#water-god19

[artsymeeshee]

Hello! I just found your laundry list of art last week, and I have to say…I LOVE IT! Love the instinct comics, Ford being cool never ceases to make me giggle, and I loved the autumn drawing. I’ll admit, that one had me in tears…made be believe in the what-if’s of my own family. What they…could be like someday. Or what I wish they were. Thanks for the tears, they were much needed.

 Anyway! This is what I came to message you about! Although,…I am extremely sorry for the late message. I tend to check back into tumblr at…weird hours of the night. Heck, it’s almost the next day as I type this. I seriously need to sleep more. So! I had a few thoughts on Stan and Ford relationship, and I wanted to hear your thoughts on it. Just a disclaimer, I’m kinda basing this off my actual life as I find these characters mirror personal events very closely! I am also a writer and soon to be author! Might post some archive of our own content about these two soon. Also, and this is the most important, I have NOT read book of Bill yet. So plz…no spoilers. Anyway, long introduction aside, let’s begin!

In my personal head cannon of these two, which I don’t imagine is “too” different than how anyone else could see them, Stan and Ford have an extremely awkward and emotional conversation after Weirdmagedon. Why? B/c they’re both, to some degree, emotionally numb. In my opinion, why wouldn’t they? They haven’t spoken to each other in 40 years, properly, and they have repressed a ton of their emotions since then. It’s hard to bring that back up. (Speaking off of experience) I’d say even harder for Ford. Stan, thanks to the twins, has learned to loosen the locks on his heart while Ford kept running away from those emotions to defeat Bill. Just like his ambitions, that was the main priority, and everything else later. To me, this would explain why Ford never bothered to talk to Stan properly since coming back during the show. He wouldn’t know how to. If they were to talk, and this is where the writer in me comes out, I’d write Ford as the one that needs it most. He’s been traveling dimension for decades, running from the past that held him back…but he has no anchor now. Stan becomes that anchor, paralleling what he wasn’t when Ford was lost. And Ford…he just breaks. Like, completely breaks. And Stan is there with him, breaking like he is, but still there for him brother. Finally back after all those years apart. And as someone who has been on the side of neglect from one’s own brother…nothing would be me happier if we went to connect. Just like Stanley and Ford. And eventually, soon to be sailing on the seas to connect even more.

Phew…that was a lot. Sorry for the rambling. Told you I had some ideas! So, what do you think? Do you see Ford acting like this? If not…why? Genuinely, I’d like to know. Anyway, thanks for taking your time to read this. Again, sorry for the ramblings. Oh! One more thing, I know you aren’t taking art request right now, but would you be open to take them in the future? Say in 2 months time? Anyway, bye!

Well first off, thank you! I appreciate it! :D

And to answer your headcanon, I agree on it. Stan is definitely more open to talking, especially thanks to the kids. I mean there's still moments where it's hard and awkward for sure. And Ford would for sure have a harder time opening up, especially with the constant guilt and mistakes that replay over and over. And there's always that lingering feeling of "well, Stan has to hate me for what I've done" and it's always so surprising when Stan tells him differently and he never once hated Ford. Sure, was angry but never hated him. He had too much self-hatred to feel that way with Ford. And as many times as it needs to be said or repeated, it really makes all the difference when they tell each other how much they love and care for each other. As Alex said, "they're both so damaged, they desperately need each other."

As for the requests thing, most likely not. Only because I'm entering the busiest time of year for my work so it's gonna be a miracle if I even have enough energy or motivation for drawing if I'm not completely burnt out.

[positivelybeastly]

This might be a fun little project for you, and certainly for the rest of us attempting to understand Hank better. What is something that a writer should takeaway from the most popular incarnations of Hank, yes including the recent one, to write him in a storyline? Maybe even bring something new to his character?

Speaking for myself here I’m fairly curious to know!

Hmmm. Good question.

I think that there are four central tenets to Hank's character, and they're basically integral to whether or not a run understands what Hank is about.

First of all - Hank's general story arc is about the importance of making mistakes, and learning from them. This is what gives his character meaning and resonance. He teaches us that you can completely fuck up your life, and come back from it, if only you try. If only you don't let your mistakes become bigger than you.

I would argue that the worst versions of Hank, and by worst I mean badly written, get stuck on the idea that Hank is reckless and makes mistakes and he never learns from them, and the thing is, that's simply not true anymore. It was true, in the story in which he turned himself grey and furry, but that was 1975, and that story broke Hank as he existed up until that point.

This story is so good because it understands that Hank made the single biggest fuck-up of his life in that lab, and he cannot undo that mistake, and he knows that. He has no right to. His ego died in that lab. Yeah, he can get a bit conceited, yeah, he can boast of what he's done, but he learned his lesson and he should never really reach the heights of ego and arrogance that he did back then.

All he has to do to remember what that led to is to look in the mirror.

It's not dissimilar to what happens with Mr. Fantastic - any time someone writes him as this big, boastful, arrogant scientist, they are forgetting that all he has to do to remember what that led to is look at his best friend, Ben Grimm, and what that led to last time. Actions have consequences. Hank and Reed know this all too well. They know this lesson, learning it again is bad storytelling.

Second of all - Hank is about change. His character is constantly changing, not just physically and visually, but emotionally and in terms of personality, too. He explicitly talks about this in Defenders.

He's allowed to be different and change, he is, in some ways, a social mirror. He code switches. He's different with the X-Men and the Avengers and the Defenders and X-Factor and the Illuminati and S.W.O.R.D because those places are different, with different people and different aims and different needs, and so Hank becomes different.

This is why feline Beast is so fucking important to his character growth, and why it was the best place for his character to go. By the late 90s, his character had, in ways, become a little bit stale, stuck in the rut of the jokey scientist with a philosophical side, and he needed a new internal conflict, because he's matured and dealt with most of his issues about growing up and taking responsibility.

Flipping the essential point of Beast's character, and making it so that it wasn't just other people who had to get over how Hank looked to see the brilliant, wonderful man beneath, but Hank himself, was genius.

Third of all - Hank is a consummate performer. He sings, he dances, he quotes poetry, he can turn the Periodic Table into a dirty rhyme, he knows more than you do - he is constantly performing. The aggressive performance of both humanity and masculinity is essential to Hank's character, something I've talked about extensively here, and X-Force is so instructive here because Ben Percy comes so close to understanding this character point, but fails to do anything with it.

He's just so damned uncritical. He doesn't have anyone actually engage with Hank's performance, which is why X-Force is just a succession of increasingly dry monologues by an actor trying to do improv while surrounded by the rest of his amateur dramatics group who just aren't with it today.

Fourth - Hank McCoy is a good man. He isn't perfect, by any stretch, but the instant you try and make him an intrinsically bad person, you've failed to understand who he is, where he comes from, and what the entire point of his character is.

HE HAS NO DARK SECRETS.

HE HAS NOTHING TO HIDE.

I'm sorry, but Grant Morrison just understands Beast better than 90% of writers, because they understand that Hank is a complicated man, he is a walking thesaurus, he's a pile of insecurities and neuroses and mental illnesses, but he is so painfully genuine and sincere and honest. He doesn't believe in just straight up lying, because it is beneath him. He is eloquent and cultured and smart, and he believes in giving you the truth as you need to hear it.

Bendis and Percy just don't understand what Hank is. Who Hank is. He's not the man who takes murder as the first and only option. Stop making him act like him.

As for what to bring to his character? Give him a child.

It is so painfully obvious that this man wants children.

Challenging him by making him have either biological children, or getting to just straight up adopt a child, would be an excellent place to take his character. Now, granted, I understand that comic books fucking HATE children . . . but I don't care, you asked what would be a good place for his character to go, and this is it. The man deserves the chance to be a father. He'd be a good one.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

HANK AND CARLY WEDDING QUESTIONS

@exoticb-utters @thealmightyemprex @water-god19 @a-roguish-gambit @justanotherconfusedman @knivxsanddespair

Imagine what music they would have? What food? Would it be outside? What kind of theme, if any, would they have?

Carly is a romantic storyteller, and when you pair her love for folklore, fairy tales  and fantasy literature and movies with Hank’s love for the works of William Shakespeare, a Medieval-Renaissance Inspired Fairytale Wedding makes more than sense for the two.

The ceremony and reception are held in an old vineyard/winery/cidery located in the village of Jeffersonville, Sullivan County.

A gazebo outside provides the altar, while the interior of the winery serves as the main place for the reception.

The music would be provided by playing recording albums of Medieval and Renaissance music ensembles.

The food would be a banquet planned by Gambit, inspired by medieval and renaissance cuisine: Mixed Pickles, Cruste Rolle, Cabbage Chowder and ‘Departed’ Creamed Fish as Starter Snacks; Root Vegetable Soup, Spit Roasted Steak, Mushroom Pasties, Lamb Stew, Roasted Quail and Roasted Pork Shoulder and Shanks as Main Courses; Cherry Pottage, Rose Pudding, Cream Custard Tart and Walnut with Honey Ice Cream for Desserts, all accompanied by Mulled Wine and Cider.  

Who would they invite?

Hank’s parents, Carly’s father, their mutual friend Alec Bohlson, Carly’s closest friends from her time as a patient from the Hospital for the Blind and her theater and puppetry work, and Hank’s friends he met in his adventures with the X-Men.

What season is it? Day or night? What colors do they wear?

During springtime,  in the month of May, with the ceremony starting by day and the reception going till night time before the newlywed couple travels for their honeymoon on the next day. Blue and green are the predominant colors for decoration and party clothes, but there are elements of rainbow sprinkled throughout, specially in the flower arrangements. 

Is it traditional or do they do something wild?

The ceremony is traditional, while the reception includes outside picnic games as less traditional forms of entertainment: a Three Legs Race, a Potato Sack Race, a Tug of War, Horseshoes and a Treasure Hunt.

Did they write their own vows? Who is the person marrying them?

They choose to exchange the traditional catholic wedding vows, and they are wed by the German monk Brother Johann, a friend of Kurt Wagner.

Are they wearing suits? Dresses? Something else entirely?

Carly's Ceremony Dress

Carly's Reception Dress

Hank and his Groomsmen

Bridesmaid's Dresses

Morph's Dress

What does their cake look like if they have one?

The wedding cake would be Naked Gingerbread Cake with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting. 

Does she throw the bouquet for someone to catch or does she pass out one flower to everyone to let everyone know they are worthy of love?

Carly passes one myrtle branch to every guest to show everyone is worthy of love.

Do they have a party afterwards? What music?

Yes, they have a party that starts with a collective Maypole Dance.

Is it the wedding of their dreams or does something go awry?

Their friends from the X-Men take safety precautions so that no supervillain or anti-mutant bigots come causing trouble during the wedding.

Also! How is the kiss!? Do they smooch softly? Sweetly? Passionately? Does he dip her into a deep smooch? Is it a soft sweet peck?

Their friend Alec Bohlson holds a greenery garland between Carly and Hank's faces, and the newlyweds kiss through it.

What is their honeymoon like? Is it a stay at home one? Do they go somewhere exciting? How long is the trip? Or stay at a hotel? Or maybe a cute little cottage somewhere?

They take two months off to travel from Paris to Istanbul via the Orient Express, and from Istanbul they take a ship and sail to the Greek island of Hydra.

Does she take his last name or hers? Do they keep or hyphenate their names? Or maybe they both take on a whole new last name together!

Carly takes Hank’s surname, becoming Carly Anne McCoy.

How many kids do they have? What are their names?

They have twins: Leonard DeForest and Beatrice Constance.

Where do they live?

They live in a two story cottage house located in Bayville, Nassau County.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Christ, the Perfect Sacrifice

1-4 The Law possessed only a dim outline of the benefits Christ would bring and did not actually reproduce them. Consequently it was incapable of perfecting the souls of those who offered their regular annual sacrifices. For if it had, surely the sacrifices would have been discontinued—on the grounds that the worshippers, having been really cleansed, would have had no further consciousness of sin. In practice, however, the sacrifices amounted to an annual reminder of sins; for the blood of bulls and goats cannot really remove the guilt of sin.

Christ, however, makes the old order obsolete and makes the perfect sacrifice

5-7 Therefore, when Christ enters the world, he says: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come—in the volume of books it is written of me—to do your will, O God’.

8-10 After saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin you did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are made according to the Law), Christ then says, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.” That means he is dispensing with the old order of sacrifices, and establishing a new order of obedience to the will of God, and in that will we have been made holy by the single unique offering of the body of Christ.

11-16 Every human priest stands day by day performing his religious duties and offering time after time the same sacrifices—which can never actually remove sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins for ever, took his seat at God’s right hand, from that time offering no more sacrifice, but waiting until “his enemies be made his footstool”. For by virtue of that one offering he has perfected for all time every one whom he makes holy. The Holy Spirit himself endorses this truth for us, when he says, first: ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them’.

17 And then, he adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’.

18 Where God grants remission of sin there can be no question of making further atonement.

Through Christ we can confidently approach God

19-25 So by virtue of the blood of Jesus, you and I, my brothers, may now have courage to enter the holy of holies by way of the one who died and is yet alive, who has made for us a holy means of entry by himself passing through the curtain, that is, his own human nature. Further, since we have a great High Priest set over the household of God, let us draw near with true hearts and fullest confidence, knowing that our inmost souls have been purified by the sprinkling of his blood just as our bodies are cleansed by the washing of clean water. In this confidence let us hold on to the hope that we profess without the slightest hesitation—for he is utterly dependable—and let us think of one another and how we can encourage each other to love and do good deeds. And let us not hold aloof from our church meetings, as some do. Let us do all we can to help one another’s faith, and this the more earnestly as we see the final day drawing ever nearer.

26-31 Now if we sin deliberately after we have known and accepted the truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin for us but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fire of God’s indignation, which will one day consume all that sets itself against him. The man who showed contempt for Moses’ Law died without hope of appeal on the evidence of two or three of his fellows. How much more dreadful a punishment will he be thought to deserve who has poured scorn on the Son of God, treated like dirt the blood of the agreement which had once made him holy, and insulted the very Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said: ‘Vengeance is mine: I will repay’. And again: ‘The Lord will judge his people’. Truly it is a terrible thing for a man who has done this to fall into the hands of the living God!

32-38 You must never forget those past days when you had received the light and went through such a great and painful struggle. It was partly because everyone’s eye was on you as you endured harsh words and hard experiences, partly because you threw in your lot with those who suffered much the same. You sympathised with those who were put in prison and you were cheerful when your own goods were confiscated, for you knew that you had a much more solid and lasting treasure in Heaven. Don’t throw away your trust now—it carries with it a rich reward in the world to come. Patient endurance is what you need if, after doing God’s will, you are to receive what he has promised. ‘For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him’.

39 Surely we are not going to be men who cower back and are lost, but men who maintain their faith until the salvation of their souls is complete! — Hebrews 10 | J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Cross References: Exodus 24:8; Exodus 29:36; Leviticus 16:4; Leviticus 19:18; Numbers 15:30; Deuteronomy 17:2; 1 Samuel 2:25; 1 Samuel 15:22; Ezra 6:2; Psalm 26:1; Psalm 40:6-8; Psalm 110:1; Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 33:13; Habakkuk 2:3-4; Zechariah 9:11; Matthew 10:15; Mark 3:35; Mark 12:33; John 1:15; John 2:17; John 6:51; Acts 13:11; Romans 5:2; Romans 8:3; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:8; Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 9:8; Hebrews 9:12-13; Hebrews 11:1; Hebrews 11:16; Hebrews 12:4; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 John 1:8

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@water-god19

All-New X-Men Special #1 - “Elegy in the Classroom” (2013)

written by Mike Costa art by Kris Anka & Jordie Bellaire

[artsymeeshee]

Hello! It’s me again.

Just wanted to stop by and say…thank you. I don’t know how you keep doing it, posting artwork of emotions that fit what I need in that moment, it’s scary how accurate it is at times. I just buried my grandma, first funeral I’ve ever been to, and I cried harder than I ever had before. Then, at the end of the day when I thought there’s no way I could cry any harder, you post page 72 of the instinct comic. I’m aware it doesn’t have much to do with the situation I faced, but something with it just had me going.

Overall long rant aside, thank you for making me feel something. I’m sure others feel the same way. Have a good rest of your day.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandma. :( I hope things will look up for you soon. Sending much support. 💚

And thank you for that, really. Been going through stuff and something came up that has me super worried for the future. But it's messages like this that really make a difference. I'm sorry to those I have yet to respond to but know that I do see them and I really appreciate any kind messages I get. I'm super thankful of all the support I've been getting lately. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it but maybe one day I will.

[positivelybeastly]

Hank, how old are you? Do you even feel your age???

"What's that delightful saying? 'It isn't the years, it's the mileage'? More true than Indiana Jones ever knew."

"But. In serious answer to your question - I was born in 1986, on the 16th of June. That would make me, at time of writing, thirty eight years old. Thankfully, while my mutation has done its best to make me miserable and, on occasion, kill me over the years, it does have its upsides.

Namely, my healing factor. Though nowhere near as impressive as the Wolverine's or Sabretooth's, it's of sufficient potency that I'm liable to live until the ripe old age of at least one hundred and fifty, perhaps two hundred, if I cut down on the Twinkies."

A sacrifice he is not willing to make.

"I also undergo a complete cellular renewal each time I mutate. Every cell in my body is replaced, meaning that any long standing structural issues that aren't healed during the normal passage of time are fixed, I get a new set of teeth, and I walk away a slightly different man. A regeneration, of sorts."

"As for the rest of us? My other, Krakoan self is the same age as I am, albeit renewed by the process of resurrection, which he's undergone at least once. That blurs the lines a touch, but he's still pushing forty."

"My youngest self, time displacement or no, is aged anywhere between seventeen and nineteen, depending on when you happen to meet him."

"My . . . classic form, if you like, is aged anywhere from twenty to thirty one, again, depending on when you meet him."

"My feline form, thirty one to thirty five. One of my shorter mutations, and one I look back on with - mixed, feelings."

"My newly resurrected self has the body of a thirty eight year old, but his physical age, due to his unique origin, is actually something more like three months. Add to that fact that he has the mind of a twenty six year old, and he's in a strange place, all things told."

"And of course there's my delightful alternate self, Dark Beast. When he made the crossing over from his Earth, he was thrown twenty years into the past, relatively speaking, so he's actually nearing sixty years old, though you wouldn't know it. A combination of the self-same healing factor I mentioned earlier, and his relentless drive towards self-experimentation."

"Then we come to my other alternate self. He comes from something like twenty five years into the future, making him roughly 60+ years old. He's - hard, to obtain concrete information from, given his rather fractured mental state, and I don't like to bother him too much if I can help it."

"Finally, we come to my more animated self, aged thirty two years old, and looking younger every day, don't you think?"

"Does that answer your question, my friend?"

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex @exoticb-utters

@water-god19 @positivelybeastly

The young Hank McCoy.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@thealmightyemprex @piterelizabethdevries @a-roguish-gambit @justanotherconfusedman @exoticb-utters @bouncingbluebeast @positivelybeastly @water-god19

If I had a nickel for every time there was a scientific supporting character, with a blue colour scheme, whose surname is McCoy but who mainly goes by a nickname beginning with B, I’d have two nickels.

Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Paul and Apollos God's Fellow Workers

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk after the manner of men? 4 For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?

5 What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. 6 I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building.

Christ the Only Foundation (Isaiah 28:14-22; 1 Peter 2:4-12)

10 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.

You are God's Temple (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

16 Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.

Worldly Wisdom is Foolishness to God

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: 20 and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. — 1 Corinthians 3 | English Revised Version (ERVB) The English Revised Version of the Holy Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Job 23:10; Psalm 62:12; Psalm 90:17; Psalm 93:5; Proverbs 9:1; Proverbs 21:30; Isaiah 5:21; Isaiah 20:5; Isaiah 28:16; Jeremiah 23:28; Malachi 3:2; John 1:42; John 6:12; Acts 18:24; Acts 19:1; Romans 6:16; Romans 7:14; Romans 12:3; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 4:5-6; Galatians 3:29

[positivelybeastly]

First question, what year was Hank born? Second question how might the events going on in our world have affected the characterization of Hank? Beyond the 90s incarnation of the character might make a post about this later…

So, asking for a set birth year for a comic book character is a bad idea, because with very few exceptions, they don't exist. For example, Google tells us that Captain America was born on the 4th of July, 1920.

Or maybe he wasn't? Apparently that got retconned and it isn't 4th of July, but it was 1920? Already we run into problems. COMIC BOOKS.

Outside of very specific characters, they just don't have birth years or birth dates, they exist within the Marvel sliding timescale. If you're not familiar with the sliding timescale, the basic conceit is this:

Modern Marvel comics began in 1961 with Fantastic Four #1. This is essentially the start of the modern Marvel era, and every other superhero group is contextualised in relation to this, pretty much. The Avengers were formed maybe six months, a year later, the X-Men not long after that.

For every 3-5 years that passes outside of comics, 1 year passes inside of comics. E.g. Fantastic Four #1 took place either 13 or 21 years ago, or somewhere in between, it's not an exact science.

As for Hank specifically, well . . .

October, 1983, was contemporary to Hank saying this.

That plot took place in a comic book from 1974, nearly ten years before this, and yet Hank says it's just "a few years ago." So time is passing, but slowly. Hank here is explicitly in his early 20s, maybe 22-23, but the Hank we saw in this week's X-Force #50 was not 40 years older than him. So, how to make it all make sense?

A lot of headcanon and kind of inferring based on contextual hints. Hank is depicted as being roughly 17-18 when he joins the original X-Men, given that he's stated in dialogue to be the oldest of the team, and seems to have been on the verge of graduating high school when his normal human life was interrupted. So, now you just work backwards.

If Hank was 17-18 when the original X-Men were formed, and it's been 21 years since then (referring back to the sliding timescale), then it stands to reason X-Force Beast is 37-38. If he's 38 in our current year of 2024, then logically, he would have been born in . . .

1986!

Which is what I've been running with for as long as I've been writing him. It isn't quite compatible with stuff like this, which is very obviously written in the 60s and set in the 60s, and which explicitly positions Hank as an Atomic Age hero, with radiation based origins and a super scientist pedigree . . .

But eh. We move.

As to the second part of your question

. . . Ooohhhhh boy.

Um.

There's a lot? And I hate to bring it all back to 9/11 and the War on Terror, but it's kind of all about 9/11 and the War on Terror?

Media about terrorism, security, threats to mankind, all looked very different pre-September 11th, 2001. Go back and watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and see how Kira Nerys, a character who is explicitly called a terrorist in dialogue, is treated for her actions. She's positioned more as a World War II resistance fighter than anything else. If that show were made now, she would be an intensely different character, because the American cultural and media consciousness has never recovered from that day.

If you want to read more about this, there's quite a lot of academic discourse on how this has all changed. Here's a decent start.

But specifically Hank? Well, the X-Men have had their own 9/11. Multiple times. The Genoshan genocide, as depicted in New X-Men #116, actually just a few months before 9/11. It's entirely possible that this entire storyline might not have been made if it had been written after.

The Xavier Institute bus bombing.

The Decimation.

The X-Men became a beleaguered minority, besieged on all sides, reduced to the island of Utopia, just 198 mutants and falling. Cyclops explicitly became far more ruthless, willing to ally with former adversaries and use kill tactics to get the job done, and you could see his portrayal, the infamous #Cyclops Was Right movement, gaining a lot of steam during this era. People really like this Cyclops.

And where's Hank in this? Well.

He's the moral counterpoint.

People don't like to acknowledge this, and I feel like there might be a degree of cultural difference going on here, but Hank is correct. I feel like it's not even controversial to say that kill teams are bad. Right?

But people hate Hank for this. They think he's a whiny little bitch who won't and can't help, who runs out on his people, who prioritises his morals over being there for the X-Men. People legitimately think this of him.

Hank is the left wing, conscientious objector and anti-war viewpoint. So, naturally, there's a tendency to look upon him as a whiny little bitch. Just look at how shows like 24 contextualise that kind of moral viewpoint.

I do feel like the writers of this era wanted people to at least question who was right, between Hank and Scott, but the readers pretty much unanimously fell on Scott's side, because even as Scott started to use morally corrupt tactics . . .

He wasn't doing it for America, bullying small countries out of their oil in the name of democracy. He was doing it for a marginalised minority metaphor, fighting comic book supervillains, which is simpler, easier to root for. He had to use those tactics, you understand. He was fighting monsters! He was fighting the good fight.

Is 00s era X-Men War on Terror propaganda? I don't know. I'm not a political scholar, though I do have a B.A. in History. Interesting how the fandom seems to view this ideological conflict, though.

Anyway, time moves on, and then something starts to creep into Hank's character. Something that inevitably happens to characters like him.

Anti-intellectualism.

No longer is Hank the moral counterpoint, now he's the intellectual who will lead us all to ruin because he's smarter than he is wise, because he's an idiot with no impulse control.

This characterisation is wholly incorrect and runs contrary to the fact that Hank learned his lesson about unethical experimentation practises in the 70s, in an incident that only harmed him, but whatever. It doesn't matter at this point, does it?

Only people with real world experience, who are level headed, who aren't eggheads, can solve the real problems of the day. People like, uh.

Hmm.

Who does have the solution to the problems of the day?

Ah, I see.

We just forgive him for all the heinous shit he did on Utopia, huh?

All that stuff he did, the releasing bioweapons, the kill teams, that was fine, because he did it to the right people.

Well, that's all right, then.

Mmm-hmm. So much better than the egghead. Look at him in the corner, fumbling around, making more problems than he solves. What a motherfucker.

So, yes, let's talk about American anti-intellectualism.

I don't necessarily think Bendis is anti-intellectual. But I do think he spends a lot of time across multiple comics criticising Beast and valorising Cyclops, considering the worst thing Beast had done up until that point, vandalising the space-time continuum to get the O5 back into the present, was done explicitly so Bendis could play with X-Men with only 8 issues of continuity to keep straight.

But anything Cyclops did? All that X-Force stuff? Ehh. Don't worry about it. The only crime we care about is the death of Charles Xavier, for which Scott was possessed, so we can't make a moral judgement.

It's a whole ass topic, and a lot to get into, but I genuinely do think that Hank is one of those characters who especially suffers when written by a writer who doesn't trust vaunted intellectuals, because he's certainly not going to fucking flourish, is he?

And then it all comes full circle.

Ben Percy, enter the ring.

Wolverine, the unequivocal hero of X-Force. Beast, the unequivocal villain of the series. The heart vs. the head. The man of action vs. the intellectual. The rugged thug vs. the fancy pants necessary bastard.

It's the same thing, just more extreme, really. I think X-Force is meant to be a critique of the CIA? If so, it's an extremely bad one, considering it ends on this note.

Ah yes. Our heroes. The CIA.

I'm gonna quote the frankly incredible @brw here because they put it way better than I could on this point:

"This is genuinely a larger problem I have with Krakoa, is that rather than explore the culpability and complicity of all the characters involved in not just the creation, but the active maintenance and survival of what is, categorically, an eugenicist, oligarchy ethnostate, we instead act as if Krakoa would have been fine if not for Evil Hank/Evil Moira/Evil Sinister for ruining it all for the rest of us.

Because are Sage or Logan ever properly thought to be bad people for standing by as long as they did? It isn't even that X-Force are the people who do the dirty stuff–it's Hank that does that, and the rest of the character get to keep their hands relatively clean, at least narratively. They're sympathetic, or understandable.

Hank is positioned as this demon in the shadows ready to snatch you up and kill you which is a weird decision to make with what you describe as the CIA.

The CIA isn't evil because evil people are in charge of it, the CIA is evil because it is a fundamentally evil institution based off evil systems! Benjamin, you can't write mutant CIA if your closing statement is how awesome the mutant CIA is, and it's a shame about that one evil blue guy that ruined everything for everyone."

Good thing we got rid of that Beast guy! What a fucker, right? Nasty, gross, intellectual pustule he was, with his oily words and grossness. Look at him, reading books. Sage is fine, though, because she doesn't read books. I mean, she's quantifiably grossly incompetent in this series, but we like her better than Beast, so it's fine.

Beast, from the 2000s era onward, is a very political character. It's just a shame that a lot of comic book writers tend to be grossly ill-informed when it comes to actual politics, capable of only surface level hot takes like CIA bad or kill teams good, actually, because now we've gone from 'Beast is the left wing conscientious objector' to 'Beast is the literal anti-Christ,' and I don't really like what that implies about what we think of the former.

But eh. I'm just a writer.

[positivelybeastly]

Hey, could we see a story about Hank’s (Grant Morrsion, shortly after his recovery from Cassandra’s beat down) parents showing up to visit him? He tries to hide about what happened, but hide parents see right through him and he can’t hide his tears. But it ends off one a happy note, literally! (Leaving a cause for a brief moment isn’t a crime…)

“You’re going to wear the paper through, doing that.”

Scritch. Scritch. Tear.

“Hank.”

Scritch. Annoyed scritch.

“Hank.”

Annoyed scritch. Tear.

“Ha - ” He threw the pen against the windshield and let out a ragged breath, the new paws flexing angrily as the biro shattered with the force with which he’d thrown it. Jean was quiet. The breathing was hurt, on the verge of tears, and she knew better than to continue.

Hank was a man with more letters after his name than he could write right now. It wasn't a pretty thought.

So they sat like that for a good long while, Hank’s head in his paws and Jean’s knuckles near white on the steering wheel.

“… I can’t use a pen, Jean.” She nodded slowly, drumming a finger on the wheel. He was a little bit scary like this, eerily focused on whomever he was talking to, eyes like lamplights now. He claimed that the blue would return once he settled down, that it was just a case of emotional state and hormonal imbalance, but she didn’t know if she believed him or not. She let him believe it, though.

“I can’t use a pen.”

That belief is one of the few things that he was able to hold on to at the moment.

“I know, Hank.” A hand moved over to squeeze at his paw, and the grip that came back was painful but bearable. She could feel the grip wavering as he shook. That was another thing he’d mentioned - mood swings, inability to express fine motor control … it was going to take a lot of adjustment. But hopefully this would help. Slow and smooth, they pulled up on the end of the road leading down to the McCoy family farm, and Jean turned to him.

“Should I - ?” Already he was shaking his head, letting out a hot breath that exuded tension. Nerves. “I can do it. I need to do it.” He looked up at her and nodded. “Thank you for doing this for me.” She nodded, making a motion as if to say it was nothing, but he was shaking his head already, expressing it really wasn’t nothing.

He couldn’t drive, either, after all.

Easing his new, bulkier form out of the car, he closed the door behind him - carefully, now - and popped the trunk, grabbing his bags, letting the magnetic lock pull the lid back down. He didn’t really trust himself to push it back down, his strength was … he’d broken a few things. Hank waved, moving down the road slowly, hearing the three point turn and trying to keep himself calm. Last chance.

Ask to go back with her. You can’t do this, this is too soon. You’ll scare them.

He kept moving, knowing without looking that she was picking up speed, moving away.

You can catch up, she’ll see you in the rear mirror. You don’t want to do this, you’re forcing yourself. You don’t want to scare them. Please turn back.

His grip was near painful on the luggage handles, feeling like it was sheer hormonal energy propelling him along the road. It certainly wasn’t will or desire doing it.

You can hitchhike back or something, just turn around, wait, call someone, this is an awful idea, they won’t even recognise you, they’ll be scared, they won’t believe it’s you, they’ll hurt you it’ll hurt it’ll hurt please turn back I don’t want to do this I’m scared I’m scared I’m so fucking scared it hurts.

Without even realising it he had staggered over to one of the fence posts, his claws so deeply embedded in it that he could feel wood splintering out around his fingers. That was what was hurting. Sweat - in his eyes - ?

Panic attack. He was having a panic attack, right outside the house.

It’ll be all right. They’ll know it’s you. You’re their son, they’ll know you. They did it once, they can do it again. You aren’t some animal that they’ll shoot to keep the chickens safe, you’re their son.

Absently, his free paw reached out to touch one of the near abnormally large tomatoes that his parents grew here on the farm. He’d done that. Genetic engineering. Snapdragon genes, transcription factors - improved nutrition. Lemon basil genes, geraniol synthase - improved taste. He did that. Years ago.

With a deep breath, Hank very gently pulled his paw from the wood, picked the splinters out, blew out a breath, picked up his bags - it was all very smooth, very calm, one action to another, don’t think about the animality in the way you’re doing it - and walked up the front steps.

“ - I’m telling you, Norton, if you keep up with these small portions - ”

“Edna, I’m a grown man, if I want to slow it down and eat just three pancakes at a time instead of four, then that's what I'm going to - ”

Knock on the door. If the old him were here, he’d have picked up the key under the mat and sneaked inside, only to start reciting Three Little Pigs as he crept up on his mother and father.

He didn’t particularly want to be the Big Bad Wolf today.

He could hear them moving around inside, evidently not expecting anyone - senses were going overboard, picking up so much that was familiar and yet completely new, being seen with five fresh senses - and Hank took a deep breath. Door lock, tumblers sliding out. Turn. Hinges. Focus on the immediate, focus on what’s going on right in front of you. Stop overthinking.

They stood there for a few moments, just looking at him. He didn’t know what threw them off more. The fact that he was dressed from tip to toe in kevlar and leather and cotton, instead of barely clothed? The yellow of his eyes, intelligent, darting, slitted, a stark expression of the fear that was pulsing through him? Or perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t have a nose anymore - he had a snout, and fangs, and little cat ears that he wanted to pin back or tear off or anything to just stop thinking about them - 

“Hank?”

It was his mother who said it, and he felt the greatest weight fall out from underneath him. She recognised him. He was strange and familiar and human and animal and even his voice sound wrong and his own mother recognised him.

And with a trembling little nod, he stepped forward and into the house.

“Hi mom. Dad.” Hank gave them a little smile, a little shade of blue returning to his eyes. They just kept looking at him, not sure what to make of him, not sure of what to say, looking like their entire worlds had been rocked. So he did what he always did.

“… Dad’s right, you know, if he wants to starve on such a small portion, it’s his choice.”

[positivelybeastly]

Astonishing X-men Beast, if someone were to ask you what’s the main issue with the X-men/ Professor X philosophy what would you say? Not from anyone else’s experiences just yours and events that have taken place. While I take you as someone very loyal to the dream of Xavier, even though Scott is the poster boy/boy-scout of the team, you’ve surely have diverged at some point. Not completely, but slightly. Maybe. I don’t know.

". . . Have you ever noticed something a little odd about the First Class of X-Men? Charles' handpicked selection of mutants with whom to shock, astonish, charm, and woo the world?"

"Professor Xavier had access to Cerebro, the most advanced mutant locating technology ever devised, working in conjunction with one of the most powerful and well trained minds that's ever graced this Earth. He had his pick of an entire planet's worth of mutants whom he could have chosen to elevate, to show the world, to use to prove to the human race that we were not to be hated and feared.

And he chose five white young Americans with non-threatening powers.

Sometimes I wonder - if I looked back then how I look now, would I have made the cut? Would the Professor have deemed me worthy of being a flag-bearer for his dream? Perhaps. Perhaps not."

"But that is the issue, isn't it? The dream requires infinite patience. It requires infinite understanding. It requires an infinite capacity to be smacked in the face and turn the other cheek. It requires certain qualities. It requires certain people, includes certain people, excludes others, if only by proxy.

It requires a seventeen year old boy to be nearly beaten to death by an angry mob and decide, no, I'll continue to fight for you."

"That's quite a thing to ask of a child. That's quite a thing to ask of anyone, don't you think? There are those who might say that when it comes to survival, the moral high ground merely ends up being the six foot of earth separating you and the top soil. I don't agree, obviously, but. It's not a life for everyone.

Sometimes, I think it's not a life for anyone."

"But, in the end, I do believe. I believe in co-existence. I have a mother and a father who have loved me from the instant they saw me, no matter how unnatural my appendages.

They remind me that, no matter what else happens, there are always humans who make the world better. Humans who will like us, love us, break bread with us, protect us, nurture us. Even though it may seem like all you ever see are the sneering faces calling you a gene-freak, the other kind of person exists, too. It helps, to break the surface and take a deep breath every now and then. Remind yourself what you're fighting for."

". . . The Professor himself has admitted that the dream may well be just a dream. That it needs to change if it's to become reality. It needs to include the physically mutated, the violent, the dispossessed, the unhappy, the unruly, the different. The strange.

The uncanny.

But the problem is that dreamers aren't made. They become. In some ways, maybe we're all just waiting for the new dreamer to come along to tell us what the next big idea should be.

For a time, I wondered if that might be me. But, I don't think it is. I'm excited to meet them, however. Whoever they may be. And when I do, I just hope they recognise that even if their dream is better, the Professor's dream are still the shoulders upon which they stand."

". . . Heady stuff, no?"

I'm also going to copy over my thoughts about a particular scene in Astonishing X-Men that you might find interesting, both in relation to your earlier question about body language, and about Hank and Xavier's dream. I originally posted this analysis on Reddit.

Something I really appreciate about this scene is that it highlights how different Hank and Scott are in their relationship with Xavier.

Perhaps because Scott grew up with an abusive parental figure in Jack Winters and Hank grew up with very loving parents, Scott was able to recognise Charles' toxic behaviour and break away from Xavier - it might also have had something to do with the fact that at least one of Charles' biggest fuck ups had to do with Scott's brother Gabriel? Hard to say. But Hank, who Charles very carefully isolated from his parents by mindwiping them for years of Hank's whole existence, never really managed to break free of him, and it shows here.

Hell, it arguably never went away, even into the Krakoan era - a more interesting version of X-Force would have really dived into the kind of fucked up dynamic they have, where Chuck keeps covering for Beast's moral transgressions for seemingly no reason, because in some respects, he's responsible for them. He gave him the power, he gave him no oversight, but even more pressingly, he wasn't there for him emotionally. He pulled him into this life and didn't prepare him for the toll it would take, how much it would ruin Beast by the time he gets to Krakoa. Beast needed someone to help him there, and no-one did, which is part of why he went on the skids, I think.

But anyway, Whedon does a lot of moments where Hank is present for scenes but doesn't speak, which is important for a character who's well known for not shutting the fuck up. This, the initial cure conversation, the whole conversation about Piotr - Hank clams up. He doesn't feel like he can talk about it. He's off in his own head, his thoughts are his own, he doesn't feel the need to share them.

And here, it's especially important, because this is a big moral violation that Charles has committed in their name. I know it may be hard to remember, but back in the day, Hank had a moral opinion that was worth something, so the fact that he doesn't say anything here speaks volumes about just how much he feels capable of calling out the Professor, i.e. not at all. He craves Xavier's validation, his approval, he feels a kinship with Chuck. So he doesn't criticise him like he should.

It's especially interesting given that this would continue through the Utopia era. Every time Scott distanced himself from Xavier, Hank was there to comfort Charles, and I feel like that's just something he feels like he has to do. He feels like the devoted brother to Scott's more radical, more willing to criticise brother, and if Bendis had any interest in Beast as a character, he would've played on that in All-New X-Men - the fact that Scott killed their toxic father figure, and Beast feels both free of an influence he didn't know was choking him, but outraged that Scott would break their 'family' like that.

I find Beast compelling because of his flaws, and this is an interesting moment when you take all of that into account. I don't even know if that was the intention of this scene, or if Whedon just wanted to give Scott the speech, but it's interesting.

I definitely feel as though Hank agrees with Scott in the scene, for the record, but doesn't feel able to express it. Is that better or worse? Hard to say. The way that Cassaday draws him as he tells the other X-Men that their ride is here, it communicates shame and disappointment - but not just in Xavier. He's ashamed of his fear. He's disappointed in himself, that he didn't feel capable of speaking up.

And the reason that has real weight is because of his original X-Man status - I don't feel inclined to judge Kitty here despite the fact that she's silent as well, because it's a different dynamic. I don't really expect her to, you know? But Hank, I do, and I think he expects that of himself.

I doubt that Scott or the rest of the team judges Hank for staying silent, either - it's not as if he was complicit in Danger's abuse, after all - especially since it doesn't come up in the conversations Hank and Scott have after this. But Hank, I feel, would judge himself.

I also wonder if this might have played into why Hank got so much more vocal and active in opposing Scott's actions on Utopia - because he felt ashamed by his passivity here, and felt obligated not to let that tendency to repeat. But also, on some level, because he felt more like a peer to Scott, and less like a child, compared to Xavier.

In those instances, Hank is often morally correct, but, in some respects, naive and unhelpful, and he recuses himself from making what we might perceive to be the correct decision because of his ethics. I feel that there's a tendency to call him a coward or obstinate because of that - but is it really cowardly to make a moral stand? And, especially given what Hank would do as time went on, would we not have rather he kept making those moral stands, rather than desperately trying anything he thought would work?

I genuinely don't think he opposed Scott because he didn't like him or didn't love him, because I feel like he very clearly did, but because he felt it was the right thing to do for the both of them. In Hank's mind, he's fighting for the X-Men's soul, for Scott's - for his own. Scott, meanwhile, feels like it's all worth it so long as mutantkind makes it through. They're both right. They're both wrong. That's what makes it a worthwhile conflict.

[positivelybeastly]

Astonishing Beast and Present Hank (the one that’s not dead(?). I’ve got a question about your evolution.

First, what could make you evolve? Despite past circumstances for evolutions, would the normal trigger for mutant growth work with you? Like heightened stress which is typically associated with  puberty. Or maybe your evolution functions like Pokémon do; gain more experience to eventually become stronger?

Second, why does your eye color change? Sometimes it’s yellow with black pupils and other times it’s regular eye color with blue pupils? I guess this have something to do with your evolutionary line, but if the yellow and black symbolize more animal like qualities, why does the current version of you have blue pupils despite every evolution making you look more…beastly?

"Oh. This looks rather involved, do you think you should - ?"

"I'll take it, kiddo. Feel free to jump in if you have any input, but for the most part, I think this is going to be a me question."

"In answer to your first question - my mutation responds primarily to mutagenic agents and severe trauma. Mutagenic agents in this instance referring, but not limited, to Mutant Growth Hormone and powers like those that Sage possesses, i.e. the ability to jumpstart secondary mutations.

The trauma aspect . . . I have a theory that my mutation tries to adapt to whatever hurt me badly enough that my X-gene triggered in response. It tries to correct the 'flaw' that led to me being injured, often by reverting to forms 'concealed' within my genome. A form of adaptive, defensive, atavistic mutation, as it were.

If heightened stress did it, I'd never stop mutating."

"What's Pokemon?"

"A video game - not one I've had occasion to play, though the students often like to bring it up in genetics class. From what I understand, it has an, interesting, approach to evolution."

"Hn. Perhaps I can order a copy of it to Simon's apartment - I could use something to do while I'm sitting on my keister. Let's see what's on the old Amazon . . ."

". . . As for my eye colour, well, it tends to vary depending on my emotional state, ever since I mutated into this feline form - and, from what I understand, it persists into forms past this one.

When I'm calm, centred, pleased, the like, the yellow and gold fades back to my original eye colour. When I'm . . . perturbed, incensed, inconvenienced, angry, the gold returns, and I lose the blue, often for black."

[positivelybeastly]

Just a question regarding the whole fall of x depiction of the x-men. Do you think they deserved to fall? If so, then why?

In my opinion (and sorry for the rambling) I believe most deserved it but definitely not everyone. *cough cough* Quiet Council *cough cough*. But going beyond their…mess, teams like X-Force and Legionnaires I felt don’t deserve it completely. While yes the actions of beast prime did make their reputation that much dirtier it could’ve been avoided if there was therapy for mutants. All his and many others “evil” actions could be been avoided if everyone wasn’t like light years apart from each other despite being in the same area at the same time. Even then there just byproducts of a crappy system of lies and neglect from the stupid quiet council that only makes things worse some how. But that’s my thoughts…maybe you could change them.

Question for Hank in general. What are five words you would use to describe love in your life? It could be: friend ships, romantic relationships, or even (and probably considered a little confusing to others) your relationship to your work.

"Five words to describe love? Quite a task, considering what Ewan McGregor had to say on the subject."

"Oh, no. NO, NO, NO - !"

"All you need is love!"

"Love is just a game!"

"I was made for loving you, baby, you were made for loving me!"

"The only way of loving me, baby, is to pay a lovely fee~"

"Just one night, give me just one night~!"

"There's no way, 'cause you can't pay~"

"Oh, there he is! In the naaaaaame of love, one ni-ght in the name of love~!"

"You crazy fool, I won't give in to you~!"

"Don't - leave me this way, I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way~"

There's a sound - Dark Beast is violently banging his head against the wall.

"Please. God. Please. Make. It. Stop."

"All right, fine, fine, we'll take it easy on you . . . five words to describe love in our life . . . nourishing."

"Regular! Skilful, too."

"Anchor."

"Betrayal."

"Oh, well, thanks for lowering the tone there, guy . . ."

So, I think a distinction does have to be drawn between X-Men and mutants, because the X-Men are a superhero team with various spin off groups, and the mutants are a race/community. For the most part, no, I don't think the mutants deserved to fall, and I don't think most of the teams or groups did, either.

Joe Public on Krakoa was just living their lives after said lives were rudely interrupted (if they were resurrected victims of the various massacres) or they were set to be persecuted by a world that hated and feared them. They didn't do shit to deserve being dive bombed by Nimrod or hunted down by Orchis fuckwads, they're just people living on an island utopia and trying to have a good time.

The Quiet Council, however, was a completely fucked system of government and everyone realised it way too late, so pretty much everyone involved in that institution deserves a smack upside the head and a long time away from any leadership position.

Yes, that does include Kate, Emma, Jean, Kurt and Ororo. They were all complicit in, at the very least, allowing X-Force's actions to go unmoderated, to say nothing of every other fucked up decision they signed off on.

I don't give a fuck if they stood in the Quiet Council chambers and said, oh, I miss when Hank was fun, why's he so unethical now - YOU'RE MEANT TO BE HIS FUCKING FRIENDS, CUNTS, ACT LIKE IT. Or at the very least, act like the fucking superheroes you're goddamn meant to be! Talk means nothing if it's not followed by action!

They didn't address the rot. Everyone in major leadership positions on Krakoa, yes, everyone, has to carry some of the blame for what happened to Krakoa. No, it wasn't just Beast, or Mr. Sinister, or Moira, all of them carry some responsibility for fumbling the bag and not addressing fundamental inequalities on their little happy island nation.

But 90% of the X-Men teams, who didn't have that knowledge, didn't have that power, who can't be held accountable for that stuff? Yeah, they didn't deserve what happened. Jubilee did not deserve to be crushed by Nimrod, no matter how you cut it, she simply did not. Same with every other member of that X-Men team, just to name one example.

X-Force, though . . . so, take all of this with a grain of salt, because this was quite possibly the worst written book of the era, and I know no-one was in character, BUT.

In-universe, with what is, unfortunately, canon?

Yeah, fuck those guys. All it takes for evil to flourish is that good men do nothing, and while no-one on that team can call themselves a good person, good god did they insist on doing a lot of nothing.

"Hmm, our leader was running a space Nazi prison, what should we do? Silent treatment. Brilliant."

Kill Quire a few extra times just for that. And for that shitty Ghost Calendars arc, while we're at it. Colossus, you're on my shit list for breaking Chronicler control and not telling anyone what was going on until the last second. Sage, you're an idiot, you and Logan both had the power to stop shit long before it got to the point it did. Domino, you . . . actually, Domino, Black Tom and Omega Red might get a pass here? I can't really blame them for what happened.

. . . Anyway! Mutants don't deserve genocide or the loss of the little scrap of the world they carved out for themselves. The Quiet Council and the leadership of X-Force, however, deserved everything they got, and quite possibly a hell of a lot more. That's the long and short of it.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@bouncingbluebeast @exoticb-utters @positivelybeastly @water-god19 @a-roguish-gambit

Baby Beast Teething

Fanart by: ArtofLaurieB