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Title: The Alchemist
Author: [livejournal.com profile] pyrrhiccomedy
Rating: PG
Characters: America, Richard Feynman.
Premise: One quiet morning in the New Mexico desert, America becomes a superpower--and something more.

---

White Sands Proving Ground: Socorro, New Mexico. July 16, 1945.

America had never heard of J. Robert Oppenheimer, or the Los Alamos Research Center, or the Manhattan Project, before General Groves called him out of bed at eleven o'clock at night and told him to get to New Mexico as fast as he could.

He had a guess as to what it was this was all about by the time the bus dropped off him and a dozen uneasy soldiers in the middle of the empty pre-dawn desert. He upgraded that guess to 'a pretty sure thing' when some baby-faced kid took him by the arm and introduced himself with, "Hi, are you Alfred Jones? You're with me. I'm Richard Feynman--I'm actually a physicist."

"You don't think I'd believe you?" America grinned.

"Most folks don't," Feynman chirped.

Everyone milled around for a while, and then the two of them got onto a different bus. Feynman explained about 'the device' on the drive out to the test site. There was a lot of stuff about heavy neutrons, and compression detonations, and America didn't understand any of it.

"Look, just make it simple for me," he cut in. "How big an explosion are we talking about?"

Feynman hesitated. "Well, nobody's too sure. That's why we're testing it. We've got a pool going, actually. Some of the guys put money on it not working at all."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, you've got bets that go from two, right up to eighteen kilotons of TNT. That's equivalent yield, obviously."

America blinked. The bus pitched and yawned over the cracked desert peat. "…Eighteen tons--"

"Kilotons," Feynman corrected him. "Then, you've got a couple guys saying that we're gonna blow up the whole state of New Mexico." America inhaled. "I don't know why they bothered to bet, I mean…if they win, it's not like they're gonna be able to collect the money, right?" he snickered.

America gaped at him.

"And then there's one or two bets that we're gonna, uh. Incinerate the, well, the atmosphere, and destroy the entire planet."

America looked down into his hands, and then out the window. Pre-dawn light raised a blue halo around that wide expanse of desert nothing.

"But we've run the numbers plenty of times, and we figure that's really unlikely," Feynman added.

"Oh," America managed. "That's good."

The bus stopped a while later at a small bunker, and everyone got out. One of the scientists checked the radio. New Mexico was cold at four AM, even in July. America stamped his feet and listened to the crunch of parched earth. Most of the other passengers clustered around the radio. America stayed a bit apart, and Feynman stood next to him.

"It seems like there should be more people here," America commented.

"They're mostly up at the other observation bunker. It's closer, only ten miles from the device. We're seventeen miles out."

America grimaced and squinted off into the darkness. "Are we gonna be able to see anything at seventeen miles?"

"If it works?" Feynman grinned. "Oh, yeah."

The radio crackled to life. Everyone tensed. Oppenheimer's voice came over, tinny and small, to let them know that the test had been delayed an hour on account of the weather. Thick cotton clouds hung low in the sky, pregnant and cupped by weak, reflected light. The group lapsed back into fidgeting, pacing, murmuring to each other.

America shifted from foot to foot. "How long have you guys been working on this?"

Feynman scratched the back of his neck. "About three years, I guess. Well, longer than that, really, but we've been living out at Los Alamos for…about a year and a half."

America peered up at the sky. "I never heard about it."

"That was the idea," Feynman agreed.

They waited for a while.

"What is it you do, if I may ask?" Feynman inquired.

"I work for the President."

"Doing what?"

"…It's kinda complicated."

Feynman waved it away. "Forget I asked. We hear a lot of 'it's complicated,' 'I can't really talk about it,' 'that's confidential' around here."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They waited some more. Feynman offered him a cigarette, and they shared a smoke while they waited for the clouds to be driven off. Dawn quietly ascended, turned the blue desert red. Someone came around with a box full of dark goggles and handed a pair to each of them. America looked at his in consternation. He held them up to his face, lowered them again, turned them around, and tried to work out how he could put them on over his glasses.

Feynman placed a hand on his wrist. "Don't bother. We can just go sit in one of the trucks."

"But I thought--it's to protect your eyes from the light, isn't it?"

"Bright light can't damage your eyes." Feynman nudged his hair out of his face with the back of his hand. "What's dangerous is the UV radiation, and ultraviolet light can't go through glass. We'll watch it through the windshield."

America didn't know about any of that, but Feynman sounded confident, and he was (apparently) a physicist. So he nodded.

"If this thing works, it's going to change everything," America mused after a pause. It was an obvious thing to say, but it felt important to say it, out loud, before it became a matter of history.

Feynman shrugged. "I guess."

America supposed he was more interested in neutrons than politics, which was kind of refreshing, actually. He thought that maybe he should spend more time with scientists.

The radio seared to life, and Oppenheimer's voice piped through again. "We have just begun our one minute countdown."

"Jesus," Feynman swore, and grabbed America by the arm. The nation spun around as Feynman dragged him towards a truck. "You'd think he could give us a little more warning."

America let Feynman push him into the passenger's seat of a military truck. The seat was cold, and America's breath clouded the air. His heart was hammering, all of a sudden. It slammed into his ribs, and he didn't know why. He shut the door--as if they were going somewhere. Feynman, sprawled in the driver's seat, left his door open. They didn't say another word, or exchange another look. Outside the truck, everyone else fumbled for their goggles.

It was almost five thirty in the morning. It was still half-dark. America leaned forward on the dashboard. He wondered if they'd really be able to see--

Able to see--

Light

Light

Light
pounded the breath out of his lungs. It was every color--golden, purple, violet, gray, blue, wild and sudden and spilling out all around them. It lit the entire valley; it exposed every peak, crevasse, and ridge of the distant mountain range. It bloomed, and bloomed, and unveiled the world before his eyes, seared open every detail. It was a world without shadows, a world in every color, and he could see every tree--every flake of sand--

America felt something lunge in his chest. Nothing had ever been so beautiful.

And then the sound hit them. It ripped over his ears and cracked the air. He trembled, and gripped the dashboard, and the breath heaved in his lungs. He braced himself into that sound, and rode the crescendo until its mad conclusion.

A cold and ringing silence spread over the desert.

The others started talking, all at once, but America was still. He stared into that fading pillar of smoke and fire.

Something had changed.

He thought, faintly, of alchemy.

He'd never tried it. Alchemy was from before his time. He'd always thought it was a stupid idea; you couldn't turn one thing into something else. That was magic, not science. He couldn't believe that England and France and all of the rest of them had wasted so much time with it.

He looked through the sand-burned windshield and fixed his eyes on that dim horizon. Wild thunder still resounded in his bones.

America thought to himself: I am an alchemist.

I can turn iron--

(I can turn carbon--)

I can turn anything I want--

(Anyone I want--)

...Into gold.

He knew, of course, that the bombs were evil. He also knew that he had to use them. For the war--absolutely, for the war. But...that wasn't all.

Magic had to be performed.



+++

-- The Trinity Test took place at 5:29:45 AM, July 16, 1945, unleashing an explosion equivalent to twenty kilotons of TNT. It was the world's first detonation of a nuclear device, and marked the beginning of the Atomic Age. You can find Richard Feynman's (very readable and entertaining) first hand account of his time spent on the Manhattan Project, and the day of the detonation, here.

+++


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This is a chapter from The Chosen End, a Russia/America collaboration spanning from 1780 to the present day. You can read all of the fics in this story at the Index.
Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >>

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 07:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fallenxembers17.livejournal.com
Oh. Oh.

Oh, my, this was so good but it was the bombs so it's bad (you get what I mean, right? xD) and I'm so not going to like what's coming next.

Oh, America... *shakes head*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 08:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Thank you, I'm really glad you liked it. =D

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 08:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] musubi7.livejournal.com
Well, pfft as always, freaking amazing! o.o

I will have to admit, I had to do a report on Feynman in my 10th grade physics class. He was pretty cool and I like how you've got his character here.

I also really, really like your descritption of sunrise in New Mexico and the vastness of nothing. That was...you didn't use many words, but I felt like I had a Discovery documentary on in my brain. >.<

The alchemy bit was pretty sweet too. It can't just be me, but nuclear physics=modern alchemy...y/y?

On a note of content, it's going to be interesting to see what Russia says. Hahahaha~a, how I live for angst and violence.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 08:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
I will have to admit, I had to do a report on Feynman in my 10th grade physics class. He was pretty cool

Oh man, I totally fangirl Richard Feynman. He's like, the most laid-back guy ever. He really was like "Oh, dark goggles? Meh, I'll just watch it through a windshield, that sounds like more fun to me. WOAHSHIT THAT'S BRIGHT! Wow! Gosh!"

I felt like I had a Discovery documentary on in my brain. >.<

I-I hope that's a good thing. XD

nuclear physics=modern alchemy...y/y?

Well, it pretty much is, if you think about it! Alchemy was (whether they knew it or not) about trying to change the structure of atoms. And...here we are, doing just that. We're not making gold, exactly, but explosions are pretty cool too! Er...sort of. >_>;

it's going to be interesting to see what Russia says.

Russia is going to be displeased with this turn of events, you might say. XD

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Date: 2009-08-21 08:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zesquivailence.livejournal.com
If this comment is doubleposted it is because my browser feels like kicking my ass and confusing me.

BUT ANYWAY

FFFFFFFF SURELY THIS WAS AWESOME MS. PYR. The whole time I was wondering if you'd include the goggle bit and you did and it was good. That disassociation that professionals can have with the consequences can be a terrifying thing. I'm glad that America remarked on it a little, even if he wasn't super critical of it.

Boys and their games.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 08:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zesquivailence.livejournal.com
Uh,"consequences of their work." So much terrible beauty.&hearts

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(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] littleduchess.livejournal.com
Stunning. Beautiful. It's a weird thing to say but I really like your use of the font and of the bold. It's interesting that you've focused so much on the magic of the moment and less on the tragic (though that's coming) cause I guess that's partly what must have driven them at the time, right? So interesting...

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked it!

It's interesting that you've focused so much on the magic of the moment and less on the tragic

Well, we're going to study the atom bomb from a lot of angles in TCE, because there's no question that it really shaped Russia and America's relationship going forward. Also, you know...I think it's made easier because this is a Russia/America project, and not a gen thing...we can look at it just from how it affected the two of them, their relationship and how they see the world, and not really get into the much more sensitive issue of how many people died from these things in Japan, or how its affected Japan and America. The real tragedy of the bombs was very personal to America, but it isn't on-topic for this project, so we can respectfully leave it be.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madgirl-l.livejournal.com
This chapter scared me, no kidding. But why is that, even though, I still enjoyed it?

I loved the descriptions, but that last part about alchemy was...evil...I dunno if it is because I pictured him, smiling like a jester and then using the bombs, which could be the 'Hiroshima/Nagasaki' attack or...Ah, *shakes head* things won't be pretty from now on....

Anyway, I'll wait for Russia's part! *Sits and waits for more awesomeness*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
See, the thing is, I think America's more scared by these things than anybody, especially right now--because right now, he's the only one who's seen them. And it gave him this incredible power, and this incredible responsibility, what's more, and he has to find some way to acknowledge that, and make it a part of how he sees himself and how he copes with himself and his place in the world. Not for a second do I think America enjoyed having the bombs, or looked forward to using them, or wanted to use them...but something about them is so compelling that, in a way, a part of him feels like he must use them. Because nobody will believe this until he does.

(no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aurussteelsword.livejournal.com
This was amazing. The vivid description, the emotional tug of everything, the palpable fear that America feels (even though I as the reader know how it's going to work) - and RICHARD FEYNMAN. *flails* I love him, a lot. His and Alfred's not-quite-awkward banter was really great.

I love you so much for this.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Thank you, I'm really glad to hear that. =D It was a really delicate subject, and I know it's not going to hit the mark for everybody.

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(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ilumena.livejournal.com
... Madness, and Light. Beauty in annihilation. Gah.


I think I can kind of see that explosion imprinted on my own retinas now.


I read Feynman's log awhile back, I don't remember when or why. It took me until the goggles bit to figure out why I knew his name. Nice job with bringing him in and getting across that rather cavalier attitude towards the whole business. Actually I think you got the general atmosphere of the bomb and initial attitudes towards this down quite well. And I'm not sure whether to be afraid or not that you got me to see beauty and magic in the explosion as opposed to destruction and death. Um. Yeah. Overall, wow.


I haven't read the rest of this yet, but I think I might have to, now.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
And I'm not sure whether to be afraid or not that you got me to see beauty and magic in the explosion as opposed to destruction and death.

Well, I hope this isn't too controversial a thing to say, but I think it's possible to recognize the significance and really, I mean, awe-inspiring indication of human technology and human progress that they represent--and acknowledge the personal significance they would have to America, aside from just their raw destructive power, but as a symbol that he was, very suddenly, THE most powerful country in the world that nobody else could even compete with, and that would be kind of an amazing feeling, regardless of what it came from...I think you can appreciate and acknowledge all of that without diminishing, in any way, the inherent evil these things represent. That was really what I was trying to do with this fic. Like, they're awful. Of course they are. But there's something amazing about them, too, and they offered something absolutely unprecedented to America.

I haven't read the rest of this yet, but I think I might have to, now.

Oh, gosh, I'd be delighted if you decided to have a look at TCE! =D Wizard and I have put a lot of work into it, and it means a lot to us both. I sort of like to hope that it has something to offer people even if they're not interested in Russia/America as a pairing.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 09:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kiwia90.livejournal.com
ASDFADGJ RICHARD FEYNNMAN AAH

That was amazing. Only chapter of this I've read of this but I think I'll have to read the rest.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, gosh, that's a wonderful thing to hear! =D I'd be thrilled if this encouraged you to check out the rest of TCE. Wizard and I are having a lot of fun with it. =D

chapter AFTER next, but yeah...

Date: 2009-08-22 09:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
They are, yeah. You can't really deny it.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 10:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rotifora.livejournal.com
*Never has this icon been so appropriate as now*

Are you a telepath? or have you figured out one of my buttons? Because you have just successfully made me squeal like a rabid fangirl when I read the title. Yeesh, its like the sixth time you've done so.

So this was an an incredibly beautiful yet ominous chapter. You are the queen of descriptions, as usual. Brownie points for identifying one of the major flaws scientists have in relation to the consequences of said research undertaken. And I love what you have done with America here. And a whole cake for you because you have related this to alchemy <3.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
And a whole cake for you because you have related this to alchemy <3.

Total truth time? That alchemy comparison, the way that went through America's mind, I've been planning to do that siiiince...probably the second or third chapter? ._. So when we finally got up this, I was like, "I GET TO USE THE ALCHEMY BIT, I CAN FINALLY USE THE ALCHEMY BIT! =D =D =D"

Have you read Neal Stephenson's 'The Baroque Cycle' trilogy? That deals a ton with alchemy, and it's crazy well researched, and Isaac Newton is one of the principle side characters and he's a dick. I really, really recommend it.

(no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 10:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladyrandomness.livejournal.com
So I see the title. And then I go "Oh shit, atomic bomb." Which then goes to, "Oh shit, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are coming." Which THEN goes to, "Oh shit, the Cold War. It's really coming." ;-; On the lighter side, your descriptions were both wonderful and terrible at the same time. That last bit with alchemy and turning iron into gold really struck me.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Even if it did fill you with forboding. XD TCE kind of does a lot of that, I guess.

We're gonna write Potsdam next, and then I think we're still on for Wizard writing about Hiroshima and Nagasaki from Russia's point of view (and his whole "you know, I already knew about these things, but fuck me"), and then the US efforts to control atomic energy after the war, which the Soviet Union rebuffed...so there's gonna be a lot of bomb talk in the near future. The bomb is what made the Cold War possible. So. Cheery stuff. ._.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 10:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kazunometsuki.livejournal.com
Ohhhhhhhh...America's like a little kid with a new toy...

He seems so naive and sweet, but all the more dangerous because of it...; A ;

Great job, yet again. = w =b

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Ohhhhhhhh...America's like a little kid with a new toy...

A little bit, yeah. I think he understands the horribleness of what he's created, but, at the same time...his first reaction is wonder, not dismay. And yeah, I think that's probably pretty telling. =/

Thank you for reading!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-21 11:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bridgetsmidge18.livejournal.com
"With great power comes great responsibility," I guess that's what came to mind after reading this (yes, yes, very original XD). How you wrote America's response upon discovering this newfound "power" was so well-written. And thinking that he can turn anything he wants, anyone he wants (gee, I wonder who?) into gold is quite chilling. Though I don't get the feeling that you made him out to be mad with power, not at all. After seeing something so awe-inspiring (and being so afraid of it at the same time), it would make sense for America to feel that way. He now knows that he has this awesome ability to change things, utterly and completely (like the alchemists tried to do, and I love that analogy, btw). It's a scary thought, but one he certainly can't shake off... well, not that he really wants to just yet...

P.S. And I enjoyed your characterization of Richard Feynman! I didn't really know about him until now, thank you! <333
Edited Date: 2009-08-21 11:27 pm (UTC)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Though I don't get the feeling that you made him out to be mad with power, not at all. After seeing something so awe-inspiring (and being so afraid of it at the same time), it would make sense for America to feel that way.

Oh, GOOD. ♥♥♥ I'm so relieved to hear that. That was the real, you know, the fine line to walk in this post, where it's like, no, he HASN'T gone crazy, he HASN'T gone evil, but...but...he can't help but be mesmerized by the power he suddenly has at his disposal. I think most people, if they suddenly had the ability to wish anything they want out of existence, would be kind of awe-struck by it. Regardless of whether or not they use it, you know?

So, thank you, that's really reassuring to hear. =D

P.S. And I enjoyed your characterization of Richard Feynman! I didn't really know about him until now, thank you! <333

Yay! We are the educations! XD Feynman is a cool dude.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 12:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aranfan.livejournal.com
Well damn.

Wow.

This was great.

Things are going to get heavy now aren't they?

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Yes. To the extent that they weren't heavy already, I mean. They are going to get heavier? XD

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 12:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greysquirrel.livejournal.com
I loved this so much. I love America being amazed by the sort of terrible beauty that they have made with atoms and science and the explosion, and I'm speechless. I really love the alchemy bit, our study in physics and stuff is like alchemy in a way, except, we now know what we're working with and have laws and technology that help us work better. I really loved this.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear that that all came through and, yeah, I was really looking forward to making that alchemy comparison. XD I'm so glad you liked it!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 02:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tanya-tsuki.livejournal.com
Wow. I don't even know what to say other than that. I just feel a sense of dread because, well, you know what happens next and how this test just...changed everything. You wrote it well.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, thank you! Definitely, the Trinity Test was one of those pivotal moments in history, I think. And like, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that's when the bombs really entered the world stage, but for America, the world changed at Trinity, you know? We really wanted to show that moment for him, even though it's not directly Russia/America related, because it's going to have such an effect on America's character and on their relationship down the track.

Thank you so much for reading!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 03:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] innamoramento.livejournal.com
Oh my god a chapter set in my home staaaate with mentions of my home tooooown. Heeeee I geeked out reading all the Los Alamos stuff. ♥

Amazing as usual! Can't wait for more!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Hahahaha, a little something (ominous) for the New Mexican readers! XD

I'm so glad you liked it!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 06:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] youkofujima.livejournal.com
The fact that America got all excited and stuff for this thing doesn't really mean that we'll have happy chapters later, does it. Oh dear, oh dear.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Well, I think he calms down a bit later, and is properly stunned and freaked out by it by the time he gets to Potsdam (which we'll show), but...yeah, this was definitely his first reaction, not fear or dread. America's always been captivated by Big and Shiny and New, and...you can't top a nuclear detonation for any of those things. >_>;

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 06:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] harusamemosuke.livejournal.com
Beautiful. And the world will never be the same.

You have a wonderful ability to capture a moment in time and expand it in to something profound. If that makes any sense at all.

Oh Alfred

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 09:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, wow, thank you! That's a lovely compliment! =D That was really the hard thing about this post, taking a minute and a half of explosion and slowing it down and stretching it out so that everybody had time to think about it. So I'm really glad it worked for you! =D

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 06:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] minuiko.livejournal.com
I've got such a boner for whatever you write in parentheses in your stories, every time. Oh god. (Anyone I want)<33333. That repetition of Light was so beautiful, I love how much of a visual writer you are. It really intensified the effect of the bomb's explosion for me. Also Feynman is a cool dude. The goggle part I didn't know; shows how much you can learn this fandom. I think I got more out of the beauty of your writing than what you were writing about, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing; it means you'd be a fantastic bullshitter if need be. (Though with the amount of research you obviously do, I doubt you'll be needing to anytime soon)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 10:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
I've got such a boner for whatever you write in parentheses in your stories, every time.

XD

it means you'd be a fantastic bullshitter if need be.

XD XD XD

I-I hope I won't need to use my powers for evil like that. XD

I'm really glad you enjoyed the fic! Honestly, it is awfully nice to hear sometimes that I am just pretty good at this whole words thing, and that I should keep it up. XD Thank you so much for reading!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 07:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luxnigra.livejournal.com
The light. The light of the atomic bomb as the light of the philosopher's stone: there isn't a better comparison!
And America, who have never given so much credit to magic, alchemy, things like this, is going to be an alchemist as England and France are never been. Because he found the real power that can change things and people...himself included.
That sentence: -Magic had to be performed- is terrifying! For America, in that brief moment, the atomic bomb is the real philosopher's stone that can change everything he want into something more, more precious. Even the one he love (I imagine that he was thinking of Russia when he said: "I can turn anything I want--(Anyone I want--)...Into gold"). Gold, the thing that ancient alchemist have searched, that old american gold digger have searched for a very long time. In that moment of science triumph, Alfred look at the light as a child, as an ancient alchemist, as an old, gold digger. Because the light is new and more powerful but the longing for power is more old. Old as a nation. And I think about "Love is not all", when Russia notice in America an hidden, dark side that he define "feral". The light of the atomic bomb is going to completely reveal the "dark side" of America. Is the price that Alfred must pay, as an alchemist, for the most beautiful light that he have never seen.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 10:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Oh, gosh, I always love reading your interpretations so much! You always look so deeply into things and find all the weird side stuff, like the glow from the philosopher's stone, and America's whole theme with gold. I'm really glad you read and enjoyed this--it was kind of a beast to write. XD

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miss-chella.livejournal.com
Dear God, this was beautiful. And it was so short! Not to critize, i'm just surprised at this chapter. The whole thing was like "Okay, importantstuffimportantsuffhumorimportantstuff--WOAH." Did that make sense? It's like you sped up time just for the impact of the bomb to dazzle and terrify us that much more. Really great stuff. I can't wait for the coming angst.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-23 05:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
I'm really glad you liked the pacing! That was so hard, because like, the action of the story is only like a minute and a half long, and the rest is just waiting around in the desert, and *dies*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 05:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] meganinhiding.livejournal.com
Light pounded the breath out of his lungs. It was every color--golden, purple, violet, gray, blue, wild and sudden and spilling out all around them. It lit the entire valley; it exposed every peak, crevasse, and ridge of the distant mountain range. It bloomed, and bloomed, and unveiled the world before his eyes, seared open every detail. It was a world without shadows, a world in every color, and he could see every tree--every flake of sand--

America felt something lunge in his chest. Nothing had ever been so beautiful.

And then the sound hit them. It ripped over his ears and cracked the air. He trembled, and gripped the dashboard, and the breath heaved in his lungs. He braced himself into that sound, and rode the crescendo until its mad conclusion


This was a beautiful moment of...transcendance. Noone's been killed yet so for now there's more wonder than horror though the latter isn't entirely absent. Alchemy was as much a mystical path as a scientific one and some likened the transformation of lead into gold as something taking place within the alchemist as opposed to being directed to externally.

In a way the metamorphosis of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan into the peaceful societies of modern times was the ultimate alchemical transformation but ultimately came from those nations' disillusionment. This is in a way the dark side of optimism and embracing something new.

I loved the banter between America and Feynman. Its a pity that Alfred hadn't met him until now; I can really imagine the two of them just hanging out together. Also loved America's line about how he should spend more time with scientists; seems like a bit of foreshadowing. Will we get a chapter focusing on Russia and Sputnik?

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-23 05:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Alchemy was as much a mystical path as a scientific one and some likened the transformation of lead into gold as something taking place within the alchemist as opposed to being directed to externally.

Yesssss. XD Not something America would know or have thought about, but definitely I think that's the important thing that's going on in this chapter, you know? That transformation that happens in America.

Also loved America's line about how he should spend more time with scientists; seems like a bit of foreshadowing.

Definitely.

Will we get a chapter focusing on Russia and Sputnik?

Oh, for sure! We're not thinking it'll be a just Russia post, though; probably something more like where America comes over to freak out about Yuri Gagarin, and it ends up being a cool moment about competition driving scientific progress. You know. If everything goes as planned. (It never does. >_>)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-22 06:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hi-no-neko.livejournal.com
. . . so, I'm gonna have to ask you how you like your username to be pronounced, because up until this point my answers to "Who's your favorite writer?" have been easy things like "Mark Twain" and "Agatha Christie."

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-23 05:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
XD You're very sweet. I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story!

(And it's pronounced PEER-ick. XD)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-23 05:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleartempest.livejournal.com
sldaghkdg that was an exciting read.
He couldn't believe that England and France and all of the rest of them had wasted so much time with it.
XD I liked this line...and the ending ♥

(no subject)

Date: 2009-08-23 05:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com
Yay, I'm thrilled you liked it! =D

Also ohmygod, what an adorable icon of Prussia!
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