I sew his ears on from time to time, sure

[hedda62]

Be damned to you, gogollescent, for making me (by force, I assure you) start rereading Post Captain last night and spend the day thinking off and on about Simon Illyan as Sir Joseph Blaine. This delightful Stephen/Diana on Sergyar story is why. Note long comment thread.

The subject line quote (Stephen to Sophie, about Jack, obviously) is also resonating rather forcefully, as some sort of pattern for male friendship, though I'm not sure I can think of another pair for which it might be appropriate, except perhaps Christopher Robin/Eeyore, and that was a tail, not ears. But in the sense that Jack and Stephen are my epitome, my archetype, my gold standard of odd couple perfection, that's what I'm looking for. He seweth while he chastiseth, no doubt, but he's always there to sew. And Jack always goes after Stephen when he falls out the window. (And I don't ship them at all, pray pardon the pun, which doesn't stop me from shipping any other odd couples I take a fancy to.)

In my head, Stephen is walking into Simon's office complaining querulously that being seen entering ImpSec HQ is going to blow his cover, and that his role as ship's medical officer doesn't allow enough time to be the secret observer Simon sent him into space to be (too much sewing people's ears on, probably), and that Kline Station officials killed off all his experiments, and oh by the way here's the intelligence you wanted. Not that I'm ever going to write it, but it amuses me.

It's a beautiful day and the cold is somewhat less awful, and I got a lot done, but oh dear not nearly enough (and there was an hour less to do it in).

Comments

[isis]

Hmm, I like the fusion idea, but despite Diana's masculine mannerisms I still think she'd have a hard time on the very gender-conscious Barrayar.

[hedda62]

Oh, sure, but once you're into AU territory it's worth imagining, and I do so like her as impoverished high Vor.

[eight_of_cups]

But why aren't you going to write it? It's worth at least a set of drabbles, and it might inspire me to take another crack at O'Brian. ;)

Speaking of Jack and Stephen, how do you compare them to Finch and Reese?

[hedda62]

Oh, you do know which ropes to pull...

Hm - there's a certain physical similarity, Jack being large and powerful while Stephen is smaller, and I can see Finch sewing Reese's ears on, though when there's serious medical work to be done he just buys a doctor. Stephen does not acquire a fortune until quite far into the series, and never quite believes it. To some extent there's a similar sense of isolation breeding friendship, but Finch and Reese are really isolated while Jack and Stephen are always in crowded ships, far away from land, sure, but not from their fellow men. And only Stephen is a spy. So it's really just that sense of relying on each other and reveling in their opposite natures to link them.

[gogollescent]

Your reprobation is music to my ears. 8) But yeah, Stephen and Jack's mutual caretaking is really the most delightful form that their friendship takes; I love that line in HMS Surprise where, mid-desperate-rescue, Jack turns from Stephen to the captured French officer with "the look of affection still on his face", which must have been absolutely terrifying for any bystander but for the reader is just great. Melodramatic example, but it's equally pleasant when it's Jack absentmindedly holding Stephen down on deck, or Stephen hustling Jack out of parties while drunk--on any scale, in fact.

Also: that vision of Stephen and Simon's professional relationship is perfect and I will nurse it bitterly every time this crossover bobs up again. God, imagine if Stephen ever got near Jackson's Whole-- the ensuing report probably starts something like, "You will have noticed the sudden proliferation of frightened adolescent supersoldiers in Captain Aubrey's private fleet." Simon is the most long-suffering of superiors. And there's some kind of analogy begging to be made here between Sir Joseph Blaine's wall pornography and the incidental acquisitions of the chip...

[hedda62]

I can see it as a series of reports, actually - the same sort of epistolary relationship Stephen and Sir Joseph had, except that they actually get delivered in a few weeks, and Simon is not interested in beetles. Although he's probably memorized a textbook or two.

[philomytha]

So Simon Illyan is still the new black? I entirely approve of this state of affairs :-). My Aubrey/Maturin knowledge is a bit fuzzy - I've read a few of the books but kept foundering on the naval gobbledegook - but I'm amused by the crossover too. And must go back and reread the other one, because I read it at an unearthly hour while feeding a baby and therefore remember almost nothing of it now...

[hedda62]

"Simon Illyan and Stephen Maturin!" makes me do almost as happy a dance as "Simon Illyan and Harold Finch!" - however, I am NOT going to write it.

It is really not necessary to understand more naval jargon than Stephen himself ever understands (which is improbably little) in order to enjoy the books. Which, btw, I read quite a few of while nursing a baby (the rest having been consumed by both parents during pregnancy, which is why our second child is named Patrick). Nothing like a really LONG series to get you through those nights.