I'd love to see a look at a scenario where Quicksilver is flipped - backstory as Magneto's kid being optional, since this makes the fic even better (or worse, take your pick) in that Mags has three daughters (this is of course assuming that Lorna/Polaris is still his kid).
Cyclops would be really fascinating: Scott Summers was the Leader of the team at the start, and (usually) defaults back into this role - given Cyke's personality as the level-headed commander, seeing the perception of that in a female leader would be something different (what would her name be, I wonder?) Plus it would do wonders to rid us of those accursed Love Triangles that Cyclops ends up caught in - Scott/Jean/Logan, Jean/ScottMadelyn, Emma/Scott/Jean... hell, that recent story arc that brought the younger O5 into the future saw Scott crushing on Laura; as in, Wolverine's opposite-sex clone/daughter. Plus... a different sort of relationship with Havok, her little brother.
Who else, then? Among the canonical males:
* Wolverine - think of the history/backstory. I don't know what exactly Sabretooth's relation with Wolvie is meant to be, but regardless... I don't know if this would necessarily lead to Weapon X though - would their desire for a potent weapon outweigh their casual sexism in the 60s-70s (when it happened in the comics)? And what of Laura Kinney/X-23 - do they succeed faster in creating a clone, or do they think to use a Y-chromosome much sooner (because SEXISM!)?
* Nightcrawler - a big part of his backstory/story was his relationship with his sister; if we're assuming sexuality is flipped as well and we have a straight F!Kurt, then that relationship is gone but I wonder just how well she would deal with what she is (given the ideas about females)? Nightcrawler's innate goodness and sense of humour are the character's big draws, so I hope they don't lose that; plus, how would her big friendships (with Wolverine, Colossus and Shadowcat specifically) change - maybe she and Piotr...? Nah; that might be too cliche, maybe.
* Iceman/Angel/Beast - the three other males in the O5 line-up. Personally I have little attachment to the former two, but... well, Robert Drake's somewhat perverted and lazy personality (coupled with being Omega-Level) would be interesting to see in Roberta "Bobbi" Drake; Warren Worthington's strong sense of justice and heroic personality (and the fall into Archangel) could have a much different psychological effect in F!Warren (name ideas?) As for Henrietta "Etta" McCoy... probably a rather quiet self-confidence later in life (though not necessarily when young), and likely one of the most treasured of the team as usual (coupled with some protectiveness on the males' parts, at least early on)
* Colossus - I definitely see a much different dynamic with little sis Ilyana when she becomes Magick; an older sister doesn't have the same complex about protecting her younger sibling(s), and so F!Piotr (what's the feminine form of the Russian name?) would probably be less blind to her sibling's fall into darkness and evil - not necessarily unwilling to save her if possible, but probably both less naive and less fierce about making it PERSONAL to stop her, and the Cain and Abel aspects would stand out even more. Probably still close to Kitty if not romantically attracted; also close to Kurt and Logan (and funny because she's likely still larger than both of them), and likely one of the few adult women the latter hasn't got sexual tension with (they probably have a strong platonic to contrast Kurt and Kitty's, and keep the Bash Brothers thing as Bash-Brother-and-Sister). Do you disagree?
* Thunderbird I - John Proudstar might have been a very short-lived character (who perished on his second-ever mission with the X-Men), but he stood out IOTL for averting Positive Discrimination - he was an Apache who was ill-tempered, restless and prideful. As a teenager, he found he had super strength, speed, sturdiness, stamina and senses - which all made him individualistic and even arrogant; he was a Marine for a time. All these attributes could have made for a very different story if the character had been female instead - the powerset was not (in the mid-70s) so common with female characters and nor was the personality, so perhaps Wolverine dies in the mission which killed OTL-John; or nobody dies (the writers killed off a character because the team was too large to manage, and almost killed Wolvie off before using Thunderbird instead because the former's powers were far more unique at the time than the latter's). Try to imagine how a proud Apache woman would end up with these enhanced abilities, and watch the fireworks when she's forced to work under a privileged white boy...
* Banshee - An interesting rumour I've read is this character was originally meant to be female (hence the codename), which if true means interesting things... Older than some of the other X-Men of course, but I'm not sure if Sinead Cassidy would be able to make Interpol in the 70s when Sean was capable of doing so (sexism and laws and such...) Also not sure what this means for her daughter, Siryn.
* Havok - Scott Summer's hotheaded younger sister Alexandra would certainly shake some things up. Heh... now I'm imagining her and Logan starting a sexual relationship - just to piss off Scott! And with or without that, they're probably the team hotheads - so their rashness makes sense to each other, so they might be buddies or "friends with benefits" or something...
* Gambit - Err... come back tomorrow?
* Xavier/Magneto - Have of course been greatly explored already (if only in the film-based fics, and often with romantic elements between each other). Does not mean there isn't room to do more... use your imagination, really, I'm kinda out of steam right now.
As for the females, well...:
* Jean Grey - Probably's Cyke's second-in-command I'd guess. Maybe more confident, fostered by society enabling a male more. How this affects the Phoenix Saga, though? Search me.
* Rogue - Might actually end up more villainous and resentful than OTL; might not. Could lead to a very different power-set due to circumstances - he original zapping of Carol Danvers (as Ms. Marvel) was in part due to her mother being Carol's archenemy at the time, and a male Rogue would likely have a different dynamic with his foster-mother.
* Storm - A big one given the way she grew up in Africa; thus, M!Ororo (again, no idea about the name) would form a very different response to certain things. Likely still ends up worshipped as a God, hopefully doesn't let it get to his head... Probably still ends up as the sometimes-leader of the team, depending on Cyke's mood/status. One good thing at least is that we wouldn't have to deal with that ATROCIOUS attempt at pairing Storm with Black Panther, which disrespected both characters (then again, Reginald Hudlin was generally just...)
* Polaris - I'm not much familiar with this character besides her powers being Magneto's and the reveal/retcon of her as his daughter. Could be good...?
* Shadowcat - Hoo, boy - this one would definitely shake up the dynamic. I'd like to think Keith Pryde would still be great friends with Logan, but... well, Wolverine doesn't seem to connect all that much with younger men (or men in general) besides Kurt and Piotr. With whom Keith ("Kit"?) has brotherly friendships with, of course... Also, he's Jewish - just remember what that means for boys.
* Psylocke - Well for one thing, this might (or might not) lead to Elbert "Bertie" Braddock being body-jacked by Ravanche; if it still does though, gender-identify issues ahoy! If it does not, someone else among the women might be, and thus they'd end up in the body of a Japanese assassin - imagine if that happens to Rogue (might gain better power continence), or Jean, or... well, you get the idea.
Log in to comment