skinofalizard | WHATEVER I'M CLOSE ENOUGH

Relationship meme or Vic's views on how good Julian would be to kiss. Or both!

Those are essentially the same thing you know.

(gimme a minute I need to get my thoughts on you together)

Okay! He has never thought of making out with you because you're 100% straight obviously so what would be the point. And he doesn't have Alani's strategic skills so would never attempt it as a cure-all.

As for non-make out things, back when Anole was a super minor character, Julian was one of his BFFs. Especially since Julian always stood up for Anole when the other kids would say how gross his tongue is (THOUGH NOW WE KNOW WHY HE DEFENDED IT). That obviously changed after...everything...went down. They drifted apart through mutual emo and Anole getting closer to Santo, Megan, and the Young X-Men. He is glad they're bonding again in Camp even though they're bonding over horrible things. We will always have our black humor, Julian.

Any reversal?

Julian has honestly never thought about making out with Anole because he likes the ladies, but if someone were to put it to him he would think about it before being horrified at what he did because as I told you on IRC I refuse to believe that Julian is a Kinsey 0. I'M SORRY THERE IS LIKE ... EVERYTHING WITH JOSH EVER.

So Julian is fond of Vic! It's actually a common theme that Julian stands up for the mutants with the more noticeable or horrible mutations, because no-one else is going to. But when the bus got blown up and Decimation happened and everything else, life got pretty complicated. Julian drifted away from that because he got wrapped up in trying to manage/suborn a team that is mostly occupied by his friends but he wasn't the leader because Miss Frost decided to be a bit catty about it. That isn't to say that he wasn't fond of him, but that he was under enough pressure that he wasn't able to invest the time into the relationship that he really should have in order to keep the friendship close. By the time that Vic was on the team as well, Julian had pretty much settled into his position as three part leader with Nori and David (or 2IC with Nori and David as co-leaders, though interestingly the three of them complement each other - Nori is the decisive leader, David is tactics and Julian, hilariously, is the people person of the three). So there really wasn't a lot of room for him to reinvest that relationship when he really should have, because there just wasn't time. And that's not a bad thing but hey!

After NXM ended though, they all drifted apart which sucks, and apparently affected Julian a lot given that he goes into screaming hysterics after Miss Frost tells him that he's been abandoned in Divided We Stand. This all comes to a head in the Legacy arc, where he basically sits in his room all day, yells at people to leave him alone when they come in, and when he finally tries to say something to his friends, they don't actually acknowledge him. This is where he's from in camp (well, technically he's from the Age of X crossover aftermath but this doesn't have that much effect on him outside of him doing things on his own instead of talking to people).

The thing is, Julian doesn't like the person he's become! He's a handless ball of misery and he hates that, and hates what he is, so in Legacy he just closes himself off. In camp, that's not really an option. You can sit in your room and yell at everyone to go away, but camp does stuff like throw you into posts without your consent. So Julian is trying very hard to try and be the person he used to be. He's trying hard to interact with the babymutants, to socialise generally and keeping it as light as he can ... which is not very because Julian is full of self-loathing, misery and self-hatred that he deals with by projecting it outward in verbal abuse, but hey, he's trying.

This is where Vic comes in! He doesn't have to explain to Vic about stuff like Utopia because he already knows. It's a burden he doesn't have to assume like he does with the other mutants in camp. Talking to Vic is, by definition, a lot less stressful because there's already that shared common ground where he doesn't have to prove that he's not just being depressive for the attention, but that he genuinely has a reason for being how he is. It's also harder in the sense that Julian is kind of alienated from his classmates, but in a setting not Utopia there's less ... pressure? No-one's tried to kill him in ages, it's kind of weird.

But really, the thing that matters most is that Vic isn't pressuring him to do anything. Vic's taking a hands-off light approach with him where he just offers him space and that's really appreciated because he doesn't like being told what he should and shouldn't do. He knows what he should do. He just doesn't want to do it because that means admitting stuff to people. The part where he admitted to Vic that he is deeply fucked up (even if he is not sure what is wrong with him) is a big deal! Basically he and Vic are bros! Bros where it is okay to admit this without it being a reflection on him being less masculine and all that!

WILL ANOLE EVER NEED TO SHAVE.

Hahahaha a hands-off approach to Julian.

ANYWAY.

Probably not. There's no indication that he, like, has to chip off a little carapace goatee every week or anything so I'm gonna go with no hair growth for the fella.

How does Julian shave? I think the swiss cheese table in the cabin proves his control is not so great.

IKR i couldn't resist. XD

He shaves with a lot of concentration and extreme difficulty. I'm honestly torn as to whether he uses his TK or a razor to shave, but his problem with either is that he is capable of the task when he is able to concentrate on it long enough to do the job. He probably had to have someone do it for him while he was recovering, which really annoyed him and he's made a point of learning to be as self-sufficient as he can be. The thing is, I assume that his control is tied to his emotional state because he is sixteen and dumb, so when he's feeling okay and confident he's competent, but when he is severely rattled he loses control, and when he's outright panicking he can pull off stuff that he would never normally be able to do. So right now in camp he is very rattled so his fine control is hard.

It helps that he is only sixteen, but he would still have to shave often enough that the x-cabin is probably used to hearing Julian swear every so often as he tries.

So is there any altered sensation in Vic's monsterarm?

I assume that it has reduced sensitivity if just because of the super thick carapace all over it. Same with the top of his head, actually.

UM. I can't think of a question...what is some headcanon you have for Julian?

Gosh I have so much headcanon for him, because Marvel will never fill it in for me.

Julian's powers didn't all manifest all at once, but instead in fits and starts. He had headaches for a while because his mutation was, quite literally, rewriting how he perceives the world, and things would break around him. His parents initially thought that he was clumsy because he'd also hit a growth spurt, but his mother suspected that there was something else as well, because Age of X tells me that she carries the mutant gene as well, even if it's not expressed in her case. Eventually he was trying to catch something that he'd dropped (legitimately, even) and he levitated it instead. He stared at it in wonder, going "holy shit what" and then it exploded. Needless to say, his parents were not really kept in the dark about his powers for very long.
Part of his mutation is exceptionally good spatial awareness. This is how he can fly long distances without getting lost; he can keep track of where he is at any given time. He wasn't so great at this at first but he's gotten a lot better over time, which has correlated with his ability to do fine-control telekinesis/psychokinesis.
While Julian says that he was sent to Xavier's because he refused to hide his powers, I suspect it was more that he couldn't because he didn't have that good control over them, and he refused to be contrite about it. It's more badass to say that he refused, though, which is why he says it.
At least once during sex he has thrown the headboard through the wall. IT'S A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE. :'(
In Legacy, it's come out that Julian has recently become hypersensitive to his surroundings, picking up the molecular structure of everything around him - though it's not a continuous thing. It's a natural evolution of his powers, and I assume that until he gains control over when he is able to turn that awareness on or off, he has times when it switches on without any input from him. He just goes into his room, turns all the lights off and shoves a pillow over his head so that he can't hear or see anything, if it lasts for longer than a few minutes. He pretends it's not happening. I'm sure everyone is fooled.
Whenever playing video games, he has to unlock all of the achievements. It's how he knows he's won the game properly. Everyone else just rolls their eyes because there's competitiveness and then there's JULIAN HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT MISSION.
His best subjects at school were maths and science because he can see how those tie into his powerset.
The first time he met Cess, he hit on her. They laugh about this later because really, Julian, what were you thinking?
He keeps meaning to get his hair cut but never gets around to it.
He has moments where he realises that he forgets what certain things feel like to touch. He can tell you approximately how much something weighs and how much telekinetic force he needs to manipulate it, but if someone asked him what it felt like to touch he wouldn't be able to answer, even if he had touched it before losing his hands.
He isn't sure that the older mutants actually know his given name. On the one hand, he doesn't mind because Julian Keller got disowned whereas Hellion is a mutant in training, but on the other, it's kind of I WAS YOUR STUDENT :|
He misses Beast.
He either has PTSD or depression; I've never been too fussed as to which one. Could be both, even! He definitely has some kind of adjustment disorder given how he speaks about his disability.
He has definitely had sex dreams of at least 85% of the mutants he has met, regardless of gender.
Leading from an earlier point, dreaming of falling freaks Julian out a lot because he can't tell how far or fast he is falling and it is disturbing. He'd rather know than ... not.

He has tried to masturbate using his telekinesis. It always leaves him deeply dissatisfied because he can't match up what he wants to do with what he can do, and his control goes out the window when he starts actually getting anywhere at all. He has at least once left bruises on his dick and he was never, ever going to tell anyone about that because oh my god. He uses friction when he gets really desperate, but he doesn't masturbate half as much as he used to because he doesn't have the inclination at the moment. That disturbs him when he realises it.
He really misses playing basketball.
He actually doesn't have any thoughts about what he wants to do when he grows up. For a while there it was inherit the family business with his older brother but that obviously didn't pan out. He wanted to be an X-Man but that's not working out for him either. At the moment Julian isn't making plans because he honestly doesn't expect to live long enough to be an adult.
His telekinetic control is linked to his emotional state, so the more emotionally overwrought he becomes, the more explosive he gets.
He knows that Laura watches him sleep. He suspects that she cuts himself over him. It creeps him out immensely and it creeps him out more that everyone insists that they're dating. He is also somewhat aware of the crush that Nori has on him. He misses when his love life was simple or at least not fundamentally disturbing.
FUCK YOU BUTTONS AND ZIPPERS, GOD.
He wears long jackets when going outside, even in summer, and sleeps with a singlet on after everything that happened post Messiah Complex.
Every morning, he wakes up and tries to turn the alarm clock off with his hand. Every time.
He really likes flying. He does it most days when he gets a moment, which he does get in camp because there's nothing really pressing on him anymore.
He is starting to get a bit alarmed that he doesn't know what the upper limit of his powers are.
He is aware that there is something wrong with him, but he is in deep denial that it is something that needs to be managed. He gets quite hostile when people suggest that it is.

Your turn! What headcanon do you have for Vic?

I have a lot for him, too, but this is the first time I've ever actually written any of it down. We'll see how much I actually remember!

His power manifested during a game of hide and seek when he was 13. He thought he had just picked a REALLY GOOD hiding spot, but the rest of the town was convinced he had gotten lost in the woods or abducted.
It took him and his parents over an hour to untangle his tongue the first time.
He can actually see in the dark as good, if not better, than he can in a well-lit room.
It took him a long time to get used to the increased strength of his dragonarm, and he broke more than one cup every day because of it. Eventually he just stopped using it for normal things and taught himself to do everything left-handed. This has continued even though he knows how to keep from breaking things now.
He hates his dragonarm more than anyone could ever guess. All he sees when he looks at it is proof that he only exists as a soldier, or worse, a weapon.
Related, if he had to choose between losing his other arm/his legs or dying, he's not entirely sure which option he'd pick some days.
He acts like he doesn't get how people could think his tongue is hot, but he has absolutely masturbated with it more than once.
He masturbates a lot less often now, too. Mostly because seriously, Santo. Fucking knock.
He secretly wishes there were more gay mutants, because being surrounded by a bunch of straight guys with great bodies and enhanced metabolism is kind of wildly unfair.
He hasn't spoken to his parents since he almost killed his father in the Blend In mini. They tried to go to Utopia to talk to him once, and let him know they still love him and aren't mad, but they weren't allowed because they aren't mutants.
He has nightmares almost every night, and has gotten really good at waking up without screaming so no one worries.
He went on half of a date with Greymalkin once and it was the most awkward thing either of them had ever sat through, and they went back to being friends without either of them even having to verbalize the thought.

I know you play some Jesus types, but are any of them enough to get through to Julian?

Edited 2011-09-23 18:46 (UTC)

Frankly, no. The one with enough life experience is Ronan, and Ronan's an empath. He has enough trouble dealing with Vanya some days, and Julian's kind of ... worse. Hope's the wrong type of Jesus, as is Luca and Luke.

If you could make Marvel do one thing what would it be?

A new New X-Men ongoing starring Victor, Santo, Sooraya, Julian, Cessily, Megan, and Loa that lasts forever and is written by Kyle and Yost with art by Young.

Same for you.

Same, except that the story isn't just about being mutants in society, but learning to deal with their horrible trauma while balancing school (and trying to catch up with all the things they missed) and just ... learning to be teenagers again. It probably wouldn't sell well, but I would read it. It would be really nice for the XBabies to actually get a story that addresses what has happened to them.

Also Dani and McCoy are acting in loco parentis.

Also, one of your headcanons reminded me of a thing. Did you ever read Young X-Men?

Actually, no! Should I?

Oh, lord no. It's awful barring one or two character moments in the middle issues. Like this one.

Your He isn't sure that the older mutants actually know his given name. On the one hand, he doesn't mind because Julian Keller got disowned whereas Hellion is a mutant in training, but on the other, it's kind of I WAS YOUR STUDENT :| reminded me: in one of the planning session one of the older mutants I think Sunspot was going over the plan and then this happened (paraphrased):

Victor: I have a question.
Sunspot: What is it, Anole?
Victor: ...okay, two questions. One: [something related to the mission]. Two: What's up with the codenames? We're the only ones here. My parents actually gave me a name and I'd like to use it sometimes.

I WAS GOING TO SAY i had heard that Dust gets cancer or something and it's horrible, like worse than NXM horrible.

but haha oh god, I have been wondering when anyone was going to address the whole "they keep referring to them by codenames all the time".

YEAH. Dust got turned into glass by Magma or Sunspot or both of them or something. And then the new guy Ink who isn't actually a mutant but goes to a tattoo artist who is who has the power of giving people magic tattoos gets a tattoo of the Phoenix and uses the Phoenix Force to bring her back to life.

And then we're treated to a flash forward to a dystopian future where there are only five mutants left (Victor, Greymalkin, Ink, Emma, and Logan) and the mutants are being hunted by something that is revealed to be Dust because the Phoenix Force was incomplete in tattoo form and brought her back wrong.

...well then! It's nice to see that Marvel writes good stories full of characterisation.

Yep.

To point out how awful. Dust's quote here is an actual quote from Young X-Men.

WHY WOULD YOU I WAS HOPING THEY MADE THAT UP.

Sorry.

classy.

It's sad because up until that panel it's...okay.

"Yes. Please lecture me on etiquette." still makes me chuckle.

WHATEVER I'M CLOSE ENOUGH

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