Author’s Notes: I’m really sorry to have made you wait so long but sadly I don’t have much free time, I hope to be able to post more often and I will try to make the story shorter.
The following days were very interesting, the lessons with different professors, and obviously the most interesting ones were those with Professor Xavier.
Today Lucille luckily had no class with Professor Xavier. Luckily because she would be fantasizing about him for the whole hour, which she already does throughout the day.
It’s 7pm and Lucille makes her way to the professor’s office to start another lesson of genetics.
To be honest, she finds this situation quite heavy because she has a big crush on him but there’s nothing but student-professor relationship. She wants more but she doesn’t know how. He’s ten years older than her and she feels so embarrassed at times and wouldn’t even know where to start. She doesn’t know how to flirt and the professor would certainly prefer a girl of his same age.
Lucille knocks on the door and the professor opens it immediately.
“Good evening!” he says with that fucking smile of his, leaning on the side of the door.
They look at each other for a few seconds until she gets inside.
“Good evening professor.”
“Um… Lucille, we’ve been studying together for a while now so please call me Charles. I’m tired of the formalities.”
Although he actually loves when she calls him "professor”.
“Only here obviously…”
What was happening ???
“O-okay Charles.” he says shyly.
He smiles at her and the lesson begins.
The atmosphere was somewhat different for both of them. She felt confused that the professor asked her to call him by his name and he felt like he did something inappropriate.
In her head her thoughts are unstoppable and from time to time Charles listens to some of them, enough to interrupt himself while speaking. Lucille has always been quiet enough but today she was more silent. Same thing for Charles. The embarrassment was overwhelming them.
She heads down on the book to avoid his gaze because he does nothing but look at her, probably to read her mind. But he often does it just to look at her, she is so beautiful.
“I can’t take it anymore, he’s so sweet with me… He probably is with everyone, I should stop fantasizing”.
He starts stammering.
“Lucille you can’t fall in love with your professor stop it! …But his hands are so delicate…”
She fell in love with him.
He keeps talking with difficulty knowing he is depriving himself of something they both want.
He goes back a bit because he forgot what he was saying. He can’t take his eyes off her.
“M-mutation took us from single celled organisms… t-to b-being the dominant form of r-reproductive life… on… the…”
He can’t resist anymore. Charles rests his soft lips on hers, feeling his mind free from everything for the first time. He had never felt like this before.
Lucille, too, is kind of bewitched but Charles isn’t using any of his powers and mind controls. It’s love. Just love. Something she has always wanted to feel.
They move away, for a few seconds giving sweet looks to each other and then kissing again. This time with more passion but always very timidly.
After a few seconds they move away again. They keep looking at each other and then both look down.
Lucille doesn’t know what to do, she still feels a very strong emotion inside her but she doesn’t know whether to pretend like nothing happened or to say something. But what? That she loves him? After such a short time?
Charles, like her, blushed, perhaps more than her. He lost control and kissed her. He almost trembles from embarrassment. He’s unable to speak, he’s literally petrified.
“Um… I-I’m-” Charles tries to say something.
Lucille tries to look at him but she’s too ashamed.
“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t wan-“
“I-It’s okay.” she says with a faint voice.
“Really, I didn’t want to, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay, don’t worry.”
A few moments of silence.
“I think for today’s enough.” says Charles.
“Yeah, so do I.”
She takes her books and stuff quickly to reach the door. Charles reaches her and opens the door for her.
They want to look at each other but shame prevails them. They both are looking down.
“So… have a nice night, see you in the morning…” his soft voice came back.
She gives Charles a little smile and goes away quickly.
The door closes. He feels so guilty. Guilty for ruining their relationship, guilty for not being able to control himself, guilty for doing this with the student he cares the most. The one he cares the most for a reason.
Why she left like that? Charles tought she felt something for him, he was in her mind, he knows what she thinks about him, she wanted that kiss just as much as he did.
He can’t sleep. In the middle of the night Charles is still thinking about that kiss and what happened after. He smiles when he thinks again about her soft lips but that smile last like three seconds.
How should he deal with her now? Should he stop seeing her in the afternoon? Does he have to pretend that nothing ever happened?
She still doesn’t believe she ended up in a mutant school and was offered a kind of study date by the professor she has a crush on. Everything happened so hastily and she sincerely believes that the professor’s offer is more kindness than interest towards her.
It’s time to go. It’s 7 o'clock, Lucille goes towards the professor’s office. She knocks and immediately the door opens.
“Damn you’re on time!” he says with his usual smile.
Actually it’s perhaps one of the few times Lucille arrives on time, but, she would do anything for him.
“Please, come in!”
It’s quite welcoming, but she can’t calm down. Also it seems the professor likes her skirt but he tries not to look at her for too long because he doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
“It’s nice here!”
“It is, right?” he replies.
After sitting down, the professor stops the lesson after a few minutes.
“I know it can be boring but from mutant to mutant I recommend you learn these things.“
He really called her mutant. She stops for a moment.
“I actually find it interesting. Everything’s new to me but it’s pleasant to listen to you.”
She can’t have said it out loud.
“Oh really?” he laughs and puts two fingers on his temple.
“We should continue.”
Lucille follows the lesson carefully, or so it seems; he makes sure that she understands him, often giving her a few glances up and down.
The lesson is almost over. Since it’s the first one he prefers not to go on or he would risk boring her for real.
“That’s enough for today. I see you tired.”
“I am a little bit, but I’m fine.”
“Come here.” He takes her hand and makes her sit on the sofa, he sits next to her. “Tell me about yourself.” He takes two glasses and opens the champagne. “We have to celebrate, there is a new beautiful mutant in my school.”
Lucille smiles.
“Well there isn’t much to say, actually nothing. I’m just a girl with powers that are ruining my life but beside that I think everything is okay…”
“Oh no don’t say that! I could understand that you don’t understand them but I’m here to help you with that. I promised. I would like to know what you like and if you like being here.”
“There isn’t much to say, again. I just like to be on my own reading books, I love when it rains and yes, for now I really like being here… Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome! And you will be amazed but I like to be on my own too; I read a lot, I write theses and stuff like that, I concentrate and use my powers and I love when it rains too, I find it… romantic.”
A few moments of silence.
“You should be happy, you know? Your powers are truly exceptional, if you work hard you can learn to know them and dominate them!”
She feels better already.
“Plus you’re the sweetest and most beautiful mutant I’ve ever seen.” he smiles again, gently touching a lock of her hair with two fingers.
Lucille blushes completely and tries to avoid his gaze.
“It’s dinner time, we should go!” she says trying to stop the awkward moment.
“Oh yes, but I think I’ll stay here, I have tests to grade.”
“Okay… thank you very much.”
“No problem, I’ll be here if you need.”
He gently walks her to the door, says goodnight and they both think all night about what just happened.
Lucille has been here for two days now, she met some people and the professor gave her some time before letting her attend the lessons because he wanted her to think about it without pressure.
It’s 9 in the morning, the genetics lesson is about to begin, almost all the students are in their seats, including the professor who is waiting for everyone to arrive to start the lesson, another group of teenagers enter the classroom when among them the professor notices a new face. He smiles. It’s her.
Lucille starts looking for an empty seat.
Embarrassed, she tries to avoid the professor’s gaze but she just can’t help it. He smiles at her, she blushes and lowers her head to her books pretending to look for the chapter of the day’s lesson.
“I’m glad you’re here”
She suddenly hears a voice in her head. She looks around her like she was mad. The professor smiles again but this time Lucille doesn’t notice.
During the lesson they’re all busy taking notes while she can’t take her eyes off him, she loves hearing him talk, especially in that professional way. To tell the truth, she has always had a thing for cultured men, and for women too…
The lesson is now over, the professor assigns the homework and lets the students go away. As everyone gets their books and stuff, she hears that voice in her head again.
“Wait”
Lucille recognizes his voice, she turns to the professor who looks at her. She stays there in shock until everyone leaves.
The professor approaches the door and closes it slowly. Her heart is beating fast, aware that she obviously has a crush on him.
“So, am I a good teacher?”
She doesn’t know whether to say yes or whether to say that the whole time she has done nothing but imagine kissing him. He laughs softly.
“Were you in my head?”
“Yes I was”
“What are you?”
“Well, first of all, I’m an excellent teacher, then I’m also a telepath, I can communicate with my mind and I can make people do what I want.”
Why hide from her the fact that he can also read minds? …Maybe because deep down he loves hearing her thoughts about him and he don’t want to deprive himself of all of that.
“Sit down please” he says, “I want to offer you something, you’re free to say no but I think it’s good for you to accept…”
“What is it?”
“Okay so… since you weren’t here in the previous classes I wanted to help you study personally. You know, I teach genetics, philosophy and literature, I don’t think it will be easy for you to do everything by yourself”
“Oh… y-yes, thank you, I’d love to!”
“Then I’ll wait for you in my office tomorrow evening.”
Everything stops.
“In your office?!”
“Yes, students always tend to make a mess in the hallways, I would like a place more reserved to stay with you.”
Is this really happening or is she imagining it all? — Which she hopes — A thousand thoughts invade her head, she can no longer stop.
“I hope you enjoy the other lessons, have a nice day!”
What just happened?! Lucille doesn’t want to get weird ideas but she can’t think of anything else.
[…]
The following day passes very slowly; during the lessons Lucille did nothing but glance at the professor and vice versa, anxiously waiting for their meeting.
RIP Stan Lee. A fan once told me that they took a couple of my prints to get signed by him at a con and he was like “These are great!” – And that is basically the highpoint of my career.
Stan created the X-Men (along with Jack Kirby, of course). I consider that to be his most important creation.
Stan Lee understood that readers could look at a group comprised entirely of minority characters and see heroes.
In creating the X-Men, Stan made a space to tell the exploits of minority characters. In their own story. Forever.
They weren’t just Very Special Guests used to help Cap & Iron Man explore themes of minority oppresssion and ostracism.
The X-Men were their own institution from issue #1. As if they were there all along. Stan used his amazing gift for characters to humanize The Other, and gave them all a place in his Marvel Universe to be their authentic, uncanny selves…
Avengers #110 (Englehart/Heck, Mar 1973). I’ve been trying to read in six-issue chunks, but it’s getting tricky ‘cause everything’s so intertextual now! Quicksilver’s whereabouts were revealed last month in Fantastic Four, so now I’m ahead of that book. Hawkeye wanders into an issue of Daredevil. And Magneto emerges from the Savage Land to overwhelm the bookless X-Men. Phew! This world’s just not gonna stop expanding now, and I have to accept there’s no correct and fully coherent way to track it.
Amazing Adventures #17 (Drake/Roth, Mar 1973). A repackaging of the Beast’s backup origin story from the final issues of X-Men. I don’t mind — I skipped these first time around. But it’s surprising to see another X-book fizzle out.
some folks are so pressed about Wanda bodying the illuminati and it’s just making me laugh bc some of y’all really need to understand context????
like the illuminati didn’t get shredded bc they weren’t powerful enough, they got shredded bc they were arrogant as fuck and underestimated her
“but Reed is so smart he wouldn’t just give away a solution to the enemy” — yeah Reed is fucking smart, but he’s also just fucking arrogant enough to show off to someone he didn’t think was a threat — he thought he could just scare her away
if the illuminati had gotten their heads out of their asses and listened to Strange or taken his comments about Wanda seriously, they would actually be alive, they could have properly strategized on how to take Wanda down, hell, Black Bolt probably would have been able to take her out with his voice if he had the element of surprise — but they didn’t, they were convinced that Strange was the threat and they were arrogant and smug enough to believe that if they think something is right then it must be right
now to be fair their Wanda probably wasn’t a threat and likely never exhibited our Wanda’s level of abilities so in their experience, they just didn’t deem her to be an issue for them
but that’s how you get killed, arrogance and overconfidence and not listening to the concerns of others about the threats you’re facing because you think you already know the answers
and let’s be honest here, arrogance and that know-it-all attitude literally IS a central core of the very concept of the illuminati so this isn’t even any of these characters acting out of character, that’s just how the illuminati acts, I mean look at the scenes, they sat up there in their high and mighty chairs, their attitudes were generally dismissive and smug and seemingly think they were above it all
they could have been ready for Wanda, but their arrogance blinded them and got them killed
this isn’t Marvel “doing dirty” on these versions of the characters, this is just what happens when you’re overconfident and don’t properly prepare
A large part of the identity of mutants in the Marvel universe is the fact that they represent minorities, and therefore, face a certain level of bigotry and prosecution. Now that the X-Men are set to join the MCU, why would the general public have a distain or dislike of mutants, considering other superpowered characters are treated like heroes, like The Avengers? I have a proposition.
I think that the concept of mutant hatred being politicised makes a lot of sense.
I think that governments and people in power preferring superpowered beings that they can control, and therefore branding anybody outside of that, especially people without a platform, the way that most mutants are portrayed as more or less everyday people rather than kings, billionaires, gods, etc. is a good and easy target for them to weaponise the public’s perception into anti-mutant, pro-government, pro-military propaganda.
The foundation’s already there with The Sokovia Accords, with various governments being much more in favour of controlling superpowered individuals rather than letting any of them freely act of their own individual or group accords. Mutants can simply be a face for that general sentiment to be perpetuated through propaganda. Yay War Machine, yay Captain America. Characters who have already been proven to have saved the world in large, well-known conflicts like what happened in Avengers: Endgame already have a certain level of public goodwill that governments would find hard to fight against, but newer, or lesser-known, or everyday mutants don’t have that same level of goodwill, nor influence, nor power (theoretically), that characters like The Avengers already have, and so could much easier be marketed as threats to the everyday public.
Also, seeing as not every mutant has powers that would largely benefit most governments, but there’s also some that could be weaponised dramatically, it’s believable that various governments would want to deter mutant goodwill as propaganda against other governments potentially using them, while also giving excuses not to put mutant-positive propositions forward themselves because mutants aren’t always powerfully useful for self-serving politicians and governments. If it doesn’t directly and selfishly help them personally, then they aren’t going to support it, and instead weaponise that disregard in an attempt to further their own agendas.
“Mutants are too variable to be trusted, or more accurately, used.”.
