Figureheads by Victoria Bitter (PG)

[inlovewithnight.livejournal.com]

Fandom: HORNBLOWER
Pairing: Horatio/Archie pre-slash
Author on LJ: None that I know of
Author Website: None that I know of
Why this must be read:
Speaking personally, because it grabbed me from the first line:
He had learned how to stand.

And from there on, it's just lovely language and solid characterization to the end. With a limited-canon fandom like this, fanon characterizations tend to come to the fore just through the passage of time (now there's an idea for someone who's into meta: fanon-drift in small-canon fandoms). This story very much comes back around to the versions seen on-screen. Not much actually happens- it's a conversation on-deck after the events of "The Duchess and the Devil"- but it's an example of what fanfic can do so well: take a simple moment and use it to throw some illumination on the characters.

Figureheads

Comments

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

VB popped into Hornblower fandom on Sailslash several years back, wrote a couple of extremely good pieces, then embarked on a long gory soap opera about a crazed Welsh POW in a quasi-slash piece with Archie set in Spain before HH & company were captured on Le Reve. She didn't get the adoration she seemed to expect, asked for feedback but rejected any commments that were constructive crit (which was the focus of the list at that time) and drifted off to greener pastures. Thank Ghod.

It is the same person, and her talent for fiction is undeniable.

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

It seems quite sad, really, that her crazy has eclipsed her writing.