Fic post: Short, untitled Russell meta-fic

[lizbee]

The red ink smears as Russell circles a phrase. She writes a comment, sharp, in the margin. When she lifts her hand, it is stained red. The colour is nothing like blood.

She crosses out a split infinitive and deconstructs a sloppy argument. She writes, This is unacceptable. The student in her second year. She will have to resubmit. It is simply not good enough.

Patricia Donleavy taught Russell to be right the first time. Her most valuable lesson. Russell silently thanks her for it as she scrawls her final remarks and throws the essay aside.

The morning's mail is in the basket at her feet, in shreds. The Hon. Sarah Clay-Harding had protective parents. They don't like to see her expensive education go to waste, or her gentle heart suffer at the hands of a harsh tutor. The girl has a brain, Russell has no doubt of it, but she also has a taste for cocktails and the attention of Balliol men, and Greek verbs pale by comparison.

Russell is having recurring dreams. She stands on a London dock, and Holmes is alive and laughing and kissing her. And they are happy, and they are going to be married.

All of this happened, but her dreams are always wrong. The sun is too bright, Holmes's smile is too broad, his kiss too knowing.

She wakes up alone every morning. She is afraid the false dream-Holmes will steal her true memories, leaving her with a shell, a puppet who spouts cliches and leaves her with nothing of substance.

Sometimes she dreams she is pregnant with his child. Endless hollow babies with smiles that mean nothing. They consume her.

It is a relief to wake up and know she is safe, alone, herself.

Russell corrects the grammar in the Hon. Sarah's translation, and regrets (with a flicker of amusement) that she learnt Patricia's lesson when the bullet pierced her shoulder, and Oxford frowns on that sort of thing these days.

Comments

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

I really liked this, and that's from someone whose knowledge of Russell is zero and whose knowledge of Holmes extends only to HotB.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

*claps*

Why thank you! *extends welcoming fandom tentacles*

[hedda62.livejournal.com]

Ha!

Endless hollow babies with smiles that mean nothing. They consume her.

This does rather make me picture a baby shaped like a very long tube (a vacuum tube, perhaps?), but the sentiment is terrific.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Well, vacuuming is domestic. Really.

*crickets chirp*

*tumbleweed rolls across the screen*

I'll change it to a nice doll metaphor, shall I?

[hedda62.livejournal.com]

I like the hollow babies. I'm just not sure they should be endless. (Though it's convenient diaper-wise.)

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

Are you going to post it?

I really want to know what kind of feedback you'll get.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Judging by the reception to my last fic (*crickets*), it will be overwhelming silence. Probably accompanied by a flurry of private emails to the mod.

[kerlin.livejournal.com]

This fic wins at life. LOVE.

Patricia Donleavy taught Russell to be right the first time. Her most valuable lesson.

Er. And now I want you to write more Donleavy/Russell. Ahem.

Teensy pick:
The student in her second year.

Is this missing an "is"?

[melwil.livejournal.com]

Heee.

If you post it on LoM, I'll post some gushing meaningless response for you. *g*

Off to break the passive aggressiveness over at LoM. I have no reputation, so they'll never see it coming.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

MELINA WINS AT LIFE.

Amanda's off work tomorrow. Coffee?

[melwil.livejournal.com]

Ballet :( Less than a month to the concert.

[kerravonsen]

Yay! You did it! I knew you could.

Of course the second half of the Cunning Plan requires you to post it at LOM. I'd be fascinated to hear what they think of it.

And my offer of mailing list space is still open.

[penwiper26.livejournal.com]

Aah-hahahahahahaha. AWESOME.

Post! it! Post! it! *chants sophomorically*

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

If you post it, they will come.

Also, much love for this fic.

[ladyrazorsharp.livejournal.com]

Beautiful as always, in that soul-ripping way you have with things like this.

Your Russell is never safe, you know. She's too real for that.

[tellitslant]

Russell corrects the grammar in the Hon. Sarah's translation, and regrets (with a flicker of amusement) that she learnt Patricia's lesson when the bullet pierced her shoulder, and Oxford frowns on that sort of thing these days.

Heee. Much love, and so very Russell.

[kismeteve.livejournal.com]

Patricia Donleavy taught Russell to be right the first time. Her most valuable lesson.

Fabulous.

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

zomg yo h0r, that s6cked!!!1111 Where was Holmes????? Where were all the BABIEZ!!!?!? AND THE FLUFFY WUFFY WUUUUUUV?!?!

Actually I totally liked it.

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

Surreal -- I came to your excellent Ood post via metafilter, and thought I'd poke around your lj a bit. And I saw this and kept trying to make Russell = Russell T. Davies, and wondering why you kept switching pov between him & a woman, then maybe you were writing him as a woman...? And then halfway through I realized that I was interrogating your text from very much the wrong perspective, indeed....

But I loved your Ood post!

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

(er, via metafandom, not metafilter...)

[my_daroga]

Okay, that's it. I'm joining LOM (if I can figure out how) now. Because this is just stupid. Er, not you. Your fic rocks my metatastic world. Now I must advance my participation in Russelldom beyond the anthropological lurkings I do now. Because I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Plus, I need a Russell icon. Damn. Now I have to figure out who my Russ looks like.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

seriously, how did i miss this when you first posted it? because it is amazing. actually, i think this is about when lj wouldn't let me see my friends page for a week and a half. hmm. anyway, did you ever post it to lom, because you should. although i haven't quite got up to date on thr randomness that's apparently been happening online since i've been away for the past two weeks, moving to the new place above the ceramics studio.

man, this piece is good.

also: Patricia Donleavy taught Russell to be right the first time. Her most valuable lesson,
best line ever!