Perverse Admiration

Fanfiction
Title:	Perverse Admiration
Author(s):	schemingreader
Date(s):	21 February 2010
Length:	2285 words
Genre:	sequel, adult
Fandom:	Mary Renault
External Links:	archived on AO3
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Perverse Admiration is a short story by schemingreader based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It is set fifteen years after the novel, in 1955.

Synopsis

When Ralph goes to London to hear a speaker from the Mattachine Society, he is surprised to discover that it is Andrew Raynes. He is even more surprised when, afterwards, Andrew makes a pass at him.

Comments

Comments included the following:

[Naraht]

It also seemed absolutely right to me that Andrew would have been writing to Laurie and Laurie would have silently been putting the letters aside. Ralph underestimates the depths of Laurie's attachment to him.

[schemingreader]

I wanted to explore Andrew as a person--if he had the guts to be a conscientious objector, wouldn't he also have the guts to come out to himself? I'm glad you found that part plausible. I also thought Ralph might have a pretty serious drinking problem to work through after the war was over.

[Naraht]

Being a conscientious objector did take a lot of guts, whether one came from a Quaker background or not. Andrew was, in my opinion, a stronger character than Laurie thought he was, and probably a more adaptable one. [...]

[greerwatson]

I like your Ralph: his uncertainties, and the reassurance he finds at the end. I'm a little less certain of your Andrew. Not his association with Mattachine: assuming he does recognize his own homosexuality, that is one very possible response. I'm a little less sure of his cottaging. But then, he was very young in The Charioteer; and fifteen years is a long time. A lot happened in those years—in the world, and hence to the characters, including Andrew. What he lived through (and how his experiences would affect him) is outwith the scope of your story. You show us the Andrew he becomes.