My Dear Watson....Reveal Post Round 6

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

Florence, May 1891
My dear Watson,
What list of assurances can I give that this truly comes from my pen, the pen of Sherlock Holmes, not dead after all, not buried with Moriarty among the black rocks of the Reichenbachfalle or swept by ice-melt to the fast river and the endless sea?
Do you remember the day we first met? Truly remember, not that charming and misleading set-piece you presented for publication. People talk idly or write poetically about a shock of recognition, but sometimes it really happ

Calcutta, India, June 2 1891
My dear Watson,
Yes, it is I. Truly. I dared not tell you of my survival; I am sure you will understand. You always wore your heart on your sleeve, you know. I never learned that trick. Mine was always locked in my head. I know that I must keep my survival a secret from all the world, even you, Watson. Mycroft is a sort of cypher for me, the same blood, the same mind, and the same habits of concealment ingrained by decades of practice. You could never learn it, and I admit now that I am glad of it. You have always complemented me perfectly

Isfahan, Persia, June 2 1893
My dear chap,
Unaccountably I find myself still alive, when by all accounts I ought to have been dead a dozen times these past two years and it would be all one whether you thought me lost in Switzerland or Baluchistan. Perhaps you still think of me from time to time?

Port Said, Egypt, September 20 1893
Dear Friend,
If only I could sit and talk with you over dinner at Simpsons, or go for a stroll together in Regents’ Park. The adventures I have had, the places I have seen – as I often remarked to you, life is stranger by far than fiction. But perhaps you have other concerns now

Montpellier, France February 14 1894
John,
I picked up a copy of The Strand for last December at a bookstall on the Place Castellane. Forgive me



Bureau du Telegraphe, Paris, France, April 8 1894
To: M HOLMES 98 PALL MALL, W1
ARRIVE VICTORIA APRIL 9 09.49 STOP THENCE BS AND PARK LANE VIA YOUR OFFICE STOP REQUIRE LATEST NEWS JHW AND CASE STOP
S

And so to the Grand Reveal. Please do go and acknowledge comments on your work, feel free to cross-post elsewhere and consider, if you have an A03 account, linking to the community collection HERE

flawedamythyst wrote Some Observations Upon the Segregation of the Queen for mistyzeo
thesmallhobbit wrote The Case of the Strangled Counterfeiter for gowerstreetcat
scfrankles wrote Read All about It for capt_facepalm
mainecoon76 wrote A Casual Reflection on the Probability of Coincidence for thesmallhobbit
mistyzeo wrote The Hungerford Wreck for tripleransom
methylviolet10b wrote Six Years of Evidence for sevs_girl72
gardnerhill wrote In Vino Veritas for apidologist
alafaye wrote The Major and the Violinist for kizzia
emmyangua wrote The Seventeenth Page Affliction for jcporter1
tripleransom wrote The Adventure of the Druids of Lanyon Dolmenfor morelindo
fyliwionvilyaer wrote A Monograph on the Misfortune of Matrimony for saki101
inamac wrote The Unexpected Visitor for rachelindeed
saki101 wrote Signs and Signals for vernets
gowerstreetcat wrote The Secret Sculptor for emmyangua
hiddenlacuna wroteThe Case of the Rose by Another Name as a pinch hit for winryweiss
jcporter1 wrote The Unabridged Version of the Engineer’s Thumb for alafaye
rachelindeed wrote Literary Shortcomings for scfrankles
sevs_girl72 wrote This Mortal Ark for spacemutineer
apidologist wrote His Heartbeat a Lullaby for elina_elsu
capt_facepalm wrote The Adventure of the Woman in Mourning for stellinia
obstinatrix wrote and after me a strange tide turns for fyliwionvilyaer
winryweiss wrote The Scotland Yard Stalker> for kerravonsen
spacemutineer wrote The Adventure of the Bridegroom’s Photograph for inamac
marta_bee wrote Telling the Bees as a pinch hit for mainecoon76
tweedisgood wrote Word Games for obstinatrix

Art
vernets created “I wonder when it will start to grey” for flawedamythyst
garonne created Illustrations for her stories Steam and Mist and Sojourn for methylviolet10b
kerravonsen created Treasure for tweedisgood
elina_elsu created Night Train for garonne
Podfic
morelindo recorded a podfic of mydwynter's story The Truth of the Musgrave Ritual for gardnerhill

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
All of you do indeed deserve roses. It is thus with some regret, although unlike Holmes we are being upfront about it, that we advise that acd_holmesfest is now going on hiatus for an unspecified period. Your mods’ RLs are just increasingly busy and tired and we don’t want that to mean a dip in the care taken and a reduction in the quality of the space created for bookverse Holmes fanworks here, but we are not looking to handover the reins, we just would like a rest.

There will at least be no autumn round this year. If, as and when we are ready to resume, telegrams will be sent to all relevant fan platforms in good time. Meanwhile, take care, don’t give up on ACD Holmes (and Watson, and Lestrade, and Hopkins, and Mycroft, and Mrs Hudson, and…) and consider contributing to communities such as holmestice [starts posting today!], watsons_woes, come_at_once and sherlock60, as well as continuing to create and post to A03 or FFNET or anywhere where Holmes is loved and admired. Or create your own community – the more the merrier!

Comments

[mistyzeo.livejournal.com]

Thank you all for all your hard work!

Oh and the letters make me want to cry into my laptop but I won't because water damage. So lovely.

[tripleransom.livejournal.com]

I thought the fest had some amazing stories and art this year. I'm sorry to hear that there will now be an hiatus, but RL has a way of doing that to one. However, please don't let us think you are dead for the next three years. I hope you will come back to LJ and let us know how you are doing as time allows.

I credit this fest for finally giving me the courage to start writing my own stories - something I yearned to do for years, but never quite had the nerve to do. I think I can find the impetus to continue now; once out of the bottle, that particular genii is hard to stuff back in.

Thank all of you mods for doing such an amazing job for the past few years. You have been responsible for creating a real resurgence of interest in quality ACD-verse works, something this fandom can always use more of. You are the ones who deserve the roses.

[ancientreader]

From someone who participates in this fest only as a delighted reader: my heartfelt thanks for all your hard work. I hope your rest break is -- well, restful! And, selfishly, I hope too that someday you'll feel the urge to run another round. It's been a joy.

[fyliwionvilyaer.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for all the mods hard work and putting this altogether. It was so much fun, and lovely to have so many excellent works to observe.

Sorry to hear on the hiatus but rl can be such a pain. Looking forward to seeing the return.

(also the letters have me all a flutter of emotions now.)

[jcporter1.livejournal.com]

Thanks to all who work so hard on acd_holmesfest. It is romantic and we'll done. A rare thing.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you all so much for all your hard work.

You will be missed in the autumn, and I do hope you will find your way back from the falls safely.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

What a poignant note for the fest to end on. But if it has to be so, I'm so glad I took part this round - it's been lovely.
Thank you to the mods for your hard work. Much appreciated.

[sevs-girl72.livejournal.com]

As the first fest I've ever participated in and completed, not only once, but twice, it is completely due to you folks. This is run so efficiently and effectively and it is truly a joy to participate in. You mods are the greatest - it is no wonder you need a break. It is a well earned and deserved one.

Thank you for all the work you've put in, you are the ones that deserve all the roses and so much more. This round has been exceptional!

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to add to everyone else, how grateful I am for this exchange's existence - and how grateful I would be were it to ever come back at any point, but equally how much I can see the need to step back. These events take so much more effort than anyone would imagine, and when they're as well-run as this it's easy to not se the labors behind the scenes.

Thank you for introducing me to so many talented and good-natured Sherlockians. And good luck in your resting and in whatever you choose to do after.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Oh, those attempts to communicate to Watson. What a tale told in so few words!

It has been another wonderful round. Thank you for making all six rounds happen and may RL calm down some for you all in the next year or so.

[kerravonsen]

Thank you for running this. I'm glad I got to participate this once, at least!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Thank you all. It was a pleasure to take part in this, and in previous years it was a pleasure to read the collections as well. We're all wishing you the best, rest well and take care :)

[mainecoon76.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear about the hiatus, but RL happens. I'm glad you told us straightaway, instead of writing beautiful letters and never posting them as certain gentlemen in our fictional acquaintance apparently did.

Thank you so much for your efforts, patience, and enthusiasm and for giving us all such a wonderful time again and again. Roses for the mods!

[hardboiledbaby]

A beautifully wrought reveal post, as always ♥ ♥ ♥

Another magnificent round! Many, many thanks to all the participants, but especially our hard-working mods. Pls enjoy your well-deserved hiatus :)

July Tomorrow...

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User scfrankles referenced to your post from July Tomorrow... (http://scfrankles.livejournal.com/15300.html) saying: [...] I've been up to on LJ lately: As anyone reading this probably already knows, I took part in Round 6 [...]