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( My Reflections on Fics I Posted in 2018, One at a Time )

By His Dirty Hands We Know Him. I don’t know if it makes me happy, but I’m the proudest of it.

Now your most popular:

Amazingly, By His Dirty Hands We Know Him was my most popular fic, too. For once my opinion aligns with that of my readers.

The other top 4?

Three Little Pigs, Wednesday, Fideles, A Need and an Ecstacy

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Three Little Pigs. I really wish it had gotten a better response. It’s probably because it’s tagged underage noncon and focuses on childhood sexual abuse. I know that’s a hard topic for lots of people, but I feel like I handled the subject matter tastefully and with a lot of restraint. This piece is my example of why I think underage and noncon fic is so important and why banning it would be horrible for everyone.

Easiest story to write:

Wedensday came together pretty easily. I wish I could have posted chapter by chapter, but the challenge meant I had to post it all at once, so I had to flesh out the whole thing and know where it was going in a short timeframe. I’m pleased with it.

Most fun story to write:

Sapnu Puas. It was just so hilarious imaging Mycroft realizing that terrible joke.

Hardest story to write:

Tossup between By His Dirty Hands We Know Him and Three Little Pigs. I struggled with both of those. FTH is hard. Writing for a prompt is hard. Writing on a deadline is hard.

Fic writing goals for 2019?:

I have to finish Dance Till You’re Dead for FTH, hopefully by March when the bidding starts for FTH 2019. And I’m going to write a Holmescest FOD fic with my co-writer from TWHBYD, Theirwholebohemiansoul. I’m excited for that. And I want to finally finish Toplock Talent Search and my Sheriarty 30 Day Challenge.

Favourite opening line

“Once upon a time, there was an old sow, who had given up her livelihood to care for her three children, only to discover she lacked enough to keep them.”--Three Little Pigs.

I just love the way that this is a classic fairy tale line, but there’s little twists in there, Jim is getting his digs in at Mummy Holmes for quitting her Maths career to raise children.

Favourite closing line

“He looks back towards the house, sees Mycroft standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the interior lights. Then Mycroft closes the door, and the entryway goes dark.”--Fideles

I really liked the closing image to the last fic I wrote in 2018. Greg is literally and figuratively letting Mycroft close the door on this particular opportunity.

Favourite line from anywhere

I really love the opening sequence from Dance Till You’re Dead. It was actually originally Mary’s POV, in another fic, but that one fizzled and I re-wrote this scene from Sherlock’s POV. Anyway, “Sherlock flashes the blacklight stamp on his wrist (a white rabbit, who does this Moriarty think he is, Morpheus?) at the bouncer at the door. The thudding bass resonates deep in his chest as he steps down the long hallway which eventually opens out into a blue smoke and strobe filled room. He scans through the flashing lights for his contact. Go-go dancers in cages hang from the ceiling, clothed in white and red and black spandex--no, bodypaint--patterns of spades, clubs and diamonds. The lead singer on the stage in the back of the club is made up like the Red Queen, complete with an ermine stole and a heart-embossed velvet dress.

Off with your head

Dance dance ‘till you’re dead

Favourite title

By His Dirty Hands We Know Him. I really struggled to get this one just right. I wanted to reference the essay Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands by Michael Walzer. “Here is the moral politician: it is by his dirty hands that we know him. If he were a moral man and nothing else, his hands would not be dirty; if he were a politician and nothing else, he would pretend that they were clean.” That quote really explains who Mycroft is, to me. He gets his hands dirty, and he owns that.