#my ex boyfriend was a Nazi

[0w-e-i-r-d0]

Talking to my housemates about all the things my ex did now that we’ve broken up and they’re sat here like

[crimeronan]

once my sunday school teacher at my very conservative evangelical church (the kind of church that goes out preaching at shopping malls) came in devastated because her brother had just committed suicide. this church did NOT teach that suicide would send you to hell, but they DID teach that you could only get to heaven through an ongoing relationship with christ.

my teacher mentioned that her brother had 'fallen away from the church' in recent years because of his depression. but then she added that he'd been a firefighter and saved lives, so she hoped that god would take that into consideration for him.

this was, of course, completely against the church's teachings, and it puzzled me that she would say something so erroneous. so i helpfully informed her that her brother was Definitely in hell if he'd fallen away from christ. this did not seem like a cruel thing to say because it was simply factual, and it was important that people in the church were factual about hell and who goes there. she was lying to herself and needed to be honest instead, was my reasoning.

i was ten years old.

I said this a couple years ago (one year ago?) and most of the comments on tumblr actually did not know this, so to reiterate what you’re up against: a VERY mainstream belief among American Christian fundamentalists is that they are the only ones who experience love. They raise their kids to think that everyone “living in sin” (all other faiths, atheists, and LGBT people) goes through life sad and empty, falsely believing they know what love feels like, and will never know until they’re “saved.” It’s not as simple as them diminishing the humanity of others out of hate, but being deeply brainwashed to believe others are automatically mentally less human. They are also very good at convincing new converts that they really are experiencing this “real” love for the “first time;” the same way members of all cults can become wholeheartedly convinced that they’re receiving psychic alien messages or communing with spirits. Cult conditioning is simply that powerful.

[manichewitz]

the fact that people are seriously harassing grimes over elon musk doing the nazi salute is making me lose my mind. he is her EX BOYFRIEND, she’s actively in a custody battle over their children, and she’s already said many times that she wants nothing to do with him. imagine if YOUR ex became a nazi and everyone thought that if you didn’t tweet that you weren’t a nazi right away then clearly you were just as bad as they are even if you’ve barely spoken to each other in three years. like can we please leave hating a woman bc of what a man did in 2024 please god

edit: originally i said he was her ex-husband, but they were actually never even married. people are harassing her over an ex boyfriend she broke up with almost three years ago

[brainymutt]

✭ simon 🧠 he / him

✭ wife : @natsmyspace2009

✭ basic dni , dni nazi + homophobe esp.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. hey there. i'm simon, or you could call me sparky. my main three fandom are TMNT, the outsiders, and my favorite band, my chemical romance. I like to lift weights, draw, write and read. most importantly, if you have any predators (specifically old men...) creeping on you, if you let me know, i'll deal with 'em personally, love.

. 。・゜✭ " I thought we lost you like we did Mom and Dad . . ." (S.E Hinton) ✫゜・

🐟 simon's top three music artists (not in order) : green day, my chemical romance, mindless self indulgence

🧠 simon's wardrobe: baggy beat up jeans, band shirts, sweaters and lace up checkered vans

🫀 simon's head right now: funny dog videos and 2000s emo songs

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

🐊 simon's top moots :

@0rg4n-b0y one of my first - my little brother

@natsmyspace2009 my wifey - she doesn't post much (POST NOW... I love you 💋🤤)

@jjohnnycakes twink ex boyfriend whom I love 💋 we also like a lot of the same things... both autistic fag boys ☹

@k0kainek4tz3 again 🙏 little brother

@cherryr0x little sister 🫂 over protective older brother 🙏

@c0rdylin3 great friend 🙏 love this guy, he's my buddy

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

pictures of the freak.... the recent ones are with short hair because I cut my MAJESTIC locs off

[fauxpontchartrain]

i just spent an hour and a half catchingup on what youve been up to lol..to recap you: got away from ef and heil finally, were in rehab/halfway house/assisted living of some kind for a while, got some jobs that pay you well enough to ball out a bit, beefed with lolcow.farm, became catholic, got a boyfriend who then had to go into custody, started living with people from the internet, were sober but are now tweaking (?), also tricking the whole time. DID I MISS ANYTHING LOL 😭😭😭

Yeah, but I still occasionally put up with Heil and Ef for Reasons;

I only went to rehab after I went to jail for two weeks after trying to kill my mom, and a little bit afterwards I decided to run away from her and the rest of the circus freaks, so I landed myself in a boarding home for seven months;

Yes, ever since I interned for the UN back when I was 21, I’ve kept doing it and taking on more projects by them until they actually recognized my talent and achievements and decided to give me a “real” job;

I was mostly just rubbing it in the lolcowers faces that they all accused me of lying about everything and harassing me just for being mentally ill when it turned out that I wasn’t lying about anything, I was just a schizo drug addict, and people think that those two things automatically make you a liar, when most wouldn’t even have the mental capacity or willingness to actually admit that they do have serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and drug addiction in the first place lmao;

Yes, I decided to become Catholic again because why not? I was baptized Catholic and figured it wouldn’t hurt to rediscover my faith after sobriety;

We THOUGHT Jamari would have to go into custody to take care of his last warrants for a bunch of old shit, but he didn’t. Also I broke up with him like last month or so;

Yeah, I’m living with Mr Skeleton and Miss Mila now (does “haiiii Mr Skelly, serve that cunt buddy!!! ring a bell lmao, he’s the guy that I would reblog selfies and modeling pics of just to harass him in his own tags for no reason until I actually became attached to the guy over the years) and we now live in a very nice house;

I’m mostly sober (california sober) and occasionally dabble in adderall and stuff again but only to study and actually do my work. This one guy who’s been following me around just to harass me for years called me and my friends “tweakers” so we’ve been going with it lmao;

And finally, I stopped selling ass once I got away from Heil & Co., but given current circumstances, I decided to make it a side-job and started doing porn, and while it sucks ass and causes a mental breakdown every week, I decided to take advantage of the people who constantly hate-stalk me after becoming known as “Nazi Fucking Black Girl” and started charging people to actually SEE me do this crazy ass shit, and as soon as I launched my Onlyfans, I managed to bring in about $2k worth of additional income within 3 hours of launching my shit precisely for the reasons that I thought I would lmao.

I think the only thing you’re really missing is when my ex finally came back home, but he turned out to be a Freak on Another Level, and Mr Skeleton and Miss Mila were the ones who got me out of that shit too, so now I’m a relatively functional woman without those people in my life holding me back anymore, but my tweaker friends proved to me that I can also be absolutely weird and batshit insane but still smart and accomplished as fuck, so lmao

[preyseisgone]

Hi ! This is a callout post on @gloomylace also known as @clingyidol. Before I start , I hate doing these kind of things and it took me alot of effort (+ encouragement from friends ) to do this. Also please do not go and harass Lolita. Cher is a minor and I just overall do not condone harassment. I was originally going to stay quiet .

tw for , abuse , r//pe , violence suicide and more .

Before I start , “weren’t you two just friends ?” Yes but that is until this popped up in my feed. Lolita and another friend are the only two people that know about a situation that roughly happened 2 ~ ish days ago. I was insanely panicked and anxious being accused of stuff like this. I know this is Lolita on anon due to being my ONLY friend in the editblr community and the only one who knows this situation. (besides Avery, Avery isn’t on editblr or the same scenes as me) You know how deeply this affected me. So yeah kinda your fatal flaw assuming I tell my life story to more then 2 people 🤷 also STOP using fucking freyr on me. 🤍 massively appreciated. “An Ex friend” I have only one long term friend and that is Avery 🤍 I am not a fucking freak and copy people , even if I do have identity issues I know it’s weird to copy someone! This is really fucking low of you Lolita and I genuinely trusted you with information and my thoughts and feelings! But no you went behind my back for no reason. It seems like you wanted a reason to turn on me. 🤍

First of all , Lolita said this ! At the time , I did not know anything about oyasumi punpun . I don’t willfully consume media with the following topics

I am massively triggered by almost ALL of those topics . I felt like I was being essentially compared to an abuser , which overall made me feel very, very icky. When confronted about this - ( as seen in the images below )

Lolita ignored me . Cher has done this to another friend of cher’s , making an uncomfortable joke and then when confronted went on a dni and days later replied with something random . Lolita cannot take responsibility for cher’s actions. Che just ignores you essentially and then replies with something random! I am just sick of this behaviour and I will not be surprised if che or someone else will spread rumours about me JUST because I came out about this. I originally thought this wasn’t serious enough to be a call-out post and I felt like I was being overdramatic.

these two screenshots ^ .

multiple people (including me) have had their mental health DRAINED due to your actions. You have lied multiple times. It’s also such a coincidence that hate anons seem to follow you around and when asked you blame it on your exes ? In reality you probably sent them and you sent someone into a really bad episode! You make baseless claims off of little to no proof, broke SEVERAL boundaries of one of your ex partners. You also compared one of your bfs to someone who abused you which is just! plain! fucking wrong. You claim to have high empathy / sympathy and yet when someone who is also mentally ill did not react well over small things you went to shittalk them to their boyfriend.

props to you if you defend a liar and someone who makes nazi jokes xx lying about your exes stalking and harassing you is fucking crazy! Also sent my personal messages to someone and talked shit about me so yeah !

@artistrydoll + @magnoliawriter please reblog if you see this . ^_^

[ahaura]

Abby Martin tweeted (Nov. 7) a link to an interview she did with an former IOF soldier, Eran Efrati, posted in 2017. He describes the standard brutality of the IOF and how the soldiers enforce the apartheid state—protecting settlers; the standard practice of execution by both the IOF and police; the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians; the role and treatment of Arab Jews in the Israeli state; and Palestinian resistance.

Some excerpts:

"I didn't feel like I was protecting anyone, I didn't feel like I was keeping anyone safe. I feel like I'm terrorizing people. [...] I felt like I was the terrorist. And my job was literally to scare people so they cannot think about acting against the Israeli settlers or the Israeli military. That was actually our defined mission. [...] To instill fear in the hearts of Palestinians [...] and that's exactly what we did."

"At the age of 15-16, I began being almost obsessed with trying to understand the Nazi side in the Holocaust. Not only to hear the stories of the Jewish victims and any other victims of the Holocaust, but to try and understand how can a Nazi soldier get up in the morning, give his kids a kiss, a wife a hug and go out to the camps and do his job. I just couldn't understand it. And when I got into the occupied territories, for the first time I understood how there can be a contradiction inside yourself. As a human being you could do your job and be one person at home—be a loving, caring boyfriend or a son or a brother—and at the same time hold people under a regime so oppressive that people are dying not from only your bullets but the amount of calories being entered into their territory like in Gaza, from depression or sickness. [...]"

"Israel is selling the idea that the soldiers are more important than anything, the soldiers are more important than the lives of Palestinians—not just the life of soldiers, but identity, security, feelings—are more important than Palestinian life."

"Israelis are saying in a very clear voice [...] not only will we oppress Palestinians and do whatever we want, but in a very specific way of saying [...] whatever soldiers do in the occupied territories are right. Whatever we're doing is the correct thing."

AM: I want you to talk specifically about the culture within the Israeli military that fosters anti-Arab sentiment, and racism, essentially. EE: I think the system is not only inside the military, [...] that's actually what being an Israeli means. Growing up in the Israeli educational department, you understand that all the Arabs hate you, that they're actually in a way the continuation of the Biblical amalek, or Hitler, or that everybody there want to throw you into the sea. This is what you're growing up with and you really believe in that. [...] Going in the military, you're already so full of hate and fear at the same time that you don't need much to be very aggressive, violent, and racist toward Palestinians. They see the Palestinian women and the Palestinian men as subhuman. The occupied territories are like an ex-territory, when those human beings are not considered human beings."

(In response to attacks on Israeli soldiers) "[...] I learned [...] that if you will not respect existence, you can expect resistance. And this is how people resist. Israel as a state likes to use the idea that Palestinians only understand force, or power, but the truth of the matter is that Israelis only understand power and force. Every other attempt from Palestinians to try and negotiation this situation in a diplomatic way was countered by more attacks, more oppression, and more occupation, more stealing of the land, more destroying of homes, more settlements being built. We decided to call going into the U.N. 'diplomatic terrorism,' and to go into the ICC 'international terrorism.' We basically describe every form of resistance as terrorism because the sole idea of the occupation is not to be safe; the sole idea is to create an ethnically cleansed piece of land only for Jewish people—with Palestinian workers, of course some Palestinians can stay and do stuff for us—but this is our land. What people maybe don't understand is that Israel is creating the conditions in to the situation of constantly having to 'protect' yourself. We're creating this situation by oppressing millions of people [...] [until] they have no other choice but to resist."

"[...] the truth is that Israel do not hear the diplomacy, Israel do not hear the call of the Palestinians for equality. What we are seeing Palestine is what a lot of people like to describe as the most complicated political situation of our time [but] what is probably the most simple political situation of our time. It's a situation about equality."

AM: Would you say that you support the right of Palestinians to fight their occupiers? EE: Absolutely. I support the right of every human being under an oppressive military rule to resist this rule by any means possible. I do not believe Israel has a right to occupy millions of human beings without every decent human simple basic rights for their name. And I do not believe that Israel will change on its own. At no point in history there was a state or a power that had the power and control over other human beings and benefit from it and just decide to let go of this power on its own. It was always forced on them by the resistance of the people underneath them. All the intervention of other forces around the world. And unfortunately, as I do support the Palestinian right to resist, in any way, I do not believe that their resistance is enough. I do believe that the rest of the world has to interfere. And what's going on in Palestine—there's nothing else we can do except for giving all the Palestinians equal rights and starting a new state, a new equality system for all human beings on the ground."

[gerec]

Do you have any fic recs where Charles or Erik is a spy? I’ve been loving spy fics set against a WWII backdrop but any type is welcome!

Hi Anon!

Here's a list I made previously for an Anon who asked for 'James Bond' type aus. I think you'll find a few spy aus there to enjoy!

Also, here are some WW1/WW2 and others that didn't make the previous list :D

Spy Games by manic_intent

Prompt: Burn Notice AU, with Erik Lehnsherr as the spy and Charles as the trigger-happy ex boyfriend. Erik is burned for unknown reasons in Mexico and wakes up in New York City. Somehow, he needs to raise $500,000, in order to find out -why-.

Hier steh ich an den Marken meiner Tage by MonstrousRegiment

Erik Lehnsherr is a spy in the SS, and his British liaison is strategist Charles Xavier. Their relationship from the moment they meet to a year after the end of the war.

“You’re the only person in the world who knows what I am.”

Duct Tape Makes You Smart by AlchemyAlice

For a prompt at 1stclass_kink : X-Men via Burn Notice. "My name is Charles Xavier. I used to be a spy..."

Erik Lehnsherr's Baby and Child Care: 1st Ed. by ourgirlfriday * (Erik is a retired spy)

When everyone told Erik that having children would change things, he agreed wholeheartedly. For one, they’d need to get more food from the grocery store, and recalibrate the booze to juice ratio currently used in the apartment. He and Charles would have to either eschew mid-afternoon couch sex or become much stealthier about said mid-afternoon couch sex. The office, currently overflowing with Charles’s genetics texts and Erik’s maps and dossiers, would have to be converted to a baby room. They’d need toys of some sort or another. And he’d most certainly no longer be able to leave spare grenades on the end tables.

a fish hook; an open eye by fabeld 

Charles Xavier’s wealth protects him from mandatory service in the British Armed Forces, but he refuses to sit idly by when his telepathy can be used to assist the Allied Powers. As a British spy, Charles gains the Nazi Party’s trust and is sent to Paris to complete one last mission. His plan is disrupted when he runs into someone he never thought he would see again.

Trading No Secrets by feathershollyandgolly

Charles Xavier is an MI6 Agent with the terrible habit of asking questions when he shouldn’t. Erik Lehnsherr is a freelance Nazi Hunter working under Mossad. With nothing in common, they are not partners and they certainly are not friends (at least, not yet).

Mr & Mr Eisenhardt by faerie_ground (I know they're technically assassins not spies but it's too good lol)

“Now,” Mr Howlett says, and clicks his irritatingly pink pen. “How happy are you with your marriage? On a scale of one to ten.”

“Eight,” Charles says.

“That’s a rubbish scale,” Erik says. “You can’t fucking measure happiness on a scale. How are we supposed to know how much happiness differs between each number? What, are we just supposed to guess? Also, does one mean most happy or least happy? Also-”

Charles closes his eyes and looks like he wants to suffocate himself using one of the cushions.

*

Charles Haller and Erik Eisenhardt meet at a bar, fall in love, and get married. Neither of them know that the other is an assassin working for a rival agency- but they're about to find out real soon.

[rogersideup]

Nice to be Kneaded

Nice to be Needed

Series Masterlist

Previous part: Inhale, Exhale Next part: Captain-what’s-his-butt

Word count: 4,465

Warnings: My blog is 18+ only. All minors or blogs without an age in bio will be blocked. Minors DNI. Descriptions of anxiety attacks and mental health issues.

Steve made sure to show up at your place at exactly 11 am. He wasn't sure what you had in mind for the day, so he settled for his usual jeans and t-shirt with a hat on his head and sunglasses in his pocket just in case.

When you opened the door, you welcomed him in with no hesitation. His first thoughts were about how trusting you continued to be. You had no more than three conversations with him. What if he turned out to be a murderer? A criminal?

Well... technically... he was a criminal. And a fugitive. And he did kill a few nazis back in his day...

But that was exactly his point. Of course he would never hurt you, but what if he was someone a little shadier, a little more rough around the edges?

As the day went on, he continued learning just how infectious that energy was. He found himself having to hold back even more personal information from you. None of what he told you to fill in the gaps of the life he once knew was a lie. He still couldn't lie to you. So instead he just gave you vague information.

And as you showed him around town, you started to learn more about him. At the coffee shop, you learned he used to serve in the military and work for the government, but a lot of the details were hidden behind walls confidentiality he couldn't break.

He told you at the earth history museum that he was a New York native, his mother and father were no longer around. At that same place he learned you recently lost your father due to an unfortunate circumstance, but your mother was still around to make sure all your choices were lining up to the big list of life long plans she made for you. You were raised in sunny California, but came here to start a life with an ex-boyfriend who had done you wrong. But you were settled, and uprooting once more seemed like too much of a burden. Greenwood sucked you in fast, and you didn't know if you could adjust to the fast paced California lifestyle again at this point in your career.

You asked more about his career as you walked him through the friendship gardens. His service was great for him for a while, but sometimes working so close to anything in the government made him question his own morals. He hated wondering if he was really doing the right thing everyday, so he left. You also learned that he was thirty-something years old.

Finally you led him to the prettiest park surrounded by even prettier views, and that's when he asked you for a rundown on everyone in the neighborhood just so he could be better prepared for when he inevitably meets the locals.

The summer sunshine on his skin was doing wonders to his mood that had been so sad and honestly depressing the passed couple of days, and you once again got this feeling that he really needed a friend. You were happy to sit in the grass with him and people watch as conversation continued to flow naturally between the two of you.

"S0, what got you into baking?" He asked sounding happier than you had heard him in the short time you've known him.

"I used to bake a lot with my grandmother when I was a kid" You explained. "My earliest memories of baking is rolling and cutting out sugar cookies with her, but if they weren't perfect she would make me squish them and try again."

"So I guess that explains why everything you make is so pretty" He pointed out, watching you run your fingers through the blades of grass.

"It's been conditioned into my brain since childhood" You agreed. "Then after that I guess I just found it interesting. There's so many different kinds of baking, and so many niche sets of skills within it that I just wanted to try and learn everything I could. If I didn't get something right, I'd squish it and try again until it came out perfect."

"Even as a hobby you'd squish the imperfect stuff?"

"Oh yeah, but that's what got me to where I am now. Plus, if you squish it in your mouth, it still counts as squishing it" You pointed out your loop hole.

"Ah, I see" He smiled. "Did this make you more afraid or less afraid of failure as an adult?"

"Let's just say my emotions get very squished when something doesn't come out right the first time" You put it gently with a giggle.

"That's such a cute way of saying you get upset" Steve laughed. "I'm going to start using that from now on. I'm no longer going to be mad, or sad, my emotions are just going to squish."

"I think that's the perfect description" You defended your choice of wording.

"I do too" Steve agreed. "Okay, so you liked to bake, and you created a whole tool belt full of different baking skills. What made you want to start the business?"

"I guess it just seemed like the obvious next step" You pondered.

"I'm sure opening up a place like that is a huge learning curve" he thought out-loud.

"If I could give up the whole business side of it, I would in a heartbeat" You giggled. "Payroll, health code standards, government regulation, employer protection laws... it's all so much to have to put into consideration when making the smallest of choices. Oh! And my taxes are a mess"

"But you're happy doing what you do?"

"It's a dream come true" You smiled. "It's stressful sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else."

"Mmm" he hummed in acknowledgment. His mind ran far away from him as a man walking his dog passed by on the sidewalk about 15 feet away from where they were sitting in the grass. His Iron-Man shirt caught Steve's eye, and his brain started to wander far away from the conversation.

Your eyes followed his gaze, and when they landed on the Tony Stark inspired street ware, the expression on his face became unreadable to you. At this point in the Captain America versus Iron-Man political split, you we're pretty good at guessing who chose which side then avoiding conversations about it like the plague.

Stating which side you supported so publicly usually elicited the reactions of strangers, either filling their faces with pride or disgust. You swore the nature of this town made the topic like a man hunt, as if someone's opinions made them a great person or a completely terrible person based on whichever side they chose. You'd never met anyone like you, willing to entertain both sides, and willing to understand that there was probably more to the situation the public didn't know and that maybe things weren't as black and white as the insufferably bored, small town and small minded folks made it out to be.

Maybe the borderline sad expression on your neighbor's face was a sign that he possibly felt similarly to you, but you were so exhausted over the constant opinions on the topic being thrown at you so you certainly weren't going to subject him to that either.

"What about you?" You questioned, causing his head to snap towards you.

"What?" He asked, trying his hardest to stay calm. Did you ask him something and he completely missed it? Please don't be about the iron-man shirt...

"Got any big career plans or are you happily retired?" You reiterated.

He visibly relaxed and thought about it for a moment. "I dunno..." he shrugged. "I guess this is the first time in my life where I've realized what I've always wanted and what I've been doing were two completely different paths."

"Well, maybe it's a sign to just enjoy life and whatever it throws at you for a bit." You suggested with a pleasant grin.

"Whatever it throws at me better be peaceful and relaxing for once" He agreed with a big lopsided smile. "Like, I don't know, a park ranger or a librarian."

"An artist! ... a baker?"

"If I was a baker there would be a significant increase of squishing happening" He shook his head.

"But you're an artist! I'm sure your creative eye could translate to something in the kitchen. Sugar cookie decorating maybe?"

"You don't even know if I'm a good artist" Steve laughed. "For all you know I could have the skill set of a toddler"

"You told me you went to art school for a year" You defended yourself. "You'd rather me assume that you had the skill set of a toddler rather than the talent of a person who studied art?"

"It's like the glass half full or half empty debate" He brought up.

"I always think the glass is half full"

"I tend think the glass is not half full, nor half empty. The glass is just is" He explained.

"I guess that's a more realistic way to view it" You pondered. "So rather than you being a beginner or an expert in art, you just are where you are."

"Sure, we'll call it that" He slowly nodded his head.

The two of you spent pretty much the entire day together, and yet when you got back home after leaving him with a friendly hug, something just felt off.

It took a warm bath and a glass of wine to figure out what was bothering you. However, once it was in your mind, you held onto it all night until the morning, all day through work, and an hour after you got home until Georgia got back from the gardening center.

She made you both a cup of sweet tea and sat with you on the porch swing as you vented. The hot summer air and warm breeze payed no mind to the setting sun, it wasn't going to allow the impending moonlight to calm the heat.

"Wait- so why were you hanging out with the hunk in the first place?" She asked, trying to digest all the information you spat at her at over a mile a minute. The slow swing of the bench beneath the two of you did nothing to calm your nerves.

"I was just trying to be friendly and show him around, I thought he could use a friend since all of this is so new to him" You justified.

"And that's the only reason?" She wiggled her eyebrows at you.

"...yeeahhh..." Your voiced raised in pitch.

"I don't believe a single second of that, but go on darlin'" She smirked.

"I dunno, every time I've seen him I get this weird inclination that I need to talk to him, and every time I do it's fine. He's easy to talk to, we have a few similar interests, he's really good about asking questions about me and seems genuinely interested in getting to know everyone here but the second I ask anything about him it's like he turns into this dull, flat, kind've lifeless creature." You explained.

"A creature, huh?"

"Okay, maybe creature is a little dramatic." You admitted. "I just don't understand how someone could go from a really outgoing chipper dude to the saddest lost puppy in the rain in the span of 2 seconds."

"Maybe he's a murderer" Georgia joked.

"Mrs. Georgia Peach, that is not very nice!" You shrieked, bumping her shoulder with yours.

"A stalker! Maybe, he's freshly divorced."

"Are you implying that a divorcee is just as bad as being a murderer or a stalker?" Your head slanted to the side.

"No, not by any means, Baby doll." She giggled. "My point is, we don't know even a fraction of what he might've been through to land him in a whole new town by himself. There are so many situations in which someone could shut down and maybe not be so trusting of people, he could just need some time. It really could be that simple."

"Maybe I just need to put my patience pants on" You sighed. "I know I probably sound crazy, but there's just something about him I can't quite grasp. I want to be his friend, and I'm trying, but he just seems so... sad?"

"If there's one thing I know it's that when you're in a bad place, you unintentionally push people away. Maybe slowly at first then all at once, but the people in your life who stand their ground and walk by your side are always appreciated. Keep trying, push him back very slowly. You'll get there eventually." Georgia brushed your hair out of your face. "But darlin' it's also important to remember that it's not your job to fix him."

Your track record of all your ex-boyfriends came flooding to mind when she gave you that reminder. Everyone who knew the insight of what your past relationship or two was like seemed to be rightfully concerned about who you chose as a partner going forward. "I know." You sighed. "But you know how I am. I love too much way too fast whether it be a stranger I just met or a dear friend of five years. I can't just let somebody that I know pass by without a second thought."

"I know, baby, and everyone who knows you is so blessed to have received a love like yours but not everyone can understand that it's a privilege and not something that they should be taking advantage of." She continued petting your hair, her hand made it to your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're sweet as pie, anyone from a million miles away could see that. Just make sure you're continuing to make yourself a priority when you're lovin' on everybody else."

"Of course I will." You gave her a reassuring grin. "Remember what I said? I'm happy on my own."

Life proceeded as normal for a few days. Quiet, but normal.

You found solace in your cozy bakery, humming along to the soft music playing over the speaker system as you sat at the decorator's long metal table, decorating sugar cookies for a custom order while your beloved employees prepared to close the store in 15 minutes.

Flooding inside the lines you made with royal icing, the cashier popped her head back in the kitchen that was only occupied by you.

"Someone is asking for you!" She chimed sweetly.

"Thank you! I'll be there in a sec" you looked up.

When you made your way out to the front, you saw Steven in his full glory. The one strand of golden hair that always seemed to have a mind of its own prevailed in it's efforts to never stay in place. Once again, his energy was low and he seemed awfully sad.

"Hey there, honey!" You smiled, even though you recognized that look in his eye. "How are you?" You asked as you walked out from behind the counter to greet him with a warm hug.

"I'm good. Sorry if this is a bad time, I know you guys are closing soon but I haven't seen you around in a few days so I figured I'd stop by real quick just to say hi." He explained.

You looked at the pastry bag in his hand, realizing he had already gotten and paid for a treat. "Not a bad time at all!" You reassured him. "Even if we're closed and you see a light on, just knock on the door and I'll let you in."

Just based off the way you were looking at him, he could tell you knew he was sad. The passed few days have been even more emotionally painful, and it was getting increasingly worse regardless of his effort to make it better.

He tried everything. He ran as far and fast as he could, numbly sat in front of a television playing romcoms, he bathed for hours, drew and painted, read and solved puzzles, but nothing was working.

After a shower, an anxiety attack, pacing around his house for about an hour while seriously considering turning himself in and making this crazy manhunt finally come to an end, he realized the one thing he hadn't tried yet was interacting with another person. So he grabbed his keys and came straight to the only place he knew he'd be warmly welcomed.

"Good to know" He attempted a smile. "What's that?"

He pointed at a big cardboard shipping box sitting on top of a wooden pallet, placed neatly along a wall.

"Oh! That's a new mid-sized stand mixer I ordered since our other one burned out. I went with one slightly bigger then the last and that's how it arrived a few hours ago." You giggled. The shipping situation really did seem dramatic for what was inside the box.

"And they shipped it like that?" He raised his eyebrows at the box.

"Unfortunately" You nodded. "I will say it's a lot heavier than it looks though. The box says 200 pounds so Michael and James from our street are going to come in tomorrow to help me set it up"

"What?" He questioned with an almost genuinely confused look on his face. "I can do it right now."

"... it's two hundred pounds, Steven." You reiterated with a giggle.

Failing to see your point, he handed you the pastry bag in his hands. "Hold my tart"

You took it from him without saying a word, and set it down on the counter before walking behind him towards the box. He bent over and put his hands on it, rocking it from side to side to find its center of balance.

"Oh gosh please be careful, don't hurt yourself" You nagged like a mom, and it actually brought a genuine smile to his face.

If only you knew the real kind've danger he put himself in on a daily basis...

He lifted the box without so much as a grunt or that silly face humans make when something is too heavy. "Holy shit... do you need help?"

"Where do you want it?" He asked, obviously amused that the two men you thought you needed to get the task done were now rendered completely useless.

"In the back, do you need help?" You asked again, and started walking to guide him to the empty counter space you reserved for the mixer.

"Nope, it's totally fine" He shook his head.

He didn't even look like he was struggling.

"Okay follow me" You shook your head in disbelief with a smile on your face as you led him into the kitchen as quickly as you could so he could set it down. "Right here, please!"

When he set it down on the designated counter and you went to grab a box cutter to get it out of the box, you came back still amazed. The two of you opened it up, and he lifted it out of the cardboard and set it where it belonged.

"Easy peasey!" He wiped of his hands.

"And I thought I needed two people for that!" You said loudly with amusement. "What the heck, man! You're ripped."

Steve laughed at your reaction. "What can I say? Moving all that furniture really got my arms in shape"

"No, there's no way that moving a couch made your arms that impressive" You shook your head with a laugh. "You're Hercules. There's no other explanation."

"You're once again giving me too much credit" He shook his head with a smile.

"No need to be humble, Superman."

"Superman isn't real" He rebutted sassily, waving a pointed finger in the air.

You stopped and thought for a second. "... I can't think of a real superhero now that isn't controversial at the moment so we're just going to settle on calling you Superman."

Even though you were being playful and happy as a clam, his mind immediately realized that you would probably hate him if you knew the truth. He couldn't just assume that your thoughts on the Civil War would side with him, and he needed to protect his heart.

Maybe coming here was a bad choice.

"Superman it is" He put on his front that everything was fine. "How about I'll get rid of that pallet in the front while you unwrap all this plastic?"

"No, honey, it's fine. We can take care of the pallet in the morning!" You denied. "You've already helped immensely"

"Please, I insist"

You sighed at the man before a shy smile smeared across your lips. "... thank you"

"I'll be right back"

He took the wooden pallet out from the store and to the dumpster in the parking lot, then made his way back into the kitchen where you had unwrapped the mixer from the plastic it came from and plugged it in. As Steve was washing his hands, you turned it on to make sure it worked, and the swirling sound brought a smile to your face.

"She works?" Steve asked.

"Like a dream" You confirmed. "Thank you so much for the help"

"Absolutely, if you ever need help with anything around here just let me know. I'm more than happy to help out whenever you need."

When you saw how his much his mood changed just from being able to do something for you, you had idea.

From that day on, Steve would come every Friday night to help unload the supply delivery. The 50 pound bags of sugar, flour, powdered sugar and brown sugar kept him occupied for at least half an hour. Especially since he insisted he would reorganize them every week to make sure the new ones made it to the bottom of the stack and the old ones would go on top.

Then it evolved into him staying with you way passed close to watch you decorate. It was fascinating to him, and he was genuinely interested. He'd sit right next to you and ask you why you did things a certain way, how you knew how to move your hand or pick out things like colors or sprinkles.

Soon there after, Friday nights turned into Friday and Wednesday nights. He'd come in after all the employees left and follow you around, you were more than happy to let him.

It was mutually beneficial, you weren't so lonely in the hours required to keep all the custom orders flowing out at the rate they were requested, and Steve finally had something to do.

Sometimes he felt a little bad just sitting there and having hours of conversation without as much as lifting his finger, so as he got more comfortable in your perfect little bakery he'd find things to do.

If you were doing something that required frosting or icing, you'd tell him exactly what color you needed and guide him through making it. He'd mix it all up and put it in the correct kind of piping bag for you, he even got really good at tying off all the ends so it didn't spill out as you squeezed.

Sometimes he'd notice a leaky pipe under the hand washing sinks or wobbling chair legs and he'd fix them up. If there were dishes in the sink that the bakers couldn't get to he'd do them no question. But when there was nothing to do, he'd chat your ear off and you happily listened. He was like your live action podcast, and you learned that Steven knew a whole bunch about a whole lot of different topics.

Nice to be kneaded became his little sanctuary away from home. He looked forward to the days he spent loitering in the shop, and when he got home he loved that his clothes always smelled like cookies.

You added Tuesdays to the mix when Steven asked you to teach him how to make something, anything really. He didn't know if it was because he actually wanted to learn how to bake or if he just wanted a reason to spend more time with you.

He grew to craving your presence on days your schedules didn't match up, and on those days his brain actually had room to think about the reality of what he was doing.

Every time he felt himself growing closer to you, he realized he was only hurting you. Eventually he'd have to go, and that day when you knocked on his door with nobody there to answer would be a hard one. You'd have to process that all the time you'd invested into him were nothing but lies. He knew this was going to end with you hating him, and he knew that would break his heart too.

As close as he was with you, he still wasn't nearly as close as he wanted to be. If his life was in order and his head wasn't always one wrong move away from being on a platter, you would've been swept off your feet by now.

Whenever you smiled and looked at him through your eyelashes, all he wanted to do was kiss it right off your lips. He craved to hold you in his arms, claim you all for himself. But for your sake and his, he stayed an arm's length away.

You deserved better than a fugitive, and you deserved better than whatever he could give to you in his current situation. You definitely deserved better than to be lied to by someone you were devoting so much time and energy to.

So given the circumstances, Steve was doing his best. Plotting ways to let you down easy when the time came for him to go. Maybe if he could fit it in whenever he inevitably needed to run, he'd find a way to tell you with his own mouth. It would be easier hearing it from him rather than a news story or a police report.

But he was sure he had at least a little while longer to figure that out, and he really hoped he did. Because if his time with you taught him anything, it's that he was happy moving around sacks of flour and mixing icing colors for you because it made both of you happy.

He'd tighten all the loose screws, reach every supply on the highest shelf, and barter with your supplier about the astronomical influx of egg prices just for you.

If he had to run as far and fast as he could to a whole different country in a far away place first thing in the morning, he'd always be reminded of the most important lesson you taught him.

It really was nice to be needed.

Next part: Captain-what’s-his-butt

Tag list: @patzammit @bemysugarbean @buckymydarlingangel @happinessinthebeing @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @differenttyphoonwerewolf @themotherof10 @talesofadragon @spikeluv84

To join the tag list, let me know 🤍🧁

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for airing my exes behavior to his friends? So recently, I (23FtM) broke up with my boyfriend (23M) of seven years, because:

We were discussing our embarrassing middle school lives, our Naruto phases, etc, when he sheepishly brought up, in his own words, his "alt-right phase". In the middle of a discussion about sparkledogs. He is white. I am Sephardi. Needless to say, I asked him to elaborate. He told me that it ended TWO YEARS into our relationship. I was obviously disgusted, asking what the hell he was thinking. He excused it by saying he was a "sheltered white kid" and he thought I was "a good one" and that I "un-radicalized him". He then said he's never told me because he knew I would get "this way" about it. I said that he was being so nonchalant about it, he says he's queer, he's also a victim of nazi ideology. I say yeah, but we both know that's not the main target of it. There was a lot of back and forth, and a lot of things started to line up in my mind. How he was "uncomfortable talking about politics" ONLY when race was involved, how he rarely engaged with me when I mentioned holy days, he was weirdly obsessed with Moses for some reason. The last one seemed funny at the time, but it just feels gross and sinister now. Given all those red flags, it seemed so much less like this was a "long gone phase" and more like he was just a crypto at this point. I cut it off at that point, it was just too much.

A few days after this, I figured that I should DM some of his other friends screenshots of our conversation as proof. Most of them haven't replied. I was telling my friend about this, too, and she said I might be taking away a "support group that could genuinely help him". But here's the thing. It's been five years. He seems ridiculously nonrepetant. If anything, he's a closet homonationalist. If dating a Jew for nearly a decade won't fix him, I don't think anything other people could do will, either. So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[bamfdaddio]

Uncanny X-Men Abridged: 1986

The X-Men, those depressing mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 202 - 209) - by Chris Claremont and John Romita, Jr.; June Brigman; Barry Windsor-Smith, Dan Green

Before a crisis crossover takes over this title, 1986 is basically all about Rachel Grey. In previous years, I’ve never been much of a fan of her: she’s is depressing, she’s self-involved and she basically keys into the worst aspects of a Claremontian character: they angst angst angst on the inside and never spit it out. She is all trauma, all the time and she’s not even fun about it. While I understand the horrific depression that accompanies the feeling you get when you see the world descend into hell in a handbasket because people keep making the wrong choices and voting for Mutant Registration Acts and nazis, her forever frustration about not being able to do anything about it doesn’t necessarily make her an engaging character.

This year, she ramps it all up, proving my point that the Phoenix makes everyone one hundred percent more dramatic. Combine that with her dad’s flair for exaggerated angst and, well, you’ve got a doozy of a character on your hands.

Using your cosmic powers to dramatically blink on like a porch light? Baller move, Rachel. (Uncanny X-Men 203)

What’s the Buzz?

Xavier? Is alive, but whisked off into space.

Magneto? Recently became an X-Man. Decidedly not a villain.

Jean? No longer dead! Read elsewhere for more details.

So, is this a new instalment in the Phoenix Saga? Nnnyo, not really. It’s more like a sagalette. Like a reboot of an original with new actors, excepts it’s… not great. So this is like the Phoenix Saga: New Class. I apologize beforehand for the lack of jokes: this is a pretty grim year. Before we get on with it, a quick reminder of our cast: 

Phoenix: Rachel Summers. X-Man. Telepath, telekinetic. Future child of Cyclops and Marvel Girl from a dark future that has since ceased to be. Depressed. Makes it everyone’s problem.

Storm: Ororo Munroe. X-Man. Currently depowered. Recently beat Cyclops in a duel for the leadership of the X-Men. Badass. We all simp for her.

Wolverine: Logan. X-Man. Healing factor, adamantium skeleton, claws. Currently has fewer plotlines than Cyclops, and he isn’t even in this book!

Colossus: Piotr Rasputin. X-Man. Turns into steel. No relation to Cyclops.

Nightcrawler: Kurt Wagner. X-Man. Fuzzy, BAMF-y, bouncy. Like all the other men, currently a little neglected in the storyline-department.

Shadowcat: Kitty Pryde. X-Man. Can turn intangible. Always and forever the junior on the team, but no longer as innocent.

Rogue. X-Man. Steals powers and memories by touching people. Can’t quite control that. Southern accented sweetheart.

Magneto: X-Man. Silver daddy, former terrorist, magnetic powers. Recently promised his long-time rival/ex-boyfriend that he would teach the Dream to young mutants. 

Callisto: Morlock. Even though Storm pretends to be their leader, she’s really the leader of the sewer dwelling outcast mutants. Presumably has powers, but other than dressing like a Sex Pistol and being a badass lesbian, I have no idea what they are.

Caliban: Morlock. Childlike mind, pale, bald. Can track other mutants. 

Selene: Immortal psychic vampire that can manipulate inorganic matter. Powerful, scary. Member of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. Good villainess seeks good storyline.

Nimrod: Deadly mutant-hunting Sentinel from the same dark future as Rachel Grey. Deadly serious about killing all mutants on Earth, but apparently only intermittently.

Secret Wars 2

Ugh, Secret Wars II. I can’t even skip it, because this time, the Beyonder – more like the Beyawnder – is part of ongoing plots. He’s in this world. Bah!

Well, at least Rachel kicks off the narrative with a bang.

Instead of leaving a note, this bitch rigs a projector to tell everyone she means to murder someone. So extra. <3 (Uncanny X-Men 202)

After their run-in with the Beyonder in the crossover, Rachel Summers has decided that this omnipotent god/manchild needs to die. (Apparently, he scrubbed the New Mutants from existence on a whim, so she’s not entirely off base here.) Since she’s currently the host of the cosmic powers of the Phoenix, she’s the woman for the job!

While Magneto uses Cerebro to track Rachel – yes, even Claremont somehow doesn’t realize that telepath =/= magnetism – Rachel confronts the Beyonder in San Francisco. He toys with her for Reasons Unknown and gives her infinite power and a choice:

Kill him;

Save the X-Men he just teleported over to the West Coast and put into mortal danger by also pulling in some lethal Sentinels from her future. For no apparent reason, he forgot to bring over Nightcrawler; no, this is never really explained.

These Sentinels are clever little bastards, by the way. A lot more clever than the toaster ovens we’re used to. Check out the beautiful way they take out Rogue: 

Sure. Rogue, previously a terrorist, would definitely use the word bozo rather than artifical asshole, robotic wingnut or fuckwad. (Uncanny X-Men 202)

Rachel then makes the choice to save her teammates (through another awesome display of power), instead of killing the Beyonder. She does give him a good slap for toying with her, so there’s at least that. 

It’s obvious Claremont is trying out a lot of things to shake up the status-quo and make his stories feel fresh again. He replaced Xavier with Magneto and now he’s shifting the X-Men to San Fran, where they stay to help rebuild the city. It’s a change of scenery that won’t last a long time - presumably, somewhere the idea of the upcoming Mutant Massacre got pitched and Claremont realized he needed the X-Men in NYC for that – but still, Claremont is trying. Not very successfully, sadly: while the Mutant Massacre will, actually, shake up the status-quo a lot, for now we’re very much in the narrative doldrums. 

Kitty, meanwhile, has realized she can summon the Soul Sword and Illyana’s accompanying armour, but when she tries telling anyone about this, they’re all like: “New Mutants who?”

I wonder what kind of intense bond Kitty had with Illyana, ahem, roommate that she does remember Illyana whereas even her brother Colossus doesn’t. - Uncanny X-Men 203

Kitty realizes that the Beyonder means to erase the X-Men from reality as well, just like he did the New Mutants – what can they, mere humans, do against such reckless power?

This is where Phoenix points out that she:

is not a mere human;

still possesses the power that the Beyonder lent her in his twisted little game.

Rachel means casually to erase and rebuild the universe without the Beyonder in it. “You can do that?” asks Kitty (and the viewing audience). Surely it would be easier to just erase the Beyonder? In any case: she needs power to do so. Rogue, Kitty and randomly Spider-Woman give it up willingly, Magneto, Colossus and Wolverine relinquish power while sleeping and Ororo tries to talk Rachel out of it, but she still just takes it. 

The Phoenix rises again and, once more, takes for the M’Kraan Crystal and touches the cosmos. (I told y’all it was Phoenix Redux.) But after touching all those countless lives of people just living, Storm gets through to her – I mean, killing the entire universe would lay heavily on anyone’s conscience – and Rachel ultimately doesn’t do it: she teleports everyone back to San Francisco.

The Beyonder appears, furious: Rachel undoing the universe was all along his plan, because then he could return to the Primal Unbeing without making his hands dirty. Rachel was his catspaw, and she failed even that. Why he doesn't just end the universe himself is beyond me (pun not intended). But before he can kill them all, Rachel returns her Phoenix powers to him, along with the insights she gleaned. And, just like her, he realizes that life is precious. Rah rah rah. He disappears, leaving the X-Men alive.

Ffs, the Beyonder is the most boring villain ever. An omnipotent teenager who just realized that he’s not the only living thing in the universe. This whole arc is just… such a nothingburger. The Beyonder turns out to be irrelevant, the New Mutants are restored to life and even Rachel’s new lease on life is extremely temporary. Absolutely the worst kind of tie-in to a Crisis Crossover. The only fortunate thing is that I don’t think I’ll have to read about the Beyonder ever again. 

Nightcrawler’s Solo Adventure

Kurt is still back in New York, angsting about the Beyonder and the implications of the existence of something so terrifying and so godlike. His Catholic butt big sad, y’all. But then, he hears someone getting kidnapped by Arcade and saves her in a swashbuckling Mad Max side quest! When returning the captured girl to her apartment it is revealed she is… Judith Rassendyll, the lost Queen of Ruritania! 

Yeah, we never ever see Judith again and the next time we see Nightcrawler he’s back with the X-Men, so this one off is truly madly deeply the onest off of all one offs.

Yes, just like Spider-Man, Nightcrawler recognizes the sound of Arcade kidnapping someone by the very specific sound the truck makes when it uses a… pipelike contraption to sweep someone off the sidewalk. It’s a superhero thing, you wouldn’t get it. 

Wolverine’s solo adventure: Reavers & Deathstrike

Somewhere, Spiral – previously of the Freedom Force in order to hunt a fugitive man called Longshot – is modifying a bunch of guys called the Reavers and Lady Deathstrike (she’s new!) in her Body Shoppe. I always have a bit of a tonal whiplash with that, because to me, the Bodyshop is a bougie store that sells cruelty free soaps and scents. Needless to say, Spiral’s Body Shoppe is decidedly not cruelty free.

Fuck, but I really love Windsor-Smith’s artwork. Lush (which is incidentally what the Body Shop was rebranded to) (Uncanny X-Men 205)

The Reavers are some ex-Hellfire Club-goons that Wolverine once cut up. Since then, they’ve become bionic, in an effort to become strong enough to face Wolverine. Deathstrike – neé Oyama Yuriko – also wants vengeance on Wolverine for Something Mysterious he did to her dad. She is one of Wolverine’s many foils, and she’s beautifully designed too: she shares his idea of honour, but not the humanity or morality to wield it well. Also, whereas Wolverine had his humanity forcibly stripped from him when he got his adamantium skeleton, Deathstrike gave up her humanity willingly. 

Meanwhile, it’s Christmas in New York! (It’s never really explained why Logan is in NYC, so don’t worry about it!) Whilst out shopping in the snow, Katie Power (Energized from the Power Pack) gets snatched by a half-naked feral Wolverine, which arouses obvious suspicion from the police. (Fair.) There’s no quicker way to unendear me from a comic book than by introducing precocious preteen superheroes. Like, eight year olds shouldn’t be vigilantes. Still, this is a convincing narrative, mostly because Katie is a good innocent foil to Wolverine.

Anyway, Katie and Wolverine flee from Deathstrike and the Reavers, proving once again that Wolverine can’t be near young girls without forming a paternal bond with them. Finally, Wolverine goes berserk and picks off the Reavers one by one, before dueling Lady Deathstrike and defeating her. In a cute detail, Katie keeps her eyes closed during their whole battle, so as to preserve her innocence. 

Solid one-shot that, like Windsor-Smith’s Storm issues before this, mostly serve to flesh out one X-Man. It also introduces Deathstrike and the Reavers, who’ll be important later. 

Rachel’s breakdown

The X-Men decide to stay in San Francisco for now, with Jessica Drew (a former Spider-Woman) and, uh, a rando. It’s all so normal that Kitty even has a date! (Which brings out the mother in Storm, always a highlight.)

It’s never really explained why they don’t want to return to the Institute. Is it because Magneto rules Graymalkin Lane now, and the X-Men want to let him know that they’re not okay with that? It’s never said aloud, but…

Anyway, a postcard from Scott, Madelyne and baby Nathan is enough to send Rachel in yet another tailspin how she can’t meet her dad’s family and I’m so over her. Fuuuuuck, this is exhausting. 

 I mean, I guess props to Claremont for writing an annoying, drama-prone teenager convincingly, I guess. (Uncanny X-Men 206.)

AND THEN FREEDOM FORCE ATTACKS. For this raid, Freedom Force, formerly the Brotherhood of Mutants, consists out of:

Spiral. Dimension dancer, we saw her three paragraphs ago.

Pyro. Idiot Australian. Can control fire, but not create it. Thinks he’s a lot smarter than he is.

Avalanche. Idiot Greek. Creates earthquakes, but maybe gave himself his codename during a ski trip? Is about a smart as he thinks he is, which isn’t a lot.

Blob. Big, big guy, cannot be moved if he doesn’t want to. The perfect lackey.

Spider-Woman. Presumably the reason Jessica Drew isn’t Spider-Woman anymore, but I’m not invested enough to run a background check on her. 

Mystique. Rogue’s foster mom, Nightcrawler’s actual mom. Calculating shapeshifter. Usually the leader.

Destiny. Rogue’s other foster mom, Nightcrawler’s actual other mom, Destiny’s paramour, though those last two covertly. Can see the future, usually. Schemer. 

Mystique and Destiny aren’t actually there, which means the Brotherhood is at about 15% of their usual competence – and 14% of that is Spiral – and therefore quickly dispatched with.

Avalanche and Pyro, burning through their last braincell. (Uncanny X-Men 206)

When the police arrive, the Freedom Force reveal they're federal officers working for the USA, having been pardoned by the government. Since the X-Men have built some goodwill rebuilding the city, the cops want to see a warrant first. The Freedom Force didn’t bring one – again, these guys don’t do well without Mystique – so they are forced to let the X-Men go for now. They vow to return, however, necessitating the X-Men to flee, making their stint in San Francisco the shortest-lived status quo shake-up ever. 

Prelude

The X-Men then go to live with the Morlocks for… some reason? Look, I don’t mind a little show rather than tell, but this year just feels so… disjointed. Why was Wolverine in New York? Why did none of the X-Men go pick up Nightcrawler? Why aren’t they going back to the Institute? I get that the Morlocks’ Healer is healing Wolverine after the fight with Deathstrike, but surely the mansion's med bay is a better recovery place than the fucking sewers. Some allusions on why we’re doing what we’re doing might be nice.

I think it’s mostly Claremont spinning his wheels. Highlighting the Morlocks is not a bad move, considering what will come Later This Year, but it’s all done so haphazardly, so randomly.

Anyway. Fine. There’s more Rachel Angst: despite her Life-Is-Worth-Living epiphany with the Beyonder, she’s slipping back into her depression. She senses that the X-Men don’t trust her, her volatile powers and the way she almost went Dark Phoenix. And, while that might be an accurate depiction of depression and the way you can regress while dealing with it, narratively it’s very frustrating to see Rachel keep hitting that same fucking button. 

Welcome, gentle readers, to Symbolism 1.02: The Shattered Mirror as a Metaphor for the Shattered Self (Uncanny X-Men 207)

Rachel and Wolverine keep invading each other’s nightmares and then Rachel flees, afraid of the X-Men’s dirty looks and the way they keep her at arm’s length. On the surface, she then has the bright idea to go and kill Selene, in some… misguided effort to do some good, I guess? Wolverine follows her, tipped off by her nightmares.

To her credit, Rachel actually succeeds in infiltrating the Hellfire Club and nearly murders Selene, but Wolverine stops her, claiming that heroes don’t do murder. (Again, not a wrong take for the X-Men, but Wolverine is perhaps the least qualified to have a strong opinion about this. Now if this were Storm or Kitty…)

Rachel is (again) in a dark place and is (again) losing it. She refuses to stop:

Suicide by Snikt. Damn. (Uncanny X-Men 207)

Anyway, he fails at killing Rachel and she gets away. Wolverine reports back to the X-Men, who vehemently disagree with him trying to kill Rachel. All except Storm, who “understands but does not sanction” his actions. Well, I guess that's not a discussion worth having any further, right? Then, they set out to find her.

The narrative then proves Rachel’s point, when a weakened Selene immediately slaughters a mugger and his would be victim. She then rallies the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club to go after Rachel (Sebastian Shaw is reluctant) while somewhere else, Nimrod emerges from his weird self-imposed exile – seriously, he’s an undercover robot who lives with a family and it’s yet another weird character turn that I don’t quite fathom – to hunt down Rachel, because her power levels have been spiking. (Sure, but Selene running around doesn’t ping your radar, you weird mutant-huntin’ murder!bot?)

Meanwhile, a desperate, lethally wounded Rachel happens upon the bodies of the people Selene killed and immediately does a long distance lash-out at Wolverine. Both Storm and Rogue realize they should have treated Rachel kinder, that they should have recognized her depression. With Wolverine out, the Morlock Caliban becomes their tracked.

Caliban, we can only applaud your shirt! (uncanny X-Men 207.)

Chaos erupts when these groups meet each other. You’ve got:

The X-Men;

The Morlocks Callisto, their leader, and Caliban;

The Inner Circle: Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Tessa (Shaw’s assistant), Harry Leland, some enforcers and Von Rauhm, Selene’s Black Rook;

Nimrod, who senses twelve X-Men, which is at least five too many(!) But more on that later.

When Nimrod very easily kills the Black Rook, it has, at the very least, the quick effect of uniting everyone against him, like when a bear stirs up a hornet’s nest. In the ensuing chaos, a traumatized Rachel once again flees the scene: she fears Nimrod from the alternative future she comes from. And then she hears music and slips into a supposedly abandoned theatre...

Apparently, Rachel’s idealized self doesn’t have a lesbian haircut. Boo hiss. (Uncanny X-Men 207)

The observant reader recognizes this interdimensional Body Shoppe by now. And just like that, with a promise to take all the pain away, to leave everything that Rachel was, Spiral spins and twists and dances Rachel out of the narrative.

Man. Even the ending of her storyline is kind of a bummer. Rachel abandons her family and friends simply so she can escape all of her pain. She sees no other recourse but to scrub herself from her life. There’s very little hopeful to be gleaned from this, even though Rachel at some point returns – although by that point, she’s so different you can kind of wonder if this Rachel actually survives.

Back in the park, Nimrod takes out Rogue and Nightcrawler, and uses Sebastian Shaw’s powers – to absorb any and all kinetic impacts, shrugging off even the most powerful of punches – against him, punting him into the stratosphere. It takes the combined effort of Harry Leland’s gravitational powers, Colossus’ pure strength and Shadowcat’s electricity-frying phasing to slow Nimrod down a little, but the effort of the fight gives Harry Leland a heart attack.

The old man doesn’t go out without a fight though:

Took the words right out of my mouth, Wolverine. (Uncanny X-Men 207)

Aw, I’ve always liked Harry Leland. He always seemed a lot more grounded than most of the Hellfire Club, even despite that silly burglar mark.

I think this issue marks the first time that Tessa and Storm successfully work together. Tessa (the one in the stylish shroud) will turn out to be very important later.

Shaw’s deep impact takes out Nimrod, but just when Wolverine prepares to cut the robot to bolts, it teleports away. It’s a little dissatisfying, but that’s kind of par for the course at this point. With sirens blaring in the background, Tessa offers Storm shelter at the Hellfire Club and, strapped for other options, Storm accepts the offer.

And with Rachel gone from the story for now, and the X-Men needing to regroup, we end the recap. Next up will be the first mutant crossover, something that will become a yearly staple henceforth: the Mutant Massacre.

What to read: I’m sorry to say, but you can skip it all. Turns evil: Rachel. Sort of. Poor girl. You can tell she was one of Claremont’s favourites, considering all the abuse he put her through.

[insomniac-jay]

Probably my last post about this but yall have no right to be saying that Chappell isn't a "real lesbian" because she used to have a boyfriend in the past when that was probably because she was in the closet or doing comphet when yall say you hate men and swear you're gonna start dating women until you get the tiniest crumb of dick and suddenly you're back to how you were before

"Oh her ex is a military guy" yall will suck the dicks of men who don't believe in women's rights just because they're conventionally attractive and be surprised when they tell you that they don't believe you should have rights. Yall are the same kind of bitches who will date literal Nazis because they're hot. Ffs yall will sleep with COPS for the very same reason! You're just mad that Chappell isn't attaching herself to a scumbag for the sake of your fantasy

[stevetonyweekly]

Stevetony Weekly - March 3 - Week 9

Here’s what I read this week. If you haven’t checked out the February podfic list, be sure to check that out as well! As always, be sure to leave comment/kudos for your authors. 

~*~

Unintended Side Effects by AvengersNewB for sabrecmc

Steve has to go to the ER with a rather embarrassing problem - thankfully Dr. Stark takes excellent care of him.

If Through a Door by jibrailis

Tony is accused of murder on an alien planet; Steve marries him to bring him home.

there are still beautiful things by meidui

The day Tony takes Steve home from the New York Army National Guard is the best day of his life.

years we held on to by Areiton 

It happened like this--

He put the Valkyrie down, and he didn’t even mind, knew damn well it meant he’d die and he was almost grateful. They’d burnt Hydra out of Europe and the Nazis were being beaten back--the war was almost over.

What use was there, for the world’s only super soldier, when the world knew peace?

He put the Valkyrie down and he didn’t die.

(my heart is burning) holes in the ground by felisnocturna

In the end, it's a scent that leads them back home, like Ariadne's thread in a labyrinth of illusions.

Riders On The Storm by CaughtAGhost (ghosthan), ghosthan

"I don't think help is coming."

 Tony falls into a hole he can't claw himself out of.

and that's how it works by complicationstoo 

Steve is on the other side of the door, a small smile on his face and a plastic bag in his hand that he lifts up into the air to show. “I brought reinforcements.”

Tony steps back to let him in and asks, “Who told you?”

“Your boyfriend told me,” Steve confesses, then amends, “Ex-boyfriend.”

Something Beautiful by Annie D (scaramouche)

In one universe sideways, it’s 2012 and the Avengers have just defeated Loki and the Chitauri. Steve Rogers, who has been out of the ice for almost ten years, wonders if his retaking the shield for this event was a one-off, or if he’s ready to keep it again. It depends on Tony.

Pasta Pains by KandiSheek

Steve's pasta is an insult to Tony's heritage, and he's not going to take it lying down. Luckily the rest of the team is used to their squabbling.

talk just right by meidui

The most Tony hears Steve talk is when they argue, but hand to god, that's not the reason Tony keeps picking fights with him.

Well, maybe a little.

Beautiful Mistakes by tinystark616 

Steve helped Tony with his most recent heat, which was clearly a mistake, because now Tony is avoiding him.

The problem? He's in love with Tony.

The other problem? Iron Man, his best friend in the whole world, is also avoiding him.

dream come true by tinystark616

Steve likes to think that their last mission made them grow closer somehow, that Tony was truthful when he said he doesn't resent Steve anymore, and that now that the mission is done and Tony is recovering well, they can have another shot at being friends.

Or,

Steve and Tony become very close after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and Steve realizes that "the simple life" Tony told him about long ago is something that he wants, and he wants to live it with Tony.

give you everything by tinystark616 for oluka (lomku)

Steve really likes how Tony looks in the Iron Man armor.

[z0mb1el0veju1ce]

Hey, guys! I'm Evan. 😁

I'm a part of an HCDID system!

Taken by my boyfriend, Koval.💛 + Married to my beautiful lady, Steph 💛💍.

I'm bisexual and a cis dude, but I'm an ally. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Boundaries;

DNI ; Nazis , Zoo/Pedos (Anti-Recovery ones.) , Homo/Transphobes , Endogenic Systems , Minors (-16) , NSFW blogs , Kink blogs , Basic DNI criteria. Just don't be a jerk, and we should be good! 😁

Interests ;

DEATHPROOF , Horror Films , DnD , Cars , Knives , Video Games (Esp gun games , ex: CoD, MWF, AL, ect.) , Pokémon , Motörhead (My special interest. I'm definitely the #1 Motörhead fan.) And a few other things!

Other Blogs ;

The main system blog :

@thehorrorcollective-xd

HABIT's blog! :

@seventrials0fhabit

[trashmammal-7]

One of my favorite things about listening to the Spies Are Forever album is the whiplash between "haha c'mon guys the nazis aren't that bad, look at how silly we are 🥺" and "guy believed by everyone to be dead disguised while torturing ex-boyfriend who only returned to the job because he thought it would be what his dead boyfriend would want, and also Russian killing machine singing about being betrayed by the previously mentioned nazis"

[akajustmerry]

you think RTD who is boring?

not... Boring but repetitive? conventional? yeah. every RTD finale back in the day was just Russell flipping a coin like "will it be Nazi tin cans or the Doctor's ex boyfriend?" and there's nothing wrong with that, necessarily. They're still written well. I just personally don't find Russell's dedication to invoking traditional Who that interesting. The ideas are stale to me, but the quality of his writing saves it. Whereas with Moffat I feel like the ideas underpinning everything were really compelling and had a nice balance of new/familiar, but Moffat isn't a good writer when it comes to characters and conventions. Which is why, in my mind, if you combined the two styles I'd be happy as Larry.