Academy X: New X-Men Appreciation 2022

[Rift]

Okay, we got more updates. I'll bold my favorite parts.

On Wallflower:

• The Sean Garrison story would have had Laurie square off against her dad.
• She would eventually move to a place where she neither abused her power, nor fear it. This would make her one of the most strategically useful characters on the field. "If deployed correctly, she could shut down most fights and most opponents."
• They also wanted to have Wallflower and Mercury go on an adventure together.

On Hellion (which they specify isn't canon, since a lot has changed. But I'm taking some of this as canon until there's stuff to suggest otherwise.)

• They toyed with the idea of his brother James being a mutant, but kept it hidden from everyone.
• Kingmaker would have tried getting revenge. Specifically, he'd do it in a way that followed the promise he made to Emma to the letter, but go against its spirit. (For those who don't remember, he said the Hellions would be unharmed, and he wouldn't go near them.)
• They considered having him work with Diamondback and Paladin as he tried to figure out his place in this world.
• He definitely wanted to be a superhero and join a big group, maybe even the Avengers.
• He probably wouldn't want kids at first, since his parents were terrible. But he'd be open to the idea as he gets more secure in who he is and had less overcompensating to do.
• He's favorite animal? Probably cats.

EDIT: I just realized, his favorite animal would be one with claws. Helix makes sense on another level level now.

[Paragon]

They also wanted to have Wallflower and Mercury go on an adventure together.

Excited Cess.jpg
Oh, the hijinx they could have gotten into.

[Ambaryerno]

I just realized, his favorite animal would be one with claws. Helix makes sense on another level level now.

Cat claws are also retractable.

[Rift]

Oh, the hijinx they could have gotten into.

Right? It's one of those pairings I never thought of, but makes perfect sense now that I think about it. I also want Wallflower/Dust and more Mercury/Dust on top of that.

Cat claws are also retractable.

They're also considered to be cold-blooded hunters, but can show a great deal of affection to those they care about.

[BobbysWorld]

Interesting! I remember that Josh Foley has two unnamed brothers as well, and always thought given what his family was like it could be hella interesting for one of them to someday discover they're a mutant and have to reconcile that for themselves....as well as their own exploration into the mutant community revealing to them that the brother they turned their back on years ago for being a mutant was now like....central to mutant society, one of its most powerful and respected members. The same kind of story could work just as well with James Keller. Or hell, do the same story but paralleled with both Julian and Josh and compare and contrast how it goes with each of them and their respective brothers.

[Starfish]

They also wanted to have Wallflower and Mercury go on an adventure together.

We were robbed! I now demand my Merflower adventure!

Right? It's one of those pairings I never thought of, but makes perfect sense now that I think about it. I also want Wallflower/Dust and more Mercury/Dust on top of that.

Seconded. I had been hoping we'd get a small moment with Dust and Mercury in Way of X that touched on their friendship, seeing how they were finally in the same book together, but sadly we got nothing. Hopefully some of the girls show up at the next Gala to support their friends for the X-Men election.
Also, Marvel Unlimited would be a good place to show little character moments like these if they don't want to give us another book.

[K7P5V]

Oh! And we've also met Trance's parents. Right before Nanny and Orphan Maker tried to kill them and abduct Trance.

Correct! Wolverine: Killing Made Simple (2008)!!

Neat story & lovely art. Highly recommended for fans of Trance (XD)

[Master of Sound]

Wallflower is ion the latest Unlimited digital X-Men (together with Lila, Shark Girl and Dazzler)

[Sutekh]

Wallflower is ion the latest Unlimited digital X-Men (together with Lila, Shark Girl and Dazzler)

Hmm, Lila, Shark Girl and Dazzler have all been shown jamming on Krakoa (Iara on drums, Lila on guitar, Ali singing). I wonder if Wallflower has some musical connection to these others?

I don't recall her having any interests *at all* (other than boys), so it wouldn't be a stretch to have her develop an interest in some instrument.

[Milici]

Hmm, Lila, Shark Girl and Dazzler have all been shown jamming on Krakoa (Iara on drums, Lila on guitar, Ali singing). I wonder if Wallflower has some musical connection to these others?

I don't recall her having any interests *at all* (other than boys), so it wouldn't be a stretch to have her develop an interest in some instrument.

I was hoping that she was working at the Healing Gardens, since they said in X-Men #1 that they have empaths and telepaths working there. But beside Cecilia and Healer we don' know anything about it. Is Cecilia Reyes the Health Minister of Krakoa? Doeas Triage works there or in the S.W.O.R.D health division with Cortez and Khora?

[Sutekh]

I was hoping that she was working at the Healing Gardens, since they said in X-Men #1 that they have empaths and telepaths working there. But beside Cecilia and Healer we don' know anything about it. Is Cecilia Reyes the Health Minister of Krakoa? Doeas Triage works there or in the S.W.O.R.D health division with Cortez and Khora?

Yeah, it is a wonder why Triage and / or Lionel Jeffries and / or any of the many Genoshan healers (a character in the Genoshan arc was forced to become an earth-mover by the Genengineer, 'because we have too many healers') aren't active in the Healing Gardens.

I am curious if Lionel Jeffries resurrection and possible shenanigans might have something to do with why his brother Madison is in the Pit with Sabertooth... (Maybe he was resurrected and promptly when whackjob again and started hurting people with his powers and Madison put a stop to him again?)

Anywho, Wallflower has great potential to become a therapist (one less sketchy than her dad!), using her powers to help calm people who are suffering from trauma or terrors, allowing them to find some sense of self-control through repeated sessions where she calms their fears, until they have the experience and self-control to do it without her help. Also probably super-good at aversion therapy. "Want to quit smoking? I can make you hate cigarettes!"

Wallflower's definitely one of the New X-Men with the most marketable power. Motivational speaker? Trauma counselor? Animal trainer? Spy?

Her mom is also one of the more involved of the parents, so it would not be a surprise to see her with a 'guest cottage' on Krakoa, despite being human.

[Fokken]

Wallflower is ion the latest Unlimited digital X-Men (together with Lila, Shark Girl and Dazzler)

[ahem] I've seen a plethora of images on twitter featuring WIND DANCER -- but none of Wallflower

Also, re Laurie & Healing Gardens: That sounds like a brilliant direction/use for her pheromones.

[BobbysWorld]

Some more tidbits from Nunzio and Christina's blog, about DJ and Specter this time, with a little bit of Callie:

Anonymous asked:

Were there ever any scrapped plans to do more with DJ and Specter specifically? DJ's powers were really interesting, and Specter always seemed to be just on the verge of having stories you wanted to tell with him but never had room for, with the way he bounced from Emma's squad to Scott's to make room for new additions like Icarus. Also I was curious given the stuff with Garrison & references to Dryad's landscaper dad, were there any other kids with mutant parents who might've become relevant?

DJ and Specter were each characters we liked in concept, but didn’t get to plan much for them beyond our (admittedly very preliminary and loose) plans for their Squad.

DJ we knew a bit more about. He would have gone to Nova Roma with the Paragons. Being a ladies’ man, we toyed with the idea that he’d fall in love there, and have to go from a player to a faithful-in-a-long-distance-relationship kinda guy. But we never plotted far enough to know exactly what kind of relationship it’d be, or really figure out who he’d fall for.

We made a list of what types of music generated what types of energy manipulation effects, but honestly, we can’t find that list anywhere!

Specter we had very little planned. We hadn’t decided on any real idea for a squad mini for the Corsairs, just that it would involve going into space. But him switching squads was a bit of an inside joke. We had different kids on different squads in an initial list we made, and then we shuffled them. We can’t remember why we made the shuffle, but when we did, we made the shuffle part of the backstory and thought it’d be funny if Specter was not happy about it.

Lastly, as for families… we didn’t plan for much in the way of other mutant parents. Some of the best dynamics for these kids would come from their parents reacting to having mutant children. But we wanted one or two kids with mutant parents because it would let us see a completely different family dynamic. Garrison was meant to reflect the ‘villain parent’ story. But Callie was going to live a bit in her father’s shadow, since he used his powers to make a career and life for himself.

Nothing earth-shattering, but the Paragons in Nova Roma could have been a fun story, and I am a bit bummed to know that the only reason Specter didn't end up being a final member of the Hellions squad and part of their stories all along is just.....random choice, basically. *shakes fist* I maintain he coulda been a contender, and might have ended up a fan fave with just a little focus and attention! Darkforce powers are awesome! (But of course, its not like achieving fan fave status did much to help any of the actual Hellions in the long run anyway, lol).

But also now I really want to see Callie and her dad interacting on Krakoa, maybe in Legion of X since Spurrier seems to like having Academy X kids around. A mutant famous for landscaping with his powers, like Callie's dad, seems like the kind of character that could be handy when exploring ideas of mutant culture and mutants finding ways to become known for things other than just....fighting for their lives. Also, I just think chlorokinetics could be handy in all sorts of ways on both Krakoa and Arakko.

(I still want someone to do something with the idea of like....different Guilds for various power types, where mutants with similar powers can come together to learn from each other, inspire new creative uses of their powers, figure out what kinds of circuits they can build with mutants from other Guilds, etc. A Plant-Shaper Guild would be very useful for having chlorokinetics all learn how to communicate directly with Krakoa and Arakko when Doug or Redroot aren't available, and thus act as go-betweens for mutants and their host islands, helping to figure out housing issues, where and in what ways to grow new buildings for specific usages, etc).

Also, I found this list for DJ's powers, and think it might be the one Nunzio and Christina were referencing. It came from the Yearbook special, I believe:

Force Fields: Classical music allows him to create force fields.
Concussive Blasts: "Hard" music like rock allows him to generate damaging blasts.
Flight: Gospel music allows him to fly.
Healing: Blues music grants him the ability to heal others, but not himself.
Chronokinesis: Techno music allows Mark to stop time within his immediate vicinity.

I think that's all they actually came up with in canon, but its easy to imagine how many other powers he could have just waiting to be revealed or explored. Like maybe phasing/intangibility for jazz, teleportation or superspeed for pop music, a death touch like Elixir's for death metal. And is it just musical genres or is it like.....types of songs too? Like could he emanate some kind of telepathic effect that puts people to sleep when he plays lullabies? Have some kind of ability to disrupt or negate mind control/brainwashing/psychic influences when he listens to punk music, anti-establishment anthems?

LOL sorry, I know he's such a niche character it hardly matters, but his power fascinates me and always has, because there's so many directions you could go with it. Like......are the powers he gains when listening to various genres rooted in some kind of empirical essence of those genres, like......he gains flight from gospel music because flight is somehow just linked to the basic underlying nature of gospel music....or are the powers he gains based on how he personally interprets various genres, the specific associations he has with them? What I mean is.....say someone like Synch or Mimic duplicated his base power.....would they gain the exact same powers as him when listening to different music genres, or could power mimics have their own repertoire of abilities for different genres based on how THEY interpret them or what they associate with them? Like just because DJ gains flight when he plays gospel music, does that mean Everett would as well, or might gospel music result in some kind of healing ability when Synch hears it, while playing the blues gives Ev an ability to slow time?

Because if the powers are based on interpretation, rather than empirical.....DJ and mutants with power duplicating/sharing abilities could create circuits with literally DOZENS of different powers available for their use, all from just the same handful of songs.

Or on another note.....the Arakki have been separated from Earth cultures for 4,000 years. They have to have their own wildly different genres of music by now....what kinds of powers could Mark gain from exploring Arakki culture and music? Or better yet.....if Krakoans are truly going to build a culture of their own, part of that involves exploring their communal identity through the arts, like, y'know....music. Like, if Mark were to end up collaborating with Dazzler, Lila Cheney and other mutant artists in creating entirely new genres or styles of music that speak specifically to mutant identity and culture.....could he feasibly ENGINEER specific powers, by figuring out how to compose or create music that would lead to the kinds of effects/feelings/feedback he's trying to link to specific powersets?

Like I said, I'm a little bit obsessed with DJ and the implications of his powers. There's so much that could be done with them, ESPECIALLY as a vehicle to explore themes of culture, identity and community.....the very things that are at the forefront of books like New Mutants and Legion of X.

[Sutekh]

(I still want someone to do something with the idea of like....different Guilds for various power types, where mutants with similar powers can come together to learn from each other, inspire new creative uses of their powers, figure out what kinds of circuits they can build with mutants from other Guilds, etc. A Plant-Shaper Guild would be very useful for having chlorokinetics all learn how to communicate directly with Krakoa and Arakko when Doug or Redroot aren't available, and thus act as go-betweens for mutants and their host islands, helping to figure out housing issues, where and in what ways to grow new buildings for specific usages, etc).

That could apply for all sorts of mutants. *Clearly* telepaths just sort of train each other willy-nilly in all sorts of telepathic skills, like insta-teaching people languages, stuff that's way, way outside the purview of 'read and send thoughts', since anyone who telepaths for an X-team sort of randomly knows how to do that, and telepaths in other groups (like Dr. Strange, who learned it as part of his mystical training, or people like Mantis who learned it from aliens, or various Eternals who just have it as racial power #437) don't necessarily know how to do this highly specialized trick.

But reality manipulators? Gosh, it would have helped Cosimar immensely to have a session with Proteus, who manifestly can alter his form with his reality shaping powers (turning a clone of Xavier into a sexless purple humanoid), and could teach her to control her ability enough to consciously choose her appearance.

Darkforce manipulators? Specter. Darkveil/Shade. Gloom. Umbra. Frikkin' Darkstar, the one who started it all.

Time manipulators? Tempus, Tempo, Timeslip, Kiden Nixon, Lacuna, Sway. There's even a sub-set of peeps who use temporal manipulation to make duplicates, with Timeshadow, Flashback and his two kids, the Monroe twins!

But, ha, I am your nemesis when it comes to DJ. I saw that he was a womanizer in the yearbook entry, and decided that he was a player, and the sort of boy who any self-respecting girl learns to stay away from.

But I do agree, what sort of crazy stuff would his powers do if he listened to electronica (this music lets me communicate with and understand machines and computers!)? Some sort of regional music, either traditional Indian (this music replays the history in an area for all to see, like group post-cognition!) or Japanese music (this music teaches me martial arts!), or perhaps modern K-pop (this music makes me ridiculously popular and charismatic *or* surprisingly good at synchronized / coordinated dance?)?

(For a joke game, we had an enemy team named after hard rock / metal bands. Twisted Sister was a nun with stretching powers. Whitesnake turned into a giant white anaconda. AC/DC had electrical powers. Iron Maiden was a woman made of metal. Motley Crue was a duplicator dressed like a jester, who turned into an army of capering fools, a literal 'crew, in motley.' Etc.)

[The Big G]

Julian being a "Cat Person" is canon.

The dude is a masochist of punishment. I want him to get a black cat with green eyes and name it Laura and just make everything awkward as hell.