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salarta · 6 years

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Things I’d like to see for Polaris/Lorna Dane in comics

I’ve said fairly often what things I would and wouldn’t like to see in comics that involve Lorna, but I don’t think I’ve said them in a comprehensive list on Tumblr before. I’ve decided to make that list right now.

These are pretty much things that either Marvel hasn’t done anything with, or hasn’t done nearly enough with.

Genosha

This is the biggest, most important one. Lorna nearly died during the Genoshan genocide. She had to endure hearing the death wails and voices of millions of her people murdered around her, not just in that exact moment, but on repeat because her powers “stored” all of it like a recording. The whole experience made her darker and harsher.

... And Marvel never does anything at all with it. What she went through is something that should never, ever be forgotten, and Marvel acts like it never happened. This is the #1 top priority thing that needs to be covered in the comics, badly. Not covering it is like ignoring Magneto survived the Holocaust. It’s a major flash point for the character that had major implications on who they are and their development.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are Magneto’s kids. I don’t accept the forced retcon saying they’re not. Marvel only did it because Fox owned the film rights to X-Men, and Marvel didn’t do nearly enough with the whole family before the forced retcon. It needs restoring ASAP.

AU versions like Secret Wars House of M are not sufficient. The 616 versions need to be family again.

Specific to Scarlet Witch, I personally would like to see the consequences of M-Day addressed in relation to its effect on Lorna and their relationship. Wanda seemed to target Lorna for definite power loss purely because she was part of the family. That power loss came not long after Genosha, when being a mutant was practically the only thing Lorna had left to keep herself together. It led to her nearly killing herself to deal with identity crisis, then getting abducted by Apocalypse and tortured into becoming Pestilence, then chased off to space (cause of an anti-Apocalypse cult) where she once again got tortured and then mind-controlled.

Wanda’s actions brought a lot of suffering into Lorna’s life; this is something I’d like to see covered. Not “hammer it into oblivion” addressed, but just one real good story.

Lorna also had a good brother-sister dynamic with Pietro even when they weren’t known to actually be half-siblings.

Even if we act like they can’t still be a family, there are things they’ve done together that mean they could very well interact more in the future.

History with Malice, Zaladane

I know some people are very concerned about Malice in the coming X-Men Blue arc, and they’re complaining a lot, specifically because it’s Malice.

Here’s the thing with me: I actually WANT to see that history explored. Last time it was really addressed in any significant way was the early to mid 90s. That’s 20-30 years ago. If the history with Malice was a constant problem that spanned multiple decades of use, and was done poorly recently, then yeah, I’d say stay away from it. But I think enough time has passed that it’s safe. The only thing that worries me about the coming arc isn’t Malice, but how Havok’s presence could mess up the use of Malice. Without him, I’d have no concerns right now.

Likewise, with Zaladane, it’s been 30 years or so. I think there’s potential, NOT as another sister, but as an archrival. IMO, the “family” stuff from the late 80s can be explained as her trying to screw with Lorna and possibly Magneto, and that they aren’t actually family at all.

With Malice, there’s a lot to be said and gathered from the experience of another entity controlling you. A more empathetic look would be big. I also kinda headcanon the idea that Malice brings Lorna’s darkest, cruelest impulses and desires to the surface, but she’s weaker than Lorna would ever be with them because Lorna is resisting her from within. I think possession/”mind control” stories can be good IF a writer knows what they’re doing. And that generally requires a hard focus on that specific character, not diluted by tons of team stuff.

In both cases and many more, there’s a lot of poor treatment in Lorna’s history that I think can be rehabilitated into something great if modernized. It’s all about the writing. I’d like to see that history on show and done well. And I think people opposed to it without giving it a shot unintentionally give Marvel an excuse to ignore that she has a long, storied history, which then allows Marvel to act like she didn’t exist until the 90s.

When I say this, think of M’Baku from Black Panther. In comics, a very problematic character, codename Man-Ape, generally seen as racist depiction. The Black Panther film rehabilitated the character so well that his film version is very popular.

I think the same could be done for Lorna with things like Malice and Zaladane.

More acknowledgment of her LONG history and milestones in general

This year is Polaris’ 50th anniversary of her creation. Marvel’s done nothing. Polaris was the second female X-Men member to join, after Jean Grey. Marvel ignores that.

When Marvel made an X-Men comic of all women, she was excluded. When Marvel had events like Avengers vs X-Men, where she had a huge stake because of Genosha and Wanda removing her powers, they excluded her. When Marvel celebrated the X-Men franchise’s 50th anniversary in 2013, they excluded Lorna from everything - yet somehow found a place to highlight Havok.

Marvel needs to do more to acknowledge her history, value and development. They treat her like a random character made in the early 90s that has little value. She deserves better.

Romance

Havok is the only character Lorna’s ever been allowed to have as a romantic partner, in all 50 years of her character history, while Havok’s had several women as partners (Rahne, Goblin Queen, Wasp to name ones I remember immediately). Closest Lorna ever had was a love triangle with Iceman in the real early years, and some very light flirtations with possible romance with Gambit on All-New X-Factor.

I’d like to see Lorna in a romantic relationship with someone new, as long as she’s written well and respectfully as her own character while in it.

Friendships

Lorna doesn’t have any really clear roots where she’s able to interact with characters regularly. As noted above, she’s largely forced into a pigeonhole of Havok and only him.

But she used to be Jean Grey’s closest friend, before Claremont put Storm in that position AND bent over backwards to push Lorna out at the same time. She was close to Iceman, but decades of them not getting to interact much means that when the Iceman solo was made after both Icemen came out as gay, the writer decided to keep Lorna only at a single text bubble as her contribution to the story.

She needs her old friendships restored, badly. They’re a vital part of her history that’s been erased. And it wouldn’t hurt to forge or strengthen new ones. With adult Jean Grey back, now’s a perfect time to rebuild those needlessly burned bridges.

Expanded Power Use

In a series of posts I used to make called What Could Polaris Do, I shared articles and pics of things to emphasize how Lorna’s powers could be used. The point was to note how much more could be done than what we were seeing.

With what we know about electromagnetic power, Lorna could intercept communications. She could make herself and people around her “invisible.” She could use her powers as sort of low-level psychic powers, reading minds, altering memories, relaying messages via telepathy.

Marvel tends to relegate her only to throwing metal around, but she could do so much more.

#polaris #lorna dane #x-men #marvel #comics

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galimatios · 4 years

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sci fi ya au musings from twitter thread mostly nts

maybe i do want to write YA science fiction ya with gay and all my favorite self indulgent tropes and also plugsuits

I HATE MYSELF I IMMEDIATELY HAVE SCENES IN MY HEAD . ITS BEEN TWO GODDAMN SECONDS. I DONT EVEN KNOW WHO THESE CHARACTERS ARE YET tjinking about those rooms in that one ep of black mirror where youcan program jt tk show whatever you want on the walls. maybe projection of virtual reality vs reality as a major motif. simulations and distance... long distance relationships during a war in space action too... have to think about an enemy but maybe we rag on capitalism a littlle maybe some conglomerate is fighting a proxy war using aliens vs the govt the protags are in the military for theme.. war sucks bye but also theres dynamics i want

UM I CAN PUT BIG MECHA INNNNNNNN YEAHHHH anyway i want 2 loyal dog dynamics to juxtapose w eachother + platonic soulmate type protag duo, best friends , one girl one boy, theyre both equally important, some SHIT happens and theyre forced on different sides at some point one loyal dog is treated well, like an equal, will follow x to the end of the world the other is Not treated well. i want to explicitly make that relationship abusive so i can point at it in the text itself and have other loyal dog be like , that's not love. abandoned loyal dog gets adopted by main duo, ends up in a relationship w one of them (whichever one makes it gay), im ship girl with side character who inspires tf out of her, sort of like. theyre competitive and the side character is light years more skilled but girl wants the challenge, wants the chase, is fueled by the prospect of catching up so "wait for me" LAYS DOWN NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS HAVE NAMES OR DESIGNS OR ANYTHING BUT IM ALREADY ATTACHED TO THESE CONNECTIONS mc pair: one techy soft boy nerd who just wants to protect his family so thats why he agreed to help develop/operate tech bc he thinks this is how he can help headstrong pilot ace girl who has no one but wants to prove herself and make a name for herself so she'll be remembered she wants to win glory for herself and comes off as super confident but actually she's just. asuka evangelion except she doesnt crash and burn so bad bc she has the boy who sees thru it, you dont have to try so hard probably happens after a fight where she's reckless hes not one to get mad but this time he's pissed bc she was exceptionally close to dying, yells at her, why do you keep trying so hard to die kinda snaps her back to reality he wants her to rely on him more bc that's what hes here for anyway loyal dog defects from enemy + meets this pair after other loyal dog suggests he joins the crew, tech boy is kind to Everyone but loyal dog FORMERLY AN ASSASSIN ???????? TYPE?? SNIPER?? develops baby crush girl sips her drink :3c

I HAVE TO THINK MORE ABOUT THEM BC OH NO THEYRE CUTE but girl is chasing after some nb femme prodigy who she's rivals with and admires for more than just her skill theyre both emotionally constipated idiots tho so its like. (hand touch) thats enough for 100 years there is. so much tension. and prodigy seems so perfect on the outside but is actually in some kind of super strict fucked up program bc of her skill, and she hated it and is suffering ace pilot is the one to barge in headstrong and fuck everything up and get her out of there girl believes prodigy is amazing. really. incredible. a part of her feels like she'll never catch up . but even so watching prodigy walk into the unknown unflinchingly resolute ... it's both sad in a way bc she's being left behind but also she wouldnt have it any other way bc she thinks forward is the only way prodigy should be facing. its what inspires her. that strength ... h they definitely settle down together in the future tho bc i need ththattt

"when this is all over" said the prodigy, "come find me" this is so self indulgent anyway plotwise once both the govt and the enemy r revealed to be equally bad the main cast defect to a revolutionary group. they will Not win within the span of the novel but theyll have a small victory, very les mis one day more flavored, and even if they did not win they stood for something they believed in, did something to try and tell the truth... also i need more of a cast so i can kill characters off nice now all i have to do is fill all this in with world building and action and stuff and ill have a novel so many sci fi things have done the 2 pilot mind sync emotional thing right so if i do the same thing no one knows if i took it from one franchise or another i need to twist it around a little but i may have ideas haha i can. totally make this a part of my fucking huge sci-fi au really wanna call main girl lane and main boy khemrin . .. i cant unsee the girl as rey flavored so shes ending up w red hair and irish, but boy is SEAsian with a huge family, loyal dog who defects is african, prodigy is asian, other loyal dog feels south american prodigy... astrid is her real name but she may have a codename fsr? idk why i feel it. icarus? assassin defector... something that starts with an o or a d other loyal dog... i need to think but i also need to figure out the personalities of their respective pairs inserts minh as evil one. done. maybe mephis adjacent character for the... no mephis doesnt care abt anyone BUT hed be a great side character OH god what if au jonah and ambrose oh boy. FUCK jonahs probably there for some special task bc hes. attuned to some shit idk

I GUESS IM GONNA DEVELOP AMBROSE MORE ive only written him as a young adult but as a teen hes angry and rebellious and got drafted, ended up being a simple foot soldier but he meets jonah and a lot changes jonah's there on top secret bullshit, same program as astrid definitely has some shit to do With Experiments. astrid has enhanced eyesight/coordination on top of being an ace combat pilot, i think jonah might be able to open up warp gates or limited pocket space mephis is evil scientist who doesnt care abt casualties

I'm thinking about unnamed pilot lesbians and i am. enamored immediately holy shit god they're both so goal oriented and focused but once the fighting is finally over they finally allow themselves to embrace the intensity of their emotions for eachother and i am fucking perishing they were essentially raised as child soldiers so it's this clumsy process of trying to figure things out for the first time, this kind of innocent but intense and blooming love between two hardened soldiers, the years of war coming away when they're together for the first time actually fuck i did name them but i'm still not sure about ace pilot girl? i want to name her lane or something monosyllable, maybe i'll revamp raine and make her this oc instead... either way i'm just. ugh. UGH. FUCK. holy shit they love eachother so much

I"M GETTING REALLY FUCKED UP ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THE PRODIGY (ASTRID) DYING IN THE LINE OF DUTY or well at least goes missing, presumed dead but raine just... doesn't believe it. astrid can't die. she's too amazing. there's no way fucking. huge disbelief. she refuses? raine going on a near suicidal self-appointed mission against commander's orders to rescue her, khemrin tries to hold her back but he can't, she' fucking gone speeding off on one of the fastest scouting ships she can hijack raine finding her alive but barely conscious in a damaged cockpit floating in space for who knows how long, raine unable to open the hatch and get to her but anchors her ship to hers, NOT EFFECTIVE BUT HER ONLY REAL CHOICE w/o compromising the air seal. makes the journey back astrid barely makes it to the space equivalent of a truck stop (unaffiliated) and raine calls for backup in panic and tries her best to tend to astrid's wounds an feed her and she's fucking PANICKING but trying so hard to keep it together astrid wakes up and raine's crying i don't have anything specific its just really soft and raine never Does this god when they meet again after the war, raine running her fingers over the scar left from astrid's helmet shattering h raine in a tux and astrid dressed like a princess and raine kissing her shoe sorry im gay bye

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