OMG BUSH/HORNBLOWER *________________________*

[quigonejinn]

Theoretically, I should start a new LJ for this, but everyone I know who enjoys Hornblower follows this LJ. I also suspect that I'm notgoing to be able to be nearly as invested in HH as I am in SW because holy God, is the canon imposing or what? Not only are the movies so, so, so good and rich and involving, but I've started reading the books, and adlkjg;lkdjf;alsidhg;ladkjf. OMG.



General ship lifenotes

- Young midshipmen get caned if they don't behave/mess up. Heavy punishment: 12 and 12, will cause screaming. Manlier to take them on the legs, but can be administered on the ass, then be taunted about it by the captain, etc. Even worse/more humiliating: being bent over a cannon and having it done to you. Known as "kissing the gunner's daughter." *_* Note, too, the rigging punishment from the first movie/book -- Horatio spread-eagled on the rigging and hanging there until let down.

- Sleep deprivation as punishment. Being woken every hour or being made to stand double watches instead of sleep.

- Service on deck three Sundays a week, remaining Sunday -- no service, instead, a reading of the Articles of War. Article 19 deals with mutiny. Catchall mutiny clause -- if you don't get nailed for acts of mutiny under the previous things, well, anything not caught by the is CAUGHT IN THIS ONE.

Horatio characterization

p.4:

"How are you going to get the men to work [Mr. Hobbs] if you sulk? Get for'rard and see to it."

Hornblower was leaning a little forward as he spoke; the hands which he clasped behind him erved apparently to balance the jutting chin,but his attitude was negligent compared with the fierce intensity with which he spoke even though he was speaking in an undertone inaduible to all except the three of them.

"Aye aye, sir," said Hobbs, turning to go forward again.

Bush was making a mental note that this Hornblower was a firebrand when he met his glance and saw to his surprise a ghost of at winkle in their melancholy depths. In a flash of insight he realized that this fierce youg lieutenantwas not fierce at all, and that the intensity with which he spoke was entirely sasumed -- it was almost as if Hornblower had been exercising himself in a foreign language.

"If they one start sulking you can't do anythign with 'em," explained Hornblower, "and Hobbs is the worst of 'em -- acting gunner, and no good. Lazy as they mak e'em."

"I see," said Bush.

The duplicity -- play acting -- of the young lieutenant aroused a momentary duspicion in Bush's mind. A man who could asusme an appearance of wrath and abandon it again with so much facility was not to be trusted. Then, with an inevitable reaction, the twinkle in the brown eyes called up a responsive twinkle in Bush's frank blue eyes, and he felt a friendly impulse towards Hornblower, but Bush was innately cautious and checked the impulse at once, for there was a long voyage ahead of htem and plenty of time for a more considered judgment.

- Horatio's mathematical gifts. The notion of math being incomprehensible to him is, itself, incomprehensible.

p. 80:

A flying fish broke the surface and went skimming along, leaving a transient, momentary furrow behind it like a groove in enamel.

"Look at that!" exclaimed Hornblower to Bush.

"A flying fish," said Bush, indifferently.

"Yes! There's another!"

Hornblower leaned over to get a better view.

"You'll see plenty of them before this voyage is over," said Bush.

"But I've never seen one before."

The play of expression on Hornblower's face was curious. One moment he was full fo eager interest; the next he assumed an appearance of stolid indifference as a man might pull on a glove. His service at sea so far, varied htough it might be, had been confined to European waters; years of dangersou activity on the French and Spanish coasts in a frigate, two yearsin the Renown on the Channel fleet, and he had been eagerly looking forward to the novelties he woudl encounter in tropical waters. But he was talking to a man to whom these things were no novelty, and who evinced no excitement at the sight of the first flying fish of the voyage. Hornblower was nto going to be outdone in stolidity and self-control; if the wonders of the deep failed to move Bush they were not going to evoke any childish excite in Hornblower, at least any apparent excitement if Hornblower could suppress it. He was a veteran, and he was not going to appear like a raw hand.

- Horatio's seasicknes

- Horatio's burning, burning ambition.

- Horatio taking bath in cold seawater. :D Naked Horatio! And his odd fancies.

- how difficult it is to figure out what Horatio is feeling from the way he acts.

- Horatio turning away from Bush and shouting out an order so that Bush has a moment ot compose himself when the ship runs aground. The importance of composure to Horatio.

- Hornblower and his plotting, thinking, restless brain. Hornblower the "active subordinate."

- p. 119:

Any officer would want to go, of course, would yearn tobe given an opportunity to distinguish himself, but actuatingHornblower was some motive more urgent than this. Hornblower's hands were at his sides, in the "attention" postiion, but Bush noticed how the long fingers tapped against his thights, restrained themselves,and then tapped again uncontrollably. It was not cool judgment thatfinally brought Bush to his decision, but something quite otherwise. It might be called kindliness; it might be called affection. He had grown fond of this volatile, versatileyoung man, and he had no doubtsnow as to his physical courage.

"I'd like Mr. Hornblower to come with me, sir," he said; it seemed almost without his volitoin that the words come from his mouth; a softhearted elder brother might have said much the same thing, burdening himself with the presence of a much younger brother out of kindness of heart hwen contemplating some pleasant day's activities.

And as he spoke he received a glance in return from Hornblower that stifled atbirth any regrets he may have felt at allowing his sentiments to influence his judgment. There was so much relief, os much of gratitude, in the way Hornblower looked at him that HOrnblower experienced a kindly glow of magnamity; he felt a bigger and better man for what he had done. Naturally he did not for a moment see anything incongruous about Horblower's being grateful for a decision that would put him in peril of his life.

- p. 146:

He had not been able to spare a moment for anything like that, with the whole defence of the fort to be organised. But he could bear fatigue and hunger and thirst, nad he doubted if Hornblower could.

I'll get a drink of water at the well, sir," said Hornblower.

As he said the words, and the full import came to him, a chance in his expression was quite obvious. He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips; Bush could see that the lips were cracked and prached and that the tongue could do notion gto relieve them. The man had drunk nothing since he had landed twelve hours ago.-- twelve hours of desperate exertion in a tropical climate.

- p. 147:

[A]s Bush decsended from the platform he saw Hornblower organising other working parties, snapping out orders with quick gestures. At the sight of Bush he turned guilty and walked over to the well. A marine was winding up the bucket, and Horn blower seized it. He raised the bucket to his lips, leaning back to balance the weight; and he drank and drank, water slopping in quantities over his chest as he drnk, water pouring over his face, until the bucket was empty, and then he putit down with a grin at Bush, his face still dripping with water. The very sight of him was enough to make Bush, hwo had already had one drink from the well, feel consumed with thirst all again.

p. 222:

A lob-lolly boy -- sick berth attendant -- came in with a tray that bore a jug and a glass. He poured out a glassful of liquid and with an arm supporting Bush's neck he held it to Bush's lips. At the couch of the cool liquid, and as its refreshing scent reached his nose, Bush suddenly realized he was horribly thirsty, and he drank eagerly, draining the glass.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Lemonade, sir, with Mr. Hornblower's respects."

"Mr. Hornblower?"

"Yes sir. There' sa bumboat alongisde an' Mr. Hornblower bought some lemons an' told me to squeeze 'em for you."

"My thanks to Mr. Hornblower."

"Aye aye, sir. Another glass, sir

"Yes.

p. 250:

They shook hands and parted; it says much for Bush's feelings towards Hornblower htat in the grey dawn next morning he rolled out of his cot and went up on deck to watch the Retribution, ghostlike under her topsails, and with the lad going in the chains, steal out round the point, wafted along by the land breeze. Bush watcher her go; life in the ervice meant many partings. Meanwhile there was war to be waged against bedbugs.

Comments

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

You know, it's really interesting for me to see you do this, because I'm not a list-maker when it comes to fandom. Also OMG YAY. XD

The importance of composure to Horatio.

So, so important. And it takes him time to learn how to keep it, and when he does I feel like he's lost something. But it suits his work and it suits his use of strategy, and the need to protect himself.

And don't forget Article 29 (is it 29??). Woe.

*spams you SENSELESS*

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Is that Article the one against mutiny?

Holy God, man. I am reading the first Hornblower book? And you know the story of the Maria Galante and all that and how, in the book, they end up being betrayed in a little rowboat by the Frenchmen? In the original story, there is, again, the Maria Galante and the rice and the damage to the hull.

In the original, though, instead of the crew revolting, the Galante gets taken prisoner in turn by a French boat. And Horatio ends up as a prisoner on the boat, and when the Indy runs into to the French ship, he rather resourcefully starts a fire that cripples the French ship and keeps it from outrunning the Indy as it would otherwise would have done.

AND THEN, TO PUNISH HIMSELF FOR NOT PATCHING THE HOLE IN THE GALANTE FURTHER AND EVEN THOUGH PELLEW IS TOTALLY COOL WITH THE LOSS, HORNBLOWER LIES ABOUT HOW THE FIRE STARTED. HE MAKES IT SOUND LIKE AN ACCIDENT WHEN IT WAS ENTIRELY HIS QUICK ACTION AND THINKING. *_*

So yeah. The books are quite a bit different. Horatio is brutally hard on himself; there is this bit at the end where Bush talks about how inhuman Horatio is in his drive to never, ever, ever show any weakness to anyone. Horatio is a much more complicated character, y'know?

And Bush is v. different from Archie, which is kind of heartbreaking, because I love the things that Archie does for Horatio. I was rewatching Frogs & Lobsters, and oh, Archie, Archie, Archie. The secret looks! The private happiness! The way that he coaxes smiles out of Horatio smile -- the way that Horatio screws his mouth up to keep from laughing at Archie, but then he actually looks at Archie, and half of his mouth slides into that wide, crazy smile, but he holds the other half up and wipes it awayand;kjgdfighdf.

You know, in a way, I can totally reconcile the Horatio of the books with the Horatio of the movies: the crazy, insane, perfectionist Horatio of the books is Horatio without Archie. Bush is a fantastic guy, but he's not the kind of influence on Horatio that Arche is, y'know?

Also, I think I am slowly falling in love with Edrington. His snottiness. <3 His poise on a horse. <3 His badassery. <3 The way he turns to Archie and tells him to take care of Horatio. <333333

*feels nicely spammed*

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

I think 29 is the one about 'buggery or sodomy', which, like everything else, is a hanging offense.

I can SO believe Horatio doing self-punishment. I think he comes across as more complicated in the later movies, where I boggled at him a bit. There's crazy and then there's WTF!Horatio! But it sounds like he is much more so in the books. I think, like you say, Archie is a tempering influence. Certainly a happy one. I noticed when I was watching the Even Chance that the first thing Archie says to Horatio is something like 'Jump! You'll be alright!', and that seems to capture his influence really well.

Edrington aha, yes, he's so calm and collected! He and Pellew have that kind of reserved, kick-your-arse-without-blinking thing, as well as being able to really see what's going on with other people. But Edrington is more refined?

everything. hanging offense! including telling you FAR more about the books than you wanted to know.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

The book version of Horatio is stunningly, almost grotesquely lonely -- in the first story, all Simpson has to do in order to drive our boy to the verge of suicide is to play this little game called Inquisition, where he makes Horatio answer questions about his childhood. No beating or sleep deprivation or anything like that. Just the torment of having to talk about himself in front of people that he doesn't know. :/

So yeah. I guess they're kind of like parallel universes. One Horatio is lucky enough to have had Archie straight-off; the other Horatio struggles without either Archie or Pellew (who is a much more distant figure in the books) or anything like that until he meets Bush. So I guess, yeah, when he does meet Bush, that explains the insane intensity of their relationship.

:/ In the books, we find out that Horatio's mother died a bit before he went to see, and the most regular social contact that he seens to have had back on land afterthat was when he played whist with his father, the parson, and the parson's wife.

I guess now we know what's supposed to be in that locket that Simpson snatches from him in the movie?

(And I asked about Maria and the teaching because, in the books, she teaches school part time. I've heard people complaining that she's kind of sudden-onset, so I was wondering whether the introduction of the French teaching-lady from Frogs & Lobsters is, like, the producer's way of justifying why Horatio lets her get her tenterhooks into him.)

impossible! I'm a fact-whore. Also, total icon love.

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

That sounds amazing. And it also seems to partly explain why he's so mature/eager to advance/able to advance - if his only social contact is with adults while he's still a boy. Especially given he's so brilliant. And parallel universes is a good way to describe it. You can see the influence of Archie's existence and Bush's different position with regards to Horatio even when the movies and books seem to align better after Archie's death (I'm guessing that they do, really. Maybe I'm just making stuff up). But thank God book-Horatio had Bush.

Maria's influence stems from a few places. Horatio's utter loneliness, his emotional/social incompetency (especially where women are concerned, oh man), and social pressure. I don't want to say too much before you watch it. But that was my feeling. I think the show deliberately plays up certain aspects of the dynamic and teaching doesn't work into that very well. And Horatio struggles outside the structures of the Navy.

you know, i wonder where horatio slept when he was nursing archie. XD

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Poor Horatio. He's so competent at everything in the movies, so it's a little painful to think about how lost he'd be without a crew to order around and ships to board and Dons to kill. :/

I spent most of the afternoon thinking about how complicated Horatio/Archie actually is. Like, Horatio is the one who knocks Archie on the head and makes the decision to leave him in the boat, which means that he made it possible for Simpson to set him adrift -- sure, it was exactly what Horatio had to do to keep them all alive, the only thing he could do, and it was Simpson who set him adrift, but Simpson wouldn't have had the chance without Horatio.

So yeah. I was wondering whether it might be possible to read Horatio's WE MUST NOT LEAVE ARCHIE BEHIND!!!!!!!!!!!! as some kind of overcompensation for what happened the time that he did leave Archie behind.

And, you know. He'd make himself tell Archie that's what happened. Archie would forgive him, of course,tell him that it was the only possible thing, but it'd be there anyways, y'know? And that's not even setting aside how freaked-out Archie would be about having a sexual relationship w/another guy after having been (sexually, I'm convinced) abused by Simpson. :/

as close as possible. Just in case, you know, he was needed.

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

It *is* complicated. Horatio being partly responsible for Archie's imprisonment makes Archie's bitterness towards Horatio saving him even more interesting. I definitely think Horatio has leaving!Archie issues, yeah. He *would* do the same for any crewman, but it's the way he does it that is so telling. His insistence of how Archie (near-invalid, midshipman Archie) will save them all is really kind of amazing.

What I think is that while they began as peers and friends, the friendship takes on a sense of the devotion of a lieutenant and Captain after Duchess& the Devil, where Horatio makes the decisions but relies on Archie, and Archie will 'take care of him'. And he keeps doing that, until he dies ensuring Horatio's life.

I think Archie would be very reticent re: sex, but he shows no fear of close physical contact with Horatio - in fact he initiates it a number of times. I know, that's different to actual sex, especially given what Simpson likely did, but I think it's interesting. Also the fact that Horatio's goodness - and inexperience - is blindingly clear. Would that matter?

Slightly related note; I love Horatio's "do you have a sweetheart in England, Archie?"

i bet he slept in his cell until the night A had a fit and they came to get him. and after that :D

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Man, I squealled like a hysterical creature when he asked that. "NO BUT HE HAS ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And you're dead on about the how of Horatio saving Archie being the telling thing. That scene of Horatio with Archie in his arms, right? Anybody else, he would have done the sensible thing and sent somebody out to get a guard or run out there to tell them, but no, instead, in he carries Archie into the cold rain in his arms when Archie is obviously (*@#)@(#*( heavy despite the starvation, and. Yeah.

The sight of Horatio Hornblower being irrational is *_*.

My sister and I were watchign Frogs & Lobsters last night and just HOWLING at Hornblower trying to get his mack on with the pretty French schoolteacher. Like, with that giant honker nose of his bumping into her cheek? Oh, Horatio, sweetheart.

*thinking* The goodness would make all the difference in the end. And man oh man. Yeah, since I was just watching Lobsters, the scene where Horatio calm Archie down? I mean, man oh man. There's the stuff where Archie goes FLYING ACROSS THE BRIDGE to save his captain, and then there's Edrington's classic line, but the part where Horatio talks Archie off the mental pier is just *____*

Physical contact is very important for his recovery! XD

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

And Horatio is completely freaking out when he finally gets Archie onto the bed, when he's telling the Duchess what happened. All big worried eyes and hand gestures. But I really loved the way he sat there and FED Archie, who was just placid about it. <3

And, ahaha, worst kiss ever with French girl. I was sitting there going O.o could they be more awkward? And I'm not sure what he intended to do with her if they had managed to get back to the Indy.

I'm going to have to watch Lobsters again because I can't remember what he said. The end of that ep is great, too. He doesn't like heights, and he's just had a completely horrible experience, but there he is up in the rigging sincerely *grinning* across at Archie. He's so much more at ease on a ship than anywhere else, where there are no horses, women, guillotines or requirements to be social.

Your icon. <3333333333333333333333333333333333

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Man. My family is working their way through the Hornblower episodes two a night, and we just saw Mutiny and Retribution, and *______________* The end of that episode is just a solid, solid, solid pain. Dilly is telling me that people were upset that Horatio didn't wail and gnash his teeth like he did over the French girl (who my sister has nicknamed Boobies), but man oh man.

That boy is in a whole world of pain. The sheer fact that he's still out of it when Pellew comes to see him with the commission?

Quick question: what's the fanfiction that's worth reading in this fandom? I'm told that most of it sucks and that the characterizations of Pellew will make me thrash on the floor with rage, but yeah. Getting desperate here, guys.

Mademoiselle Boobies!

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

Retribution leaves me in a little puddle of anguish. I love the cute way Horatio comes looking for Archie when Archie has gone to the trial, the bemused 'where is he?'. And the fact that Horatio doesn't have a big emo scene at the end is perfect - his pain goes so, so deeply here. His response just ;ajskj;kj. :/ I think it's a combination of the depth of his pain and the maturity he has now.

And yeah, I think we've mentioned before how much time he spends sitting on Archie's empty bed. Time enough for Archie to have been buried, for the entire ship to be re-fitted and painted, the newspaper to be printed and Horatio's new commission to come through. LOTS. And Horatio has gone back to just sit there where his friend was *_____* And Archie is the bravest man he knows? That's saying something.

Fic...I'm still new to it myself, so far. I have seen some of what Dilly might be talking about - Pellew the whipping boy. I like this one: Archie's Three Things; and this one is interesting: Baser Impulses. No good Pellew yet.

She teaches . . . grammmar!

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Thankee for the links -- the second is an awful lot of guilty-pleasure fun. *_*

And you're right. You did point out the time-thing to me. I suspect that I wouldn't have noticed nearly as clearly if you hadn't described it so much.

The lack of good Pellewfic is kind of amazing, really, given how much Pellew loves Horatio. I mean, during Retribution, there's the part where Horatio is talking about getting the gun up the cliff, and Pellew is pretty much SQUIRMING IN HIS SEAT with pride and joy. And oh man. When Pellew has that outburst with the other commodores about how he refuses to let a man as near and dear to him as his own -- and then he cuts off?

My mother has a shaky grasp of English, and we couldn't get subtitles to come on, so she turned to me after that scene and was like *_* Did he mean to say LOVER?

And I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "No, that's ARCHIE." Although I did nudge my sister whenever Archie had one of his little fits about Bush.

Every time he yelled during last night's showing, I thought of you. XD He does have such a fantastic yelling voice. And turnip! Turnips. And his four sisters. <33333333333333333333333333333333333

And bad kissing!

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

It almost seems that there is some blame of Pellew, somehow, for the way Retribution turned out. Which is completely insane; there was nothing he could have done. And yeah, I squee at how clearly he loves Horatio; it makes him so...human? His smirk and the sideways look to the other admirals - and his anger at Buckland for endangering Horatio was completely personal.

Your mum must have had an interesting time of it - you can see where she would get that impression! XD I really like the idea of Pellew as this distant but very much invested father figure. And Horatio really has NO IDEA how much he is cared for by him, and various people. (Did he really need to ask Archie 'why'?) I wonder if there is a lack of good Pellewfic because he doesn't slash well - much of what I have seen is slash rather than gen.

Bush yelling is so great. XD It's just unexpected, his voice, because he's sort of finely-built and restrained. I didn't know he had four sisters! He strikes me as being an isolated person, the type that fits well into the workings of the Navy. Aaaaand I'm holding back on saying much so I don't spoil your enjoyment of the next ep.

man. *_* horatio has a lot of people looking after him. *_*

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Jesus, people. Pellew did everything he could. I kept worrying that he would get introuble for being so >:/ LAY OFF OF MY BOY >:/ >:/

And yeah. Four sisters and a mother that have claim on half of his salary as it is, in fact, and in his mental mutterings about money when he gets decomm'd (because the second book is narrated almost entirely from his POV), there's this lovely moment in the book, too, where Maria is fussing over Horatio, and Horatio is like o.O O.o o.O O.O.

And Bush is, like, tugging him out the door and being like "My sisters always do that" and "IGNORE THEIR CRYING. THEY ALWAYS DO THAT :D"

(Oh, British Naval officers doing the emoticons. But it's true. Even when he's a total grim jackass of a captain in, like, the fifth book? Even though he totally mentally disses Bush's ability to form proper plans, Horatio puts up with a comparatively enormous amount of sass from him anyways, and he talks all the time about how. . . horny-handed Bush is.)

You know, it's really interesting Horatio would read Maria fussing over him and trying to take care of him as, initially, nothing more than friendship. It really fits into the whole notion of how unsuited he is for making relationships outside of the Navy -- because really, in his brain, it seems like she's just watching out for him in the same way that other people watch out for him. It's just how his relationship and his style of leadership works, y'know?

And it turns that she has interest of another sort. There's good fic to be had about using that to tell a slash story about how Horatio ought to have read more into the way that some of the men who've cared for him. XD

Guuuuh, your iconnnn. <3

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

And when the officers get put ashore, they only get half-pay anyway. O.o Considering Bush must come from a pretty modest background (his uncle is a blacksmith, right?), that must leave him short a LOT.

I think Horatio doesn't even really understand what it means when people look out for him. He seems to interpret it as being purely the generosity of others or because they need his skills/work, or because of some failure on his part. He accepts it from Archie because they have a particular friendship. He actually seems to think Archie is the only one who *cares* on a personal level, when really he has Pellew, Matthews, Styles, and Bush after a time. And Maria. So yeah, your idea of how he misinterprets the attention of others is really spot-on. He has these ideas about how things should work and they hinder his understanding of what people actually want from him - especially outside the little world that is his ship. And then he tries to conform to expectations of society which is just bad. *__*

"Horny-handed" - that probably doesn't mean what I think it means, right? O.O XD

well, I like to think that it does. :D :D :D

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Bush tried twice, valiantly, to make polite speeches to his [dinner] neighbours, putting a terminal 'o' on the ends of his English words in the hope that so they might be transmuted into Spanish, but the blank stares of the men he addressed reduced him quickly to stammering inarticulation.

I LOVE THIS MAN. I LOVE HIM SO GODDAMN MUCH.

And yeah. Horatio is so completely incapable of reading how people feel about him. There's this one bit in the books where, like, Horatio has his first command? I don't know whether it's in the movies or not, but because Horatio has just gotten married and is a new captain to boot, he doesn't have much money, so he has, like, no furniture in his cabin.

And after a few weeks of seeing their captain MANFULLY try to tough it out, one day, Bush comes up to Hornblower and is like AHEM COULD YOU LEAVE YOUR CABIN FOR A MOMENT SIR.

And when Horatio comes back, he finds that Bush and the other guys from the wardroom have fitted the place out with little curtains and cushions stuffed with oakum and a bit of canvas painted with blue and red roses.

Sure, Horatio doesn't shout or berate them, but Horatio just kind of stares at the whole assemblage, dismisses them, and only realizes a couple hours later that they did this because they liked him and not for some other reason. It makes him all fuzzy, but man oh man. Poor, completely emotionally retarded Horatio. I think that was the most telling scene for me about how difficult it is for him to process things that have to deal with happy things and that don't, like, nine-pounders and keeping leeward and prize money.

. . . Also, whenever I think of Bush, I have this total mental image of him with cushion parts on his knees and a needle in his teeth and him yelling at Gerard a little because Gerard's stiches are too far apart and all the stuffing will come out if the Captain actually sits on them <333333333333333333333

Annnnd I'm off to go argue with my mother and sister as to whether Ioan is attractive or not watch the last two episodes with my family, so feel free to talk about it all you wantafter this. XD

I am so retardedly excited you are watching them! <333

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, that is the BEST image of Bush ever. I love the idea of him arbitrarily adding an 'o' to everything, and also HANGING LITTLE CURTAINS. <33333333 See also: Hornblower, Married to.

Horatio probably thought they were having a laugh at his expense, or that they thought he was somehow lacking as a Captain, and that he needed help. Didn't Archie say something to the effect of YOU DON'T GET IT; WE LOVE YOU, before he died? Yeah.

When I started watching HH I caught a snippet of Great Expectations on tv, where Ioan was Pip, and he looked lovely. Especially when he was reading aloud in Latin or something. :D I'm kind of disappointed that Archie never spoke in another language on the show seeing as Jamie Bamber is apparently a super language whore.

For when you have watched the eps: did you want to smack Horatio in the head? Many times over? ://////

aldkjf;lgkj;dlfkj fuck economy. so ordering a copy of the DVD of Great Expectations from amazon.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

Replying to the original comment because the size of the comments was getting kind of ridiculous on my screen. XD

But yes. I wanted to beat him in the face with his ponytail, OK. I mean, I knew the Maria thing was coming, and I was even surprised that he'd held out as long as he did, but adlkfj;glkdjf HORATIO. HORATIO. WHY? I KNOW ARCHIE IS DEAD, BUT IF YOU WANT A WIFE, BUSH WOULD EVEN HANG UP CURTAINS FOR YOU. fja;ldighadlijf JESUS CHRIST.

At least he kind of righted himself with the American girl. And I loved, loved, loved that the movie didn't back off of the theme of duty. Duty is important, duty is all, and it has to be for guys like Horatio.

In partially related news -- I have the most outrageous love for movieBush now. Oh my God. Pellew was <3, but I did not think my affection for Bush could grow anymore after reading about how he hung curtains and stuffed cushions for his captain, but the way that he threatens the crew into submission! The way he subverts orders! The raised eyebrow that he gives Horatio at the end! When he won't shoot Wolff because that might end in Horatio getting shot, and Horatio taking him aside later and kind of chewing him out about that, and how Horatio calls him William and how he runs alongside the wedding carriage and oh God, the look he gives Horatio when Horatio tells him that he's being ill before his wedding day because of some bad eggs that he ate. *___*

adlkfjg;lkdf I know that you're a Horatio/Archie girl, and I don't even know if I could ever write actual sex between them -- not even during this one period in the boat where they each supposedly managed to blow a hundred pounds of prize money in "debauch" on TWO DAYS of shore leave in the tropics -- but the notion of them sitting together in Horatio's cabin during one of the 92384023984 times that William gets kicked out of his own quarters? Just so's Bush can get warm and have a little something to eat since he missed his dinner?

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And now my country-music-and-nail-polish, anti-fandom sister is lying on my bed with a blanket over head in "mourning" for getting to the end of the series. XD Everyone loves this damn series. It is impossible not to fall in love with Horatio.

Re: aldkjf;lgkj;dlfkj fuck economy. so ordering a copy of the DVD of Great Expectations from amazon.

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

He (Ioan as Pip) reminded me of young Horatio a little; he was sort of artless and good and had pretty curly hair. O.O The bit I saw, anyway.

I do love H/A, but I also have Bush love, so I feel a bit in limbo over it. I went straight from Retribution to Loyalty without book-Bush exposure so I was all WOE HORATIO, and WOE DEADARCHIE at the time. But I read this fic that was Bush/Cotard that I just really enjoyed and they make me a bit squeeful. I get the Bush/Horatio, though. I really love the idea of the lieutenant and the Captain and the trust that needs to be built up there. Plus, annoyingly like Bush's sisters, I have an urge to fuss a bit and pair him up with someone. Only, a man. XD

Bloody Maria - what I disliked most was how much Horatio did NOT want to be marrying her. That was no good for either of them...he didn't even get Pellew's joke about women. And Horatio himself saddens me - how changed he is. So tightly and relentlessly focused on his ship and the war, and when M'Man Hammond sees the kid blown up and starts screaming? And Horatio is all STFU please. I like him as a Captain; in some ways you can see Pellew's influence, but unlike Pellew, Horatio is generally clueless about emotional matters. And really, the sense I got from him was that he wouldn't be all that bothered were he to be killed in action.

Did you notice the part where he told Maria (I think?) that for a while now no one had cared whether he lived or died etc? It's interesting to see how he judges that.

Your sister sounds cute, but like she might not want to be called cute. XD I wish they'd made more episodes, too. :/

YET MORE HORATIO/BUSH. BECAUSE I NEED SOME VENT.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

If his queer Commodore [Hornblower] chose to be in a bad mood it was best to leave him to it —- Bush was better than a wife, thought Hornblower, his acute perceptions noting the gesture.

DYING OVER HERE. DYING. WHILE THEY ARE SITTING AT BREAKFAST TOGETHER. IT IS YEARS AND YEARS AFTER LOYALTY/DUTY SO THERE HAS BEEN PLENTY OF TIME FOR THIS TRUST TO BE BUILT UP AND HOLY GOD IT FILLS ME WITH THE SQUEE.

There is a bit in the book just previous about them holding hands in carriage, and adjkg;lkdjf. I don't care if I can never muster up an image of them making out or having sex or even how they'd ever get together. I will be entirely happy with canon descriptions of crazy crazy crazy Horatio reaching across the carriage to grip Bush's hand in the dark and how Bush caresses Horatio's hand like he would a woman's.

And you're absolutely dead-on about what the saddest part of the Bloody Maria Mess is. I hadn't thought of it nearly as clearly as you did, but you're exactly right. There's something painful about how much Horatio has changed from the good, generous boy that we saw in Examination or the Archie episodes -- he did his duty back then, too, but man. It really, really got me that we find out about the death of Horatio's father indirectly, y'know?

Also painful to see how hard it was for Horatio to catch very much that Pellew insinuated outside of the standard technical shop talk or political stuff. He could catch the Bonaparte stuff perfectly well, but oh, let Pellew make a suggestion about family or women or something that involves Horatio at his heart, and you're practically guaranteed a stupefied face for at least a couple seconds.

Pellew, on the other hand, has a picture of a woman on his work desk. :/
By the way. Did you get an e-mail from me on the books? I tried to send it through LJ, but *pokes lack of competence with gmail and the general contrariness of LJ these days*

Re: YET MORE HORATIO/BUSH. BECAUSE I NEED SOME VENT.

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

My head will explode if I try to reconcile H/A and H/B, and movieverse-bookverse. :/ They both work but I have a limited brain, clearly. @ <-- limited brain. The slash - the commitment and reliance - seem very clear, very poignant and gorgeous from what you've said about the books. I mean, man, curtains and hand-holding and all.

In some ways, I think it's more powerful an image that you know they *could* have gotten together in some way, but the most important and cherished part of their relationship was the loyalty and the trust inherent in allowing that NOT to happen. That may not make sense, I'm tired. XD But them getting together in a sexual relationship would be crossing lines, and I just have this idea of that devotion being limited by social/command structures and Horatio's issues, but at the same time transcending those things because it doesn't matter. It is the most important relationship of his life (Archie would have to be added there for movie-Horatio; can't help it, I love Archie. XD). It's such intimacy as Horatio would never have with a wife. Sex wouldn't make it moreso. And isn't it kind of amazing that Bush knows he will never be let all the way in to Horatio's life, and yet he gives so much of himself to it anyway?

Horatio's obliviousness to Pellew talking about women was kind of painful. And I really loved the exchange when Maria wanted to understand what his life was like and he got angry and said his life wasn't 'stories'. How could he feel a sense of connection or kinship with someone who hadn't lived the same life he had, been in the Navy, when the Navy is his whole (mental, emotional) existence?

And, hmm, I haven't had an email from you, but you could try sending it directly to random_alia at hotmail .com? :)