talktooloose | Days of Becoming, Epilogue (Chapter 44)

Entry tags:

Days of Becoming, Epilogue (Chapter 44)

Title: Days of Becoming, Epilogue, Chapter 44: “Oh! You Pretty Things!"
Author: Talktooloose
’Verse: X-Men movieverse
Betas:

mofic and

lux_apollo. One last time, thanks!
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own the X-Men, but often get it wrong. I own my original characters, for all the profit that brings. I also get it wrong, but I don't charge people for it.

Series Summary: This novel focuses mainly on the paths Iceman and Pyro take on their way to adulthood and how they discover and deal with their love for each other. It is a novel about what Joni Mitchell calls ”the dream's malfunction” and how we can learn to make our own dreams when our heroes fail us. Other X characters (including ones from comicverse and elsewhere) and OC's play prominent roles and the action begins before X1, continues through the events of X2 and X3 and concludes in the aftermath of that movie. This novel does not take X-Men Origins: Wolverine as canon.

I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. Please use the comments link at the end of the chapter to bring you back here or drop me email to talktooloose CAT toothdemon FRAUGHT net. That oughta fool the spambots for now.

Here's the chapter!

Here's the DOB homepage for earlier chapters!

It's done at last. Pinch me. Please enjoy the final installment and, if you've been waiting for it leave WIP status, you can now begin this THING which took me four years to write. I wouldn't have made it without my betas, the wonderful encouragement of the readers, and the enthusiasm of the fandom.

If you're interested in receiving email about my upcoming (non fanfic) novel, please fill out the form at the end of the chapter.

I will be posting Endnotes to the book as well as a laid out pdf of the whole (with minor edits) in about two weeks. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for reading. It's been a life-changing experience.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bloody hell, it feels weird that this story is finished. Good-weird, in that it's a awesome story, but it was one of the first stories I started to read when I got into X-Men, and it's now finished, just as I'm branching out into a new fandom. Feels like the end of an era.

It's kinda sad that its finished, and I don't get to look forward to new updates, but at the same time it a brilliant ending to the two boys' stories. It brought them closure, full circle as it were, but it doesn't feel like this is The End, rather that it's the start of a new part of their lives, a new story. It's the sort of ending that leaves the reader satisfied, but still wanting more.

Well done for writing such an epic story, and good luck with your next project!

(Also, was that a cameo by Scott and Jean, reborn or reincarnated, or just a couple with similarities to them? I thought the second until you mentioned Rachel...)

That's interesting ... how DOB bracketed your time in this fandom. Eras end all the time, I find. They become part of us as we move into the next one.

As to the alleged "cameo"... no comment. tee-hee.

What am I gonna fo know? There's no more Days Of Becomming :(
I love this story, you are such a brilliant writter, and I can wait for you to go through this and make it a pdf file, so I can print it, and forever have it with me...
And now I'm off to take the servey :D

Thanks for reading and for faithfully commenting. You and the other readers gave me so much inspiration. The pdf file is coming along, but I find myself editing too much in the early chapters. Mostly punctuation, which I didn't understand for a while.

Okay, the first volume of the pdf is up (http://talktooloose.livejournal.com/328082.html).

Volume 2 to follow in a couple of weeks.

Personally I have strange feelings now that this story`s come to its end. I`ve become so attached to all the characters involved in it, and? of course, both John and Bobby are surely the brightest stars of DoB, so I`m glad it`s finally over and still sorry that it`s over too soon. (Though I`m sure it`s not too soon for the author).
I kinda lived this verse thru the main characters` eyes, and sometimes boys made me soooo frustrated, but anyway i`m glad their journey`s come to… I don`t want to say “end”, cause it`s definitely not the end, it`s the new beginning for them, it`s a start of something entirely new, a chance to be together, to be independent of others` opinions. I`d say it`s a milestone, and they`ve got lots of them ahead. Now I think they can finally be themselves and can figure life out. They`ve come a long way from being vulnerable and unsure, your average kid-next-door, a bright student– in Bobby`s case – and cocky, arrogant, angry and so beautifully broken – that`s John – to confident, strong in ways they couldn`t even imagine themselves to be and complete persons we`ve grown to love and respect…
So i`d like to thank the author for a great opportunity to get to know these guys, to live in this not perfect, but definitely appealing world he`s created, and witness how this beautiful story of becoming evolved. That was an entertaining journey, it was good while it lasted and it`ll certainly be a great memory and a must read in the future. THANK YOU!!!

Your sweet words are truly appreciated. Yeah, I've always known the book would end at the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. That's kind of how life works (unless everyone dies simultaneously as the Phoenix devours the planet).

I, too, have been grateful for the chance to get to know Bobby and John. Once they existed so strongly in my heart, they wouldn't have let me go until I finished relating their story.

Hard to believe it's finished. It's a little strange to me that DOB updates won't be something I have to do at the beginning of each month anymore. Going to miss that.

I'd crush you under a mountain of praise heavy verbiage, but I'm pretty sure you get the idea by now. I truly loved and was inspired by this novel on a regular basis. Great characters(and I have to say I really loved what you did with Charles and Erik at the end, I love that everyone sort of looks at Charles out of the corner of their eyes these days and shudders)and fantastic use of canon. I am sorely going to miss this story.

Fortunately, you mentioned you have another iron in the fire, and I cannot wait to see what you have churning around in your brain this time. Whatever you post, you can bet I'll be reading it.

Trust me, it's more than a little strange not to be writing it anymore. I'm actually doing a fast-ish edit of the whole thing and laying out a pdf file. I'll be printing a few bound copies for myself and my betas. It's so big, I'm going to have to make it two volumes. Probably 900 pages total.

The planning of my new novel is also moving along. If you want to be informed about it, fill in the survey from the link on ch. 44. I will not be posting it through my LJ.

Thanks for reading DOB and for all the great comments over the months. It's been a fabulous experience to write and it, and to interact with my wonderful readers.

Ok, I was one of the people waiting for WIP status to go away. Now I've read it and... WOW! That was basically my reaction. All the way.

So much good stuff I hardly know where to start! A wonderful mix of canon from the different verses and your own stuff. It all matches so perfectly!

About the characters:

Pyro's story rings true and you've gone a very different way with him than my head did after (and during) the movies. I like your John. I really do like him.

Your Bobby was perfect. To me, anyway. Every single word of his story is my canon.

So many wonderful OC's! Mike Haddad is my new hero and damn... is it dorky wanting to write fanfiction about an OC from another fanfiction??? HE MAKES ME WANT TO DO THAT! Actually, I think I'd love to explore all those amazing people at The Spiderhole. AWESOME!

Your Warren was totally not the down-trodden Ken-doll from the movie and it was refreshing to see a different variety.

Your Jones baffled me all the way. I confess, I see him completely differently, but he played his part nicely for your plot. But Hayward. *snicker* What a name. Is that movie canon?

Jubilee was wonderfully kick-ass and I love how you gave her a so much more important and fitting role. She got seriously jibbed in the movies.

I was somewhat confused for a good while about your Hank. But I like your idea of his mutation being not so... obvious at first. And it makes sense. Honestly. In the environment the movies lay out for their plot, the odds of a huge, blue, furry scientist becoming head of anything at all seem completely out there. I really doubt they would want someone so 'obviously' mutant in their government, no matter what his job might be.

All of the bad guys were nailed. Even Fred. Perfect!

About the ships:

John/Bobby is meant to be, so that was perfect, of course. *sigh* You even managed a happy end for them! I love you for that! It's SO hard to find good fic with believable happy ends for these two together.

Bobby/Lance was so fucking hot, all the way! Perhaps it was partly because it was so hush hush, but oh man... it got my motor racing like WOAH!

Mike/Jubes was so sad. I know you can't make a happy end for everyone, but damn... you made me sniffle when I realized it was completely over between them.

Bobby/Rogue was also perfect, even though your Rogue was from another perspective than my own head canon. But gosh, I don't want to be Bobby when she finally gets herself untangled from Remy and goes to whoop his ass for "forgetting" to tell her the Big Gay Secret [tm].

And now that we're on that subject, thank you SO much for throwing in the Rogue/Remy at the end! They are one of my all time favorite ships!

Same deal with Kitty/Peter, even though it was brief and one-sided.

Kitty/Warren threw me completely! I never saw it! But it works! (And it's hot. My god. Who knew Kitty could be so kinky?!)

Hank/Ororo. D'aaaww. That was so sweet. And Ororo is smart. She'll figure him out one day and shag his furry brains out, once she's done zapping his low-confidence ridden bum to kingdom come.

Jean/Scott was perfect.

As was Charles/Erik for that matter. Perfectly dysfunctional, as it should be.

But! I'm horribly unresolved not knowing how it worked out with Andi and Raheem! You're killing me! *pulls out hair*

Plot:

It left me breathless. Even though I knew where most of it was going, I was still dizzy at every turn, as if it was all brand new. Totally, incredibly, undeniably AWESOME!!!!

So I stand up and applaud you for an incredible effort to bring this story to life and I kiss your boots as thank you for letting me take this journey with the characters.

Thank you! It was fantastic!

Wow, thank you for your enthusiastic and detailed comment!

I'm not sure where my Jones came from... somehow that whole character emerged in my mind from his two lines of dialogue in X2. "Hayward" came from David Robert Hayward-Jones, David Bowie's birth name. If you were to write Jones, what would he be like?

Hank appears VERY briefly as an television pundit in X2, and he is not blue and furry. Like the comics-canon Beast, it appears from that detail that movieverse Beast also had a two-step mutation. Somewhere I have a longer bit of angst where Hank moons over Ororo, but it got cut.

Warren and Kitty... while it doesn't surprise me that Warren ended up with a kink or two, it is funny that Kitty is into joining him. Funny, but hardly unbelievable. BDSM is definitely an intellectual pursuit. Yeah, the one night she spent with Peter was definitely a bittersweet thing. Ditto the sadness that Jubes and Mike couldn't make it work. But that's life... they went in two different directions.

Hmm, Andi and Raheem. I confess to dropping the ball on that one. She mentions her boyfriend in the second half of the novel, and I imagine she means Raheem, but I never explored it. Sorry. Two many balls in the air.

Thank you for reading and for taking the time to comment. It came on a day when I needed to hear it!

My Jones... Oh boy. I hardly know! I have a half assed plot bunny somewhere about him, but in my mind he's distanced from the others, feeling older than most of them, because he never sleeps. Meaning, he's had twice the awake time to consider things and mature somewhat. Even when spending a ridiculous amount of that time watching TV. And because of his close relationship with electronic devices, I imagine he'd feel out of sync with human company sometimes. Hehe, but thanks to you, his first name will always be Hayward in my mind. ;o)

I did notice Hank in X2, but the directors conveniently ignored that in X3. I assume they explained it away with some sort of holographic projector, like the one made for Nightcrawler in the comics. But still. Blah.

Oh I wasn't really surprised that Warren was a bit kinky. Anything to escape the oppressive environment of his father. I was much more surprised about his confidence and independance.

I think there is something inherently Asbergers about a kid who mostly relates to the voices of electronics. The touching story for me is the way that Doug has to take care of him socially. No, they're not a couple, but there is a deep bond between them. I have a plot bunny about the two of them post-graduation living and working in an apartment with more money than they know what to do with. Doug has a girlfriend, but Jones is in danger of becoming even more remote.

Henry's changes to the more bestial are an effective mechanism in comicsverse, and I didn't want to rob him here.

One regret I have about Warren is the way the others react to him. There should be a piece about how one would relate to a billionaire. There must be awkwardness based on insane envy — based on the adulation our society heaps on the state of being rich. I think everyone would be a bit tongue-tied and sycophantic, only to kick themselves after for it. But, I think I'm probably right about Kitty being able to handle it. She's met very rich people, even if her parents are "merely" upper-middle class.

So, Warren't confidence? He had to build it himself. He comes from a long line of fiercely independent, competitive, combative men, and he was able to pull himself out of his pubertal dejection and find himself. Having his father as an enemy probably helped.

Oh definitely, if you assume that Jones talk to the machines like you imagine, then I could also only assume that he would be distanced from other people and frankly very weird. But at least in the movies we don't actually get any information about Jones, other than he doesn't sleep and can control electronics. So we can all be very inventive about him and his story in our heads. :o)

With Warren we have the comics to base a more complete picture of his background, so unless you decide to ignore that verse completely, there is a lot more of his personality already built. He's totally believable!

Yes, sometimes it's best when the source material is a bit vague. You can do whatever you like with it.

I found a cool, very stylized Angel origin (http://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Angel-Revelations-Graphic-Novels/dp/0785132945/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276527073&sr=8-13) GN at a comics sale yesterday. Enjoyed it a lot. Very erotic for one thing! Stretched, Modigliani-on-acid art, pervy priests, sadistic prep school thugs, gay crushes.

wow that was amazing
i just started reading this the other day and couldn't seem to stop, i stayed up until 4 in the morning the first night and went to work on 3 hours sleep because it pulled me in that much.
You did a really good job creating a universe that is .. believable. I could actually imagine this happening around the movies and i can't eve think of a thing to so say lol
good job!

I hope you've caught up on your sleep! Thanks, your words came at a very good time, as I'm starting to write another book and suffering through crises of confidence.

I worked hard to make the novel draw the movies together and bridge them believably. I'm glad it worked for you.

it worked for me really well and yes i caught up with my sleep :D
keep up the good work!

I've had this bookmarked for years, waiting for an end and found to my delight a few months back that it had been completed. Now I've finally found the time to read through it all, again, start to finish.

I loved every second of it.

I am so so so glad you finished it, even though the fandom is waning.

Thank you for a fantastic read.

You're welcome. Thank you for your patience and for keeping DOB bookmarked!

I guess the Bobby/John fandom will wane, but X-Men fandom can't be kept down for long. And if only they do First Class right, movieverse fandom will flourish!

Oh wow, I've been reading this over the past two days and it is just truely epic, you really get a sense of how the characters mature over the course of the story and the fact that the situation is far more complex than the 'good vs evil' that the movies simplify it down to at points - this was just really really brilliant.

Good god, you read a 900 page novel in two days! I am so pleased to have provided you with thrills, passion and insomnia. Thank your for your kind words. It's true: good versus evil is not terribly interesting, nor very true.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Days of Becoming, Epilogue (Chapter 44)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject