New story: Telemachos, or The Genealogy of Buggery

[resonant]

Horatio Hornblower litslash -- i.e. based on the novel rather than the miniseries, so don't be too shocked to find Horatio portrayed as some guy who's edging up on forty rather than as the delectable Ioan Gruffudd.

Telemachos, or The Genealogy of Buggery
Hornblower/Longley -- NC-17 -- 40K
A venerable Navy tradition is passed on

Beta thanks to cesca, darthfox, and mzcalypso. Special thanks to fabularasa for the subtitle.

Comments

[strawberrythief.livejournal.com]

Never seen the television series, but I am a fan of the books, and oh, this was wonderful. Just right. *happy sigh*

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. I was hoping I'd gotten the voice right. I'm glad you liked it!

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

As always, a delight! Superbly handled ::koff:: and elegantly couched. ::koffkoff::

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Happy to provide you with a useful educational experience.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the miniseries, nor read the books, so I have only scant knowledge of the fandom and who the characters are. That said -- this is lovely enough to make me want to find out more. *g*

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it!

There are some lovely stories based on the miniseries; let me know if you'd like recs.

[raggedrose.livejournal.com]

Very nice!

You captured the older Hornblower, the one I hope we get to see if the movies get that far into the series. I liked his kindness in this story, I thought it was very in character, if CSF had dealt with that aspect of his life. I loved the way you gave us his thoughts, something that is far more difficult on film, but was essential to the novels.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I knew the characterization wouldn't be exactly the same as in the miniseries, but i hoped it wouldn't be actively unpleasant to people who loved A&E Horatio.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Love this:
He wished for a moment that he could ask Longley to have him. But it was out of the question, of course. It seemed that was one of the pleasures of youth that one must put aside when one reached the prime of life, unless one was fortunate enough to have a friend, a man of one's own station who would take either side of the equation as whim demanded. He hadn't been so fortunate for many years.

Now that's the Hornblower I know from the books. With added historical verisimilitude, as it were. And then this makes it complete:

And, really, wasn't it just his way to be brooding over the one pleasure denied him and neglecting the veritable feast laid out before him? He smiled an apology into the blue eyes.

Yes, it is just his way, and by now he's old enough to laugh at himself a little. Great characterization, as well as lovely prose.
Encore!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[laughing] Yeah, I discovered that, even though reading a Horatian mindfuck sometimes makes me want to smack him, writing one is actually kind of fun.

[dracostella.livejournal.com]

I have never seen the series, nor read the books, but I'm definitely interested now.

Lovely capture of the Captain and the crewman.

"God," Longley whispered at last. "That was -- I never thought -- dear God."

Hornblower chuckled. "Yes, it was."

And their eloquence afterward.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said to Kass, let me know if you want recs. Glad you liked it!

[countess7.livejournal.com]

This was SO good! I didn't know who anyone was, because I've never read the book nor have I seen the miniseries, but if you post a story I'm going to read it, because that is how things work in my world. And it was just such a good read. It's the perfect sub-title! The story is so lovely and smooth and incredibly sexy. I LOVED it!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Aww. Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it.

And if you're fond of Fraser, you'd probably like Horatio, since they're quite similar characters. Check out The Happy Return (a.k.a. Beat to Quarters); it was the first one written, and is a great place to start. If you enjoy it, you can move on to A Ship of the Line and meet Longley.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Oh, how elegantly done! I love the books and was extremely skittish of any attempt to slash them; but you've managed both Hornblower's sense of responsibility and his innate, dry kindness. Very nice for my first introduction to that fandom.

Shezan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hp_fanfic_recs

[looks at shez]

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

are you the shez i think you are? (well, silly question, because i already know you're the shez i think you are, plus how could there possibly be another.) hey! s'up?

[looks at fox with a wild surmise...when a new planet swims into her ken]

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Oh my. Fox from Echo? You've plunged into the great wide wide wide ocean that's Harry Potter too? Still in DC? or weren't you supposed to go to the depths of Virginia for some serious lawyering? Heeeeee! Ahoy!!!

Shezan
go visit my latest baby: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hp_fanfic_recs

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Aww! I'm glad you liked it, and especially glad the Horatio characterization worked for you.

(You know what was hardest? Getting all the dashes out of the narration. I never had any idea how damned many dashes I used.)

Once at In Medias res, I just read "Marked"!

[shezan.livejournal.com]

... and I've now read "Marked", and I just love it, it cuts so deep with so few words. The two mourners separated over the grave, now reunited over Snape's stigmata on their bodies. Wonderful!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[beaming] Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, lovely. I always liked Longley. And though I'm primarily a Hornblower/Bush girl, the hints of Hornblower/Pellew were lovely too. Your Hornblower hits just the right tone.

Now I'll spend the rest of the day picturing two men trying to shag in a hammock. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Weren't you pissed at what happened to Longley? It seemed like such a waste. Glad the Horatio characterization worked for you.

Now I'll spend the rest of the day picturing two men trying to shag in a hammock.

With another hammock above it, and one eighteen inches on either side of it ...

[veronamay.livejournal.com]

Weren't you pissed at what happened to Longley?

In a word, yes. Very.

With another hammock above it, and one eighteen inches on either side of it ...

True. At least there'd be plenty of messmates who could sympathise.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was truly lovely. However beautiful Ioann Gruffud is, I still prefer book canon.

Now. Hornblower/Bush, please. Which is, after all, also canon.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it!

Our library's copy of Lieutenant Hornblower has apparently been lost or stolen, so Bush slash is probably a long shot at the moment, alas.

[strawberrythief.livejournal.com]

So does that mean if you had it, you'd write more fic? Because if so.... (http://jollycorner.net/hornblower/lt_hornblower.htm) :-)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Wow! It never would have occurred to me even to look for such a thing. Thanks!

I do hate reading online, but it's better than not reading at all. So if interlibrary loan fails me, at least I'll have this to look forward to. [bookmarks]

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Nice, very nice. Don't know Hornblower particularly, but have already read this twice. Cheers!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Hey, glad you liked it! Thanks.

[halimede.livejournal.com]

Just adding to the 'I don't know these guys, but now I almost feel like I do' chorus. Very nice. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[beaming] Thanks! They're lovely men, really. I do highly recommend the first three books.

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

I just started reading the Hornblower novels recently, so I'm not this far yet, but your characterization fits in wonderfully with the older Hornblower I'm beginning to see coming through.

Lovely. =)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Great! Glad you liked it. And if you haven't read Beat to Quarters yet, you've got something to look forward to. (And when you've read A Ship of the Line, write me and we can commiserate over poor Longley.)

[lyricalnights.livejournal.com]

Will do!

It's hard to find them in used bookstores, though. I guess people want to hang on to them, if not exactly for the same reason. ;)

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Woo. I didn't even know it was a miniseries. And I read the books long ago. But, mmm.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually seen the miniseries, though I think they've got parts of it available at video rental places now. And Ioan Gruffudd is a beautiful guy, though my Horatio will forever be the one who's squinting into the ship's mirror grimacing because his hairline's a little higher than it was the last time he looked, rather than this young faun.

[petronelle.livejournal.com]

As a fan who was drawn to the novels via the miniseries, I must say I appreciate the accuracy with which you captured the voice. Horatio is such an idiot, especially in his youth, that it is a great relief to see him notice that from time to time.

If you have any particular book-based recommendations, please share. I've not been able to find much that worked well for me, and I don't have the chutzpah to venture into the universe more than a drabble at a time in order to make my own.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm glad Horatio's idiocy worked for you. Sometimes I just want to smack the guy and say, "Snap out of it!"

Honestly, this is the only Hornblower litslash I've ever read; all the slash I've seen has been based on the series. Much of it's very nice, of course, but my appreciation of it is kind of limited, since I haven't seen the series.

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

A very late comment, but I just happened across this and liked it very much indeed - I'm into the books and grumpy middle-aged Hornblower too, and you've really got him. And can I add to the pleas for a Hornblower/Bush?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it!

I'm open to the idea of Hornblower/Bush -- will think about it more when I read "Lieutenant" -- but at the moment they're not really appealing to me all that much.

Hornblower will seek out Bush to work with whenever he can, but he clearly views Bush as his intellectual inferior -- so much so that it's a repeated motif in several of the books to have Hornblower make a joke at Bush's expense and then immediately feel bad about it because Bush is too easy of a target. But maybe there's some counterbalancing view of the relationship in "Lieutenant."

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

I can certainly see that the power dynamic in the later books is something you might choose not to explore due to its ickyness, even if they came across as H/B-slashy to you (which they did for me;-))

But Lieutenant and Hotspur do offer a rather counterbalancing view of Bush and Hornblower's relationship, I think (which makes their later one more tragic). I hope you enjoy them when you get there.

And I'll watch out for any new fic from you, whatever pairing you choose to write :-) :-)

[sanguinity]

so don't be too shocked to find Horatio portrayed as some guy who's edging up on forty rather than as the delectable Ioan Gruffudd.

Of course, now Ioan Gruffudd has not only edged up on forty, but passed it. :-)

Here via a fifteen-year-old rec list and a little linkhopping ("The Bare Word" contains a link back to your dreamwidth, but "Telemachos" does not), and I just wanted to say this was delightfully hot. God bless Sir Edward Pellew, indeed!