...I don't even have words for how this fic made me feel. I really don't. I'm grasping after them, but all I have is this yawning hole in my stomach, torn by the brutal, aching perfection of the last line, digging like a knife at my heart after all of the amazing build-up and exquisite characterizations before it, a hole so painful I had to close my eyes and tell myself not to cry after finishing...and then there's also the breathless, wondering swoop at the sheer beauty of it, at the discoveries, the understanding, the love, the love, the love.
I want to crack this fic apart and be dazzled again at the glitter of its insides, I want to trace every line and every thought with a lingering fingertip and thank you for each one, for bringing them to life so beautifully, I want to leave a comment that does some small bit of justice to what you've written here-but I can't. I can only--ramble and spazz incoherently and utterly without helpful specificity and fling love from across the internet.
...well, now I'm sitting here with my hands pressed to my face, grinning. Thank you SO MUCH, you are amazing -- I'm pleased beyond words that you found that much inside my fic, and that it could make you feel all of that.
The first section sets things up so well; I love that Raven is still becoming accustomed to human life. Also, it's so easy to miss "making other people's faces at herself in the reflective surface of the window," but when you catch it it's so wonderful.
>>There's something about Charles in the grip of a new discovery, be it a scientific concept or a untasted variety of cake; his whole body becomes a canvas for excitement, until you can't help but feel drawn in.<<
This is like how Raven accepts the ACTUALLY KIND OF TERRIBLE thing he's just done. INTERESTING, INTERESTING.
I also very much like that you systematized Charles' telepathy into four branches. I love all the experiments! Experiments are the best.
>>Raven picks and chooses the people she'll consider family, and so far only Charles has made the cut.... )
I love, also, the two-transformation line. And your reminders of casual, sustained contact between Raven and Charles; reminders that they are, really and truly, fought for space in the back seat (so to speak) for two decades siblings.
"The thought seats itself in her mind: they were never our equals, before." ... D:
YEAH BUT THEN: IT IS THE "ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM" PART! YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM. YOU HAVE DONE EXCELLENTLY, ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM.
"Charles inhales, his face luminous under the lights." This is just right.
"rocksalt smiles" PERFECTION!
"Raven's heart does a stupid leaping thing when she first walks in the door" <3 <3 <3
( ... )
"Alex and Sean talk enough shit about him as it is; better that they say it to his face." Oh, Raven. If I can retract the word from Oliver Wolf just for this one moment: Raven is completely, all the way to the bone, one hundred percent fierce. I love when she tries to teach what she knows to people she loves
( ... )
WOULD READ A FIC OF EQUAL LENGTH COMPRISED ENTIRELY OF YOUR DESCRIPTIONS OF ERIK'S EXPRESSIONS/VOICE!
"If it was the latter, it looked slow. It looked like she was concentrating on it." The shiver-inducing strength of this.
"She is stretching years of service from the muscles of her calves, discarding with the soft scale of her soles all the days she has spent dashing from table to table while Charles sends her little snippets of his day like postcards." Just wish to praise this again! <3
"big claw-foot tub and the lime-and-vanilla tiles" OMG, WHERE IS THIS BATH. HOW CAN I GET IN THIS BATH
( ... )
Ho, this is the fic I never knew I wanted, it fits seamlessly with the canon and flesh out Raven and her relationship with Charles and then Eric in a wonderfull, wonderful way. I really loved the pace, the evolution, Raven's point of view, the fact that there is nothing simple... ♥
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I want to crack this fic apart and be dazzled again at the glitter of its insides, I want to trace every line and every thought with a lingering fingertip and thank you for each one, for bringing them to life so beautifully, I want to leave a comment that does some small bit of justice to what you've written here-but I can't. I can only--ramble and spazz incoherently and utterly without helpful specificity and fling love from across the internet.
/FLINGS LOVE FROM ACROSS THE INTERNET,
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>>There's something about Charles in the grip of a new discovery, be it a scientific concept or a untasted variety of cake; his whole body becomes a canvas for excitement, until you can't help but feel drawn in.<<
This is like how Raven accepts the ACTUALLY KIND OF TERRIBLE thing he's just done. INTERESTING, INTERESTING.
I also very much like that you systematized Charles' telepathy into four branches. I love all the experiments! Experiments are the best.
>>Raven picks and chooses the people she'll consider family, and so far only Charles has made the cut.... )
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"The thought seats itself in her mind: they were never our equals, before." ... D:
YEAH BUT THEN: IT IS THE "ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM" PART! YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM. YOU HAVE DONE EXCELLENTLY, ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM.
"Charles inhales, his face luminous under the lights." This is just right.
"rocksalt smiles" PERFECTION!
"Raven's heart does a stupid leaping thing when she first walks in the door" <3 <3 <3 ( ... )
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"If it was the latter, it looked slow. It looked like she was concentrating on it." The shiver-inducing strength of this.
"She is stretching years of service from the muscles of her calves, discarding with the soft scale of her soles all the days she has spent dashing from table to table while Charles sends her little snippets of his day like postcards." Just wish to praise this again! <3
"big claw-foot tub and the lime-and-vanilla tiles" OMG, WHERE IS THIS BATH. HOW CAN I GET IN THIS BATH ( ... )
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Thanks so much!
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I really loved the pace, the evolution, Raven's point of view, the fact that there is nothing simple...
♥
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