Since I have received no opposition to my idea, I have gone ahead and started.
http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthr...319#post296319
Students and faculty alike my join in. This thread will mostly be Mirror's assessment of the school to see what is good and what needs to be improved. Then the real fun begins.
This sounds like an interesting new direction for Cullen's. I'd like to get involved, though it'll have to wait for after this weekend. Lots due Tuesday...
Should we in the faculty know to expect Mirror's arrival, or is he coming to essentially make his case? Either way, he'll probably have to earn Dragon's trust before he's fully ready to throw his support behind Mirror, but once he does, Dragon will be way into this new program.
I'll try to intro Ziggy tomorrow and have him join in soon.
So this is another Cullen brother then? In addition to:
http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.ph...=Joseph_Cullen
Apparently poor Joe Cullen has been forgotten by his brother :mneh
Nevermind, though. I imagined Joseph as the black sheep of the family.. a man who had vanished from the radar, so to speak, many years ago - probably under slightly suspicious circumstances.
Yes, he is. If this is a problem he can be a cousin or a colleague just as easily. I figured tying him to dr. cullen by blood would allow Mirror to express authority about Dr. Cullen's true purpose for his school.
EDIT: just saw the other post. If we want, we can say the third cullen brother is overseas working on developing schools for the gifted in other countries. makes him exotic. Or we can just play the Colombo card and people can wonder if there really is a Joseph Cullen
I have no problem with him being another Cullen brother.
Nice avatar choice
Thank you.
In the thread, Mirror will be introducing himself and his team, and the thread will end with a school assembly to inform the students of the overhaul in curriculum. Faculty will also be reassigned to departments according to their mutant ability, since teaching mutant power mastery will be the first goal of the Cullen's school.
A reason for Ethan
Wonder how this is gonna go down
Good question. I'm trying to catch up on the Time to say Goodbye thread to figure out where Ethan has been this whole time. You can bet that Mirror will have a few choice words for him for his extended absence, though.
I think it'll turn out fine, though.
You loose the love of your life to a coma and see how you react
The latter, I think. He is a bit of a mystery, vanished around the time of his brothers death - but even before then he was hardly in the public eye.Originally Posted by Mirror
You loose the love of your life to a coma and see how you react
Mirror won't be without sympathy, but still, the school is in sad shape. Something has to be done. First thing will probably be sorting out faculty, making sure Ethan still wants to run Cullen;s, etc. Mirror will be acting as President of the school, rather than its new principal. He would very much like to see the current faculty and administration survive and do well because they're the people his brother trusted with the school. It would look bad if Dr. Cullen turned out to make a poor choice.
Well in all fairness, Ethan's brush with whatever is going on is what kicks him in the ass to get back into things. Also, I have had no idea what to do with him and hence his absence
Least he can still be Headmaster tho, not principal
They're the same in my mind.
If you don't have any ideas about what to do with Ethan, we can discuss it. It might help to have him mingle with students and assist Mirror in assigning young mutants to teachers for powers mastery.
All the students will be evaluated and placed with a faculty member who Mirror thinks is most adept at helping the student to master his or her powers.
For example, if a youngster comes in with the gift of precognitive awareness, she would be placed with a teacher whose powers are psychic in nature.
If a student's ability allows him to change the shape of his body or somehow alter his physiology, then he might be placed in a mutant powers class with Vipul, since Vipul's power involves cloning himself. It's not an exact match, but they are similar in nature.
Mutants with projectile powers might take classes with Ethan, who can project lightning (if I remember right), a student with super strength or agility might take classes with Dragon since Dragon's powers enhance his physical capability. And the same thing goes so on and so forth down the line until all the students are placed.
The teachers then are responsible for making sure the student knows everything about his or her powers. The student must know where they're powers come from, how these powers affect their bodies, the drawbacks and limitations of these powers, etc. A student would graduate from Cullen's after writing an essay outlining his or her powers in detail and completing a series of field exams with Mirror. If the students can demonstrate clear mastery of their powers to a degree higher than Mirror, they graduate. Afterwards they may join the Cullen's staff as teachers and X-Men, or enter the real world and do what they like.
This is the concept I have so far. It allows for unorthodox teaching styles, exotic locations, exciting lessons and exams, and gives every single person involved in Cullen's life a purpose and mission.
I'm a little uncomfortable with that notion. Sure, mastering their mutant abilities is important and all, but we're talking about kids here, not soldiers. It sounds to me that you're trying to turn Cullens into a training ground for future X-Men. Where are these kids going to get their actual education from?
Or does the idea of compulsory education not apply to "mutant freak childs"?
Also, I'm not entirely sure that "power" is the best way of dividing up the faculty. In some cases it makes sense, but just because someone can shoot lightning from their hands doesn't necessarily qualify them to instruct a pyrokinetic. They "project" fire from their hands (or can, with the requisite abilities), but their powers also allow things like making fires die down, burn hotter, spread to other areas, etc. Would such a student train with the "most suitable" mutant, or would they be part of multiple classes - projection with Ion, inner calm / mental control with Dragon, etc?
To me, the mastery side of things should be additional to regular education, not a replacement. Since we're a boarding school, what if the power mastery stuff was slotted in as a replacement for gym class, the sporting activities over the weekends, after-school clubs, etc? If people wind up only RPing the weekend lessons, that's fine, but the story does still provide an opportunity for them to get a real education.
Not that I'm trying to be the voice of reason and responsibility or anything. :mneh
The kids still get a classic education at Cullen's, but that is a secondary goal. Most of them will get their education in science as they educate themselves on their powers. The English, Literature, and History will all happen too, but you might never see a thread where all the kids sit down in a classroom to hear a professor lecture them.
By making the first goal of Cullen's Institute power mastery, we make Cullen's threads more interesting. Most of the kids probably won't be that interested in fighting--take Freight Train for example.
In the real X-Men universe, every student no matter what spent time in the Danger Room. They spent time in the classroom too, but you never saw a 12 page comic of mutant teenagers spending time hearing a lecture on World War II.
That's what I'm trying to do here: make it so the high energy, exciting stuff is what we hear about.
It isn't your concept that I have an issue with - it's the application, as I've already stated.
I don't feel that what you propose actually represents a new direction for Cullens. Unless you plan to reduce the amount of time kids spend in the classroom, then the existing activities at Cullens will continue as normal. All you're suggesting is a bolt-on, to take place whenever the kids aren't actually in lessons.
With this brought in - as you're pitching it at least - you risk stamping out everything else that happens at Cullens. You risk losing all feel of it being a school, and will effectively turn it into more of a boot camp than a sanctuary for angsty mutant teens. Sure, lesson-based stories might be boring, unless they're done right, but there are certain aspects of stories that make things feel like "High School"; such an aggressive change of direction could eliminate those from occurring.
Surely, your idea can be implemented in such a way that it isn't a "big deal" in character - as if it's an organic extension of the school, rather than the new "first goal" you suggest?
It's like that, and that's the way it is.
That's not up to me. It'll be up to the people that role play. If you write it like a school, then it'll be a school. If you write it like a boot camp, it'll be a boot camp.
Powers lessons will run (in my mind) like organized chaos or sports practice. The students will be encouraged to play with their powers and see what they can do while under the supervision of faculty, who will observe and make suggestions. The students will set their own goals for their powers development and it will be up to the teachers to see that their kids meet those goals.
I plan to keep Cullen's a school.
Cullens already had mutation classes, so how is Mirrors idea any different? It's just like a special school that puts emphasis on powers first.
I don't see how it'll be like boot-camp at all, unless you're getting punished. The only class I ever rped that was some sort of powers class was Art Class as Caresse. I like the idea, and I think it'll bring a bit more life to Cullens.
Kids are still going to bitch and moan about school, only now some might be bitching about fucking up while using their powers, or getting a shit kicking in one of their lessons. Like Mirror said, if the original comics were just about school, no-one would read them. One of the first X-men comics I bought started with them doing a training exercise. Great way to intro everyone and their powers.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks