okay. listen, i don’t want to invalidate people feeling upset by this, because if it was three-four years ago i would probably be feeling exactly the same - i remember what the johnlock fandom was like, i remember the intensity of being involved with such an obsessive group. but i gotta say something here.
you can be upset. you can. like it said, if this was three-four years ago, i would be incredibly upset myself. your ship not becoming canon sucks.
however, accusing moffat/gatiss/etc of intentionally trying to torture you all is on another level of … of just wrong.
moffat, gatiss, and everyone else involved in this show set out to tell the story that THEY wanted to tell, not whatever the fandom demanded. putting in occasional references to real life fandom (eg. ‘i believe in sherlock’) is about as far as they went. that hardly constitutes a conspiracy headed by people with their ear to the ground, picking up on every fandom thought and passing whim just so they can stick it in the show as a prelude to ~the grand reveal of johnlock~
the creators of sherlock had no intentions of ‘knowingly putting lgbt fans through extreme psychological strain’. that is an extremely serious accusation. that is an accusation of abuse. the creators of sherlock did nothing more than write a detective show adapted from a nineteenth century text. that’s all. they wrote and filmed and directed a show in the hopes that other people would enjoy it.
they had no reason to suspect that a huge portion of their fanbase would insist on them telling a story they never intended to tell. they owe none of us that story, especially considering the harassment and bullying many tjlc supporters engaged in. tjlc supporters put that responsibility on them when they never indicated it was welcome. i repeat: tjlc supporters put the responsibility of writing a romance between john and sherlock on their shoulders when they never indicated it was welcome.
you can criticise the show’s lgbt representation all day long if you like, there’s certainly problems with it. but by fixating on johnlock specifically, you have ignored every other instance of diversity not only in sherlock, but other projects by moffat, gatiss, & co. what about irene, for all the confusion over exactly which label she chooses? what about moriarty’s sexuality? sure he’s a villain, but he’s also one of the most popular characters in the show both inside and outside of fandom. what about sally, the only recurring woman of colour on sherlock? i never see tjlc talk about sally unless it’s to disparage her. what about mary, an incredible female character who tjlc supporters have savaged consistently despite her repeatedly displaying her depth and support for your precious ~john and sherlock~? what about molly hooper, who fandom relegates to ‘stupid sad girl getting between john and sherlock’? what about class, a show produced by steven moffat with two gay leads, two characters of colour, and three women in the main cast - not to mention other recurring diverse characters? what about doctor who, which recently had an (albeit censored) bisexual companion, and the first trans actress on doctor who in series nine, AND a recurring lesbian couple amongst other one-off lgbt+ characters, AND confirmed that time lords can regenerate as different genders and sexes by recasting one of the oldest recurring characters as a woman, AND whose next companion is going to be a woman of colour?
tjlc supporters don’t care to examine these other instances of diversity, even to criticise them, because tjlc supporters only care about one thing: a ship that was never at any stage promised to them. tjlc is an example of obsession, and it is not healthy to become so fixated on one thing like this, to the level of actively admitting you have created an entire conspiracy to support your claims.
that brings me to my final point. op, you said that “making people lose touch with their sense of reality is unforgivable.” yeah. it is. gaslighting is an unforgiveable crime.
it’s also, and i know this hurts to realise, not what happened here. or at least, if it did - it was never the show creators gaslighting you.
fandom doesn’t like to admit that tinhatting is basically an example of groupthink, of obsession that is self-generated and self-propelled. no one likes to admit this because it means admitting some culpability in it when things go south. larrie bnfs wouldn’t admit they were wrong, or that perhaps they’d gone a tad too far when louis tomlinson had a son with a woman who was decidedly not harry styles. and i think we’re going to see that a lot of tjlc bnfs are never going to admit their mistakes here, either.
because it’s embarrassing. because it makes you feel ashamed. because it’s easier to accuse the show creators of baiting you and intentionally hurting you than it is to admit you got caught up in an obsession which, while exciting, finally came back and had consequences.
here’s the thing, though. you don’t have to feel ashamed of this. you don’t have to think of yourself as stupid or gullible for being caught up in this cult-like behaviour. you’re not stupid, and you’re not a bad person for believing in tjlc. what you are is human. this is why these fandom patterns continue to cycle around - because they’re easy to get swept up in, to believe whole-heartedly in. you are not bad or stupid for believing in this.
but, and i’m trying to say this as gently as possible, this does not give you the right to lash out in anger, to make accusations of abuse towards strangers who did nothing more than write a story you didn’t like that proved your theory wrong. you are allowed to feel sad, or angry, or confused. those are all perfectly understandable. but again, you don’t get a free pass to accuse strangers who have no responsibility for your mental health of psychological torture, or abuse. that is patently unfair and wrong behaviour.
i get that this is a painful and sensitive time for this fandom. but i’m asking as someone who’s seen this go down before, in multiple fandoms (notably the one direction fandom): learn from this. don’t make the same mistakes. forgive yourself, forgive others. realise that there is no singular figurehead to blame, no villain to accuse, no easy way out of admitting you were wrong.
and then move on. let go. find other shows and movies and books that make you happy, that tell the stories you want to hear told. hell, write stories of your own! create! bring more good things into the world! that’s the best possible outcome of all of this, and it’s in your hands to make it happen.
