What Sherlock, Watson can teach you about love

Hardcore fans of the awardwinning BBC crime drama Sherlock will remember the moment where Sherlock Holmes played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch tries to acquaint himself with his new flatmate Dr John Watson at a London diner In between breaking their heads over an apparent suicide John prods Sherlock about his personal life You dont have a girlfriend thenGirlfriend No not really my areaDo you have a boyfriend Sherlock stares at him uneasily for a second before clarifying that while he is flattered he isnt looking for anything Almost right away John played by Martin Freeman denies any interestTess Joss 30 Student Johnlock helped me Overcome loneliness in a foreign countryYet this scene inspired from the original canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has managed to captivate millions of Sherlock fans into imagining what a world where Sherlock and John are in love could look like What it has done is given rise to a fandom of epic proportions with reams of literature invested into exploring the relationship of John and Sherlock aka Johnlock on sites like Archive of Our Own Wattpad Live Journal Tumblr and Fanfictionnet Vashi resident Candice Martins 36 is a diehard Johnlock fan While Sherlock fanfiction has existed since time immemorial Johnlock fiction uses the BBC series as a starting point Fanfic says Martins either takes off as an extension of the series based on cliffhangers within the show or creates an alternate universe which except for the lead characters has nothing in common with the originalCandice Martins 33 Homemaker Johnlock helped me Challenge gender stereotypesBut unknown to the world this queer fanfiction which for years has been erroneously mocked and ridiculed for its lack of originality poor language and perverse content has become a comfort haven especially for the lonely and those struggling with their sexual identities During a recent poll on a private Johnlock group on Facebook comprising nearly 8500 members undertaken for this piece 98 per cent respondents admitted that reading and writing Johnlock fanfiction had had a positive impact on their emotional and social wellbeing and these stories reverberate closer home tooBeautiful people Tess Joss 30 a Mumbai resident pursuing a PhD degree in Pardubice Czech Republic was first introduced to it in 2016 by a friend Honestly I dont know what I would have done without Johnlock Joss confesses She recalls a point in her life when she feared shed sink into depression I was in a different continent and lonely There were days when I could feel absolutely nothing I cant say exactly why or how but reading Johnlock made me feel something again because there was so much beauty in those stories and their relationship it was actually an overwhelming experienceIt still is According to Missouribased Michelle Fiala 46 who runs the popular Twitter handle BenBatched where she weaves fiction around two crochet dolls that resemble Johnlock the one reason why people remain engaged with these two characters is because their relationship even to people who see their love as platonic is often held up as the ultimate friendshipFanfiction writer and illustrator Anke Eissmann from Germany who runs an art blog khorazirtumblrcom agrees They are both outcasts who dont really fit into society John is traumatised by his war experience but also has an addiction to danger Sherlock is a loner who takes to John immediately I think what fascinates people is how these two find each other and form an immediate friendship she saysSexual awakening However to say that Johnlock is only about friendship would be undermining the real motivation behind writing these stories The intent is to explore queer relationships too Ever since their first incarnation in the stories of Doyle there have been rumours about a possible romantic or even sexual involvement between the characters I like how questions of identity are raised and explored in the many different variations of one love story that fanfiction offers says Eissmann It is within these spaces that people have also experienced sexual liberation For instance Arlene Placer 77 from New Jersey who is both an avid reader and fanfiction writer says her life took on different meaning after she began writing Johnlock stories I changed my hair from white to reddish changed the look of my clothing from the baggyold to something more tighter and younger I renewed a lagging sexual relationship with my hubby of 30 years I also began using makeup for the first time in five months she saysNothing however comes close to the story shared by 15yearold Alex S from Australia who calls himself gender fluid and revealed how Johnlock normalised sexuality for those like him When I was younger I was sort of transphobic I thought it was weird to be anything but straight Two years ago some friends started talking about Johnlock and that suddenly caught my attention recalls Alex I got so involved with their story that eventually the discomfort surrounding gay couples disappeared Soon after I started questioning my own gender and thats when I knew I didnt have a single identity Martins who is mum to a toddler adds Ive always been rather liberal when it comes to views regarding different sexualities but reading Johnlock has made me aware of the gender stereotypes I have held Its also made me understand that gender can be nonbinaryCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go