Lieutenant Hornblower (and Horse)
I read it all in one evening. I'm wondering how I managed to get through it the first time without seeing any slash, even as an innocent fourteen-year-old virgin unclear on the concept. Bush watches Hornblower taking a deck shower, and suddenly gets hot and sweaty. He watches young Hornblower drinking from a well, water slopping over his chest, and suddenly feels thirsty. Right. Not to mention, he gets all annoyed when plain sturdy not-young Maria is sobbing unbecomingly because Hornblower is going off to war. Not that we can blame Bush. The author is pretty harsh on Book!Maria. I remember now why I disliked her. Movie!Maria is prettier, more wistful, more sympathetic. Book!Maria is merely plain, pathetic, and perhaps manipulative, at least as seen through Bush's eyes. He reminds me of Patrick Harper's exasperation when his beloved Sharpe loses his head over yet another petticoat - probably not an accidental resemblance.
Anyway...usually I approach Renown-era fic with a sense of dread because of the Bad Thing that is going to happen to Archie, but he was obviously posted off to another ship during this one and was therefore safe, so I wasn't as emotionally invested here and could enjoy the story. It wasn't as fun as the movies, with Archie, but it wasn't as tragic, either. Book!Captain Foster wasn't quite so scary as in the movies, since he stayed safely out of his senses after The Hold, and I had great hopes for Weller. They were rather gratuitously dashed, I must say. But the whole Court of Inquiry was conducted more rationally, like in many LKU fics, reinforcing again the utter unfairness of the Bad Thing in the movies.
So, a good book, and I did love Bush/Hornblower here. They were cute together, although Horatio has already mostly changed from adorably flaily midshipman to the Man in the Impassive Mask. Thankfully, Bush sees through it and loves him anyway. I just can't reconcile this with Kennedy/Hornblower, which is my OTP, since that seems a bit unfair to Book!Bush, so I guess I will need to view these as somewhat parallel alternate universes. In any universe, I know that in another book or two, although I will guiltily rejoice when Horatio is free of poor unsuitable Maria and can marry Lady Barbara, supposedly his soul mate, I am going to be annoyed with him for not stopping the infidelity there, but continuing on and on with his serial skirt-chasing. This is part of why I have to believe that his character and future would have been quite different if he had been able to stay wth Archie, because I wouldn't want Archie to have to fit in with all the serial wives and mistresses. esmerelda_t's stories explore that possibility really well, and although well-written, they utterly depress me. Even Bartholomew can't cheer me up after reading two or three unhappily-ever-after LKU in a row.
In other news, I had Horse Riding Lesson #5 today. It took me at least four tries to heave myself gracelessly up onto the poor beast, even with the trainer holding its head and lowering the stirrup from my chest height down to lower rib height so I could get my foot in. My leg just doesn't want to go up that high, let alone spring me lightly aloft. I am never laughing at Horatio's horsemanship again. And also, I have saddle sores. Ow.
Anyway...usually I approach Renown-era fic with a sense of dread because of the Bad Thing that is going to happen to Archie, but he was obviously posted off to another ship during this one and was therefore safe, so I wasn't as emotionally invested here and could enjoy the story. It wasn't as fun as the movies, with Archie, but it wasn't as tragic, either. Book!Captain Foster wasn't quite so scary as in the movies, since he stayed safely out of his senses after The Hold, and I had great hopes for Weller. They were rather gratuitously dashed, I must say. But the whole Court of Inquiry was conducted more rationally, like in many LKU fics, reinforcing again the utter unfairness of the Bad Thing in the movies.
So, a good book, and I did love Bush/Hornblower here. They were cute together, although Horatio has already mostly changed from adorably flaily midshipman to the Man in the Impassive Mask. Thankfully, Bush sees through it and loves him anyway. I just can't reconcile this with Kennedy/Hornblower, which is my OTP, since that seems a bit unfair to Book!Bush, so I guess I will need to view these as somewhat parallel alternate universes. In any universe, I know that in another book or two, although I will guiltily rejoice when Horatio is free of poor unsuitable Maria and can marry Lady Barbara, supposedly his soul mate, I am going to be annoyed with him for not stopping the infidelity there, but continuing on and on with his serial skirt-chasing. This is part of why I have to believe that his character and future would have been quite different if he had been able to stay wth Archie, because I wouldn't want Archie to have to fit in with all the serial wives and mistresses. esmerelda_t's stories explore that possibility really well, and although well-written, they utterly depress me. Even Bartholomew can't cheer me up after reading two or three unhappily-ever-after LKU in a row.
In other news, I had Horse Riding Lesson #5 today. It took me at least four tries to heave myself gracelessly up onto the poor beast, even with the trainer holding its head and lowering the stirrup from my chest height down to lower rib height so I could get my foot in. My leg just doesn't want to go up that high, let alone spring me lightly aloft. I am never laughing at Horatio's horsemanship again. And also, I have saddle sores. Ow.