Flight of the Heron read-along: Part III chapters 1-2

[regshoe]

Charlie chose the place himsel', the graveyard of Culloden...

Well, it looks like Keith's prophecies about the fate of the Jacobites, at least, weren't too inaccurate...

Next week we'll read chapters 3 and 4 of part III.

Comments

[luzula]

I remember the first time I came across Jacobites I mixed them up with Jacobins. *g* Not at all the same thing!

[luzula]

I'm away until Wednesday and don't have my books to hand, but if you like I can check and provide some more detail when I get home!

[luzula]

IDK what I'm trying to say here except that I guess Broster had widely distinct tastes in Official Couple and Platonic Smarm relationships.

Broster does have an Official Het Couple in Sir Isumbras at the Ford which gets the built-in conflict that Ewen/Keith has here. Very satisfying, though the conflict is resolved quicker than for Ewen and Keith. OTOH, there's also the slashy couple Laurent and Aymar in The Wounded Name which is entirely composed of loyalty kink and hurt/comfort and doesn't have any external conflict, or at least, the conflict that exists is that Aymar doesn't want to tell Laurent his secret, and Laurent trusts against all odds that despite appearances, his secret is nothing dishonourable. So it's not quite as clearcut as that!

Re: Alison's disappearance, I have a fic planned where Ewen and Alison get married in Edinburgh instead and Alison then follows the army as several Jacobite wives did. And then she's involved in the events that follow, and there is eventual Alison/Ewen/Keith.

On a completely different note, I like a good battle scene and have always felt a bit cheated not getting them!

Heh. I never expected to get so much into the military history, but it is fascinating!

[sanguinity]

Heh. At the beginning of this read-along I sat down and made myself learn the terms Jacobean, Jacobite, and Jacobin. If I ever go to a party again, distinguishing the three can be my dumb party trick that will make all but one person go away to talk to other people, and that remaining one person will either become my best friend for the rest of the night or will be the person I spend the rest of the party desperately trying to escape.

[sanguinity]

Rot13: Yeah. I have a lot of complicated feelings about Lachlan, howsoever I may laugh now.

Lachlan finding out: OMG. I mean, obvs a lot will depend on where/how/when the divergence happens, but... Yeah, "upset and jealous" only begins to describe it. And that's an excellent observation about Keith having no place in the social structure of Ewen's life, and how threatening Lachlan might well find that.

Ewen, Keith, and love: Yes, it's very paradoxical! I have to say I was so happy Ewen and Masters got to meet in Gleam in the North: V qnerfnl gung gurl obgu sbhaq vg n pbzsbeg gb gurve tevrs gung fbzrbar ybirq Xrvgu qhevat gur bgure raq bs uvf yvsr.

[sanguinity]

Alison: V guvax ure ebyr va gur abiry vf fgebatyl Qblyvfg, va gung nyy guebhtu gurfr svefg cnegf jura Rjra vf qvfzvffvir bs gur cebcurpl, fur'f Oebfgre'f gbby sbe xrrcvat vg ba gur cntr: fur'f vavgvnyyl gur bar orvat gbyq nobhg vg nal qrgnvy, fur'f gur bayl cbi punenpgre jbeelvat nobhg vg, naq fur'f gur bar oevatvat vg hc sbe qvfphffvba nf vg fgnegf gb or shysvyyrq. Nsgre gur fuvryvat, Rjra fgnegf gb perqvg gur cebcurpl uvzfrys, naq guhf ur naq Xrvgu pna cresbez nyy gubfr ebyrf orgjrra gurz, naq fur'f abg arrqrq gb xrrc vg ba gur cntr nalzber.

Fur'f nyfb hfrq va n flzobyvp jnl, nf n ersrerapr cbvag sbe yvxravat ure naq Xrvgu'f eryngvbafuvcf gb Rjra. Ohg gung qbrfa'g fb zhpu erdhver ure gb or ba-fgntr, bayl gung fur rkvfg. Fb lrnu, V guvax hfurevat ure bss-fgntr ng guvf cbvag vf n znggre bs ure univat freirq ure Qblyvfg checbfr va gur aneengvir.

[sanguinity]

Oh, that's a lovely fic idea! I hope someday it becomes a thing we get to read!

[regshoe]

Hehe, those three are always good to try and sort out! I suppose Jacobeans and Jacobites relate to the same set of Jameses/Jacobuses, at least.

[regshoe]

Good thoughts about Ewen's relationship with Lachlan and the difficulties it presents. It is a strange social dynamic, where Ewen is Lachlan's social superior and commands his loyalty etc., but they were also raised as siblings, and so there's that personal aspect to their relationship. I wonder sometimes what Ewen's relationship with Neil is like—Neil is described as also very loyal, but we don't see the sort of intense obsession we get with Lachlan. How much of that is just who Lachlan is an an individual and his particular relationship with Ewen?

No one has so far written the fic where Ewen ends up in a relationship with Keith, and Lachlan finds out.

I had some vague thoughts in that direction a while ago, but never got to the point of figuring out exactly how it would happen. I very much like your thoughts here! Yes, of course, Keith not having a 'proper' role, and in a much broader sense than the general non-approval of relationships between men, would be very important to Lachlan. Ooh, I want to read this fic now. :D

[regshoe]

I guess Broster had widely distinct tastes in Official Couple and Platonic Smarm relationships.

She certainly did, heh—it's a distinctive feature of several of her books. Although I second luzula's recommendation of something a bit different in Sir Isumbras at the Ford, which I love.

[hedgebird]

Sure! Though no pressure if life gets busy, haha.

[hedgebird]

Then I suppose we can only say she liked both internal and external relationship conflicts, regardless of the precise nature of the relationships! And evidently didn't feel she needed to match the length of the two story arcs, slightly odd though it feels to me.

That should be an interesting fic!

[hedgebird]

Ohhh those are really good points. It also occurred to me after my first comment that the wedding allows for Nyvfba'f rkcbfvgvba nobhg Rjra fyrrc gnyxvat, gubhtu bs pbhefr gurer ner bgure punenpgref jub pbhyq unir vagebqhprq gung.

[hyarrowen]

I can imagine Alison thinking of the happy, normal, peaceful wedding she thought she was going to have at the start of the book, before BPC turned up, and desperately wanting to believe that it's still possible for her and Ewen to have that

That makes a lot of sense of something that always confused me. But it reminds me of my early reaction to covid - I got rather rules-lawyery, and I think it was my brain trying to assert normality. Silly brain.

[sanguinity]

Yes, that too! Although I think Keith observed it firsthand in part one, when Ewen rolled himself up to sleep in his wet plaid? But given how important that is about to become, it's an excellent time for Broster to drop a reminder...

[hyarrowen]

No one has so far written the fic where Ewen ends up in a relationship with Keith, and Lachlan finds out. OMG, the trainwreck.

One of us at least has imagined it but chickened out of writing it. I don't think I can put such drama into words!

[hyarrowen]

...HTML fail, sorry.

[osprey_archer]

Ewen really embodies the ideal of the 18th century gentlemen. Gentle and courteous to ladies and guests (and imprisoned officers count as guests), but ready and willing and indeed eager to fight in the right circumstances!

It's an interesting contrast to Keith, who is also an honorable gentleman, but hides it somewhat under a screen of irony and cynicism (although I don't think Keith is as cynical as he likes to think he is). Underneath they're alike, but they present differently on the outside and it makes them a bit of a puzzle to each other.

[osprey_archer]

Oh my God, if Lachlan found out his reaction would LIGHT THE SKY ON FIRE. The RAGE. The jealousy! Not sexual jealousy, but platonic jealousy can be just as intense, especially given the sibling aspect of their relationship. Lachlan is Ewen's FOSTER BROTHER and he would DIE FOR HIM and instead Ewen is turning to this INCUBUS OF AN INTERLOPER who has clearly SEDUCED him into an improper relationship!!!! Lachlan must break it up. FOR EWEN'S OWN GOOD.

[luzula]

Although I think Keith observed it firsthand in part one, when Ewen rolled himself up to sleep in his wet plaid?

Not in canon, but regshoe wrote a fic where he did! : )

[luzula]

Well, it will take some time! But I already explored Ewen/Keith + Ewen/Alison at some length (140K, ha ha), so it will be interesting to explore the triad possibility as well.

[luzula]

Ha, great summary! I'm almost afraid to consider how he might try to break it up. Clearly if Ewen is not open to persuasion, Lachlan needs to either discredit Keith in Ewen's eyes, or he needs to make sure something befalls Keith that Ewen can't trace back to Lachlan...ack, this could get dark.

[luzula]

I can quite understand that!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, I think the difficulty with any story where Lachlan Finds Out is that Lachlan's attempts to break it up, possibly by killing Keith just like that heron, would take over the whole entire story.

Although... would Ewen be open to persuasion? Probably not from Lachlan, but if Lachlan went to, say, Lochiel...

[luzula]

Although... would Ewen be open to persuasion? Probably not from Lachlan, but if Lachlan went to, say, Lochiel...

OMG. Ewen's loyalty to Lochiel pitted against his love for Keith when they're already in a relationship! Poor Ewen, how torn he would be...