#save me magneto fight scene save me

[brainrotcharacters]

I'm absolutely guilty of mimicking how he gestured when I was particularly delulu of being remotely telekinetic

[hauntingblue]

Zoro was about to tell luffy off for making a scene but luffy just says some guys spilled red bean soup and he starts to make a worse one. Amazing

[cyborgartalchemist2]

Imagine being so fucking aggressive about a ship you make jokes about Magneto and that very groomer scene from X-Men 97 that just... excuse the behavior? Because that doesn't sound very progressive in my opinion. Like yeah... rape culture in relationships just permeats fucking shipping but lets do nothing to argue against it. Lets make jokes that perpetuate the behavior and excuse men taking advantage of women.

To me having Magneto take advantage of a much younger mutant under his tutelage because she's desperate for physical connection and he's the only one she can touch is meant to showcase A) how Gambit contrasts Magneto and B) remind us that Magneto is never above using mutants for his own gains.

If this were reality most people would be calling Magneto a groomer and worse. We know Rogue was still a teen when Mystique took her in. We know that she's been an X-man for a few years. So Magneto was patient enough to wait until she turned 18?

Historically he hasn't done well with his love life. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's mom left him without telling him he fathered children because she was scared of him! (I'm only going on TAS and 97 here since this is an adaptation.) So where in the high heavens does everyome think he would be good for Rogue?

I don't care about the 'better than Remy' arguments because that's not the point! The point of who you ship Rogue with should be about if it's a relationship that is good for her! Is she their equal? Does she get treated with respect? Magneto looked at the Genosha council and without asking Rogue said "I'll lead but only if this woman I am trying to get back is my queen". LIKE DOES THAT EVEN SOUND MATURE? Magneto shows up, sees Gambit and Rogue being even mildly affectionate and starts pulling asshole moves on Rogue. And the narrative did nothing to make Rogue stand up for herself (which she would have) she should have told Erik "I'm a big girl I can get my own sugar for my coffee." She is shown numerous times to remind everyone she is no one's 'territory'.

Also wish to address the fact that making Rogue x Magneto comes with a 'sex is the only thing that matters!' Flavor that is exactly what so many of us are tired of in shipping. When did shipping stop being about the drama of a couple fighting against a narrative that pushes them apart or about finding love in the most unconventional of places, like alien hunting? And become solely about how nasty they can fuck? Seriously?

AND it's so blandly hetero it's not even funny. Because honestly the ways in which a couple can experience pleasure that don't involve traditional p in v penetration is vast and wild and there are enough types of gear and costumes and the like to facilitate that between Rogue and Gambit. Because that's all the argument has to stand on, is which man can fulfill her sexual needs. WHICH SHE HERSELF REALIZED WASN'T ENOUGH. She kisses Erik and goes "nope they're ain't any sparks there. This isn't going to be fulfilling ever."

Not to mention the fact that I can't genuinely see Magneto offering to die for Rogue. Sorry that grandstanding in Genosha was not the same. It was barely a heroic move... he still didn't save the Morlocks he promised to protect... he still failed. He couldn't save Leech and he couldn't stop the Sentinel either. Because yeah Magneto attempted to save Rogue and Gambit, but he did nothing to save the Morlocks at his side and he also survived without taking out the giant killer robot... but Gambit? Gambit said fuck it, gonna take this motherfucker to hell with me. He stopped Rogue from facing the sentinel so he could. And he actually stopped it. All on his own. Because that's what an x-man would do. Sure Magneto protectdd two people but sacrificed the morlocks yet again...

AND ON THE SUBJECT OF ROGUE x GAMBIT

Has Gambit always been great with Rogue? No, but that was the 90s and now look at how he handles shit? Comics writing has grown. It was a lot more heternormative and still had lots of rape culture hold overs in it.

Look at the episode when Cody shows up. He uses Rogue's connection to him from the past and then puts her in a situation that almost takes away her humanity. Her powers, which was what lured her into this trap in the first place, saved her from a man taking advantage of her. And the one time Gambit (in TAS) takes advantage of her, Morph in her form, told him to come and get some from her first. (So while he should have paused and woke Rogue up before kissing her, he had what he thought was an invitation.)

Gambit takes Rogue's decision to rule Genosha with Magneto incredibly well. He doesn't get mad, he doesn't call Rogue names, he doesn't do anyhting to hurt Rogue the way she is hurting him. He accepts it like a gentleman. Unlike Magneto who pursued Rogue's affections in unhealthy ways.

So uh... yeah that's my fucking rant.

[drowninginblox]

The Tell

Based off of this scene (SPOILERS FOR XMEN '97) I am back on my nightcrawler bs!!!!

Have some angst and hurt/comfort to bide yall. I'M WORKING ON PART 3- MIDTERMS HAVE ME BY THE SOUL!! Yall know the drill: 2nd person bc idgaf GN pronouns for yall (I think?) No beta we die like (spoilers)

He was gone. You were across the world and you knew he was gone. In a step, in a breath, in a waining thought- all silenced by the wind in your hair whispering "Gambit's Dead"

You rushed home as soon as possible, making it just a day before the funeral. Everyone was barely holding it together but seeing you after all these years, a ghost, sent waves. Logan, Rouge, and Hank were all indifferent to your presence, understanding but also contempt of the fact that now- now you show up, after years away. This is what got you back.

Scott was worse- not even bothering to speak to you, just walking away altogether. Jubilee didn't know you that well, but from what she knew and how she is, she took you in with a grain of salt. Smart girl- that one.

Kurt, now that was a reaction. Moments after you were let in, Kurt was getting tea for everyone and as soon as he saw you- everything fell apart. Not many people have had the displeasure of seeing the Nightcrawler angry. After all, the few who do, don't live to tell the tale. But now you've seen it thrice. But unlike the times before- you stayed and took it all.

All the vile curses, both English and German, all the arm motions and tears, all the looks of emotions so mixed it could count as a cocktail. When he was done, and stark silence filled the over-occupied room, he muttered. "Welcome home Windwalker." Before dacking your shoulder on his way out.

You knew you should have left at that moment but you stay ed for the funeral. As soon as it was over and Kurtis touched your heart once again, you started to walk away again.

You made it ten minutes before he came racing after you. "Wait." He called from behind you.

A sigh and half of a turn was the most you got before the brunt of a sword collided with your eye- sending you stumbling into a nearby tree. "You are not leaving until I'm through with you, Zepher." You wince. Not at the pain. You didn't bother to stand as Kurt readied his blades. You just closed your eyes and waited. A moment passes before Kurt shouts "Steh auf, verdammt! Get up and fight me!" The rage eminent in his voice. You open your eyes to see him looming from listed over a yard away. His stark eyes contrast the gloom of the landscape. Where this moment was pure mourning, he was nothing but firey disgust. Contemplation washed over you, but you got up. You didn't bother to ready yourself as if you could- Kurt was already on you, his swords slashing into you. Kicks sent you here and there while the memories of late-night training sessions made your tears mix with the downpour. Blood followed soon after.

Whether it be minutes or hours later, he was finished with you. On the brink of passing out either out of blood loss or exhaustion. He stepped back to look at you. "Warum liegt mir so viel an Ihnen?" He mumbles. You only swallow back the copper taste in your mouth. His eyes narrow, finally seeing you as the human trash you are. You close your eyes and hope that the devil is kinder than this fallen angel.

You wake to smoke. immediately sitting up and coughing out the vile intruder. You use your mutation of wind manipulation to give yourself a radius to breathe. Kurt appears next to you before grabbing your chest and suddenly teleporting you outside. He doesn't linger to explain whats going on- just leaving you to watch as these human-robot things destroy the manor. You take out a few that try to break in and even save Logan from one too. When the chaos is settled, everyone makes a gameplan- something something Rouge, something something Magneto- you were out for most of it. It wasn't until Kurt gripped your shoulder that you found yourself back in reality. Kurt stares at you for a moment before grabbing your waist and teleporting to the outside of the manor's green.

"I-If you want a round two... go ahead." You offer even though the bandages wrapped around your torso and arms are turning pink. "I know you wanted to for harder." You close your eyes. "Can I say something though?"A beat passes. you feel his tail swing against your ankle. "Make it quick." You nod. "I'm going to say I've changed, or that I feel sorry, or that I've repented- because... I don't think you care about that." You let out a breath. Your heartbeat is still racing. "But what I am going to say is, that when I left- I didn't do it to hurt you." Something builds in the back of your closing throat. "I- I had to leave to protect you. And I know it was stupid to not say anything- especially given our last conversation. But I had to go. Y-you mother-"

"Mystique."

You nod, and you feel your cheeks get wet. "She found my family. My blood one. And you know that I've been keeping tabs on them since I left- she said that she'd kill them and then go after you guys-" She tries to suppress the frown that was deepening. "I know that I should have told you but I was scared. You told me what your mother is capable of. And I couldn't just stand there so-" A weight envelopes you. A warm, protective, weight, that grounds you to the moment. You open your eyes to see the thing you've been dreaming of for the past decade finally become reality. Kurt's buried his head into your shoulder and holding onto you for dear life. For a moment you can only watch. But as reality slowly but surely seeped in, the cracks in the years-old walls finally led to you crumbling in the arms of your oldest friend. You return his hug, clutching him to make sure that this wasn't one of the most twisted dreams you've ever had.

His tail wraps around your calve. "I missed the west wind," He mumbled into your embrace. You hold him tighter. "And I yearned for the fallen angel."

[chaoticevilspacewitch]

RWBY Fanfic Recommendation List

Fics that have really struck me, vaguely organized by ship and/or topic.

Bumbleby (Blake x Yang)

first off, basically anything by pugoata. She's the goddess-empress of the Bees. I'm gonna give particular props to Banshee, as it was the first longer fic and AU that I read, and it really opened up my mind to what fanfic could be.

You're a Mountain, Full of Glory - a ski/snowboard with amazing characterization and a closing scene that will live rent-free in my head forever, in a good way.

They Can't Steal the Love You're Born to Find - childhood soulmates repeatedly torn apart and reconnecting, with courtroom drama. One of the most angst-ridden Bee fics I've ever read.

Fucking In Love - pornstar AU that gets right to the sex and slow burns the romance. Hot as hell while also full of tenderness and pining.

Midnight Menagerie - exotic dancer, kinda-cyberpunk dystopia AU. Edges you forever with the sex, earns all the angst tags, and we are majorly trusting @kaelidascope when she promises an amazing happy ending.

Bite Me Like You Love Me - one of the hottest Bee smutfics I've ever read.

You and Me - Blake discovers she's pregnant the day Yang goes MIA on a mission and struggles through being a single mother teaching their child about her amazing other mom. Short, happy ending, amazingly sweet.

You and Me, and One Hot Summer - tropical beach Bees. It's fun, and hella spicy!

WhiteRose (Ruby x Weiss)

The Foxtrot - Ruby and Weiss repair their broken lives after the war. It's one of the most popular RWBY fics of all time for a reason.

Can You See My Strings?/Deja Vu - premium mentally ill Weiss escapes from child abuse angst, with a happy ending if you read the sequel.

But Your Voice Used to Be Mine - Weiss escapes abuse to join RBY's punk band whose smash hit she inspired.

Just One Cigarette - Ruby and Weiss have a little meetup roleplay and it's really good.

Faunus Weiss (generally major themes of struggling with internal and external racism)

Craving the Sky - Weiss has painfully concealed her faunus heritage while she tries to earn her father's love. The support of her team, and the love of Blake and Yang (BeesSchnees) help her soar on her own.

Black Swan Theory - faunus Weiss struggles to recover from child abuse and navigate a deeply racist society while building a relationship with Pyrrha (Schneekos).

Clipped Wings - secret faunus Weiss, dealing with racism and abuse from Jacques, this time slow burning towards Pollination.

Villainesses

Melting Glace - Cinder and Neo find love, and no redemption, in the trauma of failing to destroy Beacon. Will make you cheer for them to win by the end.

Rise from the Ashes - Cinder has a Vader moment and saves Ruby from Salem, and Ruby's pure heart helps her heal, and their adversarial relationship turn to affection. Peak RWBY enemies-to-lovers.

Odds & Ends

The Bermuda Triangle - great modern AU BeesSchnees that gets filthy hot at the end.

Midnight Rose - Summer rescues and adopts Cinder out of Atlas. Their relationship, and Cinder coming to love the Xiao Long-Rose family, is beautifully depicted. Still very much ongoing (no ships as of yet).

Fallen Maiden - Jaune dies protecting Pyrrha at Beacon, and the Fall Maiden power remains split. Will Pyrrha's bloody crusade of vengeance consume her? Or, 'Pyrrha goes full Magneto and fucks Cinder up'.

What's In A Name? - Winter and May grow up together, struggling to cope with their feelings for each other against the background of the Atlas aristocracy.

Red Sky at Night - This excellently-composed fic has a hacked Penny as the primary antagonist of the Beacon arc and builds it to Nuts & Dolts. It captures both Penny's horror at being controlled in her own body and RWBY's fear in fighting a seemingly unstoppable enemy, almost like Terminator vibes, and ultimately takes it to a very sweet relationship.

Linked In Life and Love - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this one. I really, really love the first act, where Team RWBY sees Blake suffering terribly through a surprise heat cycle and decides that they will all "help" her with it. It's sweet and tender and feels legit for them. I'm not a huge fan of where all the series has gone since, but I would invite anyone to judge that for themselves.

Sparks in the Dark - an Emerald/Penny/Ruby trio that's really masterfully done, exploring all three characters in very novel ways, and also doing great things with Salem and Cinder.

War Machines - a Penny/Ruby role-swap that follows Penny's adventures on team BXPS with Blake, Yang, and Weiss. It's very thoughtful and a good read as science fiction for its exploration of Penny's artificial personhood.

(As I see this getting a decent amount of traffic, I'll just point out that, if it's convinced you [correctly] of my impeccable taste in fanfic, you might want to check out my own RWBY writings)

[starlight-artbby]

I FUCKING LOVED THE NEW X-MEN EPISODE!!!

We got the Summers Family acting like an actual Family. I love how Kurt gave Jean the best advice like literally Kurt gives everyone the advice they so desperately need. Seeing Scott and Nathan fist bump to also gave me life. I also love when Jean talks about Maddie like I deeply believe Jean saw her as a sister but just didn't know how exactly to reach out when she went through so much.

Also can I talk about how much I love Jean being all Motherly?!?! Like telling Nathan to put on his seatbelt and putting it on for him. Then Scott also being dad and a good husband saying stuff like Nathan, Jean Run! Like ooh those two were finally acting like a family and I am so here for it.

Need more of the Summers Family I fear.

I literally hate Bastion so much already. Like how are you as a Mutant, basically getting rid of your kind? Not to mention Magneto starting war?!?! I could never blame him. Like he literally knew how ostracized Mutants would be from day one.

I also love how Kurt was ready to Kill fro Rogue in an instant. He literally would do anything for his sister and I love him for it .

Now hoo... Roberto's mother done pissed me off. So many parents would rather save face than protect their children. The hurt in his eyes when his mother didn't believe him broke my heart. Can we also talk about how Jubilee literally suicide jumped off that building even for just a second like she would rather hope she learned how to fly instead of surrendering.

I also once again loved the Cute Juberto scenes. I know a lot of people don't fuck with the relationship but I seriously love them. I think they are so cute. Also Roberto learning how to fly and practicing in the danger room! Like I loved that.

Morph was once again killing me with the jokes like not the Wolverine universe thing. I enjoyed seeing the Logan fight sequence when he was in the air and Kurt with swords was everything I didn't know I needed to see animated until that very moment.

Now Professor X done pissed me off still. Like HOW DO YOU FINALLY SHOW UP!!! AFTER EVERYTHING!!! You had the X-Men take over YOUR DREAM! And then you abandon THEM?!?! Like ughhh!!!

Good news thou, STORM WILL HOPEFULLY BE IN THE NEXT EPISODE. And maybe we will get her saving Jubilee and Roberto that would be cool.

I also hope Rogue wakes up soon. (Not to mention I loved seeing all those marvel characters especially Spiderman♡♡♡)

Also, I love Jubilee's new outfit. And the "To me my X-Men was everything. I love when they say that line. And seeing the faces?! Loved that. I am all to excited for the next episode.

[jazzymarie1006]

Logan and Ororo in the two parter episode "One Man's Worth" are still so very great!

Warning: Long post is LONG!

First there's this gem of a scene. Not sure which is better. Logan believing that Ororo called him beautiful, Ororo telling Logan he's beautiful in his own way, or the implication that they've had more than one picnic (with or without Charles).

The apple scene was great. Ororo knowing that Hawk would make a "Garden of Eden" parallel is too great.

When the Timeline is being absolutely DESTROYED, Logan and Ororo run into each other's arms as Charles disappeared from existence.

Which brings us HERE! A timeline where Magneto is leading the mutants in a war against machines and super humans. And Logan and Ororo are married! Also Logan took Ororo's last name, that's the only right answer.

The close-up on the the rings was great! But it had me thinking... how were they even married in the first place sense Mutants clearly aren't treated as people? Did Morph turn into the Justice of the Peace again?

Logan catching Ororo and making sure she's safe is great! Love to see it.

Absolutely LOVE how Logan puts the claws away when Ororo says she believes Bishop and Shard. The fact that they weren't together in the main timeline had Logan so upset. You know he was just looking thoroughly through what Bishop and Shard were showing them!

Ororo: My Dearling... would you condemned the whole world just to keep our love.

Logan: You bet I would. Why would I care about anything else?

This man didn't even hesitate! The kiss Ororo gave him was brief, but it of course shows that she’s also going to miss their marriage.

Of course Logan was gonna go if Ororo was going. That's a no brainer!

Later we get one of the BEST scenes in the show! Logan and Ororo are snitched on for being an interracial couple in the 1950s. And Logan immediately jumps into action when Ororo's insulted!

Ororo is also the only person able to stop him. She couldn’t even stay mad at Logan!

Logan coming in the save again! Ororo can NOT be in any form of danger around this man!

After the mission to save Charles fails, Wolverine's ready to go back to where he and Ororo were before (this man said fighting a war alongside Magneto wasn't so bad!). Of course Ororo knew Logan wasn't going let Bishop and Shard down and he knew too!

These two weren't apart from each other for few seconds while in the bad future!

Logan really pretended to pass out JUST TO STEAL A KISS!

How he wiped her tears!! I can't with them!!

Just gonna get this outta the way... Charles fainting when Logan threatened him was hilarious! He regarded it immediately! He does NOT like it when Ororo's upset with him!

After Charles reads their mind, he quickly reveals that someone (Logan) doesn't want the mission to succeed! Of course this has Bishop ready to start blasting. Which gives us this line (which Charles most likely remembers later on).

Logan: I feel the way I feel bub. That don't mean I'd turn traitor!

Watching this now should NOT have still been able to make me tear up!!

After Logan says "Don't you leave me", the two kiss and the timeline is restored. The two are even seen hugging!

The bit of flirting near the end!! The writers KNEW what they were doing!!

Then Charles pulls up, reveals to us that he remembers what happened with the Alternate Duo and watches them briefly before leaving them alone. He knows that these two are willing to give up happiness with each other to do the right thing for the world!

I love all of this so very much!

[spottheantisemitism]

Magneto and Holocaust Inversion (Many Such Cases)

Case #1: He who fights monsters ( UXM #150 I, Magneto - Chris Claremont)

So this was my first X-men comic I got at a con at a discount so THIS was my introduction to Magneto. I love this comic to bits. It's a great scene

While this sudden breakdown is quite good there's the pieta symbolism between two jews and there's the distinct implication of "I'm no better than the Nazis" in his breakdown (you are allowed to fight me on this as not counting as holocaust inversion)

to pivot Magneto this much Claremont pretty much had to do something akin to holocaust inversion because Lee and Kirby wrote him as a fascist coded character and Claremont couldn't not have Jewish (and Romani?*) holocaust survivor who was likely sonderkommando not realize the irony of his actions.

Also we get more Magneto backstory and depth in ONE PAGE than any comic before and most comics since

Case #2: No equals (Magneto Rex episode 3- Joe Pruitt)

Listen the Genosha metaphor was clumsy when Claremont wrote it but the hands of Joe Pruitt, it sounds like a Soviet psyop about the evil colonizer Jews who like apartheid.

While Pietro is one of the few people who get to say the "you're making us look bad" line and it landing in and out of universe the way it's presented is the most simplistic argument possible

The implication of "he's gone full circle and become the oppressor" is clear and this time painfully intentional. The fact that these people are imprisoned for having legacy virus- the x-men equivalent of aids just makes it all worse

Case #3: A mad old terrorist twat (New X-men: Planet X -Grant Morrison)

^ tw for misgendering Grant Morrison who used he/him at the time of publication but use they/them now.

Many people have pointed out that part of what stings when Morrison separates McKellen from the "schizoid-conflicted" Hitler reborn terrorist twat Magneto is the former is a gentile and therefore more deserving of their respect. The implications that Magneto is like that because his ideas are dumb and out-dated mirrors the way antisemites claim that Jews are gentiles over "their made up fairy tales".

I don't think Morrison is so much an antisemite as the kind of fanenby hypocritical chud who loves the silver age (bad era to fandomize and idolize, Grant) exactly as it was. They love when THEY get to make Beast or Ice man gay but hate when a Jewish writer makes a wannabe dictator a Jewish holocaust survivor. We get it Grant, rules for thee but not for Jews. No, no they'll rewrite the character as literally Hitler to show that only Morrison gets to re-write X-men comics, antisemitic implications be damned.

Well you made one thing clear, Grant sweaty, you hate retcons and the art of Jewish writers whose politics and visions you dislike.

screenshot source:

Case #4: when your boyfriend invokes Godwin's law (House of M: Civil war #3)

I feel like Charles only gets away with this because they're such close friends (who canonically share a room) and he's been through a lot in this issue.

To be fair "you twisting semantics won't save people from fanatics who want genocide" is the BEST comeback to holocaust inversion I've seen in an X-men comic

the framing here is both of them are wrong and Magnus (that's one of Magneto's human names) is clearly in the right about this. The humans may think he's Mutant Hitler but that's because they're projecting

(sorry for making you read sideways and making you read something I took a picture of IRL)

Case #5: The oppressed becomes the oppressor (X-men 97 episode 2)

Magneto's speech in X-97 has been said as a watered down version of his speech in Uncanny X-Men 200

What is pointed out many times is the line where he claims "his own people joined the nazis to betray him". Never expanded upon, never brought up again. There are no other Jewish character in 97, no foils. It feels almost gross and tokenistic, like Marvel wanted Magneto be the good token self-hating Jews. Since at that was the only acceptable type of Jew in early 2024.

I do hope to see a course correction seasons 2 and 3 as something as simple as showing a flashback of his past or just showing a character like Kitty would go a long way to dispel the accidental implication that Magneto thinks all other Jews are evil

*While Magneto's children Wanda and Pietro are explicitly Jewish-Romani everywhere BUT the MCU in some universes like House of M, so is he. These intermarriages happened in Weimar Germany all the time so these universes are quite plausible

[wishchip106]

watching dark pheonix rn live commentary

charles hair looks wacky af girl get a fringe cover the forehead or something

he’s signing the adoption papers thats his daughter 😿

it said it was 1975 this does NOT look like the same school from dofp 🤨

WHERE DID ALL THE TREES GO???

ok now we’re in space huzzah 1992

uh oh the rocket broken

HE’S BALD

he got the president on speed dial damn

RAVEN WHAT IS THAT HAIR COLOR fuckass bob

no one getting that basketball back damn

nyoom

charles really needs to get side rails in cerebro other people go in there too they gonna fall off

he connected to nasa

yikes ominous space dust ☹️

raven is literally the leader of the x-men

ITS THAT WOMANS FAULT FOR MENTIONING THE CAPTAIN

how tf is jean breathing??? 🤨

that blast should’ve killed BUT ALSO HOW IS SHE CASUALLY FLOATING IN SPACE??

that part of the pheonix force or something?

the xmen got fans thats crazy 🤨

charles keeps canceling classes does anyone actually learn in this school?

RAVEN UR THE ONE WHO STARTED THE XMEN

“i actually can’t remember the last time you were risking something” saying that to the man who is bald and in a wheelchair???

idk whether this is bias or not but honestly charles doing stuff with the press and getting people to like mutants and the xmen is a good thing???

i get raven is upset about risking their lives and such but its honestly that or being persecuted and hunted down daily 🤨🤨

pissing me off

dinner party wowie

intro to the most forgettable xmen villian ever

fucking tree aliens what the flip

oh damn his chest constricted

dazzler!!! 🤯🤯🤯

jean thirsty damn

why is raven hiding still i thought mutant and proud meant something

raven if ur upset go to genosha or something

charles is besties with the president lol

jean needs to get a new skincare routine her skin cracking

charles dad senses starting tingling (despite being a shitty dad 👀)

does no one else get that if charles didn’t put shields in place in jeans mind a lot more people would be dead??? like obviously he could have slowly taken them down over time but still 🤨

one of the writers might have beef with charles

jean going after her deadbeat dad but she doesn’t know that

they planning to manipulate her

yikes flashbang

how tf jean get there so fast

knock knock its me ur estranged daughter

bro does not look happy to see her

raven clearly has beef with charles

this a “lets all blame charles” movie

struggling forreal i’m defending him every five minutes

jean realizing her dads a deadbeat blaming her for her moms death damn

if he had to pick between saving his wife or jean he would pick his wife

charles wearing his ex’s clothes 🤨

scott being like “i love you pookie dont leave me 🥺”

the girls fighting

raven being the one who steps up

ah shit she dead ☹️

jean really flew outta there

sad moment r.i.p raven

hank is angry

“is it true? jean killed her? 🤓” BRO SHE JUST DIED SHOW SOME RESPECT

girl going straight to the alcohol, some habits dont die

“its your fault she’s dead” BITCH THAT WAS HIS SISTER

you cant expect charles to admit when he’s wrong thats what he and his ex-husband have in common

“no civilians past this-“ ”fbi” “oh okay” can anyone just do that? walk up to a crime scene and say you’re fbi

bro killed him

GENOSHA

jean going to her stepdads house

ERIK HELLO

bro why he fly like that 🧍

did he really make his furniture really low down 🤨

waiting for his husband

wouldve been better if he had white hair 😔

damn military

jean in a killing mood

magneto saving human lives 🤨 never thought i’d see the day

bro looks so stupid oh damn he was flung

“i am protecting them, from you” DAMN no one wants to help her

the president revoked his bestie privileges after one incident

charles struggling

girl are you drinking age 🤨 i sure hope so i’m a rule follower

yes who are you jean

OH DAMN DIDNT NEED TO GO THERE

heheh charles sleepin

biggass binoculars

“what? no charles?” girl i think ur a tad bit obsessed

he yaps about him to anyone who listens

his bestie dead oh no 🙁 give him a sec

welp time to kill her that’s totally what raven would’ve wanted

damn those aliens got a nice place what the heck

woahh space and shit oh wow the milky way

the aliens were lurking

she is special yeah

she lying girl don’t listen she gonna kill you (although that wont really stop you)

whats this bald lady’s name?

i wanna see all the other stuff erik keeps in that box

i can see charles actually descending into depression this is crazy

lol they all putting him in place give him a break 😢

boutta reconnect with my ex wish me luck 🤩

erik trying to act cool in front of his friends

woah f bomb

charles im gonna kill ur daughter sorry not sorry 😁

hair whip

“ur not the only one who can control minds 😏”

girl this is the worlds most powerful telepath maybe think about this for a second

the girls fighting again

bitch pulled a train out of the ground tf did you need that for???

making a grand entrance

damn getting his skull crushed like the first people he ever killed

he got throw out the window ☹️

yeah girl thats ur dad

NAH WHY DID THEY DO THIS

MAKING THE DISABLED MAN WALK WTF

that alien really got her claws in her

yes please see that charles still loves you (AS A DAD)

thats her dad 😿

i hate this alien ur ruining the moment

no don’t give it to her ☹️☹️

scott to the rescue

THEY TAKING THE XMEN TO THE POUND DAMN

oh damn charles admitted he was wrong good job

maybe bring these guys to therapy or something

erik thats ur stepdaughter chill

the aliens have hijacked the train 🙁

once again humans being stupid

he clearly just healed from those bullets why are you still shooting

hell yeah train fight scene

LMAO SHE JUST DIED

anyway moving on 😁

kurt’s angry now

WHAT WAS THAT EVIL GRIN

honestly feel like charles could do a lot more

yay magneto being cool as fuck

okay all the lackeys were defeated onto the main boss

oh damn storm got blasted

“you wanted her dead” “i had a change of heart” bro never decides whether or not to be evil

dad-daughter moment

at least they’re all still on the train

“i know what you did, you did out of love” THANK YOU JEAN

hell yeah marvel girl

we nearly at the end guys 🤯 (talking to myself)

damn she disintegrating all of them thats cool

she got stabbed ☹️

nvm she good

final boss moment

cgi hair battle which one looks more like its underwater

oh no don’t disintegrare ur bf

go to space you’ll be fine girly

lots of cgi going on

she died 😔

its fine she come back

thats a cool looking bird

you’ll be fine scott she does this from time to time

girl lost his sister AND his daughter someone check up on charles

bro completely erasing charles legacy damn 😔

its time for the gay people 😁

gonna appreciate this scene hold on

god these guys are so gay

bro staring at him with love in his eyes

IM SICK OF THEM RAAHH

love you cherik

and thats the movie

my dad told me the aliens were supposed to be skrulls but since captain marvel came out earlier in the year so they had to change it lmao

anyway go home the movies finished

[adidegmez]

deadpool & wolverine spoilers

this movie is amazing. it was just amazing. this movie was truly a perfect gift for fans(including me).

I waited too long for this. The first scene was perfect, again. i love deadpool and wolverine. and cameos… wow i knew some of them but some of them I never expected. and the names they mentioned: daredevil, punisher, magneto…

thor holding deadpool, is hemsworth really back? It looked different than in the old movies.

i knew Laura and most of the mutants, i heard rumors about elektra but i was shocked when i saw happy, johnny, blade and gambit. But Chris Evans surprised me the most. i really loved the cameos. when i saw them i didnt think we would see them this much. im glad we did.

in happy's room i saw tony's Picture with peter and the Iron Man helmet was in front of Peter. This didn't leave my mind until the break.

ladypool is blake lively. but we didnt see her face. I'm a little disappointed.

nicepool was nice. dogpool is cute. we saw lots of deadpool variant and the fight was amazing. they all love peter.

all fight scenes were perfect. deadpool vs wolverine twice wow i need more of that.

Henry cavill!!!!!!

wolverine vs hulk!!!

i didnt know much about cassandra nova but according to the comic stories I heard online, she wasn't such a bad guy. she even let deadpool and wolverine live. Paradox screwed everything up. What were the people at TVA doing while Paradox was doing so much? They just came in the end. At least they let deadpool and wolverine be happy.

When I came out of the movie I was in shock. It took me a while to get over it and now I want to watch the movie over and over again.

deadpool and wolverine's chemistry is awesome.

story was awesome, characters action scenes everything is amazing. I don't know my current ranking right now, but I can probably put this movie in the top five of my favorite Marvel movies.

It was really nice that they included scenes from the Fox universe in the ending. I think Deadpool edited the Johnny scene in the after-credits, I think Johnny didn't say that much.

It was great to see Deadpool and Wolverine holding hands, saving the timeline together, caring about each other, and sacrificing themselves for each other. It was great to have everyone he loves next to Deadpool in the last scene, including Logan and Laura. Are Elektra Blade and Gambit dead? I want to think about what they are still experiencing. The fight at Cassandra's place was also amazing.

music was amazing especially the first fight scene and dp and logan holding hands and saving the timeline.

is cassandra dead? i think she might return.

[brainrotcharacters]

X Men First Class dropped years ago and I went in excited that there's backstory of Professor X and Magneto finally

Tell me why being attracted to young Professor X gave me bi panic

[positivelybeastly]

How do you feel about the X-Men just slaughtering human members of orchis?

"It pleases me more than you can imagine to see the others finally coming to their senses. Only so much can be accomplished with the spoken and written word - at some point, you eventually have to get your hands dirty. We have to strike first. If the humans are given the chance, there will be no first strike, only the last strike. It's what I'd do in their place."

Yeah, I don't love it, tbh.

Like, I get why it exists, I get why we got all those panels of Shadowkat jamming guns into people's heads with her phasing powers and all, but, like . . . okay, let me pull this stuff up.

So, like, I get it.

Something awful has happened to mutantkind, and everyone has their way of responding to that trauma. I get that. In-universe, it makes absolute sense that Kate would react like this. It's not like she hasn't killed before. And let's be real here, all the same logic arguments about killing vs. not killing in comic books apply here - if you let them go, they'll only hurt someone later; it sends a message that if you hurt mutants, you get hurt in return; Xavier's dream has been proven to be a load of old shit, Magneto had the right idea all along.

That's sure an argument that you can make.

In-universe, I get it.

But out of universe?

This is cheap. This has no bite, this has no weight to it, it's empty calories in my opinion. Why? Because it betrays a fundamental lack of imagination about ways to tell the X-Men story, and the fundamental limits of Western comic books, if you think about what it actually means.

Comic book heroes generally aren't meant to kill because they're paragons of moral behaviour. They exemplify a moral standard that we should all ascribe to. That's the Golden Age logic, right?

Except that the Joker. Right? So, this is a conversation to be had, and I think trying to apply a baseline logic to it is kinda pointless, because the morals and ethics of killing in a Batman story are so much more important and meaningful to the themes of that story than, say, in an X-Men story. Sometimes you need to kill the giant fucking robot, sometimes Trask just needs to fucking die, sometimes you gotta snap Cassandra Nova's neck.

That's - kind of a whole other argument, and not the one I'm interested in talking about right now. This isn't really about whether it's right or wrong for heroes to kill, I only bring this up as context to what I'm about to say, which IS.

This is cheap parlour tricks to get a FUCK YEAH moment out of the reader by Gerry Duggan because gratuitous violence is an easy way to get a pop out of a comic book audience.

There's some real great exchanges from Star Trek that I'm just going to shamelessly crib here, because I think they really exemplify my point, so here goes:

PICARD: Six years ago, they assimilated me into their collective. I had their cybernetic devices implanted throughout my body. I was linked to the hive mind, every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them. So you can imagine, my dear, I have a somewhat unique perspective on the Borg and I know how to fight them. Now if you will excuse me I have work to do. LILY: I am such an idiot. It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back. PICARD: In my century we don't succumb to revenge. We have a more evolved sensibility. LILY: Bullshit! I saw the look on your face when you shot those Borg on the holodeck. You were almost enjoying it! PICARD: How dare you! LILY: Oh, come on, Captain. You're not the first man to get a thrill from murdering someone. I see it all the time! PICARD: Get out! LILY: Or what? You'll kill me, like you killed Ensign Lynch?! PICARD: There was no way to save him. LILY: You didn't even try. Where was your evolved sensibility then?!

I love that scene.

"It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back."

It's that simple, huh?

O'BRIEN: Captain. PICARD: Chief. I wanted to talk to you. O'BRIEN: Anything I can do, sir, you know that. PICARD: Ben Maxwell. He must be quite a man. O'BRIEN: He's a rare one, all right. I count myself lucky, sir. I've served with the two finest Captains in Starfleet. PICARD: From your knowledge of the man, what has gone wrong? O'BRIEN: There's a reason for what he's doing. Those Cardassians were up to something, I'm sure of it. PICARD: When his family was killed, how did he take it? O'BRIEN: I'd say he took it well. Oh, I know he was broken up inside, who wouldn't be? But you'd never know it to see him. He never missed a minute's duty, always had a smile, a joke. PICARD: I see. O'BRIEN: He would never retaliate out of vengeance, no matter what that Cardassian says. They're up to something, sir. They're the ones you should be investigating, not Captain Maxwell. PICARD: You don't care for the Cardassians? O'BRIEN: I like them fine. It's just, well, I know them. You learn to watch your back when you're around those people. PICARD: Ben Maxwell has just sent more than six hundred of them to their deaths. O'BRIEN: I don't know what to say, sir, but he must have had his reasons. PICARD: I think when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. And it becomes comfortable, like old leather. And, finally, it becomes so familiar that one can't ever remember feeling any other way.

The Hellfire Gala Massacre was a cheap emotional trick to make X-fans mad, and an easy way to get easy pops whenever another X-Man kills a rando Orchis thug, because FUCK YEAH, FOR KRAKOA, and it's like . . . okay?

Is this not a betrayal of - and I'm going to stop you right there, because I'm not about to say what you think I'm going to say.

No, I'm not about to talk about the betrayal of ideals, or the betrayal of moral standards, or the betrayal of what Krakoa stood for.

Is this not a betrayal of the entire point of what made Orchis even remotely different as an X-Men enemy?

They were a scientific, sociologically active, legal avenue exploiting think tank that attacked on all fronts, and now, they're reduced to a wisecracking robot from the future and an army of disposable goons who might as well be wearing Hydra green or AIM yellow beekeeper suits.

Why?

Because that's easier to write. It's so much easier to write Shadowkat murdering a group of Orchis goons than it is to engage with Orchis on a higher level and deconstruct what prejudice looks like on a systematic, sociological level. This turns the so-called social conflict aspect of X-Men comics into just boring normal conflict.

Shadowkat killed a lot of Orchis, so now racism is over with! And, like, I get it, it's not a ton of fun to sit around and watch X-Men debate a load of racists, it's a superhero comic, you wanna see a guy hit another guy at some point, but it just feels like such a dumbing down of the more interesting, multi-faceted organisation that Orchis were presented to be.

There are so many instances of really thoughtful, socially minded commentary in Krakoan era, from Hellions to New Ayala's New Mutants to Unlimited, but this stuff, in the comic literally just called X-Men, which would make you think it's the most definitive statement of what the line of books is meant to be, it's just the most watered down, basic bitch, boring version of the conflict.

And it's not like I'm asking for Hickman or Morrison, I know that's not the wheelhouse we're operating in here, but it just feels kinda . . . lame, that the best imagery and way of showing oppression in 2024 is Sentinels flying through the sky with searchlights on their chests and comic book villains posturing over our heroes. I was hoping for something more intelligent and interesting.

But it is what it is.

[darhknight]

X-Men 97 Reaction

Reacting to Episode 7. Bright Eyes

• WARNING •

Spoliers under the cut. Do not read unless you seen the episode or don't care about spoilers. I warned you.

The gravestone and speech from Nightcrawler broke my heart

"He say it was just in the cards" my heartstrings

Every gambler has a tell. Modesty was Gambit's.

Not Jubliee crying. Someone give her a hug

Dad Wolverine to the rescue

Jubliee is right tho. Where the crap is Rogue?

Found her

Love how Nightcrawler knew Rogue was f*cking stuff up. Like that's a good brother.

HULK NAME DROP

General Ross? Sir she might kill you be nice

CAP'S SHIELD. CAP'S SHIELD

STEVEN ROGERS BOIIIIIIIS

Love how Rogue was like five seconds from fighting Steve and Steve was like 'nah let me just show you what I found and maybe we can work together once I get the ok.'

she said no

then she proceeded to throw his shield into the mountains somewhere

Big Boss Energy

A resort ... mmm Kay. Who's paying his bill guys?

Kick his butt. Kick his butt. Kick his butt

Annnnnd we are back to the other X-men

Is that BEAST'S GIRLFRIEND THE LOVELY CARLY OR CARY I CANT SPELL HER NAME THE REPORTER LADY

Love how the same mutants show up everytime in the background

Not the statue heads of Magneto and Charles 😢

Jubliee convincing Reberto to tell his parents. I'm so proud of him. 👏

BEAST IS ANGRY 😡

A little Jean and Scott moment. Good for them they need it.

Why am I not surprised EMMA FROST is the first survivor they find

Also sorry Scott. We know you love Jean and Madelyn. (That's not how her names spelt my bad)

Back to Rogue

Nightcrawler being a good brother

Him KNOWING ABOUT HER AND MAGNETO

No she's crying.

Their all there for her. I'm so happy

IS THAT BASTION?!

EVIL NASTY MAN. EVIL NASTY MAN

HE Killed Him. He killed Gyrich.

I skipped over Jubliee and Roberto. My bad.

Love how his mom knew

Shes like honey if your weren't a mutant I be concerned

'It was your secret to tell.'

'Spriters anyone?' Like ma'am. You just made a reference to him maybe not seeing Jubliee anymore and your offering drinks?

Back to the other X-men

Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed watching Trask tell them the truth

Also Morph being like 'He created the master mold let's like not trust him.' Aka he's evillll. 😈

Sleeping GAS

(Notice as I was typing this that I have the scenes backwards. Whoops)

Is it me or do those robots kinda look like ultron?

Trask really be losing his mind right now. I actually feel bad for him.

Love how Trask is ratting out Sinister tho

Like he took one look at what Sinsiter did and went NOPE. Gonna go rat him out to the group of mutants I have been trying to kill since season one of the original show.

ROGUE DROPPING HIM

GIRRRRRRRL

SHE DEADLY

'Is this what we are now?' A great question Morph. The answer is ... complicated.

HUMAN SENTINEL!!

Dude he knocked Rogue OUT

Love the little Nightcrawler saving Rogue moment. Thank you creators for my fill of sweet siblings.

Morph getting hurt and Wolverine yelling his name

I ship it

You GET YOUR HAND OFF SCOTT

Never in my life have I liked Cyclops but this show has changed me

SO GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SON

CABLE. CABLE. CABLE.

Jean reading his mind to figure it out

'Let's skip the reunion dad.' I'm dying

My son is meeting his son guys. Their meeting!

BASTION IS BACK

EVIL HUMAN SENTINEL CYBORG.

NASTY MAN

Oh Sinister is here too I guess.

rip the human race. Bastion gonna turn them all into sentinels. bet.

THEY KNOW ABOUT XAVIER

OH NO

XAVIER YOU DONE MESSED UP

That Song. I don't know if I hate it or love it.

MAGNETO!

ERIK MAGNUS LESNHARR

MY HUSBAND?!

BASTION YOU GET YOUR NASTY HANDS OFF MY MAGNETIC HUSBAND

I don't care if he has facial hair you don't touch him

Also love how Magneto has the mutant collar AND tape over his mouth

Plus cuffs around his hands sticking him to the chair

Like I understand the collar and the chair but like the tape?

This man is the master of magnetism not screaming really loud

Also you be in the middle of nowhere

Who's gonna hear him?

But once again

GET YOUR HANDS AND THAT BLADE AWAY FROM MY HUSBAND YOU D*CK

'Just obey. Just listen. You were made for this.'

Leave Erik alone.

• Maybe a few unfavorable opinions •

Erik is a holocaust victim. And jewish/german. Was treated like crap and Bastion is out here telling him that he was made to obey to be Bastion's plaything?

That he was made to be a Slave

cause I don't know if you all got that vibe from that scene but I definitely did

Especially if you know ANYTHING about Bastion

The guy makes Red Skull look sane

Bro I hope Rogue finds you and tears you a new one

Or Charles.

Or any of the X-men for that matter

Actually in my honest opinion it probably be Wolverine. Like I'm gonna call it right now. If Charles doesn't find Magento telepathically. Five bucks says somehow Wolverine does.

Or Bastion turns Magento into a sentinel

Actually don't do that

Please

Leave my somewhat questionable but trying his best to play nice with humans master of magnetism husband alone.

He deserves better

They all do

Expect Sinister.

He can die in a ditch for all I care

And Bastion ... sadly

For plot reasons we gotta sacrifice Bastion

Sorry bud

Gonna say also that Cable might have to go back in time cause I don't feel like they are going to keep Gambit dead.

But that's just me.

Thanks for reading my ranting

[ordinaryschmuck]

Quick Thoughts on the first two episodes of X-Men '97

Quick disclaimer: I wasn't a fan of the original series from the nineties. I watched all five seasons in preparation for this show and for reasons I can't explain, it just never grabbed me. When I hear people talk about how it's one of the best X-Men shows and even one of the best superhero animated shows out there, on top of Batman: The Animated Series or Spectacular Spider-Man, I was...not as into it as others were. But I was willing to keep an open mind about the revival. I like the X-Men as much as your average Marvel fan who's favorite superhero is Spider-Man could. Plus, my perspective offers a good question: Does this show offer anything of value if you're not a fan of the original series? And the answer is...Yeah, it absolutely frickin' does.

THIS was more along the lines of the show I was expecting when people talked about how great it is. A lot of what makes X-Men special is on top form here. The themes of prejudice, that anyone perceived as "other" can relate to, is on top display as the first villains we face in these two episodes are your average mutant hating humans who believe that humanity has it hard enough already without these mutants "whining" about their problems. Speaking of, the "crybabies" that humans hate share about how all they want is acceptance and the way they fear about the world judging them, their children, and the people they love. This is the bread and butter of every great X-Men story that helps makes it appealing to almost everyone. Yeah, it's cool to see mutants blow shit up as they fight aliens and robots and whatever, but if you claim the X-Men are now "too woke" because they made Morph non-binary, you haven't been paying close attention to what REALLY makes X-Men strong.

As for seeing these mutants blow shit up, you still get that in spades as the action in this show is TOP NOTCH. You got some goofy nonsense like Gambit powering up Wolverine's claws or Beast controlling a Sentinel from the inside, but also some really cool uses of everyone's powers and seeing them work as a team. I knew that the show was doing something right when they made CYCLOPS look cool. That is a very hard feat to accomplish as the first thought that comes to mind with any writer is that all Cyclops can do is shoot a laser beam. Yeah, that's what he does here too, but he's also punching and kicking people like a professional MMA fighter, using his blasts to amplify his attacks rather than being his ONLY attack. You love to see it and makes ME excited for what other kickass action we'll get in the future, because the animation is ALSO really good. It's stilted and choppy during scenes of dialogue, but it's dialogue. You don't NEED to have outstanding animation when all characters are doing is talking. The good stuff is saved for the fight scenes or for moments that just need to look a LOT more epic than they need to, and I appreciate that decision.

Another thing that's stronger is the "Soap Opera" aspect that I've heard people talk about with the original series. So many people claimed it was a soap opera for kids and...I'm going to be honest, I got that better with Gargoyles if anything else, but I feel like that aspect of the show is handled much better here. It's definitely NOT for kids, at least not for seven year olds like in the nineties. It's definitely more for OLDER kids as the series kept in mind that the target audience was going to be the adults who grew up watching this series instead of the new generation, and I feel like they're going to get a lot more than they wanted for a new series. You have Scott and Jean having a baby, Magneto leading the team, a certain person LEAVING the team, and a mind-shattering twist that leaves you wondering what could possibly come next. This show, at its best, leaves you with CHILLS during these big, dramatic moments of characters sharing their heart and souls with another or when something Earth-shattering is happening. Magneto's speech to the UN and a new anti-mutant villain was the most engaged I've been with a Marvel property since Across the Spider-Verse, holding my attention for every second to the point where I barely remembered to breath. When it was all over, I genuinely wanted there to be more.

So this revival is definitely good for someone like me who wasn't into the original series...but what about those who WERE fans? Honestly, I'm not sure how they'll feel. Almost everything seems like an improvement, but it's definitely NOT the same as the original. The animation's crisper and the writing lacks the nineties' camp for a more modern feel. It takes place almost a year after Charles Xaiver's "death," but the characters speak in a way that lacks that certain...way, you know? I like it, but will fans of the original accept it?

Plus, there are some new things that I'm not sure if X-Men fans in general are going to love. There's this weird...thing between Rogue and Magneto that feels icky and I REALLY hope they don't go there. And, without spoilers, there's this...THING that happens to Storm and it BETTER NOT be permanent. It makes sense for the story and you FEEL the weight of the drama that this moment brings, but she is too cool of a character that has this done to her. Couldn't they have done this to Morph instead? They were already screwed over in the original series, they can be screwed over again!

Overall, I'd say that X-Men '97, from these two episodes, is a good restart for this show. It brings back what fans of the original loved and improves upon it to make it more the show they idolized as kids. At least, that's my takeaway. I'm just glad to have some good X-Men content again outside of comics.

[cryptovalid]

Tolerance is Extinction does not live up to expectations

If you know me, you're aware of how I feel about X-men '97: it's a brilliant upgrade of the original run that deconstructs the politics of Charles Xavier in a nuanced and interesting way. The fifth episode remains the high point of this season though, as the three-part finale does little to surprise and in some ways even reverts the status quo.

Spoilers for Season 1 under the cut

Although the episode was competently executed with some great action scenes and dialogue, I can't help but feel like the most incendiary messages of the show are walked back slowly.

At first, I was excited to find out what Bastion's reason was for keeping Magneto around. Bastion responds to his escape with barely any annoyance, but it is not really explained what his ultimate plan was.

It was also strange to me that both the Wild Sentinel and Trask Prime proved capable of incapicitating and nearly killing multiple X-men by themselves, and neither Bastion nor other primes proved equally dangerous. By rights, E-day should have been the conclusive end of the X-men.

Apart from that, Magneto's long term plans did not make much sense to me, if only because the stakes were so vague. The show seems to suggest that Magneto's actions would permanently end electricity on earth, and nothing else. I wasn't the only one who thought the effects would be worse: the earth's magnetic field protects our atmosphere and deflects radiation: over time, the earth would become uninhabitable without it, even for most mutants.

Is Asteroid M just supposed to take in a couple of mutants at a time? Is it capable of sustaining itself? Is magneto using the situation to leverage political concessions? None of this is clear.

In the end, both Magneto and Bastion are reasoned with. Something that Magneto had previously insisted was impossible. So I feel like the show doesn't really grapple with the fact that Bastion is politically well supported: he's powerful, but both humans and world leaders are more than willing to work with him.

Both Bastion and Magneto ruin their reputation and betray their ideals in the finale, which prevents the writers from having to present their ideals to be taken seriously.

Had Bastion not immediately turned on the world leaders, he would have served his overall goal to turn humans and mutants against each other much better.

Had Magneto talked about his long term plans and how they ultimately served to protect mutants, the X-men would be forced to grapple with the fact that humans have never stopped hating and oppressing mutants because of their heroics, and presumably never will.

I believe these choices make the finale less interesting than they could have been. In my opinion it would be better if it went something like this:

Bastion was always planning to let Magneto escape, knowing he would react in the way he did.

Although he planned to anger Magneto more and release him at the perfect time, he had Sinister implant him with one of his control gems just in case (this will only be revealed in the second act).

The sentinels were intentionally weaker than Trask to avoid martyring the X-men, and in my estimation would only fight the X-men away from the public eye.

After Magneto shuts them down, the sleepers are indistinguishable from normal, dead humans.

This is used as a propaganda tool to blame the X-men for overreacting to a protest. You could have a subplot here about footage not being available in the 90's and how this is why he does this now.

The X-men all depart for Asteroid M to reason with Magneto. They can talk about the stakes more and Magneto explains his plan will save mutants and mocks Xavier's blind optimism.

Then the Avengers arrive and things escalate. We call that the Magneto protocols. Captain America or Iron Man could provoke Erik, and Sinister could activate his failsafe control.

This can result in a hectic melee in which Xavier is fighting to break Magneto's brainwashing, while several people are trying to kill Magneto, including Wolverine. Others, like Rogue, are trying to stop the killing.

Magneto is stabbed and rips the Adamantium from Logan, and Xavier discovers that the only way to break Sinister's hold over Magneto is to erase Erik's trauma. It works in tandem with the brainwashing. Hatred weakens his mind and so forth. And although he loathes to do so, he does do it: Magneto loses his memories and is convinced to restore power. Thus the seed of Onslaught is planted.

Then Prime sentinels attack, with the Avengers showing hesitation at first because they look like mind controlled civilians.

This time they are not holding back. They kill Magneto and Charles. The Primes cause Asteroid M to crash, and they have to work together to evacuate, keep the Asteroid from crashing, and take down Bastion and Sinister, who are in an American facility surrounded by primes. Maybe the Avengers clearly complain about the optics of taking a side politically: they ultimately come around, but it makes the Avengers controversial as well. Bastion will spread the rumor that they are psychically brainwashed.

Sinister activates Cable as well, and Bastion can take his arm after Phoenix manages to free him. Maybe he even kills Cable, or someone else. Given how Gambit died at the hands of his minion, it's fitting that he would prove actually dangerous.

Angered by the death toll, the remaining X-men and the Avengers team up to fight Bastion. He then surrenders. The Avengers want to take him in, but Cyclops kills him. With his dying breath, he taunts Cyclops with the fact that the dream is dead: whether he dies or is spared, anti-mutant opinion will thrive. The Avengers leave, and it's not clear where public opinion will fall.

Sure, this ending doesn't put everyone in the same place as they were, but I think it would be more effective follow-through on the themes of this season. We can set up a more radical approach for the X-men.

If you really want to do the time travel thing, we can have Bastion activate a self-destruct and have them all be missing afterward.

[irambletoomuch]

MUST READS

These are fanfiction that I feel like are must reads. Separated by Fandom. Enjoy!

MCU

🐐Death Before Inaction is literally one of the best Peter Parker fics I've ever read, if you want skewed dynamics, no slash, an OP Peter, and really good story telling this is for you.

The Anomaly is an amazing Into the Spiderverse fic that really goes into Miles character and how giving up; doing everything in your power to prevent something and then it happens anyways, can destroy you and change your perspective. And on the other side how choices can make you regret them.

Bound by a Promise to the Moon is an Avengers work that is focused on characters and relationships between people who have drifted apart. It is IronStrange but nothing in your face for the most part 💀 you can skip those parts if you don't like it😁. It really is worth the read though.

Crossovers

Gaming Spider is a MCU fic that is Peter-centric but be warned because they dropped 8 chapters on the same day in 2022 and haven't updated since. It's so entertaining because Peter just has the Gamer Power (basically Litrpg elements) and grows increasingly stronger after every encounter, and the plot makes sense and isn't only based on the system.

All of the heroes and all of the men, couldn’t save Tommy from getting kidnapped again is such a bias rec on my part, I like crossovers that are done correctly and I was a mcyt and dsmp follower (not really watcher, I can't commit to anything) and this is a story changed by the characters, where the original plot is nothing but a memory to help character development. God I love character development.

BNHA

🐐Parallax is a BNHA fic that is SI and I KNOW BUT HERE ME OUT is basically like if Todoroki was haunted by a physics loving astronomer that made him feel more like someone else, but still kept a lot of what makes him, him. It's so good, like touched me so deeply that I have a hard time explaining it.

A Study In Deceit is a BNHA fic (I know) that is SO FUNNY, basically Bakugou is BBC's Sherlock, but has hid it for all his life, he does cases on the side and turns them in anonymously to the police. It's really good if you're looking for Todoroki and Bakugou friendship.

Foresight now this, this is crack. Want a BNHA fic that speeds through the story in ways that are so funny? Want someone doing something without a clue why? READ THIS. If you know the plot of BNHA it's sometimes easy to guess why he's doing what he's doing but the reactions of other characters is sooo good.

RONIN, ronin, ronin, ronin. This thing is the best ever, BNHA, op Midoriya but now you might be scrolling past, but... It's SO GOOD, BOHB_STEVENS IS A GENIUS this fic was made to practice fighting and ohhhhh did they get plently of practice. If you like fighting scenes that are descriptive, easy to understand, and EXHILARATING read this.

Magneto is an amazingly different BNHA SI fic, where really the story stays the same but I'm a simple person and slice of life interactions can be just as fun as fighting and complicated story telling (the storytelling is good btw) . I think I you want a little angst mixed with mostly good times and crack you should read this.

Pinwheel Eyes is a BNHA if Midoriya had a quirk. But once again the story is original they aren't afraid to make unpopular decisions to keep realism, and he has to win to keep people alive, not just have plot armor. I think if you want amazing fights and to be surprised over and over with how good this is you should read it

Crossovers

🐐A Massacre of One is a BNHA/Worm crossover that is something out of a dream for me. Super long, well written, fight scenes, character development, and well done implementation of other stories elements. With quirks it makes it easy, but still the reactions of others when they figured out what happened is AHHH and the way they make them go through the story is amazing too. Big props to the writer.

Si Vis Pacem is a BNHA/John Wick fic where John Wick (would it be SI?) is reincarnated into Midoriya, and it's pretty good, ngl it updates like 3 times a year so it's been a minute since I've read it, but I remember really liking it.

Be Careful What You Ask Your God is a BNHA and Chainsaw Man crossover where once again (I know I said it wasn't the norm) the characters are the story, here they took a different approach and didn't even focus on the main characters of BNHA and just how the mc's of chainsaw man would live in that world, but the LORE (matpat😭) is interesting.

Misc.

Harry Potter

Porcupine Quills & Potion Spills A Harry Potter (Snape-centric) work. This fic is pretty good, but it's not TOP top tier. The reason it's here is because I've been looking for another fic that has this same idea but none have done it this certain way and I really like the idea. Now it is on Hiatus but its only been a few months, so they'll probably be back (man I hope so).

Crossovers

A Wand for Skitter is a Harry Potter and Worm crossover (if you haven't read worm and appreciate modern sci-fi/eldritch original works you should read it) but the characters are amazing, nothing seems cheap and the ending, THE ENDING it was so good.

Stranger Things

I really didn't mean to hurt anyone is a Stranger Things story that had Steve as Seven. The choices with the way the story is going makes sense and again the characters are so well written. His powers are original and make the story even better and even gets him into some unsavory situations.

Worm

Crossovers

🐐A Massacre of One is a BNHA/Worm crossover that is something out of a dream for me. Super long, well written, fight scenes, character development, and well done implementation of other stories elements. With quirks it makes it easy, but still the reactions of others when they figured out what happened is AHHH and the way they make them go through the story is amazing too. Big props to the writer.

A Wand for Skitter is a Harry Potter and Worm crossover (if you haven't read worm and appreciate modern sci-fi/eldritch original works you should read it) but the characters are amazing, nothing seems cheap and the ending, THE ENDING it was so good.

Kuroko's Basketball

Ball Is Life, But You Still Need To Pay Rent before anything, this work is on hiatus (it hasn't updated since 2022) it's a Kuroko's Basketball fic that is a SI but omg this si is not a John Doe he is so out of pocket I'm not gonna spoil it a lot but if you like the anime you should read this you'll have fun.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil

The Chronicles of Tanya the Fuehrer is another Tanya fic where it's after the war ends, the beginning is amazing, she does get a bit ooc in some parts but other than that the story itself is so entertaining and how they describe things and paint a picture is so beautiful.

Crossovers

A Young Girl's Guerrilla War is a Code Geass and The Saga of Tanya the Evil crossover. It's if Tanya died and was reincarnated again into code geass (another war so on brand) it's something special because it feels like an AU, which so many crossovers can't accomplish, they just follow the plot of the story with new characters without changing the world based on their characters actions. This story is Amazing and something that should become a norm within the trope.

Code Geass

Crossovers

A Young Girl's Guerrilla War is a Code Geass and The Saga of Tanya the Evil crossover. It's if Tanya died and was reincarnated again into code geass (another war so on brand) it's something special because it feels like an AU, which so many crossovers can't accomplish, they just follow the plot of the story with new characters without changing the world based on their characters actions. This story is Amazing and something that should become a norm within the trope.

MCYT/DSMP

Weapon Reforged is something everyone should experience even if they don't know the fandom (I'm not even gonna say it but don't be pushed off once you see it because the story is original and uses characters simple traits to build new ones off of) it's an amazing work of art that is near and dear to me in a big way, it hasnt updated since 2021 but you have to, HAVE TO read this.

Crossovers

All of the heroes and all of the men, couldn’t save Tommy from getting kidnapped again is such a bias rec on my part, I like crossovers that are done correctly and I was a mcyt and dsmp follower (not really watcher, I can't commit to anything) and this is a story changed by the characters, where the original plot is nothing but a memory to help character development. God I love character development.

Blue Lock

A Child's Dream is a Blue Lock fic that is the only reasonabley lengthed fic that isn't slash that I have found. Theres a lot of simping for Isagi but that's normal enough. The development is interesting and keeps you engaged and the interactions are funny and so out of left pocket most of the time.

Déjà Vu is a Blue Lock fic that is probably abandoned, but the idea and execution make up for it, it's also short so don't worry about slogging through 100,000 words then figuring out it's abandoned. It's kind of crack-like but more serious than you would expect.

Miraculous Ladybug

(pockets full of) Stones is a Miraculous Ladybug one shot that is somewhat tear inducing and very realistic. Want a AroAce Adrien Agreste? READ THIS