I'm pretty sure I skipped most of the second half of VALL - isn't there a long, tedious flashback with no Holmes & Watson in? The short stories are much better, imo.

I've been firmly over on the slash side of fandom so far so I haven't encountered any homophobia from Holmesians - I guess they're not big fans of the gay interpretation of H&W's relationship? And Brett!Holmes is *delightfully* queer, it's true.