Uncanny X-Men's metaphorical slash subtext

[salinea]

So the recent UXM was interesting, but more importantly, it had this... parallel thingy that provides fodder for slashing. Really, it does. Kieron Gillen said it does:

Pretentious (and inaccurately) I think of the issue as the leitmotif for my whole run. In the small story, you can see the whole picture. It's certainly the tightest example of how I'm using the villains in my post-relaunch issues. As in, I'm exploring them as a compare and contrast with the current situation of mutantkind, and as dark possible futures. This is the first time I've explicitly mentioned this, but every primary antagonist they meet is the last member of another species. The Phalanx is driven mad by the loneliness. The Savage and the Immortal Man are dual custodians of a people's past, fighting over what really matters. Sinister is a new species of one person — which of course simultaneously also makes him the last. And as readers of S.W.O.R.D. will know, UNIT is a very friendly ends-justify-the-means final-artifact-of-a-long-dead-people, with an ethical calculus that justifies infinite genocides to achieve their aim. When I'm writing about the villains, I'm really using it to explore the question of mutantkind and their current position as a species on the cusp of annihilation, and where that can drive you.

They're also useful for fights. Big ol' fights. Honestly, there's punching. It's not just metaphors. There's often metaphors you can punch, which are the best kind of metaphors.

Source is a Newsarama interview

They are also metaphors that you can slash, which are the very best kind of metaphors!

So we have this capsule, accelerated time aged world from which the Savage and the Immortal Man are the dual custodians of a people's past. Let the Savage explains their story:











Okay, so one's a benevolent if very condescending guy, and his old friend, even more arrogant, is not so kind - even irrationally so. I think the parallel is clear enough. What does the Immortal Man has to say for himself?


... wait, "unwife"?









Yeaaaah, the parallel haven't gotten any less obvious, but this "unwife" business, is it really as shippy as it sounds?





Yes, yes, it is.

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

hmm... this is surprisingly deep... i might have to pick this up....

[brooms]

this was so ultimate!charles/erik meet first class fandom.

[skywaterblue]

Yeah, yeah, Charles/Erik is obvious. It's so Doctor/Master for me!

[darkknightjrk]

I don't think it's slashing when it's pretty much telling you what's going on in-story. I also don't understand what the quote from Gillen has to do with it.

[flo_nelja]

Yeah, tu l'as posté ! Et tu as raison, c'est assez clairement évident. ^^;; Il y a des gens qui s'amusent avec leurs métaphores. ^^

Not loving this, sorry.

[tessiebee]

I mean the Mags/Xav is meant to be cute but come on 'each would prefer the other to be the wife'?

God forbid a big strong genius creature should choose to become *gulp* a wife.
I cannot be the only one to see the problems here...

Plus not touching the obviously axe-crazy Magneto counterpart. 'Bad Apex' my bum.

[lieut_kettch]

Can we have "Good Apex" join the X-Club and have many snark-filled adventures with Dr. Nemesis?

[blackruzsa]

Good Apex must stay.
This is a really lovely thing to return to <3 Haven;t been on S_D in a while.

[biod]

Oh my word, it's Prothy the Prothean in his incredibly rapid extra-canon appearance!
Bioware wastes no time in expanding the influence of their characters across all media.

[pyrrhocorax]

I love the way their faces keep changing shape, not sure why though. Maybe in response to light levels?