Plot-bunny: X-Men

[marbleglove]

First, a bit of background:

I was having a philosophical discussion with a friend of mine. I accused him of being a pessimist. He responded that he was merely a realist while I was a naive optimist. It occurred to me that plenty of people self-identify as optimists but no one (that I know of) self-identifies as a pessimist, they all declare themselves to be “realists,” under the apparent assumption that bad things are real while good things aren’t.

I propose that the reason why the news tends to be full of disasters is that bad things are “news” while good things are the status quo. While, of course, an amazing example of goodness, kindness and virtue is still amazing, the regular success of societal interactions is normal.

Then, to introduce fandom:

There are two conflicts in X-Men: First Class. The first is between the good guys (Charles and Erik) and the bad guys (Shaw et al.): the good guys win. The second conflict is between Charles and Erik about what the future holds, and is largely a conflict between optimism and pessimism.

Erik says the humans will attack mutants, governments will turn against them, and survival will be a fight between humans and mutants.

Charles says that humans will grow to accept mutants as will governments, and society will continue on as is.

Now it is, of course, easier to make a plot around Erik’s perspective because there’s an easily built-in good guy versus bad guy dynamic. And fanfic authors have realized this. For that matter, canon authors have realized this too, and the X-Men-verse in general consists of Erik’s vision coming to pass with Charles and his X-Men fighting a losing battle.

And finally my plot-bunny request:

What I would like is a story that revolves around Charles’ vision of the future, in which the world continues on as is, just with mutants in the general population.

(There is, incidentally, already a fabulous AU, Limited Release, that involves a society that has simply incorporated mutants into it. Despite being a WIP, I definitely recommend it. However, what I want at this point isn’t an AU.)

I want something that acknowledges a civil rights movement after the end of X-Men: First Class rather than a war or attempted genocide. There are horrible events, of course, just as there have been in the struggle for racial equality and gender equality, and sexual equality. But it's nothing like the large-scale genocide of the Nazi holocaust that Erik feared.

So I’m thinking maybe a hate crime should be the central conflict of this story, maybe structured like a Law & Order episode.

Someone dies.

Was the victim a mutant? Or thought to be a mutant? What about the suspect? Was mutation part of the motivation or was it for some unrelated reason?

Maybe the victim was a teenager being recruited by Charles for the school. Or maybe the primary suspect is the potential recruit. Maybe the investigators are suspicious of or have to interview Charles and/or Erik.

What do the detectives think? What do the attorneys think? What does the community or the press think?

What do Charles and Erik, Professor X and Magneto, think?

And, of course, I want it to end with Erik realizing that he probably should have realized earlier that Charles, as a telepath, actually does understand people and their reactions extremely well. And possibly realizing that Charles is a great deal more ruthless than Erik had expected, because this sort of small-scale personal horror that they are going through right now, is part of the shining future of integration that Charles had expected. After all, he let Erik and Raven leave him on the beach, to go off and start an underground terrorist group. He has always known that he has to allow free will for the future to be anything worth living, and free will in others involves disagreements and violence. But he also believes in forgiveness and amnesty.

And a happy ending. Because, after all, I am an optimist and I want the happy future.

Comments

[lita_of_jupiter]

seems interesting... though now the big question...how would we add Methos to it?

[marbleglove]

Heh. That's not my big question. My big question is generally, how do I keep Methos out of it? He always seems to appear in my plot ideas.

I do have this image of Methos as a small town sheriff who at first glance seems an utter hollywood stereotype of a small town sheriff: lazy and incompetent and with a strong drawl. And then, through some investigation, is discovered to be extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, just merely extremely laid back. And with a strong drawl.

This version of Methos could definitely be inserted into the plot. Maybe due to the high profile nature of the crime, the FBI come to take over the investigation, and Sheriff Methos sits back and lets them, while every so surreptitiously trying to guide the investigation towards the correct criminal and away from a few local secrets.
And there are people who are "out" as mutants and others who are still in the closet. Of course Methos knows who's who but he wants to make sure that no one is outed against their will.

Maybe his deputies are James Ellison and Blair Sandburg?

[lita_of_jupiter]

So true... but he has to live in the 4Horse Ranch... Blair and James as deputies and maybe some of the members of Kung-fu Hustle to be a member of the city...

kinda like a Eureka but for badasses

[marbleglove]

Oooooh. 4 Horse Ranch! Or maybe White Horse Ranch? Or Death Horse Ranch (and everyone goes "Don't you mean Dead Horse Ranch?" and he's like, "No.") And MacLeod is quietly scandalized.

And definitely Kung-fu Hustle people as members of the city. And Frank Moses from "Red." Maybe some of the people from Eureka, too? If Eureka is the city of bad-ass nerds, this city is the city of super-smart jocks?

[lita_of_jupiter]

heh, Mac would be scandalized but I am pretty sure Methos just wouldnt care... using the techniques learned from Silas to breed the bestest horses ever

totally true... though Joe would be there as the barkeep, a vetran of war who plays blues and is knowledge bluff? totally would fit there

and he would have contacts with McNally (sp?) to get his special brew...

it might be the neighbouring town to Eureka... imagine that the murderer the FBI is following (they can be the BAU team) with Charles and Eriks help was trying to hide or use his "talents" in this new city.

[marbleglove]

Joe is definitely the local barkeep (and Mac is insanely jealous that Methos managed to snatch his Watcher away from him, having not noticed that Joe is getting on in years and wanted a slightly more sedate lifestyle where the action came to him rather than vice versa, and Methos could deliver that. And he could also deliver an introduction to McNally who agrees to supply beer as long as Methos stays the hell out of Chicago, since the thought of Methos making an alliance with Gentleman Johnny, the first pure human to sign onto the Accords, is too horrifying to consider.)

And definitely the BAU. I think Hotch's father might have been horribly prejudiced against mutants as well as a variety of Others. And Hotch is fairly sure his young brother has a mutation but has never actually asked or been told, and he's scared that his son might be, too.

And Spencer is not a mutant but a lot of people think he must be. And he repeatedly explains that while a lot of people have mutations, and gene sequencing is not currently in a state to identify all of them, the colloquial term "mutant" is used to refer to a specific X-gene mutation that allows for a type of "super powers", and he does not have that particular mutation. And the first chink in Methos' lazy local sheriff is that he's genuinely interested in what Spencer has to say.

[lita_of_jupiter]

Mac wouldnt want to be without his comforts for long so he would probably only visit his watcher ...

the mutants which are "out" of the closet would be around the town using their powers and skills to promote their business, like the ice mutant Joe hired to help with mantaining the beers the ideal temperature or the one with fire affinity who was a firefighter...

Heh, Hotch's brother could be a mutant and his son as well so he is impressed with how the local school deals with the different powers having regular classes and some others more focused on developing their "powers"

of course when Spencer is saying all of that and the Sheriff is paying attention the BAU notices, and starts to try to profile him and the town...

Charles tries to get a read but there seems to be some static clouding his thoughts and those of a few other denizens maybe they have an eletric mutation?

[marbleglove]

And the FBI does hire mutants but they don't get positions of authority and they're always treated with suspicion. And Hotch is sure that his career will suffer if either his brother or his son come out as mutants and he's worried that he's a bad brother/father for not wanting that to happen, not wanting to stop searching for serial killers and instead devoting his career to forcing the FBI to change its policy.

And some of the mutants use their power for good, like the ice mutant and the fire mutant. But some of them do something else, like the one with sonic powers who's a chef because she just likes to cook, or the one that has scales and must have a water-related mutation but is perfectly happy as a corn farmer. And neither Charles nor Erik are quite sure what to do about that, much like the women's movement weren't and aren't quite sure what to do about the women who are thankful for having a choice and choose to be homemakers.

And as people start to wonder about Methos, he strengthens his drawl and takes up chewing tobacco and calls Emily Prentiss "little lady", but he can't quite bear to ignore or shut down Spencer.

[lita_of_jupiter]

Which kinda makes him feel bad and more willing to work hard for the hieararchy in the fbi to change their minds since he can see how the town comes together when one kid goes missing to look for her... though when they find her it had nothing to do with the supernatural, she'd been hiking in the woods and fell breaking her leg... forcing the sheriff to show sme of his first aid skills...


Erik and Charles talk to some of them about what they do and why arent they using their powers for more... and they just say the pursuit of happiness is their right too and not duty, 'sides not everyone has enough power to be able to use their powers all the time...

some arent even useful, like the teacher at the school gym class who can make sunshine and the setting sun or mountains appear when he makes speaches rmotivational ones about the power of Youth

as the BAU struggles not be distracted from the case they still keep wondering about the interest the sheriff displays in Spencer... what it might mean...

[marbleglove]

And Methos is wondering whether he could model his next identity after Spencer, an awkward genius who knows all sorts of things, so that he doesn't have to pretend not to know so much of what he does.

And Erik and Charles are both trying to convince the teacher of the amazing political speeches he could make. And someone else is trying to convince hm to become an evangelical preacher and traveling religious revivalist. And someone else is trying to get him to go to Hollywood. And he's like, but I like living in a small town and teaching geometry to kids. And Methos finally has to step in and tell everyone to back off and stop harassing the teacher, and reassures him that it's okay to be "just a guy."

And the BAU are watching this all and thinking, hmm, who exactly would this sheriff be if he weren't being "just a guy"?

[lita_of_jupiter]

He, this one didn't go to my e-mail so the late anwser...

Methos would start to research Spencer background from what he managed to learn, Garcia would alert the team that someone was poking into Spence's file making the BAU super suspicious...

Erik and Charles keep wondering what to do with this town, on one hand it is a great way of showing how mutants and humans can get along, on the other hand they aren't even sure if there are many humans since loads of the inhabitants seem to have some differantial skill when under preassure...

Not to mention the sheer amount of churches, temples and assorted holy/blessed places it was almost the whole city was holy ground...

Who would be the city mayor though?

[marbleglove]

Ooooh, oh, oh, oh: Nathan Ford (of Leverage) is the drunken mayor who has a rather shady consulting business that takes him out of town all the time. And Garcia of the BAU is fairly sure the election was rigged by Hardison but she can't find real proof and the Sheriff seems to have accepted it. Possibly because the loser in that election was someone really awful. And Mayor Ford's posy is deeply disturbing since they're pretty sure that the guy with the long hair is Elliot Spencer.

And all of the Leverage team are pure humans with no mutant abilities at all, which makes it all the more disturbing that they are just that capable of dealing with crazy, crazy stuff.

And there's a large Buddhist or Taoist community which is just peculiar for a small town in the middle of the Bible Belt, but it turns out that the town is very accepting of people who are very accepting of others. And the Sheriff seems to actively invite more and more religions to consecrate a bit of ground in the town.

And one of the deputies (Blair Sandburg) is a practicing Shaman who, despite not having the X-gene, seems capable of things that more humans are not.

[lita_of_jupiter]

which leaves everyone with a hell of a headache about what people are and aren't capable... the mayor seems content to let the sherrif and the rest of the town do their thing while going on away trips...

and they can't really talk with the deputy, who published a thesis a while ago about people with extra senses and they want to see if he think those people might be mutants (to the bau a guy with a doctorate being a deputy might be weird but not as strange as to others) however when they try to talk to him his partner is always interrupting

everything and anything is welcome... there even are some dudes who worship ancient egyptian gods, some others who are all about the Norse... including the guy who calls himself Thor...


though such a small town shouldn't have a branch os a law firm as prestigious as Wolfram&Hart

[marbleglove]

And Hank is one of the people who keep trying to corner Deputy Sandburg to talk about animalistic mutations, but Deputy Ellison *growls* at him and scares him away.

The local Egyptian cult leader is really a perfect candidate for serial killer being egotistical and narcissistic and having what Garcia is fairly sure is a fake identity. And according to Emily Prentiss, he and the Sheriff chat in ancient Egyptian and spend a fair bit of time mocking the Norse gods.

And oh, I think Thor (and Loki!) have been publicly acknowledged as powerful alien entities who were once thought of as gods, and there are some mutants who are unnerved by Norse gods running around, so why is it that this small town Sheriff manages to glare them into good behavior?

And Tony Stark and Duncan MacLeod get together sometimes to talk about the importance of changing the weapons industry and to importance of fighting for peace. And while Stark revels in his millions, Garcia points out that MacLeod is also incredibly wealthy through inheritances. And they both argue with the local Sheriff about allowing W&H to have an office in his town, since they are both against it and Methos is for it, and the BAU are wondering (a) W&H wants an office there, and (b) why the Sheriff is presumed to have a say in the matter. Meanwhile W&H attorneys are arguing over who they're supposed to be defending since pretty much everybody is in a gray moral zone rather than being good or evil. And the BAU are further annoyed because usually they can identify who the bad guy is by who W&H is defending. Hotch is (a) annoyed, (b) offered a job, and (c) further annoyed by being offered the job.

[lita_of_jupiter]

Hank is kinda different but does end up (under the advice of the Sherriff) going to talk with people in the hospital about animalistc mutations... though he knows enough not follow the guys advice and talk to the short bass player/bartender which works at Joe's the kid obviously has nothing to do with these things...

And Garcia looks him up, since the BAU know eh was kinda of a drifter, which means he fits the travel M.O. of the unsub... when she starts to look him up she gets very surprised to see some of the credentials the guy has he was recruited into some high tech firms, but demurred, he has helped out police in some cases (the Washginton NCIS forensic speciallist gave really glowing recomendations) though she can't get beyond those basic informations since he was protections in place, an really good ones.

Makes kinda admire him since he travels really free, still hacking, but helping people... and the code he wrote for those protections is really awesome... and a variation of which serves to protect files of many of the city denizens... though apparrently one of the Mayor's guys is really good... and there is also more rumors online about them in the speciallized boards she frequents online than she can get on official channels...


Nobody gets why the Sherrif has such power of the city or why he wants the law firm there, but he just said he knew them to keep on the grey side not only go for the really bad guys, sides some of the other influential citizens in town also have them on retainer (no matter what kind of immortality you have, it is more convenient having a retainer in the know who helps with IDs, bank transfers, fake wills and all that jazz) and want them there.

The Sherriff can apparently talk to the Super Aliens into good behavior is really really weird but not as much as the fact the egyptian cult leader owns a brewery (makes great beer) and respects the Sherriff something fierce and he seems to get why the Sherriff has such great horses...

a & b) when they ask the sherrif why he has such inluence he just says he is the chief of the local tribe, which stuns both the BAU and his friends. though they know wonder how that came to happen, and why does that give him that much influence...over some matters sure... but really they can't really understand how he keeps saying he is just a guy...

They are also wondering how come Tony Stark is so concerned over things...

The lawyers just get some instructions to just follow the retainer agreements and if they are to get new clients submit a report for further review before the acceptance...


Hotch is alvo annoyed by the fact he knows theis might be a good place for Jack to grow up in, but he can't let that make such a difference...

Morgan also seems to suspect something about the town mechanic... he just get his finger on what Dean Campbell reminds him of

[marbleglove]

Hah! And there's all this unspoken tension between Dean Campell and the W&H attorneys even though there are no records of any interaction.

And the whole small town is rife with secrets and tension but there's still those high school kids who are just waiting to graduate so that they can go to the nearest big city because it's so boring here. And the BAU agents practically choke on their coffee when they first hear this.

[lita_of_jupiter]

Kids.... you gotta be careful with them....

Charles starts to think that opening a school for mutant teenagers might be very very hard....

the BAU is very weirded out, specially as when the Sherriff gets kinda of tired of them just interrogating everyone around the city...nad the killer just shows up bound and gagged with plenty of evidence around him on top of the FBI's SUV.

[marbleglove]

Charles is deeply suspicious of the Sheriff, although he can't quite identify the man as a mutant, per se. But he's waiting for the Sheriff to demonstrate something, but instead all he does is sigh with exasperation and tell his deputies Sandburg and Ellison to get on with it.

And then they catch the killer, no one is really telling how they managed but the BAU only confirmed the evidence after the fact, and no one can prove that the Sheriff ever did anything more than hang out at the local bar drinking beer and being lazy.

[lita_of_jupiter]

especially seeing as there are *plenty* of witnesses of the fact... there had been a private party at Joe's that day... and all the guess confirmed where they were...

they had decided to close the bar to celebrate the lauch of a new microbrew with a private tasting...

many of the town's upstanding citizens and some slitghly crooked ones were there...

[marbleglove]

The gossip mill in that town must just be outrageous but all the long term residents know that it's important to stay up to date on what's going on.

Even so no one is quite sure how much to believe. But the long-term residents believe a lot more than the visitors who say things like, "grafitti in ancient Sumerian (or better, Linear B)? Oh come on, don't be ridiculous."

you really should write some snippets of this...

[lita_of_jupiter]

Long Term residents are always trying to keep up... though some are more of the laisse-faire view... things work... they'll keep working chill out and prepare for the the inner city games against Eureka (hey what would the town name be?)

the gossips in the city are always overworked... what with havipng to keep with twitter, blogs, news, and the graffits around the place...

heh, those who come up to the city are all kinda of stunned by what is going on... and just how much the people in town know each other and at the same time don't know each other...

Re: you really should write some snippets of this...

[lita_of_jupiter]

and that is not even taking into account the fact that the kids in the school like to feed consiracy websites all around... as the literature professor had once said that a secret kept by so many people had to be the best kept secret ever... (they had been doing a Unit on prattchett at the time...

Re: you really should write some snippets of this...

[marbleglove]

And in the end, all the outsiders just throw up their hands in despair of ever finding out what is going on in this town. At least they've found the guy responsible.

But it's possible that Magneto now has one of his safe houses in that town and occasionally returns when he needs a break from being a terrorist/freedom fighter.

Re: you really should write some snippets of this...

[lita_of_jupiter]

I can see him having a nice little cottage near the woods, with absolutely no phones or internet to bother him when he needs a vacation (it's also where he stashes his books, his reputation would be shot to hell if people found out he read Carver Edlund)

Spencer would also get a few numbers and get told to keep in touch,,,