Rachel Summers/Grey Appreciation 2019

[Havok83]

I could see Emma arguing that Rachel hurts them more than she helps.

But helping prevent her future from happening is core to Rachel's motivation as a character. She can have side tangents (Excalibur wasn't exactly focused on helping mutants) but it defines who she is and what she wants.

Is it? I dont feel as if thats been core to Rachel in a LONG time. It definitely hasnt been something emphasized much since she returned to present day. Nor do I feel its really relevant as present day 616 is not her past and really never has been

[RachelGrey]

If they do keep Rachel going into the fall and if they don't keep her partnered with Cable, then I would like to see her go to Emma and start being all about the "mission". I know that won't happen because Rachel joining up with Emma would be her questioning the validity of the X-Men and I don't think they will ever go there. Maybe Hickman will let her go Phoenix again, that does give her something to do and it has an impact on her relationship with the X-Men and the Avengers.

<sigh> I hope they find a way to keep her going into the regular series this fall instead of writing her out. Please just one writer try and find a way to connect Rachel properly to Jean and Scott in an actual storyline.

[ClanAskani]

Is it? I dont feel as if thats been core to Rachel in a LONG time. It definitely hasnt been something emphasized much since she returned to present day. Nor do I feel its really relevant as present day 616 is not her past and really never has been

Her role has been at the school primarily, especially as a teacher. Mutantkind is her focus, not just being a superhero.

Rachel's motivation definitely could be played up more since she's a character who reacts emotionally. Due to her past, she has a different POV than everyone else. She's not interchangeable with Jean since she does have that very different past which gives her a different outlook. But a lot of writers unfortunately have just written her as Jean or a generic telepathic character.

[Vaishakh]

I could see Emma arguing that Rachel hurts them more than she helps.

But helping prevent her future from happening is core to Rachel's motivation as a character. She can have side tangents (Excalibur wasn't exactly focused on helping mutants) but it defines who she is and what she wants.

Fundamental to the X-Men is the idea that the characters aren't just part of the team because they want to be there, but because they have to do this. They are drafted into a war to save their race and for their very existence. Rachel is different than a character who discovered as a teen they were a mutant and then is recruited. She grew up in the conflict and knows what's a stake.

Excalibur worked because Rachel was sort of a PTSD survivor. Kitty and Kurt had thought the X-Men had died, but they were all essentially in recovery and there were X-Factor and the New Mutants fighting the good fight for mutantkind. That could work again, but it needs to be set-up correctly and not reset randomly as writers pitch new ideas and everything is reset every few months.

There could be an argument made that Rachel is too close to the cause and needs to take distance from X-Men for a while to see things from a different perspective and it more of a direction. To certain extent, Excalibur did that but since it was pretty much erased, it has become irrelevant at this point

[RachelGrey]

There could be an argument made that Rachel is too close to the cause and needs to take distance from X-Men for a while to see things from a different perspective and it more of a direction. To certain extent, Excalibur did that but since it was pretty much erased, it has become irrelevant at this point

Well the best case scenario for Rachel being written out would be returning to the present and going back to college and not telling anyone that she is back, just walking away to try one more shot at living a normal life for a while. It might even be an interesting way to segue her into another team like the West Coast Avengers where she crosses path with the WCA at some point while she is in school and Kate asks Rachel to join her WCA team. It would give Rachel a nice prolonged break from the X-Men and still let her be active on a team book somewhere else.

[Vaishakh]

Another possibility would be change her powerset completely from Tp/Tk to Energy Manipulation/absorbtion. They could justify it as her giving up her psychic powers to get rid of hound programming and trigger power from Scott's side of family. This sould give her a completely new role to get into.

[CRaymond]

Rachel Summers would NOT go to school at Stanford or Berkeley. She’d go to Oxford.

[Daedra]

Another possibility would be change her powerset completely from Tp/Tk to Energy Manipulation/absorbtion. They could justify it as her giving up her psychic powers to get rid of hound programming and trigger power from Scott's side of family. This sould give her a completely new role to get into.

but rachel had her unique power, chronokinesis it's how she got in the 616 to begin with, it just need to be flashed out more, she's a rugged survivor from an apocalyptic future not some random insecure damsel in distress, her tp/tk were fueled by rage, she was able to rewrite her own dna to the point she was becoming a dinosaur hybrid ....that's crazy.... time to take charge and overwrite whatever Hab did to her all on her own, she can save herself, the potential has always been there.

[Vaishakh]

but rachel had her unique power, chronokinesis it's how she got in the 616 to begin with, it just need to be flashed out more, she's a rugged survivor from an apocalyptic future not some random insecure damsel in distress, her tp/tk were fueled by rage, she was able to rewrite her own dna to the point she was becoming a dinosaur hybrid ....that's crazy.... time to take charge and overwrite whatever Hab did to her all on her own, she can save herself, the potential has always been there.

For all intents and purposes her chronokinesis does not exist anymore and current version of Rachel ie post space Rachel has no feats to support the idea that it'd be possible for her to rewrite DNA, she might have lost that power when she got back the hound programming when phoenix abandoned her. If she could , she would've done it already or even Jean could have fixed her. So it can be assumed that Rachel or Jean does not have capability to remove her hound programming on their own.

[Daedra]

For all intents and purposes her chronokinesis does not exist anymore and current version of Rachel ie post space Rachel has no feats to support the idea that it'd be possible for her to rewrite DNA, she might have lost that power when she got back the hound programming when phoenix abandoned her. If she could , she would've done it already or even Jean could have fixed her. So it can be assumed that Rachel or Jean does not have capability to remove her hound programming on their own.

yeah, they took away everything that she had going for her, that's why she's written so blandly and she's stuck in her helpless victim role, obviously I disagree with this line of writing so I really don't care about following this line of thinking.

[Shreene]

For all intents and purposes her chronokinesis does not exist anymore and current version of Rachel ie post space Rachel has no feats to support the idea that it'd be possible for her to rewrite DNA, she might have lost that power when she got back the hound programming when phoenix abandoned her. If she could , she would've done it already or even Jean could have fixed her. So it can be assumed that Rachel or Jean does not have capability to remove her hound programming on their own.

But, Rachel has slipped being programmed by Ahab before (He's still Dr. Roderick Campbell, right?) -- what's preventing her from doing so again?

[Askani's Flame]

But, Rachel has slipped being programmed by Ahab before (I gather he's still Dr. Roderick Campbell?) -- what's preventing her from doing so again?

Reasons. And yes, it was till him when he died, just the 811 version.

Seriously, that's it. She broke free of the programming herself last time as a teen. I get that what the twins brought back the trauma, but if Jean could reverse everyone else then Rachel could easily remove the programming. But the writers don't know what to do with her so for "reasons" she is left a rapid slave.

[Vaishakh]

But, Rachel has slipped being programmed by Ahab before (I gather he's still Dr. Roderick Campbell?) -- what's preventing her from doing so again?

She did so by forcing herself to remember last moments of everyone she killed essentially consuming her with rage and hatred to point of madness. Current Rachel is more or less used to pain and suffering and will have to go through a lot to cause her that level of emotional distress again

[Shreene]

She did so by forcing herself to remember last moments of everyone she killed essentially consuming her with rage and hatred to point of madness.

Hmm... That's not the way I remember Rachel's self-emancipation happening.

Current Rachel is more or less used to pain and suffering and will have to go through a lot to cause her that level of emotional distress again

All we need now is Nimrod to show up and we can repeat history with a twist... "What if Rachel Summers became the hound she was meant to be?!?"

[phoenixzero23]

I sadly fear that writers like the hound aspect of rachel and it will probably something that they are never going to leave.
Even if they could solve the issue and even if past stories have deal with it, it will be ignored.