#but idk how you can analyse hank n refuse to read avengers that seems idk bad faith to me

[brw]

If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of cerebro podcast episode about Hank?

Hi! It's been a while since I listened to it so some of my recollections may be off but I think for the most part I didn't find it too offensive? I think it felt disingenuous to me to write a character study of Hank without taking into account his non X-Men appearances because they are so big and give a very different perspective on the character but other than that it was okay, and I found the guest interesting. But yeah, I don't think it should be taken as an actual study of Hank if Hank's big appearances in Avengers and Defenders and New Avengers aren't taken into account because those comics are really quite important to him? Just a weird decision to do an episode on Hank if you're determined to not read those core characteristion issues because you have a weird loyalist issue.

Anyway, the things I remember agreeing heavily about was stuff regarding Charles, I remember feeling that that was an interesting perspective that despite Hank being the first to leave Charles and to be independent, he hasn't really had the big breakaway from Charles' politics the other members of the O5 have had and from that perspective is probably his favoured student as the one most likely to agree with him socially and politically, which obviously is going to be in tension with the fact that he could never REALLY be Charles' favourite student because he's visibly a mutant and as we all know Charles seems to project his own issues with being visibly disabled onto visible mutants. But I also felt it should have been stressed more that Hank was literally separated from what was a loving family by Charles. Like he wiped their memories of him despite the fact that they had been loving and caring to him up til then and he had various positive relationships with his schoolmates also erased. I definitely think if we're going to talk about Hank being the most loyal to Charles ideologically it should also be stressed part of that is because Hank was literally separated from his family and peers by Charles.

I think however the way it was stated that Hank's characterisation made the most sense in IvX annoying and I think the way there was clearly a feeling that Hank was a betrayer for being a mutant was really dumb bc like . idk I just dislike when people take things so literally in universe when the real answer is literally just that they needed some use for the X-Men now that that comic had ended and Hank just so happened to be picked up by the Avengers while Bobby and Warren ended up as Champions and Scott and Jean stayed when the series was brought back. it's literally not that deep and mutants aren't real and he was literally healthier better and happier as a person when he was with them 🤷 also if you're doing a character study on Hank and you come away with "he's the straightest xman" you're doing the character study wrong.