#anti Raven Darkholme

[groovy-lady]

Exactly!!

I WANT TO SLAP RAVEN SO HARD!!!!!! Charles should be allowed to talk using his telepathy if that’s how he’s comfortable doing so instead of being shamed and hated for his mutation!!!

And, Logan, just because a man protecting a woman didn’t work out in the past doesn’t mean it never works!

Raven is the worst!!!

Charles deserves so much better and deserves to be loved and accepted for himself fully just as much as the other mutants get to be!!!!

i really wish they touched this in any of the movies, like, why are the telepaths the only mutants that don't get the right to be proud?? why are they the only ones that should repress their powers? they didn't choose them

[mcmusing]

Previously, on X-Men: The Hypocrisy Games....

OMG, Charles, we're not kids! We inexperienced rubes are totally ready to stop WW3! Ugh, you're always so overprotective!

OMG, Charles, they're just kids! How could you put a heavily trained fighting force in danger?! You have no regard for our safety!

Why do I have to stay covered up during the segregated '60s? The world should worship my blue!

How dare Charles create a world that worships my blue in the integrated '80s-90s? Ew, better cover up.

[groovy-lady]

I loathe Mystique/Raven Darkholme in the XCU SO MUCH especially in the Alternate Trilogy!!!! She’s whiny, selfish, bitchy, narcissistic, and mean. It also makes zero sense that she is somehow Charles Xavier’s sister yet she asks him if he would date her, she gets jealous when he flirts with other women, and she doesn’t think it’s wrong or uncomfortable for others when she walks around nude and just reprimands Charles for being uncomfortable about her walking around naked, and just abandons Charles after he gets shot by Erik! And that’s just in X-Men: First Class! She gets worse in the rest of the movies! She didn’t deserve to be seen as a hero because she has done nothing to earn the hero status. If they wanted to give Charles Xavier a sister, then he deserved a sister who actually cared about him!

[groovy-lady]

Honestly, I don’t ship movies!Cherik because of how poorly Erik treats Charles.

Charles Xavier, chronologically :

- sacrifices his brilliant career to prevent a major international crisis

- sacrifices his principles to get the man he loves closure

- loses his legs #1

- gets heartbroken #1

- loses his sister go to make her happy

- sacrifices a close friendship to protect his children

- loses sleep

- gets brunt out from all the responsibility and trauma probably at some point

- accepts to get out of his dysfunctional comfort zone to help a mean man he's met once save the world

- gets heartbroken #2

- sacrifices his legs to help people #2

- manages to create a functional system that gives dozens if not hundreds of ostracised children great education, self confidence and integration into society (possibly saving them from abuse or worse)

- loses his school

- gets heartbroken #3

- gets violated by a god

- loses his hair

- shouts fuck you at the aforementioned god and proceeds to almost sacrifice himself to death to save humanity

- forgives the man he loves and makes him see the good in himself #10001000

The two shits he manages to keep fed, clothed and entairtained for 1/3 of a century despite beeing otherwise occupied (one of them having broken his heart thrice) :

- "you've never sacrificed anything"

- "you're always sorry, and then there is aways a speech"

[wishchip106]

the gay club in highschool trying to convince you to join them:

[star-lights-up]

REWRITING X MEN APOCALYPSE (MY SHITTY VIDEO ESSAY): PART TWO

Don't mind my voice lol, I was really super sick when I recorded the audio for this lmao.

**I am in no way qualified for this. I just write/read way too much fanfiction and spend too much time watching film breakdowns on youtube. If you have constructive criticism, please let me know down in the comments or in a reblog!!

PART ONE PART THREE

[s10127470]

So you guys remember when Beau DeMayo's pitch bible for his own X-Men animated series got leaked a while back and everyone collectively went....

Largely thanks to the blatant mischaracterization and lack of the understanding of many of the characters?

Yeah, so recently I've been thinking about it again and comparing it to my own X-Men fanfic, "X-Men: The Next Mutation".

And it gave me the idea to do a Virgin vs. Chad thing where I compare the DeMayo versions of X-Men characters (more specifically, the ones that got the most controversy) and compare them to my versions of them.

The Virgin DeMayo Nightcrawler:

-Raised by Xavier and Magneto.

-Seemingly isn't related to Mystique at all.

-Was wasting his life away in a sideshow freak attraction (most definitely because of his mutation).

-Favors Magneto.

-Doesn't seem to be religious at all.

-Most definitely not a skilled swordsman.

-Most likely doesn't get any admirers.

The Chad Next Mutation Nightcrawler:

-Was raised by Mystique and the Brotherhood, but ran away because he couldn't take anymore of their violent ways.

-Pretty blatantly the son of Mystique.

-Although he did join the circus because of his appearance, he loved his time with them!

-Knows Magneto, but he ABSOLUTELY hates him! Since he's, ya know, still evil.

-Is a proud Catholic and very open about his faith.

-Is a skilled swordsman! Rocking the cutlasses everywhere he goes!

-Has a lot of admirers. But he only has the eyes for particularly lovely Romani mutant with probability manipulation powers.

The Virgin DeMayo Emma:

-A old colleague of Xavier.

-Is the school's guidance counselor because it fuels her love for gossip.

-Walking definition of a mega-bitch.

-A former London socialite and most likely rubs it in everyone's face.

-Treats Jean like absolute shit. Has literal beef with an actual teenager.

-Lets her pupils get away and even actively encourage them to treat others like shit.

-Definitely got her......endowments from surgery

-Definitely single.

The Chad Next Mutation Emma:

-Personally knows Charles, but not an old colleague of his. She's like, 21 in this series.

-Serves as kind of the resident therapist for X-Factor. But does so out of respect and genuine care for her teammates.

-Is rather stoic, straightforward and businesslike jack-of-all-trades with a caring side. Think Joe Friday from Dragnet or Cornfed from Duckman.

-Also comes from a wealthy London background, but prefers to keep that more on the low-down.

-Is very civil with Jean. In fact, out of all the X-Men, she's the second closest to her. Also, Jean is like three years younger than her.

-Doesn't have any pupils as of right now.

-Got her....endowments from puberty.

-Is currently dating a hot telepathic Japanese-English ninja girl.

The Virgin DeMayo Storm:

-Basically an edgelord

-Finds Xavier's ideals old-fashioned and out-touch and expresses genuine curiosity in Magneto's beliefs.

-Is literally a mean girl, seeing herself as a superior to everyone else, which somehow made her popular!

Hates Jean Grey and dead-ass sees her as competition for homecoming votes!

-Most likely straight (possibly even homophobic) and definitely not dating anyone.

The Chad Next Mutation Storm:

-While more street-smart and witty than most of her other iterations, still carries the trademark regalness and composure.

-Firmly believes in Xavier's ideals and wouldn't give Magneto the time of day.....because he's a madman.

-Is popular among her peers as well, but simply because just how naturally cool she is. Also, she treats her peers with respect and doesn't view herself as being superior to any of them.

-Loves Jean, is literally her best friend, and even considers her a SISTER! Plus, she would absolutely root for Jean if she had the chance to become homecoming queen!

-Is proudly bisexual and happily dating a beautiful winged flyer.

The Virgin DeMayo Colossus:

-Raised in the criminal underworld of Russia.

-Is the big jock on campus.

-Definitely isn't into the arts.

-Is a social climber and desperate to fit-in.

-Is a lousy student (because of course the jock would be a lousy student).

-Is quite aggressive and can be kind of a bully.

-Most definitely straight and homophobic. Probably trying to chase chicks all the time.

The Chad Next Mutation Colossus:

-Living a simple life on his family's farm.

-Not a jock (though he does love baseball).

-Is passionate about the arts.

-Perfectly fine with where he is socially.

-A pretty solid student overall (has a B+ GPA).

-Is a gentle giant, usually calm and would never bully anyone!

-Is pansexual and dating a cute cryogenic class clown.

The Virgin DeMayo Quicksilver:

-Is an all-around asshole and doesn't respect anyone.

-Impatient and entitled.

-Is of Boston aristocracy.

-Looks up to Magneto and follows in his beliefs. Though most likely not his son.

-Has no sister.

-More than happy to abuse humans.

-Definitely straight and most definitely homophobic.

The Chad Next Mutation Quicksilver:

-While cocky, is a pretty chill guy.

-Actually rather laid-back and humble. Despite moving fast, he would rather take things slow when possible.

-Is proudly of Romani background.

-Although he's Magneto grandson, does not look up to him at all and wants nothing to do with him in general.

-Has a sister.

-Doesn't want to hurt or abuse anyone in general.

-Is pansexual and dating a big blue furry, shapeshifting hunk.

Well that's all for now.

Let me know how my versions of the X-Men characters stack up to DeMayo's versions.

In fact, I'd like to see other X-Men fans to this as well.

Taking their own interpretations of the X-Men cast and comparing them to DeMayo's.

[groovy-lady]

Yes, exactly!!!!!

Does anyone else feel kind of gaslit by the X-Men movies? Like, if you side with Charles against Raven and Erik, it‘s almost like they are actively trying to get you to…not do that. The narrative is bizarrely attempting to convince us that Charles is the problem, as if the Brotherhood got really drunk one night after a fight against the X-Men and decided to do all the editing.

I swear, it feels like this 100% of the time:

Hank: So we all agree, killing people is wrong. Right?

Alex: Right.

Erik, attacking a group of humans - some of whom have validated his stance that they’re a threat to mutants, but most are bystanders: DIE HUMAN SCUM

Charles: Erik! You can’t just kill people! Killing people is wrong!

Alex: …Ok so I still hate Erik but why do I suddenly feel less confident in everything we said before? IS killing wrong? Hank: Probably…

…

Charles: Ok, fine. Humans are attacking us so let’s get the media on our side

Raven: Ugh, I can’t believe you. We don’t need the MEDIA. We need to FIGHT

Charles: We…are fighting??

Raven: Wow. Just wow. I can’t believe you’d put mutant lives at risk, Charles

The media turns against them

Hank: …This is all completely 100 percent your fault, Charles

[mcmusing]

From the beginning, he always offered her love, acceptance, safety, forgiveness, and loyalty.

By the end, she only offered him disdain, ridicule, disregard, bitterness, and abandonment.

[groovy-lady]

I realized something today about telepaths in the X-Men movies: Jean Grey is only feared by characters in-universe for her Phoenix powers, but her telepathy is freely used and seen in a heroic light when used; whereas Charles Xavier’s telepathy is seen both to the audience and by characters in-universe as shameful and something that Charles needs to hide even from fellow mutants!

The double standard regarding the way others (especially Raven and Erik) treat Charles and his telepathy is astoundingly irritating!

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

s4e14

[racefortheironthrone]

What did you think of X-Men Blue Origins?

(I may turn this into a People's History of the Marvel Universe later today, so keep an eye on this space.)

X-Men Blue: Origins and the Power of the Additive Retcon

(WARNING: heavy spoilers under the cut)

Introduction

If you've been a long-time X-Men reader, or you're a listener of Jay & Miles or Cerebrocast or any number of other LGBT+ X-Men podcasts, you probably know the story about how Chris Claremont wrote Mystique and Destiny as a lesbian couple, but had to use obscure verbiage and subtextual coding to get past Jim Shooter's blanket ban on LGBT+ characters in the Marvel Universe.

Likewise, you're probably also familiar with the story that, when Chris Claremont came up with the idea that Raven Darkholme and Kurt Wagner were related (a plot point set up all the way back in Uncanny X-Men #142), he intended that Mystique was Nightcrawler's father, having used her shapeshifting powers to take on a male body and impregnate (her one true love) Irene. This would have moved far beyond subtext - but it proved to be a bridge too far for Marvel editorial, and Claremont was never able to get it past S&P.

This lacuna in the backstories of Kurt and Raven - who was Kurt's father? - would remain one of the enduring mysteries of the X-Men mythos...and if there's one thing that comic writers like, it's filling in these gaps with a retcon.

Enter the Draco

Before I get into the most infamous story in all of X-Men history, I want to talk about retcons a bit. As I've written before:

"As long as there have been comic books, there have been retcons. For all that they have acquired a bad reputation, retcons can be an incredibly useful tool in comics writing and shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Done right, retcons can add an enormous amount of depth and breadth to a character, making their worlds far richer than they were before. Instead, I would argue that retcons should be judged on the basis of whether they’re additive (bringing something new to the character by showing us a previously unknown aspect of their lives we never knew existed before) or subtractive (taking away something from the character that had previously been an important part of their identity), and how well those changes suit the character."

For a good example of an additive retcon, I would point to Chris Claremont re-writing Magneto's entire personality by revealing that he was a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. As I have argued at some length, this transformed Magneto from a Doctor Doom knockoff into a complex and sympathetic character who could now work as a villain, anti-villain, anti-hero, or hero depending on the needs of the story.

For a good example of a subtractive retcon, I would point to...the Draco. If you're not familiar with this story, the TLDR is that it was revealed that Kurt's father was Azazel - an evil ancient mutant with the same powers and the same appearance (albeit color-shifted) as Kurt, who claims to be the devil and is part of a tribe of demonic-looking mutants who were banished to the Brimstone Dimension, and who fathered Nightcrawler as part of a plot to end this banishment.

I don't want to belabor Chuck Austen, because I think that Connor Goldsmith is right about his run actually being a camp cult classic in retrospect. However, I think we both agree that the Draco was a misfire, because of how the retcon undermined Kurt's entire thematic purpose as established in Giant-Size X-Men that Nightcrawler was actually a noble and arguably saintly man who suffered from unjust prejudice due to the random accident that his mutation made him appear to be a demon, and because of how the retcon undermined the centrality of Mystique and Destiny's relationship.

X-Men Blue Origins

This brings us to the Krakoan era. In HOXPOX and X-Men and Inferno, Jonathan Hickman had made Mystique and Destiny a crucial part of the story in a way that they hadn't been in decades: they were the great nemeses of Moira X, they were the force that threatened to burn Krakoa to the ground by revealing the devil's bargain that Xavier had struck with Sinister (and Moira), they were the lens through which the potential futures of Krakoa were explored, and they ultimately reshaped the Quiet Council and the Five in incredibly consequential ways.

This throughline was furthered after Hickman's departure, with Kieron Gillen exploring the backstories of Mystique and Destiny in Immortal X-Men and Sins of Sinister, and both Gillen and Si Spurrier exploring their relationship with Nightcrawler in AXE Judgement Day, Sins of Sinister, Way of X, Legion of X, Nightcrawlers, and Sons of X. One of the threads that wove through the interconnected fabric of these books was an increasing closeness between Kurt and Irene that needed an explanation. Many long-time readers began to anticipate that a retcon about Kurt's parentage was coming - and then we got X-Men Blue: Origins.

In this one issue, Si Spurrier had the difficult assignment of figuring out a way to "fix" the Draco and restore Claremont's intended backstory in a way that was surgical and elegant, that served the character arcs of Kurt, Raven, and Irene, and that dealt with complicated issues of trans and nonbinary representation, lesbian representation, disability representation, and the protean nature of the mutant metaphor. Thanks to help from Charlie Jane Anders and Steve Foxe, I think Spurrier succeeded tremendously.

I don't want to go through the issue beat-by-beat, because you should all read it, but the major retcon is that Mystique turns out to be a near-Omega level shapeshifter, who can rewrite themselves on a molecular level. Raven transformed into a male body and impregnated Irene, using bits of Azazel and many other men's DNA as her "pigments." In addition to being a deeply felt desire on both their parts to have a family together, this was part of Irene's plan to save them both (and the entire world) from Azazel's schemes, a plan that required them to abandon Kurt as a scapegoat-savior (a la Robert Graves' King Jesus), and to have Xavier wipe both their memories.

Now, I'm not the right person to write about what this story means on a representational level; I'll leave it to my LGBT+ colleagues on the Cerebrocast discord and elsewhere to discuss the personal resonances the story had for them.

What I will say, however, is that I thought this issue threaded the needle of all of these competing imperatives very deftly. It "fixed" the Draco without completely negating it, it really deepened and complicated the characters and relationships of both Raven and Irene (by showing that, in a lot of ways, Destiny is the more ruthless and manipulative of the two), and it honored Kurt's core identity as a man of hope and compassion (even if it did put him in a rather thankless ingénue role for much of the book).

It is the very acme of an additive retcon; nothing was lost, everything was gained.

I still think the baby Nightcrawler is just a bad bit, but then again I don't really vibe with Spurrier's comedic stylings.

[velvet4510]

What The Sequel(s) to X-Men: Days of Future Past Should Have Looked Like

I haven’t even seen X-Men: Apocalypse or X-Men: Dark Phoenix start to finish but thanks to this app i know practically the entire plots of both films and i’m just so utterly appalled by them. Not just with the way they mess up the timeline (Jean & Scott as teenagers and Warren as a young adult in 1983?? Excuse me?? No way Logan’s time shenanigans altered people’s birth dates, what??) But also with the way they just butcher every character arc - Charles being selfish? Erik settling down with a human instead of continuing to fight for his cause and make up for his 10 years of inactivity? Giving Erik an OC daughter JUST to kill her 2 seconds later rather than focus on his fatherhood story with Peter? Erik and Ororo siding with Apocalypse to destroy the whole world? Hank turning on Charles when he alone stood by Charles post-beach divorce all those years? Raven being ungrateful to Charles for creating a better world for mutants? Trying to convince us that Charles was somehow in love with Moira and Erik was somehow in love with Raven? The X-Men throwing Charles out of his own house?? WHAT IS THIS?????

Frankly I don’t get why the writers tried (and failed) to give us more Jean and Scott and Ororo when we got plenty of them in the other movies and we know thanks to the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past that Charles will still eventually recruit them. Jean and Scott’s very presence at the end of that film shows that the sight of Logan’s memories of Jean’s original fate prompted Charles to NOT repeat his other self’s mistakes and instead use a better approach to help Jean that enabled her to keep the Phoenix under control and not hurt Scott. That’s all we need to know about them in the new timeline. We don’t need to see Charles messing up yet again when it comes to Jean when that ruins a huge layer of the meaning and impact of DOFP’s ending.

James McAvoy himself pointed out how unnecessary it felt to recycle characters from the original trilogy when the X-Men in the comics are full of plenty of other characters that could’ve been introduced in a DOFP sequel instead. He’s absolutely right.

But here’s what I really think: if any sequels to DOFP just HAD to be made, they shouldn’t have tried to stuff in even more characters. If they HAD to include another old character we’d seen before, it should’ve been Kurt Wagner and Kurt Wagner only. Why? Because he’s Raven & Azazel’s son. And this would only add to the parenthood theme already present through Erik & Peter, and Charles & his students; add a new dimension to Raven as a character as we explore how she feels about being a mother, and what happened that caused her to be separated from her child; and add a new dimension to Hank as we explore how he feels about potentially being a parental figure to Kurt as a result of following his heart toward Raven.

The sequel(s) should’ve focused on developing the relationships that actually had been established/hinted at, and those that would naturally branch as a result:

Erik & Peter as father and son

Raven & Kurt as mother and son

Charles’ parental relationship with his young students

Charles & Erik getting back together

Hank & Raven getting back together

Hank dealing with being Kurt’s possible stepfather

Charles & Raven reconciling as siblings once again

Charles & Peter as stepfather and stepson

Charles & Kurt as uncle and nephew

Alex seeing all of this and being reminded of his bad relationship with his own parents that led him to get locked up before Charles and Erik found him, emphasizing Charles’ place in his life as his true “father,” and foreshadowing Scott by revealing he’s not in touch with his family (meaning he doesn’t know he has a much-younger brother)

Erik bonding with Kurt and making Kurt comfortable through being the only other native German speaker in the group

Erik & Hank dealing with their rocky post-DOFP relationship; Hank giving Erik a proper calling out for sending Charles into such a depression for a decade and for trying to kill Raven

Erik bonding with Charles’ other students and slowly realizing there is a place for him at the school

(Logan may or may not work as a character in such a sequel. But whether he has a big or small role, it must be acknowledged that Raven, not Stryker, saved him from the Potomac at the end of DOFP. So now he is on a different path, and is NOT Weapon X. Either he’s still at the mansion or went his own way with the open possibility of returning; I think the latter makes more sense since he’s such a loner and considering he wouldn’t remember the events of DOFP, he’d be pretty overwhelmed. Plus his explained absence would allow space for the film(s) to focus more on the other characters.)

Regardless, any villain(s) of those hypothetical sequels should’ve been the kind of antagonist(s) whose threat inevitably brought those aforementioned characters together and, in the process, fleshed out those relationships.

Also, no stupid 10-year time jumps between every movie. Keep it to 5-7 years after DOFP, at the most.

Think of the emotional impact that would bring:

Charles & Raven dealing with the fact that she chose not to come to him for help when she became pregnant

Hank & Raven discussing Raven’s history with Azazel and both of them admitting they went to great lengths to try to get over each other but nothing worked

Raven exploring motherhood and her feelings about either having abandoned Kurt as a baby or accidentally losing him, and Hank supporting her in this

Erik exploring his newfound fatherhood, and Charles supporting him in this

Peter’s feelings toward his dad for being absent from his life for so long and also for being a terrorist

Kurt’s feelings toward his mom for being absent for so long, and possibly for intentionally leaving him

Peter & Kurt becoming besties and bonding over being super-fast travelers who have spent too many years not knowing one or both parents

Hank wishing things had been different with Raven and that Kurt could’ve been his son and thinking about stepping into a stepfather role for Kurt

Erik & Peter perhaps getting stranded/separated from the rest of the group and forced to bond while trying to find their way back

Erik saving Peter’s life in battle, cementing their new bond

Hank fully embracing his Beast form (mutant and proud) in battle while protecting Raven and Kurt

Raven, Hank & Kurt as a badass blue family

Erik finally deflecting a bullet successfully to save Charles

Charles & Erik fighting side by side once again and realizing they’re better together than apart

Erik & Hank managing to find some common ground as they both have been unexpectedly thrown into fatherhood (see, no need for female fridging!)

Erik coming up with Quicksilver as Peter’s superhero name, at least getting the chance to name his son in this way

Basically the whole group becoming a big family

Perhaps closing with a flash forward a few years: Erik & Raven are now teachers at the school; young Scott arrives at the school and meets Alex for the first time; Charles & Erik hear about young Jean and head out to meet her; Hank & Raven manage to discover Logan’s location and head out to bring him back to the mansion - tying into the finale of DOFP

Those are just a few things that could’ve, and should’ve, been prioritized in a sequel to DOFP.

[facetsofthejewel]

(New Artwork) Queer Icon: Mystique (Raven Darkholme)!! X-Men adjacent, mutant...anti-hero!! Intended to be the first queer & gender fluid character in a major comic company (Marvel). Sadly Chris Claremont was forced to make her to be heavily coded instead. Raven has recently FINALLY being allowed to be themselves and have everything they ever wanted... including getting married to her very long time partner, Destiny!! shannonhedges.com

[groovy-lady]

I wonder this frequently tbh!

So Charles Xavier started hearing other people's thoughts at age 9, and understood that's what he was hearing by age 12. And I just can't imagine the horrible stuff he must have had to overhear as a kid. All the pain and anger and complications of the adult world on the shoulders of a child. How did he even cope with this! How on earth did he become the person so full of light and hope that we see in the films?