Unwanted Sub
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Unwanted Sub |
| Author(s): | Anonymous Prompter, Anonymous Writer 1, Anonymous Writer 2, alishatorn, cylin, and manic_intent |
| Date(s): | 25 August 2011 - 22 December 2011 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | M/M, D/s AU |
| Fandom: | XMFC |
| External Links: | Prompt on 1stclass_kink Try a Little Tenderness on 1stclass_kink |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Charles/Erik Unwanted sub is the subject line of a XMFC prompt.
An anonymous prompter left the following prompt on 1stclass_kink on 25 August 2011:
Charles/Erik Unwanted subThere are stories where Charles is Erik’s sub and they are both happy, but what about some more angsty theme? AU where mutants and humans live together but mutants think themselves more important and often treat humans like dirt. Sub/Dom pairs are created by imprinting. Mutants generally imprint on mutants and Erik who is the most powerful among them thinks that he will have equally powerful sub. Turns out that he imprints on Charles – a brilliant yet entirely human Professor. Cue Erik being disgusted and angry with his Sub, which Charles takes really hard. Erik is ashamed of him, and doesn’t want him to associate with other mutants, but slowly Charles charms his way to the hearts of everyone and one day another mutant (Logan pretty please?) challenges Erik’s claim over Xavier.
HAppy ending please?
The prompt sparked an initial mini-fill called "Try a Little Tenderness" by an anonymous writer, and that mini-fill sparked alishatorn and manic_intent to write fills taking the mini-fill in two bifurcating directions. Another anonymous writer also wrote a prequel fill to "Try a Little Tenderness," and cylin drew a piece of artwork for the prequel fill. Because this was happening while 1stclass_kink was in turmoil and people were afraid the community was going to be deleted, the longer fills were begun on 1stclass_kink and then finished elsewhere.
Try A Little Tenderness
The first mini-fill, by an anonymous writer, was three comment-boxes long and ended just before Logan and Erik were set to fight for Charles. It was posted 2 September 2011. The response was uniformly positive, with most commenters begging for more to the story. The author said they had no plans to continue the story, outlined what might happen if Logan won, and said they had "no objection to anyone else taking on where I left off!"[1]
Erik Wins
alishatorn continued "Try A Little Tenderness" where the anonymous author left off, choosing to have Erik defeat Logan and ultimately reconcile with Charles, because "[the first author] outlined the Logan option really well already, so I figured I'd give the poor guy (Erik) a shot."[2]
OPTION B- ERIK WINS
alishatorn's first fill was six comment-boxes long and was posted from 4–5 September 2011. While many commenters were happy about a continuation, the emotional responses to the content of alishatorn's fill were widely disparate, ranging from "OH, ERIK! MY HEART BLEEDS FOR YOU AND CHARLES! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PUT POLITICS OVER YOUR OWN HAPPINESS?"[3] to "Loving this continuation. Of course, I kinda have the insane and all-consuming urge to kick Erik in the shins. . ."[4] to "You are completely unforgivable, Erik. God, this fill has really gotten to me because I am utterly enraged."[5]
TIMESTAMPS/The Long Way Around
alishatorn then posted a sequel to the first fill that ran thirteen comment-boxes long but was never completed. The first twelve parts and an illustration were posted on 1stclass_kink from 6–9 September 2011; on 17 September 2011 alishatorn announced that the fill had been renamed "The Long Way Around" and moved to xmen-firstkink and would be updated there,[6] but only part 13 was subsequently posted.
Prequel
On 9 September 2011, another anonymous writer posted a mini-fill, this time a prequel to "Try A Little Tenderness," expanding on a scene referenced in the first mini-fill. It was titled "the aforementioned scene between Logan and Charles" and ran seven comment-boxes long. Response was uniformly positive. One commenter said, "This prompt, this fill, the other fills~! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS MY FAVOURITE THING ON THE MEME!"[7] cylin posted fanart for the prequel on her LiveJournal on 3 November 2011.
Logan Wins
On 7 September 2011, manic_intent began posting a continuation of "Try A Little Tenderness" taking that author's option A, having Logan defeat Erik. From 7–25 September 2011 manic_intent posted 46 comment-boxes, then on 29 September 2011 she announced that the rest of the fill had been posted to the AO3 under the title "Let Them Talk." The fic ended up being 38,126 words long, and garnered very positive responses; one fairly typical response was "I don't know how to describe my reaction to this story other than THIS BROKE MY SHIP. . . Seriously, this coming from a serious OTPer: I don't want to read any Charles/Erik anymore; I just want this pairing with this dynamic forever."[8]
On 17 December 2011 and 22 December 2011 manic_intent turned "Let Them Talk" into a series, writing three more stories in the 'verse: "You Don't Know Your Mind," featuring Logan/Charles/Tony Stark; "Six Cold Feet," featuring Steve/Tony; and "The Whale Has Swallowed Me," which adds Natasha/Pepper to the mix. manic_intent has noted that the titles of her series were based off Hugh Laurie's "Let Them Talk" debut album. The series now stands at 55,331 words and is not marked complete.
References
- ^ Author!anon here, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Oh man, I had to continue this, by alishatorn, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Anonymous comment, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Anonymous comment, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Anonymous comment, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Author's Note, accessed 10 September 2013.
- ^ Anonymous comment, accessed 11 September 2013.
- ^ Enthusiastic Anon, accessed 11 September 2013.