talktooloose

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.

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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.

Our X3 marathon continues! Last Friday, I posted Chapter 37. Today, it's 38, and we will finish with the X3 portion of the novel this coming Friday. Enjoy!

Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 38: “Plastic Weapons (X3), Part 2 of 3”
Author: Talktooloose
’Verse: X-Men movieverse
Betas: mofic and lux_apollo. Thank you for structure, voice, geography and philosophy.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own the X-Men, I own my original characters. The People own the Internet.

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!

As I stagger towards the finish line on Days of Becoming, it is clear to me that I wish to continue writing novels. I should point out that the next novel is not fanfic. It is a horror/urban-fantasy novel, and it's working title is "Way, Way Up in the Dirty, Dirty Depths".

The idea has been floating around in my head for at least a decade, but I consciously stopped myself planning it a couple of years ago, or even letting its images ripen. Stories left on the shelf too long go rancid, but if they are still in a germinal stage, they keep longer. In about July I watered the seeds, added some fertilizer and let it start to grow (BLOCK THAT METAPHOR!). I think I will be ready to begin writing in January.

The tentative plan is to release it as a regular podcast. I've enjoyed the episodic writing I've been doing with my fanfic and I would rather keep to that than just bury myself in a book for a year and then try to release it somehow. However, many questions arise: can I keep to a weekly podcast schedule? How many words would that have to be? Is it a bad idea to have an irregular podcast that only shows up when a chapter is done? Am I going to find the need to make individual 'casts somewhat self-enclosed constricting in terms of the whole novel?

Dickens did it. I should be able to.

I am dealing with a lot of fear that no one will listen to it. Writing fanfic gives you a built-in audience. Over 1000 people are following DOB and that is a huge wind in my sails. Will I be able to keep going if I people aren't listening?

I think it will be a good book... I'm excited to begin writing it...

Sorry this chapter is so bloodly late. It's the longest ever, I think, terribly complicated and my life is overly full of stressful, time-consuming stuff. Forgive me, patient readers.


Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 33: “Buggered by the Biggest Stevedore in the Port”
Author: Talktooloose
’Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: explicit sexuality, drug use, self-delusion
Betas: mofic, kuriadalmatia and lux_apollo. You each challenged me uniquely and made the chapter infinitely better
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own the X-Men, I own my original characters. Ownership is illusion.

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.

Previously, in Days of Becoming: John has joined Magneto’s Brotherhood. After catching him performing oral sex on a “brother,” Mystique and Magneto have sent John undercover. He is to get into the bed of a Taylor Kincaid, a closeted Washington consultant working for Congressman Kemper of Idaho, and extract information on government anti-mutant initiatives. Back at the School for Gifted Youngsters, Bobby finds himself full of doubts. Although he and Rogue are supposedly the number one couple of the school, he finds himself thinking constantly about John and their time together. Doug Ramsey and Jones have formed a somewhat shady underground business called Janus Dog Node, helping various organizations and individuals hide money and information on a private, secure Internet simulacrum.

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.

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Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 27 - “Thrown”
Author: Talktooloose
'Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: Explicit language and sexuality, blatant disregard of the rules
Betas: kuriadalmatia, mofic and lux_apollo. Alphas and betas both on this one. Thanks for helping me restructure and calling me on the untrue.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own the X-Men, I own my original characters, and we have joint custody of the children.

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.

Previously in Days of Becoming: Something strange is stirring inside Jean Grey. John Allerdyce, having broken up with Bobby Drake and thrown aside his identity as a writer, is trying to figure out who he is and what he is doing at the School for Gifted Youngsters. Jubilee is embracing the role of the future superhero. Rogue has unwittingly stepped into a hornet’s nest.

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!

Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 22 - “In flagrante delicto”
Author: Talktooloose
'Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: Explicit sex, swearing,
Betas: lux_apollo, mofic and kuriadalmatia in spirit.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own the X-Men but we make them do more interesting things; and we don't mess with continuity every time we need a new EVENT!!

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.

Previously in Days of Becoming: Everyone has found their way to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters: Bobby Drake from his safe home in Boston, John Allerdyce from the streets of New York City where he was a runaway and a hustler... all the other mutants kids along the paths of their own destinies. And now Mike Haddad and Jubilation Lee have arrived, having survived a run-in with anti-mutant vigilantes. The mansion is a refuge, but within its walls, passions are raging, doubts emerging.

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!

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Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 19 - “Friends Like These, Part 1”
Author: Talktooloose
'Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: Explicit sex, swearing, over-earnest hardcore, bondage, abuse of Classical literature.
Betas: mofic and lux_apollo. Thank you for making me a little less fucked up than I'd otherwise be.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own this stuff but they fuck up everything. Like what's with this Young X-Men crap? And why isn't Josh Holloway going to play Gambit in the Wolvie movie?

Series Summary: This novel focusses 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.

Previously in Days of Becoming: On Halloween night, John Allerdyce arrived at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters where he began a passionate but clandestine relationship with Bobby Drake. John also found a writing mentor in Charles Xavier who once aspired to be a poet himself, before mutant concerns took over his life. While Bobby worked with the visiting mutant engineer, Forge, John visited the med-lab where Jean Grey tested him for any STIs he might have acquired in his brief time as hustler. After their appointment, he spent time with the comatose Jones whose condition had the staff baffled.

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!

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Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 16 - “Pumpkin Stew”
Author: Talktooloose
'Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: Swearing, extreme fatigue, bad telephony and explict sex.

Series Summary: This novel focusses 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.
Chapter Summary: The night of changes continues as Bobby rushes to answer the call of destiny.
Betas: mofic and lux_apollo. Invaluable input on brownstones and drugs.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own this stuff but they keep messing it up.

Notes: A big, fat glacier of a chapter named '16' calved off this smaller chapter and renamed the rest of its mass '17'. Yes, that means Chapter 17 is already written and should be posted very, very soon.

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!

I finished my fable and have shared it with a couple of people. The scary thing was giving it to Snake to read. He is waiting until I finish DOB to read it (curse you, WIP-phobes!) so it's the first writing of mine he's seen since I got serious about my craft almost two years ago.

I've learned over the years to separate my art self from my relationship self but I still really wanted him to like it. I asked him to not read it in bed with me before going to sleep because I didn't want to be around watching his reaction. He hates any behaviour from me that he perceives as "art precious" so he ignored this request. I found this strangely grounding.

His comments were right on the money and all the parts I was unsure about, he immediately flagged. I am very happy. He refused to take my insecure bait and declare me a "good writer". *grump* But an honest and wise editor is always a better option. Especially one who doesn't give me shit if I promise to help with dinner but instead keep writing for another 45 minutes.

For those awaiting DOB 16, I finished it and then realized that the first section was its own chapter. I beefed it up into a small stand-alone which should be published in a few days. Chapter 17, therefore, is also written but I haven't received all the betas on it. Expect it not too long after 16. This afternoon I will either begin writing 18 or at least do some more thinking about it.

Title: Days of Becoming, Chapter 14 - “The Yellow and the Black, Part 1”
Author: Talktooloose
'Verse: X-Men movieverse
Warnings: Swearing, crudeness, smarminess.
Series Summary: This novel focusses 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 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.
Chapter Summary: Happy Halloween. Bobby and Kitty are trick or treating in the wrong way while the party at the mansion takes a surprising turn. Meanwhile in Boston, Mike learns that there is more to Jubilee's friends than meets the eye.
Betas: mofic and lux_apollo. Thank you for your precision and commitment.
Disclaimers: Marvel and 20th Century own this stuff but they need us to make sense of it.

Notes: Dazzler's musical stylings by Lux. Special thanks to Pete Chvany for information on where it's happening in Boston! I hope I didn't mess it up.

Ooh, this chapter is some heavy lifting! Also entertaining, I think. Enjoy. Chapter 15 will probably not be out until I'm back from India... I'd guess six weeks until I post. Sorry for the delay.

Here's the chapter!

Here's the DOB homepage for earlier chapters!