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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?
From:
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
From:
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.