A Measure of Progress - Chapter 1 - Quietbang - X-Men: First Class (2011) [Archive of Our Own]

http://archiveofourown.org/works/273247/chapters/432484



There is a greater enemy on the horizon. Erik does not walk away. For what is lost can be found, and there is a fine line between love and hate. An exploration of prejudice and politics. Very loosely based on the following prompt: tl;dr- an exploration of what being a gay telepath during the 60s would have been like. Notes: Prompt: So one day Erik and Charles are having one of their ~discussions~ during a chess match or whenever, but this time it's getting a bit more heated than usual for whatever reason. Erik (and Raven has in the past maybe?) is saying stuff like Charles has never been discriminated against/doesn't have to hide his true self, not like Raven, stuff like that. And without thinking because he's angry Charles busts out with something like "OMG I'M GAY AND ALL THE TIME I CAN HEAR ALL THE NASTY HORRIBLE STUFF PEOPLE THINK ABOUT HOMOSEXUALS AND I HIDE MYSELF WHENEVER I FLIRT WITH GIRLS" or... something along those lines. And I don't want it to be a PWP and Erik is all 'me too! *sexes*' I want Erik to have no clue, and probably have internalized a lot of the stereotypes about gay people that society believed/believes, etc. (There's not enough of that in fic so far, c'mon people, it was the 60s.) Mostly I want an exploration of what it would have been like for a gay telepath in the 60s, and Erik realizing that Charles DOES understand, at least to some degree... and then struggling with his own sexuality. And this all happening slowly over chessboard!talks/arguments and whatnot. You could totally also include his step brother's/step father's abuse/neglect (could tie that into them thinking he was gay or even just because he wasn't ~manly~ idk). Bonus points if Charles freaks out after coming out to Erik, and Erik is a little off balance because he did NOT see that coming and so not reassuring Charles right away and so... Charles!angst. This was also probably his first coming out. It would make sense for Raven not to know since that's why she thinks Charles doesn't understand. More bonus points if at some point Charles in the discussions says something along the lines of "and I'm well aware that if I lived in Germany I would've been sent to the camps too because of this" and all the metal in the house starts rattling as Erik is furious at the idea of (his) Charles anywhere near the camps. More bonus points if the reason the argument was more heated than normal because Charles was upset about something specific, like one of the kids saying something really homophobic or something horrible in the news, etc. tl;dr- exploration of what being a gay telepath during the 60s would have been like, and erik and raven's reactions to finding that out. This began as a simple post-Cuba AU exploring homophobia, but it became a massive exercise in world-building and politics and dystopia. I hope you like it anyways.