Politically Correct SuperWhoLock
December 7, 2024
Graphic by Ellis Wesley
A/B/O – or the Omegaverse – originated from a Wincest fanfic on AO3 back in 2010.
These wolf-like, inherently sexual dynamics have now bled into the public consciousness (sadly) after snaking its way through other AO3 fanfics, Tumblr one-shots, and eventually into published books.
But A/B/O started because someone who had access to a laptop wanted to see the two Winchester brothers from Supernatural bang like wolves — and their fandom loved it.
Fandom spaces, culture, and mindsets have always existed to champion the weird, the bold, and the wildest dreams of horny twenty-somethings. But as much as they were championed, it was usually done quietly. In these somewhat feral corners of the internet, fans of media would whisper together about headcanons, ‘raunchy’ fanfics, and crossovers that don’t really make sense.
When I was entirely too young to be consuming smut on Tumblr dot com (and doing it anyway), there was SuperWhoLock: the crossover between Supernatural, Doctor Who — the 10th and 11th Doctors — and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock. This is one such crossover that didn’t make much sense when you looked at it purely from the perspective of the shows themselves, but SWL worked because it made no sense, and because the fans were more concerned about the dynamics between the characters, not the plot. The fandom spaces were meant for people to explore, create, and merge pieces of media to make their visions come true. They were private, sure, but they were safety nets for people who typically didn’t have the same means of self-expression IRL.
In most fandom spaces, you’ll see young queer people who aren’t able to declare their identity to the people in their physical spaces. Fandoms allowed them to have safe havens without the fear of being judged. Yes, your new name can be Sherlock or Castiel, that’s awesome! Older queers in these spaces would be looked up to as mentors and positive role models, something that young queers may not see very often in their respective suburbias.
Not to romanticize how fandoms used to be “back in my day,” I say, as if I ever had the misfortune of using Fanfiction dot net, but there was a certain collective understanding that if you disliked something then you’d ignore or block it. There was a sort of peaceful sense of isolation, where you could stay in your little echo chamber of people who agreed with your every opinion — or at least respectfully added their own take to it.
SuperWhoLock, in our case, was a way that meshed these echo chambers into one without conflict. Think of it as a cultural exchange program, as conflated as that is. Whether that be the shared crossover artwork, fanfic, merch, or the general theorization of how the shows will end. Maybe it was because it ended in a lot of lemon-rated (AKA not safe for work) fanfic, but it was a time incomparable to anything that modern fandoms have to offer. The ‘pure’ ages of fandom were anything but, but they allowed people to be authentically themselves, breaking the norm in a way as simple as noticing the homoerotic undertones between Sherlock and Watson.
But even as SWL was dying out — and yet Destiel re-entered AO3’s top-100 ships of Summer 2024 — it was becoming increasingly more politicized. And no, not because Castiel going to Super Gay Hell trended during the 2020 Election on X, formerly known as Twitter. But because fans were so desperate to be ‘right’ about any topic trending in their spaces.
As fandoms have become a staple in the public’s eye, there has been an increase in the fanatical need to be the “better fan.” Whether that meant telling people their ship was wrong because they disliked it or hating multi-racial or sexuality headcanons, fandoms were beginning to stray from a safe space into a competition.
Shipwars have always existed, but when doxxing became normalized and slurs were thrown around like candy, the joys of fandom were beginning to dwindle. Safe spaces began to resemble battlegrounds, and being the ‘most right’ became more important than having fun.
Remember how I said fandoms were a safe space for queer kids to explore their identity? With the rise of this ‘new age of fandom,’ many people who were simply trying to find labels that “fit” or were “comfortable” for them were bashed as “ruining the LGBTQ+ community” and making a fool of trans people. These claims are often (not always!) made by cis people who speak over the transgender community in an attempt to be politically correct. Again, for them, it’s more important to be ‘right’ than for people to live their lives. Of course, I can’t speak for every person ever, but at what point did a 13-year-old going by frog/frogself pronouns set back the movement if it made them happy?
The policing of fandom spaces and fans themselves has led to a lot of internal fighting, degrading the core values that fandom once held. Take Doctor Who for example — fans are often more concerned with the new Doctors being women or Black than actually enjoying the newly released content. While this may not go for all Doctor Who fans, the large majority that make it their duty to attack, argue, and ‘debate’ the ‘morality’ of a woman/Black Doctor take away from the overall enjoyment that the collective fanbase would typically engage in. Instead of theorizing over the new companion, or how the new Big Bad will be another villain from the Doctor’s past (can we get new villains?), fans are often more occupied in defending the existence of diverse Doctors, or getting doxxed trying, than enjoying the new season.
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Graphic by Ellis Wesley
Even more, a lot of these fandom ‘hot-takes’ would eventually bleed IRL, leading to many of these actors, showrunners, and writers being harassed for doing their jobs, but not doing them in a way that fits the fandom perspective. Both Jodie Whittaker (the 13th Doctor) and Ncuti Gatwa (the 15th Doctor and my King) have received a plethora of death threats, doxxing attempts, and other horrible comments for the simple crime of being cast as the new Doctor — who, mind you, is an alien and thus does not perceive gender or race as we do. And while I fundamentally disagree with Destiel and Johnlock not ending up together, that doesn’t equate with sending the writers death threats.
When my sister talks to me about the new drama in her Nesta (ACOTAR) Discord, all I hear is ship wars being an irritating battle of moral righteousness. Disliking a part of the fandom you’re in is par for the course. Wincest is disgusting no matter their impact on the fanfic world, but it was never that big of a deal ten years ago. Sure, some people would bicker about it, call each other names, and the like, but blocking and timeline curation was the norm, not full-on fighting. Bickering hasn’t stayed just bickering, it’s become a moral argument to see who is the best person.
When I say I hate Wincest, it’s because I think it’s gross. Plain and simple. But now, if I were to declare such a thing, I would be “anti-incest” (obviously), not letting people express themselves (maybe some things shouldn’t be expressed!), and against queer relationships (yup, hate them) (kidding, duh). Opinions in fandom have become intertwined with moral battles. Any opinion you have that may only pertain to one specific fandom-centric scenario all of the sudden becomes a moral wrongdoing on your part that must be purged from the internet.
While yes, you definitely can still enjoy fandom spaces, there is always a gnawing idea in the back of your head that if you make one wrong move, say one opinion someone doesn’t like, then you’ll be banished indefinitely.
The death of safe fandom spaces means the death of good fan creations. Artists, authors, and casual fans are too caught up in making sure what they’re doing is acceptable to enjoy media and obsessive solidarity to its fullest.
As these fandoms have increasingly degraded, the more fond I’ve grown of private Twitter (X, I guess) accounts and the less I find myself interacting with fandoms. While it’s always enjoyable to see the fanart and fanfics that are created, it’s somehow more comforting to scream into the empty void of a ‘priv’ account than it is to interact with fan accounts.
As my main account transitioned between SWL, Star Wars (Finn deserved better), the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dream SMP (I know, I’m sorry too), Kpop, Genshin (again, sorry), and back to Kpop (TXT Version), I fell out of love with interacting with random strangers on the internet. Though those memories of theorizing, freaking out over leaks, and a general sense of camaraderie will always be dear to my heart, the way fandoms ended up in the most recent years have killed that childlike exploration I had before. Sometimes, things are better experienced in the deep comments of AO3 and a private QRT on an artwork.
At the end of the day, fandom is really meant for weird, horny creations to be born into existence from the deepest crevices of tween and twenty-something-year-olds’ minds, regardless of how uncomfortable they are. Policing creation and policing art just stifles the greatest minds of each generation: the fan. Even if that means we have to suffer through whatever knotting is. ■
These wolf-like, inherently sexual dynamics have now bled into the public consciousness (sadly) after snaking its way through other AO3 fanfics, Tumblr one-shots, and eventually into published books.
But A/B/O started because someone who had access to a laptop wanted to see the two Winchester brothers from Supernatural bang like wolves — and their fandom loved it.
Fandom spaces, culture, and mindsets have always existed to champion the weird, the bold, and the wildest dreams of horny twenty-somethings. But as much as they were championed, it was usually done quietly. In these somewhat feral corners of the internet, fans of media would whisper together about headcanons, ‘raunchy’ fanfics, and crossovers that don’t really make sense.
When I was entirely too young to be consuming smut on Tumblr dot com (and doing it anyway), there was SuperWhoLock: the crossover between Supernatural, Doctor Who — the 10th and 11th Doctors — and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock. This is one such crossover that didn’t make much sense when you looked at it purely from the perspective of the shows themselves, but SWL worked because it made no sense, and because the fans were more concerned about the dynamics between the characters, not the plot. The fandom spaces were meant for people to explore, create, and merge pieces of media to make their visions come true. They were private, sure, but they were safety nets for people who typically didn’t have the same means of self-expression IRL.
In most fandom spaces, you’ll see young queer people who aren’t able to declare their identity to the people in their physical spaces. Fandoms allowed them to have safe havens without the fear of being judged. Yes, your new name can be Sherlock or Castiel, that’s awesome! Older queers in these spaces would be looked up to as mentors and positive role models, something that young queers may not see very often in their respective suburbias.
Not to romanticize how fandoms used to be “back in my day,” I say, as if I ever had the misfortune of using Fanfiction dot net, but there was a certain collective understanding that if you disliked something then you’d ignore or block it. There was a sort of peaceful sense of isolation, where you could stay in your little echo chamber of people who agreed with your every opinion — or at least respectfully added their own take to it.
SuperWhoLock, in our case, was a way that meshed these echo chambers into one without conflict. Think of it as a cultural exchange program, as conflated as that is. Whether that be the shared crossover artwork, fanfic, merch, or the general theorization of how the shows will end. Maybe it was because it ended in a lot of lemon-rated (AKA not safe for work) fanfic, but it was a time incomparable to anything that modern fandoms have to offer. The ‘pure’ ages of fandom were anything but, but they allowed people to be authentically themselves, breaking the norm in a way as simple as noticing the homoerotic undertones between Sherlock and Watson.
But even as SWL was dying out — and yet Destiel re-entered AO3’s top-100 ships of Summer 2024 — it was becoming increasingly more politicized. And no, not because Castiel going to Super Gay Hell trended during the 2020 Election on X, formerly known as Twitter. But because fans were so desperate to be ‘right’ about any topic trending in their spaces.
As fandoms have become a staple in the public’s eye, there has been an increase in the fanatical need to be the “better fan.” Whether that meant telling people their ship was wrong because they disliked it or hating multi-racial or sexuality headcanons, fandoms were beginning to stray from a safe space into a competition.
Shipwars have always existed, but when doxxing became normalized and slurs were thrown around like candy, the joys of fandom were beginning to dwindle. Safe spaces began to resemble battlegrounds, and being the ‘most right’ became more important than having fun.
Remember how I said fandoms were a safe space for queer kids to explore their identity? With the rise of this ‘new age of fandom,’ many people who were simply trying to find labels that “fit” or were “comfortable” for them were bashed as “ruining the LGBTQ+ community” and making a fool of trans people. These claims are often (not always!) made by cis people who speak over the transgender community in an attempt to be politically correct. Again, for them, it’s more important to be ‘right’ than for people to live their lives. Of course, I can’t speak for every person ever, but at what point did a 13-year-old going by frog/frogself pronouns set back the movement if it made them happy?
The policing of fandom spaces and fans themselves has led to a lot of internal fighting, degrading the core values that fandom once held. Take Doctor Who for example — fans are often more concerned with the new Doctors being women or Black than actually enjoying the newly released content. While this may not go for all Doctor Who fans, the large majority that make it their duty to attack, argue, and ‘debate’ the ‘morality’ of a woman/Black Doctor take away from the overall enjoyment that the collective fanbase would typically engage in. Instead of theorizing over the new companion, or how the new Big Bad will be another villain from the Doctor’s past (can we get new villains?), fans are often more occupied in defending the existence of diverse Doctors, or getting doxxed trying, than enjoying the new season.
Graphic by Ellis Wesley
Even more, a lot of these fandom ‘hot-takes’ would eventually bleed IRL, leading to many of these actors, showrunners, and writers being harassed for doing their jobs, but not doing them in a way that fits the fandom perspective. Both Jodie Whittaker (the 13th Doctor) and Ncuti Gatwa (the 15th Doctor and my King) have received a plethora of death threats, doxxing attempts, and other horrible comments for the simple crime of being cast as the new Doctor — who, mind you, is an alien and thus does not perceive gender or race as we do. And while I fundamentally disagree with Destiel and Johnlock not ending up together, that doesn’t equate with sending the writers death threats.
When my sister talks to me about the new drama in her Nesta (ACOTAR) Discord, all I hear is ship wars being an irritating battle of moral righteousness. Disliking a part of the fandom you’re in is par for the course. Wincest is disgusting no matter their impact on the fanfic world, but it was never that big of a deal ten years ago. Sure, some people would bicker about it, call each other names, and the like, but blocking and timeline curation was the norm, not full-on fighting. Bickering hasn’t stayed just bickering, it’s become a moral argument to see who is the best person.
When I say I hate Wincest, it’s because I think it’s gross. Plain and simple. But now, if I were to declare such a thing, I would be “anti-incest” (obviously), not letting people express themselves (maybe some things shouldn’t be expressed!), and against queer relationships (yup, hate them) (kidding, duh). Opinions in fandom have become intertwined with moral battles. Any opinion you have that may only pertain to one specific fandom-centric scenario all of the sudden becomes a moral wrongdoing on your part that must be purged from the internet.
While yes, you definitely can still enjoy fandom spaces, there is always a gnawing idea in the back of your head that if you make one wrong move, say one opinion someone doesn’t like, then you’ll be banished indefinitely.
The death of safe fandom spaces means the death of good fan creations. Artists, authors, and casual fans are too caught up in making sure what they’re doing is acceptable to enjoy media and obsessive solidarity to its fullest.
As these fandoms have increasingly degraded, the more fond I’ve grown of private Twitter (X, I guess) accounts and the less I find myself interacting with fandoms. While it’s always enjoyable to see the fanart and fanfics that are created, it’s somehow more comforting to scream into the empty void of a ‘priv’ account than it is to interact with fan accounts.
As my main account transitioned between SWL, Star Wars (Finn deserved better), the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dream SMP (I know, I’m sorry too), Kpop, Genshin (again, sorry), and back to Kpop (TXT Version), I fell out of love with interacting with random strangers on the internet. Though those memories of theorizing, freaking out over leaks, and a general sense of camaraderie will always be dear to my heart, the way fandoms ended up in the most recent years have killed that childlike exploration I had before. Sometimes, things are better experienced in the deep comments of AO3 and a private QRT on an artwork.
At the end of the day, fandom is really meant for weird, horny creations to be born into existence from the deepest crevices of tween and twenty-something-year-olds’ minds, regardless of how uncomfortable they are. Policing creation and policing art just stifles the greatest minds of each generation: the fan. Even if that means we have to suffer through whatever knotting is. ■
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