Cogito, ergo doleo: Sherlock fandom, I’m calling you out
Johnlock is problematic as hell. Please just…
Bullying is when you attempt to coerce someone into agreeing with your interpretation of a character by accusing them of doing something socially unacceptable or bigoted when they interpret that character in the way they choose.
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson can be: asexual, gay, ace AND gay, straight, bi, pan, aromantic, cis, trans*, Aspie, depressive, bipolar, schizophrenic, MPD, psychopathic, narcissistic, OCD, neurotypical, male, female, intersex, a vampire, a robot, a fairy, a demon, tentacular, from the past, from the present, from the future, from outer space, from the ocean, an imaginary friend or anything else a creator—ANY creator, fandom or for-profit—so chooses.
People like this treat diversity like it’s a zero-sum game, as if each new piece is taking something away from them rather than adding something by broadening the visibility of minority and underrepresented groups of every sort. So if someone ever bullies you like this, and you find yourself sitting there, feeling guilty and wondering whether your poor story even has a right to exist: ignore them.
Or better yet, ignore them AND ALSO look at your story and think about the places where you made an automatic choice that could be different. So your story is a gay romance—or even a straight romance. That’s the tale you’re telling, and that’s fine. But your OCs, are they all straight white guys? Check again: could some of them be women? POC? Trans*? Little people? Muslim? Maybe English isn’t their first language, or they have a physical or mental disability. There could even be combinations! Muslim women! Black transmen! An accountant with dwarfism who immigrated from India! I know these people need more stories ABOUT them, but just as much, they need to be present. You can’t always write the story about them, but you can let them in.
And the bullies can screw off.
Sherlock fandom, I’m calling you out…