(no subject)

[undeterred]

PLAYER INFO.
✖ Handle: Eliana
✖ Contact: romanoff
✖ Are You Over 16: 22!
✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: N/A

CHARACTER INFO.
✖ Character Name: Darkholme, Raven
✖ Canon: X-Men First Class, after Charles tells her to go with Erik.
✖ Character Appearance: "Normal" appearance and her true appearance as a mutant.
✖ Character Age: Never explicitly stated, but likely early to mid 20s; Raven was found by Charles in 1944, but was already about 8 or 9 at this point. Given that the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962, Raven is likely 25 or 26, but appears to be a bit younger due to her decelerated ageing.
✖ Pick A Number: 944, 194

✖ Canon Setting:

The world of X-Men: First Class is, for the most part, like the reality of our own world. However, as per most comics and comic book adaptions, there exist those with exceptional abilities. In Raven's world, these are known as mutants. Their gifts range from mutations that allow others to read the thoughts of the people around them, to women who can sprout wings and spit corrosive acid, to women that are quite literally ice cold and can manipulate such an element. Raven herself possesses a mutation that has made her blue with startlingly red hair to the point of appearing inhuman, while also allowing her to take on any form she pleases.

At the time she's being pulled from, the date is 1962, marking both the chaos and paranoia that comes with the Cold War and a world rife with conflict between different social and political groups. Aside from the existence of mutants and their involvement within historical events, history has stayed relatively unchanged. Mutants themselves are involved with the proceedings of a Cold War and increasing tensions; Sebastian Shaw is intent on exploiting social and political turmoil to set the stage for a mutant take-over, essentially, while the CIA has employed mutants (Raven included) to prevent Shaw from succeeding with his master plan. However, while Shaw is killed before he can let the Cuban Missile Crisis come to a head and start a nuclear war between Russia and the United States, the government inevitably turns against mutants.

It's Charles that takes the side of humans, believing they can find a way to accept mutants one day — but it's Magneto that, in a way, condemns them, knowing they will never accept mutants. Raven, no longer wanting to hide, falls into the latter category with Erik / Magneto, which prepares the foundation for the next film.

✖ Character History: Here.

✖ Character Personality:

Mutant and proud.

Taking pride in one's true form, especially when said appearance tends to be of the bumpy and blue variety and often sends normal individuals screaming for the hills, is a great deal easier said than done. In Raven's mind, Charles can boast of embracing mutations all he likes; as she tells him, his own is hidden — and while Raven conceals her own by disguising herself as a woman lacking in bright yellow eyes and scales, Charles is free to roam the streets as himself rather than struggling to maintain an illusion. As one could imagine, Raven has spent the majority of her life in hiding, fearing the reactions she'll receive if she allows others a glimpse of the woman she is beneath the veneer of human flesh. Her history prior to what is presented in the film tells of a rather tragic tale. Considered an aberration by many, Raven feared attending school as a child — and this fear continued to thrive inside of her even after she encountered Charles Xavier. While Charles was incredibly successful in his studies, even enjoying them immensely, it fell to Charles to educate Raven, revealing that her fear of being around normal colleagues had remained so strong that she preferred to have only Charles as a friend and confidant, knowing no others would understand. Prior to befriending Charles, her family disapproved of her mutation so intensely that they even tried to murder their own child. Petrified by her parent's response to her mutation, Raven fled from her home. Rather than requesting help (as she knew others would be apprehensive of her appearance if she were to be honest with them, as she anticipated frightening Charles away the moment she shifted into her natural form), she took to the streets, using her mutation, the very thing she despises, to steal enough food and drink to ensure her survival.

"Mutant and proud! Or is that only the pretty mutations or invisible ones, like yours? But if you're a freak, better hide!"

As a result, Raven has always felt the compulsion to keep that portion of herself hidden from the world around her. Although Charles is the first individual to never turn away in fright from the sight of her, offering her a place amongst his family instead and accepting the responsibility as a big brother figure in her life in the process, it's important to note that she calls herself Charles' only friend — and even then she isn't completely herself around him. She visibly becomes upset the moment he starts flirting (which seems to be part of his usual routine and pick-up lines while hitting on girls in bars) with a random woman in a pub, complimenting the woman's mutation — which happens to be a simple genetic case of heterochromia, something that others seem to call beautiful while Raven struggles to even admire her reflection in a mirror. Charles' embarrassing and shameless flirtation with the woman is what causes Raven to act out, allowing her own mutation to shine through for a moment by shifting one of her eyes to its natural bright yellow colouring, which causes Charles to whisk her out of the bar as Raven refers to herself as a freak. She sparks an argument with him that lends itself to proving that she's like a child struggling to find her own identity in the world.

Afterward, while readying herself for bed, she's shown to still be pondering Charles' words of mutant and proud — but when she starts fretting over her appearance in front of him, he responds by speaking as though he isn't certain as to why she's been so concerned with her looks lately, proving that he doesn't know her as well as he might think — because, in a way, Raven also hides herself from (at the time) her only friend. Her appearance has always been her most deeply rooted problem, given her family's reaction to her as a child, and constantly hiding herself away — whether physically or emotionally — from the world and her biggest confidant has had quite the toll on her. In fact, it's easy to understand why she's become so resentful of the world around her. While she bottles her feelings, from only inwardly worrying over her appearance until she looks for reassurance from Charles to wishing to shield herself even after others encourage her to reveal her true form, she sheds that mask once Erik enters the picture. His influence on her is gradual but impactful, so much so that she does confront Charles with her anger. It's a slow development, but an important one to note, all the same; though her temper starts as simply interrupting his attempts at charming unsuspecting women with his spiel on mutations and lashing out by insinuating she's a freak who should be ashamed of her mutation (as it isn't "pretty" or "invisible"), it shifts into directly arguing with him. Once she's become more comfortable in her skin — quite literally — she grows angry when he insists she should cover herself up with clothing, accusing him of regarding her as a pet who must have been much cuter when she was smaller (and, therefore, also likely easier for him to coddle and "tame", in a way of speaking). Raven wants to show herself to the world, she wants to be confident, and it's safe to say that she's fairly envious of those who have found their own place in the world and those who have the blessing of a mutation that doesn't physically alter them so drastically.

That anger and jealousy not only stems from Charles' persistent need to be part of the world, humans and all, rather than turn his back against those that frown down upon all mutants — but due to her own history, combined with the constant mockery and reactions to her mutant form and her own lingering resentment that she directs toward herself. As Erik words it, Raven desperately wants society to accept her, but even she fails to accept herself — and as the cliche goes, how is anyone meant to love anyone if they can't first love themselves? Raven rarely ever reveals her blue scales during the beginning portion of the movie unless it's in the privacy of a bathroom or in front of Charles, and even then it's quite evident she isn't happy with who she sees peering back at her. Even as the other mutants they've recruited are displaying their powers and debating code names, she shifts into the form of Sean Cassidy, never fully disclosing the extent of her abilities. While she finds some sort of camaraderie with the other mutants, she isn't completely honest in that sense — nor is she completely comfortable, given that she and Angel share a discussion about how the agents in the CIA view them, mocking them and eyeing the lot of them like they're freaky scientific specimens. For the most part, others aren't willing to embrace the woman she is underneath the illusion of a completely human girl, no matter how fiercely she strives to find companionship and someone who welcomes the woman she truly is into their lives, fully and unequivocally; in the end, Raven has been burned quite a bit, and she certainly has a right to be bitter about that fact. That anger amplifies when Darwin is eliminated by the opposing faction of mutants, and it's both compassion and a drive for revenge that pushes her into convincing Charles and Erik that they need every member they've recruited in order to stop Shaw from continuing his rampage. It's important to note that Raven isn't so angry of a woman that she'll side with Shaw. Even if his ideology is similar to Erik's at the conclusion of the film, she's still loyal to the individuals around her, as it's Erik (and, in a way, Charles; it's insinuated she wouldn't have followed Erik if it wasn't for Charles eventually prodding her in that direction himself), someone she has faith in, that's the largest factor in swaying her to turn her back on the idea of being trusted by humans.

For the most part, Raven pointedly strives to be beautiful and accepted in the eyes of others, to the point where she's willing to donate some of her blood to find a cure for her outward appearance. Mostly, she just wants to be normal (physically, at least, which is important to note; she asks Hank for a cure, but ensures it doesn't directly affect her abilities) — with a normal crush, doing normal things, and working her normal job as a waitress, but some aspects of her mutation limit her. She finds a companion in Hank McCoy, the scientist working on said cure, because they share a similar view and hindrance. Hank's mutation is only apparent the moment he bares his strange feet, but Raven still finds herself sympathizing with his plight, as they both share a physical mutation. In fact, they both stress their desire to be normal and Hank, believing he can gift her with a cure that will allow her to assimilate into human society without having to worry about losing her concentration and becoming blue in front of the entire world, is adamant about presenting her with that choice. However, by this point, it's become quite clear that Raven is weary from constantly having to hide who she is. She tries to persuade Hank that he, too, shouldn't have to adapt for the sake of making others comfortable and denying who he truly is at heart — but Hank rejects the idea that anyone will ever be able to accept either of them. Despite being an individual she thought she could trust, Hank proves her incorrect, just as Charles has. Both of them hesitate in calling her blue form beautiful; Charles has to ponder whether he would date her if she decided not to conceal herself behind a mask, and Hank pointedly tells her that, when she shifts to her natural form, that no one will ever accept her — and when she turns back, he simply states that she looks more beautiful in that state, and that she needs the cure, but Raven is starting to feel a great deal more liberated and comfortable with herself, and his reaction toward her (where, yet again, another individual betrays her once she opens up to them and lets herself become vulnerable in their presence) merely opens her eyes. By this point, she's exasperated and absolutely sick of having to maintain a facade all the time; Raven simply wants to be herself, love herself, and be loved for who she is rather than be admired for the image she's created.

She focuses the majority of her concentration on ensuring she appears normal and more attractive in order to feel accepted, but toward the conclusion of the movie, it's Erik that finally gives her that little push she needs. When she tells Hank that neither of them need to hide and ultimately gets rejected by a boy she presumed would understand her point of view, it's Erik she turns to. He's the first to ever state he prefers the real Raven above any other face she might wear, and it evidently strikes a chord within her. He calls her exquisite, comparing her to a tiger — and tells her that, when she asks for her robe, that she doesn't have to hide. It's that event that triggers her to walk around in her blue form freely, without clothes, and sparks her debate with Charles, in which it becomes apparent that she feels betrayed — as though he has chosen to side with her against the world, and has instead chosen to become part of it. Her resolution is only strengthened when, after assisting the CIA in preventing Sebastian Shaw from launching a full-scale war, both the Russian and American armies decided to turn their backs on the mutants they employed to assist them. By this point, she's undaunted and more at peace with herself. Hank might never accept her, Charles might never fully accept her, but there are those who will — and while she might never not feel bitter about the many rejections she's faced, she's shed some of the barriers that ward people away by never fully letting them in and, in the process, has become more pleased with her body and the person that she is at heart.

That's not to say she abandons Charles and his own beliefs regarding mutants and humans, but she is split between each man and their philosophies. Charles can offer her a place with him as he tries to join with the world, and yet Raven's desire to no longer have to feel ashamed of herself, with Erik there to guide her toward embracing herself and taking pride in her mutation, overrides her thirst to integrate herself into their society in the way Charles longs for, as she knows it can never be a viable option for her. While visibly torn between Erik and Charles, as she goes to her brother after Erik extends his hand to her, it's only after Charles tells her to go with Erik, stating he knows that no longer hiding is what she truly wants, that she takes Erik's hand and agrees to that saying she once loathed: mutant and proud. After years of hiding beneath a facade, Raven knows that, while humans will likely never come to accept her, she shouldn't have to always hide herself away in fear of their reactions to her mutation. She's finally proud of who she has become, and if her decision to suit up for battle in her genuine form wasn't proof enough of that, her loyalty to Erik is. Generally speaking, each man represents Raven in their own way. Charles is the more passionate and rational man who welcomes the idea of cohabiting. He is her past, the constant she's always known — whereas Erik is more cynical in his approach and the new variable in her life, offering her a different perspective and the chance to start anew. It takes strength and courage to be able to leave behind the only friend she's had for years and the only way of life she's really ever known (as she had always been hiding as a young child, and then as a adult; hiding is very much all she knows) but it goes to show that Raven is willing to sacrifice that much for what she wants.

With that being said, Raven isn't only defined by her begrudging attitude toward herself and those unwilling to accept her. Given that Raven's longest (and likely only friend at the start of the movie) is Charles, it stands to reason that Raven is a bit sheltered in some regards, as she refused to attend school. At first, she's a bit naive. Despite meeting Hank for the very first time, she quickly becomes infatuated with him and even tries to kiss him at one point until Erik interrupts. She allows herself to believe he'll accept her, though she hasn't known him for very long, as she's a bit of a romantic — and the fact that she ends up in Erik's bed not long after in an attempt to seduce him (and possibly forget all about Hank) further proves that point and reveals that her coping methods are still rather juvenile. Along with the other mutants, she's also fooled by the government, as all of them had thought they were working together as a team with the CIA, only to discover that the government regards them as a threat to national security. Naivety included, many components align to shape Raven into a warm, compassionate young woman. She fully believes in Erik's ideology, but even that prevents her from tossing Charles aside, as she only leaves him on the beach when he convinces her to do so. She might be angry, but she hasn't allowed that grudging attitude to leave her cold, completely detached, and without kindness.

Her relationship with the other mutants isn't particularly deep, but there's an obvious sort of camaraderie there and a compassion displayed toward others like her. It's difficult for Raven to completely admire herself, but it becomes clear that she appreciates the mutants around her. She becomes overjoyed when she learns that Angel can sprout wings and fly, exclaiming her excitement, and informs Hank that he's beautiful once the cure mutates him into Beast, complete with blue fur and snarling canines. In fact, she even comes to his defense on separate occasions when Alex Summers pokes fun at him by stating they should refer to him as Bigfoot. Due to her own self-consciousness, she certainly isn't fond of bullies, and she clearly admires each and every mutant they recruit, consistently in awe as everyone reveals their mutations. Where her fellow mutants and potential friends are involved, there's definitely a protective streak that shines through, whether it's protecting them from insults, in Hank's case, or refusing to heed Charles' instructions when the others head to the beach. She's a strong girl willing to fight for herself and for her friends, and she'll stubbornly ignore Charles' orders and run off to save them if that's what is required of her.

In front of the others, Raven is fully capable of breaking free in her own way, behaving almost childishly mirthful. It's Raven that brings forth the mention of establishing code names, giving Erik and Charles their own, and she's also one of the first to encourage Alex Summers to show what he can do in terms of his mutation as she leads the team into a chant to sway him into revealing his own mutations. Furthermore, she's shown participating in a little soiree they then throw, jumping off of couches and blasting music while Erik and Charles are away, and is shown multiple times in bars celebrating Charles' endeavors of getting terribly wasted — and ruining his attempts to make women swoon by childishly pretending to have heterochromia. Her tongue might be sharp and witty, implementing sarcasm and wry humour as a defense mechanism, but Raven is just a kind young woman at her core, and she craves both acceptance, companionship, and the chance to simply be herself.

✖ Character Powers:

metamorph; Raven is a metamorph — or, in other terms, a shapeshifter. As a result, she's able to take nearly any form she wishes, especially the shape of individuals she encounters, mimicking them flawlessly. Her shifting extends to perfecting the tone of their voice, their fingerprints, their retinas, weight, age, sex, choice of attire, and so on and so forth. Her natural form as a mutant, as linked in an earlier section, leaves her naked and blue with an almost scale-like appearance, with bright red hair and yellow eyes. She can maintain the form of anyone for an undisclosed amount of time, but it's implied that the mask slips if her concentration is elsewhere, either shifting her back to her normal form or forcing her natural eye colour to shine through.

decelerated ageing; A bit self-explanatory! Raven ages at a much slower rate than any other individual as her cells regenerate faster than your average human's.

improved strength and agility; While it isn't necessarily superhuman by any means, Raven is capable of lifting far more than an average woman of her build and moves at a much quicker pace. However, her abilities are halved when she isn't in her natural form, as most of her concentration is used to uphold whatever image she's chosen to wear.

CHARACTER SAMPLES.
✖ First Person POV: TOP LEVEL AND THREADS AT THE TDM
MEME THREAD ( please note this is an au, but i'm providing it as a gauge of her voice in case another thread is needed! )

✖ Third Person POV:

One more thing. Beast —

She can hear the words fall from her lips like a distant echo as her hand raises to press against her chest. There, she can feel her heart thump wildly against the pads of her fingertips, fluttering like a caged and startled bird inside of its confines — as frightened a bird as she is now to take the leap toward a new future as Charles' pained groans permeate the air. She wants to tear her gaze away from Beast and peer toward her brother, but taking such a step backward will only leave her more desolate and puzzled. Raven can't allow herself to falter now; Charles will always place the world above her. It'll never be the both of us against the world, she thinks bitterly, as her other hand strengthens around Erik's. Charles will always press and press and press, hoping to insert himself into a world Raven knows she doesn't quite belong to. It pains her more than anything — more than the ache in her arms and the pang of betrayal courtesy of a society unwilling to look toward her with fondness — but her chin tips upward, as if assured in her decision, and she swallows hard.

Mutant and proud!

The distaste on Beast's face doesn't elude her, but it no longer pains her as much as it once would have, in the privacy of a room with a boy who refused to accept her, let alone himself. The words echo throughout the beach as she looks to Erik and Angel, even Azazel, and sees little else but a cloud of red as they float away to start anew.

But when the red fog gives way to reveal her bedroom in a home she may never enter again, she knows that this isn't precisely the fresh start she had in mind. The man perched at the edge of her bed doesn't flinch at the abrupt sight of her, scaly and blue, with his hands situated on the cool, expensive leather of a suitcase as though he's been anticipating her arrival all along. She stiffens, every muscle and tendon in her body feeling the strain of the tension that floods through her body at the sight of the composed stranger. He reminds her of Charles, almost — polished and controlled, but the comparison causes her to shake her head in an attempt to clear the haunting thought from her mind. He has to be another mutant, she thinks — or another government official hoping to lock them away and throw away the key, if they don't feel the urge to watch them burn instead. The image leaves a bitter, acidic taste on her tongue, and her eyes narrow as a result, wary and annoyed despite the small sense of panic racing through her.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to knock first? Don't mind me. Just make yourself right at home."

When the biting sarcasm fails to garner a response, verbal or otherwise, she grows visibly frustrated with the circumstances she's found herself in. She refuses to allow herself to cower, however; she takes one measly step forward, eyes trained on the suspicious man in front of her. After a moment, she opts for a different, more direct approach. None of the officials she's encountered have been particularly forthcoming, but it doesn't hurt to try. She tries to school her voice into something solid and unwavering to avoid revealing her anxiety, but the caution is still evident in her tone.

"What do you want with me?" she asks carefully, trying not to grit the words out. "If this is about becoming a government pet or your little science project, count me out."

The stranger only smiles like he possesses a secret he's prepared to share. It sets her on edge, with her skin crawling immediately, but she steels herself in place to restrain herself from instinctively backing away.

"Nothing," he says, voice smooth and matter-of-fact, but there's a peculiar quality to his smile that sets an alarm off in her head, like an animal recognizing the sight of a predator in the distance. "It isn't about what I want with you, darling. It's what I want from you, or perhaps for you would be more apt."

Her jaw sets. As if she needed more reasons to grow skeptical of a man stealing her out of thin air and trouncing into her bedroom as though he owns the place, he's taken it upon himself to address her with a familiarity that has her nose wrinkling in disdain. Great.

"Don't call me that," she says evenly, rushing the words out — as it's the latter half of his statement that captures her attention, which is likely what he had wanted all along. She's still unnerved by the overly amicable grin he wears, but that doesn't override her urge to find answers. "You don't know me." As far as she knows, anyway, but Raven's starting to get an inkling that he knows much more than she would ever willingly divulge to him. What a creep. "I don't know you. What could you possibly want from me?"

He folds his hands over his suitcase. Each movement feels and looks robotic, and Raven's left with the impression he's delivered this entire spiel and danced through this routine way more than one time. "I know a great deal about you, Mystique." Raven has to prevent herself from bristling, but her eyes narrow considerably. "What would you say if I told you I need your help with an important mission?"

She doesn't have to think about her answer. "I would tell you that you're full of it," she bites back, but she doesn't sound completely confident in her answer. He simply laughs as though he's been told the most hilarious joke in the existence of mankind.

"This world is in danger, and all of your friends with it — unless you come with me, of course. In time, I'll explain everything." His arrogant smile widens, almost predatory, and Raven finds herself even more disconcerted. "You're lying," she responds without missing a beat, but just as before, the assured tone in her voice wavers. He tsks, scolding her like she's a child. Her feet want to carry her away from him until she's placed an entire door between them, but she can't risk it.

"You don't really want to place them in harm's way, do you? That's very selfish of you. What would your darling brother say?" She doesn't want to reflect on what Charles would say, or what even Erik would say, if he were in the room. She feels her cheeks flush with anger. "No." Her head shakes as she breathes the word out. No, she doesn't want to place them in harm's way, especially not after all they've endured. If it's up to her, then —

"I'll come with you." She blurts out the words before she has the chance to second guess her conviction or retreat. Disgustingly pleased with himself, he raises from the bed, and extends his hand toward her.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

She curls her fingers around his, but it registers in the back of her mind, dimly, that it feels like she's just decided to make a deal with Satan himself.

CHARACTER ITEMS.
✖ Pick a Team: Red.
✖ Mission Freebie: A minor power boost, if possible, that allows her to maintain some of her strength and agility while camouflaged in a different form than her natural one.
✖ Personal Item or Weapon: One blue dress.

✖ Character Inventory:

one ( 1 ) flight suit and boots

Comments

REVISIONS

[undeterred]

Despite the lack of any blood relation, Charles has always been the big brother figure in her life, and Raven even refers to him as such. However, it might be more apt to refer to Charles as a father figure. In comparison to herself, she regards him as both wise and stuffy behind his years, often affectionately referring to him as an "old fart" or labeling his thesis as tedious, revealing a bit of a disparity between the two of them in terms of maturity. After escaping from her parents, two individuals so disappointed in her mutation that they had attempted to take her life instead, and living on the streets due to both fear and rejection, she happened upon the home of a little boy — nearly the same age — who quickly accepted her into his home and life. With no parental guidance, Charles is the one who assumed that mantle and stepped in to instruct, protect, and care for her. Charles is more of a guardian than a brother while Raven is more of a ward than a sister; he's educated her on several subjects after her refusal to attend school, lectured her on numerous occasions only to be met with several exasperated eye rolls fitting of any rebellious daughter, has placed a roof over her head, and has continuously sheltered her.

Charles is, more or less, a protector in Raven's life — which is, as the cliche goes, both a blessing and a curse for her. He welcomed her into his life when no other would and the two quickly became each other's only friend — and she's quite annoyed at anyone who tries to take him away, too, hence her decision to sabotage his attempts to flirt with random girls. Although she might act as a typical sister would in that sense, Charles has still always been there for her, nearly from the very beginning, making him a monumental influence on her life and decisions. Not any little boy could convince his parents to take in a stranger, but it stands to reason that Charles utilized his own abilities to be able to persuade his mother into thinking little of it. Even at a young age, he protects her from the cold streets and abandonment by accepting her presence, reassuring her that she will have as much food as she pleases and will no longer have to steal to survive. Over time, the protection she receives from him expands to Charles cleaning up each of her mishaps and messes as she learns to harness her abilities. Though he chides her for purposely revealing her yellow eyes while he's attempting to chat up a pretty girl in a pub, he informs her that a big mistake on her part does not bear thinking about, implying that he would willingly alter the minds of the other patrons to keep her hidden if her concentration happened to slip. As Raven states that he knows she has difficulty controlling her mutation from time to time and Charles' offer to protect her secret should it inadvertently come to light, it stands to reason that it isn't the first instance in which Charles has performed such a feat in order to protect her.

In a way, that's precisely why Raven's views on mutants are quite limited, and why she comes across as naive and sheltered in some of her interactions. While he accepts her as a friend, he does not wholly embrace her mutation. He warns her against revealing herself, becoming vexed when she happens to do so in the bar or when she struts around the abode in her true form without her robe on at a later point, which insinuates that her mutation is not necessarily a good thing, and Raven has merely learned to keep her identity a secret from the world at large due to Charles' instructions. Their mutations and shared history are what tie them together, but Raven's fear of rejection and Charles' insistence upon keeping her mutation hidden are what prevent her from fully exposing herself to society. As Charles is the only fellow mutant she's ever encountered, her views on remaining concealed and sheltered gradually change once she's introduced to her teammates.

While she's enamoured with the abilities of the others, Hank is the one who she relates to most, and, save for Erik, he's likely the biggest factor into pushing her toward embracing herself and Erik's philosophy. She sees pieces of herself within him, to an extent. Hank, just like her, possesses a mutation that's also physical — and, just like her, he attempts to keep it concealed (but to a lesser extent than Raven, as Hank's mutation has merely altered his feet) as best as he possibly can out of fear of being bullied. As a result of his own self-loathing, he wishes to use her blood as a potential way of concocting a cure that will strip them of their physical mutations while keeping their abilities intact. Raven, still accustomed to hiding at this point, readily agrees to it — but after Erik's words resonate with her — you want society to accept you but you can't even accept yourself — and after admiring the unique traits of her teammates, she decides against it. After all, who's to say she won't come to accept herself if she can so readily embrace others? For the first time, she thinks that being unique is a beautiful thing and what sets them apart from others, and they shouldn't have to discard that side of themselves to fit in and be normal. She comes to believe society should accept them, not the other way around, but it's an ideology Hank disagrees with.

In the end, she doesn't inject herself with the cure. After facing the harshness of Hank's words, it's Erik she seeks out. While Erik plays a large role in influencing Raven to become more confident and self-assured with her image, herself, and her mutation by bluntly complimenting her until she has no choice but to become speechless at his blatant honesty rather than argue against him, he also piques Raven's interest romantically. After initially believing that no man would ever view her in such a way if she were to appear blue during the beginning of the movie, as she quizzes Charles to whether he would date her in her true form and faces Hank's cruel implication that she is less beautiful in her natural form, Erik quickly squanders that line of thinking. She tries to seduce him as she would any other man, at first, going through a series of different appearances in an attempt to appeal to him — but, like usual, he catches her off-guard when he states that he prefers the real Raven. Once he tells her she no longer needs to cover herself up, both literally and figuratively speaking, the two share an intimate moment — and though there's an understandable attraction there, it isn't their chemistry that causes the rift between herself and Charles.

That rift has, in a way, always been there — but it took a few pushes in a certain direction from Erik for Raven to ever truly realize it. It's safe to say that Erik's own philosophies begin to resonate within her. In contrast to the composed and peaceful Charles, Erik is more like Raven. He's more reckless, more impulsive, and holds more resentment toward the world for what has been done to him. As Raven implies earlier in the film, Charles doesn't know how it feels to be rejected from the world as she does. His mutation is invisible. Unlike her, he has nothing to run from, and before the government betrayed them after they had successfully stopped Shaw, he had never been betrayed by anyone as she has. Erik and Raven click with one another not only due to Erik forcefully reminding her that she is beautiful and strong in her uniqueness, but also due to the fact that they're both angry individuals who have, time and time again, come to realize that mutants will never be embraced by mankind.

When Raven lashes out at Charles once he tells her to cover herself up, it isn't solely at him — it's at his ideology. For years, he has encouraged her to keep herself hidden rather than encourage her to walk around as freely as she pleases, and only after she starts becoming swayed to Erik's side does she see that Charles is more concerned with inserting himself into the world as it is instead of taking her hand and turning against it and all of its ideals (which, in a way, feels as though it's a betrayal, as he chooses the world instead of her). Charles still has a hope for society, believing they can find a way to co-exist through peaceful negotiations — but both Erik and Raven have been burned one too many times to ever be as optimistic as Charles. Whereas Charles is forever that kind of optimist, Raven and Erik are both cynics. Erik fears the annihilation of mutantkind at the hands of humans and, after experiencing her parents' attempts to murder her and the government's betrayal, Raven comes to realize that Erik's line of thought is far more realistic than Charles' bright hope for peace between mankind and mutants — a feat which is, in Raven's mind, nearly impossible to achieve.

But as Charles has always been the constant in her life, she outwardly struggles to simply let him go. It isn't out of any inner conflict between the two men's differing philosophies, not anymore; it's more of a concern for Charles and the state he's in, as the worry is clear in her eyes as she looks at him. She even ignores Erik's outstretched hand at first — perhaps out of rejection for his part in Charles' accidental paralysis, or in part due to her inability to just let Charles go that easily — to approach her brother with tears in her eyes, but it's Charles that notices her hesitation to leave the one individual she's always had in her life and nudges her into accept Erik's offering, telling her that he knows it's what she wants. She's still teary-eyed as she does as Charles suggests — but she knows that, despite everything, Charles' ideology is not one she can willingly follow, nor a belief Charles will ever change. Charles has always been there to protect her, but in his attempts to watch over her, he has only sheltered her — and it's time for the world to see her for who she is, for her to grow up and spread her wings and do as she wants rather than as society, or even Charles, dictates.

With the rift between Raven and Charles expanding even further due to their opposing views and the mounting argumentativeness emerging between them, Erik represents the freedom that she's needed all along, and is her best shot at achieving what she desires: confidence, a place where she feels she truly belongs, and protection from a world she has never completely belonged to.