yuletide recs, theme: mysteries, cons, englishness. or something like that.

1. An Original Work (Authenticity and Provenance Debateable). St Trinian's, Annabelle/Kelly. Hustle crossover. A con job requires Annabelle to pretend to be Kelly's girlfriend.



2. The Beginning of Wisdom. Poirot, Poirot & Hastings, friendship. Hastings comes home to England; Poirot has a Christmas plan all ready for him. Casefic... kind of.



3. Just Rewards. Poirot, Poirot & Hastings friendship and/or smarm. Hastings gets ticked off on Poirot's behalf; Poirot counsels patience.



4. The Mechanical Heart. Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson UST. This is clearly a pairing story in addition to casefic, but as nothing is explicit aside from Holmes's passionate concern for Watson's safety, and occasional whimsical concern for his happiness, it could actually fit quite well in canon - probably without shocking a Victorian readership.



5. Of Events Past and Future. The Masqueraders - Georgette Heyer. Canon pairings, gen. Prudence and Robin, their father and their spouses beguile an afternoon around the fire with a tale of their past escapades (by which we mean 'cons') told by Pru. Which is bloody fantastic - hilarious, wonderful, exactly in the style of the original. Made me wish for a whole novel or four of sequels (well, prequels?), like a Georgian version of Hustle.

last batch of dress shoes (for a bit)

Top, L-R: so-called "Spinning Jenny" and "Venti" from Modcloth.com, manufacturer unknown
Bottom, L-R: Schuh - Shell stitch pump; wedge MJ (style name unknown) by Novelle; brogued MJ (style name unknown) by Fuel