Fic: Some Assembly Required, for narceus (2/2)

[narie]

Title: Some Assembly Required
Author: lls_mutant
Recipient: narceus
Rating: PG to PG-13
Word Count: 18,300
Warnings: no warnings
Summary: Merging two families into one isn't always as easy as you'd think, especially when both families come with relatives, living and dead.
Author's Note: Thanks to kappamaki33 for looking this over and her advice!

To part 1

Comments

[airgeer]

I have an almost embarrassing amount of feelings about this fic, and I don't think that I can articulate them. This was amazing, and very possibly the best story about a family I've ever read.

[lls_mutant]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it :)

[wthis_pattys]

.....well that sure was a whirlwind of emotion. in a very good way.

[lls_mutant]

Thanks! I had a lot of fun (and difficulty) writing this one, so I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[mon_st]

My heart aches from reading this in the best possible way. I wish canon could give us a mere 10% of this. <3

[lls_mutant]

Thanks so much! I really wish canon would have given us more of this sort of thing, either. The storyline had so much potential- even if we didn't get anywhere close to this amount- just an acknowledgement of family... ::sigh::

[narceus]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love everything about this. But since that is less than articulate feedback, have a list:

--That it was as much about Burt and Carole as slightly imperfect individuals, with their own histories and needs to bring into this marriage and family, as it was about the boys.

--That you included extended family members, and then gave nuance to those relationships instead of just painting one or both people as just a villain or an angel.

--That Finn was able to show some sibling-rivalry feelings that really were about jealousy for attention and had nothing to do with homophobia at all. You've come a long way, Finn Hudson.

--Speaking of the Furt brotherly relationship, Somewhere Out There. Seriously. A+ choice there.

--You ended it in a pillow fight. A pillow fight with a pillow fort and I don't think you realize how incredibly perfect I find that fact

[lls_mutant]

Thank you so much- I am so glad you liked this! You gave awesome prompts (now that we've had the stripper!Sam episode, I really want to do the Sam-Matt one, where Matt also strips or doesn't know or something). I'm really glad you liked the extended family members, too. They were a lot of fun to write. (I actually have a few deleted scenes from this that I plan on posting- a couple of scenes that I really liked didn't fit in when I redid the format, including a scene of Burt and Carole arguing about parenting.)

Thanks again! :)

[magical_mia]

Flawless ♥ I read your fic I Bring My Better Angels To Every Fight (btw am I right in thinking this is loosely in the same verse?) a few weeks ago and didn't review at the time because I didn't think I could express my feelings on it properly. Anyway, it's rare to find such a believable portrayal of complex family relationships in fic, and that was the same in this piece. Even though it was painful to read, the Thanksgiving scenes were my favourite - I like that you didn't villanize the grandparents or try to come up with any easy solutions, just showed the aftermath. And the image of Burt and Finn building the bookshelf together was beautiful.

Turns out I can't really do this fic justice in a comment either but I enjoyed it too much not to let you know what a pleasure it was to read! Thank you for sharing it.

[lls_mutant]

Thank you so much! And you are right- it's the same Mr. Hummel that was in I Bring My Better Angels. Although he's not someone I'd like a lot in real life, I think (he's fairly sexist- I'm pretty sure Carole isn't his biggest fan, either ;) ), he's a fun character to write. The Thanksgiving scenes were tough, but I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Thank you so much, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :)