#listen I have a lot of feelings about Emma frost

[medusas-rockin-tits]

So is the world ready for my X-Men hot take?

Scott/Jean/Logan is extremely good, 100/10

You know what’s better though? In my humble opinion?

Scott/Jean/Logan/Emma

Give them their “problematic but secretly extremely well meaning in a lot of situations” bisexual wife!!! Someone in that polycule has to be able to handle delicate morally gray situations!!! Also plz Emma and Jean are peak “if you’re rivals for over 30 years you are no longer rivals you are gay!”

Fuck all the love triangle/love square bullshit, wrong!!! They all kiss!!!!

[baradorable]

Marvel is about to introduce a villain called the Krakoan, who is an X-Man gone rogue. It's pretty obvious that this villain is actually Hellion. And people are split on that. Some feel that it's out of character for him. Some prefer him as a hero, or don't want him to have his character ruined, ala Nature Girl or Beast.

But who IS Hellion? If you're willing to sit through my long-ass post about him, odds are you already know and love him. But let's pretend that you don't know who he is. I'll talk about where he started, what might have lead him to becoming a villain, and why everybody will be investing in #HellionWasRight stocks in a few months.

And if we're all wrong, and Hellion is not the Krakoan? Well, no one will give a shit about the Krakoan anymore anyway, so no big deal.

First off, what is a "Krakoan?"

We'll get to that. But for now, you just need to know that the X-Men had an island nation called Krakoa. Now it's gone and it's all because no one listened to Hellion, despite him being right about everything that has ever happened.

Who is Hellion?

I'm letting you all know right now: this is blatant Hellion propaganda. Everything I said is coming from a place of heavy, heavy bias. But there will be some objectivity, in that Hellion is objectively perfect.

It's tough to summarize Hellion, because who he is has changed over the years. Though some writers might forget this, he's actually a fairly nuanced mutant who has undergone notable shifts in his character.

Introduced in New Mutants (2003) #2, he basically starts off as Draco Malfoy, if Draco was trying to bang Harry Potter.

Julian Keller, AKA Hellion, was a spoiled rich kid from California with advanced telekinetic abilities. Something that will stick out immediate is that he was hilariously petty. Like he would take any opportunity to insult people he dislikes, often for no reason. Half of his dialogue is him choosing to be a jerk to anyone outside of his social group, starting drama, or otherwise being a generic early 2000's bully archetype.

And it was amazing. Seriously, he had some of the funniest lines in the book.

He was so over the top and crude that he ended up being hilarious. He was classist, exclusionist, and a little sexist. When presented with the option of Bullying Others, and Literally Anything Else, he would choose bullying.

Julian was Emma Frost's protege and star pupil, so naturally he shares a lot of that bitchy charisma. When the school was divided into Harry Potter house-style squads, Emma put Julian in charge of his own squad, the Hellions. She also let the Hellions pick their codenames. Guess which codename Julian picked.

Emma advised him to be humble after he and his squad won a school competition. What was the very first thing he did once he got the trophy?

You would hate him so much if he were real. He's every 13 year old boy in 2003. Look at him exposing Elixir's affair to Elixir's girlfriend, solely out of pettiness.

I'd post more, but I already hit the image limit. Which is a shame, because I wanted to share the panel of him making fun of Josh for his parents abandoning him.

Hellion's original creators had this to say about him.

Back when we were working on New X-Men, we had a message board called “The Grind Stone” on the site X-Fan. One of the fans there consistently referred to Julian as “shnasty.” That person defined it as a combination of sexy and nasty. Urban dictionary these days refers to it as shitty, hot and nasty. We think that works for Julian, except when we wrote him he didn’t look like shit - not ever. He just acted like it. Once we left, he got a little more disheveled for a while, and probably better embodied the full modern version of “shnasty.” Either way, we think that’s his secret. He can treat you like shit but then turn around and be a gentleman. He sometimes acts like hot garbage but looks fine doing it.

He's catchy, offensive, brutal and gross, but with youth appeal. And if his character was just that, then bravo. He's hilarious. He wouldn't need depth to be an icon. He'd just be this little gremlin of a being, showing up and delivering devastating one-liners like some proto-Chanel Oberlin. But that's not all to his character. Despite being a supporting character in a book about teen drama, he was actually a complex character.

He's a great leader and strategist. He could lead a team, he was willing to be pragmatic and bend the rules, and his plans helped his team beat out every other student during that aforementioned school competition. It was a team effort, but Hellion knew his friends' strengths and how to get them working well.

He has a natural charisma that draws people to him. He's the big man on campus for a reason. It's best exemplified in New X-Men (2004) #5, where he sees all the other students turning their backs on a mutant called Wither.

Wither had unintentionally killed his father when his death touch power first manifested. The authorities would come bearing down on the school, looking to arrest him and have him face the law for his actions. It was an accident, completely out of his control, and Wither has been wrestling with the guilt ever since. Now there was a chance that he would be thrown in jail for it.

Wither was vulnerable and in pain, but it seemed like so many people were turning against him. Hellion, who had previously been bullying Wither for his powers, saw the scorn, gossiping and scrutiny Wither had been getting from the rest of the student body. And he had to stand up and say something.

He gives a rousing speech to everyone in the cafeteria, pointing out how many of the people who were mocking him had caused others harm with their powers in the past. He derides them for not helping out of of their own, and that any one of them could be next on the chopping block if they let Wither go without a fight. If they're not willing to support each other, they're terrible mutants.

His radical speech gets one person comparing him to Magneto. And that's not entirely wrong.

Hellion and the Hellions (along with another mutant, Wind Dancer) would work together to try and bust Wither out of police custody. It was a stupid plan that would only create more problems for them, and it would ultimately be worse than what actually happened: Wither would face trial, where he would be found innocent in the murder of his father. Wither would be free and no longer be in trouble with the authorities.

But that's the thing with Hellion: he's passionate. He might will think with his heart over his head when it comes to mutant rights. Especially when it comes to those he cares about. He's quick to take the hostile and violent path if he thinks it's right. Despite being an asshole, he's a bleeding heart who will go to the extremes for those he loves.

Wither and Hellion would go on to have a life-long friendship spanning months, as Wither would leave the school, get statutory raped by an immortal vampire witch, become a villain and die shortly after M-Day.

Hellion was always looking down on humans - and why shouldn't he? They're not part of his social group, he's not really one of them. But while he'd call them apemen and flatscans, he didn't believe in killing. In fact, he was opposed to killing even in self-defense.

That last part would change over time. But that's only because this cruel world stole every last bit of innocence and joy out of him.

Or how about the time the villainous Kingmaker offered him and his friends all their wishes, in exchange for working for him? He and his friends would eventually chose to give up their dreams and stop the Kingmaker's plans, because that was the right thing to do. Because the Hellions are heroes.

Over the years, Hellion would mature as a person. There would be less emphasis on him bullying others, and more emphasis on him enduring tragedies, fighting for the sake of others, struggling with anger and abandonment, and be forced to make more radical moves against the world. While he doesn't look that jerkish spark of his (and some writers would roll him back to a generic bully character whenever the plot called for it), he would become a lot more mature than he was at his debut. He was no longer a high school bully, but an anti-hero of young man with a talent for leadership, a lot of charisma, and big heart that got him into trouble.

Since we're on the subject of friends, let's delve more into some of his relationships. A key part of understanding his character is seeing how he treats others.

Hellion and the Hellions

So New Mutants (2003) and its sequel book, New X-Men (2004) primarily focused on the New Mutants squad. Hellion and the Hellions would be so popular that they would get their own mini and eventually become main characters. But the early books were centered around the New Mutants.

The Hellions are antagonists, the Slytherins to their Gryffindors. Except their dynamic is a lot more complicated than you'd think.

The New Mutants are lead by Wind Dancer, who is also Hellion's first love interest. While Wind Dancer has a huge heart and a knack for bringing out the best in others, the team would fall apart over personal drama. Bitterness, resentment and insecurity would bubble for a long time, culminating in the group briefly splitting up. It would take a lot of work getting them to resolve their issues and be friends again.

This is where the Hellions act as foils. Sure, they might antagonize the New Mutants. Hellion might tease some of them. But the group functions way better as a unit, and they don't have the same interpersonal drama as the New Mutants. They're a cohesive team of friends who support each other.

The Hellions got to star in their own mini, and it delivered on the friendship. In the first issue, we see Hellion picking a fight with airport security for his friends' sake. Instead of going for a more peaceful route, he's quick to order his team and bust out their powers. When Dust chases security down to try and reason with them, he's annoyed that she put herself at risk.

The series is peppered with moments between the various Hellions, which is really nice. I recommend it not just for Hellion, but for the whole Hellions squad. Every one of them is a unique character, and I think they deserve love. There's a reason why New X-Men would revolve more and more around the Hellions.

You won't be surprised to know that Hellion doesn't make fun of fellow Hellion, Mercury, when she's feeling some heartache. Without any sense of sarcasm or irony, he sits down with her and has a heart to heart. No ulterior motives, no gotcha - Hellion is there to support his friends.

One fun thing about Hellion is that he's a huge hypocrite. He will regularly insult others outside his group of friends. But he would rarely hurt his friends, and he'd be the first to defend him. This is most evident in New Mutants (2003) #8, Surge's introduction issue. He's quick to accept his friend Anole's strange mutation and chides Elixir for not being as accepting. In the next couple of pages, he insults a homeless girl, tells her she smells bad and refuses to offer any sort of help.

When M-Day happens and Prodigy got depowered, Hellion kicked him while he's down and belittled the guy. He mocked him for being human now. But when he found out that his beloved Wind Dancer is depowered, he tried to comfort her and disregarded everything he previously said about Prodigy. Because Julian holds his friends to a completely different standard than he does others.

He has an incredible amount of loyalty and empathy, but much of that is reserved for his own inner circle. He might be slow to warm up to someone, but once you're in, you're in for the long haul. Unless you really mess up or your name is Josh.

Mutants as a whole are part of that circle, in a way. He won't be friends with every mutant, but he would defend them all with his life. Even though a lot of them don't appreciate his efforts.

Emma Frost

His relationship with Emma is pretty good: she encourages his rowdy behavior because she sees potential in him. He has that same spark, attitude and guile she does. She recognizes that he has the potential to be a great leader, and he does everything he can to meet her expectations. She tends to be lenient on him. She'll bail him out of trouble. When others write him off or turn their backs on him, she's standing with him. But in return, she makes it clear that she expects nothing short of amazing out of him.

Boy, I sure hope nothing ruins this bond.

Prodigy

Speaking of people who don't appreciate Hellion. David Alleyne, AKA Prodigy, was a frequent target of Hellion's bullying. Julian would mock Prodigy for having a lame power [Being able to temporarily absorb skills and thoughts from others around him], and sometimes it would get under David's skin. He really knew how to dig into Prodigy's insecurities and hurt him with them. In turn, Prodigy was always ready to fight back against Hellion and put him in his place whenever he could.

Here's Prodigy's then-girlfriend kissing Hellion, right in front of him.

This is horribly out of context, I just thought it was funny to bring up.

The two would butt heads constantly. Over the years, more tragedies would be thrown at them. They'd mature and function better as a group, but there would always be tension between them, for one reason or another. Both of them are opinionated, and their opinions tend to differ.

Why am I bringing Prodigy up? Prodigy will be a main character in the upcoming NYX book, which is where the Krakoan will debut. The two don't have the most meaningful relationship, but it could easily come into play at some point in the book.

Wind Dancer (Sofia Mantega)

Sofia Mantega was the primary character of New Mutants (2003) and much of New X-Men (2004,) She was the Harry Potter that this Draco Malfoy wants to bang. Sofia was the newcomer to the world of mutants. She was confident, outgoing and stuck to her principals. Despite being very gentle, amiable and friendly, she was strong-willed. She knew how to stand up for herself and others.

Julian and Sofia flirted throughout New Mutants. There was an instant rapport between the two. But that doesn't mean it's all smooth sailings. One of my favorite examples of this comes from issue 3. Julian reached out to Sofia, and she says she liked dancing. As they made plans to go somewhere, Laurie Collins (Wallflower) passed by. While Sofia eagerly makes lunch plans with Laurie, Julian dismissed Laurie and called her a freak.

Sofia responds by hitting Julian's ear with compressed air, making him lose his balance. She and Laurie walked away, leaving him behind.

Sofia knew Julian was a bad boy and a jerk, and she'd stand up to him when she saw him doing something she disapproved of. But she still liked him. She was never afraid to give him a taste of his own medicine, and he loved her for it.

From their first meeting in issue 2, we saw what there were similarities between them. The most obvious would be their powers: they could both fly, and Sofia's power lets her manipulate objects with the same precision as a telekinetic's psychic force.

Like Julian, Sofia was great with people. Unlike Julian, she wasn't one to discriminate. While Julian was quick to brush off and demean Wallflower, Sofia was quick to befriend her.

During class, Julian was quick to tell newcomer David Alleyne (Prodigy) to stay away from Kevin Ford (Wither,) because his powers were dangerous. Meanwhile, when Wallflower worried about how lonely Wither was, Sofia invited him to hang out with them. She dismissed Wither's concerns about his powers. She wasn't afraid to be his friend.

Josh Foley (Elixir), a former Purifier recruit, came to the school after previously turning them down. While Prodigy iwa quick to turn against him, Sofia listened to how Elixir's own family turned against him for being a mutant. She related to him and gave him a second chance.

While Prodigy and Sofia would be co-leader of the New Mutants squad, Sofia was the glue that held them together. However, her caring side did get her into trouble: she followed Julian and the Hellions on a mission to bust Wither out of police custody; she wanted to help, but didn't know what to do and needed some guidance.

Speaking of the Wither incident, it briefly took a toll on Julian and Sofia's relationship. She at first helped the Hellions, but Sofia would ultimately side with her squad and turn against the Hellions, feeling like it was the right thing to do. Julian saw it as a betrayal. It soured their relationship for a bit, though the two would make up in a later arc, when a protective Hellion helped the New Mutants deal with a ghost. He was there for her, even when they were not on speaking terms.

Imo, this was the crux of Julian and Sofia's relationship: they were both popular, charismatic and and good with people. They were passionate about helping those they care about. The difference was that Sofia opens her heart up to more people, while Julian cares more about his inner circle.

The relationship helped to humanize Julian and show that, despite his attitude, there was a lot of good in him. Even if most people couldn't see it. This girl saw that he was a good person and she stuck by him, but she also didn't let him get his way or take advantage of her kindness. And that helped make him a better person.

Conversely, Julian was a fun foil to Sofia. He could give her advice, be there when she needed someone to talk to, and he'd never treat her like he treated her squad. He was a jerk, but he had the purest intentions with her. He was the first student she met at the school, and he was there for her through the good and the bad.

Julian also has a pet name for her: Beautiful. He uses it a few times. And yes, it's important to mention this fact.

It was a very pure, wholesome relationship. Two high school sweethearts who were also on rival teams. Sofia brought the best out of Julian, and Julian bettered himself for her. They butted heads, had their ups and downs, and would let their emotions blind them. But in the end, they loved each other.

Gee, I hope some witch doesn't swoop in and ruin everything with a magic spell.

The two would end up falling out, but they weren't really over each other. After Sofia left the school, we'd see her still dream about being with her friends and kissing Hellion. Meanwhile, Laura would catch Julian muttering Sofia's name in his sleep.

Wolverine/X-23 (Laura Kinney)

"You were dead the second you touched Julian Keller." - Laura, to Lady Deathstrike

When it comes to Laura romances, there are two that are popular with fans: Jubilee/X-23, and Hellion/X-23. Opinions on Laura's other ships tend to range from decent-ish, to mid, to terrible. Hellion/Laura (also known by their combo name, Helix) is, by far, the most popular ship. To this day, 13 years after the pairing was torpedoed, it retains an active fanbase. And they were never officially a couple!

So when Laura first came to Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Mutantry, she wasn't in a good place. She was a former child soldier who was only taught to kill. She was a former teen prostitute who was constantly being abused by others. She had and lost friends. She was forced to kill her own mother. She was barely allowed to feel her own emotions. And right when she meets Wolverine - her father/the man she was cloned from - she's dropped off at a school full of strangers. In the middle of a crisis, where students were being hunted down and killed. Everyone treats her with suspicion and fear, and Emma Frost is doing everything in her power to get her out of the school entirely.

And then there's the school bully. Right off the bat, he was dismissive of her, cracked jokes at her expense, and even teased her a bit. He lets her hang out with his group, but he's not very sympathetic to her trauma. Of course, he wasn't projecting images of her dead mother into her head, so he was better than Emma here.

Things turned around when the students were asked to fight against each other, in order to determine who is strong enough to be on the New X-Men team after M-Day. Emma used this opportunity to try and have X-23 taken out of commission. She wanted Hellion to ensure she got hurt.

Instead, Hellion ended up protecting her. Emma was furious. She picked Surge as team leader over him out of spite, and made it clear that he was very disappointed in Hellion.

Over the course of New X-Men, their relationship would evolve into a close connection. Julian would be protective of her. He would risk his life for her. He pushed his powers to the absolute limits and had Emma break away any mental restraints on them, so he could use them to save her life.

Through her crush on Julian, Laura began to truly experience many of her emotions. All her friends at school helped her process and grow, but the growing romance between these two kids was especially endearing. Despite being partly scared of her, Hellion would stand by her. He'd even go on to call her his best friend. When everyone else treats her with suspicion, or they suspected her of falling back to her violent ways, he was the first one to jump to her defense and see the absolute best in her.

Let's not forget the time Laura was ready to kill her arch-enemy, Karima. She knew Karima was to dangerous to let live, and she told Hellion that they had to kill her. But Hellion declined. He wanted him and Laura to be better than that. Hellion wanted to help break her out of that way of thinking.

Their dynamic sort of shifted as things went on. In that Hellion becomes this sort of damsel in distress who gets horribly injured and needs to be saved by Laura. She even went to Hell with a demon in order to save him. The most notable example of Hellion's Tragic Love Interest-ification is the time Lady Deathstrike shanked Hellion.

Laura totally lost it and beat Lady Deathstrike's ass.

These were two broken people. They suffered so much throughout their short lives. But then they found each other. They were broken together, but they found happiness. They bought out the best in each other, and showed the other that they are more than the tragedies they've endured.

There are a lot more nuances to the relationship, such as Hellion being more accepting of Laura's quirks and insecurities, how some fans interpret their dynamic as a play on traditional gender roles, how Laura was portrayed in their dynamic, how it styles over every other Laura romance. You can ask pretty much any Helix fan about the relationship, and they'll all have different aspects on the pairing. Some I haven't listed or even considered. I'm really just covering the barest essentials.

I just hope no writer comes in and ruins their relationship.

Other Loves: Ships that Pass in the Night

Hellion dated Shark-Girl for a bit, and once flirted with Armor. He also took three of the surviving Stepford Cuckoos to the school dance, at the same time - though he immediately ditched them for Wind Dancer. However, years later, one panel had one of the girls casually mention that they were going on a date with him.

Remember Prodigy's blue-haired girlfriend? She was the homeless girl Hellion had previously bullied. The two would have some animosity over the years, largely due to them being two stubborn, strong-headed individuals. Neither of them liked to take the other's crap, though to be fair, Hellion was usually the one causing trouble. The two would eventually be the New X-Men team together, and they would come to respect and care for each other. While there wasn't an actual romance between them in the main continuity, the two were shown to be married in one future, in the non-canon Battle of the Atom mobile game.

There was also that time he and Diamondback briefly flirted.

Fun fact: Hellion has a thing for powerful women. Women who can take charge, or are outspoken, are in control, or otherwise strong. If they can kill him, he can bed them. While all of his love interests have different personalities, they're all powerful women in one way or another.

Also, Wind Dancer and Shark-Girl are both Latinas. Laura (at the time) and the Cuckoos were also clones, of Wolverine and Emma Frost, respectively. (Well, I SAY clones, but technically none of those characters are clones in the strictest sense. It's a whole thing, but oddly enough they still share that in common.) Point is, the man has a type.

Ready for yet another fun fact: Hellion went on a date with all three Cuckoos at once. At best, Quentin Quire got with only one of them. He managed to officially date that Cuckoo, as opposed to just going on dates. But Quire was also responsible for another one of the others Cuckoos dying, which I feel cancels it out.

My favorite Hellion ship, you ask? Thank you for asking, reader. And to be honest, I don't know. On paper, the tragic romance of Helix is compelling and dramatic. It's very easy to see why the ship endured nearly 20 years later. It'd be a slam dunk... if Hell-Dancer wasn't so compelling, charming and sweet. For me, these two ships are usually neck and neck.

I'm also partial to Surge/Hellion, and a bit of Hellion/Rockslide. There was also a fake leak going around back in the day, claiming something along the lines of Emma hooking up with Hellion and getting impregnated by him. Fans on Tumblr were going mental over it, even if no one took it seriously. I love that for us. I love that for them. Sometimes you don't want a good romance. Sometimes you want to see nuclear fallout. It's like watching MILF Manor, but it's even more gross. You know it's bad and it's not something you would even enjoy watching. But you still want to see the mess it creates.

The Keller Family

What kind of people would create Hellion? Looking at how their son turned out, they must have done a great job. Only super-parents could have crafted perfection, right?

Actually, no. It turned out that Hellion is perfect, amazing, and the best character in all of fiction, DESPITE them.

We got the first red flag when Parents Week rolled around. Julian manipulated his teacher Northstar into getting him out of work duty. He gave a sob story about how his parents don't want to see him, though as Anole pointed out, his parents really didn't come to see him. Julian casually waved this off, stating that his parents were busy skiing in the Alps.

Hellion was not only bragging about manipulating someone, but he was bragging about his parents blowing off their own son to have fun. He only focused on how they're doing something cool and elitist. At that point in time, they had likely not seen or spoken to their son in months. He was aware how the situation would be seen as unacceptable by others, but was seemingly incapable of recognizing it on a personal level.

In the past, his parents spent 10 thousand dollars on Julian's 12th birthday party. Hellion casually stated that L.A. parties hard to compete with, meaning that this type of excess was normal for people in the area. Considering he mentioned "competing" and his parents would be shown to care about their image, I wouldn't be surprised if all this attention was not just about Julian having a great birthday, but also making the Kellers could look good. Hell, when you get to know his parents more, you could argue that his parents only cared about looking good.

They were powerful and had connections, to the point where Hellion was able to casually call up the Department of Homeland Security to help him out. Hellion clearly got his Trust Fund Baby attitude from.

Hellion's parents would debut in the 2004 mini, New X-Men: Hellions. (That's right. Hellion's Hellions book walked so Krakoa's Hellions book could run.) They were immensely disappointed in their son causing a scene at an airport, using their connections to get out of it, and bringing his friends to their house without telling them.

Julian's father was shown to dislike his son's mutation. He didn't like that his son had to go to the Xavier Institute, and he was glad that his son mutation was easy to hide. While he was angry at his son for using his powers and making a scene, it was clear that he only cared about how it affected the Kellers' image.

Hellion's mother was a little more understanding. She was softer spoken. While she compared him unfavorably to his older brother James, she was fine with her younger child walking his own path. But she also sided with Daddy Hellion, because they worked too hard and didn't want their son to risk their assets.

Hellion's parents had cut Hellion out of the will. The family business and all of their money would go to James. Hellion and his friends were welcome to stay at the house, and Hellion was still family. But no way were they letting their twerp kid make them look bad or endanger their comfy lifestyle.

Then they left Hellion and his friends to go on vacation.

The moment Mama and Daddy Hellion left, Julian enlisted the help of his friends to root through their personal belongings to find something to use against his parents. Despite originally telling his friends that his parents were self-made billionaires, he made his thoughts clear to them once they cut him off. No one could make so much money, so quickly.

We got a rough timeline how things went down: they were making about 30k a year, 18 months before Hellion turned 12. Around that time, their company went international and became incredibly profitable. Considering Hellion was stated to be 16 at this time, this means that they became international moguls and billionaires in less than a decade.

So what was the source of their success? It turned out that they used magic to perform a dark ritual, summoned an evil being known as the Kingmaker, and then formed a sort of Faustian bargain with him for all their wealth and power.

Hellion and the Hellions summoned the Kingmaker, at first not actually thinking it would work. But nah, it worked. Kingmaker would offer all of them their hearts desires. But as we covered earlier, the kids eventually chose to give up on their wishes to stop his evil plans.

Hellion's parents were extremely pissed at Julian for running afoul with their benefactor. Mama Hellion reminded her son that they couldn't protect him from someone as powerful as the Kingmaker. But Hellion dismissed him and pointed out how his parents were the ones who got in bed with a villain, and the Kingmaker would more likely go after them, since Hellion and his friends were strong enough to beat him up.

Yet despite being disinherited, being treated like the family shame for being born a mutant, and finding out his parents teamed up with bad people for their own personal gain, Hellion still wanted to be there for them.

Despite Hellion's loyalty, his family would never return it. In fact, this would be the last thing he would ever say to them. Because they would eventually cut him off completely, sell their house and not even tell him where they moved to. They would abandon their son when he needed them most.

At least the other guardians in Hellion's life weren't letting him down, right?

Abandoned!

We have a character who thrives through his connections with others. But what happens when we take them all away?

Just after the Hellions' big summer blow-out against the Kingmaker, M-Day happened. M-Day - also known as Decimation, which should give you a good idea of what it entailed - saw the Pretender (AKA the Scarlet Witch, AKA the Scarlet Bitch, AKA the Harlot Witch) saying, "Haha no more mutants, eunh 😜" and depowering the vast majority of mutants. Their numbers, previously in the thousands (being in around the millions before the Genosha genocide) were now in the very, very, very low hundreds. Cerebro clocked a 91.4% remaining reduction in the mutant population.

To be fair, Wanda was going through some things at the time, and it's not like she was in the right mindspace after others were taking advantage of her mental breakdown for their own personal gain. She was a victim. But to be unfair, it's also the start of everything going wrong for Hellion.

Xavier's school was absolutely wrecked by this. The vast majority of students were depowered, some of them dying as a consequence.

Among the depowered students was Prodigy, and Hellion was quick to swoop in and make fun of him for it. Including stating that Prodigy didn't belong with them at the school, now that he was human. He assumed Prodigy was ready to abandon the mutants now that he could be "normal."

Unfortunately, Wind Dancer overheard what Hellion said. As it turned out, she'd also been depowered by the Pretender. She turned the situation back around on Julian and asked if she was less "Beautiful" to him now, and not worthy of being loved in his eyes. Angry, Wind Dancer stormed off and stopped talking to Hellion.

Once again, hypocrisy. Julian would think that about Prodigy, and he was ready to make things harder for him. Hellion would never see Sofia as anything less, whether she be human or mutant. The thought wouldn't even occur to him. Julian loved Sofia. He'd never hurt her on purpose. But through his own attitude and carelessness, he ended up hurting her the most.

At that time, Wither was also going through some things. He accidentally mangled his crush's arm with his death power, and that drove her further into the arms of Wither's rival, Elixir. Already heartbroken that over the torment his powers had brought him, Wither became more withdrawn.

Hellion was stuck trying to reach out to both Wither and Wind Dancer, but he couldn't be fully there for both of them at the same time. He was unable to reach out to Wither and stop him from running away from the school. They would not see each other again until Necrosha, half a decade later in real time. By then, Wither would be their enemy.

Sofia also quietly left without telling Julian. The two would never even see or speak to her for over 14 years IRL.

But that wasn't the end of it. Tag, one of the Hellions and Julian's best friend, also felt hurt. Julian was so worried about Wither and especially Sofia, he completely neglected to see Tag's pain. He had also been depowered, and was worried he didn't belong with them anymore. Tag, along with most of the other depowered students, would leave the school. He and many other kids boarded a schoolbus and prepared to leave their old life behind.

And then a missile hit the bus, killing all inside. Hellion and his friends would get injured in the attack, trying and failing to save the other kids. Julian was just about to reach Tag and save him, only for the bus to explode and severely injure Hellion for his troubles.

42 children died in that attack. 15 of them were buried in the X-Men' own backyard because even their families didn't want them.

Well, at least the Marvel universe had a ton of heroes who could help out during these trying times. In fact, here comes Carol Danvers to... Oh no, wait. She's just here to try and get the mutants to help her side in the Civil War event. All the other heroes are too busy fighting each other to protect these kids. That's a shame.

At least the government stepped in with Sentinels, who would stand guard outside the mansion and protect the kids. And by that, I mean that they did absolutely nothing and completely failed at their jobs. Because assassins managed to sneak into the school and kill even more kids.

The remaining X-kids would go on to have several misadventures, including getting themselves involved in X-23's life when her old enemies come knocking, fighting a time-traveling Nimrod robot from the future, fighting alongside the adults to save a mutant messiah baby, and getting kidnapped by a demon (NOT the same demon that would go on to stab Hellion, who had already been stabbed by someone else before. Hellion wasn't even involved with this demon adventure.) I won't go into detail over all the horrible things that happened to Hellion and his friend, but know that a lot happened to them.

The kids were technically under the care of the X-Men, but the X-Men were too busy, were spread too thin, and were fighting the world from all fronts to focus on the kids. So the kid were largely left to defend themselves. This is best exemplified when, after the X-Men failed to protect the kids from several attacks, Surge dismisses their help. "We already know how to die."

One issue was dedicated to the kids trying to find out which among them was the youngest. They believed that the youngest of them would become a target, and therefore more likely to be killed. They singled out the youngest kid, but they truly believed that they were all going to die.

I bring this up because this was what the X-Men tragically considered a good day. At that point, a good day was one where nobody died, nobody was tortured, and nobody's soul was torn apart.

And this isn't me exaggerating. The X-Men were openly remorseful about how they failed these kids. They explicitly stated how the kids had serious emotional and psychological trauma. But despite everything, the X-Men cared for their students. They couldn't always be there for them like they should, but they were still their guardians. They would do anything in their power to make the world a better place for them.

So anyway, Cyclops disbanded the X-Men and shut down the school. The kids they previously failed were now scattered to the wind.

Emma left Hellion. As much as she loved him and wanted to keep him safe, she knew she had to keep him away from the X-Men. He needed to be kept away from the fighting and wars for as long as he could. Maybe now he could find some semblance of a normal life and keep himself safe? At the very least, Angel paid for his hotel and food for the time being.

Anyway, Hellion found out that his parents abandoned him, so he had nowhere to go. He was now homeless and had no support system, putting him in more danger than ever.

Hellion would seek out Magneto (not in hero mode at the time) to team up with him. Magneto calls him arrogant, but desperate to please. He refused to take him in and went on to say this:

"Everything you thought you were is gone, and the only thing you had left, the only thing you held on to so tightly was that you were an X-Man. Your teachers abandoned you. Your friends died. Your heart broke. Your beliefs shattered. The X-Men failed you. So, you find me, their greatest enemy. You love them so much that you want to hurt them. But I won't use you, and I won't kill you."

He says that Cyclops had given Hellion the gift of time. He had a moment of peace and a chance to be away from all the trouble, before war would come for mutants once again. At least for now, Hellion was safe.

Then Hellion was injected with the Legacy Virus (mutant AIDS) and used as a hostage in a wicked supervillain plot. Don't worry about it, it was just a small addition to the tapestry of suffering that is his life.

Hellion Was Right

After the X-Men disassembled and anti-mutant sentiment was on the rise, Hellion took a more radical approach to dealing with issues. He'd openly protest on the street, belittle and even attack mutant bigots and haters. He had enough of the X-Men kowtowing and trying to create peace with people who wanted them dead. No more worrying about the silent majority minority of well-meaning humans, no more trying to police their own or trying to achieve co-existence. Hellion was coming more radicalized.

Hellion's radicalization was bad. He resorted to extremes, violence and anger to hurt anyone who got in his way. His actions, while meant to help mutants, were sabotaging relationships between humans and mutants.

But let's be real: there will never, ever be co-existence between humans and mutants. In real life, the drama, threat and isolation mutants face are a big part of the mutant narrative. Take that away, and the franchise seems a lot less viable.

So Marvel will constantly throw in threats of violence and extinction at mutants. It ramped up to insane degrees by the 2000's, to the point where mutants were facing extinction for over 20 years real time, and things have only been escalating. Society will only grow to hate mutants more and more.

While Hellion's radicalism isn't necessarily right, Xavier's dreams of peace are objectively wrong. If anything, the X-Men are indirectly upholding the status quo. Yeah, they also prevent things from getting worse (Days of Future Past), but much of their strides end up being undone.

Mutants would almost achieve coexistence with mutants via their nation of Krakoa, in that the mutants basically bribed the world into tolerating them and attacking them less. While Krakoa would reach out and help humans with various matters, and the books would rely much less on extinction events for stories, things were nowhere close to perfect.

I'm going to say it: Hellion was right. The X-Men were wrong. Humans can't be reasoned with so easily. They need to force their view onto others. They need to fight humans for their rights. The only reasons why they don't? Aside from status quo, it's because the X-Men and other superheroes would step in and give some speech about peaceful co-existence being the right path, even though it's hard. Not knowing that things will objectively never get better because Marvel civilians are irredeemable.

Hellion wouldn't have helped mutants with his actions. But he couldn't make things any worse at that point, because the world turned against him long before he was even alive. No matter what, mutants were fucked.

But hey, it's not like mutants can live without humans. Coexistence is necessary for their survival. It's not like they have proof that mutants would thrive without the presence of humans. Yet.

Anyway, Hellion protested and Emma & her Dark X-Men arrested them. Emma betrayed the evil fascist government run by Norman Osborn, blah blah blah, it was all cool because Emma helped him. She also punched him in the face and put him through a lot of shit, but let's ignore that. It's island time.

The Hands Job

So the X-Men decided to make an island nation, where they gathered all the stray mutants they could and offered them sanctuary. This time, was Utopia. Next time, it would be Krakoa.

Hellion would return to the field. He'd fight the good fight alongside the X-Men, protecting mutants and humanity because it's the right thing to do. Despite everything that had happened to him, he still believed in the X-Men's cause. Or at the very least, he wanted to protect those he loved.

Anyway, a Nimrod Sentinel ended up blowing off his hands.

It really messed him up. Hellion got metal prosthetic hands to and made due by puppeting them with his telekinesis. He had the option of getting mechanized hands he could control more easily, but since he was deeply traumatized by machines, having little robots at the end of his forearms was the last thing he wanted.

To be fair on Rogue, she reached out to Hellion to try and help him. She'd offer to have him go on a trip with her and others to India, though he'd decline. He wasn't in the mood to have people gawk at his missing body parts. Which, fair.

Also, Hellion got stabbed by a demon-possessed Wolverine and Laura had to save him. It's only worth mentioning because Laura peaced out after this.

He was pretty pissed off that the X-Men could always come back from the dead one way or another, yet they couldn't fix his hands. He lashed out at the mutant messiah, Hope, for doing jack shit when it came to miracles. Really busting her balls.

So the X-Men got involved with rebuilding San Fransisco after the whole... everything that had been happening these last several paragraphs. Rogue decided that Hellion should come along and help them with reconstruction. And let's get something out of the way: the X-Men were sending Hellion on a mission while he is was, self-admitted, still on painkillers following his double-amputation. Rogue meant well; it was meant to be a safe, no-action mission where Hellion could get some fresh air and put his troubles aside. And hell, maybe he could have refused the mission at any time. But like??? This child, trained to be a soldier by the X-Men, just had his hands chopped off and was thrown into work while hopped up on drugs.

Just keep this in mind. Hellion had no business being there, but the X-Men thought it was a good idea.

So Hellion was pissed off, bullied Hope for being a shitty messiah, and wantonly blew up debris, endangering everyone around him. Before he could accidentally hit anyone, Omega Sentinel (some human lady with evil robot programming that makes her turn evil sometimes, whatever who the hell cares) turned evil and started beating up all of the X-Men. Just absolutely wrecking them. They had no chance.

She would turn on Hope and a little human girl in the area. Just as Omega Sentinel was about to kill them, Hellion intervened. A miracle happened, and he got a powerup (implied, but never stated or followed up on, from Hope.) He was strong enough beat the robot lady's ass.

And he did. Repeatedly. He lost his temper and just kept viciously attacking her, all while yelling about his hatred of the machines who ruined his life and took his hands. Omega would return to her senses, but she knew it wouldn't last. She begged Hellion to finish her off. She asked him to kill her, before she could turn against her friends and harm them. She wanted to die human.

And Hellion obliged. Omega Sentinel would be left comatose.

At any rate, he saved Hope's life. Considering she would be integral to the very foundation of Krakoa, Krakoa would not exist if Hellion were not around. Hope was also the key to saving the mutant species multiple times. Mutants would have been doomed to extinction if not for Hellion. Yeah, others saved Hope and had way more of a direct impact in restoring their species. But still.

It was a tragic affair, and as Julian recounted the events of the mission to Cyclops, he was clearly shaken up and unsteady. He insisted that he had no regrets and said that he wasn't going to apologize for what he did. But he was clearly not doing well.

Cyclops was pissed because he felt that Julian's level of violence was unacceptable. Also Omega was still a good person, despite being overwritten at the time. She was a victim in all this, too. Yet Hellion didn't even consider any other option but violence and death.

Though it's not like he actually had the luxury of options, considering Omega was annihilating senior X-Men, he only had a split second to save Hope and the girl from danger, and even his victim supported his actions with her dying breath. Hellion lost his temper and was flippant about his actions, but he did the right thing.

Hellion then delivered this take-down to Cyclops, basically saying how Cyclops is a hypocrite who did shit (including killing people!), but apparently it was okay when he did it? Things aren't all black and white, it's not like Cyclops was some crazy psycho who killed and always got away with it. But like... Hellion was right. Cyclops had a very "ends-justify-the-means" attitude at the time. He was a revolutionary who was fed up with the way mutants had been treated. It's just that Cyclops had main character privilege and Hellion didn't.

So yeah, the X-Men were shitting all over Hellion for saving them, an innocent child and the fucking mutant messiah, because he wasn't sad enough about it.

But wait, it gets better.

Hellion Was Right: Omega Sentinel

Hey, remember how everyone shat on Hellion for killing Omega Sentinel? How he refused to apologize for doing what needed to be done, when no one else would? Yeah, the X-Men really chewed him out for being so cool with killing for the sake of protecting innocent lives.

Anyway, Karima would come back as a major antagonist in the Krakoa era, after a future, fully-roboticized version of herself would travel to the past, take over her body and dedicate her life to ending the mutants and humanity. Something she nearly succeeded in, when she helped create the terrorist organization known as Orchis.

Rogue especially took this hard. She crapped all over Hellion for attacking Omega Sentinel in a fit of rage while she was down. She would later assault him over it.

Here's Rogue in 2024, after the X-Men finally defeated Omega Sentinel.

Hellion's only mistake was not finishing the job.

But despite all this, Hellion had morals. He would spend some time debating if he felt sorry for what he did to Omega Sentinel. Which goes against him confidentally telling Cyclops that he wasn't sorry about it. Coupled with this, Rogue going on to say that Hellion felt guilty and wanted to atone, and later stories showing him wrestling with the incident and verbally trying to justify his actions to himself, it's implied that Hellion did, in fact, feel guilty after all.

Also, Hellion would not talk to his friends and classmates about what had happened. After his battle with Omega Sentinel, he briefly passed by his friends. He didn't reach out to them, they didn't acknowledge him. Later, fellow classmate Blindfold would straight-up call Hellion a monster. Hellion was all alone.

Fractured But Whole

Before we continue, let's circle back to Hellion getting a power-up earlier. I said it was implied to be from Hope, performing some sort of miracle. But either she gave him a permanent power-up, or Hellion just unlocked his own natural talent. Because the same run later showed Hellion using his powers to remove an explosion out of someone's body, showing he can mentally manipulate heat and energy on a cellular level. Yeah, fellow X-Man Rachel used her telepathy to spot him, but for those keeping count: Hellion could move energy through people without harming them, move at subsonic speeds, create force barriers, shoot telekinetic blasts, control heat and energy, and work on a cellular level at minimum. Laura once told Julian to create a telekinetic bubble inside of a villain's brain or heart to kill them. Hellion was against this on principal, but he doesn't say he can't do it. Considering he could weave his energy into someone's body and remove a fucking explosion, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that Hellion could bubble some jerk's brain.

Now keep this all in mind. The X-Men had one of the most powerful telekinetics alive. He was hurt, vulnerable, and becoming increasingly isolated due to the mistreatment and trauma he had been enduring. Which was largely made worse by the X-Men just being inconsiderate assholes. And despite everything that had happened, despite his growing cynicism with the world and his disillusionment with the X-Men, he still worked to be a hero. Surely this is the type of mutant the X-Men would want to nurture, help and encourage.

Anyway, Hellion was probation unless they needed to use his powers for missions.

Okay, Cyclops and friends were a bust. They treated Hellion like shit and degraded him when he needed help. Maybe he could find help from somewhere else?

So Cyclops and Wolverine broke up over (among other things) the ethics of raising child soldiers and letting these kids kill. Cyclops is pro child soldier, and Wolverine was against it. You'd think this might be in response to them letting down their students and helplessly watching as they got gunned down. But they go back to using them once this event is over, so it's kind of pointless when you think about it.

Hellion choose to side with Wolverine during the Schism. He joined the school Wolverine has built. He was still a brash bully, but he was supporting the more idealistic and good-natured path of righteousness Wolverine is offering. Despite Wolverine treating him like shit and his daughter breaking his heart, he believed in what Wolverine has to say.

Wolverine was suspicious of him and threw him into a special class with other troublesome kids, so Spider-Man could spy on them and see which one might be a traitor. Still better than being with Cyclops though. And Hellion even got to go on crime-fighting adventures with Spider-Man, protecting New York!

But then this was ignored and never acknowledged again. Hellion would never talk to Spider-Man again and this whole thing might as well not have happened.

Hellion would become a shut-in. Trapped in his smelly room, he pretty much cut off all contact with everybody. He made it clear to a belligerent, antagonistic Wolverine that he didn't want to be there anymore. But he couldn't leave, since people saw him as a threat and would come after him the second he stepped out. Wolverine takes the opportunity to antagonize the disabled child soldier war hero with PTSD, whose life he helped demolish. Wolverine even said that he didn't give a damn about Julian's troubles, and was only getting involved because people were complaining about Hellion being a ticking time bomb.

One day, Laura came to visit him. Julian was quick to forgive her for leaving him on read for several months after he became an amputee and had his life destroyed. And to be fair, she was going through a lot of stuff on her own, which Hellion recognizes. He did briefly lash out at her in his anger, but quickly corrected himself and apologized. He also grabbed her arm when she tried to leave him without an explanation again - uncool, but he at least checked himself and let go when she told him to.

Gambit got involved to try and protect Laura... by threatening to blow off Hellion's arms and legs, to match his missing hands. Hellion was being an asshole, but keep in mind Hellion is a child soldier who had his arms blown off in the line of duty, and has spent the last few months being mistreated by pretty much every X-Man he has come across.

Hellion was also jealous of Gambit, but also worried that he was a groomer who was trying to put the moves on Laura. He was wrong, of course. But maybe he heard about a certain student named Foxx (aka Mystique,) who tried to frame Gambit a banging one of his students.

Hellion stalked Laura asked around and located Laura at the Baxter Building, where she would be spending the night babysitting Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman's two kids. They would get attacked and abducted by the Collector, leading to this whole adventure. It was a thing. Julian helped save her and the kids from dying in the cold recesses of space. Also Julian made fun of the Collector to his face multiple times.

But while this was going down, Hellion showed his insecurities to Laura. He knew she had her own issues, but he didn't know the extent of what she'd been going through. She didn't talk to him about them, and he would have liked that. He felt abandoned, and wondered if him being disabled now was one of the things driving her away from him. But she assured him that she didn't abandon him, and kept watch over him when he was injured and recovering.

When all is said and done, Laura was ready to part ways with Julian. But he didn't want to go without talking things out. He still loved her and wanted to be with her. But she didn't feel the same way and rejected him. Julian lashed out and accused her of being an unfeeling machine - something that would hurt her. She still cared for him, but her feelings for him had changed as the two of them had changed.

This whole debacle is very controversial with fans. Who was right? Who was wrong? How justified were either of them? Was Julian abusive? Was Laura unnecessarily cruel? Generally, people will agree that they both messed up. But who was more in the wrong usually depends on which character you stan more. Hellion's behavior near the end is never really justified, though many people at least understand where he's coming from.

Despite being a Hellion stan, I lean more towards Laura. Despite their mutual feelings for each other, she wasn't obligated to put her feelings aside to take care of him. Her life was also falling apart and she had her own struggles. Yes, she could have handled the situation better. But I don't blame her for focusing on her own life when she was drowning. And it's not like this girl, raised from birth as a tool and still coming to terms with her own humanity, pain and emotions, was capable of dealing with him in the best way, even though she wanted to.

But I can't be mad at Hellion because he suffered way more these last couple of months, didn't have the support Laura would come to have, and, oh yeah, he had his hands blown off by an evil robot. That didn't entitle him to lash out at her the ways he did, but he absolutely didn't deserve to be brushed off. Which is what Laura did, even if it was unintentional.

It was a failure to communicate. They both wanted different things. They had their own issues and that kept them from being there for each other. They were hurt by other people and situations, those warped them and made it harder for them to reconnect. Ultimately, the Laura and Julian we were seeing now, were not the same people they were when they met and fell in love.

I see the vision, but it still feels kind of abrupt and it looks like largely happened just to write out the romance, while not really doing anything to address their issues. It's a story about them growing apart, but not really making it feel like they grew apart. It just looks like Laura is avoiding Hellion even after he explains that her how her behavior also hurt him, but only Hellion's behavior is treated as heinous. And to be fair, grabbing onto someone the way he did, lashing out at them and poking at their insecurities around their humanities, is arguably worse than anything she did to him. But shutting yourself off from someone without explanation, ignoring them when they're begging for help, not showing much concern for their suffering and ignoring multiple pleas to be honest about their problems, is also pretty nasty.

Again, Laura wasn't obligated to deal with his baggage. And it's not like she was in the right headspace to help. But she was involved with Hellion's life and problems, and he was with hers. To ignore this connection was very insulting. Neither of these traumatized, PTSD-ridden child soldiers handled this complex emotional situation well.

So I get it. But the story was written in a way that downplayed Laura's faults and felt like it had to force the issue in order to make it work.

Anyway, Laura would get into a poorly-received, crappy romance with a time-traveling teen Angel from the past. She would also spend hundreds of years in a Vault with Synch as her only companion, where they'd fall in love under dubious circumstances, largely off-screen. She'd forget all this and Synch would accept this, then get back together with another version of Laura, who is also the "real" Laura, and an old MILF. But most fans don't care about old Laura or accept her as the "official" Laura, and she ends up dying, living inside of Synch's head and then dying again. So this whole paragraph means nothing.

But at least we would get a couple shots of Hellion looking at Laura through some bushes like a creeper, just to twist the knife and make sure that the ship was properly killed.

The Fart Cloud

Remember that time the Inhumans unleashed a stupid fart cloud onto Earth in the hopes of activating latent Inhuman genes in some humans? But the fart cloud was poisonous to mutant and started killing them? The X-Men had to hide their numbers in a Hell dimension for safety.

So Julian was poisoned by one of those clouds, and the X-Men totally failed to find and save him when he went looking for their help. Thanks again, X-Men. You're always there when Hellion needs you.

Hellion would visit the Inhumans on their Earth turf. Now dying from the cloud, he was determined to be a martyr. Let the Inhumans witness a person they'd harmed with their actions.

His powers wrecked New Attilan as he lost control over them, endangering everyone around them. Luckily, an Inhuman named Synapse was able to turn off his powers and stop him.

Synapse argued to the ruler of the Inhumans, Medusa, to help Hellion despite the damage he caused. Medusa didn't need convincing though; they were not going to persecute the infirm, and they were going to help this poor, suffering mutant as best as they could. He was going to get the best medical care and they would work tirelessly to see him recover.

Yes. The Inhumans who nearly gassed him to death treated him better than the X-Men. Hellion would be so grateful for their help, he would volunteer at their hospital as an orderly.

Not much would happen to Hellion after this. Despite being told (by everyone) that he was a dangerous mess they didn't want to deal with, Hellion... never really did anything beyond sometimes teasing classmates sometime, briefly date Shark-Girl, and help the X-Men whenever they asked. Many of his cameos consisted of him being in the background, having been beaten up by whatever villain the X-Men were facing.

Also, another fun fact: The X-Disassembled event saw the adults chiding the students as young, inexperienced kids who should stay out of real missions. Which was disrespectful to the kids who rose to the challenge when the X-Men failed them. But at least they weren't interested in using them as child soldiers.

Except one of the adults telling them this was Jean, who has their fellow student Laura as a member on her team. AND she had Laura's 12 year old sister, too. Hellion was notably absent from the majority of this conflict, since his very existence would undermine the adults' message entirely.

Also the school got blown up. It got blown up quite a few times while Hellion was a student. It got blown up so many times, the kids were cracking jokes about it. Surprisingly, none of those explosions were caused by him.

But just because Hellion wasn't active, doesn't mean he wasn't still pulling out Ws.

Hellion Was Right: Etc.

Hellion was right about a lot of things, but I can't sit here and list every single one of them in great detail. So here's a bulletpoint list of his other truths.

During the Utopia era, he knew that humans would eventually round up mutants and put them in camps. We know that happens in a few bad futures. This would also happen during the fall of Krakoa.

He knew the Brood were irredeemable monsters and hated Broo on sight. And in the end? Their only "redemption" was the X-Men to use them as weapons against the terrorist organization, Orchis. They could never truly be saved.

He ended up siding with Wolverine during the Schism, despite him and Logan hating each other. Guess who won the Schism in the end?

Right away, Hellion knew Wind Dancer was a catch. He also had a thing with Laura, dated Shark-Girl, and in an AU he married Surge. The man just can't stop picking Best Girls. He has a supernatural sense that allows him to figure out which girls are superior.

Remember that school competition, and Hellion bragged about how none of the other squads could ever hope to win it again? Shortly after Hellion and his squad won it, the school was hit by the mass depowering event known as M-Day. The majority of students were depowered and many were subsequently massacred by anti-mutant terrorists. Even when the school recovered, they never had these school-wide competitions again. So yeah, no other students would get to win that trophy.

Hellion had been open about his dislike of robots, after they took his hands. Who was behind Orchis? Omega Sentinel. Not only that, the group was primarily run by robots, and they wanted to wipe out all organic life - especially mutants, but they had plans to kill all organic life to preserve themselves. Humans would be their next target, after they finished killing off mutants.

Hellion thought it was weird how Wolverine kept picking up teenage girls as his sidekicks. He joked that Wolverine was a perv, of course Wolverine isn't a predator, he has no ill intentions with those girls, and some of them just dropped into his lap. But it's still pretty sus, even if no one else wants to point it out.

Northstar thought Hellion was making a mistake, picking Emma as his advisor over him. He thought Hellion needed the discipline. Considering Hellion thrived under Emma, she stood up for him when no one else did, and Northstar abandoned him just as the others did anyway... Yeah, Hellion made the right choice in picking Emma.

New Edit: I just saw this post. So you know how Hellion thought mutants should ignore past incidents and accidents, because they need to look out for each other and humans wouldn't judge them fairly? And then the X-Men were all, "NO, we need to listen to human laws!" Yeah, so anyway, the X-Men would basically say the same thing Hellion did, in the Krakoa era. Except now they had the power to enforce their will.

Hellion hated Quentin Quire and beat him up. No explanation needed.

The Gays Love Hellion (And Hellion Loves Them)

So weirdly enough, Hellion has a big LGTV fanbase. Which is weird, because he's from Academy X, not Fraternity X. Why would gay fans gravitate towards a straight, cis, masculine jock who regularly dominates others an- Oh.

Well, it goes beyond that. The X-Men in general have a huge queer audience. But Hellion has multiple factors working in his favor: he's sarcastic and has great quips, he takes after Emma Frost, he's canonically ripped, and he's had his moments of fanservice.

Most importantly, there was that one arc where he was on a beach for a mission. He thought the mission was casual, so he was the only one in swimwear, and nobody told him because they wanted to see him in short-shorts. He's smart, but that scene would go on to imprint himbo energy into the minds of many readers.

Also, he spent the entirety of the Age of X event with his tits out.

I don't find Hellion sexy at all, personally. He's not my type. But he IS a sex bomb. I can see the appeal regardless.

I'm iffy on the femme-y himbo depiction among fans. It's amusing, but I feel like it tends to paint a shallow picture of an otherwise manly, cool, intelligent and tragic character. But Hellion is perfect even if he's a himbo, he's perfect no matter what. I stan the alternate universe black Hellion who was like 5 years old and only appeared in the background of one panel, who may or may not be Hellion at all. He had metal hands, so I like to think he's meant to be Julian Keller.

Krakoa

So the mutants formed a mutant nation, an island paradise called Krakoa. It was this whole thing, it was great, I loved it. I recommend reading House of X/Powers of X if you haven't already. But the tl;dr is that mutants were able to resurrect the dead and give depowered mutants their powers back.

Hellion was given a sanctuary in paradise. The X-Men who had abandoned him had finally given him protection and safety. He had every single one of his deceased friends back, and they were there with him. The days of M-Day were a bad memory, there would be no school attacks, and he wouldn't have to live in fear of M-Pox. If he wanted to, he could die and come back with his hands, fully restored through the Resurrection Protocols.

You know who else came back? Wind Dancer. After fourteen real-life years, the two were finally reunited.

Hellion had regained almost everything he'd lost. All of his suffering was worth it, because he finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. All the work he put into helping the X-Men, saving Hope and working tirelessly to protect others has paid off.

But if this post has taught you anything, it's that Hellion isn't allowed happiness.

Krakoa would fall through the machinations of an evil organization called Orchis. Lead by such villains as Omega Sentinel and Nimrod, Orchis would frame Krakoa for crimes in biological warfare and sabotage, wanton murder of humans, and plots of world domination. The whole world stood back and did nothing as the mutants were attacked, scattered across the world and hunted 'till near-extinction. Many people even cheered Orchis on. Some governments even assisted them in making life more difficult for mutants. Mutants were rounded up, jailed, put under inhumane conditions, forcibly injected with "cures," and even murdered.

Where was Hellion during all of this? Well, he was in another dimension. Xavier had sent mutants through portals, per Orchis' demands. They wanted Xavier to telepathically force every mutant off the planet, or Orchis would use biological warfare to wipe out millions of humans. Wanting to spare humans, Xavier forced the majority of mutants through portals, which would end up leading them to the White Hot Room. The strugglers were left to deal with Orchis.

Hellion either went through those portals, or he had been killed during the Orchis genocide and gone through the Resurrection Protocols in the White Hot Room. He'd be there for several months, struggling to survive in a desert with 200,000 other mutants.

Hellion and most other named mutants would return to Earth, thanks to the X-Men. But also the X-Men and the ruling leaders of Krakoa were kind of to blame, since they failed to strike down Orchis earlier, despite them being a known threat. They tried some things, sure. But the plot basically forbade them from making any real progress against them until now. So yeah, the adults let Hellion down again. If they stopped playing by the rules and killed Omega Sentinel, they'd be happier.

Also, Krakoa would still exist beyond this point. Or rather, a splinter of the island nation would exist in the White Hot Room. It was shown that, without any humans or other groups coming down on them, they could thrive and grow as a healthy, enlightened and thriving nation. Mutants had the option of giving up life on their home planet to go to the White Hot Room's and have sanctuary, or stay in the trenches and spend their lives under constant threat of humans, aliens, demons and robots.

Look at Hellion at the start of his journey, and look at him now. He lost his friends, his loves, his wealth, his family, his identity as a leader, and any confidence he had from his body. The only thing he has left is his telekinesis.

The Villainous Path

Little hellions, kids feeling rebellious Embarrassed, their parents still listen to X-Men

So now we have a better picture of Hellion. He's a person with a big heart and a huge sense of loyalty, but he's been constantly let down by people around him. He's been kicked while he's been down, treated like a monster, and had the people he loves most walk out on him. His own insecurities, ego and attitude have held him back. And just when everything seemed to be turning around, just when he had everything he had lost... his home is taken away from him and he's left alone all over again.

You can see why Hellion wouldn't want anything to do with the X-Men after all of this. They took him in, but they treated him like shit and failed him constantly. He was constantly pointing out the truth, but they punished him for it and insisted that he was wrong.

But you can also see why he would have a grudge against a world who supported his peoples' genocide and the destruction of his nation. The same world that largely stood by and ignored his plight during those 2 other genocides he directly endured, and several others he would have been witness to.

Marvel's also on a sliding timescale, where their time passes much slower than ours. So bear in mind, he has probably been active in-universe for 2 to 4 years. 5, if you want to be generous. Everything you have read has been happening non-stop in a very short span of time.

Almost everyone around Hellion is terrible. He literally cannot count on anyone to help him out, because they are either grossly incompetent, unequipped to deal with things, or outright trying to kill him.

If everyone just listened to him, everything would have been fine... Or humans, machines and other heroes would have wiped them off the planet, and things would be even worse. But I choose to believe that Hellion had the right of way. After all, he'd been right about everything else.

Hellion proved himself to be a real hero, despite everyone doubting him. But he has also done things you wouldn't see most traditional heroes do, because he's cynical and willing to do harsher things if it means helping others. At the very least, he's firmly an anti-hero.

There is precedence for having him taking on an antagonistic role and going against traditional heroes. The context was always him doing what he thought was best.

So he could easily work as an anti-villain or antagonist; someone who will take the role of the heel, but still be sympathetic and have the capacity to be redeemed.

Right now, many fans are worried that that Hellion won't be portrayed sympathetically. That he'll be suddenly and drastically changed into a villain, solely there to cause trouble, do despicable things and be defeated. To be a strawman of what he once was. And to be fair, that's a fair worry; we recently saw a mutant, Nature Girl, go from a mild-mannered student supporting character, to a genocidal villain at the drop of a hat. Her character was irrevocably warped to facilitate a story. Anyone who liked her original characterization would be turned off by this change.

Or how about Benjamin Percy's take on Beast? The loveable furball was now a vile, manipulative, genocidal villain who would torture his friends for his own gain.

There was room for these characters to become darker figures - let's not forget how Nature Girl had a small story dedicated to her being painfully aware of the torture Christmas trees go through before they're tossed aside by humans, unaware of the pain they have caused. But these characters went from A, to B to Z. Things jumped wildly and they became extreme caricatures that barely resembled their original selves. And even if Beast did some questionable things in the past, no way would he naturally fall as far as he did under Percy's pen, much less so abruptly.

There's also worry that the Krakoan will be used as a strawman against Krakoa. He'd be used to portray the worst aspects of Krakoan culture and somehow prove to the audience that no, Krakoa was actually really bad and you should be glad that it's gone.

The Krakoan is specifically twisting the dream of Krakoa to rule the masses. I'm not paying too much attention to these, since preview blurbs are known to be inaccurate at times. But at the very least, they make it clear that what he's doing is not meant (out-of-universe, at least) to be an accurate representation of Krakoa. He's an in-universe example of Krakoa being misused and represented.

Despite this, if the Krakoan is Julian, I think he will be respected a bit. One of the writers of NYX, Jackson Lanzing, was asked about Hellion. He had this to say.

I think that's a pretty fair take on him. Lanzing acknowledged that he's not some simple character. Hellion has the potential to be a big player for mutants - for good or for ill - and that stems from him being somewhere in the middle of the Xavier-Magneto spectrum. He has some desire for peace and co-existence, but he's also not shying away from the reality he faces. If they're writing him, I fully expect them to portray this depth and nuance, even if it's on a small level.

They acknowledged his ties to David and Laura. The latter is important because there's a lot they could mine here beyond their romance. Hellion was there to show Laura a life outside of the darkness. He wanted her to be a better person and break free from her past as an assassin. While the writers might focus on the duo's romance, they should at least be aware that it's built on a foundation of seeing past the bad side of someone, and getting to the real, good person underneath.

Further, both writers are now on record as being big fans of Hellion. They not only like him a lot, but they clearly have a grasp on his character. I doubt they'd do something that would destroy his potential for future stories.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Hellion's villain era. I could be wrong and the writers could totally flub it. But for now, things are pointing towards him being treated with respect.

And if not? Well, he'll probably be right anyway. He's the new Cyclops/Magneto. As the saying goes, they were right. And Hellion has already proven that he has been right this whole time. If Hellion is reduced to some baby-eating monster, I would defend him. That baby was probably racist and had evil vibes.

From the Ashes

That's telekinesis, Kyle. How 'bout the power to move you?

The new relaunch will see other books release alongside NYX. And yes, they're going to be notably less popular because they don't have Hellion in them. But with Hellion's new role, who says he can't be a key figure in the world of mutants going forward?

Exceptional X-Men will feature Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost mentoring three new mutants. They'll be protecting these kids and guiding them through a world that hates and fears them, ensuring that they grow up to be heroes. Meanwhile NYX's main villain is likely one of their previous kids they trained, who they failed, mistreated and abandoned several times, who was explicitly stated to be unstable after his experiences on the field and under their care.

These kids are fucked. Hellion needs to come in and save them from the X-Men, before Kitty Pryde ruins their lives with her "help."

X-Men will feature Cyclops and his band of heroes (plus Quentin Quire), acting openly and proudly as mutants. They won't return to their evolutionary era, but they will still but heads with the government and are in a place that might put them in opposition with the mainstream opinion. From the looks of it, they will fight for their rights and do what they feel is right, even if it makes humans uncomfortable, because they need to be heard and- Oh wait. Hasn't Hellion been doing all of this from the get-go? Hmm.

Don't worry, I'm sure Cyclops will tell the Krakoan that his methods are super wrong and go too far, and that the X-Men are fighting for their rights the right way. Hurting innocent people to promote your cause is wrong! Then Cyclops and his team will get a few more innocent children killed before moving on to their next project.

What about Uncanny X-Men? Rogue's leading that team, and Gambit and Wolverine are on it. All three of them owe Hellion an apology. Jubilee's also there. She always busted Hellion's balls for how he handled his relationship with Laura... when she wasn't ogling his ass on the beach. Which was fair, but maybe she could apologize for not being a little sympathetic after his hands got blown off by an evil robot while fighting for their cause.

X-Factor will apparently pit the titular team against an underground mutant revolution, lead by Polaris. Hey, you think the Krakoan might want to get involved with that down the line?

Wolverine has a solo book. He can use the 5000 issues he'll get to beg Hellion for forgiveness. That's almost enough time to make up for how he treated Julian.

Dazzler's getting a mini. And guess who's going to be part of her crew? Hellion's exes, Wind Dancer and Shark-Girl. Wonder how they'd feel about him breaking bad?

And Now?

We wait see what comes next. We hope for the best, expect the worst, but know that this book will be the best of the From the Ashes era, simply because Hellion is gracing us with his presence.

I recommend reading more Hellion stories when you can. This post only touches on the basics. There are a lot of things I had to cut out. There are a lot of things that I missed, or didn't include because I they weren't as important to be as they might be to you. You might read things completely differently, even though I am objectively right because Hellion is perfect and could never do wrong. I might have purposely skewed things to favor Hellion because this post is Hellion propaganda. But whatever the case, you absolutely should follow my boy.

I had a whole section about Hellion's telekinesis. He's a telekinetic in a world filled with telekinetics who ALSO have telepathy and other powers. But he was able to stand out with how he varied in its use - he could create energy blasts and projectiles, fly at subsonic speeds, make things combust on a molecular level, and blast through just about anything. I cut it because I hit the image limit and didn't have enough space to show them, and they need to be shown because his powers are visually distinct. It was either keep them and cut out the tiddy pic, or keep the tiddy pic and cut out the displays of power. And I think I made the right choice.

[shiorihyuga]

A Soft Place

In a post-Rumbling world, where the threat of Titans no longer looms, Vanessa Sinclair finds herself living a quiet life, working at her family’s bakery in Wall Rose. Curvy and self-conscious, Vanessa has always faded into the background, overshadowed by her more outgoing friends. But everything changes when Captain Levi Ackerman, Humanity's Strongest Soldier, begins visiting the bakery regularly. What starts as a simple exchange of tea and pastries quickly evolves into something more. Levi, drawn to her quiet strength and beauty, takes Vanessa on a journey that forces her to confront her insecurities, while learning that sometimes, what lies beneath the surface is more than enough. {Levi x Plus Sized OC}

Chapter Twenty Three

Levi found himself in unfamiliar territory—standing in the back room of The Sweet House, conspiring with Vivian, Emma, and Robin to plan a surprise party for Vanessa’s upcoming birthday. The bakery’s usual sweet aroma of baked goods filled the air, mixing with the energy of anticipation as the group huddled around a table, discussing details and exchanging ideas.

Vivian, as expected, was leading the charge with unbridled enthusiasm. Her excitement was palpable, and she gestured animatedly as she shared her plans. "We have to make it unforgettable," she declared, her eyes gleaming. "Vanessa deserves to walk in and feel like she’s the most special person in the world. This has to be perfect."

Levi stood a little back from the table, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t used to planning celebrations, much less a surprise party, but he was determined to make this work for Vanessa. She was the first person in a long time to make him feel like life could be more than just missions and responsibilities. So he listened intently as the women shared their ideas.

"I think we should go with a rose theme," Emma suggested, glancing at Levi for approval. "She loves roses, and we could use different shades to decorate. It’ll make the place look magical."

Vivian nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! And we’ll need to put up some fairy lights to give it that warm, enchanting feel. The whole bakery can transform into a beautiful little garden," she said, already mentally arranging where everything should go.

Levi gave a short nod of agreement. “That should work,” he said, his voice calm and measured as always. “But we need to make sure we can keep her away from the bakery long enough to set everything up.”

Robin grinned and jotted down some notes. “No worries there, Captain. We can tell Vanessa that we’re closing for ‘maintenance’ and get her out of the bakery for the day,” she said. “You can keep her distracted. Take her somewhere she likes... maybe a nice lunch?”

Levi considered the idea, then nodded. “I’ll take her out for the day,” he confirmed. “I’ll figure out something she won’t suspect.”

Vivian gave him a playful nudge. “That’s the spirit, Levi! We’ll make sure everything’s in place while you keep Vanessa occupied. Oh, and Emma,” she turned to the young baker, “you have to make the cake. It has to be that vanilla one with rose cream frosting—Vanessa’s favorite.”

Emma gave a mock salute, smiling. “Already on it. I’ll make it extra special for her.”

As they went over the decorations, the timing, and the menu, Levi listened carefully, committing everything to memory. He wanted to make sure no detail was overlooked. This wasn’t just about throwing a party—it was about making Vanessa feel truly celebrated, surrounded by the people who cared for her. And though Levi wasn’t exactly comfortable with planning something like this, the thought of her smile when she saw it all kept him focused.

Vivian leaned closer to Levi, her voice dropping to a more serious tone. “You know, Levi,” she began, her expression softening, “Vanessa really means a lot to you, doesn’t she?”

Levi didn’t respond immediately. He wasn’t the type to openly discuss his feelings, even with someone as welcoming as Vivian. But he also didn’t want to hide the truth, not here. “She does,” he said simply, his voice steady.

Vivian gave him a warm smile, patting his arm. “Then this party will be perfect,” she said. “

As the meeting came to a close, Vivian, Emma, and Robin were buzzing with excitement, already dividing up tasks and making plans for the decorations. Levi took a step back, listening as they continued to fine-tune the details. It was almost strange to see them so thrilled over something as simple as a party. But then again, this was for Vanessa, and that made all the difference.

With each passing day, Levi found himself looking forward to the surprise more. It wasn’t about the decorations or the cake; it was about showing Vanessa that she was worth the effort, worth the planning. She had changed his life in ways he hadn’t anticipated, and this was his way of making sure she knew just how special she was to him.

And as the others continued their discussions, Levi stood quietly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. For someone like him, who had spent most of his life fighting to survive, planning a celebration felt almost surreal. But in that moment, he knew he would do whatever it took to see Vanessa's face light up when she walked through those bakery doors and saw everything they had prepared for her.

Because she deserved it.

…

As Levi walked back home, the cold evening air biting gently at his skin, his thoughts drifted to the special gift he had gotten for Vanessa. Tucked safely away in his apartment was a small, velvet box containing a delicate butterfly necklace. He had commissioned it from a local jeweler, someone he trusted to capture the intricate details and bring the piece to life exactly the way he’d imagined.

The necklace featured a silver butterfly, its wings spread as if in mid-flight, inlaid with a touch of pale blue and light pink, colors that reminded him of the softness in Vanessa’s eyes and the gentle glow of her smile. It was simple but elegant, a reflection of the woman who had come into his life unexpectedly and changed it in ways he hadn’t thought possible.

Levi wasn’t one for sentimental gestures, but as he thought back to when he first met Vanessa in the bakery—timid, insecure, and struggling to find confidence in herself—he couldn’t deny the transformation she had undergone since then. There was a time when she barely spoke above a whisper, her gaze cast down as if she didn’t want to be noticed. Even when he first caught her eye and she spilled that cup of tea in front of him and Eren, he could sense her nerves, her hesitation. It was clear she had been struggling with feelings of inadequacy, hiding behind the safety of her routine.

But now… Vanessa was different. She had grown more confident, more radiant. She no longer shied away from people’s gazes; instead, she met them with a warm smile and a spark in her eyes. The once timid baker had blossomed into a woman who knew her worth, who had found a newfound strength and grace that captivated not only Levi but everyone around her. She still had her moments of self-doubt—he could see it in the way she sometimes caught herself in the mirror, or in the way she worried about others’ opinions—but she was no longer defined by those moments. She had learned to embrace who she was, to find pride in her beauty and her talents.

Levi had witnessed it firsthand. It was like watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis, wings unfolding into something truly beautiful. The transformation was quiet but powerful, and he felt honored to have been by her side during it all. He didn’t know if he could take any credit for the changes, but he knew one thing for certain—Vanessa had brought color and light into his life in a way he hadn’t expected, and the necklace was meant to reflect that.

He wanted her to have something special, something that represented her growth and the way she had found the courage to spread her wings. The butterfly wasn’t just a symbol of change; it was a symbol of freedom and resilience. And Vanessa was all those things—free, resilient, and stronger than she gave herself credit for.

Levi’s steps slowed as he approached the door to his apartment building. The familiar sight of his quiet, tidy space came into view as he made his way inside. The place was still and calm, a stark contrast to the excitement and bustling energy of the bakery where they had been planning Vanessa’s surprise. As he stepped into his living room, his gaze drifted toward the small drawer where he kept the velvet box.

He pulled it out gently, lifting the lid to gaze at the necklace. The light in the room caught the delicate silver and made it glint faintly, giving the butterfly an almost lifelike appearance. It was perfect for her—delicate yet enduring, beautiful in its simplicity.

Levi closed the box and set it back in the drawer, his thoughts drifting once more to Vanessa. The surprise party was coming together nicely, and he felt a small sense of satisfaction at knowing they were planning something that would make her feel as special as she was. But the necklace—it was personal. A gift that he hoped would speak to her in a way that words couldn’t quite capture.

He leaned back against the kitchen counter, letting his eyes close for a moment as he pictured the look on her face when she saw it for the first time. The anticipation in his chest built slowly, but there was also a sense of calm that came with the thought. It wasn’t just about the gift or the party; it was about celebrating the person Vanessa had become and the life they were beginning to build together.

For so long, Levi had kept his world small, guarded. He had always been careful not to let anyone get too close. But Vanessa had changed all of that. She had shown him that it was possible to live for more than just the next fight, to hope for a future where happiness wasn’t something fleeting but something real and lasting.

And now, as he thought about her, he realized that she had changed him too. In the most beautiful way.

As the week leading up to her birthday drew closer, Levi found himself looking forward to more than just the surprise party. He looked forward to all the moments yet to come—their quiet mornings together, the warmth of her laughter, the simple comfort of holding her close. It was a kind of peace he had never known before, and he was ready to give her the world, one small, meaningful gesture at a time.

He couldn’t wait to see the look on Vanessa’s face when he placed the necklace around her neck and told her exactly what it meant. For now, he would keep the surprise under wraps and continue plotting with her friends and mother. But soon, very soon, she would know just how much she meant to him.

…

 Levi lay in bed, his thoughts were filled with Vanessa. The moonlight filtered softly through the window, casting a pale glow across the room, and he found himself thinking back over the last several months—nearly nine since he had first met Vanessa at The Sweet House, and almost five since they had officially become a couple. It had been a whirlwind in many ways, a slow but steady transformation of his life that he hadn’t seen coming. And all of it was because of her.

Vanessa’s birthday was just around the corner, and the surprise party was well underway in the planning stages. Levi had gone to great lengths to ensure that it would be perfect, from the decorations to the cake to the butterfly necklace he had commissioned for her. He wanted the day to be about her—to make sure she felt as special as she truly was. The necklace, with its delicate butterfly design, would be a symbol of her transformation, of the beautiful change he had witnessed in her since they had first met.

The thought of giving her the necklace filled him with anticipation, but as he lay there, his mind began to wander to the future. He couldn’t help it; the idea of proposing to Vanessa had crept up on him ever since New Year’s, when Vivian had teasingly referred to him as her “future son-in-law.” At the time, he hadn’t taken it too seriously, thinking it was just a playful remark, but the seed had been planted, and now it had started to grow.

Levi hadn’t made any concrete plans to propose just yet. He didn’t want to overshadow Vanessa’s birthday or make the celebration about anything other than her. She deserved a day where the focus was solely on her joy, on celebrating the person she had become. But in the back of his mind, the thought of proposing lingered, an idea he found himself revisiting more often than not.

He could imagine it clearly—the day when he would get down on one knee, perhaps in a quiet, intimate moment, and ask Vanessa to be his wife. It wasn’t something he had ever thought he’d want; the idea of marriage had seemed foreign, even unattainable, in the life he’d led. But now, with Vanessa, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. He could see a future with her—one where they built a life together, where the peace they had now was something they could hold onto.

But it wasn’t the time to think about proposals. Right now, the focus was on Vanessa’s upcoming birthday and making sure it was a day she would remember fondly. He wanted to see her face light up when she walked into the bakery, to watch her smile as she realized that the people closest to her had come together to celebrate her. That was what mattered most to him at the moment—her happiness.

Still, as Levi lay there, a quiet smile tugged at his lips. He knew that the day when he would propose to her wasn’t far off. He didn’t need to rush it; there would be a time when the moment was right, when he could look into her eyes and tell her how much she meant to him, not just in words, but with a promise for the future. For now, he was content to hold that thought close, to let the idea of their future together grow naturally, just like everything else had between them.

As he closed his eyes, his mind drifted back to the plans for her birthday, and he felt a rare sense of peace wash over him. The thought of the necklace, of the party, of the joy it would bring Vanessa, filled him with a quiet anticipation. The proposal could wait for now. When the time came, he would make sure it was just as special as she deserved. But for now, his focus was on the upcoming celebration and making sure Vanessa’s birthday was everything she could hope for.

~

Masterlist

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[celestie0]

hello!! i hope this finds you well <3. one of the lines in your most recent work reminded me a lot the song ‘The Frost’ by Mitski (the line i’m taking abt: “The thing is, you would’ve been the first person I would’ve run to to tell them that I lost my best friend. But what could I do when you were the one that I had lost? Who could I have turned to then?”) i was curious if the song was of any inspiration to you! if not i would definitely recommend giving it a listen, it reminded me so much of your one-shot!!

best wishes, lexie 🩷

hiiii darling!! omg no that line in the story was actually inspired after this one tiktok comment i saw about "one day" (the show) where it was somethign like "the heartbreaking thing is that emma would've been the first person that dexter would've run to to tell her that he just lost the love of his life" D: i sobbed. i wanted to incorporate that sentiment into the story somehow but feel like i did so sorta sloppily in hindsight xd

BUUUUUT this mitski lyric is crazy she put it into really great words n way more poetically haha i also gave the song a listen and it's so good eep i love the instrumental breaks sm. thanks for sharing!! <3

[milfs4lif3]

Heloo!!^^ may i request this!!?:3

I don't really know if you comfortable with this but can i request a fluff headcanons about various! Character, like toman+takemichi, hinata (she still like takemichi but hehehe), emma, senju, haitani, kazu, hanma having a crush on fem!karma/kaneki(u can choose^^)!reader? Like they having a same crush on her?^///^ apologized if this too weird!!;^;

If you write for karma reader, the reader have a same strangth like him but she not meanie like him instead she is so sweet but danger and badass just like karma!!💥 or if you write kaneki reader she same just like kaneki, she have a same strength and kagune but she not cold, she sweet and scary if someone try to hurt her friends!^^

Ohh i'm sorry because i'm not mention this, i don't want to make you confuse^^hehe,,,but i want all of them having crush on the reader at once in the same headcanons!! I'm sorry if this make u feel uncomfortable!!^^; feel free to ignore<33 thank youu and have a nice day/night:3♡♡

Hello!! omg omg omg omg omg THIS. IS. SUCH. A.CUTE.REQUEST. omg i love this so so much. This does not make me feel uncomfortable, love ! This also kinda turned into dating Hc’s, but only for a few parts. And I’m sorry that I didn't write a part for Emma, it’s just that I don't know a lot about her, so it would be harder to write for her. I also didn’t write something for Hinata because It just seemed a bit hard.I tried to get all of the characters that I feel most comfortable writing for in here. I'm sorry that I didn't get to your ask sooner, I had testing all week, and then I had to do more work so I didn't have any time to go onto Tumblr. :( but i love this!! Also, I didn’t write for Senji because Senji was honestly too hard to write for. Ran will also be kind of out of character. Also, the reader will be friends with everyone in Toman for the Toman part, and the reader will be friends with everyone in valhalla for the valhalla part, does that make sense? I’ll make a separate post for your Kaneki request. Here are the songs I listened to while making this (it's my friend’s playlist tehehe) <3 music

WHEN THEY ALL LIKE YOU AT THE SAME TIME.

Tokyo Revengers x fem!reader

KARMA WITH A S/O THAT IS AS STRONG AS HIM

Assassination Classroom x fem!reader

Characters: Tokyo Revengers: Takemichi, Draken, Mikey, Mitsuya, Chifuyu, Smiley, Angry, Baji, Kazutora, Hanma, Ran. Assassination Classroom: Karma Akabane

Toman:

☼ Draken would get super jealous if he sees any of the other boys hitting on you

☼ Draken will also hold your hand in big crowds

☼ Draken will get so so flustered if someone asks him if he likes you

☼ Baji uses the trashiest pick up lines 😭

☼ Baji uses them because 1. he used all of his other pick up lines that were good. 2. he had seen a post online of pick up lines to use on girls, and that they would fall for him immediately. They don't work on ANYONE.

☼  Even though you and Baji aren’t dating, he still acts like he’s your boyfriend.

☼ Baji’s also always staring at your ass and boobs..

☼ Mikey would feed you food IN FRONT ALL OF THE OTHER GUYS.

☼ Mikey purposely puts frosting on your cheek to give him an excuse to wipe it off (like he uses his thumb, and he’s just staring into your eyes while whipping it off of you fdhdh).

☼  Mikey will teach you how to ride his motorcycle, and even if you get something wrong while learning,, he still worships you and it’s so cute, honestly.

☼ Chifuyu doesnt wanna make the others mad at him, but he does. (by accident)

☼ Chifuyu does all of this sweet stuff and says all of these sweet words that make you      so flustered.

☼ Chifuyu takes you to the most fun places (and the boys are all there, too)

☼ Smiley will DRAG you away from all of the boys just to get some alone time with you lmao. ☼ Smiley will treat you like you’re a little child, he’s always so so sweet to you, and it’s pretty obvious that he likes you.

☼ Smiley also is obsessed with you, but it’s not a bad obsession

☼ Angry just admires you from afar, looking at how beautiful you look.

☼  Whenever you approach Angry and talk to him, he’s just standing there and is red af.

☼ He has a journal and it’s filled with things that he loves about you. Smiley once found it and showed all of the boys and Angry just wanted to die, then and there. (the boys were pissed fhsiejk)

☼ Mitsuya buys you whatever you want.

☼ Mitsuya had told Draken and Mikey that he likes you and Draken and Mikey were just like, “Wait. I do, too…” so they now know that they like you.

☼ As long as Mitsuya gets to see you smile, his job is done.

☼ Mitsuya is actually a HUGE simp for you.  (well all of the boys are lol)

☼ Takemichi would be confused as to why all the other boys liked you.

☼ Takemichi thought that he wouldn’t fall for you because like, he has Hinata.

☼ Lmao

☼ Takemichi started falling for you.

☼ Takemichi is all like, “shit, is it obvious that I also like y/n??”

☼ omg it’s so obvious lmao.

☼ once all the boys realized that he liked you.

☼ well 1. They were all like, “Don’t you have a girlfriend?” 2. They laughed at him and would say that you’re WAY out of his league, and that it’s screwed up that he likes you WHILE dating you.

☼ Takemichi is always stuttering around you and just nervous.

☼ He’s just kinda awkward around you lol.

☼ and he’s rlly scared to hit on you bc of the boys

Valhalla:

☼ Out of all of the boys

☼  Hanma is the biggest simp for you

☼  Hanma worships the ground you walk on.

☼  He has you as his lock screen and home screen

☼  He really doesn’t trust any of the guys in Valhalla with you.

☼  Besides Kazutora.

☼  Everytime Hanma sees you, he just wants to kiss you.

☼ Hanma wants to confess to you but he doesn’t have the guts to

☼ Everytime he sees Kazutora flirting with you, he’s pissed

☼  But he still trusts Kazutora with you lol

☼ Kazutora knows that Hanma likes you

☼ And Kazutora doesn’t really like that

☼ Kazutora wants you as his

☼ Kazutora will convince you to hang out with him, even when you are busy.

☼ Kazutora sometimes tries to keep Hanma away from you.

☼ Kazutora, along with Hanma, will do anything for you.

☼ Ran always has an arm around your shoulder.

☼ Ran knows that many people like you and he does not enjoy that.

☼ Like Baji, even if you and him aren’t dating Ran still acts like he’s your boyfriend.

☼ Ran had told Rindo that you were his girlfriend, and Rindo actually didn’t believe him

☼ So Rindo asked you if Ran was your boyfriend.

☼ And when you told him that Ran wasn’t your boyfriend, Rindo asked if you would wanna date Ran lol.

☼ Ran will hold your hand at random times, with that lazy smile of his.

☼ Ran holds your hand because he wants to make it seem like you both are together.

KARMA WITH A GIRLFRIEND THAT IS AS STRONG AS HIM

☼ Karma never expected you to be as strong as him.

☼ You just seemed like a very sweet person, that cared about everyone.

☼ You Karma, and some more of class 3-E were in danger with some really tough guys.

☼ Karma had told you and the others to just stay behind him.

☼ But you couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

☼ So you decided that you would fight with him.

☼ Karma heard a loud thump and turned is head to see one of the guys on the ground, knocked out cold.

☼ You had just punched the guy and he went out.

☼ Karma’s jaw almost hit the floor.

☼ You had then told him to snap out of it.

☼ And you guys both fought the guys

☼ Karma, and everyone else were in shock.

☼ They all were praising you.

☼ Karma brags about how you can knock people out really fast, and that you are as strong as him.

☼ Karma begs you to teach him some of your techniques.

☼ Karma just thinks that it’s amazing that you are so strong.

Omg this took longer than expected! The word count for this is 1,421 lol. I love this request so so much. And I’m sorry that I didn’t do some of the characters that you requested, I’m also sorry for not putting in Kaneki. I’ll probably do that in a different post. I really hope that you enjoyed this!<3 It was super fun to make.  Make sure to send me some more requests! Requests will be open for a while. Thank you for reading!!<3

[bucky-at-bedtime]

Stucky Fic Recs

So basically I went through all of my ao3 bookmarks and collated a list of some of my favourites (I couldn't fit all of them on this list, so if anyone shows interest there might be a part two).

Please read tags and descriptions of the works before reading, some of them are pretty dark or extremely horny so just make sure you check that the fic is for you!!

Please please please send me your favourite fics in return! I am always happy to hear fic recs, headcanons and any other ideas/comments you all have!

Without any further ado, here are a few of my favourite Stucky fics:

‘Not Easily Conquered’ series by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFear

Rating: M, Words: 117,692

https://archiveofourown.org/series/115516

“I told you, you heard me: I told you never to follow me into Hell. Now I’m not vain enough to think that’s why you’re out here now — if there’s any person in what’s left of this God forsaken planet who’s part of a bigger picture, it’d be you. But I’ll keep saying it until it sticks. You got nothing to prove. I’m not worth much, I damn well know that, but I’ll ask you anyway: Stay for me. If you leave me alone in this world I’ll turn into something terrible. I’ll turn into the nasty creature that’s growing inside me. This war, it’ll swallow me whole”

[To me, this fic is like the classic Stucky 101 fanfic – if you're a Stucky fan and you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. The authors explore the Steve/Bucky relationship in such an interesting, tragic, emotive way and I cry every time I read it. I couldn't praise this work enough.]

‘Ain’t No Grave’ series by spitandvinegar

Rating: M-E, Words: 131,789

https://archiveofourown.org/series/426577

"Yeah, he never calls me by my name," Steve says. "It's always champ, ace, hotshot, that kinda thing."

"Man, that is flirting," Sam says. "That nicknames thing, he is flirting with you. He's just working his way up to calling you baby or something."

Steve goes redder than a damn coke can. Sam pumps his fist. "Yes, I am so right, I am wise as hell. He did, didn't he?"

"He called me sweetheart," Steve says grimly, "because he's a drug addict with brain damage."

"Or because he looooooves you," Sam says. Captain America throws a cookie at his head. Sam eats it, because he deserves a treat for being so damn wise.”

[I'm currently re-reading this fic and absolutely loving it. The way spitandvinegar writes Bucky's road towards recovery and Steve's entire characterisation – it's all just so good. It's another one that covers some pretty dark themes, so make sure you're checkin those tags!]

'Einherjar' by thecommodore_squid

Rating: M, Words: 71297

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157024/chapters/16249814

But Steve was fine.

Sure, he hadn’t seen Bucky in months, and sometimes he was at the punching bag so long that his skin started to peel off to expose the bones of his fingers, and sometimes he couldn’t find the energy to drag himself out of bed, and sometimes he went weeks without sleeping, and sometimes he thought about throwing himself head-first off the nearest tall structure, but he was fine.

He was absolutely, perfectly, one-hundred percent, fucking fine.

AKA In which Steve learns how to deal with his shit, and Bucky learns how to stop leaving.

[basically the definition of a recovery fic, I absolutely adore it. This is tragic and amazing and makes me cry and smile. It’s got a bunch of fantastic cameos and It really just ticks so many of my boxes.]

‘Like real People do’ by 2bestfriends

Rating: E, Words: 67,775

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887376/chapters/47103217

“"Ask me what?" demands Bucky. "I didn't hear a question."

Steve licks his lips. "Will you stay with me? Will you come back home, Buck?"

"Home," repeats Bucky in a small voice, and then he's crying for real.”

[Basically soft lumberjack!steve and lonely twink!bucky being horny and in love. This is a comfort fic for that’s really just about my favourite boys falling in love.]

‘This City Bleeds it’s Aching Heart’ by anonymous

Rating: E, Words: 34,537

https://archiveofourown.org/works/835829/chapters/1591736

“The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.”

[The plot in this one is just a good time and i think it’s just a really fun take on the fake relationship trope. Also some really great characterisation.]

‘Home is Wherever I’m With You’ by cydonic

Rating: E, Words: 88,570

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18868081/chapters/44783077

“Bucky kisses Steve and Emma goodbye before they leave for school, which is why – partway down the road – Amelia turns to him and asks, “why are you and Daddy kissing?”

Which is definitely a conversation Bucky’s been expecting since Steve just did it, but it still takes him by surprise. Again, he thinks he should wait for Steve, but Amelia’s not the sort of kid to let anything rest. Plus, Bucky’s taking her to school where she will undoubtedly share the story with anyone who’ll listen.

He also stops to think that Steve’s asked him to stay, which means Bucky must be trusted with their happiness and well-being, at least in some small capacity.

Bucky clears his throat and searches for some explanation that will help Amelia make sense of this sudden turn of events. “Because we love each other,” is all he comes up with.”

[Bear with me, this is a House Flipper!Bucky Au. And dad!Steve. I just love a found family trope I’m not gonna lie to you. Another comfort fic that warms my lil heart.]

‘Lucky Seven’ by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves)

Rating: E, Words: 94,364

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7033105/chapters/16002481

“Back from where--?” James says, the sentence ending in a distinctly undignified squawk as Steve sweeps him up in his arms, bridal-style, and starts carrying him upstairs.

James tenses momentarily then relaxes into Steve's arms and throws back his head and starts laughing. The laughter peals out of him, his body shaking, his amusement occasionally broken by little gasps of pain.

“What's so funny?” Steve frowns.

“You are,” James says, still giggling. “You're ridiculous, Steve Rogers.”

“Behave. Or I will drop you,” Steve growls.

[The shrunkyclunks modern AU of my dreams featuring Mechanic!Bucky and cap!Steve and some really beautiful writing.]

'Dishonor On Your Cow' by mandarou

Rating: E, Words: 111695

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10659162/chapters/23589582

“Sergeant Barnes?”

“Oh, hell no, don’t call him that, man,” Sam warned.

“Captain Fuck Off!” Barnes shouted over him. “Fight me!”

Steve didn’t know whether to laugh or just slink away. He managed to combine the two by pacing two steps and snorting instead. Like a bull.

“I’m gonna need you to calm your ass, Barnes,” Sam said as he went limp again, obstructing Barnes’s struggling under him. “This is so undignified. That is Captain goddamn America.”

“Captain goddamn America!” Barnes repeated, louder. And angrier.

Steve cleared his throat again. “I’ve been looking for you,” he told Barnes.

“I hope you brought lube this time!” Barnes shouted.

[I’m not gonna lie it took me a minute to get into this one but by the end I was crying with them, laughing with them, and just really in my feels. Some very insane things happen so here’s a few of my favourite tags: ‘Seargent Barnes is done with your Shit Steve’, ‘blatant disrespect of a man’s motorcycle’, ‘Steve you ding dong’ and ‘PR nightmares in the form of Supersoldiers’.]

Propietary Information by Notlucy

Rating: E, Words: 85141

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964402/chapters/27054777

“Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.”

[We were never gonna get through this list without a Sugar Daddy!AU (I have a weakness). This one is… saucy and sexy and sweet and uh pretty kinky so read the tags and all. I’ve read it a few times, and I love the way the author has written Steve in this one, he just makes my heart go '!!!']

‘Roots Have Grown’ by AustinB

Rating: M, Words: 17280

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912451/chapters/15767941

“Bucky is a mildly agoraphobic veteran with funds to spare, who becomes enamored with the cute blonde guy in his building.

So when Steve mentions needing a roommate to cut down on rent costs, Bucky decides it would be a good idea to volunteer.”

[Another weakness of mine is Roommate AUs, and this one is phenomenal. I tend to go for post serum!Steve stories more often, but this is a pre-serum Steve that I just adore.]

‘The Cold Never Bothered me Anyway’ by icoulddothisallday

Rating: E, Words:75562

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11728869/chapters/26425530

“Bucky Barnes has spent his whole life in a state of mild hypothermia. Steve Rogers has spent the last 70 years in the ice. The two things aren’t related until, suddenly, they are. Shrunkyclunks soulmate AU (AKA the awkward bb au).”

[I think this is the only soulmate AU in my bookmarks? I would totally be down to read more though! This one is really fun and really enjoy Bucky’s characterisation here!]

'War, Children' by Nonymos

Rating: E, Words: 106615

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373050/chapters/12409394

“After Bucky was released from the hospital, it only took him a couple of weeks to give up on himself. Difficult to believe in any kind of future when the simple act of staying alive was almost too big an effort.

Out the frosted window, across the street, there was a tiny homeless guy burrowing under an awning.”

[An interesting exploration of Bucky’s PTSD with a trans!Steve which was a cool take on his character too!]

'The Company You Keep' by orbingarrow

Rating: G, Words: 51191

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468605/chapters/7613072

“Hurt, hungry, and on the run, the Winter Soldier doesn’t have a lot of safe options to go to for help. Figuring that any friend of Captain Steve Rogers is unlikely to be HYDRA, Bucky takes a chance and reaches out to the first Avenger he can find.

It works out better than anyone could have expected. Eventually.”

[hurt/comfort, recovering Bucky, protective Steve, found family and domestic avengers, need I say more? I absolutely loved this one]

[shrinkthisviolet]

Michelle Jones for the headcanon ask game! 👀👀

YESSS ONE OF MY OTHER FAVORITE GIRLS 🥰

A: realistic

Michelle used to want to be an actress like her mom (Mary Jane Watson), but she got stage fright at her elementary school play. Afterwards, Gayle gifted her a sketchbook, and Michelle has clung to it ever since. It’s why she’s torn between engineering and architecture: the marriage of science, which she loves, and art, her greatest comfort.

B: unrealistic but hilarious

Michelle actually isn’t as morbid as her interests suggest! She’s in fact a very warm and loving and protective person. She just has a hard time opening up because she’s been let down before...and frankly, why shouldn’t others have to work to be worthy of her heart and friendship?

She does, however, love playing up the stereotype to mess with people (and see who can see through it). Liz is the first to see through it, then Betty, Ned, Cindy, Peter, Abe, and Flash, in that order. AcaDec squad for life!!

C: heart-wrenching but fun to inflict on friends

After NWH, Michelle keeps getting this nagging feeling around Peter, a sort of deja vu she doesn’t understand, compounded by the pictures in her phone she has with this mysterious stranger. She makes the mistake of asking, once, and she never sees him again.

(She also finds letters in her desk drawer, addressed to “Peter Parker,” love confessions that she never sent. She doesn’t understand any of this 😭)

D: unrealistic but i will disregard canon about it because i reject canon reality and substitute my own

Her interest in the Black Dahlia case comes less from the murder itself, and more from the woman: Elizabeth Short, a woman who faced tumultuous odds (dropping out of high school, having aspirations of acting that never came to be, having a strained relationship with her busy father, being a widow) but kept going anyway (even owning a bookshop, which Michelle admits to herself would be nice, as a fallback plan). Even though Elizabeth’s life ended gruesomely, the symbol of the Black Dahlia reminds Michelle of the woman’s persistence despite her terrible lot in life.

(Listen, idk what FFH says, Michelle does not care about the murder itself—in fact, it disgusts her. Anything she says to the contrary is just her keeping up her persona)

Bonus headcanon: her older sister, Gayle Watson, is dating Emma Frost, her college roommate (yeah that’s right!! Mutants exist in the MCU because I said so!!)

I’ve written some -centric fics about her, in my ways to say i love you series as well as a portion of this oneshot! And plans for many more 💞

headcanon ask game!

[kleenexwoman]

2. Loki/Tony Stark 13. Emma Frost/Natasha Romanoff 24. Pepper Potts/Maria Hill

I lost the original post for this long ago so I'll just post my thoughts.

Loki/Tony. I used to like this series of books where a demon king fell in love with a random high school girl and spent all his time trying to get her to be his queen of Hell. She was against the idea and I always felt cheated. Anyway, I like to write the MCU gods like real gods because I'm That Kind Of Neopagan Nerd. A god of mischief and magic comes to you as the sky tears open. He promises all the knowledge of the universe, an otherworldly army at your command, worlds that are yours to rule. He refers to you as a king and says he'll make you an emperor. Earth will be yours to govern. He even gives you a crown with a beautiful glowing stone in the middle. You have some pretty good ideas about how to govern Earth. After all, you've already privatized world peace. You're stronger than any army and smarter than any think tank. You have renewable power all ready to go whenever. You're pretty sure you could solve world hunger--it's not a matter of having enough resources, it's a matter of distribution, and you know exactly who's sitting on all those resources. Really, you could make Earth a paradise if everyone would just listen to you. You've been thinking this for a while, but it's a little egotistical for even you to say. Loki doesn't think you need to tone down your ego any. In fact, Loki thinks you've been underselling yourself, if anything. Dad undermined your accomplishments at every turn because you weren't exactly the son he said he wanted? Loki fuckin feels that. Loki's dad personally killed the first being to ever exist, made the Earth out of its corpse, and carved humanity out of a couple of trees. All by his own hand! That's a lot to live up to. Loki feels the same kind of pressure you do. We'll do what our fathers never could, he says. We'll make the whole universe ours.

Emma/Nat. Okay, I have no idea how they relate in the comics. There are plenty of characters you'd think would get along but actually have major beef over something in the past like a dead sidekick or dubiously ethical medical experiments or just straight-up betrayal. I imagine that they've been on opposite sides of a conflict more than once. So let's forget that. And the other thing I need everyone to remember is that Emma Frost is a MILF. Regardless of her actual age in any given continuum, she is exactly old enough that she's an Initiatrix who will Take Control of the Situation and Teach You More Than You Ever Thought There Was to Learn. Now. Please imagine January squiring ScarJo around like Carol and Therese. Emma has her hair pulled back in a carefully elaborate bun, gigantic sunglasses with diamonds, white Chanel suit and a white fur coat, Cuban heel white boots. Natasha with her hair down and flowing, matching sunglasses but with rubies, black Dior suit, black Loubs, let's give her a big black That Bitch hat because why not, red fox stole. They're having champagne brunch at the Ritz. Emma can absolutely bag a hotter redhead than Scott can and he's choking on the hotdog he bought from the cart outside while he watches them do that thing where you raise your glasses but then twist your arms together and drink from the other person's glass. Nat is the first girl Emma's ever actually dated, and although Emma's definitely done stuff with other women before she's actually surprised at how much she has to learn. It's thrilling to learn something new about sex after this long (although she is a VERY quick study). It's not that Emma doesn't know how to appeal to women, but she's learned how to act in certain ways that push certain buttons, and it's different with Nat--it's like she can see through some things, ignores others. Emma isn't sure if it's because Nat is a woman or because she's just as good at manipulating and seeing through people as Emma is if you don't count the added benefit of telepathy. At first it's disconcerting to be so deeply understood, but Emma finds she likes it. She can't lie, and when she does Natasha forgives her. Emma relaxes, lets her hair darken, lets lines show on her face. She'd seen her younger self in Natasha, a weapon designed to distract before it kills, every facet of the self an artifice, newly come in from the cold and still getting used to a new set of rules. Maybe it's Natasha's relative youth, but she's more adaptable than Emma can remember being, quicker to embrace the prospect of self-sacrifice for the greater good. So Emma tries to teach her to be selfish instead, because she wants to keep Natasha around, wants to keep sharing all the pleasures she can afford with her. Emma teaches Nat how to reach out to her telepathically, so they can speak without words wherever Natasha is. Natasha asks Emma if she's ever read her mind, and Emma tells Nat--truthfully--that she hasn't done so since she asked Nat out. Boundaries are important, she's learned things. Nat asks Emma if she'd like to. Maybe just once, so she can see everything that's in Nat's mind. That's not like the secretive Black Widow, so Emma asks why. Natasha tells her she wants one person that she doesn't have to keep any secrets from, ever. That it would be a luxury for her, a relief. On our wedding night, darling, Emma says, and Nat squeals and hugs her.

Pepper/Maria Hill: Pepper is usually as nice as she can possibly muster to receptionists, secretaries, and other assistant-type people because she is pretty much is one, regardless of how much power Tony Stark actually gives her over his company or life, and also because it absolutely pays to be nice to people who can grant you access to the rich and powerful. But it's not like she makes a point to hang out with them or anything. The last thing she wants to do is sit around on her own time and comiserate with other people about the job they all have, especially when she's pretty sure that Tony treats her far better than anyone else in the 1% treats...well, anyone. Even with the stress and trouble and forgetting her allergies. But when Maria Hill asks her if she wants to come over and share a bottle of Riesling during the season finale of American Ninja Warrior, she says yes. Maria shouts at the TV and says she could do better than any of the contestants. Pepper isn't really invested in the show, but it's kind of great to watch the ever-composed Maria Hill yell at a TV show while she's wearing yoga pants. They open another bottle when The Voice comes on, and Maria says she wanted to be a pop star when she was little--she even made a demo tape. Then she wanted to be a news anchor. She got a poli-sci degree so people would take her seriously and decided that simply reporting on the news wasn't enough--she wanted to do something about it. Did Pepper always want to be an... assistant? No, obviously not, Pepper laughs. She wanted to start a gourmet health food company. Imagine health food that doesn't taste like grass and sawdust, right? This was before Whole Foods, she adds, and juuust before online shopping really took off. She got an MBA, but she couldn't find funding, so she applied to pretty much everything else she could and eventually she made her way to Tony's employ. Now she's been there for so long and he depends on her so much that she can barely imagine herself doing anything else. "SHIELD could always use--" Maria says, and then cuts herself off. to pour more wine. "No, no no, nope, don't wanna talk about work right now. Do you have any pets?" "With my schedule?" Pepper laughs. "I don't have time for a pet rock. I'd kind of like a dog, eventually. When I retire." "I like dogs," Maria says with a certain gleam in her eye. "If I get to retire."

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

deep fic writer asks (sorry if I asked already) I've sent a few of these out tonight lol 1, 3, 7, 11, 14

1. what’s the fic you're most proud of?

I would like to be That Parent™ and say all of them equally, but I'm really That Other Parent™ that is a little prouder of some than others. That said, I'm going to say the seriesHemispheres (Loki/Tony) is one of the ones I'm proudest of. It was the first one to break me out of the one and done fics and into the arena of series. It's not finished - none of my series fics are, and I'm a slow writer these days because of life and responsibilities and just days full of 'can't write for shit' insecurities, and that's apparently put a few readers off because they want to demand a fic be down NOW. Some others that I'm equally proud of as that one are the Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home series (Steve/Loki), the Wantons light of heart series (Scott Summers/Tony), and the Every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite series (Tony/Bucky AU). There are others, obviously, the Bucky/Loki series, and the Steve/Scott Summers series that are up there in my pride zone, and I've got an Emma Frost/Tony Stark one that I'm working on that has one short part to it already posted.

3. what fic are you emotionally attached to?

I'd be very quick to say ALL OF THEM, but the ones I'm most attached to are the ones I've been working on within the last two years. Three-ish. Since the end of 2019. The ones listed above are some of those.

7. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

Most days, I'm okay that my fics don't get a lot of comments, especially since I turned on getting notifications for kudos, so it shows me that they are getting positive reactions, but there are some days when not getting comments really bums me out to the point that I think, "Why am I bothering with this?" Overall, I know I'm never going to be one of the "popular" writers on AO3 because there are some subjects I'm not going to touch in fics, and those seem to be what get the popular writers the most comments and kudos and attention.

11. Has a fic you’ve written ever caused issues/controversy?

I don't think any of my fics have caused issues or controversy. When I first published Reach Out and Touch Faith (Kurt/Logan), a few people were shocked that they had sex in a confessional at a small Catholic church that Kurt would go to not far from the school. Don't worry - the priest wasn't on the other side listening in or anything. I don't know if people were necessarily offended by it, but there was some shock and perhaps some clutched pearls for drama's sake. And then my Steve/Loki fic earned me my first hater comments from a douchebag who went by the name Stuckygirl. They didn't sign in to AO3, but they used that name on the comments, so AO3 wouldn't do fuckall about it when I reported them, even though they told me I should kill myself and that they hoped I got raped.

14. Do you compare yourself to other writers? In a positive or negative way?

Very loaded question, but a good one. Unfortunately, when I compare myself to other writers - something I try really hard not to do - it's always in a negative way, with myself viewed as "lacking." It's when I start to feel depressed over a lack of comments, and I read a fic that is so amazing that I think, "I'm **** years old, and I should be writing this amazing by now, and I just don't, so why am I even bothering with it?" It's always a bad path to let my mind take because then it just triggers all the bullshit my ex used to tell me (not about my writing - just as a person), and it's a nasty spiral to go down. Sometimes if I can catch myself before the spiral hits, I'll try and parse out what it is the other writers are doing to be so awesome, and I'll see if I can't apply it to my writing. Then it's not so bad. But yeah, comparisons are bad for me because it's never positive.

Thanks for the asks!

[multiplefandomsblog]

[Identity v] Cheese!Andrew Kriess x gn!Reader

Andrews new “cheese” skin recently came out, and he’s been wearing it ever since. It’s a cute white and turquoise outfit with a bunch of pastry looking accessories. You’ve always wondered if they’re just props or if you can actually eat them. You’ve never seen Andrew try it himself, and you’re eager to just go up to him and take a bite. If it wasn’t obvious enough, actually doing that would be very weird and awkward. I guess I could just walk up to him and ask, but I’m a little shy, especially around him...

It’s early in the morning, and you were in the hall way talking to Emma about who knows what. You haven’t had breakfast yet, so you’re thinking about is fluffy pancakes with maple syrup or a delicious blueberry muffin with a cup of coffee. She’s rambling on about something, and you’re not listening to whatever somewhat sounding word comes out her mouth. You see Andrew walking towards you guys from the left with a big yet still shy smile while Servais is walking the opposite direction. They bump shoulders and a bunch of the frosting on his headpieces plops onto Servais’ shoulder and sticks to his rough leather jacket.

Andrew apologizes profusely but Servais is already steaming. He starts yelling, saying how Andrew ruined his jacket and calling him clumsy and telling him to dig him his own grave when Servais is done with him. Andrew yelps and runs back away to the opposite direction. Quite harsh, just for a small mistake—no—very harsh, too harsh. You run off to find him and it seems he’s left a trail of melting frosting from the hallway, leading to his room. You turn the frosting plastered and sticky doorknob, and walk in. You see him sitting in the corner of his room, face buried in his knees, sobbing quietly.

You walk over to him and pat him gently on the back. He flinches when you touch him, and he looks up to see who did it. He looked into your eyes with a calm manner then suddenly tended up when he realized he was bawling his eye out in front of you. His whole face is red, but it’s a little hard to tell because of his blush makeup. “I-uh-I-um y/n- I...” He was stuttering a lot, trying to find the right words to spit out his mouth, but all he could say was “I” and “uh”. You grabbed his wet hands— wet from crying and the melted frosting— and held them tight. You looked in his eyes and told him to calm down, and that everything is fine. His breathing got steadier and hands less stiff. While looking at his eyes you can’t help but notice what looks like white chocolate tears. Your stomach rumbles. You still haven’t eaten, and you’re craving something sweet. “Y/n, I-“ Andrew starts to talk but you cut him off. You lean in and-

You licked him.

You licked his tears.

They tasted good, but nothing can distract from how awkward it is to just lick frosting off of someone. Especially just after having a mental breakdown. He doesn’t say anything, just looks at you in disbelief. You take your finger and swipe a dollop of icing off of his head piece and licked it off your finger clean. You’re so hungry you don’t realize what you’re doing. You’re literally eating his costume off of him. He’s too stunned, too confused and surprised to realize what and why you’re doing it. After you’ve almost eating his whole hat cake thing, you finally snap back into reality and apologize for eating his costume. He lets out a small chuckle, that starts getting louder, then turns into laughter, then full on uncontrollable howling.

Your face goes red as you think Andrew is laughing at you, but he just finds it so unbelievably adorable how you’d eat icing off of someone, or lick their face because you were hungry. Gasping from laughter, Andrew tries to tell you something “HaAgahHah, y-y/n *snort* are- are you hungry? I heh- I wanted to ask you out *snort* for brunch!” He keeps giggling in between words, and soon enough you joined him, laughing with the aftertaste of sweet sugar cream in your mouth. After you both finally calm down, you say “I’m starving! Let’s go get brunch then!” You say with a bright smile. He smiled back and you help him bring him up to his feel with one hand, and you both go to get brunch without letting go of each other the whole time.

Hdhdhjsj sorry this took so long! Hope you like it :))

[sinagrace]

Iceman’s been back on my mind lately. It started with the internet rumor that Shia Labeouf was being considered to play the role of Bobby Drake in a Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the X-Men. My DMs and @Mentions on social media were a mixture of intense reaction and then asking my take on who would make a great Bobby Drake (for the record: in my head I always saw him as a younger Antoni Porowski with a theater background, ‘cuz playing the funny guy with a vulnerable streak requires serious acting shops). My mind went back to the time of BC, when I was doing a lot of touring, and answering this very question because of my work on the Iceman book at Marvel. One thing led to another, and I decided to take a trip further down memory lane to look at my favorite volume of the series: Amazing Friends. Now, I know I’ve spent equal amounts of time publicly stating what a gift working on Iceman was, while also calling out the challenges that came with the experience, but the third volume really was a pure blessing. I was able to take every valuable lesson I learned as a writer, and apply it to telling a story that would be interesting to one person: Me. I’ve been a lifelong X-Men fan, I live and breathe comics, so my own expectations for a return to the series seemed like the only ones to really worry about meeting/ surpassing. The first two volumes had been so bogged down by rotating editors, complex continuity, company-wide events, multiple artists… The third volume was my chance to focus on what an Iceman series was outside of so much context. All that mattered was challenging myself to do an X-Men story that focused on the aspects of the franchise I felt were valuable and relevant, meaning: excuses to have Emma Frost be an asshole and finding an opportunity to make fun of Kitty Pryde’s haircut. Before moving on from Marvel, Axel Alonso made time to call me for a pep talk about the series. I wanted to get the series extended, and he wanted to help me succeed with the ten issues he could commit to. First, he offered an eleventh issue to give me more time on the stands. He took a look at everything I had planned, and basically told me to restructure with an eye for ramping up the pace. My writing background comes from prose and essays/ think pieces… both of which are methodical and provide some allowance from the reader to really take your time and set up the world before diving into the meat. That’s not the case with comics. You gotta work fast. Especially in today’s market, there is less and less room for a retailer to say, “give it two volumes, because shit starts really coming together by the third trade.” That was literally my speech for hooking people on such iconic series as Invincible, Fables, and Strangers in Paradise. Nowadays, every single issue is not a brick to be laid down as foundation so much as a bullet in your gun. Conflicting imagery, but that’s the point. Axel told me to think about the Big Moments in my life and sort out how to inject the mutant metaphor into it and make the most compelling comic book story I could. This was epic advice that I took with me into the new arc, but I struggled a bit with what could be bigger than the “coming out” storyline in volume one. Love was off the table because I wanted to keep Bobby single and ready to mingle. Death was off the table too, because my editor felt like we’d done enough with Bobby’s parents in the first two volumes. Upon looking at my own life, and considering the stuff me and my friends were dealing with, I landed on something a bit more reflective than LIFE or DEATH. I wanted to focus on that moment when a gay guy looks outside of himself and realizes the folks around him may not have it so easy. After everything we’ve been dealing with this summer, Iceman’s “big issue” of the arc feels oddly prescient. Bobby Drake had to reconcile his accidental complicit role in keeping the Morlocks down, and he has to investigate new approaches to being a better ally to those who don’t want to or can’t live under the protection of the X-Men. I used the Morlocks to allegorically speak to the issues that the trans/ NB community face today. Considering that trans folks are facing higher rates of homelessness and murder than other members of the LGBTQIA+ community, all I needed to do was find a perfect villain to treat the Morlocks as “lesser-than.” Cue Mister Sinister, who I wrote as particularly Darwinist with a major flair for interactive theater. While Amazing Friends definitely is the most fun I’ve had working on the book, it was also full of the heaviest shit I’ve written about. I’m so grateful that my editor let me use Emma Frost for a story about the trauma of gay conversion therapy with her brother Christian, but I’m still annoyed he wouldn’t let me put her in a sickening Givenchy outfit for her reveal. Similarly, creating the Madin character required that I chat with several mental healthcare professionals and members of the NB community to respectfully portray them as a resilient and fleshed out hero. I included personal lessons that I learned from years of the therapy (the sandcastle / sea image, a Jay Edidin fave moment). My editor and I weren’t always aligned, but we definitely were on each other’s side. He understood what I was trying to do and asked questions when something flew over his head, and he even had the good instincts to stop me from going too heavy handed with the ending. My original idea for the arc’s finale was to have Bobby become permanently scarred in his fight with Sinister, where he’d have a cool ice gash running across his face or something, a la Squall from Final Fantasy 8. The goal was to show Iceman stripping himself of his ability to pass as non-mutant to save the Morlocks, but the Mutant Pride fight scene being a stand-in for the Stonewall Riots kind of already made enough of a statement. Plus, no one in editorial wanted to deal with remembering to track his scar in other books. At first I tried to balk at his point of view, but when I looked over my original notes for the series, the point was to focus on optimism and hope. Giving Bobby a permanent scar and emphasizing the notion of sacrifice was too bleak a message for a series wherein the hero carbo-loads hoagies while riding an ice scooter and mutant drag queens emcee local festivals. Of course, the crowning achievement of the series… my mutant drag queen :) I’ve witnessed a lot when it comes to the world of pop culture and myth-making, and I 100% believe that you can’t plan the success of something. I’ve seen bands forced into breaking up because labels spend six figures failing at making listeners connect with an album. I witnessed firsthand how The Walking Dead was built from relatively humble beginnings as a buzzy cable drama into a literal international phenomenon over the course of its first three seasons. Everyone hopes for the best, but you never know how something will land with audiences. When the Shade character took off, I was truly astounded. Things I posted on Instagram while half-asleep became official quotes on major news sites. Queens and cosplayers were interpreting her like Margot Robbie had unveiled a new Harley Quinn lewk. The impact was so legit and immediate that we had to jump in and give Shade a proper Marvel hero alias, to truly welcome her into the X-Men canon. Hence the name change to Darkveil. (Funny story: I tried to fight hard for Madame X as an alias, but CB didn’t want another Agent X / “X-Name” character. Three months later, Madonna announced the Madame X album. Phew!) There was a time where I felt uncertain that the folks in charge at Marvel would bring Darkveil into any stories outside of the ones I wrote. My understanding was that Hickman was like the Cylons and had A Plan-- one that didn’t include her character. I made peace with my contribution to the Marvel Universe being contained, but then someone on social media pointed out that Darkveil showed up in an issue of Marvel Voices. After breaking down and reading Hickman’s House of X, I saw that his Plan was one of endless possibilities, and that he was moving EVERY character into new and dynamic places. I have hope now that he sees the possibilities with Darkveil, and takes advantage of her and all of her many body pouches. Amazing Friends really is my favorite thing I’ve done for the Big Two. I made a lifelong friend out of artist Nate Stockman (DC, please hire us for a Plasticman book), and I got to run a victory lap with the most encouraging and supportive readers out there. It was worth every dreadful conversation, every shitty thing a person said to me online, and all of the fun nonsense that goes into being creative for a living. Being stuck at home in quarantine has given me a lot of time to reflect on the gift that my career to date has been, and I feel so grateful to be where I am today. Other people may groan when they have to talk about something they’ve moved on from, but not me. I made people happier, I got to work with my favorite characters at Marvel, and and I'll say it again: it’s a frickin’ gift to make people move from your work. So, I will engage every tweet or message asking me my thoughts about who should play Bobby Drake in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… I’ll just never have a good answer.

[baradorable]

Thinking about this more, and how any combination of Hellion + (love interest) is bound to create a disaster child.

Like imagine Julian and Sofia had a kid. They have the power, they have the looks, they have the popularity and smarts. They want to do the right thing, and they have their parents' passion and drive. But what if they, like Sofia, aren't tempered? What if they have Julian's brattier tendencies? Now you have a head-strong kid who wants to help everyone, but is destructive and unwilling to listen to others. Julian and Sofia would try their best to raise their kid right, but would such their kid even listen?

In theory, Julian and Sofia could end up having a kid that is the best of both worlds: popular, caring, intelligent and a great leader. But that unbridled passion and desire to do good would almost certainly get them into trouble.

Noriko and Julian? That kid is going to talk back to everyone, first off. No way in hell would their child listen to them, much less anyone else. They'll be argumentative as fuck. They'd be a great leader, they'd earn the respect of anyone they work with, and they'd be very protective of others. Easily a star among others around them. But this kid would would totally inherit their parents' baggage and internalize it. They would struggle to be an X-Man because they'd never respect anyone's authority. They'd be the Wolverine of their generation.

Speaking of Wolverine, Julian and Laura. I can see Laura being very awkward around her kid, being unsure how to really care for them, and always worrying about screwing them over. She has a lot of trauma and guilt, and is lacking some fundamental experiences. Julian would encourage her to trust herself, but at the same time... he's also (accidentally) making sure that kid will be spoiled, willing to stand up for themselves and be upfront. Either this kid will be sensitive to Laura's concerns and be a great kid, or they'll be a huge brat who will push her buttons, ala Gabby on steroids. And that's not taking into account the actual Gabby, or Daken, or Wolverine. The first two will absolutely encourage this kid to be a hellion.

I could also see this theoretical kid worrying that Laura (who is stoic, introspective and one to shoulder her pain alone,)mistake Laura's quietness as her not caring. Then they'd turn into a more moody kid who feels misunderstood and neglected, until Laura is finally able to convey all her fears. But either way, this kid would drive Laura up the wall.

Iara and Julian would have a great kid, I think. Just a non-passing animal mutant alpha-kid jock/cheerleader pack leader. They look down on mutants who pass, seeing non-passing mutants as "more" mutant than other mutants. I'm almost picturing Regina George in shark form.

3 or 5 of the Cuckoos? First off, each girl will have five kids. No negotiations. So there will be a hivemind of 15-25 kids. So you have the Cuckoos, Emma, and Julian, all feeding these kids' ego, sass and wallets. You're going to have 25 Emma Frosts running around in an absurdly large diamond formation, forcing everyone to the side just to let them through. They decimate every shop, restaurant, and place of business they visit. They're much less a group of siblings, and more like a swarm of locusts. Or a natural disaster. Emma would be the only one who can control them, but at a certain point, could she even handle 25 grand-demons? They'll learn to take shifts in tormenting her, so she'll never have any rest.

Julian and Hisako? You know Bartolomeo from One Piece? I could see their kid being just that: Someone who has great defensive powers (both parents have strong shielding capabilities) and an attitude. They'd be taunting people all the time, knowing they're safe from retribution by hiding behind their shield.

People have been joking about Julian x Kamala, but think about the kid they'd make. Instead of being a super-fan of heroes, they'd inherit Kamala's fervent interests, but their father's cynicism and snark. Basically, they'd be a professional hater. The ultimate troll. Just showing up to other heroes and calling them out for embarrassing/questionable moments in their past. Carol Danvers shows up to meet her protege's kid, only for said kid to make fun of her for the time she agreed to put that shield around Earth and trapped everyone inside. Tony Stark wants to see his superhero-grandson? First thing the kid does is mock him for his company's tumbling stock. Tony gets flashbacks to when he was bullied off of Twitter during the Cantwell run.

Like no matter what, there's a very real chance any kid by Hellion will inherit some of his personality. And even a smidge of that personality is very powerful. It doesn't help that Julian also gravitates towards women with strong personalities and danger to them. Combining those elements will make the personality equivalent of a mutant circuit: everything just lines up and clicks together to create something bigger than the sum of its parts.

This dad talk with Julian got me thinking about headcanons.

He’s very smug and talks about how his kid is better than everyone else’s.

He spoils them rotten.

He pressures them to succeed, but won’t let anyone make them feel like a failure.

He says he’s a tough-love parent. Is he though? He might be, I dunno.

They will swear a lot.

Emma is the only one who can wrangle them in, they listen to her.

But she also encourages them to be little shits. 

At least one kid would like to be bullied by tough girls, just like their old man.

They have good hearts, but they’re the biggest brats you will ever know. Demons. 

Honestly, they would bully the Hellfire kids so hard.

[gerec]

AU-gust 2020 Prompts

Masterlist

24. Private Detective(s) - Erik/Shaw, Cherik

OMG you guys I started writing this attempt at 60s detective noir and I’ve fallen completely in love with this verse! This ficlet is DEFINITELY getting expanded (and possibly added to my dirtybad collection - we’ll see)!

(Did I write Erik fucking Lehnsherr as the mysterious femme fatale? And Emma too?? And Charles as the hard boiled detective wrongly accused of murder??? YES I DID).

-----

Scott comes back into the interrogation room fifteen minutes later, setting a cup of coffee in front of Charles with a tired sigh. They’ve been at this for over four hours now, and getting no closer to a resolution, even if they both want to prove Charles’ innocence over the murder of one Sebastian Shaw.

In Scott’s case, it’s because Charles is his friend and his mentor, the senior officer who took him under his wing before quitting the force and going into private practice. He’s trusted Charles with his life many times – and would do it again in a heartbeat – and can’t fathom how he’d gotten so deeply entangled with the Senator’s affairs.

In Charles’ case, it’s because he has no good answers; at least none that make him look less like the prime suspect of a vicious, calculated murder.  

“You say his wife came to see you. A Mrs. Emma Frost-Shaw.”

“Yes.”

“You must get these requests quite a lot, Mr. Xavier,” the woman says, flipping her long blonde hair off her pristine fur collar. Seated in his office, slowly sipping on Charles’ cheap bourbon, Mrs. Shaw is the very vision of unmatched sophistication and wealth. “I’m sure you know the drill. I require evidence. Photographic evidence of my husband’s infidelity. I can give you some details about his daily schedule to help you get started.”

“That would be most helpful,” Charles answers, taking a long drink from his glass. He doesn’t know much about Sebastian Shaw beyond the occasional news item on TV or in the paper, but Charles would hazard a guess at the type of man he is just from this brief encounter with his wife. “I hope you don’t mind my saying so Mrs. Shaw—”

“Emma.” She licks her lips, her eyes intent as she meets Charles’ gaze, and very slowly, deliberately, crosses her long, long legs.

Charles grins, drinking in every magnificent inch of her perfect, gorgeous frame. “Emma. I find it hard to believe that your husband would feel the need the seek companionship elsewhere, with such a beautiful wife at home.”

Eyes glittering, she leans forward just a little, and brushes his knee with her fingertips. “A man wants what he doesn’t have, Mr. Xavier. And what Sebastian wants, I certainly can’t give.”

Scott throws an open folder on the desk and nudges it over to Charles. “Sebastian Shaw. Age 50. Parents deceased. No siblings. Divorced in 1964. Currently unmarried with no children.” He pauses for a moment, before he adds, “He doesn’t have a wife. You’re a private investigator, Charles! How could you not have known that this woman was an imposter?”

“I get a dozen of these type of cases a month. Rich housewife wants to know if her husband is cheating on her! Why would I assume she was lying to me, Scott? Especially with all the intel she had on him? She knew his daily schedule! She knew his favorite restaurants and how he likes his eggs!  She knew he clears an afternoon once a week and heads out of the city!”

“Where?” Scott asks. “What did you find?”

Shaw switches cars before he heads out of the city, swapping his expensive Mercedes for a more inconspicuous Ford sedan at a local garage. Driving for a half hour out of Manhattan, he finally stops at a non-descript motel off the Interstate, and checks into a room on the ground floor.

Room six, as Charles watches from his parked car, snapping a picture of the Senator as he heads inside.

Taking a swig out of his flask, Charles settles into this seat for a long wait.

Two hours later, Shaw re-emerges from the room and drives off in his Ford.

Ten minutes after that, a man exits room six – tall, handsome, with brown hair and broad shoulders – and gets on his motorcycle, heading off in the opposite direction.

That night he takes the pictures of Shaw, and the mystery man, and develops them in his dark room.

He doesn’t turn them over to Emma, or tell her what he saw.

“Nothing. There was nothing to find.”

The same thing happens the following week, with the Senator making the same trip to the same motel, to meet the same man in room six.

The motel clerk tells him a ‘Max Eisenhardt’ has been coming for the past three months, always renting the same room and paying cash each time. A generous tip gets some gossip garnered from the cleaning staff; someone is definitely having sex – and very messy sex at that – for hours every week in room six.

Charles pays for the room next door, and presses his ear to the wall, listening to the moans and occasional slapping sounds, and Shaw’s loud, pleasurable cry when he comes.

Later, when Charles gets home and develops the new photos, he jerks off to the new pictures he’s taken of Max, and fantasizes about fucking him in Shaw’s place.

Scott shakes his head. “You found nothing? You expect me to believe that you would stay on a case for weeks if you found nothing?”

The next week, Charles gets to the motel an hour early, and plants a listening device in the room before the two men arrive for their clandestine meeting.  

[theseerasures]

Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2020

it’s that time of year again! *saddest toot from the party horn*

for those of you just joining us: it’s a “consume a different content every week for 48 weeks of the year” challenge. for a longer explanation, check out last year’s write-up here, and as always, feel free to pop in and ask questions about any and all of this content.

(same disclaimer as last year too: content for this project ONLY here, and not certain...*looks at my billion Sad Cop Lady posts*...hyperfixations.)

(man remember when i was big into X-Men comics earlier this year? better times than these, if only because no one's discoursing about Emma Frost’s woobie/war criminal ratio anymore--her w/w, if you will)

(...i swear at one point i didn’t exclusively like platinum blondes but alas)

Bitter Root (comic, 1 issue finished 1/1/2020): still very cool on a basic concept level, but runs into the Image Comics problem of just not having enough content to keep my interest beyond that. part of that is on me, for picking it up again BEFORE the second arc rolled out, but the first five issues didn’t really follow (or resolve) any cohesive story either, so...meh.

Immortal Hulk (comic, 3 trades finished 1/17/2020): still not gonna be something i care deeply about (maybe one of Bruce’s Hulksonas dyed his hair???), but i do want to give kudos to Al Ewing for sheer consistency in terms of sustaining this level of quality storytelling month by month for more than two years now. working with the dense archive of the Hulk mythos and managing to make it interesting and thoughtful is impressive even if i personally would not expend the same effort.

Disco Elysium (game, finished 1/18/2020): honestly i should have twigged onto what this year was gonna be like when the third thing i drew from the barrel was pure uncut Eastern European flavored depression. i faintly recall people ragging on it for being pretentiously cynical, but i actually thought its core slid more towards idealism than people give it credit for. also gratified that i haven’t heard anything about Robert Kurvitz using slave labor to finish it, which is a thing we have to say about our video games now!!! fun.

Watchmen (TV, 7 episodes finished 1/27/2020): i am a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof and I WAS RIGHT!!! honestly still cannot believe that he pulled off this highwire act with such deft aplomb. might be my favorite TV this year, which is a pretty high bar given how much TV i ended up watching.

On a Sunbeam (comic, finished 2/1/2020): Tillie Walden rightly deserves all the praise for inventive queer storytelling, but i will say that on reread--since i first read this as a webcomic--there ARE some issues with pacing here that clearly come from the foibles of its original intended medium. still just excellent, even if after some plot significant haircuts i was having trouble telling a few folks apart.

Lazarus (comic, 1 trade finished 2/8/2020): it’s so good and i want moooooorrrreee--though obviously Rucka and Lark have the right to take all the time they need. the newer longer issues work really well with the epic prestige drama vibes of the story! i’m into it.

The Good Place (TV, 4 seasons finished 2/18/2020): i’m gonna be super honest: i actually wasn’t a big fan of the finale, nor the last season as a whole. it felt like all of Eleanor’s flaws vanished for a majority of the season, and the Chidi-centric episode where they tried to give a legible justification for why he’s Like This was...i didn’t care for it. still, it’s so good and unique on the WHOLE that we’ll literally never get anything like this ever again, and that counts for a lot.

The Old Republic (game, finished 2/21/2020): it’s an MMO so it will never actually Be Finished so long as the servers aren’t shut down, but i caught up on the content i’d missed in the intervening months. Onslaught thus far has mostly been...kinda bland tbh; going back to Imps vs. Rebs after all the shakeups in the previous expansions feels like a waste.

High Road (album, finished 2/22/2020): someone should tell Kesha not to say that word!! otherwise i was very happy with this album, and happy FOR her even though we don’t know each other. being able to find joy again in the same genre of music you made while you were being horrifically exploited is very cool.

Young Justice (TV, 13 episodes finished 2/28/2020): given how much the middle stuff dragged--STOP KILLING YOUR HIJABI CHARACTER IN HORRIFIC WAYS--i was...actually kinda mad by how the end managed to stick the landing anyway. the day being saved by Vic’s self-acceptance and Violet’s sublime compassion was A+, and even the Brion/Tara switchup was a pleasant surprise, though it relied on me caring about Brion MUCH MORE than i actually did.

Manic (album, finished 2/29/2020): do people still care for/about Halsey? i feel like even That One Song that was on every tumblr gifset ever has kinda faded into obscurity at this point. this album was...okay. i feel like people give Halsey a pass for extremely obvious lyrical turns that they wouldn’t for other folks because of her subject material--which is fine. not really my cup of tea, but i also listened to lots of Relient K this year, so that’s probably a good thing.

Jade Empire (game, 3/10/2020): the only 3D-era Bioware game that didn’t franchise out, and for good fucking reason!!! the Orientalism and appropriation really haven’t aged well, and even beyond that the story was...standard Bioware faire. even my usual “my wife’s a bitch i love her” Bioware type didn’t do it for me, and i just ended up romancing no one. it did make me think a lot about what level of cultural borrowing is accepted nowadays, and why: people still look fondly at Avatar and talk about how ~accurate and respectful it was, for example, despite it being staffed almost entirely by white folks, and the Orientalism ALL OVER the monk class in DND is still fine for some reason.

Alif the Unseen (book, finished 3/31/2020): interesting to have read this AFTER reading The Bird King last year, because it highlights how the intervening years have shifted G. Willow Wilson’s thematic interest and improved her craft. i’m actually quite fond of how her characterization work is rougher here--Alif is extremely flawed to the point of being insufferable, but it makes his development by the end more satisfying. Dina is also just good and i love her

Baldur’s Gate (2 games, finished 5/31/2020): well, having finally finished the series i’m happy to say that it...still doesn’t really do it for me, sorry. any awesome story moments were overshadowed by the EXCRUCIATING inventory management system and the combat (i still don’t know what a THAC0 is and at this point i’m afraid to find out). these games crucially lack the Home Base that later Bioware games were so good about, and that (coupled with the huge cast of characters you can drop off and never see again) really hurts the intimacy for me. by the time we finally did get one it was the Hell Dimension in Throne of Bhaal, and i was just...trying to get through it. (yes, i did just say that about one of the most beloved expansions ever to one of the most beloved games ever.) THIS particular iteration of “my wife’s a bitch i love her” was very good, but the game wouldn’t let me romance her :(

The Underground Railroad (book, finished 6/19/2020): honestly what is there even left to say at this point! it was exactly as good as every critic on the planet said it was, even with my usual aversion to hype. draining and horrifying in turns but still insistent upon a future for Black folks.

Steven Universe (6 seasons and a mooooooviiieeee, finished 7/11/2020): yes, i DID finish the show and almost immediately begin a rewatch. this series is now one of my top five most formative things, and the amount of love and respect i have for it is incalculable. that said: i once again did not love how the central conflict of Future was resolved (just the resolution--i loved the finale just fine). for all of Steven’s breakdown was built up, resolving it with “EVERYONE HUG HIM UNTIL HE CRIES” felt...cheap, especially since up until this point the show had been so good about treating trauma and mental illness with the respect and nuance it deserves. it made me wish some of the earlier, less substantial episodes had been cut so we could spend more time at the end.

What It Is (comic, finished 8/19/2020): y’all i love Lynda Barry SO MUCH. for the longest time i was worried that One Hundred Demons was more a lightning in a bottle situation but every book of hers i pick up makes me feel obscure emotions i didn’t even realize existed. the compassionate way she’s able to describe her child self and how weird and fucked up she was (and still is) is honestly aspirational.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (TV, 5 seasons finished 9/26/2020): so here’s a reversal of what i’ve been complaining about with other shows: i was mostly lukewarm-to-warm about She-Ra, but the later seasons and the finale made me much more into it as a whole. more shows should improve in stakes and overall quality as they age tbh!! i still don’t actively love Catradora (my sole quibble with season 5 actually has to do with the way Adora kept backsliding as a character to make certain Plot/Relationship things happen), but i’m very happy for them nonetheless. i can certainly appreciate a show that will go for High Feeling over tight plot. dark horse standout moments: trees growing everywhere proving that Perfuma Was Right, and Hordak and Adora seeing each other--that weirdly intimate moment of recognition.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters (album, finished 10/7/2020): again i find myself not having much to say that no one else has said. it’s good! once again love it when an artist reclaims something they’d attached with negative affect (anxiety, depression, disordered eating) for better and brighter things.

Solutions and Other Problems (comic, finished 10/25/2020): i was very into Allie Brosh’s ambition with this book, which feels weird to say but i stand by it. it’s cool to see an artist try to make a new medium work for them instead of just sticking to what already works. not all the experimentation was 100% effective, but it was still delightful and occasionally devastating to read, so.

Legend of Zelda (3 games: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Link Between Worlds, finished 11/1/2020): this was the third time i’d played Ocarina of Time, which made it the nice, comforting groove i settled into before Majora’s Mask blatted me in the face. i’m not usually a completionist Zelda person because...the gameplay in Zelda is bad, do not at me it just is, but i really felt like i HAD to be one for Majora’s Mask since the whole point is to get attached to the banalities of the town. i’m sure nobody’s surprised that i loved it, even if it gave me an existential crisis about how life goes on in the game for NPCs when you’re not there to save them from it, and there’s not enough time to save them all all the time (also not a surprise to anyone: Romani and Cremia gave Personal Feelings). Link Between Worlds...bad. not like in a “this is a bad story by every measurable gauge” way, but i was already struggling with the 2D playstyle shift enough that for the whole story to end with some “yes it’s v sad that Lorule is Like This but trying to steal Hyrule’s privilege is Even Worse Actually” noblesse oblige bullshit left a VERY poor taste in my mouth, this year of all years. i did audibly gasp when Ravio took off his mask, though. i’m currently playing Breath of the Wild in cautious increments; it’s the first time i’ve enjoyed early Zelda gameplay, but if they wanted fully voiced cutscenes i wish they got voice actors who...knew what words sound like.

folklore (album, finished 11/6/2020): my belief that Taylor Swift is Just Fine continues, i’m afraid. i LIKED this album, don’t get me wrong, and respect her constant drive to innovate, but i didn’t love it substantially more or less than any other Taylor Swift album. mostly i’m just tickled by how she thinks leaning into the indie aesthetic means borrowing Vita Sackville-West’s entire wardrobe, though i will admit to feeling Something when she swore in a song. i think it was like. savage vindication?? you go ahead and swear, Taylor Swift. you deserve it.

Shore (album, finished 11/19/2020): do people still care about the Fleet Foxes? i think there was some Drama with Josh Tillman a while back but i don’t remember where the discourse landed with who was being more problematic. it was nostalgic for me to listen to their new album--made me remember being an undergrad who exclusively listened to men who mumbled and played acoustic guitar all over again.

Star Wars (3 movies: original trilogy, finished 11/27/2020): there is So Much bad Star Wars these days that every time i rewatch the original trilogy i’m afraid that they will suddenly be bad, but guess what! they’re not. i love these children and their hot mess stories, i love that Lando doesn’t know how to say his best friend’s name. what stood out to me this time was the way Obi-Wan described the Force in A New Hope, which strongly implied that ANYONE can be Force Sensitive; that obviously faded with each subsequent movie, but part of me does wish they’d kept it.

X of Swords (comics, 22 issues finished 12/5/2020): i am enjoying Hickman’s X-lines!!! not so much here for the Grand Conspiracy or whatever, but the character work and highkey weirdness is fabulous--they FEEL like X-Men, despite all the shakeups in-universe. this crossover is a nice microcosm of all that: grandiloquently all over the place, but still full of cool standout moments and genuine hilarity. ILLYANA DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SPELL MAGIC.

Fire Emblem (4 games: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, finished 12/14/2020): this was the thing that i was closest to giving up early on, but i ended up hyperfixating on it instead. that’s a credit to what the gameplay does to my lizard brain more than anything else, because the story and character writing is...insipid. it was very bizarre to witness this franchise blunder around with its animal-people racism allegory around the same time i was getting back into RWBY, and ITS animal-people racism allegory blunders. Awakening was the first time i felt anything for the franchise beyond “teehee red units disappear make exp bar go up and brain go ding,” so i’m excited for more mature storytelling in subsequent games (they MUST get better. they MUST). the child husbandry thing is...very bad tho, and Apotheosis being “challenging” entirely through the game changing all the rules is also bad.

once again no vidya games that came out this year--i’ll probably pick up Spiritfarer or Hades after the New Year, though (or maybe TLOU II! but probably not. sry Laura and Ashley). more TV and franchises this year, which made me feel In Touch with the Children but was also kinda exhausting. nothing was so egregiously terrible i dropped it without finishing! in a year like this that feels almost like an accomplishment

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader -”What Death Tastes Like” Part 4

Scarecrow’s daughter might be only 22, yet the terminal lung cancer she was diagnosed with six months ago didn’t discriminate against her age; the young woman didn’t show worrisome symptoms until it was too late. Y/N always had a fascination for the much older King of Gotham and despite the consequences, maybe it’s finally time to do something about it.

Part 1      Part 2      Part 3      Part 5

Your Birthday

“Look at him, parading like a rooster!” Emma elbows you, huffing.

The Joker is on the terrace, nosing inside the coolers to find his favorite grape juice brand since he knows it should be in there somewhere. He’s sporting very dark purple pants and a much lighter shade purple shirt, fitted on his body to perfection plus two gold chains around his neck which makes one wonder why he didn’t add more giving his sense of fashion.

You pile up some fruits on your plate, gazing The Clown’s way with a smirk:

“Those trousers make his butt stand out.”

“That’s probably the reason for wearing them,” Emma sighs and you both burst up laughing, amused at the truth she admitted aloud.

“I feel this lustful desire of spanking him,” you blur out. “I bet your dad only unbuttoned half of his shirt because he obviously wants me to unbutton the other half: that sexy rooster can frizzle my feathers anytime he wishes,” you tease and she covers your mouth in a hurry.

“Y/N, can you not?!”

“Sssttt, you’ll wake up the baby,” the muffled sentence distracts Emma and she lets go, apologizing to the five weeks old:

“Oh, sorry angel,” she lingers over the baby basket placed on the empty table next to the self-serve buffet: Frost’s son is napping under the umbrella while his parents mingle for a little bit with the guests that already arrived at your birthday party. How did Jonny end up here? The crazy motive: his employer is to blame for the mess he created one hour ago, already fixed due to your sense of urgency.

The Joker showed up in time at 3pm for his “date” like you instructed; you opened the door and he immediately handed you a car sit containing the tiny human.

“Happy Birthday, Y/N!”

“Ummm…thank you,” the hesitant Y/N invited him inside.

“I got you a present,” he widely grinned, confident nobody else came up with a better gift idea.

“… Whose baby is this?!...” you followed him, carefully walking with the adorable bundle in the living room; the sleeping treasure fussed for a few seconds and went back to dreaming, unaware he was away from his parents.

“Frost’s,” J answered and you turned towards the entrance, baffled.

“I’ll go open the door for him then.”

“That’s not necessary; he didn’t come with me.”

“What do you mean?!”

“He’s off today. I just went to his house to drop up some ammo, then sneaked in the nursery and took the baby.”

“And his parents were ok with that?!” you crinkled your nose, more and more suspicious regarding his behavior.

“They don’t know,” The King of Gotham calmly informed.

“You kidnapped Frost’s son?!”

“I didn’t kidnap him,” J rolled his eyes, offended at your accusation. “I took him.”

“Without his parents’ consent. So you kidnapped him!” you gasped at the insane revelation.

“I’m in charge,” The Joker logic surfaced instantly. “I don’t require consent! Why are you staring at me like this?”

“I keep on hoping you’re bluffing,” you cringed at his argument. “Give me your phone!” you ordered and the item was shortly in your possession, although you had to witness a lot of grievance from his part as you searched for Frost’s digits.

Praise heavens you did since his wife was absolutely hysterical when you called: their offspring was missing from the cradle and Jonny might not be the type of person that panics, yet he had a total nervous breakdown.

They were fast to come and pick up Evan, so yeah… that’s how The Frosts ended up at your birthday bash… Full credit goes to their amazing boss!

*************

After one hour

“Do me a favor,” your father continues his conversation with J. “I want you to check with your contacts and try to find more Cromyxillium for me; I’m in desperate need.”

“Don’t you have enough for Y/N?” The Joker growls at the view of Bane’s son entertaining himself with you and Emma.

“For now. Tomorrow I’m starting her on full therapy; I found a new formula to bind the molecules together, this way her system won’t reject the medicine like it did last week. It will make her sick but I’ll be here to supervise the entire process.”

“Aren’t you afraid it will kill her?” J’s sensitive personality comes to full bloom in the best of moments.

Jonathan Crane is silent, then articulates painful facts he can’t avoid sharing:

“I am… I don’t have any other options on such a short amount of time…My daughter is fading… her lungs are finished…” and he gulps, straining to regain composure. “If this experimental drug can restore damaged tissue, it can aid with her cancer… She agreed to the test because I’m a super smart dad,” he grumbles. “That’s what she said…that I’m a super smart… I might be… I don’t even know if my remedy will work or if it will speed up her demise.”

“Fine, I’ll inquire on the product,” The Joker agrees. “What’s in for me?”

Your father takes a deep breath, exasperated.

“What do you want?”

“Excuse me,” The King of Gotham interrupts. “I think my pride’s at stake: somebody’s attempting to steal my date!” he inflates his chest and finds it imperative to notify the puzzled parent. “Y/N’s my date, didn’t she tell you? I was strictly forbidden to bring Mara so I had to maintain my reputation somehow.”

“What reputation??!!! She mentioned it and I thought the whole idea meant only you being obnoxious!” Jonathan huffs.

“I am obnoxious!” The Joker sourly admits and crushes the large group forming due to Sam’s entertaining abilities.

“Hey Y/N, where’s the grape juice?” he finds a random pretext to get your attention as you gesture towards the end of the terrace.

“There’s a bunch on ice,” you giggle at Sam’s story and J lies:

“I couldn’t find any.”

“Maybe someone moved it,” you detach from the gathering and stroll with him in the area you saw what he’s asking for.

“Who gave you that pendant?” The Clown Prince of Crime investigates since you definitely didn’t have the jewelry earlier.

“Sam,” you touch the delicate diamond heart attached to the platinum chain. “It’s so pretty, I love it.”

“He scored major points with the birthday girl, huh?” J mocks.

“Well, apparently some people are aware of my preferences and some give me presents I can’t keep,” you hint and The Joker comprehends what you aim at.

“My gift was brilliant! You said that if we would have gotten married we would have had a bunch of kids, thus it means you adore them. That’s why I brought Evan.”

“Yeah, and his parents already took him home, leading to the reasonable conclusion we can assess from the fiasco: you actually don’t have a present for me. Oh, would you look at this: grape juice!” you sarcastically show him the huge pile of containers exactly where it’s supposed to be.

“How did I miss this?” J pretends to be shocked and sneers when he notices Bane’s son coming near you two. “Dance with me!” he unexpectedly sweeps you in his arms. “It’s a slow song, just move your feet,” he encourages. “What do you want for your birthday then?” Emma’s dad distracts the astonished Y/N furthermore.

“Hmmm… I can settle for a kiss?” you unconsciously caress the short hair on the back of his head while he quickly pecks your cheek. “Um… if I wanted a jellyfish sting I could have went to the aquarium,” you sassily react and The Joker rolls his eyes. “I want a proper kiss, unless you have those reserved for Mara.”

“Why are we talking about my girlfriend?”

“On and off girlfriend,” you emphasize. “A huge indicator you don’t care that much about her. You need a woman that genuinely loves you; she’s a catalyst fueling your tendencies, you don’t need that! You don’t fight fire with fire, OK?” you almost shout and ironically enough he decides to engage in your speech.

“What do you fight it with then?”

“Dynamite!” you proudly state. “Blow up everything, wipe the slot clean and start fresh!”

“A-ah…A-ha…”, he mischievously agrees. “I assume you’re the dynamite in this scenario?” the silver grimace spreads across his face.

“Perhaps.”

“Why is Bane’s son here?” The Joker changes the subject. “He keeps lurking around and it annoys me.”

“Don’t be jealous,” you mislead him on purpose. “Sam was my boyfriend in high school,” you brief your so called partner. “I’m fond of him.”

“Why would I be jealous?!” The King’s mood switches and you realize yours is also: the sole detail he’s interested in is to emphasize zero attraction for his daughter’s friend.

“Yeah…why would you be jealous?...” you sadly smile and let go before the song ends. “Listen, I have to return to my guests, alright? You don’t have to stay; you should go back to your fire because you certainly don’t know what to do with dynamite,” the meaningful reply leaves him intrigued again: no cocky response to your clever twist in words since he already lost the passive-aggressive altercation.

************

9:49pm  

You gaze at the starry sky, cozy on the inflatable mattress; the mesh on top of the tent is so thin you can hardly tell it’s there. Very quiet in the garden… you should have went to the river with the others, yet you felt the urge to be alone and rest before you reprise your treatment tomorrow.

“Y/N, are you in here?” The Joker’s voice is heard.

“No!” you grouchily snarl.

He unzips the tent and squeezes inside, obeying to your protest:

“Close it! I don’t want bugs in here!”

“I’m hiding from Crane, he made me do a bunch of stuff in preparation for your Cromyxillium therapy!” J complains to indifferent ears.

“I thought you bailed hours ago,” you coldly articulate.

“I was held prisoner in the underground lab! You should be thankful for my services.”

“You don’t do anything for free and I’m sure you’re over exaggerating anyway!”

“Whatever!” The Joker drops on the mattress next to you, deeply exhaling. “I’m beat; I’ll rest for a bit before I drive.”

You rest your fingers on your tummy, struggling to remain calm.

“I missed hanging out with my cuddling buddy,” J nozzles in your shoulder and you give him an insolent glare.

“We’re not cuddling buddies!”

“That’s too bad; I precisely came to deliver your birthday present. I resent the notion of a man unjustly accused of being cheap.”

“What birthday present?” you furrow your eyebrows.

“The kiss you demanded Y/N!”

“I’m good,” you disregard his offer and he hovers over you, captivated.

“I thought you have the hots for me, I even wore these hoochie pants to please you. I mean, I endured your affection and harassment for the past three years. I’m here now with an invisible olive branch so I think you should reconsider your answer.”

“Did you just say hoochie pants?!” you snicker at his distorted apology although you’re mad at him. “You didn’t wear them for me; you wanted to show off your assets!”

“It’s not my fault I’m handsome!” The Joker defends his wardrobe choice.

“I seriously want to be alone,” you indirectly imply he should disappear. “I’m tired of playing games. I won’t flirt with you anymore, I promise. Deal?” you lift your pinky up and there’s something strange concealed behind your abrupt vow.

“Why not?”

“First of all, I won’t have the energy: my father warned of serious consequences during the treatment. Second, it might kill me: we don’t know how my physique will endure; I have terminal cancer, remember?”

“Are you scared?” J whispers and you nod a yes, upset. “Then you should accept your gift in case you won’t have another occasion,” his rationale pushes you to reconsider your alternatives.

You pull him closer and wait, explaining your hesitation.

“It’s my birthday, you should be the one kissing me.”

The Joker doesn’t defy your logic and complies, unable to suppress an arrogant grin when you moan:

“God, your lips are so soft; I could kiss them all day.”

“Don’t get into it, I have to vacate the premises soon. I don’t want Crane to catch me in your tent and presume the worst.”

“My dad will be in the lab until morning time; you can stay if you want to,” you trace his jaw line, momentarily forgetting your grudge.

“Didn’t you preach about wishing to be alone?”

“Why are you making out with another woman besides your girlfriend?” you evaluate the waters with a question.

It doesn’t seem he’ll bother to justify his behavior thus you utter:

“I can be alone…with you. I’m 23, literally a consenting adult,” the important information is added for the heck of it.

“Consenting to what?” The Joker mumbles as you softly bite his lower lip.

“I hate you,” you pout and snuggle to him while he grabs a pillow, irritated at his involuntary reaction. J stuffs it in between the bodies and you swiftly toss it away.

“Are you trying to get me in trouble Y/N?”  

“You’re always in trouble,” you begin unbuttoning his shirt. “Let’s go with the flow, shall we? No strings attached, no commitments. You know why?” you pause and continue. “I might not survive the Cromyxillium and I want to make love to the old guy I have a major crush on.”

“Old?!” The Clown prince of Crime scoffs.

“You’re basically twice my age,” you roughly estimate without proof and kiss him again. The Joker slides his hands under your t-shirt, opting to dismiss your affirmation with a different kind of truth.

“Do you recall when you asked me if I ever tasted death?”

“Yes…”, you bury your face in his neck, wondering if he’ll say something mean that will ruin the night.  

“You don’t taste like death,” J forces you to look at him. “You really don’t.”

“… … … … … … …  You think so?” the emotional Y/N sniffles, categorically surprised at the confession.

“Yeah. You actually taste like dynamite,” he winks and doesn’t mind the sudden meltdown: The Joker is not big at comforting people, but the girl in his arms feels relieved nevertheless.

She might not compare to the fire he’s used to, yet Y/N’s eagerness to blow up everything, wipe the slot clean and start fresh is unfamiliar territory that’s worth exploring.    

  Also read: MASTERLIST

[thecorteztwins]

(I wanted to write about Mindmeld coming back on Krakoa. It ended up having less of the personality I envision for her, and actually being more about Emma, to my surprise, even though Emma isn’t a character I consider myself capable of writing. But, tagging @badmusesdoitwell for Emma and @sammysdewysensitiveeyes @esteicy-blog since I know you guys like Mindmeld!)

Like all the others, Mindmeld’s resurrection took place in front of a crowd of Krakoans to witness her rebirth. But all she saw when she spilled out of her golden egg was Shinobi Shaw, her former employer and ex boyfriend, standing in front of her, bending his knees, smiling and reaching down. ”Mindmeld,” someone said, “How do we know it is you?” The words didn’t even reach her ears above her own scream of rage as she launched herself from the ground on to Shinobi, clawing and kicking. ”Whoa!” he exclaimed in shock. “You left me!” she yelled, not ceasing in her blows,  “You bastard!” “Whoa, hey, calm down,” Shinobi pleased, shifting to his super dense state so she couldn’t hurt him, though she was still trying. “You left me to die!” “Mindmeld, baby, you knew the risks---” “You betrayed me!” “You were paid t---aaah not the hair!”

Even his super-dense state couldn’t ward off a good hair pull, something he would have enjoyed under different circumstances. Among those watching, Emma and Sebastian where at the front of the crowd. or two people who hated each other, they often were in close proximity. Insert that old adage here about where to keep your enemies. “I suppose you’re just going to let this undignified display go on?” Emma asked. “You don’t find it terribly entertaining?” “I’m very sure Shinobi deserves it, but does the young lady?” “Well, do something, then, if you have a problem.” “He’s your son and this was your recommendation for resurrection--you do something.” Sebastian squinted at her. Why did she care about this ‘Mindmeld’ person that his son had asked to be pushed to the head of the revival queue? She had an angle, he just didn’t know what it was. He seldom did. She’d become so much more unpredictable since she joined the X-men. He really hated her for that. But this was admittedly getting out of hand. As amusing as it was, Shinobi being the Black Bishop meant that his follies---especially the very public ones---reflected on the Hellfire Club as a whole, and more importantly, on Blackstone, Sebastian’s segment of it. So he sighed, and, hoping he wasn’t literally walking into some scheme of Emmas, strode to where Mindmeld was still walloping the beejeesus out of his idiot offspring in front of the laughing crowd. “Excuse me, young lady?” Mindmeld downright snarled in reply, a back-off warning if there ever was one. “Not that I’m sure my son doesn’t deserve this,” Sebastian continued, and indeed he was just as sure in that was Emma was, “But were you aware, in your ire, that you are on display?” “Wh--” Mindmeld realized, really realized, at that moment, that she was in front of crowd. She looked out at the Krakoans, and she stopped her assault. She shrank in on herself, confused and embarrassed and all too aware of her exposing nudity, a state that was for more vulnerable and humiliating and unsafe for her even than most. There was a sudden weight on her bare-no-longer shoulders; Shaw had dropped his overcoat over them. “I’d suggest you get up and come with me, Miss Mindmeld. I think we’re all satisfied it’s really you. Shinobi, get up, you’ve embarrassed ALL of us enough for today.” Emma did not follow the trio as they departed the scene, but she was watching. Sebastian could feel her eyes boring into his back like diamond drills. Had she put this idea in his son’s head to begin with, perhaps? He decided he’d keep an eye on this ‘Mindmeld’. *** “DON’T FUCK MY DAD!” These were the words that echoed down the hall of Blackstone that Sebastian Shaw was presently passing through, shirt off and coffee cup in hand. Well. That was interesting. Seemed Shinobi and Mindmeld were getting along about the same as they had before. “Well I might!” Mindmeld’s voice came now from behind the same door that Shinobi’s had ejected from,  “You don’t own me! I will if I want!” “Come on, you can’t do that!” “I can’t?! I CAN’T?! I could do it even if we WERE still together, which we’re NOT! You threw ALL THIS away, Shinobi, and worse! I should fuck your dad, just to fuck YOU! And I’m gonna go do it RIGHT NOW!” “You wouldn’t!” “Watch me! Literally, watch me!” With that, the door opened, just as Sebastian was passing by it, and the silver-skinned mutant waked right out into him. She paled as she realized who it was. “You heard,” she said in a small, oh-shit voice. “I did,” he said, closing the door behind her. “I, uh, I was...I was just...I didn’t really.” “We can, you know,” he offered calmly, “Or not, and just say we did. If you’d like that.” “That...would be great, actually.” She grinned in relief...and then much more wickedly.

*** “MY DAD IS FUCKING MY GIRLFRIEND!” “That can’t possibly surprise you, Shinobi,” said Emma. She had no idea WHY Shaw’s son had come to HER to complain, but then, she supposed the poor boy had no one else. Well, Christian, maybe... “You know your father.” “Yeah but why would SHE fuck him? That’s what I wanna know!” “Well darling, there’s money, there’s power, there’s a hard cock, and there’s sticking it to you. All very attractive things.” “Listen, just I because might have betrayed her horribly ONE TIME does not warrant this kind of treatment!” “I agree,” said Emma, hiding her shock that she could actually find common ground with him on anything, “Vengeance is worth a lot of things  but not degrading oneself in terms of bedroom partners. The poor girl. I’ll set her up with someone far more suitable. Meaning, someone who isn’t either of you.” “Hey! That’s NOT what I’m asking for here!” “I hope you weren’t expecting HELP with this.” Emma said coldly, knowing that it’s EXACTLY what he was expecting. “Aw come on, how can I win her back, Emma, please?” “How would I know?” “You’re blonde, psychic, stylish, and mean! You’re practically the same person! You would know!” Ah. Now Emma understood. Shinobi hadn’t brought Mindmeld back out of love, nor for some sinister plot to use her against Emma or Sebastian or anyone else. He just wanted his own shiny-skinned psychic with a sharp tongue and fabulous fashion sense, and succeed where his father failed by actually keeping her on his side.  A feat he’d botched before he’d even began it, clearly. “Grovel,” said the White Queen flatly. “That’ll get her back?” “No, but you should do it anyway, you owe it to her from what I understand.” Emma didn’t know WHAT Shinobi had done to that woman, but she had no doubt it was something typical of how this family treated its allies---one could just ask Sage about that. *** “You’re Emma Frost,” Mindmeld said in awe. “I am. And you’re better than them.” Mindmeld immediately knew who she meant. “Is that supposed to be an accomplishment?” she asked with a sneer, directed not at Emma but at the pair they were discussing. “Oh good,” Emma grinned, “I like you, I was so hoping that I would. Now tell me darling---how is it someone with such good taste in shoes has such poor taste in men?” Mindmeld put up her beautifully-manicured hands, “If you’re trying to get me to back off one or both, consider it done. I’m not getting in your way. Just because I was technically born last week doesn’t make me an idiot.” Emma nearly laughed, “Oh darling, you misunderstand me terribly! And here you seemed so bright. I’m about as keen to have one of those two inside me as I am an enema-by-Sentinel-canon. “Oh,” Mindmeld paused, “So, what do you care then? You hate them, so you’re cockblocking?” “I get the feeling you’re not used to anyone doing you any favors, are you Mindmeld?” Emma asked, her tone slightly softer. Mindmeld’s suspicious face at this told her all she needed to know. Emma didn’t need to be a mind-reader to know that the moment Emma had made herself seem like she was doing this out of genuine concern and not some petty schoolgirl agenda, Mindmeld had doubted her. It wasn’t anything personal, she didn’t know Emma--did know OF her, admired the hell out of her, what a QUEEN, what an ICON, she was everything Mindmeld wanted to be---it was just that was what she thought of people. Emma was right, no one did her any favors, not without wanting something in return, and she didn’t expect Emma to be the first. She would have been less defensive if Emma had come in quid pro quo because she’d see Emma as being upfront in her intentions, instead of hiding them as she now did. Not unlike Sebastian himself, Emma noted. She supposed the only way Mindmeld would trust her is if she met the other woman where she was at, meaning she must appear to be coming from a place of spite instead of altruism. “Well, I’m not in the habit of doing favors,” she amended, putting some of the customary ice in her tone, “Not unless they get done for me in return.” Now Mindmeld looked interested again. “Go on.” Inwardly, Emma sighed. This felt oh-so-regressive. Here she was, trying to be a better person, and yet the only way she could help this mutant---whom she didn’t even know but had an automatic sense of empathy for--was by pretending to be the manipulative bitch everyone thought she was. But, that was how it always wasn’t it? That she had to be the bitch to get things done. “Alright, Mindmeld darling,” she continued in her very best evil-plotting voice, “Here’s what you’re going to do for me...” (I don’t know what Emma suggests Mindmeld do but it’s probably hilarious and nasty! Mindmeld did not sleep with Sebastian, she just told Shinobi that, as he suggested.)