Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2024

[Veni]

[Thirteen]

A chronology and reasonable explanation for that time Illyana's Soulsword suddenly became a giant sword...

[Havok83]

A chronology and reasonable explanation for that time Illyana's Soulsword suddenly became a giant sword...

That could have worked except the PF never affected the powers of the P5. It was revealed later in that run that Dark Beast was using nannites to mess with that team. Nannites wouldnt have altered her sword.

[Woozie]

That could have worked except the PF never affected the powers of the P5. It was revealed later in that run that Dark Beast was using nannites to mess with that team. Nannites wouldnt have altered her sword.

You're mixing up the Rosenberg run with the Bendis run.

[Thirteen]

That could have worked except the PF never affected the powers of the P5. It was revealed later in that run that Dark Beast was using nannites to mess with that team. Nannites wouldnt have altered her sword.

You're mixing up the Rosenberg run with the Bendis run.

Didn't Orchis use nannites to alter her powers at the recent Hellfire Gala and REALM OF X mini?


Awww cute demon sorceressness

[sunofdarkchild]

You're mixing up the Rosenberg run with the Bendis run.

No. Dark Beast infected them all with nanites in the Bendis run and used them to turn off their powers while attacking them with sentinels. They suspected Hank and when they confronted him he realized they were partially right and it was his AOA doppelganger. Beast removed the nanites from their bodies while Dark Beast attacked the Jean Grey school with Shield's sentinels. Dark Beast then died.

In the Rosenberg run, Illyana and her New Mutants team were infected with Warlock's transmode virus, which she and Rahne were able to mostly fight off. The X-Men discovered Dark Beast was alive again after he died in the Bendis run, and he started working with the X-Men and cured the team of the transmode virus. Then he tricked the X-Men into making the mutant cure become deadly and Illyana killed him again.

Since the latest nanite plot started I've been noting how it's a repeat of what Bendis did.

[Havok83]

You're mixing up the Rosenberg run with the Bendis run.

No Im not. You are



This happened in Bendis' run when Cyclops was a revolutionary and Magik was wearing the black costume with the giant sword. Dark Beast messed up her powers.

Didn't Orchis use nannites to alter her powers at the recent Hellfire Gala and REALM OF X mini?

Yes. it seems like thats the go to way to netrauize her now...lol

[sunofdarkchild]

After a delay, episode 3 of 'Magik and the New Mutants' is up. My original intention was to do the Viper and Nova Roma stories, but after the difficulty I had writing episode 3, I've decided to skip those and go straight to Illyana's joining the team in the next update. However, the skipped episodes will still have happened, because Selene and the Fat Karma stories will be important down the line. Nova Roma would have taken place in Italy instead of South America, among many other changes.

https://www.fanfiction.net/story/sto...382&chapter=3/
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52...ters/141580984

[sunofdarkchild]

Here are some excerpts from episode 3.

"Come in," Charles Xavier said before his visitor had even knocked on the door to his office. Ororo Munroe and the other X-Men had long since gotten used to his telepathic detection of anyone who approached his place of work, and it was to be expected that he would be more alert for potential threats after the incident at the mall.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Yes. It seems we have a serious problem, and we need to be prepared."

Ororo nodded. "I agree. If the government has learned that this school shelters mutants, the threat to us has grown exponentially."

"From what my own sources in the government tell me, that can still be handled at the political level. The use of sentinels on a public mall showed that they are a threat to everyone, not just mutants, and it will be a long time before those who seek to harm us will be able to regain their political favor, which gives us an opportunity."

"If the sentinels aren't the problem, what is?"

Xavier looked out his window. The sun was setting, creating an orange glow over the treetops.

"The other day, Illyana revealed something I don't think she meant to."

"What did she say?" Ororo asked.

Xavier turned back to her, and his voice dropped to little more than a whisper, as if he was afraid he risked summoning the devil himself with his next words. "Belasco's still out there."

Ororo froze. Her eyes were as wide as Xavier had ever seen them. The sky behind him darkened as the sunset was covered by a thick layer of clouds that had suddenly appeared.

The X-Men's leader gripped the empty chair in front of Xavier's desk as she fought to undo the change her momentary lapse in control had caused in the weather.

To say Xavier was surprised at her reaction would have been an understatement. The woman known as Storm was the most fearless person he knew, surpassing even Wolverine in that regard. Watching her sit down in response to hearing four words told him that he had underestimated the threat he had summoned her to discuss.

"I had … I had hoped Illyana escaped by killing him in his sleep," she admitted.

Xavier audibly gasped. "You wanted that child to commit cold-blooded murder?" It was unthinkable for someone who loved all living things as much as Ororo.

"You weren't there, professor. You didn't … face him," she explained. "That monster, that kind of evil, has to be eradicated. If I could have done it myself, I would have without hesitation."

She leaned forward. "I think you should read Illyana's mind, find out everything she knows about him. If he is still out there, we need all the information we can get."

"I can't."

"Normally I'd agree, but this goes beyond the ethics of reading another person's mind."

"I didn't say I wouldn't," Xavier said loudly. He looked down, ashamed of what he was admitting. "I said I can't."

"What?" Ororo asked in shock.

"I've already tried to read Illyana's mind. At first, it was just a surface reading to try to gauge the extent of the trauma she suffered, so I wasn't concerned when I couldn't sense anything. But after this latest revelation, I did what you're suggesting, and her mind is completely closed, like Magneto, only without the helmet he uses to block telepathy. She has psychic shields so powerful I can't breach them no matter how hard I try."

Ororo sat down. "All this time, we've been worried that she'd take after her…"

Xavier nodded solemnly. "I promised her that if he does return, this time we'd protect her."

Ororo let out a sound somewhere between a sad chuckle and a sigh. "I don't know if it's even in our power to keep that promise."

[sunofdarkchild]

Excerpt 2.

Illyana stood in the Danger Room, holding a longsword at her side. Standing ten paces in front of her was the X-Man Nightcrawler, holding an identical sword in each hand.

The furry mutant was unnaturally still. "Are you ready to begin," he asked robotically.

Illyana thought for a moment. "I've got a bit more frustration than usual to work out today. Raise the difficulty level to the highest setting."

Nightcrawler's tail rose above his head, and another sword materialized in its grasp.

Illyana held her sword up and assumed a battle stance. "Now I'm ready. Start."

Nightcrawler leaped into action, swinging both blades in his hands from different directions. Illyana dove to the ground to avoid those first strikes and rose to one knee, bracing herself to block Nightcrawler's follow-up attack.

Kurt spun around, slashing at her with all three blades in succession. This attack allowed Illyana to block all three strikes with a single movement, but with each clang of metal on metal she was forced to stumble back. The tail sword then thrust at her, coming from an angle she had not expected, and she had no choice but to dodge rather than attempt to block again.

The third sword was proving to be far more of a problem than Illyana had anticipated. Not only did it give Nightcrawler complete coverage of his entire body, allowing him to perform moves and follow-throughs that would be too risky for an ordinary sword-fighter, but his tail could bend in ways no human arm could without breaking, giving his attacks an unpredictable nature.

In short, there was no space for her to make a single offensive move.

Illyana waited until Nightcrawler's attacks left him facing away from her again, knowing that his tail would slash at her as it always did to keep her from taking advantage of being behind him. This time, even as she moved her sword to block, she took her right hand off of the blade and used it to grab his tail.

This move had the immediate desired effect. In surprise, Nightcrawler dropped his third sword. But this did not mean that his tail was no longer a problem. Freed from the burden of carrying a heavy blade, the tail wrapped around Illyana's wrist, lifting her off the ground and throwing her across the Danger Room.

Illyana instinctively let go of her sword in midair so as to not accidentally impale herself when she inevitably landed. Even with her attempt to roll to lessen the impact with the floor, she landed hard.

She had no opportunity for a respite, as Nightcrawler threw one of his remaining swords at her. Illyana had not known that raising the difficulty to the highest level would allow her opponent to use such tactics, and she was more than just shocked when the blade crossed inches from her face.

Illyana let out an angry, guttural snarl, and a change came over her entire demeanor. Even her movements were different as her arms seemed to move on their own, grabbing the hilt of the sword that had been thrown at her and thrusting it under her right arm without her even looking at what she was doing.

Nightcrawler had teleported above her, holding his final sword high above his head. He came down right on top of the sword sticking out between Illyana's arm and side.

Illyana blinked at the gurgling sounds made by her opponent, as if she was snapping out of a trance. She slowly turned her head to look back, and her jaw dropped in a silent scream as she saw what she had just done.

She dropped the sword, and it and Nightcrawler collapsed to the ground.

With the match over, Nightcrawler's body disappeared, along with all four swords scattered about the floor of the Danger Room. There had not been so much as a drop of blood. It was as if the fight had never happened.

But it did happen. Illyana held a hand to her mouth and her body convulsed as she violently retched. She fell to her hands and knees as she retched a second time. She raised her head and finally, the third time, she mercifully began to vomit.

[sunofdarkchild]

Excerpt 3.

Sam held the basketball high above his head. He was nowhere near the athlete Roberto was, but he was so much taller than the other boy that there was no chance of the ball being stolen before he could take a shot or of Roberto blocking the shot.

The ball bounced off the rim and Roberto got the rebound.

"You seem pretty disappointed Illyana didn't say she has powers," Sam observed as Roberto took the ball back to the halfcourt line.

"I was thinking of asking her out," Roberto said. He began to dribble the ball, walking slowly at first. Sam attempted to get in front of him but even with his long arms, Roberto was too fast for Sam to block once he got moving. He spun around Sam's defense and took an open layup.

"Really? She your type?"

"Gorgeous, Russian, mysterious. If she was a mutant too, she'd be the total package."

"Why's it matter if she's a mutant?"

Roberto stopped. "After what happened to Juliana, I don't think I can date anyone who isn't a mutant ever again."

"Did it make you hate humans?"

"No!" Roberto protested. "It's just, everyone in Brazil knows I'm a mutant now. There's nothing to stop the next gang of mutant haters from kidnapping or murdering the next girl I fall in love with like they did to Juliana."

Roberto did not try to stop Sam from getting close enough to the basket for an easy shot. "Just going out with me is going to be dangerous, so I don't think I can risk putting another girl through that unless she can defend herself."

"Ah didn't think of that. No one knows or cares about me or my family, but it's different when you're rich and famous."

"I'd give away all my money if it meant having Juliana back. I'd give anything to feel safe asking another girl out ever again."

[Thirteen]

Art tease by Ryan Stegman includes From the Ashes MAGIK

[Aetherna]

It was pointed out to me that Jed MacKay wrote the story in "Wolverine: Black, White and Blood" where Magik was featured. I greatly enjoyed her characterization there which makes me optimistic for her in his X-men run.



Love how she sees Limbo as both horrifying and beautiful.

[sunofdarkchild]

Some lore from the upcoming Marvel Rivals game.

[Aetherna]

On Marvel Rivals, these are her abilities:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ8iieB674c&t=1091s

As usual in videogames they ignore her sorcery in favour of teleporting and using the soulsword which while understandable for gameplay diversity is a bit unfortunate. I like how she summons a shitty imp that acts as a turret.

Also her having a team-up ability with Black Panther of all characters??