Fic: A Lost Boy, Chapter 4

[angiepen]

Title: A Lost Boy
Author: AngiePen
Pairing: Liam Neeson/Orlando Bloom, minor Liam/Johnny Depp, plus a few other pair-ups among the supporting characters
Rating: NC-17 overall
Summary: Slave Orlando's been taken and the kidnappers aren't interested in ransom. And of course Master Liam's thundering rage is only at the personal insult, that

Comments

Reading!!

[skeptic7]

How AU is this universe anyway? What sense does it make for Liam to arrange to get a pony so Samantha and Orlando can learn to ride and not have basic education? It wouldn't take too much effort to get someone to teach the children elementary school lessons. A gardener, or cook, or horse groom to say nothing of house managers and secretaries, would find reading and writing and mathematics useful.

she didn't have to worry about the master selling her for being worthless, or putting her down.
Putting people down? That hasn't been legal in any historical society I've heard of. How horrible!!

Re: Reading!!

[angiepen]

This is pretty AU. [nod] See the FAQ for this 'verse, which I should probably link directly up in the notes, since it's scrolled back a page in the community by now.

Liam's really into horses, so getting a pony isn't a huge deal to him and that really isn't a significant comparison. Some owners have their slaves generally educated, but it's not actually required. It's to the owner's benefit to have the slaves taught to perform useful tasks, of course, but there aren't any actual standards for teaching home-bred slaves. (As opposed to people who are enslaved later in life, who would've gone through the regular school system for free people, with whatever resulted from that.) In this case, you're right -- Liam has arranged for some basic schooling for the children on his estate, but Orlando doesn't take to it very well. Realspace!Orlando is dyslexic, and has said he had some trouble learning to read. (Also that he's not really a major computer user.) I took that and applied it to this AU where as a slave, he'd have gotten

Re: Reading!!

[skeptic7]

Not being able to read, and worse not being taught to read is just such a terrible thought, worse than being lame, that I never thought of dyslexia and its complications

[aalens]

Great to get an update so quickly. Very entertaining and I am eager to find out what happens. The only downside is that I shall get withdrawal symptoms when you go on your cruise!

[angiepen]

I'm working hard to get as much possible written before we leave. I actually have enough right now to cover posting every day until then, but I want to get as much ahead as I can because I'm not sure how much writing time I'll have. Maybe a lot, maybe only a little, we'll see. O_O

Thanks!

Angie

[gypsy_atavari]

Liam looks like a man you do NOT want to cross. I'm glad he's on Orlando's side in this.

This is how intriguing and good this is turning out to be... I am not in any other fandom except for Supernatural but since PT's AKB verse I have been getting into the other stories with non-Supernatural characters-- and this is turning out to be well and truly awesome because you are showing us a glimpse of this world unexplored as of yet. Great storytelling on your part. :)

So I guess now I am in two fandoms LOL... Supernatural and this verse. :)

[angiepen]

LOL! I'm actually the opposite. :) A couple of people on my Flist started posting stories in this 'verse with characters I often read about, but I've never seen Supernatural and I'm not really into the fanfic, although I've read a few other things as they've popped up on my Flist. Then I read "A Kept Boy" itself and was completely hooked. :D

And yes, that's exactly how I think about it -- this 'verse is its own fandom. It's very cool and I'm really glad PT set it up that way, rather than trying to be more rigid and keep everything to a single, consistent canon. The flexibility is great and it's fun to see what everyone does with it.

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying too!

Angie

[aecamadi]

I just read all this in one big go, and it's fantastic. I'm loving how different people are approaching this 'verse, and of course, anything with Liam is a sure-read for me. I love his combination of don't-call-it-affection care and harshness here, it seems a "logical" way to breech the cognitive dissonance required to be a person who owns other people.

I'm really looking forward to more!

[angiepen]

"Cognitive dissonance" is a great way to phrase it. [nodnod] He has to be able to fit how he feels for and relates to Orlando into his world view somehow, in a way which doesn't damage his self-image or make him question his basic assumptions of how the world should be. The pieces don't really fit and he's using a hammer to force them. We'll see how long that works. :)

Thanks! More in a bit. :D

Angie

[aecamadi]

I think there is a lot of cognitive dissonance across the whole class of owners. My addition(s?) to this 'verse are all going to poke at that a bit, because for me that's been the one thing about slavery that I've never been able to understand, in American history or as it (sadly) exists today in areas of the developing world. So in my nature as one who pokes at her characters, that'll be my approach to it.

I like how you're doing it too. The hammer thing is right on. I've added you so that I can be sure not to miss anything! (And asknosecrets says you're good people.)

[angiepen]

There's so much about this 'verse I'd love to explore -- it's tough keeping myself down to just the one storyline. [rueful smile] I'm glad you're going to be poking at it too, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. :D

Angie

[angiepen]

Thanks! Orlando was just over the moon that day. [pets sweet boy]

And yes, Cally having seen them helps a tiny bit, but not a whole lot when it comes to actually finding him. And with the chip gone, it's going to take pure, old-fashioned detective legwork to track him down. :/

Angie