Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina: MAGIK appreciation 2021

[Thievery]

The weapons list seems about right. I couldn't come up with any other weapons off the top of my head.

Disagree that M'Kraan Crystal should be so low on the list, though. The thing can destroy all of reality.

Maybe I haven't read enough of all of Magik's growing number of appearances in comics, but Magik's Soulsword has been damaging non magical beings and objects for a while now.
I prefer for the Soulsword to only damsge magical beings and objects. Just makes the sword more interesting, in my opinion. And, Illyana has enough other powers that she doesn't really need for the sword to be able to destroy everything.

[sunofdarkchild]

Relatively recently I came across a very long post about the soul sword that changed the way I look at the way it was handled between Inferno and Quest for Magik. The author argued that all the stuff about soul steel, the winding way, the sword inherently corrupting people, and most importantly it not being created by Illyana should be read not as a bad retcon - which they were at the time and have since been retconned back to the way things should be - but as a result of the ignorance and biases of the sorcerers involved in those stories. The soul sword was apparently written about by the elder god Chthon in the Darkhold about 1 billion years ago according to Dr. Doom. According to this post, sorcerers like Margali Szardos could not believe or accept that Illyana, a teenage girl who never graduated from a team of trainees and was still a neophyte at sorcery, could have been the one to create a weapon like the soul sword. Rather, they felt it must have existed since ancient times and Illyana just happened to be the first one to find it. Now that she's established herself in the mystic community there's more of an acceptance that she is the creator and rightful owner of the soul sword than there was in the 80s and 90s.

I dunno, I thought it was an interesting interpretation of those terrible 90s retcons.

[sunofdarkchild]

New interview with Vita Ayala doesn't mention Magik, but I find it interesting how Magik doesn't fit in with how she describes the New Mutants as a whole: that they're sort of the middle children who aren't trainees but aren't X-Men, may not want to be X-Men, and are trying to figure out what they want to be and how they fit in on Krakoa. I can see how that would apply to the others, but with both Illyana and Doug that doesn't seem to apply at all. Both of their roles on Krakoa are very well defined with Doug being the voice of the island and Illyana being one of its military leaders and also being pretty strongly identified with the X-Men this past decade. In the 80s those 2 would have been the most insecure, between her inner darkness and his lack of usefulness in a fight.

I'm not sure how intentional it is, but this is reflected in Doug not even being on the team and only showing up for his party and Illyana being the only one on the team who doesn't seem to be going through a personal crisis.

[Meta jon]

New interview with Vita Ayala doesn't mention Magik, but I find it interesting how Magik doesn't fit in with how she describes the New Mutants as a whole: that they're sort of the middle children who aren't trainees but aren't X-Men, may not want to be X-Men, and are trying to figure out what they want to be and how they fit in on Krakoa. I can see how that would apply to the others, but with both Illyana and Doug that doesn't seem to apply at all. Both of their roles on Krakoa are very well defined with Doug being the voice of the island and Illyana being one of its military leaders and also being pretty strongly identified with the X-Men this past decade. In the 80s those 2 would have been the most insecure, between her inner darkness and his lack of usefulness in a fight.

I'm not sure how intentional it is, but this is reflected in Doug not even being on the team and only showing up for his party and Illyana being the only one on the team who doesn't seem to be going through a personal crisis.

time to start paying attention cause if Magik isn't in the book I'm dropping it

[sunofdarkchild]

Illyana has 2 appearances today in New Mutants and Captain Marvel.

The bullies must be very new to the whole X-Men thing, because every X-Man with a bit of experience learns very quickly to fear Magik.

The Captain Marvel appearance is a bit more interesting. The whole 'we never underestimated her power, but somehow we underestimated her cunning' thing was a decent trade-off for her not having a chance to cut-loose after how she was built up throughout the arc. But I find the whole situation pretty contrived. It seems the writers forgot time travel was an inherent part of her mutant ability, so there was never a need to have a sacrifice to send people back and forth through time. At the very least, she should have been able to send Carol back at the end through a stepping disk. I can't find any explanation for this in the whole arc. Also, this being such a specific spell that only Magik can do it and the Enchantress can't learn to do it on her own doesn't make sense to me.

[sunofdarkchild]

Cosmar sat alone, deep in the Wild Hunt of Krakoa. She wiped the tears from her normal eye, being unable to do so for her oversized right eye.

"Mind if I join you?" a gravelly voice Cosmar had never heard before asked from behind her.

Cosmar began to turn around. "I just want to be alone right n-AHHH!"

She screamed in fright at the sight of the demon who had addressed her. The creature had furry goat legs which ended in cloven hooves. A long, muscular tail extended from its lower back. Its skin was discolored in unnatural shades of red and grey, Its eyes were pupilless and glowed red. Long, sharp fangs stuck out of its mouth and a pair of large, curved horns poked out from the bangs of its hair.

"That's right," the creature said. "You've never seen me in this form before, have you?"

"Wha-who are you?" Cosmar stammered.

The creature smiled, baring all of its sharp teeth and becoming even more frightening in appearance. Yet it spoke in a friendly tone.

"It's just me, Illyana."

"Illyana?"

The creature which claimed to be New Mutants' leader sat down next to her. "I understand you asked Dani to fight you in the crucible, Natashia."

Cosmar looked to the side and sniffled. "She doesn't understand."

"No, Dani doesn't understand what it's like to feel like a monster," Illyana said.

Cosmar looked up at the demonic face of the person sitting next to her. She had always been frightened of Magik. She remembered how the sorceress had appeared when she and the New Mutants were about the be arrested by the Carnelian military. Magik had seemed almost godlike in that moment, powerful and confident in that power. When Cosmar was brought to Krakoa and learned of the island's power structure Magik seemed even more aloof and separate from the rest of them with her status as a war captain.

It also did not escape Cosmar's attention that the adults were scared of Magik. People she looked up to and respected, Dani, Xian, Rahne, and Warpath may have been friends with the mutant sorceress, perhaps even close friends, but they still feared her. The adults who knew her best seemed even more frightened of her than the children and teenagers the New Mutants were looking after. And Anole, one of her new friends, had advised her to avoid Magik at all costs.

Now that she was seeing a totally new side of Illyana, Cosmar was even more frightened of her than before.

"This form is not a result of my mutation," Illyana explained. "When I was a child, an evil man twisted and mutilated my soul, turning me into this monster."

"But you can turn back," Cosmar observed. "You can be beautiful again anytime you want."

Illyana nodded. "For now. There have been times when I was stuck in this form, unable to become human again. There are those who want me to be like that, and others who say this is my true self, the real me. If I am not careful that could become true, and I would be stuck as this monster forever. So I understand the pain you are going through, and I want to help."

"How can you help me?" Cosmar demanded.

"You are in a place where no one will judge you for your appearance. There are many others just like you, some even on the Quiet Council. And unlike me, your appearance does not reflect who you are inside."

"I want to look like I do on the inside!" Cosmar protested. "I don't want to be this nightmare!"

Illyana nodded sadly and held out her hand. "If that is what you truly desire."

She opened her palm and revealed a chain necklace attached to a small white crystal.

"This bears a special enchantment. If you wear it, you will appear as you did before, to yourself and to others."

Cosmar quickly grabbed the necklace and put it around her neck. She looked at her hands, which had returned to their normal color and proportions, and squealed in delight.

"It's just an illusion," Illyana clarified. "Your body is still the same. But as long as you wear that charm, no one would know the difference."

Cosmar embraced Illyana. "Oh, thank you so much! I can't believe it!"

Illyana smiled. "This is new. No one's ever hugged me when I was in this form before."

"I can't wait to show everybody!" Cosmar yelled as she ran back towards the habitat, leaving Illyana to alone to change back into her human form.

Upon her own return to the home the New Mutants shared, Illyana filled an entire ern with the coffee she enjoyed show much and began gulping it down.

"Whoa there, that's kind of excessive even for you, isn't it?" Dani asked.

The Valkyrie called Illyana over to sit across the table from her.

"I saw Cosmar. She seems happier than she's been since she got here," she said, sounding concerned. "You sure you did the right thing?"

Illyana wiped a coffee mustache from above her mouth and frowned. "I hope she grows out of needing that charm, but in the meantime, it's better than letting her harm herself, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

[Devaishwarya]

Disregarding that every OG New Mutant has been on a prime X-related/X-Men book since they "grew up" and graduated years ago, at one time or another over the years...They may not be interested in being X-Men in this Krakoan era because it's been established that their is no definitive and official X-Men team currently, until the announcement and reveal in July.

Being a Captain is just a relevant and as we've seen important "job" as a high-ranking citizen of Krakoa.

And besides, in Dani's letter to Xavier, they do believe their role as teachers and mentors is important to them and to the development of Krakoan society.

[rcaguy]

Illyana has 2 appearances today in New Mutants and Captain Marvel.

The bullies must be very new to the whole X-Men thing, because every X-Man with a bit of experience learns very quickly to fear Magik.

The Captain Marvel appearance is a bit more interesting. The whole 'we never underestimated her power, but somehow we underestimated her cunning' thing was a decent trade-off for her not having a chance to cut-loose after how she was built up throughout the arc. But I find the whole situation pretty contrived. It seems the writers forgot time travel was an inherent part of her mutant ability, so there was never a need to have a sacrifice to send people back and forth through time. At the very least, she should have been able to send Carol back at the end through a stepping disk. I can't find any explanation for this in the whole arc. Also, this being such a specific spell that only Magik can do it and the Enchantress can't learn to do it on her own doesn't make sense to me.

Actually it makes perfect sense if Illyana's using her native mutant ability to manipulate time as part of the spell. Since Enchantress doesn't have that particular mutant ability,she can't really use a spell that absolutely requires it. Trying it would likely case it to misfire horribly at best

[Fokken]

sunofdarkchild, that was beautiful.

[G0RM]

sunofdarkchild, that was beautiful.

I concur

Do you know dhalphin3 ?

If you haven't posted this on fanfiction.net or elsewhere, dhalphin3 might help you set up an account.

I would recommend, though, that she wear the necklace, plus have a limited number of earrings, such that only those who voluntarily wear the earrings would see the illusion, which would change with the goodness within, like Jack Black's movie "Shadow Hal'

Krakoa is all about consent.

Just ask Jason Wyngarde if you don't believe me.

In case you don't recognize Mastermind, that's the spider you didn't notice, about two meters away from you right now.

[sunofdarkchild]

I have a fanfiction.net account. It's where I posted the rewrite I did for the New Mutants movie and my 'How Magik became a Captain' story. I think this story with Cosmar is too short and too niche to be worth posting there. I'm assuming that in the actual series Illyana hasn't noticed or been told of Cosmar's problems and she's not the person Cosmar would go to for help, and that makes sense, but it's also a little frustrating since Illyana would get where Cosmar is coming from so much more than people like Dani and she has the power to help since it's been established since she masqueraded as Dr. Strange in AvX that she can cast illusions.

In terms of fanfiction.net. I have a couple more ideas churning around for after the sequel to my movie rewrite. One is what New Mutants would be like if made into a cartoon or TV show instead of a movie, with the team being gathered and trained by Xavier and Illyana getting to have her relationships with Kitty and Colossus instead of running away from the X-Men. This would be a lot closer to the original Claremont New Mutants run than the 'movieverse.'

The other idea is a crossover with Sailor Moon where Illyana is the moon princess the senshi have been looking for, taking the place of Sailor Moon. The basic idea is that the senshi's role as guardians of the princess would force Illyana to confront the trauma of what happened to the X-Men in Limbo, which was the last time a group of people tried to protect her.

[sunofdarkchild]

https://www.gamesradar.com/curse-of-...y-celebration/

Interview with Steve Orlando about his Man-Thing 50th Anniversary series.

The Dark Riders were a great get for us! It just felt right that as we celebrate one of Marvel's greatest monsters, we showcase some of the lesser-known monstrous mutants coming out of Krakoa. These are all people that identify with Man-Thing's struggle, with being misunderstood, and with having to fight to take back their life from the expectations of everyone around them.

On Krakoa, their Magik's team of mutants who couldn't pass in the days before Krakoa, working through those times in their life and finding field trips where they can cut loose in healthy ways. They're there to help their fellow monstrous mutants, and thanks to Magik, they're there to help Man-Thing.

Sounds like the Dark Riders are a group Illyana has already assembled beforehand in an effort to help the 'monster mutants.'

[Grunty]

Sounds like the Dark Riders are a group Illyana has already assembled beforehand in an effort to help the 'monster mutants.'

I wonder why her choice fell on 3 villains (well 2 villains and someone who bounces around between villain and hero teams) and 2 trainees for the team?

At least the villains are understandable because they might have combat experience, but taking kids into action rather than more experienced monster looking heros seems a bit risky for their well being. Than again how many heroic monster mutants do the hero teams have left when Beast and Nightcrawler are not included? Strong Guy, Beak, Chamber, Rhane and i think that's it right? Everything else seem to be the New X-men additions.

Reminds me, is Shark Girl capable of transforming between forms? I faintly remember Wolf Cub doesn't have Rhane's ability to do so and Mammomax is locked in his form.

[lunarmagik]

Going through her wiki it seems like Shark girl can transform into a Shark but not into a human. Like her shark-humanoid form is the most human she ever looks.

I mean it's not that uncommon for trainees to be part of teams? They are a fun addition imo.

I wonder though if the team would change a bit if it became into a mini or maxi series. Seems like a fun team anyway.

[Grunty]

Going through her wiki it seems like Shark girl can transform into a Shark but not into a human. Like her shark-humanoid form is the most human she ever looks.

I mean it's not that uncommon for trainees to be part of teams? They are a fun addition imo.

I wonder though if the team would change a bit if it became into a mini or maxi series. Seems like a fun team anyway.

Interesting. So Magik aside, the one team member most capable of looking normal in this current team, is also the one who most vocaly complained about not being able to pass as normal in the past. Oh the irony.

I don't mind the trainees. Just wondering if someone in universe might have been against risking their lifes (even if they can come back, it's risking trauma)?

What ever the team might change for a full blown series likely depends on what other some writers have their own plans for the members (i somewhat doubt it for most of them) and if the writer would be interesting in their continued usage.