Watchmen fic: Last Days of an Unreal City, chapter 10 - Jus in Bello

[scarlet_carsons]

Title: Last Days of an Unreal City - Chapter 10 - Jus in Bello
Characters: Rorschach/Nite Owl II
Rating: PG-13
Word count (this section): 5406
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Alan Moore.
Summary: AU. The Cold War reaches its ultimate conclusion, and Rorschach and Daniel are among the survivors when the East Coast is attacked.

Many thanks to runriggers for

Comments

[sipstrassi]

Hahaha! Snoreschach! Brilliant! =]

I really adore this story so!

I always check to see if you have updated it and I was SO happy to see that you have =P

Like always, you're writing style is great and the relationship between Daniel and Rorschach is practically perfect!

Can't wait for more...really, I can't wait hehe *smiles widely*

[scarlet_carsons]

Thank you! :)

Updates seem to be every 2-3 weeks of late - I'm hoping that my typing output will speed out towards the end. Endings are a bit like riding downhill on a bicycle after an uphill climb.

[findmyantidrug]

Aw man, I'm sure you can see this coming from a mile away but I loved this chapter. Finally! Adrian! And interrogations! And Dan trying to start a conversation with the one person in the world who is the least likely to want to talk about menial shit for the sake of talking!

I really liked the conversation with Adrian, in part because you showed their relationship really well - polite and friendly but not really close - and in part because Adrian makes a statement just by his appearance, and especially with the news he brings. My jaw actually dropped when he told Dan about the Secretary of Commerce acting as President, 'cause...damn. Also! Love love love this line: He thought of Laurie, alone and without nicotine, and he felt a quiet need to protect her, whether she needed it or not. because yay! Dan hasn't completely forgotten about Laurie! I think that's really great, because so often in slash fics that break up canon pairings the woman ends up bashed/completely forgotten, which is definitely not Dan's style

[findmyantidrug]

Aw geez what I also wanted to add: I'm crossing my fingers in the hopes that Rorschach and Adrian are going to bump into each other. That can only be hilarious (or, y'know, tense and antagonistic).

[scarlet_carsons]

Thank you. I enjoy writing Adrian far too much. He is the HBIC.

'Dan hasn't completely forgotten about Laurie! I think that's really great, because so often in slash fics that break up canon pairings the woman ends up bashed/completely forgotten, which is definitely not Dan's style.'

I'd feel like an ass if I ignored Laurie, and I'd feel like Dan was an ass if he forgot her. If I had unlimited writing energy reserves, I'd write a companion fic about what she and Jon are doing while Dan and Rorschach screw around in NY.

'Line that I feel the most guilty about laughing at (and laughing at hard, too): Oh, I walked into a door.'

When I first wrote about Rorschach punching Daniel, I was like, 'WAIT NO HITTING YOUR PARTNER IS A TERRIBLE THING'... Then I remembered that they both seem to be pretty blase about violence (HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS? NOT IN MY FIC), and figured that Dan would be more, 'oh well, he hit me, I'm going to be self-deprecating about it' more than anything. Hrm.

Speaking of being blase about violence...

'I also really

[okypete_harpy]

"Oh. Just wondering," Daniel said. "You have a, uh, slight accent. Sometimes."
Rorschach canted his head to one side. "Do not."
"It's not obvious. It only really shows when you're angry. You'd have to listen really closely in order to hear it, though."
I imagine Dan would have paid close attention to that, trying to glean as much about his mysterious and secretive partner as he can.

The first time Daniel had seen a human corpse, he had mistaken it for an abandoned shop mannequin
I love that. That actually does happen.

Some asshole had planted a rosebush on the other side of the fence. They endured it stoically.
I laughed at that.

"Was that really necessary?" Daniel asked.
Rorschach shrugged. "He's fine."
"How can you tell?"
"Practice."
Oh Rorschach.

"It does. It will have to be investigated in due time; obviously, I'm very busy, and I'd rather worry about the survivors right now. Any luck finding Hollis?"
WAY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT, ADRIAN. >:|

Occupational hazard of being a Nice Jewish Boy. Is that a reference to the calendar

[scarlet_carsons]

'Is that a reference to the calendar that was linked to/the inspiration for Mr. November on the Kink Meme?'

lol, oh wow, I never even saw that until you mentioned it. (And I'm glad you did!) I'd just been reading about Jewish stereotypes of masculinity because the subject of Jewish nerds came up in this blog post, and I was like, 'oh, Dan fits the nerdy Jewish guy trope, I seeeee.' (I'm Captain Oblivious when it comes to race and religion tropes, sometimes.)

'I'm really enjoying this! I look forward to the time when they find out Adrian is behind Jon leaving.'

Thank you! (Adrian is a minx.)

[okypete_harpy]

Cool. That blog post is interesting. (And yeah, I never thought of Dan as Jewish at all until some authors wrote him that way.)

He is. I envy the way he's able to control all the situations and conversations he finds himself in, how he always puts the focus on the other person.

[scarlet_carsons]

I didn't consider him to be Jewish at all until someone pointed out that Dreiberg is a Jewish surname; it was another one of those things what whooshed right over my head when I first read the comic. I was pretty unaware of the stereotypes surrounding nerdy Jewish intellectuals, too.

[scarlet_carsons]

Thanks. :)

'I'm glad Dan forgot to mention Pyramid to Adrian, since I'm guessing Adrian is still behind Manhattan's disappearance. (And things just got out of control with the nuclear strike.)'

Adrian is a bit tricky to write in some respects, because it's impossible to hide the fact that he's up to something, but I don't want to reveal his motivations too much. (Then again, at least Just Between You and Me speeches seem to be canon for him, although I'm of the humble opinion that explaining your evil plan is always a terrible idea, even if you just did it 35 minutes ago.)

Oh, Adrian, really...

[whiskerslily]

Great chapter-- again! Ror totally lapses into NEW JOISEY "OH NO THEY FUCKIN' DIDN'T" mode when he's ultra-pissed at stuff (without the explicit swearing, of course. But with plenty of odd, subtle Jersey vowel sounds).

"It's a rare commodity, trust, but you seem to inspire it in people."

Aw. Even if Adrian's being a little sardonic, that's just... really nice of him. In his own way. Great dialogue, as usual. (I'm guessing... Adrian is just using his charms on Dan, but even so that is exactly what Dan deserves to hear. And I bet Adrian knows it.) But, y'know... Adrian= smoothtalking BAMF.

"She's holding up well, considering the circumstances."

Oh, man. Uh... for some reason, I think Adrian is totally lying at this point. If Laurie's at Karnak, my guess is she knows what Adrian is up to. But I could be wrong D:

(P.S... Just one typo I spotted, with the line "All I have his his telephone number, which is already written down in the organizer", should probably be "is his"). Only typo I could find though-- keep up the good work!

Rawshawk likes cawfee and chawklate.

[scarlet_carsons]

Thank you!

'Ror totally lapses into NEW JOISEY "OH NO THEY FUCKIN' DIDN'T" mode when he's ultra-pissed at stuff (without the explicit swearing, of course. But with plenty of odd, subtle Jersey vowel sounds).'

There's nothing in canon to support that Ror has any sort of regional accent whatsoever, but I COULDN'T RESIST IT, given that he grew up between NY and NJ. Regional accents are sneaky.

'Aw. Even if Adrian's being a little sardonic, that's just... really nice of him. In his own way. Great dialogue, as usual.'

Thanks. Adrian is nice. However, it's the sort of nice that you should probably run away from.

'If Laurie's at Karnak, my guess is she knows what Adrian is up to. But I could be wrong D:'

Heheheheheh. *makes a note*

Fixed the typo, thanks!

Re: Oh, Adrian, really...

[scarlet_carsons]

Also, the lack of typos is credit to runriggers, because I type like I have two left hands.