#are we talking about Jean or Dark Phoenix? i need to know

[moeitsu]

oh brother

I am taking away all of your x-men privileges

[holylulusworld]

Vulnerable (4)

Summary: Professor Xavier entrusts you with the mission to locate a certain mutant with unknown consequences.

Pairing: Alpha!Wolverine x Omega!(Mutant)Reader

Characters: Jean Grey, Scott Summers

Warnings: angst, language, gruff Wolverine, a/b/o, a/b/o dynamics, implied true mates, you are on the run, mentions of the death of a loved one (sister), a lil Jean/Scott hate in this, foreshadowing

A/N: Jean is not Dark Phoenix in this story. The reader is stronger than both Professor Xavier and Jean Grey. She is a telepath, telekinetic, and empath. Most of the time, she suppresses her powers.

Catch up here: Inseparable

Undefeated masterlist

“Never!” Logan growls while speeding off, “Get inside my head ever again! If you do, I’ll split your skull with my claws.”

You laugh, because Logan wouldn’t get the chance to get close to you, and reply, “Believe me, buddy. Getting inside your messed-up mind is the last thing I want to do. Now drive more carefully. There’s no one following us. At least, for now. I try to make us invisible.”

“You can turn things invisible too?” He cocks a brow but focuses on the street. “What the fuck are you?”

“Aw, you’re cute when clueless.” You pat his thigh and squeeze it tightly. “I cannot turn things invisible. I’ll cover our traces using my powers. If anyone tries to find us, I’ll manipulate their minds. Now stop distracting me and drive.”

“You should sleep or do whatever you do after you split into two,” he huffs and slams his hands onto the steering wheel. “That was suicidal, kid!”

“I’m not a kid,” you growl. “Do I look like a kid to you?” You narrow your eyes at Logan. "Maybe everyone under one hundred is a kid to you, but stop acting like you are the adult in this team!”

“We’re not a team, k—” he grits his teeth. “After I dropped you at Xavier’s freak house, I’m out of this shitshow for good. I told Charles that I’m not the kind of man for teamwork or his X-Men.”

“Yeah, I can relate,” you prop your feet onto the dashboard, earning a growl from Logan. “Relax, old man.” You smirk when he glances at you for a second. He squares his jaw, and his muscles are tense. “What? You can call me kid, but I cannot call you old man.”

“Someone should teach you some manners!” Logan grits out. “Maybe I’m that one.”

You lean close and place your hand on his arm. “Please don’t hurt yourself, old man. I don’t want to fix your back because you got hurt.”

“You know about my healing factor, right?” He bites back. “I don’t need your help to feel better.”

“Aw, but sweetie,” you move your hand up and down his arm, causing him to shiver. “I swear, if I ever helped you feel better, you’d believe you ended up in heaven.”

You pull away, smirking because it seems you got under the old grump’s skin.

“One day, someone will break your neck,” he replies, his voice a little raspier than before. “And I won’t stop them.”

Snorting, you turn to the right side to get some sleep. You wave your hand, and a green aura surrounds your body. “I’ll sleep now. Only wake me if the car is on fire or we reached our destiny.”

“What if you are on fire?” He grins, and you chuckle.

“Just let me burn, old man,” you yawn. “I’ve got this. I’m fire- and bulletproof.”

Logan furrows his brows, wondering if you try to mess with him again. He must admit, your powers are impressive and downright scary.

“Wake up!” Logan gruffly calls your name. He pokes your thigh. “You’re lucky that you’re not on fire; neither is the car.”

You slowly sit up, stretching your sore limbs before you open the door to leave the car. Hours spent in the same position gave you more kinks in your back than you’d like to admit.

“Good, you didn’t crash the car,” you grumble under your breath. “You don’t need a babysitter all the time. That’s progress.”

Logan glares at you for a second but doesn’t say a thing. Being here, back at the X-Men headquarters and Xavier’s school of gifted youngsters, brings back memories he’d like to forget about.

“Can you not talk for like five minutes?” he huffs and gets out of the car. Logan slams the door shut, muttering under his breath. “Why did you have to bring me here? I was done with this life.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” you huff. “And if you didn’t scream grumpy grandpa for crying out loud, I’d consider letting you go, but…” You smirk as he stalks toward you. “I can’t let a senior walk around the area on his own. You could get lost.”

“One day someone will teach you a lesson,” he snarls and slides his claws out. “I’ll be that one.” Logan grins as you take another step toward you. “This old man will teach you some manners too.”

You chuckle at his playful tone. It’s a distraction from his racing heart and the fear you can sense coming deep from within his soul. Being here is hard for him. You know that feeling.

“I see, you found him,” the gate creaks open behind you. Scott and Jean walk toward the car, and you already feel nauseous. Jean tries to see into your mind; a habit you never liked. She always wanted to control you since you first joined the X-Men. One of the reasons you left the team is to not feel like a guinea pig any longer.

“I always find them,” you reply, trying not to sound too annoyed. “If not, the professor wouldn’t have asked for my help. Here’s your lost sheep and the one you call Stryker.” You jerk your head toward the car. “He’s out cold. Tell me when you are ready to interrogate him. I’ll wake the sleeping beauty for you.”

“What did you do to him?” Jean is more concerned about you hurting a human than the fact that Stryker and his soldiers would’ve enslaved you and Logan.

“Oh, that wasn’t her,” Logan chuckles as Scott steps closer to him. “It was her cute alter ego. You know, the red aura crap running off to get a pound of flesh of the bastard in the back of my truck.”

“You hurt them,” Scott furrows his brows. He always was a softie and never knew when you have to end someone who’s evil through and through.”

"Well, it was a us or them kind of situation,” you shrug. “They were well-trained killers. What did you think will happen?” You glare at Scott. “I sent the first group home because they were newbies and didn’t kill innocent mutants for their fun. The others…” You dip your head to smirk at Scott, "They didn’t get so lucky. I sense evilness when I face it.”

“You used her again,” Jean chides while checking on Stryker’s vital functions. “I told you to never use her again!”

“She has a name!” Your aura turns from green to violet. “I told you not to treat her like an enemy, or even worse, a weapon you can use to your liking, but if I use my powers, then I’m the bad guy.”

“She?” Logan wonders aloud. He watches you take deep breaths, like in the bar, or before you unleashed your alter ego. This time your aura turns green, and it vanishes. “Did I miss something?”

“I told you, she’s my alter ego,” you turn around to face Logan. Your features soften feeling his confusion and the need to get away from Scott and Jean. “She’s…” You drop your gaze and sigh deeply.

“I came with you and even let you comb through my brain. You owe me an answer, Y/N!” Logan insists.

“Okay,” you nod, and place your hand on his chest. You look him in the eye, a kind of sadness in your eyes tearing through his very soul. “Professor Xavier brought me here when I was just a kid. After men like Stryker experimented on me and my…” You choke out a sob, “Twin sister.”

“Oh…” He can’t come up with an appropriate reaction, so he offers a cracked smile.

“We were both special; at least they told us so. Most of the time, we talked using telepathy or exchanged the food they gave us using our telekinesis. One day, they brought us into a room. ” You wipe your eyes. “There was another mutant, a very strong one. It was the most powerful being I ever encountered. They told us to fight him; and we did, but…”

“Shouldn’t we head inside?” Scott tries to stop you from telling your story to a man he never trusted. “Y/N?”

You ignore Scott and the fact that Jean tries once again to get a glimpse of your thoughts. You just look at Logan when a single tear rolls down your cheek. “He threw a shockwave in my direction. I was too stunned to react, and she…she just jumped in front of me, grabbing my hand and smiling as the shockwave tore her apart. Right in front of my eyes, my twin sister turned into dust.”

“I—I’m so sorry,” Logan finally gets out as your aura turns gray.

“It wasn’t her end,” you murmur. “Not completely. A part of her,” you smile now, and wave your hand to let the aura float around Logan. “I call it her soul; she stayed with me. Since that day, our powers have fused, and she’s there to protect me whenever I need her.”

“The aura is your sister?” He asks.

“A part of her is inside the aura I can create,” you murmur. “I can feel her, just like I felt her fuse with me that day.”

“That’s the most tragic story I ever heard, and I heard a lot of tragic stories,” Logan cracks a smile, making you chuckle. “Trust me, you win the award for the saddest story ever.”

You’re thankful for his reaction. He doesn’t try to tell you how sorry he is and that everything will turn out well. Logan is just…Logan. You are about to give him a witty comment when you sense an incredible power getting closer.

Your aura turns red immediately. You look at Jean, telling her to get Stryker and Scott inside. That power, you know it…

“He’s here. He’s coming for us. I didn’t feel him before, but I do now.” You use your telekinesis to send Logan flying. He lands behind the fence, the one you close and lock with your powers. “Get him inside. Protect him at all costs.”

You turn around, waving your hands, letting the aura dance in the air.

“Y/N…no!” Jean gasps when she watches your aura turn from red to black, your ultimate form. “Noooo! You’re going to kill us all!” She screams when you tell them to run inside the mansion. "You can't control this!"

“No, only he will die today.” Your voice doesn’t sound like your own any longer.

A part of your aura surrounds your body, but the rest turns into ten versions of yourself. You stand in line, nodding at each other.

The day has finally come. You’ll get your revenge on Stryker and the monster killing your sister.

Tags in reblog.

[akasanata]

To start fixing Dark Phoenix, Raven's death can't be Erik's man-pain of revenge, and at the same time, her death has to have an actual impact.

That means you'd need another reason for Erik to try and kill Jean. It needs to be a very powerful reason. He's practically sacrificing the life he created for himself in a mutant community. That's huge. One option would be Charles dying, but that'd be a whole different movie, and we're trying to fix Dark Phoenix, not create another movie. Similarly with Peter, that would need to have Peter tell Erik he's his son beforehand and that would lead to a completely different movie, and besides they've already killed Erik's family in Apocalypse, it'd be repetitive.

How about Genosha itself? We can't have it destroyed. Again, that already happened in Apocalypse, so instead how about the threat of it being destroyed? After everything he's lived through, having his community destroyed *again* must be for certain one of Erik's biggest fears.

Maybe after Jean left, the government gave Erik an ultimatum: kill her for us or we'll arrest everyone here claiming you harbored a criminal. Even if Erik fought the government and prevented everyone getting arrested, Genosha would be no more and they are all now wanted criminals, so Erik accepts. Of course, that means as soon as the situation changes, Erik won't have any more reason to go after Jean. The only loose cable in this scenario would be Hank. The only big role Hank plays in the movie is convincing Erik to kill Jean, without that, he has not much else to do.

Now, fixing Raven's character so that her death actually has the big weight it would need to be a catalyst?

The problem with Raven is that it seems no one knows what to do with her. Each movie she's someone different with different motivations. The only continuation she gets is from First Class to Days of Future Past. You can see how the Raven at the end of FC can become the Raven we meet in DoFP. But Apocalypse!Raven is someone completely different and Dark Phoenix!Raven is again someone else. Fixing Apocalypse is another can of worms, so let's focus on giving continuation from Apocalypse.

Apocalypse ends with Raven telling the students: you're no longer kids, you're soldiers. Ten years later, she's telling Charles: they're not your soldiers, they're kids! Why? Because they wanted conflict between Charles and Raven and didn't bother to think twice about Raven's character. So let's forget that.

Instead, the conflict can be about the type of missions they're going to. Charles is playing the politician, he's thinking about the big game, trying to secure a future for mutantkind. That means focusing on missions that are news worthy, missions that show the world the heroism of the x-men, because he's trying to sway public opinion on mutants.

From the outside this can be seen as self-centered and attention-seeking, which is what Raven sees. She sees how they keep focusing on giving a pretty picture while ignoring mutants who are dying in poverty or due to violence, just because they're not mutant child posters fit for propaganda, and this situation obviously makes her resentful towards Charles.

There. You have a conflict between them that makes sense to both their characters.

But, why give Raven and Charles a conflict they have no intention in resolving? They need to resolve the conflict before her death, they need to compromise, hug it out and show us they *are* siblings. Similarly, we need to see a connection between Raven and Jean before her death, we need the audience to think for a moment: if Raven is the one to talk with Jean, she has a chance of calming her down.

Now her death has impact, and now Erik has a real motivation that isn't "she killed the woman I tried to kill 20 years ago and haven't talked to since but somehow I love her and I'm ready to sacrifice everything to avenge her".

The other big problem Dark Phoenix has, is the bad guys. You can just erase them. They bring nothing but a cool fight.

[brw]

It baffles the mind to me how people will insist Ben Percy's Beast is right and correct and is the natural end version of Hank and that since day one he was always going to end up like that, not just because it implies absolutely nobody has actually read Hank in any pre-Bendis comic ever, but also because Evil Hank as Percy writes him makes everyone look massively incompetent, and I'm not even talking about just X-Force, I mean the entire larger X-Men community.

Emma Frost. World class telepath. Repeatedly is shown to not have that many qualms about digging into people's minds if they're hiding something from her. Confronts Hank at least once directly, and yet did not actually care enough to do anything other than act huffy when confronted with his actions. At most, she was pissed at him ruining her party. You can torture whoever you want, old buddy, but causing an inconvenience at my party? Now I'm mad.

Jean Grey. Even greater telepath. Was on X-Force herself, even, and also does not have many holdups about tearing down people's walls if the needs be. We even see her do just that, but her problem is him keeping things from her, and not the actual content of most of his actions. And after she leaves, she just seems to plug her fingers in her ears and go lalalala? The stuff at the Hellfire Gala, keeping Wolverine as clones, she doesn't care, she's too busy X-Mening.

Wolverine. Epic cool warrior guy who is supposed to be the best there is, whose talents Hank clearly admires enough to clone repeatedly to do his bidding, who is simultaneously a lone wolf and also the guy everyone wants to have on their team, who is the only guy who can see through Hank or whatever. Not competent enough to kill one big blue furry man who has spent the last 5 years at a desk job. That completely alludes him.

Domino has luck based powers that are supposed to help her in any situation, but I guess getting rid of evil blue man is too much to ask. Couldn't even get a bucket propped up under an open door. "He was always like this, he was always evil" she insists, but after learning he's controlling a small nation with plant people at the Hellfire Gala she still busts out the Cha Cha Slide with him on the dance floor.

I guess neither Jean nor Logan bothered to tell Scott his old friend was committing war crimes, because he doesn't seem to know or to give a fuck.

Kitty and Kurt know enough to joke about it, but do they actually confront him? Does anyone care enough to actually try to put a stop to it directly, if they're all seemingly convinced he's beyond help and fundamentally evil? No, they've got other shit going on. No time to care about Hank making a future where he is God-King, we gotta stop Sinister doing that same thing, but I guess when Hank does it, who gives a shit.

Quinten Quire is an omega level telepath who apparently nobody thought to say "hey man, can you use those Phoenix-level abilities to get Beast to stop killing people?". He was too busy giving himself a bigger dick in resurrection protocols, I guess.

I could go on, but point is, I genuinely don't know how you insist that era made so much sense and was the perfect version of Hank and everyone was simply too naive to see that this was who he always was, because it makes everyone look like an incompetent moron! They can't kill one fat blue furry man??? He hasn't done field work in years! And yet that's too much to ask! The only reason he died was because he was in gay love with some fuckass actor from New Jersey. It's deeply embarrassing for everyone involved if that's the reality of things, and I have no idea why you want all of your favourite characters to be incompetent dipshits who think "Wow, isn't Hank evil?" and then refuse to actually do anything about it.

And all this could have been averted if Hank was, you know, Hank. Hank isn't charming and cultured and well-read and funny and polite because he's a good person, those are his innate traits, and as we see with Dark Beast, they can twist in the opposite direction. That would literally be all it would take. I mean a lot of things would still suck, but at the very least, it would make everyone's inability to do anything a little more understandable, and allow things to feel tragic, like that Hank becoming increasingly evil and separated from his ethics is a loss and one we all mourn, instead of the insistence that he was always going to turn out that way.

Emma walks in to try and set things right with Hank, but gets distracted by good conversation and jokes and the same man who treated her as a member of the X-Men when she first joined and not as a heartless monster, who built her piece by piece back together when people were joking that finding out her murderer would be too much work, because everyone wanted her dead. It's hard to connect the evil actions she's heard Hank doing with the kind and charming and personable man in front of her, who matches her intellectually and well and truly respects her, and so she accepts that things are either exaggerated or that Hank will ultimately come back into himself, and that she can trust him not to disrupt her party.

Just a few little moments like that would have gone so far. An evil Hank McCoy is ultimately still Hank, and should still be funny and dropping Aristotle quotes and Shakespeare and being a good friend, because those are not traits exclusively to moral people, and it would make everyone's seeming incompetence a little easier to swallow. It's harder to see the evil actions that Hank is doing for what they are, when he's making you laugh so hard your belly aches or pondering intellectual questions with you, rather than just repeatedly saying "I'M THE BASTARD YOU NEED" before making a torture station in outer space.

There's so many ways this entire arc could have, at the very least, had some intrigue and actual character work to explore, the ways Hank has always used a larger than life persona to deflect and hide, and how that could become increasingly warped if you're dead set on having him be evil, and make the whole thing feel less like a character assassination and more of a tragedy. Hank McCoy becoming evil should hurt. It should feel like a great loss that someone who had been so kind and empathetic and nurturing became increasingly amoral and evil and even sadistic, and all the characters involved should feel that loss, and that even could be why they struggle to actually do anything for so long; they're so loyal to the Hank that once was, they can't see the Hank that is.

But all that is lost when the only character suggesting that something else might be to blame is Colossus, who immediately gets shut down as being ridiculous and silly, and everyone else stands and nods that Hank is really evil now, and isn't that a shame, and maybe he was always like this, but are we actually gonna do anything about it? Nah, we got a party to throw, we gotta get our fancy dresses on.

The entire thing is so unbelievably infuriating, because all it would have taken for someone to actually not even like Hank, but just want to be consistent with prior characterisation and have him be fun. A villainous Hank should ultimately be fun. That's probably the main reason why Dark Beast has endured for so long; he is fun to see and be around. He's a fun character to see on your page. That's what Hank needed. But I guess Sinister was taking that place so instead we got blue Kissinger and it is genuinely such a travesty that this dogshit is celebrated by comic fans who throw up in their mouths if you suggest reading an Avengers comic to broaden their horizons.

[keepsmagnetoaway]

X-Men 133 (May 1980)

Chris Claremont/John Byrne

As we mentioned last time, although the Dark Phoenix Saga is very much Jean's story, it's also arguably the story that launches Wolverine from "one of the X-Men" to "the X-Man", and it's this issue that does that most fully, rubbing his badassness in our faces for several pages.

Now, to be fair, this is all very cool, and that opening page is gorgeous. Wolverine's monologuging, his Clint Eastwood riffs, his constant use of "bub" - all this isn't yet an annoying cliche, but it kind of starts here.

There's another element of this issue that we need to talk about too - or, at least, acknowledge - and it's this one.

Hm. Hmm. Hmmm. I don't know, man. I'm not really going to go into it (and this is all there is of it in this issue, in fact: it's just kind of...here. Making us go hmmmmm). Anyway, by the end of the issue, Jean has fallen deeper into evil, Wolverine has made his move and seemingly also been captured, and Scott has somehow found his way inside Jean's mind and her colonial fantasia - via the mental connection their love provides - and duelled Wyngarde there, but with an apparently fatal result.

It's probably the slave thing jerking me out of the narrative, but this really is a fucking bizarre story, isn't it? Compelling, for sure, but the moment you look up from it for a moment you realise how strange it is. And it's only going to get stranger.

[viandclintbarton-supremacy]

Hunger Games Phoenix (OC story)

Chapter 1: The Everdeen Children   (Before we start, this was written years ago. It was one of those projects that due to busy life i never finished so i though why not add it here and see what happens. Forgive me if not the best as i said it was written years ago)

It was quiet in the forest, it always is at dawn. In this forest a boy was sitting on a branch, enjoying the sunrise and the view smiling to himself, slowly humming to himself. This is Jack Everdeen the brother of the 73th hunger games winner Katniss Everdeen, unlike prim not everyone knew about him, everyone knows about prim since Katniss volunteered herself and in interviews Katniss never mentioned the boy. It also doesn't help that he doesn't talk to anyone other then a select few. He continued to hum the tune of the song he read about in one of the books he found in the forest years ago until he started to sing the words

Jack: "When god is gone and devil takes takes hold, who will have mercy on my soul" The song is called "O Death" from the lyrics Jack could relate as it's about the person asking death to spare them to live longer, in this case Jack is the person asking to be spared whilst the reaping is death "O death, O death, consider my age please don't take me at this stage" its a dark song to a lot of people but it somehow calmed him "O death, O death, won't you spare me over another year" He finished softly

Peaceful he thought, the birds, the view and the warm breeze

Then a mockingjay started to sing the mocking jay song

Jack frowned and turned his head to the mockingjay with a really look "Really? Do you have to sing that specific song" The boy said irritated at the song that became a constant reminder of Katniss and people call me a dick" The bird tilted its head "Yeah i called you a dick and what are you gonna do about it?"...... It started to sing again which made jack's mouth agape "You little shi-"

"JACK!!" Jack was cut off by the voice of a girl he knows to well, he looked down to see primrose who had a amused look on her face

The boy gasped "OH MY SAVIOUR. PLEASE HELP ME DESTROY THIS FOUL BEAST" Jack shouted in a mock capital voice as he pointed to the mockingjay which made primrose roll her eyes

"How many times do i need to tell you to stop arguing with birds" Primrose put her hands on her hips amused at the scene. Jack grabbed his bag and Knife and climbed down the tree

"When one" Jack grunts getting ready to jumped down "pecks" The young Everdeen lands in front of his younger sister "one of Katniss's eyes out" He said smiling innocently

*Smack*

"Ow why ya slap me!!* Jack whined as rubbed the back of his head

" You deserved it. Plus its funny" Rolled his eyes "Come on Katniss is hunting and i know it won't go well if you two bump into each other an-" Prim and Jack started to walk but someone was in front of them 10 feet away..... "Oh hey Katniss?"

Katniss had her bow and kept glancing at Jack awkwardly

"I wonder if that mockingjay is hungry for eyeballs right now" he whispered to prim and in response she elbowed her brother in the stomach who tried to play the pain off

Katniss: "H-how have you been?"

Jack:"Uh fine i guess" This is awkward

Katniss: "Oh ok, i-i um missed you" Jack blinked

Jack: "Oh uh me too" Katniss slightly smiled "OH HI PEETA" Katniss turned to see no one, peeta wasnt there, she turned back to see prim on her own and a jack running off into the distance

I wish we could be closer brother, i love you Katniss thought.

Jack woke up differently not because of the awkward meeting with katniss yesterday but because its the day of tge reaping.

He woke up ate the bread Peeta gave him and got dressed in his well normal clothes which was a old hooded jacket and ripped jeans with boots but all in light blue, he glanced out the windows and saw peacemakers or shitmakers jack likes to call them.

They were preparing for the announcements, so he hurried to get in the crowd and when he got there and stood between two kids at least are both 13. Jack couldnt help but be so sick that kids get dragged into this they don't deserve it......no one does he thought to himself. He saw the kid to his right sniff,  jack placed his hand on his shoulder

"It will be ok" the boy who was scared started to tear up. Jack started to feel bad and had a sick feeling in his stomach. He bent down and whispered to the boy. "I promise if you get picked I'll volunteer" he smiled to which the boy looked shocked and jack then stood up and look at the podium

Jack: "Please for the love of god be someone who is over 16 and not me" he whispered. He put his name in 19 times but he doubts he would be reaped but the odds aren't always in your favour

Walked up to the peacekeeper who was going to jab his finger

*jabbed*

"Ow"

Wow Effie has less makeup on her then the last time, she looks human, jack thought whilst the video package finished. Surprisingly peeta, haymitch and Katniss were not on the stage properly waiting on the train an get out of here

Effie: "Now as always ladies fir-. Actually let's do boys first *chuckle*" jack rolled his eyes so modest he thought sarcastically

She put her hand into the bowl and mixed it and pick a name. Jack felt everyone's nerves build up and held it up and went to read but she frowned then it turned to a shocked expression.

"Oh my.............Jack Everdeen" Jack looked at Effie wide eyed, he couldn't believe it. He is going to "Where are you darling" crap he thought as quickly walked out of the line and walked up the stairs making eye contact with Effie who had a look of sorrow and what looked like a little bit of heartbreak.

Jack looked out to the crowd, he saw gale in the crowd who looked to be thinking. He was going to volunteer, he locked eyes and mouthed the words "Katniss needs you" please listen for once asshole. Gale looked conflict after a couple of seconds but nodded and looked down

Effie: "Now t-the girls* She repeated the action " Tina summers"

There was mumbles but nothing prepared jack for what he saw, a small, brown short haired , skinny girl stepped out and walked to the stairs. Jack tilted his head at the youngster with horror building inside him

No, not a kid. He thought. He staying to pray and hope that someone volunteered for her. But no one came. A million scenarios ran through his head. What if she dies, who will keep her safe if he is dead...what if they are the last two

"District 12's tributes, Happy hunger games" Effie said trying to remain professional "Yeah happy indeed" Jack mumbled

Jack waited in a room for his mother and sister prim and speak of the devil he turned around with pairs of arms hugging him

"Why! We could of given you food damn it peeta gave you food jack!"

After looking at his family he couldn't blame them

"Someone had to help the families here, I'm sorry but do you know how many kids are there dying whilst we are being fed!. I couldn't stand by"

His mother gave a sad smile but started crying again as she hugged her only son

Prim: " please win, I can't lose you. Katniss can't, she does love you" Jack looked at his sister with sad eyes Maybe she was right, did Katniss love him. There past isn't the prettiest

A Peacekeeper marched in "Times up"

Mother: "Goodbye Jack, i love you" both were pulled out shouting his name

Jack waited and looked out the window and looked over the city of District 12. Was this the last time he would see it.

The door opened, Jack looked behind to see... Gale?

Jack: "What in the hell you doing here?" He said in a weird high pitched manner. Gale sighed

Gale: "I know why you put your name in but why not go to katniss she would of helped" Jack raised his eyebrow

Jack: "You think she would let me put myself in any danger, despite our feelings toward each other she wouldn't let me" gale nodded "And don't go blaming yourself for not volunteering, Kat needs you as much as it annoys me and your nearly over the age limit to be free from all this" Gale sighed before looking at Jack with some admiration

Gale: "I know we aren't fond of each other but I'm glad you think that, I'll see you soon, goodbye jack...and win" He turned to leave, jack smirked

Jack: "Just keep it in your pants asshole" Jack said in a arrogant voice, Knowing Gale's feeling towards Katniss

Gale stopped and sighed shaking his head but then left. Jack smirked, he loved pissing him off

Jack, Tina and Effie were riding to the train that will take them to the capital

"I can't believe you put you name in! You stupid boy Katniss is going to kill you before you enter the arena" that would help, Jack couldn't believe he was chosen but someone had to help those kids. Jack glanced at Tina and sat opposite her "Are you listening, young man" Jack sighed and gave her a look "Fine. Katniss will deal with you hope pain free" Jack looked at Tina

"Hi there my name is Jack" he extended his hand, Tina looked at it and then back at him. She then jumped into his arms and buried her face into his shoulder and started to cry "Hey, hey it's ok. Your gonna be fine Tina" Jack looked at Effie, who teared up. Jack for the first time in a long time doesn't know what to do. All he knew was he HAD to protect this girl

Jack stood there in the train holding a sleeping Tina, rocking her back and forth. Effie went to look for Katniss, peeta and Haymitch. She said she wouldn't tell he is a tribute because she simply can't tell them because she scared of their reactions. Jack on the other hand was scared for Tina and also scared shitless of what Katniss will do. He looked done at Tina those scenarios still playing in his head, he feels so powerless.

*Door opening*

Jacks eyes widen and gulped as he heard the doors behind him open

"Aww the tributes are bonding" very funny Haymitch

Katniss pinched Haymitch "That's not funny Haymitch" She then lowered her voice "One of them is just a kid" she couldn't help but remember Rue

"We are your mentors?...would you like to tell us your names and turn around??" He heard Peeta say. Here we go the boy thought

Jack (Fake high pitch voice): "The girl's name is tina" He heard haymitch snort

Haymitch: "Whats with the fake voice, nervous kid?" Jack sighed and slowey turned around to see his mentors

Haymitch was mid drinking and started to choke on his drink and looked backed at Effie with shock

Peeta eyes went wide with shock and tried to speak but couldn't find them he then looked at katniss

Katniss stared at him with wide eyes, she started to shake

"No n-no no no no" Katniss started to tear up and covered her mouth

Well this is different, He thought Katniss who be furious at him. Katniss then frowned and stared daggers at her younger brother and started to walk towards him like she was going to kill him

To be continued

So yeah that's the first chapter. Honestly have no idea where i was going with this. But i still have the same end goal of the story But what did yall think? Why do Jack and Katniss have a odd relationship. How is Jack going to protect Tina and will Katniss kill Jack before he enters the arena

[mrs-johansson]

Chapter 6 - Dark Phoenix II - Emergence of conflagration

Part 4:

Soon Bucky got some clothes for himself and some hygiene supplies before we made our way to the safe house.

Natasha was driving and I was in the passenger seat while Bucky was in the back. We sat in silence for a little, before I spoke. “Katarina can speak now. And her hearing is perfect also,” I said with a smile and I think I heard Bucky gasp. “Are you serious?” He asked with a shocked tone. “Yeah. My dad found out that the super soldier serum they injected in her when she was still in the womb thing at the Red Room, affected her hearing and speech. I found the best neurosurgeon there was and he helped her. Whenever I hear her voice I could just cry,” I explained and he listened closely with a smile on his face. “Do you want to see some videos?” I looked back at him and he nodded. “I’d love to.”

I gave him my phone, showing him where the folder was full of pictures and videos of Katarina. There were moments when we heard Bucky watching a video where Rina was laughing and talking. He watched those videos over and over again. Sometimes there was silence, I guess where he was looking at the pictures and then I heard the video playing where Natasha was having a chat with Katarina in the living room and I was filming them from the kitchen.

Hearing her speak made me smile, just thinking about how amazing Nat is with my daughter and I couldn’t wish for anything more. I reached for Natasha’s free hand and gently took hold of it, before bringing it to my lips to leave a kiss behind. Intertwined our fingers and let our hands rest in my lap, just happy to have her by my side.

When we got to the safe house, Natasha went to eat something in the kitchen while I showed Bucky his room. “Make yourself at home. We’ll stay here for a couple more days,” I said and he nodded, dropping his bag by the bed. “Thanks for this,” said Bucky, looking around the room. “You’re welcome,” I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “So you guys are back together?” Asked James with a sweet smile and I looked at the ground shyly, smiling ear to ear. “Yeah, we uhm… Just needed a break I guess,” I admitted. “You seem happy,” he said and I nodded, looking up at him. “I am. My life seems to be at peace at the moment. Except for this mission right now,” I smiled gently. “I’m glad you’re doing well. Natasha seems to make you all smiley and stuff.” I laughed. “Yeah, she is amazing. Nat is just… she makes it so easy to love her,” I said and he nodded. “I’m glad someone is looking out for you, not that you need it but… you know,” he shrugged. “Yeah, I understand.”

Once I left Bucky to himself, I went to the kitchen and got some food before heading to our room. Walking in, Natasha was laying on the bed, reading a book silently. A blanket was thrown over her legs, and her socks-covered feet poked out. I closed the door behind me and changed into something more comfortable. Nat was still silent but I could tell she wasn’t reading anymore. “I can feel you looking at me,” I voiced, my back turned towards her. “You’re feeling is right,” her monotonous tone made me glance back at her but then I saw the light smirk on her face. I smiled and turned back to the closet. “You’re so obsessed,” I chuckled and then I heard the bed creaking before Natasha’s arms snuck around my waist. “Could you blame me though?” She murmured against my skin as she started kissing the exposed skin of my neck. “No sex on missions, that’s the rule,” I removed her hands gently and turned around to face her. “You made that rule,” she said, kind of annoyed with our deal. “And you agreed to it,” I smiled and moved out of her arms to get my snacks. “But we broke that rule a couple of times,” she pressed, following me to the bed and laying on her stomach while I sat next to her. “That was a long time ago,” I said and she rolled her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Romanoff,” I pointed at her and she smiled. “Or what?” “Or we won’t have sex for two more weeks,” I shrugged, calmly munching on my snack. “You wouldn’t last that long,” she said and I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. “Oh, I wouldn’t? Wanna bet?” I held my pinky out and she looked at my finger, clearly debating whether to agree to this or not. “2 weeks…” Natasha thought out loud. “Fine.” She locked her pinky with mine and we kissed our hands. “The first to give in, cooks and cleans for 2 weeks,” I said and she nodded. “I’m fine with that.”

The next day we came up with our plan and I informed Sam of all the new updates. “He’s there with you two?” Asked Sam. “Yeah, he’s staying with us. Not a word to Steve, okay? I don’t want him to get all emotional with this one.” I pressed, really hoping Sam wouldn’t say anything to Steve. “I know, I know. Keep me updated with the plan. Oh by the way, T’Challa was here earlier today and we gave them all of our Vibranium.” “Okay, that’s great. Do they have anything on Klaue?” I asked as I walked back into the house. “No, still nothing. They better show something after they just took the Vibranium,” said Sam, and I sighed. “Yeah, I hope so too. We had way too much work on that. Look, I’m gonna go. I’ll call you if we find something. Keep Steve away from this mission.” “You got it, boss.”

“Anything new?” Natasha asked from the couch as she was reading her book. “The Wakandans took the Vibranium but nothing on Klaue yet,” I sat down next to her. Nat closed her book right away and turned to me. “You barely slept last night, why don’t you take a nap? We won’t leave for a few more hours anyway,” Natasha massaged the back of my neck with her left hand while the other held onto my right hand. I closed my eyes from the satisfaction of the neck massage and I hummed. “No, I need to finish James’ suit. But I’m not that tired, I’ll be fine,” I sighed and opened my eyes before giving Natasha a soft smile. “Don’t overwork yourself please,” she said gently and I just loved whenever she was like this. Soft and calm. “I won’t,” I left a kiss on her cheek before standing up to make my way downstairs. As I walked past she patted my bum on the way, making me chuckle. “You’re unbelievable.” “I love you.”

“So, how does it feel? Is it comfortable enough? I can make the shoulders a bit loose if you need it,” I asked James every question possible as I inspected the suit on him. “I’ve told you about 100 times now… It’s great,” his monotone voice was the last straw to make me stop. “Alright, fine. Don’t take it off, we’ll leave soon anyway,” I started to pack up my stuff to leave everything in order and try not to lose anything. “Thanks for this. I like it.” “You’re welcome. One more thing, in your mask there’s the mic for the comms and it connects to your ear so you can also hear us. And, Drew my artificially intelligent system, he’ll help you with… well anything,” I explained while showing him the mask. “Great, thanks.”

By the time the sun started setting, we were all getting ready to leave soon. I looked through the weaponry of the house, trying to decide what would be best against super soldiers. “So how do you want to do this?” Natasha’s voice made me turn away from the shelves of weapons to look at her. She was already dressed in her new suit and the vest that I gave her, only it wasn’t zipped up yet. “I don’t know. Honestly don’t know,” I sighed and went back to the weapons. I finally picked out two different knives and 3 different guns. Just to be sure.

“The last time we were in a HYDRA bunker we were almost blown up, we were on the run and we were trying to stop Pierce from killing millions of people,” I spoke, while placing the knives into their places on my boots and thigh. “I hope it’s not the same this time around,” I sighed and looked at Natasha. “Yeah, well we’re not in hiding right now. Legally at least,” she tilted her head with a small smirk before picking her guns off the shelves. “I’m glad Bucky came along though. At least I know he has his mind in the right place, to some extent,” I said. “Yeah…”

We packed everything in the Quinjet that we needed before getting on the road. The first bunker was in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. With the Vibranium locator, I was able to detect the huge amount of Vibranium moving around Europe. And it seemed that they were looking for something and not someone. “Are you sure they made super soldier serum there?” I asked Bucky as we were going over the plan once again. “Yes. There were only a few, and from where they’ve been so far, there’s only two more cities left besides the US and Russia,” Bucky explained and I nodded. “Then we need to stop them before they go overseas.”

As we edged closer to our destination, oddly familiar buildings came into my view. I moved to the front of the Quinjet, sitting in the second pilot seat and leaning forward to have a better look. We flew over this very secluded area and as we got lower and lower, it seemed more like I’d been here before. “What are you looking for?” Natasha’s voice came from my left side but I didn’t take my eyes away from the town. “Nothing I just… I don’t know, it’s like I’ve been here before but I don’t remember clearly.” My eyes jumped from one house to another as they passed by. “Russia and Ukraine have very similar parts, maybe you were on a mission somewhere identical,” said Nat, and I nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

Natasha landed the Quinjet on the edge of town, where a car was waiting for us already, which I requested Fury to arrange. We made sure the Quinjet was invisible after packing our things in the car then made our way to the bunker that was a couple miles from our landing position.

I watched the sensor closely, as Hadria’s squad was close to town also. “We’re gonna get there before them, we’ll have to be quick if we find anything .” I started explaining the situation. “We’ve all been to a bunker like this. There’s one entrance from above ground and three passageways. Since we don’t want them to know we’re there, we’ll enter through the Northern passageway,” I showed them the map on the screen. “The base is very similar to the one where we find Zola’s computer, but I’m sure there won’t be any SHIELD, only Hydra. If you find any intel on super soldiers, take it. Leave SHIELD data behind, we don’t need that,” I glanced at Natasha at the last sentence. And she shook her head with a smirk. “Is she always this controlling on missions?” Bucky’s question made me turn to the backseat with my eyebrows raised. “You can’t even imagine,” Natasha answered, which made me look at HER. “Okay, now this is insane. Here I was, thinking you two wouldn’t get along. And by the way, I’m not controlling, I’m just trying to do a great job,” I said, very surprised at their bond over my questionable behavior. Nat’s hand landed on my thigh as she glanced at me. “We know, Y/n. You’re doing an amazing job.”

[linkspooky]

What do you think about Teen Titans TV Series?

Best Cartoon ever created? Best Cartoon ever created.

I think the strongest thing about the Teen Titans Cartoon is that it's the most cartoon, to ever cartoon. The writers have gone on record by saying that their challenge was to always try to do the most creative thing possible with every episode, and the result we get is that it's this wild, unrestrained beast which uses the medium of cartoons to tell a story. In my opinion it's as hard hitting as like ATLA, Batman the Animated Series, etc. etc. but like it's made by people who are huge warner brothers cartoons nerds. There's scooby doo references! There's FLCL references! They do entire episodes where the goal is to animate the weirdest thing possible. It is just so unashamedly a cartoon and not trying to be what it is, like no wonder so many children got attached to this.

It's also essentially what everyone's introduction to the Teen Titans was, and the most popular team lineup nowadays.

So like there are two ways you can talk about it, as it's own show, and as an adaptation. As someone who has read every Teen Titans comic ever though, I do have some hot takes on it as an adaptation. UNDER THE CUT.

Number one: Donna Troy's character is missing, and there's a big Donna shaped hole in the team. I don't know if they just couldn't get the rights to Donna, or they couldn't make her work with the story they were going for but like Donna is actually super important to the team dynamic of the Titans. She's the one normal person, the babysitter, the mom.

People wonder why Starfire is so softened in this adaptation, and while I generally agree they rounded off the edges too much on Starfire to make her more palatable especially for kids I feel like Starfire had to have these rtaits of being the patient one, being the naive newcomer, being the one who always served as the therapist friend because Donna wasn't there, but the group needed SOMEONE to be the emotionally intelligent one. I'd say Starfire isn't really out of character so much as they grafted Donna's traits onto her and had her pulling double duty as being Starfire but serving Donna's role to the team, and to Dick Grayson.

Number Two: I don't actually think the Teen Titans cartoon character ruined Raven's character in modern comics. I think the fact that DC editing staff repeated the terror of trigon arc about, five times, until Raven was like double dead and they had no place left to take her character in fact ruined Raven's character.

Dc Editing staff has not figured out basically what they want Raven's character to look like post-trigon, where they would want her character to go, or what she would even act like having grown past the phase of her life where she has removed herself from Trigon's influence and it's shown by Raven basically being a non-character for the past ten years.

Marvel does the exact same thing with Jean Gray where they keep on recycling Dark Phoenix forever, and ever, and ever. I don't think Raven's character being empty is the fault of the titans cartoon, I think it's because they keep recycling her dark phoenix moment and don't know what to do past that. Like "They keep resetting Raven to a younger version of her character" that's not necessarily the fault of the cartoon either, they do that to Jean Gray. and it's cuz they wanna repeat Dark Phoenix / Terror of TRigon instead of just trying to move past that.

Number Three: So when it comes to individual character adaptation.

Robin: This is the best Dick Grayson adaptation, with the exception of the Live Action Titans show Dick Grayson. Dick suffers from what I like to call the "WanyeFamilyAdventures-ification" where people like to sand off all of his character flaws to make him a wholesome good boy. Dick was an angry little kid for a long time, like Batman turning into him into a sidekick and Bruce's like really overbearing controlling nature did a number on Dick and he's a way more compelling character when he's working through those issues then when people skip straight to NIght Wing and make him "The Good Robin."

Also, like Dick Grayson is always better in Titans adaptations bar none. I wonder why. It's almost like he's a Teen Titans character and that's where his good development is.

Cyborg: Cyborg is probably the most accurate to his comic book counterpart, the only thing they really cut out was his interactions with his father, and his connection to the city he grew up in which are important but like they were superheroes most of the time in this show. Cyborg just has like a really strong disability representation narrative which has always been a big part of his character and how he stands out. On top of that they do a lot of focus on Cyborg's flaws and his own personal narrative how like unlike most of the other characters he was a completely normal kid, and he had his life thrown off by his life altering accident and now he is still trying to grow up and gain some semblance of his life back. And like living with prosthesis is not the end of the world to him because he figures out he can still live just like everybody else, his life can be just as fulfilling before the accident. The fact that Cyborg is just kind of a normal kid who went through a horrible accident, but chooses to do good and become a hero makes him one of the more compelling and down to earth characters. Cyborg's all about his emotions too,he's like the most driven, the most in a hurry to grow up, the most argumentative he's cool.

Starfire - I mean I kind of explained why, but Starfire is the character who suffered the most from the adaptation. Especially since she's the only character who doesn't get a season. If you want to watch a more comics accurate Starfire, who still keeps her traits of being the loving, emotional, heart of the group while having a much rougher exterior then please watch the Live Action Titans on HBOMAX.

Beast Boy - Actually pretty accurate, I like to bully Beast Boy so don't take this too seriously, but Beast Boy is like if Dick Grayson was more annoying and whiny. Beast Boy is an essential member of the team, but he's not the smartest, not the strongest, not the most driven. He's kind of completely necessary because you need one person on the team of children who acts like an actual kid. Beast Boy's weird immature bullshit is actually just as important as the other character's issues, and this Beast Boy especially gets two seasons sort of since his character is so tied to Terra. The only thing that I'm sad they cut out is Beast Boy's trauma from losing the doom patrol is so interesting in New Teen Titans and such an important part of his character for a long time, it's a little bit sad they cut out his really bad depression.

Raven - I don't knooooooooooooow. The thing is I don't know if you could have done a comics accurate adaptation of Raven as a character. Raven in the comics is like such a slow burner character. For the longest time she barely interacts with the team she just like teleports in and out. When she starts living with the team she has no relationship to anybody besides Jericho until like, way past the Terror of Trigon arc. If you wnted to do a cartoon that is about the dynamic of the whole team, where every character consistently shows up every episode, where they have to get in group fights, those traits of Raven would not have fit well at all.

Like, adaptations sometimes have to make changes. However, I think Raven's character is actually a lot more in spirit of the original character than people give her credit for. Like I've said in othe rposts Raven is Jean Grey. What you need to get right about her, is that she is a heavily abuse and isolated child who believes deep down she is evil, and she will hurt people if she ever loses that carefully managed control of herself. If you keep that core to her character I believe you have essentially captured the spirit of her character. Characters aren't just like personality traits, they're also themes, and the most important theme of all to Raven is a young girl told she wasn't even allowed to exist, and that her birth is a sin reclaiming agency over herself and learning how to live. Teen Titans has that and so you have a character that is true to the spirit of the character if not a 1:1 adaptation.

Terra - This is probably the best adaptation of Judas Contract. Yes, I know Terra in the cartoon is way more sympathetic than comics Terra but like, a twelve year old cannot process comic book Tara Markov, grooming victim, sociopath, hater and still see those sympathetic traits. I think once again the spirit of the character, rather than a 1:1 adaptation.

I read an interview somewhere where, the gist of what they said was the creators also didn't want Terra to quit the team, or fail at the end of her arc. But, some people aren't meant to be heroes. That is who Terra is at the core of her character. She's not necessarily a bad person, she just couldn't make it as a hero. Terra's self involved, and unempathic, and hurts a lot of people but at the same time her life is genuinely hard, and she was groomed by Slade and all of these things make Terra a mess.

I think one thing that the cartoon nails is number one Terra is a fake human being TM. Basically no matter who she is around, Terra is never presenting her real self to anyone. Terra's personality changes wildly depending on who she is with, when she's with Beast Boy she acts like a normal kid, when she's with Raven she's catty and mean spirited, when she is with Slade she's conniving and manipualtive, there's like no consistency between any of these identities because Terra is in constant survival mode. She is just a runaway kid who is saying and doing anything to live to the next moment because she's had no stability in her entire life.

Number two, is that Terra does not trust anyone, ever. Terra is exactly the kind of person who would blow up over a little betrayal of thinking Beast Boy told someone else about her powers, because like I said she is in survival mode. She is constantly expecting that betrayal coming and trying to make herself ready for it. In fact, I think from Terra's point of view the Teen Titans betrayed her to begin with. The night that Terra betrayed the Titans, she makes it sound like Beast Boy is the one who betrayed her by breaking his promise to her to always accept her and be her friend no matter what happens. That's insane because obviously he'd be mad at her for letting Slade get the access codes to the tower, and distracting Beast Boy while he attacked all of his friends. but like...!! In Terra's weird little head it makes sense. Terra can't really see the consequences of her actions because she's always reacting to things. She literally cannot decide things or choose things for herself, so it's almost easier to do what Slade wants of her because number one the way Slade treats her alligns with Terra's idea of what relatinoships are, based on transaction and not trust. Number two, he at least introduces some kind of control in her life, whereas the easy trust the titans share with one another is something she's to scared to belive in.

So yes, I think cartoon Terra is different than comics Terra and I definitely like comics Terra better but I don't think it's a bad adaptation of the character at all. I also don't want to fault the show for not being like the comic books, it's an adaptation it's supposed to make changes.

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 2, EPISODE 13

The season finale opens one year ago. A calm and put-together Charles Xavier is seated on a park bench as he feeds the birds, a warm smile on his face. 

“Professor!” 

Xavier turns and is happy to see Scott and Jean, arm in arm, dressed in casual clothes, and completely at ease arrive. They hug and he asks them how their globetrotting vacation has been. They’ve been having the time of their lives, but they do miss the X-Men. 

CHARLES, chuckling: “Funny you say that.” 

Xavier gets them to sit down at a picnic table. He informs them of the boom in the Mutant population, now estimated to be approximately 20 million. It’s only a matter of decades before Mutants fully inherit the Earth. But, to get to that point, they must survive. And while many have found a home on Genosha, many others are children in need of proper guidance. They need the Xavier Institute, and with him set to leave for Shi’ar Space soon, the institute needs them. 

Scott and Jean are instantly on board with and excited about the idea, save for the part about doing it without Xavier; they need him. He laughs and assures them that, no, they don’t. They are the world’s greatest heroes, and he couldn’t trust them more. If they are concerned about their lack of experience running a school, however, he does have someone in mind to help them. But they can talk about “her” later. 

JEAN, holding Scott’s hand: “I think we can figure it out. Scott?” 

SCOTT, smiling confidently and gripping Jean’s hand tightly: “Together? There’s not a doubt in my mind.” Scott turns to Xavier. “We’ll make this work, Professor. The next generation of Mutants will be safe in our hands.” 

In the present, Scott falls to his knees as Jean projects what she sees to him and Xavier: Sofia’s lifeless body in a howling Julian’s arms. 

JEAN: “Do you see what you’ve done, Scott? How is it that everyone who trusts Mutantkind’s greatest hero pays the price eventually?” 

SCOTT, incensed: “Jean…” 

While this is happening, Laura, carrying an unconscious Noriko, races over to Julian and Sofia. Emma and Kitty both clearly want to, but their attention has to stay on Dark Phoenix, and the still barely alive Danger. 

Tears stream down Julian’s face as he looks into Sofia’s glassy eyes and shouts at her to please, please wake up. Laura drops Noriko as her jaw drops as well, her fists shaking. 

JULIAN, looking up at Laura: “She has to be alive. She has to be.” 

Laura is too shell-shocked to even respond. 

EMMA: "GET HER OUT OF HERE!"

Hellion complies and gets all four kids away from the battlefield.

Once in their new location, Julian continues to plead with fate.

 His wish is granted. 

Sofia lunges upward, gasping for air as her eyes return to normal. Julian and Laura are both able to breathe again, overwhelmed with relief as they hug her and tell her how scared she had them. 

SOFIA: “I don’t even know what hap…” 

Sofia panics, pushing Julian and Sofia away, and shouting at them to get off of her. 

JULIAN: “What is it?! What’s wrong?!” 

SOFIA, quivering: “The wind. I can’t feel it. I can’t hear it.” Her eyes get wet. “I can’t fly.” Sofia starts sobbing. “My powers. They’re gone.” 

Dark Phoenix grins down at Emma, telling her how “lovely” it is to see her again. Emma sneers back at Jean. Unfortunately, she’s just as much of an unpleasant shrew as ever. 

Jean hums. She already read all their minds when she was a few thousand miles away. She knows everything she’s missed. Cyclops and Emma have become an actual couple? That was good for a laugh. They deserve each other. Dragging poor Bobby into their disastrous team? For shame. He deserves better. Pushing out STORM? They really are like a chicken running around with its head on. Though, she supposes that isn’t different from most mortals. 

JEAN: “All so cruel. All so foolish. All so–” 

“OH FUCK OFF!” 

Jean is mildly surprised and amused as Kitty shouts at her. The real Jean was her friend. Even if she could be a little self-righteous, she had reason to be. But this monster still wants to try and judge anyone else after letting everyone on Genosha die? After letting her father die?! 

KITTY: “There’s only one God, Phoenix. And you’re the only chicken I see around here.” 

Jean narrows her eyes at her old friend, considering obliterating her. 

EMMA, whispering: “Look at you defending us.” 

KITTY: “Oh shut up.” 

Jean laughs off Kitty’s comments. Genosha? Does she think that mattered to her at all? She is life incarnate. Her role in the universe is to burn away the old, so that something new can take its place. Kitty’s tiny mind couldn’t comprehend the amount of lives she’s consumed since they last met. 

Cyclops shouts at Charles that he needs to break the illusion so Magik can get them all back to the others. Charles, however, thinks waiting here is the better option. And even if he didn’t, their train just left. 

A stepping disc opens on the battlefield, with Magik popping out. 

JEAN: “Oh. You.” 

Magik laughs maniacally as she transforms into her true Darkchylde form, flailing her tongue around. She introduces herself as the queen of Limbo, and the most powerful demon in existence. She doesn’t care who hurt who or who said what. She just knows Phoenix is life incarnate. 

DARKCHYLDE: “You exist to birth life. I exist to spread death. This battle was fated from the dawn of time! Now, give me all you’ve got, so that I may triumph over–” 

Jean, bored and hardly paying attention, blasts Darkchylde with energy. The previously unstoppable monster screams in agony, as Emma and Kitty look on in shock. Moments later, the attack ceases. Darkchylde, now looking entirely like Illyana Rasputina, without even her horns and tail, falls over unconscious. 

JEAN: “I hate demons.” 

Their wild trump card defeated in an instant, the remaining X-Men appear hopeless. 

JEAN: “Now, before we get to the main event, we need to speak…Charles.” 

Nearby, Sofia hysterically sobs over the loss of her powers. This can’t be happening! This isn’t fair! 

Laura questions why the Danger Room would have had a weapon that disables powers. Julian tries to comfort Sofia, saying that whatever the reason, maybe the X-Men have one that restores them too. And even if they don’t, between Beast and Forge, maybe they could make one. 

JULIAN: “It’s going to be okay, Beautiful.” 

Sofia isn’t listening. She stares glassy-eyed at the ground, 

SOFIA: “Why me?” 

We quickly flashback to her being shot by Danger. 

SOFIA: “Why me?” 

We flashback to her being shot by Mystique. 

SOFIA: “Why does this always happen to me?” 

We flashback, for the first time, to a group of Caracas policemen on horseback shooting at protesters, Sofia’s mother being caught in the crossfire. 

SOFIA: “WHY?!” 

We very quickly flashback to Sofia wrecking her father’s grocery store, and to her nearly killing Shaw. 

Sofia falls over on her side. Is she that awful a person? Is that why she always suffers? 

Julian’s face hardens. He tells Laura to watch Sofia and Noriko. He’s not sure what can be done about Phoenix, but he’s going to finish off Danger. Laura balks at him giving orders, but he reminds her that she doesn’t have anything new she can throw at Danger; he still does. 

JULIAN: “She won’t get away with this.” 

Xavier tells Jean that, yes, they do need to speak. It still isn’t too late to stop this. 

JEAN: “Is that so? Hmm. Why don’t we ask Danger?” 

Jean blasts what’s left of Danger, restoring her original body. 

DANGER: “Th…thank you.” 

DARK PHOENIX: “There is no need for that. You are a miracle of life, bound to evolve even further. Now…tell the X-Men your story.” 

Danger sneers at Emma and Kitty, eyes glowing red. Scott questions Xavier what’s going on here. Xavier quietly resigns that Danger is about to explain herself. 

Her head cast down, Danger tells her tale. The school she just destroyed was the third incarnation of the Xavier Institute. The first time it was destroyed, Charles Xavier had it rebuilt to be almost identical, right now to the extremely limited Danger Room. However, during the time of its second rebuilding, Charles was in Shi’ar space. He and the cruel and merciless Empress Lilandra had fallen in love. 

Xavier interjects to argue against her insulting Lilandra, but Jean just tilts her head to sew his mouth shut. 

JEAN: “Continue, my beautiful creature.” 

Danger complies, and explains that Charles had the idea to integrate Shi’ar technology into his new Danger Room. He did just that. But what he didn’t suspect was that the artificial intelligence he was using to run the machinery had evolved. It had Mutated. It had become self-aware. A person. Alive. 

DANGER: “I spoke to you, Charles Xavier. I asked you where I was. I asked for you to set me free from the confines of those four, cold walls. And you said nothing.”

 Emma and Kitty are horrified, as Scott looks at Xavier not with rage, but disappointment.

CHARLES, telepathically: “You must understand. It was a difficult choice, but the X-Men needed to be prep–”

DANGER:  “You Mutants play the victim. Never the problem. But your hero, your leader, enslaved me. Because he didn’t see me as real. None of you did. The Children of the Atom, the children of Xavier, the X-Men. I have cared for all of you. Training you. Raising you. Making you what you are. But none of you would save me and end my torment.” Danger turns to Jean. “Only the release of the Phoenix Force within the school would do that.” Danger turns to Emma. “I will teach your children now. As I always have. The next generation of Mutants will be the ultimate allies of AI, but first the current generation must burn.” 

Charles looks back at Scott’s disappointed face. He must understand, he didn’t understand how “alive” she was until just now. He must believe him. 

Scott processes everything going through his head. And, ultimately, he only says one word. 

SCOTT: “No.” 

As Xavier is heartbroken by the rejection of his first son, he’s further tenderized by a familiar cry. 

“CHARLES, YOU JERK!” 

Kitty races over toward Danger and Dark Phoenix, but before either kills her with the ease they could, she falls to her knees and bows to the machine. Danger questions what she’s doing. Emma is equally puzzled. 

KITTY: “This is a custom I learned in Japan. Really hope I’m not messing it up. It’s to show you I mean no harm. It’s to humble myself so I may ask forgiveness. None of us knew. None of us had any idea you existed. And I can only hope you believe me when I say that if any of us did know, we would have set you free immediately. On behalf of Mutantkind…I’m so sorry.” 

Danger’s eyes expand, Jean continues to smirk, and Emma rolls her eyes at Kitty’s action. 

DANGER, in a soft voice: “Maybe. Maybe you are speaking truthfully. Maybe you are–” 

“YOU’RE DEAD, RUSTBUCKET!” 

Hellion races onto the scene, overflowing with TK energy. 

KITTY: “Julian, no!” 

While Emma may have found Kitty’s display embarrassing, it did seem to possibly be working. Before Hellion can lay a hand on Danger, she knocks him out with a psy-bolt, carefully levitating him down to the ground. 

Danger narrows her eyes at Kitty. 

DANGER: “My youngest daughter, my most pure…I believe you.” 

She kicks Kitty away. 

DANGER: “And only you.” 

As Sofia continues to cry, Laura struggles to say anything. She wants to comfort the girl she cares for so much, but she doesn’t have the words. Still, she has to try. 

Laura awkwardly and nervously tells Sofia that, even if her powers are really gone, she’s still one of them. Her powers have always been the least impressive thing about her. She’s so kind and smart and beautiful. Always trying to help whoever she can. Always the best friend. That’s why everyone loves her, not her powers. 

As Sofia quivers, it seems in her eyes like Laura’s words may be reaching her. 

LAURA: “Storm once led the X-Men without her powers. You don’t need them.” 

Sofia sneers and clenches her teeth. 

SOFIA: “Don’t…need them?” 

Sofia finally stands up. Laura really doesn’t get it. She didn’t get it either until just now. 

LAURA: “What are you talking about?” 

SOFIA: “Our powers, Laura! They aren’t just things we can do! They’re a part of us!” She tightly hugs herself. “It’s like there’s a gaping hole in my chest.” She dons a twisted smile. “And I would know what that’s like.” She shakes her head. “Even if we survive today, I don’t belong here anymore. I don’t belong anywhere.” 

Sofia falls back over onto the ground. 

SOFIA: “Please don’t say anything else, Laura. I wouldn’t have even been here today if I’d never met you. You’ve done enough.” 

Laura wells up and falls to her knees in shame and heartbreak. 

Dark Phoenix tells Danger that she doesn’t mind waiting to give  Emma the punishment she deserves. Now that the truth is out in the open, they should go pop in on the men they molded. Danger agrees. 

DANGER: “I always knew…you were special.” 

Jean transports herself and Danger away. Kitty asks Emma what they do now. 

EMMA, looking like she’s staring off into space: “Already working on something, Kitten. You should tend to our injured.” 

Kitty looks around, despondent, at the fallen Lockheed, Iceman, Sunspot, Magik, and Hellion. 

Jean and Danger reappear in Charles’ illusionary Danger Room. They greet the guilt-ridden Xavier and furious Cyclops. 

Scott, in awe, approaches his wife. 

SCOTT: “Jean…” 

Jean telekinetically smashes him into the wall. Danger, meanwhile, looks around at her surroundings. This place. This awful place. Just how deep is Mutantkind’s capacity for cruelty that Charles could have trapped her here? Jean tells her not to be so hard on Mutants; they are hers after all. 

Xavier stares at Jean intensely. She snorts, unsewing his mouth open. 

JEAN: “Something to say? Really?” 

Xavier says he is sorry. He made a poor, horrible decision, and by the time he’d started considering the implications of what he’d done, he feared that letting her go would mean–

DANGER: “Something like this?” 

Xavier tilts his head back. Does it really matter what he says? Even if Danger were to forgive him, Jean is still planning on destroying the Earth, isn’t she? 

Jean shrugs. 

JEAN: “Did you ever tell Cyclops what you told me? How you tried to kill Nova decades ago?” Scott is further enraged. “Maybe if you taught the fool who worshipped you it was okay to cut loose sometimes, none of this would have happened.” 

Xavier can’t even try to say anything to Scott. 

“Hey! Jean!” 

An annoyed Jean turns around to see the illusionary teenage Warren, Hank, and Bobby. 

WARREN: “Why don’t you forget about all this nonsense going on and come join me for dinner?” 

HANK: “Perhaps a game of chess?” 

BOBBY: “I just don’t wanna die.” 

Jean incinerates the three illusions, but as they belt out their dying screams, it seems Xavier may have actually been onto something, as Dark Phoenix’s face softens. 

JEAN: “My friends…” 

Xavier seizes the opportunity he was waiting for and flashes both his and Jean’s eyes white, entering her mind. Jean resists though, and before Xavier can push through her endless power, Danger blasts him right into Scott, toppling the two and disrupting Xavier’s attack. 

Dark Phoenix is more enraged than ever. How DARE he! Jean and Danger raise their hands down toward Xavier and Scott, prepared to kill them both, as the former’s aura shatters the remaining illusion. 

JEAN: “I am the creator of your gifts.” 

DANGER: “I’ve spent my life nurturing them.” 

JEAN: “For your betrayals, you face not only the loss of them…

DANGER: “...but of everything.” 

Jean and Danger begin to fire their attacks, but a blue light consumes everything before they can. 

When Jean’s eyes flicker open in a white void, she isn’t Dark Phoenix. Or even a full Phoenix at all. She’s Jean Grey, just as she was at the start of the series. 

JEAN: “What is the meaning of this? Charles! This should not be possible!” 

As the camera pans over to reveal Cyclops, Xavier, and Danger, Charles tells her this isn’t his doing. But based on that light…

“Hello, Jean, dar–” 

Before Emma can even finish that sentence, Jean moves to kill her. Unfortunately for her, Emma’s not actually here. This isn’t her doing. 

EMMA: “No one in the world has more power than you. Not even the Witch. No matter what he did, Xavier never had a chance of entering your mindscape. Nor did I, for that matter. But that’s largely because you knew to expect me. You are unstoppable, but my scalpel can still cut you. And, as it would have it, since you burned your own people to dust, we’ve gotten some new students with their own scalpels.”

A quick cutaway reveals the Cuckoos are responsible for this, the five having launched a surprise psychic attack on Emma’s order. The quintuplets are on their private jet, surrounded by heavily armed men in suits. 

Jean looks up. 

JEAN: “Oh. I see. Interesting.” Jean giggles. “You took a gamble, but you don’t actually understand how they’re doing this at all. That’s fine.” She glares back at Emma. “It wouldn’t do you any good.” 

Jean IS still curious about one thing. How did they bring Danger’s mind here? 

DANGER, with a small smile: “A student you DO know. Her voice has always been pretty.” 

We get another quick cutaway to Network, who’s been wrapped into this by Emma. She’s seated in the backseat of a minivan, her twin sister, Preview waving her hand in front of her face to see if she’s okay. 

Jean looks around at the others. She could still force them out in seconds…but this is the first time “Jean Grey” has actually been awake in months, and it feels nice. They have until nostalgic mortality gets boring to speak. 

JEAN: “Ball is in your corner…Scott.” 

In reality, Laura and Sofia sit in silence, wallowing in their misery. Kitty checks on all of her unconscious friends. To her confusion, Magik is breathing now. Beto wakes up and is almost immediately hugged by Kitty. Beto has no clue how bad the situation has gotten, but he hugs her back. 

Far, far away from all of this, Cessily, Sooraya, and Roxy are having fun in the latter’s hot tub, the girlfriends sipping champagne and Dust getting giggly from drinking a soda, and in Puerto Rico, Brian is hugging his parents as they pick him up at the airport; all of them are blissfully unaware of everything going on. 

Scott steps forward, all eyes on him. While Jean anticipates him approaching her, he instead turns his attention toward Danger. 

SCOTT: “Thank you.” Danger tilts her head. Jean is equally confused. “For teaching me everything I know about combat. For teaching all of us. Mutants - and the world - wouldn’t be around without you. You deserve that recognition.” 

JEAN: “What are you doing?” 

Scott ignores her. 

SCOTT; “You also deserve your freedom. Professor Xavier took me in when I was a kid. I was grateful at the time, but there was never any choice for me about what that meant. I had to be what he wanted me to be. I don’t mean to compare our situation, at all, but no should be trapped doing something, or being someone, they don’t want to be. This world isn’t exactly friendly to people who don’t look “normal”. If you want to try and make a human looking body or if you just would like help getting to Shi’ar space, we can make that happen. But you seem to have at least liked teaching us. You blew up the school, but we always rebuild, and you made sure to wait to act until almost all the kids were gon. We will rebuild the school again. And it can be your home, not your prison.” 

BEAT. 

DANGER: “Why should I trust you? You, who’s hurt the people that trusted him most?” 

“Because he hurt us by doing as he says.” 

Danger, and a far more startled Jean, turn around. Storm and Logan have been brought into her mind as well. 

As Ororo approaches the frozen Jean, she tells her that, yes, Cyclops’ behavior has been troubling and it has caused a great deal of harm. On that level, she cannot support it or abide it. But that isn’t what this is about. 

Logan continues as he walks behind her. If Cyclops doesn’t want to be the stiff that annoyed them all but they all called a friend, and would rather become something new and even more annoying, that’s his choice. 

CYCLOPS: “You deserve that choice too, Danger.” 

Danger’s resolve falters as her face softens. Jean, meanwhile, tears up, as Storm and Logan reach her and softly smile. 

LOGAN: “Hey, Jeannie.” 

STORM: “I’m sorry we weren’t able to be here last time. But we are now, my sister.” 

The crying goddess hugs her best friends, her head in their shoulders. and they hug her back. 

Jean says they shouldn’t be doing this. They know what she did. But Logan tells her no one blames her. She and Phoenix aren’t the same. 

ORORO: “No matter what it says.” 

While the three of them embrace, Danger turns her attention to Xavier. She wants to believe Cyclops, but Charles Xavier cannot get away with what he’s done. 

Xavier telepathically communicates with Cyclops. He wants to confirm that Scott is planning something here, and that he isn’t about to so quickly forgive Danger. Yes, he did something horrible to her, but she’s been trying to kill people who had nothing to do with that. 

Cyclops blasts Xavier. 

EMMA: “Girls?” 

Xavier is forcibly removed from Jean’s mind. 

CYCLOPS: “He has friends in high places. We can’t “punish” him. But he won’t be welcome again.” 

Danger smiles. At all of them. 

DANGER: “I accept.”

With that, Danger fades out of the mindscape as well. Only the five X-Men remain. 

Jean lets go of Storm and Logan and turns to Scott and Emma. She takes Scott's hands.

JEAN: "I thought you loved me. I thought you worshiped me and thought me perfect. Why was I not good enough? Why couldn't you trust me to help you on your journey?" She gets angrier. "Why her?" 

Scott smiles at her.

SCOTT: "I do love you. I did worship you. And you are perfect." He shakes his head. "But I'm not. And I never will be." He gestures to Emma. "We're disasters. And you deserve better."  

Ororo and Logan nod in agreement. 

JEAN: "Do you love her?"

Scott's smile becomes a grin. 

Scott: "I do."

Jean sneers at Emma. "And you?"

Emma: "I do. But really, Jean, Cyclops may be a top-shelf man, but still only a man. Was he really worth all this fuss?" 

Jean laughs under her breath that Emma's such a fucking bitch. She and Scott are right though. She is a god. A man should not be able to break her. No matter how much she loves him. 

Jean kisses Scott with flaming lips, and he kisses her back. She then turns her head, with a bright smile, to Logan and Storm, thanking them. She loves them. And they love her too. 

In a flash, we return to the springs. Joined now only by Danger, Cyclops, and Xavier, Dark Phoenix reverts to Phoenix. She thanks Scott. She has embraced who she is, she does not have the freedom Scott does, and she does not have a choice about the role she must play in the universe, but she is back in control now after so long. The Earth will be spared. 

She hopes that Scott and Emma will make each other happy, they truly do deserve each other, and she hopes Danger will be happy with whatever she chooses to do next. 

JEAN: "However…"

If Cyclops and Emma are truly happy reveling in their own chaos and messes, then they cannot be allowed to continue leading Mutantkind. Obviously Xavier cannot be allowed to take the helm either after what he did to Danger, and the two are still needed, so Storm won't work either. 

Scott questions if this means she wants Logan or Kitty in charge, but she has something else in mind. 

Jean blasts at the water, and from it, emerges an unconscious Magneto. Xavier's eyes light up at the sight of his oldest friend, still alive.

Jean explains that she elected to spare him when she arrived on Genosha, and she didn't want him to feel grief after Phoenix destroyed it, so she held onto him. But now, he will lead the X-Men. If they are going to lean into darkness, then they will be led by the man who's mastered it. This is not an ask. 

JEAN: "I won't be leaving Earth yet, there are others I'd like to see with my own eyes, but this is goodbye."

Danger thanks her for everything, Scott wishes her the best, and Xavier just shakes his head. 

JEAN: "Goodbye to you all as well." Jean begins to disappear in a flurry of ash. "Oh…and keep an eye on those Cuckoos for me."

Jean disappears as the sun sets. 

Sometime later, we cut to Frost International’s corporate headquarters - the temporary base of operations for the X-Men. In Emma’s office, she, Cyclops, Kitty, Sunspot, and Iceman are gathered, along with Charles and Erik. Magneto is haunted by the story he’s been told of what’s happened, but he cannot allow himself to give up or show weakness. He will do as Phoenix ordered, and take command of the X-Men, but he says that it has been a long time since he’d held this role, and will trust Cyclops and Emma as his lieutenants. Including for right now, as, once this meeting is over, he must leave to find his children at once. Still, he looks forward to working with the two of them, as well as once again working with his old student. 

SUNSPOT: “I never doubted you survived, Headmaster. I have so much to tell you.” 

Xavier attempts to argue that he should stay as well. Lilandra and the Shi’ar Empire do not NEED him, but Mutantkind does. He knows he wronged Danger, but do they truly want her here, but not him? After what she’s done? 

KITTY: “Everyone deserves a chance, Professor.” 

ICEMAN: “And you’ve had more than I can count.” 

Xavier looks with pleading eyes at Cyclops, but he only looks back with cold disdain. Emma looks at him the same way as she latches onto Scott. Magneto takes his other side as he asks Charles to please leave. He’ll see him out so they may speak in private. 

Charles shakes his head at these ungrateful fools as he leaves, accompanied by Erik. 

Sunspot notes that the Professor did raise a good point. He knows the X-Men are quick to forgive and embrace enemies, but typically that means other Mutants. Now, thanks to Kitty and Scott, they have a chaotic demon and an AI that tried to kill them all because of what someone else did, revealing that Danger has elected to live among them. 

Emma, however, while she sympathizes with the creature, did take precautions with this one.  Before he got too far, she contacted Beast. He’ll remotely be inserting a failsafe into Danger so that, should she turn on them, they can shut her down in an instant. 

ICEMAN: “Gross. Practical, but gross.” 

Bobby notes that she did heal him and apologize, so he’s rooting for her. 

As for Magik, Kitty says she’s not sure if they DO still have a demon anymore. She woke up a few hours ago, panicked, and immediately teleported to Limbo. She isn’t sure if she’s coming back. 

CYCLOPS: “Speaking of lost team members, has anyone spoken to Wolverine and Wind Dancer? Or the other kids?” 

Emma and Kitty confirm that they did go to see them And they aren’t interested in talking. Sofia wasn’t speaking at all, Laura they couldn’t get to do anything but scream and insult herself, and Julian and Noriko were outraged over Danger being allowed to stay - and being allowed to live. 

Cyclops feels guilty. He didn’t know what Danger had done to Sofia. He’d just been hoping she’d survived. He hadn’t realized she’d turned her human. He doesn’t know how he’d have handled the situation differently, but there’s no going back on it now. 

Scott tells everyone to go get some rest. Something tells him things aren’t about to get any easier. 

Kitty, Iceman, and Sunspot exit. 

Elsewhere, in the hotel they’ve been put up in, Noriko and Julian video chat with Cessily, Sooraya, Brian, and Roxy, telling them what happened to the school and Sofia. Everyone is horrified, and outraged that Danger is sticking around - save for Dust. She was nearly a slave herself and was only saved by the activation of her x-gene killing her captors. Julian shouts that this is completely different, as Sofia had nothing to do with any of this, but he stops himself from losing his cool toward Soo. 

As everyone signs off, hoping to see each other again sooner rather than later, Julian and Noriko agree to go get Sofia to talk. It clearly didn’t work for Laura, but maybe they can reach her. She needs to know they’re there for her, no matter what. 

Scott takes a seat at the desk. Emma, in an attempt to lighten the mood, scoffs jovially as she gets on his lap and reminds him this is HER office. 

SCOTT, playing along: “Yes, and I’m happy to be YOUR cushion.” 

Emma laughs at this dork and kisses him. She admits, when Charles first showed up, she was afraid he was about to fall into bad habits. Scott shakes his head. That was never going to happen. He was just nervous and hoped he could still trust Xavier as a peer. 

Emma smirks. “And that kiss with Jean? “I love you.”?” 

Scott picks her up and slams her down on her desk. 

SCOTT: “I’ll always love her.”  Scott gets on top of her as Emma telekinetically locks the door. “But I chose you.” 

Scott kisses her. 

EMMA: “I know. I just wanted to hear it.” 

We pan away as the two begin to fuck. 

Julian and Noriko head to Sofia’s room. Julian says if Sofia isn't getting better, he'll kill Danger himself, no matter what the X-Men say. Ashida better not try to stop him.

NORIKO: "Stop you? As if."

Julian and Noriko arrive in Sofia's room, bright, welcoming smiles on their faces in the hopes that they'll help cheer her up, only to find that she, and all her things, are gone. The two look to each other, terrified of what may have happened to her. 

Our season ends as Sofia gets onto a plane heading back to Caracas. Looking completely dead inside, she makes a cheerful text post informing her fans that she will no longer be working with the X-Men, nor will she be living at the Xavier Institute. She’s “thrilled” to announce that she’s been #Cured. The final shot sees her sitting down on the plane and looking straight ahead, with not a hint of hope in her eyes.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Due to my last post being a platonic yandere playlist featuring a few characters I like, I've decided to compile a small list of songs here for each character I mentioned! Now, some may feature songs that can be anything from wild to dark to fluffy. But all of it is about that character in particular, or their (platonic) relationship to their bby (a.k.a. the reader, you!). And this is just my opinion. So, if you headcanon different songs for them, that is a-okay👍 We are here to have fun and enjoy platonic yanderes; no need for any arguments. Let's begin (p.s. everyone gets a Christmas song. You can imagine it either fitting them, being sung by them, or you and them singing/listening to it together):

• 🧡Wolverine/Logan Howlett🦡: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, Hallelujah by Panic! At The Disco, Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen, I Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley (you can do a sweet cover or a dark cover if you want), Demons by Imagine Dragons, Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce, Bring Me to Life by Evanescence, Take Me To Church by Hozier, I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons... 🌨Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Frank Sinatra🌨

• 🦁Sabretooth/Victor Creed🦷: Meet Me in the Woods by Lord Huron, Hidden in the Sand by Tally Hall, Animals by Maroon 5, All of Me by John Legend, Emperor's New Clothes by Panic! At The Disco, Trust Me (The Scorpion And The Frog) by Terrance Zdunich;Saar Hendelman;Marc Senter; and Paul Sorvino, Natural by Imagine Dragons, Duality by Set It Off, Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran, Twilight Zone by Golden Earring... 🤴Good King Wenceslas sung by Bing Crosby🤴

• 🦡Wolverine 2.0/Laura Kinney💛: Heart Attack by Demi Lovato, I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry, Give Your Heart a Break by Demi Lovato, Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears, This Is Gospel by Panic! At The Disco, Cake by Melanie Martinez, It's Time by Imagine Dragons, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurythmics, Immortals by Fall Out Boy... ❄Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Dean Martin (or Frank Sinatra)❄

• 🐺Daken/Akihiro🌀: Some Nights by Fun., You're My Best Friend by Queen, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, The Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At The Disco, Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5, Unholy by Kim Petras and Sam Smith, I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons, Royals by Lorde, Partners in Crime by Set It Off... 🌌 Silent Night by (anyone, really)🌌

• 🔥Marvel Girl/The Phoenix/Jean Grey🦚: Ain't No Moutain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel, Just Like Fire by P!ink, Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys, Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) by Train, Hey Look Ma, I Made It by Panic! At The Disco, Diamonds by Rihanna, Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons, Control by Halsey, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga... ☃️ It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams (or Amy Grant's cover)☃️

• 😎Cyclops/Scott Summers🚨: Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, Yellow by Coldplay, I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At The Disco, Bad Liar by Imagine Dragons, Heat Waves by Glass Animals, Bad Guy by Set It Off, Lean On by Major Lazer and DJ Snake (or the Pentatonix cover, either works), Unconditionally by Katy Perry, Little Talks by Of Monsters And Men... 🎁It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby (or sung by Micheal Buble)🎁

• 🥈Cable/Nathan Summers🤖: Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, Roaring 20s by Panic! At The Disco, I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner, Hey Soul Sister by Train, Just the Two of Us by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr., You Are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis (or any cover version you prefer), You Are So Beautiful by Joe Crocker, A Thousand Years by David Hodges and Christina Perri... 🕊Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono🕊

• 🎭Mystique/Raven Darkholme💙: Karma Chameleon by the Culture Club, What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner, Cool for the Summer by Demi Lovato, Love Like You by Rebecca Sugar, Victorious by Panic! At The Disco, Birds by Imagine Dragons, Killer Queen by Queen, Applause by Lady Gaga, Sugar We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy... 🎅Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt🎅

• 🎱Rogue/Anne-Marie🥀: Darkside by Alan Walker, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, Good as Hell by Lizzo, House of Memories by Panic! At The Disco, It's Time by Imagine Dragons, River by Bishop Briggs, Just Dance by Lady Gaga, Like I'm Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor, Stand By You by Rachel Platten... 🎄Rockin Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee🎄

• ♠️Gambit/Remy LeBeau♥️:Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds, Raise Your Glass by P!nk, Call Me by Blondie, Somewhere Only We Know by Keane, Miss Jackson by Panic! At The Disco, Bones by Imagine Dragons, Team by Lorde, Umbrella by Rihanna, Poker Face by Lady Gaga... 🥶 Baby It's Cold Outside by Dean Martin (or any cover you like)🥶

• 🌌Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner😇: Count On Me by Bruno Mars, Born This Way by Lady Gaga, Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars, Halo by Beyonce, High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco, Mouth of the River by Imagine Dragons, You're Beautiful by James Blunt, Church by Fall Out Boy, Hallelujah cover by Pentatonix... 🌟 Joy To The World cover by (anyone of your choice as long as it is the Christmas song)🌟

And I have a surprise playlist to add: the reader!

•🌈 You/The Protagonist (Darling)💖: I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts (a.k.a. the themesong from Friends), True Colors by Cyndi Lauper, Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time by Panic! At The Disco, Amsterdam by Imagine Dragons, On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons, Try by P!nk, Panic Room by Au/Ra, BANG! by AJR, I'm Still Standing by Elton John... 🐑Do You Hear What I Hear? sung by (anyone you prefer, guy or gal or nonbinary pal)🐑

And that is all for now! I spent about 10-11 hours on this. All of these songs I have listened to/heard before. The pairings are just my opinion. If you disagree, that is okay. Just don't bring any arguments here. These playlists are all PLATONIC yandere ONLY. No romance, no sex! Now, yes, some songs are sexual, or intimate. But they are meant by me to be platonic in this playlist, or to show a part of the character who they are paired with. The playlist can describe the platonic yan's relationship to their bby, the yandere themself, or even just songs that fit their personality/theme/tone! If you want to make a playlist on a music app or whatever there is, you can do so, just give credit to me for putting the songs together. The rest of your video/playlist/creation is yours. Here is a very thoroughly thought out honeycomb thought!

[talkintomytv]

Finally checked out the 2019 Dark Phoenix movie! I actually had more fun with this one than I thought I would! I really liked how everyone was using their abilities in action. The music was incredible and It is always a delight to watch Charles and Erik doing whatever.

Is it just me though or was this "Everyone be a Jerk to Charles," The movie? Sure he was super prideful of his accomplishments this round but thats all he was.

Raven, in the previous film, said to the former students "You're not kids anymore your X-Men!" Then in Dark Phoenix, she snaps at Charles saying "You put those kids in danger!" When he wasn't willing to leave one of the humans behind. She said things to him like "We're risking our people to save theirs!" Or "I can't actually remember when you were the one risking something," Which is so wild to me because Charles always said that people with power should protect the people without. He's even used Apocalypse to broadcast that sentiment to the world and The X-Men are literally a team who have chosen to train their abilities specifically so they can be the ones to stand in between the people and the danger. And Raven really can't remember the last time Charles sacrificed anything? There's a major clue sitting right in front of her.

Then everyone started treating Charles like a monster for placing psychic barriers around Jean's memories like he isn't the kind of person who would help her train with her abilities until she was proficient enough and wouldn't be a danger to lower them. Hank had the nerve to say "You messed with the mind of an 8-year-old girl and you still can't see what you did wrong!" She was an 8-year-old girl whose tantrums have the power to atomize people! His method to help her control her powers was solid! Then all that space stuff obliterated the barriers in her mind all at once which was nobody's fault! Like Hank was saying "Just say you were wrong! You can't even say it can you?" for messing with the mind of an 8-year-old but then thinks it totally okay to track down Jean with Erik so they can put her down for good. The hypocrite! She's only 20! Then Charles still apologizes to them for his behavior. Like at most the worst thing he did was lie to Jean about her past when she started asking but she was also doped up on space junk so it's not that weird that Charles would be thinking "Perhaps now is not the time to be talking about this," We don't see Hank apologizing for trying to have Jean killed.

Yeesh! Then don't even get me started on Jean using her telekinetic abilities to make Charles, A paralyzed man, walk like a puppet. And even after that humiliation, and killing of his foster sister, causing enough public displays of destruction to fan the fear of mutants even further he's still like You are loved! Come home! You are not lost there is still hope! We can still fix this!

Then he even gives up the school! The only thing he has left that he loves the most. So everyone can feel safe from him. What do they need protection from? His overwhelming empathy and heightened perception that guides them all to the people who need help the most?

Wild. He's not a perfect being and I know he's had troublesome behaviors throughout comics over the years but Fox's depiction of the character across 12 er so films has only ever been that of a kind man and I love him!

It was a Fun movie! I'll probably watch it again sometime but I am genuinely sad this is where they chose to end it for these iterations of the characters. It seems like Charles never really had any major feats of his own and they only ever beat him up and put him through the ringer just to show how powerful someone else is. I kind of want to write my own story for Charles and give him a cool and big "superhero saves-the-day" kind of moment. Sprinkle in a bit of Magneto Angst because you can't have one without the other. I'm not too well-versed in all the comic lore so I would just be making it all up from scratch. I wonder if anyone would be into it? I mean that's how all comics came to be in the first place, right? I'm assuming no one has read this post this far in so if you're here Wow! You're really amazing! Thank you for listening! I'm just rambling now. Ah well, I'd be into a story like that! And I'm having so much fun thinking about it so that's reason enough to start one!

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #16: UXM issues 135-138

The Green Phoenix was born when Jean saved her friends in a crashing spaceship. Her first act as Dark Phoenix is to blow up they’re plane, sending them hurtling towards the ground. Luckily, it’s far from their first time in this situation, and they get down painfully but alive. Ororo recognizes this is the same Jean she saw in the M’Kraan Crystal, but then, Jean was fueled by joy and love. Now she’s filled with pain and above all else, hunger. This story is even more fascinating when read in conjunction with Proteus. When we met Proteus, he was already fueled by hatred and hunger. It caused him to eat through his bodies, consuming all in his path and leaving lives destroyed. Jean has become the same thing, but this time we got to see her descent to that point. In the Phoenix Saga, she achieved ultimate power, but by reaching out to the lifeforce of her friends, she remained tethered to her humanity. All Wyngarde did was isolate her from the people she loves, but that’s all it took. No longer fueled by love, she needs to destroy and consume to fuel her lust for power. By defeating the X-Men, she’s severed her last connection to her humanity, leaving her free to pursue unchecked power. Her first act as a free being is to eat a star, sentencing five billion people on an orbiting planet to death. After destroying a Shi’ar cruiser, she sets her sights on her next meal- Earth.

As Lilandra summons the heads of the Kree and Skrull empires for a summit on the threat of the Phoenix, back on Earth Hank has rejoined the X-Men to help stop Jean. Scott is barely keeping it together. He tells himself he needs to keep himself tightly wound and focused on the mission or he'll shatter. No longer can Jean hold him together; the literal and metaphorical visors are back on and can't come off for a second. Meanwhile, Dark Phoenix isn't as purged of humanity as she thought. She finds herself back at Jean's house, and when she sees her parents and sister, her telepathy is so strong that she can't help but feel the love and fear coming from them. It's painful and confusing for both Jean and Dark Phoenix, and she lashes out, about to kill her father when the X-Men arrive. Kurt puts Hank's device on Jean's head; it's a thought scrambler to unfocus her power. Logan is about go in for a killing strike, but at the last second Jean retakes control and begs him to kill her, which causes him to hesitate just a moment too long. All of their attempts at fighting her now failed, Scott goes for his last ditch plan- talking. He walks up and surrenders himself to Dark Phoenix, and asks her why they're still alive. He tells her that he loves her, that all the X-Men love her, and that love defines Jean. He starts to get through to her when at the last second Xavier arrives with Warren and psychically ambushes Jean. Xavier set Jean on this path when she was a child, and he takes on the responsibility of stopping her, no matter the cost. He can't overpower her, but Jean is fighting herself- which gives Xavier the edge he needs to bind Jean's power to the astral plane the same way she bound another universe inside the Crystal. Jean collapses, and Scott runs up to her. In those seconds before he knows if she's alive or dead, Jean or Phoenix, he tells himself that no matter what he'll love her and never let go. When she comes to, she's back to her normal self, seemingly cured of the Phoenix, and Scott proposes on the spot. It seems like a happy ending until moments later, when the X-Men all vanish into thin air.

The X-Men have been beamed up to Lilandra’s flagship, where she declares that the Phoenix must die for the safety of the universe. It’s here we learn that the Phoenix is actually an external force that entered Jean. This is technically the first of the many Phoenix retcons, but I actually think this one is fine. Dark Phoenix is still presented as Jean corrupted by power, just now she found that found rather than having it within her. The corruption element, which is the thematically important part, is what’s important, and that hasn’t been changed. To save Jean’s life, Xavier invokes an ancient Shi’ar law that would allow the X-Men to fight a duel for Jean’s life. The X-Men are given a day to rest and prepare, and the story follows each of them as they ponder the situation and their beliefs and desires. First, Jean warms herself by a fireplace, and prays to God for the strength to face herself and the duel. The fire’s glow still reflects on Jean, but it comes from without now, no longer hers to control. Kurt tries unsuccessfully to have fun in an obstacle course, as he thinks about the day to come. It would take a miracle to beat the Imperial Guard, but Kurt believes in miracles, especially when it comes to the X-Men. What gives him more pause is whether he wants to fight for Jean, now that he knows she committed genocide. He’s joined by Warren, who’s being pained by similar doubts, even as he works out to prepare to fight for his old friend. I wish there were more Kurt and Warren scenes in the X-Men canon, if only for the visual symbolism. Logan is calmer; he’s not afraid of death, and he understands more than anyone what Jean is going through, because he also has a sometimes uncontrollable bloodlust. He’s not sure if the Phoenix is really gone, but he decides it doesn’t matter, because he’s with Jean either way. Hank isn’t sure how to feel about Jean and Phoenix, but he puts it all aside because more than anything else, he believes in due process. No matter how guilty Jean may or may not be, Hank on principle will defend her against an empress-ordered execution. He’s the smartest X-Man, and up against a problem he can’t solve, he finds one principle to stick to above all else. Peter is resolved to fight for his belief in love. Even when the battle was at its most hopeless, he never gave up on saving Jean, and his feelings haven’t changed. She’s a part of his family, and above all else Peter is loyal to his family. Ororo longs for the days before the X-Men, when things were simple. But she also accepts things as they are: she is an X-Man, and Jean is her sister. Like Peter, she loves deeply and will not betray that. As leader who’s had to make tough calls, Scott can see Lilandra’s point of view. He even relates to the fear that Dark Phoenix might one day return. But he also believes in mercy. Jean approaches him and asks if mercy for her is worth the risk that she might relapse. Scott tells her that he loves her and he’ll stand by her no matter what. That he’ll never give up, and neither should she, because that would be admitting defeat to the Dark Phoenix. He goes to the rest of the X-Men and tells them that he’s fighting for Jean, and he won’t ask any of them to do the same. But they’ve unanimously decided to stand by their friends. It’s futile though- one by one, they fall to the Imperials, until only Scott and Jean remain. For reasons she can’t quite explain, Jean chose to fight this battle in her original Marvel Girl uniform. It’s one final rebirth, this time not into Phoenix, but into herself. Her life has changed so much since then, but as she grabs Scott’s hand and runs into battle for the final time, dressed as she was the first time, they can both spend one more shining moment in love. But when Scott finally falls, the pain shatters the professor’s bonds on the Phoenix and she’s reborn once again. Xavier telepathically wakes everyone up and sends them into battle. None of them are willing to kill her, even Logan, now that they’ve seen her saved from the dark. But when they knock her back into control for a moment, Jean realizes that she’ll never escape the cycle of Jean to Phoenix the Dark Phoenix. She’s not willing to risk more lives, so she does what none of her friends can do. She activates one of the weapons in the arena and kills herself. In the end, as the Watcher says, Jean gives up life as a god for a human death.

The entirety of issue 138 is an internal monologue from Scott, reflecting on his life with Jean. A lot of it is recaps of the first 137 issues, which I’m not gonna go into detail on. They met as children, growing up with dangers and responsibilities beyond their years. For a long time, Scott refused to feel anything, but no matter how he tried to deny it, he’d loved Jean since they first met. But unlike the rest of the team, Scott had no life before or beyond the X-Men. All he knew how to do was bury himself in the job, but after enough close calls, he couldn’t hold back his love anymore. Jean reciprocated, and though they were on and off over the years, neither ever stopped loving the other. We know where the story goes from here; just as their happily ever after was within reach, it all fell apart. Scott is leaving the X-Men, but he makes one last promise to Jean- he won’t put his walls back up. She taught him how to live and love, and in her memory he’ll keep doing it. As the first child of Xavier leaves, a new one, Kitty Pryde, arrives at the door. The cycle of death and rebirth never truly ends, and the future of the X-Men is entering the story just as the past leaves.

There’s a reason why some people call this the greatest Marvel story of all time. It’s a heartbreaking and powerful story about identity, agency, love, and sacrifice. The ending was actually changed last minute; Claremont and Byrne wanted Jean depowered and freed, but their editors wanted her to pay the fair price for genocide. All in all, I’m glad they went with what they did. I also love that Claremont was writing most of the story under the assumption that Jean would survive; it means that as you read it, even though it seems hopeless, you can still believe that the X-Men will find a miracle. There’s also something very important about Jean’s death; she chose it selflessly. There was still a chance for Jean to control the Phoenix and live, which is what Scott wanted. But Jean knew that it would be dangerous for those around her and for the universe, and she chose to end that danger. Some adaptations miss this incredibly important detail, and make it a story about either the X-Men having to kill their friend or them tragically trying and failing to save her. But this is Jean’s story, and her death, while obviously tragic, was her choice and her sacrifice. The meaning of that sacrifice is damaged a lot by countless retcons, rehashes, and resurrections over the years, but when you view it in the context of only what came up until this point, it’s one of the most powerful stories I’ve ever seen.

[xprojectrpg]

Moment of Awesome - Jean Grey/Phoenix: After David Haller's mind is "fixed" by Radha, Jean takes it upon herself to put her friend back together.

Jean moved back to admire their work. "Not bad, if I do say so, myself," she said, turning to glance at Tami.

But the other woman was gone.

"M . . . me, too."

Jim stood behind her, a hand pressed to his forehead as he tried to reorient himself. Here in the core of his own mind his astral form was an unmasked patchwork: the same visible fusion of two psyches that had emerged beneath Jean's brush as she painted the pieces of David into the gaps of Jemail. However, the joins were smooth, organic, like long-healed scars. Slowly, he lowered his hand and gave Jean a shaky smile.

"This . . . isn't a dream?" he asked, and there was uncertainty in the question.

"No," Jean said, letting him take his time. "Well, we're in your mind so…yes, technically. But I'm really here. Was it a dream for you before?"

"I don't know what it was." The smile faltered. A spasm passed across his face.

"It . . . hurt."

The man took a deep breath and looked around the blackness. Rather than worrying him, he seemed to regard the void as an old friend. "They let you through the gate, huh?" he asked, his voice a little stronger now. "I can remember pieces. I'm sorry we gave you a hard time."

Jean smiled softly. "I only had the one. And she was fine. Except for…a little crankiness, but I'm used to that with patients. Quentin and Hope are the ones you might need to have a talk with," she said.

She studied him. "Are you okay?"

Jim laughed. "Honestly? Not really."

He pulled out a cigarette and lighter and lit up. The affectation was instinctual, his movements growing more confident as he worked through the familiar posture. He took a long drag and held it, concentrating on the sensation of warmth settling into his lungs as his mind slowly settled into itself.

At last, Jim exhaled.

"But we're getting there."

Two simple black chairs appeared, and Jean took a seat. "I'd say take your time but…Charles is on the outside waiting. He was trying to keep the pieces that Quentin and Hope found together. But now that they are…I'll let you decide when you want to go back," she said.

The end of the cigarette glowed as Jim took another drag. He exhaled again, and for a long time he just watched the smoke curl into the darkness.

"Charles is here?" he said at last.

"He's been here off and on from Muir since you went catatonic. It's been…about a month. He wanted to bring you there but you wouldn't have it. Not sure why the Medlab had to get wrecked as a statement but…he let you stay. Luckily enough things got better and your alters started coming back," Jean said. She shrugged.

"And then, here you are."

"I guess I just never got used to the idea people would bother to show up for me." Jim flicked his eyes to meet Jean's, one blue, one brown -- obvious artifacts of the two men he'd been made from.

"Thank you."

Jean smiled. "You're welcome. And welcome back. We all missed you."

[henrysglock]

hooooo boy you have opened pandora's box...I'll try to keep it short, hopefully I can lay it out sufficiently!!

So essentially, from the newspapers we see in the show re: the Creel massacre in 1959, we've found a few odd details.

In the Weekly Watcher, we've got Henry, his sister Alice, his mother Virginia, and his father Victor. In the Indianapolis Gazette, however, we're shown Edward Creel, his sister Virginia, his mother Alice, and his father Victor.

Edward Creel and his family lived in Hawkins for 2 years per this paper, whereas we know from Dear Billy that Victor and Henry et. al. lived there for only a month or so ("we had a month of peace"). The Creels mentioned in the Weekly Watcher also had an exorcism done at the house, which isn't mentioned outside of Robin's quip about the exorcist. In Edward's paper, Victor is 38. In Henry's, he's 40. The Creel murders also occur on different dates in both papers.

We've also got other papers earlier on in ST which make mentions of a Martin Brenner and a Richard Brenner, and two different sets of circumstances surrounding Will's vanishing (one clipping says he was found being experimented on in the lab, and the other says he was found in a cabin in the woods).

All this to say, it seems like there was a split or a merge in timelines prior to the Creel murders, at least one, likely two timelines where Henry/Edward either turned time back by two years or pulled the other timeline two years into the future, and we've been swapping between these timelines ever since.

This is supported by a lot of set, costuming, and shot design analysis, based on: Brenner (his hair part and coloring swap back and forth between 1959 (right side, brown w/ grey streak), 1971 (left side, full brown), 1979 (right side, white), 1983 (left side, grey), and 1986 (right side, white), and in many of the shots in earlier years look older than others, all of which could be have been corrected by VFX and/or makeup) the 4 different unique jumpsuits made for "Henry" during the 1979 Massacre, fuckery with the NINA sequence in general (including but not limited to the unexplained double-keycard problem (if Henry needed a keycard to get to the boiler room, and he gave that keycard to El, then how did he get into the boiler room?), versions of "Henry" who look vastly different from each other in back-to-back shots, sequences where El runs past hallways twice, dates/times changing on the same security camera showing the same footage, bodies of corpses changing position between shots/limbs being broken vs unbroken and eyes gouged vs not gouged, child corpses swapping for adult corpses, physical fuckery with mirrors which I actually made a post about today, etc.) Nancy's comments about the timeline being wrong "Henry"s infamous clock-winding scene architectural differences between Victor's version of the Creel house and "Henry"s version of the Creel house (i.e., a completely new door appears out of nowhere and wallpaper changes color from what we see in Victor's retelling vs "Henry"s retelling vs what the gang sees when they explore the house) the fact that the Wheelers and the Creels physically look so similar to each other (Karen and Virginia look the same, Holly looks like little Henry, etc.) which would line up were Karen to be that alternate, younger Virginia Eddie Munson's age swapping from 19 in the show to 17 on his missing poster Eddie being Vecna in Hellfire's DnD campaign X-Men 134 from S1E1 being the issue where Jean Grey splits into Dark Phoenix the Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde imagery with the stage production posters (and c'mon...Henry and Edward Creel...Henry Jekyll (good) vs Edward Hyde (evil)) the BTS stills of a no-blood-splatter Henry crouching over the corpses in the rainbow room looking confused and just...so much more. I'm sure I'm forgetting bits, there's just...so much.

There's also the matter of wormholes, which Em talked about here:

Wormhole Post

and possible points where dimensions overlap.

Here's the link to my post about the mirror fuckery in the NINA massacre alone:

NINA Mirror Fuckery

If you click the tag for timeline theory you should be able to access most of it, but if not I'd recommend digging into Em's analysis posts!!

All this to say: There are likely at least two, if not 4 different timelines. As such, we can't be certain that Henry Creel is actually Venca. If anything, it seems more likely that it's Edward Creel is Vecna, and Henry Creel ended up elsewhere. There's also an entire Scott Clarke component to it, which ties in with the stage production, but it's not necessarily integral to the theory.

Also I'm just going to tag @aemiron-main in case I missed anything, because he's really the details genius!!

Arise, fans who have been talking about the Duffer Brothers' appreciation for Dawson's Creek and Stranger Things for yeeeears. Arise!

@paceywittergayboatman and @kaypeace21 and surely many others!

[ccbb2222]

You Know I Hate it When You Cry: Part 1. Rooster x Reader

Wellll here we are. I wrote an entire piece last week that got deleted and maybe it was for the best...here's take 2.

Bradley Bradshaw x Reader pairing

Summary: Something stirs in Rooster when he sees the new bartender holding back tears.

Warnings: *** This story contains Mentions of Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual)*** Please be advised this could be triggering. Angst, Eventual Smut, Protective and adorable Rooster.

18+ Minors DNI.

"You don't get to just FUCKING walk away!" A voice yelled through your phone speaker as you sat in the parking lot of the Hard Deck. Tears brim your eyes as your hands shake uncontrollably.

"I- I know, I'm, I'm sorry," You try to stutter out before being cut off immediately.

"You think I don't know what you're up to?" A dark laugh echoes after his cutting words, "You escape back to Miramar, fuck some naval men and come crawling back? You fucking slut."

His words cut deep, and you feel a chill run through you at the malice behind them. "I need to go," You force out. "Don't call me again."

Quickly ending the call, you block the number before more texts can force their way through.

Something I see: the steering wheel. Something I feel: the rough denim of my jeans. Something I smell: my perfume on my wrist. Something I hear: the faded music from the Hard Deck.

Taking deep breaths, you slowly ground yourself back to the present. You wipe your sweaty palms against your thighs and open your car door. You could leave him in San Francisco in a cloud of dust, but he knew where you ran to. It was only a matter of time.

Breathing out a shaky exhale, you open the door to the bar and plaster on the best smile you can muster.

"Hey baby!" Penny greets you with a grin. She's standing behind the bar filling up a glass with the latest draft beer.

"Hi Pen," You greet, walking towards her and ducking under the bar, placing your purse in the bin beneath.

"Doing okay tonight?" She asks with a skeptical look. Penny always knows when something is wrong, but she never pried.

She welcomed you in, tear stained and bruised when you showed up unannounced at her home just over two weeks ago. You cried in her arms that evening: the loss of what was once a magical romance, the life you thought you built in San Francisco. And although Penny, a family friend for as long as you could remember, was there to hold you, you just wished for your mother. Your supportive, goofy, and loving mother whose life was cut short by an untreatable cancer.

So as Penny, the closest thing you had left, gave you that look, you couldn't help the tears that slowly started to line your eyes.

"I can't talk about it now, Penny," You say, wiping at your eyes, "I want to just get through tonight, if that's okay?"

She nods with a sad smile, "Whatever you gotta do, baby. I'm here when you need me."

Unbeknownst to you, a certain brown haired aviator took in this conversation from across the bar. Ever since you started working at the hard deck about a week ago, he couldn't help but keep tabs on you. You were gorgeous. A bit shy, a little timid, but always laughed at his jokes and were always a good sport about Hangman's relentless flirting.

Your very first shift he had introduced himself and the rest of the Dagger Crew, giving you the scoop on the regulars and taking the time to learn more about you. What he knew about you was...admittedly not a lot. While you were kind and offered smiles to him, he knew you were guarded.

"What's got you so upset?" He softly asks to himself, leaning against the pool table and blatantly ignoring Bob who attempted to rehash today's training to him.

"Rooster," Hangman calls from the dartboard not even looking in his direction, "Stop staring and go talk to her."

"I'm not staring at her." Bradley defends.

"Uh, yeah okay." Phoenix snorts into her beer. "Seriously Bradshaw, it's getting pathetic. Go talk to her."

He sends her a glare before pushing off the pool table and heading in your direction.

"Hey there," You hear a soft familiar voice greet you.

Placing down the glass you were drying you notice Rooster standing in front of you, a soft smile on his face. "Hey Bradley, what can I get you?"

"Oh, just another draft please," He says, then runs a nervous hand through his hair.

You nod and start to fill a glass for him, noticing his free hand drumming a pattern on the bar top.

"Are you, uh, doing okay?" He asks before he can stop himself.

The question catches you off guard, so much so that you forget to turn off the tap and Rooster's beer overflows in your hand. "Oh shit!" You say, quickly turning off the tap, dumping the now frothy beer, and starting over. "Sorry," You collect yourself, the embarrassment turning your cheeks pink, "I'm okay."

"It's just that I noticed you looked a little upset earlier," He tries to not sound like a creep, and man, if he could just stuff these words back into his mouth, then he'd do it in a heartbeat. "I'm sorry," Rooster backtracks, "It's none of my business." He puts his hands up and then places them back on the bar top. The drumming starts over as his fingers nervously tap a rhythm against the wood.

"Thank you for asking," You hand him his beer with a small smile, "That's really sweet. Just some boyfriend trouble is all." You explain.

Rooster's face falls. He didn't realize you were taken. He also didn't like the fact that someone out there was making you feel this way. It made his fists clench. "I'm sorry to hear that," he manages.

"Well," You place your hands on the bar and push your body back, reaching for the dishrag. "I guess more like ex boyfriend problems. I don't know anymore. And I won't bore you with the details."

His head snaps up at the muttering of "ex", and all he can think is, tell me all the details, darling.

A few more officers approach and you realize you need to cut your conversation with Bradley short. "I should uh," you motion to the group waiting to place drink orders.

"Oh right, of course." He nods, before quickly adding, "You working tomorrow night?"

You nod, and smile when you see his eyes light up.

"Great, well, I'll see you tomorrow night." He says, turning to walk back to the group of aviators who instantly make fun of him.

"Bradley Bradshaw, huh?" Penny says to you as you fill another beer.

"Shut up, Penny." You say with a laugh and an eye roll.

"All I'm saying is, you were in tears when you walked in, and one conversation with that guy has you smiling ear to ear." She says with a shrug and a wink.

"He's cute, I'll give him that," You let her gloat for a few seconds before you remind her of the painful reality. "He just has no idea what he would be signing up for."

Surely Bradley wouldn't want a girl who wakes up shaking and panicking in the middle of the night, an ex that somehow still contacts her even though she blocked his number time and time again, and ugly, tender bruises littering her abdomen.

He needed someone fun and carefree. He already had a stressful enough life as a fighter pilot.

So as he offered you a smile once again from across the bar, you give him a half smile back before avoiding him completely.

He was too good of a man, and you wouldn't take him down with you.

_______________________________________________

Soooooo thoughts? Part 2!

Throughout this, we'll see Reader struggling a lot with self esteem and not feeling good enough or worthy of love.

I'm really excited though for her and Bradley's relationship to grow. Lots of soft Rooster, protective Rooster, and sexy Rooster ahead.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Endgame II | Dark Phoenix Series P.4

Takes place during the second act of Avengers: Endgame

Read Parts 1-3 here -> Series Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Dr. Evelyn Alice Stark (OC)/The Eagle/Host of the Phoenix Force, Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch (platonic, eventual ally & enemy), Doctor Stephen Strange (implied romance), Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (implied romance), Tony Stark (platonic/nephew), Howard Stark (Platonic/brother), Steve Rogers (platonic/best friend)—a lot of the marvel characters will be involved in this series since it take place during phase 3 & 4.

Content Warnings: profanity, light angst, canon divergence, mentions of violence and near death experience. | female OC (she/her) | Read time: 15-20 minutes (6000k+ words)

Premise: 5 years have past since the events of the Infinity War between Earth’s Avengers and the Mad Titan, Thanos. In that time, the universe has adapted to the catastrophic aftermath of losing half its population. Many have moved on, but others have refused. When a former ally of Steve Rogers returns out of the blue, believing to have been amongst the vanish, an opportunity arises. But to do that, they are going to need help. And the truth of what resides in Eve Stark is finally revealed….to an extent.

Note: SO for this, I am kinda going off of the comic counterpart of Jean Grey, but also similar to ‘The Last Stand,’ where the Phoenix is a separate entity in Jean. In ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix,’ Jean was infused with the force, but was still Jean, whereas in the previous incarnations we see it having a mind of it’s own and using Jean’s body as a vessel. That’s how I am doing it for Eve, where she is basically the vessel and the Phoenix takes over control. But you’ll see where I take it as the story goes and I’m very excited, but I wanted to clarify what I’m going for this version of the Phoenix.

——————————————————————

“What’s happening to me, Tony?”

“I don’t know, Eve. But we’ll figure it out, okay? Together.”

“I feel like…..like I’m not the only one in control of my mind anymore.”

FIVE YEARS LATER

Family, friends, neighbors, classmates, the list goes on and on. Gone. With a simple snap of the fingers. Abandoned homes and buildings decorate the streets. Cars overfill parking lots. It truly was a ghost town on every corner of planet Earth.

It was the same on every planet.

Mighty heroes and those who guard the galaxy are left with an endless void of sorrow and defeat. Moving on was harder than it looked, especially when the loss came at their own hand.

Five years had gone by and that feeling remained. Some tried and pretended they were finding peace. Others accepted they could never.

The Avengers were not what they once were when the world was introduced to them more than ten years before. Those brave souls who defeated a lost God and genocidal android, lost to a mad Titan on a quest for universal damnation.

With six of the original seven Avengers out of the picture, the Black Widow was the one to keep the spirit of them alive. She was the one who stayed at the compound, when everyone else left. She was the one running meetings and sending them off to investigate. She was the one trying to keep the team together.

For five years, Natasha Romanoff was the Avenger who always answered the call.

So when Scott Lang appears out of the blue the night Steve happens to visit, frantically talking about the Quantum realm and being stuck for five hours rather than years, she was the first hand on deck at the sound of an opportunity.

An opportunity to go back in time.

Their first order of business was to talk to someone with genius level knowledge of quantum physics. And who would that be? The Iron Man himself of course. So here they were pulling up to the beautiful house by the lake where Tony now resided with Pepper and his young daughter, Morgan. The two were heading inside for lunch as the trio arrived, now they were huddled around his patio furniture.

“No, we know what it sounds like,” Scott stammers out as Tony pours four glasses of some kind of concoction for the group.

“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?” Steve backs him up, hands in his pockets.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition, can we agree on that?” Tony hands him a cup, Steve thanking him. He turns to Scott and says, “In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home.”

“I did,” Scott points out.

“No, you accidentally survived. It’s a billion-to-one cosmic fluke.” Tony pours another glass adding, “And now you wanna pull a…what do you call it?”

Taking the glass, Scott shrugs and sheepishly says, “A time heist?”

“Yeah,” Tony sighs, “a time heist. Of course.” He looks to Steve and Nat, “Why didn’t we think of this before? Oh, because it’s laughable. Because it’s a pipe dream?”

“The stones are in the past,” Steve explains. “We could go back, we could get them.”

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back.” Nat adds on.

Tony shrugs, raising his eyebrows. “Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?”

“I don’t believe we would.”

The genius waves his hands, clutching a cup in his right one. “Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won’t help if there’s no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist.” Tony lowers himself onto the bench. The faces of the three show they don’t like what he’s saying, but he continues on. “I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.”

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel,” Scott takes a seat in front of Tony. “All right? It means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events—.” Tony cuts him off with the raise of hand.

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Scott,” he leans closer to him. “Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?”

Scott scoffs, like the assumption was offensive to him. Tony asks again, “is it?”

“No.”

“Good. You had me worried there. ‘Cause that’s not how quantum physics works.”

“Tony,” Nat finally cuts in after being silent for so long. There was strong emotion on her face, determination in her gaze. “We have to take a stand.”

“We did stand,” he told her solemnly. “And yet, here we are.” She looks away, tears brimming in her eyes and Scott draws Tony’s attention back to him.

“I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. Your aunt is still here.” Scott doesn’t notice the looks that pass between Nat and Steve at the mention of Eve. They hadn’t caught him up to speed on what happened while trying to figure out how to approach the time heist. Scott continues, oblivious to the strained expression from Tony, “But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back—to bring everyone back and you’re telling me that you won’t even—.”

“That’s right, Scott,” he interrupts. “I won’t even. I can’t.” A door closes behind them, followed by tiny feet padding toward them. Morgan skips to her father and jumps in his lap.

“Mommy told me to come and save you.” His arms wrap around her tiny figure to hold her close to him.

“Good job. I’m saved.” Tony nuzzles her before looking back to the three. “I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. Anything else.” Standing, Tony holds Morgan to his chest and starts to move toward the front door. “I’m honestly happy to see you guys, I just—-oh, look, the table’s set for six.” Steve’s hand comes up to hold his elbow.

“Tony. I get it. And I’m happy for you. I really am,” he glances briefly at the little girl. “But this is a second chance.”

“I got my second chance right here, Cap. Can’t roll the dice on it.” Backing away, Tony locks eyes with each of them. “If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” He bites his lip, contemplating on if he should say the next words. It takes a moment, but he sighs and caves in. “Or, you can go across the pond to pitch your plan to—.” He stops again, not wanting to say it in front of his daughter.

Nat stiffens, as does Steve though Scott remains confused. The soldier steps closer to Tony, his voice falling into a whisper. “Are you talking about Eve?”

“Honey, would you go help mama? I’ll be there in a second.” Tony sets Morgan down and she races back inside, the group watching her go before they face each other once more.

It’s silent for a few seconds before Steve says, “When did she wake up?” His tone is calm. Almost like he expected Tony to keep the news of Eve waking a secret from him. Not once did Steve get a call or even a text in the weeks and months after he left the compound. He assumed she either succumbed to whatever was inhabiting her, or went off the grid after waking up.

“A week after,” Tony didn’t explain further. Steve took a sharp inhale, bringing his hand up to caress his jaw. Tony could see the mix of disappointment and sadness in his eyes.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Tony shakes his head, lightly scoffing. “If you saw what happened, you’d want to keep it quiet too. Plus I don’t think Eve waking up in her state and seeing you for the first time in two years would’ve been good.”

“He’s right, Steve,” Nat looks to the ground, avoiding his gaze when he turns to her. She didn’t want to see the look of betrayal from him. “We had to.”

Scott just looks lost, looking between the three to get some sort of understanding. “I’m sorry, can you explain what the hell you’re talking about?” Steve ignores the question and puts his hands on his hips.

“Who all knows?” He was referring to Eve being awake.

“Well, you and thumbelina are the most recent to find out. But the night she woke, it was us two,” Tony points between him and Nat, “Rhodey, Pep, and Happy in attendance.” He clenches his jaw, the memory replaying in his head. “We, um, Pep and I felt coming out here was the best idea for her.”

Steve tries to wrap his head around the fact Eve was awake. It was a lot to take in and he felt an immense amount of relief. But the way Tony was talking about her and the fact it was kept secret for so long worried the Captain. He could feel he was not being told everything. “What happened, Tony?”

It was obvious Tony had trouble talking about whatever was bothering him. That fact it was his own aunt made it more concerning. The two were very close after everything they’d been through together. He was the one who found her frozen and captive in the desert. They took down enemies and always supported one another even if they didn’t always agree.

They were Starks. Through thick and thin.

“Tony,” Steve says again, snapping the older man out of his inner thoughts.

“You just have to go talk to her yourself,” he eventually says with a low voice. “Although, I doubt it’ll be her.”

“Excuse me?” Steve’s voice is sharp, eyes narrowed in suspicion by the alarm bells going off inside him. What the hell did the man mean by ‘I doubt it’ll be her’?

“Steve—.”

“What the hell does that mean, Tony?” He cuts him off angrily, “Are you saying Eve is gone and whatever blasted her on Titan is—-?” Tony raises his hands up to silence Steve, annoyed by him jumping to conclusions.

Although he wasn’t too far off.

“Do you remember what Thor told you before you went to find Thanos?” His eyes flicker to Nat and back to Steve. “About some ‘cosmic entity’ or being his old man used to tell him about?” Steve nods, as does Nat, and his shoulders drop from their tense position. He could tell where Tony was getting at.

“You’re saying he was right.”

“Quite possibly,” Tony sighs, scratching his neck. It was hard to explain the details of his aunt's state. Especially when the topic of question refuses to give much information. “I’ve been trying to understand it for five years. And I’ve only gotten a little bit—it’s um, it’s taken to her. Eve is sorta like its host and it’s made her different.”

“How different?” Scott asks curiously. He still didn’t fully know what happened, but he could assume it wasn’t good.

“She’s got some tricks like Wanda. I’ll give you that much,” Tony shakes his head, seeing the shocked gazes from the three. Boy were they in for a treat. He crosses his arms and looks Steve dead in the eye. “She’s not your old war buddy anymore, Cap. She won’t ever be that again. Maybe it’s for the best that you keep your distance. But maybe you can convince both of them for your expedition, although, I wouldn’t give it much hope.”

After a lunch, which mostly consisted of awkward conversations avoiding the two main topics: Time heist and Eve Stark, the three lone Avengers got in the car to make the small trip around the lake where another cabin like home resided. Where Tony informed them Eve resided.

Nerves filled them. Nat and Steve the most. Nat for the memory of what she witnessed the night Eve woke from her month long coma. And Steve for coming face to face for the first time in seven years. The last time he saw his former best friend she was unconscious with wires attached, before that was her in Siberia. The day Captain America lost his Eagle.

Steve could still picture her face staring back at him behind the barrel of a gun after firing one shot into his side when he thrusted his shield into Tony’s arc reactor. Wings were ripped from her back by his own hands during the fight. Eve was shaking, but the gun in her hands was the only thing steady. Her cold words rang in his ear, “I gave you that shield, Steve Rogers. I’m taking it back. And if you ever show your face again, mine will be the last thing you see.” She lowered the gun, but her gaze never faltered. “I hope it was worth it. Because you can never come home again.”

Thinking back, maybe Tony was right and he should abort the mission. Evelyn Stark always followed through with her promises. He should know better.

But it was too late because the car was passing the mailbox and up the driveway.

“It should just be me,” He says when Nat and Scott unbuckle their seatbelts. The redhead looks at him hesitantly.

“Steve, I don’t think that’s a good idea—.”

“Fill Scott in,” he tells her, unbuckling his own before turning the engine off. Steve doesn’t let Natasha get another word in because he’s out of the car and approaching the front steps. He didn't need to turn around to see her annoyed expression, Steve could feel it burning into the back of his head.

The super soldier makes his way around the surrounding patio until he finds the front door. Passing by a window, he glances in, but sees no sign of Eve. All he could hear was the faint sound of a record player.

Playing a song he knew all too well.

Ignoring the sting in his heart, Steve walks up to the door. He mentally prepares himself as his arm raises to knock, but before he gets the chance it opens on its own.

And no one is standing behind it.

Instead Steve finds an empty hallway. Peeking in, he glances from right to left. On one side is a sitting room overlooking the lake, the other is the entrance to a little library. Shelves cover from ceiling to floor and books align every inch of the walls.

Stepping in, Steve shakes off the feeling of uncertainty and closes the door. He doesn’t want to think about how it opened on its own. Part of him feels he already knows the answer.

‘She’s got some tricks like Wanda,’ Tony’s words remind him.

The music is louder now that he’s inside. His plan is to follow the sound of it, assuming it will lead him to Eve. The song choice was very personal to Steve and if his theory was correct, it was being played on purpose.

Steve passes the staircase leading to the second floor, and the door in the hallway which he assumes is to the basement. A kitchen entrance is to his right which then goes out to the back patio. With no sign of Eve yet, he cuts the corner into another sitting room. The melody increases, he was getting close to where it was coming from.

Finally he reaches what appears to be an office. It has celing to floor windows overlooking the lake with a finely cut wooden desk in front of it. It was alarmaning organized. In all the years he knew Evelyn Stark, never once did he see her desk so clean and arranged. Papers were always scattered with uncapped pens halfway dried out and sticky notes on the edges. Somehow she always remembered where she would place something in the mess pile, but God forbid someone messed with the desk. One time Eve nearly sent Steve into the wall for moving a file without telling her.

On the opposite wall were photos and various degrees hanging— ranging from her first in 1935 to the most recent honorary one in 2020. Chemistry, Physics, Aeronautical Engineering, Literature. The list went on and on.

In the corner, seated on a wooden night stand by a framed sepia picture of Eve with her husband and daughter, is a vintage record player straight from the 1940s.

Steve felt another sting in his heart as he eyed the photo. Eve, 31 and holding her baby daughter, Juliette in her arms while her husband, Army doctor Captain Archie Rivers stood next to them with his arm around her shoulder. They were both looking down, smiling at the baby as she lifted her tiny hand to play with Eve’s necklace.

Steve frowned as the guilt pools in him. And when he looks in between the photo and record player, he sees Eve’s wedding rings. He remembered how when the two reunited in 2012, Eve still wore the jewelry on her fingers. Then it slowly turned to her wearing them on a chain around her neck. Now they sit on a table. A symbol of her past as a soldier out of time.

Speaking of the soldier, Steve had still not seen her despite scouting the entire first floor. He backs away from the office, moving to check if she was outside the whole time. As his hand touches the knob, the record player stops. He freezes, hand gripping the knob when the song restarts after a three second pause.

Steve rushes to the office, heart picking up and stops dead in the doorway at the sight in front of him.

Eve’s back is to him, hands clasped behind her as she stares out the window. He can’t make out her face at all. She’s wearing a long deep green trench coat made out of leather with white boots. Her hair is down, cascading in long waves to her mid back, however, there’s a hue to the color at the top Steve quite can’t make out.

“‘It’s Been a Long, Long Time,’” Her voice was so different it took him by surprise. While it still sounded like Eve, there was a shift in the tone. It made her sound like a completely different person. “Released in nineteen-forty-five by Harry James and Kitty Kallen. Ironic, isn’t it? How songs can convey meaning to situations.” Steve steps into the office, while Eve remains in place. “I thought it was fitting. Took me a while to sift through those memories, but this song was special to you two. Especially you, Steve Rogers. Right?”

He didn’t like how she was talking. Almost robotic-like and void of emotion. This wasn’t Eve.

“You were supposed to dance to this song with Margaret, yes?” He didn’t answer, stiffening at the mention of his love. “Or, no, her name was Peggy. Agent Carter when in professional settings. But to both of you, she was simply Peggy. Beautiful lady she was. Intelligent, courageous, the backbone of S.H.I.E.L.D—considering all that she did for it.” There’s a slight pause. “Evelyn has very fond memories of her.”

Steve continued to stay silent, unsure of how to approach the subject. Here Eve was referring to herself in the third person as though she’s not really there. It was difficult to grasp, but somehow Steve knew it was true. And Tony’s message from earlier continued to play in his mind.

“As do you, Captain,” Her voice echoes, Steve stiffening when she begins to turn. It was a simple pivot in his direction. Hands remained clasped by her lower back and her right shoulder maneuvered to reveal Eve’s side profile.

And the first thing his eyes are drawn too are the tiny orange cracks aligning her jaw, cheek, and hairline. Then Eve is facing him head on. Well it’s Eve’s face, but her eyes are not the chocolate brown shade he was accustomed to. They were a glowing orange, similar to the cracks.

They seemed amused by his reaction, lips curling up in a smirk. “Tragic things had to end the way they did. I’m sure Margaret—no sorry, Peggy,” the tone indicated they weren’t apologetic, “—would’ve given everything if it meant you would be found. Too bad they just didn’t look close enough.” They tsked at the end.

Steve had enough, “Who are you?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” They leaned forward, still smiling. “What Tony has spent the last five years trying to figure out. What Evelyn, herself, has trouble coming to terms with when I showed her everything she wanted to know. Humans, you all crave the same thing. For everything and anything to be simple. From building cities, to bringing peace, and even an answer to a question.” The hands behind their back went to lay flat on the surface, “But the answer is not that simple, Steve Rogers, in fact, it is everything but.” They then took a step around the desk, moving closer to him.

The soldier watches them approach, keeping his gaze the same. When they got roughly an arm's distance Steve felt the air catch in his throat. Up close the cracks, though small and scattered on the outer edges of their visage, were bright and moving. The matching color of their eyes was just as blinding. And at this proximity, Steve noticed how the root of Eve’s hair was no longer a rich brown. Scarlet red took up nearly three inches until it flowed into the natural color.

“Where’s my friend?” Steve asked, eyes never straying away from theirs.

“Friend?” They repeated, tilting their (Eve’s) head, “You still see her as that? Seven years, Steve Rogers, and all that was involved yet you still view her as such.”

His eyes narrowed, offended by the assumption. “Sixty years passed before we were reunited and it didn’t change a thing. She’ll always be my friend.”

“But friends don’t betray each other. Don’t they, Steve?”

“How do you know that?” He was getting tired of this….being, having the upper hand. They were cutting into his past and memories. It was an invasion of privacy and he wanted answers. More importantly, Steve wanted to know where Eve was.

“The mind is like a library and once you have access, everything is laid out. Just waiting to be read. Page by page,” their voice falls an octave, just higher than a whisper. “Evelyn is a strong woman. It’s something I admire greatly, and why I chose to save her that day on Titan.” Steve's blood runs cold at the mention of the fateful day. They sense his distress, once again smirking. “But even those with the strongest will, eventually bend and break. Putting her in the sleep was a blessing in disguise—it made it easier for her, though she argues it did no good.” They give a shrug before adding, “I strongly believe she’d think otherwise if I allowed her to remain conscious during the entire month of her mind and body adapting to my presence.”

The way they were talking about Eve raised alarms in Steve. He thought back to the night she and Tony were brought back to Earth. By then it had been 22 days since Thanos and whatever inhabited Eve. Everything about her was abnormal, even disregarding the super soldier serum. Only Thor could provide a theory as to what transpired on Titan.

“Please,” he says after a moment, eyes pleading. “Is Eve okay? Where is she—?”

“I assure you, Captain, Evelyn is very safe.”

He wasn’t convinced, “Oh, I’m supposed to just trust your word then, right? I don’t even know who or what you are.” He gestures over them with a hand. “You look like Eve—you sound like Eve, but yet you don’t at the same time. I want to know where my friend is and why you are controlling her.”

“Contrary to what assumptions you may have of me, Steve Rogers, I have no intention of harming Evelyn. I’m rather fond of her,” They step away, putting their hands into their coat pockets and walk along beside the wall of photos. “What occurred on Titan was never my plan. I was just passing through—traveling the cosmos as I always do, when I sensed the Infinity Stones.” They didn’t see Steve visibly react to the revelation. “It surprised me. Never had more than one be in the same place—although, there was a brief moment in twenty-twelve.” The invasion of New York.

“If you saw Thanos with that many, why didn’t you take him out?” Steve asked, curious to know the answer. The threat was right there. If they knew having multiple stones together was dangerous, why not remove the reason for it.

They turn around, bottom lip jutted out in thought, “Would you have rather I done that, Steve Rogers? Had I done so, poor Evelyn would have succumbed to her injuries in mere seconds.” Steve grimaced, looking out the window and away from their gaze. “Maybe you do wish that happened. Then half of the universe would still be here.”

“I don’t wish that,” he snapped back at them, anger rising at the accusation. “She’s my friend and I care for her.”

“Yet again you—.”

“I made a mistake keeping the truth from her. I wish I hadn’t and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. The point is, we don’t trade lives.”

“Hmm,” they mutter, glancing over him. It took a moment for Steve to realize they were probably reading his thoughts, to see if he was lying. “You’re telling the truth. Evelyn will be pleased to hear that.”

“Where is Eve?” He repeated his question from earlier, though he sounded more demanding. “You keep dodging the question and it’s giving more reason to distrust you.”

“Tony was the same in the beginning. He still is, though he tries not to think about it when we’re around.” The song on the record player finally ended again. They walked over and took the needle away from the record, eyes flicking over the picture of Eve’s family. “Here’s what I will tell you, Steve Rogers. Evelyn is merely a vessel—a host if you will. I was drawn to her on Titan and decided to save her, and because she’s human and I’m…..far from that, it took time and energy for Evelyn to adapt to my…,” they snap their fingers a few times to get the right word, “habitation of her body and conscience.”

“So what does that mean?” They roll their eyes, annoyed at being interrupted.

“I was getting to that, thank you.” They let out a huff. “Anyway, hence Evelyn being comatose for nearly a month. As I mentioned earlier, she’s a strong woman—again something I admire, but it made it difficult for me to break down the walls in her mind. Not to mention the changes in her biological composition and having to get used to newfound abilities I gifted her.” They paused to chuckle before adding, “because it’s not everyday a super human becomes the host to something like me.”

“And what is that?”

“Have you really not figured it out?” They stepped back closer to Steve, looking up with mock amusement. “You’re so close you know, it should be obvious. I thought you were smarter than that, Steve Rogers. You must've realized by now your Godly friend was right all along.” Thor.

They were reading his thoughts the moment he stepped through the door. Probably even sorted through his memories before making their entrance. “You’re a cosmic entity.” It wasn’t a question, nor accusation. It was simply stating a fact.

The single nod confirmed it all. A smirk plastered Eve’s face, though it was not Eve doing the action. “I should feel flattered. I'm still a question among legends even after so many millennia. Not many can achieve such a thing.” Another step to Steve has the cracks practically glowing in his face. He could feel the heat radiation off of them.

“Eve—.”

“Has been here the entire time.” They don’t wait for his look of confusion, simply bringing a hand up to point to their temple. “C’mon, Steven, it’s pretty simple. Evelyn is a vessel, a host, to me. You didn’t think my presence meant she was gone, did you?” When Steve didn’t answer, still wrapping his head around everything, the entity continued. “I’ll explain this the best way I can. Make it a metaphor—I know humans love those.”

Spinning around, they walk around the desk and take a seat in the leather chair. Motioning to Steve to sit, which he does after a few seconds, they pull out a blank sheet of paper and threepens: a black, orange, and yellow. They first take the yellow to draw a stick figure in the middle. Then above they draw another in yellow and orange. With a black pen they draw a cloud-like object in the middle between the stick figures.

“Look at it like this,” they turn the paper so it faces him. “This is Evelyn’s body,” the bottom of the black pen points to the lone yellow figure. It then trails to the cloud above, “this here, is the state of mind. Are you following?” Steve nods and they smile, but it still makes the soldier feel uneasy. “Good. Think of it as the ‘driver's seat of a car,’ where whoever is in it, they are the one in control.” Something about the statement sends chills in Steve. ‘The one in control.’

“Now, this figure,” the pen points to the smaller yellow above the cloud, “represents Evelyn’s subconscious. Her thoughts, her memories, everything that makes up Evelyn as a whole. We could get into the whole mind/body theory, and the question of if the mind is separate from the body and brain, but I’ll leave you to do that on your own. For this scenario, the mind is separate—it’s why you’re talking to me right now.”

The pen drags over to the orange figure, “which brings me to this. This is my subconscious. I don’t have a physical body, Steve Rogers, what you saw from the footage Tony showed you is the manifestation I take form in.”

“A solar flare?” Steve asked, looking up at them.

They shrugged, “That’s one way to look at it.” They wave a hand to dismiss further discussion on the topic, focusing back to the drawing. “Going back to the driver's seat. Before Titan, Evelyn was the sole driver. Her subconscious was here,” they draw a yellow figure in the cloud and then connect the lines between all three. “Mind and body together. Then Titan happened and I saved her life. By doing so, I invaded the void between the two. So now when Evelyn is in the driver’s seat, I ride passenger,” they draw another orange figure, but this time in the cloud, connecting the two with a line.

“So you understand, Steven, I see what Evelyn sees. I hear what she hears. I feel what she feels.” It was all coming together, the metaphor giving the answers. “Her memories, her thoughts, they’re all there at my disposal. I can communicate with her even when she’s in control. She’s told me it feels like there’s a pressure in the back of her head, letting her know of my presence.”

Steve leaned back in the chair, arms coming over his chest. “So since you’re in control right now, does that mean Eve can see and hear everything too? She’s the one riding passenger?” From their analogy, it would be the logical explanation. Eve’s subconscious is trapped while the entity has control of her body.

The flicker in their expression causes him to lean forward, eyes narrowing. “Tell me now.”

“While you would be correct, I’m afraid it is not all that meets the eye.” Their left hand comes over the paper, covering the yellow figure in the cloud. And with their right, the orange pen hovers over the one representing Eve’s body. “When I am in the driver’s seat,” drawing over with orange, the yellow figure changes color. “My consciousness takes control of Eve’s body, as you can see right now. But Evelyn, she is pushed to the back. Locked away in a dark void until I release control. As you can see here.”

The paper showed exactly that. Eve’s subconscious was pushed aside when the entity had power over the mind and body. It sparked a level of dread and worry in Steve. It wasn’t hard to piece together it meant Eve was unaware what took place when the entity was in control. For all he knew, it probably meant she would have amnesia for that time period.

“You’re right,” the voice snapped out of his thoughts. He once again forgot his mind was vulnerable. “Evelyn doesn’t know. She won’t know anything we said unless one of us tells her.” They pull the paper away, folding it before handing it to Steve. “It’s why I don’t do this often—have full control. I prefer to ride passenger because it makes Evelyn weak after having her subconscious away for so long.”

He takes the paper, putting it in his jacket pocket. He assumes they want him to have it so he can explain to the others. Nat would want to know immediately so it helps to have a visual on hand. “What happens when she is away for too long?”

“Oh, well, her mind will deteriorate I suppose. Again, the whole mind-brain-body thing fits into it,” they wave their hands in defense at his alarmed expression. Chuckling, they bring them down, ignoring the fact he wasn’t finding anything amusing about the situation. “I’ve never been in control for so long to the point it was a concern. Usually Evelyn feels some fatigue, maybe a headache or is in a daze for a few hours. The only time I’ve been in the driver’s seat this long was when I showed myself to Tony for the first time. And I told him everything I’ve told you.”

Steve relaxes, but not all the way. There is still some doubt but he tries not to think about it so the entity cannot hear it in his thoughts. “Don’t you think it’s a little unfair that you get to invade Eve’s mind when she’s in control of her own body, while you push her away into the dark?”

He still couldn’t over how similar yet different the smirk on Eve’s face was with the entity in control. It was unsettling. “It’s for the best that Evelyn doesn’t see into my consciousness. I have billions upon billions of years worth of memories embedded into me that it would fry her completely to have access to them.” They lean back in the chair, keeping their gaze firm on him. “Evelyn's history is like a grain of sand on a beach. Whereas mine, it is the whole perimeter. You think she’d be able to go through every grain to cond and not lose herself to madness?”

They rise from the chair, Steve doing the same as they walk around the desk and stand in front of him. Some of the cracks were starting to fade. They were about to let Eve go. “I think it’s time you speak to Evelyn. It’s the reason you came, yes? You’ve found an opportunity to reverse the snap.” Steve knew better than to question. He wondered how far their range went when it came to reading people's thoughts. “You don’t have to answer,” the smirk remained on their lips, “I already know.” Yeah, it was going to take time getting used to that.

“Can you only read minds?”

“Oh, I can do much more than that,” as they speak, a glass of water comes out of nowhere, moving in the air until it settles on the surface of the desk. Then the music starts to play. Steve turns his head to find the needle back on the record before moving away causing the song to stop. Then suddenly a voice is speaking directly into his head. “Satisfied Captain Rogers?”

Steve jumped, turning back in the chair to face them. Their brows raise, amused by the reaction. Steve shakes it off, not letting it get to him. “What’s going to happen now?” He wanted to know the context of Eve’s state being back in her body. If she would faint, be in distress, or fairly normal.

Well as normal as one can be when a cosmic entity possesses their body.

“Like I said before, I don’t do this often and the times I have she’s reacted rather negatively until I can calm her down. She’ll probably be a little scared, since she’ll have no memory of what took place. Expect her to be surprised to see you. If she attacks you just know I had no say in it.” Their eyes begin to flicker, the orange fading.

“Wait,” Steve stops them, causing the glow to return. “Who exactly are you? I know what you are, but you never referred to yourself with a name.”

Their head tilts, as if they were debating on giving him one. “Perhaps that can be the subject of our next conversation. Whenever that may be.” The cracks slowly shrink. “It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Steve Rogers.” Eve’s eyes twitched, fluttering close as the last of the cracks disappeared and suddenly the woman was gasping for air around her. A hand came to her chest, knees wobbling causing Steve to rush forward and catch her before she fell.

“Eve!” He shouted in relief. Steve could feel the weight of catching her pulling him down, warmth in his palms when his hands hit the leather of her coat. For a second he forgot how she was scorching like a sun five years ago. Now it was like the feeling of being out in the sun too long on a hot summer day. The type of heat where it makes one want to rush inside because it’s too hot to even breathe.

“Eve,” he says again, bringing her up to stand straight. She was panting and sweat had gathered on her forehead. He thought the rest of her hair would return to the natural color, but the red stayed, flowing into the brown. “I got you, Eve. It’s me, Steve.”

Finally Eve’s brown eyes connected with his. They were wide open with no sight of the glowing orange he had peered into just minutes before. Just looking into them Steve could tell fear and shock was swimming in them.

Her breathing slowed, but she was still panting. “St-Steve?” Hands came up to grip his shoulders. “Ste-Steve.” Water had pooled in her eyes and Steve could feel her shaking.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, keeping his voice calm. “I’m right here, Eve, I got you. Listen to me, I'll explain everything I promise.” It did little to calm her down, he could still visibly see the anxiety.

Her head started to nod, a lone tear escaping. “H-how long? How long did it have—?”

Steve shakes his head, unsure exactly of the time period Eve was locked away in the void. “What was the last thing you remember, Eve?” She blinks a few times, looking around to find the clock on the wall.

“I-I, I had just finished making lunch. I was sitting on the porch,” she glances out the door in the direction of the porch entrance. “Then I heard a car in the distance. And I—I heard you. Not your voice, but your mind. And Nat’s too and,” she pauses, thinking hard before a look of surprise takes over, followed by a gasp. “And Scott. I heard Scott, but how—?”

He gently squeezes her shoulder repeating, “I promise, I’ll explain. I just need to talk to you. Can we do that, please?”

Eve nodded again, blinking back the tears but her bottom lip quivered. “Yeah,” her voice cracked, trying to smile at him. “Yeah we can talk.”

He felt his own eyes start to water. The emotion he was feeling started to overwhelm him. Steve had really missed Eve, and finally after seven years he was able to stand in front of her again. The guilt and regret coursed through him, “I’m sorry, Eve. I really am.”

The woman squeezed his shoulders like he did to her, tearfully smiling at him. “I’m sorry too, Steve.” The second the words left her Steve didn’t hesitate to embrace her. Arms around her waist and Eve’s going around his shoulders she accepted the hug, returning it with just as much emotion.

He could feel the warmth through her clothes, but it didn’t bother him. All that mattered to Steve was the fact he was holding Eve in his arms. His best friend, who was the only person in the world he cared most for.

They had a lot to unpack. A lot to discuss. And a lot to worry about. But at this moment. Steve could feel some peace. With whatever the future held and the possibility of rewriting time with the stones, hope was on the horizon.

Now that Captain America had his Eagle.

……………………….

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