sanguinity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sanguinity) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hmsloop_hotspur2019-05-01 10:07 am
sanguinity) wrote in hmsloop_hotspur2019-05-01 10:07 am
Entry tags:
May Prompts
Each month, we'll post a trio of prompts -- a theme, a quote, and a trope -- for you to use as a jumping-off point in whatever medium pleases you. Anything goes, fiction or meta, from drabbles through dissertation chapters on textual analysis. Fic, art, photo-essays, vids, and more are welcome.
Mix and match the prompts, or use just one! Then come back and share what you made, here or in a new post.
And if you haven't yet, please check out the fills for April:
- For May, the theme is Weevils. Literal weevils or metaphorical weevils? Weevils that devour the ship's bread, or weevils that fatten the ship's chickens?
- The quote is from the A&E miniseries episode, "The Examination for Lieutenant," aka "The Fireships":
Each of us can find a maggot in our past which will happily devour our futures.
- The trope is Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence. Different first meeting? Everybody lives? What change might you make to canon, and with what effect?
Mix and match the prompts, or use just one! Then come back and share what you made, here or in a new post.
And if you haven't yet, please check out the fills for April:
- tgarnsl: Eosphorus (Hornblower/Bush; T)
- colebaltblue: Jack Aubrey Read the Room Wrong (Aubrey/Hornblower, Aubrey/Bush, implied Hornblower/Bush; M)
- sanguinity: Solace and Comfort (excerpt) (implied Hornblower/Bush; G)
- brewsternorth: Strong, Dark, and Early (Hornblower/Bush; T)
no subject
Has anyone written or know of a good Hornblower-Doctor Who crossover? (Or Aubrey-Maturin-Dr. Who crossover, for that matter).
no subject
Let's see, I enjoyed
I also enjoyed
Just a little sideways from your request,
And that's about all I've read personally.
no subject
So May has been an absolutely stupid busy month for me, so I apologise in advance for not getting a whole fic in. But - but! I have been beavering away at my various WIPs and am close to finishing one, so for now, please have an excerpt.
There is a brief allusion to weevils in this story. Regrettably it's not in this excerpt, but it is there, I swear.
Don’t ask me for a title.
Pairing: HH/WB
Summary: Sanguinity made a comment on Tumblr a long time ago about how it was part of the duties of the first lieutenant to sort out sleeping arrangements. And so:
The rescue of another ship leads to crowded quarters aboard the Hotspur. In his efforts to find a bed for everyone, Bush forgets to find a bed for himself. The trouble begins there.
--
Much to his relief, Hornblower had invited the officers of the Resolve to dinner too. The Resolve's remaining bullock had been slaughtered, and although Bailey had managed to boil the meat until it was as tough and dry as old leather it was still better than the poor fare Bush was used to. The captain of the Resolve, a tall, dour man by the name of Waters, poked and prodded at his food with a general air of misery that might be expected from a man facing a court martial, and his lieutenant, a ruddy-faced Scot named Macleod, was no cheerier. Bush almost felt pity for them, but he knew that bad judgement as much as bad weather had cost them their ship, and so his pity was little more than perfunctory.
They ate in uncomfortable silence, only speaking up when more food or wine was required. At last Hornblower cleared his throat, evidently uncomfortable with the terse silence that had descended. “I see the men are getting along,” he said, casting a glance to Bush.
“I believe they are, sir,” said Bush, after it was evident neither Macleod nor Waters would respond. He took a long drink of wine to settle his nerves.
“I’ve been informed you did an admirable job sorting out accommodation for everyone, Mr Bush,” Hornblower said, and Bush paled.
“Your lieutenant is to be commended, sir,” said Waters crisply. “Few men could have accomplished what he did in a day, organising our men, repairing your ship, assigning sleeping quarters — from what I’m told no man was left without a bed. Even gave up his own cabin for us, isn’t that right, Mr Macleod?”
Macleod nodded. “Aye, sir,” he said the near incomprehensible brogue of a Glaswegian. “‘e’s a richt guid fella, throu an’ throu.”
Hornblower gave Bush an odd look. “Have you now, Mr Bush?”
Bush opened his mouth to explain, but Waters beat him to it. “Come now, sir, don’t be hard on the man — he’s only done as you or I would have. And I expect Mr Bush has found somewhere else, isn’t that so, Mr Bush?”
“Yes, sir,” said Bush quickly. He felt his face growing hot. With any luck his sudden awkwardness would be misinterpreted as modesty, and he hid his hands in his lap so no one could see him fidget.
Hornblower smiled. “I suppose it’s only right I offer you my congratulations, Mr Bush,” he said, and Bush wished for death.
Waters raised his glass in a toast. “To the valiant men of the Hotspur,” he intoned. “To whom we owe our lives.”
The rest of the evening proceeded more smoothly; there was talk of the war, of battles won and lost, of news from England — the Resolve had been part of a Gibraltar-bound convoy before she’d been lost, and Macleod chattered quite happily about the latest goings-on in Parliament and the Admiralty. Then Waters suggested a game of whist, to which Hornblower naturally agreed.
“Hotspurs versus Resolves, I should think, Captain Waters,” Hornblower said, producing cards.
“Perfectly reasonable, sir,” Waters said. “Shall we draw for dealer?”
Bush was not good at whist, but it was easier with Hornblower as his partner. He let Hornblower play as he wished, playing his own cards as carefully as he could, hoping he would not disappoint his captain in this too. He need not have worried; Macleod proved an even worse player than Bush, and in spite of Waters’ talents Hotspurs beat Resolves with ease.
“An excellent game, gentlemen,” Hornblower said as they rose to their feet.
“You are an uncommonly fierce player, Captain Hornblower,” Waters said, shaking Hornblower’s hand. “A true pleasure, sir.” Some colour had returned to his cheeks and he seemed far more lively than he had at the start of the evening. He was an idiot, Bush decided, but a well-meaning one.
They made their farewells and went off to their quarters: Waters and Macleod to Bush’s cabin, Bush to the cable tier. The deck didn’t seem quite so solid this time, nor the rats quite so rowdy. He fell asleep happy in the knowledge that his deception had worked. Hornblower had not discovered his failure.
no subject
“I suppose it’s only right I offer you my congratulations, Mr Bush,” he said, and Bush wished for death.
I am full of pity for the poor man, and dying of laughter, too.
And sleeping in the cable tier? My good man, that is going to last exactly as long as it takes for you to be summoned to the deck in the middle of the night and no one can find you.
Oh, I am SO pleased you took on this prompt (and I 100% believe you about the weevils), and I am so very eager to see the rest!
no subject
Yeah, he's not going to last long there. This story kind of hinges on a lot of things that would not work in real life but, in the words of a writer I know, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story." Or story in general, as may be the case :)
Thank you as always for your comments :)
no subject
Of course the premise would ride on a bunch of improbabilities -- that was all but inherent to the prompt. In fact, the prompt was half-inspired by watching the contrivances people went through in this fandom to end up one bed short. (And not just one bed short, but that the captain and the first lieutenant, OF ALL PEOPLE, should be the ones inconvenienced by it!) But who cares about contrivances, really? The point is what-all happens after they end up one bed short, and what you've teased here makes me very eager to know the rest. :-D
no subject
Also I prompted myself for June and have a short story to share here if you think that’s ok!
no subject
And re self-prompting, please do share your story here! Please make a new post, so that people other than us mods see it. And you're always welcome to post here things you make, whether officially related to a prompt or not.
And I'm sorry about falling down about June prompts -- June is wild for
no subject
And caveat lector, just because there’s 8600 words that doesn’t mean they’re GOOD words! But I’ll do my best to wrangle the beast into something manageable.
no subject
And I'd hazard a guess that your words are better than your nerves are telling you. Having seen examples of your writing, and having had extensive experience with that doubting voice, both in myself and with friends and acquaintances, I feel well-qualified to say so. ;-)