X-Men First Class Fic: Feeling so blue
After my previous post, I got several comments pointing out the possible use of fanfic to remedy the flaws of a film or TV series. In this spirit, I offer my first (and almost certainly last) X-Men First Class fic. Be warned: This has not been betaed or US-picked, and though I'm a historian it's not my period.
Feeling so blue
Rating PG (preslash, prehet)
Charles' face, when scrutinised closely in the mirror, isn't entirely a handsome one. The nose is maybe a bit too big, and his hairline has that ominous 'going to recede quite soon' air to it. The shape of his jaw doesn't give quite the same impression of strength as Erik's does. But he's not bad looking, and the high forehead provides an intellectual air suitable for an improbably young professor. And of course there are his eyes, the piercing blueness of them. Only the eyes in the mirror are, at the moment, green. Erik's eyes. Blast, she's gotten that wrong again. She groans and flicks back to Pretty Raven.
Why can't she control this? She hasn't had so many problems with getting a good likeness for years. But suddenly the effortless adjusting of her body has become hard, the clarity of knowing exactly what goes where clouded. She needs to work out how to refocus her mind, calm herself. She'll go and ask Charles for help.
But Charles will be cross with her, say she's just doing it to get attention. And maybe she is, even if she's not conscious of it. Her worst lapses of concentration have always involved him in some way. Though why shouldn't she have some of his attention, if she needs it?
Because it's mutant training time at Xavier Mansion and Charles is busy. And even though she knows all Charles' training methods - he developed most of them sorting out her, after all - she's not allowed to help. No, instead she's stuck sitting around waiting for something to happen. And being expected to sort out Mrs Sullivan again. Why does she have to be landed with dealing with the mansion's housekeeper?
It's inevitable, she supposes. Charles' mind control of Mrs Sullivan is fine for the big things, ensures that she doesn't notice men flying or throwing energy bolts around. But it's not particularly useful for dealing with smaller problems. Erik might not be keeping kosher, but there's still such a thing as having bacon on the menu too often. And she also has to think up some excuse as to why Hank's feet have ripped a hole in his sheets yet again.
She wishes sometimes that Charles and Erik had managed to find a mutant whose superpower is being able to do housework very, very quickly. Then they could get rid of Mrs Sullivan, and she'd have some female company. Moira's OK, but she's still one of them. And Angel had left before she'd had time to get to know her properly. Maybe that's why she's so down, not having Angel around anymore.
Or maybe she needs something else. Perhaps she ought to spend more time with Hank, help him out in the lab more. But if she tells him she's unhappy, he'll probably just want to create some kind of drug to make her feel better. And besides, he wouldn't understand. He's still just a boy, and she's a woman. She has needs.
Erik would be better. He's a real man, a man's man. Maybe she should go along to his room sometime and seduce him. She tries to give Pretty Raven the look of a flamboyant seductress, but when she looks in the mirror, it's somehow not quite right. Who could she be instead? Who would Erik like? She flicks into being Marilyn, but that's perhaps a bit tasteless now she's dead. And would Erik go for her? Wouldn't his tastes be more...European? Ah, she has it: Audrey Hepburn. She flicks into her and tries a wide-eyed innocent stare. She's quite good at looking innocent, isn't she?
Or maybe she just looks ignorant, she thinks. That's nearer the mark. Because whoever's face she puts on, inside she's really blue and nearly thirty and a virgin. She's read Peyton Place as well as Margaret Sanger, but she's still not sure exactly how things work down there. Still, Erik will know what to do. And maybe, maybe, if she seduces Erik, Charles will pay her some attention. Because Erik is Charles' friend, he cares about him. Would Charles be interested in her if she did that to Erik?
Or maybe she should just seduce Charles. It wouldn't be wrong, they're not actually brother and sister. She'll seduce Charles and then he'll start noticing her again, and won't spend all his time thinking about Erik and the other mutants. She starts flicking her body through a series of Charles' previous girlfriends, wondering if she can make herself into something that's exactly his type. The problem is, though, she's not entirely sure she wants to sleep with Charles. Or even with Erik. And she definitely doesn't want to do it with Hank.
She wishes Angel was here, because Angel must know about men. She was a stripper, after all, wasn't she, before Charles and Erik found her? It would have been interesting to see Angel's act, to see how she looked when she took her things off. She'd have liked to ask her about it, but it would have sounded a bit rude. But if she'd told Angel she wanted to be friends, would she have stayed?
The problem was that, that sort of thing didn't always turn out right. There was this sad Audrey Hepburn film she'd seen, where she was a teacher and she had a friend - a woman friend - and someone had lied about them kissing one another. And it had all been very beautiful and very sad and Shirley MacLaine had hanged herself. She has a picture in her mind even now of a purple poster with the word 'Different' on it in big white letters. She can't remember the title of the film and she's still not quite sure how exactly the two women had been different. All she knows is neither of them turned out to be mutants. No-one ever does in the sort of films she likes.
She looks up in the mirror and sees Angel's sultry eyes staring back at her. Blast. She really is losing control, and she flicks back to Blue Raven in dismay. She mustn't be so silly, she shouldn't be spending all her time thinking about S-E-X. She's a grown woman and there is work to be done. She needs to get her skin in order, for a start. And then, she needs to practice her acting a bit more, get ready for the next stage.
Because Charles is talking about getting into Russia, that they will need to carry out a infiltration operation. And if they need to find their way into somewhere, disguise themselves, then it must obviously be her doing it. That's what she is designed for, after all. If she can just get this right, then Charles will be pleased with her, and they'll be back to where they were, before Erik and the rest of them. She will be the heroine of this mission - who else could Charles possibly want to carry it out, after all?
Note: the film is The Children's Hour and Wikipedia is my friend.
Feeling so blue
Rating PG (preslash, prehet)
Charles' face, when scrutinised closely in the mirror, isn't entirely a handsome one. The nose is maybe a bit too big, and his hairline has that ominous 'going to recede quite soon' air to it. The shape of his jaw doesn't give quite the same impression of strength as Erik's does. But he's not bad looking, and the high forehead provides an intellectual air suitable for an improbably young professor. And of course there are his eyes, the piercing blueness of them. Only the eyes in the mirror are, at the moment, green. Erik's eyes. Blast, she's gotten that wrong again. She groans and flicks back to Pretty Raven.
Why can't she control this? She hasn't had so many problems with getting a good likeness for years. But suddenly the effortless adjusting of her body has become hard, the clarity of knowing exactly what goes where clouded. She needs to work out how to refocus her mind, calm herself. She'll go and ask Charles for help.
But Charles will be cross with her, say she's just doing it to get attention. And maybe she is, even if she's not conscious of it. Her worst lapses of concentration have always involved him in some way. Though why shouldn't she have some of his attention, if she needs it?
Because it's mutant training time at Xavier Mansion and Charles is busy. And even though she knows all Charles' training methods - he developed most of them sorting out her, after all - she's not allowed to help. No, instead she's stuck sitting around waiting for something to happen. And being expected to sort out Mrs Sullivan again. Why does she have to be landed with dealing with the mansion's housekeeper?
It's inevitable, she supposes. Charles' mind control of Mrs Sullivan is fine for the big things, ensures that she doesn't notice men flying or throwing energy bolts around. But it's not particularly useful for dealing with smaller problems. Erik might not be keeping kosher, but there's still such a thing as having bacon on the menu too often. And she also has to think up some excuse as to why Hank's feet have ripped a hole in his sheets yet again.
She wishes sometimes that Charles and Erik had managed to find a mutant whose superpower is being able to do housework very, very quickly. Then they could get rid of Mrs Sullivan, and she'd have some female company. Moira's OK, but she's still one of them. And Angel had left before she'd had time to get to know her properly. Maybe that's why she's so down, not having Angel around anymore.
Or maybe she needs something else. Perhaps she ought to spend more time with Hank, help him out in the lab more. But if she tells him she's unhappy, he'll probably just want to create some kind of drug to make her feel better. And besides, he wouldn't understand. He's still just a boy, and she's a woman. She has needs.
Erik would be better. He's a real man, a man's man. Maybe she should go along to his room sometime and seduce him. She tries to give Pretty Raven the look of a flamboyant seductress, but when she looks in the mirror, it's somehow not quite right. Who could she be instead? Who would Erik like? She flicks into being Marilyn, but that's perhaps a bit tasteless now she's dead. And would Erik go for her? Wouldn't his tastes be more...European? Ah, she has it: Audrey Hepburn. She flicks into her and tries a wide-eyed innocent stare. She's quite good at looking innocent, isn't she?
Or maybe she just looks ignorant, she thinks. That's nearer the mark. Because whoever's face she puts on, inside she's really blue and nearly thirty and a virgin. She's read Peyton Place as well as Margaret Sanger, but she's still not sure exactly how things work down there. Still, Erik will know what to do. And maybe, maybe, if she seduces Erik, Charles will pay her some attention. Because Erik is Charles' friend, he cares about him. Would Charles be interested in her if she did that to Erik?
Or maybe she should just seduce Charles. It wouldn't be wrong, they're not actually brother and sister. She'll seduce Charles and then he'll start noticing her again, and won't spend all his time thinking about Erik and the other mutants. She starts flicking her body through a series of Charles' previous girlfriends, wondering if she can make herself into something that's exactly his type. The problem is, though, she's not entirely sure she wants to sleep with Charles. Or even with Erik. And she definitely doesn't want to do it with Hank.
She wishes Angel was here, because Angel must know about men. She was a stripper, after all, wasn't she, before Charles and Erik found her? It would have been interesting to see Angel's act, to see how she looked when she took her things off. She'd have liked to ask her about it, but it would have sounded a bit rude. But if she'd told Angel she wanted to be friends, would she have stayed?
The problem was that, that sort of thing didn't always turn out right. There was this sad Audrey Hepburn film she'd seen, where she was a teacher and she had a friend - a woman friend - and someone had lied about them kissing one another. And it had all been very beautiful and very sad and Shirley MacLaine had hanged herself. She has a picture in her mind even now of a purple poster with the word 'Different' on it in big white letters. She can't remember the title of the film and she's still not quite sure how exactly the two women had been different. All she knows is neither of them turned out to be mutants. No-one ever does in the sort of films she likes.
She looks up in the mirror and sees Angel's sultry eyes staring back at her. Blast. She really is losing control, and she flicks back to Blue Raven in dismay. She mustn't be so silly, she shouldn't be spending all her time thinking about S-E-X. She's a grown woman and there is work to be done. She needs to get her skin in order, for a start. And then, she needs to practice her acting a bit more, get ready for the next stage.
Because Charles is talking about getting into Russia, that they will need to carry out a infiltration operation. And if they need to find their way into somewhere, disguise themselves, then it must obviously be her doing it. That's what she is designed for, after all. If she can just get this right, then Charles will be pleased with her, and they'll be back to where they were, before Erik and the rest of them. She will be the heroine of this mission - who else could Charles possibly want to carry it out, after all?
Note: the film is The Children's Hour and Wikipedia is my friend.