round 3 overflow post

[starkmodistries.livejournal.com]

Round 3 Overflow Post

This post is for Round 3 fills only. We ask that when a round hits 8500 comments, fillers begin moving their fills to this post.

Format:
SUBJECT LINE -- Round #, short description of fic (ex: "Alex/Hank, lab partners")
--- Link to the prompt
--- Text of the prompt

--- Link to the fill
OR
--- Entire text of the fill

EXAMPLE:
Prompt: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=1038472#t2038174

Charles/Erik -- Charles is a bakery owner whose most frequent customer is Erik.

Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=0139482#t4502942

Charles started off the morning the same way he always did...

Comments

Re: FILL: Everyday Love in Stockholm 177/?

[levitatethis.livejournal.com]

Break my fucking heart, why don't you. Wow. This section is filled with so much tension, it's insane. I feel like the weight of the world is crushing down on everyone...the thing is, it's unsurprising. This is where all the events have been leading. It's inevitable. Of course, that doesn't make it hurt less.

The balance between the personal and the political has always been a significant aspect of your story and now it has an urgency at its core as they bleed more and more into each other. You strike a delicate balance, rendering complicated characters I can agree and disagree with while always feeling like they're real, authentic, genuine beings.

It's striking, but I do like the tonal change between this and earlier sections. This is certainly a harkening back to the beginning. Things are notably changed -- like a flame that's slowly going out. I love that Charles still fights in his own way for freedom and that Erik is not so delusional as to not see how messed up the situation is. It's a very honest portrayal of them -- knowing what's rational, practical, realistic, idealistic.

The image of Charles smiling at his code name in the journal index is beautiful. In a few sentences you convey such joy. It's not just about Charles' work being published it's the reminder for him that he does exist outside of these protective walls, that he is still more than a captive, a prisoner, a protected lover and friend. There is still life and breath to him. And I love that Erik is moved by that sight because it's the Charles he fell in love with, the one who has stolen his heart, the one he wants an honest to goodness life with.

Which leads to the complexities of the situation. Erik's intent with Charles is not malicious and though that doesn't make his actions/decisions right, it does reveal a far more intimate and familiar desire at his core. Yes there's a controlling side of him (the metal bracelet Charles wears, the captivity, Erik wanting Charles all to himself) but he's very mindful and aware of all the colliding motivations behind why he feels/does what he does. It makes him so much richer than some jackass tyrannical authority.

Their relationship is both strong and broken with both men struggling to find some semblance of...something they can cling to.

And the politics of what to do with the humans who are in camps, the disturbing parallel to Erik's past and the Holocaust, they way this will explode even worse when/if Charles is discovered -- to be alive, a prisoner, a lover, etc etc. There's also this part of me that thinks Kurt is going to teleport himself to Magneto's place and see Charles, remember him, say something...

I'm very moved by Erik's dream at the end. It's about Charles. A happy, content, free Charles, untainted and untouched not just by Erik but by all this political upheaval. I'm struck by how much Erik wants to be there with him, the two of them outside, peaceful, open to the world, not threats, no worries, just happiness and contentment. I'm also struck by his near acceptance that this Charles is free of him in all ways and that when he wakes up he holds on tighter to Charles, not letting go, not risking it with sleep. Again it's the battle of two worlds within Erik. I think he does want Charles to be happy and have everything he deserves, but Erik can't give him that, so, in a way, he takes what he can -- Charles for himself where the world can't get him and that maybe they can manipulate a happy ending into being...against all odds and reason.

Re: FILL: Everyday Love in Stockholm 177/?

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

The tone was the biggest challenge this week, seriously. Managing that four year gap without losing the dynamic that had already built was - tricky. So I'm really glad you've found that it works for you - that's all you can ask for as a writer when you've struggled over something as hard as I did this week!

The problem they really face now is that Erik had been relaxing, and moving toward a more centralised point of view, only to have all of his worst fears proven true, and causing him to react in the only way he knows how. He's backtrodden all of the progress he's made - and frankly, I can't blame him. I know I'm biased in his favour, but it's no wonder he's gunshy when he's been shot so many times before.

And yet, he knows this about himself enough to wish he could give Charles the one thing he wants most, but cannot bring himself to let Charles have, because if he lost him Erik would have lost everything and everyone. He's a lost soul, really, looking for a way to have everything in a world of closed doors.