(Untitled)

[gileonnen]

Title: The Moon's Men
Author: gileonnen
Play: 1 Henry IV, bits of 2 Henry IV
Characters: Hal, Poins (slight Hal/Poins)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Hal never fired a shot, in the run on London.
Notes: While this AU is open, I would prefer to discuss additions to the AU rather than seeing them drop in unannounced.

Comments

[speak_me_fair]

He is thinking of a particular rill on a patch of green in Northumberland, a sliver of water slicing inexorably down to the Tweed.

Yes, and so am I - oh BOYS.

Gin and cigarettes and the sour smell of fear on breath, and the misery of what must be done....

Just so wonderful.

[gileonnen]

Glad you liked it. <3

[lareinenoire]

I've told you before how much I love Nietzsche-reading Hal and how this is the perfect counterpoint to Slovenly Unhandsome, showing just how flawed Hotspur's perspective is--especially that sharp line about the king's guard shooting first. They're both doing what needs to be done, and can't communicate why it bothers them so much without breaking the necessary façade. Ouch.

[gileonnen]

I often feel like my pieces aren't ouchy enough--I mean, you and angevin2 really hurt your characters. Mine just ... feel existentially trapped.

[lareinenoire]

See, what you manage to convey is that the existential trap is almost worse than being hurt in any physical way -- you know you're hurting but you have no way out and no way of communicating it. It's actually very ouchy, but in a subtle way. Whereas I resort to poisoning people with cyanide where needed. ;) Or dropping headless bodies in skips.

[gileonnen]

I approve of both of these strategies, though! (I wonder if it has anything to do with the eras in which we're working. My Romantics professor just gave us a long and interesting lecture today about how the Romantics are obsessed with the irreconcilability of the self and the external world.)

[genderflux]

I love Ned's awful teeth and Hal's insomnia and how Hal's favorite portrait is the one where you can see right through him. This fic is everything I didn't know I wanted.