"If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go", Hamlet, Fortinbras/Horatio

[paperclipbitch]

Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4780
Genre: Slash
Copyright: Title is an excellent piece of music by Bellowhead.
Summary: It has been a long year, Horatio reflects, teeth wine-stained.
Author’s Notes: Set post-play, and written backwards,

Comments

[dimestore_romeo]

I'm not sure if I liked this or not; I thought Horatio lacked the fire to carry the narrative on his own. I did like to see his opinions on what happened in Hamlet; it made me see how horrifying things were - Hamlet dragging Polonius' body along the floor, for example. It all seems justified when you read the play, but Horatio's horror at everything that happened gives it a new dimension.

I think the numbering got messed up in the middle though. XD Unless that's what you were going for...

[unsentimentalf]

I liked that enormously, especially the backwardsness. I think it needs a good knowledge of the play to follow and to keep it going, thought, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Poor Laertes, as ever.

[cirrocumulus]

I really, really liked this. The atmosphere here was very subtle and fragile, and I think you hit on all the right emotions that would be present after the tragedy of Hamlet's and the other's deaths and Fortinbras' appointment as king-- the simultaneous confusion and hope, Horatio's spiritual displacement. Really interesting. :)

[karaokegal]

The backward format is oddly effective here, although it always reminds me of Memento so I was waiting for things to get even weirder than they did.

Poor Horatio. You have an absolute gift with that type...the quiet ones who serve as observers and get swept up in the events and tend to be involved with the more dominant personalities.

I'm glad I had any part in inspiring this. When I saw the Hamlet secret, I thought of you immediately.

[amproof]

I really enjoyed this. I think you've portrayed a selfishness in Horatio's character that is definitely a new interpretation. I never really thought about it, but yeah, Denmark is being left in the hands of children, and I liked the petulant bits, like them lounging around drunk and Fortinbras burning his uncle's letters. Also loved the line about Laertes breaking under Horatio (another twist on the character that works in this incarceration) and Horatio forcing himself to break under Fortinbras.