Would Scott have been better off avoiding a relationship with Jean?

[DDM]

Scott doesn't deserve that adulteress and genocidal Nazi as his wife.

Why not, he himself is already both those things.

[CuteClops]

Why not, he himself is already both those things.

I'm sure it was the creature, the red-haired skrull that infected him. Did you read Jean Grey #8?
Poor Scott, poor Emma.
SIGH

I hope our beloved Jean returns home.

[JeanGreyForever]

I still wish that there could just be a reveal that the Jean of the last two decade and longer was really a skrull imposter and that woman who cheated on her boyfriend/husband with Logan never happened.
Scott doesn't deserve that adulteress and genocidal Nazi as his wife.
I hope the REAL Jean comes back.

Now I swear you're copying what I said I hoped would be revealed about Scott for the past two decades.

[JeanGreyForever]

Thanks for the explanation. The thoughts and memories being split between two people always made sense, but a soul being split in two is a little more problematic. To be clear I thought that's what Maddie got a piece of along with that phoenix fragment. I read it as Jean's soul because my head canon says that's what Phoenix borrowed a piece of along with her personality and memories to be able to live as a convincing Jean.

Regardless Maddie was dealt a terrible hand, and is I think one of the more sympathetic "continuity casualties" in the x-men. Given that her purpose was to facilitate a happy ending of sorts for Scott, I have no problem with her more "ordinary" personality and background. It befits a woman who is not in the x-men's orbit. Of course then there was Anodyne and Roma, the Outback and N'astirh and it all went to hell, litterally. The only writing descision I still don't like is her trying to take Jean with her when she died. I understand why CC chose that approach but I would have been nice for her to take a little dignity to her grave. Off topic question but I'm curious who you think has Maddie's wedding ring, if anyone? I can't decide if it's Alex or Scott or they buried it with her.

I also appreciated your comments on the Search for Cyclops. I was a little surprised because I haven't heard anyone ask before why Scott didn't go after Jean... except myself. I enjoyed playing a little devils advocate there to see how you would defend it because you've happened across the plot of my second work. I honestly couldn't imagine a better story to tell than Scott and a small band of fools searching for Jean among the wastes between the stars. Think an X-men space opera. I must say I'm having an absolute blast just writing the chapter summaries and most important scenes. Lot's of Claremont era loose threads to play with. A big chunk of the first and second work is Scott's redemption arc. Going after Jean seemed the best possible option for the journey I want him to go on and I didn't want to create some McGuffin to bring Jean running back to Earth. Writing Scott as a man looking for a way to rebuild his family is really refreshing, especially without constant squabbles with the x-men, mutant oppression and the rest of the usual tropes. So thanks for validating that this approach at least has some appeal. You did that right?

Anyway, enough of me blabbing about the plot. Now I need to finish writing the damn thing .

Yes, I agree that I think the Phoenix must have taken a part of Jean's soul as well, in order to really become her, and it's this part of Jean's soul that brings Maddie to life as well. I always did wonder though why Sinister has successfully created clones of so many people and they always come to life, but Maddie, the clone he probably needed most for his plans, was the only one who was essentially just a body without a single spark of life in her. For example, the clones of the Marauders were always fully functioning, but Maddie wasn't until the Phoenix came to her.

Maddie tends to be forgotten by the X-Men a lot as well as one of their former allies. I remember in UXM 308, when Xavier makes a toast to all the fallen X-characters in the Thanksgiving feast, almost everyone dead is mentioned, except Maddie. I actually never even noticed her omission, because like I said, I barely regard her as a separate character, but someone else pointed it out. I think Maddie blamed Jean for everything that had happened to her, namely bringing her to life, so this was her one way of retaliating. On top of this, she felt betrayed by the X-Men for abandoning her for Jean, and she knew how hurt they would be if she took Jean away from them, so this was also her form of revenge on the X-Men. But mainly, she just wanted to bring Jean down. It never bothered me much, because I always saw her justification and why she would hate Jean the most. Especially, since while she did attempt suicide at the end, it was more of her trying to kill everyone, and if she dies in the process, that's ok. The X-Men managed to combine powers to save each other, so Maddie realized with her dying breath that she could take one person down with her: Jean. Was there any importance to Maddie's wedding ring? I don't remember her wearing it as the Goblin Queen or in the Outback days. It's possible it was lost when the Marauders ambushed her and she ended up in the hospital as a Jane Doe.

Oh wow, my interest for your work, especially the second one, is piqued even more now. And I always love the X-Men space opera stories, unlike many on this forum. It's definitely an interesting twist that Scott will be going after Jean rather than the latter coming to him and the rest of the X-Men. Definitely looking forward to this, although I'm sure I've already said that a few times now. Still, no harm in repeating it. Yes, lol, I definitely find appeal in your approach.

[Hizashi]

Why not, he himself is already both those things.

Let's all be real: neither one of them is either of those things.

[PhoenixStudies]