In which our heroine re-encounters thoughts of her most hated nemesis.
I think we've only hinted at this in the past. Maybe the books have mentioned, "oh, DD hates the stuffiness of grand balls and the manners etc. etc." That's all true, but it's dancing that she hates the most. It is counter to her whole entire spirit. You follow the rules, you stay dainty, you move in patterns over the same exact patches of floor. Nothing could suit her less.
This is (in part, at least) an homage to Horatio Hornblower. In Forester's novels, Captain Hornblower doesn't just hate music, he seems to experience it in what I can only guess is the auditory equivalent of dyslexia (the Wikipedia article says, "He is tone-deaf and finds music an incomprehensible irritant (in a scene in Hotspur, he is unable to recognise the British national anthem)." Any mention of music in the novels is accompanied by a note about Hornblower's resultant physical discomfort.
Even though I, myself, happen to love music, I have always enjoyed this character detail. It almost never seems plot-relevant, but it made me like Hornblower more. I wonder if Forester added it in because that's how he felt about music. Certainly, DD's feelings about dancing are, uh, similar to my own.
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A note: I really enjoy this sequence, with her wanting to see the (potential) pirates closer, hoping that if they keep mum about the ship on the horizon, they'll sail right alongside it, followed by the midshipman's horrified reaction. That's the good stuff, right there. It tells us about their characters, it's plot- and motivation-relevant, and it's funny. I feel so lucky when I'm able to catch hard-working moments like that.
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I posted about this project on Twitter under the "#meetthewebcomic" hashtag, and received a lot of very enthusiastic support. Thank you to everyone who spread the word and said nice things—I appreciate it greatly. To readers who have joined this Patreon campaign off the back of that post, welcome! Your patronage is so beneficial to this project, and I look forward to sharing a lot of entertaining work with you.
Okay, back to colouring!
Rebecca Gage
2022-01-14 05:11:36 +0000 UTCkaitou
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