Alexander minific #5

[pseudy]

Title: Alone (1/2)
Author: pseudonihilist
Fandom: Alexander the Great
Pairing: Alexander/Hephaistion, Alexander/Bagoas implied
Rating: PG
Summary: After Alexander forces Hephaistion to renounce his quarrel with Eumenes on pain of death, they meet in Hephaistion’s tent to discuss things.
A/N: Based on Mary Renault’s account of events in her excellent novel, The

Comments

[daegaer]

This is very nice! Poor Hephaistion's self-destruction of the reconciliation scene is all too believable.

[pseudonihilist]

Thank you so much for reading and commenting :)

[florachan]

Oh my God

[pseudonihilist]

wow, Flora, I'm so glad you liked this piece. I think, the more I write of this pairing, the more doubtful I get about how consistent i am being to both Renault's canon and the canon of other historians. As you know, i love Hephaistion very much, and as such i feel like his pain is more tangible to me than Alexander's or Bagoas's, so it means a lot to me that you were able to see so many of Hephaistion's feelings in this fic.

And your English seems pretty good to me :)

thank you so much for reading and commenting! <3

[florachan]

I'm glad you have been pleased by my feedback, you know, the more I read your piece, the more I'm able to find new layers of complexity...

I think you pictured Alexander perfectly here...
Like someone else was cleverly pointing out, he never seemed to realize how much difficult could be being in love with him...
And especially with Hephaistion he tended to somehow take it for granted(which is the case, since Heph litterally adore him), but he's also a human and it's logical it could be not easy for him, sometimes....
It really makes sense he could have finally spoken his fears or insecurities, in such a moment, and Alexander's reaction(at first surprise and anger-"you DARE to interrupt your King?"- and then of great pain and fear to be adandoned-"Don't leave me then...I couldn't live without you"- it's perfectly balanced and plausible...

Wow....
I really can't wait for part two(and three?four?Five???^_^)...I can remember Bagoas saying they maybe made up in the mountains, riding alone...are we going to see it?^________^

Flora

[vommit_comet]

Well, Flora's basically covered everything that I was going to say. =P. So, if you are in need of my comenting, read Flora's over again and you'll understand my feelings towards this piece.

[japanpeterpan]

Holy! Guh! And no happy ending! Friction galore!
I, for one, am very content ^___^
Let him kill me in this rage, and then he may understand half the passion with which I have always touched him.
Their love is so violent! My innards shiver.

And we finally get to see Alexander standing his ground. Wow, he even leaves at the end. Pauvre Hephaistion! I don't need Fire from Heaven to sympathize with him here.

Oh gods, would write so much more, if I weren't so late already...
Just one more thing-- this things was skimpier on descriptions than your previous efforts, but so much dialogue... guh. /dialogue whore

[pseudonihilist]

you are always content with other people's unhappiness, n'est-ce pas? such is your UNQUENCHABLE SADISM.

and can i just express my incredible honour at having made your innards "shiver"? no mean feat. i am very proud.

<3, my loyal reader. your feedback means a lot to me. :)

[teza]

First off, I feel like I need a cigarette after that, inner angst whore most deliciously satisfied in a thorough manner.

Beautifully in keeping with the characterizations of the Renault novels. The dialog was tight, kept moving, and was disgustingly (and I mean that in the most delicious way possible) moving.

The switch from Alexander the King to just Alexander was interesting, particularly as Hephaestion's place did differ in Alexander's world depending on just which part Alexander was playing. I loved seeing Hephaestion pissy, angsty, but pushing back and snapping. Angry -- but not sitting down about it. They are both warriors, after all.

And I like that last line. Ooooh, TPB makes me so mad. Boo! Hiss! Spit! Bagoas Bad! Alexander never realized what he had! Boo! Hiss!

I better stop before I need to be medicated. XD

One note! About Hephaestion's past: There's no real information about it, but everything I could say, she says better -- and I'd just be quoting her anyway. The entire page is a lovely source for all things

[pseudonihilist]

i'm so glad you found this in synch with Renault's novels; when writing fanfic i can aspire to nothing higher :) one of the things i love about hephaistion and alexander's relationship is the fact that, really, it is the only relationship in alexander's life where he doesn't hold himself entirely above the other person, simply because, though Hephaistion worships him, he knows when to stand his ground, and that he doesn't always, or ever, have to be the servile, accomodating kiss-up that everyone thinks he is.

and yeah, i love bagoas, but hroom, you know? :D

thanks so much for the link!! i adore hephaistion, it will be fantastic to learn more about him...

i'm very glad you enjoyed this found this angst-worthy (omg *lights up with you*). thank you for reading and taking the time to comment :)

website

[mieza]

I found this via my site counter. My apologies for dropping in suddenly and uninvited, but I wanted to say thank you for the kind words about the site. There is, in fact, a live journal community for ATG's history (et al), called megalexandros.

Re: website

[teza]

Sneaky, sneaky! I'm always glad to provide more traffic for a site I abuse endlessly -- and I'm sure you'll be seeing much more in the future as soon as Stone's movie really starts making waves. ;)

Thank you for making such a wonderful resource and taking the time to make it good. My sister and I have even dedicated ourselves to attempting to retrain ourselves to saying Hephaestion's name the way he would be accustomed to hearing it, thanks to your gentle tutelage.

I also promptly joined the community. XD I thought I already hit all the big LJ communities about AtG.

[brightest_blue]

*dries tears*

Well, Hephaistion thought. Let him kill me in this rage, and then he may understand half the passion with which I have always touched him.

Oh yes, please! I mean, don't kill Hephaistion, but make Alexander understand somehow.

"I know," Hephaistion whispered. In my mind, I know. It is my heart that doubts. But the words remained unspoken.

*weeps some more*

After he was gone, Hephaistion still sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the tent flap. There would be no sleep for him that night, nor any Persian boys to ease his pain.

Argh. Generally, I like Bagoas, but sometimes, he's just in the way!

Oh, I do hope you continue this!

[pseudonihilist]

Bagoas does seem to be in the way a lot :( and the problem is, i can't hate him for it, which makes things all the more aggravating for Hephaistion.

thanks so much for reading and commenting! i will be continuing it shortly, i hope :)