[ID: gif from BBC Sherlock. In their flat at 221b, Sherlock is telling John: "No, I prefer my doctors clean-shaven"). END ID]
During the Victorian Era, having facial hair was a symbol of masculinity. As we well know, in ACD canon (so as in TAB) John had moustaches, while Sherlock didn't have any type of facial hair.
In the series, John grew the moustaches after having met Mary; he didn't wear them in MHR, that is set when he already had met Mary (in his blog he only says "someone" and it's probably her since he's going to propose one month later). He wore moustaches when he told Mrs. Hudson that he had moved on and when he proposed to Mary in TEH (so when their relationship is going to become official and lasting) but, after Sherlock's return and his comments about the moustaches, John decided to shave it.
So, if facial hair stands for masculinity (which in the Victorian Era also meant being straight and living according to certain standards, among which the aesthetic ones) when Sherlock says that he prefers John without moustaches, it means that he prefers John when he doesn't conform to heteronormativity and people's expectations. On the other hand, John wanting to shave when Sherlock returns in his life means that he wants to be his true self now that Sherlock is with him, even if it's very difficult for him, as we well know (here are some thoughts and metas about John's past and traumas and how they led him to repress his bisexuality -> x, x, x - in addition, there's also this interesting meta about Mary being the personification of heteronormativity)
The same concept applies to Sherlock's choice of not wearing the hat; as this meta says, the moustaches and the hat are what the public expects from them but, as I explained before, I think that not only Sherlock's hat but also John's moustaches are a symbol of a public fake image in which they're straight, because that is, in John's opinion, what people except from them.
To summarize:
Facial hair = symbol of masculinity during the Victorian Age
John grew the moustaches when he decided to move on from Sherlock and to propose to Mary
Sherlock prefers John clean-shaven (which means that he prefers when John doesn't force himself to conform to heteronormativity)
John shaved for Sherlock
Sherlock's hat and John's moustaches are what people expect from them and they represent heterosexuality.
I just read THIS analysis by @creamocrop of Sherlock’s mind palace scene from HLV, mostly about Molly’s role within it. It’s really lovely, I’d recommend checking it out!
What immediately came to mind as soon as Anderson’s name was mentioned was his heteronormative perspective of how Sherlock survived the fall (I don’t have to remind you of Sherlock kissing Molly but I will). Creamocrop also mentioned, as a bunch of folk apparently have (sorry I got here a little late), that he could’ve easily envisioned John, an army doctor who has dealt with gunshot wounds and “knows how to save a life.” That seems intuitive, right? Like, looking back, why on earth did he envision Molly and Anderson before John? My theory is because we are currently in the heternormative viewing portion of the show (from aSoT to the end of season 4). Someone else mentioned that that’s why Sherlock falls backwards instead of forwards and why they make such a big deal of it: They’re depicting the outdated views instead of the progressive one. This is also, I think, depicted by the intense blueness and darkness of those episodes (except for TAB which is really warm and sensual in comparison, and also where the secret society of betrayed women WIN! Yes, we win in the end!) The blueness and red accents in season 4, I think, represent the government censorship over the truth (See how some cases are censored on John’s blog). This whole show is a remark on how homosexuality in particular has been censored and restricted in pop culture since the 1800s! And their argument is that that’s BOLLOCKS! Season 5 will hopefully redeem this godforsaken show.
Sorry this is kind of all over the place. Hope it made sense and was either old news, or sparked insights of your own. I love you all.
You... where the best man, the most human... human being that I have ever known and no one will ever convince me that you told me a lie. I was so alone and I owe you so much.
Okay okay, So we all know how Anderson represents the Sherlock fandom in TEH with his crazy theories on how Sherlock is still alive and how he survived the Fall. We also know that for the most part, everyone thought he was crazy. Kind of like how everyone thinks the tjlc-ers are also crazy.
Well, here, think about this for a second.
In the beginning of TEH, everyone thinks Sherlock really took the fall. In other words, Sherlock is dead. He killed himself. Everyone believes this. Everyone, that is, except Anderson.
Anderson is dead set on the fact that Sherlock is still alive and out there. And like I said and like you know, everyone thinks he’s crazy. But in the end, Anderson turns out to be right. After around two years of being told he’s going insane, Sherlock is alive.
Now, think about S4.
For the most part, I think we all can agree, S4 was a disaster. What with the plotholes, the plot itself, and various other aspects, you could pretty much say that Mofftiss effectively killed the show.
Fans who thought that this “groundbreaking” season would bring them canon Johnlock were massively disappointed. People left the fandom, people lost faith.
And then there were the others who held their faith. The Andersons. Us.
We still think it’s going to happen. That’s because we know it will happen. We are the Andersons. And in the end, we will be right. Johnlock is endgame, and I don’t care how long it will take for us to be proven right.
But that’s just my opinion, and if you don’t agree with me, so be it. After all, I haven’t even come close to being in this fandom as long as some of you guys. And even if you do disagree, I still respect your opinion.