Hornblower Fic: A Dream of Life and Death

[sarlania]

I'm sick. Downside= no studying. Plus= I get to finish this fic. Hooray!

TITLE: A Dream of Life and Death
RATING: PG, disturbing imagery
CHARACTERS: Hornblower and others.
DISCLAIMERS: Not mine, not for profit, everything belongs to CS Forester
SPOILERS: Many elements from the books, but they’re not really spoilery
NOTES: Written because I had

Comments

[iladora]

SALLY I am sick sick sick. My brain kills and glurk. D:

On the other hand, I like this, but I'm confused (maybe the cold), why is it different?

[sarlania]

*sniffles* Sorry again. I hope the others didn't get sick either- should have stayed home on Saturday.

On the other hand, I like this, but I'm confused (maybe the cold), why is it different?

*smacks head* sometimes I have to remember that not everyone's a history buff like me. Hmmm well hopefully you saw how the Fictional side of it is different. Historically, the main things are:

1)Nelson dies at the Battle of Trafalgar, not Collingwood who was his second in command. Cooke and Duff were captains who were also killed at Trafalgar
2) Troubridge, not Pellew, dies when his flagship- which wasn't exactly seaworthy- sunk in a storm off Madagascar. I won't bore you with the history between those two, but there was no love lost between them. XD
3) William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of Great Britain, died in 1806 which is sometime before this "dream" occurred.

[iladora]

OKAY. So this is like when people didn't die? So Bush is successful, but Hornblower - is? isn't? And Maria didn't die?
this is all so confusing for my fuzzy brain!

[sarlania]

So this is like when people didn't die?
Hmm yeah, the first part I suppose, if that's how you want to interpret it. I'm not quite sure myself what it's actually supposed to be about, other than a dream about "life" and a dream about "death". YEAH I know, stupid isn't it.

[sarlania]

Yeah, I was a little hesitant about posting this fic at first because it is a little strange. It's not a fic in the traditional sense, with no plot and imagery more suited to a fantasy genre fic. But I like it, and I'm glad you like it as well.

And I like the thought of Lady Barbara Bush.

=) I had a lot of fun with that one. Couldn't help thinking about Presidents. *winks*

[sarlania]

This is a story about two dreams, isn't it? Do dreams in general have a plot?

Two opposing, contrasting dreams, yes. I was aiming for the dreamlike effect where everything happens randomly. People or situations that are familiar to us act in totally different ways to what happens, yet is able to offer us ideas or events or emotions that symbolizes our inner self or what is about to happen to us. So I think my piece is more like a snapshot than a movie, and hence not fic in the normal sense.

Fantasy you say? I'm not sure I agree.

Well maybe not blatantly fantastical, I agree, but much of the imagery I use owes its origins to descriptions in fantasy books. And yes, I love the character of DEATH in Pratchett novels, and in particular the hourglasses, as you can see. XD

"Now, that's a piece of rough I'd like to take home with me!"

LOLZ that's hilarious. Reminds me of hearing a clip of Lady Lalla Ward reading letters from her husband's novel The God Delusion from "certain people" and swearing in her posh aristocratic voice.

[black_hound]

I think these two fics are awesome. Outside the box awesome. I love the whole idea of HH dealing out the cards and how it is all turned about.

LADY BARBARA BUSH. AHAHAHAHAHA. GOD I LOVE IT. AND YEAH. THE KING OF HEARTS. <3333

A long time ago I started a vid that I never got very far with, because a) I is lazy, and b) I didn't have enough card playing footage to make it work, but .... I may just do it now.

I was working with Shape of my Heart by Sting. Because YEAH, THE SHAPE OF HIS (HH'S) HEART.

[sarlania]

Thanks very much! Glad you liked the whole AU thing. These days my thought have been preoccupied with the "what if" scenario, that is, how would everything have turned out if promotion in LH followed convention and Bush, not Hornblower, was made M&C. How would Bush have acted in the various scenarios Hornblower faced? How would Hornblower respond to the events in FC if he'd been the 1st lieutenant...

I was working with Shape of my Heart by Sting

I love that song! *nudges encouraging* You should totally finish it. XD I love your vids. No pressure though, looking forward to your Brown Art. XD

[black_hound]

quigonejinn and I used to talk about the whole idea of why HH never pushed Bush forward for promotion. Because he never did. When it happened it was Gambier, not HH who did it.

Back in Hotspur, Howe tells HH that he is retiring and can make promotions, etc. and HH stays mute. In BtQ after Bush's part in the fight with Natividad, singlehandedly repairing the Lydia, and the whole "It's Sunday, Sir" business (bringing the ship back to order with no sleep after the battle and being wounded as HH sleeps in a deck chair), HH still doesn't push Bush forward for promotion. And we know Bush wants it desperately as he is thinking about just that in BtQ after the Natividad business. And the writhing guilt HH feels in FC with Bush being a WOE over his future as a one legged sailor and HH vows to do something for him and .... Gambier does it instead.

So, we had fun postulating why HH wouldn't do it. When he had plenty of opportunities. And should have.

[sarlania]

I would love to hear some of the stuff you guys came up with. IMO, it's all because HH is a jealous, selfish, self-obsessed *bitch* who is unwilling to let his bf out of his sight and wants him all to himself.

When I first read HH, I thought that Bush's long spell as lieutenant was quite normal. I knew nothing about patronage, nor that the captain of a successful action could recommend his 1st for promotion to M&C. So it was quite a shock to discover how freely promotions were handed out sometimes...