Alright, seeing as I am a bit pissed (Drunk, not angry. If you want angry show me the cover for that Thor issue were Quire came back, despite their being no fucking reason). It’s probably why I am writing this now because at the moment, I have reached the point where I don’t care and I hope to god that someone reads this idea because the likelihood of it becoming canon is about as high as an ant is. My personal issue and drunkenness aside, let’s talk about the X-Men and my idea with it.
We all know the basic plot and premise of the X-Men don’t we? Heroes who protect the world even though it hates and fears them. It’s a good concept that allows writers to make analogies to various minorities groups such as LGBTQ community, African Americans and so on. It also, at least in Claremont’s years, was, I am not going to lie, hot at some points (Mainly the corruption and transformation stuff). Anyway, when I was read through some of the old Uncanny X-Men, inspiration struck me. That inspiration came in the form of a question.

“Why isn’t sex and identity a more prominent idea within the X-Men Mythos?”

Now, I know why sex itself isn’t allowed within the comics, at least not in the official kids to teens stuff, censorship and all that. But what Claremont has shown many, many times over the years is that there are plenty ways to either subvert those censors. It was from that idea that I began to brainstorm an idea within my brain.

It was a run for a group of students within the X-Men to form their own team and face their own issues. However, the one thing that would be unique about this team would be their power sets and abilities. Nearly all of them would be ones which required imagination to properly use and all of those powers would evolve as time went on. Another thing that would be unique about these kids is the diversity of the main cast. Not in a ‘false diversity’ way where their sexuality, gender and skin colour would be the only thing focused on. No, it would be a team of total and utter fuck ups, but all fucked up in their own way. Now, I imagine to about the one or two people reading this, the question of who is on this team will be in their minds.

The line-up consists of these kids;

Hellion/Julian Keller- I’d say this one is the closet thing to the main character that the group will have. His role will sort of be like Keith in Voltron or the Red Ranger in nearly any Power Ranger show. Julian is the character who serves as the viewpoint for the audience. However, he’s not going to be a vanilla protagonist. Instead, he is going to be an absolute mess of an individual. See, having your arms blown off and having your friends die in front of you while the people you trusted do nothing and having the three girls you loved walk out on you… It doesn’t help with your mental stability. Most what he deals with is trying to find a way to cope with his problems and reconnect with the people who mattered the most to him.

Blindfold/Ruth Aldine- Ruth is going to be an interesting character to write, to say the least. Out of all the six in this line of crazy kids, she is probably the one who has been involved in the most important events. Ruth is the one who brought this whole team together, after a vision of hers. What that vision is, no one knows but her and me. All we know is that whatever it was, it required these specific kids to be involved. Ruth though isn’t as stable as she likes to think. Something is coming and that shard of Legion within her mind… It might be a bit more dangerous than either of them initially anticipated.

Surge/Noriko Ashida- Nori is probably the one of the most ‘normal’ of the six individuals, which is not saying that much, but it’s something. That’s probably why Ruth asked her to lead the team as unlike the rest of them, Nori seems stable enough to do so. Writing Nori is going to be a bit like writing a younger version of Cyclops. See, Nori is doing what Scott’s did for most of his career. She’s trying to lead the team, while at the same time trying to supress her own issues and problems. Now, out of the protagonists who I’ve an introduced here, her powers haven’t evolved yet. So, that as well as her previous experiences as a leader are going to make it difficult for her properly lead as she feels incredibly inferior to her team.

Joshua Foley/Elixir- Now, this is going to be the character who will likely me get the most hate from fans. Don’t get me wrong, I am going to continue the whole story which Yost and Kyle helped to set up about him becoming a god. Another thing I am going to do is focus on how the deaths which he experienced fucked him up. Because, I think that will fuck anyone, both because well Marvel afterlife doesn’t sound fun and at the same time, if you revive automatically upon dying, then can you really be called a human anymore? The two things that will probably get me the most hate is that I’ll change his sexuality from heterosexual to bisexual. Don’t worry though, that won’t play too big a part in this story.

Hisako Ichiki- Another character who is going to be a blast to write. Essentially this team’s Wolverine, Hisako has quite a few issues with a lot of the way things are now. Her mentor being dead, the way the X-Men have been treated, and so on. Now, she is more aggressive then she was before, jumping at Ruth’s request to join the team and do some good in the world. Despite her increased aggression, Hisako, not for one second agrees with the use of lethal force when dealing with their enemies. Essentially, her character is a bit of a meta-commentary on the way the franchise has been treated for a while, angry, but ultimately still heroes.

Charlotte Cluster-7/Cluster- Remember that Grant Ward line, “I’m everyone’s type”? Well that pretty much sums up Cluster, or as she calls herself now, Charlotte Cluster-7. Since last we left her, Cluster has basically become a bit of gentlewoman thief. A master of seduction and allure, she has essentially become the female version of James Bond who is just as French as Connery was English. She’s joined the team, however, unlike the others, Ruth didn’t choose her. In fact, right from the get go, it is revealed that someone has hired her to keep an eye on this team. The only question is who and why.

Now, as you can guess being a big screwed up team, this one is going to have some conflict, at least in the beginning. Mainly because everyone has their own issues with each other, either due to personality differences or experiences. The most messed up of the three will be Elixir, Surge and Hellion who will have this destructive and incredibly toxic relationship of hatred and love. The three know how to get under each other’s skins in ways that they don’t think possible and can comfort each other in ways the others simply can’t. Hisako and Ruth are the moderators to their relationship, ensuring it doesn’t get out of hand and so on while Ruth breaks down and Hisako wonders what the fuck is going on. Meanwhile Charlotte is going to have the issue that no one trusts her and for good reason.
Most of the stories in this book, at the beginning are going to revolve around some plot points which I think I can tie together for this run. Mainly what the fuck Arcade was doing with the bodies of the dead Murderworld contestants, that shadowy as shit organization in the Uncanny X-Force book, the PTSD of the New X-Men and Wallflower’s daddy.  I’ll also being introducing a few old characters like Gaia from Generation X, X-Man, Layla Miller, Adam X, Sketch, Mr Sinister, Cassandra Nova and if I can, Hope and Ruby Summers who will all play some part in the stories to come. I will introduce a new villain by the name of Scion who will basically play the Deathstroke/Magneto to this team as their recurring antagonist/ally depending on the time of day. Another character who is going to be fun to write will be the resurrected Kid Briton? Why? Let’s just say in this story, he takes a lot of inspiration from another Marvel character called ‘Kid’ and that he isn’t all he seems to be.

Without further delay, let’s go through the first year and a half of this hypothetical title.
One day, Ruth sees a vision. That vision is the destruction of the world from a being of immense power. At the centre of this vision are Julian, Noriko, Hisako and Josh Now, because Ruth knows that her visions, unlike the future reader from Civil War II, do have a very good chance of coming true. Because of that, she works to assemble the four characters who she saw in her vision.

The story begins after Ruth has assembled the four of them and told them about her vision. Between her vision and that time, Kitty Pryde has hired Sean Garrison as a therapist for the students in the Xavier institute. Now, as we know, Garrison is basically a discount Kilgrave, who had the ability to influence people’s hormonal levels. Or at least he was. Now it seems that he has lost that ability. However, that does not make him any less dangerous as he is still a master manipulator as he can still see what makes people tick and press that till they react and has a good understanding of drugs. Essentially, he has evolved from a discount Kilgrave to a discount Lecter.

This team will at first deal with threats of the month all of which are connected to Arcade who appears to be the main antagonist of the book although it is revealed that he is backed by a mysterious benefactor. It is later revealed that these threats, except for Scion are members of the Murderworld games who have been resurrected. What makes it unique to other stories is that each issue focuses on a different character, either in their therapy sessions with Sean, or in their everyday lives. There is also a lot of Freudian and Jungian imagery in their individual stories, to help you get an idea of what they are thinking. These stories continue up to issue 9, when Arcade shows up. In this issue, despite how hyped up he is, the team to beat him easily, although he escapes. The position of villain is usurped by Kid Briton in issue 10, who nearly kills Arcade, who escapes and is arrested. Issue 11 is where we see some of the machinations of Kid Briton’s mind as well as witnessing the young ‘hero’ kidnap Arcade, so that he can torture the villain. In issue 12, Gaia from Generation X, who has been revealed to be traveling dimensions alongside versions of Betsy and Brian Braddock, returns and informs the team that Kid Briton is his world’s version of Jamie Braddock, who like his 616 counterpart is a dangerous lunatic. They along with the team, assaults the base where Kid Briton has made his base and battle the brainwashed participants of Murderworld. The team eventually wins, defeating Kid Briton while breaking the brainwashing of the Murderworld kids, who are united with their loved ones. It is not without cost however, as Ruth must use a fragment of Legion to help her fight, a decision which leaves her in a coma and Kid Briton, along with Apex escapes. This leaves the team without the person who helped to guide them.

Meanwhile Arcade is killed by Scion, who is revealed to James Keller, Julian’s older brother, who wishes for Julian to be by his side as his equal. So much so, that he has created a team of ‘Dark X-Men’ (A bunch of limboed X-Characters) to help him achieve that aim. From there, I try and channel my inner Ewing and write stories, using obscure X-Characters and lore to build up to that earth-shattering vision that Ruth had.