to know the depth of loyalty and love

My favorite David Burke Holmemes in honor of his passing. Rest in peace to one of the best and hottest Watsons we’ve ever had.

The Three Garridebs

“The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.”

One of the finest and most beloved Watsons ever to grace the screen has passed away. David Burke was 91 years old, just shy of his 92nd birthday, and he is survived by his wife Anna Calder-Marshall and his son Tom Burke.

By all accounts, he was a gentleman and a wonderful human being. He could have stayed on to play Watson much longer, which would have made many of us very happy, but he chose to leave the show to be nearer to his family, especially since Tom was very young at the time.

His was not the first intelligent and competent Watson, but this version marked a turning point in mainstream depictions, from comedic sidekick to a hero in his own right.

RIP, dear sir. You will be missed. Thank you for everything.

~*~

The Valley of Fear

It was late that night when Holmes returned from his solitary excursion. We slept in a double-bedded room, which was the best that the little country inn could do for us. I was already asleep when I was partly awakened by his entrance.

yuna: ah I see, hmm, one moment please, let me bring up an alphabetical list of all 700+ current MLH players. is it aaron a. aaronson???

shane: of course not!! mom!!!

As well, our final piece of physical merchandise has arrived! The wooden hinged charms are 2 x 1 inches and came out so well, they're like a little portable piece of Baker Street! (If you didn't order a charm but would like one, we will have leftovers available for purchase at the end of our shipping campaign!)

Since our last update, we've approved a soft content proof of our physical books, which are finally, officially in production! Our printer has informed me that the books should be delivered by March 27th, which pushes back our timeline estimates by about a month. Therefore, our current schedule is:

Shipping information form will release late March.

Merchandise-only orders will ship out early April.

Orders with books will ship out mid-to-late April.

Zine PDFs will be emailed late April.

I'm so sorry that it will be a bit longer before everyone can get their hands on the anthology! We're doing our best to prepare everything ahead of time, however, so that when the books arrive we can cut down on packing time as much as possible. 

Guys. Guys!!!! Guess what! I participated in Winter Holmestice 2025 and I got a fic from @mistyzeo

It is absolute perfect and everything I could have and did ask for!

Check it out. It’s an amazing alternate meeting between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I love it so much.



Campaign closed!🎉 In the end, we raised $47,724 CAD with a whopping 971 backers--far beyond what we imagined when we first planned this campaign. It's extremely heartening to see this much love and enthusiasm for Holmes and Watson in 2025, and we're so excited to finally realize this project in physical form. Thank you all for believing in us!

What happens now? First of all, we have two weeks until Kickstarter sends us the funds raised through this campaign. In that time, we will complete our final proofs of the book and merchandise, so that when the money arrives we'll be prepared to order all of our physical items. Our current timeline is looking something like this (but is subject to unexpected delays):

JANUARY: Ordering items. FEBRUARY: Merchandise arriving. MARCH: Books arriving (IMPORTANT: after we weigh all our items, a survey will be emailed at this point to confirm your address and shipping rate). MARCH - APRIL: Shipping & packing. Once all physical packages are sent out, backers who pledged for the digital zine will have the PDF sent to their emails.  MAY: Estimated delivery dates for backers in the US and Canada. JUNE - JULY: Estimated delivery dates for backers outside the US and Canada.

And that's all there is to it! Your next update from us will be when we share pictures of our merchandise arriving, or otherwise to notify if there are any changes to our production schedule. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an ask, or shoot us an email at [email protected].

Hardcover has been unlocked!🥂🥳

With just 3 days left on our campaign, we've just unlocked all of our stretch goals--Very Sincerely Yours will now be printed in hardcover, with gold foil and spot UV treatment on the cover!

The Very Sincerely Yours Kickstarter is now live!🎉

Very Sincerely Yours is an anthology dedicated to Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, and the idea of home. It is over 150 pages of illustrations, comics, and fiction from a team of 46 creators around the world, and it's now ready to become yours!

The anthology will be printed as an 8.5 x 11 softcover, perfect bound book, with full colour artwork, comics, and illustrated stories. The stories—written specially for our anthology—explore themes of home, belonging, and family. 🏡

Our merchandise bundle will include 6 vinyl stickers, 3 postcards prints, 2 sticker sheets, 1 bookmark, and a sticky notepad! We're offering 2 additional pieces of merchandise as add-ons: a cotton tote-bag, and a hinged wooden charm.

Our Kickstarter will only be running until December 21st, 11:59PM EST, so please help us spread the word and buy your own copy while you have the time! 📢💕

Link to our Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/haedraulics/very-sincerely-yours

Here it is, pictured with a preview of our endpapers design!

Great news, we're now fully funded! 🥳

And, as promised, here's a cheeky little smooch.

What comes next? Well, with our base funding secured, this means we can keep on campaigning for our stretch goals! The more stretch goals are unlocked, the more we can offer with our zine, and the better it becomes!

To recap our stretch goals:

[$25,000] -- An exclusively-designed linoleum carved bookplate from diogenesprintco will be included in every physical anthology order!

[$28,000] -- A pair of adorable stickers designed by Basil will be included in every physical anthology order (and not just the ones with merchandise added)!

 [$30,000] -- The cover of the anthology will be adorned with a spot gloss finish for a shiny, premium look.

[$35,000] -- The cover of the anthology will have gold foiling to add a further gilded charm!

[$40,000] -- The anthology will be printed in hardcover!