Okay okay anon I've been dying to read this ever since I sneaked a peek at the summary during a brief respite from crazy family Christmas duties and I've been having a prettyemotionalday for various reasons as I'm sure you can imagine, so to finally be able to read this was just the absolute best Christmas present.
I can't even tell you how much I love this AU, seriously. I'm so fascinated by the postwar railroad boom and how it shaped America, and the massive gulfs in society - East-West, rich-poor, rural-urban - that opened up in those decades. And this just evoked all that so effortlessly and so interestingly, with the circus as this transient group of cosmopolitan outsiders watching the country change as they move through it. I just LOVE IT ALL. The whole thing has this tense, uneasy feeling to it, that conflict between relying on normative society for income and support, and being subject to its judgment and prejudice, and how that taints everything but also brings the circusfolk closer together. Hahaha excellent analogy for
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I haven't even gotten on to Adam and David and how they BREAK MY HEART with their sad half-love. Ahhhh it's on one hand so perfect and beautiful and all-consuming and there are paragraphs like this that just stop my heart and make me want to cry with how perfect they are for each other:
The way a smile can spread across Adam's face when he sees David sends the only chills David knows through his body; when Adam looks at him David feels like nothing outside of the two of them exists
But then there's that whole conflict at the heart of it, the conflict that basically frames the whole premise, old vs new, how Adam to some extent reluctantly represents the advances of industrialisation and technology (that whole section about telegraphs and oil and coal and dust and turntables and Morse code was so haunting, I could almost hear the gears grinding and the cogs whirring - his family's blood runs on these tracks - ahhhh youuuu <3 <3 <3) and David is this force of nature who's always looking to the hills and the trees and looking backwards
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Wow. This is the BEST comment I've ever received for something I've written so thank you! I am so so so glad you enjoyed it. The idea randomly popped into my head while I was listening to a song and I ran with it thinking 'god, I hope she doesn't hate this'. To be honest, I really had to hold myself back, and I think that showed in the story structure. If I had all the time in the world (lol procrastination... L O L), I'm sure this would have been MUCH longer, and Adam wouldn't have come off so flat of a character (although part of that might be British stoicism). Plus I could have added more to Samir/Micah, David and his weird 'is he, is he not' father/son relationship with Mancini, and more banter between the circus guys. As such, I might re-write it to add more in the future because I think it could do with some polishing.... ahhhhh I'm babbling.
But thank you so so so so so much for this amazing comment. It really made my day when I saw it (I was grinning like an idiot) <3 <3
I never wanted this to end. It's so beautiful and dreamy and full of wonder and fear, a fairytale set on the railroads: the premise could not be more perfect. I love trains and railroads, and I love the expansion of rail in North America and the idea of life lived out of boxcars and the mechanics of it all and it is my life long dream to be in charge of a station like Adam aahh I'm not even joking. And David with that fierceness of his translated into the fire, juxtaposed with the emotion of Adam who is completely human, ah I can't express how much it made me feel, visceral reactions to David's struggle and Adam's sadness. I love AUs that mirror real life, and the way they behaved with each other, almost purposefully sabotauging their happiness together because it's too much, it could be too perfect, more than they are willing to risk ugh boys <3 <3
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Living in and being in charge of a station like that would be seriously bad ass! Ha ha! I'm glad you liked this, and your comment is so sweet ^_^ It's my first time writing this pairing as more than just a 'together a long time ago but you never see anything' reference, and I'm pleased it didn't fall to pieces.
Beside my gift, this is my fav. fic in the exchange! It's really fun to read, and I love the way the story creates the pics in my mind. The feeling of wonder is similar to when i read darren shan series for the first time years ago. And I love the reference to their RL situation although i'm glad you didn't write this after boxing day, cough. Well done! and i certainly wouldn't mind some spin-off
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I can't even tell you how much I love this AU, seriously. I'm so fascinated by the postwar railroad boom and how it shaped America, and the massive gulfs in society - East-West, rich-poor, rural-urban - that opened up in those decades. And this just evoked all that so effortlessly and so interestingly, with the circus as this transient group of cosmopolitan outsiders watching the country change as they move through it. I just LOVE IT ALL. The whole thing has this tense, uneasy feeling to it, that conflict between relying on normative society for income and support, and being subject to its judgment and prejudice, and how that taints everything but also brings the circusfolk closer together. Hahaha excellent analogy for ( ... )
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The way a smile can spread across Adam's face when he sees David sends the only chills David knows through his body; when Adam looks at him David feels like nothing outside of the two of them exists
But then there's that whole conflict at the heart of it, the conflict that basically frames the whole premise, old vs new, how Adam to some extent reluctantly represents the advances of industrialisation and technology (that whole section about telegraphs and oil and coal and dust and turntables and Morse code was so haunting, I could almost hear the gears grinding and the cogs whirring - his family's blood runs on these tracks - ahhhh youuuu <3 <3 <3) and David is this force of nature who's always looking to the hills and the trees and looking backwards ( ... )
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But thank you so so so so so much for this amazing comment. It really made my day when I saw it (I was grinning like an idiot) <3 <3
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Thank you <3
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