New Discworld story: "Pseudopolis"

[resonant]

I've posted a new story based on Terry Pratchett's Night Watch:

Pseudopolis
Vimes/young Vetinari -- NC-17 -- 3,400 words
The only traces of the future Vetinari were the nose, the hands, and the stillness.
Warnings, if any (highlight to read): No particular warning.

Thanks to giglet for beta!

If you haven't read Night Watch recently, there's a brief summary in the story notes.

Or you can read it on my nifty page on An Archive Of Our Own.

Comments

[isweedan]

♥_♥

I have no idea how you just did that, but it was AMAZING.
I do believe I'll be thinking of this whenever I reread Vimes-Vetinari interaction.

Again, AMAZING.

*goes off to read end of Night Watch with new eyes*

[miarr]

I know the next Christmas (or in my case, Hanukkah) is only in another ten months, but I swear, it just came early.

*RUNS TO READ LIKE FIRE OMG*

♥

[petra]

Young Havelock is heartbreaking through Vimes's eyes, with all the things he's going to give up to be the man we know he'll be. I love seeing his weaknesses nearly as much as Sam does.

The "man from Pseudopolis" concept works really well for me, not least because you've made it feel like it also means "someone who is safe."

[droolfangrrl]

Wow.

[lee_rowan]

If Sam Vimes did not have a wife in labor waiting back in his Ankh-Morpork... but that's the one thing that keeps me from suspding my disbelief. He holds himself to a very strict code and I just don't see him willing to break it, even for that chance at an advantage (the only chance he's ever likely to have) over Vetinari.

If I look it as completely AU, though - it's breathtaking.

[cjk1701]

Okay, so normally my feedback consists of "Loved this, thank you for sharing, you're great", but I'll have to violate all rules of feedback etiquette and, adding to the above, beg you to consider writing a sequel set after Vimes returns to present -- possibly involving Sybil? What if Vetinari was right and she *had* been dropping hints for years?

[resonant]

I'm so glad! They're way too interested in one another not to attract this sort of speculation.

[resonant]

I know, right? There are way too few stories in this fandom.

[resonant]

I'm so glad someone was as enamored of Havelock's human side as I was!

The "man from Pseudopolis" concept works really well for me, not least because you've made it feel like it also means "someone who is safe."

I didn't really think of it that way when I was writing it, but it's true -- even without his great ambition, Vetinari even at this age will not have very many people it's safe to be vulnerable with.

[resonant]

Thanks!

[resonant]

I sort of half believe what Vetinari says -- that she'd approve of, or perhaps even encourage, this sort of thing. I'd write a story to that effect if I could be sure she'd get something out of it and not just be turning the traditional noblewoman's blind eye. Believe me, it's percolating in my head right now!

Glad you found a way to enjoy it as AU, though!

[resonant]

I'm thinking about it. The difficulty I have is not so much Sybil as the city -- each of them is really the only functional check on the other one's power, and both of them are well aware of this (as is Sybil, I'm sure) -- it's hard to imagine either of them getting involved in a relationship that would concentrate all the city's power in one bed.

Do you suppose Moist could be persuaded to set up a congress and a supreme court to take some of the burden off?

[cjk1701]

I don't think Moist could be persuaded to build a one-man democracy. After all, there already *is* a one-man democracy in AM: "One man, one vote. Lord Vetinari was the man, and he had the vote." ;)

I agree with you that they can't really afford a relationship, and neither can the city. But I doubt Vimes would want one -- he has Sybil, after all. And Vetinari would be very cautious in the first place, like you wrote. He's waited many years for a man from... Pseudopolis. But occasional, significant pause, adventures, could be easier to deal with.

Sybil is a rather more interesting case. Maybe she'd like to watch, or even to participate? Or teach Vetinari a thing or two about Vimes? After all, the martial, sorry, marital arts are an area where Vetinari probably doesn't have that much expertise, even after all those years.

[queenbarwench]

I had no idea how you were going to make that work, but omg you totally did! Am going to think of this next time I reread Night Watch...

[sarahk]

(i've been lurking around your trickster page for years, courtesy of libitina, who linked me to Higher Education, from whence I read everything else there. I don't even own a TELEVISION and I love everything you write.)

Night Watch is my favorite Pratchett novel of all time, so I was totally prepared to dislike this just because it's Messing With My Book. but I loved it. The voices were spot on, it even had footnotes (yay footnotes!), and while I was reading it I was quoting the ending scene in my mind -- gave it a whole new meaning, just as you intended it should. :D (I was absurdly pleased to read the ending notes and find a link to that scene.) I'd love to see how you'd write a scene with Sybil involved -- it seems like one of those instances where Vimes would work himself into a panic and Sybil would say "oh for heaven's sake dear, I've already taken care of it" and he'd stop in mid-word and just stare at her.

<3! [/squeeing fangirl]

[resonant]

Glad it worked for you! The pairing is obvious and impossible at the same time.

[resonant]

I'm so glad a fellow Night Watch-lover enjoyed this! I love the book, and especially young Dog-Botherer; it was a lot of fun to get in there and play.

I can see Sybil arranging things, just as you say; she's certainly not going to be, as the Regencies say, "missish." And she knows the Patrician well enough to call him Havelock!

[ceanshinythings.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to let you know that I recced this: http://ceanshinythings.livejournal.com/350880.html

[resonant]

eep -- I lost track of this comment and didn't reply -- so sorry! I'm really happy you liked it, though, and thanks for posting a link!

[montanaharper]

This. Oh, this. This is the story I've been wanting since I read Night Watch, the story I've started half a dozen times but never feel like I can do justice to. I don't even have the words right now to express how much I love it; I'm so full of squee and all I can think is, "Yes, this."

Thank you so much for writing this. It's going to be a beloved and oft-reread favorite.

[resonant]

Oh, I'm so happy you liked it! It was about the fifth time I read the book -- and about the fifth time I read that graveyard scene and went, "You know, actually ..."