Would a Cyberpunk X-Men AU work? If yes, how would you do it? What characters would you focus on? How would you reimagine them? What would the universe be like? Would you involve any of the wider MU?
>inb4 X-Men 2099
Not what I meant. Basically would you have them still be Muties in a Cyberpunk world or would you make their “powers” the result of Augs?
.EXE/men
Jackson Williams
Anthony Mitchell
Making their powers come from augs would be missing the point in a big way.
Hudson Carter
>Cyberpunk
Cybervictorian (this is different from steampunk) adapt Ellis' stuff, basic premise is Day of Future Tense. America has been over run by the sentinel program because it happened so quickly more or less over night and left the nation unprepared, Canada is now the resistance frontier. I based it mainly in London and feature characters like Psylocke and Captain Britian, Mr Sinister.
Jacob Rivera
Why does 2099's premise trigger you?
Yes tho, similar story beats, have it be a spiritual successor to Logan.
>Set in the year 2049, the world is rife with conflict. Set 5 years into the Sino-American war, the story follows 18-year-old protagonist whose latent mutant abilities developer later in life (developing scales and becoming reptilian in appearance and the ability to camouflage in with their surroundings). A local tech corp notices this mutation before the government does and offers protection in exchange for the protagonist becoming a corporate enforcer/infiltrator against their rivals.
Elijah Hernandez
>Story gradually reveals a similar premise to Logan, that by 2030 all of the X-men and their students were wiped out by a change in GMO structure, and only a newer generation (Laura's group etc) which developed a natural immunity to food survived, but those groups scattered and their current whereabouts are unknown.
Almost a generation later, new mutants are born resistant to the plague that wiped out the X-men, like the protagonist, but scattered and lack and loyalty to group identity that the X-Men or Brotherhood may have had.
Eventually, the protagonist runs into other mutants, like him, that have also been forced into corporate or military servitude to carve out a life for themselves, and they all are antagonistic if not enemies to one another----more loyal to their corporate faction than each other as a hunted people.
>Eventually all mutants end up forming an alliance of convenience thwarting a terrorist attack on American soil by the South American Federation, as a proxy on orders of a splinter faction from China, and this begins these characters forming a tentative alliance realizing the benefits of working together for their own survival and the survival of their home.
The whole story is basically a slowburn into the formation of a futuristic X-men and contrasting how humanity is tearing itself apart by dividing into factionalism while the mutants eventually come together under one banner.
Lotsa techno shit and scifi shit in the background
It's borrow story beats from Logan and 2099 but largely be its own thing
Nathan Rivera
>Cybervictorian (this is different from steampunk)
Care to expand on this? For
Anthony Ramirez
>what if the x-men were reavers
no thx
Wyatt Scott
Cybervictorian is taking the Victorian aesthetic without the trappings of steampunk, so it's possible to have a setting wherein the standard trappings of cyberpunk are present (the digital age ramped up to sci fi) while still retaining Victorian style and sensibilities.
David Nelson
Not my point. My fault for not being explaining, but they’d still be Muties; the Cyberpunk would be the setting and explain where the powers came from. Basically I’d set in on a distant enough future, and all the powers would be the result of Designer Babies and the like, coupled with Augmentations. So you’d start off with the average Cyberpunk era, and then people would start adding Augs to their children in the womb, ala Gattaca. Eventually that’d cause the NANOMACHINES and shit to start “evolving” themselves in the people, and whereas the first wave would be just taller, more beautiful people with natural green hair and hair, eventually they’d start giving their kids laser eyes and whatnot, so a couple of years from that point, you’d have your telepaths and all the X-Men goodness but with a logical starting point instead of “dude, magic gene lol”. The powers would be a bit downplayed, but still, you get my point. Plus, they’d exist in said Cyberpunk setting.
Jaxon Reed
So how the hell would that shit work? Cuz it sounds too much like just “Muh Supah Soldiah Serum” from the Ultimates.
Levi Edwards
>Eventually all mutants end up forming an alliance of convenience thwarting a terrorist attack on American soil by the South American Federation
Why South America? Do you have a problem with Latinos or something?
Isaac Ross
>108213250
Why not?
Grayson Wright
I thought that was Tesla Punk? Like Dishonored's world.
Jonathan Foster
I would never read anything with Cable in it.
Kevin Wilson
>Victorian Punk
>Tesla Punk
So do you just stick -Punk to something and create a genre?
Evan King
Only if Batman joined.
William Morales
>So do you just stick -Punk to something and create a genre?
Hmmm....Lets try this.
Cowboy punk.
Romance punk.
Pirate punk.
Ninja Punk.
Porno Punk.
Transexualpunk.
CWCchan punk.
You're a fucking genius user.
Carson Mitchell
So Treasure Planet is PiratePunk, technically?
Benjamin Cook
I'd say so. If it's not it's damm close, like one parrot with a mohawk away.
Isaac Foster
So what, does -Punk mean machines and cyborgs and shit? It thought that was the Cyber- part of Cyberpunk.
Adrian Gonzalez
There's the souless corporatisim. Grungy shat upon low lifes. Unbridled hedonisim. Authoritarianisim. Wild color and black backdrops.
It's say treasure planet is close enough to make a case for it.
Nicholas Peterson
So what, in Cowboypunk you have Cyborgs and shit even though there’s no “Cyber” in it?
Josiah Wright
Solarpunk stuff tends to be nore utopia based though althoighbyou can easily turn that inti a dystopia.
Matthew Wilson
>So what, does -Punk mean machines and cyborgs and shit?
If i recall correctly, the -punk was because the termination was closely related to the real world punks and their beliefs: Rebellion, independence, disregard of the authority, DIY attitude and all of that. That's why the first cyberpunk settings were corporations vs the masses.
Then everyone promptly forgot the original meaning and thought that -punk meant "something in excess of" and from that particular meaning all the other settings(dieselpunk steampunk, etc, etc...) come from, which explains why cyberpunk is so unique compared to the rest.
Kayden Ward
That’s what I’m saying. The -Punk thing was just the rebellions and shit. The Cyber part was the Augs and whatever. If people wanted futuristic shit in anachronistic settings, they should just name their shit FutureSteam, or CyberSteam or what-the-fuck-ever.
Jonathan Smith
not augs, it would ruin the point.
an interesting story would be that the normal people could get more and more aug to stay head to head with the mutie and it makes them so sociopathic.
Cooper Smith
But they’re not Augs per se. See here:
Oliver Jones
OK; do you have some examples?
The FAQ is located at ftp://50.31.112.231/pub/Alt_Cyberpunk_FAQ_V5_preview26.htm
Dylan Ramirez
So Terry?
Samuel Carter
Cyberpunk core elements:
-Perpetual night
-Perpetual rain
-Magenta and blue light
-Synthwave music
Optional:
-Cybernetics
-Punks
Juan Brown
>laser eyes
>logical
A better idea would be big bad megacorps capturing natural mutants to commodify their mutations. Domino, Fantomex and X-23 are all examples of that from 616.
Caleb Adams
Well, the way I see it would be that someone like Sinister (just merge High Evolutionary and him) would be the guy that’d be instrumental to Augmentations really becoming commonplace. Then Designer Babies and the like would start popping up. As time went on they’d add superpowers and the like. Eventually, the Augs would start mutating inside the genome, and from a First Gen “Iceguy” who’d be like, say, Blizzard, you’d end up with a “Mutant” like Iceman. They’d still be Mutants, there’d just be a more logical cause of their powers and a power cap.
More logical to have Cyber implants than “lol, a gene inside of me that randomly showed up allows my eyes to fire lasers”.
Jordan Morris
weak bait, made me reply.
Blake Green
So much of what makes X-men cyberpunk already gets glossed over by the melodrama. I was thinking about Cyberforce and how it reminded me of an X-men Terminator mash-up when I realized that Bobby Drake use to have a belt that Xavier invented to help him control his ice powers. X-men are already a X-men/Terminator Mashup. So just copy paste all.the technology themes from Cyberforce and clean them up a little bit and boom, X-men = Cyberpunk.
Camden Morales
So how would you do it?
Josiah Hill
>So much of what makes X-men cyberpunk
Such as what??
James Allen
Putting my mind I the direction of doing anything X-men makes me think of setting, either 616 or MCU. At that point I recall having considered how Tony Stark would be perceived as a God in a cyberpunk world.
So since I do not enjoy masturbating liberal victimhood fetish values I am kind of stuck because I don't like thinking of Tony Stark as some big bad tyrant who gets you wet.
But I do like the idea of Tony Stark making some.of those hard choices that get pinned on Charles Xavier.
So we could give the MCU a darker grittier angle. MCU from the gutters. Tony stops signing government contracts. Norman and Trask pick up the slack and drum up business using various scapegoats. The snap has caused reality instability at a genetic level. "Powers" start manifesting. Powers, deformaties, violent episodes, exploding teens. All get pumped into one big Threat To National Security.
From there we play up how in the dark the Avengers are kept by their government handlers. Internal corruption has scrutiny because of past HYDRA problems but that doesn't account for the entire military industrial complex keeping Avengers occupied and in the dark on mutants.
So that gives us a shadow to start building our Noir aspect of cyberpunk. Cyberpunk needs those who get to live in the light and those relegated to the shadows. All the more potent because the mutants COULD BE heroes of they were given the chance, if they weren't constantly being hounded and if "Evil Mutants" weren't ruining their reputation. To keep the melodrama from saying out the cyberpunk elements we attach as much "Evil Mutant" problems to machinations.
Will that do?
Ryder Ross
i don't know about cyberpunk but an x-man game in the style of megaman .exe would be fun
Matthew Edwards
>Cyberpunk needs those who get to live in the light and those relegated to the shadows. All the more potent because the mutants COULD BE heroes of they were given the chance, if they weren't constantly being hounded
Gutters eye view of the MCU continued.
Scott Summers as an Morgan's a good place to start but how do we make it look less Boy Scouts of America and more Johnny Mnemonic? The bandages. The alley ways. Binder by literal hounds, Ahab, Sinister you get the idea. Scott had to abandon his brother who hasn't fully manifested his mutant abilities and Scott believed it was all his fault, his parents mysterious death, the shaking around his brother and eventually his destructive vision.
Scott shows how a small piece of technology and hard won skill can make a tremendous difference. This can be one flavor in the X-men Cyberpunk stew. Trace a course from Scott's Visor to Bobby's frozen garage his techno-belt through to Hank turning Blue, Jean Grey bonding to a force of nature (Cyberpunk has meta, right? :-\ ) over that climax back down to Warren becoming a Death Horseman having his entire mutation replaced by techno-organic wings and blue skin.
This occurs from a Gutters to the Suburbs to Mansions and back down into the sewers. The Morloches being the reminder of who the X-men would be were it not for their White Savior Charles Xavier. Calypso. Caliban. Transformation. Mr Sinister Apocalypse. Prophecy.
There's a strange lul in how cyberpunk it feels between the Morloches & Mauraders crunching Warren's wings but the cyberpunk comes touring back in right on top of all the weird Egyptian ancient techno-stuff.
The overwhelmingly complex themes and story elements wrap up in the body of Nathaniel Dayspring Askani Summers his body seeking holding together all these disparate aspects, technomancy, mutantion, technology, prophecy. Held together by family, religious tradition, and military discipline. X-force, the man, selling out, time travel, the future.
Sebastian Walker
Yeah, uh, not to be a cunt, but... who gives a fuck about the MCU? I was talking about an AU X-Book, I don’t want fucking Asgardians and magic and a wishing-glove existing in said world. What you’re writing about is literally how you’d introduce the X-Men in the MCU with some “dude, uh, tech and uh, alleyways”. Again, who gives a FUCK about the MCU? Christ man...
Wyatt Collins
>Scott Summers as an Morgan's
As an orphan.
>Binder by literal hounds
Hounded by literal hounds
X-Factor (the original 5) honestly I don't know how you aren't all constantly gushing about Whilce Portacio's run on X-factor with Scott, Jean, Bobby, Hank and Warren Worthington.
X-factor as corporate do gooders,
X-Force as Military sell out mercs trying to change the system from the inside
That's how it could start in the MCU setting with above proposed back story. I don't know where it goes from there. X-Factor and X-Force are two teams that worked their way out of the gutter and I don't know how to make that Cyberpunk.
Oh, wait, yes I do.
Transition directly to Riot at Xaviers with all the Krakoa rescue party (Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Firestar, etc) as the teachers there. Spoiled links who don't know how good they have it in a post punk poser sort of way the old guard showing up to try and get their groove back,
Doesn't sound very Cyberpunk but at least the school will look super sci-fi.
Samuel Jenkins
>Spoiled links who don't know how good they have it in a post punk poser sort of way
Spoiled punks
Isaiah Martin
The best setting for X-men is a world exactly like this world with an hidden and ignored cyberpunk underbelly where mutants are hunted and exploited by harvesters, factions and cults. As long as the stories are focused on the world as the characters see it and their ambitions and strategies and DOES NOT FOCUS on shipping, making babies and balances gone wrong X-men stays plenty cyberpunk.
Alexander Brooks
the MRA passed, and things took a turn for the worst. Turn of the century with new tech doesnt help. "Magneto was Right" at an all time high.
mutants are more easily identified with tattoos and/or chip implants to monitor them. tattoos are on the face where everyone can see them, and act more as a warning label so everyone knows what kind of power they have on the design on the brand. even someone that would be considered normal by all means with no powers, as long as they carry the potential X-Gene, they are identified as such. forced to live in slums mostly, save for the rich and powerful who can hide it. mutants with useful powers are forced to use those powers for cheap labor and shit pay, if any, and are second class citizens at best. you make lightning from your fingertips? your a human battery for life. use your powers at too high a threshold or at all, instantly paralyzed and the mutie SWAT are called on autodial. anyone without any sort of Mutant ID ie rebel/illegals are usually put on death sentence usually. those who powers are deemed unfit or dangerous to society are imprisoned for life, with some not ever being born seeing the light of day. someone like cyclops might have a helmet fitted with goggles to stop his powers or control it for a work environment with laser cutting like jewellery engravings, but be heavily monitored and imprisoned for even the smallest of infractions. thats if they are even allowed to live in civilization.
i'd imagine there would be augmentations that improve some mutant abilities, as well as monitor usage. black market/secret ops for bodyparts to give powers to humans as well as more powers to mutants. have one guy juiced up with ALL DA POWERS. also tech to shut down mutant powers, or at least suppress them. technology is seen as the ultimate equalizer by some that can surpass mutant abilities, on top of the whole mutants being superior extremists.
Ayden Young
>augmentations
This is what DARPA works on.
Brayden Rogers
Minds the best idea and you should all get behind me.
Exhibit A
Scott's visor. A gift.
Nathaniel Nelson
Bobby's control belt have him freedom from being trapped in a black of ice in his garage.
Jason Mitchell
Cerebro. Not punk. Makes me wonder if there's a J. Edgar Hoover equivalent to the mood catagories.
Carson Myers
>a J. Edgar Hoover equivalent to the mood catagories.
The Noir catagories.
Jayden Harris
Widely available or free electrical energy sources taking precedence above every other on or even before its historical order? No think more cyberpunk with the Victorian era as a cosmetic overlay.
Caleb Rodriguez
I did have, somebody was kind enough to provide quite a good list on twitter however I have since been ejected from the twattersphere.
Comics-wise? I would say Lady Mechanika comes close. If you read you'll know the technology of the setting isn't steampunk orientated.
Jace James
Big list of technology in X-men comics: Go!