Fic: Feet of Clay [Watchmen, Adrian Veidt/Alexander the Great/Hephaistion]

[glitterburn]

Title: Feet of Clay
Fandom: Watchmen
Pairing: Adrian Veidt/Alexander the Great/Hephaistion
Summary: Adrian goes back in time to Libya, 331 BC in order to meet the one man who’s ever truly meant anything to him.
Rating: R
Word count: 4643
Notes: This was written in response to Someone’s prompt at watchmenkink, which asked for Adrian/Alexander. Er, not much

Comments

[aitakute]

Fuck. Ohmygod.
I am just speechless. When I saw "Adrian/Alexander" I didn't expect this - but then again I don't really know what to expect from you I suppose, it's always a shocker of some sort.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this fic, because seriously.. wow. I mean, like, now when I think of the scene in the movie when Adrian waxes lyrical about Alexander and then he pauses for a moment, now the only thing I can think of is longing. Of him recalling this moment - the moment when he was transported back into the past to witness the rise of his most beloved hero, and of the question he's asked at the oracle, and of everything that has happened... I bet he thinks he's gonna beat the oracle at his game

[glitterburn]

Thank you! This was fairly difficult to put together because so much symbolism went into it that probably only a Classics geek would spot everything o_O I did a course on Philip, Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms in my final year of undergrad so I retained just enough knowledge for this LOL.

Originally what I was aiming to do was to have Adrian usurp Alexander without realising it, but Alexander wasn't that daft. So I made Adrian the anti-Alexander, which is why Alexander likens him indirectly to Olympias and directly to Philip - in a way Alexander is as much a creation of Adrian's preconceptions as Alexander was the creation of Olympias and Philip.

Hephaistion's getting it while he can. Bagaos lurks! XD

[sandrine]

Oh! This is really intriguing! The pairing kind of made me go o.O for a second, but you managed to make it work perfectly. Your characterization of Adrian in particular is fascinating: I love how human you made him with all his flaws, his vanity, his longing, his aspiration for greatness, and how he still seemed, in a way, just as detatched as he did in the movie.

I also liked your Hephaistion a lot, who seemed so much more real and three-dimensional than what the Alexander movie made of him (a movie which I hated, but apparently it still left more of an impact than I though, despite my falling asleep halfway through, because I couldn't stop picturing Colin Farrell here, LMAO!).

And the sex was very hot, with Alexander being all dismissive and Adrian barely being able to hold back!

[glitterburn]

Thank you! It's funny, I was thinking a lot about Ally's insistence that she never wanted to meet Jenson because it would ruin her fantasies about him... and of course it's always a danger, meeting someone you idolise. So should Adrian risk meeting Alexander? He probably shouldn't have done it, but...

We walked out of Alexander about a third of the way through if I recall correctly. I had period pain exacerbated by the sheer crapness on the screen :/ I did wonder if anyone would imagine Colin Farrell though!

[sandrine]

And all I can think now is, "I wouldn't mind meeting Jenson." :P But then, I don't idolize him, exactly, LOL!

I don't exactly remember much about Alexander apart from the fact that Colin was looking good and the movie was utter crap. At some point, I fell asleep at Josi's shoulder, and when I woke up, 20+ years had passed and Alexander's apparently immortal horse was still alive and kicking. *facepalm*

Have a great time at Val's!!!

[deltachild]

*chews fist* I've just come back from seeing the movie a second time and my brain has just been split open by this.

I like how Adrian isn't all-conquering or in charge, he seems far more human here than he does in the film. Alexander's partial dismissal of him, mixed in with Hephaistion shifting the dynamic by accepting Adrian is pretty mind-bending really. Adrian's thoughts whilst watching A & H were a delight to read, and rather hot too.

Adrian's loss of control, which builds wonderfully from his description of his hero and Alexander's aloofness towards him, is very well handed and I could *hear* it happening. The little bit of bitchiness right at the end is superb as well, Queen Ozy strike again.

There are some glorious descriptions in this, I could feel the dry heat and almost smell the camels. Very easy to become absorbed in.

*hugs fic* Fucked up, but gloriously so.

[glitterburn]

Thank you for reading!

I'm sort of tempted to watch it again too, after having Adrian in my head since Sunday @@

I was thinking his detachment in the movie could partially stem from massive disappointment (as well as massive over-thinking LOL), and what could be more disappointing than meeting your hero and finding him lacking? Especially if you've built him up so much and modelled yourself on him - does it mean you're lacking, too?

I'm intrigued by Adrian's choice of Egyptian artefacts. Something needs to be done with those XD

[dislex1a]

I've been wanting to leave a proper review of this that isn't just me squeeing, but it's proving to be really hard! Thanks for writing the prompt! XD

I am so in awe of what you've done with this. I love how the themes and metaphors from both comic and movie are blended with the ancient setting. It's obvious Alan Moore used a lot of Classical themes in the comic and it's wonderful how you combine Alexander's thirst for world conquest with Adrian's quest to know everything.

From the start, the fact that Adrian is disappointed that Alexander isn't as beautiful as he was hoping for is a hint of how, even though he admires Alexander, he's subconsciously trying to usurp him. I love it. Even if Adrian's not aware of it he's constantly comparing himself to Alexander and finding him lacking. I was really taken with the dynamics of the sex scene and how the balance shifts to Adrian being the centre of attention and Alexander being the watcher while Adrian has Hephastion

[glitterburn]

Thank you!

What I find interesting is that Adrian doesn't rate Julius Caesar (who famously wept over a statue of Alexander from jealousy at achieving so little in comparison by the time he was 30), but he's named for arguably the greatest Roman emperor, Hadrian, who ruled when Rome was at its peak in terms of empire (and who also had a male lover). Adrian only goes for winners.

Yes!! The usurption thing - originally that was the point of the fic but it kind of swung in a slightly different direction. I'm so glad it still came across that way :D

When diagon read it through I was worried that it'd be too, uh, complicated so I'm glad it was a smooth ride. As I said to aitakute, I spent a long time sticking all kinds of Deep and Meaningful stuff in there to please feed my inner squeeing Classicist. I was kinda hinting at the destruction of the world thing with the snakes, as snakes were more than messengers of death, to the Greeks they were the actual embodiment of a dead person. I forgot the ourobouros though, that's a good point

[dislex1a]

Interesting point about Caesar! Perhaps he found Caesar's eventual descent into megalomania a weakness he couldn't look past? I like the point about Hadrian though, although it does raise the question of whether Adrian ever had an Antinous. XD

The usurption theme is especially strong during the sex scene, but I loved how you built it up slowly.

I was kinda hinting at the destruction of the world thing with the snakes, as snakes were more than messengers of death, to the Greeks they were the actual embodiment of a dead person.

This just makes me love the snake motif even more now! Also, the way he diverts the whole party's attention and points out the crows is also very ominous...

Yay for you posting this on the comms! *g* Enjoy Germany ;)

[glitterburn]

Thank you

[glitterburn]

I think Adrian did, he's a massive Alexander fanboy so a lot of his expectations are preconceptions from what remains of the historical record - Arrian, bless him, was writing much later and we don't have all of Callisthenes' account. So it goes back to the 'should you meet your hero' question - it's one thing to build an image of a contemporary celebrity and meet them, but another to meet someone labouring under the full weight of history.

I didn't consider the watching as being indicative of godly omniscience but of course it does come across like that - mainly I was punning on the 'who watches the Watchmen' tag of the comics but yeah, gods watch.

Yeah I was thinking what if Alexander made it through to China. Considering the state of his army it probably wouldn't have lasted across Tibet and into Xinjiang like the Roman legion did after the Parthian campagn but still - what if he had made it. An interesting time to visit China, to be sure.

Gosh, I haven't read Mary Renault in years (like, in about 22 years LMAO!). I should try