#whitehead holmes fic

[girlwithhat]

Well, as I've previously mentioned, I've been really into Geoffrey Whitehead Holmes and Donald Pickering Watson lately so...here's a fic. Dedicated to @aregularirregular221b whose enthusiasm for this series motivated me to finish.

TITLE: Shaken

SUMMARY: After the killer is arrested, Holmes reveals the conclusion of the case affected him more than he would care to admit. Watson reassures him.

NOTES: Occurs at the end of "The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff" after the killer is arrested and before the end cap scene the next morning.

Inspired by Watson immediately crossing the room and invading Holmes' personal space.

Holmes was keenly aware of Watson’s sweeping gaze on him as the killer was being taken into custody by Lestrade. The doctor had stepped closer than usual to assess him for any injuries or discomfort. This uncharacteristic invasion of personal space was no doubt a manifestation of his worry after seeing him being threatened with a sword cane. Seeking to calm himself after that emotionally charged confession and a successful conclusion to the case, he reached for his pipe and put it in his mouth. They both glanced at the chicken claw tied with black ribbon on the late Captain Pitt’s desk before leaving the room.

Once they were alone in the hansom back to Baker Street, Watson gave him another once-over.

“Holmes, are you alright?”

“Yes, Watson, quite.”

“He had a sword cane pointed at you when we came in. He could have--”

“I know. But I don’t believe he would have stabbed me.”

“He was desperate to keep his secret so he could continue on his path of revenge. Why wouldn’t he have killed you?”

“If you were in that position, would you have?”

“It’s difficult to say. Irrational actions would seem rational to an already addled mind.”

“He wasn’t addled. This entire ruse was cooly calculated: getting a crew list and tracking them down, entering rooms under false pretenses, pretending to be blind to lure his victims into a false sense of security. Oh no, Watson. He was rational, clear headed, and focused on his goal. Unfortunately, his thirst for revenge would never be satisfied, even if he killed every crewmember of The Gloria North.”

“But that adds to the argument that he would have stabbed you since you were in his way. You knew too much.”

“When we were alone, he was hoping I would understand and sympathize, that I would let him go. I disappointed him when he found out I believed one man cannot be judge and executioner, justified as he may be.”

“You believe he was justified in killing four men?”

“From his point of view. His wife and child, whose ends came too soon and so brutally, for strangers that were either directly or indirectly involved in their deaths. It could be seen that way.”

Arriving back at their rooms, Watson poured them each a brandy before settling in their chairs. With a sigh, Holmes found he couldn’t stop ruminating on the earlier confrontation.

“His eyes, Watson,” he said.

Watson took a sip of his drink. “What about them, Holmes?”

“The pain in them that would never be eased, caused by the unfairness of life through immense loss. An intense, irreplaceable love that can cause someone to lose their rationality. I may not have experienced that, but I do understand something of it.”

“You do?”

“I believe I do,” Holmes replied, studying the man across from him, “If something tragic and unfair had taken y--someone dearest to me, I would see revenge as a rational course of action. If it occurred while they were at my side, I wouldn't have let those responsible get out of the room alive. I can see the point of view of someone so fueled by anger and grief to seek retribution by any means.”

“At the expense of your morals?” Watson was surprised by the other man’s outburst of emotion and the ruthlessness he found there.

“A strong love is not always indicative of the purest morals.”

“That is true.” They were silent for some minutes before Watson spoke again, “In war, I’ve seen how unfair life and how senseless death can be. How it weighs on people. As a doctor, I don’t condone a death for a death but that is what justice demands under our laws.”

“As a doctor, could you kill in revenge?”

“Could I? I suppose anything is possible. But would I? In my rational mind, no. And I would hope that y--my beloved would know that my feelings, my love was still true, even if I could not bring myself to avenge them, should they come to harm.”

“They would certainly continue to admire you for being an upstanding gentleman and doctor. You are a much stronger and better man than I, dear Watson.”

“I don’t believe that for a second, Holmes.”

He looked down at his hands, which cradled his drink. “I was afraid tonight.”

“You were?”

“I was afraid you would arrive to find me dead.”

“But you said--”

“I didn’t want you to endure that. I didn’t believe he would kill me but for all the logic and empathy in the world, the unexpected can still occur and people’s actions can still be difficult to deduce.”

“Even for you?”

“Even for me. I can still make mistakes when compromised by emotions.”

Watson stood, taking their glasses and putting them on the table. “Emotions are not a detriment, Holmes.”

Holmes looked up. “I apologize if my mood has made you uncomfortable.”

“No, none of that,” Watson replied in a soothing tone as he helped Holmes out of his chair and pulled him close for an embrace. “You’re still shaken.”

Holmes closed his eyes for a few moments, syncing his breathing to the solidly steady and sure Watson.

“I don’t know why I’m so affected,” Holmes said, “I’ve been in perilous situations before.”

“It doesn’t matter. No one chooses what situations or people touch their hearts.”

“It took me by surprise,” Holmes replied as he cupped Watson’s face, “Just as you do.”

Watson smiled before their lips met gently. The doctor rested his hands on his friend’s slim hips. “I’m not surprised.”

“No?”

“I believe I knew before you. And may I make a bold deduction?”

“You may.”

“I deduce you want to kiss me again.”

Now it was Holmes' turn to smile. “That is true. What else can you deduce?”

“We should retire to my bedroom as I believe we’re suddenly feeling a bit warm in our clothes.”

The mischievous glint was back in Holmes’ eyes. “Excellent, doctor. I agree. Lead the way.”

END

[educatedinyellow]

I made a 10 minute podfic for @sanguinarysanguinity‘s adorable Whitehead Holmes Holmestice fic, which she wrote as a gift for @scfrankles.

This story is cute as a button! Take a listen to the jamtastic adventures of Marmalade and Strawberry Preserves…

[moreholmes]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (TV 1980) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Lestrade (Sherlock Holmes), Mrs. Hudson Additional Tags: Humor, Community: holmestice Summary:

There is a dead body in Watson’s room. Can Holmes, Watson and Lestrade remove it before Mrs. Hudson gets home? A vignette of everyday life at 221B, Baker Street.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

For the five ships ranking:

Holmes/Watson (ACD)

Holmes/Watson (Elementary)

Holmes/Watson (MDBD)

Holmes/Watson (Whitehead)

Holmes/Watson (Miss Sherlock)

I was half-expecting someone to ask me to sort/rate Watsons or such against each other, and yet I still laughed when this came in. 1. Whitehead: The glances! The shared smirks! The eyeliner! Holmes is constantly bidding for Watson's attention, and when he isn't actively trolling Watson or looking for his approbation, then he's openly admiring Watson's figure/punching/fencing/deductions. These two are constantly acting like they share a secret, them two against the world, and what, oh what, WHAT might that secret ever be?? 2. ACD: High marks for inspiring some top-notch and highly beloved fic and art! That said, Doyle's stories themselves don't read very shippily to me? I don't know what to say, it's a paradox. 3. My Dearly Beloved Detective: Jane needs to take some time and sort some shit out. When she has, I'm 100% here for the two of them -- or the three of them: I'm down with a Shirley/Jane/Robbie vee. 4. Miss Sherlock: On the one hand, the BBC vibes are very strong, Sherlock often didn't treat Wato very well, and Wato was mind-controlled for most of the show. On the other hand, this may be the only adaptation where Sherlock had an ironclad reason to fake her death to Watson, so points for that. Maybe these two kids can make it work post-Return, but let's be real: Wato's got a fuck-ton of therapy in front of her (and every reason to be wary of doing it!), while Sherlock has barely even known Wato when she wasn't Moriarty's mind-controlled puppet. 5. Elementary: god, it KILLS me to put Elementary at the bottom of the list, but you used a '/'. (If you'd used an ampersand, it'd be at the top.) Joan and Sherlock are ride-or-die for each other, are committed partners to each other, are each who the other loves best in the world, and are each helping the other strive for the best versions of themselves -- they're amazing together, and I'll fight anyone who says different. But they're both aro-spec, and not in ways that seem particularly compatible to me. They'll bump along together until they die, but whenver they're looking for bumping (or kisses or snuggles) they both look elsewhere for it.

[musette22]

Minnie, do you have any book recommendations? I was planning on starting to invest in books but always get overwhelmed with so many options. I am not looking at anything in particular, just prefer fiction. I trust your fanfic recs and love your writing, so thought that it would be a good idea to ask. Love you xx

Hi darling! Ohhh good question... To be honest, it’s been a long time since I last read book 😅 I’m somehow always busy, so whenever I have some downtime to read, I take the opportunity to read fics I’ve been marking for later! I did use to read quite a lot though, before I found fandom, so I can give you some of my faves that I remember off the top of my head (I mostly read historical novels, classic novels and crime/mystery novels) and hopefully there will be something in there you’ll enjoy too! In no particular order:

Kate Atkinson - “Life After Life” and “A God in Ruins” 

Marianne Fredriksson - “Simon” and “Anna, Hanna and Johanna“

Arthur Conan Doyle - the Sherlock Holmes stories (I’ve read them all lol)

Colson Whitehead - “Underground Railroad”

Anthony Horowitz - He’s written a lot of kids books which I enjoyed very much when I was younger, but his adult mystery novels are also great. I loved his Sherlock Holmes novels (he got permission from Conan Doyle’s estate to write more) and his “Magpie Murders” and sequels to that

Isabelle Allende - “The House of the Spirits”

Ian McEwan - “Atonement” and “The Children Act”

Stephen Fry - “The Liar”, “Making History” & “The Hippopotamus”

Harper Lee - “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Agatha Christie - Her “Miss Marple” and “Hercule Poirot” series are great, but so are some of the independent ones like “And then there were none”

Jane Austen - All of them, but if you’ve never read any Austen before, start with “Pride and Prejudice”, and “Sense and Sensibility”

Charles Dickens - “Great Expectations” & “Oliver Twist” in particular

Zadie Smith - “On Beauty”

Harry Mulish - A Dutch writer, but his book “The Discovery of Heaven” has been translated into numerous languages and is honestly stunning

Evelyn Waugh - “Brideshead Revisited”

Madeline Miller - “The Song of Achilles” 

I’m forgetting so many, but it’s something... Hope you’ll enjoy some of these too! ❤️

[acdhw]

Victorian fic community

It seems like ACD Holmesfest on DW has a lot of enthusiasts when it’s on, so how about we all create an open community on DW (idk how it works here) for fics of any genres, pairings, etc written in ACD ‘verse? Or basically any Victorian setting, including Granada, Howard!Holmes, Whitehead!Holmes, Cushing!Holmes, My Dearly Beloved Detective, Russian Holmeses, Downey films, BBC’s The Abominable Bride, anything.

Anyone could post their fic recs or promote their old or new fic, on a constant basis, not only several times a year.

Let me know what you think. Tagging people who might be interested, but since I’m new in this fandom and don’t know many people, do spread the word ;)

@a-candle-for-sherlock, @sanguinarysanguinity, @artemisastarte, @granada-brett-crumbs, @tremendousdetectivetheorist, @scfrankles, @elwinglyre, @sarahthecoat, @luthienberen, @sanspatronymic

Also, it would be cool if meta and info on the time period could be posted there too, for writing reference, discussion, and backing up.

@devoursjohnlock, @sherlock-overflow-error, @norburylibrary, @sherloki1854

[scfrankles]

Thank you to @educatedinyellow for tagging me! How many fics have you written? On AO3 there are 149 listed. On DA, which is mainly original fics… er, 580. That does give rather a false impression though - about 100 are six word stories of varying quality, many of my ACD Holmes 60 word stories are crossposted there singly, and my 60 ACD Holmes clerihews are there too. There’s some other pieces that overlap with what’s on AO3, there’s poetry as well and a bit of non-fiction stuff. And of course on both sites I specialise in microfiction which doesn’t take long to write. Where do you share your writing? On AO3, LJ, DW and DA. What is your pseud? SCFrankles/scfrankles everywhere. Though I do also use maiden_aunt as a secondary pseud on AO3 for my Dear Ladies fanfics. Simply because I fancied having another name. Where/when do you usually write? I usually write at home, in the dining room (because it’s got a table) or sitting up in bed. And I suppose I do generally write in the evening after work. I am at my best in the morning and early afternoon though. I find it hard to concentrate and come up with ideas when I’m tired. I write best on my days-off, when I’ve had a good night’s sleep and I know I’ve got the whole day ahead of me. In terms of planning stories I often do that while walking or having a lie down. What is your favorite fanfic that you’ve read? I’ve rather fallen out of love with reading Sherlock fanfics but back when I was reading a great many of them, my favourite hands down was What to do When Your Flatmate is Homicidal by hyacinth_sky747. It is can’t-catch-your-breath-please-make-it-stop funny (there is a bit with John doped up on painkillers and writing a blog entry that I shall forever remember fondly - I’m laughing just thinking about it). But it also addresses the unpleasant and sad aspects of the world without any abrupt changes in tone. And it’s a story always full of hope and love. I’d love to be able to write like that. I do sometimes talk about ‘humorous stories’ and ‘serious stories’ as though it’s impossible to combine the two aspects but the best comedy always has a serious aspect too. Not that I make a habit of it, but the first time I ever stood up in front of a group of people and made them laugh was at my elder brother’s funeral. My fics tend to ignore real life altogether and be silly but I would love to write stuff that stares life in the face and makes you laugh anyway. Another fic I’d like to mention is the ACD Holmes fic Literary Shortcomings by rachelindeed - and not just because Rachel was the one who tagged me. Rachel wrote this as part of the summer 2015 round of ACD Holmesfest, with me as the recipient. It’s a beautiful, beautiful fic and I still love it. But I’ve chosen it here because I think it illustrates so well the possibilities of amateur writing, and the creativity in fandom. I can’t see there being much of a market for a story written in this particular microfiction form - it’s too left-field. I couldn’t see anyone ever writing something like this in the hope of selling it or a publisher ever commissioning someone to write something like this. Rachel wrote it for, I assume, her own artistic satisfaction and in the hope of pleasing me, the recipient, and the others taking part in the fest. Beautiful and experimental things that perhaps the professional world would ignore get to exist and flourish in the amateur world. What is your fave fic that you’ve written? Nothing really stands out as my favourite overall. I am quite proud of my longer Dear Ladies fics, my Without a Clue and Whitehead Holmes fics, and my collections of ACD Holmes 60s. And of course there is Watson’s Diary and my infamous ACD Holmes/My Fair Lady fusion… What inspired you to start writing fanfic? Er, it’s kind of a long story… I was a fannish kind of kid but I had absolutely no connection with fandom in any sense growing up - no fanzines or anything like that. And I came relatively late to using the internet - I first used it in 1999 when I was about 30. I absolutely loved it and from then I went online as much as I could, using computers at local libraries, but still no involvement with anything fandom related. And to be honest I had rather a skewed idea about what fanfiction was all about, as outsiders tend to do. In 2010 I joined DeviantArt. A couple of years later, we finally had a computer at home, series 2 of Sherlock had aired and I had just rewatched the series on DVD. And I felt the urge for more. I was looking forward to series 3 (hollow laughter) but it was a long way off, so I decided to investigate the Sherlock fanart and fanfics on DA. And I found a few perfectly nice and competent fics, and a fic that was off the scale badly-written but still oddly readable. And then I found Harry Knows Best by hbomb90. And I was blown away by it. Here was a writer writing prose at a professional level. At that point she was the best writer I’d come across on DA (it took me another couple of years to find the talented original fic writers there). And I wondered if she had other fics elsewhere on the internet. I Googled her name which took me to a rec list on LJ. So I did find more fics of hers but of course it led me to other Sherlock fics and other writers too. And those fics led me to other fics. I wasn’t paying too much attention at first to sites but  LJ and AO3 came up more and more. I did spend an awful lot of time on AO3 waiting for ivyblossom’s The Quiet Man to update so that encouraged me to explore the site. Like all kinds of fiction, with fanfiction you get all levels of writers. There are beginners, the competent, the experienced and the just plain talented. But I was just amazed by how many extraordinary stories there were online, written for fun and absolutely free to read. This was entirely out of my sphere of experience up to then. Good literature came in a book that you had to buy or borrow from a library. You became a writer only when a publisher graciously bestowed that title upon you. ‘Amateur work’ meant poorly written work. It was utterly amazing to me the quality of some of the work I was being presented with. And that you could talk to these talented writers! It wasn’t always a one way relationship. It changed my worldview - it really did. Essentially I thought, crikey, I want to be in that gang. Fandom was full of such creativity and, paradoxically, originality. But on a more minor note I also wanted to try new forms of microfiction and was very taken with 221Bs. Then I met someone on DA who was writing ACD Holmes 60s. I started writing them on DA on my own but was eventually brave and joined sherlock60 on LJ. And that was my proper entry into fandom - I found my niche in the ACD world. I think perhaps most of my Sherlock fics have a generic feel to them - I was essentially just reworking what I’d read. But I think writing ACD fics I found my own style a bit more. Though - I’ve said it before - I think I’m a good writer but I don’t think I’m a particularly good fanfic writer. Because although I enjoy discussing the source material that doesn’t really translate into the urge to write fiction about my thoughts. I think fanfiction is essentially about making closer examinations of the internal workings of the characters. I like writing stories in which people slide corpses down staircases on tea trays. What is your favorite trope to read? According to AO3, it’s ‘first time’. Which doesn’t surprise me. Though ‘angst’ is then joint second with ‘humor’, which really, really does. What is your fave trope to write? Not really a trope, but humour. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever read/heard/would like to share? This is a difficult one to answer. Maybe adding on to the excellent advice I’ve read as part of other people’s answers - try not to compare your writing to others’ too much. I sometimes think someone is funnier than me, someone’s writing is lovelier, someone’s writing is better technically, someone’s writing is more insightful. And it’s generally true. But as a reader on AO3, I have 8 pages of subscriptions. Readers don’t just pick the top three best writers to read for the rest of their lives and ignore all the others. I read the work of many different writers because I enjoy them in many different ways. As a writer I try and remember to take pleasure in what makes my work mine. What is your favorite feedback you’ve received as an author? I had my answer ready even before I was tagged! On The Case of the Deceased Marmalade Thief, bubblesbythebeach commented: If a fic was ever going to be described as "shenanigans", this is the one and I for one am delighted Me too, kid. Me too… Anyone who sees this and wants to have a go, consider yourself tagged!

[sanguinarysanguinity]

For the 'fic you'd write' meme: A Whitehead Holmes fic about boxing and/or fencing, and how Watson's sparring performance and Holmes's observation become a kind of courtship. My impression from the show was that Whitehead!Holmes has studied or observed, but not practiced, boxing techniques. He has canonically never thrown a punch before, but he also successfully tutors a boxer with Watson doing all the practical demonstration. He also watches Watson fence, with interest. Mmmmmmm?

Hee! I legit have enough opinions about punching that I could indeed write such a fic! (Although I’d have to research Victorian boxing -- there were historical martial artists at Left Coast Sherlock last year who suggested that the rules of boxing were changing just about then. iirc, the Queensberry rules “ruined” Victorian boxing.) ...ahem, yes, as I was saying. ;-)

But you are correct, there is indeed something very interesting happening at the conjunction of those three episodes, and I can see exactly how I might write them into a flirtation and courtship!

(Tell me what kind of thing you think I’d write!)

[educatedinyellow]

Stuff I Made, 2020 masterlist

Thank you, everyone who shared this meme! If anyone reading this would like to compile your own list, please consider yourself tagged!

Total number of completed works: 10 vids, 2 fics, and 3 other things I will file under "miscellany" :)

Total word count: 14,610 words published, plus about 4,000 or so words of unpublished Discworld WIP

Fandoms created for: I created for 12 fandoms this year! Man From UNCLE (TV), Mission Impossible (films), Moonlighting, BBC Sherlock, A Study in Emerald, Supernatural, Bright Star, Discworld, Granada Holmes, ACD Holmes, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and Whitehead Holmes

Looking back, did you create more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? About what I expected, maybe a little more. When it comes to fic, I usually clock in around 10-12K per year. And with vids, 10 or so seems pretty normal to me. Last year I made 11, so the rate was almost the same this year.

What’s your own favorite creation of the year? Hard to say, but I'm pleased with how The Talking Cure turned out. I think the part of the story set in France, from Holmes's point of view, is quietly romantic in a way that makes me happy. He and Watson share some tender and hopeful moments. And I did something unusual with Moriarty, which I think took the seeds planted in the original book and developed them into a characterization that was perhaps more genuine and human. Among my vids, Destiel has been a ship close to my heart this year and I think Islands was a lovely fit for them; I like how that vid turned out.

Did you take any creative risks this year? I made my first constructed reality vid by combining two non-Holmesian movie sources to create a new story set in Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald universe. I am pretty sure I pioneered a rarepair ship -- I don't think anyone else has shipped Eugenia/Elsie -- which also happened to be my first written F/F pairing. I wrote about Moriarty, a character I normally avoid. I podficc'd for only the second time, and learned (and re-learned) bits and pieces about sound editing along the way. I watched some art tutorials, got a few more art supplies, and saw improvement in my sketching. I created for a lot of fandoms I'd never contributed to before, some of them very dear to me (like Man From UNCLE and Moonlighting). I hosted the Write Every Day group for a month and used that time to get the ball rolling on my first attempt at writing Discworld and Vimes/Vetinari. I got a Spotify account for the first time (lol, I know!) and found some good music for future vids.

Do you have any goals for the new year? I'd like to write a sequel to my Eugenia/Elsie story and continue writing my Vimes/Vetinari fic. Probably most of my creative time will continue to go to vidding, and I never know what to expect next on that front! But I can say my first vid of the new year will probably be Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane (I'm already working on that one).

Most popular creation of the year? My Illya-centric Man From UNCLE vid Skeleton Key somehow got 2.1K views on YouTube, which is about twenty times more views than my vids normally get. I honestly have no idea how this happened, but I think it must have gotten picked up by some algorithm and recommended on people's feeds or something. But anyway, it's a *great delight* to me to know the MFU fandom is still so active and that Illya continues getting the love he deserves 50+ years after the show went off the air :) My other surprisingly popular creation was the series of early Holmesian art posts I put together on tumblr, where I picspammed selections of the work of Holmesian illustrators both well-known and obscure (drawn from the Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia archives online) and added a little personal commentary. I was so pleased that so many people enjoyed rifling through those drawings as much as I did! :)

Creation of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: My least popular vid this year was Knots, and I completely understand why. I wholly support those who don't want to engage with a historical romance that ended in sickness and death; 2020 is not the year for that for many people. But for myself, it's one of my favorite creations of this year. I think the song is lovely and so well-suited to the story, and the film is unfailingly beautiful and compelling -- it was a great pleasure to vid.

Most fun thing to make: The most fun was Moonlighting: Give You Fever! It's the vid of mine that I’ve re-watched the most often this year, it's so upbeat! :)

Most unintentionally telling thing: I can't think of anything for this, so I guess my tells probably remain not just unintentional but unconscious??

Biggest disappointment: Nope. I choose to be happy with what I made, which was a lot of good things :)

Biggest surprise: Ummmm…honestly most of what I wind up making in any given year comes as a surprise to me. But I will say my most spontaneous project was the Jelly Good Show podfic, which was a joy from start to finish!

My vids:

The Man From UNCLE: Skeleton Key (Illya-centric, slashy, black & white S1)

Mission Impossible: Comedy! Drama! Sliding!! (amazing practical stunts, bonkers humor)

Moonlighting: Bad Day (all my bittersweet feelings about this show wrapped up together)

Moonlighting: Give You Fever! (all my happy feelings about this show wrapped up together!)

BBC Johnlock: Person of Interest (there's always a crime scene IN THEIR HEARTS ok?)

A Study in Emerald: Radioactive (Monsters! Saving the world! Flirting!)

SPN Destiel: Islands (they think protecting each other means letting each other go)

Bright Star: Knots (love and death, but the love is more important)

Discworld: Go(ing Postal) Places (Delivering The Mail! Public Service! Silly Hats!)

Granada: beyond your peripheral vision (Irene Adler has brought enough Respect Women Juice for everyone)

My fics:

To Cast Light on Each (ACD, Holmes/Watson, Eugenia/Elsie, rated T, 4.5K) Holmes and Watson, searching for a way to help Mrs. Ronder, unveil unexpected possibilities. A fix-it fic for "The Veiled Lodger" and a follow-up to "The Dancing Men."

The Talking Cure (7PER, Holmes/Watson, Watson & Moriarty, rated T, 10K) A little honest conversation goes a long way.

My miscellany:

Tumblr series on Holmesian Art History (personal commentary)

Podfic of "A Jelly Good Show" by Sanguinity

Pencil sketch of Vetinari

[sanguinarysanguinity]

2020 Fic in Review

Total number of completed stories: 12

Total word count: 59,740. (Plus another 50.4K in unpublished WIPs that I started this year.)

Fandoms written in: Horatio Hornblower (25K in 8 stories, plus the 50K of unpublished WIPs); ACD Holmes (25K in 1 story); and shorter one-offs for Whitehead Holmes, Enola Holmes, and Elementary x B99.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? So much more! When 2020 began, I’d just started a new job, and my daily word count had taken a major hit. But after some trial and error, I figured out that I could write during my bus commute and my lunch hour, and I feverishly knocked out that 25K ACD story in six weeks. When the pandemic hit, I kept right on writing longhand before work and during lunch, then transcribing-revising-extending on the weekends. Whatever else was happening, my writing sessions were some sorely-needed just-me-and-my-daydreams escapism time.

What’s your own favorite story of the year? “Hornblower’s Lost Honour,” the 42K WIP I started back in January and have been working on pretty consistently all year. (I know, I know, you were expecting me to say a published story, but look, I’ve spent a lot of time with that WIP this year, okay? And I still have another, dunno, 10-20K left to go on it, so it’s a good thing that I’m still in love with it.)

Did you take any writing risks this year? Despite having no native talent for puns myself, I wrote “A Jelly Good Show,” a story that has, on average, a new pun every twenty words. I am very, very proud of that accomplishment.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? Keep up the daily writing habit; hopefully publish Lost Honour; maybe start working on Langstroth on Bees again.

Most popular story of the year? “The Taste of Truth,” the 25K ACD fic. Magical AU in which Watson discovers that Holmes had been feeding lies to a magical tree in exchange for secret truths -- and that he’d faked his death just so he’d have a whopper of a lie to feed to the tree.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: The active Hornblower books fandom is tiny, y’all. They are ardent! Appreciative! Excellent at making a fuss over my stories! But when I publish a story, it’s really hard to miss the fact that the active fandom is a half-dozen people on a life-raft.

Most fun story to write: “The Adventures of Goatratio Hornblower,” which is a silly-stupid romp with Bush, his sisters, his crush on his commanding officer, and a goat.

Most unintentionally telling story: “Gwir Good Gold,” maybe, which sneakily contains a bunch of my feelings about indigenous identity and living in colonial society. But never mind all that -- on the surface, it’s a Sekie AU with hot smut and a happy ending, which is a perfectly acceptable way to engage with it.

Biggest disappointment: Not making any vids, nor making any progress on Langstroth on Bees.

Biggest surprise: Clocking my usual 55K-65K of published words in a year! I honestly thought it wasn’t going to happen, especially when it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to bring in Lost Honour before year end. But then I whipped out 7K of brutal hurt/comfort (Under the Guns of Rosas) and shook down my WIP folder for what else I could publish quickly, and here we are!

Tagging anyone who would like to play!

[educatedinyellow]

Speed dating my own fanworks, 2019 edition

I did a lot of vidding this year! And a little drawing, and a very little writing, too :) Looking back at what I posted this year, I count 11 vids, 6 artworks, and 1 fic. I’ll dust off this little speed dating meme as a quick overview. Wishing everyone a happy and creative 2020!

When it comes to your own fanworks, which one do you think is…

The funniest: I'm a Sucker for You. A Whitehead Holmes/Watson vid, flirty and fun!

The most romantic: I think a lot of them are romantic! I won't choose just one :)

The most unusual: Infinitely Stranger.  Sanguinity chose some of her favorite obscure and bonkers Holmesian verses, and I vidded with them. This is the kind of nonsense that tends to happen over at Holmestice!

The scariest: I have made nothing remotely scary this year.

The sexiest: Work Your Way Out. A Dean/Cas SPN vid, my sole goal was to find the prettiest shots of them I could and revel in the UST. They are gorgeous and their simmering looks are as legend; no regrets.

The saddest: Underwater.  A multi-verse Holmes vid. Have five Reichenbachs for the price of one. You’re welcome?

The prettiest: this slope is treacherous. A Johnlock vid. Series 1 of BBC Sherlock is in fact very pretty; I’m sure this surprises no one.

The most exciting: subject to the requirements of the service. A Master & Commander vid; age of sail! Cannonballs! Stuff blowing up! Near-fatal injuries! Manly tenderness! Plus some swimming iguanas, set to a kick-ass rendition of Vivaldi. What’s not to like?

The happiest: 500 miles (coming home with you). A multi-verse Holmes/Watson vid. They are adorable, a visual essay by me. My most popular fanwork of the year by a long shot.

The most realistic: Quiet. A Granada H/W vid, focusing on Hardwicke’s Watson and the domesticity of long-established life partnership. This comes the closest to what love feels like in my own life.

The most fantastical: Aphrodite's a Great Conversation Starter. At last, a fic! This is the most unashamedly trope-y thing I’ve ever written, but these two characters have suffered so much that I will not apologize for handing them a small bouquet of ridiculous sweetness. (Fair warning, chapter 3 revisits past plots on the show in detail, and is probably incomprehensible for folks who haven’t watched the show. The first two chapters are just NOW KISS, though!)

The most complex: None of my stuff is technically complex; I'd say the one with the most complex emotional tone is Clouds, a BBC Victoria vid that serves as a character study of Lord M and the ways he fails - and succeeds - at grasping something real and meaningful in his life and his relationship with the queen.

The simplest: librarian!Cas. A pencil sketch. I think he came out handsomely, and I like the clean, simple lines.

The closest to what you wanted it to be: Miss Independent. A Dean/Cas SPN vid. I have never had a more perfect match of lyrics and images to enable chronological storytelling in any vid, making this was genuinely like magic.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

Twenty Titles meme

(x-posted from DW, and gakked from china_shop)

My last twenty fic titles on AO3:

A Jelly Good Show (Whitehead Holmes)

The Adventures of Goatratio Hornblower (Hornblower)

Tell-Tale (Hornblower)

The Taste of Truth (ACD Holmes)

New Year's Snow (Hornblower)

A Well-Rooted Briar (Hornblower)

To Make Dreams Truths (ACD Holmes)

Their Shared Will (Hornblower)

Seeking High-Energy Self-Starter, Flexible Schedule (My Dearly Beloved Detective)

HMK Nonsuch (Hornblower)

The Golden Sand (Hornblower)

Solace and Comfort (Hornblower)

Cock on the Right (Hornblower)

Opinions of her Own (Hornblower)

No. 36 Bannerman Road (The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Any Service Required (Hornblower)

Tea for Two (Moriarty - Horowitz)

A Tendency to Tease (Hornblower)

Kissing Lessons (Hornblower)

William Bush, Oldster (Hornblower)

1. How many are you happy with?

Fourteen, maybe -- I've vastly improved at titling in the last year or so. I require a title to be easy to remember and easy to match with the fic; ideally, a title should furthermore speak to some fundamental aspect of the story, or work at multiple levels. Over the last year, I've gotten better at identifying what is core about a story, and teasing out or devising a phrase that gets at it.

2. How many are... not great?

Eh, three? "Tell-Tale" comes annoying close to being a good title; it almost is a figurative descriptor of the gift as well as a literal one, and yet I'm not convinced it actually comes off. "New Year's Snow" is just blah. I mean, it's fine, but it does absolutely nothing of any kind of worth. "To Make Dreams Truths" is pure ugh: it's a line of poetry that doesn't QUITE fit, it comes off as annoyingly pretentious, I always have to squint at it a bit to remember which story it's supposed to be, I hate it.

3. How many did you scramble for at the last minute?

Nearly every single one -- eighteen were titled as part of prepping for AO3. At least one ("William Bush, Oldster") was actually first published without a title to tumblr. I have sometimes been tempted to keep those tumblr vignettes titleless when I pull them over to AO3, just write "Untitled" where it demands a title. But it's too cumbersome to have a bunch of things titled "Untitled" in my works list, so I've always given in at the last second and put something there.

4. How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning?

"The Adventures of Goatratio Hornblower" and "Seeking High-Energy Self-Starter, Flexible Schedule" are the only two I knew well in advance, and it's probably not a coincidence that they're both silly, comedic titles for silly, comedic premises. In both cases, having the title in hand was very helpful in keeping me from losing my way with the stories: I kept drifting serious, then remembering that I had titled the thing "Goatratio" or that long horrible twist of management-speak, and then would use that to give myself permission to be silly and ridiculous again.

5. How many are quotes from songs or poems?

Two: "The Golden Sand" (Poe, "A Dream Within a Dream") and "To Make Dreams Truths" (Donne, “The Dream”). I'm happy with the former -- "Dream Within a Dream" is thematically spot-on for the fic, as is the image of the golden sand slipping through the dreamer's fingers while he weeps. My only discontent is that Poe is anachronistic for the Hornblower canon, but whatever, the stories were written in the 20th century and reek of their era, I don't care. Whereas the Donne... Eh, it's just not a great fit. It'll do, of course -- that's why I chose it -- but I don't like it, and the bad title almost makes me hate the story by association.

No, wait, I miscounted: it's three titles from story/song quotes. "Tea for Two" is obviously from a song, hello! I love it as a title -- such a perky, upbeat, happy song, imagining what a pot of tea can mean to a relationship, and meanwhile Moriarty has twisted that pot of tea -- and the underlying relationship -- into an evil caricature of the song's ideal. You know that thing they do in movies where they play something upbeat on an out-of-tune music box so it sounds evil and creepy and ominous? That’s how that title takes me, and I couldn't be happier with it.

ETA: I correct myself again! @educatedinyellow brought up "Cock on the Right," and THAT'S a quote, too, from a maritime rhyme extolling the benefits of various protective tattoos: <i>Pig on the knee, safety at sea; cock on the right, never beaten in a fight.</i> In my head, the title was a straightforward declaration of the story's most significant element -- the fighting cock tattooed on Bush’s right foot -- but it's actually a quote!

6. How many are other quotes?

Maybe ten of them are quotes from the story itself; another four or so might as well be direct quotes, being descriptions of a time or place in the story. Obviously, I find it very productive to dig into the text of the story for a phrase that sums up one of the central themes or problems of the story.

7. Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?

"Their Shared Will," possibly. Will is literally shared between them, obvs, but in-text it's a reference to his subbiness, and that what is getting him off is that they share a will about how to use him. It works perfectly on both levels, and both levels are a succinct and accurate summary of the fic.

8. Which best reflects the theme of the story/fanwork?

"The Taste of Truth," maybe. The title works literally, of course -- there's a fruit that you eat that allegedly tells you a truth, but it's a bitter, nasty fruit, and it tends to tell you cherry-picked truths designed to fuck you up to the maximum extent possible. Only a taste of truth, one designed to tantalize and ruin you. But the main action of the story is the characters experimenting with candid honesty, and so it's not just that bitter, nasty, poisoned truth they've been tasting, but also the good stuff, that which clears your palate and lays the foundation for fixing your life -- and maybe the taste of that is good enough to lead to better things. (I could probably have played more with that metaphor more at the end? Ugh. Maybe in some covert revisions...)

9. Which best reflects the character voice of the story/POV of the fanwork?

"A Jelly Good Show," possibly, being that the character voices are nothing but puns straight through. It was absolutely critical to give that story a punny title and summary.

10. Which is your favourite?

"The Adventures of Goatratio Hornblower," maybe. Distinctive and unmistakable -- I dare anyone familiar with the story to have trouble matching it to its title -- and an honest indicator of the kind of silly fun you're likely to find inside.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

You made that amazing vid, Something Good, and know so much about various Holmes adaptations. What less-known adaptations would you recommend for watching and where to find them?

Oh, gosh, so much of this is a matter of personal taste! For myself, I like a competent, capable Watson, a Holmes that feels human joys and frailities, and a strong, affectionate relationship between them. So, things I love that deserve a bigger following:

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979-1980), starring Geoffrey Whitehead and Donald Pickering, is one of my two favorite discoveries from making the vid. Holmes is reserved but warm-hearted (and excellent with children!), and Watson is strong and active, with much to contribute to the partnership. (There’s a little bit of a through-line where Watson teaches himself Holmes’ methods, getting better and better at it as the series progresses.) Furthermore, the Holmes-and-Watson dynamic is lovely, with lots of affectionate, teasing banter. (In fact, Holmes can barely stop trolling Watson for long enough to solve a case!) Honestly, this is my comfort adaptation, the one I’m mostly like to put on when I’m blue or anxious and want to feel better. 

(Also, Holmes and Watson wear eyeliner, and who doesn’t need a Holmes or Watson in eyeliner?)?

If I understand its history correctly, it never aired in the UK or the US (and thus is far better known in Italy and Germany than among anglophones); further, it was tied up in a rights battle for yonks, so the only DVD release that I know of is dual-language German. But if you can tolerate somewhat-deteriorated VHS rips, most of it is available on YouTube. (Try this playlist, or this one.) I love it well enough that I gave myself the German DVD for a birthday present: it’s region-free, so it’ll play on both US and UK machines.

名探偵ホームズ | Sherlock Hound (1984-1985). Charming and sweet and silly (omg, Moriarty and his over-the-top mecha!), this is my other big favorite from making the vid. This is Japanese anime (the original six episodes were directed by Miyazaki, before the project got tied up in a rights battle and he moved on to the other things), set in a steampunk universe where everyone is a dog. (Except for Moriarty, who is a wolf.) Hound himself is hands-down one of my very favorite Holmeses: courteous, warm-hearted, human in his frailities, passionate in his defense of his clients, and with a child-like joy in his calling. Watson is fierce and growly and stubborn but also very warm-hearted, and the two of them are smitten with each other. (And both of them with Mrs. Hudson. Everyone loves Mrs. Hudson: even Moriarty!) Moriarty is ridonk over-the-top and I adore him: a brilliant inventor but a sad disaster at criminal masterminding. If you want more info, I have a longer post on Dreamwidth about why I love it, complete with links to various moments in the series.

If you’re in the US, the whole thing is available on the studio’s YouTube channel, although they have the episode order wrong and a few eps misnamed: start with “The Four Signatures” and continue to “The Mazalin Stone,” then you’re fine with playlist-order thereafter. Outside of the US I have no idea how to lay hands on it, sorry.

If you do subtitles, there are three Russian adaptations that are well worth your time: 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979-1986) aka “Russian Holmes” 

My Dearly Beloved Detective (1986), and 

Sherlock Holmes (2013) aka “New Russian Holmes”. 

The original Russian Holmes (1979-1986) is much like the Jeremy Brett Granada series in its loving regard for canon, and is similarly well-respected. Livanov and Solomin are a charming Holmes and Watson, and I honestly like their Reichenbach better than Granada’s. I find it a little slowly-paced overall, but if you’ve finished Granada and want something similar but with its own take, this is a solid choice.

My Dearly Beloved Detective is… gosh… a female-centric tragi-comic satire, maybe? It’s a bizarre little film, but I am fond of it. Its premise: all of England, much taken with Conan Doyle’s stories, cried out for a Holmes and Watson of their very own, and Shirley and Jane were hired to fulfill the need; unfortunately, Scotland Yard is jealous of Shirley’s and Jane’s success, and conspire to take them down. The film has as devoted a femslash following as you might expect, but I don’t think it will spoil too much if I warn you that nearly all the fic is pining or fix-it or both.

New Russian Holmes is a subversion of the original Russian series, where instead of a romantic fog-and-gaslight Victorian London, we get something much more gritty and Dickensian. I adore this series’ willingness to get down into the muck and wrestle with Holmes canon, but a lot of people hate it for that very same reason, so ymmv. I will say, however, that Panin is one of the very best Watsons running, and anyone who disagrees is categorically wrong. 

All three of these (and more besides!) can be found via @spiritcc, who is part of a fan-driven subtitling team that has heroically provided English subtitles to a variety of Russian Holmes adaptations. Masterpost for video and subtitles here.

Mystery Queen (2017) is a Korean drama that was released too late for us to use in the vid, but ugggggghhhhh it hurts me that it’s not in there. Holmes is an adorable, sweet, scythingly sharp housewife who is studying in secret against her family’s wishes to become a police detective; Watson is the highly-decorated police detective that she ends up collaborating with. I cannot convey how much I adored the first season: on the one hand, emotionally complex cases that ripped my heart out; on the other, fanservice slathered on with a goddamned trowel. (In the first episode, Holmes and Watson went from meet-cute to Three Garridebs in seven minutes flat.) I just. I mean. It’s a hard-fought Holmes-and-Watson relationship, but good god I love them each and together, and by series’ end either one would walk through fire for the other. I haven’t watched season two yet, but I have high hopes for it.

You can watch it with English subtitles on Vicki.com: Season 1 and Season 2.

And that’s my starter list of favorite lesser-known Holmes things – I hope you find something here you like! If there’s a specific kind of thing you’re looking for, let me know and I’ll try to make you a rec – this fandom is large enough that there’s a Holmes and Watson for nearly any taste. ;-)

[sanguinarysanguinity]

2018 Fanworks Year in Review

Tagged by @gailbsanders, @a-candle-for-sherlock, @a-different-equation, and @educatedinyellow.

My AO3 account is: sanguinity

Total number of completed fanworks: 13 stories + 1 vid, plus some uncollected 3-sentence fics.

Total wordcount: 66,065.

Fandoms engaged in: Horatio Hornblower, Strange Empire, and eight Holmesian fandoms (ACD, 1994 Baker Street, Seven Per-Cent Solution, Charlotte Holmes, Sherlock Hound, Whitehead Holmes, Elementary, Sherlock)

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? More. I came into this year feeling like the story-generation machine was dead; I was completely uncertain of my ability to produce anything new. In fact, I spent the first six months of the year dipping into my trunk of abandoned WIPs and wrestling things to an end, one after another, for want of anything better to do during my writing time. (Literally everything I published in a Holmesian fandom this year was either a trunked WIP or a spin-off of a pre-existing story.) It wasn’t until I fell into the Hornblower fandom over the summer that I started writing new stories from scratch again. It was something of a surprise, therefore, to get to the end of the year and discover that my total word count was at the high end of my usual range -- although it’s difficult to say what percentage of those words were truly written this year, given the sheer volume of words I pulled out of the trunk and merely fitted with endings and connecting bits and whatnot.

(Merely, hah! Every story in my WIP trunk was there for a reason -- some problem that was beyond my ability to solve at the time that I trunked it -- and pretty much every one of those stories made me earn it. Finishing them is a testament to my improved skills, improved mental health, raw stubbornness, or saner standards for myself, depending. I’m not sure I’d call this year a creative success, but it sure as hell was a skill-building year.)

What’s your own favorite fanwork of the year? The vid “Shut Up and Drive” (Sherlock Hound, Hound/Watson) -- fun, flirty, and exactly what it was meant to be. It’s the one thing I made this year that I don’t have mixed feelings about.

Did you take any creative risks this year? At the peril of being too frank: committing to staying alive was as much emotional risk as I could want this year; unsurprisingly, it bled over into my creative life, particularly into my Hornblower stories. I’ve very much been putting rawly personal things into that set of stories: ideas that I’m trying on for size, notions I’m experimentally letting myself believe. Sometimes that goes smoothly, and sometimes less so -- I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being grossly self-indulgent, and there’s been a comment or two that has inadvertently stung -- but I’m still writing them.

Do you have any goals for the new year? My main goal from last year was to figure out what writing looks like now that my brain is in a better place; I made some progress, but I’ll continue poking at that question in the coming year.

More concretely, it sure would be nice to finish Langstroth on Bees, the ACD retirement fic I’ve been working on for five or six years now. I’m not gonna make it an Official Goal, but I might make a Special Effort, nonetheless. We’ll see.

Best fanwork of the year? *throws a dart* From Allegany (ACD, Holmes/Watson). Unless it’s the vid, maybe, or one of the ultra-niche gen pieces that almost no one has read.

Most popular fanwork of the year? Genuine Article (Whitehead!Holmes, Holmes/Watson). It features a juggernaut dudeslash pairing with pining, sexytimes, and a happy ending. Compared to the rest of my catalog of gen, rarepairs, and small fandoms? Of course it’s my most popular work of the year.

Fanwork of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I was surprised at the vanishingly small readership for Freedom in this Union (Strange Empire, Kat/Isobelle.) But I suppose I shouldn’t be: it’s a woc/woc rarepair in a tiny fandom, and the story isn’t enough of a powerhouse to rise above and get rec’d anyway.

Most fun fanwork to make: Shut Up and Drive (vid; Sherlock Hound, Hound/Watson). Fun source, fun song, fun animation, and lots of double entendres to play with. :-)

Most unintentionally telling fanwork: True Colours or To Remember Roses (both Bush/Hornblower). Both stories are about the challenge and paradox of being loved when one can’t love oneself; both stories are a way of retroactively expressing tenderness for my own mentally-worst versions of myself.

Biggest disappointment: I thought that finishing THE BEST BEE FIC ON MARS -- which had been hanging out as a half-published WIP for years -- would be more satisfying than it was? But it really wasn’t, almost to the point that I kinda wish I hadn’t messed with it. :-/

Biggest surprise: 66K words. A new fandom. New acquaintances in said fandom. The Holmestice conspiracy to gift me a treat without my knowing about it. 66K words. 

Tagging anyone who hasn’t had a go yet!

[sanguinarysanguinity]

Ten First Sentences

In the spirit of Summer Saturday Self-Reblog, list the first sentence of the last ten fics you’ve posted, then tag others to play along (if you want to). Game began by @scrub456​; I was tagged by @sanspatronymic​.

I met Dr Watson in September of 1939, during those strange early days of the Twilight War, when volunteers were more plentiful than work and we still carried our gas masks everywhere. (Amanuensis, The Seven Per Cent Solution, gen)

To my consternation, Watson did not redress himself after our little masquerade for Mrs Bailey. (Genuine Article, Whitehead Holmes, Holmes/Watson)

When the smoke finally cleared, only Lena and I were left standing. (The Bells of Hell, Charlotte Holmes series - Cavallaro, Charlotte/Lena)

It is late here in the village of Allegany, and yet the reels and jigs drunkenly crawl the stairs to scratch at my door and summon me back to the revel. (From Allegany, ACD Holmes, Holmes/Watson)

My marriage bed with John, I was relieved to learn, was no less joyful than the bed I had once shared with my Kate. (Upon a Ring, ACD Holmes, Watson/Mary, past Mary/Kate, suggested Holmes/Watson)

It was a beautiful evening in early October, the hour when a mouse gives his first yawn and glances toward the clock. (Sherlock Ferret & The Amnesiac Admiral, Sherlock Ferret series - Ashton, gen)

Lord John Roxton, the famed soldier and sportsman, renowned for his adventures in South America and the Alps, entered the abandoned barracks, flanked closely by his companion, Edward Malone, the Daily Gazette's hot-blooded young reporter. (The Spanking Ghosts, Professor Challenger series - ACD, Roxton/Malone)

Viktor Nikiforov was well-versed in Katsuki Yuuri's beauty. (Bellies to Scritch, Ice to Skate (The Poodles on Ice Remix), Yuri!!! on Ice, Viktor/Yuuri)

Holmes spun, eyes skyward, too preoccupied by the windows above us to mind the kerb at his feet. (Talent and Genius, New Russian Holmes, gen)

“Oh!” Etta says, coming to a sudden stop on the threshold of the room they rented for the night. (Etta Candy's Last Stand, Wonder Woman, Etta/Diana)

tagging: @ecouter-bien, @beanarie, @amindamazed, @quipxotic, @bowiecadmium, @ancientreader, @handsomejackshairplugs, @amatara, and should there be anyone among my Hornblower followers who writes fic (forgive me for not yet knowing that you do!), then you’re tagged, too! Give me a chance to see what you’ve done!

[sanguinarysanguinity]

2017 Fic (and things) in Review

tagged (some time ago) by @a-candle-for-sherlock and @a-different-equation, thank you!

Total number of completed stories (and things): 11 stories (although three were technically written during earlier years), 2 podfics and 1 vid.

Total word count: 57K words, which to my surprise is very much in keeping with previous years. (During 2014-2017 inclusive -- the period I’ve been ficcing in earnest -- I’ve been running a very steady 55K-60K/year. Right now I’m at 32K for 2018, right on track to continue the trend.)

Fandoms written in: Elementary, My Dearly Beloved Detective, New Russian Holmes, Whitehead Holmes, Sherlock Ferret, ACD Holmes, Professor Challenger, Yuri!! on Ice, Doctor Who, and Wonder Woman. And I vidded in Noah’s Arc, and podficced for Elementary and BBC Sherlock.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? I was struggling with mental health stuff that came to a head in October, after which I spent far less time writing than I used to. Consequently, I ended the year thinking I had written less than usual? And yet my published total for the year is right in keeping with previous years. Brains, they lie sometimes.

What’s your own favorite story of the year? Perhaps Mr. Green and the Adventure of the Ten-Gallon Hat. It hits exactly the tone I was aiming for -- melancholy and humorous, poignant and absurd -- and is likewise exactly the fix-it that I wanted for the film. (Of course Jane ran away from a conventional humdrum marriage to join the circus, and of course she came back to Shirley after.) It is a small story, but my pleasure in it is quite uncomplicated, which is a rarity for me.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Well, trying to finish a 21K story for an exchange (while simultaneously modding the exchange!) felt hella risky: there were a couple of weeks there when I was typing hell-for-leather, hoping I’d be able to wrassle the thing into some sort of finished state before that last, immovable deadline. (We the mods have a bad habit of not holding ourselves to the official due dates, and thus leaving ourselves no margin for error later on. It’s just a smidge more adrenaline-inducing than I quite enjoy.)

And in a different kind of risky, Upon a Ring was an intensely personal story, such that publishing it left me feeling hideously exposed and vulnerable, ugh. Happily, the fandom gave it a kind, thoughtful reception -- ACD fandom is a really lovely group of people.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? Due to a combination of issues, I wasn’t writing at all at the end of 2017; my major goal for 2018 was to see if I could get the creative engine restarted somehow. So far, I seem to be having trouble generating new story or vid ideas, and instead have been digging into my Dispatch Box of Unfinished Drafts (as @educatedinyellow called it) and working on those instead. Which has been productive, sure, but fucking challenging, I tell you. Everything that’s been left mouldering in there has been left so for a reason; none of it has been straightforward to finish. But the effort has been satisfying, too: stories and vids that had once upon a time caught me strongly enough to begin them, now slowly, one by one, coming to see the light of day. And presumably I’ll have levelled up by the time I’m ready to move on to new, fresh ideas (should they ever come).

And further, goal-wise: I was trying to outwrite my misery during 2016 and 2017; I’d like to find a new balance for myself here in 2018, one in which I’m still writing, but for happier reasons.

Best story of the year? Perhaps Nostoi, despite all its faults. I wrote it in a mad hell-for-leather dash, as mentioned above, and so it has ungainly bits, themes that could have been better brought into harness, and in many ways it feels like a retread of Holocene Park -- in subject matter, in scope, in themes and dynamics... Yet in terms of a satisfying, sink-your-teeth-into-it, story-story, it is perhaps the best of what I produced last year.

Assuming, of course, that what you want is a swashbuckling romp underpinned with earnest Holmes-and-Watson feelings! But if you instead want a delicately crafted, profoundly intimate story, Upon a Ring would be the best; if you want open and easy humor with a side of deep affection, The Case of the Six Marmalades would be the best. If you want some uncomplicatedly fun-and-sexy femslash, it’d be Etta Candy’s Last Stand. “Best” really, really depends on what you want from a story, you know?

Most popular story of the year? Etta Candy’s Last Stand -- it single-handedly earned over half of last year’s total kudos.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Honestly, I mostly try not to think like this, for the sake of my own sanity. I write a lot of gen and rarepairs in tiny or inactive fandoms, and unless such a story is an I-gotta-rec-this-right-now powerhouse that earns itself some champions, its readership will never extend beyond its initial circle of my subscribers. If one is going to write stories like that -- and I write a goodly number of them -- one has to be okay with light readership that doesn’t reflect the story’s quality.

Last year, I wrote three stories that fit that description: Sherlock Ferret & the Amnesiac Admiral, The Spanking Ghosts, and Mr. Green and the Adventure of the Ten-Gallon Hat. They’re all three gen or rarepairs in tiny fandoms, and their readership has been low, low, exactly as I expected. But while they haven’t had many readers, their readers have been warm and generous, which is always lovely.

Most fun story to write: The Case of the Six Marmalades! It was such fun dreaming up new ways for Holmes to lovingly and obliviously torture Watson, and for Watson to be grimly polite about it. :-D

Most unintentionally telling story: Eh, I knew exactly what I was doing with the personally telling ones. Etta Candy’s Last Stand is underwritten by that horrible summer of lovelorn pining when I first fell for @grrlpup and every last thing she did made me want to die of incoherent want. Nostoi has a whole lot of homesickness for my childhood, a good portion of which was spent on boats. Spanking Ghosts is rooted in personal experiences with homophobes-I-called-friends, topped with some earnest wish fulfillment. And so on. I put my life on the page a lot, and I very much recognize when I’m doing it.

Biggest disappointment: Those several months at the end of the year when tho words and ideas just... stopped.

Biggest surprise: How much I enjoyed recording As Romeo to Juliet. Beeblock and I haven’t gotten along for a while now, unfortunately, and I discovered while doing canon review for the voices that taking a break from the show hasn’t really lessened my antipathy. :-/ But @iwantthatbelstaffanditsoccupant’s story is tender and lovely, and it was a real pleasure trying to do well by it, to give it the same earnest, heartfelt treatment that the author did. Plus I enjoyed the fiddliness of the sound engineering, trying to get the violin’s voice just so... I’m rather pleased by the result.

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