http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014...ding-and-writing-sherlock-gay-fan-fic/357046/
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The new season of Sherlock premiered in China mere hours after the show aired Britain. And it did so to much fanfare. "The gay-citement has finally returned. PS: Thank you, Prime Minister Cameron, for visiting China," a fan is quoted as saying in a BBC piece on the season premiere.
"Gay-citement" is a euphemism for the imagined/desired sexual tension and love between Holmes and Watson, known in China as Curly Fu and Peanut, the Chinese pronunciation of their names (Curly is a reference to Cumberbatch's hair, Fu = Holmes Foreign Policy reported).
Imagining a world where Curly Fu and Peanut engage in buggery isn't strictly a Chinese thing (the show even had a coy reference to this in its season premiere) Sherlock is just one of the many shows that's been the subject of "slashing", a type of fan fiction where authors turn the main heartthrobs of the show gay.
What makes China slightly different is that this slashing is happening in a country with a history rife with gay discrimination and against slashing people have been in thrown in jail for distributing the slash fiction.
Apparently, the homosexual love between Curly Fu, Peanut, and other male characters on the show like Mycroft and Moriarty is worth bring thrown in prison for. If you look at MTSlash, a Chinese fan-fic site, Sherlock is by far one of the most popular subjects, with over 4,900 entries almost double the second most popular show, Supernatural. Suits, for some inexplicable reason, also has a devoted slash following.
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The people who read this often refer to themselves as "Fu Nv" originating from the term "Fujoshi", which literally means "rotten women." "The term has become popular in China in recent years. Young women fantasize about beautiful men being in love and proudly label themselves "Fu Nv". It has also extended from just men in manga and anime to real-life male performers in TV drama and movies," Sina explains.
The Fu Nv would probably be something like the One Directioners who gobble up "Zarry" (Zayn + Harry) or "Ziam" (Zayn+ Liam) fan fiction. As Amanda Hess wrote for Tomorrow, some of this is a push against the contrived and now all to formulaic romance stuff that we've been shoving at teenage girls since the dawn of boy bands and Chistian Grey, which are, when you boil it down, idyllic love stories written by middle age men and women about people half their age, aimed at teens and young adults. (Draw whatever kind of parallels to the Chinese government and censorship you want.)
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The power of Cumberbatch or as the Chinese call him "Curly Fu"