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October 1st, 2004
01:20 pm - OOC
This is just a note to say that while this journal will continue, I will no longer be writing the Jack Aubrey character for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) theatrical_muse. I haven't had the time, and my perceptions of the character have altered as I've been reading the novels, and I thought it would be more fair to give someone else a chance. You are welcome to remain on my friends list, to leave comments and to RP here if you'd like.
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August 23rd, 2004
10:49 pm
Indeed, this looks to be a ship I should be proud to command!
I have returned from my travels but must speak to my lawyers before I attend to any further correspondence.
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August 14th, 2004
08:43 am
This must be a brief letter because the ship carrying our mail is about to depart. I am very sorry for my long silence -- we have encountered a blow of many days' duration and now I must make haste to make repairs and reach the south. I do wish everyone at home my dearest love and I shall try to send a letter by the end of the month.
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July 26th, 2004
09:02 pm
The Muse asks: What is your weapon of choice?
I am a great believer in exercising the great guns, and in shooting practice for a crew while marooned on land waiting for a ship. I have dueled successfully on a few occasions, though how happy I am that Stephen and I never came to that meeting. My skill with a sword is fair, and I can knock a man on the head with a log if I must. But I would prefer to negotiate, though with a well-armed fleet at my back.
And the Muse asks: Would you choose to live forever if you had the choice?
Lord, how can I answer that? So much would depend on the circumstances of my life and those of others. Would Sophie live forever as well? Would my children and their children? Would Stephen and his family? Would our health remain robust? Would I be in a position to provide for them?
I think sometimes that I could live happily forever at sea, with an able crew and Stephen beside me, with no immediate demands from the Admiralty, but perhaps I would grow bored. Sooner or later the war with Buonaparte is certain to end, and there will be no prizes to take. I have not been so lucky on land, except what matters most: the well-being of my family. But I have given little thought to Heaven and any other life.
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12:10 pm
I have been at sea for several weeks and I see that I have a great deal of catching up to do.
In the meantime, I have been given the following unpleasant fortune from what I suspect to be an unscrupulous fortuneteller.
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June 28th, 2004
01:31 pm
The Muse asks: How do you view commitment?
If one is speaking of the commitment between a man and his wife, I suppose I am brought by the lee no matter what answer I give. I cannot find it in me to admire a whore like Molly Harte, and I despise the way Diana has used Stephen, and I cannot even think of Sophie betraying me in such a manner. Yet Stephen has accused me rightly of spouse-breach, even if I was hellish angry that he would say such a thing, and I never thought of my affairs as anything other than earthy pleasure until that terrible time with Amanda Smith when she claimed that I had gotten her with child. Sophie might forgive me for a child conceived before our marriage, but I know what she thinks of men to whom the commandment don't signify.
When it comes to commitment to one's ship and one's mates, on the other hand, I can be absolute. I have always served to the best of my abilities and would gladly risk my life to save a drowning man. I would face death a hundred times again to save Stephen from a place like Mahon.
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01:29 pm
The Muse asks: What have you most regretted losing?
There is not a single sailor lost under my command whose death I have not regretted, even those who fell due to their own incompetence or difficulty in learning the ways of the ship. I have also been distressed by every court-martial I have ever witnessed, even those where men sentenced to death were guilty of their crimes. I can make it signify with murder, but it brings me low when men are run up for trying to sneak back to their sweethearts or breaking discipline with one another, especially men who repent of their crimes.
What I have most regretted losing, however, is time. I was astonished when I saw my little girls after nearly a year at sea! And I never even knew that Sophie was to have another child until I learned of George's birth when the mail finally reached us. Stephen is always complaining how we rush him from one place to the next, crying that there is not a moment to lose, and as happy as it makes me to have a good wind behind me, I sometimes think that there is something to what he says.
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June 13th, 2004
12:25 am
The Muse asks: If you knew that the world would end tomorrow, what would you do today?
I suppose that I had better read my Bible and learn what I ought to do if the world would end tomorrow! I do hope that if I received such warning, I should be close enough at home to spend time with Sophie and the children, and selfishly I would want Stephen at my side as well, though there are others whom I am sure he would wish to see if it was his last day alive.
But I think that I would prefer not to know, just as a sailor can never know what storms or shoals may wait for him along an unknown coastline. I would be just as happy to meet the end of the world all unaware, looking through my glass at Jupiter or sitting in my cabin with Stephen sharing a glass of wine and a last performance of the Corelli adagio just for ourselves.
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12:24 am
The Muse asks: What's a typical day for you?
That depends entirely upon whether I am on land or at sea and what sort of conditions may occur. At home, a typical day often involves trying to bring my financial interests to fruition, making an attempt to tend my garden, playing with my children, appeasing my wife's mother and perhaps visiting with someone from the Admiralty Office who might be able to get me a ship. Often I retreat to my observatory after dealing with these necessities.
On a calm sea, a typical day may have such routine that each flows into the next: I will wake, bathe, eat, observe the quarterdeck, check our course and speed, send the gun crews to practice, make notes in the log, inspect for any repairs or alterations that I believe are necessary, oversee the stores and perhaps Stephen and I might have some music in the evening. However, if it comes on to blow or if an enemy sail appears on the horizon, a hundred different decisions may be made before a single turn of the glass, and sometimes I neither sleep nor eat anything beyond what Killick can hand me on the deck for an entire day.
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June 8th, 2004
08:57 pm
| jack_aubrey's bits are best described as his "lascivious lance". |
Indeed! Ha, ha.
Oh dear, letters have arrived in Recife, and I see that I have a great many to write now!
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May 31st, 2004
01:08 pm
The Muse asks: If you could invent a holiday, what and when would it be? What special traditions would take place on that day?
I believe that all seamen in His Majesty's Navy should celebrate the birthday of Lord Nelson, the greatest admiral England has known, each 29th of September. His death of course is commemorated on Trafalgar Day, but that is a celebration of our great naval victory and not of the man's achievements.
On my ship we always drink a toast to Nelson on that day, although it is common at dinner to drink a toast to Nelson when we are going into action or on any occasion when the great man's name is mentioned at the table. I should like us to celebrate as we do at Christmas, with a feast, and by remembering the admiral's great battles and words of advice to sailors. Why, I could tell my own anecdotes!
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May 28th, 2004
May 22nd, 2004
12:02 pm
The Muse asks: What would constitute a "perfect" evening for you?
I suppose that, to begin with, I would like to spend the afternoon with my family and say a proper farewell to Sophie and the children before sailing upon the evening tide. Bonden might row me out to the ship, and for once Killick might smile a little at how well my sea chest has been packed.
With Pullings aboard, I have no great concerns that our departure should not run smoothly, though I would of course be on deck until the sails were set and the harbor behind us. On a perfect evening, the wind would fill the sails at once, and I would see the stars emerge one by one. Then below, for a late meal, conversation and music with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stephen_maturin. Ideally our destination would offer the opportunity both for prizes and the sorts of things that interest a natural philosopher, and we would talk fondly of our hopes for the voyage. Truly I think I could ask for no more.
Whatever can this mean?
| Informationi | | Captain Jack Aubrey is a restricted area. Authorised personnel only |
From Go-Quiz.com
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May 18th, 2004
03:51 pm
I received the following rather cryptic letter from a certain Blowfish (perhaps stephen_maturin might enlighten me):
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Liquid Silk & Maximus Back in Stock!
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We're very, very pleased to announce that, after an extended delay, our two favorite lubes of all time are back in stock: Liquid Silk and Maximus. We're terribly sorry for the long wait, but we're very happy to have them back!
If you've been waiting to buy them, now's the time. And if you have never tried them, you really should. Liquid Silk is like nothing else: It doesn't get tacky as it dries out, but it cleans up neatly and quickly. People who use it swear by it. If you want something a bit thicker than Liquid Silk, we also have Maximus: much the same, only a bit more goopy... perfect for anal sex, or if you just want a thicker lube.
You can find them at:
Liquid Silk
Maximus
What on earth have you been doing, my dear maximus_tm? I must beg a little more discretion! Perhaps I had better familiarise you with Article XXIX before the Admiralty Office learns that you are on my ship.
And oh, dear.
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May 15th, 2004
09:07 pm
The Muse asks: Who is your personal role model?
In matters of warfare, one could hardly ask for a better role model than Lord Nelson. He was perhaps not the greatest of seamen, but in courage and passion, he had no equals. The men followed him without hesitation. I have heard that he had a rather unconventional arrangement with his mistress and her husband, which I must admit also intrigues me.
I have known other men with qualities that I admired: their ability to triumph over an unfortunate birth, or their brilliance at astronomy, or their fearless handling of a ship in the sort of seas where any mistake may cause the entire crew to be lost. But we are all fallible, even very admirable men like that soldier fellow stillsharpe and the warrior tyr_anasazi. I can respect the seamanship of tm_jacksparrow while finding his choice of profession, if one can call it that, deplorable. It seems to me that maximus_tm is a very admirable man but I do not envy him the life he lived.
I am not certain that it would do to look up too much to any one man.
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May 14th, 2004
09:37 pm
I offered an invitation to maximus_tm to come to sea with me. stephen_maturin agreed with me that a change of environment might do much to improve his mood, which has been so very low, and I have often found that when a man is at sea, he forgets all his troubles on land.
I suppose one might say that there have been some completely unexpected consequences of this invitation.
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May 8th, 2004
01:04 pm
The Muse asks: What is good and what is evil?
Tyranny is evil. Men like Napoleon are not to be countenanced. As for what is good, that is a rather more complicated question. There are men who will insist that peace is better than war, yet sometimes war is the only way to have peace. Loyalty, and skill at one's profession, and respect for one's fellows are all to the good. But although I think I am guilty of only a few of the deadly sins, perhaps I do not have enough of the virtues.
The other day I was upset with stephen_maturin because I came across him removing the seal on a letter so that he could copy the correspondence. The letter was from a known spy, and I am sure he felt that what he did was necessary in the war against Bonaparte, yet I cannot help but feel that the breaking of seals on private letters is ungentlemanly and ungallant. As he has said to me, however, I feel no qualm about flying the American colors and signalling a French ship that I am anything other than British so that I may approach her for an engagement.
Perhaps I shall preach a sermon on the evils of drunkenness this Sunday...oh, but if I should do that, Stephen will begin to speak to me again about the pernicious effects of grog on sailors. I am not the best man to enter into discussions of good and evil, I think!
Also, I have recently been asked to sit for an exam and have received a rather indiscreet result:
My name means You Are Gay, but cover it by acting like a playboy in front of the ladies.
Take WHAT YOUR NAME MEANS today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.
Might this be a joke? Stephen?
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May 1st, 2004
11:54 am
The Muse asks: What would your life be, if it were a movie? Comedy, horror, drama, sci-fi? And who would play you?
I do not believe that I could call my life a comedy, although I believe I can be very witty. Nor has it ever been a horror, not even in debtor's prison though to be sure that was an unpleasant experience, and I can't think of anything beyond the ordinary that has happened to me that would allow me to call it science fiction. stephen_maturin would certainly have told me if any of the mermaids or man-eating spiders were not to be found in nature, as I am certain he would have asked me to transport one back on the ship! So I suppose that my life would be a drama. I do hope that if a Shakespeare were to write it, he would not make it a tragedy but would show my adventures in the best possible way.
As to who would play me...I suppose I should like that maximus_tm fellow. The resemblance between us is quite remarkable, and from what I understand, he is considered an excellent fighter and a stalwart defender of his empire. I should like to see him standing on the bowsprit shouting, "Unleash hell!"
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April 27th, 2004
01:46 pm
The Muse asks: Which is preferable, democracy or monarchy?
Men must be governed, and even in the natural world one can observe the hierarchies of greater and lesser animals. Democracy, it seems to me, must inevitably lead to violence -- one has only to recall the bloody war in America and to see what has been unleashed in France to understand that anarchy will swiftly follow the mob rule, and that can only pave the way for a tyrant.
Certainly some rulers are wiser than others, and some of their relatives and the men they appoint to posts make one wish that governors were always chosen for their merits, not their inheritances. But that is not the same thing as declaring that the whims of men should choose their leaders. No, I will fight to protect my kingdom as a kingdom.
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April 19th, 2004
02:14 pm
The Muse asks: If you could live anywhere, where would you and why?
For many years I longed to live in a cottage with a garden overlooking the water, but I have found the dream and the reality of that life are far removed. Indeed, when I am on land I am happiest in my little observatory, looking sometimes at the stars, sometimes at the ships docking in Portsmouth; I find that I grow restless, wandering at night to play my violin by the light of a lantern far from the house.
The simple truth is that I prefer to live at sea on a fine ship. By a fine ship I don't mean the grandest ship of the line, nor a ship furnished like an Indiaman for passengers, but a vessel that can come up on the wind and move like an eager hawk toward her prey. I have loved most of my commands, for all their faults, perhaps even the Polychrest in the end, as much as they could be made into fine sea-birds.
It is a shame, I suppose, that I cannot often take my son with me, nor see my family when I am at sea, but what should the girls do on a long sea voyage? Ha, ha. Still, I should like to have a grand cabin with windows to see the water, and play music with stephen_maturin in the evenings before studying the stars.
Current Music: Singing on deck
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