Various ramblings by the small hobbit

My writing output is dominated by Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.  25% of my total fics in AO3 are ACD Holmes, although there are various AUs in there, including a Sussex retirement 'verse, as well as the Ocelot Tales.  The characters of Holmes and Watson appeal greatly and I enjoy being able to write in a variety of genres, including case fics.

So, when allbingo had a Public Domain Day bingo month, with a card devoted to Sherlock Holmes, it was a no-brainer.  Usually I'll create a 2x2 card, but this time I've chosen a 3x3 card which I hope to finish by the end of the month.

The Man with the Twisted Lip	Noble Bachelor	Dancing Men
Norwood Builder	Three Garridebs	Black Peter
The Red-Headed League	Devil's Foot	Brain Fever

A perfect start to Fannish Fifty - Sherlock Holmes, the chance to write ficlets, and a small bingo to complete!

During the past year I have got to know a number of people from ushobwri Writers who are generally in different fandoms, so I would be unlikely to come across them otherwise.  One of these is aome whose request "You know, since Sherlock doesn't seem to be the sort to care about gifts (either given or received), perhaps something gift-oriented might be interesting? How would he react if John brought him one? Or might he be uncharacteristically inspired to give John something after all? Would it be a normal gift or something odd?" gave me some thought and then I found something which Sherlock believed to be perfect.

Beware of Consulting Detectives Bearing Gifts


There is still one day unspoken for, so if anyone would still like a ficlet, please shout.

Over the last few months I've taken part in a few exchanges, and received some excellent fics, so I'm now sharing them with you:

The first was for Night on a Fic Mountain: Dinner with the Morgans by ArgyllePirateWD, a Forever fic which hit all my favourites: Henry & Abe, Henry remembering the past, Abe wanting to celebrate Henry's birthday (a childhood tale), Jo being lovely, Lucas being geeky.  It was particularly appreciated, because it was written as a pinch hit.

The second was for Not Prime Time: England is England Yet by lynndyre, an ACD Holmes fic set in the hiatus.  It takes Watson in all his sorrow (post Mary's death) and gently leads him on.  I enjoyed the way the characters were portrayed.

And the last one was not for an exchange, but written for me by okapi1895 It's part of her Cheers series, Pimm's Cup, which, although the series is rated E, this one is G.  It's BBC Sherlock, panders to my competency kink, and features Sherlock encountering Stanley Hopkins' from my River Police 'verse.  Not Stanley himself, but his desk, from which Sherlock makes a number of deductions, including a desire to get to know this particular inspector rather better.  It's absolutely lovely!

3. For each of the fandoms from day 2, what were your favourite characters to write?

Okay, well, let's be a little selective.  Here goes:

Sherlock (BBC): Sherlock, John, Lestrade, Victor Trevor, Stanley Hopkins
Sherlock Holmes (ACD): Holmes, Watson, Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, Hopkins, oh and Mouselet and the Ocelot
Lewis: Robbie Lewis, James Hathaway, I'm also fond of DI John Garrett my OC
Spooks: Lucas North (no surprise there then!)
Robin Hood: Guy of Gisborne, Much
Life on Mars: Sam and Gene, but also Phyllis and Annie
The Hobbit: Thorin, Bilbo
Forever: Henry Morgan, Abe Morgan
Person of Interest: Finch, Reese and Bear
The Rake's Progress: Tom Rakewell, Nick Shadow
North & South: John Thornton
Almost Human: Kennex, Dorian
Winnie-the-Pooh: Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore

And while we're talking about favourite characters, can I put in a plug for older_not_dead which is currently looking for prompts for Proptathon 22 "Elements", because it's those prompts I am using for Sussex Retirement my ACD Holmes/Watson retirement series.

Last weekend I was one of a group of eight Sherlock Holmes fangirls who went to Switzerland to celebrate the famous 'death' of Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls on May 4th.

( Fangirls in Switzerland )

alltoseek has written the most amazing concrete poem as a remix for John's Jumper,

Go and read it now: A Jumper of John's

The sixth of my 12 Days of Christmas stories is for winryweiss

The background to this story is the ACD AU 'verse that is best summed up by Watson's Diary a story that scfrankles and I co-wrote, and is probably a good reason why neither of us should be allowed out on our own, (or be left to run a LJ comm).  Suffice to say that the pairings are Holmes/Hopkins and Watson/Lestrade.

winryweiss requested Lestrade and Hopkins sharing the experience about how hard it is (sometimes) to deal with their 'dearest friends'. However, unfortunately for Hopkins, Lestrade had his own thoughts.  Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this.

A Delicate Question

The third of my 12 Days of Christmas stories is for ascendant_angel.

She asked for Sherlock and John, non-romantic, hurt and comfort.  I'm not sure this is quite what she had in mind, but hopefully it fits the bill.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas ascendant_angel.

Friendless?

On Saturday I went up to London to meet up with friends and go with them to the Sherlock Holmes exhibition at the Museum of London. The meeting up with friends bit was great - we talked, three of us shared three different bottles of fruit flavoured cider, we ate pasta/pizza.

The Sherlock Holmes exhibition was okay.  But it cost £11.45 to go in.  There was the inevitable multi-media - for which read screens showing very short snippets from various versions of Sherlock Holmes, but no identification as to which was which, just a long list of the versions.  There was a section on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his original creation.  There was a room with a number of paintings, purporting to let you imagine what it was like when Holmes was there - which as one of my friends said, were the same as was used for Dickens' London a couple of years ago.

There was a room with various props and clothing, which were vaguely interesting.  The best bit - and in prominent place - was the Belstaff coat belonging to BBC Sherlock.  There was nothing much that I hadn't seen before - either in other smaller Holmes exhibits (a couple of years ago we went to the one in Portsmouth) or as general Victorian miscellania.  The final room had a screen showing a waterfall - presumably Reichenbach - and from there the visitor walked straight out of the exhibit.

I thought it was expensive, when I learnt very little that was new.  At the same time for someone who wanted to learn more I'm not sure that there was that much.  When I left the room showing the waterfall I thought there would be more to see - after all we all know that Holmes returned.  So if I had wanted to go back and look at something again I would have been unable to, since we were completely outside.

We wandered round the shop and looked at various items that we might have bought.  I realise that there will be a markup on products, but these felt extortionate.

So I was left, once again, with the feeling that despite what may be said, this museum really wasn't concerned about the visitors' reactions so long as they paid up.  Sherlock Holmes is a big draw, so I have no doubt they will do well out of it.  It just reminded me why I very rarely go to paid exhibitions.

I pinched this meme from canonisrelative who posted it about six weeks ago.

12 characters meme

Pick 12 characters from any fandoms and list them before you read the questions that follow. I picked (listed in alphabetical order to stop me cheating):
1 – Guy of Gisborne
2 – James Hathaway
3 – Sherlock Holmes
4 – Stanley Hopkins
5 – John Kennex
6 – Greg Lestrade
7 – Robbie Lewis
8 – Much
9 – Lucas North
10 – Victor Trevor
11 – John Watson
12 – Wildcard (in practise probably Reese or Finch, but not necessarily)
All Sherlockian characters may be either ACD or BBC.  Any complaints, it’s my meme interpretation, I can do as I like.

( Here are the questions )