Citations:endgame

Adjective: (fandom slang) having become or speculated to be canon by the end of the plot of a work of fiction, chiefly as applied to romantic relationships between characters"

 * 2015, "DoYourResearch", quoted in Kee Lundqvist, "Stories of Significance: The Process and Practices of Sense-Making in the Sherlock Fan Community", thesis submitted to Uppsala University, page 86:
 * So if they are not intending to have Johnlock as endgame, I at least want them to be honest about it, about how there were all these implications for fans to find, gimmicks they hid for pure fun or something, just really them acknowledging that the fans are in fact not crazy and delusional for seeing the chemistry and the love between them, cause for me the patronizing "why would you ever think such a ridiculous thing, there was nothing at all on the show that supports your theories lol" is much worse than just the possible outcome of Johnlock not happening.
 * 2017, Suzanne Frenk, "Telling The True Story: Queerbaiting, representation, and fan resistance in the BBC Sherlock fandom", thesis submitted to Tilburg University, page 50:
 * TJLC’ers’ strong belief in Johnlock as endgame was intrinsically linked with their trust in the show’s creators, which enabled them to interpret the repeated denial of the subtext in Sherlock as part of the game.
 * 2018, Melissa A. Hofmann, "Johnlock meta and authorial intent in Sherlock fandom: Affirmational or transformational?", Journal of Transformative Works, Number 28 (link):
 * Because of the toxic fan practices of a few, to many Johnlockers "TJLC" has become "that dreaded acronym," even to those that believed (or still do) in endgame Johnlock.
 * 2018, Brianna Huber, "Slash and Stigma: The Impact of Media Representation on Public Perception of Slash Fiction and Fandom Culture", thesis submitted to the University of Oregon, pages 98-99:
 * If Johnlock is, in fact, endgame, waiting until the last moment to reveal this fact would give queer viewers the representation they long for, while also not alienating the show’s more conservative viewers because they could write off the hints the show drops as queer baiting (see definition below) or a running joke.
 * 2018, Lori Morimoto, "Ontological Security and the Politics of Transcultural Fandom", in A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies (ed. Paul Booth), page 267:
 * In one notable case, a subsection of Johnlock‐centered slash fans has even created an elaborate theory called “The Johnlock Conspiracy” (known within the fandom as TJLC) that posits “endgame” Johnlock as a closely held production secret discrernible only to fans with the analytical wherewithal to correctly decipher clues in the text of the show itself, in something of a "Great Game" of Sherlock fandom.
 * 2020, Marlene King, quoted in Sara K. Day & Summer Melody Pennell, "#PLLQueerTheory: Fans’ reactions to queer representation in Pretty Little Liars", The Journal of Fandom Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, June 2020:
 * I think the fans and I were pretty aligned with who we wanted as endgame couples.
 * 2021, Jenni M. Lehtinen, Doña Bárbara Unleashed: From Venezuelan Plains to International Screen, page 141:
 * Moreover, drawing on narrative evidence such as the circumstance that only Saúl knew the beach where Altagracia would head when escaping from the police, and the fact that he did not tell Mónica about Altagracia's phone call, diehard Saúl/Altagracia shippers conclude that Mónica and Saúl are not really 'endgame ' :
 * 2021, Adriana Amaral, "From Westeros’ #vemprarua to shipping gay kisses on Brazilian TV: Fan activism – concepts, resistances and practices in the digital culture", Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, Volume 18, Issue 1, May 2021, page 18:
 * One True Pair is the term used by fandoms to refer to an ‘endgame’ couple, that is the perfect, lead couple.
 * 2021, Victor Larsen, "'It Makes Me, A Minor, Uncomfortable': Media and Morality In Anti-Shippers' Policing of Online Fandom", thesis submitted to Ghent University, page 30:
 * As The West Wing was coming to an end, the “anti-soap opera sentiment” (284) was not the only point argued against having a J/D [Josh/Donna] romance as endgame.
 * 2021, Emily Burkhardt, Verity Trott, & Whitney Monaghan, "'#Bughead Is Endgame': Civic Meaning-Making inRiverdale Anti-Fandom andShipping Practices on Tumblr", Television & New Media:
 * One user, for example, posted, “Bughead haters can suck it. They’re endgame.”
 * One user, for example, posted, “Bughead haters can suck it. They’re endgame.”