The Valley of Fear: For Thou Art With Me

[methylviolet10b]

Author: methylviolet10b
Rating: PG
Character(s): Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Summary: Before leaving for the War, Watson leaves Holmes a task.
Warnings: Very vague references to VALL.
Word Count: 60
Author's Notes: 60 words of my own inspired by one of the canon stories, and by the publication date of VALL - 1915. And by the references to a certain character, whom Watson had never heard of in EMPT - and yet here he is in 1886.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

VALL -- The Valley of Fear

I set the last page of the manuscript down with a shaking hand. He’d left it with me to publish – a message. And within the much-fictionalized account, another.

The latter message: I never would have left you, had you told me of Moriarty. And furthermore, the outcome of the case might have been very different.

The former: I will return.

Comments

[hisietari.livejournal.com]

Ouh, this goes deep. I hope I understood everything correctly, but then, the vagueness makes it ever more appealing to dig deeper. And deeper. And just a little more. Great work!

[methylviolet10b]

Thank you! 60 words just wasn't enough for this one to escape being rather cryptic, but I think it works. :-)

[ennui-enigma.livejournal.com]

definitely cryptic. leaves a lot for the reader to imagine - to fill in the blanks from our own interpretation. work of a great author! good job!

out of curiosity, what particular thoughts or passages inspired this fic?

[methylviolet10b]

Thank you so much! I'm flattered. :-)

As for what inspired this - the story is set before The Final Problem (from the internal dates, probably about 1886). Yet in FINA, set in 1889, Watson had never heard of Moriarty. So how could he know of Moriarty's involvement in this case, yet not realize the extent of the peril Holmes was in during that 'final' problem in 1889? Watson would have acted very differently in FINA had he known the extent of Moriarty's organization, reach, and malice. That, plus the publishing date of VALL (1915), gave me the idea that maybe Watson wrote this case up in this particular way as a way of communicating various things to Holmes, on the cusp of the War.

In other words, it was total idle speculation on my part, but there you go. ;-)

[debriswoman]

This one took some thinking about (that's a good thing, by the way!) Looking at a situation, with more information than before, would have changed Watson's actions and response. Very elegant.

[ennui-enigma.livejournal.com]

You have some very philosophical and intellectual "idle speculation" :D Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

[methylviolet10b]

*blushes* You're too kind. :-)

[methylviolet10b]

Thank you! VALL is a very interesting mixture.

[ennui-enigma.livejournal.com]

I've never been one to keep tract of ACD's time line. I find it fascinating to see how you take it into account in your musings! I'm learning -- which is a good thing :-)

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

The best thing about this 60 is the understated implications. The reader has to bring a lot to it themselves, reading between the lines, and I love that. Nice work!

[methylviolet10b]

*beams wildly* I'm so glad!!! Thanks!

60 for 60, week 57: The Valley of Fear

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User spacemutineer referenced to your post from 60 for 60, week 57: The Valley of Fear (http://dispatch-box.livejournal.com/187976.html) saying: [...] by For Thou Art With Me [...]