It's a mystery!

[ealgylden]

Why is it, d'you think, that I can read Sharpe and Hornblower slash with nary a qualm, but when I read the little Aubrey/Maturin that's out there, I always end up looking over my shoulder for the angry ghost of Patrick O'Brian coming at me with an anchor, primed for squishing? That isn't very logical, is it?


I'm also still continuing my hunt for pirate AU fics (remember that project? Slow going, very slow), and what puzzles me is what I'm not finding. Certain fandoms, like Sentinel, Highlander, Mag7 and even X-Files, seem to have an affinity for AU fics (often bad ones, but still). Yet while I've found a few Pirate!Methoses, Cabinboy!Ezras and such, there aren't as many as one would expect. I mean, pirates! Beloveds of the romance novelist and the "historical" pulp author alike! Staples of the B-movie! Instantly intelligible stock characters in almost any language! And yet the "[blank] is a knight/gangster/cowboy/member of the interstellar military-industrial complex" stories outnumber the pirate ones several times over. What do Amish!Jim/Amish!Blair have to capture the ficcer's imagination that can't be done just as sexily with an eyepatch and a handful of doubloons? Why can't AU characters take a walk without tripping on wizarding staffs, dragon scales or elves, but can live out their lives without seeing a single frigate or cutlass? Is it really more effective to holler "Huzzah!" or "Yee haw!" rather than "Arrrrrr!"? And why hasn't anyone read my mind and written the saga of the Bold Pirate Queen Scully, her rival-on-Monday/ally-on-Thursday/rival-on-Saturday-again, Alex the Black, and William "the Fox" Mulder, Captain of the Royal Navy, whom they both want (and whom they will share rather than killing each other, because it's my brain, dammit)?

The most interesting part of this whole misbegotten adventure has definitely been seeing which archetypes have been eagerly seized upon (what is with all the psychic-elf-wizards, people? Too much Dragonlance at an impressionable age?), and which haven't. Considering how often the writing of these AU stories resembles the better class of historical romance novels, one might expect them to be peopled with the familiar barbarian warriors, wicked earls, mountain men, and yes, pirates, renamed and reshaped to resemble our beloved characters. But really, not so much. And I'm rather curious as to why.

Of course, it's not unlikely that bunches of authors will have been reminded of how fabulous pirates can be (thanks to the estimable Mr. Depp and crew) and are currently off slaving away on thirty chapter serials of the Adventures of One-Eyed Logan and Rogue the... well actually, Rogue is a pretty good pirate name already. So perhaps this quest of mine will turn from a slog to a jog in a matter of weeks.

Unlikely. And anyway, where would be the fun in that?

Yay! Amazon has shipped my PotC soundtrack! Soon I'll be able swashbuckle in the comfort of my living room, it being my quiz-begotten destiny


You are The Dread Pirate Roberts. Your combination
of boyish good lucks and eyes like the sea may
be irresistable to women. After all, they are
only human. Just remember that fantasies can't
last forever and that you should always keep in
mind a woman's inner beauty. Even fairy tale
princesses can get stretchmarks!

Which Sexy Rogue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Comments

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Have you found the TPM piratey stories yet? I know there are some...

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

I have a couple, though probably not all that are out there, since it's not traditionally one of my fandoms and I don't know where they're all hiding. I was crazy when I blithely said "all fandoms, any fandoms, slash/het/gen." Completely, blinking crazy. So any help is always welcome! :)

[tiamatschild.livejournal.com]

There's a Garak/Bashir pirate AU out there. Just as pulpy and guilty pleasureyish as it sounds. Can't remember where I found it though, as that was last Thanksgiving.

And reading your discription of X-Files pirate AU has given me the urge to write the tale of Sassoon the Dread and Cynically Poetic and Wilfred Owen, Tutor to the Crown Prince. But that's just silly, and born entirely of the thought that Sassoon has the cheekbones to pull off that kind of swashbuckling.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

The one where Garak is a pirate and Julian is a captured naval officer? I think I have that one- it's called "By the Sword's Edge" or "On the Sword's Edge" or something (I'm too lazy to go check)? Great fun, that one, and exactly what I'm looking for. Not as many of them to find as you'd think, though.

Sassoon the Dread and Cynically Poetic and Wilfred Owen, Tutor to the Crown Prince

I'd read it! I think it's a great idea! And potentially silly and pulpy and romantic and whatever, but that's the joy of pirate AUs, right? I read the Sassoon-to-Owen letter you wrote the other day (and the beautiful real one that inspired it, of course), and it was just lovely. Really quite wonderful. Sassoon was more than dramatic enough to be a pirate (and you're right about those cheekbones). As poets go, he's a relatively easy one to picture as a swashbuckler.

[tiamatschild.livejournal.com]

The one where Garak is a pirate and Julian is a captured naval officer?

Yep, that's the one! I'm glad you found it, it's far too fun to miss.

And, okay, you've sold me on my own idea. Admittedly, that's not hard, as those boys deserve a little fun, and I am a sucker for compliments on my writing. *giggles, plots* Writing Samuel has made me utterly sick of angst for a while.

And yes, Sassoon is a good deal easier to picture as a swashbuckler than say, Donne. Or Hugo.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Yay! They do deserve some fun, the poor dears. I look forward to it! (But no pressure. Heh).

Writing Samuel has made me utterly sick of angst for a while.

I don't blame you. It was hard enough to read (in a good, well-written, tragic way, of course)- I can't imagine what it was like to write. Poor, tormented Samuel. Such a mess of a man (and William really has no resistance at all, does he?). Bad luck that the unhappy poets are the interesting ones. Well, that's not strictly true, I'm sure there were some happy, interesting poets... Can't think of a one. Erm. Browning? Was he happy and/or interesting? *g*

Sassoon is a good deal easier to picture as a swashbuckler than say, Donne. Or Hugo.

Snerk. That sure is fun to picture, though. Poor old Hugo. Donne maybe could have before he got religion and guilt. Byron could certainly swashbuckle, as long as he could bring along his drugs and women. And men. And sheep.

[aithine]

Had to share something I got from a friend - I think you'll get a kick out of if you haven't already seen it *g*: www.arrrchive.com

And why hasn't anyone read my mind and written the saga of the Bold Pirate Queen Scully, her rival-on-Monday/ally-on-Thursday/rival-on-Saturday-again, Alex the Black, and William "the Fox" Mulder, Captain of the Royal Navy, whom they both want (and whom they will share rather than killing each other, because it's my brain, dammit)?

LOL What a fun description - dang it, I'd read that, even though I'm not much into XF fic - write it, why don't you? *vbg*

[ex-declinean757.livejournal.com]

I'd read it, too. You must write this!

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

I make no promises, since I haven't written fiction in years and years, but I'll poke at it a bit. Or maybe I'll be able to bribe someone else into writing it. That would be better, trust me. But wouldn't Scully make a great pirate? Small but fierce, fear her wrath! ;)

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Argh, that's terrible. And fabulous, but then with pirates the two often go hand-in-hand. Or hand-in-hook. Badump ching.

X-Files was one of my first online fandoms, but I haven't touched it in years. And I've never written fic- the last time I did any fiction at all, I was in high school. So while I don't entirely rule out the possibility of my actually writing this, it probably won't be happening any time soon. But hey, you never know, right? I'm not all that busy right now, after all.

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean about Aubrey/Maturin slash. They're so eminently slashable, and yet I just couldn't bring myself to do it (and make sure I did it well): suspect I won't be able to read any, when it all floods out, either.

Something to do with their dignity, which is very much that of their creator, I think.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Oh good, it's not just me then. It's possible the movie will be different enough from the books (though not too different, I hope) that it won't trip me up any more, but I'm not sure about that. I think you're right to lay it on their dignity (and Mr. O'Brian's)- I do see possible slashy subtext in the books and I could easily make use of it (I've slashed characters with less, certainly), but it seems a bit... disrespectful. Or something. I'm not entirely sure.

But considering that I've happily slashed Holmes and Watson, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, Ishmael and Queequeg, and a host of other characters one might think would be equally uncomfortable, it seems a bit odd that Jack and Stephen should be a sticking point for me. Weird how these things go.

[thenightsfall]

Still looking for pirate fics? I just discovered a new one in Stargate's Area 52: Sistene's Fated to Be, wherein Good Pirate!Jack rescues Captive!Daniel from Bad Pirate!Apophis. Some swashbuckling ensues.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Yes! Yes I am, thank you, that's excellent! First Stargate story I have, in fact. I still only have 20 or so stories linked in the locked entry where I've been stashing them, and there were about ten more on the disk where I originally started this project, but I can't find the darn thing. It's a fun project to work on (often while part of my brain is doing something else), but it's definitely slow going.

[thenightsfall]

Only thirty or so? Well, that cannot be! Surely there are more swashbuckling pirate-y slashies out there! If I find anymore, I'll pass 'em along. It's a very worthy research project. Very worthy. ; )