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anactoria.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2010-03-25 12:43 am
anactoria.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2010-03-25 12:43 am
How To Dismantle An Ideological Bomb by smirnoffmule (NC-17)
Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Adrian/Dan
Length: ~5000
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
smirnoffmule
Author Website: Author's fic comm
Why this must be read: I feel like this could fit perfectly into canon, and it captures everything that's so compelling about this pairing. It's pretty bleak, and what makes it work so well is the fact they come so close to making some kind of connection, but don't quite manage it. The conversation they have is revealing (it really taps into the sense of dread that runs throughout canon), and so is the sex-- it isn't just there for Teh Hawt, although that's certainly a factor.
The characterisation is dead-on, too -- Adrian having his mind entirely on the bigger picture, and unable to relate it to the lives of individuals or make a personal connection, even with the person he's sleeping with, and Dan being desperate to make a difference, almost, almost understanding something about what's going on behind Adrian's facade, but not quite managing it. I think that, at the end of the day, is what's so good about this fic. The almost-ness.
“It's been done before,” Adrian says. “Not quite on the scale, but the numbers involved become meaningless. Nobody is a murderer, but everyone is a cog in a machine. Killing people with your hands is rapidly becoming the old fashioned way.”
He seems so relaxed, and Dan grasps at this for comfort. Adrian is fond of ideas; he'll take them apart just to put them back together again. This kind of back and forth is a gentleman's sport for him. They could be talking about anything.
“It's all so... bloodless, somehow,” Dan says. “Makes a good old fashioned stabbing seem like honest work.”
“It makes bringing to justice a man who murdered one person seem like turning your collar up against a tidal wave.”
“Maybe it takes people like us to remember each one of those meaningless numbers is a person.” Dan's paper cup is giving up the ghost, between the liquor and the sweat on his hands. He puts it aside and swigs from the bottle. Adrian is looking at him, his regard intense enough to be unsettling. Taking him apart, Dan thinks, to put him back together again.
“You have a good heart, Dan,” Adrian says. “You think like a hero.”
How To Dismantle An Ideological Bomb
Pairing: Adrian/Dan
Length: ~5000
Author on LJ:
smirnoffmuleAuthor Website: Author's fic comm
Why this must be read: I feel like this could fit perfectly into canon, and it captures everything that's so compelling about this pairing. It's pretty bleak, and what makes it work so well is the fact they come so close to making some kind of connection, but don't quite manage it. The conversation they have is revealing (it really taps into the sense of dread that runs throughout canon), and so is the sex-- it isn't just there for Teh Hawt, although that's certainly a factor.
The characterisation is dead-on, too -- Adrian having his mind entirely on the bigger picture, and unable to relate it to the lives of individuals or make a personal connection, even with the person he's sleeping with, and Dan being desperate to make a difference, almost, almost understanding something about what's going on behind Adrian's facade, but not quite managing it. I think that, at the end of the day, is what's so good about this fic. The almost-ness.
“It's been done before,” Adrian says. “Not quite on the scale, but the numbers involved become meaningless. Nobody is a murderer, but everyone is a cog in a machine. Killing people with your hands is rapidly becoming the old fashioned way.”
He seems so relaxed, and Dan grasps at this for comfort. Adrian is fond of ideas; he'll take them apart just to put them back together again. This kind of back and forth is a gentleman's sport for him. They could be talking about anything.
“It's all so... bloodless, somehow,” Dan says. “Makes a good old fashioned stabbing seem like honest work.”
“It makes bringing to justice a man who murdered one person seem like turning your collar up against a tidal wave.”
“Maybe it takes people like us to remember each one of those meaningless numbers is a person.” Dan's paper cup is giving up the ghost, between the liquor and the sweat on his hands. He puts it aside and swigs from the bottle. Adrian is looking at him, his regard intense enough to be unsettling. Taking him apart, Dan thinks, to put him back together again.
“You have a good heart, Dan,” Adrian says. “You think like a hero.”
How To Dismantle An Ideological Bomb