#philomytha

of course you're not ;)

so, you've definitely seen bits of this and I think I might have shared some of it in the WEJ discord :D it's a sort of alternate opening to Follows On, which grew out of an idea about EvS possibly singling out individual guardsmen by picking the ones who'd been doing as guardsmen have traditionally done to earn a bit of extra money... selling it in the park.

I can't say I had EvS/Ian Ross fic on my bingo card, but sometimes that's just how it goes /o\

Ginger and Bertie were out fetching coffee and sandwiches when the 'phone on Biggles's desk rang. After a brief conversation, in which he said little, he hung up, grimacing. Algy lit two cigarettes, handed one to Biggles, and waited. "That," Biggles said after a moment, "was Guardsman Ross, ringing from a call-box with some information he didn't care to share with me while his C.O. was in the room. Apparently, Hugh Macdonald had been… supplementing his income. The old-fashioned way." "Nice to know regimental traditions are being kept alive in the modern age," Algy observed drily. "I'm glad you find it funny," snapped Biggles. "For Pete's sake, keep your hair on. I'm guessing Macdonald wasn't the only one, and not the only culprit who's gone AWOL?" Biggles shook his head. "Then that must be how our old pal von Stalhein's singling them out," said Algy. From the disapproving expression on Biggles's face, he had arrived at the same conclusion, for all he looked as though he would have liked to contest it. "Picking the ones likely to be susceptible to his ignoble advances." Algy tried to keep the amusement out of his voice as best he could, but the idea of the stiff-necked Prussian engaging in furtive assignations behind bushes really was too ridiculous for words. "What about Ross?" he asked. "Has he been working overtime as well?" "He says not," replied Biggles. "Or at least not until Macdonald took off. Then he reckoned hooking up with von Stalhein was his best chance at tracking his friend down; but he had no way of contacting him and didn't even know what he looked like. So he went where Macdonald had gone, and made himself available." "And von Stalhein came calling." "So it seems," Biggles agreed grimly. At that point the others returned and, once their makeshift meal had been disposed of, Biggles filled them in on his most recent conversation with Ian Ross. Bertie shook his head in dismay, clearly finding the whole idea thoroughly distasteful. Algy could sympathise; he wasn't sure he wanted to think too closely about it himself. Ginger, on the other hand, looked mildly curious. Suddenly, Algy had a horrible feeling he knew exactly what Ginger was about to say, and wished he was close enough to kick him in the ankle. "D'you reckon they actually did it? Ross and von Stalhein?" Ginger asked, confirming Algy's fears. "Or would he have skipped the pleasantries and gone straight to desertion?"

yay! this is what i usually refer to as the yugoslavia fic and has not been actively worked on in Months, but yesterday i realised that i could restructure it to include ginger and bertie and am now much more motivated to continue, so, fingers crossed 2025 is the year of frau lowenhardt

Thank you! He does clean up well, doesn’t he :-D (Reading with R4 on in the background with Tories squirming and writhing on James Naughtie’s hook, so doubly satisfying)

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Oh no, this is a hard one /o\ I'm not sure I can actually put these in any particular order, but here they are...

The Liar by Stephen Fry - one of my favourites of all time, I re-read it for about the hundredth time a couple of months ago and I still adore every word.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik - with huge thanks to you for the rec <333 I'm now completely obsessed with them.

The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch - I just love it completely, especially That Scene. You know the one I mean.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn - another re-read, this was probably my favourite book of last year and it's just so heart-wrenchingly lovely.

Aces Falling by Peter Hart - because I wouldn't be me if there were no aeroplane books on here ;)

12. Any books that disappointed you?

A few :( Winged Victory was a bit of a let-down, but I think that's mainly because I'd seen it being SO hyped as the definitive work of fiction on WWI aviation, and I'm just not sure I think it's as good as other people do. If Will Dean's The Last Passenger hadn't been a library book I'd probably have launched it across the room at the big reveal, it had a really promising opening but just didn't work for me. The Betrayal of Thomas True by AJ West is one of those books that on paper should have been right up my street, but I didn't really get on with it.

And you already know how I feel about Ace With One Eye (although that wasn't so much a disappointment as even worse than I expected) and Adrian Smith's biography of Mannock ;)

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

I've only got a couple actively on the go at the moment, I'd like to finish Endurance by Alfred Lansing, and Ben McIntyre's Double Cross. And I should really get round to reading Winter's Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch so I can take it back to the library! /o\

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

oh man, there were a few fics this year which i was banging my head against the wall over! but i think the most satisfying to finish has to be my terror big bang fic, because i was terrified i'd have to default last minute and bring shame upon my family

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

thank you very much for sending some numbers, it's 11pm and i know that i won't have the bravery to answer this in the morning so here we go!

2: i've never found top/bottom arguments in fandom super compelling (possibly it's the ace spectrum in me) but i will give this the old college try!!

clearly worrals would never bottom. she is deeply invested in doing things Her Way or the High Way and if we're going by the traditional definition of top/bottom (nice dichotomy now what lies outside it etc etc) i really feel that she would struggle very hard with letting someone else take charge in bed. frecks is fine with this but sometimes has idle fantasies of pinning worrals down in bed and making her take a ten minute break from the exhausting job that is Being Worrals. bill finds it unbearably sexy and probably suggests pegging to worrals after they get married (if indeed they make it to the altar without him being damselled Again)

(i contemplated writing something about biggles here but i really don't think he would have a strong preference. as funny as the conversation he had with evs about it might be)

17: my position is that biggles fandom needs All The Art always, but especially lacking imo are good group shots of &co. and really just images of the main cast that aren't completely insane (looking at you, sontaran erich)