Universe 209
Jan. 28th, 2014 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spideyfanoneDuring a few issues of X-treme X-men we get a look at Kurt's home reality, and as such we know some stuff for sure. It was a cancer-free, green-energy-only technotopia wonderland with full mutant civil equality (but not real social equality) and then it got taken over by robots who killed everyone (and then got nuked by Kurt, but they're fine, even if he probably screwed up the environment a whole bunch). That's not a lot of detail, and what there is is sometimes contradictory, e.g. Kurt is described as a high school student, but he says he's from a school with a P.S. code, not a H.S. code, and could only have been about twelve years old at the time. So, long story short, I have a lot of headcanon and have been forced to choose which details are correct sometimes, so under the cut is an attempt to sort out what things were like before the apocalypse, everything from how the United States of California came to be to random ideas about what other Marvel notables were doing at the time. Some of this information is extrapolated from the limited available info, and some is purely made up.
World History:
Universe 209 closely resembled 616 in a lot of ways for much of earth's history, but the early twentieth century diverged in two significant ways. First, the early discovery of alien artifacts and some good work by local supergeniuses led to the development of green, renewable energy technology during the 1920's in America, though it was so revolutionary it was kept under wraps for several years because no one was even sure what to do with it (and, as in all worlds, there were many interested parties with all their wealth tied up in existing energy and production technology). However, the Dust Bowl effect was more widespread due to climate effects from a major volcanic erruption event that did not occur in our timeline, and the stock market crash worse, and WWI had been even more devastating in Europe due to the same divergent weather conditions and some extra nasty weapons, also derived from extraterrestrial tech. As a result, the Great Depression was even more devastating in its early years, until a tech company in California introduced its revolutionary technologies with permission directly from the president, reversing America's fortunes with this bump to the New Deal programs returning the nation to full employment and lowering the costs while raising standards of living. The Nazi rise to power still occurred, but Western Europe was in possession of the new technology and in a much stronger position, as was most of Asia. There was no war in the Pacific, and while Nazis were still Nazis, they didn't get nearly as far, and most of their expansion efforts were directed eastward before their defeat. Beating Hitler put the allies in a good mood and the Soviet Union was in bad shape after both the war and the climate disruption. There was no Cold War, as such, and the USSR moved toward sustainable socialism. Technological improvements continued with more focus on human needs (there was no space race, for instance, though there was a probe program that searched for the aliens whose technology had made it all possible), and green energy and health improvements went alongside peace and prosperity.
American history:
Renamed the United States of California after west coast science saved the world, the US progressed with the same generalized prosperity as everyone else, plus a bit for having all the original researchers. World leaders in science in a world that revolved around science they might have been, but there were a lot of problems at home, and after the war with Germany, certain hypocrisies became very apparent. The Civil Rights movement emerged in the fifties, and included more open agitation for the LGBT, the poor, and mutants and metahumans. However, human nature is human nature, and while legal victories were gained in the sixties and seventies, there were certainly conservative forces in the world, and even in the brilliant present-day utopia (before the robots), actually being a visible mutant or other minority was far from easy.
Then robots killed everybody.
Other Heroes:
Spider-man is the only known quality, due to Kurt's fanboy obsession/adolescent crush/psychological coping mechanism. He's the Secretary of Homeland Technology, and he has merchandise, so he's still at least a bit goofy. It's not confirmed that Spidey is Peter Parker, but I work on the assumption that he is, and that his origins are more-or-less intact, though he's attained fame, wealth, and all that jazz. And a jetpack.
Charles Xavier was an early and influential mutant-rights advocate who founded his school (only a school, and not a super hero training academy) in the early sixties and retired about thirty years later to spend more time with his wife and son, a respected writer and politician who made guest spots on television and published articles until his death when Kurt was in grade school.
Erik Lensherr was instrumental in the final defeat of Nazi Germany, initially a member of the underground who joined Captain America's team after his powers saved them from an ambush and provided information to the Allies so that the camps could be closed and cleaned out in the first year of the war. He emigrated with his wife and children to the states and worked on both mutant issues and the founding of the state of Israel, and was a close and personal friend of Xavier's. Two of his children were among the first publicly mutant heroes, founding Avengers the Scarlet Flash and Silver Warlock. His human daughter eventually became the Governor of New York and after retiring from political office was a noted human rights advocate.
Captain America left the army after the German War and spent the rest of his life as a private citizen, albeit a common talk show guest.
Bruce Banner was a noted contributor to the eventual eradication of cancer, due to his brilliant work with radiation therapy.
T'Challa was another founding Avenger, a Wakandan prince who chose to study at the American technology academies, and maintained a careful secret identity to keep his work integrating vibranium with existing tech from his super heroic activities.
Carol Danvers came out of the explosion of a mysterious device with superhuman powers, as in universe 616. While not a founder, she was a noted and successful Avenger.
Stephen Strange was Sorcerer Supreme on a world that valued science much more than magic, and largely stayed out of the hero game, busying himself with mystical concerns for the most part.
Ororo Munroe was Charles Xavier's protege in politics and philosophy for many years before she left advocacy for full-time super heroics, joining the Avengers and eventually marrying the Black Panther.
Tony Stark was a noted robotics engineer early in the AI revolution. He did create the Iron Man suit, but was never a full-time hero and maintained his secret identity.
James Howlett lived in obscurity in Canada on his family estate until the mutant rights movement gained momentum, at which point he came forward and revealed his age and healing factor, which was extensively researched and mined for many medical advances.
Kitty Pryde was widely credited with creating the first true AI that gave rise to the robot saturation. She was also one of the few independent supes working.
Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy, and Warren Worthington all had noted careers in their fields and went on to be advocates of Charles Xavier's educational methods for mutant and metahuman students.
Matt Murdock was one of New York's premiere super heroes, using both his highly developed senses and technological augmentations. He famously turned down membership in the Avengers, preferring to operate solo.
Reed Richards, Sue Storm, John Storm, and Ben Grimm received their powers as a result of cosmic rays and were among the first super heroes as such, though they devoted more of their time to research after the first decade. Susan was credited with several notable bio-scrubbers that assisted in the permanent expunging of industrial waste from earth's environment.
Thor was one of several Asgardians to visit earth when the puny humans' tech took an immense leap forward unexpectedly. He was a sometimes-Avenger who always enjoyed treating the planet as a vacation home for low-key heroism.
Amora was part of the Asgardian delegation that visited earth and decided to stay, finding a new home for herself out of Thor's aggravating orbit. She eventually settled in New York and used her powers for good, protecting earth from magical threats and occasionally crushing petty human criminals beneath her delicate heels.
Wanda Wilson was already a bit cracked when she left the special forces and became the recipient of one of the earliest Howlett-derived treatments, which reacted disastrously with her advanced cancer. In addition to a feared mercenary with a distinct lunatic streak who was called in only when absolute insanity was the only option, she was a regular in the Spider-man fan community.
Kurt's Personal History:
Kurt was adopted as a baby from the South Pacific from an agency that specialized in placing unwanted mutant children, a common problem in the developing world (and elsewhere).
He was a very awkward child naturally, and his physical mutation kept him from having the option of being ignored. His parents did they best they could for him, and as both were highly accomplished robotics engineers (working for Forge Industries, though his mother was poached from Stark right before they'd met), they had a lot of opportunities to place him in camps and advanced programs. On the advice of a school councilor Kurt didn't think much of, they opted out of having him skip more than one grade, figuring he had enough trouble socially, but outside of school he was doing college-level work, even in a world with science as advanced as his.
He never did make friends with any of his peers, though he spent plenty of time on the internet and friends there (one of whom was Deadpool) for purposes of talking about Spider-man, indie music, and quantum physics. At school he spent most of his time bored, stuffed in lockers (he didn't start porting until after the robots killed everyone), or being aggressively bullied. He was a quiet, awkward nerd, a visible mutant, and a small, timid, and rather gentle male, and as such was doomed by middle school. Being a basement-dwelling internet hipster was really all he could do.
World History:
Universe 209 closely resembled 616 in a lot of ways for much of earth's history, but the early twentieth century diverged in two significant ways. First, the early discovery of alien artifacts and some good work by local supergeniuses led to the development of green, renewable energy technology during the 1920's in America, though it was so revolutionary it was kept under wraps for several years because no one was even sure what to do with it (and, as in all worlds, there were many interested parties with all their wealth tied up in existing energy and production technology). However, the Dust Bowl effect was more widespread due to climate effects from a major volcanic erruption event that did not occur in our timeline, and the stock market crash worse, and WWI had been even more devastating in Europe due to the same divergent weather conditions and some extra nasty weapons, also derived from extraterrestrial tech. As a result, the Great Depression was even more devastating in its early years, until a tech company in California introduced its revolutionary technologies with permission directly from the president, reversing America's fortunes with this bump to the New Deal programs returning the nation to full employment and lowering the costs while raising standards of living. The Nazi rise to power still occurred, but Western Europe was in possession of the new technology and in a much stronger position, as was most of Asia. There was no war in the Pacific, and while Nazis were still Nazis, they didn't get nearly as far, and most of their expansion efforts were directed eastward before their defeat. Beating Hitler put the allies in a good mood and the Soviet Union was in bad shape after both the war and the climate disruption. There was no Cold War, as such, and the USSR moved toward sustainable socialism. Technological improvements continued with more focus on human needs (there was no space race, for instance, though there was a probe program that searched for the aliens whose technology had made it all possible), and green energy and health improvements went alongside peace and prosperity.
American history:
Renamed the United States of California after west coast science saved the world, the US progressed with the same generalized prosperity as everyone else, plus a bit for having all the original researchers. World leaders in science in a world that revolved around science they might have been, but there were a lot of problems at home, and after the war with Germany, certain hypocrisies became very apparent. The Civil Rights movement emerged in the fifties, and included more open agitation for the LGBT, the poor, and mutants and metahumans. However, human nature is human nature, and while legal victories were gained in the sixties and seventies, there were certainly conservative forces in the world, and even in the brilliant present-day utopia (before the robots), actually being a visible mutant or other minority was far from easy.
Then robots killed everybody.
Other Heroes:
Spider-man is the only known quality, due to Kurt's fanboy obsession/adolescent crush/psychological coping mechanism. He's the Secretary of Homeland Technology, and he has merchandise, so he's still at least a bit goofy. It's not confirmed that Spidey is Peter Parker, but I work on the assumption that he is, and that his origins are more-or-less intact, though he's attained fame, wealth, and all that jazz. And a jetpack.
Charles Xavier was an early and influential mutant-rights advocate who founded his school (only a school, and not a super hero training academy) in the early sixties and retired about thirty years later to spend more time with his wife and son, a respected writer and politician who made guest spots on television and published articles until his death when Kurt was in grade school.
Erik Lensherr was instrumental in the final defeat of Nazi Germany, initially a member of the underground who joined Captain America's team after his powers saved them from an ambush and provided information to the Allies so that the camps could be closed and cleaned out in the first year of the war. He emigrated with his wife and children to the states and worked on both mutant issues and the founding of the state of Israel, and was a close and personal friend of Xavier's. Two of his children were among the first publicly mutant heroes, founding Avengers the Scarlet Flash and Silver Warlock. His human daughter eventually became the Governor of New York and after retiring from political office was a noted human rights advocate.
Captain America left the army after the German War and spent the rest of his life as a private citizen, albeit a common talk show guest.
Bruce Banner was a noted contributor to the eventual eradication of cancer, due to his brilliant work with radiation therapy.
T'Challa was another founding Avenger, a Wakandan prince who chose to study at the American technology academies, and maintained a careful secret identity to keep his work integrating vibranium with existing tech from his super heroic activities.
Carol Danvers came out of the explosion of a mysterious device with superhuman powers, as in universe 616. While not a founder, she was a noted and successful Avenger.
Stephen Strange was Sorcerer Supreme on a world that valued science much more than magic, and largely stayed out of the hero game, busying himself with mystical concerns for the most part.
Ororo Munroe was Charles Xavier's protege in politics and philosophy for many years before she left advocacy for full-time super heroics, joining the Avengers and eventually marrying the Black Panther.
Tony Stark was a noted robotics engineer early in the AI revolution. He did create the Iron Man suit, but was never a full-time hero and maintained his secret identity.
James Howlett lived in obscurity in Canada on his family estate until the mutant rights movement gained momentum, at which point he came forward and revealed his age and healing factor, which was extensively researched and mined for many medical advances.
Kitty Pryde was widely credited with creating the first true AI that gave rise to the robot saturation. She was also one of the few independent supes working.
Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy, and Warren Worthington all had noted careers in their fields and went on to be advocates of Charles Xavier's educational methods for mutant and metahuman students.
Matt Murdock was one of New York's premiere super heroes, using both his highly developed senses and technological augmentations. He famously turned down membership in the Avengers, preferring to operate solo.
Reed Richards, Sue Storm, John Storm, and Ben Grimm received their powers as a result of cosmic rays and were among the first super heroes as such, though they devoted more of their time to research after the first decade. Susan was credited with several notable bio-scrubbers that assisted in the permanent expunging of industrial waste from earth's environment.
Thor was one of several Asgardians to visit earth when the puny humans' tech took an immense leap forward unexpectedly. He was a sometimes-Avenger who always enjoyed treating the planet as a vacation home for low-key heroism.
Amora was part of the Asgardian delegation that visited earth and decided to stay, finding a new home for herself out of Thor's aggravating orbit. She eventually settled in New York and used her powers for good, protecting earth from magical threats and occasionally crushing petty human criminals beneath her delicate heels.
Wanda Wilson was already a bit cracked when she left the special forces and became the recipient of one of the earliest Howlett-derived treatments, which reacted disastrously with her advanced cancer. In addition to a feared mercenary with a distinct lunatic streak who was called in only when absolute insanity was the only option, she was a regular in the Spider-man fan community.
Kurt's Personal History:
Kurt was adopted as a baby from the South Pacific from an agency that specialized in placing unwanted mutant children, a common problem in the developing world (and elsewhere).
He was a very awkward child naturally, and his physical mutation kept him from having the option of being ignored. His parents did they best they could for him, and as both were highly accomplished robotics engineers (working for Forge Industries, though his mother was poached from Stark right before they'd met), they had a lot of opportunities to place him in camps and advanced programs. On the advice of a school councilor Kurt didn't think much of, they opted out of having him skip more than one grade, figuring he had enough trouble socially, but outside of school he was doing college-level work, even in a world with science as advanced as his.
He never did make friends with any of his peers, though he spent plenty of time on the internet and friends there (one of whom was Deadpool) for purposes of talking about Spider-man, indie music, and quantum physics. At school he spent most of his time bored, stuffed in lockers (he didn't start porting until after the robots killed everyone), or being aggressively bullied. He was a quiet, awkward nerd, a visible mutant, and a small, timid, and rather gentle male, and as such was doomed by middle school. Being a basement-dwelling internet hipster was really all he could do.
