X-Men First Class COMPLETE fic: Late Bloomer (33/33)
Phew. Done. This final chapter is almost certainly full of mistakes, absolutely definitely full of angst and may not make sense, but, you know, DONE. YAY.
I think the whole fic clocks in at around 80,000 words all told. Never again. Seriously. Not ever doing this again.
Chapters 1-28:
Late Bloomer on
( Read more... )
I think the whole fic clocks in at around 80,000 words all told. Never again. Seriously. Not ever doing this again.
Chapters 1-28:
Late Bloomer on
( Read more... )
Oh, and in answer to your question, I think I picked the 2005 date out of my head! I was just trying to keep it a bit early so I wouldn't have to do too much clairvoyancy about what Wikipedia pages will look like in the future.
But in the end, all the feelings are about Erik and Charles... They seem so grown up at the end, especially in the way they're clinging to their youth for dear life. It's a wonderful end to a wonderful, wonderful work. Good luck with everything else until our paths cross again!
Reply
You know there's absolutely zero probability that this would have been finished without you, right? Thank you so much for liking it and commenting in enthusiastic and supportive ways and especially for playing with the boys in the TCOA, it really helped me get into their heads again AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
Oh, the angst. Yeah, poor Riptide, I figured it's kind of unfair because Erik was just as much of an angry and manipulated fuck-up when it came to Seb (though he didn't have such an easy time of it either). So Rip at least gets a fragment of a happy ending, thanks to Havok (who is still SO NOT HAVOK, but I love his genial ways. Accurate characterisation? What is this thing?).
"They seem so grown up at the end, especially in the way they're clinging to their youth for dear life."
*sniffles* Why must you phrase things so emotively? I swear, this is almost as bad as the termintal-illness-dancing-at-the-prom thing.
Farewell, brave traveller, may fair winds speed you on your way!
Reply
The Erik/Seb relationship and their story within the fic might be my favorite part, actually, and I feel hugely sorry for Riptide getting into that kind of situation. Ah, teen!Shaw. Possibly the only thing scarier than original!Shaw.
Haha but Havok is so wonderful as a rough and ready softie. It's nice because it seems very much like what he would have been like if he'd had less trouble in his life, and a little brother he had to be responsible for. It's definitely one of the great advantages of the AU, retuning things like that!
I DONT EVEN REMEMBER WHAT THE TERMINAL-ILLNESS-AT-THE-PROM THING WAS BUT I REMEMBER IT WAS SAD. OMG WAIT I DO REMEMBER AAAAAH THE POOR GUYS. WHYYYY
Thank you, our adventures right now are all castles and forests, they are rocky but fun! Onwards and upwards (latitudinally) we go!
Reply
Man, AUs make me so happy, ALL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED! I am writing canon fic now (avengers fandom, self-indulgent, will probably never be posted) and it is sad and I have a longing for a nice fluffy world where they have sensible jobs that don't involve guns and blood and crippling emotional problems. But I'm enjoying writing tragedy anyway. *is worried*
YAY castles, they have much funkier fairytale ones in mainland europe where people were rich and civilised, unlike ours which are lumps of rocks where people ate with their knives and threw the bones to the dogs under the table. Where are you now? Tell me exactly what I should be feeling jealous of :-D
Reply
LOL canon can be such a downer, gawd, why don't people just make AUs for all our favouri- wait a second, all my favourite fandoms right now are already AUs! Sherlock, the various Avengers, XMFC. We're creating AUs of AUs! Aaaaah, the cycle of human myth and the art of storytelling. I freakin' love it.
P.S. I WANT TO READ THIS CANON-COMPLIANT TRAGEDY YOU ARE WRITING HOW COME WE DON'T GET TO SEE IT.
I liked ALL the types of castles we have seen! I think my favourite, funnily, has been a wee ruined Scottish thing on the edge of a cliff on the island of Kerrera. It was in the most beautiful spot but had some tragic stories behind it. French Châteux are amazing but all the big ones are kings this and politics that and this ceiling was restored in so-and-so's reign... I wanna know about the little people! I've enjoyed our time couchsurfing with locals the best.
At the moment we decided to pretend we had money and went to the French alps and are in a hotel where we can't afford the breakfast menu. There is a white, plastic moose head over the dining room door and we feel like peons for hanging up our laundry in our room and drinking out of the cups you're supposed to put your toothbrushes in ;)
Reply
Anyway.
Hahaha, canon-compliant tragedy got turned into a fix-it by accident, can you believe it? Yes, I know you can. Stop laughing at me, I WRITE WHAT I WANT! Anyway, it's posting up in bits on AO3 at the moment but it's jam-packed with spoilers, so unless you spent your time in France in the cinema I'd better not tell you any more about it.
Man, the Avengers may have been a minor disappointment, but OH THE FIC. I'm like a kid in a candy store. So much to read, so little work getting done.
*sigh* I'm sure you've been writing way more than me on your phone. *searches fruitlessly for work ethic*
Have also been distracted by snippets of an Alpha/Omega verse where Erik and Charles bond way too young and hate each other, and then Erik becomes a movie star and it's ten years of misunderstandings and Angst and living apart, and Jesus, even this tiny summary has SELF-INDULGENT written all over it but... I WRITE WHAT I WANT, even when it's shameful.
Oh... and yeah. Are you in Southern Italy right now? Because, there was a school bombing and I feel really guilty telling you, oh, it's fine, it's safe. Which it still is in my opinion, but it would freak me out if I was there. So. I hope you're not freaked out.
Thank you for the postcard! Hope the adventure is progressing apace.
Reply
I want to read all the things, I haven't seen Avengers yet but I really should download your Downtown and a bunch of others to read on the plane tomorrow. Man oh man does it sound like I need to get into Avengers fandom (just corrected the typo "Man on man" because of course). I would read that Charles/Erik one. You know I would. Oh the torturous loooooove. YOU SHOULD BE SELF INDULGENT, YOUR SELF-INDULGENT STUFF IS AWESOME.
Glad you liked the postcard! Wow, France seems so long ago... we are back in Rome now, we've been through Switzerland and Italy! I kept seeing the bombing on the news, and there's earthquakes up north too, but luckily not near us as [redacted] travelling companion was freaked out enough by the earthquake hazard buildings we've been staying in. We ended up spending a lot of time around the bay of Naples, especially this wee island Procida where we were in a little B&B in a lemon grove, it was a whole other world. We had to change a lot of plans because I sort of got robbed in Rome XD passport, credit card, driver's license, the lot... But I have got a new passport (the NZ embassy in Rome is adorable, we walked past the British one and yours is fifteen times bigger and more impressive :D) and other crucial stuff now so it's all good! And I have loved everything else about Italy, the people here are the best.
Anyway I really need to get to bed as we're going to try and get up early tomorrow to fit the Sistine Chapel in before our flight out, and then we will be going backwards to London for two hours before heading on to Asia, so I will wave to you on the way past! I think I told you I would send you the Lovecraft book when I was done with it? I'll try to mail it tomorrow as we'll be at the post shop anyway :) it is a stimulating educational interesting hilarious read.
Reply
YES you should get into the Avengers fandom, seriously, the fandom is infinitely better than the film (and the film isn't half bad, I guess I just had too high expectations. I'm forcing a friend to sit through all the other Marvel movies with me so I can go see it again with her, which must tell you something). There are so many feelings and Tony has so many DADDY ISSUES and Steve is SO ALONE, and Bruce is SO TORTURED and Clint has THE MOST TRAGIC BACKSTORY OF BETRAYALS and Natasha is ALL BROKEN INSIDE and Thor is... actually just a kind of happy guy. But still, five out of six isn't bad. And it's all about Clint/Coulson, baby, who do not interact at all, but fandom has waved its magic wand and pointed out that they need each other and would make each other so happy. It makes a change from Charles/Erik, certainly. That was all angst and friction and this is all... love and support. I mean, WTF? Solid, grown-up relationships with all the angst on the outside? What is this thing? Though Charles and Erik are just straight up prettier, so I will never relinquish them.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand let's end that there before I start getting wildly overenthusiastic and scaring you, hm?
Aw babe, it sucks that you got robbed but it's kind of awesome that you're like HEY, NO BIGGIE, WE GOT TO SEE THE EMBASSY. I am proud of you, my little world traveller, this is a good attitude to take. And I just googled Procida, SO FUCKING PRETTY, if you got to spend time there you must have done something right.
Aw, [redacted] and earthquake hazards. I know it's serious business and not remotely amusing, but... geez, I want to hug her and put her safely under a table somewhere. Or are you supposed to stand in a doorway? I feel like this is something I should know.
Flat situation is a bit of a mystery really. It doesn't help that I've been so bad at time management that I've been faffing around all day and then desperately working late at night and early in the mornings which is the only time that [redacted] is actually around. And tonight I was suppose to be going out to a friend's where she would be, but my deadline slipped and then I needed a nap and now I just can't be bothered. So it's all up in the air and I have nobody to blame but myself. It's a very cute flat though, the top half of a little house from the 1890s (which I think is awesome and she thinks should be gutted and redone completely so there's triple glazing and no cracks in the floorboards. VERY DIFFERENT TASTES). It has fireplaces and shutters on the windows and it's small but perfectly formed. We shall see.
Right, I should probably go and make a salad because I've spent the afternoon eating half my bodyweight in deadline-related chocolate, so I'll love you and leave you and enjoy anticipating my parcel of demonic evil from the Vatican.
Reply
I FINALLY SAW AVENGAAAAAZ. [Redacted] and I watched it in Sydney on our way home! We had a ten-hour stopover and we'd had no sleep, so that might have dampened the experience, but I found it quite average, and so, so very long. I felt like there were several very good interactions between the team that could have been lifted from the middle, and then they could just CUT THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THE FILM and started with that. Or better yet, instead of a film, it would have made a very good TV series, with whole episodes to introduce them all and flesh out the feelings and stories, because there just wasn't the time or audience patience to deal with them properly. OH STEEEEEEVE. ALL MY FEELINGS. BABYYYY LET ME HUG ONE OF YOUR GIANT ARMS.
And I came out of it shipping only Tony/Bruce, is that normal or is there fic for that? Also, Steve/Woman Whose Name I Can't Remember. The one who's swaggering bum ended the film. The badass one who wasn't Black Widow. But Clint/Coulson is the big name pairing? Hmmm, unexpected... but it sounds like it would involve a lot of office romance, which is a huge kink of mine. Also yes, that relationship would be a WONDERFULLY stable change from the Erik/Charles Emotional Murdercoaster. I have got to get into this fandom, there are so many things to explore! Can you point me towards any good authors/rec lists?
There's probably been new developments by now, but sorry to hear the flat situation is so bumpy. The 1890's place sounds adorable, fireplaces and shutters! Eeee, yes please! I hope it's warm enough, though. Living in a character house is great until the first frost hits and you can see your breath inside and your heating bill triples and your flatmate gets constant nosebleeds because the air's so dry. You can probably tell I'm speaking from experience.
HOPE YOU GOT PAST THE DEADLINES AND THAT THE CHOCOLATE WAS DELICIOUS. MY BRAIN IS STILL FIVE HOURS OUT OF SYNC AND I JUST REALISED IT'S 3:30AM. I think I have lots and lots of other comments to reply to, but I better leave those until tomorrow... how's The Women coming? ;D Haha don't worry, I have been chipping away quite unsuccessfully at a sequel to the Angel/Demon AU, though I remember now that I REALLY like writing Lestrade, and I desperately want to get to at least a couple of conversations between Sherlock and the devil...
Reply
Yeah, that was pretty much my feeling about the avengers before fandom took over. A few good Joss Whedon lines (that aren't actually much related to the characters), the joy that is Pepper barefoot in her tiny little shorts, and a whole heap of confusing and unnecessary plot. The whole "we're making shiny weapons powered by BLUE and Fury is an evil liar who lies" plotline could have just fallen by the wayside if you ask me. I barely noticed it first time around and wasn't much interested the second.
Tony/Bruce is definitely one of the few pairings that gets reallt pushed by the film itself, everything else comes out of fandom, and fandom is GLORIOUS. Did I mention that Clint likes to hide in the ceiling ducts and jump out at unsuspecting SHIELD interns? Or that Coulson has a terrible addiction to reality TV and a TiVo crammed with Super Nanny? Or that Steve and Tony adopt a baby Peter Parker and are like WTF KID, THIS IS NOT A FAMILY BUSINESS when he turns into Spiderman? I don't think anyone knows where this shit comes from, but it still comes.
And Clint's backstory in the comics. Read up on it and you will never have any hugs to spare for Steve.
Yes, there are lots of C/C office romance fics, though most of them are exceedingly silly AUs with wars over donuts, or equally silly established relationship fics (I think this one is my favourite: http://archiveofourown.org/works/397785 Read it and tell me they are not adorable.) There is also a plethora of h/c and some very amusing AUs (including the one where Phil is a SHIELD agent who keeps ripping his suits and Bruce and Clint run a tailor's shop and it all ends in a happy threesome) and pining and obliviousness of epic proportions. THIS IS MY SHIP AND I SAIL IT INTO THE SUNSET. Except for the fact that I'm perfectly happy to have all the avengers in any pairings or multiples you choose, because the true wonder of this fandom is its incredible flexibility.
The one where Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex? Yeah. I didn't read that one. Not even a little bit. Definitely not twice.
Oh boy, rec lists? I will work on that one for you, but honestly I don't know. Rec lists are strangely not my thing, though I have a few pinboard pages for completely random people that I visit. It's a bit of a lucky dip because they keep changing fandoms. I have read Hockey RPF because of this habit, I kid you not.
The flat situation turned out to be a waste of effort in the end since some conditions of the leasehold made it impractical. *siiigh* I did like it but it kind of got coloured by all of the stress, so maybe it's for the best. And yikes, nosebleeds? But this is New Zealand where everything is rugged and harsh and octogenarians herd sheep on snow-covered mountaintops, right?
I am looking forward to the Angel/Demon AU but dude, I DO NOT DESERVE IT considering how pathetic I'm being about writing.
OK, there are more comments to reply to but it's late and I have to reconsider Irene's COMPLEX MOTIVATIONS, because I can't seem to make the story go anywhere from her POV while I don't know exactly why she's doing what she's doing. Except that she wants to get Mary into bed, ovbiously. MORE TOMORROW. I'M HAPPY YOU'RE BACK. BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, BUT STILL BACK.
Reply
LOLOLOLOL that's the most accurate way to explain that plot thread! Hahahaha still laughing...
Oh man, I love the sound of this fandom :DDDD. There's just so many permutations, and everybody is so distinct and therefore every combination of pairings/OT3s/OT5s/OT8s is exciting (omg seriously? Only Whedon could squeeze that many cool characters into a single film). I have been trawling the kinkmeme a bit (always my first stop in a new fandom) but I think I need to rewatch the film once more. I keep losing track of who's talked to who and how much of what I'm reading is even loosely based in canon scenes and which parts are comic canon and which parts must be a fanon thing. Internet piracy, here I come. Also, hey what, where is a link to this "Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex" thing. You can't just throw that out there unattached!
Yes fanon does seem to be focusing on Clint as a bit whumped, let me go read-- *reads wikipedia* CLIIIIINT ;_; BEBBE LET ME HUG YOU TOO. I HAVE ROOM AGAINST MY BOSOM FOR YOU BOTH. Argh, I wish they'd kept the thing where he was deaf, though! That was a fantastic chance to chuck some diversity in there >:( they didn't have to make it a big thing, since he has hearing aids in the comics anyway, they could just have had one or two scenes where he takes them out and Black Widow talks to him in ASL or something. Missed opportunity.
I'm terrible at rec lists, because if I ever made them, I would feel obliged to make it all fics that are objectively good, that I think show skills like good writing, but those aren't always the fics I bookmark - it's usually the things that are either ridic hawt (and sometimes the worst writing is still hilariously sexy) or just make me have all the sadness and feelings. I don't think I even WANT other people to know what I like in fanfic.
Sad to hear about the flat :( I'm sure something better will turn up! Yeah, flats that miserable are really standard in Dunedin, because it's a student town and the landlords can get away with charging anything they like without making their flats healthy or safe to live it. I'm actually really glad I can afford decent housing these days.
Haha NZ's not tough, we just have this awful attitude called "she'll be right" where we totally ignore serious problems or hazards because we can't be bothered or don't want to look weak. I guess a lot of countries do that, especially the pressure on men. But some of the guys at our fortnightly feminist drinks have horrible stories about when they've been really, really sick (from serious flu/respiratory illness to eating disorders and mental illness) and haven't sought treatment because they feel like "real men" wouldn't kick up a fuss. SEXISM HURTS EVERYBODY :((((
I will get a working version of the A/D AU if it kills me, I never abandon a challenge. All I want is for John to be an avenging angel with a pistol and a slow-burning rage, is that too much to ask of my stupid muse?
I HOPE YOU MADE SOME PROGRESS ON IRENE'S COMPLEX MOTIVATIONS, THOUGH PERSONALLY I THINK SHE COULD PROBABLY SAVE ENGLAND AND THE ECONOMY FOR NO OTHER MOTIVATION THAN THE REWARD OF BEDDING MARY. Good luck with offline stuff too, though! Take care of yourself way over! (Ha, I can see the bottom of your shoes).
Reply
The "Tony keeps calling in more and more people to see if he can make Steve break a sweat during sex" thing? That would be this one:
http://archiveofourown.org/works/417286
Reply
I think I want to write an avengers High School OT6 to this prompt. Tell me I'm wrong. Also I will never be able to do a HS AU like you but you inspiiirrrre meeeee.
Reply
OH MY GOD, the 'no biggie' ASL scene would have made that movie. FIIIIIIIICCC *hyperventillates* *grabby hands* *faints*
I would be deeply interested to read your recs, especially because I expect they'd be vastly different from mine. It would be on a level with the Angst/Fluff challenge that spawned the adorable birthday fic and forced me to write Sherlock fic completely out of my comfort zone. Though I don't think I'd like anyone knowing my recs either, because if I was honest they'd all be shamefully fluffy, and if I recced stuff that was objectively good I'd feel terrible about giving people PAINFUL FEELINGS.
Yay, I'm glad you now live in a nosebleed-free zone. Oh, I just visited a friend who's got a room in a truly bizarre and wonderful old house where you have to feed the electricity meter with £1 coins (provided, bizarrely enough)and there is no proper heating and the kitchen is one of those baby belling ovens that sits on a table, and it's owned by a grandmother who basically lets it out to her granddaughters and their friends-of-friends for company (and charges almost nothing) and used to be (is) an artist, and EVERYTHING is painted and it's all tatty and run-down and eclectic and GORGEOUS. I want it.
Wow... "she'll be right" sounds fairly terrifying. The poor menfolk, that really is awful. I suppose it's the same with the "stiff upper lip" mentality here, but I think that's dropped away somewhat. But I guess it means that any stereotyping can be damaging, even the little things (like calling one of your kids 'the family troublemaker' or some such - self-fulfilling prophecy). It's so complicated, HOW DO I LIFE?
THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK, COME ON MUSE, GET OFF YOUR ARSE. AND GIVE MINE A GOOD KICKING TOO WHILE YOU'RE AT IT. (My muse, not my arse. Or maybe both.)
Irene is... Goddammit, why can I not decide how much she cares about Sherlock? *sigh* But on the upside, there is the potential for much description of Mary's beauty and Irene fantasising about what she likes in bed. CAN THAT BE THE WHOLE CHAPTER? Because OMG the plot.
Reply
*ahem* okay, enough pimpin' of ridiculous kids shows. In conclusion: Clint should have been deaf in the film for many reasons including but not limited to ableism. I will write you deaf!Clint one day but I will probably fuck it up because I'm able bodied. That's not meant to sound sarcastic I am genuinely concerned I will fuck it up.
Spoiler: most of my recs are porn. It's because I like two types of fic - novel-length, plotty, action-filled, often-grim, amazing AUs and short, simple porn. It is much quicker and easier to write and read the latter, so they are both more abundant and easier to consume and bookmark. It's embarrassing to admit, but at least I can explain it with science.
Oh that is ADORABLE, I want to live in a house that quirky! Well, maybe not for a long time, but still. Imagine how much creative material you would get out of a house like that! It would be so inspiring.
Yes, I think it's very similar to the 'stiff upper lip'. I don't know whether it's getting better or not - there is a strong macho culture underlying it, which even women are expected to conform to to some extent (one of the classic "kiwi woman" images is a farm girl who can carry a 90 pound lamb under each arm and drive a tractor in any weather), which in today's NZ basically turns into a way to beat down people who "whine" about social injustices. It's gross but I have to believe it's getting better.
HOW DO LIFE? indeed. How do life indeed, so_shhy :(
Irene, oh dear, it sounds like she's as tricky with you as she is with everyone else. She just wants to do her own thing. That is the worst kind of awesome character :( "dammit woman, get into my pen." I am looking forward incredibly to descriptions and fantasies of Mary's beauty, yes please. That can absolutely be the whole chapter.
Reply
Yes, I love Clint in all his incarnations, most of which I know nothing about. Huh. I have no idea how this happened.
*grin* Porn! definitely easy reading. Though I gotta say, I'm fine with lack of plot but I find there needs to be FEELINGS in porn for me to enjoy it. Angsty feelings are the bestest, obviously, but fuzzy feelings work to. Without them it's all just descriptions of grinding bodies and I only skim the dialogue.
I'm trying to scientifically describe what I read too... but failing. I read too much stuff these days, so basically if it's different and it doesn't make me want to cry I'm all for it. And if it reads like a romance novel, all the better.
Ah, deaf!Clint. There's too much stuff to fuck up in the world as a writer, seriously. I think the only thing with writing about a disability is that if you get it wrong it's insulting. Whereas if I get the logistics of a high school prom wrong nobody is going to care. I'm a firm believer in writing what you know, it takes SO MUCH LESS RESEARCH. Hence the love of comic book science and fantasy worlds. But if you wrote me deaf Clint I wouldn't know if you fucked it up and we could shamelessly enjoy our imagined version of reality in secret.
There must be some theory somewhere about the need to suspend your own disbelief as a writer. The handwavy 'I don't know how they got from point A to point B, LET'S JUST CUT THERE' that I guess most people do and most readers don't even blink at always manages to spoil things a bit for me when I'm writing. If I can't work out the details I can't quite believe it. So maybe deaf!Clint wouldn't be fun to write. Though he'd still be super-fun for me to read.
I have to believe it's getting better. Oh god, this world we live in. You can struggle to change things, but sometimes you just gotta sit back and hope.
I didn't get The Women as finished as I wanted to on holiday because I forgot to copy your last chapter onto my laptop, but it's nearly there. Just a few things to sort out! And Mary's beauty will not be the whole chapter, but it does crop up once or twice. Or three times.
Reply
Leave a comment