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laylee.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2004-11-06 08:44 pm
laylee.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-11-06 08:44 pm
Entry tags:
Fall by Candle Beck (PG-13)
Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Dan/OMC; Dan/Casey
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
candle_beck
Author Website: ?
Why this must be read:
Sometimes I feel like we were only starting to get to know Dan Rydell when Sports Night was cancelled. Sure Aaron Sorkin later diverted much of the 'Essence of Dan' into the bundle of angst that is Josh Lyman, but Dan came first and it would have been so good to really explore what made him tick.
It's no secret that much of what makes Dan so fascinating and such a perfect subject for fanfic is the level of angst that has been bestowed upon him. The enduring legacy of his brothers' untimely death at sixteen is something that writers have been able to play with to an amazing extent, and Candle Beck is no slouch in the angst stakes.
The scene is Danny, in college, fresh from Sam's funeral and trying to make things work when they're obviously not. One night he meets Tom who takes him under his wing, and for a while things might be okay.
Tom has a crush on Kate, but he lets Dan kiss him in the bathroom of his dorm room as his roommate sleeps impatiently in the next room. Dan kisses him and presses him up against the towel rack and tries to steal away all of Tom's breath, and Tom's hand is warm on his chest through his shirt, the rising heat and the flush of sweat and the muffled sounds of their mouths against each other, and this is happening in a bathroom in a dorm at Dartmouth, this is happening at another four in the morning, because that's when these things happen, and Dan has seen too many fours in the morning since he got to college, because if you don't sleep you have trouble thinking, trouble remembering, and this is what he wants.
But Tom has his own problems to deal with and by the time Dan realises that, it's too late. Cut to New York the following summer where, while working as an intern at a small cable network, Dan meets Casey McCall and friendship ensues.
The first night Casey invites him out for a drink, Danny has one too many (five too many) and tells Casey he's got a girl's name, his voice cutting near cruel. Dan waits for Casey to realize Dan's an asshole and not talk to him anymore, but Casey just grins and says, "Yeah, and you've got a five year old's."
Only Dan is still having trouble dealing and this is where Candle Beck shines. Her ability to present a character constantly on the edge of falling is sublime. The way she writes Dan, you can feel that he's just barely hanging on and it would take only the slightest thing to tip him over. Tom is the perfect example of an original character who, while making a deep impression, does nothing to detract from the main characters. And while Casey is the lifeline Dan so desperately needs, he to has his hang-ups and issues that could easily destroy their friendship before it really gets going.
Fall
Pairing: Dan/OMC; Dan/Casey
Author on LJ:
candle_beckAuthor Website: ?
Why this must be read:
Sometimes I feel like we were only starting to get to know Dan Rydell when Sports Night was cancelled. Sure Aaron Sorkin later diverted much of the 'Essence of Dan' into the bundle of angst that is Josh Lyman, but Dan came first and it would have been so good to really explore what made him tick.
It's no secret that much of what makes Dan so fascinating and such a perfect subject for fanfic is the level of angst that has been bestowed upon him. The enduring legacy of his brothers' untimely death at sixteen is something that writers have been able to play with to an amazing extent, and Candle Beck is no slouch in the angst stakes.
The scene is Danny, in college, fresh from Sam's funeral and trying to make things work when they're obviously not. One night he meets Tom who takes him under his wing, and for a while things might be okay.
Tom has a crush on Kate, but he lets Dan kiss him in the bathroom of his dorm room as his roommate sleeps impatiently in the next room. Dan kisses him and presses him up against the towel rack and tries to steal away all of Tom's breath, and Tom's hand is warm on his chest through his shirt, the rising heat and the flush of sweat and the muffled sounds of their mouths against each other, and this is happening in a bathroom in a dorm at Dartmouth, this is happening at another four in the morning, because that's when these things happen, and Dan has seen too many fours in the morning since he got to college, because if you don't sleep you have trouble thinking, trouble remembering, and this is what he wants.
But Tom has his own problems to deal with and by the time Dan realises that, it's too late. Cut to New York the following summer where, while working as an intern at a small cable network, Dan meets Casey McCall and friendship ensues.
The first night Casey invites him out for a drink, Danny has one too many (five too many) and tells Casey he's got a girl's name, his voice cutting near cruel. Dan waits for Casey to realize Dan's an asshole and not talk to him anymore, but Casey just grins and says, "Yeah, and you've got a five year old's."
Only Dan is still having trouble dealing and this is where Candle Beck shines. Her ability to present a character constantly on the edge of falling is sublime. The way she writes Dan, you can feel that he's just barely hanging on and it would take only the slightest thing to tip him over. Tom is the perfect example of an original character who, while making a deep impression, does nothing to detract from the main characters. And while Casey is the lifeline Dan so desperately needs, he to has his hang-ups and issues that could easily destroy their friendship before it really gets going.
Fall
no subject
Candle is on LJ (
no subject
Wonderful characterizations, and I just love Candle's style!
Tom does well in hallways, in stairwells, in alleys. He is this kind of charming, in in-between places, during maybe-nights, in the complicated drafts of the mixed light, the moon and electricity. Tom doesn't stay anywhere for too long, he ducks in and out, and everybody likes him, and they look up a few minutes after he's left and wonder where he's gone.
Beautiful.
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Thanks for that. I'll add it to my post.
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no subject
but hey, thanks for the rec.
no subject