Every Monday, I will post a prompt. You have until the following Monday to write and reply to this post with a 100-200 word fic inspired by the prompt. All Sherlock Holmes (& adjacent) fandoms are welcome!
For an extra challenge, try to hit exactly 100 words, or write a 221B drabble.
You can reply with the full text of the drabble, or link out to another site like Ao3, Tumblr, your personal DW, etc. Feel free to post completed works to our Ao3 collection!
Fics posted to the main challenge must be SFW; you must link out if your response is NSFW. Please warn for content where appropriate.
WHAT ELSE?
Don't worry if you miss a week! You don't have to commit to this challenge and are welcome to drop in and out. You can also go back and write a late response anytime.
You may post more than one response to a single week's prompt.
If you're inspired to continue your drabbles, you're welcome to connect multiple challenge responses to each other, or expand on your fics outside of the challenge.
Characters: Hopkins & Lestrade Fandom: ACD Holmes Rating: G Notes/Warnings: post-CHAS Word count: 100
"Inspector?"
At the sound of footsteps upon cobblestone, Lestrade turns. Hopkins has rushed out of Scotland Yard and after him, the puzzle of a difficult case furrowing his brow. They barely spare each other end-of-day pleasantries before he launches directly into his worries--
"Beg pardon. The Milverton case, sir." Hopkins fiddles anxiously with the brim of his hat. "I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I do think it is worth the Yard's time to consult with Mr. Holmes again."
Lestrade presses his lips together. Finally, he replies, tone carefully neutral.
"We will simply have to agree to disagree, Hopkins."
Characters: Holmes & Watson Fandom: ACD Holmes, Granada Holmes Rating: G Notes/Warnings: None Word count: 145 Link:AO3 link
Text: "I do not know the wisdom of you going about and releasing criminals, Holmes. It's a bad habit," Watson says, huffing. "Who are you to say that Justice lies in your hands?"
"Morality is far more than the Law, Watson," Holmes says. "The Law itself can be immoral in the eyes of one who truly knows the truth."
"Either way," Watson says, "do you really think we should have let him go? He's still a criminal, Holmes, and it hardly seems wise to let him go free. I doubt the wisdom of your decisions sometimes..."
"Well, trust me in this," Holmes says. "Let the wrath of God punish me if I am incorrect, but I do not think we need worry about that anymore. What is done is done. Besides, if you were in his shoes, would you not want a second chance as well?"
Characters: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson Fandom: ACD (Speckled Band) Rating: G Notes/Warnings: references to death Word count: 195 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51050812
"...It's not quite a tragedy, is it Holmes?"
Watson was looking pensively out of the hansom window, watching the estate of the late Grimsby Roylott fading from view behind them.
"I'm sure that the tragedies had all already occured before our involvement," the detective answered carefully. "As to what has happened to-night, one could only call it justice."
The doctor smirked. "You'd never expect the harbinger of justice to be so slippery, eh?"
Holmes quirked a cynical grin of his own. "The will of fate is often as unorthodox as it is righteous. Dr. Roylott chose to exact cruel and unusual injustice, and so it is met with the matching amount of painful, peculiar karma for him."
Watson sank away from the window into the seat of the cab, shaking his head wistfully. "Indeed In a case like this, it feels as though the criminal justice system would not have made a cleaner conclusion than what has occurred through happenstance." He crossed his legs and got out his little notebook from his breast pocket. "This masterpiece in poetic justice deserves chronicling, I shall have to write up an account. …What do you think about the title, 'The Speckled Band?' "
Characters: Sherlock Holmes and Mr Leverton Fandom: ACD and Granada (Red Circle) Notes/Warnings: none Word Count: 221
"The Long Island case was twelve long years ago, Mr Holmes."
Leverton's eyes had not left the turning where the Maria had disappeared.
"Good money there, too, but it was what one man could afford. A year before Homestead, that still happened, sometimes. Even so, Teddy Marvin had stepped out by then; I guess he knew which way the wind was blowing."
Holmes threw his head back in a short bark of hilarity. "Ha! - in a manner of speaking."
Leverton grinned for a flash. "Always did wonder. But as to Gorgiano - " - his face was somber again - "we'd never have given him a glance if half the businessmen in New York hadn't asked us."
He turned back to the window.
"A policeman might live with the Law more than with Justice, as you say; but at the Agency these days, we only know Clients With Large Accounts. Well! they were in the right, this time, and I've met Sherlock Holmes into the bargain. Good send-off for me, I think."
Sherlock Holmes' guidance often shone forth to great effect in these final moments, but never so luminously upon a fellow investigator.
"I've followed this case clear to London. If your pursuits, Mr Holmes, should ever lead you to Chicago in turn - seek me out. An ex-Pinkerton can comfortably set up his own business."
“Undoubtedly, Jefferson Hope received his justice,” said Holmes, after the constables had left. “But I wonder if it might have been possible to achieve the same effect without neglecting his health.”
I was a little surprised to hear Holmes speaking like this after all we had been through this past week. He did not strike me as the kind to wonder abstractly in such a way.
“If we lived in a world where our police were more efficient,” I ventured. “Then you would be right, perhaps Hope may still be alive.”
“Yes, but it is so much more satisfying to do it yourself, is it not? To earn what you yourself deserve.”
“I suppose so.” I didn’t know where he was leading me.
He walked over to the window. “Yes, it would be ideal to live in a world with an able justice system. But if one feels it worth to take matters into their own hands, then there is nothing for it. And so I say again,
Characters: Grace Dunbar from THOR Fandom: ACD Rating: T Notes/Warnings: Mentions of domestic abuse Word count: 145
She had been a fool to think she could change things. Who was she to control a storm? Grace Dunbar felt it in her skin, in her bones, in the powder she dabbed over each new wound. Every moment Grace spent with her husband made her understand his first wife’s mania more. She had been horrible and wretched, but perhaps not without reason. As the years grew longer, Grace tried to tell herself this was Justice. The detective had saved her, given her a chance to live, to get all that she had ever wanted. But she couldn’t help but wonder, hadn’t he seen a million cases just like hers? Couldn’t he have warned her of the price she would pay for prosperity? But she had been a grown woman, and she had made her own choices. Perhaps this was what she deserved, after all.
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221bdrabbles2023-10-23 01:17 pm
EXAMPLE & RESPONSE TEMPLATE
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Ritchie Films)
Rating: T
Notes/Warnings: Mentions of drug use
Word count: 221
Link: here
no subject
Fandom: ACD Holmes
Rating: G
Notes/Warnings: post-CHAS
Word count: 100
"Inspector?"
At the sound of footsteps upon cobblestone, Lestrade turns. Hopkins has rushed out of Scotland Yard and after him, the puzzle of a difficult case furrowing his brow. They barely spare each other end-of-day pleasantries before he launches directly into his worries--
"Beg pardon. The Milverton case, sir." Hopkins fiddles anxiously with the brim of his hat. "I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I do think it is worth the Yard's time to consult with Mr. Holmes again."
Lestrade presses his lips together. Finally, he replies, tone carefully neutral.
"We will simply have to agree to disagree, Hopkins."
no subject
Fandom: ACD Holmes, Granada Holmes
Rating: G
Notes/Warnings: None
Word count: 145
Link: AO3 link
Text:
"I do not know the wisdom of you going about and releasing criminals, Holmes. It's a bad habit," Watson says, huffing. "Who are you to say that Justice lies in your hands?"
"Morality is far more than the Law, Watson," Holmes says. "The Law itself can be immoral in the eyes of one who truly knows the truth."
"Either way," Watson says, "do you really think we should have let him go? He's still a criminal, Holmes, and it hardly seems wise to let him go free. I doubt the wisdom of your decisions sometimes..."
"Well, trust me in this," Holmes says. "Let the wrath of God punish me if I am incorrect, but I do not think we need worry about that anymore. What is done is done. Besides, if you were in his shoes, would you not want a second chance as well?"
no subject
Fandom: ACD (Speckled Band)
Rating: G
Notes/Warnings: references to death
Word count: 195
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51050812
"...It's not quite a tragedy, is it Holmes?"
Watson was looking pensively out of the hansom window, watching the estate of the late Grimsby Roylott fading from view behind them.
"I'm sure that the tragedies had all already occured before our involvement," the detective answered carefully. "As to what has happened to-night, one could only call it justice."
The doctor smirked. "You'd never expect the harbinger of justice to be so slippery, eh?"
Holmes quirked a cynical grin of his own. "The will of fate is often as unorthodox as it is righteous. Dr. Roylott chose to exact cruel and unusual injustice, and so it is met with the matching amount of painful, peculiar karma for him."
Watson sank away from the window into the seat of the cab, shaking his head wistfully. "Indeed In a case like this, it feels as though the criminal justice system would not have made a cleaner conclusion than what has occurred through happenstance." He crossed his legs and got out his little notebook from his breast pocket. "This masterpiece in poetic justice deserves chronicling, I shall have to write up an account. …What do you think about the title, 'The Speckled Band?' "
no subject
Fandom: ACD and Granada (Red Circle)
Notes/Warnings: none
Word Count: 221
"The Long Island case was twelve long years ago, Mr Holmes."
Leverton's eyes had not left the turning where the Maria had disappeared.
"Good money there, too, but it was what one man could afford. A year before Homestead, that still happened, sometimes. Even so, Teddy Marvin had stepped out by then; I guess he knew which way the wind was blowing."
Holmes threw his head back in a short bark of hilarity. "Ha! - in a manner of speaking."
Leverton grinned for a flash. "Always did wonder. But as to Gorgiano - " - his face was somber again - "we'd never have given him a glance if half the businessmen in New York hadn't asked us."
He turned back to the window.
"A policeman might live with the Law more than with Justice, as you say; but at the Agency these days, we only know Clients With Large Accounts. Well! they were in the right, this time, and I've met Sherlock Holmes into the bargain. Good send-off for me, I think."
Sherlock Holmes' guidance often shone forth to great effect in these final moments, but never so luminously upon a fellow investigator.
"I've followed this case clear to London. If your pursuits, Mr Holmes, should ever lead you to Chicago in turn - seek me out. An ex-Pinkerton can comfortably set up his own business."
no subject
Characters: Holmes and Watson
Fandom: ACD Sherlock Holmes
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count: 182
“Undoubtedly, Jefferson Hope received his justice,” said Holmes, after the constables had left. “But I wonder if it might have been possible to achieve the same effect without neglecting his health.”
I was a little surprised to hear Holmes speaking like this after all we had been through this past week. He did not strike me as the kind to wonder abstractly in such a way.
“If we lived in a world where our police were more efficient,” I ventured. “Then you would be right, perhaps Hope may still be alive.”
“Yes, but it is so much more satisfying to do it yourself, is it not? To earn what you yourself deserve.”
“I suppose so.” I didn’t know where he was leading me.
He walked over to the window.
“Yes, it would be ideal to live in a world with an able justice system. But if one feels it worth to take matters into their own hands, then there is nothing for it. And so I say again,
“‘Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo
Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplar in arca.’”
no subject
no subject
Fandom: ACD
Rating: T
Notes/Warnings: Mentions of domestic abuse
Word count: 145
She had been a fool to think she could change things. Who was she to control a storm? Grace Dunbar felt it in her skin, in her bones, in the powder she dabbed over each new wound. Every moment Grace spent with her husband made her understand his first wife’s mania more. She had been horrible and wretched, but perhaps not without reason. As the years grew longer, Grace tried to tell herself this was Justice. The detective had saved her, given her a chance to live, to get all that she had ever wanted. But she couldn’t help but wonder, hadn’t he seen a million cases just like hers? Couldn’t he have warned her of the price she would pay for prosperity? But she had been a grown woman, and she had made her own choices. Perhaps this was what she deserved, after all.