crack_van | Unstoppable by Matt Nute (R?)

Fandom: X-MEN COMICSVERSE
Pairing: None.
Author on LJ:

nute
Author Website: The Finish Line

Why this must be read:

One of the things I've always loved about fanfic is the potential for filling in the blanks. Not so much a matter of 'missing scenes' -- I often find those problematic -- as a matter of missing *lives*. The minor characters that show up within a given show/movie/book/whatever solely to advance the plot or give the *real* heroes (or villains) a straight line to work with.

Granted, when you've got a fandom like X-Men, there tends to be *tons* of canon available about the most random of characters, but there remains something to be said for a good fannish author picking up the scattered pieces and making a story out of it. And that's just what

nute does with the Juggernaut. This is a gritty, intensely *believable* piece about a man who willingly gave up his humanity... and is just starting to figure out what that means.

I've been sitting here thinking for a while about why I love this piece so much. I mean, I would've made a few different choices if I'd written it (though not many), and it's a brief thing, even a little... sentimental. A little. Kind of. Really, you should probably take *that* with a grain of salt, considering that it's *me* saying it, but hey... I tend to think that there's a *reason* why each of us only gets a month to pimp our fandoms. This month, you're getting the way *I* look at the Marvel universe.

Which brings us right back to "Unstoppable," because, in the end, the biggest reason why this story works *so* freaking well for me is because I have a massive kink for People. For stories that take these (often quite literally) larger than life characters and show the reader how they might come to exist in a world like our own. Or, even better, how to look at the characters' glossy, improbable world and see a place where *we* might exist.

I never cared about the Juggernaut. He didn't *annoy* me, but he always seemed kind of pointless. And gratuitous. I mean, come on, name the Bad Brother *Cain*? Sometimes, reading comic books can feel like a trip to the Acme Anvil Company, man. *This* story changed that for me. Suddenly, I could *feel* this man, and care about his existence, and be *interested* in his hopes, fears, and beliefs.

Any story that increases my love for a given universe, that broadens and *deepens* that love? Is, in my opinion, a story worth reading.

And a story worth pimping. ;-)

Consider this a not-gentle-in-the-slightest introduction to the world of Marvel, with my compliments.

Unstoppable