incorrectklavekatz

[incorrectklavekatz]

Luca remembering Alva with a moustache when in all of Alva’s trailers he doesn’t have one always makes me giggle, do you think he’d recognise him if they put a fake moustache on him?

[incorrectklavekatz]

Being an old player of idv is being so deluded in the idea that Norton is Mexican that you go to get annoyed at him being whitewashed…only to remember that he IS white and you’re just balls deep in a headcanon.

[incorrectklavekatz]

The double standards between Mike and Joker is lowkey insane, I will never be able to trust people who love Joker and hate Mike cause every time you ask them why they hate Mike they’ll come back with “he shouted at Violetta!” First of all, he apologised later, and he only shouted in the first place because she was talking about something directly related to his trauma, second of all, and I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this, Joker MURDERED Violetta, how are you gonna hate Mike for SHOUTING when he was overwhelmed then turn around and love Joker when he murdered the same person you hate Mike for mistreating?

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Joker and think he’s incredibly interesting, I just hate this argument. “Mike ignored the abuse going on in the circus!” Mike was being abused himself and didn’t realise it because he doesn’t know anything else, as soon as he realises they were suffering, he kills himself, I truly don’t understand the reason for all of the hate towards him recently.

“He’s so rude!” Well yeah…he’s been the centre of attention his ENTIRE life, sure he’ll come off as arrogant, but he’s more just sassy than rude? He canonically hates rude and violent people, why would he act in that fashion for any reason other than the fact his entire life was just burnt to the ground? I just don’t understand the sudden influx in pure Mike hate recently.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Absolutely! I do think it may have crossed the line to some extent, think Jinx and Silco from arcane, that uncomfortable dynamic that is clearly pushing some parental lines that should NOT be crossed? I imagine that’s what Mike and Bernard’s dynamic is like, wildly uncomfortable and very clearly ‘too close for comfort’, he is constantly seeking attention from Bernard, good or bad, and I think that is a clear sign that he has been encouraged into this codependency of seeking out Bernard’s opinions on every action he takes, hence how lost and scatterbrained he was after Bernard’s death.

Mike Morton Deductions (short analysis on his dynamic with Bernard)

I feel like this deduction isn’t talked about enough? I know I touched on this in a previous post, but Mike and Bernard’s dynamic is WEIRD. I’d love to know what other people’s opinion on this is because I’ve seen a couple of different takes, I think it can be fairly confidently stated that Mike was groomed by Bernard to some degree, at the very least emotionally.

“How people call each other often reflects the degree to which the relationship has developed” I don’t know about anybody else, but calling your adoptive father ‘darling’ isn’t a common thing.

Maybe if it were just that you could excuse it as theatrics or just the nature he was raised in, but the second comment about wanting to be told off by him, and on top of that having him specifically say that he wants to put his hands down his collar? Now I am totally aware that that is a common joke, but alongside the other things that are clear in their dynamic, and the things Bernard was not only allowing to happen, but actively encouraging and participating in? I don’t know.

The extent of Mikes codependency on Bernard and Bernard’s reaction to Mike supposedly taking harsh chemicals regularly (nitre, which is known to limit oxygen in the blood and in turn cause neurological issues eg balance, critical for an acrobat) seems very unconcerned? If not as a boss with an employee being put at risk, as the at employees adoptive father?? Again, incredibly strange and clearly not healthy.

Again, on the point of Mikes adoption, as far as I’m aware we’re never told how Mike came into Bernard’s custody, just that there’s a picture of him with a young Mike in front of the circus (and of course the clip in hullabaloo’s intro video), was he legally adopted? Did Bernard know Mike’s parents? Are his parents still alive? Was he even an orphan in the first place? We have no idea, and considering how young Mike was when it happened, he likely has no real idea either, what motives does Bernard have in adopting a child when he was clearly so uninterested in his own blood nephews life?

Im not making any claims here as I have not even in the fandom for a very long time, but I’d love to hear other people’s opinions on this, and I’d love for Bernard to be added to the game as a Hunter, I hate his guts so much but there’s so many gaps in Mike specifically’s story that could only really be filled from Murro or Bernard’s perspective.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Mike Morton Deductions (short analysis on his dynamic with Bernard)

I feel like this deduction isn’t talked about enough? I know I touched on this in a previous post, but Mike and Bernard’s dynamic is WEIRD. I’d love to know what other people’s opinion on this is because I’ve seen a couple of different takes, I think it can be fairly confidently stated that Mike was groomed by Bernard to some degree, at the very least emotionally.

“How people call each other often reflects the degree to which the relationship has developed” I don’t know about anybody else, but calling your adoptive father ‘darling’ isn’t a common thing.

Maybe if it were just that you could excuse it as theatrics or just the nature he was raised in, but the second comment about wanting to be told off by him, and on top of that having him specifically say that he wants to put his hands down his collar? Now I am totally aware that that is a common joke, but alongside the other things that are clear in their dynamic, and the things Bernard was not only allowing to happen, but actively encouraging and participating in? I don’t know.

The extent of Mikes codependency on Bernard and Bernard’s reaction to Mike supposedly taking harsh chemicals regularly (nitre, which is known to limit oxygen in the blood and in turn cause neurological issues eg balance, critical for an acrobat) seems very unconcerned? If not as a boss with an employee being put at risk, as the at employees adoptive father?? Again, incredibly strange and clearly not healthy.

Again, on the point of Mikes adoption, as far as I’m aware we’re never told how Mike came into Bernard’s custody, just that there’s a picture of him with a young Mike in front of the circus (and of course the clip in hullabaloo’s intro video), was he legally adopted? Did Bernard know Mike’s parents? Are his parents still alive? Was he even an orphan in the first place? We have no idea, and considering how young Mike was when it happened, he likely has no real idea either, what motives does Bernard have in adopting a child when he was clearly so uninterested in his own blood nephews life?

Im not making any claims here as I have not even in the fandom for a very long time, but I’d love to hear other people’s opinions on this, and I’d love for Bernard to be added to the game as a Hunter, I hate his guts so much but there’s so many gaps in Mike specifically’s story that could only really be filled from Murro or Bernard’s perspective.

[incorrectklavekatz]

What is it with the shipping culture in the identity V fandom.. like, I search Luca Balsa on TikTok and a good chunk of the videos are shipping him with Alva? Even if you ignore the fact Alva is over twenty years older than Luca, he basically RAISED him, that is his DAD bro. Istg people would ship Mike with Bernard if he got added to the game what the hell.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Hope it’s alright to comment on your hullabaloo post anonymously!

I feel that the nuance in mike’s character is so lost on the audience atp. The closing night event assumes its viewers have read the letters when most probably have not. So many people did not understand why he was acting the way he was, and seeing him mischaracterized as “he’s been an asshole all along” and a LOT of people believing it is so ://

Absolutely! I totally agree with this, I think many people are going off of the assumption that Mike joined the circus the same as the others, rather than being raised in it (important note, not just raised, adopted by at a young age), we don’t know where Mike came from, just that Bernard adopted him when he was young, we have no idea what kind of life or background he came from before he was in Bernard’s custody and therefore have no idea what template he has for the world outside of the circus, for all we know the things happening in the circus were an improvement from his life before which would explain his spiral when the circus burned down!

[incorrectklavekatz]

Does anybody else feel as though the new hullabaloo lore in story mode has made people forget that Mike was also mistreated at hullabaloo?

Like have we just forgotten about Mikes relationship with Bernard? Him calling his supposed father darling? Viewing being shouted at as a positive thing? Everything?

Everything about his deductions SCREAMS that he was groomed by Bernard to believe what he said was happening in the circus, he was raised there BY Bernard and knew nothing outside of the circus, YES he knew about the others suffering, but he was also suffering, he just hadn’t been given the resources to process that and why the others aren’t coping with it the same way he is.

He very clearly cares deeply about the others, he is not perfect in any way, and I am not excusing how he disregards the others pain because he loves hullabaloo, but I think it’s important to remember WHY he feels he’s in the right for ignoring their suffering, because it makes his actions make a lot more sense when you consider that he doesn’t actually know any different.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Is anybody else getting MAJOR Jurassic Park vibes from the whole Dire Wolf situation? I mean, it’s not Dire Wolf DNA, it’s Genetically Modified Grey Wolf DNA (which are supposedly not even the closest thing we have to Dire Wolves - apparently they’re closer to jackals? Could be wrong though), and despite all of that, what’s the goal here? Surely bringing back a more recently extinct animal would be more beneficial? Dire Wolves no longer have a place in the ecosystem of today, but there are plenty of animals extinct in the past twenty-fifty years that could still be reintroduced. And if these three are healthy, how many pups died to get to this stage in development? How ethical is this just for what seems to be a gimmick for an animal people deem as ‘cool’? It is very much giving “you didn’t ask for reality, you asked for more teeth”. Those wolves aren’t dire wolves- they’re genetically modified grey wolves that as far as we know, serve no real purpose other than proving that we can do this kind of thing.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Have they also considered I Am Not Done, let us write as much as we feel fit!! Pulling 800 words out of our asses and cutting 800 words out of a finished essay just to meet a number markers have found fit will never not be silly to me.

word counts on essays are so silly have you not considered the fact that I Am Done. that I Have Nothing Left To Say.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Dear marvel fandom, 0.2 seconds of ‘spoiler warning’ or putting ‘spoiler warning’ in the caption of your video is not a spoiler warning! Daredevil literally came out like yesterday, what happened to grace periods??

[incorrectklavekatz]

Totally agree with a lot of your points here! I think the key point of the issues with the retcon isn’t Irene and mystique being his bio parents at all, more just poor execution of that fact.

I’m mainly gonna focus on the point of why they gave him up cause that one isn’t really a plot hole, in the retcon it’s explained that Mystique put him down to go back and get Irene, when she went back Irene was not there because she was giving Margali Kurt’s location so she could take him.

The main reason for Kurt being given to the circus isn’t JUST because he had to be ‘hardened’, I am well aware of Kurt Darlhölme and how he turned out, which is exactly why they couldn’t have raised them for what Destiny wanted him to do.

They needed him to go through all of that, and still retain his kindness, in the universe where they raised him he became ruthless and that’s not what the future of his original universe needed for him, they needed him to go through all of the things he went through and still be kind at the end of it, they couldn’t make him the person he needed to be.

As for why Margali was the one who took him in, she could hide him from Azezel, from what we can tell by the few comics they’re actually in together, before the whole Stephan situation Margali loved Kurt as one of her own, so she was the best choice for Kurt to be raised in an extremely difficult situation and still experience that nurturing that allowed him to keep the hope he is so heavily characterised by, they, or Irene at least, didn’t lose him, they knew where he was and had their memories altered in order to cope with the fact they couldn’t go get him.

Again, all of your points are totally valid and i definitely agree they handled the retcon poorly in a lot of areas! Mystiques gene shifting abilities are something yet to be expended on, but are canon, it may simply be a case of her not being able to activate the x-genes she mimics, but passing them on allows them to work properly, but hopefully we get further explanation on that soon!

I love hearing others opinions on the retcon and don’t often get the chance to discuss it respectfully like this, so very much appreciate hearing your views on it!

Thought about the "Nightcrawler's origins" 2023 retcon

Maybe I'm gonna draw the ire of many people, but my main issue here isn't the "two women as bio parents" thing, it's that it makes very few to zero sense considering who they all are : it's just to fill a 'queerness' quota and to me it's obvious the writers painted themselves in a corner in that regard.

To start with, X-Men has always been about "otherness" and naturally, tolerance : mutants are an allegory for being different in multiple ways, ranging from LGBTQ+ to disabled, passing by ethnicity, origins, gender, neurodivergences, and even those "puberty changes your body" coming-of-age stories. Queerness ain't new here : there's non-binary Morph in the 97 show now, Bobby Drake has been rewritten as gay, Mystique and Destiny are a couple since the beginning, and in-comics are together since a century. They also have children, adopted or not - Rogue and Kurt are two out of many (yeah, Mystique really knows her way around, whether it's alternate universes or not). Pretty neat ! Well, if you forget they're both kinda psychopaths using their own kids for their schemes most times (especially Mystique).

But lemme explain why the "Kurt being Destiny and Mystique's biological child with just Azazel's genes" retcon kinda falls flat, for me. Adding to it, the "Azazel is Kurt's bio father" and "Mystique is Kurt's bio mother" were ALSO retcons originally, but it makes more sense in terms of how things became to be the way they are concerning Nightcrawler, again at least to me.

First of all, while it does explain the blue fur/skin and solid yellowish eyes (Kurt gets it from Mystique), it has zero explanation on Nightcrawler's overall appearance at all - the tail ? The unique hands and feet ? The pointy ears ? The general demonic appearance ? Conveniently, Mystique in the 2023 retcon would have transformed into Azazel to conceive Kurt with Destiny... which is actually Destiny's idea. Destiny wanted a child (legit wish), Mystique obliged - and then in a move that absolutely baffles me agrees to Destiny's idea to transform into Azazel of all people, who, by all accounts, is an ex Mystique had a fling with, and has nothing to do with Destiny at all.

It's explained by Destiny having a vision of Azazel becoming problematic later and only be surpassed by a child of his own, hence the two women taking it upon themselves to make sure Kurt technically qualifies as Azazel's kid in the new retcon and raise him to oppose his 'father' later... except they 1) lose and abandon the kid later to escape and make no move of trying to get him back, flat-out asking Xavier to make them forget - pretty bad and illogical if you wanna stop a demonic conqueror, especially for people as ruthless and pragmatic as those two - and 2) Mystique can copy appearances, but not powers, so, not mutations, nor producing what they produce. Which means she kinda-sorta can't copy nor produce genetic material, aka, you know, one of the two things needed to make a baby from the male party in the whole conundrum. Also 3) they abandon Kurt because he was "too blue" and can't hide his mutations like them... y'know, the same appearance he got from the exact one they had the brilliant idea took the genetic template of... and you'd think the lady with literal precognitive powers would've seen that coming.

Which begs the question : why choose Azazel as a basis (aka the one who will make your child look like a literal demon, or a Nephayem - old mutants-looking-like-demons branch of mutants), and IF Mystique can copy and produce genetic material (or else she just would be able to copy Wolverine's whole adamantium skeleton, not just claws poking out like makeover props), why not just turn into simply a male version of herself ? Plus, the classic "oh by the way, previous how-things-went was a big fat lie" is kinda sigh-inducing - we know you have to make it gel with the previous continuity, but c'mon, that stunt has been pulled enough times already.

Secundo : it doesn't explain Kurt's powers and ties to the brimstone dimension (aka HELL), which he passes through between two Bamfs. This makes no sense if Destiny is his bio mom, and Mystique cannot carry powers over, it's a fact. Azazel, however, is either a full or partial demon with the same teleporting power hailing from Hell, or a Nephayem that got banished there by angel-looking mutants, which he claims makes for inspiration in demon and angel folklore as we know them. As in, bleeping CENTURIES ago. The fact that he's got a literal Ars Goetia name helps the thematic demon ties - Nightcrawler is always connected to Hell in one way or another. It's also one of the keystones of his character : a human man looking like a demon, often being persecuted as one, having ties to a demonic realm, yet being every bit the kind, open-minded and gentle soul he is that contrasts everything his appearance and origins bring to the table. Kurt Wagner is "don't judge a book by its cover" and "your origins don't make who you are" incarnate. This guy demonstrates at every turn that you make your own path in life, and for yourself and your loved ones. He has beef with his dad Azazel, who is villainous. He has beef with his moms, Mystique and Destiny, who are villainous and/or manipulative self-centered psychos not unwilling to use children for their own gain (case in point : Rogue). He has beef with his siblings, like with Graydon Creed, a raging jackass hellbent on destroying mutants, or Stefan, who he had to kill. His sister Rogue used to be an enemy and can still slip down the slippery slope at times because of her own trauma - but she's one of the best things that came out of the whole mess that is their tangled family tree (and it's a miracle the guy is still fucking sane). A core thing is that Nightcrawler is a child of many worlds at once, and living proof that you can live with all those differences, plus still be tolerant.

You can't scrap that part of Kurt Wagner, because you'd have to completely rework either his personality, his iconic appearance, and his iconic powers. So they went with a shaky detour trying to justify it in a way that sadly doesn't add up. A for effort though, could've certainly been worse.

Third point : X-Men also always has put a lot of emphasis that family, as long as you chose it, no matter if it's blood or not, is still legit, valid family. So what if he isn't Irene/Destiny's bio child ? Doesn't undermine the wish for family she had (and they got Rogue too) and that she legit saw him as her son. The reason Kurt cuts ties with Mystique (depending on continuity) is that she's an awful person to begin with. The reason Kurt considers Rogue his sister no ands ifs or buts is because they have the same mom, and despite Mystique being Mystique, he's absolutely elated to have Rogue. He also deeply loves the Szardos family that took him in. If absolutely wanting a biological bond between Kurt and Destiny is to make it more "real" and fill an inclusion quota, it's kinda insulting to every single adopting or adoptee character in the rest of the works - not to mention IRL ones - starting with tanking down Rogue and Kurt's relationship as "fake" siblings (unlike with Amanda, who's Kurt sister-by-adoption too but they see each other as lovers even if family the same way your spouse is, Rogue and Kurt definitively acknowledge each other as siblings). I don't think it's the writers' intention at all, but it's one of the unfortunate consequences.

Also, additional question : if Mystique and Destiny are both the bio moms, where does the "Wagner" name factor in, in all that ? Granted, if Azazel's the bio dad, that same question can be asked. Except Mystique also had a thing with the Baron Wagner at the time they all were in his mansion, since she was married to him as part of a ploy with Irene and the child was thought his illegitimate son. The Szardos finding Kurt and giving him his patronym since he technically comes from the Wagner mansion, without truly knowing what went on, can be a honest mistake indeed - Kurt Wagner grew with the patronym and it stuck. So that solves the name problem at least.

So, conclusion; where does that leave us ? Well, as I've developed here, to me it's a blatant case of "hey let's make it inclusive, but wait, shit, we can't touch the characters' appearance, powers, or personality, as they're all super-iconic as they are and the fandom will have our throats ripped". So basically, another case where making up new characters with the inclusive background you want to give them is way better than changing an established (and already very packed) one to fill a quota at risk of it making no sense anymore. Bobby Drake turning out to be gay makes sense : it explains why none of his relationships with girls worked out. Morph being non-binary in the 97 show ? Also makes sense for them, and not just in the "shapeshifter-is-automatically-genderfluid/N-B" way : they are someone non-conforming without that already, and with their own character getting fleshed out thanks to that, it became part of them ! It gives more to a character we used to see less.

I mean, introduce a new person who happens to have two bio moms, it'll be awesome ! Or take a less-developed character to give them that, heck why not ! But for fuck's sake, if you chose the latter, make it make sense.

"Azazel being the biological dad" and "Irene being one of Kurt's moms" isn't mutually exclusive, dammit. Won't make it any less queer, and it makes the situation even more interesting : who says they didn't resolved to stick it up to Azazel - because he needed Kurt for his rise to power - while wanting to raise the kid as their own ? And then sadly it didn't worked out ? And maybe they think Kurt died ? And maybe it's Irene who asks for her memory to be wiped, because the pain is too much (since she's the one who wanted a family in the first place - which means she'll also still have visions, but of someone she doesn't recognize, so not hampering her own power while still keeping Kurt in them) ? And maybe Xavier actually doesn't intervene to retrieve Kurt right away because since the boy has been found, and maybe it's less of a mess this way, chosing to simply wait and tying in to the point where Kurt joins the X-Men once grown up ? And Rogue can still be his sister later without any problems ?

Marvel retcons a lot of stuff, or pulls the "it's all a dream/alternate reality !" card in case things contradict each other. Or powers being inconsistent, and so on. I mean, practical : that way everything is canon and everyone is happy ! But with this one, well... they kinda wrote themselves in a corner, and it shows.

Kurt Wagner is a man of many contradictions and impossibilities, managing to balance them all with an all-encompassing piratey smile. But making him the bio son of Destiny doesn't add anything : worse, it removes, since it directly contradicts many aspects and themes X-Men works with - that family doesn't care about nor needs blood, that even the ones with the worst origins can be the kindest people, that even a root-rotten tree can bear beautiful fruits even if some are bruised, and that even villains can feel the joy of being granted a child despite the odds, and feel unbearable pain losing said child.

X-Men is about humans, and humanity. Not quotas or checklists.

[incorrectklavekatz]

There are definitely some good points here but I’d like to point out that there are explanations for some of your questions! Firstly, this move technically isn’t a retcon, destiny and mystique being Kurt’s parents was always the writers intention, it’s just only recently they’ve had the correct political climate to bring it into writing.

Second, they didn’t ‘lose’ him, Irene told Margali where to find Kurt because he had to be raised in the circus and experience those things to make him the person he needed to be to combat Azezel, as they said it he needed to be ‘beaten and bruised and come out better for it’.

Thirdly, they DID retcon mystiques abilities, she is not a shapeshifter but a gene shifter, meaning she can copy genes exactly ergo, have a child that is by all means Azezel (and several other men’s) biological child, there is yet to be an explanation as to why she can’t use other mutations herself but can pass them on, but the running theory is that she just doesn’t want to.

On the point of Kurt’s connection to hell, this remains true regardless of who his parents are, he had this connection before we knew about his biological parents at all, and he remains to have that connection even if his parents were perfectly normal humans and he was a random result of mutations, regardless of if he is Mystique and Azezels child or Mystique and Destiny’s child, he looks like a demon, he smells like sulfur, he will be seen as one and he will have those struggles.

What I do agree with is that yes, it is not NECESSARY to make him Mystique and Destiny’s biological child, they can be a family regardless, but it is by no means an ‘lgbtq quota to fill’, it’s a change to their story that allows both Mystique and Kurt closure in the fact that Mystique never abandoned him as a baby and they can respectively have their son, and their mother back. We’ve had nearly sixty years of Kurt’s mommy issues with Raven, a notoriously bad communicator, and we now get to have his dynamic with Irene explored.

In short, this retcon is probably the best thing that could have happened for nightcrawler, it’s what was intended from the start and it’s finally being put into writing, there are hundreds of examples of Xmen picking family that isn’t their blood but generally, Kurt is one of the only ones who has the chance to interact with both biological parents in a positive light, and what I’ve seen of them all so far in recent comics have been promising and fun reads!

I think a lot of people’s issue with the retcon is simply that they’d gotten used to the idea of a typical affair with Mystique and Azezel, which frankly is an overused and boring storyline, being abandoned for being ‘too blue’? Really? Mystique being randomly head over heels for this king of Neyaphem who abandons her? Totally unnecessary and the retcon is so much more true to her character, and actually a new take on diverse families that should have been allowed in the canon in the first place!

Thought about the "Nightcrawler's origins" 2023 retcon

Maybe I'm gonna draw the ire of many people, but my main issue here isn't the "two women as bio parents" thing, it's that it makes very few to zero sense considering who they all are : it's just to fill a 'queerness' quota and to me it's obvious the writers painted themselves in a corner in that regard.

To start with, X-Men has always been about "otherness" and naturally, tolerance : mutants are an allegory for being different in multiple ways, ranging from LGBTQ+ to disabled, passing by ethnicity, origins, gender, neurodivergences, and even those "puberty changes your body" coming-of-age stories. Queerness ain't new here : there's non-binary Morph in the 97 show now, Bobby Drake has been rewritten as gay, Mystique and Destiny are a couple since the beginning, and in-comics are together since a century. They also have children, adopted or not - Rogue and Kurt are two out of many (yeah, Mystique really knows her way around, whether it's alternate universes or not). Pretty neat ! Well, if you forget they're both kinda psychopaths using their own kids for their schemes most times (especially Mystique).

But lemme explain why the "Kurt being Destiny and Mystique's biological child with just Azazel's genes" retcon kinda falls flat, for me. Adding to it, the "Azazel is Kurt's bio father" and "Mystique is Kurt's bio mother" were ALSO retcons originally, but it makes more sense in terms of how things became to be the way they are concerning Nightcrawler, again at least to me.

First of all, while it does explain the blue fur/skin and solid yellowish eyes (Kurt gets it from Mystique), it has zero explanation on Nightcrawler's overall appearance at all - the tail ? The unique hands and feet ? The pointy ears ? The general demonic appearance ? Conveniently, Mystique in the 2023 retcon would have transformed into Azazel to conceive Kurt with Destiny... which is actually Destiny's idea. Destiny wanted a child (legit wish), Mystique obliged - and then in a move that absolutely baffles me agrees to Destiny's idea to transform into Azazel of all people, who, by all accounts, is an ex Mystique had a fling with, and has nothing to do with Destiny at all.

It's explained by Destiny having a vision of Azazel becoming problematic later and only be surpassed by a child of his own, hence the two women taking it upon themselves to make sure Kurt technically qualifies as Azazel's kid in the new retcon and raise him to oppose his 'father' later... except they 1) lose and abandon the kid later to escape and make no move of trying to get him back, flat-out asking Xavier to make them forget - pretty bad and illogical if you wanna stop a demonic conqueror, especially for people as ruthless and pragmatic as those two - and 2) Mystique can copy appearances, but not powers, so, not mutations, nor producing what they produce. Which means she kinda-sorta can't copy nor produce genetic material, aka, you know, one of the two things needed to make a baby from the male party in the whole conundrum. Also 3) they abandon Kurt because he was "too blue" and can't hide his mutations like them... y'know, the same appearance he got from the exact one they had the brilliant idea took the genetic template of... and you'd think the lady with literal precognitive powers would've seen that coming.

Which begs the question : why choose Azazel as a basis (aka the one who will make your child look like a literal demon, or a Nephayem - old mutants-looking-like-demons branch of mutants), and IF Mystique can copy and produce genetic material (or else she just would be able to copy Wolverine's whole adamantium skeleton, not just claws poking out like makeover props), why not just turn into simply a male version of herself ? Plus, the classic "oh by the way, previous how-things-went was a big fat lie" is kinda sigh-inducing - we know you have to make it gel with the previous continuity, but c'mon, that stunt has been pulled enough times already.

Secundo : it doesn't explain Kurt's powers and ties to the brimstone dimension (aka HELL), which he passes through between two Bamfs. This makes no sense if Destiny is his bio mom, and Mystique cannot carry powers over, it's a fact. Azazel, however, is either a full or partial demon with the same teleporting power hailing from Hell, or a Nephayem that got banished there by angel-looking mutants, which he claims makes for inspiration in demon and angel folklore as we know them. As in, bleeping CENTURIES ago. The fact that he's got a literal Ars Goetia name helps the thematic demon ties - Nightcrawler is always connected to Hell in one way or another. It's also one of the keystones of his character : a human man looking like a demon, often being persecuted as one, having ties to a demonic realm, yet being every bit the kind, open-minded and gentle soul he is that contrasts everything his appearance and origins bring to the table. Kurt Wagner is "don't judge a book by its cover" and "your origins don't make who you are" incarnate. This guy demonstrates at every turn that you make your own path in life, and for yourself and your loved ones. He has beef with his dad Azazel, who is villainous. He has beef with his moms, Mystique and Destiny, who are villainous and/or manipulative self-centered psychos not unwilling to use children for their own gain (case in point : Rogue). He has beef with his siblings, like with Graydon Creed, a raging jackass hellbent on destroying mutants, or Stefan, who he had to kill. His sister Rogue used to be an enemy and can still slip down the slippery slope at times because of her own trauma - but she's one of the best things that came out of the whole mess that is their tangled family tree (and it's a miracle the guy is still fucking sane). A core thing is that Nightcrawler is a child of many worlds at once, and living proof that you can live with all those differences, plus still be tolerant.

You can't scrap that part of Kurt Wagner, because you'd have to completely rework either his personality, his iconic appearance, and his iconic powers. So they went with a shaky detour trying to justify it in a way that sadly doesn't add up. A for effort though, could've certainly been worse.

Third point : X-Men also always has put a lot of emphasis that family, as long as you chose it, no matter if it's blood or not, is still legit, valid family. So what if he isn't Irene/Destiny's bio child ? Doesn't undermine the wish for family she had (and they got Rogue too) and that she legit saw him as her son. The reason Kurt cuts ties with Mystique (depending on continuity) is that she's an awful person to begin with. The reason Kurt considers Rogue his sister no ands ifs or buts is because they have the same mom, and despite Mystique being Mystique, he's absolutely elated to have Rogue. He also deeply loves the Szardos family that took him in. If absolutely wanting a biological bond between Kurt and Destiny is to make it more "real" and fill an inclusion quota, it's kinda insulting to every single adopting or adoptee character in the rest of the works - not to mention IRL ones - starting with tanking down Rogue and Kurt's relationship as "fake" siblings (unlike with Amanda, who's Kurt sister-by-adoption too but they see each other as lovers even if family the same way your spouse is, Rogue and Kurt definitively acknowledge each other as siblings). I don't think it's the writers' intention at all, but it's one of the unfortunate consequences.

Also, additional question : if Mystique and Destiny are both the bio moms, where does the "Wagner" name factor in, in all that ? Granted, if Azazel's the bio dad, that same question can be asked. Except Mystique also had a thing with the Baron Wagner at the time they all were in his mansion, since she was married to him as part of a ploy with Irene and the child was thought his illegitimate son. The Szardos finding Kurt and giving him his patronym since he technically comes from the Wagner mansion, without truly knowing what went on, can be a honest mistake indeed - Kurt Wagner grew with the patronym and it stuck. So that solves the name problem at least.

So, conclusion; where does that leave us ? Well, as I've developed here, to me it's a blatant case of "hey let's make it inclusive, but wait, shit, we can't touch the characters' appearance, powers, or personality, as they're all super-iconic as they are and the fandom will have our throats ripped". So basically, another case where making up new characters with the inclusive background you want to give them is way better than changing an established (and already very packed) one to fill a quota at risk of it making no sense anymore. Bobby Drake turning out to be gay makes sense : it explains why none of his relationships with girls worked out. Morph being non-binary in the 97 show ? Also makes sense for them, and not just in the "shapeshifter-is-automatically-genderfluid/N-B" way : they are someone non-conforming without that already, and with their own character getting fleshed out thanks to that, it became part of them ! It gives more to a character we used to see less.

I mean, introduce a new person who happens to have two bio moms, it'll be awesome ! Or take a less-developed character to give them that, heck why not ! But for fuck's sake, if you chose the latter, make it make sense.

"Azazel being the biological dad" and "Irene being one of Kurt's moms" isn't mutually exclusive, dammit. Won't make it any less queer, and it makes the situation even more interesting : who says they didn't resolved to stick it up to Azazel - because he needed Kurt for his rise to power - while wanting to raise the kid as their own ? And then sadly it didn't worked out ? And maybe they think Kurt died ? And maybe it's Irene who asks for her memory to be wiped, because the pain is too much (since she's the one who wanted a family in the first place - which means she'll also still have visions, but of someone she doesn't recognize, so not hampering her own power while still keeping Kurt in them) ? And maybe Xavier actually doesn't intervene to retrieve Kurt right away because since the boy has been found, and maybe it's less of a mess this way, chosing to simply wait and tying in to the point where Kurt joins the X-Men once grown up ? And Rogue can still be his sister later without any problems ?

Marvel retcons a lot of stuff, or pulls the "it's all a dream/alternate reality !" card in case things contradict each other. Or powers being inconsistent, and so on. I mean, practical : that way everything is canon and everyone is happy ! But with this one, well... they kinda wrote themselves in a corner, and it shows.

Kurt Wagner is a man of many contradictions and impossibilities, managing to balance them all with an all-encompassing piratey smile. But making him the bio son of Destiny doesn't add anything : worse, it removes, since it directly contradicts many aspects and themes X-Men works with - that family doesn't care about nor needs blood, that even the ones with the worst origins can be the kindest people, that even a root-rotten tree can bear beautiful fruits even if some are bruised, and that even villains can feel the joy of being granted a child despite the odds, and feel unbearable pain losing said child.

X-Men is about humans, and humanity. Not quotas or checklists.

[incorrectklavekatz]

I don’t know why we continue to be shocked by the fact Kurt’s as much of a blunt for the X-Mansion as Logan is, I mean, his mother is Mystique - notoriously non-monogamous with a new person every five minutes Mystique, and her wife Irene who enables her in her escapades.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Guys I got vinted and oh no. I’ve just spent £20 on nightcrawler stuff immediately. This is why I’m not allowed to have online shopping.

[incorrectklavekatz]

Does anybody know where I can watch Wolverine and the X-Men in the UK?? Google says Disney plus but it isn’t there :((

[incorrectklavekatz]

Every time somebody draws Kurt without his Roman nose or curly hair an angel loses its wings.