SWIMMING UPSTREAM #1: FROM THE X-INSTITUTE

[raul grau]

<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/swimmingupstream.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Swimming Upstream logo">By Wil Kitchenmaster, wil589@go.com

Dear Mom,

Please, if you love me at all, take me home. This place is insane. I can’t stand it here anymore. Remember my friend, Eddie? Well, he may have introduced himself as "Wing". He came home with me for my birthday? He died, Mom. Died. And it wasn’t some sort of normal, mundane death. He was killed by the Danger Room. The Danger Room! We train in there! It could have killed any of us! As if that wasn’t enough, we’ve been attacked by an alien, a broken down Sentinel, things I can’t even remember. Villains are breaking in all the time! I don’t see how this place is even still running. You’d figure the government or S.H.I.E.L.D. or someone would shut them down!

Even the teachers are nuts. Wolverine fights everyone. I saw him in the halls once, and he smelled like cigars and booze. It was like he bathed in it. And he’s supposed to be our teacher? It’s ridiculous. He just sneered at me, and said, "What are you looking at kid? Go bother someone else." I was just walking. Thank heavens I wasn’t put in one of his "survival classes." It probably would have killed me.

Sometimes our teachers leave for weeks at a time, off being "superheroes" or whatever, and they bring in some substitute low-level mutant no one has even heard of. There’s no stability here whatsoever. The Institute has been destroyed more times than I can even remember. I’m only fifteen, Mom, and they expect me to be able to hold my own if some bad guy runs into my dorm and starts threatening me?

Xavier doesn’t even run this place anymore. It’s all Cyclops and Emma Frost. Emma Frost! She used to be a villain! She’s tried to kill the X-men so many times that she probably got bonus points from the Hellfire Club! And now, not only does she run the school, she’s teaching me Ethics. Ethics! Someone who tries to kill someone, multiple someone’s, on multiple occasions, has no right to teach me ethics. And I swear, I heard a rumor that Gambit, you know, the Cajun with the trench coat that Aunt Marge has a crush on? Well, I heard that he’s been sleeping with a student! Like, someone my age! Why did you even send me here? We’ve even been in quarantine! They never quarantine kids in public school.

This isn’t safe. It’s like people are actually ignoring the fact that we’re in danger, just because we have flashy superheroes living here. They’re all distracted by our teachers, and no one cares that we’re kids, just trying to learn enough to come back home.

At first, I was thankful for the chance to get away. It was nice being with kids my own age with the same problems I had, but now, well, at least in the house all I had to put up with was yelling. Here, I’m worried for my life. I can control my power, I know I can. There won’t be anymore accidents. I don’t randomly let out charges anymore; I haven’t blown anything up in a year. Please let me come home.

Love,
Jace


Sweetie,

Of course you can come home. In fact, you should have written sooner, if you felt that way. I have already spoken with Mr. Summers and Ms. Frost, as you probably know, and enclosed is your train ticket home, and some money for the cab to the station. Your father, sister, and I will be waiting for you when your train pulls in. Jane misses you like crazy. She’s constantly asking when she’ll see her older brother again, and is now positively ecstatic that you’re coming home. Your father and I talked, and we won’t argue anymore. Truth be told, we’re relieved just to have you coming back. We love you so much. We can’t wait to see you.

Love,
Mom


FIFTY SEVEN DEAD IN TRAIN STATION MASSACRE
Associated Press

The greatest tragedy to hit the rails in four years occurred yesterday. At 3:45 in the afternoon, a commuter train, departing for Albany from Westchester, New York, was struck by what on-lookers described as a mutant youth unable to control his powers. No comment yet from Cyclops or an X-men spokesperson.

"It was insane. It seemed like he just randomly let out charges everywhere. There were mini-explosions all over the place," claimed one survivor. "It’s terribly tragic. You see these things happen elsewhere, and it never really hits home until you’re there, trying to help victims," said Mark Bendis, an E.M.T.

"Our son was on that train," explains Mrs. Mary Stackpole, her voice filled with anguish. "He was leaving that stupid school because he was sick of being in danger, and then this happens. He said that he could control his powers, that they weren’t a problem anymore. I just don’t know what to do."

Well-known internet group Purity, who have been declaring mutants a danger for years, immediately brought the accident up on their online forum.

"You think this is the end? This is only the beginning. Humans, we’re going the way of the dodo, man, unless we do something, unless we find some way to control them," said Purity spokesperson, Joss Milligan.

A mass assembly in honor of the victims will be held in Central Park on Tuesday, at 4 PM. All are welcome to attend.

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Wil Kitchenmaster has never attended a school with a Danger Room, but he is sure that if he had, he'd want to leave too.

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The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.

[John Chmielewski]

I don't quite understand.

Edit: Please refer to my explanation of this comment, and my apology to Wil in message #21 of this thread.

Unfortunately I was at work when I read the column originally and did not have time to expand upon this comment. I meant no direspect and again apologize for any misunderstanding this caused.

[shinigami]

Hmmm...this reminds me of a very similar post over at cbr....

[M-Angel]

Great..another clever way to bash the X-men.

No offense but..what's the point? if you dont like how things are working out in the X-mansion, dont buy the books

[Wil Kitchenmaster]

Seeing as how I read both Astonishing and X-men, and absolutly love them, I don't think I'm quite bashing them. I was just thinking to myself, "You know, it must suck to be a kid in the mansion. I wonder if people ever think about that." And then I started writing.

[Kizmet]

Cute bit of fan-fic, very entertaining.

[Leffa]

I was just thinking to myself, "You know, it must suck to be a kid in the mansion


Well you get to see girls in tights every day (not the least, Emma's costume which leaves very little to imagination) :p

But I see your point, I would be freaked out every day were I to go to that school. Just the fact that Wolverine sliced and diced one of the other teachers would make me think twice about going there.

[Rory]

This made no sense to me :cuckoo:

[NateGrey65]

that was...oddd?

will this be some type of new fan-fic syndicated column with fictional stories from the x-universe?

It was well written,
but I didn't quite understand the point.

hmmm...

[Chris Day]

a nice piece of creative writing.

i think the point of it was to give a different perspective of life in the mansion, commenting on some of the absurd happenings taking place there...

[Ovid]

Exactly, it was just a humorous take on precisely what sort of a haven the school is supposed to be offering.

@Raul: what's the purpose of the Swimming Upstream column in general?

[Ken Boehm]

Great..another clever way to bash the X-men.

No offense but..what's the point? if you dont like how things are working out in the X-mansion, dont buy the books

Sure, we don't have to buy the books, but we can still make fun of the X-Men. It's our first amendment right. Or did Magneto remove that amendment from the constitution when he took over the world? Stupid mutants.

[Wil Kitchenmaster]

I suppose I'd better explain. Swimming Upstream is going to be my monthly column, hopefully usually funny, but always making a point about something I want you to think about.

[foreveraaron]

exactly what kind of brain stems are you that you're saying "i don't understand" or "what's the point?"

[Ovid]

I suppose I'd better explain. Swimming Upstream is going to be my monthly column, hopefully usually funny, but always making a point about something I want you to think about.Sounds great. Good start; I'm looking forward to the next one. :)

[Mark]

and people said i was unsensitive about the London bombings...

no offence man but what was the point in that?

[AngelinLeather]

Honestly who wouldnt understand? Its a fake letter home and a fake news story. Its not X-Men bashing ( :cuckoo: ) or some work of mind boggling fiction. Its actually very simple and a very good work. Geeze where are peoples minds now a days?

[M-Angel]

Sorry
I guess I'm getting a little paranoid about people bashing the X-men

[ursabearX]

:LOL: I thought this was great and very funny, I totally got it! Come on people turn the "sense of humor" switch to ON.

[Will Carper]

the point is obvious--it's satire. its like when conan o'brien makes fun of...say, Led Zeppelin (which he did a few weeks ago). i love Led Zep, but i thought the piece funny. come on people, think about! its obvious!

[John Chmielewski]

My earlier post of "I don't understand" was in reference to this being the first installment of a new column, however it seemed to be more of a fan-fiction piece than a commentary on comics, or the X-men.

Perhaps some sort of introduction, allowing us to know what to expect in your column would have helped to alleviate the confusion.

Please accept my apologies if my earlier post seemed harsh, it was not intended that way, I simply did not understand the point of this column. I do feel it was a well written piece. Keep up the good work Wil.

[peedi]

This look at the life a student at Xaviers was exactly what I've been thinking for a while now. I enjoyed it.

It doesn't make sense that the X-Men are teachers because how could they possibly ever hold regular class times? CLASS CANCELED - OUT FIGHTING MAGNETO. That doesn't work. And it's crazy that they are so big on protecting the school, when they constantly are at fault for putting their own students in danger. Since the school was publicly outed it has been invaded by the Brotherhood, Mystique, Magneto, Jamie Braddock, evil Wolverine, a Sentinel, Mojo, the frikkin Danger Room (well, it was already there) and anyone else I'm forgeting, with most of those occuring this year alone! You would think that they'd do something about increasing security, and getting teachers that ARE NOT X-Men (Like Danny and Jean-Paul), so maybe they could actualy concentrate on teaching.

It also doesnt make sense that Rhane is an instructor, when she should probably be a student. Same for Kitty. She's still at a college age. She left college to go back to the X-Men in X-Treme, so it doesn't make sense that she is part of the senior staff. But then again, college drop outs make such excellent teachers! She should make a hip hop album about it now, and bitch at the Grammy's for losing Best New Artist like Kanye West. Or not.

Well, those are just opinions I thought of from reading all the titles every month. I think that was supposed to be the point of the column, if anyone is still confused (or maybe, I'M confused? . . .). HOLLA BAK!

[Wil Kitchenmaster]

Thank you all for the support, and the critiscim. It's kind of been a dream of mine to write here, the sites been my homepage for 5 years now. Yes, it's a satire, no, I'm not bashing the all-mighty X, and yes, I've got more comming. As for the London bombings, sorry bro, but this was written before that. Is it kind of touchy, yes. But these things do happen. It's our ability to still function and live that helps us move on. I'm not trying to be insensitive, I feel that that was an incredibly terrible event in humanity, but in this age, nearly every week something happens. It disturbs even me.

[Alex Guillen]

qwll I don't feel it was a stab at the London bombings but it does have some resembelence to those incidents.
Overall I just tought it was some good creative writing especially from a POV of a young mutant and how it would be bveing a young kid at the Institute, just like summer camp but for mutants and how education in important for everyoine, even if it's from the X-Men.

[Wade Wilson]

I liked the letters. I did not like the newspaper, it was not funny at all and did remember me of the London bombings.

[harlekein]

Thank you all for the support, and the critiscim. It's kind of been a dream of mine to write here, the sites been my homepage for 5 years now. Yes, it's a satire, no, I'm not bashing the all-mighty X, and yes, I've got more comming. As for the London bombings, sorry bro, but this was written before that. Is it kind of touchy, yes. But these things do happen. It's our ability to still function and live that helps us move on. I'm not trying to be insensitive, I feel that that was an incredibly terrible event in humanity, but in this age, nearly every week something happens. It disturbs even me.
It would however have been a tad more 'respectful' (not quite the right word), if you had simply re-written it to have the kid blow up somewhere else.

Still a nice piece though.

[thepooka]

Yeah, the letters were great. really quite funny.

The newspaper article? Didn't make much sense.

[Kevin Williams]

An interesting little piece that does express in a light way the concerns some migt have over the current status quo at Xavier's Institute.

However, I totaly agree with darq and the others that the subject matter was more than a little insensitive given the recent bombings in London in which 54 people died. Not a great way to start a regular column.

[Ovid]

Well, I live in London and work near where the bus and one of the Tube bombs went off and the connection didn't even occur to me.

[raul grau]

It would however have been a tad more 'respectful' (not quite the right word), if you had simply re-written it to have the kid blow up somewhere else.I was not going to comment, but I would hate to see Wil's debut taken over by this topic. Wil submitted this installment to me in early July, well before the tragic series of attacks in London. I could have asked him to alter the ending, but chose not to, since this was the way he originally presented his piece, and the fictional events described here have no bearing on reality. So, if anyone out there would like to lay claims of insensitivity, please direct those to me and not to Wil.

That said, the fictional and satirical events described here make much more sense in the context of a train station than in most other locations. Westchester is accessible primarily by commuter rail (or highway, but Jace is probably below driving age), so taking the train home would be his most logical means of transportation. For those who found no humor in the newspaper piece, 'Bendis' describing the 'randomly let out charges' after Jace wrote that very phrase verbatim still makes me chuckle.

London suffered a true tragedy, one that hits close to home for many Comixfan readers, but there is a difference between terrorists and a homesick (and fictional) mutant kid.

- Raul

[Vigo]

I suppose I'd better explain. Swimming Upstream is going to be my monthly column, hopefully usually funny, but always making a point about something I want you to think about.

Nice stuff, congratuations, Wil K. I, for one, both understood and enjoyed what you wanted to express. I hope :LOL:

Your story reflected most of my concerns about the x people managing a school... yet the kids really have nowhere else to go.

Maybe I'm too obsessed with the "real" things the comic world lacks, but the x men leading a school... well... For one, I think most of our heroes are a bit undereducated for being a teacher, considering, I think, most of them stuck at a high school level of education, maybe even less (unless they made their degrees "off-panel" )

If I were an x-writer, (which I'm not, and won't be, so rejoice :LOL: ) I'd press this "mutants above the law" stuff. I mean, they have a school without real teachers, they have kids there who don't receive proper educations all citizens should recieve; the x-heroes are off to save the world, get captured, mindwiped and killed, so, among other problems, by their behaviour, they endanger the proper, continuous education ("Drama course cancelled, because Nightcrawler was killed")

Not to mention the constant explosions and reckless attacks, which prove that the establishment cannot guarantee their protegee's safety. I wonder why no parents sued the school because the death of their kid?

I know, of course, if I were an x-writer, and wrote stories about things like that, my book would hit the rock bottom considering sales and popularity... maybe.

Sorry for hijacking the topic and filling it with my babbling :)

[harlekein]

I was not going to comment, but I would hate to see Wil's debut taken over by this topic. Wil submitted this installment to me in early July, well before the tragic series of attacks in London. I could have asked him to alter the ending, but chose not to, since this was the way he originally presented his piece, and the fictional events described here have no bearing on reality. So, if anyone out there would like to lay claims of insensitivity, please direct those to me and not to Wil.

That said, the fictional and satirical events described here make much more sense in the context of a train station than in most other locations. Westchester is accessible primarily by commuter rail (or highway, but Jace is probably below driving age), so taking the train home would be his most logical means of transportation. For those who found no humor in the newspaper piece, 'Bendis' describing the 'randomly let out charges' after Jace wrote that very phrase verbatim still makes me chuckle.

London suffered a true tragedy, one that hits close to home for many Comixfan readers, but there is a difference between terrorists and a homesick (and fictional) mutant kid.

- Raul
Actually, I was expecting him to blow up at home. Would've made it a bit more tragic IMO, and would've avoided the whole London thing.

[Phasmal]

Thing that doesn't work: "Oh no, a train blew up! I bet it was a mutant who couldn't control his powers!" If they did think it were a mutant, thay'd at least think he did it on purpose.

But I give any lost points back because so many people didn't realize this was simple fanfic. Put a disclaimer at the top.

[Nick Costanzo]

That or people could just use a little common sense ^_^

[djX2727]

I thought it was very good. Looking forward to the next article (I guess thats what we call it).

[Angelophile]

Hmm, well that was pointless and unfunny and made mildly offensive by the comparrison to terrorist activity in London. Badly timed, considering how easily the hysterically funny ending where loads of people die could have been changed. :rolleyes:

[plewis]

I liked it. It was easily understandable and the only point of possible confusion I could see is if the reader was expecting an essay.

Good fiction usually has a point to make and making a point with good fiction is reasonable. This was well written and well presented. The twist at the end really bent the point from "sucks to be a student at Xaviers" to "sucks to be a mutant" and I can live with that.

As I said before, I liked the column and wouldn't mind seeing more of this as long as it's not all over the place. I generally read my fan fictions on other sites.

Peace.

PS: For everyone who was offended by the ending, try separating fact from fiction. I live within blocks of the White House in Washington DC and terrorisim is a real threat. Am I "offended" by refferences to terrorisim in literature? No. It's fiction.

For those who don't keep up, a plane slammed into the largest office building in my area four years ago killing service men and civillians. Am I "offended" when people talk about airplanes going to ground? No.

Terror is the only weapon a terrorist really has. By not moving on, you are spreading the damage and doing the bombers work for him.

Let us find some peace.

[Ovid]

Hmm, well that was pointless and unfunny and made mildly offensive by the comparrison to terrorist activity in London. Badly timed, considering how easily the hysterically funny ending where loads of people die could have been changed. :rolleyes:Did you read the discussion before posting this?!

[Baltimore Footstomper]

Ha ha ha, Oh.....man. Good stuff! Don't let all these no-sense-of-humor folks get you down. Hilarious, if you really look at all that's happened to the X-Institute over the past few years. You missed the '04 Riot, I think. Or maybe you mentioned it, I might have missed it laughing so hard.

Good luck with the monthly column, I'm eager to see the next one. :LOL:

[Jim Lemoine]

Thing that doesn't work: "Oh no, a train blew up! I bet it was a mutant who couldn't control his powers!" If they did think it were a mutant, thay'd at least think he did it on purpose.


As the article stated, there were survivors to the distaster who testified that the mutant was just as scared as they were. As a matter of fact, I saw an interview on CNN with one of the survivors who said that the kid was warning everyone to get back just before he blew up. But then one of the talking heads from Purity came on and got in an argument with Wolf Blitzer, so I changed the channel, and went back to my Doop Show reruns.

[ExtraEpidermis]

I thought it was very insightful when I first read it. It wasn't really funny to me but it was still well written. I laughed harder reading people's reactions than I did the actual piece but I can't and laugh at people who over react to things. BUT, great job. Can't wait for the next one.

[Greenian]

Was it suppose to be funny?

A lot of people are taking this as if you were making a joke. (I don't think you were)

This is just an interesting piece of writing about the perspective of one of the students at the Xavier institute. After reading I just remembered how un-reliable and unsafe the Xavier Institute is.

Do they even have any other teachers (beside the X-Men) to teach the students. Even if the X-Men weren't out saving the day, all week long, I don't think 5 teachers are enough to teach a whole school.

When you think of it, this school is sorely lacking education, besides throwing kids in the Danger Room and letting a computer teach em how to control their powers. But now with that robotic teacher gone, who's gonna teach the students?


ace

[Anthony Devlin]

I laughed harder reading people's reactions than I did the actual piece but I can't and laugh at people who over react to things.

I’m so glad you found people's concerns amusing; funny i don’t share your odd sense of humour over these things

I did see a connection to the recent London bombings, and fail to see how anyone could claim not too. Do I feel it should have been edited out of the article becuase of this, NO. What are we saying, we now have to censor ourselves from everything that happens in the word in case we offend, or upset someone? Had this article have been up within days of the London bombings then i would agree, it would have been insensitive and totally irresponsible. What i don’t agree with and annoys me most is the way people have showed no respect towards the people that have shown some concern.
If the quote above is all your going to say to people who may still be effected by events that happened in London then do me a favour and refrain from posting them, they are idiotic and more insensitive than anything this article had to say, and show nothing but a total lack of maturity and understanding.

[Kevin Williams]

I laughed harder reading people's reactions than I did the actual piece but I can't and laugh at people who over react to things.

Cool. I'll let people who were affected by the London tragedy know to stop their over reacting.

[Toga]

good article Wil,

It's interesting to note that, the boy states that he has not blown up or let go of any charges in a year while being at the mansion. He says he has control of his powers, but as soon as he gets on the train he looses control. Was the institue actually doing what they said and help him contol his powers, or was being frightened enough to mkae sure his powers stayed incheck?

[Ovid]

I did see a connection to the recent London bombings, and fail to see how anyone could claim not too.This was fiction, that was fact.

This was accidental, that was deliberate.

This was in a train station, that was on the underground and in a bus.

This was one incident, that was four.

Not least, this was a mutant with electrical bolts, that was religious extremists with bombs in their rucksacks.

I could go on.

Sorry, Dev. I have to totally disagree with you on this. When I read darq(?)'s original post, I thought he'd accidentally posted on the wrong thread. It took me a while to work out what he was referring to.

And if people think others are being oversensitive, they have a right to say so. That's especially true if those others are setting themselves up as proxies or advocates for the victims, as if they're enjoying some sort of vicarious grief when they have no direct connection to the events.

[EmperorShotzII]

I suppose that when a forum like this entertains to so many different people, there's bound to be several who have a problem with everything.

But you come to expect and know how to ignore it after a while, I guess.

I found this article to be really funny, whether that was the intention or not. Good job. Very insightful.

There are several teachers at the institute, by the way, who are full time teachers. Moonstar, Karma, Wolfsbane, Northstar, for example. With two of those gone and Magma in, that makes three. It seems that the institute is a tad bit understaffed to me...

[ExtraEpidermis]

I’m so glad you found people's concerns amusing; funny i don’t share your odd sense of humour over these things

I did see a connection to the recent London bombings, and fail to see how anyone could claim not too. Do I feel it should have been edited out of the article becuase of this, NO. What are we saying, we now have to censor ourselves from everything that happens in the word in case we offend, or upset someone? Had this article have been up within days of the London bombings then i would agree, it would have been insensitive and totally irresponsible. What i don’t agree with and annoys me most is the way people have showed no respect towards the people that have shown some concern.
If the quote above is all your going to say to people who may still be effected by events that happened in London then do me a favour and refrain from posting them, they are idiotic and more insensitive than anything this article had to say, and show nothing but a total lack of maturity and understanding.

:wt: I was talking about people connecting everything to the bombings. I feel for the people who lost loved ones in the bombings but I don't feel for the people who go trying to find something in nothing. This was fiction. That was fact. Yeah I'm stealing from T. Martin but I couldn't have said it any better.

[Anthony Devlin]

This was fiction, that was fact.

This was accidental, that was deliberate.

This was in a train station, that was on the underground and in a bus.

This was one incident, that was four.

Not least, this was a mutant with electrical bolts, that was religious extremists with bombs in their rucksacks.

I could go on.

Sorry, Dev. I have to totally disagree with you on this. When I read darq(?)'s original post, I thought he'd accidentally posted on the wrong thread. It took me a while to work out what he was referring to.

Well it didn't take me long, granted it didn't compel me to complain as I to noted significant differences. But I wont lie and say the London bombs didn't at least pass through my mind. A train blowing up is still a train whether you chose to use the word underground before it or not. But this is irrelevant, and in no way part of my point.


And if people think others are being oversensitive, they have a right to say so. That's especially true if those others are setting themselves up as proxies or advocates for the victims, as if they're enjoying some sort of vicarious grief when they have no direct connection to the events.

I'm sorry you feel that way, I hardly feel its being oversensitive one bit.. And to point it out in a fashion that tries for nothing but ridicule people that does is totally unnecessary and totally lacks understanding or maturity. Some people will see a similarity, so people won't, it's not being oversensitive one bit to state that. It is being oversensitive to say this article shouldn't have been posted or at least have the ending edited because of the ending.. We can't allow ourselves to be in a position where we edit ourselves because the events we are portraying are similar to those around us. I was never defending the later, I was defending people's right to say it without being subjected to snide remarks about doing so. And how people thought these concerns where so bloody funny!!

[Ryan Day]

If you really want to get into it, most fiction - particularly action-oriented stuff - is pretty insensitive. Comics are full of violence, explosions, carnage and terrorists. The history of X-Men is full of mutant "terrorists" who get to be cool. Actually, never mind mutant terrorists - Northstar was a member of the FLQ, fer cryin' out loud. Isn't Spider-Man smacking around a mugger potentially offensive to someone who got beat up last week?

And yet, these things - these terrible, violent, ugly things - entertain us on a regular basis.

[Filthy Mutie]

I didn't get around to reading everything everyone said in ths post, but you had to expect a quasi-hostile reaction to the newspaper clip portion of the post. To argue about the similarities and differences between this fiction and the reality of what occured in defense of this post, by the way, is incredibly tactless.

[Will Carper]

If you really want to get into it, most fiction - particularly action-oriented stuff - is pretty insensitive. Comics are full of violence, explosions, carnage and terrorists. The history of X-Men is full of mutant "terrorists" who get to be cool. Actually, never mind mutant terrorists - Northstar was a member of the FLQ, fer cryin' out loud. Isn't Spider-Man smacking around a mugger potentially offensive to someone who got beat up last week?

And yet, these things - these terrible, violent, ugly things - entertain us on a regular basis.

exactly. i got mugged in december, doesnt mean i couldnt read violent comics anymore (if fact, i used most of my x-mas money to buy extremely violent comics, like preacher and sin city. :) ).

[Ovid]

I'm sorry you feel that way, I hardly feel its being oversensitive one bit.. And to point it out in a fashion that tries for nothing but ridicule people that does is totally unnecessary and totally lacks understanding or maturity. Some people will see a similarity, so people won't, it's not being oversensitive one bit to state that. It is being oversensitive to say this article shouldn't have been posted or at least have the ending edited because of the ending.. We can't allow ourselves to be in a position where we edit ourselves because the events we are portraying are similar to those around us. I was never defending the later, I was defending people's right to say it without being subjected to snide remarks about doing so. And how people thought these concerns where so bloody funny!!

I didn't get around to reading everything everyone said in ths post, but you had to expect a quasi-hostile reaction to the newspaper clip portion of the post. To argue about the similarities and differences between this fiction and the reality of what occured in defense of this post, by the way, is incredibly tactless.@Dev: so you're saying I should be offended because Filthy Mutie is telling me what I had to expect and accusing me of being tactless because I argue my corner? I'm not offended. Filthy Mutie is entitled to his opinion and, what's more, entitled to express it. The same goes for those of us who dislike this goulish grief tourism that people who often have no connection to the events like to partake in. We're allowed to criticise them just as Filthy Mutie is allowed to criticise me.

[James Groves]

Great column, Wil. :) :cheers:

I thought it was a well-written column that was satirical in nature, but had a very serious undertone to it as well. It's giving us a true perspective of what life is like in the institute from the viewpoint of a child/student -- something that we rarely get to see in such a realistic manner as what Wil presents us with here. I thought it was a nice way of showing how the institute, when u think about it, isn't really that safe an environment or, for that matter, a particularly good place to learn, either.

The X-Men bashing comments posted earlier deserve a full-blown :rolleyes: , though. ;) As do the "what's the point" and "I don't understand" comments as well. Would have been much better to put WHY you thought that, rather than a vague single sentence. ;)

[Anthony Devlin]

@Dev: so you're saying I should be offended because Filthy Mutie is telling me what I had to expect and accusing me of being tactless because I argue my corner? I'm not offended. Filthy Mutie is entitled to his opinion and, what's more, entitled to express it. The same goes for those of us who dislike this goulish grief tourism that people who often have no connection to the events like to partake in. We're allowed to criticise them just as Filthy Mutie is allowed to criticise me.


That's not what I'm saying at all.

Call someone on a point yes, but to patronise someone and to talk down to them is neither clever nor mature, nor is pointing out that they found peoples concerns highly amusing. (not that i'm saying your guilty of any of these) :)

I have no issues with the article or its contents, Yeah I did briefly think of London, but not to an extent it made me post a complaint about it. Its best at times to address issues like this as everyone feels they can connect to it in a way, and helps people come to terms with events. My issue was with certain posters who seem to be attacking people for showing a little concern over the issue.. There really wasn't a need for it. And I don't think you need to be directly connected to an event like the London Bombings to affected by it.

[Filthy Mutie]

@Dev: so you're saying I should be offended because Filthy Mutie is telling me what I had to expect and accusing me of being tactless because I argue my corner? I'm not offended. Filthy Mutie is entitled to his opinion and, what's more, entitled to express it. The same goes for those of us who dislike this goulish grief tourism that people who often have no connection to the events like to partake in. We're allowed to criticise them just as Filthy Mutie is allowed to criticise me.

This is true; however, just as you may look negatively toward people who tour the ghoulish grief, some people tend to look likewise toward people who argue for the sake of arguing.

Originally I wasn't targeting any particular person. Having said that, I didn't say you were tactless for arguing your corner so much as you are tactless for chosing a corner to begin with.

And by the way, the (story/article/letter) was well-written, but I sort of wish that it expanded further out with the faculty of the school, since they're all pretty neurotic and their methods of teaching are surely suspect compared to what we are used to. :) Oh, and I wish the train thing was different so that this thread didn't get so derailed (ha ha, get it?).

[Ovid]

This is true; however, just as you may look negatively toward people who tour the ghoulish grief, some people tend to look likewise toward people who argue for the sake of arguing.Which was also my point. :)

Originally I wasn't targeting any particular person. Having said that, I didn't say you were tactless for arguing your corner so much as you are tactless for chosing a corner to begin with.Which is a perfectly fair opinion, if not one that I share. :flower:

And by the way, the (story/article/letter) was well-written, but I sort of wish that it expanded further out with the faculty of the school, since they're all pretty neurotic and their methods of teaching are surely suspect compared to what we are used to. :) Oh, and I wish the train thing was different so that this thread didn't get so derailed (ha ha, get it?).You're sick! How could you be so insensitive?! ;) :P

[Ann Nichols]

I confess that I was so caught up in what I was reading that the London bombings didn't occur to me. :blush:

Sadly, most of those kids probably are no safer away from the school since bigoted normal kids tend to attack them.

Don't get me started on how stupid it is to have so much glass present in a building that gets blown up as much as this one does.

Wil, Wil, Wil -- you could have made the letter that much worse if you'd said that one teacher supposedly had sex with a student, only she was really his girlfriend's shape-shifting mother who pretended to be a student so they could get it on. :P

[Anand Khatri]

I really enjoyed this. Great Work Wil! can't wait for more! :D
Wil, Wil, Wil -- you could have made the letter that much worse if you'd said that one teacher supposedly had sex with a student, only she was really his girlfriend's shape-shifting mother who pretended to be a student so they could get it on. :P

Oh dear...:rofl:

[cindercatz]

Excellent piece.

I didn't find it amusing past the first couple of lines. I did, however, find it insightful. Bravo to that. Also, the tragedy of the youth's choices provided a dichotomy within, and I thoroughly enjoyed that in and of itself. If the kid stays, his life is at risk. If he leaves, he puts everybody around him at risk. Such is the 'Catch-22' of the Xavier Institute in the current Marvel statquo.

As for it's relevance in regards to the London bombings, and it's appropriateness with regards to these recent events, it perhaps should have been delayed a few weeks, only because Londoners are experiencing this as an ongoing situation, as it's not been determined whether there will be a third attempt in quick succession.

Should it have been changed in any way? No way. Speaking as someone not in London, but who had two direct concerns the day of the bombings (an unrequited love in the city, possibly, and more urgently a first cousin who was about a block away from the bus bomb in the first, "successful" attack), I really do believe this article is obviously in good taste, it's obviously relevant to the issue addressed. There's no calousness or offense meant in the piece, and I think people should understand that. That said, whoever's editing should have probably postponed this another three weeks or so.

-cin
Good luck in future

[russbrett77]

Has the collective IQ of this board dropped recently?

I don't get it?

I don't understand?

It's not funny?

It's a satirical commentary on the X-Men folks. It was quite intelligent and well written.

Wil, keep up the good work. Can't wait for the next one. And don't worry about offending some people with your work (particularly when it's completely unintentional and coincidental). Nobody has the right to go through life without being offended. It helps us to grow. **** 'em.

How about this, next time out, try to offend us.

[Synch]

I really enjoyed the article. It was a very realistic take on what life could possibly be like for a student at the Xavier Institute.


To be honest the London bombing incident did not come to my mind until I saw others mention it. I won't comment on whether or not I find it tactful that this article has some similarities(wheter supposed or not) but I just wanted to state to T.Martin that a person does not have to have a direct connection to a tragedy or event to be affected by it. I was very hurt by what happened in London and I do not have a "direct" connection to the event.

[Ovid]

I just wanted to state to T.Martin that a person does not have to have a direct connection to a tragedy or event to be affected by it. I was very hurt by what happened in London and I do not have a "direct" connection to the event.I think everyone felt for the people involved and their families. What I find slightly disturbing is when people wear their sympathy on their sleeves and/or set themselves up as taste guardians in place of those who were directly affected. It strikes me as narcissistic and deserving of criticism and, yes, even of mockery.

[Anthony Devlin]

I think everyone felt for the people involved and their families. What I find slightly disturbing is when people wear their sympathy on their sleeves and/or set themselves up as taste guardians in place of those who were directly affected. It strikes me as narcissistic and deserving of criticism and, yes, even of mockery.

I was not directly effected, in that no one I know was involved, but I have a hell of lot of friends who live in the surrounding area and would or could have been around or on the transport at the time, now for me to pull someone on this point does not make me any of what you have stated, it makes me human with feelings and emotions connected to the event. Events of this size will affect a great deal of people in different ways, for different periods of time.. If people see a slight connection here to what happened in London then surely they should be allowed to express this concern without the need for belittlement by others. If people don't see it the same acknowledge this in a civil and mature way and move on, I don't think mocking someone for showing concern is a mature way of addressing an issue and does nothing but inflame a situation that does not warrant it.

[Filthy Mutie]

Don't get me started on how stupid it is to have so much glass present in a building that gets blown up as much as this one does.

I don't know, I think it may be more cost/effort effective to replace glass and window frames than it would be to replace all kinds of brick and mortar, or whatever other Shi'Ar construction materials they might use. I'm not sure. It reminds me of my "backward college student days" when I would rather spend money on plastic-ware in bulk rather than buy an actual set of silverware AND have to wash it. Made sense at the time! :)

When I first read the feature article, I did a double-take when I crossed over into the train-part. I wasn't sure if I was getting into an actual article about the incident that was a part of the author's signature or if this was part of it (I tend to just peruse posts/articles first before going back to read them).

EDIT: I thought about my former plastic-wear situation, and I stand by it.

[Ovid]

I don't know, I think it may be more cost/effort effective to replace glass and window frames than it would be to replace all kinds of brick and mortar, or whatever other Shi'Ar construction materials they might use. I'm not sure. It reminds me of my "backward college student days" when I would rather spend money on plastic-ware in bulk rather than buy an actual set of silverware AND have to wash it. Made sense at the time! :) ... EDIT: I thought about my former plastic-wear situation, and I stand by it.:LOL:

I don't think cost-effectiveness is the only consideration, mate. Having your students being cut to bits is also a problem. Shatter-proof glass is the obvious solution.

[Nick Costanzo]

Has the collective IQ of this board dropped recently?We'll all be less depressed if that question goes unanswered :shame:

[Filthy Mutie]

:LOL:

I don't think cost-effectiveness is the only consideration, mate. Having your students being cut to bits is also a problem. Shatter-proof glass is the obvious solution.


Yeah, I supposed if you have limitless money pouring into your bank account, then costs are no longer a problem.

[Ann Nichols]

If nothing else, flying glass can put out people's eyes.

[Filthy Mutie]

If nothing else, flying glass can put out people's eyes.


That's what they have healers for! ( I wish I would've thought of that sooner. )

[Nightw01f]

This was great and I loved the ending. It was like, even though Xaviers is a dangerous place so is the outside world and you can see why there is a need to send them there.

[Angelophile]

Has the collective IQ of this board dropped recently?

I don't get it?

I don't understand?

It's not funny?

It's a satirical commentary on the X-Men folks. It was quite intelligent and well written.

I think there's a few of us that would consider it neither of those, but if you did, fair play to you. I guess I just have higher standards. ;)

[Ricky]

Awesome work! Definitely the most entertaining column I've read in weeks!