ficlet project: "Drink Me" (Tintin)

[kindkit]

Title: Drink Me
Fandom: Tintin
Characters: Captain Haddock (with unacted-on Haddock/Tintin desire)
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Alcoholism
Word count: 300
Summary: Of thirst.
Notes: Written for halotolerant, who is entirely to blame for my new interest in slashing old children's comics. So far I've only read The Crab With the Golden Claws, which this drabble is set

Comments

[ansketil_rose]

OMG! OMFG! *mouth hangs open*

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE! AND THEY END UP LIVING TOGETHER!

*end of capslock abuse* You have totally converted me to this. I read all of Tintin when I was a child. It's not often a drabble has the power to really startle me - but this did. You have gained a convert!

[ansketil_rose]

Could I rec this on my journal? More people must read it! :)

(Also, I received the perfume and I really love it - so thank you! I definitely going to order some when I have the funds.)

[kindkit]

*grins* Yes, please! Being recced is always extremely welcome. And I'm really delighted the story worked for you, especially considering I literally just read my first Tintin comic today.

Thanks for letting me know you got the perfume, too. I'm glad it arrived unbroken, and also that you liked it. I thought it was a nice scent, just not me, so it's great that it found a good home.

[ansketil_rose]

Well then keep reading Tintin! And keep writing gorgeous Tintin slash!

The perfume is very me and I'm very much enjoying it. I wore it to work and felt slightly embarrassed that I kept sniffing myself! :)

[flo_nelja]

I love your imagery, and it works very well.

[kindkit]

Thank you!

And you're the first commenter who hasn't had a ficlet this round. Would you like a ficlet?

[flo_nelja]

It would be very nice of you! Could you write something about Bill Haydon and Jim Prideaux when they were younger?

[halotolerant]

Mmmmmmm, wow, so incredibly powerful, so tightly structured, laying down the layers of image and driving the point across; you're so good at really striking ficlets and this would be a lovely one even without the fact that it's one of my favourite pairings and YES, THIS, THIS IS THEM ♥

If he could just lay his hand on that sleek unyielding neck, just coax him open and taste him . . . I never thought of the hallucination in this way, but wow, this is such a potent image, and so erotic too. The *longing* in the context of the different vices, and of course the understated but powerful fact that Tintin is the only one who the Captain allows to control his drinking. There are so many scenes about this that you're going to read soon as you work your way through and I'll be interested to hear what you think of them. (Whilst the Captain being drunk is often played for laughs in the comics, Herge doesn't brush aside the fact that drinking is often dangerous and that it can lead to bad consequences and shame afterwards

[kindkit]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

I never thought of the hallucination in this way

No, I deliberately changed the emotional tone of it; at the time Haddock had the hallucination I think it only meant the desire for drink, but as he grew closer to Tintin it acquried a new layer of meaning in his memory. Although it's interesting that when Tintin tells him to stop drinking, he immediately promises to, even though Tintin's just some random boy who popped in through his window. Tintin's got a power over Haddock from the start, and it's all intimately connected with alcohol in ways that I'd love to play with some more.

I've now read up to partway through "Unicorn," so I've seen more of the comedy-drunk scenes, but also the serious undercurrents and how concerned Tintin is. Like the long scene where Haddock is retelling his ancestor's journal and Tintin keeps trying to take the rum away. Hmmm, now I'm thinking about whether Haddock somehow deliberately plays up the comedy-drunk aspect to deflect Tintin's concern.

[halotolerant]

Yeah, I think Haddock conflating Tintin with alcohol in his mind is a very telling thing, even if (as you say and I agree) at the time it was very much subconsious.

some random boy who popped in through his window
The way Tintin literally falls into Haddock's life and changes it forever is something I love. But also the way that Tintin doesn't get it at once - Haddock's life changes, but not Tintin's or at least not consciously (and then months later he's in the streetmarket, determined to buy the perfect present *g*) but ultimately they change each other's lives so much.

it's all intimately connected with alcohol in ways that I'd love to play with some moreYay! More! And, oh, like I say, I don't want to spoil, but as the books progress and the complexity deepens (Herge matured with his stories and there's scenes of emotional resonance in the later books hard to imagine in the earlier ones) you'll get more of this from Haddock

[kindkit]

the way that Tintin doesn't get it at once - Haddock's life changes, but not Tintin's

Tintin seems very . . . self-sufficient would be one way of putting it, but closed off might be another. He's got this tidy little life with no one in it but Snowy, and a tidy little bourgeois apartment that he leaves to go off adventuring but always comes back to. And then comes Haddock, bringing various kinds of chaos that aren't so easily containable.

Haddock clearly longs to be a swashbuckling, noble Age of Sail Captain

At last, a fandom where an Age of Sail AU would make sense!

[karnimolly]

Gracious goodness yes and thank you! O__O

I really like how you interpreted the scene of the Captain's hallucination. Also nice take on the Captain's problem to stay sober. On the one hand it's usually Tintin who tries to stop him from drinking (their first interaction was all about that matter), but what if Tintin IS the drug the Captain craves so badly for?

Once again, thank you for writing this! This fandom is unfortunately pretty inactive, and I'm glad there's somebody out there writing good fanfic for it <3

[kindkit]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[slashgirl80]

Oh God thank you for writing it. ^^
There are so few Tintin slash fics and I don´t find yet a more strong one (you know what I mean :P) But I know if I ever find one like that,I will be truly embarrassed. :p
By the way, did you ever read "The Metamorphoses of Tintin"?

[kindkit]

I'm glad you liked it, thanks!

I've heard of The Metamorphoses of Tintin, but it doesn't sound like my kind of thing. I'm not a fan of psychoanalytic criticism, because it reduces everything that happens in the text to a Freudian paradigm. It's a shame there's not more literary criticism of Tintin from other perspectives.