#the whole trying to ‘cure’ being a mutant

[spoofyleaf]

As an adult rewatching all the x-men movies, I think I’ve figured out why the movies made me uncomfortable to a personal level as a kid

[tomato-soup-whore]

obviously the entire concept of the x men universe is based on being a barely even veiled metaphor for discrimination. it can easily be compared to the civil rights movement, with xavier and magneto corresponding to mlk and malcom x and all that, and the clear plot points about segregation and slavery and general racism. but theres also many comparisons that people have made to some mutants being an allegory of homophobia.

one of my favorite plotlines in both the cartoons and the movies is the personal conflict some mutants face when offered the "cure" for their powers. i always thought it was super interesting to see the mutants who had always fought for equality and acceptance to be drawn to the concept of not having to fight for that anymore. like rogue, who was one of the most powerful x men, especially in the comics and the '92 cartoon. she was crazy powerful in so many ways, but was the one of the only ones drawn to the cure because of the side affects of her powers that took away a huge life experience for her.

anyway what im trying to say is that i think the difference of opinions between different mutants on how they should interact with the "normal" members of society, and how those opinions correspond almost directly with the discriminatory consequences of their mutations, is a really good analogy for the intersectionality between racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

If we look at characters whose mistreatment can be compared to racism, we have people like mystique and nightcrawler. they both have physical differences that clearly set them apart from the majority and subject them to judgement. raven especially has her whole arc in the movies about whether or not to live life unashamed in her natural form, or continue using her own energy to make herself more palatable for others. Comparing this to people of color consciously or subconsciously whitewashing themselves to fit in makes a lot of sense.

but then we have the homophobia element. characters who's powers aren't visible on the surface, but are still an integral part of who they are. asking them to hide their powers is like for others convenience is discriminatory, despite the good intentions that many of their human counterparts may have (think of bobby's mom asking if he's "tried not being a mutant" in x2) and rogue having a physical and romantic disconnect from all of her peers because of her powers.

and theennnnn we have the transphobia analogies, which i connect to the characters that have physically visible powers but are still able to hide them from society. this would be people like angel (he literally BINDS his wings like c'mon) and beast before the serum shit turned him blue and he just had weird feet. with those people, embracing their powers would have really cool benefits for them, like flying and shit, but its easier for them to hide it because of society's discrimination.

anyways this is a really long winded way of saying that thats part of the reason why the political dynamics of the x men is still so relevant and important and interesting. relationships like erik and charles are so much deeper from this pov, bc you have the group of people who see the hope and humanity in people and want to have everyone treated as equals (the x men) and you have the mutants who retreat into their own community and don't want the acceptance or the cooperation of regular society because if they're always going to feel "other" why not build a new society to erase that feeling (the brotherhood).

if i could write essays on this shit for school i would be acing all the humanities, trust.

[tobiasdrake]

We go from the best fight in the X-Men filmography thus far straight to Charles Xavier sitting in a room, looking into the camera and explaining the plot. Okay guys. XD

One of the main jobs this film has is to bridge First Class, which became more or less a reboot, with the original trilogy. So they can go in new directions and do different things with the characters without outright saying, "The original movies up through Origins: Wolverine aren't canon anymore, sorry."

Days of Future Past is what's commonly referred to as a soft reboot, where continuity gets to start over from scratch but with an explanation offered in-universe that connects it to the previous continuity.

Time travel and multiverse shenanigans are often the go-to for carrying out soft reboots. The Chris Pine Star Trek films, for instance, take place in an alternate timeline created when Spock and a bad guy traveled back in time and messed up the series canon.

The Marvel multiverse is basically designed to allow Marvel writers to make continuity-free re-imaginings of the Marvel universe and then go "That one is Universe 42069, it has its own canon somewhere out there in the multiverse unrelated to the mainline comics."

DOFP intends to do that for the Foxverse, liberating the cast of the newer X-films from the shackles of the old canon and letting them spin out in a new direction.

But before we can do that, Charlie Boy needs to explain the plot that will get us there.

Magneto chimes in to explain Mystique's powers, like Bobby and Kitty don't already know her. XD

Actually, come to think of it, Kitty only formally became one of the X-Men in Last Stand, the movie that took Mystique's powers away. And Bobby wasn't really an X-Men X-Man until that same movie, despite being present for the whole trilogy. They actually might not know who Mystique is.

Huh. Objection retracted.

Then again, Colossus recognizes her. And he was no more involved in X-Men Stuff than Kitty was.

Xavier goes on to assert that he, too, has watched First Class and thought it was pretty sweet. Don't let the face of Patrick Stewart fool you; Despite this personal history having never come up in the original trilogy, it is still an important part of the two characters' relationships with one another.

As an artistic note, I love how she shapeshifts into a human form when he says, "I knew her as Raven." A subtle call-out to their conflict from First Class - or, at least, what it was supposed to be in First Class even though the film doesn't convey it well.

We're told, in the film, that Xavier never appreciated her natural mutant self and preferred that she try to pass as human. They kinda botched their attempts to show it, but it was the clear intent. In a subtle reference to it here, when Magneto talks about her we see her in her true form, but when Xavier reminisces on how fondly he remembers her, she shifts into her human guise.

These two men both fondly remember Mystique, but they have very different memories of who she was.

(Where is she, anyway? Did the Sentinels get her? Is she still mutant-cured?)

Yeah, Xavier's good at that. Remember that time he was losing a tense negotiation with Magneto and Jean so he just started throwing punches, basically forfeiting the argument and pushing Jean into Magneto's arms as hard as humanly possible? Not so different from what happened with Mystique when you think about it.

Xavier offers a sanctuary for mutants on the run from the dangers of the world, and that's great. But his powers of persuasion leave much to be desired.

Logan gets all sad and grimly reports that Mystique killed again after that. Bit of a weird moment. Like, it's performed as if he's referencing the death of another character that was important to him. Something we would instantly recognize and be like, "Oh, fuck, my heartstrings."

I have no idea who that might be, though. He didn't even know her in her youth to be sad about who she became. One time she beat him up and then he stabbed her, and then another time she tried to trick him into having sex with her under false pretenses. That is the entire extent of their relationship.

Why are you so sad about Mystique killing people, Logan? Who did she ever kill that could be haunting you like this? Don't you have enough ghosts already? Do you really need to borrow Charlie's?

The Sentinels are using Mystique's powers to acquire Sunspot's heat powers and Colossus's steel plating and Iceman's cryokinesis.

Meanwhile, poor Mystique can't do any of that. It sucks when people steal your powers and then get whole new abilities you didn't possess out of them.

You know, you'd think in the decades she was hanging out with Magneto, the two of them would have done something about this. Did the fact that humans captured her and performed invasive experiments to steal her powers just... slip Mystique's mind?

"Less than 50 years." My dude, that is a long-ass time to be working on one project. XD These things were in production hell for half a century.

Xavier's like, "When Mystique killed Trask, it convinced the world that they needed his program. And then the humans stayed mad about it for FIFTY YEARS."

FIFTY YEARS. Two generations later, it was still just Trask that they were mad about. Nothing else that happened in that time, nothing in the entire original X-Men trilogy, ever moved the needle one way or the other. It was always about Trask. They were very slowly building the Sentinels the entire time and nothing else mattered.

Senator Kelly's entire anti-mutant career was pointless because humanity already had made up its mind to kill mutants with Sentinels. Trask is the one and only bullet point of history that matters. XD

I understand why this is so janky. Stopping the assassination of Trask is meant to be the emotional goal of the film. We have to stop Mystique from becoming a murderer, because that sets her down the road to being evil.

But "We have to stop her from killing the man making Genocide Machines" wouldn't be a compelling narrative on its own. Because. Like. Fuck that guy. Mystique did nothing wrong.

So the assassination also needs to be the apocalyptic cornerstone around which the fate of the universe revolves. Killing Trask has to directly cause the creation of the Sentinels, but the film also wants to be set in the 70's and has to account for the fact that none of this was a thing in the original trilogy.

So. The humans just. Stayed mad about Trask for fifty fucking years while working on the slowest weapons development project in the history of the arms race. Which has the knock-on effect of meaning that none of the mutant-human relations stuff from the original trilogy mattered, 'cause the humans were building the Sentinels behind the scenes that whole time.

That is an incredibly bleak revision. @_@

Nobody tell Charles, but if there was enough hatred towards mutants to sustain a fifty-year grudge over Trask's death, it wasn't really about Trask's death.

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

I've been binging your x readers the past few days, and they're so well done!! If it's not much trouble, could you do a 2k3 Donnie x GN Reader during the Adventures in Turtlesitting/Good Genes arc? I've been turning the thought of (Y/N) witnessing his transformation and going "Like Hell I'm not gonna do something about this" and doing what they can to make a cure; even standing up to Bishop and Stockman. I'm a sucker for "You helped me, it's the least I could do to help you" stories. >u<

Secondary Mutation (Angst)

2003!Donatello x reader

A/N: Thank you so much! That’s so sweet of you to say💚 This arch goes over three episodes, but I’ve tried cut it down and make it more precise, making the main focus the showdown and all that at Area 51. Hope you enjoy💜

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Warning: Spelling (was a little tired towards the ending. Long day😅), Donnie with a secondary mutation, Bishop and Stockman being assholes, a little hostage situation like?

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You were there when it happened. You witnessed the whole thing as it unfolded. Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo and dropped you and a sick Donatello off at April’s place. It had been Leo’s idea, citing it would be good to keep both of you out of the sewers, while he and the other’s went on a hunt for Bishop’s mutants. You too thought it was a good idea, except it meant crashing April and Casey’s long awaited date night.

It had started out great. Or as great as it could. Your boyfriend was continuously sneezing and sniffling, bags running under his eyes, and shaking even when covered by several blankets. The poor guy was going through it.

But then the black out happened, leaving all of New York City in darkness. That was the last thing you needed, sitting with your shivering boyfriend’s head in your lap, trying to sooth him with your fingers tracing across his head. But nothing helped. Donnie felt horrible, and the darkness only made it worse for him.

As Casey went to look for a flashlight, Donnie started groaning out in pain, complaining that the cut on his leg was beginning to act up. He said it felt like it was burning, causing you even more worry than before. April wanted to help, but with her own boyfriend knocking things over in her room, as he looked for the flashlight, she had to leave to make sure he didn’t bring the whole apartment down over the shop. But that was when the trouble began.

Donnie groaning almost turned to screaming, his thigh convulsing. You were terrified, asking him if he was okay, begging him for an answer, but Donnie could not speak. The pain was too much for him. Then suddenly he let out an ear piercing scream, his thigh doubling in size. He sat up, hugging onto his legs, screaming and shaking as sweat ran down his face. His body started to grow, his belt, elbow pads and knee pads ribbing before he hurried up from the sofa, as if he frantically tried to find a solution on his own.

“Donnie?”, you asked terrified, trying to find him in the dark, grabbing your phone in your pocket.

“(Y/N)”, you heard Donnie’s strained voice call out from the corner of the room. You quickly turned on your phone's flashlight, pointing it in his direction. There he stood, double in size, red eyes, sweat dripping down his face with an expression of pain. “Help me”.

“Don?”, you asked in confusion, stepping closer to him. “What’s happening?”

“No!”, he exclaimed, just as April and Casey came back into the living room. “Stay back!”

“Don!”, they called out.

“No!”, Donnie yelled, before pushing past all of you, making a b-line directly for the door, breaking it off the hinges before he ran downstairs. “Get away from me!”

The next few hours were horrible. Finding Donnie had turned into a giant alligator-like creature in the basement, before you and your friends had to defend yourselves against your boyfriend. Casey even had to go as far as mashing him over the head with a vacuum. It was even more horrible knowing he had run off into the sewers, leaving you scared and worried while the guys looked for him.

All of this led you up to this point, you and your best friends seeking out Agent Bishop in order to find a cure for your horribly inflicted boyfriend. Seeing Donnie like this broke your heart. Tears rolled down your face as you watched him unconsciously float around in the round glass bubble. Somehow this was even worse than having watched him slam against the glass or the other containment unit, roaring like a wild beast, trying to claw at whatever he saw outside the glass. Even you. You almost broke down when he snapped against the glass, wanting to bite you.

You paced around Bishop’s lab, unable to sit still. Because if you sat down you would stare, and if you stare you would cry. And you did not want to cry, you wanted to act. You wanted to do something. You couldn’t just sit around and wait for his brothers to get whatever Bishop had asked of them. Especially not when Leatherhead and Splinter kept reading Donnie’s vitals, giving each other sad looks. You knew what they were saying. You could not hear it, but you knew it. Donnie’s time was running out. His second mutation was breaking down his body. And there was nothing you could do but wait. And you hated it. You felt like you were going mad. Time was ticking and you could do nothing but watch, feeling the need to scream and cry.

“Doctor Stockman”, Splinter said, turning to the walking brain on a stick that had been testing your patience ever since you got to Area 51. “Agent Bishop told us that you would administer the cure to Donatello”.

“To think that I’ve sunk so low”, Stockman spoke to no one but himself, testing out different liquids on a creature in a different bubble. “That my unparalleled genius, would be used to save the life of one of these freaks”. You bite the inside of your cheek, holding from the temptation of smashing the glass that harbored Stockman’s brain. "Unfathomable".

“Where’s the cure, Stockman?”, Leatherhead asked, doing his best to keep his tone civil. But Stockman ignored him, moving from one console to another, still talking to himself as he went.

“I’m pulled from sweet oblivion, for what?! This?!”

Getting tired of Stockman’s rambling, Leatherhead grabbed onto the walking stick, forcing him to face him. “Show us the cure, now!”

“Cure?”, Stockman asked. “You stupid animal! Agent Bishop lied. There is no cure”.

“What?!”, Splinter exclaimed, his eyes wide. You felt your own body going pale, stopping dead in your tracks. For a moment you stopped breathing. Leatherhead growled, anger bobbling inside of him.

“You inhuman, soulless, monster!”, Leatherhead yelled, slamming Stockman against the keyboard, before getting ready to punch the glass head himself.

“Leatherhead, please”, Splinter called out, putting a hand on the mutant’s shoulder. “I share your anger, but this will not help Donatello! We need solutions not vengeance”.

“According to me, that piece of gum needs a good chewing!”, you yelled, pointing at Stockman.

“You too, (Y/N)”, Splinter said. “Please, my child. For Donatello”.

“You’ll be wise to listen to your inlaw”, Bishop’s voice sounded as he walked into the lab. Leatherhead growled and you felt your fists tightened at the sight of his smug smile. Both you and Leatherhead started seeing red, your anger so great that not even Splinter could hold you back.

“I’ve waited a long time to do this”, Leatherhead said before grabbing Stockman by the metal throat. “Now you’ll know the meaning of pain!” He threw the lump of metal onto the ground, before making his way to the well dressed man. You wasted no time stomping your foot onto Stockman’s back, making him lay flat against the floor.

“Doctor Stockman is working on a cure”, Bishop calmly said. “He’s the best change Donatello has for survival”. You sucked a breath in, staring directly into Stockman’s lone eye. Leatherhead fought the urge not to jump on Bishop. “Harm me, and Stockman stops. And your friend has no chance!”

You reluctantly let Stockman go, just as Leatherhead decided to back away from Agent Bishop.

“Fine, for now villain”, the large mutant said, before turning to the robot human hybrid that had just managed to get off the floor. “Doctor Stockman, show me what you have so far”.

The scientist sighed, before moving to the console with Leatherhead and Master Splinter. You however went straight over to Bishop, anger still fuming off of you. “This better work, Bishop”, you growled. “Or else you’ll personally have to deal with me”.

Agent Bishop faked a kind smile. “Your care for your friends is admirable, Miss (L/N), especially your care for Donatello. Although, I’m right to assume that your care for the turtle goes above just that of friendships?”

“How I care for my friends is none of your business”, you calmly said, keeping your anger in check. “What is your business, is making sure Stockman succeeds”.

“If you say so, Miss. (L/N)”, Bishop said, before walking away, leaving you back alone in your anger and sadness. How you wished you could be hugging Donnie, just one more time.

—

Leatherhead and Stockman made great progress on the cure, with the first test subject being a success. Who would ever have thought that you would be happy with Stockman’s work, even if it actually had been Leatherhead that had done the most out of the two? But all that slight happiness disappeared the moment the Bishop opened his mouth.

“Impressive, Mr. Leatherhead”, he said, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “And to think, I was going to dissect you”. Leatherhead growled. “What a waste that would have been. You’re even more brilliant than Doctor Stockman!”

“That doesn’t take much”, you mumbled, Splinter lifting a finger, telling you to behave. For the sake of Donnie.

“What?!”, Stockman questioned, not believing what Bishop had said.

“Then, it works?”, Splinter asked, watching as the test subject turned human again.

“Doctor, prepare an airborne version of the cure for the New York outbreak. As well as a sample for Donatello”, Bishop said, turning directly towards you and Splinter. “If his brothers fulfill their side of the agreement”.

“Don’t worry, Bishop”, you said, engaging in a stare down with the agent. “They will”.

“Brave of you to trust the life of your sweetheart with his brothers”, Bishop said. “Or maybe even foolish”.

“We trust them”, was the last thing you got to say, before there was news on a returning base helicopter. You sighed a breath of relief. They were back.

You went up to the main entrance, meeting the brothers as they came in. Bishop did not greet them, instead demanding that they handed over the item he was wanting. They looked to Master Splinter, waiting for his confirmation, before Mikey handed the stone over. The moment the stone was in Bishop’s hand, the alarm sounded, red lights shining all over the base.

“Base destruct sequence initiated”, sounded the alarm over your heads, making your ears ring.

“This base has been compromised by your presence”, Bishop said. “You have 15 minutes to collect your brother, and vacate the premises”. Then Bishop turned, smiling over his shoulder before he left. “Pleasure doing business with you”. You felt your fist clench.

It took you less than a minute to find Leatherhead. He was already working the cure on Donnie, leaving you all anxious in anticipation. Fog built up inside the machine, before the door finally opened, letting out a dazed and confused Donnie, rubbing his eyes as he took in his surroundings.

“Hey, guys”, he said tiredly. “What’s up?”

“Donnie!”, you yelled, running to him, throwing your arms around him before bringing him into a thigh hug. He wobbled slightly, leaning his weight on you as he found his footing.

“Hey, babe”, he smiled, still a little confused. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

“That’s a story for a different time”, Leo said. “Now we gotta go before this place blows up!”

He didn’t have to say that twice. Quickly you all ran outside, finding the chopper before taking off. You just managed to get up high enough, before the base blew up, sending red, orange and yellow light across the sky.

You all breathed a sigh of relief, happy to have Donnie back, safe and sound.

“Welcome back, my son”, Splinter said, taking a hold of Donnie’s hand.

“Thanks Sensei”, he smiled, still a little tired. “But I hope you guys didn’t go through too much trouble for me”.

The reaction on everybody’s faces spoke volumes. None of you had the guts to tell him, and neither should you.

You took Donnie’s hand in yours, smiling at him. “For you, nothing’s too much trouble”, you said, placing a kiss on his cheek. Donnie blushed slightly, not sure how to react in front of his family. But in all honesty, it did not matter much to him at the moment. He was just happy to be back to normal, feeling your hand in his once more.

[a-roguish-gambit]

Turn of the century au thoughts: mail call

It's occurred to me that after mutants are outed to the world via a newsreel of the whole sentinel fight, and eventually the X-Men's name is cleared via a combo of teddy Roosevelt and a secondary News Reel of them fighting and taking down juggernaut, the X-Men are probably going to get a lot of mail from random places in the country and maybe even all over the world. There's definitely a lot of hate mail because people are awful and Logan, Jean, and the professor are having to make sure nothing dangerous in any of the packages or mail letters there being sent, and ororo is specifically filtering Evan's mail cause she is gonna protect her nephew from any and all assholes personally and track down anyone who sends him so much as a threat. Still it gets absolutely bonkers because at the time people still did do shitposting and trolling they just did it via the mail system. Not only were chain letters a thing but putting your mailing list out for any reason, and there were a lot of reasons to have a public mailing list, was a gamble because you could have random people sending you extremely random letters. People would send randos their stream of consciousness thoughts or pretend to be someone they aren't via mail. The owner of Sears and robucks would frequently get letters from people asking for advice about who they should marry and stuff like that for example.

The institutes address is probably out there for business reasons, and even if it's not totally public it's only a matter of time before people find it or figure it out because the institute is a public address, so yeah there would be lots of very random mail being sent to the X-Men kids malicious or otherwise.

I can see the international kids getting sent letters from people they do not know claiming to be family members trying to make some money off these kids because they assume that because these kids have fame they also have some kind of wealth which is not true at all a lot of them don't and are there because Xavier himself is wealthy and is willing to spend a lot of money on kids who aren't even his, and to them it's very very obvious and they make fun of it all the time.

Roberto got a letter in Spanish and he's laughing at it with Sam and Amara who read it out to him, where the person is claiming to be his long lost uncle from brazil and it's so obvious this person knows nothing about anything, because his whole family speaks Portuguese not Spanish, because, ya know, they are actually from Brazil. Amara notes that the Spanish is incredibly bad as well, so it was probably some random non latin American who wrote this.

Scott keeps getting letters from people telling him he's wasting his talent and what he should actually use his lazer eyes for x thing like they know how his powers work, or telling him how to fix his eyes, one guy is claiming he can cure Scott by waving magnets over his body. Jean is doubled over laughing when Scott reads that one to her. He's just like "if all it took were magnets to fix me I think all the fights with magneto would have done something by now..."

Jean keeps getting preachers telling her she needs to "renounce her satanic ways and turn to God for power," because apparently these people think her psychic abilities are devil magic. She ignores them but Scott keeps writing angry letters back to these people telling them to leave his girl alone.

Kitty keeps getting letters telling her it's improper to phase through walls, and that a young lady like her should be in an etiquette school not a school teaching her to phase through walls. she is absolutely baffled by this. The girls just come to the conclusion that "people will police women on literally anything". She gets a few offers from suffragette groups though too asking for her help, same with jean.

Ororo has been heavily filtering Evan's mail making sure he doesn't end up reading anything from a weirdo or a racist, but he has gotten interesting mail none the less. He got requests for interviews by several black publications for the perspective on being a mutant of African American descent, which has been fun. Some of the other kids are jealous, as he got a letter from W. E. B. Du Bois at one point, and Booker T Washington's widow and Lady principal of the Tuskegee institute, Margaret Washington, sent one about him potentially visiting the campus some time. But those kids are also getting good mail they are just also seeing some of the ridiculous stuff too.

Rogue seems to get two kinds of mail, one is people calling her a witch, and the other is marriage requests of all things. A lot of them claiming they can "fix her" (ew). A lot of men saw the news reels and apparently had gambit's same thought process about her dark looks. Remy is none too happy about these men, but rogue assures him she hasn't the slightest care for any of these men. They munch on the chocolates and other goodies they send her as rogue writes letters back simply saying "1. I have a lover. 2. My touch kills men. Leave me alone."

Kurt gets some of the wildest stuff: People trying to mail him exorcisms, people accusing him of turning their daughters into Satan worshippers because the girls want to meet him, letters from said daughters wanting to run away with him, people thinking he's the anti christ, with some demanding he leave the country and some asking for his orders to command them against the establishment, actual demon worshipers asking for his hand in marriage, A letter from Aleister Crowley himself, people asking if this is the true form of Germans, people asking him to curse their enemies, kids sending him letters telling him to make sure the krampus does not bother anyone this year, and so on and so on and so on. Poor boy is overwhelmed.

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

how many versions of Claddia do you have

Eh I think like 6 or 7. Y'all already met her 2012 version. But I've put her in other iterations too. Keep in mind tho, all of my Claddia's are in the process of being redesigned & updated. Starting with cartoons.

(old design on left)

This version of her was originally Korean because when I was first creating her in general, I didn't know if I wanted Claddia to be black or Asian. But I decided on black for other versions since there's a lack of said race in TMNT in general. Although I've since then redesigned her & made her black since it just doesn't make sense to racebend her at all really & I definitely want to avoid the assumption that she isn't black here because 80s Baxter wasn't. As for her role in this incarnation she has a history with Baxter. The two were really close friends & science colleagues in their college years plus (maybe even more) but lost contact after Claddia moved out of New York, to continue her research. Granted she would eventually return to the big Apple especially to reconnect with Baxter. Unfortunately by this point in time he had already been mutated & it's basically a Simon & Betty situation with them especially since she'd later try to cure him & restore his memory even at the cost of her own normal life.

In the 2003 cartoon. She's a member of the EPF & Agent Bishop's right hand woman & the original leading scientist until Baxter was recruited after the Exodus arc. To put it bluntly. The two hate each other & are constantly budding heads especially regarding the other's IQ & overall importance on even being here. They do eventually start to grow a bit of respect for one another & become frenemies at most.

(old design on left)

Once again as y'all noticed, she's in the 2012 series. This version of her is an inventor & scientist that doesn't take crap from anybody (as much as it bites her in the ass). She's also really egotistical & even short tempered. She met Baxter through coincidence as she's also had a bad run in with the turtles, & pretty much bonded & became close since then. Acting as a black cat gf to his golden retriever bf. It also helps that she knows how to fight without technology helping her.

In the Rise series she's pretty much a successful scientist & took Baxter's usual role as untrustworthy celebrity as she was secretly kidnapping & using mutants for her own purposes even teaming up with Baron Draxum in the process. But she's not one bit of a pushover & has backup plans for backup plans on how to screw over people. After the events of "The Mutant Menace" she bailed out Baxter & took him under her wing as her apprentice/mentee forming a little mother & son relationship.

In the Comics.

(soon to be updated design)

In the mirage universe, Claddia's a science nerd & huge fan of Baxter & even still remained loyal to him even AFTER what he did with his mousers & his terrorist stunt. It eventually led to her visiting him in prison & even helping him escape, secretly conspiring together & her falling in love with him as well. She also played a hand in his eventual break in to the DARPA facility for his robot rampage. Unfortunately, Stockman was only using her the whole time to succeed in his goals & betrayed & killed the poor woman.

Finally, in the IDW continuity she once again works for the EPF & is Bishop's top scientist. She's very different from most of the previous versions as she is pretty timid & just sticks to doing what she's informed to. As for her relationship with Baxter. She's once again a big fan of his work as a scientist & soon to be Mayor. Although two only met briefly when Baxter met with Bishop. Something that MIGHT change in her re-write. Tho one thing is the same. She was there in person the night of his election victory, including being in mutagen bomb distance

Yes Claddia does get mutated in 3 of these continuities. No I can't share them yet because I want to redesign em a bit & also because I'm at the photo limit & I don't feel like retyping all of this on desktop so I can do the more than 10 limit. But uh yeah. That's Ms. Brackston for y'all.

[werrrrrd]

CHARLES XAVIER X READER/OC pt.1

SUMMARY: May is a Mutant. She wishes she wasnt. She has the ability to control blood and after showing signs of aggression and poor control of her powers, her parents put her through treatment at an institution run by Doctor Shmidt. After going through horrendous things at the mutation corrective institution, she is forced to stay with Shaw, the man who put her through those things in the first place. Working with Shaw she explores the many things her powers allow her to do in mostly uncomfortable ways. She runs into Charles Xavier while his team tries to capture and detain Shaw and they have a stand off between the mutants on both sides. Charles and May have an immediate connection that neither can explain and try reason with themselves while also trying to find a way to be near each other. Despite the things that May has experienced and the punishment she will receive if she is caught, all she wants to do is help Charles. With so much happening, May isnt sure how this is going to work or if she can build up the courage to completely severe connections from Shaw to be with Charles

WARNINGS: shock therapy, manipulation, death, suicide, surgery is mentioned including an undetailed description, slight malnutrition, forcive murder, abuse of authority, blood, lots of blood since this is like her power, anger issues, aggression, mentions of murder as well as the actual murder, mind reading, OC is not very kind to herself, let me know if you notice any others. No sexual assault but definitely Shaw being creepy.

AN: First off, this story is VERY loosely based on x men first class and the happenings in that movie. I really don't regard what happens in the actual story line or the accuracy of setting or characters just because I felt like focusing on the romance plot line between May and Charles. I'm guessing you already know what the movie's plot is and you don't want to read another story that just follows along those exact lines. I hope that this doesn't bother anyone. Second, this story has a very long prologue. I wanted to give the character more backstory so that she could be better explained and her behaviors and tendencies made more sense to y'all. I hope that this does not discourage you from reading cause she's pretty cool. Of course you could skip the prologues and read the part where she actually interacts with Charles if you'd like but the prologue helps enrich the story so I hope you do read it. My OCs name is May but of course you could read it as a reader insert if you like, I didn't really describe her too much so this wouldn't be too hard to do. I honestly didn't put too much effort into writing it because I wanted to get it all out before I lost motivation. If you notice spell issues or parts that don't make sense feel free to let me know but most likely I will not be doing anything about it. Bear with me, there are plot points that don't really connect but please ignore because like I said if i don't get this out like RIGHT NOW, I will lose interest and ill have this whole thing that doesn't have an ending and that makes me sad. ANNEEYYWAYYS Tehe! Please enjoy

PROLOGUE I

I grew up in a home that didn't blame me for my mutation. It wasn't my fault that I was the way I was. My parents loved me but that doesn't mean they fully accepted who I was. They said that there was a perfectly good girl just waiting to be cured of my mutation. I fully believed the same. I was sick and the only thing that would make me better was to get rid of the mutation. They didn't really try any treatments until I began losing control. Whenever my sisters would tease me about my mutation I could feel the fury growing. Soon enough I couldn't take it anymore and would use my abilities to make them stop talking. The first time I ever did it my oldest sister Maxine was poking and prodding me

"Mom wishes you were normal, she's embarrassed because you're a freak," she whispered in my ear while we sat together eating breakfast. She was young and didn't really mean it. But I was young and I didn't know that yet.

 In the middle of her next sentence she felt her jaw clamp shut and her voice stop suddenly. Something she had not done herself. Full of fear she burst into tears and ran to my mother. I used my powers to keep her mouth shut but they must have understood what was happening. Soon my mom came into the room with my sister behind her. My mom raised her hand and slapped me, tears springing to my eyes.

"You know better! If you let your disease control you then you will never be fixed!!" She screamed at me. "Now let your sister speak." She pulled Max up towards me. Her eyes were wide and scared but she also looked satisfied. She had pushed me to do what would get me in trouble.

 Serves her right. I thought, my anger still prominent. Hot tears left my eyes as I let her move her mouth again. It fell open and she whimpered and put her hands on her jaw 

"That hurt!" She cried and then pushed my back against the dinner table, before going to my mother who wrapped her arms defensively around Max. 

"Your deformity is hurting your family," my mother said to me. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment and I ran to my room crying, wishing I was normal like the rest of my sisters. 

After that and a couple other instances where I couldn't control my temper my parents enrolled me in experimental mutation elimination programs. This is where I met Shaw, or Doctor Schmidt. And where I met Louise. 

My parents dropped me off at the White hospital looking building that was only one floor but seemed to wind around like a maze on the inside. I said a quick goodbye to my sisters before they rushed me into the care of the doctors and scientists there. They seemed a little relieved to be rid of me but I told myself that it wasn't true.

"Meet Louise, your roommate. Please let me know if you need anything at all, girls." The woman left the room, shutting the door carefully. 

"Hey, call me Lou," she said, holding out her hand. 

"May," I took her hand "nice to meet you" 

"What's your mutation?" She asked as I walked to set my bag down on the small wooden chair in the corner of the room. 

"Oh umm, I can control blood in a few different ways." I said 

"Like what?" She said, I explained to her that I could control people's body's by moving the blood inside them.

"Wow, promise you'll never use that on me. That's an ugly mutation." She told me 

"I know. I won't."

"Not as ugly as mine." She pointed to her face. It was littered with thick black stripes which I saw were on her hands and arms as well. 

"What can you do?" I asked carefully 

"Watch," she said. I looked around nervously. We weren't supposed to show our mutations to anyone. Or use them at all. But I watched as she bent and twisted into the most beautiful red and orange tiger I had ever seen. Her black stripes matched the ones that were on her human form. I blinked and in just a moment she had already changed back. 

"Wow," I whispered. 

"My mom thought I had been eaten by a tiger when she first saw me like that. It was only after she called animal control that I had changed back. Back then I hadn't started showing my stripes, kinda like baby tigers don't. Anyways after they got dark my mom couldn't hide my mutation anymore. We've tried a hundred different treatments to get rid of it."

"Nothing worked?" I asked 

"Nothing." She said. In her eyes I could see the exhaustion. "my mom doesn't even look at me anymore, my dad left the moment my stripes showed." 

I swallowed. "Maybe this time it'll work and we can be normal." I said. 

"I hope so." She whispered hopefully. 

Soon after this me and Lou became like sisters. She understood me. She never teased me for my mutation even though we both wanted to cure ourselves of them. We laughed till our ribs hurt in bed while everyone else slept. For the first week we only got to know the scientists and doctors working there. Shaw being the head of planning, I didn't see him much back then. The scientists were mostly nice to us. It seemed they wanted to help us just as much as we wanted to be fixed.

After that we began shock treatments. 

"May, please put your hands flat out on the table in front of you." I heard through the intercom. I did so avoiding the wires and straps that were attached to my body and temples. A man sat in front of me with his hands flat on the table like mine. He stared at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. 

"Jared, begin" the voice said.

The man across from me began tapping his pointer finger on the metal desk. 

"May, all we need you to do is use your mutation to stop his fingers."

"What?" I asked "I thought I wasn't supposed to use it" confusion fizzled in my head and I looked at the mirror to my right. 

"Please may, all you need to do is use your mutation and we will use the shocks to train it out of your body."

"Will it hurt?" I was scared. 

"..." There was a long pause before "if we want it to work, then it must." 

I took a deep breath before looking back at the man in front of me, his eyes were full of hatred. 

"Please begin." The voice insisted. 

I took another breath before using my hands to stop the blood in his hands. Fear flashes in his eyes as his fingers stop tapping. He glanced between me and his fingers. His fingers twitching slightly as he tried to resist my control.

Suddenly a jolting shock shook me out of my focus. Pain shot through me like a wave. I squirmed in my chair and my hips lifted from the seat to try and get the shock out of me. I whimpered loudly and my eyes screwed shut. It lasted only a few seconds though.

When it stopped I looked up panting at the man in front of me. His face was turned into a sick smile and his finger was tapping again. 

The voice returned, "Please go again."

[spookytoonz]

I love your mutant mirror imposter au! It has such a good art and good story! Now I'm curious.....does Trixie regret anything she did? Like does she regret what she did with the water because how it hurt so many innocent ponies?

Also...sorry just when I'm super excited about a story, I get this urge to try to excitedly guess what happens next....I'm kinda curious if, at some point, the infection tries to get her either as another casual victim or if something crazy happens like....the mutated twilight can sense the type of magic used on the mirror pool and now is hunting for the one who casted that spell....being like 'you caused me this agony, I am now a husk of who I once was....well...if I am to be a husk of who I once was...I will make you a husk as well.'

Just mind goes into excitement overload lol! Apologies if this was annoying or anything lol...hope ya like guess/ideas lol!

Omg, first of all, thank you so much 😭💕 that makes me so happy knowing people are so interested in my au!!

Now about Trixie, she’s not like EVIL in this au as she didn’t think that the spell would have such a dramatic effect, so she does have her regrets and stresses over being responsible for the whole thing. As said in other posts, she is trying to find a cure and gathering research to undo the whole thing and trying to appear as a ‘hero’- but she never wants anyone to find out that she started it. Trixie is truly disturbed by what she has seen & fears becoming infected herself.

Also, that is a really cool prediction, I love seeing other people’s takes on the au but I can’t talk very much into it so I don’t spoil too much 😅

[samasmith23]

I always thought that it was ironically fitting that when Bolivar Trask first created the Sentinel robots to try and hunt down and destroy mutants, his creations almost immediately turned on their creator and threatened to conquer and enslave the human race as a whole.

In essence, Trask ended up creating the ACTUAL threat to humanity that he falsely labeled mutants to be:

As Stan Lee so eloquently narrated at the end of the 3-part storyline which introduced the Sentinels:

“Beware the fanatic! Too often his cure is deadlier by far than the evil he denounces!”

That's a message that sadly continues to be increasingly relevant with the current ongoing resurgence of fascism and far-right extremism worldwide...

From X-Men (1963) #14 & #16 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

[bambiraptorx]

i just wanted to tell you that ive been working on my own oc krang!donniekid and just found out today about bea lol, mines called lovelace (lovely for short) and shes actually a krang-mutant-plant bc donnie was trying to test cures for krang infection and tried to make a test subject by infecting one of his plants with a little krang. long story short he noticed it developed sentience and kept trying to interact with him and unintentionally fed it some of his ninpo enough that it developed a conscious similar to his. he also went to draxum in a panic first and bc lovely's a plant she cant really move so donnie salvaged fragments of krang armor to build a mechanical turtlekid-shaped frame for her to integrate with. he keeps her a secret at first bc hes not sure how he would deal with having to choose between his family and his new daughter but the epf get involved and manipulate the boys into capturing lovely for supposed krang extermination and it becomes a whole thing

sorry this is a bit rambly but i was very happily surprised to find smone else who had an idea like mine :D

Ooo nice! Lovelace sounds like a very fun character! The EPF part of the plot sounds very interesting, and the idea of Lovely being a plant at first is very cool.

Ngl though I'm not the only person to come up with a Krang oc that's connected to Donnie, there's a couple more I know off the top of my head, so if you'd like to see a couple more au's with a similar concept, here's a couple

@onejellyfishplease has Dro, who's basically a Krang lookalike of Donnie that's his sister rather than a kid (here)

@varianlikescheese also has an au with Donnie getting a Krang sister, Techna (here)

@mudlarkspur has Srinivasa, who Donnie adopts in a non-canon future timeline of xirs separated au (here)

[nutcrawler]

X-Men 2024, or, what the fuck should I read this year?

As someone that wasted the last week catching up on all current X-titles, here's the long short on which books are nice

Uncanny X-Men

The first one I read because it has my boy Kurt, with Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine, traveling a bit and hanging out in Louisiana until the plot comes to get them with 4 new younger mutants being hunted.

Exceptional X-Men

This is the slice of life book. Kitty Pryde is a bartender in Chicago, while she balances trying not to fuck up her wlw dates twice in a row with rescuing every baby mutant that she crosses paths with. Pretty gay, I like it, it has good writing.

Adjectiveless X-Men, aka X-Men

The Scott Summers Show, I would actually recommend this one above Uncanny, as it seems to be the "true" book the x-events are moving around. Scott & Co. living in Alaska, Beast is back and trying to cure Magneto, Glob and Quentin are here too. If you are only gonna keep up with one book, this one wouldn't be a bad pick.

NYX

Or, the Young Mutants Pride book. The Kamala Khan/Laura Kinney book. Pretty focused on the "community" aspect of mutants, issue #3 has a scene that really highlights this with regards to where you belong, what you hide, etc. So pretty gay like Exceptional, a Morlock even mentions scalie fetishists. I don't really like X-23 but she's good with Kamala in this book.

X-Factor

Reality show mutants with a side of "you can't work for our oppressors." Leans pretty comedic when not focusing on mutant oppression and the question of integration. Oh yeah btw all these books are wearing their politics on the sleeves, some more than others though.

X-Force

Forge made a device that tells him where shit is gonna hit the fan, and he's assembled a team to keep shit together, and if they do their job right, nobody will know. Clearly building to something, so the action focus is a little dull for me, but the couple writing between Captain Britain and Askani is nice. Forge is hiding something because he refuses to take off his psi-shield.

Sentinels

The edgy book, people dressed like sentinels and hunting down mutants. The letters page at the end of issue #1 was explicit about how they are pulling the energy of Robocop and Starship Troopers, so if you like fascy tacti-cool stuff, this is the one. Not hating btw I love Verhoeven, I saw some posts on 4chan about how this book is triggering the libs but that's just cope.

The solo focused books:

Dazzler

Mutant and proud, and on tour! That's it, there's only been one issue. Includes an entire mutant pride song called Out and Proud. Didn't particularly enjoy this one.

Storm

Wanting to begin her political career, but starts with the harsh truth that a local nuclear disaster was the fault of a mutant instead of negligent engineers. She also gave herself a megadose of rads and has hours to live. Also only 1 issue out right now, but decent.

Phoenix

Jean Grey, space cop (except she helps people). Has a very strong "actions and consequences" theme. Phoenix's history is constantly brought up Jean works to rehabilitate her reputation. Also some kind of fatherhood theme going on, Jean inadvertently gets an alien girl's dad killed which is slowly working its way around to be a problem for Jean again; Jean also run's into her father in law, who brings her to some Asgardian zombies, it's a whole thing. Not too bad imo, but as the "cosmic book" it's kinda all over the place.

Wolverine

Absolutely unhinged, my boy Kurt gets shot in the fucking face first issue. But it was to motivate Logan to be a good boy, so seal of approval.

oh there is also From the Ashes Infinity Comic that is p good, a sort of anthology where every 3-4 issues is a different story, I actually really liked it despite the Infinity Comic format

So that's the first 6 months of post-Krakoa, p good so far, will keep reading for sure.

Mystique #1 comes out in a few days which I'm kinda hype for, she finally got married to Destiny last year so Marvel's premier lesbian couple is thriving.

So long true believers, and remember:

[shouldprobablybereading]

Just rewatched last stand for the first time in years and it’s a lot better than I remember, but kinda lack direction a bit.

To start with I do think the actors did a great job of showing that the characters are close and have lived/worked together for years now. Even Beast who hasn’t been in the previous movies manages to just fit in with the others. I especially liked seeing Storm and Wolverine’s friendship and how both of them had to step up and be the leaders after losing both Xavier and Cyclops.

With that said the plot itself mostly felt like lost potential and a little much crammed together. I never really liked the phoenix plot lines in the cartoons but I can see the potential for an interesting story. The problem then is that we get extremely little of Jean’s feelings in the movie and Xavier’s questionable actions in regards to putting barriers in her head get kinda glossed over by her being just as dangerous as he said and him immediately “dying”.

And the mutant cure sparks a lot of potentially interesting debate, especially considering how differently the powers effect different people. But Magneto immediately going so violently against it kills any of that and kinda forces the xmen to just pick the side that isn’t him. Like Storm also thought that it’s wrong but it stops mattering.

The ending is also overall pretty weird and unfinished, but living in 2024 and having watched days of future past I’m pretty forgiving on that.

As a whole I feel like they could have won a lot by just making it two separate movies instead of trying to fit the two conflicts together.

Also, poor Scott I really thought he would be stuck inside her mind or something but no he just died lol.

[thebibliomancer]

Universe X #2

We’ve got King Captain Britain, his Union Jacks, Medusa, Luna, and the Ahura Boltagon Black Knight. Also, big cosmic Mar-Vell’s shoulder.

Last times in Universe X: Captain America and kid Mar-Vell are on a scavenger hunt and have collected Cloak’s cloak. Sue Storm was brought back to life using one of Reed’s arms. Reed was confronted by Pope Immortus who told him to stop trying to cure Inhumanity. And Aaron Stack, Machine Watchman, had to start talking to Uatu again, about the multiverse and about what’s buried on the Moon. Cosmic Mar-Vell is in the afterlife, gathering an army for reasons.

There’s a lot going on.

Next stop on the ‘Murica/Mar-Vell scavenger hunt is England. Which is a snap thanks to Cloak’s cloak.

Mar-Vell needs the Book of Vishanti and the Darkhold, which Strange left with Britain who gave them to Merlin for safekeeping.

King Captain Britain is happy to help but wonders if Mar-Vell can bring Gray Gargoyle back to life the way he did Sue Richards.

So backstory. In one of the Earth X appendices that ran down what horrible fate had befallen a lot of the extended Marvel cast, it was revealed that Excalibur was turned to stone by Gray Gargoyle during the generalized chaos of the mass empowering event. Except for Captain Britain and Nightcrawler.

For some reason, Gray Gargoyle’s powers broke Kurt’s mutant genes and he lost his powers and his blue elf look and was promptly beaten to death by an angry anti-human mob. Irony.

Except Mar-Vell says he hasn’t seen Nightcrawler in the realm of Death so he’s probably still alive? Then where is he after all this time? Question for later.

Captain Britain, in that same fight that petrified Excalibur, killed Gray Gargoyle and later regretted it. Gray Gargoyle could have restored his team to flesh. That specific Gray Gargoyle. Brian used his multiversal connections to borrow other Gray Gargoyles but they couldn’t reverse it. He also found Arthur’s sword Excalibur but he’s too afraid to try to see if it would break the petrification on team Excalibur. So he offers the sword to Mar-Vell, who declines.

Anyway, after all that, Captain Britain was elected King Britain back when all the countries were putting superheroes in charge.

But now he’s naming Black Bolt’s son Ahura his heir. An Inhuman king for an Inhuman world. (Because England basically rules the world now. Democracy is dead.)

Except Ahura declines. Well, he accepts being King Britain’s heir but refuses to become the king of the Inhumans.

His mom Medusa wants to argue with him but can’t because he’s his father’s son which means he’s perfect and infallible and it’s good that she doesn’t see any of herself in him because that would make him less perfect.

Geez.

Anyway, to get the books, Mar-Vell and co have to visit the wizard, the horrible wizard Merlin.

Wherein Merlin drops some sick lore. Before Mar-Vell was even born, King Arthur possessed a fragment of the cosmic consciousness. That seventh sense that various Marvel characters have that let them detect plot. Even Merlin has a bit that he transfers to Mar-Vell.

But not before deriding him for ever thinking he had the entire cosmic consciousness, ie basically omniscience. If Mar-Vell had THAT, he wouldn’t have died of cancer.

Wow, Merlin is not much for tact.

After leaving the Omniverse, Captain America spots a weirdo that’s been following him since New York. Which King Captain Britian grimly identifies as Death.

Ominous note to end the issue on.

But I have some subplots to talk about.

Around the world, big mobs form around the various Human Torches to the unease of their guardians who refuse to throw the first punch.

Some pointed commentary there, Officer Luke Cage.

Oddly, the giant mob around the Canadian Torch is comprised solely of an army of identical big, furry cannibalistic cryptids known for fighting Wolverines and I think you’re not supposed to say their name. Anyway, there’s a whole bunch of those guys.

Down in the afterlife, Mar-Vell’s group joins one of the eternal brawls to blend in and try to convince others of the truth. The dead don’t know they’re dead and just refight every battle from life.

Sebastian Shaw doesn’t buy what Good Guy Doom is selling but they’re able to convince Iron Man because if he’s dead, Reed is alive and the world needs Mr Fantastic to make it through these chaotic times.

Also, what in hell Carol, Nova, and other guy

Are you wearing?

I know Earth X just has weird fashion choices in general. Look at Steve and his flag toga. But everyone else in the afterlife is wearing a colored inverted version of their normal outfit.

Why did Carol and co take the time to find a half robe and no underwear and decide that was how they were going to dress?

(Although based on what she says to Tony, she’s not actually dead? But she’s in the afterlife anyway??)

This is probably the result of Earth X starting as a character design project more than a story. Alex Ross sketched a few Bad Future designs and wrote a few notes and it exploded in popularity so a story was stapled to it. But character wise, why Carol?

Anyway. In the appendix, Aaron continues getting verbally abused by Uatu who at least reveals that the Kree Supreme Intelligence is buried on the Moon, that he may be able to help save the world, but like hell is Uatu going to help Aaron try to talk him into it. Stay classy, Earth X Uatu.

[foureyes802]

hiiiiii 💕 <- for ask game not just random love

ohhhoho favorite character time to spread the good word about the worst x-man, Angel

I think Angel/Warren is one of the X-Men characters who is chronically squandered. My belief is that when people adapt the Archangel plot they often do it as a last resort because they don't know what else to do with him, and once it's resolved (or even before then) they go back to not knowing what to do with him so the whole thing just fizzles out. But I have thoughts and ideas and I see his potential. This is code for "most of what you are about to read is headcanons, because I have been putting off reading the comics and rely heavily on the X-men cartoons right now." More under the cut :3

The whole thing about Warren is that his character conflicts are almost completely internal. He's got a ton of internalized anti-mutant hangups because his dad in most iterations is the billionaire CEO of a pharmaceutical company that's trying to develop a mutant cure. He's anxious, angry, even severely depressed, but he doesn't let that show to any of his teammates. He feels the need to rely only on himself (something something, child neglect) and by putting on a flirty rich "bad boy" front he is able to get away with it for a long time. That is until he loses his wings.

This is how the Archangel arc starts, usually. Warren gets severely injured in some kind of freak accident and ends up in the hospital, where his wings are amputated without his knowledge or consent. FTR this is not even close to the most extreme case of medical abuse in this soap opera ass series. A villain, usually Apocalypse, promises to be able to get his wings back and coerces him into a contraption that brainwashes him and turns him blue and gives him wings made out of metal blades and it's all very late-80s edgy. The X-Men come to stop him and they knock him out of the brainwashing and he leaves forever because now that he's not evil I guess he's no fun anymore. What I'm doing is standing on the rooftops and screaming ARCHANGEL IS NOT A CHARACTER!!! HE IS A NARRATIVE DEVICE!!!!! Yes his knife-wings are very cool and more fun to write and draw combat scenes with but Archangel is a corrupted version of a character we know who has been overtaken by rage. Archangel is REVENGE, Archangel is GRIEF!! He had an integral part of his identity, a literal piece of his body taken away from him and he turned to a very dark place to try and get that back and it changed him permanently. THAT'S INTERESTING! If you work backwards from that it can also make normal-style Angel really interesting too. Does he snap at people? Is he directing his self-loathing outwards? Does he grow at peace with his mutant identity and reject fully the prejudice of his family, content with the family he has found in other mutants, and THAT'S when you strike and take his wings away? MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!!

Wolverine And The X-Men is not a good cartoon, being especially notable for its sidelining and disempowerment of the women X-Men, but it gets the closest to understanding Warren. He's not super present in the show prior, but in "Guardian Angel" he gets the spotlight and this single episode tackles the becoming Archangel part of the arc so well that it's the reason I'm obsessed with this B-list white man. Weirdly it's Mr. Sinister who turns him and not Apocalypse, which doesn't *not* make sense in context unless you remember that if they got a season 2 they were gonna do Apocalypse. But that's a tangent in itself. Anyway the episode is really really great as a somewhat-standalone. The stuff about a mutant cure is an interesting take on fantasy eugenics and Warren is so queercoded it's insane. He's so queercoded that Storm is his girlfriend for no reason and it never comes up again in any other episode. The show also drops the ball on following through with anything Archangel does; see the aforementioned Apocalypse thing, they were probably going to resolve it in season 2. Honestly it's a tossup whether that would have been satisfying had it gotten to exist. WATX is weird, don't watch it.

That's a lot of my thoughts on Warren. It's not all angst, I also think the moments where he's a prankster bastard are really fun. It's just clear to me that so many writers see him as the guy whose boring power is "having wings" and nothing more and that's really disappointing to me, the world's number one enjoyer of arrogant pricks who secretly hate themselves.

[aealzx]

Omigosh ! Shame on me, I've only just noticed that you've done a written version of your comic. Or, at least, extra scenes and the sequel after Donnie becomes himself again.

I've read the first two parts with Raph looking after the recovering Donnie. How can I express my appreciation and admiration for your work? Your drawing style is amazing but your writing style is so descriptive and emotional. I can feel the brotherly love between the turtles, Splinter's love for his children.

You're doing an incredible job, I just had to tell you that.

I hope we get to see more of Disaster Twins after Better Genes.

Oh by the way, what's the reason for the title? Really curious about that.

And that's all I wanted to tell you. I also hope you are doing well !

Take care of yourself 💕✨

Ahhhhhhh no shame no shame XDDD That first post isn’t even like a week old, it’s no big deal at all. You’re totally fine.

Awwwww I’m so glad you enjoy it XDD Honestly comments are enough for me. My receiving love language is totally words of affirmation, so really, just comments pointing out one thing you liked is enough to give me a hit of happy chemicals for a whole hour or more XDD So euguuuuhhh ;V; Thank youuuuuuu omg, I’ve never really had my writing being complimented so much and have always felt like it was rather…scattered and subpar compared to “the good stuff” that makes people notice. So having it pointed out just TVT thank youuuuu. I’m glad the emotions bleed out well enough.

Thank you againnnn

Leo and Donnie being twins is one of my favorite fan headcanons I’ve adopted and looove to play with. But I also just love the dynamics between the entire family, so I end up bouncing around and none of the dous grab my attention permanently. That being said, I do have another Leo and Donnie section planned, as well as Raph and Mikey, Donnie and Mikey, and Carol in there too. XDD

As for the title XDD huuuu that’s a bit hard to explain. Mostly Better Genes is because the concept of double mutated Donnie was ripped from three TMNT 2003 episodes titled “Adventures in Turtle Sitting”, and “Good Genes” part 1 and 2. So I wanted people to know that I was referencing to those episodes, but didn’t want to have my stuff come up when searching those episodes. So I switched Good for Better XDD

But, I also went with Better Genes because it’s a more buried part of the story bit. The rottmnt boys were planned mutants, so it makes sense that they would be designed to have various ehhhhh plus points or whatever you call them. Enhanced strength, speed, etc. One of those that made sense to me was Draxum not wanting people to mess with his design, so I had the thought that Draxum made it so the boys’ genetics couldn’t be tampered with because their own genes would fight off anything that wasn’t part of the original design. 

These two sections kind of touch on that idea:

The reason Donnie was able to create a cure on his own within the vague time limit is because he wasn’t creating something brand new from scratch. His own immune system was trying to fight off the mutagen, it just was being overwhelmed. So he just isolated his own antibodies, and made more of them. And after that his own immune system was able to beat the mutagen, so he’s the one with the better genes X’D

Hope that made sense |D

Thanks again for the note 8DDDD I’m doing great, just eternally tired like everyone else. X’DD

Take care too~ Get yourself a treat if you want.

[stormxpadme]

Whumptober 2023 No. 24 - If only I could dream in a little less colour

Scogan Bingo challenge Neighbors AU

Scott would have easily made it in time if it hadn’t been for Charles of course using the excuse of today's date for a courtesy call, meaning yet another badly disguised attempt at trying and get Scott to change his mind. And these kinds of conversations you didn’t want to have on your mobile on the street and the subway unless you wanted half of New York to learn, you happened to be both a former teacher in a mutant school and the no-longer aspiring leader of a mutant military group not too long weeks ago. Not a good idea, with how, once more, alarmingly mutant-unfriendly the mood in general public felt lately, especially since the news of the Cure had broken.

It took Scott almost 20 minutes before he managed to end that damn call as just hanging up on his foster father would only have meant being forced, having to continue the argument telepathically. By that time, he had to all but run to the elevator to not lose even more precious time. And that was how he came to make the first crucial decision that night, upon realizing that said outdated transport cabin luckily was right on his floor, only its doors were just about to close. "Wait! Hold it, please!" Much to his annoyance, whoever was inside the lift ignored his shout so that he had to go even faster, slipping through the far too narrow gap between the closing doors at the last moment. Another day, he might have given an irritated comment about rudeness but with both his anxiety and his excitement about the upcoming procedure at the City Hall growing by the second, he wasn’t feeling like starting a fight right now.

Not to mention that one glance at the guy at the other side of the cabin let Scott know, he'd probably only have gotten a grunt for an answer anyway. It was the maintenance guy. Figured. Scott had only run into that certain, notoriously nonverbal neighbor a couple of times since moving in here but that had been enough for quickly deciding that giving that attractive muscular, slightly stocky shape any attention? Best to be filed under delusional fantasies, judging by the utter lack of interest in interacting with the building tenants that this dude displayed. Probably he'd only found himself thinking about that rugged, remarkably handsome face more than once lately in the first place because he'd seen the guy get himself hurt pushing waste containers one day from afar, and promptly instantly heal.

Not something Scott had had expected, but for the sake of his already skyrocketing paranoia about Charles possibly sending someone after him to spy on him, he'd decided that in a city overpopulated with all kinds of enhanced like this … It wasn’t that unusual, two mutants living in the same fairly huge apartment complex.

Either way, for feral guy, Scott didn’t have any patience for right now. Not with how especially slowly this damn elevator crept downwards today. It was only when he paced the small space unusually restlessly for his usual control of body and mind, and something crunched under his boot, that he realized, the dirty PVC ground was covered with lanterns and garlands in probably a whole range of flashy colors that Scott couldn’t make out thanks to his glasses. Given the occasion, the words that the half-torn and scrambled letters on some of them spelled out were still easy to guess. So this was where all that stuff had ended up that had brightened the grey, homogenous corridors of the apartment hallways just a few hours ago still.

"Yeah, I took it down. Big fucking deal," the stranger hissed, apparently noticing Scott's confused frown. "Not allowed on general space anyway. Fire hazard and shit. I'm not getting my paycheck cut for some holiday kitsch."

Scott held up one hand in surrender, determined not to let anyone ruin was what supposed to be his best day since he'd fallen out of an exploding plain as a kid with his baby brother in his arms. "Not my decorations." Another restless glance at his watch let him know he had still two more minutes to get to the station right outside the door which usually should be more than sufficient. Except every single street of this city would be overcrowded today, and with Scott always having to make painstakingly sure to keep his distance from other people if he didn’t want to risk any accidents with his glasses … For example, like almost tripping over his own nervous feet when the elevator cabin suddenly came to a halt, between two floors, and most of the half-blind neon spots on the ceiling went out. His brain needed a moment to catch on before new worry landed a solid blow to his punch, not unlike all these hits he'd been taking in the combat training he'd been undergoing from the age of fifteen on. "What the …? Oh no, no, no, this cannot be happening right now. I got a damn appointment."

When janitor guy, alarmingly unfazed, had the nerve to reach for a cigar in his shirt pocket before sitting down on the narrow bench on the cabin's side with a resigned sigh, Scott let out a growl of his own at the man for once. With two hectic steps, he was at the emergency phone on the wall, only to find that there wasn’t even a dial tone. "What …? This thing's dead!"

"Bub, you seen this place before you moved in here? Why do you think rent's so low? Everything in here is kept together by superglue and goodwill." The stranger lit his cigar, entirely ignoring the warning glare of red from behind Scott's glasses.

"Well, that's just great. So how about you call these people who write your checks on your mobile then?"

"You ever look at your calendar this morning, shades guy? Or out of the window? Who exactly do you think works today?" The man rested one leg on the other knee in continuous, nerve-wracking patience, a half-amused, half-lenient grin on his lips when Scott, in spite of his growing trepidation, couldn’t help but stare at the fascinating game of those thick thigh muscles under a worn, far too tight pair of jeans.

"Pretty sure a couple of guys with fancy car sirens do." Not ready to give up, Scott reached for his own phone though part of him already knew better. He'd indeed been very well aware when he'd left the comfortably wealthy life at Charles' behind, that a big city came not only with safe anonymity but also with the according social and technical issues, including those of the only place he could afford on his new small garage shop salary. Far too much lead in the walls causing basically non-existent reception in the hallways was just one of those. "Fuck!"

"You are the kid who moved into 5B last month, right? You seriously didn’t get stuck in here yet?" The stranger raised his brows at him when Scott continued to walk through the cabin with one hand clenched into a fist, feverishly going through possible options in his head.

"Some people like to keep their body healthy and use the stairs." Scott got only even more pissed off, not least because of the still-burning cigar. If he'd had his damn VISOR on him, he might have shot the simmering tip off just on principle. But not to mention, janitor dude on his part surely had no idea that they were part of the same species, Scott couldn’t even focus on seriously complaining right now. Not when he was dreading more and more, not making it to his meeting in time, and had no idea when he'd be invited to a new one. With those feelings, he seemed to be alone in this lift though. "You really don’t give a fuck about being stuck, huh?"

"Why should I? I don't got an appointment." With that, the stranger went back to smoking, staring up at the semi-darkness of the empty shaft above them through the grated ceiling.

There was an idea at least. The walls of this damn building were paper-thin which Scott knew thanks to already being perfectly able to tell when his neighbor on his left came home to scream at his wife about unpaid pills and when the prostitute on the other side of the hall started working. Maybe if he could get someone's attention, they could call 911 … "Hello? Anyone out there? Guys, this is 5B! Elevator's down! Hello? Guys, this is really urgent! I really need to get downtown! Can anyone hear me?" For a few more seconds, he listened to the silence almost deafening thanks to the broken elevator motor and a building probably basically empty thanks to everyone out partying already, only his own quickening, uneven breathing sounding through the cabin, and the unnerving long drags on that damn cigar from a few feet away … When nothing but silence was the answer, and a surprisingly compassionate headshake from the stranger, as the guy's surely enhanced senses could probably make it out that there wasn’t anyone within earshot, Scott cowered down on the cabin floor, trying to get his breathing under control and not to let the threatening panic choke him.

****

"Still nothing." Once he'd gotten his heartbeat back under control, Scott threw another glance at his phone display, without any hope, but still couldn’t see a single bar.

He probably deserved the next shrug from that bench over there that didn’t need a translation into feral to know which two words it expressed.

Fine. Waiting it was then. He could still make it to the City Hall if someone from the outside would notice the elevator not working anytime soon and call help. Even with so many residents not being at home, that was a pretty surefire bet. Scott had been seldom so grateful for the exact habit that had annoyed Jean so much in the end, of always overplanning things and never going anywhere without a generous time window if he could. He just needed to keep his mind focused on the task at hand lest he'd possibly start overthinking again what he was so dead set on doing tonight, after it had taken him so long to make this decision in the first place. Means of distraction, sadly, weren’t really available for the moment. Well, if anything, this stupid situation at least offered another chance at finding out more about this mysterious stranger whose damn name Scott still didn’t even know. "So, no going out on your part today?"

"I'm not a masochist." The man let out a huff and vaguely gestured towards the building exits. "Why would anyone of their sane mind hit town on New Year's? All these primitives out there who can't hold their liquor, starting fights left and right? Not exactly safe for the likes of us." Well, that answered the question if the guy had guessed by now why Scott didn’t take off his glasses in spite of the cabin's bad lighting. "This is basically a war zone out there, and I've seen enough of those in my time. Got enough entries on my police records already, too," the man added after a, this time dejected-looking, nibble on his cigar. "Holding cells got really shitty beds. Maybe you shouldn’t be in such a hurry to get your cute ass wasted tonight. At least not out there."

"No such luck," Scott gave back with a tired smile. "Told you, I got somewhere to be. I don't fault people for getting a little overexcited tonight. I'm one of them. I'm not thrilled that they could do the damn appointment only tonight, but when you get a freebie for something that usually costs a couple of thousand bucks, you don’t question."

"Hm." The man didn’t seem convinced and didn’t ask, either, but Scott hadn’t really expected that. "Getting up your hopes is never healthy, Shades. Especially tonight. Just one big damn letdown, usually. You build up these huge expectations and wake up with a hangover and disappointed to the bone the next day."

"Whatever." Scott had enough of this pessimistic bullshit. Rolling his eyes, he'd spotted a detail possibly useful in the massive grates up there. Suddenly filled with new energy, he jumped back to his feet and stretched up on his toes. But even with his considerable height, he couldn’t make out what he needed to see thanks to the disturbing quartz coating of his glasses, as the damn cabin had quite a high ceiling. "I think I can shoot the lock of this hatch." He quickly calculated the bill for a possible repair on said access grate in his head and decided, he could cover that with his next paycheck. Which still left him with another problem though. That shaft behind the exit was looking awfully narrow and winding for someone with his stature, slimmer since he was no longer encouraged to work out like a madman every night at the in-house gym but still towering over most other people. "Think you can climb through this tunnel to the hallway?"

The man looked at him as if he'd just grown a second head. "I look like Spider-Man to you?"

Scott eyed him from head to toe just to be a pain, doing his best to hide that in his opinion, the guy had actually a better physique than said famous web-crawler. Dude's ego was surely big enough already. "Hardly. Don’t worry, I'll get your job done for you. Just give me a lift so I can see better. I don’t want to hit a damn cable by accident. Would you hurry? Unlike you, I don't got all day," he snapped, agitation already taking over again when the stranger made no move to get up.

"You need therapy, you know." Sighing deeply, janitor dude finally approached him and wrapped his arms around Scott's waist which promptly sent a surge of unexpected heat through his veins, at the sensation of the steel cords of muscles playing under those thick arms and the warmth radiating off that strong body. The latter being a very welcome change to the winter coldness seeping in through the ramshackle building walls.

Scott called himself to order and sent his juvenile hormones where they belonged. "That thing's full of cobwebs and dirt. I can't see shit. Give me your phone, or mine. I need some light up here." He wriggled a little in the stranger's ridiculously easy hold on him to get to said device in his jacket pocket. A movement which promptly let the badge with his patient name and number that he was already wearing on his belt, slip from under the dark leather.

"The fuck …?" Instead of following the new instruction, the stranger suddenly let go of him so quickly that Scott dropped back to his feet with a thud, an almost disgusted look on his face as he stared at said badge with the stylized clinic's W logo on it. "You're one of the cowards volunteering for that Cure scam? That's your big plan for tonight? Betraying what we are and helping normal people wipe us all off the face of the Earth soon just because you need a couple more Ray Bans than the rest of us?"

Scott stared at the guy in new anger, both fists clenched hard by his sides this time, the pressure of his boiling emotions nurturing the power of his blasts behind his glasses to a point where a hated throb emerged behind his eyes. For seconds, he was looking in his usually not-that-limited vocabulary for any kind of fitting retort, for an insult big enough for this condescending bastard to articulate … But not a single word wanted to pass his lips, not least because it was a bad idea, getting in a possible physical fight with a feral in a confined space, especially one likely to have them both drop to their death if they made too much noise in here. Scott turned away from the stranger, deflated. So much for an interesting new acquaintance. A night for huge expectations turning into the biggest disappointments indeed. He could have tried, sure. Have the same useless debates all over that he'd left Mutant High with against the urgings, warnings, and admonishments of all his friends, his mentor, and the woman he'd once thought to love … But if these people who'd known him for years, already refused to understand, how could he expect a stranger to? Apparently, it was up to fate anyway if Scott would even get a chance to go through with this, at least tonight. He took his place on the ground by the corner again and shut his mouth.

****

"Look, I shouldn’t have said that." The stranger made it through exactly five minutes of the icy silence before speaking up again with an exasperated sigh. Apparently even someone usually so disinterested in social contacts started to feel a little cramped after a while, stuck in a place like this. "Politics have just been scary lately, you know that as well as I do. Thinking what those half-cooked drugs might do to the ones among our kind who can no longer deal with the pressure just pisses me off. I never had good experiences with normal people experimenting on the likes of us. I shouldn’t have taken that out on you. You really wanna give me the silent treatment now for as long as it takes until they find us?"

"Not sure. You really wanna hear what I'm thinking right now? About you?" Scott gave back, still insulted and offended, not to mention more pissed about missing his damn appointment by the second. Unleashing these negative feelings on the next person within reach wasn’t entirely fair, especially since the guy did have something of a point, he supposed, but it wasn’t like the world had ever been fair to him. When the janitor just shrugged at him once more, tilting his head expectantly, he let out a snort and got up again, crossing his arms in challenge. "Well, by your accent, I'm guessing you grew up somewhere in bumfuck Canadian nowhere. Feral like you, shaped for battle by nature but mentally far too much out of control for regular duty? You surely signed up for the next best merc group the moment you were legal. After a couple of kills too many for the wrong side, you found out you had a conscience and deserted. You didn’t have the motivation for a real job though, so you let them pay you for keeping this ruin here together while you smoke and drink your days away. And because you fucked up so much in your life, you think you're not worth any warmth and happiness from anyone around you. So you bite people away before they do as much as give you a second glance. Oh, and also?" Scott had talked himself into a frenzy and just had to get it out, maybe just because the guy had let him down so much a minute ago, and even though the dude had turned suspiciously pale on his bench over there, entirely forgetting about his smoke. It was rude and spiteful and not like Scott at all, but fearing that the only chance at his happiness was just being blown out of this damn shaft, he was on the verge of losing all that self-control and polite distance to people he'd taught himself ever since mutating. Not like that had ever gotten him anywhere anyway. "Your New Year's allergy? I bet some high school jock with the IQ of toast let you down at midnight like 20 years ago, and now you think everyone you meet has to pay for that. Am I close?"

"Alberta," the stranger answered flatly, looking him in the eye as if he could see right through his glasses. By his hunched shoulders and that terrible emptiness suddenly in his gravelly voice, Scott could easily read that his thoughts were miles from this cabin suddenly.

Already, the bad conscience for his outburst hit like a freight train. "Huh?"

"Alberta, Canada. Can't tell you where exactly. I lost my memory five years ago. Been trying to find any clues ever since. No such luck. Moved here when I was getting tired of cage fighting to make a living. Some old mental dude in a wheelchair upstate New York found me on the road someday and helped me get the job. Dude probably still thinks I'll return the favor and help his little facility of sleeper agents out with some fight someday or something. Whatever. Never heard from him again and I'm not interested, frankly. I've had enough of war all my life from all I can remember. When you're supposedly more than a hundred years old, you've seen a few."

"A hundred …?" Scott's eyes went wide, the shock about the almost casual mention of his old home, of his former mentor from someone maybe not a stranger at all, almost immediately forgotten. Charles … Goddamnit, Scott should have known that the guy would find some way to make sure, he'd still be in some way in Scott's life, watching him, even if it was just by casually placing him in the same damn house as some old acquaintance. That was something Scott would have to think over long and hard once he'd no longer be busy with tonight's far more important plans. The next call with Westchester would definitely not be a friendly one. But for the moment, he neither found the energy to even tell the stranger about his suspicions nor to dwell on that new aggression of being constantly manipulated by his foster father. Not in the light of another, almost even more astonishing revelation from that stranger. Scott wasn’t even entirely sure why the guy was suddenly being so candid to him of all people. Or maybe he did know; maybe the two of them ending up here together did have a reason he also would have no chance to think about before tomorrow came. But that, too, was overshadowed by his sheer amazement and the shame about how much he'd really misjudged this stranger. Sure, he'd known in theory that ferals could get really old without hardly aging at all, but suddenly facing one of these people then … Facing the sheer weight of grief and history such a person carried, even when the latter was lost apparently, that ball of pure depression and frustration of a person there on the other side of the cabin … That was a whole different deal. Charles was a lying asshole, but Scott had to admit reluctantly, his mentor probably hadn’t been off about at least some of his lectures in the course of his years anyway. Including all those about restraint and a good, firm check on Scott's emotions, especially when he didn’t have all the information on a situation yet.

Before he could think of a badly needed apology, the stranger looked up again with that terrible lost expression in a pair of sunken dark eyes, a hard tug around broad lips that let the guy look older than his genes should allow. "And no. It was right after deserting that my arch-enemy killed the girl right in front of my eyes just to hurt me. That's one of the memories not even amnesia couldn’t wipe out. Fireworks had just started if you need to know. That made it easier. Drowned out the screams."

And just like that, Scott suddenly seriously considered cutting a hole in that damn floor below him and climbing out towards the nearest exit never to return. Talk about putting his damn foot in his mouth.

******

When the silence became too deafening, Scott started talking again, not least to maybe try to make it clear to the stranger why he'd just been such an ass. And also because he felt it wouldn’t have been fair, leaving him in the dark about them both having been used from afar by the same person in some way.

Janitor guy didn’t seem too surprised by his story, not even really commenting on it save for a bitter snort and a headshake, which in turn probably shouldn’t surprise Scott. Ferals came with a brilliant set of instincts usually, especially regarding people they shouldn’t trust.

That was something Scott especially on this night once more wished he would have had himself. "Xavier took me in after I'd made it on my own in foster homes and on the streets for a couple of years. At that time, I was far too grateful for that to realize, the guy just needed someone to lead the new strike team he was building. Don’t get me wrong, I'm still grateful to him, and I don't think it's a bad thing what he's doing, trying to keep the peace between our kind and normal humans. But I already got a mutation that doesn’t leave me the freedom of choice in many regards. After the first few missions and when my relationship with a teammate fell apart because work and fun don’t go together for me, apparently … I realized I'd never actually stopped to think if this was what I wanted. Guess that is what I came here for to find out. To see if there's another path in my life I want to take. And now I think I found one."

The stranger regarded him thoughtfully over the edge of his cigar that he'd somehow forgotten to light again in the last few minutes, and patted the bench next to him invitingly. "Logan. My name. Or just call me idiot, I guess," he said with a rueful grin when Scott dropped next to him. A mutually apologetic nod exchanged had the last of hard feelings fade away. "Scott, right? Well, let me tell you from experience, when it comes to decisions like this, I think is awfully vague. For how long have you had these?" He nodded at Scott's glasses with still that pensive frown.

"I was twelve. It happened shortly after my parents died and my brother vanished. That plane crash rendered the control over those damn blasts useless, for a lifetime, from all that Charles' doctors could find out." Scott rubbed his eyes under his glasses as he felt his headache grow stronger as if his mutation wanted to comment on the whole situation … or rear up in protest because it knew exactly what was coming tonight. Hopefully. "When I heard about the Cure, that was when I started questioning my role with Charles. I know there's no guarantee it even works, and there's no long-term studies yet but … Thing is, I didn’t think I would even get a chance at a shot so quickly. I just won the damn ticket when they did one of these case study lotteries. That's not a chance you waste. I'm not proud of running, Logan. I've been fighting for our race, for our cause, for years. But …" He paused, leaning his head back against the elevator wall, not sure he could make it clear to someone with enhanced senses and a healing factor erasing every pain and injury within seconds, what he had to deal with.

He actually expected Logan to try and talk him out of this again. Instead, the guy brushed the back of Scott's hand where it was tensely clenching on his jeans. He was even nice enough to ignore Scott's heart immediately beating faster in his chest again. "Show me?"

"Yeah, not happening." With a strained chuckle, Scott bravely fought his increasingly impure thoughts at the sight of those really beautiful pair of lips, those soulful eyes so close to him now. "The only device that keeps these blasts somewhat in check is in my apartment. You don't want to catch one of these by accident, believe me, healing factor or not. I've hurt too many people before when I didn’t close my eyes quickly enough; not gonna do that again."

"You can hold them back with your body though, right?" Logan reached up for a just as short touch along the straps of his glasses on Scott's temple, the cigar vanished somewhere in his jacket for good. "Come on, use your fingers. Take these apart for me?" He nodded down on the heap of decorations on the floor. "We ain't got nothing to do in here but party tricks for the moment. And you'd do me a favor, honestly."

Because such a thin blast through two fingertips with one eye admittedly was one of his easier tricks, and because Logan seemed truly interested, Scott finally gave in, shooting paper and plastic to his feet into particles before quickly slipping his glasses back into place. "What about you?" he asked with a weak grin when his new friend stared at the pitiful remains of those decorations with large eyes, back to being speechless again for a moment.

Logan silently got up, standing on the bench to stretch to the damn hatch. With a bright, menacing snikt-sound, a blade of pure metal protruded from between his knuckles, neatly cutting the lock in two.

"Just in case you still want to pull that stunt," he remarked dryly, sitting down again when Scott stared back and forth between him and the grate with his mouth ajar.

"I think I'll pass." The damn appointment for the moment almost forgotten, Scott couldn’t help but reach out to that rough feeling spot at the back of Logan's hand where only a faint trail of body fluid the same color as his glasses spoke of the already closed injury from that claw. "That's gotta hurt like a bitch."

"Not usually the first thing people wonder about if they see them," Logan stated quietly after long stunned seconds, his hand slowly turning to grab Scott's before he could pull it away. "And you? You're in pain too. Your breathing's off," he explained with a weak smile when Scott gasped.

"It's … something I'm used to," Scott answered after a moment of hesitation, staring down at their linked fingers, entirely at a loss about why he didn’t pull away. Maybe this long-missed touch of someone caring about him, beyond how useful he could be to them, just felt far too good. Especially while he tried to put into words what he'd been so determined to no longer question this morning. "I just started wondering at some point if I really had to when there was maybe another way. That constant pressure from the blasts being held back … That's one thing. But always being a danger to people and never being able to see the world for what it really is … When the invitation for my Cure shot came, for tonight, of all days …" He tilted his head back again, with a longing stare into the darkness, at the building ceiling over which the first quiet bangs of isolated rockets going off early had started to sound, loud enough even for non-enhanced ears. "It felt like fate. It's been a decade since I was last allowed to see a firework, Logan. I haven’t entirely forgotten yet how beautiful they are. Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier if I did, if I no longer saw colors in my dreams and memory. I want to take this chance before I forget completely."

"Dunno, bub." Logan unexpectedly let go of him, that skeptical darkness and a now very clear hint of worry returning to his tense posture as he lit his cigar again. "As far as I'm concerned? You see a lot clearer than most people I've met in my life."

To that, Scott didn’t know what to say so he decided to stay silent again for a while.

*****

With the time window shrinking by the second, resignation set in at some point. When the noise of the fireworks outside grew louder and louder, Scott didn’t even dare check his phone for the time anymore, the depressing silence starting to become painful. "Doesn’t seem like we'll be found anytime soon. Too bad you made me ruin those decorations. Here I was just thinking we could have our own party."

"Told ya, I don’t do New Year's." Logan chuckled, the argument that wasn’t even really one fortunately over.

"All the more a reason to replace those horrible memories of yours with better dreams." Gathering all his courage, Scott reached for Logan's hand again, his heart immediately hammering in his chest when an increasingly interested, curious glance met his, the man next to him licking his lips in a gesture almost too brief to notice … if you hadn’t been waiting or it. "Come on! Ball's dropping only once a year. Not sure about the time, but people do usually kiss at midnight, right?"

"No idea. I'm not a traditional guy as you might have noticed," Logan warned him, but it came with a lot less bite this time. "Since we are in this together, though …" And without having to talk much about it, they both knew, that wasn’t only true for their little predicament in this damn cabin tonight. But those were matters early enough talked about again tomorrow. It was far more interesting suddenly how those beautiful lips looked from up close, slightly opened as they were slowly approaching …

And then the damn elevator cabin started to move again.

Scott wasn’t finished yet cursing all the damn fortune gods of this verse by the time they reached the ground floor to a crowd of impatient other tenants already waiting. Some technician in a grey uniform grinned at them proudly, for having been so fast, and there was even someone Logan knew, judging by the exhausted groan on his lips.

"The fuck are you doing here, Wade?"

"Getting you to the party I told you about of course. Since you didn’t answer your phone, I came here to see what was up. You should thank me." The guy who was obviously off to a costume ball, judging by the red and black latex suit covering both his body and face. Wrapping his arm around Logan's shoulders, he entirely ignored his friend's reluctance and warning growls, dragging him with him towards the exit. "Who's that cute ass over there? You two made good use of that hour in the cabin, huh?"

"Shut it, Wade. Get out of here. Told ya, I'm not coming." Logan pushed the overly excited weirdo out the front door and turned back to Scott, looking definitely a little regretful himself about the sudden end of their little adventure. "So. You can still make it to City Hall, I think."

"Yeah, gotta run." Only Scott didn’t feel like saying goodbye yet, not like this, not after what had almost just happened. "How about I buy us a bottle of booze on my way home? We could watch a movie or something."

"From all I heard about those drugs, you'll spend the next two weeks puking your guts out, bub. But if you're still game after that … Apartment 1C." At least no longer that aggressive about Scott's choice, Logan pulled him in for a hug, this time not even sparing his friend a glance who was already sticking his head through that door again, whistling at them. "No one can take this decision off your shoulders, Shades. Might wanna remember though that new chances don't expire at midnight on New Year's. Just don’t do something you might regret. Now get the hell out of here."

"Going." Quickly turning away before the other man could see the returning unsettled frown on his face and possibly throw him off balance for good, Scott hurried away.

****

Somehow, he'd known, the whole time. Maybe he'd even hoped for it a little. In any case, the last tears of humiliation about the disparaging comments from these damn doctor hacks immediately dried behind Scott's glasses when he left the City Hall behind and suddenly saw Logan standing right before him, softly pulling him back into his arms as if not a second had passed since they'd parted in the hallway.

"Still got your Ray Bans, huh?" It wasn’t a question and certainly not one of surprise.

"I balked when they came with the needle," Scott admitted, shuddering in the stranger's arms at the memory of these cold sterile facilities, all these people who were so eager to reduce the number of mutants on this planet as quickly and thoroughly as possible … Christ, what had he been thinking? "I told them I needed more time to think. They said, if I go now, I wouldn’t need to bother coming back. And that I was ruining my only chance at a proper, normal life."

"I hoped you blasted them in their stupid asses." Logan growled at that building as if he was about to storm it and rip all people and equipment for this special procedure parade of the Worthington Labs tonight there to pieces.

Scott decided they could both find something better to do on the last night of the year than spending time in a holding cell and buried his hands wordlessly in Logan's hair to pull him down for a kiss. It was a fantastic, mindblowing first touch full of yearning and bliss, and greed that only ended when the increasing number of fireworks and the deafening cheers from the distance let them know, the ball had dropped at Time Square. "Happy New Year, stranger."

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

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