Xmen Comics: "Chemistry, Romance, and the Alchemy Thereof " by neotoma

[neotoma]

Title: Chemistry, Romance, and the Alchemy Thereof
Author: neotoma
Fandom: Xmen comics
Pairing/characters: Hank McCoy, Bobby Drake, Astonishing team, various students
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Marvel owns these guys. Not me.
Prompt: 869. X-Men Comicsverse: Hank McCoy. Hank McCoy once told the world he was gay in a publicity stunt. What was the public

Comments

[zvi_likes_tv]

This was supersweet. And I liked how it tackled that idea of how to date people when you're blue and furry (in addition to being gay.)

It almost makes me wish I read comics….

[neotoma]

Hank's romantic life has been pretty much dead since Grant Morrison wrote him. Which is sad, because he's the one who had happy, adult relationships with low amounts of drama (none of his girlfriends ever went crazy and tried to kill the team).

If you don't read the comics, you probably don't realize the kid Hank is talking to in the first scene, besides being canonically gay, is green and scaly.

[mmoneurere]

That was cute. While I didn't necessarily have a problem with emo!Hank doing his "I'm going to be single forever, so I might as well tell everyone I'm gay so that I can be a role-model and fight against bigotry" (at least I hope that's what they were trying to do...and whatever they were trying to do, they fumbled it), I like this angle.

[neotoma]

I did have a problem with it. Besides being an outrageous lie, it would have to have backfired sometime -- Hank got dates when he looked like a blue gorilla, so I can't imagine no guy in the entire world would ever make a pass at him. That kind of lie can destroy a person credibility, and when you're a civil rights activist, it's not good to play with fire.

The pheromone power I used as the McGuffin is canonical -- and its effects include spurring attraction to Hank in other people.

[mmoneurere]

It's not that I "didn't have a problem with it" in that I thought it was a good idea -- just that I didn't think it was horrendously out-of-character for someone who was going through a rather self-pitying phase. It could have been a disaster (if handled well in the story), but a disaster which could have worked towards character development.

Of course, they never took advantage of the dramatic possibilities of the situation. You did.

[neotoma]

I'm pretty sure all the writers after Morrison decided Jedi Mind Trick was the way to go: "You read nothing about Hank McCoy being gay." And frankly, most of the reading audience was happy to go along with it, because it was just so WTF.

Now, I would have loved it if Whedon had decided to use it in ASTONISHING, because he is one of the writers who could write it as a disaster *in* the story, but made it a success *as* a story.

Thank you. It was fun.

[neotoma]

How could I write a story about Hank without putting Bobby in it? They're a matched set!

[lilacsigil]

Yay Hank! I loved the conversations in this story, and the Hank/Bobby relationship is just gorgeous. The contrast of the busy, busy school and Hank's feelings of loneliness is great, and I was really happy to see him really connect by the end of the fic.

[neotoma]

Hank is the guy that *everyone* comes to with their problems (Scott, Emma, *Xavier*...the line starts and the door and goes around the building). But the only one he seems to confide in easily is Bobby.

Looking at recent canon, Hank is way over-stressed, and probably needs a road-trip with Bobby (not one with his *evil twin* like he got in Endangered Species). Not that he's going to get one, the way things seem to be going.

[cho_malfoy]

The crushing-on-a-friend plot hit a little closer to home than I would have liked (ahem), but I love the dynamic between Hank and Bobby. Nice work.

[neotoma]

Hank and Bobby are so easy to write. They love talking to each other, and they will be geeky nerd-boys who live in each other's pockets if you let them.