Title: Perfect Solution
Fandom: Red Dragon (Thomas Harris book)
Rating: PG
Length: 299
Summary: Francis Dolarhyde is perfecting the developing solution

Francis Dolarhyde was meticulous with the chemicals used in the developer.  It was important to ensure the home movies were as good as possible when they were returned to their owners.   He would check many times a day the composition of the solution, being aware that even small changes in temperature could affect the results.

Many times he felt the person who had filmed the movie should have taken greater care and not rushed as much.  A little forethought and the family record would be one which could be watched with pleasure many times, instead of being inflicted on tedious relatives annually at Thanksgiving.  Dolarhyde knew there were occasional complaints concerning the standard of the film, but since he had been in charge none had been upheld; the most common response from the company being that processing would not eliminate the effects of shaky film making.

His own films, the ones he stayed late to process when no-one else was around, were generally well shot.  There were the odd occasions when he had let emotions take charge, but he was learning to master them, to force them to submit to his art.  For his films were works of art.  Painstakingly he had experimented with minute adjustments of the chemicals, so the colour of the resulting processed film varied.  He was now able to adjust the mood of the film to his own specifications, giving him greater choice for his late night viewing.

A slightly bluer film and the effect was soothing after a day when those around him had been particularly frustrating.  A redder hue and the film reminded him of how superior he was to his colleagues.  And for those films which he knew were truly honouring the Red Dragon he had ensured the colouring would be perfect.