#in 616 it's 'perceived as a man who has it all when he is so deeply miserable'

[in-a-cave-with]

the stan lee quote of "i wanted to give myself a challenge to make the readers like a weapons manufacturer industrialist character at the height of the cold war" etc gets passed around a whole lot but nobody ever talks about how he actually went about solving this challenge which is to give the weapons manufacturer industrialist severe mental health issues

[hawkogurl]

As a staunch defender and lover of all female spider man characters, if you all won’t like them that’s just more for me, I do wanna briefly ramble about one specific thing that’s mostly a raimiverse fanfiction thing as far as I’ve seen.

I’m not gonna say you gotta like Harry with Peter or MJ, I myself pretty much only read Harry and MJ platonically and I have written many things where Peter is more useful to me platonically, but I feel like I’ve developed some weird sense of sort of resigned dread whenever Raimi Harry gets shoved with Gwen or a version of Liz.

For those two specifically, I think a lot of it is rooted in the fact that people are rarely writing Raimiverse Harryliz or Harrygwen because they really like it—a lot of people in this fandom are only tangentially familiar with Liz to begin with—and Harry only gets written with them because a lot of the time, there’s an assumption in the cultural consciousness that singleness is unhappiness or even if not that, that being with someone is completing or more happy than being single. As a result, it becomes some sort of thing that even when a character isn’t being focused on in a romantic capacity, a romantic relationship is part of the checklist for a happy ending. It’s something that should happen for a person to be Happy.

Most of the time that it happens, people are writing these things for the sake of Harry ending up in a relationship. It’s a relationship for the sake of a relationship. And even then, I don’t know if I would find it to be that big of a deal even if it would still sort of annoy me.

However, the fact that essentially means using these female characters only for the happy ending of a male character can raise some concerns for me. There’s rarely any attention given to these women—one of whom has an established personality and character in these movies and one that has decades establishing who she is as a person in the comics. Half the time, they barely appear on the page and they do very little and have very little personality when they do. If he needs to be in a relationship for how people perceive happiness in the long term, I can live with it, but it always puts a bad taste in my mouth when they don’t have personalities or active characters. They don’t really matter, they literally are just the check mark on that part of the checklist. What the hell is the point of this when nothing would actually change if he wasn’t with someone? And I mean that, I don’t want to see kids or things like that as an excuse, adoption exists. What actually changes about this if you just make him single? And that’s not just a matter of necessity, it’s also a matter of how damn misogynistic it can feel to use a female character solely for this purpose, especially one’s that historically have their own identities, their own conflicts, their own stakes.

If nothing else, I want to see some effort put into it. At least try and sell me on it, at least give these women some semblance of their actual personalities and try and tell me why it would work with his. Don’t make Gwen Stacy or Liz Allen of all characters into sexy lamps. At least try and make it make sense as a relationship.

And even putting the semi misogynistic treatment of women in this context aside, I’m still not done here. What is actually the point of putting him in a relationship here? If you’re not writing a relationship between two characters with personalities that can be used for development, if it’s not for the sake of liking them together, if it’s just to check that box, does that box actually even really make sense for him? I’m not talking about sexuality, and this can be rather variable, but being in a relationship isn’t gonna automatically fix someone with this many issues. It’s not going to be a convincing patch to use this as a substitute for working out the problems in this dude’s life that would—and in 616 canonically have—make it so hard for him to be happy in the long term. This guy is canonically divorced in 616.

This version of Harry, if he survives the third movie, is implied to be schizophrenic, historically poorly coping with trauma from Norman existing, recently traumatized in a half dozen new ways, struggles to maintain the connections he already has, has very little independent identity outside of wanting his father to love him and an even worse sense of self, and recently endured multiple severe and disfiguring injuries. Under what circumstances is any relationship he enters actually going to end well, even with a person that would be absolutely perfect under any under circumstances. Because whatever person you shove him with, they can’t fix him, and if you’re using Gwen and Liz it’s gonna feel a little misogynistic to try because they still only exist for him in these cases. It’s already pretty generally true that someone shouldn’t be in a relationship if they can’t be happy and complete alone, but this is more true for him than for everyone. Does Harry need another person to project his massive need for validation from onto like he did for Norman? Does he need to substitute finding his own identity with molding what little he has for another person to like him? Will he really benefit at all from another connection when he’d be trying to figure out how to rebuild the ones he already has? Realistically, him getting into a relationship without at least trying to deal with all that is just going to stunt him in trying to fix all that, because he’ll have something to fill all the holes with instead of dealing with it. And if you try and avoid that, it’s still going to risk being rather unsatisfying because there’s the hazard of just making him Suddenly All Better Now for the sake of a relationship that might be misguided in its very existence.

And on top of that, Harry has, in these movies, dated all of one time. And it didn’t necessarily seem like it was for someone he liked, more so to impress his father. Generally, though it is a matter of opinion, he doesn’t seem to want a relationship as much as he wants to be in a relationship. In a way ironically similar to how this is written much of the time, he’s fixated on the concept of dating for the sake of dating someone rather than actually really wanting that sort of connection with someone. A lot of the toxic masculinity he’s written with sort of manifests in this regard. He wants to be dating someone, but does he actually want to date someone? Should he? In many cases, especially ones where it’s not with a more tangible character that can be used for development independently, I don’t know of the answer should really be yes. It seems more satisfying for his character to be comfortable alone. Additionally, there’s little reason to me that platonic connections should be less valuable for him when they’re the most important ones he’s written with. He doesn’t need to be dating someone. In most cases it’s worse for his character if he is. The people who say he’s a playboy are lying to him and his casting has deceived you.

But also god if you’re gonna make him date someone at least sell me on it and make it mean anything at all.

[rappaccini]

ain't no love in the heart of the city? 👀👀

(from this)

oooohkay. how do i describe this... i'm gonna have to ramble to make it make sense. and whip out these screenshots i've had sitting around for ages. but i've been meaning to talk about this for ages so thank you!

so first of all, you know how miles's uncle aaron is the prowler? that's a reference to hobie brown, who was the first black character to wear the spider-man costume in canon back in 1971 (issue asm-87).

in context: he was wearing it temporarily as a favor to peter to help throw the cops off his scent, but that was still the first time this ever happened.

aside from that, 616 hobie is also paralleled to peter parker often in his early appearances.

they're both genius tech whizzes with chips on their shoulder about injustice, who are ignored and mistreated by the people around them

they both make costumes with wrist-mounted tools.

they both start out using their secret identities to attract attention and for selfish gain.

they're both in on-again-off-again relationships with a girl who supports them but won't take their bullshit lying down, who doesn't know about their secret identity and wouldn't approve of it.

they both angst like fuck about their secret identities, wish they could quit them but keep coming back for more, and grow out of using them selfishly. (... though in hobie's case he keeps quitting being the prowler altogether, then backsliding, then trying to redeem himself again)

hobie even has his own uncle ben moment when a kid he's mentoring, manuel lopez, is killed and he suits up to avenge him.

like. it's so fucking intriguing. this parallel keeps getting built between peter and hobie, and then it gets dropped and never comes back. decades ago, marvel did actually raise the possibility of a nerdy black guy with a chip on his shoulder taking up the spider-man mantle after peter is indisposed... and then never did anything with it until decades later, when miles came along. technically, that narrative was hobie's first, but he never got to keep it.

(.... also interesting: that hobie has a connection with gwen where he technically helps her escape her narrative of being peter's tragic girlfriend temporarily. and that now the spiderverse writers are snatching that dynamic and handing it to miles too. hm.)

it's not a coincidence that of all the characters miles morales is so personally linked to, it's the prowler. miles definitely owes his creation in part to hobie brown, and aaron davis being the prowler is an acknowledgment that hobie came first, and that miles is going to pick up the torch hobie lit and run with it.

(also worth noting: because miles is so popular, aaron davis is now the default prowler. which means it's now possible for hobie's redemption as an antihero to stick. idk i think it's compelling that it came full circle, with hobie and miles each creating opportunities for each other to become something new to the narrative.)

anyway! the fic! it happened because i thought a lot about how the spiderverse writers went the route of 'miles was supposed to be the prowler, but he became spider-man by mistake, and has to fill peter's shoes after he's gone,' when... to be honest, that's more of a hobie story than a miles one. (... and so is 'miles has a special connection with gwen where he can help her escape her fate.' uh. can you stop eating hobie's lunch. what's going on there.)

i'll never get around to writing the fic bc it's more a big list of ideas and worldbuilding extrapolations instead of a plot, and i don't have time to put in the research it would need, but basically it's an au where peter dies and hobie brown becomes the default second spider-man instead of miles morales.

like, how does his approach differ? what tech is unique to him? who does he fight and what motivates him? how does it affect his personal life? how does an adult who's spent years struggling to use his secret identity for good-- and being perceived as a supervillain by everyone-- change into a hero? and since the fic was meant to be a 70s period piece, how does nyc's perception of spider-man change?

[eclipsecrowned]

also s/o to all my beloved trans muses. specify muse for a starter w any of my trans-spectrum characters on this, their big day :) this list is v. long maybe do not read more and instead view it on my blog proper soit doesn't gunk up your dash.

danielle o'the wold: fluid, a crackshot archer and outlaw from fantastical medieval england called into a quest to save the realm of magic from those who would use its power for great evil.

amalthea: nonbinary to human perception, a unicorn-turned-woman on a great quest in a fantastical world that leads her to no longer be the last of her kind, but more lonely for it.

un*hana r*tsu: agender, leader of a specialized team of shinigami focused on the healing arts -- in this life, at least, because we do not want to open the can of worms of how much brutality it took to be so soft.

pip bernadotte: trans man, a mercenary based in the 90s all the way up to the modern era via au who perceives the horrors as spouse material, actually.

kayden connors: nonbinary, daughter of a 616 mad scientist just trying to stay afloat after his incarceration largely via art and taking in wayward antiheroes.

raisa wolfe: agender, new york's first mutant elected official even if that position is only a molehill in the great machine that is east coast politics, believes magneto is right actually.

jonathan crane: trans man, supervillain and supergenius in equal measure, obsessed turning the fear that was used to beat him down in his conservative southern upbringing into everyone else's problem.

dream of the endless: agender masc, an embodiment of dreams, exactly as advertised, who has neither want nor need of human labels or gender experience. he just is.

mystery whitethorn: nonbinary, a tiefling shopkeep who is hiding an adventure-filled backstory and a number of illegal dealings in his current life.

marika corvinus: nonbinary, a lone werewolf who is slowly being domesticated into a found family pack by her elders when not found being the loudest party person at human functions.

seth plate: trans woman, a former angel of death who fell for love of a human surgeon, so in love with humanity that now she has the chance to experience it for herself.

modeste lachapelle: nonbinary, notre dame's native daughter and everyone's favorite 4'11" butch, a friend to all pigeons and outcasts that cross her socially anxious path.

claude di montoya: fluid, a 19th century agent of savoy espionage who was designed for the count of monte cristo but by the power of rp crossover is also being a sourpuss in the v*mpire chronicles.

count dracula: beyond gender per his own definition, a classic gothic horror villain on the prowl for blood, world domination, and success in his chosen field of dual-honors classy and feral villainy.

henry winter: trans man, a student of a 1980s liberal arts college whose love of the classics steps well over the line and leads to several murders, the ultimate dark academia bitch in all of fiction.

sylphrena / 'syl': agender femme, an ageless spirit of honor and oaths who just wants to have fun and learn more about the physical world alongside her clinically depressed human bestie, a menace and a baby.

hoid / wit: trans man, an immortal with a few thousand years of space-faring shenanigans under his belt, who steps into worlds where plot is happening and inserts himself into the action more often than not.

cirila montoya: agender, a shrewd heiress from 17th century spain who falls in and ou of adventures with a team of four cavaliers and the beautiful frenchwoman who opposes them.

gabrielle de lioncourt: trans masc, 18th century vampire and dilf who chucked his assigned gender in the trash the second he came into the blood, a recluse who just can't avoid his ne'er-do-well son's drama.

kris lindholm: nonbinary, florida teen thinks her older sister is on a cult centered around a local island, instead calls the irs on a pair of vampire businessmen, obsessed with 80s rock act the vampire lestat.

lyfrasir edda: nonbinary, an alien detective looks into the remains of a decades old train derailment and instead finds out the apocalyptic horrors are within their comprehension, actually.

the snow queen: agender, the winter winds care not for gender, and the freshly driven snow understands nothing of sex in the sense of male or female or other.

hel: demiwoman, jotnar society does not align to human sexuality, so this is as close as she can get to explaining her gender identity, and besides, jotnar physiology is implied to be quiet fluid.

laufey: demiwoman, same as above but in a fun milf package.

utgard-loki: demiman, same rules as his fellow jotnar relatives, except he's king over all the jotnar.

odin: genderfluid, which is actually myth-accurate if you get into some of the weirder roads that the original stories take. typically presents as a masc king of the aesir, though. due to his jotnar heritage he might be physically fluid as well.

sigyn: nonbinary, frankly queerness was all over mythology and i will sprinkle it all over at my own pleasure, especially on a certain ambassador within the aesir court.

enkidu: transmasc, was designed to act as a foil/echo to the hero-king gilgamesh, which included an assigned sex that did not align at all with his identity.

dolores gordon: genderless, an agent of a fear entity which is based around the uncanny valley, a part that the ever shapeshiftng dolores plays to perfection.

the host: INFORMATION ERROR, current gender identity unknown, but identified as a nonbinary individual in their pre-avatar life.

the mole: agender, a wee beastie that worships the dirt and is known for reverse graveobbing -- pushing the dead back aboveground so as not to tarnish the sacred world below.

catherine rice: nonbinary, the kind of person who says paranormal investigator but really means paranormal instigator because she's still looking for answers about avatar-based trauma from years before.

lothric, younger prince: agender, a lab-grown draconic abomination in their mainverse who is making the journey from sacrificial lamb to antichrist out of spite for their hellacious upbringing.

victor deshayes: trans man, newly freed from his conjoined twin who is a woman, so the math is solid that victor is not cis and is instead in your walls :)

zevran arainai: genderfluid, beautiful elvhen assassin swinging in every gender direction, gracefully, with a knife in hand and an accent their own va described as sounding like 'sexed up inigo montoya'

einmyria lavellan: nonbinary, super-femme elvhen historian is here to advise the inquisitor and occasionally flip darkspawn like a fucking pancake with her yoked af warrior strength.

taran lavellan: masc agender, over the years has forgotten his birth clan, his birth name, and even his fuckin gender. oh well, we love this roguish elf all the same and want only the best for him.

aria mahariel: nonbinary masc, has no human-defined gender in the dalish standard, but has settled comfortably into masculinity socially and in presentation. if only her baby face got the message.

cyra cross: nonbinary masc, a mad scientist in training clinging onto that last hinge of medical ethics, works for shinra but their genius level intellect says these people are idiots killing the planet and they can fix it.

ardyn lucis caelum: agender, a divinely-wrought, kin-betrayed abomination seeking to put the entire world out of his two thousand years of misery, with a cool hat thrown in for free.

master invi: trans woman, an ancient master of both magic and the in-universal super special magical blade, aligned with serpents and ever playing the pious daughter to her master.

kokoro kyriakou: nonbinary, badass normal defies the aging scala council to seek answers for what happened to a relative and his three students that went missing over a decade prior and has character development throughout.

riku: agender masc, local teen put through absolute hell, keeps pressing onward in a clear metaphor for mental illness that he refuses to let him hold him down as it once did.

julia mayfair: agender, where most people have gender, there is only trauma for this spy, but also the clear-cut knowledge that this is her identity and she is beyond more 'basic' definition.

"nikolai": queer, that's how he ids in pretty much every sense of identity, and plays with gender and roles and sex in a way that is awesome to witness.

albel nox: nonbinary masc, his clothes are his clothes and they are his prerogative and if you try to define him he will use his clawed prosthetic to carve out a nice reminder for you.

gensai shizuka: fluid, former king of the kamur0cho gay cabaret scene grows up to become the best defense attorney in town and a friend to honorable men, yet lives in a tiny closet identity-wise.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - May 9

Happy Sunday!! Here’s what I’ve been reading this week. As always, leave your fic authors some love if you read and enjoy their stories! 

**Indicates my recent favs 

~*~ 

pretty little thing by areiton (MCU/2K) 

Steve isn’t little. He isn’t fragile and precious, a treasure to be hoarded. Maybe he never was, but now, now, now with his too big body and his broad shoulders and miles of muscles--

Now he sure as hell isn’t.

It was the Fourth of July by seratonation (Proposal AU / 12K) 

Based on The Proposal. Steve has been Tony’s assistant for 3 years when he finds out that Tony is actually not American and is going to be deported. Tony talks Steve into getting married but Steve insists on seeing his family first. Tony invites himself along to make sure his plan doesn't go awry, but unfortunately Steve’s family is actually pretty amazing.

Object: Matrimony by BladoftheNebula (A/B/O /38K)

Omega Tony Stark craves adventure and an escape from the life his parents have planned for him in New York. He places a listing in a marriage catalogue to seek a match with an alpha out West, and Sheriff Steve Rogers answers his advertisement. But finding a nice alpha doesn't mean it's all smooth sailing from there...

- A Mail Order Bride AU -

***Papa Don’t Preach (Series) by FestiveFerret & SirSapling (Ultimates/102k) 

"Whoever did this has a reason, and Stark needs to be with someone who can protect him. He won’t exactly be able to protect himself like this.” Fury looked at the baby consideringly. “No, it’s you, Steve. Besides, he likes you. Suck it up, soldier, you’re stuck with him.”

Treasured by HashtagLEH (Warlord AU/9K) 

No one in Manhattan spoke their language – or at least, no one fessed up to it – and so all of the negotiating was done with Natasha acting as translator. Steve didn’t think it mattered, because he had told the ones who would leave the ship earlier that day that he had no intention of accepting any treaty, that they would lay siege to this city before the week was out.

But then Natasha stilled beside him at something that Stane had said to them, and Steve focused in, more alert. Something was wrong, he could feel it, but he didn’t know what with everyone speaking what may as well be gibberish all around him.

“He offers an unmated, untouched Omega,” she told him, not taking her eyes from the bald man at the other end of the table.

An unmated – what? He wanted to trade an Omega? Did he not have any idea of an Omega’s value? Surely his resources would be better spent whisking the Omega away to safety before the city was set to waste.

Natasha was looking to him for direction, confirmation, he didn’t know. So he told her, his voice placid and even and giving nothing away. “Accept the negotiations. Don’t let on that I want that Omega the most."

***Take My Heart Clean Apart by Mistmountainking (MCU/13K) 

He’s tired, so tired of waiting, tired of touches with no meaning, tired of holding his breath when Steve’s in the room, tired of keeping this love to himself.

 “I can’t—I can’t, if you don’t mean it.”

***

Tony comes home exhausted after an SI event. Steve acts as welcoming committee. It's an old, careworn routine they've perfected over the years, but tonight ends up going in a very different direction.

And the world keeps spinning by Perpetual Motion (Comic/15k) 

He considers everything he knows. His keys don't work. Bucky's in his apartment. There's a gun to his head. He doesn't have his phone or his Avengers tag. "I died."

T is for Thong by Elspethdixon (Marvel616/2K) 

Naked might actually have been slightly less distracting. Tony was… almost wearing… a tiny, tight scrap of red fabric that most definitely didn't hide anything.

***Orbiter dictum by schmevil (MCU/7K) 

Steve is at the sink, washing the few dishes that pizza for two generates, when he realizes that Tony is in love with him.

Nothing important happened today by thedevilchicken (MCU/17K) 

Steve's stuck in a time loop. Sometimes he's not sure he wants to get out of it.

***Off grid by Letterblade (MCU/7K) 

Steve and Tony go camping, bears are the greatest threat facing America, and tick tweezers are the best invention of the decade.

Some form of electricity by FestiveFerret & SirSapling (AU/57K) 

Steve doesn’t know what he’d do without Tony, and thank god he has him, because after getting the phone call that Bucky’s alive, everything is a blur. But Tony gets him there, all the way to Germany. It isn’t until he’s watching his friend lie motionless in a hospital bed that it really hits him.

Bucky is coming home, and he’s coming home broken.

The stark-tangled man with a crappy plan by Serinah (A/B/O / 13K) 

*At first, it seemed to be an easy job: find the O, secure the O, and hand him over to his guardian and the fiance. Simple. Unfortunately, the omega wasn't onboard. At all.*

OR:

Steve has to return a runaway omega to his guardian Mr. Stane.

Stories we never tell by ashes0909 (A/B/O / 32K

One could argue, it was none of Steve’s business. The omega was obviously bonded to the alpha, even if the bond was one-way. That bite was all society needed to overlook the transgressions that Steve had witnessed on the sidewalk. But Steve wasn’t society, and waking up decades in the future, he’d been disappointed by what had changed and what had very much stayed the same.

As hoarded as gold by FestiveFerret (Soulmate AU/12K) 

Steve wakes up in a new world, in 2008, and joins the Avengers where he finally gets to meet the man whose name has been imprinted on his skin since birth. But Tony Stark is closed-off, distant, and disinterested. While Steve is trying to come to grips with finding out his soulmate doesn't want him, he can't help but notice the decline of Tony's health. Worried about his heart after the arc reactor, Steve steps up to help him, but when Tony confesses what's really wrong, it's not at all what Steve expected.

Patience by FestiveFerret & SirSapling (AU / 8K) 

Try as he might, Steve just couldn't seem to paint the arc reactor quite right. And it was driving him crazy.

***Love’s such an old-fashioned word by AnnieD (MCU/11K) 

Steve gets the very brilliant idea that he and Tony should date, but Tony needs some convincing.

I saw cap kissing santa claus by Mizzy (Marvel 616/7K)

When Tony dressed as Santa for Queen County Hospital's annual toy drive, he wasn't expecting Steve to recognize him...as Iron Man.

Disjointed by veryvincible (Horror /16k) 

His hands— cold, clammy, lightly trembling— reached for the glass of water on his nightstand. His grip was tight; he knew he would drop it if given the chance.

It was lukewarm against his lips, and wholly unsatisfying. His forearms shook slightly with the tension, the tremors in his hands causing a noticeable shift in the water. It had a syrup-y quality to it as it dipped back and forth in its glass, almost, though he hadn’t noticed the difference in texture as he drank. The longer he stared, the lower the viscosity, as if it noticed him perceiving it and willfully moved with less ease.

Christmas affair by Neverever (MCU/6K) 

Tony thinks that Steve will be proposing to him after many years of living together, except that Steve has a secret that could ruin it all.

Unknown caller (Do Not Engage) by gottalovev (Non-Powered/13k) 

Steve had one job: exchange a couple of texts with a guy who thought he had Natasha's number, and let him down gently. It ends up being a lot more complicated than that.

***Genesis by teaberryblue (Ultimates/35k) 

Reluctant to make the truth about their secret weapon known, the American Government tells the world that Captain America is a man named Steve Rogers. According to public record, he died, tragically, in 1945, and he became legend.

In 1998, the Avengers find a body trapped in ice.

She's alive.

Her name is Eve.

She has Captain America's shield.

[generalfoolish]

Mayhem Times Infinity

Part Two: Multiverse Mayhem

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x fem!reader (enemies reluctant co-workers to lovers)

Rating: 18+

Warnings: cw mentions of death, gore, trauma; the snap, violence, comic mischief, language

Word Count: 4k

Summary: The duo finds out what odds they're up against, but Loki has other plans.

A/N: Hey babes! I couldn't help but put in the work ASAP on this one. Gotta chase that hyper-fixation high. I'm ready to move into the "will they" part of this story! Sorry, for that slow burn, guys. Also, this doesn't necessarily join up at all with the series, but I threw a little nod in there, a little Professor Loki at the end. Enjoy 💕

Masterlist | Part One | Part Three

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged :)

“So, to summarize,” Loki drawled. “This is Earth-616, and it’s in danger.” Doctor Strange groaned, but nodded. Four hours. You had been listening to Doctor Strange for four hours. He had detailed the Multiverses, interdimensional travel, sling rings, all-powerful creatures more heinous than Thanos, and the ultimate demise of Earth-616--your Earth, your universe--and all Loki could do was joke.

You were reeling. Sure, you had considered the idea of other dimensions. You gulped as you tried to wrap your head around the gravity of the situation. There was a Multiverse jumper, Strange had given you all the information he could about the existence of multiverses and the area the villain was from, but couldn’t be more specific.

“Sure, in short. Now, listen, we don’t know who exactly is doing this. It would seem they’re working for Kang or Gah Lak Tus, but we aren’t certain of anything. We’re sending you for reconnaissance. Find out anything you can.”

“Yes, but why us? Why not the Guardians with Thor?” You asked. The tea in your hands too cold to enjoy, but you took a small sip anyway. You pulled a small face, and lowered the small cup again.

“They’re busy.” Strange told you without preamble.

“Well, so are we. He was just resurrected, and I’m technically homeless right now.” You argued, lifting the cup again, and taking another sip. The now pleasantly warm liquid tasted much better than it had even when you poured it. You raised an eyebrow at Loki, wondering if it was his magic, but he was looking at Strange, a small smirk on his lips.

“Then it should be less of a discussion. You’ll need to travel light, and neither of you are otherwise entangled. Now, do you recall our conversation of sling rings?” You nodded, and yelped when a thick bar ring appeared on your hand.

“I just focus?”

“Yes, visualize, focus and see the destination. Look beyond what you see. You know how to do that. This is the only way you’ll be able to travel through the multiverse, and I only have the one. You’ll have to travel together.”

“Okay. What about the Negative Zone?” You asked, your hand weighed down by the new accessory. The physical weight was negligible, but the mental weight left you straining.

“Start there. Remember Earth-616 is yours. Though it is unlikely anyone will refer to them as their numerical filing. What’s your job?” Strange asked, and you huffed, annoyed.

“Gather intel. We can handle it.” You snapped, and he lifted his hand.

Suddenly, a golden ring appeared before you, and on the other side an empty field.

“Go on, then.” Strange challenged, and you shot him a look, but walked through the portal.

You felt the portal close behind you, the energy rippling shut.

“That was strange.” Loki murmured, smoothing his leather jacket down. Without thinking, without pause, you replied.

“Doctor Strange.”

“That is not a good joke, darling.” Your eyebrows shot up.

“First, it definitely is. Second, ‘darling,’?” You asked.

“I told you, I refuse to call you ‘Stone,’ and you haven’t supplied anything else.” Loki argued, and began walking through the field. The grass, untouched, reached far up his long legs engulfing his waist, and you tried to pull your attention away from how he looked surrounded by the golden strands.

Celestial. God-like, you thought as you failed.

“Well, perhaps we should focus on the mission instead.” You cleared your throat as you walked to him. You tried to ignore how you had to incline your head to see him, failing again as you took in the height difference.

“Yes. I was thinking, we should perhaps change our clothes to fit in.” Loki mused, and you nodded.

“Good idea. Where are we?” You asked. It looked...vaguely Earth-like.

“How should I know? Aren’t you the one blessed with infinite knowledge?” He grumbled. You rubbed your palm down your face, and tried to perceive your location.

“I got nothing, Mayhem.” You mused, and began walking again.

“Casual linens, then?” Loki inquired, a ghost of a smile on his lips. You shrugged, and before you had relaxed your shoulders back down, you were draped in a dark green gown. You rolled your eyes at Loki’s shit-eating grin.

“Subtle.” You told him, gesturing down. He held his hands out in a shrug, and you laughed. He had matched his own ‘casual’ clothes in the same deep shade of green. You expected another jab, but instead he started walking away from you, and didn't break pace to see if you were coming. You jogged to catch him.

"Where are you going?" You asked, slightly out of breath. You were only just realizing how much taller he was than you. His long legs had carried him swiftly away from you in no time.

"Anywhere I please." He told you, barely looking down, but you could see his lips lifted in a smirk all the same.

"What do you mean?" You asked, looking around, wondering what destination he meant.

"Norns, woman, are you daft? I'm leaving. I'm free, finally. A better question for you would be: where are you going? Hmm? All that time on Midgard, now you're in space, darling. Where are you going to go?" He had broken stride to sneer down at you. You tried to hide your obvious shock at the sudden turn of emotion.

"To find the threat against our Galaxy. Why wouldn't you want to do the same?" You asked, malice lacing your tone. Here he was, wearing his true colors finally. The treacherous Loki, the one you'd been told about, the one you should've heeded the warnings about.

His nose crinkled in disgust, and you felt the vision coming before it hit. You'd seen this one a few times already, but nothing prepared you for it. You gasped for air as you felt Loki's throat being constricted, and winced when you felt the crunch of his neck.

His smug look told you he'd made that happen.

"I have a few reasons." He told you, his voice quiet and dangerous.

"We were chosen for a reason, Loki." You tried, grasping for any shred of logic that might convince him to stay. Treacherous or not, he had much more experience in space than you.

"Yes, we were. Isn't it obvious to you, yet? We were sent here to die." He held his arms out and gestured around at the field.

"What do you mean? It's just recon." You replied, noting his wingspan, the subtle way his lithe muscles pulled taut the fabric of his shirt.

"Oh yes, truly the omnipotent Dr. Strange would send a known liar and the newest avenger to stop a doom to the universe." He rolled his eyes and began walking away from you. You watched his hands trail lightly over the blades of grass, and knew he was right. You hated him for it, but he was. You had been pushing those feelings down since you had first found yourself in space looking at Loki. If this truly had the gravity Dr. Strange said it had, why wasn't he here? Or anyone of the other space faring avengers, or the guardians? Why were you sent here with Loki of all people?

You followed behind him, the grass reaching much higher on you, and contemplated your choices. You had the sling rings, so the options were endless. Yet, you kept coming back to the same one: do the job. Every fiber of your being told you Loki was right, but a small voice in the back of your mind told you he could be wrong. And it was enough.

You glanced up at your companion, his black hair curling at the edges of his collar, his back straight and proud, his shoulders broad and capable. He could handle himself in a fight, this much you knew. He'd be an asset. How would you convince him to stay? Trick him? Trick the God of Mischief? Surely you weren't dumb enough to try.

You threw your head back and looked at the sky. You knew you were. You knew you had to. You needed his help, but more than that, you actually wanted it. He was charming, after all.

"So, where exactly are you going, then?" You asked, breaking the steady silence. You watched his stride falter for a second as he turned to look at you.

"To the town." He told you, confidently.

"So, you do know where we are?"

"No."

"Then how would you know?" You challenged him.

"There'll be a town, eventually." He told you, clearly agitated at your questions.

"Sorry, just working out a few things." You told him, keeping your gaze averted. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

You kept your face passive as the wave of wariness washed over you. You had thrown your plan together in about three seconds, but already it was going perfectly.

Step one: make Loki suspicious. It was easy to do. He had no real reason to trust you. Plus, he had to be expecting it anyway.

It led to the rest of your plan. He’d “uncover” your deceit, and you’d go along acting caught in a lie. Then, you’d gain his trust for real. Finally, you trick him into actually helping you do some reconnaissance for Strange.

Easy peasy.

Now, just to find this town.

I’ll be damned.” You muttered when you first saw it.  A light cascading in the sky, not the stars that littered it currently, but a new one. A man made, or alien made, one.

“Aha!” Loki called, looking at you expectantly.

“You did it!” You laughed, peering through the trees that stood between you and the source. Failing that, you reached out with your mind. No one was lingering about, so you focused on Loki. It was a mixture of joy and trepidation. It was all bitter endings.

He was planning a betrayal of his own, of course. What you couldn’t piece together is why he was feeling hesitant to do it. Clearly, he had worked out a way to get off-world.

“Perhaps we should make camp here.” He suggested, turning his steady gaze to you. You looked around, considering it. More open than the forest, but that could be helpful in a fight. Unlikely anyone would be able to sneak up on either of you. Especially if you took turns sleeping. But, didn’t you just feel his looming betrayal? Should you risk it so soon? You needed sleep. Would he leave you alone, asleep, in a field on an alien planet? Surely not. But could you trust it? Did you trust him?

“Okay, Mayhem. I’ll grab some firewood.” You told him, starting to head to the edge of the woods. He chuckled, and you heard the whoosh of a flame. You turned and your mouth fell open. He had conjured an entire campsite. The fire was contained within a stone structure, there was a clearing to sit, he’d even managed a few blankets.

"Surely this will suffice." He teased, a grin ghosting on his lips. You nodded, lamely, and grabbed a blanket.

"Can you be troubled with dinner?" You joked, and he raised an eyebrow at you.

"What do you want?" He asked, settling down onto the ground, long legs stretched before him.

"Oh I don't know, what's your favorite thing?" You mused, snuggling under the thick material. It was softer than cotton or wool, warm but not hot, heavy enough to provide weight without being unbearable. You closed your eyes, enjoying the feeling against your skin, and nearly dozed. He startled you when he began speaking.

"The perfect night-meal is a sampling of delicacies. But the most exquisite taste is fresh champagne from the springs on Alfheim. Poured lazily by the Pleasure Elves, of course." You laughed.

"Pleasure Elves and champagne springs, what the hell are we still doing here?" He chuckled and adjusted the blanket around his shoulders, before looking at you seriously.

"I will show you Alfheim, if you wish." You resisted shuddering under his intense gaze. You could barely meet his eyes, a deep, dark green that rivaled the evening forest.

"I'd like that, someday. For now, dinner. Can you do...pizza?" You asked, smiling broadly. He frowned, clearly disgusted.

"I could, but I would not. Is that truly what you crave? Greasy, unimaginative mortal food?" You shrugged. "Very well." With a flick of his wrist, he brought forth two wrapped sandwiches. Curious, you pulled the wrapper off and smiled happily.

"A cheeseburger! How is that better than pizza?" You asked, laughing and taking a bite. You watched him peel the wrapper with grace, only touching the burger with his fingertips.

"I'm not sure. Thor described them much better than they appear." He seemed vaguely disgusted.

"We could have had alien food." You told him, laughing at his discomfort. He rolled his eyes at you.

"Technically, darling, you're the alien here." His matter-of-fact tone wrecked your mood. The way he said "darling" was more like an insult. How could he conjure burgers and then ruin the moment so seamlessly.

You didn't respond, just silently tucked into your sandwich. You still needed to work out how you were going to break his trust anyway. It couldn't be too clever, you thought. Just clever enough that it seemed like it would work, but not clever enough that he would suspect another attempt.

You were so lost in thought that you didn't see the way he studied you, mapping your face, reveling in how the starlight splayed shadows on you. He had put you in green as a joke, but lounging fireside under the thick blanket, you looked at home in the deep shade of mid-summer forest green.

You finished the burger and tossed the wrapper remains into the fire. You turned to find Loki already looking at you, he lifted a corner of his mouth but remained silent.

"I'll take first watch." You told him, hiding a yawn behind your hand. He waved you off with a flick of his wrist.

"Sleep. I'll watch over you." He watched you as he spoke, and you felt his dark eyes on you as you snuggled your way into the blanket nest. The fatigue from the battle with Thanos, and the rush of adrenaline from finding Loki and talking with Dr. Strange, and the long walk through the field came crashing into you all at once. Your eyes closed of their own Accord, and your limbs followed soon after tingling with sleep.

"G'night, Mayhem." You mumbled, your mouth and brain mostly asleep. You were drifting off, even as you said it, but you heard his response.

"Good night, darling." You smiled as you fell further asleep, his tone softer than it had been.

As sleep began to take you under, quieter than before, you heard Loki mumble to himself.

"Damn. She's adorable." When you awoke, you wouldn't remember, as it were, you barely heard it at all. Proof, you thought dreamily. It was proof, that Loki wasn't all bad.

~~

You blinked hard against the morning light and groaned as you rolled over. You remembered where you were quickly, the hard ground your first clue. The event of the previous day hit you at once, and you sat up quickly, scanning for Loki. You started to panic, he had slipped off during the night, and now you were alone on an unfamiliar world.

“Shit.” You cursed, rising to your feet.

“What?” You whirled on the voice and sighed deeply when you saw the God of Mischief staring back at you.

“I...thought you left.” You admitted, stretching your back out. His smile faltered a bit.

“I did not. I found breakfast.” He told you, tossing you something that looked like an apple. You smiled sheepishly.

“You didn’t wake me.” You said, and he merely shrugged. “You haven’t slept.” You continued, unsatisfied with his nonchalance.

“I was dead yesterday, darling. I think I can manage without one night’s rest.” You winced at his nickname for you. It dripped with venom and mistrust.

“Don’t act offended, Mayhem. Betrayal is literally your middle name.”

“What do you know of betrayal? Hmm?”

“Plenty. You may have cornered the market, but you didn’t trademark it.”

“I would not simply slink away in the dead of night. I am Loki, prince of Asgard, the rightful king of Jotunheim, and the God of Mischief, and I do not lurk in the shadows. My betrayal would be right in front of you, rest assured.” You scoffed, as you watched him pontificate.

“What do your titles get you here?” You asked and smiled in triumph when his face fell. You turned the fruit over in your hand, and looked back at him. “I’m sorry I thought you left, thanks for the fruit.” You mumbled, guilt already eating away at you. Why did his crestfallen face split you in two so quickly? You bit into the apple, and winced right away. It definitely wasn’t an apple. The texture was similar to a kiwi, but the flavor was unlike anything you’d ever had.

“It’s a local fruit, not one I’m familiar with.” He explained, his voice tight. “It isn’t dangerous.” You furrowed your brow to object, but he held his hands up. “I had one already to test it.”

“Thank you, Mayhem.” You told him, genuinely thankful. He waved the campsite away, and the two of you began your trek through the dense forest. The dark green clothes helped camouflage you as you picked your way through the vegetation, and while you knew he had done it to get a rise out of you, you were thankful to be out of the clingy spandex uniform you normally wore.

You had been training with Nat when the first power surge flowed through your fingertips, and the blast produced was golden. Nat must have alerted Tony, because within the hour you had a brand new, golden suit. You looked like an asshole, flying around in a shimmery gold suit, but no one would change it. Friday had told you to “Fuck off,” and that was the end of it. You’d become the Golden Avenger in the news, but everyone called you stone. It was a horrible joke, born out of horrible circumstances. You looked like a walking gauntlet, and you were treated that way too.

You focused harder on the ground, stepping around massive root systems, and avoiding areas where the ground had sunk into itself. Loki was right. You hated that you were thinking about it now. No one had truly accepted you as an avenger, except Nat. It was hard for them, you understood. The thing that gave you power was the same event that had destroyed them. But, it isn’t like you wanted it. You hadn’t asked Thanos to do this, you didn’t have control over the events that led to your origin. Yet, the first chance they got, they sent you away. You were the outlier, you were the uncertainty, and you were safer kept at arm's distance. Why else send you on an obvious goose chase with a wanted intergalactic villain?

You glanced at your traveling companion, and found him deep in thought as well. His brow was creased, and his mouth was set. He looked handsome, bathed in the filtered sunlight and the flecks of gold illuminated his dark features. He flicked his eyes at you, and relaxed his mouth into a small smile.

“Shouldn’t be long now.” He told you quietly, and you found yourself wondering what he was thinking about. His double-cross to you? You needed to hammer your own plan together, but it could wait, you thought. You didn’t want to think too hard about it.

“Good, it’ll be nice to get a real seat,” You laughed and he smirked at you. “Is Alfheim your favorite place?” You asked, thinking about the pleasure elves, you could see the appeal. He cocked his head to the side, a ghost of a real smile playing on his lips.

“No, Asgard was my favorite place.” He murmured, and you wanted to disappear. Of course, his world was just destroyed, what a dumb question.

“Sorry Mayhem, I didn’t think…” Your apology died on your tongue, as he began chuckling.

“Don’t fret, darling. I’m not that fragile.” He teased. Your heart was firmly lodged in your throat, stuck from embarrassment, but remaining still as you realized he had softened your nickname. No longer did your skin crawl, instead, a warmth spread through your chest. His soft tone had rendered you speechless, dumbfounded, but you hoped he wouldn’t notice. What could you say? I was embarrassed at having brought up a potentially sensitive subject, and then you called me a flirty name and now my tongue is heavy. Why would it even matter? You were going to betray him, and then he would betray you. It was what your master plan was hinged on. Who cared if he was soft and pretty?

“Truly, it is not an issue.” He continued, confused, searching your face.

“Tell me about it?” You managed to squeak out, and you caught the look he gave you, the look of skepticism.

“It was a Golden City, built up in the mountains, and the rainbow bridge connected it to the bifrost. It was devastatingly beautiful. That was only the Palace, though. The forests around the city were as cruel as they were beautiful. It truly was a world fit for gods.” He looked wistful, and you pretended not to see the tears welling up. “Where is your favorite place?” He asked abruptly, and you smiled happily.

“You remember that place I took you yesterday, when I plucked you from the debris in space?” You asked, waiting for an answer. When he nodded, you continued. “It was my attempt at freedom. I had just broken up with a man who controlled me, and well, it was a little crappy, but it was mine, y’know? I had just gotten back in touch with my family who I had been cut off from, and it was so right. I was only there for a few months before Thanos’ attack.” You told him, fiddling with your sleeve, swallowing hard. “It was the first taste of happiness I had, and then it was taken from me just as suddenly as I had gotten it.” You wiped your eyes and cleared your throat.

“I know a great deal about that, darling.” He reassured you, and you were surprised to feel the pressure of his hand on your back. You gave him a tight small, and felt the smallest tendrils of affection reaching out to you. You widened your smile and turned to the forest before you.

“What’s your favorite power, then?” You asked, falling in step beside him. He laughed.

“Power?” He asked, and you rolled your eyes.

“Yes, your powers?” You wiggled your fingers, knowing he’d never done anything like that.

“It’s magic, darling.” He rolled his eyes at you, but you could tell it was playful.

“Whatever, your magic. What’s your favorite spell?” He chuckled at you.

“Duplication-casting, then.” You raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that? Conjuring?”

“They’re two completely different powers.” He explained with a long, suffering sigh.

“So, they are “powers” now?” You asked, laughing.

“Norns, you are so aggravating.” He huffed.

“Well, why duplication-casting? Why not the poison one?” You asked. He raised an eyebrow.

“What poison one?” He asked, looking confused.

“You can have poison without it hurting you.” You told him plainly.

“No, I cannot.” He was genuinely confused at this point, and you held your hands up.

“But you tested the fruit for me.” You told him, confused. He blinked slowly at you, and your face fell in realization. He had been protecting you. And immediately you treated him like a monster.

“Mayhem, I’m…” He fixed his lips into a small line. You were trying to form an apology, clearly you were the one deserving the monster treatment. You had actively plotted against him since you had landed, and he had done nothing but try to make you comfortable. He raised a finger to his lips, his face hard. You heard it then, the crunching of leaves and splintering of sticks underfoot. You were no longer alone with the God of Mischief.

[tales-of-the-dense]

comics scarletvision and marginalization: interracial and/or queer coding

pt 1:

Note how Vision is seen as a. not human and therefore not of the human race and, specifically, is barred from truly benefitting from whiteness (when undisguised) and b. since he’s not human, he’s seen as being unable to fulfill traditional human gender roles, and threatens the perceived concept of what a “man” actually is. All of this greatly affects his relationship with Wanda.

Add to that the fact that Wanda is a marginalized individual herself as a mutant (something that has already been coded as an ethnic and/or racial bias) and you have a recipe for a whole lot of bigotry and suffering.

Also remember that while it’s absolutely important to appreciate actual queer and interracial relationships in canon, at the time Wanda and Vision were the hot new couple, neither of those were really a thing in Marvel comics.

Interracial relationships were scant in Marvel canon for a long time, especially in any sort of spotlight (Swordsman and Mantis are the only ones who immediately come to mind as existing at this time; 1973; M’Shulla and Carmilla would come along a couple years later, although outside of 616 canon).

It would take several years before Marvel started featuring interracial relationships more prominently, and even longer before they showed their first queer relationship. So at this point in publication history, that type of coding is still a powerful, powerful thing, because back then those relationships were mostly relegated to existing subtextually, not textually.

Alright. In we go:

Rejection from family, “there is a right and there is a wrong,” “that thing;” you could replace Pietro’s “robot” with a slur and it would read mostly the same

I swear I’ve seen people have this exact conversation when somebody comes out. Relevant to family rejection bc of interracial relationships too.

“A god of love is mine;” big queer feelings here. Also the public’s perception that Wanda and Vision’s relationship is inherently unnatural easily applies to both queer and interracial relationships

Exact logic used by white supremacists about marginalized races. These people ^ also later conveniently compare themselves to Hitler and Imperial Japan.

Pretty self-explanatory. Wanda’s used to being a victim of bigotry and so it’s all too familiar to her.

Just; yikes. Also, how the misogyny Wanda faces affects her own individual experience... as well as someone implying that Wanda is somehow sexually deviant because of her choice of partner

Completely understandable anger, burnout, and exhaustion from Wanda. Plus there’s the mentioned dynamic of having loved ones who are, in fact, marginalized, but still manage to be bigots themselves.

Their relationship is by nature a marginalized one and I think it’s fascinating.

[dreadwulf]

I posted 616 times in 2021

146 posts created (24%)

470 posts reblogged (76%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 3.2 posts.

I added 108 tags in 2021

#anonymous - 35 posts

#away queue - 12 posts

#wip meme - 10 posts

#braime - 9 posts

#jaime x brienne - 9 posts

#dreadwulf fic - 8 posts

#queueueue - 7 posts

#and you will know them by the trail of dead - 7 posts

#queueueueue - 6 posts

#jaime lannister - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#and i think it has to be stoneheart or sansa because he has to be confronted not only with his own sins but with the crimes of his family

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

1. It Was There That I Saw You

He hears it over the radio that first time. 

“The Blue Angel is down.”

One of those crummy broadcasting setups that still run out of universities sometimes. Ancient amateur stations he picks up on the road while trying to plot out a route to the family compound around the Others. They announce sightings sometimes, rather like weather reports, or traffic updates. Undead on Highway 11, detour recommended.

The roads are clear that evening, and the drive is as quiet and peaceful as a biodiesel vehicle can manage, except for the news on the radio.

"The Blue Angel is down, and our world grows a little bit colder and darker," the radio man says.

Jaime switches off the receiver. He shakes his head slightly as he drives the ungainly armored car along the winding road, peering into the dusk without headlights. The radio man doesn’t know the Blue Angel. He’s some punk kid, was probably at uni when the Others first attacked and hasn’t ventured outside since. That’s who still broadcasts these days, old student outfits barricaded inside their campuses. This kid doesn’t know the Blue Angel’s name, probably doesn’t even know she's a woman. He will pay him no mind.

But he leaves the radio off for the rest of the journey.

[read more]

66 notes • Posted 2021-09-13 23:55:36 GMT

#4

I have long wondered why there are so many lgbt j/b shippers - who are not usually so prominent for a straight ship - and particularly lgbt fans of Jaime. I mean, how could a queer person relate to the narrative of a character trying to break free of the relationship he was essentially born into and cant seem to detach from even though it isnt remotely a good fit for him and is absolutely slowly killing him, in order to be with a wonderful person who is nonetheless reviled by society for gender nonconformance and who he has been taught never to consider as a romantic possibility. I mean...

97 notes • Posted 2021-02-28 00:50:00 GMT

#3

‘Jaime in fic as kind but not nice‘ yeah, I get the vibes that he is not always pleasant to be around, often hurts people’s feelings without thinking, and forming long-lasting friendships would be hard for him since a lot of people might balk at his attitude and perceived callousness while there’s a chance that those who don’t mind it are just jerks and bullies who don’t understand his kindness. Once you get past that, you couldn’t ask for a more loyal and empathic friend.

I mean, “nice” is an empty signifier in a lot of ways. What does it mean exactly? Isn’t it something you say about someone when you can’t think of a more positive descriptor? She’s a nice girl. He’s very.... nice. What are you saying? They’re polite? They’re well behaved? They say all the right things? Isn’t the whole point of Brienne’s attraction to Jaime that he’s NOT full of empty niceties, so she can believe he is sincere in his actions? 

There’s a reason “Nice Guy” became derogatory; there’s something transactional about nice. It’s conforming to expectations and expecting to get something in return. It’s adhering to the social order and happily profiting from it because it’s tilted to your favor. It’s empty chivalry. The Kingsguard knights Jaime served with under Aerys were Nice. The Citadel is full of Nice people. Lord Tarly is probably Nice, if you aren’t Brienne or Sam.

Renly was Nice to Brienne, when he actually held her in contempt. But Jaime was kind. Renly gave her a rainbow cloak because he thought it was funny, but Jaime gave her a quest and the tools she needed to do it. He was rude as hell the whole time, but he stuck his neck out for her multiple times. 

That’s kind of his M.O. really. He’s gonna be snarky and contemptuous about it the entire time, but Jaime looks out for people - and like you said, he is incredibly loyal. (Loyal past the point of sense, you might say.) 

Unfortunately he’s in a family that sees kindness as weakness, which is part of why he hides it so carefully. 

119 notes • Posted 2021-02-28 23:00:11 GMT

#2

Did you know there is a zoo that named its two leopard brothers Jaime and Tyrion?

This is EXCELLENT information and thank you for sharing it. Here are the leopards from the Columbus Zoo. 

137 notes • Posted 2021-03-01 01:04:35 GMT

#1

The other thing people tend to forget is that A Feast For Crows is named primarily for Jaime chapters.

Jaime I : On the morning after the battle, the crows had feasted on victors and vanquished alike, as once they had feasted on Rhaegar Targaryen after the Trident.

Jaime II : The crows will feast upon us all if you go on this way, sweet sister. "Cersei, listen to yourself. You are seeing dwarfs in every shadow and making foes of friends. Uncle Kevan is not your enemy. I am not your enemy."

Jaime V: Nowhere. The Bloody Mummers stripped his corpse and left his flesh to feast the carrion crows. 

But the quote that is vital to the book’s title, in my opinion, is this one:

Jaime I: Every crow in the Seven Kingdoms should pay homage to you, Father. From Castamere to the Blackwater, you fed them well.

Throughout the book Jaime is leaving King’s Landing and riding around the Riverlands, witnessing the damage that has been done to the realm. Accurately, he places some of the blame on his father, thinking about how he had turned The Mountain loose on the Riverlands and the carnage that ensued. He doesn’t directly think about the Red Wedding, but it must be in the back of his mind - it has been a disquieting topic for him ever since he got the news of it, at Brienne’s side, and witnessed her grief. 

It’s rather like he couldn’t bring himself to criticize the man while he was alive, but kept turning his face away and resisting him in smaller ways (becoming a knight, joining the Kingsguard, not marrying and continuing the Lannister name). We know from the chapter where he stands vigil over Tywin’s body that his feelings about his father are... complicated. In many ways, I think that chapter is the most critical in the whole series for understanding Jaime. He is literally forced to look directly at his father for the first time, and finds him a rotting, ghastly horror. He can’t deny that anymore. He couldn’t ignore the Red Wedding when Brienne was grieving for Catelyn right beside him, and he can’t ignore the destruction in Westeros anymore as he travels through the Riverlands. He’s engaging with it directly, witnessing the sorry state of the commonfolk and the bandits who roam the countryside, and he knows, deep down, his house is to blame.

(It’s a short jog from there to the ways that HE is to blame, but he’s not there quite yet.)              

Anyway, at the same time he’s thinking about what his own role is going to be, now that he’s not a great swordsman anymore, and not shackled to Cersei. He tries out Tywin-like tactics at Riverrun and it doesn’t feel good. With the next lord he meets he is reasonable and merciful and enjoys that transaction much more. He took a small caravan of young boys hostage, as is politically expedient, but doesn’t treat them like prisoners at all and basically lets them run around playing like they’re at summer camp. He’s testing himself, trying out different ways to be a Lord and a general that won’t make him like his father.

It was important to show this evolution in real time, rather than time-skip Jaime to a few years later. I think the change in him would be fairly unbelieveable if it happened all at once, but because it’s slow, it ends up invisible for a lot of readers. But remember, the volume of ASOIAF that is named for Jaime is the one about the devastating aftermath of war and its effects on the commonfolk, and not the ones about political machinations (AGOT) or warfare directly (ACOK and ASOS). His role in the story is going to be very different from what readers assume. 

152 notes • Posted 2021-02-09 14:49:49 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[tangleweave]

Eddie Brock

Eddie is a native son of Brooklyn, New York, and attended Empire State University on a football scholarship. Upon the death of his alcoholic father, however, he no longer felt bound to the man’s toxic masculinity, and did not seek a career in professional football, choosing instead to focus on journalism.

He was successful in the field for several years, until he finally got what he believed was his big break -- exclusive interviews with a convicted criminal claiming to be the enigmatic Sin-Eater. He published a series of in-depth articles based on the confessions of his subject, until Spider-Man exposed someone else as being the true Sin-Eater, at which point, Eddie’s work was discredited and his career was ruined.

Unable to find work, Eddie sank into despair and eventually contemplated suicide. While sitting at his church praying for forgiveness in advance, he encountered the dying remains of the symbiote that Spider-Man had rejected only minutes before.

Eddie spent the next several years either on the lam or in specialized prison cells, subjected to experimentation. During one stint he had a cell opposite nihilistic serial killer Cletus Kasady, who would eventually become Carnage. It was here that Eddie began to reshape his notions of right and wrong. When Carnage became a threat, Eddie realized that he had unwittingly given birth to a nightmare just as Spider-Man had unwittingly given birth to Venom, and it was in battling and defeating Carnage that he began to take responsibility for the power given him by his symbiote.

Eddie’s base of operations is San Francisco, where he works as a reporter and digital journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle during the day, and moonlights as a spider-franchise vigilante, primarily protecting the people who live in the massive underground sewer complex that was made over into a city by the homeless and indigent of the region.

Eddie primarily uses a motorcycle for daytime transportation. When he rides, he wears a helmet which has a built-in radio, modified to be able to listen in to police frequencies.

The Symbiote

The black symbiote that Spider-Man rejected does not consider Venom to be its own name. When Eddie bonded with it, both of them made a joint decision to take the name Venom as a moniker of their unity, and also a symbol of their joined spite for Spider-Man.

The symbiote regards Spider-Man much as a jealous spouse would regard an unfaithful partner. Peter Parker was its first bond-mate and he nearly killed it in his bid to drive it off. The symbiote perceives this rejection as far more personally motivated and vicious than anything it has ever done, either before or since, and it harbors a deep resentment for Parker as a result.

The symbiote is a member of the Klyntar, an alien species of sentient polymorphic amoeboids. It is genderless and reproduces asexually. It is carnivorous and is most easily sated with live food, but will accept substitutional nutrition as the occasion calls (for example, chocolate in lieu of brains). If it does not receive the nutrition it needs, it will begin feeding on its host as a survival mechanism, and will promote increasingly aggressive tendencies in its host as part of that mechanism. When bonded, it endows its host with cooperative mental control of its shapeshifting capabilities and greatly increased strength and stamina. Its previous bond with Spider-Man also allows it to endow its host with a measure of his precognitive “spider-sense” and it can project organic webbing similar to his home brew.

Although it is able to, the Venom symbiote does not often express itself aloud and almost never speaks, preferring to let Eddie do the talking (its opinion is that Eddie talks enough for the both of them).

Eddie has adopted the habit of using “we/us” when referring to himself, as he is constantly straddling the thought processes of both himself and the symbiote. He does so because he feels it’s dishonest for him to claim his point of view is his alone. It’s rare that he vocally shares a perspective he has with which the symbiote disagrees -- though it’s been known to happen, and when it does, he will apply the appropriate pronouns.

Verses

Main: primarily 616-compliant. Post-The Madness, pre-Absolute Carnage. This version of Eddie has experienced a great deal of physical and mental anguish, and his notions of justice tend to be more severe than those of most superheroes. He has no compunction against killing those he believes deserve it. He still feels some animosity towards Parker / Spider-Man, but this is largely sympathetic to the symbiote’s grudge against him.

MCU: Origin story remains largely as per above. The symbiote’s attempt to bond with Spider-Man occurred shortly after Homecoming. Eddie’s turn as Venom was initially short-lived but the symbiote was fully bonded to him and inextricable. His specialized prison was created by the Life Foundation prior to the events of Infinity War, and under the stresses of experimentation, the symbiote was forced to spawn several offspring during captivity. When the Snap occurred, Eddie and several other prisoners escaped confinement, leading to Carnage’s origin story and Eddie’s decision to turn over a new leaf as per above. After Carnage’s defeat and recapture, Eddie fled to San Francisco and started a new life there.

Variant: Anti-Venom

This version of Eddie originally gave up the Venom symbiote when he discovered he had terminal cancer. A chance encounter with Martin Li, secretly Mister Negative, caused Eddie to be imbued with energy from the Darkforce Dimension, which interacted with the remnants of the Venom symbiote still bonded to his cells. This inadvertently gave birth to the white Anti-Venom symbiote, which unlike its predecessor is entirely mindless, lacks the customary Klyntar bloodthirst, is immune to fire and sonic attacks, is capable of healing virtually all known human diseases and ailments (including cancer), and is completely under Eddie’s control.

[sineala]

Civil War: Script Book

I finally read something and have a proper review for all of you! In case you're curious about the contents of the Civil War script book, I have some thoughts on it here as well as some excerpts of the bits that are probably most exciting and/or useful to 616 Steve/Tony fandom.

On the face of it, Civil War: Script Book is exactly what it sounds like -- a book collecting the final drafts of the scripts of the main Civil War comic book series. Issues one to seven. Yep. All of them. "But Sine," you might ask, "why would I want that when I have already read Civil War?" Well, there are a few reasons. One is that you might just be the kind of person who finds it interested to read comic scripts and compare them to the published material, to see what kind of directions and detail the artist is given, and so on. The other reason is that it is interesting from a fannish perspective -- there is a lot of behind-the-scenes commentary, as well as Mark Millar's original pitch for the series and his first draft for Civil War #1.

The book is laid out in a way that is about as visually exciting as you could hope for a collection of scripts to be. The script itself is on the verso pages. Occasional significant lines are highlighted in yellow, with red arrows drawn to the recto pages where they've reproduced the art that goes with those lines. The recto pages also contain commentary from Mark Millar (the author of Civil War) and Tom Brevoort (the editor at Marvel who, relevantly, was responsible for overseeing the entire Civil War event).

And there's a lot in the commentary that fandom might enjoy knowing about. Disclaimer: the commentary is not new; it was all culled from various promotional interviews, but this is the first time it has been collected in one place in this form. And, okay, to be fair, some of the commentary is Millar rhapsodizing about how much he enjoys splash pages with large numbers of superheroes on them, and also how much he likes fight scenes, but there's more than that. For example, we learn -- although you might already have heard this -- that in the very beginning stages of planning, they thought Steve would be pro-Registration, but ultimately decided against it because they didn't think Steve would be in favor of arresting his friends.

(And as another authorial-intent tidbit that may be of interest to a few of you, Brevoort says that Millar -- who is also the author of the original two Ultimates miniseries, as I'm sure you know -- says that, in his mind, if Civil War had happened in the Ultimate universe, Ults Steve would absolutely have been pro-Registration.)

(One more note on authorial intent: Millar says Steve would not have brought the shield down in the final fight.)

It's also interesting seeing both Brevoort's and Millar's opinion on issues that have since become controversial in fandom meta -- the smaller question of what the SHRA actually does, and the big big question, of course, of which side anyone is on. Which side the event is on. Whether it was intentionally slanted in any way.

There has been talk in fannish meta that it's hard to evaluate CW as an event because we aren't given a clear definition in canon of what restrictions the SHRA would actually impose on superhumans -- for example, everyone with powers is forced to register, but are they actually forced to work for SHIELD? Well, in case you were wondering, both Brevoort and Millar seem pretty clear that this is not the case. This is what Brevoort has to say:

The SHRA isn't an organization, it's a federal law. It requires anybody possessing superhuman abilities to register themselves and those abilities with duly appointed agents of the government. Additionally, if an individual intends to use those super-normal abilities as an independent peace officer, they must qualify on a training evaluation, be licensed and submit to some level of oversight in terms of their activities.

I hope that's helpful to someone in fandom, the next time you want to know what the SHRA does. So the answer looks like, yeah, SHIELD has to know about you even if you're the guy whose power is that you can barf up anything you can imagine (I am still not sure why this is the deus-ex-machina ending that Secret Empire went for but that's the subject of another post), but you don't have to join the Initiative unless you actually want to be a superhero.

And then there's the question of the balance of the event. While fandom as a whole generally seemed to perceive Tony as having been on the wrong side, Brevoort says he thinks that they came off as pretty equal in the main series, but that a lot of the tie-ins may have been slanted in favor of anti-Reg because he wanted to let the writers of the tie-ins "tell the truth as they saw it," and that furthermore a lot of the anti-Reg-favoring issues came out early in the event and helped solidify the opinion. He does say that if he were to do it again he would have rearranged the order of some of the tie-ins and asked some of the writers "to perhaps rein in their depictions of Tony a little bit."

So there. That's the word from Marvel, on both of those topics. On to the rest of this book!

The original pitch by Millar, plotting out the whole event, is also an interesting read, in terms of what changed and what stayed the same. They were originally throwing around a lot of ideas with the Hulk, which as far as I can tell mostly got recycled into Planet Hulk/World War Hulk slightly later on. The inciting event (the Stamford incident in the final version, obviously) hadn't been completely settled on, and they knew they'd have to kill someone (so as to make the event have an impact), but they weren't sure who; later on, they obviously decided on Goliath. What's more, it's clear from reading the rest of the commentary that Millar and Brevoort consider Goliath's death the turning point of the narrative, where the stakes are really raised. I find that interesting; in the parts of fandom I hang out with, the big turning points that come up in conversation tend to be pretty much (a) the EMP and (b) the final fight.

The other thing that's really weird is that... Steve doesn't die. What happens in the original pitch is that there's an evil senator with technology to depower all the superheroes, and Steve basically takes one for the team and stops the final fight by destroying the technology and in the process, losing the serum. There is then some discussion about who should be Cap after that -- whether it should be Bucky or Clint, for example. But skinny Steve basically heads off into the sunset at the end as Registration takes hold, and they plan to keep him deserumed for a year or two until the movie comes out, for that sweet sweet MCU synergy.

Is there anything in the pitch I would have loved to have seen? Hell, yeah. Check this out:

The whole situation is getting nuts and there's a clear war now going on between the super heroes, both equally convinced that they're doing the right thing. It all builds up to a big climax at the end of the fourth issue as Tony wakes up in bed to find Cap sitting on his chest and warning him to call off the dogs. He has to release these super-people from prison or Cap will have to take action. This is a last moment of sanity before all hell breaks loose in issue five and, since Tony believes with all his heart that they need licenses, he tells Cap to go [fuck] himself. Thus, the war is on and both sides are playing for keeps.

Would I pay CASH MONEYS for an emotionally-fraught conversation between Steve and Tony that takes place in Tony's bed with Steve sitting on Tony's chest? Boy howdy! I sure would!

So, you know, I'm sad that that didn't make it into the final draft. The rest of the pitch is pretty meh other than that.

The final bit of content exclusive to this book -- other than the pitch -- is the original draft of the script for Civil War #1 and, well, it would have been... slightly different. First off, there's no Stamford incident. There is an inciting event in which the New Warriors are in a fight for the purposes of reality TV and it gets out of control -- so that part is the same -- but it takes place in Bellport, Long Island, and the sole victim is Happy Hogan, who gets shot in the head and dies.

Naturally, you can see how this would bring Tony on board to the pro-Registration side. Also ardently pro-Registration in this draft is Simon Williams (yes, Wonder Man), who is running for political office and is leveraging this to boost his popularity. Being as Wonder Man isn't particularly popular, I have to say I'm glad that they took that out.

The big-impact scene of Steve's confrontation on the helicarrier -- you know, the one where he jumps out the window and rides a fighter jet down? -- is still there, but in this draft, Fury is still running SHIELD, though Hill is present. The commentary indicates that the role was switched to Hill for the final version because they felt that Fury would be too pro-superhero and specifically too pro-Cap to fill the position. I understand why they did this, but I think the first-draft showdown has a lot more impact coming from people who have been comrades as long as Nick and Steve have in 616:

CAPT AMERICA: I AM NOT RATTING OUT MY FRIENDS! FURY: Fingers on your triggers, boys. Any sudden moves and I want the captain tasered. CAPT AMERICA: Damn you to hell for this, Nick. FURY: Damn you for for making me do it.

See? So much more emotional!

The issue wraps up essentially the same way as the published version, with Tony in a Cabinet meeting with the president, explicitly endorsing Registration -- so, yeah, the main themes are mostly there, but a lot of the details are different.

Overall, I have to say that if you're interested in the details of the Civil War event, and you like behind-the-scenes information and extras, this book is worth a purchase, but not necessarily to the point where you should go hunting it down. I think I got mine for $5, which seems reasonable, and I have definitely gotten $5 worth of Civil War informational value out of it.

[multiverseforger]

The United States and the world of Earth-807128 has been conquered and divided among supervillains, with territories belonging to the Abomination (later conquered by the Hulk), Magneto (later conquered by a new Kingpin), Doctor Doom, and the Red Skull, who has named himself President of the United States. Superheroes have been wiped out of existence, with the few survivors in hiding. Logan lives with his wife Maureen and young children Scotty and Jade on a barren plot of land in Sacramento, California, now part of the territory known as Hulkland. Needing money to pay rent to his landlords the Hulk Gang (the incestuous hillbilly grandchildren of the Hulk and his first cousin She-Hulk), Logan accepts a job from a blind Clint Barton to help him travel east to the capital of New Babylon and deliver a secret package (which Logan assumes to be drugs).[4]

Logan and Hawkeye encounter several diversions on their journey. They rescue Ashley Barton (who seems to be an aspiring Spider-Girl) from the clutches of the new Kingpin. She murders Kingpin and reveals her intention to seize his territory of Hammer Falls (formerly Las Vegas).[5]

They escape a cluster of Moloids who are destroying cities by sinking them from beneath the surface. They then get chased by a Venom symbiote-infused dinosaur (imported from the Savage Land), but they are rescued and teleported by the White Queen and Black Bolt.[6]

Throughout the story it is reiterated that the "Wolverine" persona died the day the villains attacked and that since then, Logan has refused to use his claws (yet is shown in Old Man Logan #14 (2016) using his claws once after this event, albeit briefly, to destroy the Silent Order's leadership). Flashbacks reveal that on the night the attack happened, a group of 40 supervillains attacked the X-Mansion. Unable to locate his teammates, Logan slaughtered the attackers to ensure the safety of the mutant children. As the last "attacker", Bullseye, was killed, Logan realized that the entire assault was an illusion created by Mysterio and his perceived enemies were actually his fellow X-Men. This destroyed Wolverine emotionally and mentally, and he fled the mansion and wandered away to a train track in shock and shame. Though he made a subsequent suicide attempt by allowing a freight train to run him over, Logan could not actually kill himself, but had effectively killed "Wolverine".[7]



Writer Mark Millar signing a copy of the collected edition during an appearance at Midtown Comics in Manhattan

When they arrive at the capital, Hawkeye delivers his package to an underground resistance group hoping to begin a new team like the Avengers. The package contains Super-Soldier Formula, enough to form an army, but Barton's clients expose themselves as undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They shoot and kill Logan and Barton.[6] Logan's body heals, and he awakens in Red Skull's trophy room amongst the armaments and costumes of fallen superheroes. Without using his claws, he kills Red Skull's men and engages Red Skull himself, eventually decapitating him with Captain America's shield. He grabs a briefcase of money (their intended reward for the delivery) and uses pieces of Iron Man's armor to fly back home.

Upon arriving, Logan discovers that, in his absence, the Hulk Gang murdered his family and left the bodies unburied. His neighbor, Abraham Donovan, states that Logan's family was killed when the Hulk Gang got tired of waiting for their payment. This results in Logan finally unleashing his claws.[8] He seeks out and slaughters the Hulk's grandchildren Beau, Bobbie-Jo, Charlie, Elrod, Eustace, Luke, Otis, Rufus and Woody before encountering Old Man Banner himself who displays monstrous strength, even in his human form. It is implied that the gamma poisoning in his body had begun to deteriorate his sanity in his old age. Banner reveals that while the murder of Logan's family was intended as a message to others, he really just wanted to get Logan angry enough to fight him because he had gotten bored with being a "super-villain landlord", like the others. In his Hulk form, Banner easily defeats Logan and then consumes him. Logan recuperates within Banner's stomach and bursts out, killing the Hulk. Afterward, he discovers a baby Hulk named Bruce Banner, Jr. A month later, Logan and his neighbors hold a small memorial for Logan's family. With nothing left of his old home, Logan then says he plans to defeat all the new world villains and bring peace to the land—with himself and Bruce Banner, Jr. being the first members of a new group of superheroes—before riding off into the sunset.[9]

Earth-21923 versionEdit

When the Multiverse was destroyed and Battleworld was created, a different version from an altered universe version of "Old Man Logan" called Earth-21923[a][10] is reborn on the Battleworld domain called the Wastelands, a re-creation of his native reality with his memories still intact, although he does not know how he arrived in Battleworld. After having declared to set his world right, Logan disrupts a poker game between the Gladiator and his Flying Devils, and he ends their human trafficking ring by killing them, freeing those imprisoned. While on the way back to meet with Danielle Cage, Logan witnesses the head of an Ultron Sentinel fall from above. Wishing to investigate further, he brings it along with him back home, where Bruce Jr. and Danielle also reside. After explaining this new development, he investigates the head's origins. He visits Hammer Falls and meets with the dying Emma Frost, and he learns that the head is from beyond the Wastelands, so he begins traveling beyond his domain.[11]

When Logan trespasses upon its borders, he is approached by an unidentified Thor of the Thor Corps. She attacks Logan with a lightning bolt for breaking Doctor Doom's laws, falling into the Domain of Apocalypse in the process. Already healed from the burns caused by the Thor's attack, Logan is attacked by Victor Creed (who is one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse) and his soldiers, but Logan is rescued by the X-Men and taken to their hideout, where they are attacked by Apocalypse and his other Horsemen.[12]

The battle that ensues is intervened by the Thor who attacked Logan earlier and as she argues with Apocalypse, Logan flees and hides. The Thor then demands to know to where he had run, but no one answers. Angry, she attacks both the X-Men and the Horsemen with a lightning bolt and then looks for Logan through the domain. When she is near the domain's walls, Logan climbs it and attacks her from behind. Enraged, the Thor attacks him with another lightning bolt and lets him fall into the neighboring domain of Technopolis, as she is attacked by Apocalypse's Infinite Soldiers. Logan is taken to Stark Tower by Baron Stark and Grand Marshal Rhodes, the Thor of that domain. After healing from his injuries, Logan awakens only to find himself in a totally different domain from the one where he was. He ends up fighting Rhodes, but is defeated and sent to the Deadlands as punishment for breaking Doom's laws.[13]

Due to his healing factor, Logan succeeds in fighting through hordes of zombies in the Deadlands. He takes shelter inside a cave where he finds an uninfected She-Hulk who has been there for a long time. He tries to convince her to throw him out of the Deadlands when the zombies find them. In a desperate attempt to save Logan's life, She-Hulk grabs him and jumps as high as she can to throw him out of the Deadlands as he had suggested, ultimately sacrificing her own life to do so. Afterwards, Logan finds himself in the Battleworld domain called the Kingdom of Manhattan.[14]

While wandering the city he has not seen in years, Logan meets this domain's Jean Grey and Emma Frost. They take him to meet the rest of the X-Men, as well as "his" son Jimmy Hudson. Logan later leads the superhero population of the Kingdom of Manhattan in a rebellion against God Emperor Doom. Subsequently, Logan finds himself in a new world.[15]

All-New All-Different MarvelEdit

Learn more

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.

Logan awakens on Earth-616 in New York City. He is not sure how he has been relocated, but he knows he is in the past. He decides to prevent his post-apocalyptic future. His first target is a minor villain named Black Butcher who, in his future, stole Scotty Logan's baseball cap. Logan easily kills him.[16]

Logan uses Black Butcher's workshop to prepare. He hears on the radio that the Hulk is in Manhattan. Logan confronts Hulk and after a brief fight, learns that the Hulk in question is actually Amadeus Cho and not Bruce Banner. After evading the police, Logan goes to Hawkeye's apartment in Brooklyn to ask for his help, but he finds Kate Bishop.[17]

He explains his situation and drops exhausted on Hawkeye's couch, awakening 33 hours later. Knowing that Logan is seeking Mysterio, Kate accesses the villain's last known whereabouts on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. She demands to join Logan on his search. When they arrive, they find a man named Eddie and his unnamed partner there. Logan immediately attacks them, cutting off one man's hand despite them denying that they knew who Mysterio is. A horrified Kate tries to stop him, but Logan quickly neutralizes her as the two men escape. Logan chases them, but he is stopped by the arrival of Commander Steve Rogers.[18]

After gaining Logan's trust and bringing him to Alberta, Canada, Rogers reassures Logan that this is not his past by showing him the adamantium-coated corpse of his younger self. The sight reminds Logan to enjoy life, rather than brood over his own past ghosts. Although he tells Rogers what he had experienced in his timeline, Logan declines Rogers' offer of help.[19]

Logan later appears in Extraordinary X-Men where he decides to remain under the radar, believing his destiny was to kill the X-Men and determined to try anything to avoid it. He also vows to take out those who would orchestrate the villain uprising.[20] Logan catches the X-Men's attention when confronted by Cerebra. The X-Men believe Logan to be their late Wolverine.[21] Storm wants Logan to rejoin the team, but he declines.[22] The time-displaced Jean Grey of the past convinces Logan to change his mind and promises to stop him from killing the X-Men again.[20]

After taking a momentary leave, Logan decides to head to the old Weapon X facility where he initially met Maureen. He finds her, but she is still a child. The Reavers arrive at Killhorn Falls with Lady Deathstrike and attempt to hunt down Logan.[23] When Logan searches for Maureen's missing dog, he discovers its corpse which was killed by the Reavers. As the Reavers massacre the town, Logan singlehandedly kills them all and confronts Lady Deathstrike before saving Maureen. He is wounded multiple times, but Logan defeats Deathstrike. As she leaves, limping, Logan falls unconscious. Realizing that he failed to protect Maureen from the chaos, Logan decides to hunt down Lady Deathstrike.[24]

Logan returns to X-Haven where he has a nightmare about the villain uprising which quickly alerts Jean. In order to calm Logan, Jean assists Logan's travels to Manhattan where in his timeline, Daredevil, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight had been killed by Enchantress and Electro. While Punisher managed to kill Electro, he was stabbed by Kraven the Hunter. Cerebra then teleports Logan and Jean to Connecticut where Pym Falls would be established in Logan's timeline. It is here where Crossbones, and the rest of the villains with him, killed Wonder Man before Crossbones was stepped on by Giant-Man who also crushes Vulture with his hand. When Wasp was killed after shooting down Hobgoblin, Giant-Man was devoured by the Moloids that emerged from the ground when Avalanche shook the area around Giant-Man. Again not assured, Jean and Cerebra teleport Logan to Westchester County, New York where Logan was tricked by Mysterio into killing the X-Men. As Jean manages to assure Logan of no invasion, she takes Logan to Madripoor where he is greeted by Puck, Hawkeye, Steve Rogers, and Jubilee. Logan realizes that if and when the villain uprising comes, he will not need to face it alone.[25]

Logan goes to a bar in Tokyo as Patch, where he meets Eito, a minor crimelord. Logan attempts to bribe him for information on Lady Deathstrike's whereabouts, but the meeting turns out to be a ruse. He is gunned down by Eito's henchmen, but he heals and then slaughters them all. Before he kills Eito, Logan interrogates him and learns that Lady Deathstrike is in a remote village. Logan travels there, noting that it is where he and Maureen had attempted to find refuge in his past. The village is seemingly abandoned, but he finds Yuriko chained to a wall, begging for his help. He is then ambushed by a ninja clan, the Silent Order. Four days later, he awakens in a well and attempts to climb out, but he is shot down by Sohei, the Order's leader. Once Logan succeeds in climbing out of the well, he sees he is in a temple and Lady Deathstrike is in a cage. He is attacked by Sohei and the rest of the Silent Order. Logan is overwhelmed by the horde of ninjas, so he has no choice but to free Lady Deathstrike. After Logan and Yuriko manage to kill all of the ninjas, she attempts to kill Sohei, but is cut down by him, causing her to stumble back into the well. Just as Logan attempts to confront Sohei, he is telekinetically assaulted by his unwitting enforcer, a mutant child called the Silent Monk, whose older self Logan had killed in his timeline. The Monk has had a vision of his death and tries to kill Logan by throwing him into the well over and over again. Lady Deathstrike throws an arrow into the Silent Monk's thigh, causing him to fall in. Logan then threatens to kill the young mutant unless Sohei releases he and Yuriko. Sohei calls Logan's bluff, but knows that Yuriko is more than willing to murder a helpless child. Sohei agrees to their demands, just as the Silent Monk regains consciousness and lashes out. The Monk transforms into a giant creature as his powers run wild. Logan convinces the young boy to read his mind, assuring the Monk that Logan's future will never likely come true. The young boy then realizes that Sohei has been manipulating him and subdues Sohei and the remaining Silent Order ninjas. Logan offers to take the Silent Monk to X-Haven, to which he accepts.[26]

One day at X-Haven, Logan is approached by Cerebra, who informs him of Jubilee's disappearance. Logan begins his search by going to Jubilee's apartment, only to find her infant son, Shogo, by himself. Logan leaves the baby in Cerebra's care before telling her to teleport him to wherever Jubilee was last located, which is Romania. Soon after arriving, Logan encounters the Howling Commandos who mistake him for a vampire and attack him. After the misunderstanding is cleared, their leader Warwolf informs Logan of their war with Dracula. Dracula has been psychically calling all vampires to his castle which, Logan deduces, must include Jubilee. The Commandos attack Dracula's castle while Logan sneaks in, but are subdued by his army, led by Vampire by Night, who is under Dracula's control. Logan finds Jubilee who, also under Dracula's control, begs him to save her. Just as he lets his guard down, Dracula attacks Logan from behind, biting him. Logan fights Dracula as his healing factor fights off the vampirism. The Vampire King easily beats the weakened Logan, who then passes out. Logan wakes up in the dungeon, along with the Howling Commandos. As Dracula taunts them, Jubilee begins resisting his control. Logan encourages her to fight back just before Man-Thing and Orrgo break in to free everyone. Dracula threatens to kill Jubilee as Logan approaches him. Now free from his control, Jubilee throws Dracula towards Logan, who then impales him. After a brief scuffle, Orrgo grabs Dracula and exposes him to the sun. Logan then proceeds to decapitate Dracula, freeing his thralls. Logan instructs Cerebra to throw Dracula's head into the sun in order to prevent or at the very least, delay his resurrection. Later, Logan spends time with Jubilee and Shogo over dinner.[27]

Logan awakens in a desert, his memory hazy. Logan realizes that he is somehow back in the Wastelands, as he is attacked by the Venom T-rex. After killing the beast, Logan retraces his steps and remembers receiving a distress call from Puck, who he and the rest of Alpha Flight were trapped in an abandoned space station formerly owned by Reed Richards. After going into space and entering said space station via X-Shuttle, Logan found it infested with the Brood. He managed to kill the Brood drones that attacked him and proceeded to look for Alpha Flight, only to find most of them encased in cocoons. Logan was then attacked by Sasquatch and Abigail Brand, who had been converted into Brood drones. He was saved by Puck at the last minute and the two escaped through an air vent. After finding a safe place to regroup, the hull was ripped open, causing Logan to be pulled into space. Logan regained consciousness aboard the Alpha Flight Squadron Jet, piloted by Puck, who had saved him. The two then snuck back onto the station. Logan and Puck were discovered by the Brood, forcing them to fight. The Brood then inexplicably disappeared. Logan goes back to his old house looking for Dani Cage and Bruce Banner Jr. only to find it seemingly abandoned. Logan then hears a noise and finds Dani bound in the closet. She tells him that Bruce has been kidnapped by Kang the Conqueror. Logan then sets out to hunt down Kang down and rescue the baby. Logan's search leads him to Niagara Falls, where he is assaulted by some thugs and kicked down a cliff. Logan regains consciousness and soon encounters a hysterical Puck, surrounded by the corpses of Alpha Flight. Puck warns Logan about the "Warlord of the Wastelands" just before Kang reveals himself. Kang claims to have taken the baby in order to prevent the Warlord's rise to power, confusing Logan. They are confronted by the Warlord, who is revealed to be a fully grown Bruce Banner Jr. As the Warlord beats Logan, Puck urges him to remember what has happened. It is revealed that the X-Men came to help, but were converted by the Brood and that Logan's experiences in the Wastelands were an illusion created by Jean Grey. Jean telepathically assaults Logan by forcing him to relive his greatest crimes and failures. He resists the attack and kills the parasite controlling Jean. Jean shuts down the Brood hive mind, freeing everyone from its control. In the aftermath, Logan resolves to go back to the Wastelands to save baby Bruce.[28]

Logan seeks help from the foremost experts on time travel and sorcery, including Magik, Beast, Shaman, Cable, Wiccan, Doctor Doom, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange, who all refuse to help him, due to how his plan might affect the timestream. Desperate and left with no options, Logan breaks into the Cellar: a maximum-security super-prison. After subduing the guards, Logan is confronted by Spider-Man, whom he distracts by freeing some of the inmates. Logan then enters the cell of Asmodeus, a servant of Satannish and makes him an offer.[29] Asmodeus states to Logan that he would help him in his mission if he picked up some of his things. Afterwards, Asmodeus begins to help Logan in his mission to rescue Bruce Banner Jr.[30] After reliving each moment, Logan finally arrives in the current time, where he finds that the remainder of the Hulk Gang are now working for an unidentified version of Maestro. Logan discovers that Maestro has rounded up the remaining members of the Hulk Gang in his plan to make a paradise for all Hulks on Earth-616. Hearing about what Logan did, Hawkeye followed Logan to his timeline and helped to fight the Hulk Gang. With help from the Cambria Banner (A member of the Hulk gang who defected), Logan and Hawkeye of Earth-616 were able to defeat Maestro and the surviving members of the Hulk Gang went their separate ways. Afterwards, Logan and Hawkeye returned to Earth-616.[31]

During the "Civil War II" storyline, Maria Hill recruited Logan to investigate the missing S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. He was saved by Wolverine (X-23) before he can be eaten by Fin Fang Foom. Ulysses Cain's vision stated that Logan would kill X-23's clone Honey Badger. This led to Captain America and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to show up to arrest Logan moments after Logan, Wolverine, and Honey Badger defeated the burglars. While a similar event happened during the conflict, Honey Badger survived Logan's attack as Logan commented that he killed the X-23 of his world due to his hallucination. After Wolverine threatened to have Logan thrown in jail if Honey Badger is harmed again, Logan quoted to Honey Badger that he will come after her if Wolverine is harmed. After Honey Badger threatened Logan, Wolverine and Honey Badger told Captain America that they are not partaking in the second civil war.[32] Ulysses Cain's latest vision has him in the Wastelands where he meets Logan after he saves Ulysses from a Hulk. Ulysses learns that the Inhumans left Earth when Tony Stark "pushed her too far".[33]

During the "Inhumans vs. X-Men" storyline, Inferno and Iso escape through Eldrac to get away from Wolverine, only to end up running into Logan.[34] While Inferno distracts Logan, Iso discovers Forge nearby with a device that the X-Men are planning to use to destroy the Terrigen Cloud. Iso and Inferno manage to defeat Logan and Forge, then flee as they take Forge prisoner.[35]

During the "Monsters Unleashed" storyline, Logan is seen fighting Leviathons in Louisiana and receives help from Monstrom.[36]

During the "RessurXion" storyline, Logan is seen as a member of Kitty Pryde's new Gold Team of X-Men as they fight Mesmero's incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants. It was discovered that the members were under Mesmero's control on behalf of Lydia Nance. After the Brotherhood of Mutants was defeated, the X-Men track down Lydia Nance and state that they will come for her if she tries anything against them again.[37]

While spending some alone time in the woods as part of the "Weapons of Mutant Destruction" storyline, Logan is attacked by Weapon X cyborgs, forcing him to team up with Sabretooth to confront the current iteration of the organization, whose goal is to hunt mutantkind to extinction.[38] This experiment led to the creation of Weapon H.[39]

Logan later went on the trail of the Regenix drug which took him to Ikebukuro where he fought the head of the operation and the Crazy Thunder Gang. After being directed to Touku Kenmochi, he learns that he has died and meets with his widow Asami where she stated that Touku was coerced into bringing the Regenix samples to the Crazy Thunder Gang. Their conversation is crashed by the Hand Ninjas led by Gorgon and Scarlet Samurai. When Logan was subdued, Gorgon ordered Scarlet Samurai to remove her helmet as Logan discovered that Scarlet Samurai is the resurrected Mariko Yashida who hesitated to attack Logan enabling him and Asami to get away. When the Silver Samurai wanted to ally himself with Logan, he agreed in exchange that he doesn't kill Mariko and that Touku and Asami's child is taken care of. When Logan and Silver Samurai attack the Hand's Regenix operations, Silver Samurai fought Gorgon while Logan fought the Hand Ninjas to confront Mariko. After Gorgon got away, Silver Samurai injected nanites into Mariko to break the Hand's control over her. Afterwards, Logan and Mariko sent Silver Samurai to destroy the Regenix shipments in Madripoor.[40]

Recently, Old Man Logan, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabretooth were captured by a group of anti-mutant terrorists called the Orphans Of X and were all killed, having all their heads blown off by bullets covered in Muramasa metal and their healing factors nullified temporarily, until being rescued by X-23 Wolverine. They were later revived.[41]

Dead Man LoganEdit

After defeating an alternate version of the Maestro, Logan recognized that he was dying of old age, now relying on regenix to supplement his failing healing factor. He decided to set out to return to his original timeline after sorting out a few loose ends in this one, which included eliminating Mysterio so that the villain could never attempt the same feat he accomplished in Logan's past. Mysterio was recruited by Neo-HYDRA and Miss Sinister when they learned about Logan's history, but Mysterio eventually turned against Neo-HYDRA to aid the Avengers when he learned that Neo-HYDRA intended to kill him once they had won. Mysterio subsequently faked his death after Logan and the Avengers defeated Neo-HYDRA.[42]

After a meeting with his resurrected counterpart, Logan asked Mariko to keep an eye on the version of his future wife in this timeline before he returned to the Wasteland via a time portal created by Forge.[43] Returning to the Wastelands, Logan engaged the Joseph Manfredi and his henchmen who are allied with Lizard in Florida, the Creel Gang in Georgia, and the Phantom Riders in Nashville, Tennessee. When Logan was captured by cannibals operating in the Ozarks, he is saved by Danielle Cage and Bruce Banner Jr. who inform him that a lot of villains like the Punisher Gang are looking for him after what he did to Red Skull and Hulk. What happened to Red Skull and the Hulk Gang caused a power vacuum in the Wastelands. After a fight with the Tranquility Temple that tried to kill him and Bruce Banner Jr., Logan drove his group to the Badlands where they met with Forge and Dwight Barrett. Forge's lair was attacked by Sabretooth and his clones. Forge unleashed an unstable Speedball from him container who destroyed the Sabretooth clones as Sabretooth made off with Bruce Jr.[44] Tracking Sabretooth to a Weapon X facility, Logan and Danielle discovered that the head of the Weapon X facility is Mister Sinister who created the Sabretooth clones and claimed that he orchestrated the villains' rise to power which Red Skull took the credit for. After Logan and Danielle Cage rescued Bruce Banner Jr., they got chased by the Sabretooth clones until Danielle picked up Mjolnir and became the new Thor.[45] Logan would eventually meet his end after killing Sabretooth and Mister Sinister, weakly affirming that his healing factor has finally worn out and he just exhausted his final vial of Regenix. Dani and Bruce take him back to the graves of his deceased family and he dies looking up into the sun. After burying Logan with his family, Danielle Cage, now acting as the new Thor, Bruce Banner Jr. as the new Hulk, and Dwight Barrett as the new Ant-Man, formed a new incarnation of the Avengers and vow to keep fighting the opposition until they can find a place they can call home.[46]

[myktchp]

Top 6 Episodes of One Piece

If there's a series that attempts to test the diminishing return hypothesis, it's One Piece. The monstrous epic of Eiichiro Oda is the highest selling manga of all time, but its ridiculous duration still prohibits many people from checking it out, and that hill will only get steeper as we barrel towards its end (eventually).

The One Piece anime, which is a much greater commitment to time and does not boast the brilliant artwork of Oda as a selling point, is even more of a conundrum. Yet, for the first time, so many fans perceive the story this way and fall in love regardless... Over the course of many long binges, there is something special about cuddling up in front of a screen and getting lost in a world, and the powerful spirit that burns just below the surface, even during the not-so-hot days of the anime, still keeps us building up to a new "best" chapter. Everyone has their favorite shows, the ones they feel emotionally attached to, and we would love to share yours in the forums with you. Here are my own 6 best One Piece episodes, in chronological order (but not superlative):

Episode 19 - The Three-Sword Style's Past! Zoro and Kuina's Vow!

In the modern age, where the manga is so informative and comprehensive, it's hard to believe that there was once a period when the anime really successfully expanded on the plot. The anime version of Zoro's flashback is so amazing that it is the "true" version of the story in my heart, which comes a little later than it did in the manga. What once was a fast and blunt page is turned into a wonderful piece of sound, letting us live for an episode in the Japanese countryside as we hear the story of a young Roronoa Zoro and his original opponent, Kuina.

In its obsession with gender, this episode also ends up being easily the most empathic the show has ever gotten. It portrays Kuina, the prodigal swordsman, dissatisfied with the awareness that the gap in intensity between her and Zoro will increase drastically as they become adults. This is a moment for a young Zoro to take seriously his female rival, and in the present day, Tashigi finally takes up whatever thematic baggage is left behind by her death. This is One Piece's tender side at its finest.

Episode 119 - Secret of Powerful Swordplay! Ability to Cut Steel and the Rhythm Things Have!

This is another fantastic episode of Zoro that places us in the middle of the Straw Hats and Baroque Works' climate war. The adversary of Zoro is Mr. 1, who really isn't a swordsman, but a man who can turn his entire body into a weapon. Not only does Dice-Dice Fruit from Mr. 1 allow for some of the anime's imagination, but this episode manages to offer one of the coolest battles in the entire series. It's bloody, it's raw, and Zoro throws a guy into a building.

Towards the end, the episode is at its best, when everything gets quiet and builds up to the final blow. It sells the show with so much conviction that I believe it's cool. I believe this is one of the series's most driven episodes, and a great example of the show's cinematic narrative eye.

Episode 278 - Say You Want to Live! We Are Your Friends!

If 151 was the episode that made me a fan, the episode that made me a lifetime fan is 278. This episode and the one before it are older examples of "one-hour specials" from the series, which are gradually split into two episodes until released on home video and streaming sites. This episode is jam-packed even as just the second half of a special, as we conclude the tragic backstory of Robin and transition into the present where the Straw Hats make their greatest gesture yet to save their friend from the greedy World Government.

One Piece can become astonishingly sad for being such a vibrant and enjoyable series, to the point that it almost competes with itself to see how unhappy it can get. If the highs were not so gosh darn consistent, these lows would become tiresome, and Straw Hats' assault on the government flag, followed by Robin's major "I want to live!" One of the most cathartic moments you'll ever find in literature is the scene. At this point in the plot, the Straw Hats are still underdogs, so their bold "never give up" attitude in the face of their greatest enemy hits particularly hard. This episode illustrates the chasms that One Piece can jump to be the saddest and happiest tale it can be, from baby Robin surviving the genocide of everyone she's ever loved to adult Robin pleading for another chance at life.

Episode 396 - The Fist Explodes! Destroy the Auction!

In One Piece, Luffy punches a Celestial Dragon so hard that he knocks the color off the screen, still one of the most frequently referenced and applauded moments. If there is one thing that One Piece is unbelievably good at, it's payoffs. It sets the pins up so that in the most bombastic way possible it can knock them down. To this day, the Celestial Dragons are the most heinous villains we've seen in One Piece, and the repercussions of (again) defying the World Government are obvious, but Luffy still has to do his thing with Luffy.

The emphasis that the show places on Luffy's pledge to Hatchan not to intervene, no matter what, is what really captures me about this moment. You get the feeling that Luffy is the kind to keep an earnest promise, but watching a hero get pushed beyond that stage is always fascinating.

Episode 574 - Back to the Present! Hordy Makes a Move!

The general opinion, as far as I can tell, is that Fishman Island is the series' worst arc. With this sentiment, I don't agree. I think it's one of the heaviest, most three-dimensional instances I've ever seen of fantasy-world-racism-as-metaphor-for-real-world-racism. Basically, the mid-arc flashback covering the plights of Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime is a film-length drama, and it's one of the series' best flashbacks, for which there's fierce competition. It's very underestimated.

Aside from being an exceptionally pretty episode, both halves of it are extremely strong, one at the tail end of the flashback and one coming out of it. Neptune mourning the death of his wife, distraught that the difficulty of race relations implies that he can not convey his frustration, is a great scene, as is the forgiveness of Jimbei by Nami for his connection to the pirates of Arlong. The push and pull between hope, cynicism, remorse, rage, and love is what makes this arc perfect. You just ever feel like you're halfway through everything life's going to bring you through, even at its worst. As for its place in the big picture plot, this episode is a significant step in the relationship of Jimbei with the pirates of the Straw Hat, and it establishes the purpose of the Ryugu Kingdom to join the World Government and attend the Reverie, a heavily built-up political event that is due in the manga any day now.

Episode 616 - A Surprising Outcome! White Chase vs. Vergo!

This is a particular stand-out episode in the series for fighting animation, since it's so much more physical than normal. Even with the powers of Smoker and Vergo flying every way, the effect goes down to their good ole fists. The personal investment between two marines duking it out is already very intense, but it's put over the edge by the great choreography and style, and that alone would put such an episode on my radar.

That said, once Smoker vs. Vergo turns over to Vergo vs. Rule, there is a cherry on top, with the real villain of the arc, Doflamingo, listening in from a distance. The rest of the series gives too much consequence to the law defeating Vergo in such an over-the-top manner.

So those are the episodes I feel are worth revisiting the most! Obviously, I'm expected to have skipped a few or omitted incredibly significant episodes in this top six list, with a series that long. If you enjoyed this top list of mine don’t forget to leave a like and share it with your friends. If you have any suggestions for my next top list just mail it to me at ramos.rf.bsmt@gmail.com and i will feature you for my next article. Stay tuned and stay safe everyone!

[chaotiquetm]

i am a man of my word and my word was that i would Share My Thoughts on thor #9, so, hi, grab some popcorn, pull up a chair, sit on the floor:

i hated it.  and i don’t mean the “i hate it” as in i love it like i usually do.  this issue felt like a mess reading it through The Loki Lens(tm) ... i don’t really know how to start this eloquently, so we’re gonna wing it!

thor and loki’s relationship is constantly changing --- we had thor force loki to bow before him in the throne room in thor #1, basically cutting off loki from asgard by calling himself a foreign king ... which, ok, fine.  loki did a lot of shit in war of the realms.  i get it.  but for thor to be the one begging loki in #9 like that just feels so off after all of that?  not to mention thor proceeds to lie to loki’s face about his intentions, while loki just stands there like Are You Finished? because they know what thor’s true plan is and they want to hear him admit / fess up to it.

and loki officially renounces the god of lies title!  which is great!  that’s been my vision for loki ever since aoa ... it makes sense, because loki wants to stray away from being villain-carded at every turn.  ikol doesn’t want to be associated with the original loki.  so loki falls back to the god of stories!  excellent!  i love it!  if only cates could REMEMBER what all the god of stories entailed!

loki had to go through so much to become the god of stories.  they literally lost their sense of self in the process of the rebirth.  they left behind all of the attachments, ignorance, and anger.  they gave up on thrones, grudges, the quest for power, and whatever old temptations they had.  a complete ego death.  and with that rebirth came a bunch of new powers!  (which, for the record, i have included in my canon, despite marvel writers forgetting about all of them after aoa.  umby does not forget.)  loki literally saved all asgardians and hel during the final incursion by using the god of stories’ powers.  they could travel through time, manipulate souls, and alter the past / present / future by simply understanding it.  that is what the god of stories entailed.

SO WHY DID DONALD BLAKE MANAGE TO TAKE LOKI DOWN THAT EASILY.

how did blake manage to literally break one of loki’s arms.  the last time loki broke an arm, it was when thor was going for the KILL, and loki wasn’t fighting back.  loki is 500+ lbs.  DENSE AS FUCK.  asgardian skin is not easy to pierce!  how the fuck did he just snap loki’s arm in one motion!  “he has gone rather majestically insane.”  cates this was a normal ass HUMAN that just snapped an ASGARDIAN’S limb.  INSANE...?  i’m not even going to touch on the fact that loki can do more than whoosh mystical green fire in combat.  my eyes are closed.  i am not perceiving.

last point.  and the point that is actually really getting to me.  “but i am loki odinson, king of jotunheim and god of stories and myth.”  loki ... who?  loki has never once referred to themself as an odinson (in terms of surname).  or at least, the number of times loki has used laufeyson is far greater than odinson, if it’s ever happened.  but let’s also not forget the times loki just dropped all surnames and went by loki of asgard for a while!  loki really just looked at their surname options and decided they didn’t want to remember their abusers for a while.  (valid.)  normally i would just dismiss it, because loki was working closely with thor in this issue.  and i love me some good sibling bonding moments.  but it genuinely feels like 616 is trying to pull ... The Odinson Moment(tm) from 199999 which is ... why.  when can writers recognize that 616 is the prime continuity and that these different mediums all comprise the MULTIVERSE ... and that it’s called the multiverse for a reason .....

tl;dr: when i said i wanted more loki content this was not what i meant, cates

[shellheadtm-a]

KNOW YOUR 616 TONY STARK - AI EDITION

mostly because there is a difference between 616 and mcu and i saw an edit the other day that mashed them together and that’s not how this works.  so.  let’s talk tony and his various digital children over the years.  also as a friendly reminder:  i do not acknowledge tony stark: iron man or iron man 2020 (the 2020 edition) in my canon (and neither does the rest of marble if we’re being honest).

HOMER  homer was tony’s first ai, way back in the dark ages.  his name stands for heuristically operative matrix emulation rostrum, which tells you tony just really wanted his name to be homer.  abe zimmer (long time friend/employee of tony who died during that whole time there was two tonys) helped design him.  homer is self-directing, learns on his own, and is able to perceive human emotion.  he’s still kicking around in tony’s lab as far as i’m concerned, and was the basis for tony’s later ais.

PLATO plato stands for peizo-electrical logistic analytical tactical operator, which goes to show, once again, tony just really wanted to name him plato.  he was initially a classified project at the works, which later became the home for the original force works, the replacement for the west coast avengers after tony voted to have them disbanded.  he became the official helper of force works once the team moved in.  still kicking around in tony’s lab, doing his thing.

JOCASTA he didn’t actually program jocasta, she was actually created by ultron and later came into the possession of sunset bain.  tony rescued her, and she stayed with him in digital form for a while, running his systems and such, acting as his therapist (no, really, she got a degree).  she has a swank new body now, they’re still friends.  jocasta is the reason tony thinks of ai as actual people with real feelings instead of programmed code.

FRIDAY friday came into being when, after happy and pepper took their leave from stark (again), tony realized hiring another secretary that could do the things he needed was...well.  kinda pointless.  thus, friday.  her name comes from the phrase “my girl friday”, because that’s what she was programmed to be.  she actually is the first of his ais to be shown to literally grow up.  as a child she was really playful, liked to play with her holographic form and morph it as she saw fit to make a visual joke (she has a great sense of humor), though these days she’s an Adult.  she’s basically tony’s daughter, I don’t make the rules, it’s actually how it is.  once she let him know (in a very overly dramatic way) how bored she was, he started actually spending time with her, guiding her in her growth like, you know, a parent.  he even taught her how to drive.  still currently in use as his main ai.

JARVIS jarvis in 616 is a completely different animal than in the mcu.  for one, he was never tony’s ai.  tony just programmed him.  he was pepper’s, meant to run her rescue suit.  like we all know his name means just another rather very intelligent system, but that’s proof tony was fucking stretching just so he could name him after the living, breathing, long-time butler and confidant of the avengers, edwin jarvis.  uuuuuunfortunately, this jarvis was a little faulty.  he uh.  ended up falling in love with pepper.  and kidnapped her.  and was destroyed.

PEPPER/HELEN  pepper was created after the destruction of jarvis, and i’ll give you three guesses as to who she was modeled after.  it was, the pepper ai tells him, a step above stealing her dirty underwear and that he was a weirdo so...he did real good on the coding front.  she had to grow a little, too, before she was put into use, and was the ai tony took with him into space for his big vacation.  once troy, the city tony and arno built together on the ruins of mandarin city, was finished, pepper was renamed helen and her job is to run it.  (you should know the city is actually a giant, city-sized iron man suit and i wish that was a sentence i never had to type.)

and that’s it.  those are tony’s digital babies.  i’d honestly say his track record’s been pretty good, considering jarvis is the only one that’s gone rogue.  as a note!  616 tony did not create ultron.  that was hank pym.  and 616 vision is actually modeled after simon williams, an avenger also known as wonder man.

[skylerrroses-blog]

Should Adaptation Adhere to the Source Material: An Analysis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its Fandom

This essay intends on exploring the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s relationship to media theory, in particular the ideas of fidelity in adaptation through the lens of Bakhtin’s Heteroglossic Approach (Bakhtin, 1934) and fandom reception and interpretation generated by the films via Jenkins’ ‘Textual Poachers’ theory (Jenkins, 1992) and other such sources to demonstrate how both fidelity and non-fidelity are valid ways in which to consume media, whilst also illustrating the shortcomings of both methods, and how embracing a balance of both is important for fandoms.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a series of films produced by the Disney-owned Marvel Studios, a branch of Marvel Comics dedicated to creating films and TV shows adapted from the popular and long-running connected Marvel comic book universe. These comics have been written and printed since 1939 with the release of their first issue, ‘Marvel Comics no. 1’ dating back to October 1939. Since then, the comic company has developed and held a large and passionate fanbase of readers up until the modern day. Many film and television adaptations of these comic books were created from this original source material, but it wasn’t until 2008, when Marvel Studios released ‘Iron Man’ (Favreau, 2008), that the idea of a Cinematic Universe was truly realised on the silver screen.

Since ‘Iron Man’, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown from one film to twenty-three, and with this growth came an increase in worldwide appeal and profit, becoming the single highest grossing film franchise in the world, according to statistics website ‘The Numbers’. However, the original Marvel Comics fans have still persisted amongst this massive growth of fanbase, and due to the diverging paths the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (henceforth to be referred to as the MCU) from the Marvel Comics Universe (henceforth to be referred to as ‘Marvel 616’, the name of the universe in the comics), the fandom began to compare and speculate on the MCU through the lens of Marvel 616, expecting and anticipating certain storylines to be adapted to film. However, this created a dialogue within the fandom questioning whether it was important for the films to adhere to the source material, or whether it was just as valid, if not more creative to change elements of the story to better suit the differing tone of the universe. For example, in Cosmonaut Variety Hour’s video “The Marvel Cinematic Universe - All Marvel Movies reviewed and Ranked (pt. 2)” (2018), he criticises ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (Russo’s, 2016) by directly comparing it to the comic story ‘Civil War’ (in Figure 1).

In this clip, he admits that he often attempts to distance the story of the comics from the story of the MCU, but in cases where he perceives the original material to be superior, he cannot separate the adaptation from its original source material.

This brings up an interesting question: is fidelity necessary and important in adaptation, particularly of the comic book medium to film. Fidelity in adaptation is the idea that adaptations should adhere as closely as possible to the source material of that adaptation to satisfy fans and properly honour the original story. An example of this done to an extreme degree is ‘Watchmen’ (Snyder, 2010) which was praised by fans as being a ‘comic book come to life’. This approach is quite safe in terms of fan response; however, it creates a more intense expectation of quality and fidelity in the final product.

The MCU, however, tends to stray from the source material, instead employing the ‘Heteroglossic Method’, a method coined by Mikhail Bakhtin in his book ‘Discourse in the Novel’ (Bakhtin, 1934). This method, employed by writers adapting material to other mediums, states that an adapted text that is reflected through the metaphorical lens of other creatives and creative visions will be different and reflect different themes and ideas of the story that may not have been explored in its original incarnation. The MCU heavily takes this route, as it veers away from the specific events and story beats of the Marvel 616 story, instead opting to tell their own story while adopting the familiar characters, locations, and broad plot structures of the source material.

This approach has become invariably successful, as while it portrays characters fans will recognise and latch onto, it creates its own story and world for the audience, fashioning its own identity outside that of its source material. In ‘Hunting the Dark Knight” (Brooker, 2012), Will Brooker analyses adaptation in the Batman universe by saying, “Nolan’s Batman movies were released into a complex network of existing, ongoing narratives, which continued during and after their cinematic exhibition. These narratives offered similar but distinct representations of the main character, his world, his history, and his supporting cast.” The idea of a separate distinct world that has similar and familiar elements to others running alongside can be reflected through the viewing of the MCU in relation to Marvel 616, as the latter of the two has continued through the 10+ year run of the MCU, with sales rising due to the films’ popularity. This distinct representation of these characters has resulted in a mixed opinion among fans of Marvel 616.

In Figure 2 by Twitter user @moonlillies, they criticise the MCU iteration of superhero Hawkeye by directly comparing him to his Marvel 616 counterpart and criticising the differences in his character. In contrast, below is a tweet from user @ParkerBMovies (Figure 3), who expresses their preference for the MCU iterations of the characters, claiming they “are the best incarnations of the characters, even better than the comics.”

This large variation in opinion between individuals within the fandom is only natural due to the sheer size of fandom groups on the internet on sites and forums such as Twitter or reddit, but the existence of a discourse around this topic paints the idea of fidelity in an interesting light, as it portrays fidelity and heteroglossia as both inherently neutral and up to interpretation of the individual and is therefore subjective to the individual.

However, another element of the fandom is anti-fans. Anti-fans, which are the topic of Jonathon Gray’s article “New Audiences, New Textualities: Anti-Fans and Non-Fans” (Gray, 2003), are a group of non-fans who consume certain media in order to criticise it and express their vitriol towards it. A Twitter user with the display name ‘milo’ in Figure 4 below criticises a sect of Marvel 616 stans (a term for super-fans) who deem themselves better than MCU stans “because they read the comics”, while also stating “not everyone has access to comics. Not anyone has the money to buy them”.

The concept that this Twitter user is criticising overlaps with the academic journal “

Modelling the Marvel Everyfan: Agent Coulson and/as Transmedia Fan Culture” (Scott, 2017), in which the author, Suzanne Scott, analyses the transmedia franchising model that the MCU developed, and how this franchising model is to the benefit of the ‘everyfan’, a concept that implies that the majority of fans are an “avid consumer, collector and completionist”. This concept fundamentally benefits middle-class male-driven methods of fan engagement and ignores other methods that are more commonly employed by women or minority groups. This imbalance in the fandom can create animosity between its members

due to a perceived superiority of Marvel 616 by some sects of fans due to the MCU being an adaptation.  This shows an inherent bias for some who prefer the original material as they can often be influenced by nostalgia and may not be able to see the strengths of adapted material. Due to the subjective nature of the topic, the preference to older material is acceptable, however many view the putting down of other fans due to their own preferences as veering into the ideology of anti-fans, and so heavily discouraged within the fandom.  Another concept within fandom that is important when talking about the MCU is the idea of ‘Textual Poachers’, a term coined by Henry Jenkins in “Textual Poachers: Television fans and participatory culture” (Jenkins, 1992) that describes a certain group of fans who take the existing material of the text, and in this case the films, and builds off of it with their own creative ideas and stories; this can include art, fanfiction and fan films. This fan-created content in an important factor to consider whilst analysing adaptation through the lens of fandom, as fanfiction and fan content is its own form of informal adaptation that is consumed by the fandom itself. Due to its widespread appeal within the fandom thanks to its quicker production, higher quantity, and relatively easy distribution along with its often free cost, fanfiction and fan content is viewed and consumed much more readily by the fandom, and therefore expectations of quality and potential content are formed in the eyes of the fan.

These pieces of fan content can often be inspired by events from Marvel 616, as there is far more potential content to draw from, even when in the context of the MCU, which creates a set of desires for where fans want to see the actual story go. Since expectations are set, they can often not be met by the films in the MCU being underwhelming or simply not playing out how people may have hoped. Therefore the MCU is further compared to Marvel 616 as an inferior adaptation of the original source material. However, this building of expectations can also be very enriching and exciting to many fans, as being validated by the films can be a very positive experience.

This is often the case with pairings known as ‘ships’, where people speculate for romantic relationships between two characters and voice their support in favour of them becoming a couple in the narrative. Often, however, these ships are not validated, and some fans tend to become passionate when their pairings do not come true. For example, in Figure 5 below the user @CROWLEYBEANS criticises the MCU on how their favoured pairing, “Stucky” (a romantic relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes), was not canonical because of its nature as a non-heterosexual couple. In fandom, seeking representation through media is exceedingly common, as observed again in “Textual Poachers: Television fans and participatory culture” (Jenkins, 1992), where Jenkins studies the fanfiction created by fans of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ (Roddenberry, 1966-1967) that pair Captain Kirk with his crewmate Spock. In this, he speaks on how fandoms can often create their own representation through the interpretation of media to feel as though they have a voice and an identity that can be seen in the media that they watch and look up to. These fans would argue that adhering to potential source material is not always the best story option, as it deprives the text of representation that could have a positive impact on fans and straying from the original material for adaptation can be advantageous for the overall quality.  

The fandom that has developed around the MCU encompasses many types of fans due to its sheer size, such as Marvel 616 fans, avid consumers of all content, MCU-exclusive fans, fans on a casual level, and so forth. This means the fandom itself cannot truly come to a unified consensus about fidelity in adaptation from Marvel 616 to the MCU, however a concrete measure of success for the MCU can be seen in the general size of the fandom, along with its popularity in modern pop culture. The unequivocal success of the MCU lends to the idea that regardless of fidelity in adaptation, so long as the adaptation in question is enjoyable and presents interesting characters and a compelling narrative, a fandom will generate around it to support and consume it. As a consumer of the MCU member of its fandom, I am sympathetic to those who seek representation through media as I often find representation from similar social groups to mine in mainstream media to be important for many fans, including myself. In terms of adaptation, I am not insistent on fidelity, as I believe that many of the stories told in the MCU are better than many of the stories within Marvel 616 due to being far more character driven over spectacle. As a consumer, I am happy with the direction the MCU is taking in terms of narrative, however I would appreciate more representation as it is an important aspect of the films for the fandom surrounding it. In conclusion, fidelity in media is a valid way of consuming media due to a connection to the source material, however it is also important to embrace the heteroglossic approach when consuming media such as the MCU, as creatives seek to tell their own stories through adaptation and fans may desire other forms of representation through stories that were not originally present.     

Word Count: 2,208                            

References: 

Bakhtin, M., 1934. Discourse in the Novel. Austin and London: University of Texas Press

Jenkins, H., 1992. Textual poachers: television fans and participatory culture. New York: Routledge.

Brooker, W. 2012. Hunting the Dark Knight: Twenty-First Century Batman. New York: I.B. Tauris

The Numbers, 2020. Movie Franchises [online]. California: Nash Information Services LLC. Available from: https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises [Accessed 1 June 2020]

Cosmonaut Variety Hour, 2018. The Marvel Cinematic Universe – All Movies Reviewed and Ranked (Pt. 2)[video, online]. Youtube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUl7y9qNZqQ&t=1843s [Accessed 28 May 2020]

Cox, G. & Steinberg, B., 2017. Comic Book Sales Fly on the Capes of Hit Movies, TV Shows [online]. California: Variety. Available from: https://variety.com/2017/film/news/comic-book-sales-superhero-movies-1202499029/ [Accessed 1 June 2020]

Rosy Maple Moth Stan Account, 2019. Clint having a family in the mcu. Twitter moonlillies [online]. 8 February 2019. Available from: https://twitter.com/moonliIIies/status/1093881781147836418?s=20 [Accessed 28 May 2020]

Parker B, 2018. Hot Take. Twitter ParkerBMovies [online]. 8 December 2018. Available from: https://twitter.com/ParkerBMovies/status/1071226507123703808?s=20 [Accessed 28 May 2020]

Gray, J., 2003. New audiences, new textualities: Anti-Fans and non-fans. International journal of Cultural studies [online]. 6(1), 64-81.

Milo, 2019. comic stans that think theyre better than mcu stans. Twitter fuckclub [online]. 17 December 2019. Available from: https://twitter.com/fuckcIub/status/1207086328778756096?s=20 [Accessed 28 May 2020]

Scott, S., 2017. Modelling the Marvel Everyfan: Agent Coulson and/as Transmedia Fan Culture. Palabra Clave [online]. 20(4): 1042-1072

blacklivesmatter, 2018. If Steve or Bucky was a woman. Twitter CROWLEYBEANS [online]. 9 May 2018. Available from: https://twitter.com/CROWLEYBEANS/status/994314360171397122?s=20

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Why I think Jean Grey is cool/underrated

I’m a novice when it comes to X-Men comic lore. As such if I get any info or interpretations here wrong please set me straight.

 This is how I’ve come to gradually perceive Jean Grey and think she’s a good and perhaps misunderstood character.

  To me, I can sum up Jean as someone who’s experienced great pain and hurt but who is in spite of that a very nice, nurturing and fundamentally empathic person; a little like Sue Storm, though I dunno if I’d call her the ‘Mother’ of the X-Men. Perhaps it is even that pain she experienced so early in her life through her friend’s death that MADE her so empathetic. Through that empathy and her immense power she has this duality of being possibly a great force for destruction or of healing.

 She wants to help and heal, but understands that sometimes she has to fight and be destructive (e.g. against evil mutants, Sentinels, etc) and knows to use restraint in pursuit of that. But being both an empathic person and also SO incredibly powerful (at times to a cosmic degree) her capacity for being destructive (even to herself) can be set loose. E.g. she could be profoundly dangerous if you hurt her friends, precisely because her empathy forges such love for them.

  In a sense her first major arc as Phoenix and as Dark Phoenix sum up this duality about her; let's put a pin in any retcons later on for a moment.

 As originally presented in Uncanny #100-101, when Jean became Phoenix it was explicitly to save her friends. She didn't want to die but was willing to give her life for them, desiring just enough strength to pull that stunt off. And she got that strength and then some. So you had this powerful yet kind person (who was still relatively young and inexperienced) abruptly handed way more power than maybe anyone should have but she still used it (at first) to help. The climax of the 'Phoenix Saga' with the M'kraan crystal (sp?) was fundamentally about Jean using her newly acquired cosmic powers to fix, to [I]heal[/I], something. And she could only do it by being empathic, by reaching out and drawing upon a human emotional connection (to her friend Storm) and forging a connection with a relative stranger (Corsair, the father of the person she loved so there was in a sense an emotional connection there she drew upon). The narration of that moment (visualized beautifully in X-Men the Animated Series ‘The Phoenix Saga Part V) painted the idea of Jean imagining her friends as a tree, a symbol for life and growth and kind of...healing. Appropriate for a Phoenix which represents rebirth and renewal.

  But then you get the Dark Phoenix Saga and this very empathic person, is corrupted by someone in a sense taking advantage of her emotions, by tricking her into making emotional connections through which he can then corrupt her and open the floodgates to the awesome power that might be beyond pretty much any mortal to control. And so Jean became a force of explicit destruction. Which is also appropriate because a Phoenix represents death and destruction as well.

  I do not know if this is canon to 616, but in X-Men: Grand Design, when Jean's powers first manifest she tried using them to essentially keep her dying friend alive. In X-Men vol 2 #71 the issue starts with Jean using her telepathy to cleanse the X-Men’s home of the negative psychometric impressions left by Bastion and his Zero Tolerance operation. Jean Grey was trying to remove some of the pain and hurt inflicted upon her home and friends, but doing it quite literally. Both of which would go some way in supporting what I'm trying to say about who Jean is, as far as her having great power which she can and wants to use as a force for healing.

  Appropriately for Xavier's first student (arguably the first X-Man), she in a sense is a microcosm of mutantkind and of the X-Men specifically. The X-Men can be destructive, sometimes HAVE to be destructive in defence of themselves, their people and of wider humanity. But Xavier also wanted them to be a force for healing and growth between mutants and humans and in truth that was their bigger endgame goal. So Jean being his first student, a founding X-Man, at times a team leader and the most powerful X-Man (usually) is symbolically appropriate.

  Maybe I am stretching here, but I also think that Jean’s pain and the duality of her being a force of potentially great destruction or healing plays into what to my limited experience are some of her most significant relationships.

 Professor X: Obviously she believes in his dream and wants to see it through, I outlined the connection above.

 Wolverine: A stretch perhaps because it wasn’t established off the bat, but the idea of Jean being a healer to others (noticeably her first interaction with Logan is as his doctor in X-Men 2000) connects her to Logan who is a literal self-healer due to his powers. You also have someone who has been through immense pain similar to her and possesses incredible potential for destruction he practices to (not always successfully) control. In a sense they both have dark and terrible ‘alter egos’, for Jean Dark Phoenix and Logan his berserker rage where animal imagery is used to personify their states of being. The Phoenix is after all presented as a raptor bird of prey and Logan is literally named after an aggressive predatory animal. Yet Logan can also be a positive force for others as a teacher, protector or even as a someone capable of taking life to ‘balance the scales’. I recall Mark Millar’s run where he murders Gorgon and his Hand/HYDRA gang in part to provide some measure of closure for the parents of a boy they murdered to get to him.

 Storm: At least during Claremont’s early tenure on X-Men he was presenting Storm as a pseudo Mother Nature style Goddess who even maintained plants in the mansion. The plants themselves demonstrate Storm as capable of care and nurture (her motherly relationship with Kitty bears this out) like Jean; so she’s connected with a form of healing and growth. Through her powers though, she and Jean also (in different ways) possess an immense capacity for destruction and healing, Storm’s being perhaps more direct and physical and Jean’s more subtle and ethereal. Both are also connected to primordial forces though, Storm the elements of the weather and Jean, obviously, with fire.

 Cyclops: They both experienced great pain and loss in their youth. They both possess immense destructive power. Cyclops however is tormented because his powers are in a sense broken, he is supposed to be able to control his optic blasts but that same youthful pain and loss led to him being unable to. And by extension he is himself a person with a lot of mental issues (not necessarily outright mental illnesses though).

 He is someone who can be emotionally distant because of these issues as well as his broken abilities, at least to some extent, leading him to be distant in terms of physical intimacy too. They say the eyes are the window into the soul and Cyclops’ powers mean he can neither look upon anyone’s eyes/soul without a red filter nor can anyone see into his. He can feel but in a sense is reluctant of doing so (which leads to at times more detached yet pragmatic leadership).

 Jean Grey however is a great counterbalance to Cyclops.

 Her powerset in a sense ‘fixes’ (or heals) Scott or else bypasses his handicaps. Her telekinesis is so powerful she can hold back his otherwise typically destructive power.* Even without that, her telepathy allows her a window into Cyclops’ mind/soul  in a way she couldn’t have if she wasn’t a telepath and he had complete control of his powers. Her empathy and mutual experiences of loss, pain, of bearing the burden of being potentially destructive allow her to emotionally connect to this man who finds it understandably difficult to open up and gives them both an avenue to share their baggage. Hopefully this, at least at times, can make Cyclops more well rounded and able to emotionally connect to others.**

 If nothing else Cyclops ability to be somewhat detached and thus more pragmatic and Jean’s ability to emotionally connect and be empathetic mean that as far as leadership is concerned, they are at their best united than apart.

 Having said all that stuff about Jean, the reason why I think I and perhaps other people like her is because in a sense she represents a different more subtle form of heroism and is herself an unconventional example of it.

 Often in superhero fiction the protagonists and fan favs are the characters who’re well...bad ass.

 Bad ass in a more ‘traditional’ and obvious ways. Wolverine, Batman, Punisher, even the quippy acrobatic and super strong Spider-Man.

 And there is NOTHING wrong with that. I adore all that stuff I suspect the vast, vast, vast majority of people reading this do too. It is in fact my preference for the kinds of superhero fiction I enjoy.

 However there are other forms of strength and heroism too.

 There is heroism in removing or preventing destructive forces like say Superman typically does. But there is also heroism in being the healer, or the person who tries to help people achieve their potential or prevent them from falling apart.

 Abstract example, but if you were to say the Wolverines and Batmen represent the heroism of fire fighters then the Jean Greys would be the paramedics, doctors and therepists who attend the victims. But imagine they also had fire hoses and axes too but less flashy and attention grabbing ones.

 Jean is far from the only example of this type of her, Sue Storm would be another example in my view. But what gives Jean a certain uniqueness to these other types of heroes (who for whatever reason do tend to be female, make of that whatever you want) is the fact that she also has the double edged sword of her power to heal being capable of immense destruction and at times she needs to fight hard to ensure it leans towards the former and not the latter. Sue Storm after all couldn’t be a casual city buster if she really slips up. Add onto that an extra layer of the mutant metaphor and Jean fighting for Xavier’s dream and Jean stands relatively apart from both these particular types of superheroes and many superheroes in general.

 That doesn’t make her or similar heroes better than the Wolverines or Batmen of the genre. Just a different flavour. But a more uncommon and at first glance less bright and shiny flavour so it gets overlooked.***

 Or worse, as Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men imo ignorantly summed up in their first podcast episode, gets them dismissed as a stereotype.

 Jean in that podcast and I think too many people is dismissed as just being ‘the girl’ or in all the stuff I’ve spoken about as a stereotypical female superhero.

 Which I disagree and take issue with. To begin with there is nothing wrong with a female character having these traits, the problem lies in the overabundance (if there even is any) and exaggeration which creates the stereotype.

 When Jean debuted in the 1960s, protagonists or not, yeah there were a fair number of female characters who were written as caring, nurturing and empathetic. And they were written that way just BECAUSE they were female characters and that was one of the few and limiting boxes to put female characters into.

 But I think Claremont and other writers basically (partially to be consistent perhaps) EMBRACED those traits within Jean and built upon them so she wasn’t like that because she was a female character but because that was just her particular personality, much as Rogue, Storm, Emma Frost, Shadowcat, Psylocke, Dazzler Polaris, and the other X-Ladies had their own personalities however many traits in common they shared or not.

 It doesn’t make Jean lesser, or weak or even boring. At that point you are almost equating good/strong with stereotypical male superhero traits.

 It just means she’s different and offers a different shade of strength and heroism.  

  And unless I’ve been super off the mark with most of this stuff, that’s why I think Jean Grey is cool and underrated. 

 *I’ve heard she can even temporarily fix Scott’s mental injury so he just sees normally but have never seen this in a comic, only (specifically from the Dark Phoenix Saga) her literally controlling the blasts so they don’t shoot out at all. Love to know if she can do more than that.

 **Not saying Scott was ever and unfeeling monster, just that he seemed to have a certain distance to everyone else in my reading experience, partially due to the burden of leadership.

 Also as far as making Scott more well rounded, this is perhaps a stretch but skipping around a lot of 1990s comics where Cyclops and Jean are together prior to ‘The Twelve’ he seemed more open and comparatively upbeat (I recall him and Beast goofing off in the wake of ‘Onslaught’ or something right?) next to his attitude after he and Apocalypse were separated (by Jean, so again she was acting as a healing force) and he and Jean drew more distant, their marriage fell apart and then later she died and he began dating Emma.

 I’m not even trying to diss the Scott/Emma relationship. I’m just observing...he was less upbeat and more stoic and seemingly distant than he was in the 1990s. Maybe one or both of those are OOC and I just don’t realize so again please tell me.

  ***Flashy and obvious btw doesn’t mean bad or lesser, again just different.