Okay, this smile is everything we need to know how Erik was like as a kid and how he would have been without the camps. I could made a dissertation on this smile.
Itās so obvious that heās used to kindness and goodness. Heās like āIām sorry I canāt, I can do better, but I tried my best.ā Heās literally expecting Shaw to tell him āthatās okay, donāt worry.ā
Heās obviously confused and scared, he wants his mother ā whoās always been at his side for all his life and, come on, heās like 13ā¦ everyone needs their mother at that age when theyāre scared ā and heās having faith in someone elseās good heart.
Heās not used to being punished if he fails, I bet he doesnāt even know what āfailureā means. Thatās not what heād been taught all his life. Heās been taught to try, put all the effort he can in doing something and be happy with whatever result he gets.
As the OP says, he painfully obviously a good boy who listens to adults and does as heās told.
According to the comics and his initial reaction to Shaw, I would also dare say that Jakob (his father) wasnāt one of the beaters. I believe he was just as kind as Edie and he taught his son that violence wasnāt a good thing. If he was a WWI veteran, as I believe, it would make sense.
As the OP pointed out, Erik is a mamaās boy, loved and doted on by Edie. He adores her. Sheās probably the best person heād ever known and I also think he aspired to be like her growing up. Or to meet someone like her.
The idea of Erik deriving his happiness from making other people happy is just so right!!! And painful, considering how this would have only worsened his trauma.
Iām not an expect, but I think this analysis matches the way his experience in the camps changed him. His anger and closed-off attitude and the way he tries to make others intimidated and uncomfortable is very likely something someone as shy and eager to be accepted and praised as he is would do. Itās like a defense mechanism of ādonāt come close to me because if you do I know you will hurt me.ā
Because, despite the trauma, that boy didnāt vanished. Heās there somewhere, weighted down by the memories and the trauma. But heās in there. And if you are brave enough to walk through the walls Erik has built around him, you will find him bruised and wounded but still alive and longing to be loved again.
With that said, I want you to imagine this Erik in a modern or a canon universe in which his family is still alive(especially his mother) and in which heād lived a happy, ānormalā life. He would be the sweetest, shyest boy EVER.
He would be a mamaās boy, a caring and loving person, kind and doting. He would know what love is in a way rarely people understand, he would feel loved and would know how to love someone else.
He would never doubt the fact that heās loved.
I believe that the correct characterization for Erik in this context would be the exact opposite from the one in the canon. He would be more Charles-like, in a way. More open, less scared of feelings or not scared at all, and a dreamer.
But this Erik would have somehow emerged in canon too, if only heād worked through his trauma with a therapist.
And Iām not saying that what happened to the people in the camps would have disappeared thanks to a therapist. Absolutely not. But it would have helped him finding a coping mechanism and maybe, hopefully, some peace within himself. Or, at least, a way to not feel constantly overwhelmed by the trauma.
Iām actually a great fan of psychotherapy, it really helps people understand themselves better and is useful with PTSD.
Anyway, moral of the story: people, when you write modern AUs on Erik, remember this little smile!
