Ten Words meme

[elaby]

caitirin did this meme the other day with Konata and Kagami and it was awesomesauce, so I'm trying my hand at ten-word Holmes, er, thingies. I wouldn't dare to call them stories.

Rules: Take the major fanfic categories and write something for each using ten or fewer words.

I used ten for all of them, and it was painful. I'm particularly skeptical about the first one, but I was done and didn't want to think about it anymore.

Fandom: Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson (some of them are slashy, but it's all innuendo, so I'm not sure what to rate it.)



Angst: 1891 - Mrs. Hudson drew down the blinds when I left.

Fluff: Sunlight cut the fog one Sunday; we sailed the Serpentine.

UST: Describing Holmes, I draw not from a writer's dedication alone.

Friendship: "I'd have you with me," he said, "stiff leg or no."

Hurt/Comfort: My blood soaked his shirt-front; still he held me up.

Adventure: More harrowing than Dartmoor was watching Mrs. Hudson's small nephews.

Smut: Not without reason did I describe his fingers as "sensitive."

Humor: "Perfectly safe," Holmes assured me, prior to the fire-engine's arrival.

Comments

[caitirin.livejournal.com]

XD THESE ROCK!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

n_n Thank you!

[kniblet.livejournal.com]

We've been meaning to tell you about our favourite new book series (actually, Simon got me hooked on it): the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers. Lord Wimsey is, well, a lord (younger son of a duke) who solves crimes for fun with the help of his loyal gentleman's er gentleman and his best friend who is a detective with Scotland Yard. The books are set (and were published) in the inter-war period and are both funny and clever as well as eminently slashhworthy. We thought they'd appeal to you.

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

I second! They're wonderful, whether or not one reads any slash into them(*cough notaBunterslasherthoughIdohaveoccasionalPeter/Parkermoments cough*). I think you'd love Peter, my dear Elaby-- he's got so much psychological depth, in ways that make one perpetually want to hug him. And Dorothy Sayers is the woman who discovered that Watson's middle name is Hamish and peppers her writing with near-perpetual Holmes references (the second book of the series, for example, features a wonderful rewrite of HOUN) and therefore deserves reading by any Holmesian :)

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ooooo! I definitely will have to get hold of them, then! They sound fantastic :)

[le-russe-satan.livejournal.com]

May I third! Definite Peter/Parker moments there. ^^ And the 'psychological depth' at the end of 'Busman's Honeymoon' simply killed me.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Oooh, these just keep sounding better and better. Thank you for thirding!

[le-russe-satan.livejournal.com]

I finally! found this quote. :D To entice the slasher in you. "The feel of Parker's old trenchcoat beneath your fingers was comforting. You had felt it in worse places"

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Oh my. Yes! I must read these! As soon as Harry Dresden is done XD

[kniblet.livejournal.com]

I'm not really a slasher, but Bunter and Peter are adorable together. Bunter's always there to take care of him when he's at his most vulnerable. And it's obvious they're inseparable.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Oooooo, yes, they do! I've heard of them but never read them, or really knew what they were about. I should check them out!

[kniblet.livejournal.com]

Try to read them in order; there's a list on Wikipedia.

Also, skip the biographical note at the beginning of "Unnatural Death" - it's full of spoilers for "Strong Poison" (and maybe other later - that's as far as we've gotten). No idea why.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you! I'm really glad you warned me. I tend to unintentionally spoil myself all the time on stuff, so this is good advice!

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

!

These are AWESOME! Adventure and Humor both make me giggle like a madwoman, and are therefore my favorites (Mrs. Hudson's nephews! BWEE!); Friendship and UST are utterly gorgeous, and Friendship in particular displays your usual profound understanding of their closeness in full force; and they all say so much with so little! I was waiting eagerly for these, and they were even better than I could have hoped :D

Now you've got me torn between the feeling that I should do real, ten word ones as a follow-up to my cheating sentences, and the knowledge mine could never live up to these. But it's a happy, fuzzy, awestruck kind of knowledge!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

*pops into a little ball of happy* Thank you so much! They were really hard, and I kept despairing over them, so the fact that you liked them, being the writer you are, means a lot to me :) I don't know if I could capture the right tone for a "Holmes and Watson watch Mrs. Hudson's nephews" fic, but it's tempting XD

I think you could do it, and they would be just as if not more awesome than mine.

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

Oooooo, I want the Mrs. Hudson's nephews fic so much! Holmes with kids is the most adorable thing ever. I can just imagine it in your voice, and it's perfect, and oh, the preemptive joy! Pleasepleaseplease? *bats eyelashes* Would a bribe help? 'Cause I happen to have one-- or eight-- sitting about...


Angst: Mycroft fears Sherlock’s eulogy for Watson, wary of graveside confessions.

Fluff: Holmes’ verdict on the latest Strand—“Tolerable”—provokes matching grins.

UST: In coffeepots, in mirrors, and, sometimes, directly, Holmes watches.

Friendship: Watson forgets Holmes’ birthdays purposefully. It’s the best possible present.

Hurt/Comfort: Watson invents fantastical revenges for Grüner, Holmes laughing despite bruises.

Adventure: “If you will just slip your revolver into your pocket…”

Smut: Watson’s mouth, tutored on three continents, is worth the risk.

Humor: “No, I will not call Watson my brother-in-law. Really, Sherlock…”

[elaby.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHA YAY! *giggles like crazy* These are AWESOME! Awesome awesome awesome! I love them all! Oh my gosh, the first one, so sad and serious in so many ways. "Friendship" is just so Watson and so perfect, and I really love the Hurt/Comfort one (how very them!) and OMG, three continents! The last one, too, SQUEE XD You managed not only to do all eight in ten perfect words each, but you also worked Mycroft into two of them! Eeeee!

I'll totally write that "Mrs. Hudson's nephews" fic for you XD kcscribbler suggested making a fic out of the Serpentine one too, and I'd love to do that, so I'll have to start writing these down! Hee!

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Mycroft is so much fun to play with (that scenario in the last one I've been dying to write for ages). Some day I will set aside a month, and write The Many Adventures of Mycroft, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson, London's Unlikeliest Crime-Fighting Trio!, because, for serious, secondary character love <3

And YAY!!!! Thankyouthankyou! I can't wait!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Eeeeee! Secondary character love LIKE WHOA! I think that would be the coolest story (or series!) ever XD

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

They're just so wonderful, all three of them! Sometimes I try to decide which of them I love most, and it makes my brain hurt, because how can I decide between three such equally excellent and yet so different characters? The Holmesian universe is so much richer and more real for having them there, even if they don't show up all that often. And they're all such fun to write!

Nice :)

[med_cat]

these are quite good! I especially liked the adventure and humor ones! For the humor one, were you thinking of the end of Granada's SOLI? ;)

Re: Nice :)

[elaby.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of Granada's SOLI! Hee! Thank you, I'm really glad you liked them :)

Re: Nice :)

[med_cat]

You're welcome :)

[kcscribbler]

Ooh, the first one is eerie, because it's so ordinary at first glance and then the date hits you like a kick in the stomach. *good shivers*

ROTFL to the humor one. Nice, Holmes. ^^

And I really want the Serpentine fluff story! *squee*

[elaby.livejournal.com]

You know, I totally want to write the Serpentine fluff story! I might just have to sometime XD

Thank you! I'm glad you liked them :) And I'm especially glad that you liked the first one, because it gave me fits and I was still kind of afraid it was boring. But you got exactly what I wanted you to get out of it!

[pebbles66.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are great! I'd love to see several of them made into full-length fics!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I might have to expand on one or two of them :)

[ofenjen.livejournal.com]

I cannot fathom how hard it must've been to use only ten words. Well done!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! It was really hard. Took me quite a while to get them satisfactory!

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

Oh, how wonderful! Like little Hors D'ouvres that are delicious but make you even more hungry.

I would love to see fluff as a longer fic

Bravo for managing to use so few words. I'm rubbish at that sort of thing, I even struggle with drabbles!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

It was really a challenge! I'm glad I did it, though :) Thank you so much! The fluff one is popular ^_^ I totally want to make it into a longer fic now!

[le-russe-satan.livejournal.com]

They are all sooo fun! :D

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :D

[coastal-spirit.livejournal.com]

These are wonderful! I'm going to try this. *^^*

They're all good, but my favorite one is Smut. Wow ... innuendo says it all.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Really, you thought it was okay? I am SO crap at anything approaching smut ^^;; Thank you! *glomps* You should totally try!

[(Anonymous)]

I think it was perfect. Some things are best left to the imagination. ;)

I am going to try to do this! I think it will be a challenge, but it's a bit like writing haiku or the six-word stories, which were fun.

I have already thought up ten words of smut for several of them, but none that I have the guts enough to post. *slaps self*

[coastal-spirit.livejournal.com]

And that was me, not just some random person posting about smut in your journal. -_-;;

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, I knew it had to be you! *giggles* You should write down the smut anyway, even if you don't post it :3 I can't wait to see yours!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_melisande_/]

Oh, these are wonderful!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *squee* n______n Yay!

[elaineofshalott]

Teehee, the "Humor" one. Perhaps a chemical experiment gone awry? I love mad-scientist-Holmes.

This reminds me of The Guardian's article on six-word novels from awhile back. If you try writing some of those you might begin to feel that ten words is ample space!

[elaby.livejournal.com]

That's so true! I don't know if I could manage six words.

I'm glad you liked it ^_^ I love Holmes and his chemical experiments too!