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on the subject of Rictor
Feb. 24th, 2007 08:19 pmOkay, so, Rictor is adorable and I want to hug him and feed him cookies and tell him it's all gonna be okay. So far X-Factor #17-23 have been the most important issues of that series that I've bought for him, sort of his introductory arc. He's a sweetie.
But of course, having now read this, I am nitpickpickpicking stuff I've read for him.
A lot of fanfics I've seen say he was illiterate when X-Factor rescued him, which didn't jive with this quote from X-Force #34:
"I sold my soul to become everything I didn't want to become. Did you know that when I was a kid...all I did was wanna read books an' escape from this life I led. I used to remake my father into one of the heroes I read about...because I wanted him to be better than he was, 'cuz that would mean maybe I was better, too. But look at me now...in the end, am I really all that different from him?"
I thought maybe the X-Force thing could possibly be a retcon -- giving people the benefit of the doubt when I hadn't read his early appearences. I am now convinced it's not.
First of all, Rictor speaks English fluently, at least as fluently as the other kids. He has either read or at least watched a version of Peter Pan, watched Star Wars, and heard of Central Park. He understands chess well enough to watch Hank McCoy play it and immediately see where and how Hank's opponent is in check. The kid is neither stupid nor, I'm guessing, particularly uneducated for his age.
We also don't know how long The Right had him, but it's probably less than a year. They didn't make him destroy the city in Mexico -- we are not, at first, told which one it was -- but found him after he did it and tortured him for long enough to thoroughly traumatize him. He was powerful enough to do it again, they just wanted to make sure he did it when they wanted him to. Also injected him with various drugs, it seems, which isn't gone into and from his behaviour wasn't addictive, so I'm guessing sedatives, stimulants, various things to fiddle with his reaction time or control....
Your heart just goes out to the kid. He's a sweetie. We also have no idea how old he is. He's about the same height as Rusty Collins (who was in the Navy, and so at least 17-18? What was the minimum age in the 80s?), but thinner and younger looking in the face.
Additionally, he has the worse set of cowlicks ever -- his hair pretty much stands out however it wants from his head. I know he starts spiking it at some point (my roommate recalls seeing this when he started, as she was reading the books as they came out, adn thinking it was a sign that he was getting "a little less fucking traumatized," as she put it. :3) and I'm glad he eventually figured out that his hair was heavy enough when he grew it out to counteract that...
His hair was still short and curlyish when he showe dup in the current X-Factor, but now it's ...looking a lot like it did when he was first found. Unwashed. Lank. D:
(more later! work now!)
But of course, having now read this, I am nitpickpickpicking stuff I've read for him.
A lot of fanfics I've seen say he was illiterate when X-Factor rescued him, which didn't jive with this quote from X-Force #34:
I thought maybe the X-Force thing could possibly be a retcon -- giving people the benefit of the doubt when I hadn't read his early appearences. I am now convinced it's not.
First of all, Rictor speaks English fluently, at least as fluently as the other kids. He has either read or at least watched a version of Peter Pan, watched Star Wars, and heard of Central Park. He understands chess well enough to watch Hank McCoy play it and immediately see where and how Hank's opponent is in check. The kid is neither stupid nor, I'm guessing, particularly uneducated for his age.
We also don't know how long The Right had him, but it's probably less than a year. They didn't make him destroy the city in Mexico -- we are not, at first, told which one it was -- but found him after he did it and tortured him for long enough to thoroughly traumatize him. He was powerful enough to do it again, they just wanted to make sure he did it when they wanted him to. Also injected him with various drugs, it seems, which isn't gone into and from his behaviour wasn't addictive, so I'm guessing sedatives, stimulants, various things to fiddle with his reaction time or control....
Your heart just goes out to the kid. He's a sweetie. We also have no idea how old he is. He's about the same height as Rusty Collins (who was in the Navy, and so at least 17-18? What was the minimum age in the 80s?), but thinner and younger looking in the face.
Additionally, he has the worse set of cowlicks ever -- his hair pretty much stands out however it wants from his head. I know he starts spiking it at some point (my roommate recalls seeing this when he started, as she was reading the books as they came out, adn thinking it was a sign that he was getting "a little less fucking traumatized," as she put it. :3) and I'm glad he eventually figured out that his hair was heavy enough when he grew it out to counteract that...
His hair was still short and curlyish when he showe dup in the current X-Factor, but now it's ...looking a lot like it did when he was first found. Unwashed. Lank. D:
(more later! work now!)