new bandslash fic: wake up and notice

[cimorene]

So, you can see that wax finally betaed my storee and now I can post it! Also, it's too long for livejournal. Read it at cimorene.net.

Wake Up and Notice (≈ 21 000 words)
Bandslash: My Chemical Romance, Frank Iero/Gerard Way
NC-17; genderswap
Many thanks to bexless, a stellar cheerleader, and to wax_jism for beta.

Everyone just stared at everyone else for a second until Mikey mumbled, "Everyone turned into a girl except you last night, so I guess now there won't be anyone to kill spiders."

Comments

[shoemaster.livejournal.com]

If I tried to copy and paste my favorite bits of this into the comment box it'd probably be about 10,000 words. Seriously, it was hot and hilarious and I just love the whole band, and the inside of Gerard's mind as written by you. Alicia always comes in handy with these things and I adore her for it. I'm out of words at this point but it's saved to my hard drive already and will never be deleted.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I really introduced Alicia at first more for a way to move the plot forward than anything else, but she turned out to be pretty much the most fun part of the whole thing. Of course I'm too lazy (and would also feel like too much of a creepy stalker) to track down information about what she actually acts and talks like, but I'm pretty happy with that. Thanks for the feedback! I'm so glad you liked it!

[ficsoreal.livejournal.com]

I am filled with happy. \o/, this is one of the best genderswaps I've read and I like how they all continued being boys. Not bathing, flashing people...good times. And Frank, why so adorable? Why so sexalicious? Again, I really enjoyed this.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's definitely what I was thinking about - I read genderswaps excitedly and the whole gender identity issue, the way they act while girls, is the big thing about it for me. I'm glad you liked my interpretation!

[twilight-la-fae.livejournal.com]

This is so good, its unbelievable. It was funny and hot and smart and sometimes a little sad but I loved it and it was so so awesome. /abusing 'and'

Ugh, I loved how Gee expirences everything as a girl, you just nailed everything. Frank was so perfect and Alicia, god, I really hope Alicia is like that in real life, because she's so awesome. The rest of boys were incredible too.

*grin* Great job!!

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the fb! I had a lot of fun with Alicia and with Gerard's introduction to the World of Girl especially. Glad that some of my joy apparently rubbed off on the text. ;)

[eleanor-lavish.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, fantastic!! Genderswap with all the Frank/Gerard sex there could POSSIBLY EVER BE!

I love the way Gerard still thought like a boy, in boy metaphors, that he was confused and oddly shaped, and it took him a minute to figure out he was turned on. I love the bra shopping, and the constant coffee/chain-smoking, and Bob Bryar as a girl, holy crap. I love Gerard and Mikey's silent conversation and Mikey's worrying about Frank, and i REALLY REALLY WITH ALL MY HEART loved Frank's enthusiastic cocksucking.

Two massive, massive thumbs up!!!

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Hee, thank you! I'm glad I went ahead and wrote the enthusiastic cocksucking scene, then, even though the romantic tension was already over, then. I'm so pleased and flattered by the feedback. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

[anglepoiselamp.livejournal.com]

That was kind of really, really awesome. I'm sorry I don't have anything coherent or feedback-esque to say, I just never do. *hides*

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Hee. ♥ Don't worry about it! Thanks for the comment!

[miserablefaith.livejournal.com]

oh my god, my heart feels too big for my chest, right at this very second. frank & gerard being all *puppylove* & *sex* just. god. you did a really awesome job of this.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[farwing.livejournal.com]

This is really brilliant and wonderful. I think this might be the best genderswap I have ever read. And I rather adore genderswaps. And it was filled to the brim with funny bits and really amazingly hot bits and I am in awe.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

High praise indeed! I'm flattered. Thank you very much for the feedback!

[sweetvalleyslut.livejournal.com]

This was so great. Wonderful characterization, good dialogue, and it made me nostalgic for my years of not wearing a bra. And just everything that Gerard thought about the whole experience seemed perfect. And I giggled forever about his battle with the hotel coverlets.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Hahhahaha. My years of not wearing a bra are not yet over, but I think if I had medium-sized okay-tits like Gerard (haha) I probably wouldn't go without one. Secret? The battle with hotel coverlets is actually my favourite part.

[thelionforreal.livejournal.com]

the tone is just fabulous, the vocabulary and the way it fits characterisation ... oh eff this you know i can't do coherent feedback I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS AND YOU AND GIRL!BOB'S NON-COMFORT LEVELS WITH HIS HUMONGOUS TA-TAS. (and girl!ray's extreme comfort levels with his humongous ta-tas.)

AND FRANK. AND GERARD. FRANK AND GERARD THEY ARE SACRED AND THEY ARE WONDERFUL AND THEY LOVE IN ALL GENDERS.

all caps! ALL CAPS!

i will tell the world "read cim's storee. cim's storee. read it!"

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I don't think it would be possible to be comfortable with Bob's ta-tas. BACKACHES, dude. Hardcore.

[mercurybard.livejournal.com]

There were all kinds of fantastic moments here, but my absolute favorite would have to be Bob in Victoria's Secret with his arms over his chest, being all grumpy and cavemanish over having to get a bra.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Ahahahah "cavemanish". I really feel for Bob. I find VS a bit creepy too. Thanks for the fb!

[valerie-z.livejournal.com]

I started copying and pasting my favorite parts, but I reached the maximum characters for a comment before I was even a fourth of the way in. And then I got to this:

if it didn't feel so good there would be something gruesome about love, and that no, actually it was pretty gruesome anyway in an awesome way, it was like having a bizarre craving to taste your own blood so you rip your heart out and lick it, and stuff it back into your chest still beating packed in cotton candy and it feels like sex, but there you are with blood all over, right?

And I actually cried. I'm pretty sure I've never cried while reading gender swap bandslash before, but this story was just that good.

There were so many honest laugh-out-loud moments, and then there was the amazingly hot sex, and I'm so impressed that one person can do both at the same time. And now I have to go change my pants. Luckily, unlike Gerard, I have a clean pair available.

Thank you for a great story.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Ahahahhahaha. Your story where Gerard looks like a gay zombie is, like, my favourite Gerard dialogue ever and I got all excited about this comment! I wasn't sure at first if you were crying with laughter or just crying about the gruesome love bit, but I suppose it doesn't really matter when it's all so existential and bizarre-yet-deep anyway with Gerard - at least, as I imagine him. It's almost the same thing, in fact. Anyway, thank you for the feedback. Very flattering!

[notshybutsly.livejournal.com]

I love genderswap where they don't suddenly become women in the emotional sense but continue to be guys just with different parts. It's much more interesting to read that way. There are just so many things I love about this fic, way too many to quote, it's amazing.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

If you don't believe that interest in tits and being afraid of spiders is somehow just cancelled out automatically by the presence of the Y chromosome, it really only makes sense for them to continue being the lame, unwashed geeks they always were! I definitely like that in my genderswap, too. :) Thanks for the note!

[stereomer.livejournal.com]

oh my christ, how did you write something so hot and so well-characterized and heart clenching and funny, all at the same time?! honestly now. i loved this.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Heee! Wow, thank you for the very flattering feedback!

[lesasoja.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's, super amazingly hot. I really like how Gerard works his way around to his more lasting revelations. Also, "in the history of man" made me giggle.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I was worried I was going to run out of revelations for a while there, but I was relieved and satisfied by the way it turned out in the end! And thank you very much. I'm glad you liked!

[littlerhymes]

This was so fun to read - really funny and smart and hot. Loved how you got all of the guys, their voices, their support for each other; and loved the style, which comes across so straight-faced and deadpan funny.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I really enjoyed the narrative voice for this - Gerard's point of view is awesomely fun to do, although I doubt anyone could ever truly approximate the random bizarreness that no doubt goes on inside his head. I'm glad the feel of his babbling came across like it was supposed to.

[paula0.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey... That was cool! Funny, yet deadly serious somehow. And I found myself described at one point! Let me go find it. Here: "...but recently it depends more on the angle. It was more androgynous than actually completely girl-like..." Except it goes the other way around for me, I guess. :)

"but, like, who's ever feeling confident and emotionally balanced? Sometimes I think that's just a myth."

I think so, too. I've found that the people who claim to be emotionally balanced are usually the most fucked-up ones. :)

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Hahahhahahahahahahaha. You're more girl-like than androgynous, depending on the angle?

I'm sure from Gerard's worldview, it's hard to imagine anyone ever feels confident and well-balanced. Not Okay is his themesong! There are probably people out there who think they are okay, though. Whether they actually are or not is a matter for debate...

[fluffontop.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was so funny and hot and really sweet. I love Gerard and Frank's relationship - the attraction that it turns out had nothing to do with the random genderswitch, and ohhhh for all the hot sex. Great dialogue and hilarity throughout! Fabulous!

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

[theaerosolkid.livejournal.com]

Amaaazing is all I have to say. Very nice, all of it was just great. Dialogue, sex, character interactions, everything!

\o/

[cimness.livejournal.com]

How flattering! I'm glad you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!

this is quite rambly

[likeasunburn.livejournal.com]

I'm not usually a huge fan of genderswap, (although I do remember a few favorites back in the popslash days by favorite authors that I read and enjoyed), but it's not something I seek out. Since it was recc'd by restriction I decided to check it out, plus I'm sure I've read other stories of yours .. and, well, I loved this. L O V E D. It was funny and awkward and sweet and a little heart-wrenching but yay with the happy Gerard/Frank ending! Perfect. I love the way you write their voices - all the boys - and how even though they were physically girls, they were still the same boys inside.

I tried to click back to your index to see some more of your writing but I'm not finding any links, is there a magic word or something? :D

Re: this is quite rambly

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I definitely think the maleness of the characters is the most important issue in genderswap! I'm not a tremendous fan of the genre either for that reason - I mean because I often feel dissatisfied with the treatment of it - but I always love to read it anyway. :) And thank you for the feedback!

There is nothing wrong with the links at my website, as I've just checked again; if you go from the story page to the main splash and then the "fanfiction" page you should reach the fiction index here (http://cimorene.net/cimorene/textindex.html), which has a complete list of my published fiction.

[jocondite.livejournal.com]

This was possibly one of the most amazing stories that I've read in bandom, and definitely one of the best in MCR. I just - I loved your characterizations, the way you had fun with the joys and tropes of genderswap but at the same time never characterized them as anything but boys, as themselves. (And, um, the Frank/Gerard-as-a-girl scenes were fantastically hot). Your Gerard, in particular, I just absolutely adored.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the great feedback! I'm really glad you appreciated the playing around with the genre and that the characters rang true for you.

[nasus221.livejournal.com]

DUDE. That was so hot in so many ways. I loved the part when Bob discovered them haha.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Heee, I'm so glad! Thanks for the note!

[battleofhydaspe.livejournal.com]

Okay. I think that I can say that this was the best thing I have ever read. And it's not easy to pick your favourite, you know? It's just amazing in so many aspects that I really do not have the patience to point them all out.
You made them all so fucking REAL that... fuck. I'm speechless.
I was laughing so hard at some bits and literally copy-pasting some of them while reading and... Oh man.
If you're ever gonna write something as good as this one - I'm gonna build you an altar.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I recognise that as an extremely high compliment! I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the story so very much. A lot of work and love gets poured into writing a story like this and that makes me think that you noticed and appreciated a lot of them, which always is pleasing. (And if you ever felt like pointing them all out I'd be delighted to listen.) Then there's the fact that 'real' isn't a compliment generally applied to things like genderswap! So in short, thank you for taking the time to send such sweet and thoughtful feedback.

[turloughishere.livejournal.com]

... I'm speechless! This is just so fucking good! Seriously the best genderswap I've ever read! I mean, popslash has some good ones but this one's even better!! It's kind-of weird to say it about a genderswap but it just feels so "real" - like if a bunch of guys got turned into girls this is the way they would actually behave. And I love your Gerard! He's so fabulously weird and wonderful and dorky :-)

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's very flattering! Of course, genderswap today wouldn't exist without the early genderswap in popslash that pretty much created the genre. It's a kind of referential genre - so many tropes! - so one like this make as much sense without all the great genderswap stories we've already read hanging around in our minds, I think.

[milosflaca.livejournal.com]

Man, this is AWESOME. The best part is that Gerard acted like a guy. It felt *real*. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but OMG.
Awesome. I'm saving it to my memories.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm flattered you liked it so much! :)