Maturin is not boyish at all. O’Brian describes him as “lizardlike,” “pale,” and “reptilian” about as often as Francine Pascal described the Wakefield twins as being “perfect size sixes” with “sun-kissed hair” and “sparkling aquamarine eyes the color of the Pacific Ocean.”
This. More "boylike" content, highlighting the moments boyishness is described with Anne Shirley-esque effusiveness. Please affirm my weird gay gender through literature. #representationmatters
I am also just finishing book 13 - step for step! Not sure if it meets your strict criteria, but I thought of the last Jack post when I came to the description of the Diane's topgallant mast creaking under him - it seems Stephen is not the only source of commentary about his weight! At this rate he'll be ballast enough for a 74 by the end of the series
Thank you for mentioning Jagiello. Patrick O'Brien independently evolving the Mary Sue (Jagiello being beautiful and perfect and everyone loves him, except for being clumsy in a way that never causes any real consequences) cracks me up.
Unless it's not independent evolution, and O'Brien was aware of Trek fan culture... the timing works out!
I love the honest befuddlement the male characters express at Jagiello's attractiveness to the ladies. Impossibly handsome, long curly golden hair, dresses like a dandy and a voice like an angel, why he's practically a girl himself!
This is the journalism the people (me) want. Those books, and the movie, were incalculably inspiring to me as a teenage girl and, subsequently, devastating to my social life. I wanted nothing more than to be an incompetent midshipman with a secret.
This is the exact literary gender audit I crave. I would now like a formal boyishness-to-page-count ratio chart, complete with a line graph showing Jack’s joy-to-weight curve as the series progresses. Also: “a girlfriend-in-a-sexy-big-shirt moment” is now canonically how I will describe Diana Villiers to anyone who hasn't read the series. Please consider a follow-up tallying who in the series is described as “like a monkey,” “like a hatstand,” or “like a dry bone.”
i'm 60% of the way through master and commander and already 1.5 loblolly boys have died, very dangerous to be an actual boy, seemingly the most dangerous job on the ship although i don't know what loblollying entails
This. More "boylike" content, highlighting the moments boyishness is described with Anne Shirley-esque effusiveness. Please affirm my weird gay gender through literature. #representationmatters
I am also just finishing book 13 - step for step! Not sure if it meets your strict criteria, but I thought of the last Jack post when I came to the description of the Diane's topgallant mast creaking under him - it seems Stephen is not the only source of commentary about his weight! At this rate he'll be ballast enough for a 74 by the end of the series
Thank you for mentioning Jagiello. Patrick O'Brien independently evolving the Mary Sue (Jagiello being beautiful and perfect and everyone loves him, except for being clumsy in a way that never causes any real consequences) cracks me up.
Unless it's not independent evolution, and O'Brien was aware of Trek fan culture... the timing works out!
ok FINE i'll read the aubreyad again...twist my leg why don't you....
I love the honest befuddlement the male characters express at Jagiello's attractiveness to the ladies. Impossibly handsome, long curly golden hair, dresses like a dandy and a voice like an angel, why he's practically a girl himself!
"Wonderfully offbeat and clever—The Chatner is a refreshing blend of humor, insight, and unexpected charm."
This is the journalism the people (me) want. Those books, and the movie, were incalculably inspiring to me as a teenage girl and, subsequently, devastating to my social life. I wanted nothing more than to be an incompetent midshipman with a secret.
This is the exact literary gender audit I crave. I would now like a formal boyishness-to-page-count ratio chart, complete with a line graph showing Jack’s joy-to-weight curve as the series progresses. Also: “a girlfriend-in-a-sexy-big-shirt moment” is now canonically how I will describe Diana Villiers to anyone who hasn't read the series. Please consider a follow-up tallying who in the series is described as “like a monkey,” “like a hatstand,” or “like a dry bone.”
i'm 60% of the way through master and commander and already 1.5 loblolly boys have died, very dangerous to be an actual boy, seemingly the most dangerous job on the ship although i don't know what loblollying entails
also most of the loblolly boys are 50!
At work so I don’t have Desolation Island on hand, but isn’t the first quote under Diana actually about Louisa Wogan?
You’re quite right! i’ll have to adjust my score!