Tunalock

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Meme
Synonyms: Tuna Sherlock Holmes
Date Started: March 2013
Related: Batjohn, Cowlock, Fawnlock, Dolphinlock, Otterlock & Hedgejohn, Pineconelock
See Also: Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch


"Line drawing of a thin round can with 221B and a smiley face across the front. Two faces are visible: one is John Watson with his eyes closed, and one is Sherlock with curly hair and a scarf, looking off to the right side. Each face has two small flippers on either side, overlapping the upper edge of the can, and each face has a fish tail visible sticking up behind them."
Tunalock in a can! with puffer fish John by villain-in-training (2013). Most likely the original and earliest example of Tunalock.
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Tunalock is the name given to a trend from BBC Sherlock fandom of creating fanworks in which Sherlock Holmes is a tuna fish. It has given rise to a variety of different works across different mediums and genres, including crack, fluff, humor, porn, memes, and more.

The trend started in 2013 in the break between seasons 2 and 3 of the series, and was sparked off by a Tumblr post created by villain-in-training. Inspired by a joke during a livestream by katzensprotte, villain-in-training drew a piece of fanart featuring Sherlock and John as a tuna and puffer fish respectively, accompanied by a crack backstory. This inspired other fans to create their own takes on "Tunalock".[1][2][note 1]

According to some members of the fandom, Tunalock was a satirical response by disgruntled fans to the pushback around alternate universes starring Johnlock, as well as the backlash towards Sherlock fans generally occurring around the same time. Notably, Tunalock formed part of a larger trend in Sherlock fandom of making fanworks in which Sherlock and/or John Watson are portrayed as animals, such as Fawnlock and Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch.

Discussion

Origins

In April 2013, katzensprotte explained the origins of Tunalock from their perspective, in response to an ask sent to their Tunalock-dedicated sideblog, thisfishyisonthemove.

It all started as a stupid joke in katzensprotte’s live stream (thats me hurdedurr) when taikova had a hungry and went and made herself a tuna sandwich. the-villain-in-training and me started to talk about an AU then where Sherlock was a tuna and voila! Tunalock was born. Vi was also the first to draw really adorable and cute tunalock fanart.

johnnybooboo then at some point drew a bit of a porny thing… just a bit though I think… I don’t remember… and people got mad angry… which made teabeforewar and me draw a porny thing too, because fuck the haters…

thisfishyisonthemove[2]

Later in July 2013, villain-in-training created a short visual guide to Tunalock. In the guide, they explained that Tunalock was "created for giggles and fun".[3]

Initial reaction

Tunalock received a mostly positive reception and a substantial number of fanworks. However, some initial responses by fans to the trend were that of confusion, or negativity in a similar vein to negative responses to Fawnlock. Those who supported Tunalock often responded to negativity and confusion with sarcasm, shitposting, and memes.

[ellediabolo]

So Tunalock is a thing

I’d heard it before, but i was really hoping it was just a terrible joke but it’s not and I

[two facepalming gifs, followed by one captioned '#JUDGING YOU'

And suddenly, any last shred of respect I had for the sherlock fandom has reichenback’d off a building. I am extremely glad I left the Sherlock fandom and did not look back

#the elementapeeps wouldn’t do this

[thisfishyisonthemove]

We’re sorry you’re feeling left out Elementary fan! We couldn’t find you any fishporn but we found you this lovely Elementary Sherlock/Tortoise fic :D[4]

[wearitasawormstach]

WHAT THE HELL IS TUNALOCK

OH MY GOD FANDOM YOU HAVE REACHED A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF INSANITY

U OK FANDOM

#weneedseasonthree

[thisfishyisonthemove]

Tunalock no.jpg
[5]

Anonymous asked:

Not to hate too much but I remember this being a normal blog and now there's tunalock everywhere... What has gotten into you??

johnnybooboo answered:

More like what’s gotten into that tuna amiright

the answer is john

I’ll be here all week[6]

Satire or sincere?

A number of fans have claimed that the Tunalock trend was a satirical response against pushback towards both the fandom in general and "silly" alternate universes in particular.

And those wrongly persecuted Sherlockians slowly became less and less forlorn and more and more pissed off. They decided to fuck the police. They decided to unleash…The Crack-en

And that’s where Tunalock comes in...

...Tunalock is a direct response to the hatred the Sherlock fandom receives for their AUs and it is brilliantly satirical. (See also: Pinecone!lock)

Anyone with half a brain can look at Tunalock and see it for the joke that it clearly is.

not-the-very-button[7]

Tunalock was specifically invented to irritate people who don't like things like fawnlock. It was a joke, and a pretty good one, because AU-haters took the bait, hook line and sinker, all puns intended, and started shrieking at us. It was great.

Anonynmous[8]

This position was also supported by Roane, a host on the fandom podcast Three Patch Podcast.

It was a response to a lot of blowback that people who do the Fawnlock AU and kind of started that whole craze. A lot of people were really getting pissed off, you know, 'you're doing fandom wrong' if you do this. And so in response, a lot of animal AUs just kinda exploded. I think that's where Batjohn came from, and Tunalock, and... I don't even know. There's a bunch of them.

Roane[9]

Prominent Tunalock poster johnnybooboo, however, disputed these claims in an April 2013 post. In a reblog to johnnybooboo's post, another Tumblr user, artdusktea, discussed the larger attitude surrounding Tunalock, arguing that the defiant/satirical iteration of the trend came later.

Okay, just for clarification, (because I know poor buddens was getting upset and I don’t want to do that anyone), tunalock does not exist to make fun of other AUs and/or the haters of said AUs.

johnnybooboo[10]

tunalock is a kawaii AU most of the time, it’s just that a lot of people have banded around tunalock and kinda formed a ‘fuck haters’ group around it which is understandable, AUs get some serious flack, so i understand people wanting to show the haters 'what for’

even though tunalock doesn’t exist for this purpose, i know it was created with just a cute AU in mind, but i think this is what it’s kinda evolved into without anyone really meaning for it to

artdusktea[11]

Resurgence

Even past Tunalock's heyday, the meme experienced numerous resurgences. Fans were keen on celebrating Tunalock's "birthday" on 6 March every year, prompting a new wave of fanworks. Additionally, the fandom's disappointment in the wake of The Final Problem, the final episode of season 4, broadcast in January 2017, also brought on a wave of nostalgia for "simpler" fandom times and light-hearted trends like Tunalock.

where is tunalock in this time of need

rubycue[12]

I try to find the good bits among the rubble that Mofftiss left us with. We can build new things. Fandom for me has always been about the things we built out of canon. Tunalock. Dolphinlock. Replace Sherlock quotes with pancake. Every time there was wank, there also was silliness to counteract it. I am looking forward to the shenanigans we can come up with in the future. We do not need Mofftiss’ approval for anything.

stepfordgeek[13]

season 4 got me like

it's time for some tunalock and i'm sorry

hansoeii[14]

Why did tunalock ever become a thing fuck this fandom

#it's still unbelievable to me that it ever became a real thing #tunalock #and now people are trying to bring it back and it's like #PLEASE keep it #sherlock

fucklock[15]

Example Fanworks

"A drawing with the torso and head of a human boy-presenting, with six thick blue tentacles extending outwards below his torso. The boy has blue eyes that are glaring forward, thick blond eyebrows that are angled downwards, and blond short hair. He is holding a fish plushie with visible stitching in the same color as the plushie, which is half grey and half white with a yellow stripe between the halves. The background is solid yellow."
Don’t touch his majetic Tunalock plush by letsdrawcats (2013), this example fanart illustrates both characters as animals, Tunalock with octopus!John.

Fanart

Fanfiction

  • Blue Planet, Archived version by unknown (16 Apr 2013).
    • "I am a piscine consulting detective. The only one in the world.” John's flatmate flopped majestically, for emphasis.
  • The Landlocked Adventures of the Depressed Tuna Detective, Archived version by sincerelychaos (6 May 2015).
    • Sherlock is just like any other consulting detective, if you disregard the fact that he's also a tuna. Being a fish on dry land is never easy, no matter how superior your intellect is. But feeling blue (well, Sherlock is always blue; it's part of being a tuna, but metaphorically speaking) because your friend and colleague is very unlikely to get hooked on a fish is even harder. And when you get caught in Moriarty's Net, being a lovesick tuna is not easy at all.
  • Curse of the Were-Tuna, Archived version by WhoGroovesOn (12 September 2016).
    • John couldn’t help but feel as though the large tuna beyond the glass was staring at him, which was weird because it’s not like fish had eyelids, they always seemed to be staring at things. An Explicit-rated novella-length Tunalock fanfiction.

Memes

Other

Commmuntites & Blogs

Archives & Fannish Links

Notes

  1. ^ A 2016 examination of the Tunalock Tumblr tag, Archived version found that Tunalock started on 5 March 2013 with villain-in-training's post. Posting in the tag was slow at first and only gained momentum in April. #Tunalock appeared on Twitter in early April 2013. The AO3 tag "tunalock", Archived version was created on 16 Apr 2013.
  2. ^ Around 400 notes as of 18 January 2016.
  3. ^ Around 34,000 notes as of 18 Jan 2016.
  4. ^ Around 4,000 notes as of 18 January 2016.
  5. ^ Around 30,000 notes as of 18 Jan 2016.
  6. ^ Around 20 notes as of 11 Aug 2022.
  7. ^ Around 22,000 notes as of 18 Jan 2016.

References

  1. ^ akindofsushi, johnnybooboo (11 July 2013). "who even invented tunalock". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b thisfishyisonthemove (15 April 2013). "I'm actually going to give you a non sarcastic straight up answer..." Tumblr. Archived from the original on 19 Jan 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. ^ the-villain-in-training (27 July 2013). "Because I've received some anon's askes about "what is tunalock?" so I made this". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 9 Aug 2022. Retrieved 9 Aug 2022.
  4. ^ "Reblog by thisfishyisonthemove". 2013-04-11. Archived from the original on 2022-08-21. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  5. ^ "Reblog by thisfishyisonthemove". 2013-04-11. Archived from the original on 2022-08-21. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  6. ^ johnnybooboo (7 April 2013). "Okay, just for clarification..." Tumblr. Archived from the original on 11 Aug 2022. Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.
  7. ^ not-the-very-button (11 April 2013). "Why I Love Tuna!Lock: A Sane Member of The Sherlock Fandom Makes a Stand". Tumblr. Retrieved 31 July 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
  8. ^ "Tunalock was specifically invented to irritate people..." fail-fandomanon. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Episode 8: What's it Like in Your Funny Little Brains?". Three Patch Productions. 1 Aug 2013. Archived from the original on 9 Aug 2022. Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.
  10. ^ johnnybooboo (7 April 2013). "Okay, just for clarification..." Tumblr. Archived from the original on 11 Aug 2022. Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.
  11. ^ artdusktea (7 April 2013). "tunalock is a kawaii AU most of the time..." Tumblr. Archived from the original on 11 Aug 2022. Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.
  12. ^ rubycue (16 Jan 2017). "where is tunalock in this time of need". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. ^ stepfordgeek (18 Jan 2017). "it's been three days and I still cannot say much..." Tumblr. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  14. ^ hansoeii (27 Jan 2017). "season 4 got me like". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 9 Aug 2022. Retrieved 9 Aug 2022.
  15. ^ fucklock (2 Jan 2017). "Why did tunalock ever become a thing fuck this fandom". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
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