#I love their dynamic in the x-men first club comics

[ast-art]

What if were on opposing teams and we were both girls?

ft. A nosy, annoyed pietro

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Unabridged: Proteus

The X-Men, those beautiful mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 125 - 128) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Fun* fact: this particular issue is the oldest comic I physically own.

* for a given value of fun

Something sinister lurks on Muir Isle…

This arc is very much set up like a horror movie. It starts out as a regular X-Men narrative, where Claremont is weaving along several plot threads. We check in with the X-Men in Westchester, we check in with Magneto who has retreated to Asteroid M and we even check in with Xavier in space, who finally learns more about the true scope of the Phoenix and its nature. Finally, we’ve got Jean stationed at Muir Isle, where Moira is investigating the sheer scope of her powers. (She has realized how strong Jean truly is; akin to a god. Her theory is that Jean’s recent power dampening is the result of her human mind trying to cope with her massive power level.) It’s about as everyday as it gets for the X-Men, but, well…

I always thought Jean molecularly restructured her own outfit into the Phoenix-costume whenever she needed to change, but here, she just… wills it away? Also, why did you need an outfit change for this, anyway? Does the costume simply appear whenever she exerts too much of her powers, like an angry forehead vein? So many questions. (X-Men 126)

Other residents at Muir are Polaris, Havok and the Multiple Man, all of them blissfully unaware that something skulks about in the shadows: the remains of an unfortunate captain, whose body has been taken over by something… other.

But someone else is skulking around in the shadows, too. Jean isn’t aware of it, but a familiar stranger is manipulating her from the sidelines.

I’ve been gaslighting a cosmic force, ask me how! (X-Men 126)

1979 marks the first appearance of the Hellfire Club, though we only meet one member for now: Jason Wyngarde. (Maybe all of this could have been avoided if he’d had a Barbie doll to dress up in black lace as a child, but alas.) ‘Jason’ is a pseudonym and though most people these days know that he’s a familiar villain from the X-Men’s past, the reveal of his true identity will follow later.

Meanwhile, Beast finally gets off his ass to check on the Xavier mansion, even though the X-Men must have been tripping intruder alarms for months now. Still, we do get this sweet moment out of it:

Of course she’s going to be surprised at the sheer amount of plot contrivances that were thrown up to keep all y’all apart for a full year. (X-Men 126)

Beast knows that Jean went to Muir, so Scott immediately goes for the phone. Lorna picks up, but during the call she starts screaming, leaning heavily into the horror genre. She fends off the withering remains of the captain, so instead, ‘Mutant X’ jumps into a duplicate of Jamie Madrox and promptly flees to the mainland on a boat.

Guuurl, that body is snatched. (X-Men 126)

The X-Men (sans Beast) hit Muir Isle, where Moira debriefs them. Moira reveals who Mutant X is: his name is Kevin MacTaggart, her son, who has the terrifying power to warp reality. Because his power is so vast, he burns through bodies at an alarming rate. He can only be contained - or killed - by inorganic metal. In an effort to contain him (and, presumably, help him at some point), Moira locked him in a metal cell. He was kept there, alone, for god knows how long, until Magneto accidentally freed him. They know he escaped the island and, because of his parasitic need for fresh host bodies, Moira posits that he’ll be heading for a big city.

Kevin - who dubs himself Proteus - racks up an impressive body count in the country side, killing 7 people in total. (6 people and 1 dupe? Eh.) He’s a terrific villain, because he’s powerful, has a well-defined weakness and, even though it’s not impossible to emphasize with him -- isolation tends to drive people mad -- the way he discards his victims is truly chilling.

The X-Men chase after him, Wolverine picking up the scent. When Proteus tries to claim him, Logan’s adamantium skeleton repels him. In response, he unspools reality.

I’ve had this trip. I think they call this strain Dragon’s Dynamite. (X-Men 126)

Storm intervenes, but Proteus leaves Nightcrawler and especially Wolverine rattled. Logan’s heightened senses root him in reality more than most, and when Proteus uses his powers, everything is just screaming wrong at him. But nobody is safe: little Kevin MacTaggart turns gravity against Ororo, taking her out as well.

He tries to claim Storm, but Moira repels him, sniping at him from afar. Proteus fears (metal) bullets, knowing they can kill him. When Cyclops realizes Moira’s shooting to kill, he intervenes - X-Men don’t kill, after all. Moira knocks him out with her gun, but Kevin escapes in the confusion. Moira finally realizes where her son is headed, while the X-Men regroup.

In Edinburgh, Moira pays Joe MacTaggart a visit - her husband, Kevin’s father.

The MacTaggarts are definitely in the running for the Xavier/Marko-award for Fucked Up Family Dynamics. (X-Men 127)

There’s a calculating coldness to Moira’s character that I’ve never responded well to, but I like how Claremont fills in the blanks here. It’s part unhappiness, part a deep frustration with her inability to help her own son. I wonder how Kevin was a child, before his mutant gene activated: was he a sweet boy, or one with a cruel streak? Did she fear what he might become?

There’s a few gaps in Claremont’s narrative, but Hickman has drawn on this very well, I think: the Moira X in HoXPoX is equally calculating, equally cold. But how can she not be? How often has she raised Kevin? How often has she had to kill him? How many times has she watched these people, these X-Men, die?

Anyway, Moira’s warning is as effective as anger management therapy for Sabretooth, because Kevin comes by Joe’s office a little while later and snuffs out his dad. Phoenix hears Joe screaming telepathically across the moors, allowing the X-Men to pinpoint him. Claremont also makes sure to show that Jean’s power is steadily growing:

Polaris be like: “No, no, I’m carrying my own emotionally stunted Summers boy, thank you.” (X-Men 127)

Proteus takes Moira hostage as the X-Men confront him. They fight.

Ordinarily, I don’t pay a lot of attention to the fight scenes, because recapping those usually boils down to “Cyclops conks Magneto in the helmet” or “Wolverine snikts Pyro in the gas tank”, but this one is truly great. John Byrne delivers some excellent work, showcasing the scope of Proteus’ powers through his art, his panelling. Don’t just take my word for it:

I love how trippy all of this is. Pivoting gravity, changing an optic beam into flowers… Sure, Proteus might be a callous and cruel SoB, but he’s also one imaginative motherfucker. (X-Men 127)

One by one, Proteus manages to distract or take out the X-Men, either by endangering passers-by, encasing them in amber (Storm) or burying them alive (Banshee). One of my favorite details is how afraid they all are: especially Wolverine and Nightcrawler hesitate before jumping into the fray. For them, this villain is truly beyond their scope.

In the end, it’s Phoenix who manages to drive him back, outside of the center of Edinburg and up an old castle, where there are fewer civilians to threaten. There, on the ramparts, it’s Colossus who makes the final stand: he destroys Proteus’ physical body and realizes that right now, there’s only one thing they can do to stop him. All it will cost is Piotr’s innocence.

Showcasing an ancient Japanese truth: Psychic Pokémon are weak to Steel attacks. (X-Men 128)

Proteus scatters to the winds and the X-Men emerge victorious, though Moira has lost both her son and her husband after this ordeal. Moreover, I think this is the first villain that the X-Men explicitly kill, simply because they have no other options left. This marks the first time that their ideal of mutant rehabilitation fails. What’s worse is that Kevin MacTaggart was essentially nothing more than a supremely screwed up boy who got access to way too much power way too quickly.

I wonder if it would have turned out differently had Xavier been there. (I also wonder if it’s a coincidence that this takes place right before the Dark Phoenix saga.)

I think this might be Claremont’s best arc yet, heightened by John Byrne’s excellent art. Chris deftly mixes horror, action and his usual soap opera elements, serving one cohesive narrative that (for once) doesn’t leave much hanging. Proteus is an excellent villain whose powers work visually (pay attention, MCU) and whose entire being touches on one of the same aspects as Krakoa: can and should every mutant fit into any sort of normal society?

If you have someone who’s interested in vintage X-Men and you want to recommend something that doesn’t require a confusing explanation of all the necessary backstory (and perhaps a crude sketch of the Summers and/or Lensherr family tree), I would recommend this arc.

And the rest, as they say, is Hellfire. 1980 is gonna be a doozy.

[prettywarriors]

Fate The Winx Commentary

Good morning internet! Today is the drop of Winx: Riverdale edition! I sure hope you're ready for my aggressive and unnecessary commentary, because it is coming for you either way!

The netflix landing page lets us know:

Fate The Winx Saga

6 episodes, 48-53 minutes each

"Genres: Fantasy TV Shows, Teen TV Shows, Italian TV Shows"

"This show is: Emotional"

As mentioned elsewhere, my Winx knowledge is limited, so I will be coming into this fairly fresh and will try to be unbiased. As I have seen trailers, the keyword here is Try.

Episode 1

'To the Waters and the Wild'

CW: Animal Death, Swears, Implied Child Death, Blood, Implied Teen Sex, Burns, Weed, Fatphobia, Whatever the term pussie falls under

Episode 1 TL;DR: We meet everyone, learn their dynamics, have the basics of the magic system beat into us, meet our monsters, and name drop Harry Potter. Standard first episode stuff.

I do want it on record before we start that I got about halfway into the first season of Riverdale, and the first season of Netflix Sabrina. They were, well, bland and boring imo? I did get through a few seasons of Teen Wolf, but that's because it was capable of Fun and Jokes. My current expectations are a few unintentionally funny lines, maybe some almost decent magic effects, and because it's 2021, one whole gay character (I did hear one of the boys (there are boys?) is bi, but also an asshole so I'm hoping for some wlw)

TV-MA LANGUAGE AND SMOKING OH FUCKING BOY Almost full moon (waxing) in opening shot- I Will be tracking moon inconsistencies if it keeps showing up that is a pet peeve but hey look a bunch of sheep That's a good start (it's ominous though. don't hurt the sheep) Swears count: Feckin' 2 Mystical portal barrier. Oh yeah s5 of the magicians is on netflix now WELP THOSE ARE SHEEP GUTS RIGHT OUT THE GATE HUH For CW it's up a tree, and the dripping blood is a good warning of what's about to be seen :( oh and then the man who was looking for the sheep dies offscreen save for a spray of blood. THIS ISN'T YOUR CHILD'S WINX CLUB it seems to say. I assume. How much blood was in the original winx because this is already at least a full cup. (Also the monster noises for whatever was chasing the man (werewolf it was a werewolf trailers are bad guys) were not very good)

Opening credit scene is 5-6 different blooming elemental wings. They're pretty, but it's unclear if the last one is secret 6th member wings (because the second to last ones are fire which is the main character's element right?) so maybe we'll get a late 6th addition? (I am in I.T. please give me the most relatable character you cowards)

KIDS IN THE CORNER BY AMBER VAN DAY PLAYING I like where they shot this but that might just be european woods pretty. The opening location was nice and mossy save for the sheep blood Fancy big stone school establishing shots (it's nice, and huge) and we land on a red head who seems less than pleased to be here Courtyard shot of... whatever the name of the replacment plant girl is, holding a tray of various potted plants for an older man (father? first day of school send off maybe?) Aisha(?) walks by, not talking to anyone, Stella(?) is taking Magical!Selfies with at least 3 other girls, Musa(?) has a suitcase and headphones and smiles at a passing girl Oh boy a boy with a pocketknife doing little tricks with it! Nothing says edgy like an actual knife edge. Gonna take this moment to point out I have some level of face blindness and while the girls all look fairly different from one another, if there is more than one tall blonde white boy as I fear there may be, I WILL NOT be able to tell them apart. Not through maliciousness, just general incompetence, so anything I say about the boy characters (I want to say they're the knights to the girl's faeries? is that right? this whole thing smacks of gender) should be taken with a heap of salt I've come to accept tv just. displaying text messages on screen as a storytelling method. It's never my favorite but it just Is a modern story element. Also Bloom needs to meet stella at the alfea gates Alfea I presume is the school- does the name mean something? It sure feels like the word elf and therefore fae but I don't feel like googling anything this early in Oh look two more blondish tall white boys. Pocketknife was wearing something else i think, one guy has a brown jacket and pink shirt (bad combo), the other looks old even by tv highschool/college standards and his jacket has a jock vibe. Jock jacket also has an earring? Is this the bi character who is an asshole? From this one second of him, only in profile, I will assume yes, he is an asshole I like Bloom's backpack Pink shirt looks at Bloom from across the quad. I am already tired of this romance Cool he walks up to someone he has identified as lost, and is 'impressed with [her] confidence in the face of complete ignorance' COMING OUT OF THE GATE WITH A NEGG HUH PINKY He even states he wasn't offering help Then Why Are You Talking To Her Jackass Subs are going with the fairy spelling, and Bloom confirms she is a fairy and we confirm this is College. Unless this is a european thing where they call schools different things. I think that's just for public and private? And maybe just england? I'm American all they teach us is 1492-ww1 over and over for like. 10 years sorry Rest of the World 'What Realm are you from?' 'California' Speaking of ameri-centric, I'm gonna Guess that original Winx, the italian cartoon, didn't have their main character be from cali usa? I am presuming this is a side effect of making this property for a more global distribution than I'm guessing winx was originally conceived as back in the early 00s The Otherworld. I assume this is the fairy realm and whatnot? And the magic school. Seems to be located behind a magical barrier in the earth realm?? If that's right it seems weird if basically everyone who goes to the school is from the otherworld Pinky doubles down on his rudeness but in a Fun and Cute way because :/ and the Specialist hall is Very Pretty, oh and there's a fairy hall. Are specialists the boy...things? magi knights? bros of the blade? guys who wear those 'here come a special boy' sneakers from that one comic? Stella sees this conversation which is great because they drop the term mansplain. why would otherworlders know that term even??? Edgey(?) sees Pinky and they hug it out Stella knows Americans are the type to wander off so I guess there's a lot of inter-world connections?

Miss Dowling- is this teacher going to be like the pedo in riverdale who got *checks notes* killed off by one of multiple serial killers later on? Dowling is the headmistress, gotta keep the otherworld a secret from earthers, time and place for portal making. all standard fantasy stuff so far, nothing to make this stand out Stella has a gateway ring, and frankly isn't too nice? all the backgrounders clothing is Bland and very normal 7 realms of the otherworld, Solaria is where Alfea is, i like magic globe Incase you forgot this was a modern tale, people update their insta stories here. 'I was kindof bummed I didn't see a single pair of wings' YOU AND ME BOTH BLOOM 'We had wings in the past, transformation was lost, tinkerbell was an air fairy' This is either a cop out for your glittery cowardice, or a set up for the main girls re-finding transformation magic later. I did like the Tink bit Bloom is a fire fairy and the subtext of this conversation is that bloom's magic did Something bad. I hope it was burn down her old school's gym a la buffy movie I like miss Dowling but in the I wouldn't Be Surprised if you turned out to be Evil way, and I guess Alfea is a very privileged upper crust school. What types of college do normal fairies go to then huh? damn privileged fairies 'our students have gone on to do amazing things like re-discover long lost magics' We Get It. You will give me Wings, but Only If I'm Patient Dowling throws a jab at Bloom about power control, but I like her necklace so It's Fine

Bloom video calls her parents while unpacking in the dorm, which may have come pre-fit with a heck ton of board games? Love it. Or new plant girl brought them along with her many plants Stella has a fancy mirror and lots of jewelry and fashion photos and makeup, Musa has a laptop and apparently not much else, gotta get those establishing personalities down I guess 'Ladies of the Flies honey don't be sexist' Bloom's dad for feminist of the year (these jokes are bad but i guess we can call it a dad joke as justification) Asiha gives Bloom a look and saves her from the call with her parents- yay friendship step one achieved Blooms parents think she's in the alps because magic secrets and what not Aisha asks bloom if she's never read harry potter and I guess Bloom is a potterhead (that's the term right?). Is this self awareness that all magical school fantasy series have the same basic bricks?  Bloom is a ravenclaw sometimes slytherin, Aisha is a Gryffindor Stella is changing because she's the fashion one and has a fun pastel rainbow skirt, and uses magic to make a real aggressive lamp. She's also a mentor (maybe older than the others by a bit?) I am assuming Stella here is something along the lines of a diplomats daughter the way she talks about appearances. She better get down and dirty later on to show her growth about how some things are more important than looks yada yada Fairy magic powered by strong emotions, i am waiting for bloom's backstory to be movie x-men rogue style tragedy Terra! Which. Of course is the Plant Fairy's name. Stella is a little mean to her about the plants and she takes it with a smile and some subtle snark back using classic literature Oh that's fun Terra points out the name-plant thing, and name drops her cousin Flora. That's. The one they replaced with Terra right? Terra's dad works in the greenhouse at the school which explains earlier (and her mum is named rose) Stella is indeed a second year and Musa's eyes change for. Lie detecting magic? and loves her headphones (Overstimulation?) Aisha wants somewhere to swim and we cut to a 'pond' by specialist training. Assuming she wants to sim because she's a water fairy, why Don't they have a pool? also this pond looks. Unpleasant for swimming

Girl specialist! Does that mean we have boy fairies? Boys. Fighting. Talking about girls. All gingers are nuts. Thanks edgelord AMAZING SHAGS THOUGH 'I didn't realize your hand was a red-head' it's not truly edge if we don't talk about sex every 10 minutes Subtitles earlier only said boy 1 boy 2 but now pinky or edgy is Riv Edgy smokes weed, and pinky is a big brother figure to him, and the head? of the special boys doesn't like edgy. Me neither older guy Bit of swordplay, more girls, every specialist has black training outfits, very military Pinky is Sky who is son of Guy of Place. an important lad. without context this is meaningless to me There's a giggly boy who laughs at the idea of a war in the future and gets a talking to. I suspect this boy will be re-occurring enough to die- he has those tertiary character elements with his intro and such (and he's black so I am prepared for your standard racist murder choices) Burned Ones exist outside the barrier, which makes me wonder if dead shepard was in the otherworld? There was nothing establishing that he was in any type of Other place but :/ Oh look edgey is having a smoke cross the barrier while we learn about the creatures that live beyond it. Time to find out these creatures no one young has ever seen are still kicking Specialist leader had to kill his own pa after a burned one got him. They also. Used a shotgun when trying to fight it. Do specialists even have powers or are they just good with weapons? Edgey finds the shepards corpse. Mostly blood 'it's been 16 years since the last sighting' 'Rosalind killed all the burned ones' ahh magical creature genocide hey when is abarat 4 coming out. and is rosalind hot?

School, gossip, Aisha and Musa are snarking at Tera for thinking the guy died of natural causes because we need to have these characters not actually like each other to make it stand out when they do Aisha talks about how she eats a lot and if she didn't swim she'd be massive and we cut to the plus sized tera looking uncomfortable are we really doing this? Tera points out that Musa was ignoring her earlier and it's all just uncomfortable and not great character conflict (but I thought I saw Musa holding an honest to god ipod? it's blue but it could be a phone case. Her hand is in the way) tera and dad interaction is nice, i'm also convinced they couldn't afford more than 3 magic adults

Girl with braids and metal in her hair! There were witches in winx right? Like 3 minor antagonist girls? I assume this is one of them. Because she has alternative fashion and is therefore evil /s Beatrix. Names in this series leave something to be desired (that something is subtly. I get it, they're carry overs from a series for a younger audience, she-ra had the same issue, but i can still poke fun) Swear count: Arsehole 2 Bollocks 1 Shit 1 She's a weird ass kissing with clearly ulterior motives

Bloom is Studying and her notebook is just FAIRY MAGIC POWER = EMOTIONS LOVE FEAR? HARTED? FIRE FAIRY CONTROL? in case you weren't paying attention Oh a flashback already to the magic triggering event? Her mother had pointed out she's an introvert, and past!Bloom doesn't Party. She goes Antiquing and is a Weird Loner (her 'basic bitch' of a mom's words) Swear count: Bitch 1 Bad daughter count: 1 Bad mother count: 1 Magic glowy eyes for Bloom: 1

Bloom Hates Parties and asks Pinky I mean Sky where she can be Away from People and he fears he'll be Mansplaing to her to. vague that it's dangerous outside instead of saying 'hey there's monsters and someone was just killed by possible one of them stay in the barrier' Stella wants to talk to Sky because they have History. I did hear there was a love triangle between these three. I am bored and everyone at this party is a nosey bitch who is watching their tense conversation. Also Something? Happens when Stella gets upset [mystical warbling] Random magic effects in the (very pretty) forest Bloom is trying to practice her magic on her own, and to do that she's gotta look at sad teen pics. And look, her burnt bedroom from her first power usage The fire magic is pretty good. I think fire is like. the opposite of water when it comes to cg where it almost always looks pretty good, while I swear i've seen the actual ocean look like a shitty render Magic out of control, bloom can't control her emotions, Aisha can stop her with water magic which makes some nice steam Bloom is angry at aisha for saving her. So far 3 of the 5 girls are abrasive at best remember when people made characters likeable? Swear count: Shit 1 (but it doubles as the literal meaning because of flooded toilets) Swear count: Bitch 1 Ass 1 Taking away your teen's door is. Really shitty. Not almost burn down your house worthy but damn cheerleader mom I do not understand sleep shirts with buttons. That seems painful if you lie the wrong way? Her mom was seriously burnt by first magic usage that's a backstory Shit count +1 Main character aspect time: dormant fairy blood line? awfully strong magic for that. baby who died day after it was born and now she's here? ...I was going to say changeling thanks aisha A Barbaric practice loving hints at long term world lore Hell is a bad word for kids!! Cutting to headmistress and her secret passage after finding out bloom is secret pureblood? this really is a harry potter thing

edgelord offers giggly some booze, and says pussies twice because he's Edgey and does peer pressure Tera calls him out and knows he's a sad nerd in disguise not a 'badass' and he says she's 'three people in disguise' because fatphobia shit +1 arehole +1 tera. chokes out edgelord with a vine because she's had enough of this shit. good for her edgelord is Riv, and he lived

OBLIGATORY GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THE TERM CHANGELING REMEMBER BELLA'S VAMPIRE GOOGLE GOD I LOVE TEEN FANTASY AND THEIR INSTANCE ON GOOGLING COMMON FANTASY TERMS OH hey the lamp bloom brought with her is the one she was fixing at home that's a nice touch Stella bonds with Bloom about homesickness, and the takes a selfie Musa is a mind fairy. So she. Is a telepath with purple eye magic? Oh there's types of 'connections' Memory, thought (others but i am cut off from the lore) Stella did Something to someone who Talked To Her Man last year and now lent Bloom her teleportation ring to send her some because miss mentor really cares more about her shitty man then helping the girls she's in charge of First World- earth Old Cemetery? Very Sexy. and bloom sweetie don't leave a mystical gateway open, and how will you explain to your parents how you're back so fast Wait she's only 16? SO this really is some european college where that's a funny way of saying High School Fire guilt, bad feelings about life shattering revelations, better connection with mother. I gotta say I have low expectations of this show carrying the family connection through the rest of this. That conversation felt more like a Hey We Made These Movements Onto Other Stuff Now

Lighting choices are interesting, with green, orange and purple for creepy warehouse. THE Creepy Warehouse where she would sleep without her parent's knowledge wow right that GIRL DROPS THE DAMN RING AT THE FIRST SIGN OF burned one looked more alien than werewolf-y here Decent Horror movie looks, and dude stole her ring. Rude. Saved by the headmistress, and tera/aisha/musa are here to great her Stella can't be here though because she has to greet a half naked freshly showered sky because life is suffering and producers insist people like to see teens half naked (who. Who?) shit +1 and she dumped him. pity part of one and using it to try to get your bone on. HEY A SONG I KNOW. IT'S WHATSITCALLED FROM THE BAYONETTA COMMERCIALS WAY BACK WHEN. in for the kill la roux. I do wish netflix would either commit to telling you what song was playing or didn't tell you at all

Riv offers Beatrix a hit from his joint because what Is a Bad Kid hasn't changed in like 70 years Blowing pot smoke into someone's mouth isn't as sexy as ya'll seem to think it is Musa has cute sleep socks with little pom poms, and I love Tera's floral jammies Tera offers a bluetooth speaker so they can listen to music together Musa also calls out Tera's fake happiness this is the good shit character interaction i live for Musa Empath Mind Fairy 'somber indie music'

If you kill a burned one in the human world Something? Extra bad happens? So the headmistress knows Bloom's a changeling, and ohhh that's the last time a burned one was spotted. Is Rosalind the famed Monster Slayer the birth mother of Bloom? Tera text flirts with Giggly who IS NAMED DANE and has a thing for. Sky? Riv? I told you these boys all look the same to me so if it's a half naked pic on fairy insta i'm out of context clues. Crymeariv is the insta name that answers that. Is this the slow burn enemies to lover mlm i can't finish this sentence i don't care riv is a dick Stella and Sky are in a bed and she doesn't seem to have a top on so Implied sexy times? MYSTERIOUS HOODED AND ROBED FIGURE CROSSES THROUGH THE BARRIAR AND SHOOTS THE BURNED ONE WITH LIGHTNING MAGIC OH IT'S beatrix

alt-J – Adeline as an ending song

[lady-griffin]

I'm curious, who do you ship in Otome Game no Hametsu Flag?

Oh Boy, get ready for a lengthy answer, that’s a lot longer than you ever wanted. 

I pretty much ship Katarina with everyone in the harem, except Keith and Sophia.

Even though Keith is in love with Katarina, they have such a pure sibling dynamic. I would hate for Katarina and Keith to lose their sibling, even if they gained a romantic partner out of it.

Sophia and Katarina have such a wonderful platonic relationship that I just adore. I know Sophia loves Katarina like the rest, but their whole dynamic is the most friendship based, especially for a certain big reason. I prefer their friendship with one another than a romance.

Here’s who I ship and in what order.

1. Katarina x Geordo

I love their dynamic and relationship and just everything about them. The setup for these two works for me on every level. Their scenes are my favorite and I’m always looking forward to seeing them interact with one another.

The juxtaposition of Geordo clearly being in love with Katarina and her having contingency plans in case he exiles or attacks her is just amazing. It’s so goddamn funny.

Plus, that juxtaposition provides such wonderful tension between the two, which is very enjoyable to see and explore.

It’s also interesting that their dynamic was established first, which makes me think that the rule of first guy/girl might apply to the story. Especially, since their engagement is a factor to a lot of the other love-interests’ feeling towards Katarina.

While it hasn’t been developed that much (at least in the Manga) something about Geordo being a black-hearted prince and not the fairytale prince he presents himself as is, for me, a very rich mine that has yet to be explored. The fact that Katarina is also very aware of that side of him, because of her secret knowledge, makes it all the more intriguing.

There are just so many possibilities for these two.

While this might ruin the harem aspect of it all, I think there could be a very interesting new dynamic if Katarina returned Geordo’s feelings –

(1) But she was completely unaware of her own feelings.

(2) If she were aware, would completely think Geordo is not in love with her.

(3) Katarina wonders and panics if her wanting to be with Geordo confirms that she is the villainess. Is she getting in the way of him and Maria or him and someone else? Is she just sealing her own doomed ending by being in love with him?

OR what if Geordo did break off his engagement with Katarina, because he has to be engaged to someone else (or thinks he does). And Katarina, to her own surprise, became sad.

Because then I can imagine a whole Ouran Highschool Host Club like-scenario, with Katarina going after Geordo but some other group or force tries to stop her.

Then whole harem helps her get to him, each letting her go in the process, because of their feelings (not despite) they all want Katarina to be happy.

There are so many possibilities for these two, so even if it’s not what I imagine, I’m just excited to see what is to come for these two. 

They just won over my little shipper heart.

2.  Katarina x Mary

I greatly enjoy Mary and Katarina’s friendship and whole dynamic. I love their scenes together. Seeing them together as friends, an unrequited love, a couple – is perfection for me.

They have such wonderful chemistry together and I’m always hungry for more. 

I love Mary having that bit of an edge to her (apparently more so in the Light Novels). And combined with Katarina’s density you have the makings of a great comedic dynamic.

In the game it seems like Mary was just the perfect lady – outside and inside. There wasn’t a darker shade or ulterior aspect to her (though that could just be the game’s limited view of the world).

But our Mary, she is more than willing to fight for Katarina.

That girl has an extensive profile on all of her rivals and is closely monitoring all their relationships with Katarina. Mary would cut a bitch is what I’m saying.

Which is very similar to Geordo, which is why I think Mary is so appealing to me as a love interest for Katarina. What I like about Geordo and Katarina, Mary and Katarina also have that factor.

Also, since Katarina is best girl and Mary is also best girl then clearly the two should be together (I’m sorry, Sophia and Maria – I love you two as well).

If Mary got the girl in the end, I would be over the moon.  And that’s what shipping is all about.

3. Katarina x Maria

I enjoy their relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic.

I was curious when I began to read the Manga if Maria was going to become the villain, since Katarina became the heroine. I was pleased that was not the case – hell, far from it as Katarina romanced her too.

They’re just so cute and sweet. And I love that when everyone else is exasperated with Katarina, Maria is just smiling all lovey-dovey, not even bothered. That’s great.

It also seems like Katarina saved Maria from her loneliness in a way that the game never really explored with the four main love-interests, so there’s that whole aspect to their relationship, which I am intrigued by and really like. 

If I’m being honest, though, I do think they are missing that good romantic tension that I think all good romances need. I want more of a bite to them and their relationship. So, they’re not quite there for me as a couple, at least not yet. 

Nonetheless, Katarina is lovely and wonderful. Maria is lovely and wonderful. So, the two of them together would be lovely and wonderful. 

4. Katarina x Alan

I guess with the kind of character Alan is, I thought we would have gotten more of his relationship with Katarina than what we actually get (in the Manga so far).

When I started reading the manga, I just assumed he was going to be the main rival to Geordo. So, when that didn’t happen, I was surprised. A part of me feels like there’s something missing with these two that I’m not being shown, which piques my imagination.

I like that the anime has elaborated on Alan and Katarina’s relationship, with what we’ve been given so far, because their relationship was lacking.

I love the drama of Alan falling in love with his brother’s fiancée and all that jazz. They also have a unique dynamic as friends and once rivals which is nice.

While Katarina is dense as all hell, Alan is not too far behind – especially when it comes to feelings and how to act on them. So, their combined density might just kill everyone else if combined– which would be a lot of fun.  

Overall, I do ship them less because of what we’ve been given so far, but more because of their potential.

5. Katarina x Nicol

Unfortunately, for Nicol there’s not all that much of him in comparison to the others.

I like his and Katarina’s relationship from his side - he’s cool and reserved to pretty much everyone (except Sophia), but quickly loses all that calm when it comes to Katarina. 

I do love his whole I’m prepared to walk an appropriate distance behind you, while you become the wife of my dear friend and prince and maybe my future King. That’s just some good romantic angst there.

It’s also nice how they both love Sophia and that is the basis of their entire foundation. 

There is something so underrated about a person falling for another, because of how they interact with their family. 

Oh, and Sophia rooting for these two, is just too cute.

6. Katarina x Raphael

Honestly, these two just comes across as though Katarina adopted a new little brother – even though he’s older. But I’m not opposed to their dynamic if it got more development. I’m really more in love with their friendship than anything else, though. 

Non-Katarina Ships (Gasp, can it be?)

7. Alan x Mary

I really like their dynamic as it currently is – and it would hilarious to me that while these two are engaged and both in love with Katarina – that somehow amongst all of that mess they started to develop feelings for one another.

In the game, Alan didn’t have any feelings for Mary (which how is that even possible - she’s Mary).

But, boy did he get jealous in this timeline when he thought Katarina was stealing away his fiancée when they were kids (which, yeah, that was 100% the case).

It feels like there could definitely be something between these two, which I’m not oppose to, as long as it feels organic and not just them being paired off together to tie up loose ends. 

8. Maria x Raphael 

I don’t know why, but I just really like the idea of these two together. Maybe because it feels like opposites coming together with their magic.

I think it would be fun if one of Maria’s romance-targets became a romantic possibility for her in this time-line. I just like them - romantic or not.

9. Keith x Maria

I think they would be sweet. Out of the four main romance-targets these two just work the best with how they are in the current timeline, in my opinion.  

10. Keith x Nicol

I saw a fan comic of these two and I liked it…

Keith being charmed by Nicol (as we have seen men are also affected) is nice. They also have the whole, I will do anything to protect my sister thing, going for them.

So, that’s some nice shared ground between the two of them. 

11. Keith x Sophia

They’re both very sweet and adorable younger siblings. It would be cute.

12. Mary x Maria

Honestly, why not. There’s not a real reason here, other than – why the hell not?

 --

And that’s who I ship in Otome Game No Hametsu Flag. 

This is just my personal opinion of who I ship. No judgement on anyone else or what they ship or who their favorite ship is. 

Also, sorry for the length. I have a lot of feelings and opinions on Hamefura. 

[newx-menfan]

Marauders #2 Review 

 *Spoilers* 

 The issue starts with the U.S. navy data page tracking the movements of the Marauders. 

 We see Emma offering the Cuckoos a spot in the Hellfire club...they decline. 

Apparently Shaw has been moving Krakoan drugs to rich countries instead of helping mutants get out of dangerous areas (SHOCKING considering Shaw's history!).

 Emma calls him out on it (and kinda verbally humiliates him...). 

 Emma gets back at him by sending the Marauders to catch his ship and Batroc makes an appearance (Not going to lie...his leaping skills were kind of subpar in this issue...), while sending another ship to Africa on the down low. 

 After the beat down they try to sell the ship and run into Bishop in Taipei (🎶'It's a small world after all...'🎶). 

 Bishop randomly DOESN'T mention any of the mysterious things happening with people accusing mutants of kidnapping family members; just Xavier's death and the group deciding to get a tattoo in a moment of wacky hijinks (more on why I hate this comic trope in the opinion section...). 

 Shaw accuses her of hurting him economically and feels like retribution for damages would be allowing him to pick the next Red Queen. 

Emma tells him she already elected a Red Queen (in Emma’s version of ‘Ah HELL NO!).

 Emma the telepathically sends Gateway to pick up the team to bring them to London. 

 In London, the team gets a new ship and Kitty heads over to the Hellfire Club. 

Meanwhile Shaw loses it and slams Emma into a wall just as Kitty shows up in bada** pirate paraphernalia... 

 Opinions:

 Love the cover! 

 Much better issue than the first one! The humor is especially a lot more smoother, as is Kitty's characterization. 

Pyro again in this issue is an absolute delight! 

Is the club scene a hint at Kitty's possible orientation subtext?

 I hate tattoos in comic books solely because they NEVER last... Like if Emma can't stay the Black King or Anole's Popeye arm is compulsively forgotten- There is NO WAY an artist will remember a tattoo...seriously it's kind of my pet peeve... (Just remember the whole Raven thing in Teen Titans 🙄...).

Gateway cameo! 

 Didn't really care for the Emma/Sebastian dynamics, because honestly I felt like Leah Williams did a great job at closing that relationship in Black... This just feels like retread, and a kind of stereotypical one at that. 

 Theories: 

 I'd say Hellion or one of the NXM would be in the Hellfire Club (because they definitely SHOULD)...but I have zero hope of Marvel ever doing that... 

 I'm going to be irritated if Storm is chosen for one of the open spots...just because she used to hold the 'White King' title with Magneto...this would just feel like a major downgrade, and bring back old anger I had from her treatment in 'X-Men: Gold’ ... 

 No theories on who Shaw's pick for Red Queen was... probably- Sage, Lady Mastermind, Selene, or Madelyn simply because of their history with that group...

[daleisgreat]

The Punisher (1989): Unrated Cut

This has been one I have been meaning to be covering for a few years now. Longtime readers here may remember my friend Matt I reference semi-occasionally when I review one of his gag gift movies here. Every now and then though he will legit surprise with me with an awesome movie gift as with today’s example. Matt knows I am a huge fan of the comic book character, The Punisher, and that all three of the live action Punisher movies are guilty pleasures of mine. Up until a few years ago I already owned both the Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson Punisher films on BluRay, but the original 1989 Punisher movie I only owned a bare bones DVD release that I thought was the only home video version of that film. Matt surprised me a few years back by tracking down an international release of an unrated director’s cut of The Punisher on BluRay. Turns out in North America, right on the precipice of the film’s released it got traded studios as its original studio was in the process of being acquired. Turns out the new studio was not confident in the drawing power of Dolph Lungdren anymore so the 1989 Punisher film was among the first wave of movies to hit the straight-to-video market. Internationally, The Punisher received theatrical releases, and performed well, which is why it landed an international BluRay release. Thank goodness my BluRay player recognizes international regions, but my only nitpick with it is the lack of subtitles. So this version of the film on BluRay is the ‘Unrated Cut’ which is how the director, Mark Goldblatt, originally envisioned the film. The 80s were the era of the gratuitously violent action blockbusters with the likes of Rambo, Robocop, Commando, Terminator and countless others dominating the box office. The Punisher was shot for that demographic, and Goldblatt stated in the commentary how he had to take the film to the MPAA nine times before toning down the movie enough to earn an ‘R’ rating.

The film wastes no time with a lengthy origin story as it kicks off with a gang leader being acquitted of all charges for murdering Frank Castle (Dolph Lungdren) and his family five years prior. A news reporter recommends the gang to be on the lookout for ‘The Punisher’ vigilante, which the gang laughs off the journalist’s warnings, only for the gang to instantly meet their demise mere minutes after arriving home from court. The Yakuza arrive in town to capitalize on The Punisher’s fallout, with Yakuza leader Lady Tanaka (Kim Miyori) forcing replacement gang leader Dino Moretti (Bryan Marshall) to partner up with her after kidnapping the children of Moretti and his allies. Trying to keep tabs on this whole mess of a situation is the ‘Punisher Task Force’ consisting of Frank Castle’s former partner, Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr.), and fellow detective Sam Leary (Nancy Everhard). Following all this setup, The Punisher is essentially 1980s action film 101, with Castle tearing it up against the Yakuza in a couple of entertaining shootouts in a casino and later on in a funhouse, complete with Yakuza members firing away at Frank while breezing down a curvy slide. Completing the over-the-top 80s action formula is the cheesy one-liners, with my favorite featuring Berkowitz grilling Frank on his vigilante warfare, “What do you call 125 murders in five years?” to which Castle dryly retorts, “Work-in-Progress.” Eventually everything comes to a head when Punisher and Moretti team up to rescue Moretti’s kid in the Yakuza stronghold, where the most intense fighting sequences emanate from in the entire film. The unrated cut pulls no punches, with the most gruesome fatalities transpiring as Castle and Moretti work their way to the final confrontation with Lada Tanaka.

When I re-watched the film with audio commentary from Mark Goldblatt he made sure to pinpoint which parts he added back in as he originally envisioned for this unrated version, and how he stands behind this version being the definitive cut of the film. Other interesting tidbits from the commentary was how the film wound up being shot in Australia, regrets of not having the Punisher’s trademark skull icon on his shirt in the film and informing in-depth on the film trading studios and going direct-to-video in America. Goldblatt also mentions in the commentary how there is a workprint cut of the film, which he stated he does not stand behind since it was cut before the core movie finished filming. Said workprint cut is included as a bonus feature, and is actually eight minutes longer than the unrated cut. The main takeaway I had with the workprint cut is it has a whole new 17 minute opening on the origin of The Punisher that happens five years earlier where it shows Castle and Berkowitz making a bust on a routine stakeout that clues the gangsters in to Frank’s family location where they ultimately make a hit on Frank’s family. That whole 17 minutes is briefly alluded to in the unrated cut in the form of a five second flashback of the family’s demise. This prologue adds a whole new dynamic to the film, but I can see why Goldblatt wanted it cut since it brings a snappier pace to the overall film. Also worth mentioning is that the workprint is presented in its original adapted 35mm form, and how the editors did a commendable job cleaning it up for the HD version on the BluRay.

Other extra features is a 21 minute interview with Mark Goldblatt. If you do not have time to invest into the commentary track, then this interview is a recommended alternative as it hits most of the same beats and goes into Mark’s other Hollywood successes. Also included is a quick five minute interview with Dolph Lungdren where he has fond memories working with the stuntmen in the fight sequences and wishes the movie would have had a theatrical run in America. For those who are fans of reverse box art, I recommend taking advantage of that here, as this BluRay’s alternative artwork is pretty remarkable. Rounding off the BluRay is a gag reel…..which would not load on my BluRay player, so that will have to be my loss. The Punisher: Unrated Cut BluRay was a surprise hit gift from Matt! I will stand behind Goldblatt by safely assuring his unrated cut here is the must-see version of the film. A solid slate of extra features only helps makes this BluRay the definitive home video edition of this movie. If you dig the over-the-top action films of the 80s, then odds are this 1989 take on The Punisher will be right up your alley. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Last Action Hero Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Pilgrim vs the World The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[bigskydreaming]

For the fic ask meme, 4, 16, 24, or 28

I will answer 16 now, because No Reason, Just Whimsy, but stay tuned as I’ll probably end up answering 4, 24 and 28 at some point anyway, because like. No Reason, Just Whimsy. *Shrugs*

16.  If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

I can’t tell you, see, because I would simply make that one pairing endgame and everything else leading up to it like, contain all the other ships I could not bear to be without. (Hahahaha this is why I could never be a romance author, I can not abide by the rules of HEA or HFN in relationship stories to save my LIFE). So, y’know, SPOILERS.

No but also I’m completely aware that this is cheating and not the point of the question. But I can not choose though, that is the point, like, have you met me? I am the original poster child for ADHD. I’m THAT old.

So instead I will simply say that in the realm of Teen Wolf, Scanny is very very very important to me, which like, surprises no one. But also I would still fight someone who tried to take either Scira or Scallison from me, I remain obnoxiously fond of Scackson’s potential, and I’m still out here being like, the sole Scosh (Scott/Josh Diaz) shipper in all the land, I’m pretty sure, lmfao. 

And I mean, also there’s Scyle, of course. I could never give up the Scyle.

As far as Marvel goes, like, I am going to be riding the high of Bobby/Christian being canon for quite some time, as anyone who has known me long knows that I have been shipping this ship since Christian was first introduced and then written offstage like two issues later….seventeen years ago.

(I have a lot of issues with straight writers making gay characters’ gay-specific tragedies and traumas like….someone ELSE’S angsty back story, while they themselves are just shuffled off the page and considered irrelevant. For those who don’t know, Christian is Emma Frost’s gay older brother who she adored and when their father had Christian institutionalized against his will because he was gay, this was what made Emma break away from the rest of her family for good and set her on the road to becoming the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. 

And then, despite like, this being life-defining for her, not a single writer in the next fifteen damn years ever thought to ask themselves…..hmmm, why would Emma Frost, one of the most powerful telepaths in the world and someone whose personal morality in no way makes her above using those powers, her wealth or Hellfire resources however she damn well pleases in the name of protecting herself, those she cares about, and advancing her agendas…..why would this woman who has never let anything stand in the way of what she cares about before like….simply just…never once in all the years since she was a teenager think to herself….hmm, what if I simply go to the institution where my beloved brother is kept against his will, and just…..made them release him?)

So, aside from always thinking Bobby/Christian would be a great ship with amazing potential given Bobby’s unique history and dynamic with Christian’s sister and the fact that Christian shares a lot of the same traits, backstory and other elements that make Emma an amazing and multi-faceted character and he’s just been sitting there in Limbo for fifteen years with all this untapped potential just waiting to be mined….

I’m always going to be gleeful about this ship and with a special fondness for Sina Grace for bringing Christian back from comic book Limbo and laying the foundation for this ship, like, just because like……I feel its long overdue and the only way to ACTUALLY make anything decent out of the bullshit that was mining his oppression for the sake of another character’s angst: by finally giving HIM the chance to be a character who is affected by all that, developed and moved forward from all of that, is the FOCUS of all that…..and even more importantly, now after being left offscreen for fifteen years by writers who considered his narrative nothing more than tragic filler….he finally has a chance to be an example of a gay character who gets to come BACK from all of that and move FORWARD from it, and like…find healing and happiness with another character, like Bobby.

So Bobby/Christian is actually hugely important to me for a variety of reasons, especially right now since this is all just happening recently, and I will love them forever and in defiance of the inevitable bullshit some future writer pulls that will piss me the hell off. Y’know, just going off of Vegas odds or whatever.

Aside from Bobby/Christian I’ve also always had a weakness for Bobby/Johnny Storm because they are the most iconic ice and fire characters out there and I am basically twelve. I also have blogged at length in the past about all the reasons I’m a huge fan of Bobby/Bishop and not just because their ship name would make them a literal bop. Again, I refer you to the thing where I’m basically twelve. But yeah, there’s a whole history there where when Bishop first came back into the past and met the X-Men who’d all been legends in his time, he kinda fanboyed a little over Bobby because of Bobby’s future legend, and then was kinda like….oh, that’s it? about him once he got to know Bobby and Bishop became like, the physical embodiment of underwhelmed. 

And ever since then Bobby’s always low key been like, a hyper-active puppy around Bishop, like, trying not to SEEM like he cares an awful lot about whether or not he’s managed to impress Bishop but because he can’t be subtle to save his life, mostly just coming across as “am I living up to the hype now? how about now? am I legendary NOW? What about now?” and I dunno. Its just kinda cute and a fairly unique dynamic, and Bishop has this deliberately bland, blink and you miss it sense of humor with the right writers and that I’ve always thought has a ton of potential for him to be privately amused by this tendency of Bobby’s, enough that he’s unwilling to confess to him that Bobby actually earned his respect years ago by this point, and he just doesn’t want to let Bobby know because then he’d stop. 

And then in terms of DC, I’ve posted a lot a lot a loooooooooot about my love for Dick/Kory in canon, and how they - and by extension we - were robbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbed, and if DC doesn’t give me my canon Mar’i and Jake Grayson one of these days, I don’t care if they have to import them from another universe and then have this universe’s Dick and Kory awkwardly try to co-parent them while living their own lives separately before finally coming back together and falling in love all over again and then becoming a single united family unit forever and ever in the most ridiculously complicated comic book version of the Parent Trap ever, like…..

I can’t even think of an over-exaggerated threat creative enough to convey just how badly I want and need this, DC, give it to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

And then also, I’ve actually posted a lot a lot a loooooooooooot (though not in a few years, probably, so those posts are all super old, lol) about how I think Kyle and Donna are a criminally under-rated canon couple and were actually really really good together because they went through so much together and Kyle literally grew so much as a character specifically on the things Donna called him out for the first time they dated, like, literally so he could be BETTER, and then with how anticlimactically they ended...because the thing is, they never actually even broke up! It was this thing where like, when Donna went to LA with Kyle for his high school reunion and to literally MEET HIS MOM, like HELLO, that is not a basic relationship step, that is Advanced Dating, like…..that is where they were at in their relationship when Donna literally got the call then and there that her ex-husband and her son had just died in a car accident. 

And Donna was devastated of course, and Kyle was devastated too - for her, and also in his own way, because he’d adored Robert and like, there were these issues where they were super cute and took him to the zoo together and Kyle was bonding with him and just like, melting over this kid, and Robert and Terry were killed by a drunk driver, and like, there was a later story where Kyle just went apeshit on this drunk driver he encountered because he had all these repressed feelings about Robert’s death and how it had hurt Donna and he’d made sure not to show any of that to her or even let on that he hurt for Robert’s loss in his own way, because he didn’t want to make it about him, he KNEW better…

And anyway, the point is…they never actually broke up in the sense of either of them at any point being all, oh we no longer love each other or think this can work, we need to end it. Instead, Donna said that she needed to take some time away from Kyle and everyone else and just…come to terms with what she’d lost and figure out who she even was now in the wake of that….and Kyle totally understood, didn’t argue or try and change her mind, he just said take as much time as you need, I’ll be here when you’re ready, and oh btw, here’s this lantern construct of a locket that I want you to keep because as long as it exists you’ll know that a part of me is still thinking about you and wanting you to be happy, wherever that is.

And then like…..less than a year later, DC did their super weird Dark Angel story where Donna was erased from reality and then had to be ‘recreated’ from Wally’s memories, and for awhile just existed in the form and identity she’d been recreated from, which was based entirely on what Wally knew of her and thought and felt about her, and so there were huge gaps in her identity where she was missing stuff she should have known but didn’t now because WALLY didn’t know about it.

Such as how when Donna met Kyle’s subsequent sorta-girlfriend Jade some time later - I say sorta because she and Kyle were still figuring things out at that stage, and Jenny-Lynn in part didn’t know if she wanted to actually get into a relationship with him because she thought he was still in love with Donna - well anyway, when Donna and Jenny-Lynn met in a later issue and she said all this to Donna, Donna reassured her not to worry about it, she was reading more into it than actually existed because she and Kyle had never been that serious anyway. 

Which. SCREECH! Brakes please. HOLD UP. 

Like, I’m sorry JAY FAERBER YES I REMEMBER IT WAS YOU WHO WROTE THAT ISSUE UGGGGGH, but like, in what UNIVERSE is “dated, broke up, then got back together later because she thought Kyle had matured a ton since they first tried dating and now they were so much stronger as a couple that she oh I dunno, introduced him to her son and they went on playdates together, went with him to meet his mom, had a never-vanishing lantern locket construct that signified just how much he would always love her” uh…..’never been that serious anyway’? I’m. What? Does not compute.

BUT WHATEVER.

LOL. Anyway, point is, so things like that actually make sense when you factor in the role Wally’s memories and perspective played in who Donna literally WAS for awhile (and the understandable existential crises she went through as a result). But like, at the point in time when Kyle and Donna were most serious, Kyle was still fairly removed from a lot of the rest of the DC universe, he wasn’t a core member of the JLA yet and usually operated independently, and he and Wally were NOT close at all yet, let alone friends….in fact, for as long as Donna and Kyle dated, Wally pretty much still actively hated and resented Kyle for just existing, since he’d always been close with Hal since he was a kid and Hal was his Uncle Barry’s BFF-and-homosexual-life-partner-in-all-but-name. 

Like, it was only after Kyle became one of the core JLA alongside Wally that the two of them finally worked out their mutual antagonism and became friends, but before that, Wally was NOT shy about expressing he hated this new GL guy and wanted nothing to do with him, even though it was for unfair reasons, sooooo……like, its not really that shocking that even though Wally and Donna are two of each other’s oldest friends and super tight, like, he was never going to be the friend she called up to let him know how great things were going with her and Kyle these days, lol, y’know?

So it makes sense that when Donna was first magically reconstituted thanks to Wally’s memories/view of her (btw, this was because Wally was out of phase with reality and was in the Speed Force at the precise moment that Donna was erased from reality by the Dark Angel’s magic, and that’s why he alone remembered her and was the template for undoing what the Dark Angel had done). But anyway, it makes sense that she would for a time have had very little memory or even knowledge of her and Kyle’s prior relationship, and basically just know/remember what little Wally actually knew of it. So from her perspective then, it could very well have seemed that they were never that serious, and everyone but Kyle like….kinda just nodded and figured okay, you would know after all, and just…..everyone ended up walking away with the idea that they were just this brief fling and neither had ever had strong feelings for each other, let alone love.

The problem I’ve always had is that eventually Donna DID regain her full memories and her own sense of self, and like….she was Donna again, through and through, existing as she always had without being limited to just Wally’s view or memory of her.

Soooo, at THAT point, she should have been perfectly aware of what her and Kyle’s relationship had ACTUALLY looked like, in its entirety, and I mean, I can understand them not getting back together at that point. It’d been years, they both were in very different places, Kyle had eventually gotten together with Jade after it was expressed by Donna herself that there was no reason not to, given that its not like they were ever that serious….so by the time Donna herself would have realized otherwise, I can totally understand her feeling that the moment had passed for them, that Kyle had moved on (just as Kyle had only ‘moved on’ once he felt there was no longer a chance of them returning to what they were). Like, all of that is super weird and complicated even by ridiculous comic book soap opera standards, so I mean….lol, how do you even BEGIN that conversation, y’know?

Buuuuuut, it just kinda sucks that at no point after that Faerber issue has any later writer ever had either Donna or Kyle discuss their previous relationship(s) in terms of what it ACTUALLY was, for BOTH of them, rather than just this trivial, ancient history fling that neither had ever been super invested in….even though for several years in the nineties they were one of THE major hero couples in comic books.

So. Yeah. As evidenced, I have a lot of unresolved Donna and Kyle feelings lol.

And then of course, there are and always will be my epic “OMG DICK AND KYLE COULD BE THE GREATEST SHIP AND END ALL THE SHIPS LIKE COULD YOU EVEN IMAGINE” feelings, but like. That’s a thirty pound tome in and of itself, so. Like. Just picture the two of them standing staring soulfully into each other’s eyes and then me, creepily fixated on them twenty feet away, chin propped up on my hands and going awwwwwwww while my own eyes like, sparkle anime style but also are the heart-eyes motherfucker meme at the same time.

[robertodacosta]

do you have a/know of a roberto reading list? bc i really want to start reading his comics but idk where to start and you seem to know a lot about him!

i don’t know of one but i’ve been meaning to make one! i’m gonna actually work on an nice and easy roberto reclist, but here are some recs off the top of my head to start, and what about each run i think is important, to help you figure out which runs might be most interesting!

start with marvel graphic novel #4 for roberto’s first appearance! and then the new mutants (1983), which i would recommend all of claremont’s run, but i personally don’t care quite as much for simonson’s run, and liefeld’s run is liefeld so not so great. also, roberto leaves the team for a bit around #50 or so, and he’s in a mini called fallen angels! it’s not a great mini tbh, but i would recommend reading the first issue at the very least, because it has some really significant roberto characterization!

then he joins x-force (1991) with #15 and he’s a fairly consistent member of the team for most of the run. important parts of this run include the reignfire arc, which is first introduced in #28 but not actually concluded till #80, and roberto being recruited for the hellfire club, around #100.

after this he gets a little harder to follow. but here are the priorities.

x-treme x-men (2001) #31-46- roberto is running the los angeles branch of x-corp! he is coming into his own as a leader! issue 46 in particular really showcases how much he’s coming into his own as a leader who can think big picture and organize very complicated operations.

new mutants (2009)- i like the wells run (#1-25), i don’t love the abnett run (#26-50), but roberto is on the team from start to end. this run doesn’t do a lot for his character imo, but it’s still a good take on the new mutants dynamic

avengers (2013) + avengers world (2014)- PLEASE read hickman’s avengers both because it’s a great comic and also because this is where roberto’s long running character arc finally reaches that moment where you’re like YEAH roberto is a great leader and you can see how his perspective is shaped by his experiences with the new mutants and x-force and the hellfire club, and by his time as xavier, magneto, and then cable’s student.

new avengers (2015) and then us avengers (2017) are about roberto leading his own team of avengers! the art in most of new avengers is atrocious but us avengers is much nicer looking. both runs deal with an important change in status quo, which is that during the terrigen mists, roberto contracted x-pox, and using his powers becomes incredibly dangerous for him, and changes the way he can be a superhero. at this point, roberto stops using sunspot as his code name, and takes on the legacy title of citizen v. please read the last issue of new avengers for the finest fake funeral in comics history.

uncanny x-men (2016) annual #1- this annual is all about roberto and domino teaming up to do some covert wet-works for the us avengers. it’s not the most necessary read to get his character, but i think its important because it shows what lines he’s willing to cross to achieve his goals, and that’s an important thing to acknowledge in a character.

avengers: no surrender (2018) concludes roberto’s time as an avenger, and he, rogue, and sam wilson work together to lead all the avengers who are left, and we see some more exploration of what impact the m-pox is still having on him, and roberto officially leaves the avengers because he’s realized he wants his place to be with the x-men, and leaves the name citizen v to re-brand himself as citizen x.

and aside from one (1) panel in squirrel girl a few months ago, roberto hasn’t appeared in a comic since no surrender ended, and there are no signs of him actually returning to x-men comics in solicits for jan-mach. but at sdcc this year x-men group editor promised a ‘big sunspot story’ coming up so hopefully we’ll be seeing roberto’s return to x-men comics soon!

[dementedgnomicwizard]

Do you have any comics that you recommend? I want some new stuff to read!

OOH yesyesyes! Let me just like. Tell you everything that I love.

The first comic I ever really fell in love with was Matt Fraction’s 2012 Hawkeye  run. It’s... so good. It reinvents the character in such a fun and interesting a deeply human way and also it’s funny as hell and the art is SEXY. David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth outsold. Also, it’s a really good jumping-off point if you’re trying to get into comics; a lot of comics do a kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge self-referential thing where the characters will say something and you’ll go “huh?” and there will be an asterisk and a footnote that says, like, “Read Secret Ultra Infinity Super Wars Vs. The X-Men Issue 458″ and you’re like “I am not going to do that” and then you don’t understand whatever’s happening for a few panels. The Fraction series doesn’t really do that! Which is super nice.

Once you’re done with that—Kelly Thompson’s 2016 Hawkeye run, which follows Kate Bishop (also Hawkeye) after she moves to LA! I LOVE LOVE LOVED this run because Kate is my favorite Marvel character of all time and Thompson really understands her and writes her better than pretty much anyone else who’s ever tackled Kate. Including Allan Heinberg. Feel free to @ me.

Skip All-New Hawkeye. It’s literally not worth it. Jeff Lumire doesn’t understand Clint and Kate’s dynamic and doesn’t understand Kate, period. The way their dynamic plays out in ANH reads like he literally just skimmed the Fraction series, lmao. There’s one cute flashback scene that addresses Kate’s backstory a little bit that I like a lot better than her motivation-backstory-flashback from the 2005 Young Avengers, but also when you take into account that she’d already had one of these flashback sequences it’s sort of redundant in a way that makes me wonder if Lumire was like... at all familiar with her character when he signed on to do the series. WHATEVER. I’M SALTY.

Young Avengers! The 2005 series is sort of required reading to understand Kieron Gillen’s 2013 series, but I like the Gillen series a lot better (at least in its handling of its female characters *cough* Kate *cough*) There’s a lot of YA reading inbetween the 2005 and 2013 series but I skipped a lot of it because the art was ugly and the Runaways crossover was near-unreadable, IMO.

THE UNBELIEVABLE GWENPOOL! I LOVE Gwenpool. She’s one of my favorite characters. If you’re not familiar, the basic concept is that she is a girl from our universe who loved Marvel, and one day she woke up and found herself in the Marvel universe—and proceeded to just sort of cause chaos in every way possible. Her series was fun and vibrant and the art style is sooooo cute. 

Spidey! This run was so so so fun and cute. I definitely have a weakness for teenage superheroes because I think their problems are more interesting and their banter is MUCH funnier, by and large. This run focused on Peter Parker in high school juggling his teenage problems with his identity as Spider-Man.

America! Gabby Rivera tackled the character of America Chavez for a solo series and I, for one, really enjoyed it. Also Joe Quinones’s art is deeply, deeply sexy. America is a really fun character and also she’s a lesbian so I was sold from the beginning! Prodigy, who I love, also pops up in this series quite a bit, and so does Kate!!!! Because they’re in love. AmeriKate will get confirmed one day or I’ll kill Marvel.

West Coast Avengers! This series is super new but I’m REALLY excited about it. Both the Hawkeyes are part of this new team, and so are Gwenpool and America, which was all it took to sell me on it. Issue 1 came out in August, and Issue 2 comes out on I belieeeeeeve the 19th of this month! I’m really, really excited for it. Issue 1 was a lot of fun and I trust Kelly Thompson with my life even if she keeps comphetting Kate.

Mark Waid’s Daredevil! I just started this series, and I’m only two volumes in, but I like it a lot so far. Those of you who follow me know that I’ve been wading through the Daredevil Netflix series and although I’ve been enjoying it a decent amount, a lot of it is sort of... bleak and joyless. This is not so in Waid’s series! It combines a pretty perfect amount of fun banter and zinginess with the inherent grittiness of Daredevil. I admittedly don’t know much about the character, since this is my first time reading him, but I love it so far and Matt and Foggy are in love, also, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Also I just started Matt Fraction’s Iron Fist and although I’m not yet far in enough to make a real call I like it so far and given that Fraction is one of my favorite comic writers ever I’m confident that I’ll really enjoy it.

NON-BIG TWO COMICS! (Sorry, DC fans, I’ve never read anything DC and I probably never will except maybe The Flash but even that’s a big ol’ maybe)

SEX CRIMINALS! This one’s by Matt Fraction (who y’all know I love) and Chip Zdarsky, who I also love to death. It’s a REALLY funny series about people who figure out that time freezes when they cum so they start robbing banks. It sounds like a really weird concept, and it is, but it’s also so fucking good. It’s so good. That’s really all I can say.

Heavy Vinyl! This is a series about a group of girls in I belieeeeeve the 90s who work at a record store and are also part of a secret underground crime-fighting fight club. I’ve only read volume 1—I’m not sure if there’s more out yet, I’ve checked my local store a couple times and haven’t found any—but I’m eager to read more when/if there ever is any.

Kelly Thompson’s Nancy Drew! I was a little scared going into this one that the similarities to Kate (private detective, sassy young woman, written by Thompson etc) would make Nancy’s voice too similar to Kate’s, but because it’s Thompson I wasn’t let down! The only way Kelly Thompson has ever let me down is by making Kate date boys. ANYWAY. As someone who grew up reading and loving Nancy Drew, I was really excited about this series and I wasn’t disappointed. George is a lesbian in this! Finally! That’s all you need to know. Go read it.

That’s all I got for now! Thanks for asking, sorry this got long!

[inhumansforever]

Dazzler X-Song One-Shot Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The Dazzler is our guide for this rather interesting, poignant and at times unsettling journey into the New York super-powered punk scene, from the creative team of Writer Magdalene Visaggio, artist Laura Braga and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg.  Quick recap and review following the jump.  

Alison Blaire, thes sound-absorbing, light bending Mutant known as the Dazzler has been many things… pop-star, adventurer, X-Man, agent of Shield…  but her one true love has remained performing music and putting on a good show.  And her new gig as the front person for the punk band, The Lightbringers, has afforded her the chance to return to this… playing shows around the tristate area at venues that cater to those who are all too often unwelcome at clubs and music halls: Mutants, Inhumans, and other meta-humans.  

One of Dazzler’s biggest fans is a young woman named Nora.   Nora is an Inhuman, one of dozens of unsuspecting individuals who were transformed by the mutagenic properties of the Terrigen Cloud back in the Inhumanity Event.  Nora never asked to be Inhuman and has a hard time adjusting to it.  She has been endowed with super powers not entirely dissimilar to those of The Dazzler: the ability to project pulses of vibrant light.  Unfortunately, her capacity to control this power seems connected to her emotions and, of late, she has had a very hard time controlling it.  This led to an alluded to event where she lost hold of her powers and caused some sort of tough scene.  

Nora has just gotten back on her feet and now she and her friend, Zee, are looking forward to heading to the club to see Dazzler and the Lightbrings and have a good time.  Sadly this is not to be.  Most of the concert goers are just there to dance and have fun, but a small few have decided that events such as this should be Mutants only with no Inhumans allowed.  

This animosity between Mutants and Inhumans stems from the terribly deleterious effect the Terrigen Cloud had had on Mutants all over the world.  While the cloud created new Inhumans, it was poisonous to Mutants and many a Mutant died from exposure to the cloud with others being left sterile.   The whole matter culminated in the Inhuman/X-Men War wherein the Terrigen Cloud was ultimately destroyed, saving the Mutants but dooming the future of The Inhumans.  

While the war itself has ended, the angry feelings remain.  Newer Inhumans, like Nora, had nothing to do with the creation of the T-Cloud, yet for some they still represent a matter that brought Mutantkind to the brink of extinction.  And this group of young Mutants have decided to channel their anger into bullying Inhumans and trying to enforce the idea that there should be safe spaces where only Mutants are allowed and Inhumans are unwelcome.  

The Dazzler isn’t about this at all and she intercedes, arguing that her music is for everyone and that all are invited to come in and have a good time.  Her message is all about inclusion and solidarity.  As she sees it, Mutants and Inhumans have a great deal in common and coping with a broader world that fears and hates them would be much easier were they to band together.  

The quasi-militarized group of Mutant don’t see it that way and they continue to plague Inhumans at the various Lightbringer shows all over the New York area.  It comes to a head, when these guys corner Nora and Zee outside a show and it looks like they are going to beat them up.  

Dazzler shows up and encourages Zee and Nora to sign a song.  Dazzler uses the noise the pair is making through their song to fuel her Mutant power and then throttles the menacing young Mutants and sends them packing.  

All the while, Colossus of The X-Men has been showing up to talk to Dazzler, trying to convince her to return to The X-Men.  At first, Alison is resistant to accept the invitation… she feels her superhero days are behind her.  And yet her experiences fending off these intolerant goons has changed her mind and now the prospect of returning to the good fight feels a bit more right.  

And apparently she will indeed accept Colossus offer and rejoin the team in upcoming issues of Astonishing X-Men.  

Wow.  There’s a lot to unpack here in terms of the metaphorical messages entailed in the story.  In the Marvel Universe, both Mutants and Inhumans have been utilized as representational stand-ins for all manner of different real-life groups who are frequently the victims of oppression, marginalization and prejudice.  

In their own individual stories, this metaphor works in a much more straight forward fashion.  The X-Men can be seen as representing Black people, or gay people, or really anyone disenfranchised by the mainstream powers-that-be.  Likewise, Inhumans call also be seen as vehicles representing the plight of immigrants, or transgender people, or again anyone disenfranchised by the mainstream powers-that-be.   When X-Men and Inhumans intersect, however, the metaphorical valance becomes a great deal more nebulous.  Here the premise comes to focus on ‘intersectionality’ …intergroup bigotry, wherein two groups who are both the victims of prejudice end up routing that prejudice toward one another.  

This is an important matter to address and something that the ‘Mutant Metaphor’ in the X-books have sidestepped for far too long; and as much as some X-Men fans despise The Inhumans, they do offer up the opportunity to finally address this matter and ultimately bolster the importance and efficacy of the Mutant Metaphor in the comics.  

It’s an unfortunately truth that being the victim of bigotry does not always inoculate individuals from acting on their own feelings of fear and bigotry toward others.  There are many Jewish people who are racist; many Black people who are homophobic; many Latinos who are sexist… et cetera and et cetera.  It’s a sad, unfortunate irony, but that’s just how it is.  

Possibly the worst part of the inter-group prejudice dynamic is that it can act to further compound various groups’ marginalization and maintain the inequality of the status quo.  If these inter-group bigotries could somehow mitigated or be put aside, if true solidarity and unity could be achieved… the so-called powers that be wouldn’t stand a chance.  Racism and bigotry has been a blight on the United States since the nation’s inception.  Yet it does feel especially bad of late with the current governmental administration and the ways in which fear and hate-mongering has been weaponized to consolidate power.  

There are many ways to interpret the undercurrent metaphorical message of this story.  One such interpretation is to see it as a recapitulation of the frictions that can exist between transgender women and trans-exclusive feminists (AKA ‘terfs’).  Herein, Nora and Zee represent trans-women and the militant gatekeeper Mutants represent terfs.  

Being transgender in the current social climate cannot be easy.  Alienation, fetishization and the threat of violence are a constant, inescapable facets to being transgender in modern times.  Finding themselves unwelcome by groups of women or other members of the LBGTQ community only acts to make matters worse.  

In this regard, I completely agree with the premise of the story at hand. Trans women should be accepted into the feminist movement.  Excluding them is both wrong as well as a matter that undercuts and diminishes the ultimate goal of achieving equality.  

At the same time, I kind of wish the bad guys in the story were handled in a more multi-dimensional fashion.  The idea that these guys were arguing for a safe space for Mutants is somewhat understandable.  And it made me wince a bit when one of the Mutant goons used a term often associated with combating oppression toward Black people.  

I would have liked the other side of the conflict to be portrayed with a greater degree of nuance and compassion rather than just having them be goon that The Dazzler could beat up.   In that the broader message is one of unity and solidarity, it would have been much better had a Sentinel or the Watchdogs were to show up, leading to Dazzler, The Inhumans and The Mutants all needing to team up to defeat a common foe.   I think this would have made the overarching message of the story all the more poignant.  

Granted, offering up critiques of a story after the fact is a lot easier than crafting the story in the first place.  I remain a big fan of Magdalene Visaggio’s work and I think she has a very bright future as a writer.

Likewise, the art provided by Laura Braga is just stellar.  Dazzler looked great, the action was fluid and dynamic and the facial expressions were spot on.  Rachelle Rosenberg’s coloring paired perfectly with the line-work, especially in illuminating Dazzler’s light-based powers.  Visually, this comic is rather beautiful to behold.

Intersectionality is a difficult subject.  It’s the kind of matter it takes a lot of guts to try and take on… there is really no way to tackle it without taking risks and ruffling feathers.  I very much respect the creative team’s willingness to jump into all this and hope that future stories will continue to explore and unpack this very important issue.  

Definitely recommended.  Four and a half out of five Lockjaws.  

[thisiscomics]

There seems to be a lot of Dazzler love out there- she had a one shot just a month or two ago, and here she is making quite the dramatic entry in Astonishing X-Men. She was before my time, so I don’t have any nostalgic feelings for the character- my interest in her past is currently limited to wanting to see all the Bill Sienkiewicz covers on her 80s solo series, as they look typically amazing. I find it hard to believe that the interiors reach the great expectations he sets, but maybe I will pick the series up at some point and be surprised.

Still, even without any rush of fond memories for the 80s, I’ve enjoyed this recent resurgence (and at the same time, X-Men: Grand Design has just shown her first appearance, so this is really Dazzler’s year, it would seem!), as she seems like a different kind of X-Man. This entrance into a fight scene is full of life (bright too, which is kind of inevitable if your mutant power involves light, but it does feed into the impression of less serious mutant- no grim and gritty here), putting a bit of fun into being an X-Man. The X-Men often feel like they have little choice in what they do- the world’s attitude towards them, the nature of their powers, and the need to learn to use those powers, are all circumstances which almost force them together. Dazzler’s music career marks her as separate to all this, giving her a clear life outside of the world of Xavier’s children, so as she gets involved here, it’s a choice to get off the stage and into the streets to fight the bigots, and she embraces it. This may be partially because her music career is in a bit of a rut, but it’s still a choice to do something she enjoys, and she can always leave again; the absence of obligation definitely contributes to the different attitude to being on of the X-Men.

The music career is the only part of the character I am not a big fan of- her disco origins are fine, and looked like it was fun at the time, but obviously it’s been hard to keep that up as disco has faded away, and I don’t think comics do music very well, very often. It’s too easy to appear desperate to capture something of the Zeitgeist, which either ages badly or has limited appeal (or enrages part of the audience- I could just imagine the 90s deciding Dazzler had to do grunge, complete with snippets of lyrics that were from the crappy end of the spectrum, coupled with angry men in Nirvana T-shirts bemoaning a fictional Disco Queen being allowed into their club). There are numerous examples where we see parts of a song and they rarely come across as something I would have an interest in hearing- the written word and songs are just too tricky to combine, you need some musical element to even give it a chance, and I don’t mean wobbly crotchets and quavers added to the page as sound effects. It’s all well and good to say songs can work on the printed page- and I have several volumes of lyrics on my shelves that shows I don’t disagree- but they need to be damn good, and some musical history behind them helps, as well. As such, I dread seeing songs in a comic book- here, fortunately, there’s just enough of Dazzler’s stage life to establish she’s a performer, without spending much time on representing the elements of that performance. We don’t have to watch Forge build things to understand his skills, so broad brushstrokes are fine for other talents too- after all we just need to establish this part of the character and then focus on the plot, which is what is done here. And you’re left happy that she decided to join the gang, mostly because she seems happy, ready to see what comes next with this interesting new team dynamic.

From Astonishing X-Men 14, by Matthew Rosenberg, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Frank D'Armata & Clayton Cowles

[onceuponamirror]

11 questions game

tagged by @raptorlily, who prepared 11 questions for her tag-ees:

1. The core four + Kevin and Cheryl are attending a literary character party. What costume does each of them wear? Bonus: What costumes are the Southside Serpent characters wearing?

OH BOY. well, betty is elizabeth bennett. her instinct is obviously be nancy drew, but then decides she wants to play dress up a little bit. she tries valiantly to get jughead into a darcy couples costume, but his instinct is to just be sal paradise because he won’t have to buy anything for the costume. 

betty tells him that if she’s not going to be nancy, he should go outside the box too. he then decides on dressing like the titular mummy from jane loudon’s the mummy! (he’s still a weirdo, remember)

veronica goes as daisy buchanan if not purely for the extravagant opportunity to dress like a flapper, archie comes as jim hawkins from treasure island, cheryl bucks expectation and attends as a female robin hood (she already loves archery), and kevin is absolutely sherlock holmes. he’d look so natural in a trenchcoat!

2. What extracurricular activities are Reggie, Ethel, Fangs, Midge, Toni and Sweetpea involved in?

besides sports, reggie’s extracurricular activity is definitely selling ground up oregano to middle schoolers and telling them it’s weed. 

ethel is canonically a drama geek and that’s valid, but she’s also probably in band. i’m gonna go with....flutist. 

fangs is also canonically a drama geek and a regular geek (less we not forget jughead used a larping club to lure fangs out of a self-imposed suspension) so i honestly am just waiting for him and kev to start up their dungeons and dragons club. (wow they are perfect for each other tho??? a dorkier bughead)

midge (RIP) was probably into 4-H bc i can’t get the concept of “klump farms” out of my head. she seemed like a genuinely sweet person who also was a regular teenager and was a cheerleader and probably volunteered at hospitals too idk 

toni wanted to get laid so bad she became a cheerleader. or, ok, seriously i mean my headcanon is like, it’s bring it on, where toni was into gymnastics and dance in a v serious way but southside didn’t offer any curriculars that would allow her to do that, and she couldn’t afford gymnastics herself. turns out the closest thing riverdale has is cheerleading, which’ll do. 

sweet pea is probably the lowkey nerdiest of them all. i was joking earlier that he’s probably secretly into anime, but more seriously: feel like he’d go for basketball officially and also probably has an interest in engineering. i mean, that interest began with pipe bombs, but. yanno. ya dreams gotta start somewhere!!!

3. Give me three of your favourite headcanons for Reggie

had a crush on betty until high school

does his dumbest shit for his dad’s attention, painfully unsubtle about it

is cripplingly afraid of being alone, which is why he surrounds himself by teammates at all times and/or can’t get past the pack mentality. has difficulty being vulnerable in spite of all that, can’t be honest with himself and/or with others. 

4. It’s Saturday night and the core four are all hanging out by themselves at home. What is each of them up to?

betty is listening to the memory palace podcast while laying on her bed, feet crossed up in the air, doing her homework. cleaned her room earlier. wants to call polly. she doesn’t. stays up till two am for no reason other than her room is warm and full of golden light and it’s the only time the house is quiet. plugged back in her old nightlight, half out of spite after polly nearly threw it out, half genuinely. sometimes she thinks she’s still afraid of the dark. the irony isn’t lost on her. 

jughead is working on his novel, american crime story is playing on the TV in the background, a bag of popcorn slowly rotating in the microwave. the trailer is empty and he chooses to think his dad is at work. emails his sister. he doesn’t remember when, but they’ve stopped talking about their mom. his tattoo itches. toni told him not to scratch at it. 

veronica is drinking chamomile tea on a tray, scrolling through pinterest and making a european vacation mood board for the post-graduation trip she’d like to take with her friends. she wants to surprise them with it, all-expenses paid. she resists the urge to book flights years in advance. browses the barney’s website. doesn’t know why she gets such a thrill from online shopping. isn’t sure why she can’t stop. 

archie is in the garage, his fingers strumming aimlessly over the strings of his guitar. wonders why his mother can’t be a lawyer here in riverdale. isn’t sure if music was ever his own, or something he thought he should want, because he didn’t want to work construction. or worse, because a woman found it attractive. brought his history textbook out with the intention to study. doesn’t. practices wonderwall, even though jughead laughs whenever the song comes upon. 

5. What’s your headcanon for Jughead’s hat? Why does he wear it? What’s the origin story?

his mom made it when he was a kid, and growing up in threadbare clothes donated down the line of serpents or thrift store finds, it was the one thing that was truly his---made for him. with love. 

being scrawny and quiet and outgrowing his pants too fast to replace them already set him apart. might as well let the hat seal the deal. 

6. What is your Riverdale guilty pleasure ship? One that you don’t necessarily ship in canon but wouldn’t mind reading fanfiction for?

don’t think i have one, honestly? 

7. Can Chuck be redeemed in your eyes? Any caveats or things that would need to happen to make this count?

yeah, it’s really interesting answer this question post 2x18, but---yes, i definitely think chuck can be redeemed. i never wanted him to be a villain in the first place, for so, so many reasons. 

i mean, comics!chuck was a deliberate bucking of specific stereotypes that riverdale slid right back into without seeming to think about what it was they were saying by doing that. (related readings: x) and then the way they did it---ack. 

outside of the vacuum of comics vs. show, i think that where we’re at culturally, we’re really asking men to unlearn their toxic masculinity. especially of adolescents who are still growing and changing---and what chuck did was certainly part of the vacuum of male privilege/toxic masculinity, but he faced consequences  for that, and then he acknowledged it. actively has announced he wants to change, and i genuinely believe it at this point. 

and while i wish chuck wasn’t the character they’re doing this with in the first place, “cancelled culture” can be really frustrating because it’s way too binary. it undermines the growth and self-crit we want people to be doing. 

obviously, it doesn’t apply unilaterally, some people are abusive or cruel or malicious to the point where they lose their ability to profit off of it, and rightfully so---but with a character like chuck, whose main crime appeared to just be slut shaming, i actually appreciate a narrative where a male character owns up to how that was bad, why it was wrong, and how they’re going to change. 

8. What is a storyline you’d like to see most explored on the show?

just---more familial dynamics. i cannot wait for gladys and JB, i think that’s going to be so meaty and tragic and emotional in the right ways. i want more of polly and betty’s relationship, and/or how betty feels watching her sister run away constantly, or just their dynamic in general. more of archie and fred navigating dreams vs. reality. i kinda don’t love veronica’s parents tho, and i’m not sure where they could take that in a way that i enjoy. 

9. What is your favourite Riverdale fanfic trope or cliché?

pining, man. just. pining. 

10. What is existing scene or storyline would you rewrite to better suit your tastes?

HAH. how much time do we have 

BONUS:  Archie starts a band. He settles on ‘The Archies’ but what were some of the other suggestions for the band name? Name three songs that show up on their debut album.

jughead’s suggestion is: red drum, red drum and he thinks it’s hilarious

three songs: midnight ride, smoking gun, and can’t fly

my 11 questions for my taggees 

1. which twist did you least see coming? genuinely. 

2. we all know riverdale loves hopscotching through genre elements (true crime, musical, grease, etc), and sometimes it’s too much, but which has been your favorite? what other ones would you like to see from the show?

3. riverdale does dirty on its secondary characters. what storylines would you give to reggie, kevin, josie, etc? or, what would you like to see for them in s3? anything you thought the show really fumbled? did right?

4. what are your backstory headcanons for sweet pea, fangs, and toni?

5. what’s your theory on the old riverdale riots?

6. it’s the ten year high school reunion. where did everyone go to college? (core four + the secondary pals) what’s your headcanon for their future careers? who’s still together? who wishes they were still together? who hooks up unexpectedly in a storage closet? 

7. what’s a storyline you just didn’t buy this season?

8. any headcanons for the riverparents? like, how they grew up, who they were in high school, why they went the directions they did?

9. what’s one trope that you’d wish the show would do? or something you wish you saw more in fic?

10. thoughts on reggie? will he ever be fleshed out? will it make him more of a villain, or less of one?

11. if you could have anything happen in s3, what would it be?

and i tag @village-skeptic @stillscape @sylwrites @lessoleilscouchants @myrmidonofmelodrama @heartunsettledsoul @raptorlily (tagging back, bc i want your answers on these too!) @theatreofexpression​ @imreallyloveleee​ 

or anyone who wants to answer!!! just tag me, i wanna see yer answers. these games are fun 

[vaxildvn]

Comics I read: 23/8/17:

Hi-Fi Fight Club #1: Wow this series is so great. Chris has started a new job at her local vinyl shop. Between trying to fit in, and crushing on her co-worker Maggie, she finds herself in a mystery about a missing singer, and discovers a teen girl vigilante fight club! So so looking forward to the next issue!

Lumberjanes #41: Ripley gets inspired by Jo, and the girls try out some science activities! Plus, Molly makes a potentially terrible deal...

Bombshells: United #1: The sequel to bombshells begins! Looks like it’s off to a good start. So excited to see Cassie and Donna in the spotlight!

Batgirl #14: A team up with Nightwing, plus some flashbacks to them getting to know each other way back when. This is the first arc back since I quit this book, so I hope it’ll prove good!

Detective Comics #963: We catch back up with Steph and Anarky. I love Steph, and I get why she doesn’t want to do things Batman’s way, but I don’t see that this will be much better. Plus, he’s keeping tabs on her... I wonder if she knows that? Anyway, that flashback with her and Tim at the start was so cute. I wish she knew he was still alive!

Teen Titans #11: Aqualad finally gets his title! I loved the team dynamic in this one, and Jackson meeting up with Garth was nice too. Good to see him become a real player in the team.

Moonstruck #2: The book with some of the cutest art in comics continues! We get to meet Selina, Julie’s girlfriend, and they go with Chet to a magic show. But poor Chet, they volunteer to be an assistant, and lose their centaur butt!!!

Iceman #4: This book just keeps getting better. This time, Daken shows up, and he and Bobby fight and flirt in equal measures! And Bobby takes the big step, and comes out to his family! I really hope it’ll go well for him!

X-Men Gold #10: The team head to Russia to stop Red Omega. I didn’t like how easily Illyana seemed to be taken out, she’s way more powerful than that, but I guess we’ll find out next time. I did love seeing Dani in the beginning of this issue! That this team is a big family who do stuff at the mansion together is one of the big strengths of this title for me. 

[aion-rsa]

X-Men: Dark Phoenix - Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

http://bit.ly/2HXOvGu

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is here and we're putting together all the various Marvel Comics references hidden throughout.

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This article consists of lots of X-Men: Dark Phoenix spoilers. We have a spoiler free review here.

The X-Men Cinematic Universe has reached the finish line. After three initial core movies, four core movies from a rebooted sequel timeline, three Wolverine movies, two Deadpool movies, and a New Mutants fiasco that may or may not see the light of day, it’s time to pack it in. X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the last big showing of Fox’s genre-defining and, in all honesty, fascinating line of movies.

As always, being a superhero movie, there are a ton of comic book references throughout. Being an X-Men movie, that also means that throwaway heroes and villains are named after obscure comic book characters that they have very little to do with. Man, remember when "Psylocke" was in X-Men: The Last Stand? Yeah...

So let’s take a look at the various Easter eggs in Dark Phoenix before we have to rewrite a bunch of it for looking too much like our Captain Marvel Easter Eggs and Reference Guide. I’ll be here all week.

Dark Phoenix Villains

VUK AND THE D’BARI

The villains of the movie may be underdeveloped and feel tacked on, but they are actually a part of Marvel Comics’ history. The D’Bari are mainly remembered for their very brief and tragic appearance in Uncanny X-Men #135. After scuffling with the X-Men, Dark Phoenix flew off to space in need of a recharge. She ended up feasting on a star, which destroyed an entire solar system. The D’Bari were a race completely wiped out by the gesture.

This is also the reason why it was later retconned so that “Jean” in the Dark Phoenix Saga comic was not the real Jean Grey but the Phoenix itself after copying her appearance and personality. Before the retcon, Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter believed that Jean could never be allowed to live or come back to life as a hero after all that blood on her hands. This was a loophole to get past that.

read more: Best X-Men Movies Watch Order

Their appearance in the movie is far more reminiscent of the Skrulls between the shape-shifting and the desire to take Earth as their new home. That was kind of a big thing after Galactus ate the Skrull homeworld in the comics. It’s more than likely that these guys were supposed to be Skrulls from the beginning until legal issues screwed things around and the MCU got the rights to the characters. After all, before Captain Marvel, it was accepted by many that Skrulls were a Fantastic Four property, also under the Fox banner.

Jessica Chastain’s character is referred to as Vuk. Vuk, later known as Starhammer, actually appeared in the extremely notable Avengers #4, otherwise known as the issue where Captain America is thawed out and joins the team. Vuk, a male in the comics, used human disguises to sneak around and used his technology to turn most of the Avengers into stone. He’s appeared very sporadically since, eventually explained to be the last surviving D’Bari due to being off-world during the events of Dark Phoenix Saga. He’s since become obsessed with finding and killing Phoenix for her actions.

MAGNETO’S BROTHERHOOD

No longer a straight-up villain yet again, Magneto runs a refuge for mutants around the world. The credits list one actor as “Genosha Sentry,” confirming that, yep, this plot of land is the cinematic version of Genosha. In the comics, Genosha started as an island that captured and enslaved mutants. After it was toppled, Magneto took over and ruled it like his own mutant-only country. Even after its eventual destruction at the hands of Sentinels, Magneto has used it as a hideout from time to time.

Kota Eberhardt’s telepath character is Selene. Created by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema in New Mutants #9 back in 1983, Selene has been a long-running antagonist for the X-Men. Mainly remembered for being the OTHER Black Queen from the Hellfire Club (and also the boss of the Gambit stage from that awful Arcade’s Revenge game for SNES), Selene is possibly the oldest known mutant in Marvel history, predating even Apocalypse. While she is a telepath in the comics, she also has a ton of other abilities, making her way more powerful than she is in the movie.

read more: Explaining the X-Men Movie Timeline(s)

Andrew Stehlin’s hair-puncher mutant character is listed as Ariki in the credits, who is not an existing X-Men character before this. During the making of the movie, he was identified as Red Lotus, an obscure martial artist mutant from X-Treme X-Men. Considering there are absolutely no similarities between the two, it makes sense that they’d change that part for once.

OTHER X-MEN REFERENCES

- During the party in the woods, Halston Sage plays Dazzler. The disco queen superhero made her comic debut in Uncanny X-Men #130, notably during Dark Phoenix Saga, albeit not having a major role. Funny that she finally got to make her movie debut considering she was originally created for the sake of starring in her own movie in the early '80s, which would have featured various Marvel heroes, high-profile musical acts, Robin Williams, and Rodney Dangerfield. Crazy stuff.

- The narration that Jean gives at the beginning is the same one Xavier did at the beginning of X2: X-Men United.

- The movie takes place in 1992. The same year when X-Men jumped into the mainstream with X-Men: The Animated Series. Coincidence? Probably! Maybe! Maybe not! Why am I yelling?!

- The shot of the jet flying out through the school’s basketball court is an exact copy of the same shot from the first X-Men movie, right down to the loose basketball being discarded.

- The cracks on Jean’s face are very similar to the weird scars on Rachel Summers’ face. Rachel herself a wielder of the Phoenix Force in the comics.

- Mystique complains to Xavier about how they have to “wear matching costumes and smile.” After Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s legendary run on New X-Men had the team wearing the black leather that the original movies were so fond of, Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men brought back uniforms with Cyclops citing the same concept that Mystique bemoans. The team’s costumes are also reminiscent of the original issues of Uncanny X-Men from the 1960s.

read more: The X-Men Movies You Never Saw

- Anyone else think it’s weird that they sell naked Mystique action figures in this reality? I guess Mystique is really, REALLY against uniforms more than anyone realized. Coincidentally, in real life, Jennifer Lawrence put the kibosh on them releasing a nude Mystique figure with her likeness.

- During Xavier’s speech at the White House, Chris Claremont makes a cameo. While Claremont didn’t create the X-Men, he was the one who made them a household name and added the defining minority dynamic to the comic. Plus, you know, he wrote Dark Phoenix Saga.

- John Grey’s hatred for Jean is a product of the movie only. In the comics, he loved Jean and didn’t even know about her abilities or the truth of the Xavier School for a long time.

read more - X-Men: Dark Phoenix Ending Explained

- During the X-Men confrontation with Jean by her house, there’s a truck in the background labeled “BISHOP POWER.” A sly reference to Bishop, the X-Men member with the ability to absorb energy and use it against others.

- Mystique is impaled thrice through the midsection. Probably a bookend to her fake death in the first movie at Wolverine’s hands.

- Xavier’s role in the movie ties into how the mid-00s treated him in the comics. Various incidents were uncovered, which painted Xavier as a man who went too far due to the ends justifying the means. When a rescue team of mutants failed a mission and seemed to die, he mind-wiped everyone to make them forget they ever existed (this included Cyclops’ brother Vulcan, so Cyclops was understandably pissed when this came to light). He also forced a confused, sentient AI to act as the Danger Room against its will. Like in the movie, this eventually cost him his spot as the school’s headmaster.

- By the end of the movie, Phoenix is straight-up dusting her enemies, which is how she took care of business in X3: The Last Stand.

- When Jean flies off to space to blow up, Cyclops says, “She’s gone.” In X-Men 2, when Jean died, Wolverine said the same line, only for Cyclops to immediately and tearfully yell at him for saying that.

read more - How Dark Phoenix Fixes X-Men Continuity

- Jean’s narration at the end: “This is not the end of me or the X-Men. This is a new beginning.” That sounds...very meta considering the future of the cinematic X-Men.

- Naming the school after Jean Grey is also from the comics. Wolverine renamed it the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning after he took over. If they’ve truly cut ties with Xavier, it’s probably for the better. For one thing, it’ll sidestep the X-Men’s fate from Logan.

Hopefully, when the MCU starts dealing with X-Men stuff, they can refrain from all the chess. I never want to see another chess game in a superhero movie again as long as I live.

MISCELLANEOUS

- The song that Jean wants to change on the radio is Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I get to Phoenix.” Funny enough, she changes it to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” a nod to the duality and dangerous nature of Jean and the Phoenix Force.

- Jean trying to scrub Mystique’s blood out of her shirt is the lamest, most on-the-nose Macbeth reference in recent cinematic memory.

- Jean opening her eyes as a new fire being and flying off into the cosmos is pretty intentionally evoking David going “Star-Child” at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

See any other fun references? Sound off in the comments below!

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Feature

Books

Gavin Jasper

Jun 6, 2019

Marvel

X-Men

Dark Phoenix

from Books http://bit.ly/2IsQMZt

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga (1994)

The Living Embodiment of “Bitch, You Thought”

The Setup: Caroline Siede is a TV and film critic whose work has appeared in The AV Club, Quartz, The Mary Sue, and Vox, among others; an occasional theatre and film director, including of a web series Kris wrote; a superhero enthusiast in general and an X-Men superfan in particular; and to our great honor and everlasting vague surprise, a friend of Reacting to Something.

Kris remembered from this (excellent) X-Men: Apocalypse tweet storm that Caroline’s favorite fictional character ever is Jean Grey. Somewhere between then and the news that Jessica Chastain might join Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, et al. in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, he learned that Miri is also a big X-Men fan. And Miri is the only RtS regular who didn’t work on that web series, so this two-part Guest Reaction on X-Men cartoons basically had to happen.

Spoilers ahead, I guess?, for a decades-old story that practically redefined its medium and is on track for its third screen adaptation in our lifetimes. Post-chat notes and comics trivia from Kris in italics.

MIRI: Hi! This is Miri

CAROLINE: Hello!

MIRI: Ready?

CAROLINE: I am!

MIRI: Excellent!

My first instinct is to talk about [X-Men: The Animated Series], then [X-Men: Evolution], then some general yelling about how the two compare. What do you think?

CAROLINE: That sounds perfect to me!

MIRI: Awesome. Shall we be chronological about it?

(Secret motive: I have many feelings about the fashions in the Animated Series that I cannot contain for much longer)

CAROLINE: Ahaha. Well let's go for it then!

Had you seen any of the series before?

MIRI: None. At least not that I recall--there may have been reruns that I don’t remember at some point.

And did you watch it all the way through?

I was super interested by the story structure. It has seasons, but each season is a collection of 4ish episode stories. Was there a narrative for the whole season, or not really?

CAROLINE: Not at all. It was a big part of my young childhood but only in the sense that I watched it on TV a lot and loved the characters. I doubt I even cared about or followed the plots.

MIRI: Gotcha

CAROLINE: Again, I'm not exactly an expert. But I believe the storytelling arcs were pretty self-contained with character stuff bleeding over across the seasons

But this Dark Phoenix arc was of course a direct follow-up to the earlier Phoenix arc

MIRI: Cool. Seems like a similar structure to early seasons of Doctor Who

Yes, let’s talk about Phoenix/Dark Phoenix

First of all, I think it’s safe to say that Dark Phoenix is the living embodiment of “Bitch, you thought” memes

CAROLINE: Ha! I also just want to throw it out there that Jean Grey is my all-time favorite superhero

And yes, Dark Phoenix is an (insane) badass

MIRI: I had never seen a version where the Phoenix is a separate entity rather than a part of Jean that had been walled off inside of her

CAROLINE: Although I do believe that's the comic book origin story

I think TAS is fairly close to comic book canon

But the "internal" Dark Phoenix thing seems to have become the movie and TV norm now

KRIS: Though in general I don’t think of myself as a stickler for comics canon -- having come to comics, I think like many millennials, through various 90s cartoons -- this Phoenix thing does bum me out, partly for how big a deal the Phoenix Force is to the Marvel universe at large, along with characters like the Shi’ar who were introduced in that story. The Avengers vs. X-Men event that spun into 2012′s very successful Marvel NOW! relaunch (one of the things that made recent Marvel comics accessible to relatively casual readers like me) was built around the Avengers trying to permanently end the existential threat of the Phoenix.

MIRI: Interesting. My deep love of the X-men comes solely from the Evolution cartoon. I have no true history knowledge

(Don’t @ me, twitter)

CAROLINE: I'm kind of in the same boat with TAS although I do own a massive encyclopedia of X-Men comic book trivia

MIRI: I hope that sits proudly on your coffee table

CAROLINE: Of course! But I think with everything from character design to storylines, TAS pulled pretty directly from the comics

K: The character designs are specifically the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee era of “Blue Team” and “Gold Team,” recently re-invoked in two of the many X-Men titles spinning out of the recent Inhumans vs. X-Men crossover

(The Phoenix stories are from an earlier, Lee-less Claremont run.)

MIRI: I DEFINITELY want to discuss costumes at some point

CAROLINE: Agreed! But one other thing that really struck me about the Dark Phoenix is just how epic in scope it is.

MIRI: The structure does also feel more comic book-y to me--stories told over a few issues, then a new story,e tc

Oh yes, let’s definitely stay on her for now

Yeah, I was shocked to end up IN SPACE

K: The Shi’ar are pretty wild

CAROLINE: I think that's an element of comic book storytelling that doesn't really get adapted onto the big screen 

I mean obviously the MCU is massive

But their crossovers are a huge event

Whereas comic books (and cartoons) can just get epic whenever they feel like it

This one went from a sexy pirate story to a massive interstellar gladiator battle.

K: I don’t know Caroline super well, but I feel confident saying that Space is one of her Top 5 Favorite Things

MIRI: Sidebar: Katherine Janeway and Jean Grey are into the same types of romance novels/holodramas, pass it on

But to your actual point--I was really surprised when they defeated Dark Phoenix at the end of the third episode. I thought the whole thing was going to be an earthbound mutant battle, and then suddenly there’s a space empress!

I like that freedom, which is definitely not a part of most of the film/tv versions.

CAROLINE: Yeah! The stories can literally go anyway. It's really fun to watch. 

We even get a little Thor cameo

Albeit briefly

MIRI: Right!

That kind of reminder that it’s all out there and connected is nice, and in this format doesn’t overburden the story

CAROLINE: But I also think the Dark Phoenix arc does a good job grounding all that craziness in character drama

MIRI: Overall yes, but I don’t entirely buy the motivations of the (Dark) Phoenix

They lose me a little with the fact that Jean and Phoenix are both super great/good beings, but combined they’re evil

Like, there are also exhilarating happy emotions. Why isn’t she eating ice cream and having orgasms and looking at puppy gifs online?

CAROLINE: I agree that the plotting is messy as hell, but I always love stories about strong women being afraid of their own power. So I'm kind of willing to overlook how little sense it makes

MIRI: Fair! And the emotional ties within the Xmen work very nicely

CAROLINE: I think that was far and away what I cared about most

The Hellfire Club got a little boring after a while

But I love watching the X-Men be friends

Which I think TAS does really well

MIRI: I actually thought the whole “Kill me Logan, while I’m in control enough to let you” think worked a bit better in X3, but obviously it had this to build off of

Yes, I liked the friend dynamics! I’m a huge sucker for characters actually liking each other

CAROLINE: Umm, I reject the notion that anything about X3 worked on any level.

MIRI: hahahahahahahha

That is your right!

And I wouldn’t ever want to have to defend my point, because that movie is a shitshow

K: I certainly won’t defend it on a storytelling level, BUT I actually still think the set piece at the Grey house holds up pretty well as a standalone-ish thing (my objection to this version of the Phoenix still holds), not least because The Last Stand has one of the best Marvel movie soundtracks, composed by John Powell. The geography of the house is also used in more interesting ways than most action set piece locations.

CAROLINE: I loved little things like Rogue leaving Scott and Jean alone as soon as they got romantic

MIRI: Wolverine and Scott even seem to care about each other while they’re both in love with Jean, which is very mature

CAROLINE: The relationships (at least among the X-Men) feel lived in and real

MIRI: I didn’t want to love this Rogue because I am deeply committed to loving the Evolutions Rogue, but I found her super charming

She’s just always ready to be enthusiastically upset

She  cannonballed into Apocalypse’s calf and it was surprisingly effective!

CAROLINE: She's a huge standout of TAS for me

MIRI: Also she can just fly all the time, apparently? I love it

CAROLINE: I love Lenore Zann's voice acting

Yeah she's basically Superman

But she also can't touch anyone

It's a little weird but it's SUPER fun to watch

K: Rogue’s mutant ability is life-force/memory/power absorption (as also seen in the movies and in X-Men: Evolution), which is usually temporary. In the comics, the one time it stuck was when she got in a fight with Carol Danvers, at the time Ms. Marvel, and absorbed Carol’s powers of super strength and flight. (Carol later picked up additional, “cosmic”-level powers and went through several codename changes.)

MIRI: Is it possible for me to love her voice but hate her accent? Because that’s where I am

CAROLINE: Sure! Although I love both. And her and Gambit together are aces

MIRI: I liked her dropping him into the lake

And ‘What is this, catch the x-men day?’ (I'm misquoting, but that moment)

CAROLINE: It's an incredibly different characterization than the one we got on the films

K: I think this is from the first Phoenix Saga, but I couldn’t pass it up

MIRI: VERY

CAROLINE: *in the films

But I enjoy both

MIRI: Yeah, I think the adultness is a factor here, though certainly not all of it

CAROLINE: For sure! I guess this is really the only major X-Men series not to have a "teen" element

MIRI: It actually made me kind of uncomfortable that none of them were kids. Which is weird, but I’m SO used to the Xavier Institute version of it all

CAROLINE: They do have Jubilee running around sometimes

She's a POV teen in the premiere

But for the most parts they're just kind of The Avengers or something

MIRI: I’m not opposed to that. I was just legitimately shocked for a minute

CAROLINE: Overall I was surprised by how *adult* the whole series felt

Obviously it's aimed at kids

But it's complex and mature and about adulthood

I feel like a lot of kids shows kind of try to talk down to their audience?

But this one doesn't for the most part?

MIRI: Wow, that’s a really interesting point. I can’t think of any kid shows now that have primarily adult casts

Except the Wildkratts, which I am probably spelling wrong but is quality educational programing

CAROLINE: A LOT of stuff happens in this arc. And while there's a lot of hand-holding in terms, it also goes pretty deep

Including exploring the nature of a relationship between two older leaders dedicated to their people

Which, just, isn't what you would think of as kids fair

MIRI: I also like their look at relative morality in the face of a terrible decision

CAROLINE: (Also I meant to say there's a lot of hand-holding in terms of plot BTWs)

MIRI: Scott wants to save Jean, of course! And that’s The Right Thing to do, but everyone involved wants to do the right thing

CAROLINE: Yeah! A very adult conflict

MIRI: And they’re not really demonized for being willing to sacrifice Jean to save billions

Honestly, I think the Empress is in the right. I also think I would make the same decisions as Scott

K: Empress Lilandra is the character Jessica Chastain is reportedly in talks to play in Fox’s forthcoming Dark Phoenix movie

CAROLINE: It's a weird mix of mature thoughtfulness that's also super stilted and dated.

MIRI: That’s a perfectdescription

CAROLINE: Because I do think it feels like a pretty stitled series, especially to modern eyes

MIRI: Very

We expect a lot more realism in our storytelling now

CAROLINE: Not just the 90s aesthetic, but the actual storytelling

For sure.

MIRI: And economy of storytelling

CAROLINE: Although there is that here too sometimes. It's hard to pin down 

Also I was legitimately so touched when the X-Men all gave of themselves to save Jean

MIRI: Team as family gets me every time

CAROLINE: That's some great team storytelling right there

MIRI: And they worked together nicely

CAROLINE: And the kind of stuff X-Men does best

MIRI: They all get their moment, but the team work is always present

Also I like that Rogue can and does pick up every single one of the X-Men in this episode

CAROLINE: Ha! I love her so much

I really love all of them. I think the characters are all super vibrant

At least in the X-Men

I was super bored by the Hellfire Club

MIRI: I honestly could not tell you who any of those people were if it weren’t for the more recent men movies

they were boring and not distinctly drawn

(In a character sense, not an animation sense)

CAROLINE: Agreed

I remembered the Hellfire Club being super cool but now I'm not sure if they're better in other episodes or if I was just easily won over as a child

MIRI: I could definietly see them being better in episodes where they’re the focus

CAROLINE: Changing topics: Wolverine saying, "Where's that blasted salami" is maybe the best X-Men moment of all time

MIRI: I liked Emma’s little fuck you about Phoenix being the new queen

Hahahahahaha that was good

I would argue that his claws are way too spaced out for neat, even slices

CAROLINE: There's something weird going on there for sure

MIRI: Maybe really near the knuckles?

CAROLINE: Maybe he has secret salami powers too

MIRI: I’m going down a dark path of thinking about how much grossness is brought into his body when he retracts the claws after fighting or slicing salami

I mean I know he heals so it’s fine

But ew

CAROLINE: Oh god

MIRI: Right?

CAROLINE: Dark times

MIRI: I’m sorry

CAROLINE: Dark Phoenix times

MIRI: hahahahahhahaa

Nice

CAROLINE: I think the only voice actor I really didn't like is Scott's

MIRI: I could not deal with Xavier’s

CAROLINE: Which is a bummer because he carries a lot of this arc

MIRI: It weirded me out

CAROLINE: Yeah Xavier isn't great either

But it's hard to compare to Patrick Stewart

MIRI: It’s very unfair of me to expect it

I know this

CAROLINE: Who is so throughly Professor X in my head

MIRI: Yeah, between TNG and X-men, he looms damn large in my formative genre culture landscape

M: TNG = Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I was basically raised on

K: Caroline is also a huge Star Trek fan, and last year wrote a Vox explainer/viewing guide for the uninitiated.

CAROLINE: Totally

Should we talk costumes?

MIRI: Yes!

CAROLINE: They're the best

MIRI: First of all, it’s a fun metric on cultural shifts because at least 75% of these guys would be read as gay in the present day

Jean’s mask at the end is really stupid looking and I loved it SO MUCH

That and Wolverine’s mask were just so classic/iconic looking

CAROLINE: Well to be fair that's not her normal outfit in the series 

MIRI: Right, it was her super early costume, right?

CAROLINE: She was giving us a little Marvel Girl throwback

Yeah

MIRI: Ohhhhh I totally forgot she was Marvel Girl!

K: Not to be confused with Ms. Marvel, the codename Carol Danvers took in the 70s, and has since been adopted by Kamala Khan. (Carol, an Air Force pilot to be played by Brie Larson in the MCU, is currently Captain Marvel to the superhero community, but Colonel Danvers to the US government. Although maybe Larson’s Carol will just be a Captain Danvers, to avoid general audience confusion?)

CAROLINE: But her regular costume is also kind of ridiculous 

K: That’s not a bunch of skin showing, it’s just a confusingly flesh-toned bodysuit. I always liked the crystal (?) in her headband thing though.

M: This isn’t even her “regular” costume but it is something that could not be ignored.

K: It’s not her Phoenix costume but it’s what she wears for most of the series

They LOVED their headgear on TAS

MIRI: Which is presumably why she doesn’t have a hero name, right?

CAROLINE: I believe so

K: I tried to find an official answer, but didn’t dig up anything from a publishing perspective. Story-wise, it didn’t have anything to do with either (the first) Captain or Ms. Marvel. As far as I can tell, Jean first stopped using the codename Marvel Girl when she started calling herself Phoenix, and then some time post-Dark Phoenix, she decided to go by her civilian name. Maybe just because it had been a while since they were really writing her as a “girl”?

MIRI: I liked all of their dark head covering headband things that didn’t cover their faces or hair, but did cover the rest of the head

I don’t know what to call them

CAROLINE: It's a true X-Men staple

And it's so weird to see Gambit without his

MIRI: Like, when I think about it too much I have logic questions. But I love them and don’t want them changed at all

CAROLINE: The costumes are also all straight out of the comics.

K: Mostly designed by Jim Lee in the late 80s, possibly explaining all the shoulder pads. For better or worse (as an admitted non-expert, I think a bit of both), Lee is one of the most influential artists and publishers in the medium, and currently one of the top folks at DC.

MIRI: Storm’s earrings are killer

CAROLINE: Really everything about Storm is amazing

Another voice performance I love

MIRI: Yes! I loved her narration of her powers

CAROLINE: Haha! Same

So dramatic

Arguably too much so but it totally works

MIRI: Yes! I sat there thinking that I should be annoyed by it, but I just wanted more

I did not love that Rogue’s costume was apparently so shrink-wrapped on that I think I could see her internal organs

CAROLINE: I mean it is but I'm just so into her whole design

I really forgot how much I loved her on this series

MIRI: Yes, the design of the costume is great!

The mullet-ness of the white in her hair is not a styling choice I would make, but she’s free to do her

CAROLINE: Oh also Jean's Phoenix hair is AMAZING

MIRI: I also really liked the space aesthetics

CAROLINE: Keep the powers just for that!

MIRI: Ooh, yes! Both the updo and the big loose look

The guys’ lips were all the same color as the rest of their faces and once I noticed it I couldn’t stop noticing it

CAROLINE: Ha!

I will say, as much as I love many other iterations of the X-Men, these will always be the iconic X-Men looks for me

As I think they are for many people

MIRI: That makes total sense! They’re not entirely for me, but they definitely did resonate

Before the MCU became such a thing, these looks were a lot of the merchandise you saw

And they are just so distinctive

CAROLINE: I LOVE seeing people cosplay in these looks

It brings me such joy

MIRI: I like that they have commonalities without all being in the same exact uniform

Omg, yes!

Even without this era being A Thing for me, I can think of multiple killer Rogue cosplays I’ve taken notice of with this look

CAROLINE: Okay so should we start talking about an era of the X-Men that is a little more iconic for you?

MIRI: Sounds good! But first, I want to say that I feel like you shouldn’t power wash the ancient hieroglyphics tablet nd that was uncool even for villains to do

Also I need a gif of Dark Phoenix saying “I admit nothing”

(Dark Phoenix, Mother of Dragons, the unburnt, breaker of chains, Khaleesi of the great grass sea)

CAROLINE: I need so many GIFs

Mostly the salami one 

In Part 2, Miri and Caroline turn to X-Men: Evolution.

X-Men: The Animated Series is streaming on Hulu.

You can follow Caroline on Twitter, and support her on Patreon.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we mostly retweet critics (including Caroline), screenwriters, and general pop culture reporting. 

For now we leave you with perhaps the greatest superhero opening titles [Kanye] OF ALL TIME [/Kanye].

[thisiswhatwereupagainst]

New Evolution Brotherhood fic ideas

I was thinking about the end of the X-Men Evolution series, and how we see that in the future, Magneto will join the X-Men and become teacher to the New Mutants, while the Brotherhood will go on to work for SHIELD. And so I was thinking, if I were to write a continuation of of Evolution, who will be the new bad guys? SHIELD can be antagonistic to the X-Men at times, but that's not the same thing as bad guys. I personally would like to see lots of baddy groups from the comic books who never made it to canon Evo, such as the Marauders and the Hellfire Club, and I already have ideas about the Evolution version of the Hellions to combat the New Mutants, but how about a new Brotherhood too, who would be foes to both the X-Men and SHIELD? I think that would only make sense. The canon Evolution Brotherhood was just vulnerable teenagers being manipulated by an adult into making trouble for her own ends, not real bad guys with any real goals. This new Brotherhood, however, would be more like the Brotherhood of comics and movies, a true radical organization formed in response to rising anti-mutant sentiment as mutants became more and more well-known. Since mutants only became public knowledge during the course of Evolution, things are probably gonna get worse for them before they get better. The new Brotherhood would be adults lashing back against that with real terrorist activity. (I do love the “teen rivals” idea of the original Brotherhood though, so that would continue with the aforementioned Evolution version of the Hellions led by, of course, an Evolution version of Emma Frost. So they would be the successors to the Evolution Brotherhood in spirit---a pack of mostly good kids misled by an awesome evil lady---while this new one would be more in name.)

For this new Brotherhood, I would pick characters from the comics canon who were involved with the 616 Brotherhood and 616 Acolytes (not to be confused with the canon Evo Acolytes which were nothing like them and had none of the same members), as well as similar groups like the Mutant Liberation Front (which was not run by Magneto in the comics, but had likeminded goals, as evident by the name) So here is my lineup idea and my reasons for picking each mutant. Click their names for links to info pages about them elsewhere on the web!

Obviously, with Magneto gone, a leader is needed. I guess Mystique is the obvious choice, but for a NEW series, I think I would like to have a new Big Bad, and have Mystique doing new things. I think she could be a sort of chaotic neutral type, aiding the “bad guys” and “good guys” alike---helping out the Acolytes and their ilk because she agrees with their cause, but also the X-Men in an attempt to win over Kurt and Rogue, as well as anyone else who suits her ends. No, for the actual leader of the new Brotherhood, I would pick (no surprise from me, I guess) Fabian Cortez. At my RP blog for Fabian and the other first-gen Acolytes from the comics ( @thecorteztwins ) I play an Evolution verse where Fabian and his sister Anne Marie are teenagers, not terrorists, and pretty ordinary nice kids. I find it fun to play a Lighter and Softer version of them both. But if I were going to actually write for the show (or just a fanfic) I think that an adult Fabian Cortez, one who is very like his 616 counterpart, would be an excellent choice for a villain and as a successor to Magneto's role---I mean, he did that for awhile in the comics anyway, and he actually did it pretty damn well until Magneto came back and he got demoted to abused comic relief. Also, Evolution Magneto was pretty despicable and far less sympathetic and complex than 616 Magneto, so the fact that Fabian himself isn't at all sympathetic wouldn't be an issue as far as “is this character a good replacement for that one in terms of story role” goes. I also think Fabian would be a bit more fun to work with, because he's not just very competent and clever and threatening as a villain, he's also frequently hilarious and embarrassing as a person, as you know from my other posts about him. So he can be more fleshed-out, versus just the scary bad guy in the background. No offense to Magneto fans here, I just don't think Evo did Magneto justice, at least to my memory.

Fabian being there means that Anne Marie Cortez is a shoe-in for the team psychic. Since they'll be fighting a team that has both Xavier and Jean Grey (until the Phoenix, as also shown in the future of Evolution) I think it's only fair that the Brotherhood has somebody to balance that, though her powers being much more limited compared those of Xavier (she is not a true telepath, but an empath who can also control minds) keeps her from making their side TOO overpowered in that regard (since if the bad guys have their own Xavier, that would just end every fight before it starts) Her enhanced agility and skill with a firearm (as shown in the comics) can make for dramatic physical fights as well, so she's not just standing there with her fingers on her forehead. It would also be neat to work in my theory that Empath of the Hellions is cousin to the Cortez twins. Also to work out if this version of Anne Marie would want to bring Magneto back to the cause, or just sees him as a traitor and is loyal only to the ideas of the Brotherhood, not its founder. That would apply for everyone I guess, but it would especially apply for how I write her because the way I write her 616 version on my RP blog is someone who is fanatically devoted to Magneto as a religious character, so it would be a radically different Anne Marie for me to write in many ways if I changed that. Which would also be interesting. Delgado or Frenzy or Kamal El Alaoui as the team strongman. I have a bias for Delgado since I write him on my RP blog, and Kamal has a cool extra ability too (takes on qualities of whatever he touches, such as steel or concrete) but I really like Frenzy there. Female strongman characters with visible muscle are a bit unusual, and I don't think we've had a super-strong woman in Evolution. Plus, since she joined the X-Men in 616, she could be this season's Rogue...but honestly, I kinda like her better as classic 80s-90s total asshole Frenzy. I guess there could be a way to make it both, though, and redemption stories are more powerful when the person was REALLY bad first.

Astra or Amelia Voght for team teleporter. Amelia was the teleporter for the 616 Acolytes, while Astra was with the 616 Brotherhood. I prefer Amelia for her interactions with Fabian, but Astra would be great for Magneto stories, either pursuing her personal grudge against him (like she had in the comics) or trying to recruit him back into his old life, or both. And if she's trying to recruit him, how does Fabian, the current leader, feel about that? Does he support it, because having Magneto will attract more followers? Or is he opposed to it because he doesn't want his position threatened? I think I'd have to go with Astra for these reasons, and I think Amelia's interactions with Fabian could easily be duplicated with Astra (Fabian is a creep, then pays for it, basically) Just as Astra has a past with Magneto in the comics, Amelia has a past with Xavier, so she could be used for doing an Xavier-centric story, but I think we already know Evolution Xavier is pretty terrible, and I think Astra going after Magneto could make for more actual conflict, so again, I'd pick Astra. But I would still like having Amelia for reasons other than her powers and her connection to Charles, mainly that she was the one who questioned the Acolytes cruelty and, unlike Scanner or Neophyte (see below) she wasn’t meek about it. I think someone like that is important for the team dynamic---you’ve got the sadistic assholes (Carmella, Kleinstocks, Senyaka, etc), the people who aren’t that evil but also don’t care (Phantazia) or are oblivious (Milan), the ones who feel it’s wrong but are too afraid to do anything (the aforementioned Neophyte and Scanner types) and then Amelia, the sole one saying anything. In order not to make her redundant next to Astra, I would tweak her powers, so she no longer teleports via mist, but has powers like those of Mist Mistress, making her a composite character (like how Evolution Avalanche is a combination of comics Avalanche and Rictor) Mist Mistress never got a civilian name in the comics, and Amelia never got a codename, so it works out pretty well! Neophyte or Scanner as the one who, as previously mentioned, is not as cruel as the majority of their comrades but lacks the spine to take a stand. Their powers are different, but their abilities are visually similar and both non-combative, and both of them are meek types who aren't cruel like many of their teammates but too scared and submissive and unsure to actually question Fabian, who they obey and who bullies them behind closed doors like the big dickwad he is. So I would pick just one to use so it's not redundant. Scanner is an adult woman and Neophyte is a teenage boy, so Fabian's interactions with Scanner would have an extra gross edge that they wouldn't with Neophyte. I'm not sure if that's a reason to pick her or a reason NOT to, to be honest. On the one hand, it helps show how awful he is. On the other, this is a kid's show. I think I'll go with Neophyte. Fabian can still be gross to other women in the series, but then they can kick his ass. Plus Neophyte being a teen gives him a chance to connect more with the New Mutants (I picture most of the X-Men being young adults at this point, but the New Mutants will still be teens) I'm not sure about Chrome. He would either make the Brotherhood too over-powered in a fight (since he can turn everyone to metal)...or he would do the reverse and be an enormous liability, since he's making a bunch of metal WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING MAGNETO. I guess if I picked Delgado for the team strong guy, I would use Chrome too, since it would feel weird to use ¾ of the first-gen Acolytes team from the comics (Fabian, Anne Marie, Chrome, Delgado) and then not use one of them. But since I picked Frenzy for the team muscle, I'll leave out Chrome. Phantazia aka Eileen Harsaw. She was a member of the 616 Brotherhood who could manipulate electromagnetic energy. I'm fond of her, as there aren't that many Brotherhood women as there are men, and she's a little-known 90s character which is my favorite kind. So I would like to include her in this new Evolution Brotherhood. I'm also going for a team that's well-balanced, so since they've thus far got Fabian's support powers, Anne Marie's psychic powers, Frenzy's physical strength, Astra's teleporting, and Neophyte's transport/spy powers, Eileen's offensive elemental/energy powers are a good addition. It will also be neat to see her face off against Magneto, as their abilities seem similar. Not much is known about her, but Blob refers to her as “Ms. PhD” in the comics, suggesting she may be very intelligent or well-educated, and I think something could be done with that as well. The Kleinstock brothers, from the 616 Acolytes, have a mix of physical and energy powers.  Like their comics counterparts, they're just there to be evil sadistic assholes, in order to contrast people like Neophyte. In the comics, they were originally triplets (Eric, Harlan, and Sven) but Eric was killed in their first mission, so most of their appearances have just been Harlan and Sven. I would like to keep it to just Sven and Harlan as well, to avoid confusion with Magneto due to him sharing a first name with Eric, but I also would like for Eric to still be acknowledged. I'm just not sure how to do it. Evolution was dark, but people rarely actually died, so I don't think having Eric die is the way to go. Then again, maybe the Eric/Erik thing won't be such a big deal, since Erik will usually be referred to as Magneto anyway? Francisco Milan was the Acolytes technopath in the comics, and he was precious. Just a precious nerd. I need this precious nerd in the new Evolution Brotherhood. He's not a jerk like Frenzy or the Kleinstocks, but he's not really...aware enough to question things like Neophyte. It's not that he's stupid or callous, he's just totally focused on his own little cyber-world and I don't think he notices much else, he just hacks what they tell him. As in the comics, he probably gets picked on for his non-combative powers by the other Acolytes, and is super happy whenever he gets used to, and very ashamed when he feels he's failed (read: performed less than perfection) LOVE THIS PRECIOUS NERD, EVERYONE! Unus the Untouchable (Angelo Unuscione) or his daughter Carmella Unuscione. Unus was a member of the 616 Brotherhood, Carmella of the 616 Acolytes. I really like the friendship that Unus and the Blob had in the comics, so I'd like to reproduce that in Evolution. But since Unus is old enough to have an adult daughter, he'd be a lot older than Blob is in this universe, since Blob would be a young adult himself when working with SHIELD. Plus, if Blob is with SHIELD, he and Unus would be enemies if Unus is with the Brotherhood. So what I'm thinking is that Angelo “Unus” Unuscione is an older guy who works with SHIELD and was one of their first mutant members, and he becomes a father figure to Fred. Fred's never shown to have any parents in the picture, so this seems like a much-needed thing for him. As for Unus, his daughter being with the Brotherhood provides obvious drama and conflict and an interesting background story, and it also shows why he'd want to mentor a substitute child figure. So, Unus for SHIELD, and Carmella for the Brotherhood. Carmella, by the way, is very much one of the BAD Acolytes in the comics, so she's a horrible person in the Evolution Brotherhood too. Maybe Barnacle as the team Toad Like Frenzy, Carmella, and the Kleinstocks, Senyaka is one of the horrible bloodthirsty human-hating members of the 616 Acolytes, and his Evolution counterpart will fill that role in the Evolution Brotherhood. I don’t particuliarly care for Senyaka but he’s an iconic member of the Acolytes, so including him feels right, and we could use a really scary guy like him.

Lorelei was a Savage Land native in the comics that Magneto artificially mutated, and she served in his Brotherhood. For her Evolution version though, I think she'll just have a cameo. I can't see her as full-time member at all; in the comics, she was totally naive of what was going on and just did what Magneto told her without thought or opposition since he was her creator. She doesn't seem like she at all understands the human/mutant conflict or why she's supposed to fight the X-Men. Her Evolution counterpart would of course not be from the Savage Land, but an ordinary young mutant woman, and therefore know about these things, but I still see her as someone with a personality that just has no interest in participating in this fight. So my idea is that when Anne Marie is captured or otherwise can't fight, they find and recruit her, by payment or force, to fill in for her on a single mission. Anne Marie can control everyone's mind, while Lorelei can only control men, but that's a decent enough replacement in a pinch. Also, Lorelei's name as a Savage Land girl was Lani Ubana, and since the name Lani is a real-world Hawaiin name, her Evolution version would be Native Hawaiian. She'd have a corresponding Hawaiian surname has well, since I doubt Ubana has a coincidentally real-world counterpart as well. Also, Fabian is probably a huge creep to her so she should use her powers to make him slap himself. Solarr or Strobe or Crucible (commonly known as Burner but I prefer his Crucible codename) or Firefist, purely for the sake of a literal firefight with Pyro (which should also happen with Magma of the New Mutants) I like Solarr but I would pick Crucible because in the 1990s animated series, he and Gambit are established to be old friends, and it would be neat to use that in the Evolution universe, especially since the original cartoon was never really clear on how they met or the details of the relationship, so that could be established in this story. Also Solarr is a tall ginger so I think that could get confusing with Fabian around; I’d still keep him as a baddy in the Evo sequel, just not part of this group (Solarr was always about money and never mutant rights anyway) Alternatively for our fire/heat user guy, we could use Reignfire as the team’s evil counterpart to Sunspot. Rather than being Sunspot’s sort-of clone like in the comics, he could be his older brother or cousin instead, to make things less confusing and convoluted. I might also throw in Feral as a cruel counterpart to the Hellion’s Catseye (since she’s included in my Evo Hellions who would also be in this Evolution sequel I shall never write) and/or Mellencamp just to have an overtly monstrous-looking team member. Also maybe work in my Evo ideas for Polaris not so much as a Brotherhood member but more like a target, like maybe part of Astra’s schemes to get at Magneto. Though that would naturally have to involve my ideas for an Evolution version of Zala Dane too!