Week 10
Jo’s watching
Queerbaiting in Sherlock!
Every queerbaited moment I found in the first season of the BBC television series Sherlock.
I had never noticed the full extent to which the queerbaiting of Sherlock went. Until now. I’m re-watching it and things that I glossed over originally (but that likely informed my love for it and tugged at every queer heartstring in me) are now so glaringly gay!
Firstly, everyone assumes they’re gay. Mrs Hudson says there are two bedrooms, if they even need the second, clarifying that it’s quite alright if they don’t.
Every person in Sherlock’s life assumes Dr Watson is his partner. They go to dinner and the restaurateur, Angelo, brings a candle to make it more romantic, telling them it’s free for Sherlock and his date. Watson corrects him twice, stating ‘I’m not his date,’ but Sherlock doesn’t bat an eye and seems completely comfortable with the idea. Notably, Watson never outwardly states that he’s not gay, only that he’s not Sherlock’s date.
Their conversation at the table goes:
Watson: You don’t have a girlfriend, then.
Sherlock: Girlfriend? No, not really my area.
Watson: Oh, right. Do you have a boyfriend? Which is fine, by the way.
Sherlock: I know it’s fine.
Watson: So, you’ve got a boyfriend then.
Sherlock: No.
Watson: Right. Okay. You’re unattached. Like me. Fine. Good.
Neither Sherlock nor Watson confirm or deny their sexual preferences, a decision at the very heart of baiting the queers. After all, the Oxford English Dictionary defines queerbaiting as ‘the incorporation of apparently gay characters or same-sex relationships into a film, television show, etc. as a means of appealing to gay and bisexual audiences while maintaining ambiguity about the characters’ sexuality.’
The third episode is where the queerbaiting really kicks off (and this is only in the first season, I’ll remind you). Mycroft, who’s as intuitive as Sherlock, says, ‘Sherlock’s business seems to be booming since you and he became…’ there’s a very allusory pause before he finishes with, ‘pals.’
The very first thing Sherlock says to Moriarty is literally, ‘Gay.’
And then Moriarity goes on to say, ‘The flirting’s over, Sherlock. Daddy’s had enough now.’ This is a gay man! They’re all gay men! I love it but just admit it!
Watch all four seasons on Stan.
Olivia’s reading
An Intergalactic Smuggler’s Guide to Homecoming by Tia Tashiro
Miko is, as the title might suggest, a smuggler. Why? Not merely for love of the game, but because it was a way out of her previous life, out of the ‘claustrophobia of knowing she was trapped on a backstage planet while the rest of the galaxy lived in the spotlight’.
Miko gives up everything to get off-world. Most of it doesn’t bother her, but leaving her sister behind is her one regret; the handoff for a new job will finally take her back home to Terra Three. The job? Smuggling sentient aliens. Trafficking people is a hard boundary for Miko, but the pay is amazing, and her boss Sting says it’s for a good cause: the aliens, called Xellia, are in the midst of a bloody civil war and ethnic cleansing over a genetic variation, and Miko is to smuggle victims out of reach of their enemies. What happens once she’s back on Terra Three will test Miko’s values and potentially change the course of her life.
An Intergalactic Smugglers Guide asks us to examine our values and how strongly we hold them. Should a person throw away what matters to them in exchange for money and safety? What if the alternative is death? And what if you learn that your values are not what you thought they were?
A solid recommendation from me. Find it in issue 211 of Clarkesworld or online here.
Callum’s listening
Mk.gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police
Take everything you know about music—your favourite songs, artists, and how they created their albums—and shove it aside. Put it in a box, hide it in the closet, and muffle the sound it makes. Suffocate it until you hear nothing but the white noise of your damaged eardrums and welcome the silence. Once you’re accustomed to it, take a breath and put on some headphones or plug your ears with whatever you have. Start with ‘New Low’ and let it remain playing until you’re soaring through every song on the album.
Do you hear it?
‘Are You Looking Up’.
Suffering and experimentation will compliment the rasp and repetition that rips you from your comfort zone, pulling you underwater and spinning you around, leaving you confused and broken. The ebb and flow transport you to different dimensions, years, and weeks. You want to come up for air, but you fall short between each song as you kick and reach in different directions, begging for explanation. Ground-out vocals and strange synthetic flows push the air back into your lungs as you’re tempted—but scared—to follow along.
As you try to let go, emotions flood you. Colours warp, moments become clear, and your tastes change. The water is no longer hot and salty. You breathe it in, finally filling your lungs with success. Your chest lightens as you rise to the surface. Any weight and worry drips from your hair, over your eyelids, down your nose. You taste the air, feel the sun on your pale lips. As you reach the shore, you don’t feel cold or worried. You look back at the slow vibrations swelling under the surface and wonder if you want that ‘Little Bit More’.
Callum Ross-Rowland (he/him) is a Brisbane-based creative writing student at QUT. He was 2023 Literary Salon’s Photographer with his recent Diploma in Photo Imaging from Billy Blue (Torrens). He was recently shortlisted for Photographer of the year in the Animal and Nature category and regularly photographs for Artful Heads magazine where he captures portraits of artists from different mediums. Find him on Instagram @alrightatart.
Josephine Renee (she/her) is a 23-year-old Meanjin author majoring in creative writing at QUT. She is the Brisbane Writers Festival 2024 Youth Ambassador and a co-president of the QUT Literary Salon, as well as the 2023 recipient of the Kellie van Meurs Memorial Scholarship. She has travelled Europe for two years, spent a year and a half in North America, and recently returned from Paris. When not gaining worldbuilding inspiration, she dedicates her time to writing and illustrating. She has work published in WhyNot, ScratchThat Magazine, and Glass Magazine. Find her on Instagram @josephine_renee_official or at josephinerenee.com.
Olivia J Pryor (She/They) is a 25-year-old Meanjin based queer trans woman writer in her final year of studying creative writing at QUT. She is a lover of speculative fiction in all its forms: sci-fi; fantasy; horror; weird fiction and others, but still enjoys reading, watching, and listening to media in all genres and forms. She cares deeply about marginalised voices in the arts, particularly queer and trans women.
Logo created by Josephine Renee
Art created by Sophie Gollant
Sophie Gollant (she/her) is marked by her earnest oil paintings and photographs of earthly, isolated scenes. Sophie’s practice is steeped in metaphors and motifs that earnestly draw on her experiences of womanhood, chronic illness, and solitude.
Instagram: @soggolla