Outside of Rome. R, Brutus/Cassius

[cblj_backup]

Sam's fanfiction archive has moved. The story formerly found here may now be found at:

http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/92842.html

Thank you for your patience!

Comments

[biscocho.livejournal.com]

Oh Sam, this was lovely...

[inomhe.livejournal.com]

oii

you kill me, this is beautiful. in that thoroughly roman sort of way. they are perfect, they are beautiful.

[paxluvfelicitas.livejournal.com]

....

*blinks* Wow. How very... Spartan.

*puts Latin nerd hat on* Just a couple of cool things I noticed while reading: Venus, in addition to ruling over love, is closely associated with Caesar through the Iulus/Aeneas/Anchises bloodline, so when Venus Misercordia is watching Brutus and Cassius, Caesar is watching them. O_o Also, a nitpick - It's unlikely that Cassius would have considered Rome "the real world" and the country "the unreal world," since he was definitely a country-worshipper; as a Roman politician, he would have at least superficially focused on his estates, while pretending that he "only dabbled in" politics... Very weird lot, Roman politicos. Anyway *hat off* lovely fic, and don't mind me... I just stumbled in here by way of R/S and wound up stalking through the archives... *skips off whistling to Wilson/House*

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Yeah, I was aiming for the subtle hint with Venus, so it's neat that someone caught it :)

I hadn't actually read a biography of Brutus when I wrote this -- our Roman Lives course was focused more on the later Julio-Claudians. So that's interesting to know about his Pastoral side. Though one could read into it that he liked fantasy better than reality...*grins*

[turntap2.livejournal.com]

Oh my God. Wow. Amazing.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Is the Flash...holding a goat in your icon?

[turntap2.livejournal.com]

Lol, yes! I have no idea where I got it from since I've had it so long.

[maddy-harrigan.livejournal.com]

Interesting, and very well-written (as usual). I'm concerned about a possible flattening-out of Brutus' motives - in Shakespeare's version, he arrives at a tortured and compromised decision, determined to commit evil for the greater good. In comparison, sexual infatuation seems a bit weak, and deprives him of his own autonomy - making him a slave to his desire for Cassius would make a lot of the conflict of Acts IV and V a lot less believable.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

*nods* I fretted about that a bit when I wrote it, but as I envisioned it, the sexual factor is only one of the many factors that Brutus had to contend with -- I still see him agonising over whether to kill a king or keep a friend. Cassius, in the Shakespeare, is a huge factor in his decision -- for me it's more that Cassius is here making the request as a lover, not merely as a friend.

But that's hard to bring across in the writing, it's true.

[maddy-harrigan.livejournal.com]

Very true, but Cassius is a factor in the decision more in the capacity of "I can persuade you to believe it" rather than, "I'm asking you a favour - do it for me."

It's still a very good story. I'm just very picky. :)

"Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus -
And we petty men walk under his huge legs
and peep about to find ourselves
dishonourable graves. The fault, dear Brutus,
is not in our stars, but in our selves,
that we are underlings." - Act I scene i

[nanniloah.livejournal.com]

Oh Sam, You must do more like this. It's so perfectly lovely.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I don't write in the classics often for fear of getting something wrong, but when I do I love doing it :)

[nanniloah.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm almost a walking History Encyclopedia.....could I possibly persuade you to do more, and check it for you?

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Alas, I wish it worked that way. I find it hard to write if I don't know what I'm writing. I'll keep you in mind as a beta if I do any more, though!

[nanniloah.livejournal.com]

Works for me.

[spacemonkey-27.livejournal.com]

Guh. This is lovely and gorgeous.

I can't remember how I stumbled on to this, but I'm very glad that I did. Here's hoping that you might write more.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Thank you!