X-Men First Class fic: A Better Story

[oxoniensis]

Title: A Better Story
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Pairing/characters: Erik/Charles, ensemble, OFC, throwaway mentions of comic characters
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 5,377
Genre: Hmmm... Oddly angsty for me. Moral dilemmas, altruism, doing the wrong thing for the right reason or vice versa - you decide. Post movie.
Betas: All the ♥'s to fourfreedoms.
Notes:

Comments

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[fourfreedoms]

This fic really packed a wallop for the length. I remember being less than a third of the way through and being surprised, because there is a great economy of words in this piece. Love Sophia. Love the few glimpses we get of life at the mansion. And I find your interpretation of Emma really hilarious and cool. She would totally troll everybody up in there!

Going back over this a second time, the end totally made me tear up. NO FAIR! But god, how horrific. Especially because Charles is right, any action he would take with Erik would be dubious consent. I think it was far more nuanced to change just that one part of Erik, than my original assumption about Sophia changing what had happened to him being Charles' plan.

You know how much I adore the bit about young!Charles. I wish there could be pages and pages of Charles as a cute little kid!

I love the swan addition!

Charles could almost laugh that Erik says it as though that is an even grander proposition than changing the course of humanity and mutants. But then, that's always

Re: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[oxoniensis]

I was so grateful for your encouragement when I was writing this! I don't think I'd have got writing again so soon, especially not in this fandom, but for you, so I can't begin to thank you enough for that.

I find your interpretation of Emma really hilarious and cool. She would totally troll everybody up in there!

I found myself feeling sorry for her when I rewatched the movie, because Shaw treats her shockingly, and while I think Erik would treat her better, I'm not sure he'd consider her opinions. So I thought Charles might grudgingly begin to feel sympathetic to her. But at the same time, yeah, she'd be a deliberate pain in the ass, I'm sure! *g*

I love the swan addition!

Somehow I added an extra 300 words in editing just now! This is why I have to post quickly - otherwise I'll just keep going!

And you know how cool I find it that you actually wrote my ideas about life, the universe, and everything INTO this piece? I'm so flattered!I really enjoyed your comments on that conversation so I totally plundered them

[speak_me_fair]

They are all so perfectly limned, and so -- yeah, this is horribly believable.

Oh Charles. How can you do this with such strength?

Wonderful writing, harsh and uncompromising and as absolute as Charles's decisions.

[oxoniensis]

Thank you! I really wanted it to be believable, rather than easy, even if it meant a painful resolution. A fake happy ending, or at least a happy ending for everyone apart from Charles.

[oxoniensis]

Thank you! <333

[howarethosenuts]

"Compromise is not a dirty word. It is essential, between couples, in families, in our neighborhood, our country, across the world. We must be the better men, the better women, the better humans and the better mutants. And if we are the first to compromise, that is not weakness, not cowardice, not something shameful. We must show the way, be the brave ones and the strong ones. The ones open enough to embrace all of humanity. But we must not, we cannot compromise our morals. We must not become less than the very best people we can be," he says, and he thinks of the rabbit ears, he thinks of a simple sketch. He thinks of right and wrong and how they used to be so black and white when he was a child, and now he feels lost somewhere in the middle of a gray and confusing land.

This right here is why I read fanfic. The only word I can think of for how this makes me feel is transcendent.

[oxoniensis]

Oh, wow, thank you so much! <333

[ladywilde80]

What a beautiful story - so painful and so bittersweet. I love that you had Charles's go through with his choice because it shows that he isn't above such means if it means the greater good - still enjoy the conflict of it all.

and the ending - ugh! so sad and yet, so right. I can see why Charles's decided to keep Erik at arms reach rather than influence him farther. Lovely.

This was a wonderful fic. Thank you so much for sharing!

[oxoniensis]

Thank you so much for reading! I wasn't sure this was the sort of story anyone would want to read, so I'm really glad you enjoyed all the mental conflict!