The End! And Guessing Post!

[holmesticemods]

Well, that's it for this round!

We've posted exchange gifts for 41 fanwork creators in just under 2 weeks.

Reveals and the master list will be posted on the summer solstice - Monday, June 20th.

In the mean time, read the fic or view the art or listen to the podfic. And comment here or our AO3 collection to let these creators know how much we've all appreciated their work.

If you'd like to take a guess about who created which work, feel free to leave it in the comments. But we won't tell until the 20th. :)

Comments

Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[graycardinal]

[slightly delayed due to phone call]

And now the ACD stories, of which we have six (one of which incorporates aspects of BBC/TAB). Saving this group for last simplifies the problem somewhat, as guesses in prior posts knock out a good half-dozen of the prospective authors for these.* Thus I have a pool of thirteen from whom to guess (okay, technically twelve, since one of those thirteen is me).

I'm going to start with "The House of Usher"...and I'm going to concur with the consensus-guess of saki101 for that story, both because most of the prior guessers are better-versed in the BBC side of things and because I tend to agree on stylistic grounds.

Now, then: if I've organized my spreadsheet correctly, there are two authors** to whom I have not already assigned a work -- and who offered for ACD canon but not for BBC/Sherlock. While it's very tempting to think that scfrankles and wolfatthegate might have written stories for one another, I think that's a little too tidy. Of those two possible attributions, though, I think that for "Dust & Ashes" is the likelier. And if "Mrs. Hudson's Unique Tenants" is not wolfatthegate's work, then I think I want to pin it on meredydd.

Next I step sideways, because "Good for the Soul" is a particularly distinctive piece, and I think that of all the possible writers left on my spreadsheet, snarryfool is likeliest to have come up with that particular spin.

This leaves us with "The Book of Life" and "Broken Silence"...and with wolfatthegate. I'm honestly torn here; the two stories share a certain slant (one from Mycroft's POV, one from Sherlock's), and I could go either way. But that very tonal similarity gives me a thought: if the one story was written for red_chapel, perhaps that's a clue to the origin of the other. And that finishes the list neatly....

"The Book of Life": wolfatthegate
"Broken Silence": red_chapel
"Dust & Ashes": scfrankles
"Good for the Soul": snarryfool
"The House of Usher": saki101
"Mrs. Hudson's Unique Tenants": meredydd

####

*I have been assuming one work per author -- with the exception of the known-to-be-prolific sanguinity, whom I've tagged for two works based on a variety of external considerations.

**To be strictly accurate, there are three, but we're omitting one name for obvious reasons. :-)

Re: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I just want to say that I really enjoy the rigorous game of guessing / taunting that you and sanguinity play, it is one of my very favorite parts of holmestice. My one regret is that S. apparently has too much inside knowledge this year to fully engage in the performance. But I love the thought you put into all this!

Re: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[graycardinal]

[moved: accidentally posted as a top-level comment rather than a reply]

I know it's entertaining for me to formulate the guesses (and also a further incentive to read everyone else's gifts), and I'm glad we're providing entertainment value to the rest of the gallery as well.

I'm going to be especially interested in the reveal for "Art in the Blood", given that we now have three separate guesses for that one: scfrankles tagged both sanguinity and you for that one, whereas I've assigned it to rabidsamfan.

And since we've only till tomorrow to wait, herewith a clue: my contribution this round might or might not constitute a response to certain requests arising from one of my previous Holmestice stories.

Re: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[sanguinity]

It is a shame; I wish I could play properly, too. But we shall just make the best of it.

What I can't decide is how many of those guesses are in earnest and how many are part of his attempt at subterfuge. Once he took his own name out of the pool, he had to double someone to supply a full slate of guesses -- I am honored to have been chosen for the role, and would like to thank both the mods and the Academy -- but unless he's gone abruptly dark horse on us, he didn't put my name on anything he might have authored. (Perhaps he remembers how effective that was last time?) Mathematically, that means that there's a chain of errors/misdirections between one of his guesses for me and the thing that he actually made.

So here's the question: which of these guesses are in earnest, and which are part of his sneaky plan?

Re: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[graycardinal]

[ROFLing in awe over here]

Re: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[graycardinal]

What one should note about sanguinity's comment just above:

(1) The assertion that I needed to assign someone two works in order to make my math work is...suspect. That's the beauty of not taking guesses on (most of) the Sherlock stories; it leaves a pool of folk who offered both ACD *and* Sherlock who are all available as cards held up one's sleeve.

(2) The implicit assertion that she herself surely didn't author multiple works is also suspect, as prior rounds illustrate.

(3) On balance, I submit that she's actually being sneakier than I am this time around. (Someone should give her a mustache to twirl....)

RE: Prose deductions/guesses (2 of 2)

[saki101.livejournal.com]

It was great fun reading these guesses. I'm not sure what it means that everyone who attempted a guess at mine, got it right, but I've been impatient to thank them. Thank you!