Yes, acclaimed poet Richard Siken writes Johnlock and Destiel fanfiction. He has been posting about his Sherlock fic since 2015, but has recently revived it on Twitter.
On Aug. 7, 2023, acclaimed poet Richard Siken posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. This would not be out of the ordinary, except the tweet was about fanfiction — more specifically, Siken’s own fanfiction writing experience.
“I have tried it and my Destiel is better writing than my Wincest,” wrote Siken, referring to two very popular Supernatural ships. “My Johnlock is better than both.” (Johnlock is the pairing of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock.)
And across Twitter (well, X, as CEO Elon Musk recently rebranded it) and Tumblr, those familiar with how influential Siken’s work is across different fandom communities went wild.
You see, Siken’s poetry has long been a fundamental part of the fandom experience, particularly for those who are extremely online. Fans across tons of different TV shows, movies, and games — particularly those with big slash (male-male pairings) ships — have added lines from his poetry as captions on their fanart for years, superimposed it on yearning gif edits, or even titled their own fanfiction with it. Seeing the poet not only acknowledge he knows about and approves of fanfiction, but also that he actively participates in fandom, was surreal.
