want just falls into your lap with hardly any effort, what is the point of even living?

And, I dunno. People cleverer than me are bound to be writing essays on this in the coming days, but to me, I think that was why he shot himself. He didn’t even care about the game, because it was pointless to him. It was just a way to pass the time in his truly empty existence, so he had no problem removing himself from the game board. 

Maybe it’ll turn out that he faked his death, and this was just an elaborate Xanatos roulette, I’m totally wrong about all of this. But, much as I’d delight in seeing him in season three, I think it would be kind of awesome if he really was dead. Like…he won the game. He really did. But what else was there, after he’d won? After he’d connected with Sherlock on that level? What was the point of carrying on any longer?

He’s just a really fascinating character.

I absolutely agree with everything here.

I think what it really boils down to is what he says right when Sherlock joins him on the rooftop: “All my life I’ve been searching for distractions. You were the best distraction and now I don’t even have you, because I’ve beaten you!” To a great mind like Moriarty, dealing with ordinary people is dull and pointless, and he when he found Sherlock he finally found someone who could compete with him and hold his interest. Someone who challenged him and was interesting for once. Someone who was worth his time. But the truly sad thing is that even though he loved finding a kindred spirit in Sherlock, he can never truly consider him an equal. There must be a winner because they cannot coexist harmoniously as they’re always getting in each other’s way. So he finally beats Sherlock. He absolutely proves that he is cleverer, more cunning. And at that point he realizes that he has absolutely nothing to live for. He had found and discarded his perfect match. There would be no more challenges for him, no one to test him the way that Sherlock did. Even if he let Sherlock live he would always know how to bring him down - like the 12 jury members, you simply have to locate their weakness and exploit them, and Moriarty found Sherlock’s. So life is no longer fun, there is no longer anything interesting enough to stimulate his mind, to challenge him. I think, like Sherlock, his mind rebels at stagnation. But unlike Sherlock, he has no one else to make life worth living. No friends or loved ones to worry about and care for, to live for. Without the game, Moriarty has nothing. So he ends it. He has won the game and he decides that it is time for the game to be over. He ends it on his terms, smiling and triumphant.

The main difference between Sherlock and Moriarty is that Moriarty is not human. Just like Sherlock said, he’s in no way human. This series has demonstrated that Sherlock Holmes does have a heart, he values his friends and his life and he’s willing to die to save the people closest to him. Moriarty doesn’t have anything like that. But he’s not like your typical villain, because he does understand love, he uses it to exploit Sherlock and make him dance like a puppet on strings. But Moriarty himself, he has no weakness. He has no soft spot. He’s cold, hard and mechanical in his cruelty and intelligence. Some may argue that his weakness was Sherlock, but it’s not, Sherlock was just a new piece in the game who Moriarty thought he could play against, use to free himself of some boredom. But he wanted to kill Sherlock, he wanted to win by destroying him and he didn’t do it because he was fascinated by him, because he felt care and emotion, he just wanted to win. And he did. He didn’t care about his life, he’s never had anything to hold him to this world, so he had no problem pulling out his gun and shooting himself in the head, just to spite Sherlock, just to get that final thrill of beating his great opponent. He didn’t do any of this because of human emotion and human complications, he did it because he’s not human, he doesn’t have any love or friends or comfort, he just has this great game of his, it consumes him, so when he realises the great game is over, that he’s won, then there’s no point in carrying on. There’s nothing left to fill the void left by a lack of love.

(Source: ourfinalproblem)