-Acknowledgements-

To the authors, listed in their entirety at the beginning of chapter 1.

To InterNutter, for letting said authors play on her messageboard.

And to you, the reader, who took the time to read all that and has now arrived at the end. The following are for you.

-Author Interviews-

Amicitia: Hi Scribbler! You're always very involved with the interfics.

Scribbler: I freely admit it; I have no life! Well, I do, but it’s one planted firmly in front of the computer terminal, or else mulling over random plot points in the bath.

A: What is your general opinion on _Futures Tense_?

S: I think the best word to describe it is ‘epic’. Although, I’m sure everybody else will use exactly the same description - whee for originality, eh? To tell the honest truth, _Futures Tense_ didn’t actually interest me in the beginning. I read it, sure, but nothing really sparked my interest until about halfway down page one, when Eileen pleaded for people to contribute. I did, and I’ve never looked back.

Personally, I think _Futures Tense_ is one of those rare things - an OC fic that makes you actually *like* and even empathise with unfamiliar characters. I’m the first to kvetch about non-canon creations being unrealistic and (dare I say it?) Mary-Sue-ish, but quite frankly I don’t think you get that with this fic. Each newbie - and even the Evolution-ized comic book characters - is well-rounded and very much their own person. I think it makes a difference. If we’d just chucked everybody together in a hodgepodge of plot points and hoped for the best, as per a lot of OC stories, the fic would’ve hit the skids very, *very* fast.

The plot is the other thing I think came off quite well. Once again, in the beginning I had my doubts about certain aspects - the inclusion of the Phoenix Force being a primary one. All too often, comic book elements that are so well known are exploited and underdeveloped, making fics tedious, even boring to read. By not immediately making Jean into Phoenix, Dark or otherwise, we accomplished a plot twist that’s as beautiful as it is atypical - one you *really* didn’t see coming.

A: What important scenes or plot points did you contribute?

S: Eep! Er, I can’t remember all of them, unfortunately. Like I said, I have no life, and thus wrote quite a bit of _Futures Tense_. I’m not trying to boast, just state a simple fact.

OK, um ... well, first off I was the one who named Victoria. Not much, I know, but it made me feel more comfortable about writing her, even though she wasn’t originally my creation. Likewise, I came up with her powers - Susan’s, too. I blame reading too many fantasy novels. Amicitia thwacked me soundly when I came up with Victoria’s parentage, but I think it worked in the end. The again, I would say that, wouldn’t I? I plead guilty to bias on that front. Also, after a few madcap posts between me and Eileen, I convinced her to let me write the opening sequence, with Smash on the park bench etc. Consequently, the descriptions of his astounding good looks are mine.

It was my idea to bring the Triad into things, initially. I introduced the concept of a three-way psychic entity involving Betsy and Kevin after Eileen mentioned fetching Wanda from the mental institution. I’m not sure how others felt about it at first, but they seemed to warm to the idea after a while, and it actually became a driving plot point in the end. *wipes tear from eye* I’m so proud. My little baby’s all growed up.

OK, I’ll just list off the rest to save time for the dear-but-bored reader, shall I?

Nicole’s parents. Joshua. Susan and Victoria as a couple. Specifics of Ricky’s power (Amicitia said he could ‘see’ out the back of his head. I gave him clairvoyance and extra gold eyes - purdy ^_^). Scott hating the English road system - especially roundabouts. Betsy’s place of residence and history. Victoria’s codename (not that it's ever mentioned, but it’s 'Descolada', meaning ‘ungluing’. Hmm, sounds like a drink). Jubilee running off to Forge’s and consequently getting grabbed. Nullifiers. Betsy being blind, crotchety and a smoker. Pietro rescuing Ororo, and their subsequent tête-à-tête. Hole in Pietro’s hand. Capturing Rimmer. Tabby’s biking prowess. Jubilee’s belonephobia (fear of needles). Forge’s musophobia (fear of mice).  Bonding sequences between those in the Triad. Evan saving Nicole. Teleporter pads. Nicole’s death.

A: In your writing, you dedicate a lot of space to character development. What is your take on the five Neo-X-Men?

S: My take? Hmm, I got a lot closer to them than you might think. As you say, character development is something I don’t believe you can have too much of in a fic. I believe the Neos are all their individual people, just like the canon characters in Evo. You couldn’t imagine Nicole sitting down to play ‘Who Am I?’ like Ricky, can you? Likewise, Susan’s more likely to take a car to pieces than learn how to drive it. They’re all strong, that much is clear. The world they come from has shaped them, making them harsher and a little more impervious than their parents in this time. Yet they all still retain some seed of goodness, of decency that sets them apart from, say, Smash or Rimmer.

Succinctly, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to take on any of them in a fight.

*

Amicitia: Bwa. Be interviewed.

InterNutter: ...gulp...

A: Let's start with this, shall we?

IN: Looks like a good beginning ;)

A: Hi InterNutter! First, you deserve major credit for opening your BulletinBoard for the enjoyment of other authors. Do you ever feel you're being upstaged by the interfics?

IN: Upstaged? Hell no! Swamped, maybe. Upstaged, never. If anything, I feel complimented by the other writers on the board. We sorta egg each other on, learning things in the process. And breeding lots and *lots* of rabid plotbunnies. Gotta watch out for them ;)

A: What important scenes or plot points did you contribute to _Futures Tense_?

IN: The big major one, of course. That Evan, *dear* darling Evan, was the one that started the war. LOL! He's such a big screw-up. And I think that was the one that got the posts longer, moving the story ahead by leaps and bounds.

Oh, and the Kelly-dies scenes. I *loved* those - sadistic sod that I am ^__^ ::laughs:: I sorta picture the MiSTed version of this in my head...

Crow: Oh my God! You killed Kelly! ...kinda.
Mike: You bastard! ...kinda.

ROFL...
But then, I have a very strange sense of humour.

A: Everyone knows you're a huge Kurt fan. What is your opinion on his transition in this fic, from joker to leader and caring father?

IN: I like it. Sweet and sad and he forgets it all in the end [WAH!] because of the Phoenix Force. AKA the "Magic Reset Button"...

True, we had the characters develop *WAY* too much for the story to be a prequel to LWTMS. So we had to reset it a bit. Okay a lot.

I still wanted to see the trio - Wanda, Betsy and Kevin - adapt to normal life. Maybe that should be the next Interfic?

AIE! Another plotbunny! RUN!

*

Scribbler: How did you feel when first getting involved with _Futures Tense_? Did you have any idea how epic it was going to turn out?

Amicitia: I was actually the first to reply to Eileen's original post. It was sort of a throwaway post... the beginning of the story was really very vague and directionless. I had *no* idea how big this was going to get.

S: Which characters did you empathise with the most? Were there any you felt particularly fond of?

A: Of the Neos? I wouldn't say I *empathised* with any of them. I think I liked David best of the characters we introduced. Really, one of the strengths of _Futures Tense_ is that every single character gets to do stuff. With a plot this big, I guess you can do that. *LOL*

S: Nicole is a character you came up with, yet she didn’t appear until quite a ways through the fic. How did you feel about her death in light of this?

A: I wasn't actually close to Nicole as a character. Way at the beginning, everyone seemed to be inventing Neos, so I dropped one in to. Nobody noticed her for a while, though there was some post-editing to place her somewhere. I hardly wrote any of her scenes... her death was still sad, though. So sweet. :,)

S: You took over writing the entire end and epilogue of the fic, didn’t you? How did you feel about taking on such a mammoth task?

A: I did! I made the mistake of claiming the 'fight scene' before the story had even really taken off. Then I was stuck with it. :P The ideas were working themselves out for a long time... never did outline them as well as I should have. Still, I think it came out pretty well. :)
Along the way, I was scared. I was pretty well convinced I was going to mess up five months of shared work, and leave our readers feeling completely cheated.

S: Is there anything you would’ve changed about the story, had you been able?

A: I'm not really one to have regrets... my biggest one is that I think I'm a better writer now than I was at the beginning. So I guess I'd like to rework my posts, but I really can't without messing up everyone else's. Oh well. Onwards and upwards, eh?

S: Overall, how do you think _Futures Tense_ rates in the great fanfiction scale of things? How do you think people/the uninitiated will react? How do you *hope* they will react?

A: Number one, I could not honestly say that I think it's the *best* fic out there. That said, I do think it's darn good. Number two, I suspect some people will quit as soon as they see OCs and time-travelling, some won't start because the story is so long, and some will get hopelessly confused and give up. Those that get to the end, however, will find themselves richly rewarded. Number three, I *hope* that the first group will be a little more open-minded, the second group will read pieces as they have the time, and the last will ... well, actually I hope that no one will be *that* confused.

S: Finally, aside from the ending, what do you believe was your greatest contribution to this fic?

A: I would have to say the proof-reading work. Yep, I signed on to edit this monster. With its length, OCs, complex plot threads, and emotional ups and downs, this fic demands a lot of the reader. We can't also expect them to muddle through typos and formatting inconsistencies. I am proud to present error-free ficcery to the masses. It is my labor of love, and my gift to them. They deserve it. :)

*

Amicitia: Now, Yma, you didn't contribute anything to _Futures Tense_ until late in chapter 6. Why did you suddenly decide to jump in?

Yma: Well, I was a fairly late joiner to the Nut-board and it took a while to get my confidence up by writing in other Interfics, such as _Judgment Day_. I think that _Futures Tense_ was about the second interfic I joined in on, so it wasn't bad going really. Like I said, I wasn't too confident about my writing then (or now really) and I didn't want to mess up a great fic. Anyway, around chapter four or five I started reading the fic, it took me a while, but I began to get quite interested in it. Some of the posts especially, such as the one where Betsy is persuaded to help, really attracted me to the style of writing in the fic. Oh, and the part where Evan kisses Pietro... that was golden, just golden. Also at this time I had the idea of David Haller, and once I had an idea to introduce, and an ideal point to introduce it, I was set.

A: _Futures Tense_ is very much a mix of Evolution, comicverse, and original material. What prompted you to introduce David Haller (Legion), and what do you think of this version of him?

Y: I've been collecting reprints of X-Men for a while now, I started collecting around Age of Apocalypse. Now, a while ago a friend lent me some of his comics, from before that, including the Legion story, just before AOA. That's where I first started to become introduced to David. I was fascinated because I thought it would be wonderfully ironic. I like the idea that, like Magneto, Xavier could have condemned his child to a mental asylum. I guess that might be a bit of Xavier-bashing, but it kinda made sense and it was an interesting idea to work around. I like writing things about characters that makes the reader think about them in a different way.

Overall I like this version of David, so vulnerable, especially when he latches onto Kurt. My only regret was that there was no real mention of the aftereffects on the X-Men, or Xavier, on the discovery of David's parentage. That could have been interesting, but perhaps was wrong for this fic, I don't know. But he was a fun character to play with, who knows, I may yet write a fic about him, or put him into another interfic?

A: Could you explain to us your preoccupation with crazy people?

Y: It all started with the mental institution I went to as a child...

Just kidding! Believe it or not, I'm not quite completely insane myself, honest! There are several reasons why I like writing crazy people, firstly I like the method, being wonderfully mixed up and yet clear in the writing, writing in metaphors, which can seem like nonsense, but once you remove the skin actually make disturbing sense. That's the thing with mad people, a mad person is a mental 'freak,' and a freak is only a freak because he/she looks different, (see Kurt). So a mad person is only deemed mad because they think different. But just because people think different, does that make them wrong? The ability to think differently has brought us some of the best technological and philosophical advances, it can allow us to break the bounds of social constrictions and see further. Basically, a mad person may see with a lot more clarity than a sane one. Also, mad people are just funny and spooky and interesting because you're never quite sure what they're going to do next. So that's why I love mad people.

A: Of the scenes you wrote, which is your favorite, and why?

Y: That's quite tough. I *think* it's the one where Kurt finds David and they are attacked by the FoH guards. Like the angst there. I also liked the little Smash inner monologue, I was told that was particularly insane. It was fun to write too. All of _Futures Tense_ was, I may have joined late, but I am very glad I joined.

-Deleted Scenes-

+Amicitia writes like a fourth-grader

Kurt said "You are not my son."
And Smash said "Yes I am."
Kurt "Smash I am your father."
Smash rolled his eyes "Like duh, I knew that."
Rogue spoke "What's with the stupid cliches and stuff?"
Xavier glared at her "Rogue you are downstairs during this scene."
And Rogue said oops and suddenly disappeared.
And then Kurt punched Smash, who died, and the world was saved.
Kitty said "Let's have a party."
But Logan said "No this story has gone on long enough."

THE END

*Alternate ending, anime-style

"I *am* the master!" Jean exclaimed. Spreading her hands in front of her, she recited, "I call upon the power of the Phoenix, cosmic forces...uh...hey, what rhymes with Phoenix?"
"Um...Kleenex?" Ray suggested.
Jean rolled that around in her head. "Yeah, close enough. Cosmic forces, stronger than Kleenex! Jean Grey, discard your former might, and draw your power from its light!"
"Stop *right* there!" Jean paused mid-sparkle to see who had addressed her.
"Prepare for trouble," Lance said, drawing himself up and crossing his arms.
"And make it double." Pietro zipped across the room to stand back-to-back with his teammate.
Then Logan got big sparkly eyes and everyone passed out from the sheer wrongness of it.

THE END

-Bloopers-

*"Whoa," Todd pressed his face to the window. "Woudja lookit that, yo. The ocean. Feels like we're really flyin'."
Amicitia: Scribbler, as I'm fairly sure Wanda is still in the States, would you care to explain what ocean they're flying over?

Amicitia: *bops Greg* Rahne's on Muir Island!
Greg: ::casts Delay on Am, and dodges being bopped:: *SO-RRY*! All fixed now!

*"What's tomorrow?"
"Domesday."
Greg: 'Domesday' would basically mean (cross-languge wise) 'Sunday'. You'd be thinking of 'Doomsday', right?
Yodelbean: Scrib's referring to the "Domesday Book" (or so I think), which is pronounced Doomsday. It's not that kind of doom (or even dome), though; it derives from the same root word as domestic, since it was basically the world's first (and possibly most complete) census. That's me got all my patronising out of the way for the day. Sorry.
Greg: Basically, what went to the family (precious little) and what went to the crown (lion's share) when someone died.
Haven't thought back on that and the Magna Carta since I was in 6th grade, so I had forgotten what ye ole English spelling was. However, I'd have to maintain my correction as obviously Scrib' isn't talking about inheritances, but the EOTWAWKI (End Of The World As We Know It).
Scribbler: Yipe! I know, I know, it should be Doomsday. Hey, gimmie a break. I was writing late at night with a library attendant peering over my shoulder waiting for me to get lost so he could lock up the computer suite. Hang on a second and I'll fix it. ... There. Happy? Yaaaaaargh! Have just noticed own gaff concerning Jean + co being in X-Jet. Except they weren't *in* the frikking jet when they arrived, were they? They were in the Velocity! Hold on, hold on, I'll go change it. Dammit, I'm starting to hate that little edit button. Um, Yma, I think you'd better do likewise. Sorry about making you gaff because of my gaff..... yeah.

*[Logan] gave a savage, primal scream, ... falling from the seat, and landing in a fatal ball...
Scribbler: *snerk* Sorry, I know what you meant, but that line made me laugh all the same. Kinda like my 'Winzeldork' typo from LWTMS, hee hee!

Yma: There, no one mentioned David leaving the Velocity, or what he was doing, so I put him in here.
Amicitia: Yeah, that was my mistake.

Scribbler: Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Kitty with Logan and co. on the rescue mission?
Yma: BAD YMA, BAD YMA, BAD YMA!!!!!! I can't believe I frikkin did that! Ahhhhhhhh I must be so stupid! For the gods sake, it was me who put Kitty on the Velocity! How could I be such an idiot! My apologies, my sincere apologies, I don't know what came over me! Oh well, I've edited the post so now Freddy brings in the food. My sincere apologies. (Goes back to hitting head on table.)
Amicitia: Bad Yma indeed.

Scribbler: Nitpick, nitpick, nitpick.... Sorry, but just to backtrack a little bit (I forgot to say this yesterday and now feel such a foo' for having to bring it up now). Ahem, uh... Susan's 18. Not important, I know, but I remember mentioning it at some earlier point in the fic. So-reeeee.
Amicitia: Okay. All nitpicky little inconsistencies will be fixed in the final edit.

Amicitia: But I think I messed up...[Ricky] should be the same age as at the beginning of the story.

-Author Commentary-

+On what happens next

InterNutter: I think the problem is that none of us have the slightest clue what the plot is...
Eileen: We're kinda making it up as we go along.

InterNutter: Sorry, but I haven't got the foggiest idea of how to continue from there...

Yma: What happens next I wonder?
Amicitia: Only I know the answer to that. Hacking is useless, as I'm not writing ahead. So if I have a sudden attack of amnesia, this fic is lost. Oh well.

InterNutter: Dunno about everyone else, but I'm stumped.

+On killing Kelly

Amicitia: I wonder how long we can do this?
InterNutter: I wanted to kill him some more...
Kladyelf: OK Nutty, ask and ye shall receive :) you get to kill the principal a few more times
Lyra Silvertongue: Is this *really* the last bit of the Kelly-death-itude? Or does someone want to kill him again?

+On Evan and Gabi

Amicitia: *slaps Scribbler* No! You can't do that! *throws a fit* I mean, wouldn't that make this LWTMS Prequel? And you can see in the title bar that it is not. And...and...*cries* My poor brain...
Scribbler: Leave off the slapping, OK? Violence isn't the answer. (Tries to hide very large chainsaw she's just aquired.)

+On Susan and Victoria

Scribbler: How was that? My first foray into shoejo-ai, so be gentle.
Amicitia: Susan and Victoria? Well, okay, why not?
Scribbler: I think my dad would spontaneously combust if he caught me endorsing same-sex relationships.

+On Forge and Jubilee

Amicitia: Now, being that Susan's mother hasn't been named yet, does anyone else see the huge opportunity to explore a Forge/Jubilee relationship?
Scribbler: As for the whole Forge/Jubilee thing - YES! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! If you couldn't already tell, I'm a sucker for non-conformist couples.

+On code names

Greg: I wanted to name [Margretha] 'Epoch' after the time machine in 'Chrono Trigger'. (I know: I play too much video games)

Eileen: How about Breakdown for Victoria's code name, because she breaks things down into their natural states?
Amicitia: Maybe. I was thinking Genesis, myself.
Scribbler: Just in case anybody's interested, I found out the true name for Victoria's mutation. 'Descolada', meaning 'unglueing'. It comes from the book 'Special Powers' by Mary Hoffman, and she essentially created the concept of the ability, so I think that should be Victoria's codename too. Whaddya reckon?
Amicitia: Mainframe, Tesser, and Descolada. Sounds good to me. Even though that last sounds like a drink.

+On cameos

Amicitia: Cameos are fun.
Scribbler: *Hell* yeah!
Amicitia: More camoes, you say? Your wish is my command.
Scribbler: Can we go back to Muir Island soon and have some more cameos soon? Cameos are fun.
Amicitia: Someone else do cameos. I've faked knowledge of comicverse quite long enough.
Yodelbean: You want cameos? We got lotsa cameos!

+On death and loss

Amicitia: The healer-girl died? She didn't even have a name...
Scribbler: Sure she did - Healer.

Yma: The death of Nicole was excellent, well done Scrib. On a side note, I find it quite fascinating that, though Nicole was the latest to develop of the Neo-X-Men, she has become the most developed at the end. I mean, it was only about page 6 (I think) that we began to take any notice of her at all, and now she's become one of my favorite characters. I actually feel quite sorry she's died. I think we should all pat ourselves on the back for being able to pull that off. And I also think there should be six spaces of silence for the passing of Nicole, an excellent character.      Silence ends. Thank you.
Harry Wriggle: *sniff* All this grief... Aw man, you guys are right, Nicole was such a big part of this story!

Scribbler: OMG, poor Betsy. Had to read it twice to understand properly, but I nearly started crying when I did. Poor, poor Betsy. Poor, poor Kevin and Wanda, too. Somebody has to tell her mother and brothers if she does die. Poor, poor Betsy. *sniffle* I was happy until I looked in here. But that just proved the great writing that it can provoke such a reaction. Great stuff, Ami. Y'know, strange as it sounds, I kinda feel bad for Smash, too. And David. And Margretha. Hell, I feel sorry for the whole lot of 'em. Talk about a bittersweet ending.

Amicitia: (on Margretha's leaving) I wrote it, and I'm still all sniffly. Sniff. Ah heck... :,(
Greg:  :,(   _ :,( _   :: :,( ::
Klutz: :,(
InterNutter: Sniff... I concur. :,(
Yma: If I could do a crying face, I would. Sniff, sniff.
Scribbler: Last post very very sad. Has impaired grammatical skills. *sniff*. (Runs off to cry)

+On random stuff

Scribbler: I HATE MATHS WITH A VENGEANCE!!!

Yma: Um... I think I might be proving Ami's point about me and madness here...
Amicitia: Honestly, Yma, you might want to consider psychiatric help.
Yma: I'm not actually mad, or at least I'm not to my knowledge, (not that I would, in fact, know) I just like thinking in metaphor. It's funny.

Amicitia: Okay. I don't write romance, and definitely not slash. That said, I'm going to go right ahead and do it. Feel free to throw things...just not the pointy ones.

Amicitia: You guys should know, I was so busy thinking about this scene that I missed a turn on the way to school this morning. Enjoy.

Amicitia: More...tomorrow?
Scribbler: (three days later) Which tomorrow were you aiming for, Ami?

Scribbler: Pester power! That's my mutant ability. I can pester anyone into submission.

+On bonus bits

Scribbler: LOLOLOLOL! If and when we finally edit and post this, we have to inculde this [anime-style bit] as an alternative ending. We just *have* to.
Amicitia: We'll put it out later, on the DVD. Director's cut, or whatever they call it. Interviews with the authors, too! Ami - I really had no idea what I was doing...
Scribbler - Typos? I never aid many typos. ... Agh! Spoonerism!
Yma - It's true! I have MPD and other random psychoses. *twitches disturbingly*
Eileen - Yes, it was originally my plotbunny. ... Yes, it did run amok. These interficcers are *crazy*, I tell you! *runs off screaming*
InterNutter - ... Yes, this fic is completely my own work. ... Yes, I own Marvel Comics. ... No, I can't afford more memory for my computer. ... Non-believer! I bet you aren't a Kurtty-shipper either! You don't have to *%$@* read it if you don't want to! No one's *^!~+* making you!

Klutz: LOL - that anime ending was *so* wrong. I like it!
Yma: Yeah, SO wrong (though I'm looking forward to the RIGHT ending!) BTW, what's MPD? I don't have it, anyway. It's just the penguins, you know. Always the penguins, and the squirrels! The EEEEVvvill squirrels! They're everywhere, you know, EVERYWHERE! Crawling over me at night! Mummy! No pages in my joke book! Aha. Ahhahahah. AHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!!!!
Amicitia: MPD = Multiple Personality Disorder. Mind those squirrels, now.
 

And that, dear reader, is truly

THE END
 

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