john and sherlock deserve to kiss

Acknowledge the romantic nature of the relationship between Holmes and Watson and let them live it joyfully and openly from the start

Acknowledge and address Holmes’s neurodivergence.

Acknowledge and address Watson’s mental illness.

Stop trying to make Irene Adler a love interest. They met twice, once at her wedding, upon which occasion, she tipped him for serving as a witness.

Stop trying to give Holmes a grand nemesis. Moriarty appears in one single story and is mentioned in one other as a retcon. It’s not that deep.

Acknowledge and address the fact that Holmes’s services are provided mainly to marginalized people who had little recourse through the official channels.

Stop dragging the racism from the original stories around.

Let Holmes be as kind and gentle and generous and merry as he is in the original stories

Stop lifting all your characterization from other adaptations, because frankly most of them get some really important stuff wrong

Hi, everyone! For those of you who don’t know, my name is Brontë and I’m currently in the process of putting together a zine on the queer Gothic, but I can’t do it alone, which is where you come in!

What is the queer Gothic?

The queer Gothic is a field of study relating to representations of gender and sexuality in Gothic literature. Some excellent books on the subject are Queer Gothic by George E. Haggerty, Queer Others in Victorian Gothic: Transgressing Monstrosity by Ardel Haefele-Thomas, The Queer Uncanny: New Perspectives on the Gothic by Paulina Palmer and Queering the Gothic, edited by William Hughes and Andrew Smith. Shameless self-promotion, but if you want a shorter, cheaper intro, my dissertation is available online for free!

What are you looking for?

Articles on any subject related to the queer Gothic (e.g. you could write about the queer coding of witches in American Horror Story or how representations of queer sexuality vary in different adaptations of Frankenstein). I’m looking for short pieces no longer than 2000 words, and I want the zine to be as accessible as possible, so while it’s fine to cite academic sources, please keep these references to a minumum - you can use them if they help you to explain a particular concept, but I’m mostly looking for your thoughts and interpretations.

Short stories and poems! These could be retellings of classic Gothic stories with a queer twist (or a more positive twist on homophobic representations), or something totally original - as long as it fits the theme, it’s all good!! Again, please keep short stories to no longer than 2000 words, and please send no more than 5 poems.

Reviews of the representation of queer gender and sexuality in Gothic texts and media. These should be no longer than 1000 words please!! 

Art! Once again, this can be an interpretation of an existing book/film/tv show/album/song, or something totally of your own imagination! I’m working to A5 dimensions (148 x 210 mm), so if you want to make your piece at least twice the size of A5 dimensions (296 x 420mm) to make sure the quality is perfect, that would be ideal! To make sure everyone gets their work represented fairly, please send no more than two pieces. I also need cover art, so if you’re interested in doing it, please let me know and send me some ideas and some examples of your work!

I want to contribute! What do I do?

Send me a message here or shoot me an email at [email protected] (either with your finished piece or a pitch, though a pitch is probably the best way to start, just in case I don’t think your idea is a good fit for the zine without a bit of reworking!!). Please keep in mind that I cannot guarantee that your piece will make it into the zine! I will be editing the chosen written pieces before I put them into print, but I will send you a copy of your piece once I’ve edited it so that you can check that my changes are alright with you. I cannot offer any payment, but all participants will receive a free digital copy of the zine.

Where will the proceeds go?

Any proceeds from the zine will be donated to an LGBT charity. I’ll be shortlisting a few charities closer to the time and participants will be allowed to vote on which charity I donate the proceeds to.

When’s the deadline?

The working deadline is June 1st 2017, but if there are any changes to that, I’ll be sure to let everyone know!!

Please help us to move away for the sake of our mental health!

As some of you may know, my girlfriend Chloe and I have been together for just over a year, and during that time we’ve been planning to move out together. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this has taken much longer than expected, and is now a matter of urgency owing to Chloe’s mental health. Further details and evidence is available on our GoFundMe page, but to put it briefly:

Chloe’s mental health deteriorated significantly at the end of last year, leading to her attempting suicide and having to quit her job. She is now taking medication which we’ve had to pay for.

One of Chloe’s dogs has cancer and severe arthritis, which requires expensive operations and medication which we can’t afford.

I recently had my wallet (containing £70 and cards) stolen from me and had to pay for replacement tickets for a trip to Manchester for an interview Chloe had for a relocation job which she was led to believe she’d get and then didn’t which cost £80 each. I’m also owed a £500 housing deposit which I have no way of getting back.

My contract for my previous job recently came to an end and I’m now on two zero hours contracts, which means I have no guaranteed work, and I have to pay for my own transport which I can’t currently afford as I won’t be paid until May.

Chloe’s mum very recently attempted suicide and is now in a mental health hospital far from where Chloe lives, making it really difficult for her to visit with the little money we have, and meaning that Chloe is now living alone, which is very difficult for her to cope with, and I’m unable to visit her as much as I’d like to.

I cannot stress enough how vital this move is to us. Chloe’s mental health has recently suffered a severe deterioration, and coping with it is very difficult due to our current living situation. Living at home is extremely stressful, and we have a support network of friends in Manchester which we don’t have here due to our university friends coming from all over the country and not living nearby, as well as better job opportunities, a chance to study the Masters we’re interested in, and access to cheaper housing. We also want to find a home with a garden so that Alice doesn’t have to go up and down the stairs every day while Chloe’s still living in a top storey flat with no lift. I would never usually ask for this kind of help but I’m honestly desperate. I recently found out that my grandad is very ill and I’m really struggling to cope with that on top of worrying about money, when we’ll be able to move and how Chloe’s coping, and the stress is taking a toll on both of us. 

We are willing to do whatever we can in exchange for donations!

Here’s a list of what we’re offering, but if there’s anything else you’d like which you think we can provide, please contact me and I’ll see what I can do! For £5: I will promo you and write you a ficlet about the fandom, pairing and theme of your choice (providing I’m aware of the fandom) of between 500 and 1000 words, or Chloe will write you a poem about the subject of your choice. For £10: I will promo you and write you a ficlet of between 1000 and 1500 words, or Chloe will write you three poems about the subject/s of your choice. Alternatively, one of us will also edit an essay of up to 3000 words for you (we both have honours degrees, mine in English literature & creative writing and hers in psychology & criminology). For £15: I will promo you and write a ficlet of between 1500 and 2000 words, or I will offer you one hour of one-to-one tutoring on any subject related to English literature or creative writing over skype. I am employed by a tutoring agency which charges £50 per hour long session so this is a 70% discount! Alternatively, one of us will also edit an essay of up to 5000 words for you, or Chloe will draw a portrait for you (examples below). This can be of anyone you choose, and will be provided digitally, and we can also send it to you if you’re able to pay the postage & packaging. For £25: I will promo you and write a ficlet of between 2000 and 2500 words, or I will offer you 2 one hour long one-to-one tutoring session on any subject related to English literature or creative writing over skype. Alternatively, Chloe will paint a portrait for you, one of us will edit an essay of up to 10000 words for you, or we will give you research assistance for a shorter essay (up to 5000 words). We will help you to find academic sources which are reliable, interesting and relevant to your topic, and edit the essay for you. For £50: I will promo you and offer you 6 weeks of one-to-one hour long English literature or creative writing related tutoring sessions and Chloe will paint two portraits for you. Alternatively, one of us will give you research assistance for an essay of up to 12000 words.  For £100: I will promo you and offer you 14 weeks of one-to-one hour long English literature or creative writing related tutoring sessions and Chloe will paint four portraits for you and cover the postage and packaging. Alternatively, one of us will give you research assistance for two essays of up to 15000 words each. Here are some unfinished examples of Chloe’s portraits (more, including of paintings, will be added soon!):

You can also find examples of my creative writing here and my academic writing here, and Chloe’s academic writing here. As stated above, we both have honours degrees in our relevant fields (English literature & creative writing in my case and psychology & criminology in Chloe’s) and I have won awards for my writing and wrote the original work with the most kudos on AO3, a play which has been translated into 7 languages and is currently being produced and adapted into a short film which is followed by Film 4. Once you have selected a reward, please message me via tumblr or twitter  to provide details of your request. If you have any other requests other than what we’ve listed here, please please let us know and we’ll do our best! Thank you so much for reading, and so so much if you’re able to donate - it means the world to us both.