#shatterstar: help you

[pantsaretherealheroes]

this is not in the text but i'm going to assume that dopinder and shatterstar/rusty are a couple by the time of wade's party, after wade saved the xforce team, and he and vanessa were the two that stuck around with him (this is how he met dopinder)

this is not supported at all but it will make me feel less insane as to why wade counts rusty as one of his closest family/whole world people when he was literally just a two scene joke in dp2 where deadpool didn't particularly like him (i love that they brought him back i'm just so so confused)

[do-you-ship-this-comic-ship]

propaganda:

Because they help each other learn and grow! Because they have the most wonderful journey from friends to boyfriends to lovers, one of the greatest relationship success stories told through the collaborative journey of Big Two comics. Because they're the ultimate Battle Couple!

Super iconic ship in queer comics history, plus Rob Liefeld was mad about it and that's always a plus

[aberfaeth]

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul

[dimension 20: fantasy high, Jace/Porter, missing scenes, coworkers with benefits to ???. ch 1/5, 3.5k.]

“If someone finds us here, I will not cast a single spell to stop them,” Jace says. “You draw attention like that, you clean it up.” Porter leisurely snaps an arcane lock onto the office door. He stops and looks back at Jace. In the moonlight seeping through the window, his face is wrought half of flesh, half of shadow. His eyes gleam bloody red as the sun. Jace’s body throbs, a furious heartbeat head to toe. He tells himself it’s a faulty response, some pulse of magic from the shatterstar in his chest. He tells himself that it’s not the sense-memory of straddling Porter’s thigh two nights ago, biting his mouth open till it turned the same shade of rage-hot red. “If someone finds us here, I’ll break their spine,” Porter says calmly. “And you’re certainly welcome to watch. Now, how do we draw this circle?” *** Five rituals, over the course of nine months.

so i've written prose for the first time in literally six months and it's about the antagonists who've had two canon scenes together. god bless!!! basically jade @jadeandquartzes and i were like, hey, what if porter needed jace's help to not die all those times he did the ambrosia thing? and also they had a terrible horrible situationship? &then we wrote so so many words about it. it’s gonna be five chapters, one uploaded each day until the fhjy finale drops. hope you enjoy!!

read don't give it a hand, offer it a soul here!

[zukkacore]

Crossposted to ao3

The morning after Frosty Fair Festival, Jace summons Porter to the principal’s office.

“I’ve been VP for five minutes, and I find out that one of the fucking Bad Kids is taking three simultaneous years of artificer class? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You can’t pin that on me, Stardiamond.” Porter’s laugh is easygoing, and he’s only half paying attention as he watches the smoke trail from the cigarette he’s waving around. “I tried to dissuade him. He put himself through that.”

“But you won’t sign his MCAT. Do you want his annoying little truant friend to hate you?”

Porter laughs. “Miss Faeth isn’t a truant, I’ve been taking attendance for her in barbarian classes nearly every day."

He takes a long drag. “Of course you have.”

“Miss Faeth hates me no matter what I do. If she hasn’t caught on to what’s going on by now, I think you can breathe. Besides, I like a challenge. Something you could stand to learn.”

He tries to take another drag, but his hands are shaking, he’s so mad. There’s a clenching in his chest where the shatterstar is placed, then a pain that radiates outward. He winces. “Be it from me to question your teaching methods, but. Do you know what the Bad Kids did to the last vice principal?”

“Hey. I brought you back once. I can do it again.”

“I—” He doesn’t want to talk about that right now. He’s not ready to talk about it. “Tell me, does getting chewed out by a devil because one of his best bloodrush players is swamped sound like a good time to you? Jawbone recommended I look into xanax, that’s how wired I’ve been. And that was before I got ‘promoted’.”

“I’m sure you could get your hands on some if you attended one of his orgies.”

“Go to hell.”

“Likewise.”

They glare back and forth. Jace is used to getting into tiffs with Porter, but this—this is real.

 When he opens his mouth, his voice is quiet. “I don’t see why you can’t just sign the kid’s fucking MCAT.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the whole impassioned speech,” says Porter, “It’s nice to see you actually riled up about something once in your silver-spoon life, maybe finally you’ll start giving a fuck.”

“I’m not riled up,” says Jace, but he’s working to keep his voice steady.

He’s used to the assumptions about his life, and he’d much rather keep up appearances than let a soul know about his estranged parents or the mind that’s trying to kill him. That’s the thing about sorcery—when your power is innate, you can never stop being grateful. If things are fucked, they could always, always be worse. He has to be unassuming. He likes being unassuming, because a gift is not a threat. And if his student’s can see that this scary thing they can’t help doesn’t have to rule their life, then, yeah, he’s ok with being a little bit of a joke.

At least, he was ok with it, before Porter Cliffbreaker broke him and shoved a shatterstar into his gaping chest wound and gave him a choice: rage or oblivion? He made his choice. He can’t back out now. So doesn’t Porter see he’s trying to look out for him? “I just think it would make things so much easier—”

“For who? You? Pardon me for treading on your cushy little gig.”

“Oh, we’re way past that.” Eight months past, to be exact. His mind is drifting back fondly to bleeding out in the Mountain’s of Chaos. He’s grateful that it’s so early in the morning, that no one is around to cast Detect Thoughts.

“Thistlespring could use a little tough love. That’s just the way I teach, now that you’re in charge, you’re gonna have to deal with it. He’s an orc, Stardiamond—barbarism is in his blood. He just needs to apply himself. I mean, you’ve seen the kid play bloodrush, he’s a beast.”

He grimaces. Something about the way Porter is speaking, he can’t place it, but he feels sick to his stomach.

“Right,” says Porter, clearly misjudging the expression on his face. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to show a little school spirit.”

Jace laughs sharply.

“Well. He’s a beast you’re gonna find yourself on the wrong side of if you don’t watch yourself. You know how The Bad Kids are—they worm their way into everything, and the goblin that Kipperlily hates, he’s the worst of all. You know, he ate—Forget it. I just. I don’t want you getting—” He stops just short of saying it. As much as Porter has personally fucked him over, he’s in it too deep. Despite everything, Jace cares about him. He’s just so tired of trying to make things work. “If… this plan is so important to you, you have to be a little more tactful and a little less—you.”

“You think I can’t take care of myself, Stardiamond?” Porter flashes an infuriating grin.

“I didn’t say that. I just said… Be careful.”

“I appreciate the feedback and the personal concern, veep, but trust me when I say you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way with this one.”

His face is burning up, and he’s certain he’s a humiliating shade of red. Jace doesn’t even have to say anything. Porter knows what a low blow that is.

“Yeah, well,” mutters Jace. “Multiclassing is not for everyone.”

“Right.”

Jace is a good sorcerer. So good that it’s hard to articulate to his students what to him is second nature. He’s not the kind of teacher who does lesson plans precisely because he was never the kind of student who needed to study. It’s eerie how much Porter in these moments reminds him of his own teacher—the kind of teacher who praises his natural gifts all day and was absolutely resistant to him looking into other classes because he viewed it as a waste, as noncommittal, as proof of his lack of dedication. 

Jace never got his MCAT signed. And he was… not prepared for the sheer volume of work required for even early level wizardry. He wanted it; he wanted to be the kind of dedicated person who could put in the work. Maybe his teacher had been right, maybe he wasn’t very bright, and maybe he hadn’t been cut out to be a wizard, but it did feel a little like he was thrown in the deep end and told to swim just to prove a point. He’s always been a slave to his impulses. And in the end, he ran back to sorcery where they welcomed him back with open arms because it felt good to be good at something.

He can feel the thrum of the shatterstar in his chest, anger coupled with shame. He hates himself for being Jace Stardiamond. He’s always taken the path of least resistance. 

He’s not even sure he could call himself a good sorcerer anymore. He’s never been the kind of wizardly person who innately finds the joy of learning and discovery. He’s never found it all that rewarding. But sorcery does require a kind of self-knowledge, a certainty of oneself that he hasn’t felt in a long time. Whoever he is right now is a stranger, buried under several feet of bitterness and self-loathing.

“What’s it to you? You don’t even give a fuck about your own students, have you gotten a soft heart about little Thistlespring all of a sudden?”

“I don’t give a fuck about Thistlespring! Don’t you get it?”

“Look, if he confronts me on it, I’ll sign the damn MCAT. Happy? I was only resistant at first because—well, I mean, have you heard that ridiculous song he sings? The kid’s not very bright.”

He doesn’t answer.

“I’ll get it done if it means that much to you. C’mere.”

Porter takes Jace by the hands, pulling him in so that he can wrap his arms around Jace’s waist.

“We’re at school—” says Jace, but his protests are half-hearted. He turns his head, and he can feel Porter’s lips press up against his cheek.

“Listen to me.” Porter takes his face in his hands. “I have everything under control. The Bad Kids are nothing, Jace. Trust me. They’re twig gremlins. Maybe I got a little overinvested. I can’t help it, I need recruits, and the kid’s a natural. But that’s not everything. He’s too… Too timid. Afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Embracing his power.”

“Are… Are we still, um—” Porter’s gaze on him is so intense, Jace forgets what he’s saying. But that drive that he sees in Porter, that deep need to push, to optimize, to always be the best—it’s always been a source of deep frustration for Jace. But he can’t deny those are the same traits that make Porter so easy to admire. Maybe it’s just a wish, but he swears he can see the same admiration mirrored in Porter’s expression.

He can feel himself being reeled back in. His life is currently a living hell, but something in him has always felt compelled to be worthy of Porter’s admiration.   

He wishes he could be the kind of person Porter wants him to be. He worries that there is no ascendant version of him, that this really is all his potential, plain and simple. But he’ll try. For Porter, he wants to be great.

They can hear footsteps on the other side of the door. Time for school.

Porter is quick to change gears. He coughs, clearing his throat as Jace is quick to step away. “Tell you what—I’ll get that straightened away, Stardiamond. I’ll sign the papers. Things were a little rocky at first, but you know what? He earned it, after the damn display of frosty fair. He’ll make a great… adventurer.” He’s watching. “You know. When the time comes.”

Jace sighs, but it does nothing to help release the tension in his chest. Yeah. Frosty fair. He has to make the announcement about that soon. He can feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.

Porter kisses him, but Jace is quick to brush him away and toward the door. “You need to go.”

Porter grins, and Jace can feel his heart skipping like he’s some teen adventurer with a schoolyard crush. “Tell me some things aren’t worth a little risk.”

“Well, I have to give a speech,” says Jace, following Porter out of the office. Jawbone waves at them, and Jace nods as he shuts the door behind them.

“Hey. You’re gonna knock it out of the park, alright?” He gives Jace a punch in the shoulder, and it’s so awkward that Jace would be charmed by it in any other circumstance. Like they’re amicable co-workers and not the bad guys. Like they’re not intertwined, Porter’s rage making a comfy little home in his ribcage. “We’re all looking to you, now, Stardiamond. It’s a heavy burden, but I can’t think of anyone else I’d trust more to handle the responsibility.”

Jace doesn’t bother to check his insight. If Porter says it, he’s ready to believe it.

[sweetlytempests]

porter dies. porter wakes up, confused. it's the day of the ritual again. somehow he's gone back to relive his last day. perfect. he has the information already, he knows ankarna's name, he knows what needs to be done to get things done quickly and more efficiently. so he does it, and it's still a close fight, but in the end, he succeeds. the ritual succeeds, he feels the power of a god start to flow through him- porter wakes up, confused. it's the day of the ritual again. and so this goes on and on. a seemingly endless time loop of his final day. sometimes he lives, sometimes he dies again. sometimes he walks away from the entire thing and just removes himself completely from the narrative. just to see what happens. doesn't make a difference. he wakes again the same morning. dying once can be humbling. dying over and over and over and over is extremely humbling. humbling enough to start you down a character arc, a transformation if you will, from canon one-dimensional angry dumb villain to a character with complex emotions, a few brains cells to rub together, and the capacity to love. it takes a long ass time, though, it's a big transformation to undergo. but bit by bit, he does. the question, though. how does it end? how does he get out of this cycle? what signifies the conclusion of his character arc? well here's the thing. this is all jace stardiamond's fault. jace stardiamond, who survived. jace stardiamond, who bargained with ankarna for porter's soul. jace stardiamond, who was willing to give up everything and anything for this because even without the influence of the shatterstar, he's still kind of crazy. kind of obsessed in the most unhealthy ways. and ankarna took some pity on him. so she said, "he has to prove himself worthy of my forgiveness. worthy of this life you're so desperate to give him." jace doesn't know what that entails because honestly it doesn't matter. he won't remember, he can't help. porter has to work this out himself. but it's this: if porter can survive the cycle, if he can seem to change enough to maybe warrant forgiveness, ankarna appears to collect her price for this. jace's soul. and this is the final test. if he lets ankarna take jace, he fails. if he tries to fight her for him, he fails. if he bargains for both of them, he fails. there is only one way, and it's to offer himself in jace's place. to beg for jace's life like jace did for his. to match the devotion and desperation and pain and love. only then do they get to live again. both of them. and it takes a long, long time to get there. but they do. it's all love now.

[veryace-ficrecs]

X-Men Found Family Fic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

Scott's Life is Hard by yellow_caballero - Rated G

Scott cares a lot less about leading the X-Men then he does about getting the kids to school on time. Wrangling a mansion full of teenagers is the work of a lifetime, but Scott's not going anywhere. Sometimes love has to be enough. And somehow Scott's father of the year. In which bees are a novelty to ex-brainwashed apocalypse assasins, rotating groups of teenagers makes breakfast increasingly complicated, Magneto reads the daily newspaper, and Scott is the supreme god king dictator of 20 frightened mutant teenagers.

We Are Not Alone by WhiteravenGreywolf - Rated T

After escaping their cage, the group struggles to find their place in the world, all the while being pursued by the Essex Corporations who does not like to lose assets, even if those assets are a couple of rebellious teenagers.

When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open by versaphile - Rated M

More than anything else, David wants to believe he's not sick because that means he isn't crazy. It means he can fall in love and live happily ever after. But if he surrenders to that hope and he's wrong, then there's no coming back. The Shadow King is victorious, but the battle for David Haller’s soul has only begun. David fails to escape Division 3's intervention and is forced into therapy. With his relationships ruined, his mind split, and his past a lie, death seems like the only choice left. But Farouk is pulling the strings to keep him alive. As David's friends and family work desperately to save him, David must reclaim his past and present to avoid losing his future to the monster who destroyed him.

I'll Close My Mouth (I Won't Say a Word) by Shaderose - Rated T

"Knowing that he doesn't belong. Because he doesnt, doesn't fit into the clean, sleek environment, with his too sharp frame and his dirtied, ripped up sneakers. His old tattered clothes, and his skin riddled with scars. Imperfections. Flaws. A man of loud, harsh words and bruised knuckles, quick fingers and slick feet, in a world of softness, gentle and quiet. Of course he doesn't belong. Why would he? This isn't his home. And yet, Mrs. Kaplan, with her too warm eyes and her too gentle smile, tells him, "Welcome home," anyways. Yeesh." -- A story about friends, family, insecurities, truth and, most importantly, the true meaning of love.

A Day in the Life by SeaSpectre160 - Rated G

Amidst all the discussion and controversy over the 'mutant threat', one reporter goes to the mutants themselves to get their perspective.

(Take It) All Away by Sweetbriar15 - Rated T

Certain they would turn him away, but knowing nowhere else to go, Lance approaches the X-men for help when his team is stricken ill.

Hold my hand and float back to the summer time by caughtinanocean - Rated T

Julio and Shatterstar learn how to come home, and what you do after. “‘Star, have you ever thought about...doing something else?” “Well, there was televised combat in an arena,” Shatterstar says, “and we just led a revolution.” Julio looks at the floor underneath his socked feet. He feels sort of stupid saying this aloud. “I mean, like. Normal stuff.” “Normal stuff,” Shatterstar echoes. “Huh.”

Ringer by Crewe - Rated G

"Guess what I just did," Bobby said, ignoring him to reach around and get a finger on the side of the bowl. With a little concentration, frost spread out from the point of contact across the bowl and the ice cream inside refroze. Warren begrudgingly lowered his shoulder to give him another bite in exchange for services rendered. "What," he said flatly, elbowing Bobby until he slid off of him and onto the stool beside. "I got Scott to play a game," he said archly. "He's outside being, like, really intense about horseshoes." -- Scott starts playing horseshoes, and he just doesn't think to stop. His friends don't notice, until they do.

Lost and Found by ManicRavingsofaLunatic - Rated T

Alex rescues a kid from one of Trask's facilities; a kid that trusts him implicitly and looks to Alex for protection. The last time Alex was trusted with a such a burden he failed. But that Scott and this Scott are definitely not the same person. And Alex won't fail again this time. Basically, this is the story of how Alex found Scott

Don't Be Afraid by flightinflame - Rated T

A lot of people fear Jean for her telepathy. But Charles never will.

Home Sweet Home by PUNK_MENACE - Rated G

Set after "Greetings from Genosha". X-Men are trained mutants, ready to fight whatever evil may try to hurt humankind or mutantkind. Which means that instead of sulking around the mansion they detected Mystique's presence on the island and managed to save Kurt. He wasn't left unscathed, though.

In These Ever Changing Times by saekhwa - Rated G

There are two things Armando knows, even one death and twenty years later: he's an X-Man, and he'll always have Alex's back.

For Just One Day Let's Only Think About Love by Duck_Life - Rated T

Sometimes, even a runaway bride isn't enough to deter a wedding after-party. Set immediately following X-Men Gold #30. Welcome to Rogue and Remy's reception.

Christmas Traditions by Ava_DAlain - Rated T

It’s the time of year that brings people together to celebrate, reflect, and create lasting memories…Maybe even some new traditions. A fluff-filled collection of one-shots, ficlets, and drabbles featuring Rogue, Gambit, and the rest of the X-Men, just for fun. Tags will be updated to reflect new chapters.

Raising Laura by LucasGreenX23 - Rated M

What if Project X-23 had been delayed several years? Beaten and abused to breed out all emotion, lead to believe that she was nothing more than a weapon to be used, a much younger X-23 has never known the concept of kindness. Then the man known as Wolverine arrived with his X-Men, and suddenly, the little mutant is faced with her greatest challenge yet… being part of a family.

The Brotherhood of (very nice) Mutants by AetherBunny - Rated G

“Pete? Can I ask you something?” “Sure, anything.” Scott looked at him for a moment and then seemed to change his mind. Scott and Pietro miss their siblings and Pete is a very good surrogate big brother. Scott gives Pete a good idea and Pete gets his sister back. This is going in the "I'm just going to keep adding Wanda" collection, but it has nothing to do with the other fics in it. It's just, you know, I added Wanda...

Desperado, Why Don't You Come To Your Senses by WretiaBlue - Rated T

Come down from your fences, open the gate It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you You better let somebody love you Let somebody love you before it's too late. Desperado, Eagles 1973 ~~~ Or: Gambit joins the X-Men. Maybe things won't turn out so bad after all.

Uncanny X-Men 1943 by stellarose - Rated M

X-Men AU. Emma Frost runs Division X, a classified squad within the secretive Special Operations Executive based in London. It isn't their job to win the war, only to save those they can. Emma's squad of Psylocke, Angel, Logan and Fantomex set out of rescue three mutants trapped in occupied and increasingly hostile France. But when the mission takes a turn for the worse, Emma and the team must decide if they cut their losses, or fight twice as hard to bring everyone home.

New Moon by digeridoo - Rated M

Logan is left to babysit a mansion full of mutant kids for the weekend while the rest of the X-Men are on conference to boost mutant acceptance.

Eulogy by Secret_Pizza_Party - Rated G

The mansion is too full of ghosts—the dead ones, and the living. The inhabitants move through rooms, move past one another as if they’ve become insubstantial, incapable of interacting. A haunting that no one can find a way to fit to words. ------ After the events of Episode 5, the X-Men gather together to say final farewells to those they've lost.

Familial ties by Multifandom_damnation - Rated T

Peter knows his father is Magneto no matter how much he tries to deny it, and even though Kurt doesn't know who his mother is, Professor X is more than happy to help him figure it out. I think it's about time we rejoined some families, don't you?

BROTHERS AND CATS by Honmyo_Seagull - Rated T

The one where Gabby gets to meet Gambit’s cats, where the Cajun fears Daken might be his evil twin and quotes Shakespeare, where Bullseye would just like people to let him do his job, where Laura might remain oblivious of certain events but still spends a pretty good day.

Sweet Home Alabama by Rachel_Martin64 - Rated T

On the way back to Alkali Lake, Scott saves a life along the highway and gets his own life saved in return. This story starts at the beginning of X3, when Scott leaves the mansion, and immediately goes AU. If you hated the way X3 treated Scott, this story's for you.

[diocletianscabbagefarm]

Wait, no, this Kalina thing is driving me slightly insane I feel like I need to write it out rather than do shower-thought-analysis.

- Kalina was pretty adversarial with Kristen at the start over what their plans should be, but that seems pretty understandable considering A) they were literally fighting to the death the year before when she was the NMK’s familiar B) her goddess existence - and by extension her own - was super precarious (or “instantly killable” as she put it) with only two followers, with the cleric kinda dropping the ball on their responsibility to spread Cassandra’s worship. Cassandra was noticeably anxious about straight-up dying, and Kalina was forceful on her behalf in advancing the argument since Cassandra was afraid and hesitant to be pushy about it C) Her character trait is being a petty bitch like that and honestly good for her; maybe she was even trying to be Cassandra’s favorite over Kristen but that’s just inside politics.

- Kalina advocated going to the mall, which is where the attacks took place and that can be construed as suspicious or purposeful, as the Bad Kids concluded later in the season. However it could also just be a story excuse for Brennan to get them at the mall to use the battlemap, and there are some alleviating factors; before the attack Kalina went to Adaine at the strudel bar to ask her if she could get Kristen to come (if she orchestrated the attack it would’ve been better to keep a high level cleric absent), and as Cassandra was initially affected by the shatterstars she again told her to get Kristen there asap. During the attack Brennan described multiple times through insight checks that Kalina was horrified, stressed and panicked.

- She threw herself in the path of a shatterstar headed for Cassandra (bloodily piercing through her paws to halt it), and even then first rushed to heimlich the shrimp out of Cassandra’s throat before the rage effect took hold (her eyes go red) and she says she liked Cassandra more when she was the NMK and slits her throat. Before being affected by the shatterstar she also quickly shouts out Ragh’s name as a hint to the Bad Kids to help them solve the mystery.

- Aelwyn said Kalina had come to her to modify the spy’s tongue curse so that it’d work on herself (being a non-humanoid) at some point near the end of freshman year (so before the Bad Kids destroyed her in Sophomore), so working together with Porter seems to have been an old plot from back when she was the NMK’s familiar rather than a recent thing. Aelwyn also mentioned she seemed rather pissed about needing it, and of course she mentioned Ragh’s name already to try and lead the Bad Kids down a trail of questions that’d end up pointing them to Porter (how did Ragh become able to see Kalina -> barbarian healing)

- In Baron’s Game she manages to push through the rage to repeat Ragh’s name again, and then when Cassandra offers her a moment of clarity she clarifies the hint (“it’s the only name I can say��) and < SNAPS! HER OWN! NECK! < in order to not be a threat to the Bad Kids anymore, like how hardcore do you want your sacrifice to help the heroes be because even if you can be brought back, that one is pretty hardcore.

- The Bad Kids discover some medicine in Porter’s desk to help with cat allergies. Could be recent, but could also be old from when they worked together in the past. This seems to be what leads the Bad Kids to conclude Kalina is still evil, but I can also construe it as Brennan trying to offer confirmation they correctly identified the link between Kalina and Porter.

Like, with all this I find it kinda hard to square Kalina was being evil and working against Cassandra; her actions at the start of the season speak more of protectiveness and anxiety, and after being shatterstarred she used every opportunity available to help the Bad Kids crack the mystery, why would the final reveal be she was actually still a villain - why actively sabotage herself, without any payoff? I can understand her to be bad if all she did was trick Cassandra into going to the mall in the astral, and that was the end of her role in the season, but she did so, so much afterwards to help the Bad Kids. To me this speaks at most of her having been a participant in the past, prior to being reconstituted, unless I am missing something major.

The logical followthrough for a Senior Year season - if it were to happen - would be to run with the thread that accusing her of being evil was a hasty judgement, and that because Ankarna was all to happy to smite her wife’s cat she never liked (even at the end Cassandra meekly protested, but was overruled by everybody), Kalina knew to make herself scarce. Great story potential, with the reason for the Kalina-Buddy teamup being that though wrongfully accused she was now on the run and grabbed the nearest ally to hand. Being able to be summoned by Bakarath could indicate Kalina was forcibly disowned from Cassandra as her familiar, and if I were a familiar unceremoniously dumped like that because someone else said you’re bad, I too would probably become the champion of a tiny god of rage because I’d sure be a teensy upset about it. Imagine the potential emotional payoff and catharsis to resolving such a false accusation during the story, Brennan doing one of his monologue things, and proving the faith Cassandra seems to have in her familiar correct despite everyone else insisting otherwise. I really really really hope that’s the direction they take it, rather than doubling down she was bad the whole time (fully ignoring the ways her help was integral to sabotaging the plot) and randomly slaughtering her in a Night Yorb treatment.

[xplainthexmen]

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Episode 461 - Things to Do in Denver When You're X-Force

In which Magneto may be right but is also wildly impractical; X-Force goes on a sneaking mission; Magneto isn’t mad, he’s just disappointed; Rictor and Shatterstar return; Strong is not a common surname in the Marvel universe; and being a mutant on TV doesn’t mean you’re one in the comics.

X-PLAINED:

How Jubilee became a vampire

The most X-treme youth of them all

X-Force 94-95

X-Force Annual 1999

Genosha

Butler disambiguation

Clown jobs

A team-up predicated on an awkward breakup

Hammer Town

Delphi

Memory boxes

Several potential continuity error

Names

Genoshan robots

Archie

A hierarchy of potential fates

Vershiagen Industries and/or Vershlagen Industries

V2

Hanrancha

Stronghold

Martin Strong

Freddie

Michelle Balters (Neurotap) (more) (again)

Communication with X-teams

A sudden and depressing resolution

Continuity across media

Why Gambit doesn’t (usually) throw tarot cards

NEXT EPISODE: The Return of the Hellions (kinda)

The visual companion to this episode will be up later this week!

Find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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[gh0stsp1d3r]

Pretty boy pt 2

Part 1-

So when you left, you didn’t actually leave. You had followed Hobie, sneaking around behind him. You saw him meet up with two others, and narrowed your eyes.

“Domino? Shatterstar? Jane?” You mumbled.

(Jane is weasel)

“She uh… slipped away..” Hobie said.

“Bullshit.” You mumbled, he had let you slip away.

Pavitr groaned “Bro, this is why we said we were gonna help. We’ll just… regroup tomorrow, Miguel will probably understand.”

“Yeah.” Gwen said, and the three of them grabbed the large cells, the three of your teammates banging on it and yelling.

They walked up to the portals, and you quickly ran up into the one Hobie went into.

You crouched behind him, luckily they were in the room with all the anomaly’s. Hobies eyes widened, and he looked back to see you. His spider sense going wild.

They set them down and went to go debrief. Hobie glanced one more look at you before leaving.

Once you were sure they had left, you went over to domino, Weasel and Shatterstar

“Holy sh- are you guys alright?”

“They beat our asses.” Shatterstar mumbled, sitting down defeated.

“Hey, c’mon. They’re good. Don’t worry, I’m gonna break you guys out.”

“We tried.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, and grabbed your katanas from your back, trying to slice through it.

Your katanas broke, and you groaned in annoyance. Great.

A Rhino behind you snickered at you, and you flipped him off.

You sat against the cell, waiting for something.

“What are you doing?” Weasel asked.

“Waiting.”

“For what? They’ll just put you in a cell.”

“One of them won’t.”

—————————————————————-

You waited for a while, and then you heard someone mumble your name. He webbed up the camera beforehand.

You came out from the hiding spot, giant smirk on your face.

“Did you fuckin’ follow me?”

“Had to. Can’t resist my British men.” You said the last part in a mock accent, to which he scoffed at.

“No, I just had to find my friends, who are clearly..” you pointed to them.

“Yeah. Nothin’ personal.” He shrugged. “You all need to go back to your universes.”

“Oh, come on, where’s the fun in that..?” You took off your mask, and batted your eyelashes at him.

“Nope. That ain’t gonna work on me-“

“Worked on you last time.” You said, and in an instant were next to him.

“It ain’t workin’. Nope.” He went to web you up, but instead he hit the walls, because you dodged his webs and grabbed his hands.

You kissed his cheek “Aww. Can’t believe that you would do that to me.” You pouted at him. He stared at you, and moved his hands away.

“All right. Jus’… this is only cause I’m not following orders from Miguel.” He mumbled, and took a few minutes to get everyone out of their cells, and getting them their watches.

“So sweet. You’re such a sweet boy, you know?” You teased.

He swallowed, and looked the other way.

“Sure you don’t wanna take up that offer?” You asked him, turning to your team who was waiting on you.

“Can’t.” He shook his head.

“That’s too bad..”

Then his watch started to beep, along with your guys. A message popped up.

“Anomaly breakout.”

Hobie looked at you guys and sighed. “Can’t believe I’m bout to do this, come on, there’s another way out.”

He led you to a room, a quiet small one with a door in the back, behind all the anomaly’s.

“There’s sensors, so jus’ follow my steps.” He said, and walked carefully. You could tell that he’s been here lots of times before.

Everyone else had gone successfully, while you had accidentally made on wrong step.

A bunch of guns came out from the walls, and pointed at you.

They all looked at you with a “are you serious?” Face.

“Oops….?” All the guns started to shoot at you, you dodged a few, doing cartwheels and just having fun while doing so, but also got shot a few times.

The holes quickly fixed themselves up.

“Ow, too bad I didn’t have my katanas or I would’ve like… destroyed all of them.” You said, and stepped to where everyone else was.

Hobie just stared, in shock.

“Why do I even bother with you anymore.” Shatterstar rolled her eyes as she began walking in front of Hobie, he still just stared.

“Got a staring problem?” You said, he just rolled his eyes.

“Nah, I was staring at the floor. Dunno what you mean.” And continued to walk.

“So… how the hell do we leave now?” Shatterstar said, she had reached the exit, but the only problem was that the exit was a 30 story fall down, one only a spider person could get down from.

“Hobieee..” you sung, and looked at him.

He glared at you, looking down and looking at you again.

“This is fucking mad. Can’t believe I’m still doin’ this.” He grabbed you, and you yelped in shock when he started to fly through the air, you hid in his chest, he just focused on getting you all down.

He then went back for the others, having trouble with Domino specifically, who had refused to be carried by him. But eventually and hesitantly agreed.

Shatterstar was also saying no at first, saying that he was below her. He just rolled his eyes and picked her up anyways.

“There, you all happy now?” He said.

“Yes we are. Thank you.” You kissed his cheek again.

“So.. back home it is for us..” Jane mumbled.

“Yeah. I guess so.” You set the watch to your guys world, and looked back at Hobie.

“If you ever want, here ya go.” You handed him a small ripped piece of paper, with the words “world 10890.” (Jus made sum up LMFAOO)

The paper had small smiley faces, and hearts, along with some unicorns on it, and a horribly drawn stick figure you saying “come visit (::”

He just stared at you, then he leaned over, and gave you a proper kiss.

“Yeah.. I’ll come visit.” He mumbled, putting the paper in his pocket as you smiled.

“Till next time, pretty boy.” You saluted him as you backed up into the portal.

——————————————————————

Tag list:

@enviinotes @rayis-psychotic @korizzybee @animechick555 @stupid-ninja @rreasonablydumbb @xxqueen-of-horrorxx @spidypunkk @criodzasn

@techta @1eonk @chipstermation6 @whosace16 @ @l-pandamatic-l

@spider-phoenix @zebralover @my-melo-gf @wiz-te-ria @tzuyuzzs @luvsaluv @mxkn

@deputy-videogamer @666kpopfan @jared-oranges @likelilac @jjkclub

@kitty-kei @blaxk-widow @hoesindifferentshows @lavsluvsu @lampylamperson @artsykerfuffleplus @notbluees @sp0kyzz @arlipooh @freeingrebels @ken-zah @blustalker @cursedbitchboy @romanoffswoman

@chaoticevilbakugo @hobiebrainrot @anonima-2

[italicized-oh]

this isn't done but it is happening and i want to get revenge on @anonymouslylovesyou for bringing this to me. enjoy. a shatterstar ceremony ritual wedding fic snippet

When Jace wakes up, he is looking at the night sky. It’s hot, and dry, and he is alone alone alone–

When Jace wakes up, he’s in the cool damp of a long-abandoned temple. Defaced friezes line the walls, rocks are crumbling around him, and he is alone alone alone–

When Jace wakes up. Because he will. Eventually. Soon, even. Probably. 

-----------

He is alone. His chest hurts. His head hurts, too, and there’s a FLASH–

“You look beautiful.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

He is alone. His head hurts. And his chest hurts, for that matter, and–

“I find it deeply ironic that you made me wear white for this.”

“Well I find you deeply ironic.”

“That’s not…okay. Fine. Yes.”

He’s alone, but he wasn’t before, he could’ve sworn just now that–

“Isn’t it taboo to officiate your own wedding?”

“This ain’t a wedding, starshine.”

“Right.”

-----------

Fuck, everything hurts, and he gropes blindly at his chest– wait. Blindly?

Jace can feel Porter’s laugh rumble where his back is pressed against Porter’s chest. The muscles of Porter’s arms flex, Jace feels a rib crack, feels hot breath gust across the shell of his ear, feels–

Everything fucking hurts. There’s a ringing in his ears, and he can’t see–

Jace watches as Porter places spell components in the spots Jace points to. Watches, because Jace himself is in the center of the arcane circle, in white linen, and is Not Allowed to help. He doesn’t know why, and he doesn’t care. It just has to work.

Even his mouth hurts, oh god, and there’s blood when he touches his fingers to his nose–

Porter moves gracefully. Jace always forgets that. Control, subtlety, all smooth motion and close-knit muscles. Maybe that’s why Jace always has to look at him. Because he’s always forgetting. Porter places myrrh on a rock, frowns, and then adjusts it so it sits slightly more in the center. Jace watches.

-----------

He must be having a heart attack. Sudden pain to the chest, labored breathing, rushing blood, impending doom, and–

“Wait. You want to put that. In me.”

Porter snorts. “That’s what she said.”

Jace sighs. Waits.

“It’s not really gonna be in you. It’s more that it’s gonna become you.”

He’s dying. He is dying? He has died. He was dying. He’s dead. He’s–

“I swear to–”

“Who, sweetheart? God?"

Porter shoves him into the cab of the truck and hits the lock. Jace doesn’t even think to Teleport away.

He died. And now?

“I’m the only god you’re gonna get, baby. Best start worshiping.”

(part 2 here)

[iaus]

Watching Releves where Will takes Abigail to her dad's hunting cabin...

And thinking about a revived Lucy and Jace and she asks him to take her to lake shimmerstone and they have this weird moment where Lucy's just.

You could have helped us. You weren't always shatterstarred and Jace has such a weird reaction to it because he's never really been that attached to Lucy before.

She (like Kipperlilly) was more of Porter's attempt to make a protege but now he can feel this. Wretched connection with her because they were always doomed. Once Kipperlilly got in Porter's orbit Lucy was always going to end up here.

It's familiar.

The things you do for the people you love.

But Lucy... Lucy is a child and she was stronger than him. How can he ever look at her again knowing that?

[lucyfrostblade]

📓👗 for whichever rat grinders you feel like !!

headcanon ask game !!

i tried to do it for everyone but buddy and mary ann got left out. if someone submits this for them i will do it but thinking is hard rn

kipperlilly

📓 A headcanon about their hobbies

angry baker kipperlilly copperkettle will always be famous to me. i think the nature of baking, just how precise you have to be and the fact that there a correct way to bake (in contrast to cooking), would make it something she can do to help destress.

more generally, i think she needs something tactile to do as a hobby. she needs something to get with her hands, and just get out some of her anger, at least the seething and simmering sort, by making something.

post-shatterstar, i cannot imagine kipperlilly has many hobbies

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

kipperlilly's closet is half-fillled with lucy's clothes. they never really shared clothes because one of them is a halfling and the other is a goliath frost genasi so it wouldn't really work out, but they spent the night and each other's houses often enough that it just made sense to leave clothes with each other instead of packing a bag every time.

after lucy died, kipperlilly packed away all of her clothes and put them somewhere she wouldn't have to see them except for one sweater. she had that one unwound and commissioned a few sweater vests made from it. if asked about this, she will deny it.

ivy (answered here but i think doing more is fun)

📓 A headcanon about their hobbies

i think ivy hunts. not just as a ranger thing, but as something she started doing with her parents when she was younger. her childhood memories often start before the sun is up in some freezing cold forest while she nocked an arrow and aimed it at a deer. she'll say it's a practical thing when asked but truthfully, she keeps it up because of a sense of nostalgia.

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

the way ivy dresses at school is not at all the way she dresses when she's out with the rat grinders in the woods. she actually forced oisin to make up a thieves' tongue curse so that the rest of the party cannot tell anyone about the long sleeve shirts and ankle length jeans with her socks pulled up over them and the boots, the stupid clunky boots. i know elves are less likely to get sick but ticks and snakes are still a thing, and i can't imagine anyone wants to get fantasy lyme disease. ivy's just spent too much time in the woods to even want to risk it.

lucy (also answered here but i can always talk about lucy frostblade)

📓 A headcanon about their hobbies

lucy knows some very basic sewing, limited mostly to mending stuff. yeah, the mending cantrip exists but it can't so anything and why bother learning it when there's a long tradition carried down from the Mountains of Chaos of making things last as long as possible even without the use of magic.

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

in that vein, her clothes tend to have visible mending—patches on the elbows, different colored thread stark against the white of her sweaters where she mended a tear, and other stuff like that.

oisin

📓 A headcanon about their hobbies

being a gym bro is a lifestyle not a hobby, but also yeah it's a hobby. post-shatterstar removal, he keeps it, keeps going to the gym and maintaining or even building muscle mass. it helps him get some of the lingering rage out.

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

i don't have one really but i need to know why he dresses like that. one time i bought an "adventurer" thrift bundle and it was that exact outfit. i need someone to explain it to me.

ruben

📓 A headcanon about their hobbies

he makes candi and gives them out at his concerts. just a thousand of those bead kits and even more letter Z beads. he doesn't have any vowels left whatsoever. it's a far more time consuming hobby that he cares to admit.

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

post-shatterstar removal he threw away all of his emo clothes and almost immediately regretted it. he's learning to be more comfortable accepting that the shatterstar didn't make him a completely new person but instead just exaggerated aspects of who he was. the next few years are spent building back up that wardrobe but also blending it with the wardrobe he had before.

[kermit-coded]

then you touch me and i come back (12726 words) by kermit_coded Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: X-Men (Comicverse), Marvel (Comics), X-Force (Comics) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Underage Relationships: Julio Richter/Shatterstar, Julio Richter & Tabitha Smith, Sam Guthrie & Julio Richter, Roberto da Costa & Julio Richter, Julio Richter & X-Force Team Members, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sam Guthrie/Tabitha Smith, Julio Richter/Tabitha Smith, Roberto da Costa/Sam Guthrie Characters: Julio Richter, Shatterstar (Marvel), Sam Guthrie, Tabitha Smith, Roberto da Costa, Nathan Summers, Theresa Cassidy, Neena Thurman, James Proudstar Additional Tags: Fuck Or Die, Telepathy, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Dubious Consent, POV Julio Richter, Older Sibling Sam Guthrie, Autistic Shatterstar (Marvel), Demiromantic Demisexual Shatterstar, Comic: X-Force Vol. 1 (1991), Team as Family, Internalized Homophobia, Outing, Canon Queer Relationship, Male-Female Friendship, one-sided samberto, Teenage Drama, Awkward Conversations, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, RIC/TABBY IS A PLOT DEVICE NOT AN ACTUAL ROMANCE!!, Unreliable Narrator, Tenderness, Self-Hatred, Getting Together, Angst with a Happy Ending, Biting, a little bit of an obedience kink, Loss of Virginity, Underage Drinking, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Julio Richter Has BPD | Borderline Personality Disorder, cause i mean have you SEEN him???, Panic Attacks, Friends to Lovers Summary: Rictor needs help, and Shatterstar provides.

[hauntedwizardmoment]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PLEASE I LOVE ALL YOUR WORK SO MUCH ANYTHING YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT

HI i'm sorry this took forever but i needed to figure out what i wanted to talk about and i think im gonna expand on peregrine and jace's + porter and ghorza's whole deal in it's a three-way call and he knows nothing

my initial concept for this fic was just straight-up the one day where we did a ton of posting about starbreaker cheating on their partners with each other, and then the image of jace having an absent husband who he cheats on sprung forth fully-formed like athena from zeus' forehead.

i needed to pick somebody to be his absent husband and figure out why they were absent. i landed on an OC from blood and turpentine for his husband (peregrine is kind of my go-to Guy To Get Mad At because i made him up specifically to suck and be jace's shitty ex, so in this timeline he is jace's shitty husband). and the concept of "jace gave up an adventuring career for his relationship" because thats the kind of thing that happens a lot irl (happened to my friend who got married right out of high school actually!!) and it's smth that would definitely build a lot of resentment for my version of pre-shatterstar jace who really values his autonomy and self-determination

i also wanted to get across the feeling of "there was once a LOT of love here, but it's gone now" so i tried to figure out what were some qualities that would make jace fall in love with someone, then find ways that those qualities would evolve into something repulsive. i landed on protective and doting (he likes feeling desired! he likes feeling like someone has his back!) and turned those into patronizing and cloying (now his freedom is being restricted and he's being treated like some little purse dog).

i think something that jace really struggles with in his relationship is feeling excluded from peregrine's life; he's an adventurer, he's out on the road all the time, he's not allowed to share details of his missions with jace due to [handwavey council of chosen rules], he can't even text jace from his work phone because that's for Business Only. jace's main motivation for his affair is feeling seen and held by someone, and being part of something bigger than himself. it's why he wanted to adventure full-time after graduating, and it's why in this timeline you see him still getting set up to be part of porter's plan.

peregrine is a good fighter, he's very protective of his whole party, but he's fundamentally a very scared and insecure person. the idea of losing jace terrifies him so much that he begs him to quit his job and retire to elmville/play housewife forever. he's scared that his relationship will fall apart if he doesn't provide, so he takes any mission the council sends his way. he worries that jace will get hurt while working at aguefort so he gets him magic items (a ring and cloak of protection) and doesnt want to see him working at aguefort (he graduated from there, he knows the school's reputation). he views all of these as his noble sacrifices. and when jace doesn't show him enough appreciation for making said sacrifices, or god forbid implies that he's unsatisfied, he gets upset and throws them in his face (his job pays for the house), minimizes jace's own work (says jace 'plays around' with spell components, as if they arent part of his Literal Job as a sorcery teacher), and is generally a HUGE dick about it.

re. ghorza, she's actually a PC from a campaign i was in, played by one of my irl friends lia who has let me talk her ear off about toxic yaoi as of late. the way lia played her was as a very buff viking barbarian who is also into philosophy and poetry and has a Sensitive Side, and eventually she abandons her initial goal of conquest to help liberate the kingdom our PCs were saving. i didn't get into her and porter's relationship a ton because this fic was very jace-centric BUT i do picture her and porter as having an open relationship. she knows about jace and has been angling for a threesome, but porter correctly identified that jace would freak out at the whole "i have a wife" thing so he lies to jace about that. what she truly doesn't know about is the groundwork for porter's plan, because porter doesn't want someone equally matched with him in strength as a minion, he wants someone easier to push around, and jace fits the bill.

[t4tozier]

you got my vision exactly, either the shatterstarussy being fuckable or just jace’s scar being really sensitive and porter teasing him abt it, “look how beautiful i’ve made you”

and the pregnancy parallel of the scar being physical proof of porter’s claim on jace

okay okay thinking. the gears are turning. someone more creative than me will have to help me out with the first option bc my brain is stuck on how would that be physically possible. like if the crystal is lodged in his chest that seems like a pretty large obstacle to fucking a hole. however i believe in the starbreakers we’ll find a way <3

however the second option i can for suuure see happening. porter brushing his fingers over it or tracing around the edges and it makes jace’s knees buckle, shatterstar pulsing with light as he suppresses a moan. porter uses this to his full advantage, slipping his hand under jace’s scarf when they’re at work and murmuring, “c’mon, stardiamond. be a good boy.”

and jace’s face flushes hot and he spits out, “fuck you,” but it’s not full with as much venom as he wants when it comes out breathy and he’s already leaning into porter’s touch, silently begging him for more.

and even though they both know it’s realistically not possible, porter loves talking about how jace should really show it off because it makes him look so pretty and everyone will know he belongs to porter now, and jace insists that it’s shitty and ugly and he doesn’t want people to know he has any sort of connection to porter, but they both know that’s a lie. when jace is alone, he kneels in front of the mirror like he’s in prayer and traces his fingers along his shatterstar and revels in the fact that he was the first to be touched by porter in this way. he’s never wanted kids, but this is its own blessing, in a way. he just wishes that he could show the world the way he would if corellon had blessed him instead of porter. one day, he thinks.

one day.

[cat-of-starlight]

I finally found someone else that feels the same way about Jace that I do! I don't want to yuck on anyone's yum but, like, he deserves better than what so much of the fandom had done and I just... ugh...

TRUE!

It makes me so sad that a LOT of content I've seen so far has either been "welp lmao he's just evil too and has been since the beginning" or "teehee lmao, twink man fell for the bad guy and does whatever he wants him to <3" When like. Deadass there's the threat of Porter going "I killed you once and I'd do it again" + the whole thing about the shatterstar fully meaning that the person it happened to was subjected to the ritual UNWILLINGLY-

And!! He's so nice in Season 1!! He deserved SO MUCH!! I about screamed in my rewatch of Sophomore Year because he was the Bad Kids' (specifically Fig's) FIRST CHOICE on what hireling they should take with them- If that happened, we could have fully avoided him being on the other adventure happening at about the same time/being killed-

His only crime is trying to be friendly to his coworkers (even when they're creepy as fuck), being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and potentially failing a few saving throws as his ass got killed/rezzed against his will

--

But yea, its nice to see other people who agree! When the episodes first came out, a majority of the posts about him were basically "Part of the group of terrible adults who were abusing children", "lmao look at this stupid loser idiot who can't do anything", or both simultaneously ;;

Which,,, is disheartening considering that his vibes fully brought me out of my artblock, and I've been drawing him constantly like some sort of unhinged maniac- (I deadass haven't drawn at ALL this year until like. last week (because new tablet)- and out of 8 drawings that I've actually finished, he has been the focus of half of them)

Also- idk- he especially vibes hard to me because, despite some people ragging on Sorcerers, as a neurodivergent person who just. learns Differently™️ than other people, I just relate to the vibes of Sorcerers more lmao- also it makes it just. a touch uncomfortable when people word it as "lmao, they're just dumb/lazy, and don't wanna open a book to actually learn REAL spells" because it sounds a LITTLE too similar to shit I've been told irl :,D

So yea- All of those feelings of "Cool Character w/ Untapped Tragic Circumstances" + Feelings I have about that class in particular- combined in a Perfect Storm to create a character who lives in m head Rent Free and probably won't leave my head for a WHILE

He's my perfect blorbo and he deserves SO much more than he got <3 <3 <3

,,,,and you know what,,, maybe seeing more positive posts about him (+ Receiving this ask lmao),,,, may be the motivation I need to make me post the pics of him that's been sitting in my art folder,,,,,,

(PS: The fics slap so hard and you are SO VALID for That Ship™️™️ being shown as a Horrific and Toxic thing because. yea. Send help for he- he needs better partners fr ouuughhhhh(I'd Comment on the actual ones themselves because I know that helps, but the site hates me and refuses to let me have proper accounts/access- I am in shambles))