#i never hated the telepathy plot line

[deep-sea-gigantinism]

the biogenesis plot line with mulder’s abilities from the black oil had so much potential because it’s such a poetic idea. mulder becomes what he’s been searching for this entire time. he becomes the x file that he’s studied, and now the concept of believing is so different for scully because she can’t deny his existence. if the show had him keep his telepathy and other psychic abilities but without the brain deterioration, there could’ve been such an interesting dynamic throughout season seven, with mulder potentially encountering more people with abilities like his while scully dives deeper into the pseudoscience behind it. he becomes his own truth and hers.

[cringecompanionapologist]

Enlightenment Novelization Recap Part 2

I'll start by saying I made a bit of a mistake at the end of the last entry. I said the Enlightenment novelization had 16 chapters, 4 for each part. It actually has 12 chapters, 3 for each part. I have no idea how I fucked this up as the screenshots I used were labeled by chapter and the fact that they only went up to 12 was literally right in front of me. So, that was a weird mistake. Oops.

So, I had so little stuff for chapter 4 anyway that it didn't really matter. But the "we're on a spaceship" cliffhanger is the end of chapter 3, not chapter 4. So we're backing up a little.

Though not by much, since I only had one screenshot for chapter 4. In fact, chapters 4 and 5 mostly just have Turlough wandering between the Doctor and Tegan's plot points. His arc is mostly paused until chapter 6.

Anyway, this bit from chapter 4 is here because it's cute:

The two of them stand close together, not aware of how close they are. Cute.

I only have one screenshot for chapter 5, and it's mostly just there to set up chapter 6. Because he's wandered between plots, Turlough has been alone in the halls of the ship before chapter 6. But, this makes the bit where he summons the Black Guardian in that chapter seem a little confusing.

This seems to imply that Turlough didn't think he needed the Black Guardian for his survival until this point. I think the turning point was this bit of chapter 5:

The Eternals can't die, so they can gamble of this stuff but the mortals can't. This ship could just randomly crash, killing everyone capable of dying. So, though Turlough was anxious before, now he's basically calling on divine intervention.

So, chapter 6. The Black Guardian makes his appearance. Turlough both hates and fears him but he still feels like he needs him. The Black Guardian just wants him to kill the Doctor already.

The Black Guardian condemns Turlough to everlasting life on the ship, not, as one would expect, death. Turlough's motivated by his own survival, so why would life be worse than death?

When the Doctor and Tegan find Turlough, Tegan notices the signs that Turlough was attacked.

The Doctor seems really dismissive here. The televised version at least as him briefly ask if Turlough's alright.

However, the dismissive attitude is part of the Doctor not putting pressure on Turlough. It's really obvious that Turlough is lying here. Someone attacked him and he's covering for them. If he's covering for someone who attacked him, odds are the attacker was either someone he otherwise cared about or someone he was too afraid of to tattle on. The Doctor knows that questioning Turlough further won't lead to any new information. It'll just cause him to panic. So, he acts dismissive to cue Tegan to drop the subject.

They go back to the TARDIS, but the Eternals have the TARDIS. This gives us an interesting detail about how Eternal telepathy works.

So, since Turlough is scared basically all the time, shouldn't that make his mind easy to read? Why does Wrack have trouble with it later on? We'll get there when we get there.

So, up on the deck, the Black Guardian starts bullying Turlough again.

The televised version has some dialogue going throughout this.

This dialogue slightly changes the implication of why Turlough jumps.

The specific line "I'll never serve you again" is Turlough defying the Black Guardian. This implies that Turlough is sort of sacrificing himself, willing to die so the Black Guardian can't use him anymore.

In the novelization, we don't get that line. We also don't have the earlier dialogue with the Doctor, so the whole thing is playing out inside Turlough's head. It's more of an impulsive action. He has to get off of this ship or he might never and he wants the pain to stop.

This actually makes the instant regret make more sense. Turlough doesn't want to die, so it'd make sense no matter what, but the televised version has Turlough make a decision and immediately regret said decision, while the novelization doesn't seem as decisive. Turlough panicked, jumped, and then continues to panic over that.

[muslimintp-1999-girl]

Do you think we have any hope for Jelly being endgame for season 3? I'm guessing it's the final season if it's I need them to be endgame they're the main relationship of the series to me If it's not endgame why would I invest my time on season 3? Even if the cheating plot doesn't happen that still won't make the season good. You expect me to see Belly end up with this toxic jerk again and have Jere hurt again? Imagine watching the love of your life getting married to your brother ugh that would be the worst ending for Jeremiah Conrad doesn't really have anything with Belly all he does is same some corny ass line and it never lands the jelly relationship is more developed imo Conrad never wants her unless she' interested in someone else it's annoying didn't like him in the books don't in the show team Jelly forever.

I have no plans of watching s3 personally. And I'll wait for the season to finish before checking out who they ended up making the endgame. And apparently (due to the strikes I guess?) s3 will be out like after 2 years. Anyways as much as I hope Jenny has realised how bad of a look bonrad endgame is, Conrad is still hella romanticised and I don't trust her for delivering jelly endgame.

Exactly my point, there's no reason for making Belly end up with a toxic guy and romanticising it.

I feel that in a way, Jere did the right thing walking away knowing he'll never be appreciated but ugh does it break my heart to know that he's never appreciated enough 💔

Exactly, jelly has EVERY single thing under the sun going on for them, like every cute trope, best lines. Best friends to lovers, angst, mutual pining, telepathy, deep conversations, attraction, care, love, not to mention the chemistry & acting of Gavin and Lola. And like Jere has boundaries but still lets her bejeweled. Like how am I supposed to resist this ship!?! Jenny really did give them the best of everything (and then took it away and made them tragic lol)

While all bonrad has is infinity necklace (and Taylor songs in the bg in the show) lol

THIS!!! EVEN S1 Belly realised and acknowledged and admitted this that Conrad doesn't like her but likes that she is into him and chasing him. Plus every meaningful conversation esp to be clear on where they stand was initiated by Belly. Imo if tsitp was a one season show, it would make so much sense and provide a great plot twist and ending to make jelly the endgame and have it ended there. Like season 1 was amazing, it had Belly call out Conrad's bs and we finally had jelly only for the last scene to fuck it up.

I HATE HATE HATE that they erased all character development of Belly for a weak and toxic male character & romanticised a man who breadcrumbs her, is never emotionally available, hurts her and dare I say only sees her as a competition (coz I'm sick of twitter bonrad stans accusing Jere of this competition bs when if it's any brother who does this, it's clearly Conrad. Like all their accusations on Jere are literally a bunch of projections).

[madasacrow]

AAAAAA its so cool that our ages line up w that!

I'm gonna try to be brief lol. Also hi this is a sideblog for my superhero paracosm aka where I dumped my old mcu paras.

The plot changed around a lot but the basic idea was that HYDRA somehow got DNA from the main 6 Avengers and made clones of them. For one reason or another, the clones escape and eventually wind up at SHIELD, where they're taken in and given semi normal lives. These are my original test tube babies 😭

The new plot (aka the one in this paracosm) is relatively the same, except instead of HYDRA its this organization called "Arcaynis" that does all sorts of weird experiments ... tbh even though I don't focus on them much now, they're still pretty paracosm-important/relevant bc goddamn does Arcaynis do a lot of fuckery. Fuck Arcaynis all my homies hate Arcaynis.

JORDAN STARK (THEY/THEM)

I actually still daydream about them fairly frequently! They're part of a different paracom now, but still have origins in Assembled Monsters.

Being a clone of Tony Stark/Iron Man, they don't really have powers. They're more of a "guy behind the chair" person yknow. But! They were usually the one to kickstart the clones escaping. Wait sometimes they had electricity and super speed. Idk why stop asking questions. The power of ✨imagination✨

Oh they have a prosthetic arm! Yeah Rex/Laz ripped it off when they were about 6ish. Fun times.

REX (HE/HIM) & LAZARUS BANNER (HE/HIM)

Clone of Bruce Banner/The Hulk ... idk how HYDRA managed to get the "two for one" deal, but they did! I always waffled on if they were the same person or were more like the Jekyll/Hyde situation that Bruce had.

Despite Tony being my favorite, Rex — and Laz, I guess — were usually the focus/main characters of the daydreams I had back then. By now they're basically AM's poster child 😭

Rex is radioactive! His blood, sweat, & other bodily fluids are acidic and actual biohazards. Rip buddy.

Laz is a cannibal. Technically. He's not human (clone + can transform into this giant...wolf cat thing idk i never finalized their "hulk" form ig). This does cause problems for him & Rex but they come to a deal where Laz can only eat "bad" people aka criminals and whoever SHIELD deems an enemy.

MAXINE ROMANOV (SHE/HER)

Clone of Natasha Romanov/Black Widow.

For some reason she has telepathy! This makes more sense now bc magic just kinda exists in MaaC/all my paracosms but back then I didn't have an explanation it was just sort of a thing.

Close w Rex! I guess this reflects how Bruce & Nat's relationship progressed in the movies ... BUT tbh I based most of everything off of the 2012 Avengers & Age of Ultron, a lootttt of stuff was cut out. 2012!MCU was an ERA im sure you remember.

But anyway, she was paired with Rex in order to control him bc his abilities were ... unstable, to say the least. But they're good friends, both then and now. She's basically his sister?

The others weren't as important tbh, but yknow. I still love them.

Christine Rogers, Steve Rogers/Cap's clone. Steve & Bucky adopt her! Stucky was also a thing I think idk. Probably.

Brandon Odinson, Thor's clone. He was taken in by Jane.

Zethri Barton, Clint/Hawkeye's clone. For some reason he was aquatic/like a siren? Idk it was the Clint in Vents Era, did we ever find something for that man to do.

Khole & Lorelai, also Bruce's clones and technically Rex's "siblings". Tho fun fact, their "birth order" goes: Khole, Rex, Lorelai. So. Rex is a middle child 😭😭

Holly Rose, who was just a girl w plant powers idk where she came from but she was there sometimes! She was kinda like the team mom I think.

And then I think there was Kit, a clone of Dr. Strange? She was connected to Strange somehow but I forgot. Probably related to him somehow lbr.

hi this is random but I love that you have marvel/mcu fictparas! I used to have an MCU paracosm when I was younger (the mcu had a chokehold on me from like ages 8-15). I still have some original paras from that time...kind of. I think about them sometimes lmao but they do exist in the background of my paracosms. guess what im tryna say is mcu our beloved <3 (also please give tony a hug for me he was my dad fr 😭)

OMGGGGG!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME ABSOLUTELY SCREAMING??? I can't believe we have that in common!!! MCU our beloved, indeed <333

I started getting into the MCU at about 13(?), and that's when I introduced it into my paracosm, so even our ages kind of line up, lmao! I'd love to hear about your paras, though! Even though they're background characters now, I think that's so cool that they stuck around since then!!!

And, of course I'll give Tony a hug for you! This makes for great timing, too, seeing as he just won the Hunger Games, so I'm sure he's in a pretty good mood, hehehe!

(Also, he is such a great dad, frfr! And I'm saying this as someone who literally had to fight him for custody of Peter, lmaooo!)

[simkjrs]

How about Kusuke for that ask meme? Would love to hear more of your thoughts on that little freak 😊

favorite thing about them

im kind of obsessed with his misanthropic mad scientist ways. theres nothing funnier about kuusuke than his complete lack of consideration for the happiness or quality of life for the rest of the human race. just look at him <3

least favorite thing about them

i hate all the incest jokes baked into his character. asou shuuichi had a perfectly interesting and compelling guy without that so why did he have to ruin it.

aside from that i think its really sad when he regularly invades saiki's privacy & bodily autonomy (such as adding a trigger to saiki's second limiter device without telling him. someone introduce kuusuke to the concept of informed consent please). i do think that this is one of the most interesting points of conflict between him and saiki tho so i wish asou shuuichi did something more with it where saiki gets a character arc learning how to assert his boundaries after living his whole life unable to respect others boundaries (due to x ray and mindreading) and without others respecting his (see: his dad and kuusuke)

favorite line

brOTP

i <3 saiki and kuusukes fucked beyond all repair brothers relationship i love how they care about each other but this fixes nothing and makes everything worse. its so interesting how they shaped each other growing up, and how despite resenting each other they also give each other things they cant get from anyone else -- kuusuke finding a "playmate" who can challenge him and stimulate his creativity, kusuo having someone he can rely on when it comes down to a crisis (such as his limiter breaking or needing to find a way to stop japan from being destroyed by a super volcano explosion).

of course, the fact that kuusuke cant be relied on in any other circumstance is also what makes the relationship interesting i think. like if kuusuke isn't helping saiki fix a problem, then he's the one causing all of saiki's problems. i really wish that we got more exploring their relationship.

that said it's really hard to enjoy them whole heartedly when all the incest jokes keep sneaking in. sorry i keep bringing this up but i really do hate them so much. like either commit to the incest/harrassment plotline and do your best to thoughtfully & respectfully portray the consequences of that trauma, or just leave it out. dont make it into a joke LOL ... literally why does anyone ever think this is funny

OTP

kuusuke x his pure & innocent disregard for humanity <3

nOTP

i see people shipping him with teruhashi makoto sometimes and its like ... why ... would you think that putting two creeps together would fix anything about them. they wouldnt make each other worse in a fun or interesting way. and they wouldnt even be funny

random headcanon

i think that kuusuke stopped resenting saiki shortly after he left home to go to cambridge because suddenly he was the smartest most genius most admired person in the room again but it was so boring because no one could challenge him and there was nothing to surpass. since life felt very boring & meaningless like this, i think that made him reevaluate his relationship with his brother and he realized that as much as it frustrated him to lose it made him happy to have a goal to always strive for. so i think after that, his ill will towards saiki mostly disappeared ... though he still has deadly serious competitive intent.

that said i think saiki never realized kuusuke's change of heart because kuusuke invented the telepathy canceler. and i think kuusuke wasnt interested in correcting saiki about how he felt now, and i think kuusuke didnt give much (if any) consideration to how it would make saiki feel to keep living under the misconception that his brother still hated him but had simply found a way to hide his plotting, forever. in conclusion: kuusuke is kind of the worst. LOL

unpopular opinion

ive already said all my unpopular opinions. my extremely niche opinion is that if saiki kuusuke and enoshima junko were born into the same world they would perfectly cancel each other out because what they both wanted was to fulfill their boredom and what they both did to do that was raise the stakes on other people until they managed to stop them (or didnt). kuusuke and junko would become perfect rivals. they would be like bbc sherlock and moriarty if they were high schoolers. they would be like L and light if L was completely amoral and just devote to winning the case for the sake of winning, and light was also completely amoral and just killing people to see what would happen. and they would be exactly like this post

song i associate with them

HMM i don't really have one. if i had to pick one... primadonna by marina. LOL

favorite picture of them

i cant pick one so you get three.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- Fire Emblem (Game Series) - Admittedly I don’t plan to play Three Hopes as the hoard action game style isn’t my thing, but I am enjoying seeing the new designs for all my fave Three Houses blorbos. Excellent for having a new influx of fanart.

- Star Trek Strange New Worlds (TV) - My dad is a huge Star Trek fan, so we’re watching the new series together. Not too far in but it’s pretty cute so far, the advanced space cult protecting the divine path of a “living” asteroid plotline was a pretty creative one, and the characters at least have potential, though I’d prefer them to just be fully original rather than retreads of TOS. 

- Danganronpa 2 (Video Game) - According to my calculations the Grumps playthrough should be finishing up here in the next two or three weeks, so looking forward to that.

- The Owl House (Cartoon) - Caught up just in time for the finale and WOW did the second season outdo the first by a long shot. Not that I thought that season one was bad per say, but it had a habit of being clumsy and meandering. I liked the characters, but I never felt like they were given as interesting things to do as they could have been. Season two fixed that in spades-All the major characters are given interesting lore that has lasting effects into the future plot, the supporting cast actually gets to contribute to the story in interesting ways, Luz and Amity get to be gay as hell and are adorable together, tragic emotional mess sadboi Hunter is here now and I love him dearly, and there’s actual stakes going into the next episode as I genuinely don’t know where they are going to go with it. I’m of course mad at Disney for canceling it prematurely, but kudos to the writing team for managing to keep it engaging given their unexpectedly condensed timeframe.

- Spy X Family (Anime) - Man Anya is so cute, I’m surprised about how invested I am in her school hijinks given the actual espionage happening in the show, but the telepathy aspect combined with her impulsive gung-ho attitude makes her interactions with her classmates just hilarious. Damien seems like he’ll be an entertaining little shit, and I’m looking forward to meeting Yor’s brother.

- Pathologic (Video Game) - Pretty far into Patho 2 now, and while I don’t know if I can say I like it better than Classic, I do think it’s an improvement on the Haruspex’s route overall. You really do connect to the town and its people more, and giving Artemy actual connections and childhood memories beyond what he received in the original is quite nice. I do kind of miss how weirdly nice Daniil and Artemy’s conversations were in classic, but admittedly their dialogue here is a lot more snappy and entertaining overall-Daniil’s just such a little prick and Artemy is having none of it. To be fair it’s not like they retconned Haruspex route Daniil to hate Artemy or anything, he still seem to quite like him, he’s just mean about it now which I for one find hilarious. Artemy’s individual dialogue is also pretty entertaining, most of the time it’s pretty relatable “I’m exhausted and over this shit” type of stuff but every so often he just pulls out these insane lines like “I’m somewhat of a kitten myself” or “Normally people call me ‘Help, I’m Dying’”, like what??? Artemy what are you doing man?? I love it.

- Schitt’s Creek (TV) - Starting to get actually attached to these characters at this point-David’s budding romance with his is business partner is quite wholesome, I’m really loving all Alexis’s looks, and the Stevie/Mr Rose dynamic is a fun addition. 

- Return of the Obra Dinn (Video Game) - Finished, and what a game it was! It really can only be played once due to it’s single puzzle nature, but it was definitely worth that single playthrough, with a truly unique aesthetic, memorable music, great creature design, and an interesting puzzle that is just difficult enough to make you feel smart for solving it. If your the type that likes escape rooms or just puzzles in general, I’d 100% recommend this is was a blast.

- Dracula (Original Novel) - Good the cowboy has arrived.

Listening to: Dead Man Walking by City Wolf, Fear & Delight by The Correspondents, Begin Again by Purity Ring, Curses by The Crane Wives, What Else Can I Do (Encanto OST), The Mother We Share by CHVRCHES, Sweet Talk by Saint Motel, Go Get Your Gun by The Dear Hunter, Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride by Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! by ABBA

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1981 - the Body-Swap

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

(Uncanny X-Men 151 - 152) - by Chris Claremont and Josef Rubinstein

Emma Frost and her frenemy Ororo Munroe have not been getting along! One fateful evening, as the two quibble away, they mysteriously switch bodies and minds. Talk about your Freaky Friday! What lessons will they learn, walking a mile in one another’s shoes? And will they be able to switch back, or will they stay in each other’s bodies forever? Mutant Monday, coming soon to a cinema near you. Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Angela Bassett and Elliot Page. (PG-13)

For a moment, we’re in a proper period drama: a letter delivers ill tidings!

I love that Kitty’s parents are so self-involved that it took them A WHOLE YEAR to realize that it’s weird that Kitty is the only non-adult attending the Xavier Institute.

I can only assume the mailman interrupted a pool party of some kind? Or a communal shower? I get why Kurt would not swim a lot - all that fur - but did Scott wear that while they were splashing around? Was it a beach volleyball competition where one half got to wear swimsuits and the other half superhero costumes? Most importantly, was Scott’s costume always this tight?

Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

The awful thing is that Kitty’s parents are transferring her to the Massachusetts Academy, not realizing that headmistress Emma Frost is, in fact, a terrible human being. Charles, uncharacteristically, says that changing their minds telepathically is a line he does not cross (any more) and half the viewing audience bursts out in laughter. More importantly, last they saw Emma, she was kind of dead-by-Phoenix, so it might be better there this time? Kitty does a Classic Teenage Stomp-Off and Storm comes to comfort her. Kitty cries that life is unfair (“My parents are only doing this because they’re splitting up”) and Ororo tells her that yes, life is unfair. You just gotta roll with the punches as best you can.

To be fair, bald men are technically all cheek, so it doesn’t matter where you kiss them.

While I enjoy the relationship Kitty has with the other X-Men (Scott gave her a compliment! Logan told her his name!), especially the mother-daughter-bond she shares with Ororo, the whole Piotr-thing always gives me pause. Even if we’re being very generous with age, Kitty is, what? 14 going on 15? And Piotr is… 19? At best? I get why Kitty would have a crush on him: he’s a gentle hunky giant: at fifteen, my teenage ass would have felt the exact same viz-a-viz Colossus’ upper arms. The fact that Piotr reciprocates feels skeevy, though, especially because they’re always treated like star-crossed idiots these days.

Skee-vy.

Ororo drives Kitty to Massachusetts, where her young ward is greeted by someone named Muffy and whisked away for orientation. All seems well. Ororo stands in a parlour, surveying the grounds and considering that they should have fought harder for Kitty. Still, nothing seems too wrong just yet: this Academy just seems very preppy.

Not-at-all-dead Emma takes her cue and jumps out, saying (essentially): “Surprise motherfucker.”

There’s a flash of light, and then...

I’m willing to bet that Emma’s EVIL journal has the following to-do-list: - Steal Storm’s body. - Experiment with her powers. - See how good Storm looks in white. (Leather? Fur?! Both!??) - REWARD: Smoke break.

I wonder if Emma’s plan hinged on being able to body-swap with Storm, or whether any X-Man would have sufficed. Was her original target Xavier? Cyclops? What if one of Kitty’s parents had brought her to Massachusetts, would she have taken Kitty instead?

In a locked cell, Storm wakes up in Emma’s body and is horrified. I wonder why Emma didn’t take any more precautions. Couldn’t the guy who made the freaky friday-gizmo also make a power dampener to nullify not!Emma’s telepathic abilities? Or did Emma count on her victim being so utterly incapacitated by her mind-powers that they’d be driven mad? (This would actually tie in with some of Emma’s later-revealed history: when her powers first emerged, she also got locked away in a padded room because of her madness.)

Emma is not wrong, by the way: Storm can’t get a handle on Emma’s powers. What follows is possibly the sweetest moment in an arc filled with sweet moments:

This arc isn’t drawn by any of the regulars - not Byrne, not Cockrum - but Josef Rubinstein brings his own kind of panache to the pages. I love the way he draws women’s faces: in a story that’s all about women, their faces are actually distinguishable. Kudoz.

Emma, meanwhile, coordinates with Sebastian Shaw to execute the second part of their two-pronged attack on the X-Men. They both laugh evilly in their phones while the mansion is attacked by Sentinels! These androids take out Cyclops and Xavier with some sleeping gas and knock out Nightcrawler, but the rest of the X-Men manage to trounce these robots. Then ‘Storm’ appears! She zaps the rest of the X-Men (and Amanda Sefton), successfully finishing their master-plan.

It’s not entirely clear what the Hellfire Club wants with the X-Men this time, but I’m assuming it’s more experimentation to improve the sentinels? Eh, doesn’t matter! Nefarious Hellfire Club is nefarious.

The real Storm, meanwhile, comes to claim Kitty, forgetting that she looks like the one and only Emma Frost. Kitty spooks and Storm accidentally reaches out, knocking her out telepathically. Whoops! Storm takes Kitty and flees in a car, while Emma gives chase. (How dare Ororo run off with her body, which is absolutely the kind of hypocritical hilariousness we all love Emma for.)

Kitty awakens and jumps from the car, causing Storm to swerve and...

JETSTREAM!? Speaking of which, where are the Hellions in all of this?

Kitty sees that an unconscious ‘Emma’ is about to burn to a tender and moist little crisp and she is faced with the hero’s dilemma: would you save a villain that would never save you?

Emma, meanwhile, has realized the downside to body-swapping: somebody else gets to run around with your body too. Shaw, of all people, talks her down from her anger.

You can’t just introduce a persona exchange gun to the plot WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHERE THE FUCK YOU GOT IT FROM.

My favorite detail is that Emma keeps calling Kitty brat, like she’s some sort of Pokémon-villain.

Kitty, meanwhile, has saved ‘Emma’ and tied her up with a special knot. Storm tries to convince Kitty, going for the “ask me something only Storm would know”, but Kitty’s all: “Duh, you’re a telepath.” Ororo insists, but the thing that clinches it is when she breaks free of her ties without breaking a sweat. That knot was taught to Kitty by Ororo and she’d be the only one who knew how to break out of it.

Storm and Kitty recruit Stevie Hunter to come pick them up and during the ride, Storm-being-angry-mother!Storm convinces Kitty more than anything else:

After all, Storm was voted most likely to say: “If you don’t stop this nonsense immediately, I will turn this Blackbird around, so help me God!”

Ororo and Kitty sneak inside. Ororo even uses Emma’s telepathy to help her pick a lock after phasing through a door. (Kind of funny: Kitty’s still such a neophyte that she can’t even phase with anyone else yet.) Emma, meanwhile, taunts the captured X-Men, presenting herself as the new white queen:

Anybody feel the inclination to point out that the Hellfire Club did this exact same thing last year, except then they tried it with a redhead?

I secretly suspect that the Hellfire Club’s plots always revolve around seducing X-Men to their side and dressing them up in sexy lingerie. (Which: fair.) There’s also a subplot where the guys Wolverine cut apart last year want to exact revenge on him for being made bionic, but eh. We’ll start paying attention to them when they become actual Reavers.

Kitty phases through the locks of the X-Men, freeing them, and a kerfuffle ensues. Emma starts using Storm’s powers, but they grow out of control. Colossus tosses Shaw out of the window - which should just be company policy, really: all Shaws should be defenestrated - where he’s promptly hit by a rogue thunderbolt.

When he doesn’t get up, Emma starts to lose it. The weather goes wild. Storm intervenes, using her telepathic power to help calm down Emma (and the raging storm), but she also manages to get a hold of the swap-gun. There’s a zap, and with a satisfied sigh, the status-quo is restored again.

My favorite implication is that, apparently, Emma decides which school Kitty attends and not her parents.

While this little arc is neither the most iconic nor the most profound of 1981 -- those would be Days of Future Past and I, Magneto, respectively -- I still love this for a couple of reasons.

As a lover of Freaky Friday, 17 Again and the new Jumanji-film, I just have a soft spot for body swap plots. (Hi Psylocke!)

It focuses on the Xavier Institute as a school, planting seeds for the upcoming New Mutants.

It is very female-driven without beating you over the head with it. (Looking at you, Birds of Prey.)

It has three definitive main characters, who all get fleshed out in fun and interesting ways. It starts the trend of robbing Ororo of some of her powers and tossing her into against-the-odds circumstances, only for her to come out on top.

It solidifies the Storm/Kitty mother/daughter (or older/younger sibling) dynamic. Kitty is a believable teenager when it comes to Storm - clever and kind, but also looking for answers and prone to rash decisions - and I love how much they care for each other.

Jean/Storm-friendship-callback, yay!

Emma gets fleshed out as a villain. Resourceful and petty, powerful and vain. It’s no wonder she’s one of the break-out antagonists of the X-Men, because, like Magneto, Claremont is not afraid of giving her depth. Arguably, she is the most three-dimensional of the Hellfire Club at this point.

Yay! And fuck completely sensible plots, if you don’t know what to do with your plot, just introduce a random persona exchange gun. Let’s use it on Xavier and Legion in Way of X next!

[kazbrekkerscrutches]

Michael Langdon - Lost Lovers

Warnings: Death by fire, kind of mention of the witches massacre/genocide

A/N: This HAS to be one of my favorite imagines that I've ever written. I was really inspired when I wrote it, especially because I loved American Horror Story: Apocalypse. I hope you enjoy!

Words: 2.5k

“There’s humanity in you. I see it.”

I was part of the witches coven and Michael was part of the wizard coven. Normally, we would both hate each other, we should hate each other, but we don’t.

Not at all.

We both met when we were in the same church of darkness. He was taken by Ms. Mead, my mother and was actually the son of our saviour. I didn’t believe that the Devil itself was bad, it was bad compared to the christians, but we could say the same about God. My mother was kind enough to give him shelter after we had taken him in the infamous “Murder House”. I was the youngest member of our belief, but they didn’t know that I was more powerful than they thought.

Ms. Mead was my adoptive mother; my real mother was the last Supreme of my line. It was two supreme existed at the same time, but it wasn’t impossible. The royal blood ran through my system and when my mother died, two years after Ms. Mead took me in, I gained her powers.

Nobody knew that I was a witch, but if they did, I’d be burning at a stake right now. I had heard rumors about a witch coven in New Orleans, with the other Supreme, Cordelia Goode. It had been a few months that Michael and I had met each other, but I had to make myself disappear. That is why, one night, I got into my car, left a note to Ms. Mead; saying that I’ll leave forever and never come back.

I arrived in New Orleans in no time, and met my fellow sisters. Zoe and Cordelia herself had welcomed me into the academy. It was a place that was actually safe for me; I had to hide some of my powers for my safety, but not from Cordelia. I actually helped her bring her formal mother, Myrtle Snow back.

I had heard that Michael had brought back Queenie and Madison from the dead. I didn’t know who they were until I came to his school, while he performed the seven wonders. I had already performed them with Cordelia, but I knew that it was different with a warlock. He saw me, thinking I was dead and asking himself why I was with the witches.

With the help of my telepathy, I answered these questions for him though my mind.

“Michael, I’m one of them. I have been since I was born. Royal blood runs through my veins. I am the second Supreme of this coven, and I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry, Michael. I had to disappear for my own survival.”

He only responded with a sad look and a small tear coming out of his eye. I walked away, letting Zoe know that I needed some air.

I had later known that he did pass the seven wonders and brought my old friend, Misty Day. God, I had missed her.

I walked into the library and Michael was sitting on a desk, catching his breath. I saw Misty and Cordelia on the floor, hugging each other. They separated and I almost jumped into her arms. She was practically my real sister. She was always so nice to me, and she welcomed me into her home after I ran away from my previous home.

I thanked Michael by telepathy, for bringing back my sister to me. He only nodded and slightly smiled. I knew him and I had a connection before I got away, but I didn’t want to leave him. I never wanted to, but I knew that he and Ms. Mead wanted all of the witches to be wiped out, and that would include me.

A few weeks after, one of the warlocks of the council was found dead and Cordelia asked me to bring him back. It was more complicated than it looked like, the man was burned to the bone and practically nothing was left of him.

I did bring him back, as he confessed that Ms. Mead and two of the warlocks of the council had plotted behind the back of the coven to execute John Henry Moore.

Here was the day that everything changed. The three murders were sentenced to death by fire, and I obviously had to watch them burn. Yes, I do recognize our history, us witches, but that doesn’t mean that I do like it.

Before Mr. Moore conjured them to their deaths, Ms. Mead spoke up to me.

“Y/N, I thought you were dead, my child. You still have a chance to repent, to follow the path of the Armageddon.”

“I’m with my people, now. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to follow the good path. As much as I appreciate all that you did for me, you have to pay for what you did.”

“Oh please. Michael will find a way to wipe all of you.”

“Light ‘em up, Moore.”

I turned my back to the killers and listened to their screams. I really did hate, Ms. Mead for what she did, but a part of me was dying inside. My 3 years with her, with Michael, just went away like the snap of my fingers. I knew there was no going back now, not for me, nor the coven and certainly not for Michael. My heart ached at the screams, feeling how Michael would be destroyed after this.

[Time skip]

[Michael’s POV]

Three bodies, well the rest of them were stuck to wood stakes. I approached them, revealing their identities to me. Mr. Ariel and Mr. Baldwin were among the three of them. They had helped me, rescued me when I was in jail. The third corpse had me panic for a moment, the shape of it looked familiar to me. As I pressed the palm of my hand towards the body, I saw the face of my beloved adoptive mother.

“NO”

An agony scream shot out of my throat. The last strands of good in me were torn out of my heart. A whole in me, a void was created in this very moment. I had lost my only family. I lost Constance, Y/N and now my Ms. Mead.

[Y/N’s POV]

Cordelia and I teleported ourselves to the burning site. Michael was sobbing on the pavement floor, facing our adoptive mother. Cordelia didn’t know this, but I was the only person who Michael truly opened up to. I walked up to him, but Cordelia stopped me before I could get any further to him.

“It's over. We know who you are. Your allies are all dead. You failed.” Cordelia spat at him. He turned to face us. Tears were dripping down his face, his eyes were bloodshot red.

“I've already proven to you that I can defy death. I'm just gonna bring her back. And when I do, my Ms. Mead will stand by me as we watch you die.” Michael responded back to her.

“You can certainly go to Hell, but you won't find her there.” The first real sentence left my mouth. His voice had changed so much, his tone was deeper, but I could still hear the same soft tone he used with me.

“What have you done, Y/N.”

“Her soul is hidden by a spell only I can break. You'll never see her again.” Pain fluttered all around my chest, feeling my heart caving in.

“You’re all alone.” Cordelia completed.

It wasn’t true though. Yes, I was part of the witches’ coven and was loyal to them, but a part of me will always be with my Michael.

He was the first boy I’ve ever met. My mother was the only person I knew before I got into a car crash and Ms. Mead took me in; with having no idea that I was a witch. They would plot around my back and I would react by agreeing with them, taking no attention to my real self.

He was the first one to comfort me when my nightmare would start. He would tell me all about the house he was born and never hid anything from me. I felt guilty and unsafe with them because they wanted not only the witches to be all gone, but the whole godamn world.

I left, not even saying goodbye to him, I walked into his room before stepping out. Leaving him a kiss on his forehead and one of my rings; he would always play with them and he especially loved my small gold ring.

“I'm never alone. I have my father.” His voice broke.

“Where is he now? Why did he let this happen? You don't have to follow this path your father laid out for you.” Cordelia let me step closer to him. I lowered myself to his level.

“You can write your own destiny. You can still turn away. Michael, there's humanity in you. I see it. If you come with me, maybe we can find it, again. Together.” I offered him my hand, hoping her would take this chance to be better.

I saw the raw pain in his eyes, his thoughts were devouring his soul. He took my hand, but pulled me roughly against him instead.

“Somehow, some way, I am gonna bring her back. And then I'm gonna kill every last one of you.” He let me go of his embrace and walked towards Cordelia. He didn’t mean to say that to me, he said it directly to Cordelia.

He then walked away, turned to face me, and shared a thought with me. “Look in your hand.”

I did. The small ring I had given to him was right there, two years after my disappearance. There was a small word carved in my hand; “Come.” He wanted me to find him in the way he was going.

I did want to, but I didn’t how I would. “Y/N, let’s go.”

I nodded to her and watched her teleport herself back to the academy. It hurted me to betray my sisters, but I really needed to talk to him.

I walked toward Michael, almost losing the sight of him. I didn’t know where he was going, but teleporting myself to the unknown could cost me my life.

A few minutes later, I found Michael on his knees, on the ground, staring down at his hands. He must’ve heard a twig snap under my feet, his head snapped towards mine. He still looked so innocent and kind.

“You came.” He stood up, walking towards me.

“What do I have to lose.” His stance stood before mine, looking at me.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me when we lived together?” His tension falling off of his broad shoulders.

“I never told you because I was scared. I was scared that one day, you’d come into my room and rip my heart out my chest.” Tears made their way though my throat, causing my voice to crack.

“I grew up with you, you showed me so many things and not only did you give me a chance to be good, you were the first person who didn’t see me as the spawn of Satan. You saw me for who I was, even though you knew all about me. I would’ve never, ever hurted you.” He walked closer to me, seeing his eyes fill up with tears.

“What do you want me to say, Michael. I didn’t know what to believe, two years ago.” Tears were now dripping on my face. Words had left my mouth before I realized what I was saying.

“I loved you, Michael. I fell in love ever since the day our adoptive mother took you home. I didn’t know back then what you were, but when I found out and when you started making up all of your plans, my heart was shattered. I gave you a chance, but I was too scared to be near you. I went away and gave you this to remind you that even though I was weak to leave, that I never wanted to leave your side.” I fell on my knees, the weight from my shoulder was finally off of them after so many years. I ran my fingers along my black dress, taking a deep breath.

“I knew there was always something off about you, but seeing you stand with them. I never would’ve thought you would want me dead, because that’s all they want. If you loved, or still love me, you would know that I would never, ever hurt you, Y/N. I’m sorry about how I treated you in the past, but I am not sorry for falling in love with you.” I looked up to him, he was already looking at me, offering me his hand.

I took it, his touch made me feel safe. Even though all that he is, I did not care at all.

“Falling in love?” My lips felt like they needed to be on his desperately. His eyes looked even more blue in the dim light.

“Ever since I’ve met you, I knew what I felt for you was not only friendship. I love you so much and I’m not the type of person to say this if I don’t mean it.” His hand was now on my cheek, rubbing small circles on my jawline. Even though our height difference wasn’t extreme, I took a step closer and embraced our lips together.

His hands found their way on the back of my neck and on my waist as mine travelled to his hair and one behind his back. His lips felt heavenly on mine, almost like fire meeting ice. His devotion could be felt all the way through my body, my heart was radiating relief.

We departed to catch our breaths, my hands on the back of his neck, fiddling with his blonde curls. His hands were resting on my back, tracing lines on my back with his delicate yet strong hands.

“I love you too, Michael. And I promise you that I will never leave your side again.” He sighed and kissed me again, holding me closer to his body.

“Just stop reading my thoughts, alright?” I nodded and chuckled on his lips, kissing him desperately again.

“Alright.” I shared him my thought again, making him pull me into his embrace, wrapping his arms around my middle and never pulling back.

“I’ll find a way to get our Miss Mead back, I’m so sorry.” I whispered by his neck. His hand ran up higher to the back of my neck, nodding against my skin.

“Thank you, thank you, my love.” He rambled by my ear, holding even tighter to me.

[thecreaturecodex]

Father Llymic

Image by James Zhang, © Wizards of the Coast.

[Commissioned by @tar-baphon. Father Llymic might be my least favorite of the Elder Evils from the book of the same name. I appreciate the Gerald Scarfe -like design (although do we really need multiple fat humanoids in the same book?), but his actual statistics leave a lot to be desired. He can inflict negative levels with his aura and all of his natural attacks, and those negative levels have special conditions for being removed. He can project an image of himself, and it’s a major plot point for the proposed campaign arc, but there is no mechanical information given about how it works. He has no means of communicating with his minions, even though that seems to be a big deal for his plot. And his light weakness as originally written means he’s automatically staggered by a 3rd level spell (daylight)--a devastating weakness in a game where action economy is everything. So this version is rather severely overhauled from a mechanical perspective.]

Father Llymic CR 22 CE Outsider This immense creature resembles a crystalline humanoid, with rocky plates growing along its back. Its head is flat and insectile, with three glaring yellow eyes above a fanged maw. Its arms end in long, mantis-like claws.

Father Llymic is an alien evil, trapped under the ice on the top of a polar mountain and working his influence subtly on the world around him. He is currently in a state of stasis, able to send an illusory avatar to interact with the world, but unable to move or battle. Father Llymic uses this avatar to lure creatures to visit his mountain, whereupon his soul chill aura can transform them into his monstrous children. He also uses this avatar to coordinate the actions of his existing minions, sending them on raids to increase their numbers. The more children of Llymic exist, the more his bonds become loosened, and eventually he will rise triumphant into the polar winter.

Sunlight is anathema to Father Llymic, and light of any kind weakens him. When Father Llymic is awake and active, he promises, the sun will never shine, and creatures of cold and darkness can take over the planet. In combat, he focuses on attacking as many creatures as possible, hoping to inflict his curse on any survivors to create more children in the coming days. Those he cannot afflict in such a way are scissored to pieces with his razor-sharp claws, or frozen solid with cold magic.

It is believed that Father Llymic was originally a creature of the Plateau of Leng, and was imprisoned on the Material Plane by ancient elven magic. Indeed, Father Llymic hates elves above other creatures, and his psychic avatar often takes the form of a ragged white-haired elf with blank eyes and teeth made of ice. In addition to the children of Llymic, creatures of the Elder Mythos such as Leng ghouls and Leng hounds may serve him, and the denizens of Leng keep a close eye on Llymic cults (although their individual goals vary). Some thematically appropriate creatures for Father Llymic to summon include child of Llymic moon giants (CR 17 each), child of Llymic ancient white dragons (CR 17 each), child of Llymic ice linnorms (CR 19) or child of Llymic Leng spiders (CR 16 each).

Father Llymic CR 22 XP 615,000 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, evil) Init +8; Senses blindsight 120 ft., Perception +33, see in darkness, true seeing Aura soul chill (30 ft., Fort DC 30) Defense AC 40, touch 12, flat-footed 36 (-2 size, +4 Dex, +28 natural) hp 420 (24d10+288); dark healing 30 Fort +20, Ref +18, Will +22 DR 20/epic; Immune ability damage and drain, cold, energy drain, mind-influencing effects, petrifaction, poison, polymorph; Resist electricity 20, fire 20; SR 32 (37 vs. divinations) Weakness light sickness, vulnerable to sonic Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 30 ft., ice walking Melee 2 claws +34 (3d6+12/19-20x3 plus 2d6 cold plus curse of Llymic), bite +34 (2d8+12 plus 2d6 cold) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks augmented critical, psychic avatar, rend (2 claws, 3d6+18 plus 2d6 cold) Spell-like Abilities CL 22nd, concentration +30 Constant—nondetection, true seeing At will—cone of cold (DC 23), deeper darkness, detect magic, dimension door, dream, greater dispel magic, nightmare (DC 23), wall of ice 3/day—quickened cone of cold (DC 23), greater scrying (DC 25), polar ray 1/day—energy drain (DC 27), polar midnight (DC 27), summon children of Llymic Statistics Str 34, Dex 19, Con 35, Int 24, Wis 27, Cha 26 Base Atk +24; CMB +38 (+42 sunder); CMD 52 (54 vs. sunder) Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Cleave, Greater Sunder, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (cone of cold), Stand Still Skills Acrobatics +29 (+37 when jumping), Bluff +33, Climb +34, Diplomacy +31, Fly +32, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (arcana, planes) +32, Knowledge (geography, nature) +29, Linguistics +11, Perception +33, Sense Motive +33, Spellcraft +32, Stealth +21 Languages Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Common, Draconic, Elven, Giant, telepathy 1 mile (100 miles with children of Llymic) SQ no breath, planar acclimation Ecology Environment cold mountains Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Augmented Critical (Ex) Father Llymic’s claws threaten a critical hit on a roll of 19-20 and deal x3 damage on a successful critical hit. Father Llymic has increased this threat range with the Improved Critical feat.  Curse of Llymic (Su) Claw—contact; save Fortitude DC 30; onset immediate; frequency 1/day; effect 1 temporary negative level. Negative levels dealt by the curse of Llymic can only be removed through magic, and only if the creature is in natural sunlight. A creature that has as many temporary negative levels as HD from this ability is transformed into a child of Llymic over the course of one minute. The save DC is Charisma based. Dark Healing (Su) Father Llymic gains fast healing 30 whenever he is in an area of darkness or supernatural darkness. Flight (Su) Father Llymic’s fly speed is a supernatural ability. Ice Walking (Ex) Father Llymic ignores all difficult terrain and movement penalties from natural or magical snow and ice. Light Sickness (Ex) Father Llymic is sickened in an area of normal or bright light. He takes damage as if it were undead from light based spells and abilities that deal damage, such as searing light or sunbeam. In an area of direct sunlight, he must succeed a DC 30 Fortitude save every round or be paralyzed. Planar Acclimation (Ex) Father Llymic is never treated as having the extraplanar subtype. Psychic Avatar (Su) Once per day as a standard action, Father Llymic can create an illusory avatar and project it over great distances. This functions as a project image spell that lasts for 1 hour, except that it has a range of 100 miles, and Father Llymic does not require a direct line of effect to the area. Father Llymic can choose what the avatar looks like, as if affected by a veil spell. Father Llymic can use his spell-like abilities through the avatar, but all saving throws made against them gain a +2 circumstance bonus. Soul Chill Aura (Su) All creatures within 30 feet of Father Llymic must succeed a DC 30 Fortitude save every round or take 1 temporary negative level. Creatures with the child of Llymic template are immune to this effect. These negative levels cannot be removed except by magic, and then only if the creature is in natural sunlight. A creature that has as many temporary negative levels as HD from this ability is transformed into a child of Llymic over the course of 1 minute. The save DC is Charisma based. Summon Children of Llymic (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, Father Llymic can summon a CR 19 encounter worth of creatures with the child of Llymic template. These remain for 1 hour or until slain.

[picnokinesis]

fic writer review

tagged by the wonderful @swinging-stars-from-satellites whoop!! Let’s go!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Fourteen! It was thirteen until yesterday, which appealed to me a lot, but I decided that posting pirate!thoschei was worth changing that number hahaha

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

394,102

3. How many fandoms have you written for?

Technically five, because I’m not counting Avengers and MCU as two different fandoms hahaha. But they are: Doctor Who (2005), MCU, Stargate Universe, The Greatest Showman, and X-Men (comics) - the latter, though, wasn’t really for that fandom, because I was writing a TGS X-Men au hahaa

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

Liminality , with 195 kudos - I am not surprised about this one, since it’s probably the most ‘readable’ of my fics, being a oneshot, not shippy, and also not being stupidly long haha!

Renegades in the Ring , with 144 kudos - I didn’t realise how much kudos this one got? I guess it helped that the fandom was very active when I first posted this. Alas, if only I had finished this one...I have a lot of nostalgia for the idea, but I don’t think I’ll ever return to it, simply because it would take about as much effort as campervan au is taking me right now. 

i need a place to hide (before the storm begins) , with 125 kudos - which I am genuinely SO happy about because ahh! This is my big project and to know that 125 people said ‘yes this is good’ is just...really really nice?? Especially when it’s such a niche, specific au.

Tropospheric Disturbance , with 125 kudos - honestly, I’m surprised this one has as many kudos as it does, since I regularly forget I even wrote it hah! It’s a weird one, because it’s not actually in my usual writing style, but I am very proud of it!

and they did live by watchfires , with 109 kudos - and I’m really really happy to see this one here, because I think this is probably the favourite thing of my own that I’ve written. 

5. Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

YES absolutely!! I love comments so much, and I really love to ramble about my stories because I almost always have a LOT of thoughts hahaha

6. A fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I mean, it’s probably a toss up between i need a place to hide (because I ended it on that twist/cliffhanger), Retrograde (which is another cliffhanger ending, leaving all the characters in a REALLY BAD situation), or maybe the new problem kid, you’ll taste all the salt in my lungs, because, uh, it basically ends with the Doctor saying ‘the person I was before this moment is dead’ HAHAHA. But, to be honest, I don’t know if I would call any of those endings VERY angsty? They’re more like ‘AHHH WHAT HAPPENS NEXT’ endings rather than angst. I don’t tend to write angsty endings because I love angst but I always prefer to end it on a hopeful note...otherwise it feels very unsatisfying for me to write, personally. 

7. Do you write crossovers?

Technically? I mean, I see Renegades as an au more than a crossover, because it’s merely set in the same universe as the X-Men comics, and the only crossover element is Nathaniel Essex being in it...and I never even wrote those scenes hahaha

8. Ever received hate on a fic?

Nah, people are wonderful!

9. Do you write smut?

Since I’m sex-repulsed, this is a hard no HAHA

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know!

11. Ever had a fic translated?

I have not

12. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Me and @sunshinedaysforever have a collab-wip graveyard in our dms HAHA - but I am actually working on cowriting a fic with some other wonderful folks at the moment! I am. Supposed to have my part finished by the 6th. Hm. 

13. All time fav ship?

Right now, it’s thoschei/spydoc, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s my all time favourite, because my favourite changes a lot. I do have a HUGE amount of love for Clintasha and Rush/Young though! 

14. WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Hmmmmm, there’s a few. I mean, at the moment, I feel like The Grandfather Paradox will NEVER get finished, but I like to think that if I’m still into Doctor Who enough when I finally finish campervan, I might take a crack at it? Grandfather Paradox is more solid atm than some of my other wips...(see: deathless, disarmed). Oh, I know which one I almost certainly won’t finish - this one I came up with waaay back before In the Wind, which is set between O55 and Telsa, which is about telepathy and not listening to warnings from the past, amongst other things.

15. Writing strengths?

I’ve been informed that I’m really good at character voices, and I also think that I’m quite good at expanding characters we see very little of and fleshing them out a lot more. I’ve had to do that a lot for campervan and it’s been really good fun!

16. Writing weaknesses?

I think I can get kinda tangled in the emotional plot lines sometimes, and it makes everything get convoluted and messy and hard to follow? Also I’m not very good at...taking a good metaphor and expanding it? If that makes sense. I’m also actually kind of terrible at subtle, clever foreshadowing because half the time I don’t know what’s happening HAHAHAHAH but sometimes I do manage it!! I’m trying to do it in campervan at the moment. Also I. Can’t write short things HAHA. My characters always think and talk a LOT and sometimes that’s good, sometimes not so much

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I’m actually doing it currently in part 5 of campervan, since Gabriela and Jamila both speak portuguese (and I’m learning portuguese!)

18. First fandom you wrote for?

On ao3? Stargate Universe. On the internet? The Avengers. Ever? Uh. I honestly don’t know. I made up ocs based on two unicorns in the aftercredits sequence of a My Little Pony VHS tape, does that count?

19. What’s your fav fic you’ve written so far?

I mentioned it earlier, but I’m extremely proud of and emotionally attached to and they did live by watchfires

If anyone wants my ao3, it’s right over here!

And oh, who to tag!! No pressure, of course, but: @sunshinedaysforever @theplatinthehat @taardisblue @hetzi-art @krebkrebkreb @echo84 @theoreticalabsurdity @1-of-those-things @walker-lister @timelostdoctor and anyone else who wants to!

[onlyhereforangst]

WWR

I really wished I had gotten this done before the rollercoaster that was today. Yeah I’m looking at you NCIS press staff who threw the entire fandom into a spiral with this uploaded then deleted nine second clip that threatens to make us all riot. Looking. At. You. 

Anyways, this is gonna be short in comparison to Sangre because honestly there wasn’t a whole whole lot and also my mind is scrambled 🥴

So Nick at the elevator with Ellie’s firearms scorecard had be dying. Either he knows exactly when she shows up everyday because this is Eleanor Bishop and she’s nothing if not punctual, it’s just who she is. Or they are in such constant contact that she had literally just sent him a text that she was parking and coming up to the bullpen now. Or he’d been standing there for the past half hour while McGee tries to rib him for looking like an idiot and him refusing to move because she has to show up to work eventually. But my bet is the second honestly. Ellie acting coy and giving Nick a hard time is everything though because this is so usually not how it goes. He’s usually the secretive one (up until recently, I’m aware) and now she’s the one who’s all mysterious like yeah I’m a badass shot (and you know this Nick, duhhhh) but I’m not gonna tell you why my score is even better now so good that I maxed it out since it has to do with the training I’m getting from Odette that I *still* haven’t told anyone about. But shockingly enough boy learned his previous mistake last year in the jail cell and dropped it and didn’t ask more questions because he knows Ellie will tell him when Ellie is ready and ok to tell him 🥺 the respect for her and also trust she’d tell him if it was big (which ahem Ellie if this *is* because of Odette, oooooo you done messed up). 

McGee being bitter about not getting the body call had me cackling. Poor dude does not have a poker face 🤣

And then I stayed laughing with Kasie’s little commentary about streets for cars and oceans for sharks (my husband who dabbles in cycling would not be on the same page with the first part but definitely the second Kasie, I hear that). Why does Ellie’s look at the back of Nick’s head and his immediate getting Kasie back on track seem like they’ve just got perfect telepathy and know literally what the other is thinking, they’re just so in sync 😩

More ellick as partners and it’s just adorable as usual I love how they work together, they so efficient they already two steps ahead of McGee with everything. And 🥺 Nick’s catching Ellie’s attention while she’s thinking about Gibbs, that slight worry in his face as he knows this is hard for her because of their relationship. I love how much he cares without showing he cares. He would do everything for her, he wants to wrap her up and protect her from the dangers and hurt of the world. THIS IS WHY YOU’RE NOT LIKE MIGUEL NICK, THIS. YOUR DAD WOULD NEVER. Also Gibbs tells Ellie its not his call so she immediately defers to Nick to see what they should do? Ugh the trust. I love. 

OK so the hotly disputed scene in interrogation with McGee, Bishop and Hannah. I have thoughts and yes I wear ellick-colored glasses while I watch this show so yes I’ll be biased. Just like everyone has their own bias when watching so we can all believe what we want to believe since we also all know that we will never, ever get clarification. NCIS writers would never. Past plot lines coming back up, that’s cute. SO ANYWAYS. I love that it was Ellie’s idea to do the skeptic and hopeless romantic, for being a logical agent she sure is using her heart a lot in recent episodes I see you Ellie you can’t hide that Ms. Big-Hearted Bishop 👀 and yes the shaaaaade she throws out is 100% real you cannot convince me otherwise. Half these guys wouldn’t know love if it smacked them in the face?? yes. agree. A thousand percent agree. SHE SPEAKS FROM EXPERIENCE OK. And then the someone special in her life 🥺🥺🥺 oof we know you love him Ellie it’s ok you can just say it. You can say Nick has wormed his way into your heart with his dancing hips and his smart tongue. We know it he’s special to you he’s more than special he’s your loooooove 😭 and yes the GROWTH Y’ALL. We went from not trusting him with her phone- her pHONE. To now she trusts him with her life???? Because this man vowed from that night in the bullpen in 16x11 to prove to her that she can trust him and ain’t that IT. Good god is someone cutting onions around me?? He stood in the bullpen realizing how much he fucked up and said, that won’t happen again. She will trust me with everything big and small, to the point she’d trust me with her life and it will be my mission in life to prove this to her no matter how long it takes because yes it matters. Boy even pushed her out the way of a speeding car and almost died himself all for this lady and yes nick she knows you risked her life for hers and that’s when she realizes that shit this is so incredibly real and I’d put my life in his hands and he’d put his in mine without hesitation this is love. So yes if he asked her to do something (relating to Hannah here and also I think a piece of her knows that if nick had died, she would have been the one to kill Xavier), she would in a heartbeat. She would do anything for this man and while yes some of this is dramatized and played up a bit to get Hannah to open up, I firmly believe that it comes from a place of truth. That she pulled from experience and what she feels in order to play it best. Also partly why I don’t think this is in reference to Gibbs. She told McGee she was going to play the hopeless romantic card and she’s literally trying to appeal/connect with Hannah who is in a *romantic* relationship with the suspect. So naturally she’s going to mirror that with a romantic angle, not a father-daughter angle (that’s creepy when you think about it tbh - related to a woman who’s in love with a guy by saying you understand because you feel similarly about your “dad’?? No thank you) So yes, I’m in the camp that Ellie was picturing Nick while saying all this and surely she laid it on a little thick for the sake of the interrogation, but there’s an undercurrent of truth to her words and you can pry that out of my dead, cold hands because I will believe this to my grave unless NCIS writers magically remember old plots and prove me wrong. 

Nick busting out Hannah’s rhymes while Nick gives the little head bob yessssss. How many times had they done that before McGee got that update 🤣🤣😅

He’s still at her desk 👀 he’s always at her desk 🥰 and then the celebratory drink part…Nick’s look at Ellie…more silent communication because they’re just on the same page and you honestly did not need to look at each other that long but ok, can’t keep your eyes off one another even though McGee asked a simple question. But the better question is did they still go get that celebratory drink with McGee or did McGee decide to go home since Gibbs screened their call and they went out to get that drink by themselves 👀👀 and really it’s just Ellie drinking and getting flirty throwing some arms around some shoulders 👀👀 I don’t hate this is that why you guys get all cozy in the bullpen next episode huh nick 👀👀 can’t stop it after tipsy Ellie is falling all over you with how close y’all are now I see how it is 👀👀

But yeah tonight’s episode. I’ve gone on a clown rollercoaster today and I can tell you I’m not looking forward to the emotional turmoil that will be tonight- however it turns out. Who am I kidding i live for this shit I’m a clown forever through and through. 

[not-delicious-milk]

yo I'm gonna be a coward. I've read fan fiction since middle school, and during that time I've read some truly cursed things. I personally have tried to avoid reading mentor/student relationships cause they squik me the f out. But I've always been more treat the immortals like they are their apparent physical age for shipping. So people trying to lewd the pre pubescent with the excuse that they're immortal are obviously full of shit. pt 1.

pt.2 but shipping like Rukia/ Ichigo is fine cause they're the same apparent physical age and act with about the same lvl of maturity. While shipping him with Yoruichi would be sketch. So full disclosure I don't ship Sukuna and Megumi, I don't really see them having chemistry, and no one has written anything good enough to change my mind. But it doesn't freak me out like Megumi and Gojo. Would you be willing to write why you don't consider the vampire rule to apply here?

i’m not completely familiar with the vampire rule, but i would assume you mean that apparent age trumps actual age when it lines up with mental and emotional development?

personally, i’m not a huge fan of that train of thought -- i agree that it’s important to consider mental age when it comes to immortals or very, very old entities, but actual age is still important. and that’s because of the whole reason why big age gaps are fucked up, i.e an imbalance of power that can easily be exploited. adults have more experience, influence, and physical maturity than children or teens do, which they can leverage to groom or abuse a younger partner. as much as i will admit to not hating twilight that much (breaking dawn made me want to give myself a lobotomy though) and honestly sort of liking the trope of “human girl in love with an ancient supernatural being” or any variants of that, there’s an important distinction that needs to be made with it so it’s not awful.

the answer has little to do with mental age. it has to do with power dynamics.

for a vampire romance (which i’m just going to use as a general term for these sorts of relationships) it is absolutely necessary for there to be some caveat in place to prevent the supernatural party from just taking advantage of the mortal one. usually we don’t even think about that when reading or watching vampire romances, because how could such a charming creature of the night stoop so low? 

but it’s important to note that vampires, in gothic literature, existed to fulfill a very specific role. the repressed victorians loved incorporating taboo subjects into their stories, for the steamy scenes i guess, but couldn’t easily do so within the confines of proper literature. one of those taboo subjects was r*pe, which they both found very hot in a forbidden sort of way and longed to explore in their writing without societal backlash, and if you cast an eye upon dracula or carmilla it’s quite easy to guess where those subjects ended up. 

so, for a proper vampire romance, it can’t just end in a straight up kidnapping or taking by force, both because that would be narratively uninteresting and morally corrupt. sometimes there’s a supernatural reason for it, like a protection that the mortal party has to prevent the immortal one from abusing their powers. for example, bella in twilight is immune to telepathy and later develops a shield power against all vampire powers, preventing edward from being able to take advantage of her or invade her privacy any more than he was already doing, fuck you stephanie meyer. sometimes the mortal party has a power of their own that, while relatively useless in situations where the immortal one can swoop in and save them dramatically, is very useful against said immortal party for whatever reason. for example, kagome’s status as the reincarnation of the priestess migoriko would theoretically prevent inuyasha from harming her; in a more explicit example, nanami from kamisama kiss holds absolute divine control over tomoe and could order him to stop if ever he tried anything she didn’t like. although there’s an age gap in those stories, it doesn’t feel like it, not just because of the immortal party’s mental age but because of their inability to take advantage of said gap.

can you see where this is going? 

megumi/gojo is absolutely foul -- there’s the grooming aspect, the fact gojo knew megumi when he was five and practically raised him as a father, and the implicit power imbalance of a teacher/student relationship. there’s no question as to why it’s so repulsive to think about.

megumi/sukuna is equally repulsive, but really only when it exists in fan works. in the canon, sukuna doesn’t have the opportunity to so much as interact with megumi most of the time, let alone take advantage of him, and yuuji would stop that before it ever happened. it feels like a classic vampire romance because the power imbalance should, theoretically, be nerfed by outside circumstances. of course this isn’t the case in any sukufushi fanworks, because it would obviously be boring for sukuna to respect megumi’s boundaries and also to not date a fucking 15 year old from inside the body of another 15 year old, jesus christ. in sukufushi fanworks, which as i’ve stated is the only place sukufushi even exists, there is always something cancelling out the restraints placed on sukuna’s power, whether it be that he has his own body, takes advantage of “enchain”, is able to take control of yuuji’s body on his own, yuuji lets him out for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter. 

there’s always something like that because sukufushi doesn’t exist as a vampire romance, it exists as something more like tentacle p*rn. 

that’s not a sentence i ever thought i’d write, but i think it makes sense? it’s not supposed to be an actual relationship, it’s more like wish fulfillment for people with degradation and pain kinks. in sukufushi fan works, sukuna wields absolute power over megumi and takes full advantage of the age gap and power gap between them. just like how tentacle p*rn strips away the right to refuse in the face of absolute alien power and a language barrier that keeps consent from being withdrawn, sukufushi strips away megumi’s right to refuse in the face of absolute curse power and sukuna’s inability to take “no” for an answer. this is why all explicit sukufushi fics end with megumi being r*ped or nearly r*ped. 

please don’t ask me how i know all of this. sometimes good fanfics have sukufushi scenes in them and i have to like, scroll past the paragraphs really fast to get back to the plot. it’s just that omnipresent.

in other words, megumi/gojo is more grounded in “reality” (not the reality of a functional teacher/student relationship, but the reality of a 28 year old man really being 28 years old) and absent of vampire romance justifications for the age gap. it feels gross because it is and also because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be.

megumi/sukuna doesn’t feel that way at first, especially if you mainly see sort of canon compliant shipping of it. it’s really common and also never commented on when people joke about sukuna having a “crush” on megumi based on his lines of dialogue when he says he’s curious about him or whatnot. that obeys vampire romance rules, so it doesn’t feel weird. sukuna really doesn’t want to kill or harm megumi because he’s important to his plans later, so that’s out. yuuji would never let sukuna touch megumi with a 10 foot pole either, so that’s out. really their only interactions are hypothetical, besides that one time in shibuya, and even then literally nothing happened. sukuna didn’t want his pawn to break yet, that’s all. even when people overanalyze it they can’t really get any farther than “looks like someone’s got a crush on fushigurooooo” because that’s the farthest it can go. 

if you start looking into sukufushi fanart or fanfics, which is about 95% of the content for sukufushi anyway because again, it’s not supported by the canon at all, vampire romance is replaced unceremoniously by tentacle p*rn. which is why i hate it so much. 

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[wandaposting]

I still stand by this, having someone as sympathetic and genuine as Monica (who also directly experienced what the westview citizens were dealing with, albeit for less time but still, and was even the one to verbalize it as the weighing grief and almost overflowing agony we now know it to be) say that "they'll never know what you sacrificed for them" is one of biggest disservices to her character in the limited time we've known her. This wasn't some big bad starting shit where Wanda came in after the fact, hell Hayward and even Agatha didn't show up until after the bubble was up, this was all directly her starting and her doing. Sure, the argument could be made that she didn't know right away, but as even you pointed out, there are several different instances where she was shown something was off/out of place. Not to mention, the mcu *really* doubling down on her telepathy and then just. Not having her acknowledge the suppression and undoubted agony radiating off of 3k+ westview citizens? x for doubt y'all

The fact that it's almost treated like westview and everyone are wrong or even unreasonable for being upset with/at her is a little upsetting too? Yes, Wanda has canonically always tried her best and things tend to go sideways, but this isn't a case where her reappearing well-intentions make up for the chaos and (in this case, largely mental, but I don't doubt a few people have some bruises or swelling from that little sequence before she started reopening the hex) destruction that tends to follow her in the mcu. No matter how well- intentioned she's been/may have been in the past, people know her name and face for a reason. The mcu in general has this weird idea that Wanda is their starting point for a 'they hate me solely for my powers' storyline when she really isn't the best starting point for that lmao. Well-intentioned or no, intentional or not, mcu-specific Wanda's story has chaos following her everywhere she goes- and by association, a fear of her inherent presence bc of that following chaos and destruction. Obviously people like Hayward and Ross exist solely to yell about metahumans to the clouds and obviously the chaos and destruction come to fruition inherently bc of her power's presence, but solely blaming the general public's fear of her on the fact that she has powers and not bc of literally everything else is a little meh to me.

Literally, look at westview. A place meant for her to have a home, a place in the world, and it ends w her going into "self-isolation" after she spent a week plus holding a town of 3k physically and mentally hostage? That isn't something that can be 'well, actually' ed away or 'she has depression, so'ed away bc of her grief and issues- especially when there were several opportunities for an out earlier on. It's all just treated weird and not even really Wanda-leaning to me, like it's a good moment for her and everyone is against her be of her powers X-men style, it just feels rushed and disingenuous. Especially after those lines from Monica? Managed to mischaracterize her already and we're only been with her for about an hour total

the narrative that so obviously wanted to characterize wanda and monica as ultimately goodhearted and emotionally empathetic characters was definitely, jarringly at odds with how the westview finale unfolded. this is not so much me ragging on the characters themselves because “those poor westview npcs,” or me making a big deal out of a house of m adaptation that’s still better than house of m, but me being bummed out that they really flubbed this one critical element of her development, that they could have done much better with, with only minor adjustments to the screenplay.

maybe something was lost when the pandemic interfered with the production, maybe they were rushed. i like to think the pre-pandemic wandavision plans wouldn’t have varied drastically from what we got (minus the darcy/monica/boner/minimoffs vs Demonic Senior Scratchy scene that WOULDA BEEN NICE TO SEE). but if it did, i kind of wish they would’ve taken the time they needed to fine tune these elements instead of dumping it on that early release date. we might’ve gotten something much more special.

on the other hand ... wonder woman 1984 was delayed repeatedly, and they (albeit a different production) still thought it was a good idea to keep that creepy steve trevor body possession plot point, which was a disservice to diana’s character despite the general goofy fun of the film.

this feels like the exact same situation amplified by the population of westview lksjflskd

[moonbearmeliox]

X-Men Series Film Review

Welcome back to “Bren rambles about a movie/tv series.” So I just spent the past three days watching the main X-Men movies and while watching I wrote down my thoughts and what came to mind when watching the movies. Spoiler Warning(duh) for the X-Men movies. Also trigger warning because I do talk about homophobia and conversion camps.

X-Men

As the woman is talking about how mutants can be scared to revel themselve because they could be met with hostility and violence, I find this as a parellel to gay marriage and how LGBTQ+ are scared to come out because they won’t be accepted. Mutants are scared to say they’re mutants of fear of being put to death; LGBTQ+ people are scared to come out in fear of being met with violence or judgement(some places you can be put to death for being gay.

“We should decide if parents want their kids to be in school with mutants.” Sounds the same as “Do you want your child to go to the same school as a gay person? Do you want to be in the bathroom with a girl who has a dick?(in the context of conservatives who don’t want transgender people to use the bathrooms they identify with because “their genitals don’t match)”

Speaking of gay: Eric and Charles

Wolverine got anger issues

Wolverine adopting a young girl with mutant powers, how many times is this going to happen? At least twice.

Rouge really got the shortest end of the stick with the mutant gene.

Give Rouge a male love interest that will inevitably die by her hand, that’s what I’m assuming.

Jean Gray is going to be Wolverine’s love interest, calling it now

Mystique’s costume always bugs me because she’s essentially naked. Like, the directors were like “She must wear no clothes.” “That’s not practical-” “Men will eat it up. The sex appeal, yes. Because women can never have practical costume design.”

Scott looks like he’s played by the main dude in the Sonic Movie(I was right!)

Can Magneto bend the iron in people’s bodies?

“You never use your power against another mutant.” How long is that going to last?

Dad Logan is the best Logan.

The Train Splitting scene shows how powerful Magneto is but didn’t Charles tell Wolverine that Magneto can control metal. Wouldn’t Wolverine have the knowledge, “Hey using my METAL claws against a METAL bender might not be a good idea.”

Kinda figured he would want Rouge, a mutant who can literally kill someone with touch is definitely something the big bad would want.

Magento could just metal bend Charles’ wheelchair.

So Magento’s plan is to turn everyone into mutants, right?

Charles explained it more and it sounds like Terragensis from Agents of Shield with the crystals. Some come out of it with powers, others will crumble to dust.

What powers the cortex that makes it so Charles goes into a coma? Like how does the liquid get into his brain for that to happen?

Yes Jean, it is a perfect idea to put the helmet that put Charles into a coma on your head. Nothing will go wrong.

Mystique really only has like five lines in this whole movie. She really is just supposed to be eye candy.

Of course classic shapeshifter double, who’s who scene. Probably going to be resolved with Jean Gray knowing which one is the real Logan.

The fight scene isn’t that well shot but it is 2000 so

I don’t remember there being a big museum when I visited the Statue of Liberty

I doubt Mystique will stay dead.

Again they thought it would be a good idea to send Wolverine, the man with METAL CLAWS to help fight a METAL BENDER.

Nice of Magneto to put Cyclops and Jean right next to each other face to face.(Director: They’re a couple they must face each other so one can kill the other)

Yep, knew Mystique couldn’t stay dead

Why did they try and have Jean and Logan have a weird semi romance set up when Jean is dating Scott

They gave Charles a plastic wheel chair for when he visited Magneto. Ha, that’s funny.

Plastic isn’t that durable, it would be easy to break Magneto out

X2

Nightcrawler!

The fights scenes have improved, but they’re using a lot of wire rigging

Alan Cummings played NightCrawler. Knew he looked familiar.

Let’s have Wolverine follow a wolf even though wolves are wolverine's natural predators.

Watch the president be a mutant

Dad!Logan

Still painting it that Logan and Jean could possibly end up together. No thanks.

I see they didn’t change Mystique’s costume design. Is she going to say more than five lines in this movie?

Government wants to pass an act to detain and control all mutants, goes and raids a school filled with mutants, and then is SURPRISED when the mutants retaliate. “Oh we don’t want to start a war” THEN LEAVE THEM ALONE. Of course they’re not going to leave them alone because what isn’t normal scares them and must be dealt with no matter what.

Getting even more parallels between mutants and LGBTQ+. Striker wanted his son cured of the mutant gene but was ultimately upset when Charles’s school couldn’t do that. It’s similar to how when people come out to their parents, their parents send them to conversion camps to “Cure” them because they think being gay is an illness. 

Bobby don’t get horny, it will only end badly

I asked the question if Magento could bend the iron in people’s blood in the last movie. The answer is yes. Yes he can.

Bobby’s parents “Have you tried not being a mutant.” Gives more LGBTQ parreles “Have you tried being straight?” “Have you tried being your assigned gender?”

An officer shooting a white guy? Unrealistic.

Welp Bad guys and good guys team up to save Charles.

Jean and Logan kissed. Here’s my shocked face. #TeamScott.

But seriously, I hate how the main dude must have romantic interactions with the main girl. It’s never the main dude has romantic interactions with a minor(minior in the sense of not that important to the plot) girl, Storm is right there with no love interest. Pair Logan up with her, that way we aren’t running an already established romance, But nooooo, Hollywood loves to have love triangles.

Mystique changing into Jean, making out with Logan, and then changing into a bunch of different girls makes me uncomfortable.

But again, “All women who have the potential to be a love interest must kiss the main dude” now we wait for Storm to give Logan a smooch.

Female Wolverine!

Magneto had his own secret agenda? Who would have thought?

Bobby’s going to come in clutch with freezing the water

Why does Jean need to go and stop the water? Bobby has control over ice, he can stop it.

Man I really feel bad for Scott. 

But I’m miffed because it’s the classic female character dies to further male character’s development.

Oh look Jean’s alive, not surprise. Is she going to be the villain of X-men 3?

I couldn’t watch X-Men 3 because it wasn’t available on any sites but reading the wiki synopsis I was right on her being a bad guy(MY BOY SCOTT GOT MURDERED!). Upset Charles died but he was old and the mentor figure so he kinda had it coming.  On to the prequels. 

X-Men-First Class

So Charles met Mystique first. And her name is Raven. Wonder what caused their split. I just hope they weren’t romantically involved

Poor Erik, really giving him a tragic backstory

James Macavoy!

Raven and Charles call each other siblings! Oh this is going to hurt more.

Excuse me while I get distracted by Vegas women.

But also did the CIA woman plan to sneak in as a showgirl. Because who would wear lingerie under work clothes unless she planned for this(or planned to get freaky later). I mean it’s Vegas so maybe she was prepared.

Emma Frost is a telepath and can crystalize her body. Not what I was expecting with the last name Frost but I also find it odd that her two mutations don’t intersect with each other. Telepathy and crystallization have nothing in common, so the only explanation is that she got both genes from her parents. It would have to be rare since males are usually the ones to pass the gene to their kids.

Azazel. I’m guessing is Nightcrawler's dad. He and Mystique will get romantically involved and have Nightcrawler. He’ll get the blue skin from his mom but the mutant gene from his dad.

Ok I’m miffed about the costume design again. It’s London and it’s raining and they decided to have Raven and the CIA woman wear SHORTS! They’ll be freezing their asses off all so you can have some leg candy? What’s so appealing about knees? Nothing. It’s always been women’s costume designs that have to be appealing, not practical.

If Charles can’t be involved with Mystique, then he’ll have to get involved with Moira?(I don’t know if I heard her name correctly, the CIA lady). Because all male characters MUST have a romantic love interest(sarcasm)

That one CIA dude, he’s a real one.

So the dude that killed Erik’s mother, is also a mutant. 

How is Erik trending water and controlling metal? Nevermind, he’s drowning

Charles saves Erik! And thus the ship is born. “Erik, you’re not alone.”

Hank Mcoy. They zoomed in on Mystique when he was looking at her. Reading the camera angles...oh please don’t have another romantic set up.

They did the Spiderman/MJ framing with Hank upside down and Mystique very close to his face. Yep, they’re setting up a romance between them that will ultimately go nowhere because again, Mystique will do the do with Azael to get Nightcrawler.

Hank and Mystique have only known each other for like five minutes and they’re already having a picnic on top of a rocket. I hate how romance moves so fast in movies.

And Mystique was going to kiss him. Just...no

Erik, right after he walks in on Hank and Mystique’s picnic: If I looked like you, I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Are they really trying to set up a love triangle between Hank, Mystique and Erik? I know Magneto and Mystique's relationship in the first three movies is close, but that sentence just makes it sound like Erik is jealous.

“Are you sure we can’t shave your head.” “Don’t touch my hair”. I mean he’s going to lose it eventually.

I love the mutant finding montage. Especially the Wolverine cameo

My mom just informed me that the bad bad is played by Kevin Bacon so that’s what I will refer to him as since I can’t remember his name.

These recruited mutants aren’t going to last long. They’ve got the youthful team up energy, they will be the “First Class” hence the name, but we probably won’t see them again after this movie.

Charles, Erik and Moira being disappointed parents. Starting to get a family vibe that we didnt get from the last three movies.

Charles as Erik storms in: I’m sorry, I can’t leave him. They’re gay your honor.

I just realized that Frost is the second right hand woman to have no real costume. She’s just like Mystique where “she must wear the least amount of clothing possible or have no clothing at all when using her powers” I just wish it would stop.

Let’s take the right hand woman who is a telepath with us. What could go wrong?

What is Angel’s motive to go with Bacon, like I don’t get it. And the adaption dude? It’s just a turn on the dime. Nevermind it was a fakeout and one of them died. Knew they weren’t going to last long.

I feel like Chalres trying to shoot Erik as training is foreshadowing.

Training montage

SO Bacon loses Frost and now has Angle as his right hand woman? I honestly didn’t think that necessary.

Welp there goes Mystique and Hank’s relationship. He only liked her when she was in disguise.

Conflicting differences! Finally get to see Erik and Charle’’s view on humans.

Knew it! As soon as Hank dumps Mystique she goes straight to Erik. Because “She MUST be romantically involved.” Why? Why? Can’t she just...not. She doesn’t need a man.

Erik: I want to go to bed. Maybe in a few years. Ha funny.

I get Mystique going to Erik because he accepts her, unlike Hank but again, she doesn’t need to have a love interest.

Suits! But again, miffed about Mystique’s suit not being fully set up. SHE DOESN'T”T NEED TO HAVE HER CLEAVAGE TEASING IF SHE”S GOING TO BE FIGHTING!

Could Charles just stop controlling Bacon, so he can move and Erik wouldn’t have a chance to kill him.

But good cuts between Bacon and Charles.

The boyfriends are fighting!

Oh that’s how he gets parralized. I forgot about that.

Erik really does care for Charles even tho they have different viewpoints

Mystique going with Erik and having Azeal with him is setting up the perfect opportunity for Nightcrawler.

“Gentleman, this is why the CIA is no place for a woman” *Big gigantic crash* That’s what you get for being sexist.

Days of Future Past

So these machines can absorb mutant powers and transfer them to other machines. A new threat.

Oh Charles isn’t dead from being disintegrated by Dark Phoenix

Logan!

Charles confirmed Mystique was like a sister to him.

So Mystique’s dna was the cause of the Sentitnals. I understand that stopping Mystique from shooting the doctor will change that, but also if that doesn’t work they would have to kill Mystique.(which won’t happen because she’s in the next movie.

Charles tells Wolverine that he didn’t have his powers in 1973, but First Class takes place in 1962 where he definitely had his powers. So what happened to Charles that made him lose his powers?

For once the government isn’t targeting mutants

Well one dude from First Class is in this movie, but sadly I can’t remember his name. X-beam guy.

Why is Charles drunk and not parallelized?

Hank still cares for Raven. Guess the love triangle is still a thing

Oh he’s doing the equivalent of mutant heroine to get rid of his powers and walk.

Erik in gay baby jail.

Erik killed JFK?! Why?!

I feel like if Mystique is searching around the office of someone, she should still be disguised as someone so she doesn’t get caught. I get her dropping the disguise to show the audience it’s her and it builds suspense but she would draw less suspicion.

PETER! MY boy!

I love that he talks fast and that’s kinda like a teenager. I don’t know how old he actually is.

“My mom knew a guy who could do that.” They’re not even trying to be subtle here.

Slow mo Peter speed scene! Yes!

Is that all we get of Peter in this movie? I hope not.

JFK WAS A MUTANT?

So Magneto can lift a plane, a submarine, and now a baseball stadium. Why does he need a baseball stadium?

They showed a clip of Peter watching the broadcast and he’s holding a little girl. I’d like to think that’s Wanda.

Everyone’s alive. Yay!

I’ll excuse Jean being alive because time changes and all that. SCOTT! SCOTT”S ALIVE! YES!

Apocalypse

Hey Oscar Issac

Young Scott!

Young Nightcrawler!

Erik went from wanting to kill humans to being a farmer and having a wife and daughter. Still going to end up on the bad side.

Young Jean Gray! Scott and her start out rocky but we know they’re going to end up together.

Knew the wife and kid wasn’t going to last long. Always got to do something that makes Magneto the bad guy

Two birds...one arrow

For this one, I can understand Magneto’s anger

Young Storm was originally on the bad guy’s side.

Scott sees things through literal rose tinted glasses.

I love Kurt.

Scott use to be a rule breaker

At least Storm has a practical costume. 

Also if Erik really wanted to lay low, why did he choose to work at a metal factory.

Pyslocke’s costume isn’t practical. She’s got a boob and butt window. Girl there are so many places you could get stabbed.

PETER!

Charles and Erik always greet each other with old friend

So birdman gets metal armor and the girls get nothing.

Peter slow-mo! This will always be my favorite speedster scene

So the only people that can save the X-Men are Cyclops, Jean Gray, and NightCrawler. Three teenagers with no plan. They got this.

Go Charles! Fighting no matter what.

Logan!

Thankfully most of these characters can’t die.

Pyslocke  and Angel can die but the others all have plot armour

Peter didn’t tell Erik he’s his son. Why?

No not the hair! Apocalypse took Charle’s hair.

Go Peter!

No Peter!

So Charles still has the hair when he’s in Apocalypse's head. Part of me knows it won’t grow back but I hope it does.

Mind fight!

So Erik is on the good guys side until the next movie.

Mystique finally has a good costume design

Dark Phoenix

The dude they got to play Bush doesn't look like Bush

SPACE!

This mission is going to go wrong and the X-men are going to get planned. Thus leading the world going against mutants again.

They gave Scott is own eye cannon, nice

Yea absorbing a solar flare will definitely cause your powers to go way hire

Well the mission didn’t go wrong, the way i thought it would. That’s good.

Charles motives have changed

So, men, supposed gods, robots, and now we’re dealing with aliens

Charles kinda being shown as a bad guy is weird. So used to seeing him have good motives.

The aliens want Jean to use her power to take over earth. Not surprising.

Dad now is not the time to poke the super powered bear

Police always show up at the wrong time

I know Mystique can’t die. This is the prequels

But again, Stop killing female characters to further male character’s development.

Oh there’s Erik. 50 minutes in and i thought we weren’t going to see him

Jean’s got a heat signature with that solar flare so it would be easy to track her.

At least the military decided to fallback instead of shooting

And there goes humans liking mutants. This is why we can’t have nice things.

So Mystique’s death is what sets Erik on being the villain again? It’s the same as a woman losing her husband and becoming a villain for revenge. Honestly I’m tired of love revenge plots.

Guys stop fighting! You’re  friends!

Oh shit! Jean is making Charles walk. And not in the good way.

OH SHIT KURT IS KILLING PEOPLE NOW!

Dark Phoenix. A movie about family.

Legend of the Phoenix. She’ll rise from the ashes.

Bummed Peter wasn’t in this movie more

All in all, Apcolypse is my favorite X-Men movie.

[luci-cunt]

Tell me about Magneto🤭

MAY YOU CAN’T SEE IT BUT IM KISSING YOU SO PASSIONATELY RIGHT NOW

Ok so listeeennnn tooooo meeeee, okokokok, so a while ago I went on this James McAvoy bender--don’t ask--and I saw he was in the X-Men movies, whic hi haven’t watched since the Wolverine movies/ Last Stand when I was like, actually a baby. So anyways I flipped them on thinking “yeah what could go wrong?” except I watched them in the wrong order

Anyways here’s an essay on why neither Erik or Prof X was right and the actual answer would be to compromise and these movies how how because they’re both too stubborn and couldn’t it destroyed their friendship and fucked everything up. 

Also the fact that X-Men: First Class is the best Villain origin story to ever cross the screen.

Ok so spoilers ahead for X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: First Class

Now, it should be noted that I’m no an X-Men expert I just love these two movies. 

So for some context: First Class and Days of Future Past are both kind of prequels, except DoFP is a prequel-sequel?? becuase of time travel?? I’ll explain don’t worry. The point is, they take place in the past where all the characters are younger. James McAvoy plays Professor X (who I’ll just be calling X for this whole thing), Michael Fassbender plays Magneto (aka Erik), oh and Jennifer Lawrence plays Mystic--who will be appearing in this essay XDD. 

Alright so first of all have a plot summary: DoFP is about Wolverine getting sent back in time so he can convince a younger Prof X to stop Raven (aka Mystic) from getting caught by this guy Trask who then uses her DNA to create super weapons that irradiate all mutants. The current future Wolverine is in, he, prof X, Magneto, and a few other mutants are trying their best to survive but it’s a losing battle and their only hope is to literally change the past. 

This one takes place after the events of First Class, which I will now explain. 

So in First Class a younger Prof X and Magneto team up to find and recruit bb mutants to X’s school because the government wants to use Mutants to help fight the Russians (oh head this takes placee in the 1960′s right before the Cuban Missile Crisis). This is essentially a Magneto origin story and also--in my opinion--the best villain origin story to ever cross the screen. 

OK so now some details on our main characters: 

Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr: a literal holocaust survivor who’s only goal in the begining of the story is hunting/ killing nazi’s, specifically one nazi who tortured him specifically and I will get into him later don’t worry. 

Professor X: super smart rich white boy with a heart of gold but also enough naivete to make a lamb look like a Stephen King character. 

Already you can see very stark differences between the two of them. Erik is set up as being a staunch pessimist while X is a vivid optimist, and that makes sense. X’s grown up sheltered and never wanting for anythign while Erik suffered a trainwreck of the greatest traumas in human existence hitting him over and over and over again from like age fucking 9. 

Ok also tehre’s J-Law’s character Raven, who is a mutant that can change her skin to look like anythign she wants it to but her actual form is blue/ scaly/ “not pretty” (bullshit but ok). She met X when she broke into his house one night to steal some food and then they became friends, their relationship will become important later but for now that’s all u need to know. 

ok so anyways, in the begining of First Class Erik is hunting + killing Nazi’s, specifically looking for this one called Schmidt because when Erik was little he and his family were carted away to a concentration camp where Schmidt witness Erik use his metal bending powers and decided to “train” him. aka physically/ mentally abuse him for years. The whole thing starts with Schmidt trying to get Erik to lift a metal coin with his mind, when he can’t (because he’s a child who didn’t even know he had his powers until literally hours ago) Schmidt puts his mother’s life on the line and when he still can’t Schmidt kills her. This sends Erik it’s a rage and he crushes some nazi heads but then Schmidt is still standing and mentions how “oh gotcha, so it’s rage and pain that’s the key to your powers huh?” anyways this tidbit and the coin will become important later trust me--

Meanwhile Prof X is graduating from Oxford/ generally being an idiot pretty boy. He’s a telepath who knows about his powers and has used them from an early age. He also wrote some big paper on mutants, which gets the attention of an FBI agent who witnesses the villains being mutants and wants his advice

However, the villains just so happen to be Schmidt, who’s going by “Shaw” now, so when X and the agents catch up to him Erik is already there and on a mission to murder his ass. Some bs happens, Erik tries to pull a submarine out of the water but can’t (T-T this will be important) and X jumps into the water to stop him because the mental stress is literally killing him. 

That’s how they meet. 

It’s important to note: up until this point, Erik didn’t know there were other mutants, so meeting X, who’s friends with Raven, is kind of a big deal for him. He and X become very fast friends and also have a very homoerotic montage where they become dads for a bunch of mutant teenagers, because they realize they can use X to track all these baby mutants, collect them, and train them so they don’t grow up fearing their powers. 

Anyways, the other thing about this is that now that Erik has this newfound group of people that are just like him, he’s opening up, and X is helping him realize he’s actually so much more powerful when he taps into happy memories rather than fueling himself on pain and rage. This scene always makes me sob oh my god--

Also, fellas--is it gay to “access the brightest cortex” of your homies memories and remind him that hate and pain are not good motivators before reminding him that he has good memories he can draw on and showing him that his life has not been entirely painful?

YEs, the answer is yes are u shitting me??

ok so anyways--something to note about this is that X and Erik are both very protective of all their new kids, but Erik is especially so. I’m going to be getting into this more but just tab thsi thought for later :)

Now, the plot’s kicking up a bit, because it’s at this point that Erik and X capture one of Shaw’s (aka the nazi’s) main lackies and they question her until she gives them the info that Shaw’s planning on using the Cuban Missile Crisis tensions to start a nuclear war to wipe out all humans so that only mutants survive in the new world. 

Obviously they want to stop him, but also, you can kind of tell that Erik is not totally against this plan, which only gets to be more later but that’s for later. 

Right now I wanna take a quick break to talk about Raven--aka Mystic, aka J-Law. She and X were childhood friends and she kind of clung to him because she doesn’t have family/ anyone she can really be herself around besides him. 

X insistently says throughout the movie he sees her as a sister, but it’s kinda obvious she’d be down to fuck. She has this big plotline where she keeps trying to get X to understand why it’s so frustrating for her to have to be using energy to look “human.” Because her natural form is the one with the blue skin. X doesn’t understand this because his power is easy to hide, it’s simple for him to just fake-human and have no one be any wiser, Raven, however, doesn’t have that luxury and when she tries to explain this to X it just flies over his head, insisting she hide her natural self to better fit in if that’s what she really wants. 

Queue Erik, who comes in as a king of self love. He’s pretty blunt about it, but his point is basically “you’re wasting energy by constantly pretending you’re something you’re not--stop” and she responds essentially with “yeah but then no one will like me” to which he responds “then make them.”  

Raven’s relationship with both the boys is used through both First Class and DoFP to really highlight their faults. X believes humans and mutants can coexist but he thinks we go about doign that by completely ignoring the pages of history of abuse mutants have suffered--and it’s mostly because he hasn’t experienced it. 

Erik on the other hand will do everything and anything he possibly can to protect his new family/ people, and in his head that means exterminating any and all threats. By the end of the movie--humans become one of those threats. 

The point of this whole ramble is that: they both represent utter opposites, BUT, X’s blind optimism and Erik’s blind pessimism are equally bad.

Ok so back to plot for a second to prove this. 

Shaw is revealed to be a mutant himself and he also has a helmet that can block telepathy. (yes it’s the magneto helmetjasjd;fkjaskl;dfjasldkj jsut wait).

His plan’s complicated but basically: he’s going to poke America and Russia until they pop and incite a nuclear war. And it works. The whole pre-climax of the film sees X, Erik, Raven, and the other mutants all working double time to stop Shaw’s plan (AND IT INVOLVES ERIK SUCCESSFULLY PULING A SUBMARINE OUT OF THE WATER!!! BECAUSE NOW HE’S USING HAPPINESS INSTEAD OF ANGER/ PAIN!!!). 

Anywho, they’re doing all this, but then some bullshit happens, the plane they’re on crashes oh and -- yeah there’s this part where Erik uses himself as a seatbelt for X it’s fantastic but anyways--

This is finally the climax of the film. 

Also possibly the greatest scene in film history in my humble opinion. 

Because listen--in order to stop Shaw they need the helmet off of him so that X can telepathically freeze his ass and they can arrest him or whatever. So they split up--Erik rushes into the wreckage to find Shaw and X stays behind ready to freeze the guy as soon as the helmet comes off but--

Well, vengence is just too tempting. 

So when Erik gets Shaws helmet off, X freezes the guy, and he’s ecstatic, at least until he realizes Erik plans on killing Shaw. 

He’s pleading with Erik because this is vengence and he can’t chose that but Erik just puts on the helmet and--taunts Shaw, pulling out the coin Shaw taunted him with all those years ago and in a mimickry of the game Shaw forced him to play as a child and killed his mother over--he slowly floats the coin at Shaws head, telling him “I’m going to count to ten, and all you have to do is move.” 

But he can’t--because X is holding him--and that’s the point, Erik wants him as helpless as he was, and X can’t let his hold on Shaw go because that would mean putting Erik in danger but he’s also in Shaws head so he feels the coin go through his head as though Erik was doing it to him and the fucking cinematography in this scene is so fuaksdjf;laksjd;fjasd;lkfjadsl;asdjf;ljL:DKJFL:SDKJFL:D KFUCKKKKK

This scene is cinematic perfection don’t fucking lOOK at me unless you agree.

T-T and then, it only gets worse, because now Erik’s finally finished his original purpose--killing the man who killed his mother and ruined his life--and now he’s got a new one, aka protecting his new family aka the mutants. 

AND HE’S ONLY PROVEN RIGHT THAT HUMANS ARE A THREAT BECAUSE THEY TURN AND TRY TO KILL ALL THE MUTANTS IN THE PLANE CRASH AND JSUT--

And so he stops all the missiles flying their way, and turns them around on the humans and X has to stop him but he’s not listening and the rawest fucking line in the whole movie comes when X says

“There’s hundreds of men on those ships--innocent men. They’re just following orders!” 

And Erik simply replies, “I’ve been at the mercy of men ‘just following orders’--never again.” 

And then he goes to blow up the shipsthen one of the other characters goes to shoot Erik and he deflects the bullet wtihout thinking right. into. X’s. back. 

Paralysing him. 

And just akjd;fjasdflkjasd;lfkj this scene speaks for itself

Listen just--akjdsf;ljasdlk jguys this movie has no right being this good.

And then the movie closes off with X and Erik literally begging one another to just see it their way--because they both want so badly to be on the same side but they’re too stubborn and they refuse to see compromise and just ajkdf;lja;sdkfja;sdljkfsadlkf

Ok I realize now that I barely talked about DoFP but this is already so long. The major things I was going to bring up was teh absolutely fantastic bitter exes energy that McAvoy and Fassbender bring to that movie it’s excellent but also the fact that X is literally the only person Erik goes out of his way not to kill despite standing directly in the way of Erik’s goal. 

Like, you remember my whole deal with Raven??? yeah that’s x10 in DoFP (which takes place quickly after this movie) yeah so her and Erik are close, and shown to be close, but the second he thinks she endangers his fam he literally 180′s so quick and tries to straight up murder her. 

BUT HE FUCKING BENDS THE BULLET AROUND X’s HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! X!!!!!!!!!! WHO’S LITERALLY 100% AGAINST HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST

Ok, that’s all. By the way I don’t want to like, up your expecations too much because I actually kind of hate X-Men: First Class almost as much as I love it?? it’s very..... of it’s era, and cheesy, and dumb--but fucking magneto you guys holy SHIT

[odysseushateblog]

question for the marvel community on tumblr

so uh,, i have a strong feeling the x-men are gonna be done dirty by disney, by adding them to the mcu and fucking around w characters/timelines, and focusing on characters they believe are the most profitable, instead of the ones that have good stories behind them,, i guess??

so?? i do a lot of writing. i dabble in that shit,, it’s fun?? and i wanna screenwrite one day, or write novels, or comics?? or soMETHING along those lines, and i was wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing the planning/little draft scenes from an x-men show i’m writing??

it centres around the o5 (mostly) and is set somewhere in the 80s/90s for the sake of Wanting Magneto And The Professor To Have Beef and all that good stuff. it’s not really about supervillains and huge, world-ending stuff, but about the o5 and their unique perspectives on the very hateful world around them. it’s really rambly and gross but if u wanna read little blurbs about the reworked o5 x-men and their origins then idk keep reading this cesspit of a post.

bobby is essentially the goofy little brother of the x-men, and hank mccoy’s best friend. i’ve got the show focused mainly on him at this point, purely because he’s the youngest of the x-men, and it makes sense for him to be the audience’s introduction to the world of mutants, and their perspectives. his ice powers are a bit of a metaphor for his ‘awkward teenage phase’, as he has a tendency to ‘freeze up’ in social situations (especially those which warren worthington iii is involved in). since it was revealed in uncanny x-men 600 (from memory) that bobby was gay, and thinks angel is ‘hot’, that’s something i wanna focus on, especially the turmoil that bobby will feel when he’s forced to work with archangel, who LOOKS like warren (to a degree) but acts totally differently, and the conflict he’ll feel regarding warren at the time.

jean’s personality isn’t just ‘girl’, and NOBODY has weird random crushes on her (looking @ u prof. x. god the 60s was a weird time for comics) she’s dealing with terrifying telekinetic episodes, which are a manifestation of her desire to do well in life, as well as the death of her best friend (which i believe happened in canon somewhere?? as the event that triggered her powers) who she feels immense guilt for wanting to move on from. her telepathy manifests towards the end of the first episode, when she’s hanging out with bobby drake, and ends up listening in on a conversation between erik and charles, which they’re having telepathically.

hank’s struggle is with wanting to balance his intelligence and his physical strength. he wants to be the beast, and he enjoys it, but he also wants to be recognised and appreciated for his intelligence, which is often overlooked. hank is the most outwardly pessimistic of the group - his intelligence has made him very aware of the world around him, and the nature of the people in it. he doesn’t believe in the professor’s dream, and makes no effort to keep it a secret, though he does stay with the x-men for a reason.

playing with scott and his origin has been REALLY cool, as he’s the only x-man in this group with a power that is innately destructive. his perspective because of that is unique. he understands why mutants are feared for their abilities, because HE fears his abilities. scott’s probably the most distant from his teammates, as he’s sort of taken on the leader role, and prior to the series beginning, he’s taken on training obsessively - to the point where he’s unable to stand due to exhaustion, and mf warren and hank have to drag him out of the danger room. scott believes that his training is what’s gonna keep his teammates alive - he knows he’ll feel responsible if something happens to one of them. he’s got to come to terms with the fact that he can’t help his team as a tactician if he’s unsure of himself. mr. scotty’s gotta learn that he’s never gonna be able to see the full picture if he’s afraid to open his eyes.

warren, who is considered to be the ‘most boring’ of the original five x-men underwent a lot of work here. warren never really had a stable home environment, as he moved around from boarding school to boarding school, as his stupid parkour hobby got more and more dangerous, and out of hand. warren’s got a lot of internalised self-hatred, due to the stance his family took on mutants. he was raised to hate mutants, and therefore himself. warren parties a lot, and ditches the x-men at the mansion to go hang out with normal people, but as time goes on he knocks this off, he becomes increasingly close to jean grey, and eventually the pair hit it off,, platonically. under his cocky playboy persona, warren’s sweet and sensitive, but he’s got a violent streak a mile wide, a nasty temper, and is recklessly brave.

i’ve obviously thought about some characters more than others but?? idk i’m enjoying it. i’ve got stupid ideal cast ideas (which isn’t gonna happen they’re just face holders) and individual sub-plots set up for each character. i watched skins recently, and i’m drawn to that structure?? where each episode follows a character a little bit, so it’s sort of set up like that.

FUCK anyway if u enjoyed n wanna see more comment ig and i’ll drop stuff >:)