![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: Good and Faithful Servant by Kat M.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (3938 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author rates as 'M' ... I'd go for a PG-13 myself
Author on LJ: Unknown
Website: Also unknown. A link from her Fanfiction.net profile produces an error message.
Summary: "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth." Horatio loves - and loses - his Prince.
Review:
Horatio meets Hamlet for the first time at Wittenburg and knows him only just long enough to fall in love with him - in a totally faithful and unassuming way - before the letter comes which tells of Hamlet's father's death and sends them both hurrying back to Denmark. From this point forward the story re-tells the plot of Hamlet, rather sketchily to be honest; granted most people know it inside out, but telling it from Horatio's point of view should have yielded slightly more insight than it does here - especially as Horatio is shown as a thinker who has Hamlet's interests very much to heart. This, however, is more the result of author-in-a-hurry syndrome than inadequate abilities; Kat M certainly knows how to turn a phrase:
Was it Aeschylus or Aristotle that cracked like a whip in the rough hands of Hamlet's intellect[?]
and there is an extremely creditable attempt at rendering Shakespearean repartee, capturing the lightness of the Bard's text whereas so many other fan authors only succeed in capturing the heaviness.
The relationship between Horatio and Hamlet develops into a full-scale affair only after the death of Polonius, when the two men spend their one and only night together. It is obvious that the author can see this very clearly and has a strong grasp of the emotions involved, but again it is rather under-written and would have benefited from being explored much more closely. If one is being critical, there are perhaps too many (ingenious though they are) descriptions of the colour of Horatio's hair, and Horatio suddenly manifests a sister from somewhere who isn’t mentioned in the play. (I actually wondered if the author had mixed him up with Laertes at this point.) Also, although her choice of the Branagh film interpretation is an excellent one, it might have been more reassuring if she'd realised it was set in the nineteenth century rather than the eighteenth; there is a railway engine in it, after all!
But this is nit-pickery. On the whole this is an impressive story from a writer who for the most part knows her subject, although I have the feeling that with a little more time and effort invested it could have been even more impressive. It is certainly one of the best and most haunting Horatio/Hamlet stories to be found.
Link: Good and Faithful Servant
Grateful thanks to illustrious mod Jane for stepping in and posting on my behalf last weekend.
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: What you Don't See by irisbleufic
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Romance
Length: Medium (2321 words)
Warning: None
Rating: Author says R-ish
Author on LJ: if there is a way to find you, I will find you
Website: Unknown
Summary: If there's anything of which Horatio is certain, it's this: aristocrats' sons are prats.
Review: At school in Wittenberg impoverished student Horatio meets, for the first time, Prince Hamlet and his two boon companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He doesn't have a very high opinion of any of them at first; their accents grate on his nerves, and he thinks they're just the usual upper-class louts intent on wasting their time drinking and whoring. After one classroom encounter, however, he begins to understand that Hamlet, at least, is serious about his education.
After that, they begin to grow closer together. At first they meet only on an intellectual level, but gradually Horatio is drawn to Hamlet as a social companion too, and begins to understand the difference between him and his friends. After a blazing row with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet and Horatio take refuge in Hamlet's rooms ... and that's when everything begins to change between them.
This is a shortish story, beautifully observed and written and carrying a great deal of conviction. Although I am unfamiliar with the version of the play the writer has seen, it is not difficult to transfer the characterisations; Hamlet is always a man living on the edge of his nerves, Horatio is always quiet and reliable, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are always well-meaning nuisances.
As with all good writing, the chief regret here is that the story stops when it does. I would have loved to see this author continue the tale of Hamlet and Horatio's doomed romance, but perhaps she was right to leave it where she did; at least they were happy then, and knowing how events were later to crowd in upon them it is perhaps best to think of them in this one perfect moment of connection.
This story will appeal to lovers of true romance everywhere, and to anyone who appreciates real quality in fan fiction. This, people, is about as good as it gets - which, mercifully, is very good indeed.
Link: What you Don't See
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go by Lady Paperclip
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Fortinbras/Horatio [past Horatio/Laertes]
Categories: Aftermath, Angst
Length: 4780
Warning: Canonical character death and one rather messy execution
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: Lady Paperclip's Second-Hand Bookshop
Summary: Denmark's clean start; only it's rotting in a different way, and Horatio thinks perhaps he's the only one who can see it.
Review: Was Hamlet really doing a kindness when he persuaded Horatio not to kill himself? This story suggests that he was not. Here we have a lost, heartbroken Horatio surviving into the reign of King Fortinbras, valued by him as a councillor and eventually, almost without Horatio's consent, ending up as his bed partner. It is difficult to see what, other than a simple mechanical release, either party would have to gain from such an arrangement, although Fortinbras as we see him here is manipulative and self-centred and would be quite capable of wanting Horatio just to prevent anyone else from having him. Fortunately, Horatio's emotions are not engaged. In fact, he seems quite numb to feelings of all sorts - although not, as in many Hamlet stories, because he was in love with his doomed Prince. No, this Horatio was involved with Laertes - who, in the end, is just as dead, and also bearing a measure of disgrace as the instrument of Hamlet's death.
This is a bleak little story, giving a very clear and painful picture of Horatio's inner emptiness. He is the ultimate survivor, of course, and as such the bearer of the ultimate survivor's guilt; psychologically he is damaged beyond repair, and it is not really possible to imagine him making any sort of a life for himself afterwards. There is certainly no future for him with Fortinbras, a decision he comes to only belatedly; when he finally rides away from Elsinore he is acting selfishly for perhaps the first time in his life - abandoning Denmark to its own devices and saving himself, for once. I like to think Hamlet would have approved.
Stylistically this is written in reverse chronological order and therefore in the present tense throughout. This is not intrusive, although it is not always as smooth as it might be, and mercifully the writer has stayed clear of the cod-Shakespearean dialogue which ruins so many lesser efforts of this kind. She has settled for a simple, quasi-formal English which works very much better.
Whichever version of Hamlet one is most familiar with, this story should work well. Personally I had no difficulty imagining a depressed Nicholas Farrell with a manipulative Rufus Sewell (although past antics with Michael Maloney were not quite so easy to conjure up). Different combinations of actors will obviously have different results, meaning that this story is open to a most intriguing variety of interpretations. That, in my opinion, makes it necessary reading for anyone who likes their slash fiction to be challenging and intelligent, and who is looking for more from a story than just a quick and dirty fix of mansex.
Link: If You Will Not Have Me, You May Let Me Go
Title: Undiscovered Country by Thia
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Slash
Length: Medium (9500 words)
Warning: Canonical and extra-canonical death
Rating: Mild - author's rating is R
Author on LJ: just throw words at the page
Website: The author has a separate writing journal and the 'Memories' section of it is linked here
Summary: Ghosts stalk Elsinore; sometimes a traveller returns.
Review: The dead of Elsinore don’t stay dead, particularly if they have something on their minds. Having refused to let Horatio die with him, Hamlet returns to haunt both his dreams and his waking hours - but, like his father before him, is maddeningly elliptical about the world he inhabits and the future of his country.
This is, of course, the continuation of a love affair between Horatio and his Prince which began - at least in the physical sense - when Hamlet found his way back to Denmark after the pirate attack. Lodged at Horatio's expense in a rough dockside tavern the two are free for the first time to express their feelings for one another, although these are not sudden or surprising revelations and indeed this love scene is rather delicately handled.
And, when Hamlet returns to confront his destiny, Horatio stays loyally beside him and only remains alive at Hamlet's express insistence. After he has told the world what he knows, however, the hauntings begin; Marcellus again reports the presence of ghosts in the castle. Indeed, all the dead are returned - including Ophelia, who for some reason has taken up residence in a tree and seems particularly communicative.
Horatio, of course, wants to be wherever Hamlet is, and Hamlet wants the same. Since 'the Almighty has fixed his canon against self-slaughter' it looks as if a futile sacrifice is called for - and so Horatio goes off to fight in Fortinbras's war against the Polack, which has the desired effect. He is soon returned, blissfully, to Hamlet's arms.
The story here is very nicely put together, although I must admit there is something a bit comical about poor Ophelia hanging around in a tree waiting for Hamlet to return to her and never realising that he's off elsewhere haunting Horatio. The real quibble I have is the extremely uneven and sometimes impenetrable quasi-Shakespearean dialogue which perhaps could have been simplified to better effect. Having said that, it's emotional honesty rather than verbal tricks which define a good story in my opinion, and this story certainly has it. Thia's steadfast and unassuming Horatio is very much my favourite sort of character; loyal to death and beyond. Her Hamlet ranges from mercurial to inexplicable at times, but then again that's Hamlet for you.
This is a solid and enjoyable piece of work with a lot to recommend it. It will make a useful and welcome addition to anyone's collection of favourite Shakespeare slash.
Link: Undiscovered Country
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Slash
Length: Medium (9500 words)
Warning: Canonical and extra-canonical death
Rating: Mild - author's rating is R
Author on LJ: just throw words at the page
Website: The author has a separate writing journal and the 'Memories' section of it is linked here
Summary: Ghosts stalk Elsinore; sometimes a traveller returns.
Review: The dead of Elsinore don’t stay dead, particularly if they have something on their minds. Having refused to let Horatio die with him, Hamlet returns to haunt both his dreams and his waking hours - but, like his father before him, is maddeningly elliptical about the world he inhabits and the future of his country.
This is, of course, the continuation of a love affair between Horatio and his Prince which began - at least in the physical sense - when Hamlet found his way back to Denmark after the pirate attack. Lodged at Horatio's expense in a rough dockside tavern the two are free for the first time to express their feelings for one another, although these are not sudden or surprising revelations and indeed this love scene is rather delicately handled.
And, when Hamlet returns to confront his destiny, Horatio stays loyally beside him and only remains alive at Hamlet's express insistence. After he has told the world what he knows, however, the hauntings begin; Marcellus again reports the presence of ghosts in the castle. Indeed, all the dead are returned - including Ophelia, who for some reason has taken up residence in a tree and seems particularly communicative.
Horatio, of course, wants to be wherever Hamlet is, and Hamlet wants the same. Since 'the Almighty has fixed his canon against self-slaughter' it looks as if a futile sacrifice is called for - and so Horatio goes off to fight in Fortinbras's war against the Polack, which has the desired effect. He is soon returned, blissfully, to Hamlet's arms.
The story here is very nicely put together, although I must admit there is something a bit comical about poor Ophelia hanging around in a tree waiting for Hamlet to return to her and never realising that he's off elsewhere haunting Horatio. The real quibble I have is the extremely uneven and sometimes impenetrable quasi-Shakespearean dialogue which perhaps could have been simplified to better effect. Having said that, it's emotional honesty rather than verbal tricks which define a good story in my opinion, and this story certainly has it. Thia's steadfast and unassuming Horatio is very much my favourite sort of character; loyal to death and beyond. Her Hamlet ranges from mercurial to inexplicable at times, but then again that's Hamlet for you.
This is a solid and enjoyable piece of work with a lot to recommend it. It will make a useful and welcome addition to anyone's collection of favourite Shakespeare slash.
Link: Undiscovered Country
Title: Undiscovered Country by Thia
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Slash
Length: Medium (9500 words)
Warning: Canonical and extra-canonical death
Rating: Mild - author's rating is R
Author on LJ: just throw words at the page
Website: The author has a separate writing journal and the 'Memories' section of it is linked here
Summary: Ghosts stalk Elsinore; sometimes a traveller returns.
Review: The dead of Elsinore don’t stay dead, particularly if they have something on their minds. Having refused to let Horatio die with him, Hamlet returns to haunt both his dreams and his waking hours - but, like his father before him, is maddeningly elliptical about the world he inhabits and the future of his country.
This is, of course, the continuation of a love affair between Horatio and his Prince which began - at least in the physical sense - when Hamlet found his way back to Denmark after the pirate attack. Lodged at Horatio's expense in a rough dockside tavern the two are free for the first time to express their feelings for one another, although these are not sudden or surprising revelations and indeed this love scene is rather delicately handled.
And, when Hamlet returns to confront his destiny, Horatio stays loyally beside him and only remains alive at Hamlet's express insistence. After he has told the world what he knows, however, the hauntings begin; Marcellus again reports the presence of ghosts in the castle. Indeed, all the dead are returned - including Ophelia, who for some reason has taken up residence in a tree and seems particularly communicative.
Horatio, of course, wants to be wherever Hamlet is, and Hamlet wants the same. Since 'the Almighty has fixed his canon against self-slaughter' it looks as if a futile sacrifice is called for - and so Horatio goes off to fight in Fortinbras's war against the Polack, which has the desired effect. He is soon returned, blissfully, to Hamlet's arms.
The story here is very nicely put together, although I must admit there is something a bit comical about poor Ophelia hanging around in a tree waiting for Hamlet to return to her and never realising that he's off elsewhere haunting Horatio. The real quibble I have is the extremely uneven and sometimes impenetrable quasi-Shakespearean dialogue which perhaps could have been simplified to better effect. Having said that, it's emotional honesty rather than verbal tricks which define a good story in my opinion, and this story certainly has it. Thia's steadfast and unassuming Horatio is very much my favourite sort of character; loyal to death and beyond. Her Hamlet ranges from mercurial to inexplicable at times, but then again that's Hamlet for you.
This is a solid and enjoyable piece of work with a lot to recommend it. It will make a useful and welcome addition to anyone's collection of favourite Shakespeare slash.
Link: Undiscovered Country
Fandom: Hamlet
Pairing: Hamlet/Horatio
Categories: Slash
Length: Medium (9500 words)
Warning: Canonical and extra-canonical death
Rating: Mild - author's rating is R
Author on LJ: just throw words at the page
Website: The author has a separate writing journal and the 'Memories' section of it is linked here
Summary: Ghosts stalk Elsinore; sometimes a traveller returns.
Review: The dead of Elsinore don’t stay dead, particularly if they have something on their minds. Having refused to let Horatio die with him, Hamlet returns to haunt both his dreams and his waking hours - but, like his father before him, is maddeningly elliptical about the world he inhabits and the future of his country.
This is, of course, the continuation of a love affair between Horatio and his Prince which began - at least in the physical sense - when Hamlet found his way back to Denmark after the pirate attack. Lodged at Horatio's expense in a rough dockside tavern the two are free for the first time to express their feelings for one another, although these are not sudden or surprising revelations and indeed this love scene is rather delicately handled.
And, when Hamlet returns to confront his destiny, Horatio stays loyally beside him and only remains alive at Hamlet's express insistence. After he has told the world what he knows, however, the hauntings begin; Marcellus again reports the presence of ghosts in the castle. Indeed, all the dead are returned - including Ophelia, who for some reason has taken up residence in a tree and seems particularly communicative.
Horatio, of course, wants to be wherever Hamlet is, and Hamlet wants the same. Since 'the Almighty has fixed his canon against self-slaughter' it looks as if a futile sacrifice is called for - and so Horatio goes off to fight in Fortinbras's war against the Polack, which has the desired effect. He is soon returned, blissfully, to Hamlet's arms.
The story here is very nicely put together, although I must admit there is something a bit comical about poor Ophelia hanging around in a tree waiting for Hamlet to return to her and never realising that he's off elsewhere haunting Horatio. The real quibble I have is the extremely uneven and sometimes impenetrable quasi-Shakespearean dialogue which perhaps could have been simplified to better effect. Having said that, it's emotional honesty rather than verbal tricks which define a good story in my opinion, and this story certainly has it. Thia's steadfast and unassuming Horatio is very much my favourite sort of character; loyal to death and beyond. Her Hamlet ranges from mercurial to inexplicable at times, but then again that's Hamlet for you.
This is a solid and enjoyable piece of work with a lot to recommend it. It will make a useful and welcome addition to anyone's collection of favourite Shakespeare slash.
Link: Undiscovered Country
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chasethestars
chasethestars