Hornblower Fic: Times of Change

[sarlania]

TITLE: Times of Change
RATING: PG
CHARACTERS: HORNBLOWER, OMC
WORD COUNT: 3500
SPOILERS: The entire Hornblower canon
DISCLAIMER: The Hornblower estate belongs to CS Forester. Some bits lifted from CN Parkinson's Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower.
NOTES: This was originally planned to be written for the Navy Boys Magazine challenge over at anything_aos but

Comments

[vertrauen]

Ooh! I like this! Good job! *thumbs up*

[sarlania]

*claps gleefully* thank you!!!!! =)

[sharpiefan]

Oh, wow. I do love your writing. :D

[sarlania]

*blushes* *hugs*

It won't nearly be as good without your valuable help.

[nodbear]

The portrait of the admiral as an old man refined by the fires that took his friends -and formed him in more ways than one - its very well done.I llike both the magazine style and the emergent portrait of a Lord Hornblower who is more than Forester's outward show of him - even the hint that this may be an old Etonian trope ! its clever and gentle and both at the same time and well thought out

[sarlania]

Thank you for your extremely in depth analysis!!!!!! I based my thinking about this theme of living in a world that's no longer your own from a really fantastic biography of Lord Melbourne by David Cecil. In it he describes the atmosphere and values of the Whig society of the 18th century that William Lamb grew up with and contends that during his last years, especially after Victoria left him, that he was a "man who outlived his time" - his beliefs and values more suited towards the 18th century than England in the midst of Industrial Revolution.

this is the second 'navyboys" challenge that is serious and reflective in its final version
Well this is soo different from the one that I'd intended to write, some silly article about Hornblower's time in London during the Peace of Amiens.

maybe if we have a challenge to produce a series of serious articles on the HH theme we will end up with a set of racy articles instead...Maybe... but don't count your chickens with me. =p I don't think I have written a Hornblower fic that wasn't

[nodbear]

Thank you for your extremely in depth analysis!!!!!!

I know otherwise known as me boring on, thank you for not saying that though - didn't mean to but the history always sneaks out - it was though, meant a tribute to the style of the piece.

Well it was sooo different

exactly - we set out to write an innunedo and smut laden set of jokes and ended up with an almost genuine page of relationship advice- who knows.Anyway very glad this surfaced again in this form.

'Serious and depressing 'needs its proponents - we have others doing all shades of other emotions after all -

[sarlania]

otherwise known as me boring on, thank you for not saying that though
No, actually not at all! I actually love LOVE the long comments.

the history always sneaks out
I know right? Sometimes when I'm talking to friends and they mention in passing an aspect of history that I'm familiar with, I'll end up lecturing them about it. =p terrible habit, but I'll like to think that they're enjoying it.

[_likimeya]

This is really awsome! You love for the books and the epoch shines through every sentence. :)
I like the nostalgic atmosphere and the those mixed feelings of loss and acceptance with which Hornblower seems to remember the past.

[sarlania]

Thank you very much!! I had aimed to make it nostalgic, not too sentimental, so good to hear that's achieved. =)

One of these days I will write a happy fic, and that will be the day the earth stops spinning around the sun. =p

[_likimeya]

It isn't easy to write happy fic in the Hornblower universe, with all those deaths and the war and Lord H being such a brooding character... It's not you, it's him! ;)

[sarlania]

I'll just have to blame him then. =p Damn you Hornblower for being so infectiously depressing!!!!!!!