How do they rise up

[regshoe]

I re-read Night Watch over the weekend. It's one of my favourite Discworld books, and I felt like commemorating the Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May.

It is as good and heart-wrenching as ever. I don't have a huge amount to say about it, but I appreciate it a lot. <3

The occupants of these graves had died for something. In the sunset glow, in the rising of the moon, in the taste of the cigar, in the warmth that comes from sheer exhaustion, Vimes saw it.

History finds a way. The nature of events changed, but the nature of the dead had not. It had been a mean, shameful little fight that ended them, a flyspecked footnote of history, but they hadn't been mean or shameful men. They hadn't run, and they could have run with honour. They'd stayed, and he wondered if the path had seemed as clear to them then as it did to him now. They'd stayed not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they chose to think of it as their job, and it was in front of them—

And now I'm thinking about time travel, and the possibility of time travel as applied to Flight of the Heron (could 'history find a way' if one went back and changed the events of the Jacobite rising??? Who knows).

Comments

[theseatheseatheopensea]

It's so nice to re-read old favourites, isn't it? <3

That's a very poignant bit of writing, and it really is interesting to apply it to bits of history that could have gone other ways, and what would have happened if the defeated ones had been victorious or viceversa. Thanks for sharing!

I am really interested in the idea of footnotes of history, because something that is very important to a lot of people at the time, can end up being nearly forgotten because of how story is told, and that can be a real shame! :( I think it's one of the reasons why I like alternate history so much, because it's such a good chance to explore events that don't get so much attention and might fade into obscurity otherwise.

Also, all the might-have-beens are always interesting to think about... and I am always here for some good old time travelling! :D (Andddd now I want to rewatch the Doctor Who serial about the Highlanders, hehe!)

[regshoe]

It is <3

Yes, that's true—history is very big, of course, and I suppose most of it mattered a great deal to someone at some point, no matter how obscure things look from the point of view of the present.

Ooh, I didn't know there was a Doctor Who serial about Highlanders! Are they Jacobites, or is it all aliens?

[theseatheseatheopensea]

history is very big, of course, and I suppose most of it mattered a great deal to someone at some point, no matter how obscure things look from the point of view of the present.

Absolutely! It's all history now, but at some time, it was someone's day-to-day reality, and I bet it was important, so that's why it's so interesting to think about these "footnotes", so that they won't be forgotten.

And that DW serial is one of the old ones with lost episodes, so it was mostly recons made with still images, but still I remember it was fun! ;) I guess it's more in the style of "let's do something mildly historical and educational" rather than "the Redcoats are secretly alien invaders" (that would be hilarious, though) So there is nothing really supernatural there, well, except for the TARDIS showing up randomly in Culloden! ;) It's been a while since I last watched it, but I remember that the Doctor helped the Jacobites, which was awesome... I think he even helped them with smuggling/hiding weapons!

(Also: this serial is the start of the DW era that's to blame for the "Outlander" novels, hehehe!)

[isis]

Hee, I just mentioned Outlander, below!

[regshoe]

Oh, that does sound fun, and I like the idea of the Doctor helping the Jacobites! I've never got round to watching any of Classic Doctor Who—perhaps the potential for FotH crossovers will be what eventually motivates me to watch it :P

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Ohh, you're in for such a treat with classic DW! Some of the old serials might look a bit dated now, but there are some that are truly excellent. The second Doctor is my favourite (as well as the 4th, who I have to mention, because he was my first Doctor <3), but i can think of good examples from every single doctor's era.

And I am *living* for the idea of a DW/TFOTH crossover. A fun thing about the classic era of DW was that the companions weren't always from the present day, so there are a lot of possibilities! :D

[regshoe]

Aww, sounds good :D Especially companions who aren't from the present day!

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Oh yes, there are so many interesting companions! There's Jamie, who's from the Highlanders serial, then Victoria, from the 19th century, and Catarina who is from ancient Troy... and there are also companions from the future, like Zoe, who's my absolute favourite--she once said that the Doctor was almost as smart as she was! Oh and Leela, who basically walks around with a knife all the time, ha!

And now I'm laughing because I'm picturing Ewen and Keith in the TARDIS... it's probably a sign that I should go to bed! ;)

Also I saw that the Highlanders serial is up on Dailymotion, and I might rewatch it tomorrow <3

[regshoe]

And now I'm laughing because I'm picturing Ewen and Keith in the TARDIS...

Well, there's certainly a crossover idea... :D

[isis]

could 'history find a way' if one went back and changed the events of the Jacobite rising??? Who knows

This is actually part of the plot of the second Outlander book, Dragonfly in Amber! I don't know if you've read these or seen the series, but the main character is Claire, an English nurse in WWII who while visiting Scotland after the war, accidentally goes back in time a bit more than 200 years and falls in love with a Scotsman whose family firmly supports the rising. Anyway, they fail at changing history.

[regshoe]

I have heard of the Outlander books, although I must admit most of what I've heard hasn't encouraged me to read them, especially after Flight of the Heron :P I was thinking, what if Ewen went back in time and tried to change things—but it'll need a bit of thought to sort out, I think.

[luzula]

I am actually just now writing an epic Flight of the Heron alternate history fic where the war goes another way. The branching point is that both of the ships Charles Edward Stuart came on got through, instead of the second ship (which was carrying 700 soldiers and lots of arms) being attacked by a Royal Navy ship. No time travel, though. : )

[luzula]

Ooh, Ewen going back in time to try to change things sounds interesting! Maybe combined somehow with Fairyland? Like, he could strike a bargain with some supernatural creature?

[regshoe]

Oh, that's an idea! I thought of making some link between time travel and the second sight in canon—like, if you can see into the future perhaps you can also travel into the past?

[luzula]

Hmm. So would you give Ewen himself the second sight, then?

[regshoe]

I really haven't thought it out in any detail yet! But yeah, that might work—or I could have Angus say something cryptic that it turns out is actually about time travel, or some kind of portal that just spontaneously sends you back in time and then Ewen has to figure out what's going on, or various other possibilities...