#matsu'o tsurayaba

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

X-Men (1991) #6; pg18, 20

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

Kwannon Tracks down Matsu'o and gets the truth, that he knew Betsy had taken over her body, but to him that was enough, he only needed the body, thinking he could rebuild the soul to his needs...

Anyway, none of it matters as Kwannon lets him know that the Legacy virus is about to kill her anyway, and Matsu'o winds up running her through, killing her before the virus can, and the backlash slams into Psylocke like a brick wall.

[splooosh]

“twisting and taunting”

Jim Lee - Scott Williams

[roguearchives]

"Rogue?!" "There's only one!" "And a coward at that. Attacking me from behind?! Even Americans should have better manners!" "Don't worry, sugar. The pounding I'm about to deliver will be face to face."

Source: X-Men (1991) #7, by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell.

[heckcareoxytwit]

A preview of Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #5

WOLVERINE: MADRIPOOR KNIGHTS #5

INTO THE HEART OF MADRIPOOR’S DARKNESS — FOR THE LAST TIME! THE HAND has finally enacted their decades-long plan for NATASHA ROMANOFF! With the BLACK WIDOW meeting her destiny (as teased in UNCANNY X-MEN #268!!!), will WOLVERINE and CAPTAIN AMERICA be able to save her or succumb to dark forces as this trio team up for the LAST TIME? Chris Claremont’s all-new, in-continuity adventure concludes with the culmination of his story over thirty years in the making!

Written by: Chris Claremont Art by: Edgar Salazar Cover by: Philip Tan, Sebastian Cheng Page Count: 28 Pages Release Date: June 26, 2024

[nerds-yearbook]

Psylocke appeared in her new Japanese body as Lady Manadarin in Uncanny X-Men 256, cover date December, 1989. This version of Psylocke was created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee. Her transformation was explained in X-Men vol 2 20-24 & 31 - 32. ("The Key That Breaks the Locke", Uncanny X-Men 256#, Marvel Comic Event)

[kwxnnxn]

I hate his fucking haircut so much, ugly cunt hope he dies

Now why did no one tell me Matsu’o is in Madripoor Knights?

[hoshi-no-majo]

📂 Cerebro File: Jeimī Fushijū (Logan Howlett)

“Hello, my name is Charles Xavier, founder of the Graymalkin Academy for Higher Education. Throughout the years, I’ve crossed paths with many extraordinary individuals—some shaped by brilliance, others by blood and battle. Few embody the latter as fiercely as Jeimī Fushijū, known today by the name Logan Howlett… the man called Wolverine.”

🎨: @snapperoni (You can find them on twitter!)

Subject: Jeimī (Jay-mee) “Logan” Fushijū (Foo-shee-joo) Alias(es): Logan Howlett, Jamie, James, Wolverine, The Ronin, Yami no Kiba ("Fang of the Darkness") Affiliation: X-Men Place of Birth: Kyoto, Japan (The Edo Period) Apparent Age: Mid-30s (Chronological age: over 150 years)

Mutation Classification: Advanced Regeneration, Sensory Enhancement, Retractable Claws

“Wolverine’s true name is Jeimī Fushijū, a child once born to nobility as the son of a shogun in feudal Japan. His early life was stolen from him—his family massacred by loyalist forces aiming to dismantle the shogunate. It was in death that his mutation first awakened, dragging him back into life and cursing him with immortality and grief. That pain forged the foundation of the man the world would come to know—driven by vengeance, hardened by survival.”

🎨: @lyovpple (Its not finished yet, but a draft of whats to come! 🥰)

🎨: @lyovpple (Its not finished yet, but a draft of whats to come! 🥰)

Abilities Overview:

Regenerative Healing Factor: Can rapidly recover from most injuries, regenerate organs and tissues, and resist poisons, disease, and aging.

Retractable Adamantine Claws: Three claws extend from each hand, now coated in divine Adamantine, a celestial metal gifted through a pact with the goddess Persephone.

Superhuman Senses: Heightened sight, hearing, and smell—often rivaling or surpassing animal-level instincts.

Hot Claws: While active, his claws ignite with intense heat, capable of slicing through most materials. However, the power is drawn from his healing factor, reducing regeneration while in use.

Energy Disruption & Absorption (via Adamantine): The Adamantine-laced skeleton disrupts magical, psionic, and energy-based attacks, making him highly resistant to supernatural forces.

Enhanced Durability: His divine skeleton is nearly indestructible, able to withstand extreme impacts and battlefield-level destruction.

Psychic Immunity: The Adamantine in his skull provides limited protection against telepathy and psionic intrusion.

Historical Overview: Through the years, he wandered Japan—trained by monks, studied the ways of the shinobi, and lived as a ronin, taking work where he could for any amount of coin. Along the way, he married a gorgeous woman named Mariko Yashida, the daughter of Japanese crimelord Lord Shingen, leader of Clan Yashida. That peace, however brief, was violently torn from him when she was assassinated by Matsu'o Tsurayaba, the leader of the hand. Jeimī hunted her killers, but vengeance brought no healing. During his time abroad, Jeimī enlisted with the Allied forces in World War II under the Western name “James,” where he served alongside a soldier named Thomas “Logan” Howlett—an African American man with fire in his eyes and poetry in his hands. The two shared an intense, hidden romance, kept secret in an era that would never understand them. They fought together. Bled together. Thomas made James feel human again. Thomas died in battle—but not before kissing James with his final breath, whispering, "You were the only thing that ever made me feel alive." He gave Jeimī his dog tags: Thomas Logan Howlett. A small, rusted anchor in a world already slipping away. After the war, many Japanese-American soldiers were forcibly relocated to internment camps, but when word spread of a soldier who could survive any wound, skin could heal from any cut, Weapon X took interest. Jeimī was abducted and subjected to horrific experimentation under a Canadian black-ops program. His memories were fractured beyond repair. All that remained were flickering faces—Mariko, Thomas—and a set of dog tags barely legible except for the name: Logan Howlett. He emerged from the nightmare not as a man, but a shadow. A myth. A weapon-wielding someone else’s name. He had become Yami no Kiba, the Fang of Darkness. But memory, like bone, eventually mends. Now, at Graymalkin Academy—where the wounds of the past meet the promise of tomorrow—he forges a quieter path. Surrounded by those he might finally call family, he learns that peace is no longer a myth, and redemption is no longer out of reach.

Psychological Profile: Guarded. Lethal. Noble in instinct, though brutal in method. Logan operates on a strict code of personal honor, forged from samurai principles and his own lived regrets. Beneath the growls and violence lies profound grief—one he rarely speaks of. Loyal to a fault once trust is earned. Suffers from intermittent memory disruption and emotional withdrawal due to Weapon X programming and trauma. Shows deep affection for young mutants, often forming reluctant mentorships.

Current Status: Logan currently serves as the groundskeeper and AP History instructor at the Graymalkin Academy for Higher Education. When away from campus, he frequently operates in the field, assisting fellow heroes and confronting threats that require his unique expertise. He also acts as one of the selected official X-Men sponsors for Omari Love during his probationary tenure, under classified circumstances.

Special Note: “Jeimī Fushijū—Logan—is one of the few souls I believe capable of true change… not because he must, but because he chooses to. He is not the man Weapon X created, nor the demon the world fears. He is proof that even the most broken can still protect, still love, and still lead—though never by choice, and rarely with ease. He has bled for this world more times than it deserves. If you find him beside you… You are not alone.” — Professor Charles Xavier ⨂

[soviet-supersoldier]

Character examination: Omega Red. Entry 1

I know most of you are probably expecting me to start with X-men (1991) #4. That is his first appearance after all and the place most everyone (including me) recommends to anyone who wants to get started reading Omega Red. But to start out, I want to talk about his (sort of) appearance that occurs before he shows up in X-men #4 that I have never seen discussed.

Before I say where that appearance occurs, I want to ask a few questions to make you think a little bit about Arkady’s appearance in X-men #4. Just where does he come from? How does Matsu'o Tsurayaba even get ahold of him to ressurect him? What led to this moment? Allow me to show you the answer, which can be found in X-men (1991) #2:

It's small, but this moment is kinda a big deal. If you read the interaction between Matsu'o and this General Akhronayev, you can see that Arkady (who is inside the fancy box) is literally being sold like a piece of property to Matsu'o. Already here, we're establishing that Omega Red isn't viewed as a person, but rather a commodity, a piece of property to be used and exhanged for whatever his handlers want.

Also, from the dialogue, we can sort of determine where Omega Red was housed before he was sold here. Magneto just finished causing world-wide damage to everything electrical with his EMP pulse in X-men #1, so this provided the general here an opportunity to take advantage of the situation to remove Omega Red from whatever military compound he was being stored in. Since they mention that Omega Red might not be missed, and that there was shielded military nodes, he was likely stored in a top secret facility that a lot of people don't know about. Omega Red was likely buried deep in this place, and given his condition (frozen solid), there probably wasn't a lot of people guarding it, thinking he was secure. I assume most people at the top either didn't think Omega Red would ever get stolen, or as the general says here, they just forgot about (or tried to forget) Arkady.

Now, there are a few questions here that I have that will likely never be answered. Who is this General Akhronayev? How did he know about Arkady and where he was housed? Was he a former handler, or someone else on the chain of command who knew about him? What made him reach out to Matsu'o with this offer in the first place? How much was Arkady sold for? What did the Russian government think when they finally found out Omega Red was missing? Lots of questions, very little answers.

In addition to being sold here for an undisclosed amount, I do have one final thought to share about this moment in X-men #2. We see Matsu'o order the general be killed at the end of this interaction (you can see him die in the reflection on Matsu'o's glasses, which is a bit of a neat touch), further showing what kind of person Arkady had the misfortune to be sold to. Matsu'o views everyone around him as a means to an end: the general dies here because he is no longer useful. Omega Red would be viewed similarly, a tool he can use to achieve whatever goals he wants. Thankfully for Arkady, he doesn't stick around with Matsu'o too long, but that is an examination for another day.

[qwannon]

i am in full bloom / * a private & selective personal interpretation of kwannon from the marvel universe. canon divergent. told by paige, she/her, black, 28. information can be found below the cut.

rules.

mutuals only. no racism, godmodding, sexism, glorification of horrendous things, or any dehumanizing -phobias will be tolerated here. i reserve the right to softblock at any time.

basic rp etiquette applies. i don't claim to know everything about kwannon or her canon timeline ( as i'm still sifting through comics here and there ) so feel free to message me any insights or questions.

if i follow you, that means i want to write with you. always feel free to send me memes as i generally rely on them to get interactions going. triggers, usfw content and the like will be tagged accordingly.

otherwise, i'm low maintenance and pretty chill. i'm just here to write and have fun. sporadic activity = #hobbynotjobby!

details.

birth name. ( unknown ). given name. kwannon ( after the japanese goddess of mercy ). aliases. psylocke. previously revanche & nothing. age. late 30s. place of birth. tokyo, japan. descent. east asian ( japanese ). occupation. assassin. adventurer. species. mutant. hair color. black, deep violet highlights. eye color. cocoa, deep violet undertones. height. 5'11". alignment. neutral. affiliates. the hand. x-men. hellions. relatives. sora ( estranged daughter ). sexuality. bisexual. powers. telepathy, empathy, telekinesis, astral projection, flight. ( psychic knives & psychic katanas: she is able to produce psionic energy over her fists as weapons. if she penetrates her opponent while using them, she is able to render a psychic attack that instantaneously stuns or confuses or leads to a fatality ). abilities. master martial artist & combatant, expert swordswoman ( can be seen wielding a pair of traditional japanese katanas from time to time ).

origin.

this is not elisabeth 'betsy' braddock. this is kwannon. the once orphaned little girl who was taken in by an elderly agent of the hand to become an assassin ninja, a weapon against all lies, an enemy of peace. love found & love lost : concepts of reality that were used as weapons against her, and ultimately a twisted lesson from her clan. her boyfriend was murdered, her daughter was taken away from her. undergoing so much psychological torment flicks a switch and after a couple years pass, she turns against her mentors and kills them one by one, becoming what they always knew she was going to be. after, she freelances on a for-hire basis before becoming a bodyguard and elite assassin for the japanese crimelord, nyoirin. she falls in love with matsu’o tsurayaba who works for the hand ( & adversary to nyoirin ) - in which their work lives eventually collide and kwannon is mortally injured. this is the part where an amnesiac betsy braddock is found washed up ashore and matsu'o takes her body in hopes that a sorceress, spiral, can put kwannon's consciousness in betsy's body. it was successful, essentially fusing the two together physically, mentally, and spiritually, and it was also the day where kwannon's strenuous battle of recollecting her self-identity began.

enter revanche : a confused woman who believes she's someone else, but knows she is the true kwannon. months later, she gets infected with the legacy virus ( a plague to mutantkind ) and travels back to japan, requesting matsu'o to mercy kill her. in death, her psychic energy was released, reanimated, and restored right around the time betsy was also simultaneously attacked, thus returning kwannon's sole consciousness back into her refreshed body after three years. the rest plays out as anyone else could expect from a woman who lost years worth of time beyond her own reflection. kwannon is observant, calculated, brutal and often distant / but also loyal, compassionate and steadfast. some would say these seesaw qualities are what makes her lethal, and she very well knows it. currently, she's taken on the mantle of psylocke, working alongside whoever requests her skills when they find themselves in need.

verses.

tbd.

[hot-claws]

Preach!

And the way that all of the X-Men cast have to be conventionally attractive with perfect hair and perfect bodies. I think that's why we see so little change in the ideologies of the readers. We joke on this website that conservative X-Men readers can't seem to understand the themes of the X-Men story. At the same time, they are picking up on the face-value text that shows primarily White, conventionally attractive characters fighting (1) fat/giant/ugly characters (see Mojo, Blob, Juggernaut, Toad, etc.), (2) POC characters that can be easily reduced down to their place of origin (see Silver Samurai, Lady Deathstrike, Matsu'o Tsurayaba, Kulan Gath, etc.), (3) other beautiful people (ex. Emma, Madelyn Pryor, Mystique, etc.) that often have much more development and redeemable qualities than villains in category #1 and #2.

While X-Men does have a huge cast that is inclusive of POC characters:

(1) Sometimes they're written or drawn in a heavy-handed way that make them come off as stereotypical caricatures (ex. Sunfire, Gateway),

(2) Sometimes, they're not even in a human skintone (ex. Bling, Nekra, Apocalypse, Rockslide),

(3) Their POC features become erased (see point above, ex. Storm, Sunspot, Rictor, M, Warpath)

I feel the same way with queer characters. Anole and Northstar often felt like the butt of a joke for being queer men rather than their queerness really being celebrated. Their choice to be written as queer came from good intentions, but those stories become dated and often don't reflect the moods of actual minority communities.

Because X-Men is such a commercially successful publication that is now part of a very large corporation meant to create money above all else, there are limitations in what risks editors, writers, and artists are willing to take to say anything actually revolutionary. When creatives do take those risks, they could also be immediately written over by other creatives that can erase/undercut any progress.

I still really fucking love X-Men, but it's never going to be as revolutionary as the characters all are aiming to be.

I love X-men and the allegories for minority groups are great but it also doesn’t work went most of the main X-men are straight, non disabled or white and I’m saying X-men isn’t diverse, it’s just odd how most of queer or disabled characters or people of color are the background characters

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

So Revanche came into Xavier's room and left her sword and a note saying she is leaving, going away where no one can find her... and in Psylocke's room? She left the cybernetic eyes that Mojo had implanted in Betsy's body so very long ago.

[gaknar]

Unfortunately, Tumblr’s vertical format isn’t the best for showcasing these horizontal splash pages. But you’ll have to trust me when I say that these panels are so very Jim Lee. How do Psylocke and Black Widow instantly change into those costumes? Where were they hiding them, in that little hand-bag? They show Psylocke tossing her wig, but those body suits really come out of nowhere. And it’s totally obvious that’s not the real Fenris because they aren’t holding hands in their underwear.

Come on I’m not even a porn star superhero (I wish!) and I can do better reconnaissance than these assholes. (Uncanny X-Men #268 – Sept 1990)

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THINGS TO COME IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE -- WELCOME TO THE '90s.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on original and remastered pin-up artwork of the Jim Lee and Scott Williams collaboration, "Things to Come," found in the pages of "X-MEN" Vol. 2 #1. October, 1991. Marvel Comics.

This is a pretty kool piece in hindsight 'cause this pretty much teased Omega Red a whole three months before he made his "first appearance" in "X-MEN" Vol. 2, but we all know this was his true, first appearance right here, and he looks bad-ass beyond words. Man, I would've been fan-boying over this so hard back in '91.

Source: www.therealgentlemenofleisure.com/2016/04/x-amining-x-men-vol-2-1.html.

[splooosh]

“What need have I for you…”

[kwxnnxn]

Thinking about the way Matsu’o continuously ignores and refuses to accept the pain he had inflicted upon Kwannon. Even with physical evidence of what he had done he still tries to see her in her original body. Her pain and suffering, alongside her personality and who she actually is aren’t important to him, all that matters is her beauty.

Even before death, he gets a stranger to pretend to be her, treating her like a fantasy instead of an actual person, and ignoring the fact that she hated him when she died. Matsu’o constantly calls himself an artist, seeing everything as a piece of art but seemingly not understanding the soul and meaning that an artist puts in. His love for art and creating is purely physical and superficial. And that’s how he views Kwannon, something beautiful he can look at but is incapable of actually understanding her and seeing the emotional scars he caused her.