leandraholmes

Damn you, LJ, for not allowing me to post an entire chapter in one post. WTF even? This used to be no problem, the chapter isn't even long.

Anyway...

( Chapter 1 - part 2 )

Title: New Year, New Beginning
Fandom/Pairing: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: Romance
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 8,442
Summary: Sequel to A Christmas Carol. On New Year's Eve, Charles reflects on the events of the previous days. For the new year, there's only one more thing he asks of Erik.
A/N: Many thanks to my beta reader yourareunearthlything. And a happy New Year to all of you!

( New Year, New Beginning )

Title: A Christmas Carol (3/4)
Fandom/Pairing: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5,638
Summary: Around Christmas 1962, Erik gets a nightly visit by a strange woman with extraordinary abilities who claims to be the Ghost of Christmas – Past, Present and Future. Despite his objections – after all, such things only exist in stories – she takes him on a journey to re-discover himself.
A/N: I will be posting one chapter every day, ending on Christmas Eve.
Many thanks to my two beta readers yourareunearthlything and sonicshotguns, and also merci beaucoup to gabrielmanga who helped me with some French lines in the first chapter (translations at the bottom).
Please also go back to the last chapter and check the part after Hank explains his theory. I made a few additions there after a very constructive discussion with speak_me_fair. There was a bit of a lack of reaction from Erik, and I made according changes.
Regarding constructive cricism, I have something more to say, but after the cut...

( Chapter 3 )

Title: A Christmas Carol (1/4)
Fandom/Pairing: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4,864
Summary: Around Christmas 1962, Erik gets a nightly visit by a strange woman with extraordinary abilities who claims to be the Ghost of Christmas – Past, Present and Future. Despite his objections – after all, such things only exist in stories – she takes him on a journey to re-discover himself.
A/N: I will be posting one chapter every day, ending on Christmas Eve.
Many thanks to my two beta readers yourareunearthlything and sonicshotguns, and also merci beaucoup to gabrielmanga who helped me with some French lines in the first chapter (translations at the bottom).

( Chapter 1 )

Title: Beneath the Surface - Epilogue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2070
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Well, sorry again for the epic delay. As I've said, I've been a little busy lately. This is really it now; I'm quite sad about that fact myself (maybe I've also been subconsciously putting this off because I didn't want it to end).
I said I might write a vignette or two here and there though. So if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see or learn about their future go ahead and prompt me. I'm also still thinking about that sequel, but I've got a few other stories to finish first - for example the one I'm writing with narya86.
Anyway, again thank you all SO much for the wonderful feedback. I hope you'll enjoy this last little installment :)


( 10 Months Later )

Some of you have read my fanfic Beneath the Surface and therefore already know that I'm crazy about sharks. To those of you who have and haven't I'd like to ask you for just two minutes of your time.

I would like you to visit SharkAlliance.org and sign the petition to ban shark finning in the European Union. So far, it only has around 22,000 signatures which is still far from enough.

Every year, several million (25-100, according to rough estimates) sharks are being killed mainly for their fins to be sold to mostly East Asian countries for shark fin soup. Most often the sharks are being pulled out of the water alive, their fins cut off and the bodies thrown back into the ocean to die. Several countries and some US states have already banned this custom and even any kind of trade with shark fins, but Europe still lags behind.

If you need more reasons for why you should engage in shark conservation, here are a few facts.

- Sharks are apex predators in all oceans. They are of crucial importance for the balance of the oceans' ecosystems. In many areas, the population of many shark species have already declined by 95-97%, and several shark species are critically endangered. The Great White, for example, is now as endangered as the Bengal Tiger.

- Shark finning is a cruel and horrid custom. Imagine someone would cut off your arms and legs and leave you to die somewhere. The fishers do this so they can transport more fins (on the market, up to 250 € are being paid for one pound of shark fins). The proposition for a change of law by the EU would make this custom illegal, forcing fishermen to present the entire shark body, intact instead of just the fins.

- Shark fins have no taste. They only add a gelatinous texture to shark fin soup, which is mainly being eaten in China at banquets and weddings. It's a tradition that symbolizes wealth and a certain status in society, nothing more. For more info on this and the other connected topics watch Gordon Ramsay's Shark Bait.

Please spread the word. Don't ask if you simply want to copy what I have written here; I'd be more than thankful for anyone who re-posts this!

Title: Beneath the Surface (17/17), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: R for language and mention of inhumane crimes.
Word Count: 6729
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Sooo. This is it ^^ Well, not quite as there's an epilogue following (busy day at work yesterday so I couldn't finish it, and today is my friend's narya86's birthday, so I'll be at hers until tomorrow... but you probably won't have to wait very long.

Let me just say that it's been such an amazing journey, both while writing this fic and exploring the story and this world with the characters, and also with all of you who have given me so much amazing feedback. I'm quite sure I wouldn't have finished an over 100 k word fic in such a short time without you. You often were the right kick in the butt that I needed to continue ^^ So thank you all so, so much.

And now, without further ado...


( Chapter 17 )

Title: Beneath the Surface (15/~17), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: R for language and mention of inhumane crimes.
Word Count: 7739
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Oookay, the showdown of doom is gonna be longer than I expected. 17 chapters all in all, I suppose.
As you know, I've had some troubles with this. It's still not completed but I decided I could safely post the first bit of it. Bit... being almost 8 k words with around twice as much still following. *cough* Well. Thank you all for your patience, your input and your lovely comments. Not making any promises, but I expect I should have the whole thing done by the weekend. So I'll possibly post another chapter in 2 days and the final one on the weekend. And then the epilogue which will be set 19 years later with Erik and Charles, and Raven and Irene bringing their kids to King's Cross and... wait, wrong franchise ^^

( Chapter 15 )