Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 30 Jan 2023 06:13 AM · For: Mashed Potatoes and Dresses

The chapter I reviewed for our swap was significantly shorter than my chapter that you reviewed for me, so I'm here for this one as well. :)

 

The way you characterize Charles in this chapter's interaction feels... I don't know, it just feels so much like him. He's amicable, professional, polished, and so genteel. Like when he apologizes to Catherine for reading her mind again and says, "I'm sorry, your thoughts are loud at the moment." (Must be such a trip for her to be on the receiving end of the mind-reading.)

 

I had almost forgotten that Catherine is quite young! Like 14-15-ish? Young for a teacher, sure, but these are exceptional circumstances! And considering Harvard is currently blackballing her from pursuing a graduate program, this is like the best opportunity she could have. Hank, too, because he'd be free to develop what he wants. It's fun reading it from their POV at this point in time, because they have no idea what a revolutionary enterprise Xavier's school will become.

 

<3

Author's Response:

Thanks for the swap, Melanie!

 

I was so concerned about writing Charles. Funnily enough, I'm more comfortable writing Erik, but he hasn't show up in this fic from Catherine's POV just yet. He will, don't worry!

 

Charles, for some reason, is either really easy or really hard for me to write. I'm not really sure why. He always comes off as a little stiff to me when I write him or sometimes a little too warm. It's a hard balance to keep. I really like him in this fic, though, because he's just exactly how I pictured him. And it is absolutely a trip for Catherine to be the one with the loud thoughts. There are a lot of things she experiences for the first time as a telepath in this fic, and it's going to be really interesting to write those reactions.

 

She is currently fourteen because it is spring of 1962. Her birthday is in September. And don't worry; Charles and Erik will have a plan for their exceptionally young teachers. Said teachers might not necessarily like the plan, but I'm not sure that Catherine's quite ready to be a teacher just yet. Give her a little time. And there might be something about a graduate program in the future. :p

 

They have absolutely no idea what the Institute is going to become, and I am very excited to write that. Well, once I get through the next few chapters. I have a block relating to a specific character that has to be introduced, so I have most of the next chapter written, just not a finished chapter. There will, however, be an interlude before that chapter, which I am very excited to write.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the swap! I hope you have a lovely day!

 

-A

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 30 Jan 2023 05:44 AM · For: 1.5. A Discovery

A, here for our swap!

 

What with Xavier generally being known as this genius and very composed, steady presence and a leader, I love seeing the younger him getting nervous about delivering his thesis. It shows such a --ironic use of this word, I know -- human side of him. And particularly since we know he's confident in his actual research and writing, and we know he's delivered lectures before, which means his nerves about this are a bit irrational.

 

Also really enjoyed how we get such a sense of the Xavier family as an Establishment, by the way he loses track of which of his great-great-grandfathers was the first to go to Oxford, or whether the mansion has been redone two or three times. 

 

I was NOT expecting Erik to be calling from a jail, but as soon as there was that suspicious pause and Charles said, "Where exactly in Omaha are you?" I knew what was coming. XD  Now I wonder which mutant is is Erik found there. In jail. 

 

Thank you for swapping!!

 

<3 Melanie

Author's Response:

Thanks for swapping, Melanie!

 

So I came back to write a few interludes from Charles' point-of-view to kind of fill in the gaps in the story, and the thing I was most nervous about was Charles seeming a little out of character in them. I've never actually written from his point-of-view before, so I had to rewatch X-Men: First Class a few more times than I should probably admit to make sure I got his voice down. I'm really glad you like him.

 

I felt like his thesis might be the one actual thing that Charles is afraid of. He's usually very confident, but, for once, his nerves are failing him. I think his fear is kind of that he doesn't want to fail his future students, so he needs to get this over with so he can become the Professor X we all know and love. He's very particular about how things are supposed to go, and he wants everything to be perfect for his school.

 

So I didn't originally have Erik in jail in this chapter, but I needed a way for him to find a very particular mutant, who, from your review, I think you might have already figured out. Just in case you haven't, I'm going to be very cryptic and not say who this mutant is. I am going to say, however, that once I get the next interlude written (which will be the next thing posted for this fic), you will find out exactly who that mutant is and how Erik got arrested. I think it'll be fun.

 

Charles is just so done. He has had to go get Erik so many times. But he's done in a very loving way, so of course, he'll go get Erik. He always does.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the swap! I hope you have a lovely day!

 

-A

Name: quill2parchment (Signed) · Date: 20 Jan 2023 02:09 PM · For: Smelly Socks and Telepaths

Hiii. Here for our swap <3

I am not too familiar with x-men (or its fandom) but I immeditely felt at ease in this world. I love how you set up this story, giving us a bit of background on what Catherein's day-to-day looks like, and a brief history on how the three of them became friends in the first place.

Not that Sean really knocked all that often now that he had his own key, but, occassionally, he remembered his manners. I love this little detail and how it adds to the idea that they're all so close. There's definitely something wonderful about a friendship such as this one, where there's enough comfort with each other hat owning a keyto each other's place just makes sense and knocking isn't exactly necessary.

"You don't like when I go into your head while you're working so how was I supposed to tell you?" Catherine asked. "Written it on a paper airplane?" Lol this was too funny. Also, it's interesting how there are certain "manners" per se to telepathy, personal boundaries that must be/ should be respected. 

Catherine saying that they should accept the dinner offer and at least get a good dinner out of it if nothing else is such a mood lol

This was such a great first chapter. I'm really excited to see where you go with this story. Like I said, I'm not super familiar with x-men, but I want to say that this amplication device is cerebro? and of course the school for mutants is going to eventually become a thing. I can understand Hank and Catherine being not fully trusting of Xavier right now but I can't wait for them to get to know each other better and see how everything develops. 

Thank you so much for the swap opportunity <3

Love, Quilly. 

 

Author's Response:

Thanks for doing the swap!

 

If this intrigued you, then might I recommend X-Men: First Class? This is a somewhat retelling of it, framed within the larger Marvel universe (something like the comics, not MCU). It's also a really good movie, but I'm a little biased. And the god thing is that you don't have to know anything about the X-Men to enjoy it. Catherine, obviously, isn't in it, but Hank, Sean, and Xavier are.

 

Sean really has no manners. :p I really love this friendship too because they kind of clumped together out of necessity, and they all do care very much for each other. I'm looking forward to writing more of Sean and Catherine's friendship especially because it's a very close and comforting one.

 

The boundaries should definitely be respected, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a lot of people do. Catherine has very strict personal boundaries about using her telepathy, and we'll see why later on. There is a reason, and we will see later on what telepaths who don't have those boundaries are like.

 

Catherine is being a surprisingly pragmatic college student about this whole dinner thing, especially since she finds Hank's cooking... subpar. It's not completely terrible, but it's nothing like their mother's cooking was. Not even close. If Catherine can get a meal that isn't either Hank's cooking or from the dining hall, she's going to take it.

 

You are correct! I'm not sure when we'll actually see the amplification device, but it is Cerebro's precursor. Obviously, Hank doesn't have the space or funding to build it, so it's a bit theoretical at the moment. And, yes, the Institute will be a thing. It might take a few chapters, though, because Catherine does need to get her degree before they can move to Westchester.

 

I'm excited to see how it develops too! I'm still working on where I want this story to go, so it might be a while before we get much farther. I've been working on the third chapter for a while, and I'm still not sure if it should be that soon or a little later. But I think I'm going to try to get a little bit more done with this story this year because I have a couple ideas.

 

Thanks again for the swap, and I hope you have a lovely day!

 

-A

Name: inmyownlittlecorner (Signed) · Date: 05 Dec 2021 03:01 AM · For: Mashed Potatoes and Dresses

Hi Robin! I’m here for the arctic gifting event :D

 

I’m impressed Xavier convinced Hank to go to dinner with him. But I guess when Xavier wants something to happen, he can be pretty persuasive. 

 

The scene where Catherine is trying to find something to wear was so cute! I enjoyed how she was going through her head trying to figure out who to ask, and working through all the issues: first that whoever she asks is going to tell someone about it, and she doesn’t want it to get out that she’s going to dinner with Xavier; and second that she needs someone who is on the smaller side. It sounds like she picked the right person though! Whatever else happens, she’ll get a nice dress out of the evening. 

 

Wow, they are really getting the royal treatment here. A fancy car with a fancy driver, and a fancy restaurant. And the maitre d’ being all impressed when they say they’re Xavier’s dinner guests. Xavier has got some coin.

 

I really like how you describe the way different people’s minds are louder or softer to Catherine. It’s interesting how she doesn’t like to intrude into the softer minds without permission. Like, with the louder ones, she probably reads them by accident sometimes, but she wouldn’t use her power to intrude. It’s a nice touch.

 

Although maybe she’d use her power to read the chef’s mind for that mashed potato recipe. I don’t blame you, Catherine—it would be hard to resist :)

 

This had to be a dream. Catherine had to be making this up because there was no way that an Oxford-educated geneticist would have come to Boston to offer her and Hank a job, let alone a fully-funded lab. Maybe her telepathy had mutated into making her see her heart’s desire because there was absolutely no way that this was reality.

 

I really liked this paragraph. It was sweet and funny and I thought it said a lot about Catherine’s character.

 

Yeah, I think I’d be taking Xavier’s offer too. It’s just too good to pass up.

 

The ending with Catherine having to cause a distraction to sneak her own brother out of her dorm was cute and funny. 

 

Really nice job on this!

 

Yours,

Noelle

Author's Response:

Hey, Noelle! Sorry for the late reply!

 

I've always seen Xavier as pretty persuasive, and he is incredibly persuasive in the comics. I also think that Hank really wants a sort of paternal figure, and Xavier is someone he looks up to. While he is worried about them being mutants coming out, Hank is a little more intrigued by having somewhere he can do all of the research he wants with all of the funding he wants.

 

Xavier very much likes the finer things in life, and while it is a bit overwhelming for Catherine and Hank, this is pretty much how Xavier eats out most of the time. He isn't exactly a great chef, so he tends to have things catered or just goes out.

 

Funnily enough, this isn't the only nice dress Catherine is going to get...

 

The dress scene is sort of leading into the appearance of another team of superheroes, albeit one that I'll have to do a lot of research on because they don't really show up in a lot of the comics. Two members, however, will be showing up fairly soon, though the problem is that I haven't quite figured out where this fic is going to go.

 

Catherine can't entirely turn her telepathy on and off, so she doesn't really have to try with louder minds. It really is how she perceives them because loud minds are, well, loud, and soft minds tend to be quiet. It's more for her peace of mind (pun partially-intended) that she avoids loud minds. On a college campus, that's pretty difficult, so I hope that she gets some peace and quiet soon. Maybe in a Westchester house?

 

Catherine is just kind of in awe of Xavier because she's read his thesis and he's this larger-than-life person who wants her and Hank to work on their project. It doesn't feel real for her, and she's not entirely sure that it's going to work out because it feels so perfect.

 

So I lived in an all-girls' dorm in college, and we didn't have a hall mother. What we did have in my freshman dorm was that there were to be no overnight guests for the first semester. We had a 1 AM fire drill about a week in, which we failed because there were about ten boys in various stages of dress trailing out with some of the first-floor girls. That was kind of the inspiration for having her cause a distraction, though I feel like her living in an all-girls' dorm was very different from the two I lived in.

 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! I'm working on the next chapter right now, but it takes place off-campus for a bit, so I have to do a bit of research into fashion and such. And a very specific department store. Hope you have a nice day!

 

-A

Name: inmyownlittlecorner (Signed) · Date: 23 Nov 2021 08:12 PM · For: Smelly Socks and Telepaths

Hi Robin! I’m here for our swap :D

 

I’m super excited for this new X-Men project! Kudos to you for branching out into a new fandom.

 

Sean’s literal dog whistling bringing him together with Catherine and Hank made me smile. I’m wondering if they could hear his whistling because they are mutants too? I’m guessing that at least Catherine is, since she’s reading all about genetics and knows what mutants are. Although she could just be super smart, since we also see that she’s super young and in college. 

 

Ope, there she is doing telepathy. I was right.

 

So, I know that Charles Xavier is a good guy, but Catherine, don’t just let strange men into your brother’s apartment, even if you have read their thesis! What if the next guy isn’t so nice?

 

Oh, I am also dumb—I can’t believe it took me halfway through this chapter to remember how Hank McCoy is XD

 

Hank was the one who was published, the one who actually had a lab and research and, most importantly, funding. All Catherine had was a paper on Julius Caesar due in a week and the ability to read people’s minds.

I loved these lines. Catherine’s voice is fun to read.

 

I’m glad to see Catherine getting a little bit cautious when Xavier starts pushing for access to Hank’s research. I agree with her that dinner probably won’t hurt anything, but only because it’s Xavier. There are other people it might be deadly to go to dinner with.

 

Catherine is living in a difficult time to be female. She’s got the brains to go through Harvard’s doctorate program, except the Dean is a misogynist.  

 

Hank is pretty wary too, and I don’t blame them. They have to be so careful about who finds out about them. Not everyone is going to be as understanding as Catherine’s dorm mates. 

 

Nice job on this! I’m really looking forward to seeing where the story goes :D

 

Yours,

Noelle

 

Author's Response:

Hey, Noelle!

 

Fun fact: X-Men is, technically, one of my first fandoms. I have never done anything in the fandom before, well, other than one thing, but I've been a fan of X-Men since the first movie came out. Like, a massive fan that I am surprised that I managed to hide it. I just really love X-Men, and I've sort of been writing something like this for about a decade? This is much, much more polished, but I am a little sad that I went with third person rather than first person because Catherine just drips with snarky sarcasm in first person.

 

Catherine is both super smart and a telepath, but it's more that she grew up with Hank and always wanted to catch up to him. She is also very smart, majoring in biochemistry, which I know next to nothing about. I apologize in advance for any science errors I make; I'm trying to stick more to genetics stuff because I know a little bit more about that (blame Professor X). Hank is the smarter one of the two, but Catherine is smarter than she lets people realize.

 

But, of course, being a fourteen year old whose only friend other than her brother is Sean, Catherine is also a bit naive. That being said, Charles is just kind of like a capybara: he is a friend to all. Except anti-mutant people. And Senator Kelly. Because she's a telepath, Catherine doesn't really stop to think about if someone is dangerous. Usually, she'd skim their mind, but it's Charles Freaking Xavier, so she's a little fangirly over him. That, and no one dressed that nice ever visits Hank's apartment. This is a big deal. She had to hide Hank's socks so Charles didn't see.

 

Catherine is actually less snarky in this than in the first person fic. Part of it is that she's not super comfortable with people in general for reasons we'll find out later. Another part is that the other fic much more closely followed canon, so she and Hank were at the CIA and not as sheltered. She will get a little more snarky, but not until she's more comfortable. I worried that she was a little flat in this chapter because she's a bit reserved.

 

Catherine logic: Letting strange telepath into apartment: completely fine. Letting strange telepath look at Hank's inventions: nope. For reasons, she does not use Cerebro, which is why it has never been tested. I don't know when this will come up in the fic, but it will be addressed. It's not entirely the reason that she and Hank give people. To her, Charles is a better choice because he just seems really, really genuine. He's very charismatic in the films, and I don't know if that's just his personality or if he's using low-level telepathy, so in this fic, it's just that he's that charismatic. Like, in the scene in the bar, he's using his telepathy, but in general, I think he's just one of those really charismatic people who people just trust.

 

Funny you should mention people it might be deadly to go to dinner with...

 

Hank is not only wary because of the whole mutant thing, but also because he is ashamed of his mutation. Catherine's dormmates know that she's a mutant, but they think that Hank is just Catherine's loving older brother. Well, one of them has a very good guess, given what Catherine is working on. Catherine was really lucky to get really accepting dormmates, and that's a little bit of a wish fulfillment thing on my part. Small, I know, but they're all genuinely really nice and care for each other. Catherine got really, really lucky.

 

... I almost forgot to talk about Sean. They could hear the high-pitched whistle, but I think it was just slightly higher than most people whistle, not quite at dog-whistle range, but Sean waited until it was just the three of them in that room to whistle because Catherine did not have great control as a twelve year old and accidentally went into his head. He figured out that they were mutants pretty quickly. Sean is underestimated a lot, much like Hank and Catherine.

 

I don't know when the next chapter will come, but I can tell you that one of my favorite characters will be introduced, and I'm actually really excited to write him even more than I already have. You might be able to figure out who it is, but it is not who people might think will be at dinner.

 

Thank you reading, and I hope you have a lovely day!

 

-A

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 23 Nov 2021 07:50 PM · For: Smelly Socks and Telepaths

Here for our swap!!

 

I just love how well you set the tone in this chapter, we get such a clear image of the setting, both physical and temporal, what Hank's and Catherine's lives are like, we see bits of Catherine's experience as a woman in the 60's trying to make her way in science and what her life is like, down to having to wear stockings, and all she's dealing with on top of being very young to be doing all this AND a mutant.

 

I enjoyed your characterizations so far of Charles and Hank, they feel really in character and lifelike, and of course I enjoy Catherine and how you're telling the story -- at least for now -- through her.

 

Hank curses in Latin! God bless, I love him for it. That is a charming detail. :D

 

I like the relationship so far between Hank and Catherine, it's really sweet and supportive and we love siblings who love each other. The way they have to talk around this issue especially when in public but they're each sharp enough to know what the other is saying even when they're not saying it outright (even without Catherine using her telepathy). Like this part:

 

“Did you… you know?” Hank asked.

She shook her head. “Would be a bit redundant,” she said.

 

Also I love the thing about how Catherine can distinguish people's thinking "styles" and how Hank doesn't keep his thoughts to himself very well -- which suggests that a person can, in theory, "keep their thoughts to themselves," even from a telepath's perspective. Like Occlumency of a sort??

 

This was such a smooth read, so well written, and I look forward to more!!

 

<3 Melanie

Author's Response:

Thank you for swapping!!

 

So I am going to nerd out about the worldbuilding stuff I've done for telepathy, but that will wait until the end of this reply. I have Thoughts (slight pun intended) about it.

 

I'm really glad that they come across as lifelike because I have watched the X-Men movies many, many times. I, uh, just really vibed with the first X-Men movie when it came out when I was a wee five year old, and it kinda went from there. A lot of people irl know that I'm a huge X-Men fan, but not a lot of people on the forums do. It doesn't come up a lot, but I figured that since I have this at least with a chapter written, I could slowly start to share it. The chapters are going to be pretty big, though, and it does take a lot of research for sixties stuff, so they might take a little while. The next chapter, I need to do some research about fancy food in the sixties, so it might be a bit. The good news, though, is that we're going to have one of my absolute favorites show up, and you might be able to guess who it is based on who is already tagged. Originally, dinner was supposed to be in this chapter, but I think we're going to dedicate a whole chapter to it. It's not going to be super long, but it is long enough that it would have bogged this chapter down.

 

I don't know if the story will ever change POV. It honestly probably should in a couple places, but I am still figuring out certain storylines. For now, we're keeping Catherine. There is one other character who we haven't met yet, and I'm not quite sure how he's going to be introduced yet, that there might be a chapter from. He is honestly the character I have the most difficulty getting right, but he's honestly worth all of the trouble. And, yes, he'll play a huge part.

 

The bane of Catherine's existence at the moment is stockings. Well, not actually, but she just doesn't like wearing them, but social norms. She tries her best to blend in, and it's really hard to do that when you're a fourteen year old senior at Radcliffe. There's some stuff in the McCoy siblings' past that explains why they do their best to blend in, and I don't know when that will come up. It will because it does explain why, exactly, Hank is very hesitant, but I don't know quite when. They are really close, though, and they do love each other very much. Hank is a bit protective, and Catherine is... well, you'll see.

 

Okay, so. Infodumping time!

 

(In case you haven't noticed, I just really like having somewhere to talk about this, so thank you for giving me an excuse to write it)

 

I don't quite know how to describe it, but each person's mind has a different vibe. For example, Hank's is kind of warm and comforting to Catherine, like how the farm in Iowa was for her. Sean's is a bit hazy, for certain reasons, and his thoughts are very loud, partially due to his mutation. Charles (I was going to have him be referred to as Charles in the narration, but I totally forgot, so he's just staying as Xavier) has a warm mind-voice-thingy, like he does in the movies. He also doesn't think as loudly as the previous two mentioned because he's a telepath and knows what it's like to have someone screaming in their head.

 

Basically, telepaths don't have to try super hard to hear thoughts, and there can be people who learn how to block out telepaths. It's not really a power, and it does take a bit of work, but the basis for this lies in the comics. It's like focusing on something that would block the thoughts you're having, like someone reciting all of Shakespeare's sonnets, for example. There's also mental shields, but I do have to check if that's solely a telepath thing or if others can do it because if others can, then a certain character is going to have relatively strong ones. For telepaths, it works like this: Charles is rude and pokes into Catherine's mind without permission. Catherine clamps her walls down and kicks him out of her head. Not that Charles does that in this continuity.

 

I feel like that was a little info-dumpy, but let me know if there's anything you're curious about!

 

Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you have a lovely day!

 

-A