I read The Charioteer when I was in the thick of the first draft of this book and it definitely shaped all the Phaedrus stuff. (I should at some point actually read the Phaedrus. I comfort myself that Robert quite possibly read the most relevant passages and then faffed off to read Kidnapped again. Yes, chastely adoring the beloved, whatever, this book super spoke to Cyril and Robert feels that he SHOULD be feeling it but he's kind of not.)
And there are definitely echoes of Laurie/Andrew in the way Robert views David, which sort of makes sense in school when David really IS young and inexperienced (although David would point out that it's much better to get experience from someone who actually likes you than Bunny fucking Hastings) and really really is not applicable afterward. The bit where David is like "You're 'protecting' me for your own good, not mine," is definitely a bit of Charioteer influence, too.
Peggy is a shoutout, but not to Agent Carter! She and John and their pirate games are an homage to Swallows and Amazons. (The John character in the S&A books intends to join the Navy, and I have amused myself occasionally with the idea of him running into Ralph Lanyon, who is at first very excited! Because John is not interested in girls that way and therefore MUST be queer! But then Ralph realizes John comes from an alternate universe were sex doesn't exist and he's just like FUCK my life.)
My beta reader has never forgiven me for the brutal slaughter of Aunt Mary. How were David and Robert ever going to bang in that tiny cottage with Aunt Mary around, I ask you? But maybe I could have sent her on vacation or something... a long, long vacation to visit a niece in Australia.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: spoilers for book!
Date: 2021-10-16 02:22 am (UTC)And there are definitely echoes of Laurie/Andrew in the way Robert views David, which sort of makes sense in school when David really IS young and inexperienced (although David would point out that it's much better to get experience from someone who actually likes you than Bunny fucking Hastings) and really really is not applicable afterward. The bit where David is like "You're 'protecting' me for your own good, not mine," is definitely a bit of Charioteer influence, too.
Peggy is a shoutout, but not to Agent Carter! She and John and their pirate games are an homage to Swallows and Amazons. (The John character in the S&A books intends to join the Navy, and I have amused myself occasionally with the idea of him running into Ralph Lanyon, who is at first very excited! Because John is not interested in girls that way and therefore MUST be queer! But then Ralph realizes John comes from an alternate universe were sex doesn't exist and he's just like FUCK my life.)
My beta reader has never forgiven me for the brutal slaughter of Aunt Mary. How were David and Robert ever going to bang in that tiny cottage with Aunt Mary around, I ask you? But maybe I could have sent her on vacation or something... a long, long vacation to visit a niece in Australia.