the mutant registration act was highly inspiring

[seperis]

I'm always fairly relieved when I write under thirty thousand words, as I'm less likely to overthink it and I don't know if you know this, but the dividing line between 30K and 150K is what we call when I stop to think about what I'm writing. The core, what I actually meant to write, is usually about ten thousand words in there. Call it an executive summary. In my fandom career above the 30K line, there are precisely two exceptions to that, where I needed every word; the second was And All the World Beneath. The first was Jus Ad Bellum, which I'm currently bracing myself to re-read in lieu of X-Men First Class, since this movie completely--and I do mean completely--changed my view of Xavier.

I didn't like him then, and whoo, checking one of my first X-Men fic featuring him using Rogue as a stand-in for Erik---I would say it's not like that, but really, it kind of is--I really, really, really didn't like him, and I forgot that, which is why I'm currently having severe cognitive dissonance. I remember not really caring for him, but apparently, there's a period of time in there that I was ready to kill him, and then finally I did.

Now I feel bad about it, because with First Class canon, he totally could have led a mutant revolt against the humans when mutants were enslaved. He could have kicked great amounts of ass in the camps. He could have made them all kick their own asses. It's upsetting; I killed him because to get a world where the mutants fought back after beign confined to camps, I couldn't have him there, I needed him to catalyze Erik and Scott with his death; I couldn't see him able to take the step they needed that Erik would run with to create a new mutant oligarchy on earth. I couldn't see Scott and Jean and Logan letting themselves be corrupted by the new world order if Xavier could pull them back. I didn't think if he was there, they could do what they had to do to survive.

Do comic fans feel like this when you get a new writer for the series (or hey, Ultimate)? I never was into teh Batman movies enough to feel the dissonance, but I am officially getting a headache from a.) guilt (I--know, leave me alone, I've been McAvoy's since Children of Dune and all that time without a shirt; way to go God!) and also b.) interpretation failure on a massive scale. I don't mind making leaps, but either they are that different in character or I missed something important in the first movie (and later, somewhat, in the second and various cartoons over the years).

I'm not sure I so much got better about writing out my character dislike (see, Smallville; it was a lesson), but I'm not sure I was ever so naked about before X-Men or after.

Also, for the record, I just realized I wrote Erik/Toad and I have no memory of why. I didn't even write slash back then. I didn't even write anything Logan/Rogue! And now I am all confused because ten years ago I didn't like Xavier and I'm pretty sure I didn't care for Erik and now I am in some kind of fugue state when I think of Charles (I think of him as Charles okay?) and realized I've really missed writing the apocalypse. And that I wrote Erik/Toad, and somewhere I have to have some notes on where the hell that came from.

Sometimes I think fanfic writers' problems are kind of unsettling. Feel free to share your own! That's kind of a plea, in case I need to be more transparent here.

Comments

[seperis]

Erik/Toad. Oh, why. WHY?

My original author notes seem to indicate I was having a temper tantrum against All W/R Writers Suck As They Only Write W/R And Suck. The only explanation I have for pairing is I didn't write Xavier (much) and I was having a temper tantrum, and nothing is quite like writing Erik/Toad while Erik is thinking of Charles and Rogue is sharing the memory with Toad. God I love this fandom: i can write that sentence and it makes sense.

It was an unnecessary idea birthed by irresponsible parents, whored out for crack vials and beef jerky, and then placed into foster care with Howard and Marion Cunningham.

...you have a way with metaphors. OR something. *awed* That is beautiful.

I'm fascinated how readers have handled comic shifts like that. I never thought about how complex that would be before. Thank you. *mulling*

(I could totally take over the world with Charles. I just sit around thinking of exciting ways for him and Erik to do it. It's giddy.)

[scy]

The comics industry LOVES shifts like that because it's a change to do shiny covers and endless variants and sell people on a concept that they can then discard and pretend didn't happen, as though they weren't attempting to create mayhem from the get-go.

I *really* want Charles and Erik taking over the world, NGL.

[domarzione]

Being a comics fan means having a very selective memory and a high pain threshold. Or, how you can go from saying "oh, thank goodness Willingham is taking over Robin because he's awesome on Fables and Lewis is writing stories with twin alien Amish tag-team luchadores wrestling in barns" to "Jesus, this is so awful, I miss the tag-team Amish wrestlers" in just a few months.

Or, you know, take a look at the shitstorm currently going down with the just-announced DU relaunch/reboot.

You are taking over the world with Charles. I'm currently halfway through the introduction to this universe, having been interrupted by the trek to another part of the city to fete my paternal unit with bourbon and cookies. I expect another installment promptly.

[seperis]

*grins* You are always at option to request. It's been a while since I wrote, and I'm working on the second one in this fandom and I still haven't written the one I want (I really want to revisit teh mutant registration act like whoa. If they can do this, I can move that back by a few decades, I'm just saying.)

Or, how you can go from saying "oh, thank goodness Willingham is taking over Robin because he's awesome on Fables and Lewis is writing stories with twin alien Amish tag-team luchadores wrestling in barns" to "Jesus, this is so awful, I miss the tag-team Amish wrestlers" in just a few months.

*can't stop laughing hysterically*

[domarzione]

*can't stop laughing hysterically*

It was not funny at the time. Trust me. ;)

Okay, so I'm requesting. I'm all for the anti-heroes.

You could move the mutant registration act back in time. The CIA still has Cerebro; all they need is another telepath (or you could have them kidnap Charles and man, watching Erik mount a rescue with outrageous casualties... you know you want to). They also have the master lists that Charles himself compiled. And all of Charles's briefing notes. You can go all Brave New World with the testing and the classifying and...

[niqaeli]

I still call him Willinghamfucktard after Robin and the man then showed us his ass repeatedly in interviews. (I miiiiight be a little bitter.)

Comics fandom (specifically DCU) was, in fact, what taught me how to select my canon and ignore everything else. Because not only is there contradictory canon, for any single point of characterisation or backstory you choose you can probably find directly contradictory canon. So if you want anything internally consistent, you're going to be cherrypicking pretty carefully.

Comics fandom burned me hard, but I don't mind because that was actually a pretty damn useful fannish skill to pick up and retain! Before comics fandom I was all CANON COMPLIANCE IS VITAL. But now, I never have to cry anymore about violating canon, because canon? Meh. Fanon very literally makes more sense!

[akacat]

Go AU with Charles 15-20 years younger than Erik and kidnapped when he's just a wee lad of 16 18. And Erik is the one who wanted to keep the status quo, but he rescues Charles and Charles seduces him and they take over the world together.

...idek why my brain went there.

[seperis]

You might have just suggested something I've never done. I've written teh before, middle, and after of a war, but not the war itself. I'm curious if I can pull that off now.

[domarzione]

The war itself is the fun part, but also the hard part because it requires both tactical and strategic thinking instead of just waving your hands and circumlocuting in a way that everyone can interpret as 'everyone's acting intelligently and as required.'

Also, if you do such a thing, for the love of god, use me as the object lesson and plot the @$^$@ thing out entirely before you start. :)