Summary: Cobalt-11 explains how fictotypes work for Waffleville, his experiences and those of other members (namely Wolf's), and how the term 'imagithrope' resonates with their system.
(divider credit: @/saradika-graphics)
I'm not sure when it was decided. I think maybe after our previous daily life fronter Wolf had gone dormant, after things had shifted the first time and Parker? had become the defacto main daily life fronter. Someone was wondering how to handle fictotypes-- Wolf had them most, and because we consider each other parts of a whole (but also people), did their fictotypes apply to the rest of us? What would that mean?
I remember whoever it was looking for words.
We love words, to know, to have answers, although we also believe little boxes should be opt in. I remember the word syskin, concord. I remember whoever it was tentatively saying "It's much easier for people to opt out of the fictotypes if they're blanketed over all of us than each of us individually doing introspection'. Maybe that makes us lazy, but we'd rather spend energy on other things-- there's always something going on in Waffleville, after all.
That became how we understand it.
Any kintype or fictotype or anything else becomes something everyone has. You can opt out entirely, but more typically, each of us have a different degree or connection to the 'types.
For example, I (Cobalt-11) feel most connected to the general canine kintype and (interestingly) Parker MacMillan IIIII, while the Commander and Trigger fictotypes are much weaker for me.
(Note: we do have fictional introjects, and as introjects, they are pretty seperate from the rest of this-- introjection for us is based in our DID, and understood from a clinical framework. This is just how we handle things here, though, and isn't something we apply to anyone else outside.)
Wolf experiences what they call not-memories.
They're not noemata (although that's an thing Wolf experiences too), they're very the kind of thing one might say are kin memories. Since our experience with our 'types is something we consider purely psychological, Wolf has never been sure-- are these memories, or a story? Is that wrong, to be unconsciously telling themselves a story, to be that story? For it all to be Real-- for themselves-as-the Commander and for themselves-as-Parker to be Real, important?
Recently I've been sitting around and feeling a pull, a want. 'I wish we were someone, anyone, from the Triangle Agency, kin wise.'
At first we thought this was just the result of Unknown U existing - he's an introject of a Field Agent - but the feeling remains still. Wanting is often a sign of being, too, and I can't help but wonder what it means for us.
In that vein, after I read Shiloh the Great of Rootspan's essay on imagithropy, I looked at this longing and said to myself -- if we consciously choose this, although it itself feels involuntary, if we build upon it, will it be Real? Would building out from this just be a story?
Of course it doesn't really matter if it's 'just a story'. Even if it is, we breathe life into it. The not-memories are Real, the feelings are Real, because we make them be-- and I don't think we could ever opt out of them being Real anyway.
I've seen the grief of Wolf-as-Parker over their league, their friends, and I know it is Real to them; I've seen their laments and their fears, their attempts to stop it and failing. I've seen Cobalt-7-as-Trigger's writings of his not-memories, of little things that could only come from that story of being that pilot being Real for him. This all is important to us, and so it is Real.
Even for me, in the short time I've been pondering my connection to Parker and the potential field agent kintype, it has become important. We may not share not-memories (at least that we know), so I've found a few of my own.
In my not-memories of Blaseball, I am alongside the ILB as Season 24 collapses in on itself and the Black Hole(Black Hole) yawns wide.
Then, eventually, after everyone has Fallen and games are just beginning to get going again-- it ends.
Yet I continue and the loss destroys me. There is a sense of metafictionality to after Release, a sense I knew that something was not how maybe it would have been, a sense of betrayal.
Is this just me telling myself a story about Blaseball and its sudden ending, an outlet for that grief? Is it a story about something deeper? I don't know.
It doesn't have to be either. Because to me, it is and will be still Real, still important. For us, it is all Real. I think maybe that alone is enough.
There's more to choice than simply wanting to be something. That too can be fulfilling, but so can other reasons for choosing aspects of your alterhumanity. In my case, choosing 'types and creating information around them have helped me recover what's been lost.
I experience parallel lives, but I no longer feel like those lives are a part of me. Because of their distance, they've been feeling less and less like me. There's only two that I still experience in tandem with this life, and thus see myself as, and that's: a.) my life as a gold dragon, therefore I'm still a gold dragon here and b.) my life as Adra, therefore I'm still Adra here as well.
Everything else is a haze. A distant memory, a familiar face, but a person I no longer recognize as Me. I'm fine with letting some of them go. Usually, they're either too upsetting to dwell on or didn't have a strong enough presence in my life to begin with. There's a couple that I would like to salvage in some way, even though not in the way I once experienced them. That's where the choice part comes in.
I linked The Beyonder and considered writing my own canon around this link because I no longer feel connected to my parallel life within the Marvel Universe. I made this version of myself partially a mutant because I am a mutant in said parallel life. Despite the complications that come with it, I still take pride in being a mutant; I just feel like that mutant I once was and the mutant I am now are entirely separate beings. If the link doesn’t work out, I want to pick up a mutant hearttype in its place. I'd also like to take a similar route with my parallel life from the Nasuverse. I've been distanced from that experience as well, but I still want to keep my connection to that world through linking, imagithropy or both!
All in all, I'd rather craft something new for myself to stay in touch with the world(s) I know than try and reinforce something that’s long gone.
Imagithrope - An alterhuman whose identity was created and/or formed, wholly or partially, through some form of imaginative play. This can include fantasy play, roleplay (tabletop, text, live action, etc), fanfiction, writing, art, and more.
i decided to make a personal flag for the imagithrope label, as there wasn’t one already that i could find. in three palettes because couldn’t decide, although all very similar. the vector is a house from vecteezy.
the design is just based on daydreaming! a daydream bubble, and a pretend play scenario inside represented by a house! :)
anyone can use this! and i hope it comes in handy for anyone who wanted a flag for this really good label. here’s the assets to flag if anyone would like them!
I love imagithropy !! and I love how you say “real is a feeling” and u live however makes u happy !! I would love to hear more about ur thoughts on “real/reality” if u have anything else to say about it and how it ties into your life. and if u have any advice on getting started with imagithropy. I love that ur a cartoon 8yo dog and u wrote your own story. I’m realizing that I can do something similar! can I ask.. beyond this blog, how does this aspect of you tie into your life? is it something u ever “turn off.” and do u think its similar to archetropy at all? ^_^ THIS IS SO LONG I’m sorry
ok ok hi to answer this i have to break it down into little pieces my apolocheese . this will go under a readmore since it has a lot of my personal history in it . warning: long post .
my definition of real vs fake is very complicated because i identify vaguely as some form of living fiction ! as in, i don't see myself as 100% real in a concrete way . i toe the line between tangible Real Reality and Fakeness/Fiction basically . i live most of the time in my brain due to my schizophrenia + autism and this impacts my life on the Outside too . the line between what's concrete reality and what's in my head is very loose and wiggly and basically anything i tell myself can genuinely be something that happens . not necessarily in our shared world that we live in but in my world and in my head . i try to keep this line positive but . you know how mental illness and stuff works so sometimes its not as nice as i make it out to be .
due to my general sense of self being very loose and willy nilly i latch onto concepts and Things and emotions and frankenstein them together to be something coherent . this first started with the very first iteration of my persona, aka the first art i ever posted, which was a self portrait called your free trial has expired :)
this collage shows all of the Selves i have evolved from/been cloned from system-plurality wise since 2020 from top to bottom and left to right . (a few might be missing but they only lasted a few days/weeks ...)
the first iteration of my fursona that most people know me as was posted in november of 2024 (linked here) and will turn two old this year ! :D
to put it simply ive known i was a dog for a long time . it wasn't until i met other therians a LONG time ago on a now-defunct social media site (furry amino ...) that i realized i was a dog . i've also dabbled in age regression for the same amount of time, which is actually about 12-ish years .
my introduction to the babyfur community was my mutual and internet friend zack who isn't on tumblr anymore . he also got me into being objectum . after that i met my now-partner archie and we did an art trade and i've considered myself an Official Babyfur since .
i only decided i wanted to be a cartoon character after an artist i admire made artwork of my fursona in don bluth's style (in fact... that's most of what scuffed does . that's their thing) especially since i watched their stream while they drew the art, and realized the fondness i had for old style toons like dragon tales and magic school bus .
a not-so-secret fun fact is that i have experience with making things up . i have a headworld called godseed's cadence (formerly wingedverse) that involves a lot of spec-bio and all of my fantasy ocs (who i talk about sometimes . especially montero and amalthea) belong in it .
i read this essay by liondrakes on imagithropy . at first i didn't think much of it . my headmate logan was interested because it related to x-men, but not necessarily me . and then i decided one day that, hey, i make things up all the time . i'm a writer, i'm an artist, i'm a formless mass of selfstuff "pretending" to be multiple people with different personalities and identities . why can't i make shit up and take it seriously if i want to ?
and so i did .
im what people percieve me to be (there's some quote about it . how we're all Nothing until people percieve us) . and i want to be percieved as my fursona . so i Became my fursona . that's all i've got to say about it really .
my tips for imagithropy are to immerse yourself in the shit you Make Up and if you Know something then it's probably true . i stopped giving a crap on wether things were voluntary or involuntary because it's a fake dichotomy made up by big Otherkin to Sell You More Otherkin . if it feels good or Right (not necessarily good) then it's probably true . hence Real Is A Feeling And Feeling Is Real (a quote by the famous tally hall)
my inspirations for my life and world and being a cartoon dog are inspired off of the land of make believe from mr rogers and the backyardigans (and bluey too, a little) .
it's not really something i can decide to turn off . i do experience shifts in a typical otherkin way, but it generally matches to whoever i'm speaking to . i'm always all of my 'types at once but also not at all . schrodinger's otherkin shifts 🤷
as for archetropy i would say it is Vaguely Similar . children's cartoon protagonist is definitely an archetype . do i identify that way ? maybe ! i'm Real and i'm Not . labels don't really matter when you're fake . but i will say my headmate merlin gets the archetropy thing a lot better . they're a trickster spirit . maybe ask them about it .
much love to you anon . thanks for letting me ramble .
So this topic came up in one of my chats today (a dragon book server with a lot of dragonkin), that especially for indie creators who interact with their fans a lot, at some point they might encounter fictionkin of their characters! While I'd personally feel honored, I've seen that this is a situation that can easily become stressful for either 'kin or creator - you can get fandom discourse when two people interpret the same character in different ways, and with creator and fictionkin (who both feel that a character is 'theirs', albeit in completely different ways) that seems like it could lead to a lot of friction. But I also know that some fictionkin avoid interacting with their creators, or visa versa. (And I guess I'm in the weird position of being both.)
How would you feel about interacting with someone with your OCs as a kintype?
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Mixed
Results
Voting ended onJan 2, 2024
So, I'm wondering if the wisened creatures here have any advice on either interacting with fictionkin as a creator, or with a creator as a fictionkin!
some noemata about my instinct / familiar, as well as the cultural aspects of instincts!
within my circle, each firbolg has something similar to the norse heatherny concept of the Fylgja. we call it our "Instinct."
one's Instinct is represented by the animal(s) it best relates to; if your nature is to protect, your Instinct might be that of a bear, for example! it can be multi-faceted, and not limited to "just" one animal. someone's Instinct can have many different forms, or only a few, but is always referred to in the singular.
an individual's Instinct is kind of treated as a separate force, but also not. it's you, but it's also what drives you, if that makes sense. it's also not always self-recognized. more often than not, others around you will reveal a face of your Instinct, assigning an animal to certain qualities. there is no "one true" face that your Instinct takes, however, as all are you.
some choose to manifest their Instinct as a physical familiar through some source of magic; the origin of said magic matters very little. this is an extremely personal choice, as well as something that is not done lightly. making your Instinct physical is a permanent act.
when this is done, your Instinct is fully treated as a new and separate entity; even when not physically summoned. the Instinct gains an identity of their own, as well as two names: a nickname to address them by in everyday life, and a true name that holds power over them, as well as over you. the Instinct chooses the true name.
firbolgs don't usually put stock in names; our culture and language doesn't require them. but this aspect is part of our fey and giant ancestry. it's not something we can put to the wayside, as it's at the core of us.
my Instinct was physically manifested when i made my warlock pact. this was... slightly against my will, as i didn't feel ready to take such a irreversible step - especially in that moment.
but i don't regret it, even if it wasn't my call to bring her into the physical. i don't know how to describe how important Zev has been to me, within my canon & narrative. she's been viewed as "(just) a familiar" by others, but i'll always know she means a lot more than that.
Zev can take the form of a raven & of a badger, though she's most often a raven. her coloration for either form is... extremely unique, to say the least! most physical Instincts i've met or interacted with had more natural appearances (though that's possibly because they were summoned via druidic magic), with any "fantastical" markings or hues being applied with paint, dye, or ink. even her eyes are unusual, being one solid, almost glowing, color.
she only takes on the forms of a raven or badger. before she became physical, i knew my Instinct was of several forms, not limited to just the raven and badger. i've been assigned unicorn & deer-like qualities by my fellow knights, for example, but Zev has never taken on either of those shapes. badger and raven are but two of my faces, and yet, she prefers them above all. this is not a judgemental observation; i just don't think i ever figured out why she prefers those forms.
Zev doesn't talk verbally, but i can glean what she's thinking or feeling through, well... instinct. both in the typically & cultural definition of.
i can see through her eyes, hear through her ears, and feel through her senses, at will. metatextually, this functions like the "find familiar" spell in D&D.
As an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.
Mutants in Grind Fiction: A Non-Canonical X-Man's Recreation of Academy X
by The Liondrake(s)
This essay was originally uploaded on Dreamwidth and has been cross-posted onto Tumblr.
Estimated reading time: around 14-15 minutes
Imagine that you're a student. You go to a nice school, but the school is known for its controversies. These controversies get a lot of people hurt, including the students. You've witnessed and dealt with things that a teenager normally shouldn't have. A classmate dies. Multiple classmates die. Your school is put on lockdown because it’s been targeted. You and your friends are supposed to carry on like none of it happened. You hardly have a moment to grieve before the cycle repeats, and it's taking a toll on you.
You fall into the wrong (or right?) crowd. Your trust in the adults and authorities around you is reduced to zero. Most of all, you’ve grown rebellious. You're not a bad kid, you tell yourself. You say it not out of comfort but out of defiance. You know you don’t deserve what you’ve been given, but life seems to work against you at every chance it gets. The whole world feels out of your grasp, but you're not helpless. You refuse to be helpless. So what do you in a world that doesn't give a shit about you? You get up and do something about it.
Now, imagine you've made your mark. You gain a reputation among your peers. You're a menace to society in the best way. Maybe the worst way, too. But as the years go by, there's no trace of you. You're not shown in the yearbooks. You're not listed as an alumni. There's no reference of your existence whatsoever. It's like you weren't even there.
That's what it's like for me, a non-canonical character from Marvel Comics. I'm not an original character (OC) nor am I a self-insert of sorts. I’m a member of Homo sapiens superior (mutants), but not in the general sense. I’m aware of this because of how different this fictotype feels compared to experiences where my fictionhood ends at the species. I‘m someone who was a consistent part of my source's narrative. I am an X-Man, and I come from a specific era of X-Men comics. My fictomere is New X-Men, specifically Vol. 2/Academy X.
Published in the early 2000s, this series geared its focus around a young generation of mutants. My fictomere bounces off of the original New X-Men run, which focused on our teachers and mentors. You'll likely recognize them more than us. Cyclops, Wolverine, White Queen, Beast, etc.— you know ‘em! That said, they're not my class. I remember my class clear as day. Prodigy, Hellion, Surge, Dust, Wind Dancer, Icarus, Gentle, those goddamn Stepford Cuckoos— these kids were my friends. Well, some of them were my friends. My memories are foggy, to say the least. I remember my code name, my friendships, my plurality in that world, and my attendance at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. What I don't remember is the events that happened in the comics associated with my fictomere.
I should preface this essay by saying I am an imagithrope, an individual whose identity is often created through imaginative play (art, writing, roleplay, etc). When I‘m devoid of noemata, I feel inclined to exercise what’s called “created knowledge”. Created knowledge is exactly as it sounds: information that was purposefully created to supplement one’s alterhuman identity. I’ve been meaning to create something around this fictomere, but attending Khadgar Chromatath’s Wrenching Yourself From The Jaws of “Canon”: Creating and Re-creating Personal History gave me the push I needed to make it happen. This wasn’t my first time attending aer panel; I attended it during this past Centaurus Festival, and Khadgar’s presentation made me feel seen. When I learned the presentation would be held again, I knew I had to go. Gaining that refresher led me to this point.
I know who I am.
I know the world I come from.
I know that I was an X-Man, and if Marvel Comics has no awareness of my story, then I’m taking it upon myself to reintroduce that story.
The medium I’ve chosen is familiar to many, not by name but by aesthetics. Some look at it, and the first thing that comes to mind is Y2K. That’s not too far off! I’ve decided my fictomere will fall within the medium of Animemo, also known as Grind Fiction. It’s a fitting choice since my class came onto the scene around 2003 and started our run in 2004. If you’re unfamiliar with grind fiction, then worry not. I’ll explain in due time.
When “Canon” Decides You Don’t Exist
Since I’m non-canonical, I believe I owe my audience an introduction. My name is Solomon Cane. In-source, I am median; I was the core of muir little group. Muir medianhood included four semi-distinct facets of me: Ezra, Malik, Ahadi, and Tariq. Tariq in particular is better known by us as “The Tarasque” for having a more visibly nonhuman appearance than us. You would've known muis by muir collective codename: Miracle.
So, who is Miracle? Miracle is an Omega-level mutant of African-American descent. Wei am a Cheyarafim, a type of mutant whose appearance is comparable to angels. I have the standard qualities of my community: feathered wings, flight, a blood-based healing factor supported by my wings, and by extension, the ability to heal others with my blood. My secondary mutation is an ability known as "manifestation". If wei need something done, wei have to collectively will it into existence. This is best represented by my habit of petrifying my entire body, which happens when wei manifest an indestructible form. Wei look a lot like an angelic statue or a weeping angel in this form; where wei land on that scale depends on how badly a threat has pissed muis off. With muir petrification activated, I trade out head-spinning flight speed and fast healing for impenetrable stone skin, superhuman durability, and destructive blows. I can control when the petrification activates as well, much like Colossus and his organic steel mutation.
At first, I didn’t know what to make of this mutation when it developed. After some counseling with both Ms. Munroe and Ms. Frost, I was informed that my secondary mutation allowed me to warp the nature of myself and my surroundings. I'm capable of willing something into existence as long as it's a physical change. For example, I couldn't warp fate. Manifesting boatloads of money into my bank account or a positive outcome in a battle were out of my mutation's scope. However, I could manifest resistance or invulnerability against telepathy since that directly changes my brain matter. While Ms. Munroe was still my advisor, Mr. Muñoz (also known as Darwin) was called in to help me with some specialized training.
In order to make use of this skill, I had to start small and work my way up in understanding the extent of my abilities. I figured making use of my petrified state would be a good starting point, and soon, it became a trademark of mine. Through working with Mr. Muñoz, I learned that most of my manifestations were temporary. If wei manifested something consistently, it would remain in our arsenal of abilities, but new or sudden changes were harder to keep. Although we both harbored protective abilities, my mutation wasn't like Mr. Muñoz's. Unlike his evolutionary mutation, muir manifesting mutation didn't trigger on its own. As mentioned before, all facets of me must agree on something to manifest. Much of our training focused on honing muir collective reaction speed so wei could quickly respond to situations where our manifestation ability may be of use. Sure enough, this training helped muis excel as an X-Man (or X-Men whenever wei felt distinct enough from each other).
Despite knowing who I am as an X-Man, I have little to no recollection of the New X-Men comics' arcs as events in my life. I've hesitated to have in-depth discussions on my mutant background because of this. To add insult to injury, I don't exist in any "canonical" comic. My best friend, Jay, is a prominent character in these comics yet we're never seen together. If you try to look up Miracle in relation to Marvel Comics, all you’re getting are two different versions of Miracle Man. There’s not a single trace of me as I remember myself. It’s a terribly cruel but expected result of my position.
Furthermore, “canon‘s” got a whole heap of missing events to account for. The statistics for M-Day are completely off, be it victims or survivors. There’s also the fact that I survived M-Day and saw firsthand how it totaled the mutant population. There's barely any coverage on the Zephyrs, Storm's squad of students (i.e. the team I was assigned to), and our development as trainees. “Canon” left out the time Tariq snuck muis out, ransacked a Purifier base in his enraged grief, and accidentally discovered we're Omega-level in the process. “Canon” also left out the time my entire summer vacation was ruined because Ahura Boltagon, Powerhouse, and I were forced to confront our timeline's Beyonder. In the Krakoan Era, Jay and I even took a study abroad trip to this chain of islands where Cheyarafim and Neyaphem cohabitated... and that still got left out. I've had an eventful parallel life, all things considered!
It’s hard to look at your world and sit with the knowledge that you’re simply not in it. Although many fictionfolk can relate to that experience, it’s downright suffocating when even your source doesn’t recognize you. On one hand, I don’t put all the blame on Marvel‘s writers. It’s unfair to expect them to have the same knowledge of my life as I do. On the other hand, it drives me up a wall to see references of my class without me or some of the people I knew in it. From comic book covers to fanart, seeing it irks me because I know I should be there with them.
Articulating this with other alterhumans can be a bit difficult as well. Since folks tend to parse things from labels they’ve heard in passing, the immediate assumption towards folks like me is that we’re OCkin. Take this account as a casual reminder that non-canonical fictionkind, and noncanon fictionfolk in general, exist. I cannot speak on the experience of being an original character because I don’t have it. I didn’t create myself, consciously or subconsciously. This fictomere doesn’t originate from a ‘sona I made or a muse meant for roleplay. If things were different, I wouldn’t have to recreate my fictomere. I would’ve called myself Miracle with a canon-divergent background, and that’s that. Instead, I don’t have the leeway to do that. No one has ever heard of a canonical X-Man by the name of Miracle, let alone one who’s black, plural, and ambiguously queer (because we all know how writers were in the 2000s).
Personally, I can’t stress enough how significant this distinction is. To settle for another framework would gloss over everything I’ve experienced, or at least what I remember from it. If I could, I’d scream that I’m an official X-Man at the top of a mountain until I‘m blue in the face! Instead, I‘ve taken a more productive route. I may be at an impasse with my fictomere, but it doesn’t have to be that way forever. Reconstructing my fictomere gives me the opportunity to unpack my experiences and establish this identity on my own terms, but I can’t do that without going back to the era where it all began.
Mutant Teenagers in the 2000s, or “Miracle Catches A Case of Deja Vu!”
When people think of the X-Men, they tend to have a wide array of media to pull from. A couple of generations grew up on the 1990s cartoon, be it reruns of the series or its initial release. There’s also the live action films produced by 20th Century Fox. And of course, there’s our roots within the comic book industry. However, there’s a subset of people who cite X-Men: Evolution as their introduction to our cause and community.
X-Men: Evolution was an animated television series that originally aired on Kids’ WB. Running from 2000 to 2003, this series stood out as it took several well-known X-Men and depicted them as teenagers in the early 2000s. Some X-Men remained as adults, teaching the younger mutants throughout the show. Those who were aged down for this plot included: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit, and other returning characters. In between homework and run-of-the-mill teen angst, the class of Evolution had their hands full with all sorts of chaos from mutants and non-mutants alike. X-Men: Evolution is a source of nostalgia for a decent amount of millennials, zillenials and older Gen Z, but it’s more of a weird coincidence to yours truly. Although I have a fair number of fictomeres under my belt, X-Men: Evolution has to be the greatest case of deja-vu I’ve felt as a person from fiction. X-Men: Evolution isn’t my source, but its familiarity hangs heavily over my head as if it was.
Only a year after X-Men: Evolution’s end, New X-Men: Academy X was published under Marvel Comics. As mentioned before, the comics centered teenage mutants learning to control their powers and training as the next generation of X-Men. These events presumably took place sometime within the early 2000s, based on our fashion, technology, and socio-cultural environment. We were taught by prolific X-Men, and we faced more than enough challenges to last us a lifetime. When I think of X-Men: Evolution, I can’t help but think of my fictomere. I get this nagging feeling that Evolution’s a little too close to home. Evolution’s class reminds me so much of my own and the bonds we made despite everything we went through. “Bittersweet” is quite the understatement in this context.
Admittedly, I‘m envious. Although the challenges we face as mutants aren’t worth desiring in any X-Men source, X-Men: Evolution leaves me feeling melancholy. It’s like a time capsule of everything I’m missing, but it was made by somebody else. Seeing our teachers and mentors in a similar position as we were in throws me through a loop, especially since Evolution occurred when my class became active in the field.
The mutants of Evolution need no introduction, even if it’s an atypical depiction of them. Meanwhile, the mutants of Academy X never had something like Evolution that was entirely centered around us. The comics have compensated us on more than one occasion, but the rest of X-Men media aren’t as considerate. At best, we float around among other X-Men. Take Pixie’s cameo in X-Men ‘97 for example. Megan’s always been a good friend of mine, but her position in that timeline came completely out of left field. We’ve been reduced to filler characters in recent projects with nothing to show for it. Yet, at the rate things are going with Marvel now, I don’t think more exposure would help us. We’re scattered throughout the comics’ narrative, and I’m just a nomad with nowhere to turn to, thanks to “canon”.
Quite frankly, I’ve had enough. I’m sick of companies like Marvel Comics and Disney fumbling around with our lives, and I’m even more sick of being M.I.A. within our narrative. Months before this essay, I didn’t know where to begin with recreating my fictomere. All I had was a few names, a few faces, and some snapshots of my life that came in waves. But after pulling inspiration from those around me and doing a bit of research, I know where I want my fictomere to go.
Grind Fiction, Rebelling Against “Canon”, And The Art of Taking Back What’s Yours
That brings me to the heart of the matter: what is grind fiction?
This is a genre of many names: Shibuya-kei, Shibuya Punk, and most notably, Animemo. If you haven’t heard of grind fiction by name, chances are you’ve seen or experienced it by trade. Think of Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future. Think of The World Ends With You, NEO: The World Ends With You, Scott Pilgrim, FreeJack, and Sunset Overdrive. There's also animes like FLCL, Air Gear, and perhaps Kagerou Project: The Animation to consider. Or, you can think of media that’s revived this genre recently: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, No Straight Roads, Hi-Fi Rush, RKGK (Rakugaki), Umurangi Generation, Urbano - Legends’ Debut and the Splatoon franchise.
It's that slick jazz track you can’t get out of your head as you tag the hottest spots. It’s inner-city kids forming gangs, starting fights that feel way too dynamic, and running from the cops. It's chasing the latest trends from hip-hop and street fashion to alternative styles and bands, then mixing them together so you can stand out from the crowd. It's far from escapism, but it’s the closest thing you’ve got to freedom. Grind fiction is a beautifully complex clusterfuck of media that’s been around long before me, but why apply it to this fictomere?
Well, I have my partner to thank for that. Nani is very passionate about grind fiction. So much so, she read aloud Grind Fiction: A Summary of GrindWorld while we were on a call together. GrindWorld is a forum dedicated to Jet Set Radio, The World Ends With You, and all the media that falls in between. GrindWorld user SelMelvins’s essay was a love letter to animemo on the forum, all of which my girlfriend heartily recited to me. I certainly picked up what SelMelvins was putting down, and I respected the inspiration their words gave to Nani. That said, this information didn’t impact me initially. I finally had a name for a neat string of concepts I’ve seen since I was a kid, and there wasn’t much else to it until now.
Shortly after attending Khadgar’s panel, I thought about the kind of world I wanted my fictomere to be. What made sense for us? I didn’t want to settle for the comics because I already settled on the likelihood that I’m not from Earth-616, but what choice did I have? Take X-Men: Evolution, skin it of its narrative, and replace it with my class? Make no mistake, I was tempted to do so. I wanted a distinctly 2000s-esque or -inspired structure around my fictomere. I started thinking of all sorts of media that could classify as Y2K, regardless of their execution. As I cycled through various games, shows, and movies, my brainstorming ceased when I recalled my conversations with Nani. I realized grind fiction was the perfect concept to frame my fictomere around.
In SelMelvins’s essay, animemo is best described as “Youths Having Fun Being Fantastic”. At first glance, it’s a vague statement to make. Trust me, you’ll want to read the whole essay to really get why they summarized it so broadly. There’s subgenres upon subgenres to unpack within animemo/grind fiction, but I digress. “Youths Having Fun Being Fantastic” is absolutely a bar that my class can pass. If there’s anything that sets us apart from Evolution’s class, it’s that we knew how to get ourselves into some real trouble… and get a kick out of it while doing it! You could argue the same for Evolution’s class, but there’s a reason why X-Men fans young and old have a habit of referencing just how fucked our lives were in retrospect. If we had the opportunity to enjoy something, we absolutely took it. If that moment happened while confronting corruption in our area, then we took it regardless! The New X-Men had no shortage of teens who’re down to rebel, and that alone is a good precursor to incorporating us in grind fiction.
In addition to that, there’s a few snippets from SelMelvins’s essay that jumped out at me as qualities we have:
"Emo-ish youths doing rebellious, expressionistic, or even anarchistic things..." (Very applicable, although I'd say we're an aesthetically diverse group)
"... Battling overwhelming odds usually with power hungry adults at the forefront..." (Our many, many face-offs against Rev. William Stryker and his anti-mutant, christofascist terrorist group "The Purifiers")
Spraying graffiti and other petty crimes done for fun or to tick off the authorities (The Hellions broke a kid out of FBI custody— if anyone fits this bill, it's them), sometimes including teen angst and/or love (a bill that we all fit, to be honest)
Dark Animemo. "... The fist-fighting traits and sometimes tragic elements of Animemo are more prevalent. Hopelessness is a common theme and suspense is built constantly." (Very applicable, especially considering Stryker’s obsession with killing all mutants—starting with us— and the plethora of kids who've died throughout our time as students)
This gave me something to work with. While combing through the essay, I asked myself what my ideal source would look like in the scope of grind fiction. Here's what I've got:
Earth-767A: There's no special meaning behind the name. I chose a random combination of numbers and threw a letter at the end for the hell of it.
New X-Men: Academy X incorporates both the transhumanist and magical elements found in various animemo works. From mutant technology that stabilizes superpowers to unfathomable levels of telekinesis, there's no shortage of speculative madness. With the things we can do, we take SelMelvins's quote, "In all essence, animemo is almost like an anime where the characters think they're in an anime!", to the extreme.
The setting of this fictomere is a retro-futuristic take on the New York metropolitan/tri-state area, much like what New Amsterdam is to Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.
Additionally, the mutant nation of Krakoa never got destroyed. It’s still around. Why? Because I said so. That’s the one writing decision I will fault Marvel’s writers for because they insist we can’t have anything nice for once.
At Xavier's, mutant squads are akin to rival gangs (JSR, JSRF, BRC) and often clash with each other over missions. Everyone wants to show they’ve got what it takes to become an X-Man, but being a X-Man isn't about your strength or your street cred. It's about working as a team towards a common goal: liberation. This is a lesson that we’d learn the hard way.
A mutual practice among mutant squads is the art of tagging our insignias all across the area. It's less about claiming somewhere as turf and more about getting our names out there as up-and-coming heroes, even if some of the public doesn't see us this way. Enemy territories (the Purifiers) are risky but popular spots to hit.
Mutant-led communities, such as Mutant Town, are safe havens when the feds are after us.
Although Xavier's makes teamwork a key component of our studies, you'll find every team has its fair share of people who want to shine above the rest. Everyone wants to be seen as unique, but it's hard to do that in a school full of other superpowered teenagers. Imagine the sort of youth movement that’d come from bold, ambitious mutant teens from all corners of the globe in such a limited space!
If there's anything I can vouch for, it's a mutant teenager's dedication to their self-expression. Elixir turned his skin gold to prove he's the "golden boy" of our school for fuck's sake.
Don't let this fictomere's appearances deceive you, because its storytelling heavily aligns with dark animemo. Let's revisit the very tragic, very depressing opener to this essay. Those scenarios were laced with personal truths, things that my peers and I experienced as teenagers. I suppose that's where Marvel and I see eye-to-eye in a way.
To be a New X-Man is to be a target before you're ever a teenager. The writers weren't wrong in titling our coming-of-age arc "Childhood's End", but with this fictomere's created knowledge, I hope to weave in the bits and pieces of our youth that was taken from us too soon.
Truth be told, this is the tip of the iceberg. I want to do more with this fictomere, even though it means having to build it up by myself. I'd rather have the agency of reconstructing my narrative than leave it in the hands of total strangers who lack any knowledge of my existence.
“Canon" is the boogeyman to a lot of us fictionfolk. It can be invalidating without trying to be. It can be exclusionary or flat-out wrong without any insight as to why it's either of those things. Only we have the ability to confront "canon" and its unwitting transgressions. Some may struggle with altering "canon" to suit their needs, but I think opportunities of this caliber have been underutilized for too long. Whether filling in the blanks of noemata or actively creating information around one's fictomere(s), taking "canon" and turning it on its head is cathartic. It's a reclamation of the self. In this practice, I have taken back a part of me that I once neglected out of uncertainty. I wanted to feel whole again so badly, so I'm going to work towards feeling whole again as long as I see fit.
