I realized that I never replied to this amazing continuation. ALL MY SHAME.
... seriously. It's fantastic. I love the imagery, I love Charles' plottiness ... and I feel so unsettled by the memories of his trauma. In the A/O 'verse, with dubcon setups, I find unhappy/angsty endings quite convincing. So this, with its dubcon and Erik just *assuming* and taking because that's all that's ever been - this is chilling and awesome. Especially since Charles is planning to burn down the whole system. Go Charles!
Also, from 'En Passant' - additional confirmation of how much the system sucks:
---
Charles lowered his eyes and began shedding his shapeless, baggy clothes in a tidy heap on the floor. Erik paused, watching him. He typically put on layers of clothing despite the Genoshan heat, but went to bed nude, ready for Erik. It was vaguely dissatisfying, in a way -- Erik never had the pleasure of unwrapping Charles, never had cause to linger overmuch with foreplay.
---
I'm interpreting Charles' baggy, shapeless clothes as a 'don't-look-at-me, I'm-traumatized' red flag. And that makes it "vaguely dissatisfying," Erik? omg ALL MY ANGER.
Oh wait! There's more anger, and it's connected to:
---
"What's wrong with him? We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary."
Mystique stroked Charles's hair back from his face. "Maybe it was having to force his way into Levine's mind," she said. "He wouldn't do something like that normally. It might've been different if he was born an alpha, but Charles always had this thing about ethics and consent."
She started rubbing Charles's shoulders -- trying to warm him, Erik saw. "Anyway, how did you convince him to do it? Also, ugh, fucking zip up, no one needs to see you hanging out like that."
---
"This thing about ethics and consent" - and the most disturbing part of the whole situation being Erik's cock hanging out. When Erik was just going about raping her brother, nothing "out of the ordinary" - ARGH my HATE for both of them!
... which tells you that the 'verse is v. convincing, yes? Thanks again so much for writing it.
Re: Anon!author
... seriously. It's fantastic. I love the imagery, I love Charles' plottiness ... and I feel so unsettled by the memories of his trauma. In the A/O 'verse, with dubcon setups, I find unhappy/angsty endings quite convincing. So this, with its dubcon and Erik just *assuming* and taking because that's all that's ever been - this is chilling and awesome. Especially since Charles is planning to burn down the whole system. Go Charles!
Also, from 'En Passant' - additional confirmation of how much the system sucks:
---
Charles lowered his eyes and began shedding his shapeless, baggy clothes in a tidy heap on the floor. Erik paused, watching him. He typically put on layers of clothing despite the Genoshan heat, but went to bed nude, ready for Erik. It was vaguely dissatisfying, in a way -- Erik never had the pleasure of unwrapping Charles, never had cause to linger overmuch with foreplay.
---
I'm interpreting Charles' baggy, shapeless clothes as a 'don't-look-at-me, I'm-traumatized' red flag. And that makes it "vaguely dissatisfying," Erik? omg ALL MY ANGER.
Oh wait! There's more anger, and it's connected to:
---
"What's wrong with him? We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary."
Mystique stroked Charles's hair back from his face. "Maybe it was having to force his way into Levine's mind," she said. "He wouldn't do something like that normally. It might've been different if he was born an alpha, but Charles always had this thing about ethics and consent."
She started rubbing Charles's shoulders -- trying to warm him, Erik saw. "Anyway, how did you convince him to do it? Also, ugh, fucking zip up, no one needs to see you hanging out like that."
---
"This thing about ethics and consent" - and the most disturbing part of the whole situation being Erik's cock hanging out. When Erik was just going about raping her brother, nothing "out of the ordinary" - ARGH my HATE for both of them!
... which tells you that the 'verse is v. convincing, yes? Thanks again so much for writing it.