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Welp, I've been in the Sherlock fandom for almost five months now, and I still feel like I'm getting acclimated. I've never joined a fandom this late in the game before and I keep stumbling into old feuds. People keep talking about the TJLC thing coming back. I barely know what that is, but it sounds terrible. I've left fandoms for stuff like that.
I still don't know where I stand with Johnlock. Am I part of that subset of fandom or not? Every time I look up aroace Sherlock in the tags, I run into so many anti-Johnlock and anti-aroace posts. It took me a while to psych myself up to join this fandom in the first place because I'm so tired of aphobic shit in fandom, but I kept telling myself that Sherlock is a classic aroace-coded character. There are so many people who see him as aroace. I will have no problem finding a group of people to gush over aroace Sherlock with. Five months later, and I still don't have that group. I've found a lot of support, but I need people to share the squee with. Most of the people I've found who see Sherlock as aroace don't want to go near the fandom because of backlash. And yes, a lot of them hate Johnlock. I keep feeling more tired.
I write John as being romantically in love with Sherlock, so that's Johnlock. But Sherlock as aroace, so it's part not? Even though he's aesthetically and sensually attracted to John? I don't know. Shipping is so concerned with mashing up all the attractions together all the time, and that's not how I operate. I barely understand sexual attraction as a concept and I don't feel it. It's so much more common for me to experience aesthetic and sensual attraction without romantic attraction than with it. I'm not aro, but I haven't been romantically attracted to a lot of people. So where does that stand as far as shipping goes? Am I shipping Johnlock or am I not?
I still don't know where I stand with Johnlock. Am I part of that subset of fandom or not? Every time I look up aroace Sherlock in the tags, I run into so many anti-Johnlock and anti-aroace posts. It took me a while to psych myself up to join this fandom in the first place because I'm so tired of aphobic shit in fandom, but I kept telling myself that Sherlock is a classic aroace-coded character. There are so many people who see him as aroace. I will have no problem finding a group of people to gush over aroace Sherlock with. Five months later, and I still don't have that group. I've found a lot of support, but I need people to share the squee with. Most of the people I've found who see Sherlock as aroace don't want to go near the fandom because of backlash. And yes, a lot of them hate Johnlock. I keep feeling more tired.
I write John as being romantically in love with Sherlock, so that's Johnlock. But Sherlock as aroace, so it's part not? Even though he's aesthetically and sensually attracted to John? I don't know. Shipping is so concerned with mashing up all the attractions together all the time, and that's not how I operate. I barely understand sexual attraction as a concept and I don't feel it. It's so much more common for me to experience aesthetic and sensual attraction without romantic attraction than with it. I'm not aro, but I haven't been romantically attracted to a lot of people. So where does that stand as far as shipping goes? Am I shipping Johnlock or am I not?
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You can consider yourself a Johnlocker if you see them together in a relationship. Don't feel that sex has to come into the issue. We all have our view of them, and they are all valid. I have loved Sherlock Holmes and John Watson since grade school, and I will always see them as in a deep, abiding, loving relationship. I'm 57 now, and I don't think that will change.
Welcome to the fandom. Ignore the mean people. Those of us who accept all forms of Sherlock and John are the majority. Don't let the others colour your thoughts of the group as a whole. I'll squee with you.
-M
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I kinda wish that I had grown up with Sherlock Holmes. I watched The Great Mouse Detective as a kid, but I had no idea that was SH because they changed the names, so I consider BBC Sherlock my first Sherlock. I didn't finally read the ACD until last Christmas and I loved them. I'm rereading now.
I don't see Sherlock as cis, either. Personally, I read him as agender. A large part of that is because I'm agender and I don't see him being hung up on gender or even understanding what that is beyond a conceptual level. Or getting caught up on the traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity. One of these days, I'm going to write him wearing a light dress at home because it's hot and have him roll his eyes when John comments on it.
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Defining Sherlock
In the context of total openness, I must tell you that I am cisgendered and I won't always understand everything about ace/aro culture. If I inadvertently step on your feelings, call me out on it. I can't learn if I don't know. I try to be supportive in the correct way, but I still get it wrong. What pronouns do you prefer?
Did you know that Anotherwellkeptsecret is ace? She is a great artist and is currently writing a comic with Sherlock as transgendered. Here is a link to her website. https://www.anotherwellkeptsecret.com/ (I know, I'm probably telling you things you already know. Blame it on excitement.)
I would love to read anything you write. Do you have an A03 account? (Sorry, I should look at your profile closer before asking that, but I'm just so excited to make new friends.) Please tell me more about your thoughts on Sherlock and John.
Oh! And another good artist is J. Baillier. They are on A03. Yes, there are some sex scenes in what she writes, but usually, they are easy to skip over and not very graphic. However, the majority of each story is about the relationship between John and Sherlock. Their take on Sherlock is always as neuro-divergent. In my current favourite series they are writing with 7percent, Sherlock is ASD and a brain surgeon. The writing is amazing. Here's a link to the series - https://archiveofourown.org/series/392395
It's funny, I've never seen The Great Mouse Detective, but I have seen just about everything else in one form or another. The books still are the best read on John and Sherlock, and I reread my favourites every few years. Have you ever seen any of the movies? I love Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson, but their stories had very little to do with canon. I have yet to watch any of the Grenada series. (I know!) I am going to check out Miss Sherlock this week. It's showing on our HBO app on Hulu. I've heard good things about it.
Have a great day!
-M
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Re: Defining Sherlock
-M
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Re: Defining Sherlock
I'll try to see if I can find their art. And I'll check out the other artists you recced. I'm still learning who everybody is and discovering artists. Everything is still very new to me, so I appreciate the help. I also write Sherlock as neurodivergent. Autistic, specifically. I’m autistic and I relate to so many of his behaviors. It’s funny when he reminds me of stuff that I used to do when I was little, but don’t do anymore.
On that note, I'm also still learning a lot about the trans community. I only realized I'm agender a year ago, but I haven't read that much about it because I've been so focused on ace stuff and reading every post on aromanticism that I can get my hands on so I can write it properly. Although I did accidentally create an aro character ten years ago. I just didn't know the terms yet. About pronouns, I don’t really get hung up on those. She/her are the ones I’m used since I’m AFAB, so those are fine. They/them also works. I only feel misgendered if someone refers to me as a woman/lady/ma’am. That gives me dysphoria, but she/her doesn’t if the person using them knows I’m non-binary.
My version of Sherlock is agender (he/they), bi with aesthetic and sensual attraction (although leaning more towards men and masculine aligned people), and aroace. Awakenings covers most of my version of how he experiences attraction. Basically, very much loves looking at and touching John. Lots of cuddling. But he’s not comfortable with sex. He’s not romance-repulsed, but pretty meh about romantic stuff like Valentine’s Day. I see John as cis, but very much bi. Although bisexuality is such a broad category that the nuances of it for him seem to shift a bit from story to story for him. In the story I’m writing now he’s much closer to pan where the gender isn’t really important, but in the pastiche it might be a bit different. I still haven’t decided. I see them as being more in a QPR than in a romantic relationship because of Sherlock not really being into romantic labels, but at the end of the day, since John’s love is romantic, leaving their relationship mostly unlabeled. They’re open about it and hold hands in public.
I haven’t seen Granada, either. Well… I did try, but I couldn’t get into it. It feels like heresy to say that in this fandom. I’m kinda picky when it comes to cinematography and I’m one of those weird people that actually wants adaptations to not be extremely faithful to the source material. The episode I tried to watch was very accurate. I turned it off and reread the story, instead. I love the Ritchie movies, though. RDJ and Jude Law have such great chemistry together. Jude Law is my favorite Watson. Benedict is still my favorite Sherlock. Although I don’t have a lot to choose from since that’s all I’ve seen. The only pastiche I’ve read are the novels by Kareen Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, which are what reawakened my love of Sherlock a few months ago. I want to watch and read more, but I’m waiting until I have my versions for the pastiche fully fleshed out. I’m the kind of writer that freaks out about not being able to do something because someone else has done it already. Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson especially are so tricky because they don’t get much in the canon. And I love the BBC Sherlock versions so much, so I have to make sure they’re not those versions. But Sherlock totally still has a mother-son relationship with Mrs. Hudson.
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Re: Defining Sherlock
I loved the story. I especially enjoyed the realness of it. Having John announce their relationship on the blog, then having Sherlock enjoy the supportive comments - I hope that has been your experience. I can't wait to read more. I am trying to be more informed about lifestyles (?_I'm not sure what word to use) different from my own. My problem is that I get so easily distracted by other things. Prime example: I was researching the penitentiary fire in Columbus, Ohio and ended up reading about the Great Chicago Fire, The Baltimore Fire, the Great Fire of London... And I still didn't get my question answered about the Pen! To top it off, all the stuff I read tonight? Already gone. I like to say I have a mind like a steel sieve.
I am a little more familiar with the Autistic community as my mom taught kids in the '80s. I would help in the classroom occasionally (like a den mother) for special events, so I got close to the four kids she had. Unfortunately, two of the boys were severely Autistic, non-verbal, and prone to violence. Eventually, their parents decided that institutional help was the only choice they had. I doubt that approach would be approved today. I've only just now learned about the spectrum (we had some really black/white thinking back then), and how varied the people under that umbrella can be.
Personally, labels bother me, and I don't understand the (sudden to me) need to drill down to VERY specific definitions of who we are. I could put many labels on myself, but none would really describe my entire self. I am very much a broad strokes kind of person. Still, I have respect for people however they define their lives. I just want to understand it all.
Thank you for talking with me and sharing your thoughts on John and Sherlock. I agree that John is very Bi, but I can also see him as pan/poly. And Sherlock, as I said before, is mostly undefinable - though I do always see him on the spectrum.
I have been trolling Pixiv the last couple of weeks looking for new (to me) artwork of our guys. So many pieces there are comics, but they're all in Korean, Chinese or Japanese, so I can't read them (wah). Still, I have found some lovely works that I've added to my treasure trove.
Have a lovely week!
-M
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Re: Defining Sherlock
I had no idea I was autistic until a couple of years ago because ideas on autistic people were so limited. The few examples I saw didn't match up with me at all because I'm not a savant and I talk. There are some disturbingly inhumane "treatments" that are still in use today. It's the only ones some insurance companies will cover. They're basically trying to cure autism, which is so gross.
I'm the opposite with labels. I love analyzing things to death, including myself, so defining myself makes me happy. I feel lost otherwise. It's also validation. I spent so much of my life feeling like a broken weirdo, so discovering that I wasn't the only person who thought x way was a shock. So I need to be very open about my labels both to inform the world that people like me exist and as a reminder to myself that I'm not weird. If there were lots of representation out there, I wouldn't need to cling so hard, but every time that I see something that only mentions men and women and assumes that sex and romance are automatically linked, I cling to my identities even more. It's the only thing that keeps me functional some days.
Thanks! You, too.
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