#white hair magneto my beloved

[rolandtowen]

Erik's hair should've turned white in XMA when he unlocked his full power, I don't make the rules

[sunsetstarving]

fox xmen universe has the worst continuity w actors and i think its hilarious

we have a whole new president with no apparent reason for a change. also im like 60% the girl who can walk through walls was like ten last movie but now she is played by elliot page??? oh kitty and your emo hair

also idk why but i love the bell bottoms 😌

also all the alt fashion and hair in magneto’s brotherhood or whatever its called 🙏🙏

IT'S SO FUNNY EVERY TIME. i do think they should have cast someone else for yukio but that was a writing problem tbf so that's whatever. LMAO I DONT REMEMBER KITTY'S OLDER ACTORS but they definitely existed

bell bottoms my beloved also i think i have just been thinking abt rogue forever i'm like her 70s hair. the white streak. i want that (AND HAVE BLEACH TOO) but also i can't afford the toner gonna be real

[nose235678]

So, I’m really late to the party on this one...

Turns out, through all this time that I’ve been putting off my writing, because I was unable to properly envision my OC’s appearances in my head, I never knew about a little website by the name of picrew.me. It has changed the game...

What the hell, right? I just went on TikTok today and saw people posting with the available character creators and I felt like an idiot for two reasons:

Because I’m a writer, not an artist. I’m too impatient to sit for that long to draw out as many characters as I need to for my main original novels or the occasional fan fiction I write to test out new OC’s personalities.

Because I grew up playing “dress-up” games like every other member of my 2000’s baby generation (I’m 20) and I never for a moment thought of trying to find a program that might be able to do my art for me for free (not that I don’t support people going to freelance artists, I intend to seek one out for book covers soon, but I just lack the budget to get portraits done for the number of characters I have).

So, what the hell is wrong with me, right?

I’ve been wasting all of this time struggling with what I couldn’t see and now...? I’m writing more than ever and I’m not confused! It’s a huge weight off my shoulders and I finally intend to share a few of my creations to show off some of the different art styles offered by the selection of character customization programs...

My first example is Persephone from my latest endeavor into writing an X-Men story.

She’s a young mutant who was born into a Jewish family with the power to control and manipulate plant life. However, this ability didn’t develop until she turned ten and ran away from the hand of a violent father and straight into the care of a marooned alien. One we all know and love, Groot who crash landed on Earth (an event that will eventually lead him to Rocket in the years to come, but for now this moment is set before X-Men: Days of Future Past. Before Magneto’s speech is given on tv and life changes for mutants forever).

With the help of her mutation, she’s able to hide Groot’s true identity as an extraterrestrial. Claiming upon her arrival to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters that she made him by accident when her mutant-phobic father raised a bat in hand to kill the "abomination" he'd brought into the world. Not that it was entirely a lie, she could replenish and understand him through her abilities. And we all know how protective our beloved seven foot tall tree monster can be of small, mostly defenseless, screaming creatures.

As for the details of her abilities, they follow thusly:

Her canine teeth are elongated and incredibly strong along with the rest of her chompers as her mutation affects her metabolism and she needs to eat a large amount of heavy protein to maintain her strength, meaning beef, chicken, eggs, fish, etc. She identifies as a carnivore, because eating uncooked veggies can get a little awkward when she can hear the cherry tomatoes in her salad talking. Asking not to be eaten. As a result, she takes classes and puts herself in charge of planning meals/grocery shopping for the team. She’d rather die than eat unseasoned food.

Her hair grows like a weed and resembles the color to boot. Flowing in lengths of green, but it changes with the seasons. Going from lime green in the spring, to emerald in the summer, red, yellow and chestnut in the fall and in the winter...seasonal depression kicks in with a force to turn her flowing tresses black as potting soil. This however can be treated with her depression through the use of stimulants, mood stabilizers and a cubic butt-load of coffee, because just like pine trees, her internal biome loves acidic foods.

Though, because of its composition and advanced growth rate, she keeps her hair teased neatly into locs and can be often found preening herself whenever she’s not grooming every last sprout and bud in the Manor’s greenhouse where she lives with Groot to keep him company. And depending on her mood, her hair can sprout flowers based on whatever she’s feeling. Anger will sprout a crown of thorns, heartbreak grows anemones and intense love could cause whole bushels of forget-me-nots to bloom in their mesmerizing blues and violets.

And who do they bloom for? For the very first time after years of attending Xavier’s school? After being kidnapped by and defeating Apocalypse? Saving Warren/Angel’s life...? Why of course it would be one Mr. Kurt Wagner, fresh out of the circus who would take one look at her green hair with freckled, clay-colored and his blue features would go straight to purple after the fight in realizing that he wasn’t alone. There were other mutants out there in the world who looked different and Percy...? She was nothing short of her namesake. A true Spring goddess who melted the moment he wandered lost into her green house and wasn’t afraid of Groot. Even after the giant tree tossed the boy across the room like a rag doll, thinking he was attempting to sneak up on his little green-thumbed friend...

Needless to say, they would hit it off, despite a few trials given the disapproval of her new best friend, Warren who was still bitter about Kurt accidentally burning his wings during the cage fight. Though, with the new, fluffy white ones that Percy would help him grow with a special herbal brew...? After the X-Men agreed to take him in an hide him from his family...? He really had no right to complain...

And you never know...maybe one day because of them, a new generation of X-Men might come into the world...

I was able to come up with all of this story because of Picrew, so if you’re struggling like I often do, why not give it a try? It’s totally free and even fun if that’s your sorta thing. So, feel free to let me know if any of you want me to show off anymore of my OC’s sometime. I’d be happy to oblige...

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1969

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

(X-Men 52 - 63) - written by Arnold Drake, Roy Thomas, Linda Fite and Don Heck, drawn by Werner Roth, Barry Smith, Tom Palmer and Neal Adams.

step aside, Wall-E, these Sentinels have nothing on your range of emotions (X-Men 59)

When we last left our X-Men, they were smack-dab in the middle of a big, convoluted plot! Let me refresh your memory:

The X-Men had to beat a hasty retreat;

Polaris had joined her father Magneto

Magneto was injured;

Iceman had quit the team because he still had faith in Polaris;

Eric the Red appeared, making overtures towards Magneto.

And the whirlwind continues! The X-Men (sans Iceman and Cyclops) sneak back into Magneto’s base! Eric the Red reveals himself to be Cyclops! They set a trap for Mesmero! Which is sprung by the wayward Iceman! But he has pertinent information! Lorna is not Magneto’s daughter, she’s just an orphan! Bobby (hilariously) has the papers to prove it!

magneto has now fucked up the relationships he has with all of his children before any of them knew he was their father. mad props (X-Men 52)

Lorna breathes a sigh or relief, glad that she doesn’t have to be evil anymore. (Because obviously, evil is hereditary. And even though she keeps sensing everyone’s ‘evil vibrations’, she stayed with Magneto out of her own volition. SO.) Without Polaris’ power to back them up, Magneto and Mesmero flee.

After this, the X-Men come back to live at the mansion again. No muss, no fuss. Roy Thomas, who’s returning to the book, wastes very little time undoing some stupid decisions made last year. In fact, 1969 has a pretty strong showing, with plotlines flowing almost naturally into one another, a bigger cast and the introduction of one of my favourite villains. It’s pretty palatable.

The one snag is a superfluous issue where the X-Men fight Blastaar and Jean kills someone. (Never comes up again, don’t sweat it.) I wouldn’t even mention it, were it not for this moment where Jean uses some super duper mind machine:

does this remind you of... anything? no? just me then (X-Men 53)

So, anyway, remember Scott’s beloved brother Alex?

i love that jean is all smiles about scotts terrible and all-encompassing ability to repress everything (X-Men 54)

I can sort of understand why that whole third Summers brother was such a huge secret for so long, considering Alex was not even kept a mystery and it still took SIX YEARS for him to be revealed.

Alex is barely introduced before he gets the old plot-bat to the face, getting mixed up in a fight when some pharaoh claims all mutants are pharaohs, being children of the Sun? Apparently, all of them are powered by cosmic rays i.e. the sunlight. Alex is kidnapped, as is Cyclops, and just as Cyclops ponders how happy he is that Alex is not a mutant despite him having the X-Gene, he is attacked by the pharaoh and Alex saves his brother using newly minted energy powers! Oh, the irony.

when I say that I want Alex to wear his old costume, I obviously mean this sexy Egyptian skirt-ensemble (X-Men 55)

Alex and the pharaoh are apparently two sides of the same coin, being charged by the same cosmic rays: when one waxes, the other wanes. The pharaoh locks Alex away in a tomb, cutting him off from those sweet, sweet sunbeams and taking all the power for himself. Like a Power Ranger villain, he grows in size and becomes… the Living Monolith! The X-Men take him down while Alex accidentally blows up the Living Monolith’s temple.

Alex, afraid of his own power, flees into the desert and is apprehended by… the Sentinels?! Surprise, bitch! Lorna is also abducted by them out of her New York apartment. Their next victim is Iceman, and they deliver him to… Larry Trask! (Son of.)

My favorite thing about Sentinels is that, despite the fact that they are objectively huge, they are still able to sneak up on people. Apparently, these murderous periwinkle toaster ovens are so quiet, you only notice when they rip open a roof to get at you. (X-Men 59)

Larry Trask hates mutants because:

They killed his father;

He’s a racist.

Determined not to repeat the sins of his father, Larry has a helmet with which he can use to take direct control of the sentinels, so hopefully they won’t rise up and rebel this time. Somewhere, Asimov is rolling his eyes.

On live television, Larry Trask baits Iceman into attacking him, trying to smear him and mutantkind in general. In the mean time, the Sentinels strike everywhere, taking Unus, Angel, Banshee, the Living Monolith… Even Wanda and Pietro. It´s a literal who´s who of sixties mutandom! The only exempt ones are the Changeling and Magneto, the latter only because he’s been a robot for a while now. Mesmero is just as shocked by this unnecessary retcon as we are.

Just as Larry orders the Sentinels to kill every mutant in the compound (including Bobby, Lorna and Alex), a family heirloom is ripped off his neck. Apparently, this medallion was some kind of protection: the late Bolivar Trask knew little Larry was a mutant and tried to hide this fact from the Sentinels.

The Sentinels turn on Larry faster than you can say “Is being betrayed by AI a hereditary trait?” The X-Men intervene and, after unleashing the might of Havok, they end up in a debate with the Sentinels, turning their own logic against them:

Protecting humans is more important than killing mutants.

So, to protect humanity, they must destroy the cause of mutation.

The Sentinels promptly launch themselves into the sun. Neat.

On a side note, the relationship between Jean and Scott is shelved for now? It seems like they’re dating, but also not? It’s such weird storytelling, especially because their annoying will they or won’t they has gotten so much focus in the past and the relationship between Lorna and Bobby is crystal clear:

Scott. Jean. Is it really going to take Chris Claremont to DTR you two? Fuck’s sake (X-Men 60)

Because Havok’s powers still threaten to overwhelm him, the X-Men contact a former colleague of Professor X… Professor Lykos.

Let me tell you about the sheer, amazing sixties wonder that is Professor Lykos. Originally, Thomas envisioned him as a vampire, but the Comics Code forbade vampires. So, instead, Lykos ends up a human who was bitten by a magical pterodactyl at a young age and who can only survive by draining other people’s life force. He can also hypnotize people into doing his bidding.

Yes.

Lykos suspects mutants might be the cure to his strange, strange ailment, and begins to drain Alex. But to his (and our) sheer delight, he turns into a pterodactyl!

I just love this damn idiot so much (X-Men 60)

Be like Sauron! Choose evil!

The X-Men barely figure in this plot. Ordinarily, I’d be bothered by the fact that these three issues are more about the villain than the heroes, but given that it’s Sauron, I’ll let it slide.

See, Sauron’s tale is a tragic one. Not only is he a weird pterovampire, he is also in love with a sweet girl whose father forbids him from seeing Dr. Lykos, because he is… poor! Gasp! (Those billionaires, not even a doctor is good enough for their daughters.) Sauron, slightly corrupted by his dino-side, realize that it’s a lot easier to just kill Tanya’s father than to impress him by robbing banks for cash.

When he attacks the man and sees the reaction of his star-crossed lover, Lykos realizes Sauron is far too much in control. Sauron is too evil! Lykos/Sauron promptly flees to a cold, distant region, the same place where he got bitten all those years ago, figuring he’ll stay in isolation and starve himself of the human energy he needs. But, just as he is utterly ravenously out of his mind, Tanya finds him! In order to protect her, Sauron sacrifices himself by throwing himself off the mountain… straight into the Savage Land..

The X-Men (sans Angel) follow him into the Savage Land. (It’s unclear why? To retrieve his corpse? Annoyingly, in the next arc, Sauron is not brought up again.) There, they run into Ka-Zar, who’s embroiled in a fight with… prehistoric mutants?

Angel, meanwhile, follows the X-Men in their footsteps, only to end up on the other side of the fight, with a strange white-haired man named the Creator who claims to be the mentor of these Savage Land mutates. Angel pledges him his wings, gets a snazzy new suit and flies off to fight the X-Men. Only then does the man secretly reveal himself: he’s… Magneto! (The true one, not a robot.) And he wishes to rule the savage land!

Angel and the other X-Men briefly fight, but soon the situation is sorted out and the X-Men go and confront the Creator. Magneto, who is way too hammy to ever hide his true nature for too long, reveals himself and the fact that he created these… mutates, including the creepy Brainchild. (He’ll become important later.) The X-Men defeat Magneto and he seemingly dies again.

Without Magneto there, the mutates revert to just being regular cave(wo)men:

I love that Ka-Zar, WHO HAILS FROM THE SAVAGE LAND HIMSELF, has no scruples othering his own kin. (X-Men 63)

The comic accidentally ends on a sad note: the X-Men confessing that they’d give up on their powers in a heartbeat. Not to nitpick, but while I buy that coming from Beast and Cyclops, this issue is less clear-cut when it comes to Jean and Bobby, who have a much better handle on their powers and, more importantly, present as human. It could potentially be an interesting issue to explore, but instead, it is swept under the rug, presenting the team (once again) as a boring but unified front. It remains one of my critiques of this era: the X-Men barely get fleshed out as individuals, other than the broadest of strokes (Leader; Rich Boy; Joker; Smart Guy; Girl). Pity.

Didn’t you take Art History? One thing that has definitely improved is the overall art-style. Artists experiment with panels and splash pages, stepping out of the traditional 2 by 3-grid that Kirby loved so much. It makes the stories more dynamic and, because the writers get more issues to tell their stories, the artists get more space to do their art.

I mean, check this ish out:

Fuck yeah, mental powers represent. (X-Men 57)

Ugliest Costume: None! I really like Havok’s black bodysuit with white stripes and the Sentinels design looks so much less dorkier than before. A+.

Best new character: Sauron, duh. Does he team-up with Dr. Doom at some point? That would be some ham-to-ham combat.

Most audacious retcon: There’s a second Summers brother?

What to read: 57 to 59, which is the plotline dealing with the much improved Sentinels. 60 and 61 if you have a soft spot for vampiric pterodactyls.

[yilinglaozus]

Magneto 💖

How I feel about this character: Magneto my beloved

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Charles Xavier 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Logan 

My unpopular opinion about this character: His long braided white hair was one of his best looks.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Wish comic writers would stop trashing his character and strip away his core beliefs. 

[aion-rsa]

Cruella: Does Every Villain Need a Sympathetic Origin Story?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Clearly this isn’t your parents’ Cruella De Vil. This isn’t even your Cruella De Vil. However, there is something fiendishly charming about seeing Emma Stone charge into a ballroom and light her black and white dress on fire, revealing a chic red number beneath that would do Scarlett O’Hara proud. If fashion is a statement, Cruella is here to say the villain has just arrived!

Yet one can’t help but shake the certainty that by the time we actually learn the plot of Disney’s Cruella reimagining, Cruella will be in anything but black and white, or fiery red. Rather Cruella is obviously posturing to take a sideways approach to an old classic. But then again, that increasingly feels like the only direction these Hollywood redos know: the sympathetic origin story for an iconic villain.

To be clear, we’ve only gotten a glimpse of Stone as the new Cruella, and she looks absolutely fabulous in a black leather coat and cane, purring, “I’m only getting started, darling.” There’s a wildness about this interpretation befitting our current era where Harley Quinn is the hero of her own story, and Wade Wilson now leads a Disney franchise. Nevertheless, when I watch Cruella on the edge of tears in the trailer, barking defiantly that she is CRUELLA—and seemingly embracing an unfair reputation that other characters may be placing on her—a nagging question persists in the back of my head: Do we really need a sympathetic Cruella De Vil?

The trend of supervillains getting intellectual property-expanding sob stories is nothing new, be it at Disney or anywhere else in Hollywood. Maybe 25 years ago when folks liked their villains big and outlandish—think Glenn Close in Disney’s previous live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians—it was novel to see the antagonist become a tragic protagonist. But like everything else with modern blockbusters, that all changed a long, long time ago with something called Star Wars.

Back in 1977 when the original Star Wars movie was released, many audience members left the theater giddy about the world George Lucas created. In a galaxy far, far away, every pop fantasy of the mid-20th century—Wizards! Knights! Princesses! Samurai! World War II ace pilots!—was thrown into a massive cauldron that seamlessly blended these elements.

Luke Skywalker’s galaxy felt like a real place of exotic, lived-in locales, all of which captured that dirt-under-the-fingertips, tactile quality so rarely seen in fantasy stories. Sure the characters might be archetypes, but they came with histories which gave their fantasy space battles human density. Old Ben Kenobi fought in the Clone Wars with Luke’s father Anakin, who was “a gifted pilot.” But what exactly was a clone war? And why was there more than one of them? Also, what did a Jedi’s “more civilized age” look like for Luke’s papa?

For more than 20 years, no one knew the answer to those questions, which made them all the more intriguing, and the “lore” of this fantasy evermore mythic. Then came Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the first modern blockbuster prequel devoted to filling in the gaps left by a beloved classic’s mysteries. That movie’s problems are numerous, but at its core the most persistent, lingering issue may still be the reveal that Darth Vader was once a blonde haired little boy with the emotional range of Beaver Cleaver. Of course everyone knew in the abstract sense Vader was once a child… but did they ever really want to see it?

Additionally, did anyone really want to learn Anakin Skywalker’s reason for turning to the Dark Side is because of a bratty streak that followed him into adulthood? Probably not.

Nonetheless, all three Star Wars prequels made massive amounts of money and rather than becoming cautionary tales of what happens when you attempt to explain away all the mysteries of a beloved character, they were the first steps toward a modern staple of media regurgitation where seemingly every mug, pug, and thug would get their own sympathetic redo.

Since then, we’ve learned on screen that Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis Venom, is really a well-intentioned bloke caught in a bad romance (with his alien space buddy), Batman’s arch-nemesis the Joker is really just a Travis Bickle clone with mommy issues, and Maleficent, the reigning empress of badassery in the Disney Villain canon, was really just a woman scorned by Sleeping Beauty’s toxic father. Even Hannibal Lecter became a victim in Hannibal Rising, and the Wicked Witch of the West starred in the most popular Broadway musical of all time… where it turns out she was the hero in a conspiracy with the Scarecrow to pull one over on Dorothy.

To be clear, some of these spinoffs and reimaginings work quite well. Even if I personally am a bit chagrined at Todd Phillips’ Joker being nominated for Best Picture, Joaquin Phoenix’s sad sack killer clown created the space for a riveting performance that reminded mainstream audiences that movies can still be for adults. In another comic book movie, Magneto’s heartbreaking backstory in the Holocaust was expanded in 2011’s X-Men: First Class, which made an already relatively complex supervillain just that much more compelling in Michael Fassbender’s hands.

Overall, however, this approach has left something to be desired. And to get back to Cruella, her remix as a misunderstood tragic heroine appears to owe most of all to Maleficent. In 2014, Disney made a killing when they cast movie star Angelina Jolie as their very best big bad, a character so evil in 1959’s Sleeping Beauty that she was willing to knockoff a princess simply because no one sent her a party invite. That’s cold. And it’s wickedly entertaining. Hence why Maleficent scared and captivated generations of children.

Some characters are just too good at being bad.

The marketing of Maleficent leaned into this with a melancholic cover of Sleeping Beauty’s Tchaikovsky-inspired theme song, “Once Upon a Dream.” Now in a minor key, the new version sung by Lana Del Rey promised a scarier, more menacing version of the story, which was then confirmed by Jolie’s wonderfully devilish laugh. The big bad was finally going to have her day at the ball.

But when the movie actually came out, we learned that Maleficent was an enchanted fairy who’d been wronged. In the end, she didn’t hate Elle Fanning’s Princess Aurora. In fact, she loved the little royal and tried to save her from the curse she herself cast in a fit of justified anger. Ultimately, the sorceress adopts Aurora as the daughter she never had after disposing of her now abusive father. That’s certainly an interpretation. I guess.

It also proved massively successful in the short term, opening at a staggering $175.5 million in its opening weekend worldwide, and grossing $758 million total. Those numbers also exclude merchandising and home video revenues. If you want to know why we’re getting the punk rock Cruella, look no further.

However, did a lot of folks really like Maleficent? It made all the money in the world based on that devious marketing campaign that promised a shocking tell-all about Disney’s closest approximation to Lucifer, but by the time a sequel limped into theater five years later, relatively few seemed to still care about the misunderstood, freedom fighting warrior fairy Jolie played. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ostensibly continued the good fight but flopped at the box office with a cume of $491.7 million, barely more than half of what its predecessor made. (Don’t cry for Disney though, as Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King in the same year made Maleficent 2 look like a clerical error.)

What this whole sputtering franchise reminds us though is that some characters are better left bad, and the mystique of the unknown is an end unto itself. While I enjoyed Phoenix’s take on the Joker, there is little argument the character was even scarier with a PG-13 rating when he manifested out of thin air, like Beelzebub, in The Dark Knight. Or to take a step away from just villains, was Han Solo really any cooler when you learned how he got his name in Solo: A Star Wars Story? Or could you have gone your whole life without knowing thanks to The Hobbit movies that Gandalf and Galadriel were kind of, sort of, just maybe friends with benefits?

The allure of Cruella De Vil is right there in her name: She’s a cruel devil. How could she not be when her entire ambition in Disney’s classic 101 Dalmatians is to skin puppies for their fur coats? Finding out she used to fight the power before hoarding it may make a lot of money, but it doesn’t make her necessarily more compelling.

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from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3dpItie

[imeanitrytowrite]

Coffeeshop au / college au?

Authors note: okay so... I had glanced ever a bunch of stony coffeeshop au's that made me so happy. Then I listened to a Male version of lady gaga's paparazzi and this came to mind. Couples are Cherik, Stony, and Spideypool. Its unfinished and up for adoption.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony Charles and Peter start a coffee shop because they all can't live without coffee ofcourse. But according to Natasha and raven the brawny blondes better known as Steve Erik and wade are going to visit the café boys soon. The café boys are known as the brainy brunettes because Natasha and raven are assholes. Anyways the brainy brunettes and brawny blondes have a crush on eachother and are totally looking forward to this!

The bell jingles above the door as the door to the café opens. "hi!" smiles a boy with striking blue eyes and brown hair. "welcome to the nerdy boy cafe!" says another brown haired boy with acdc shirt. "that's not the name the cafe!" the third brown haired boy pouts in his spidered shirt. "yeah I guess your right.. Anyways!" the acdc wearing boy starts. "I'm tony!" he says loudly as the first brown haired boy says shyly "I'm charles" "and I'm peter!" says the brown haired boy wearing a shirt with a spider on it. Tony smirks instead of smiles. While Charles smiles lovingly and widely. Peter's smile is shy but loud enough. "so!"starts up tony, "what would you like to order?" Natasha and raven laugh loudly as tony and Charles pout. "I thought we were pretty good that time." Charles says pouting more. "actually I agree with Charlie here." tony says with a smirk. Peter sighs then all the brown haired boys sigh. "your sure you heard the brawned blondes were going to come here?" Peter asks skeptically. Natasha and raven smirk then nod. "I heard wade, erik, and Steve were planning to hang out here sometime this week." they both say their smirks getting wider. "but why would they come here?" Charles asks leaning on the counter. "yeah!" Peter says making natasha's coffee. Tony leans on the counter with his elbows looking at the girls as he says "were the brained brunettes why would they even think of comming here?" Natasha and raven both turn to eachother and resist the urge to face palm. "doesn't matter!! What matters is their comming soon and you 3 love sick cats need to be ready!" "I am not a cat!" tony hisses. Charles absent mindidly answers "I guess I kind of am a cat" "I always thought I was more of a dog." Peter says as he hands Natasha her black coffee.

Natasha and raven smirked at eachother to the point where even Charles could hear their evil thoughts. "COME ON!! NO!! WE WILL LOOK LIKE IDIOTS!" He practically screeched as he read their minds. They chuckled evily as both tony and Peter became startled at charles' outburst. "what?!? What are they planning!" tony said as he looked at a pale Charles. "you remember how you used to be super obsessed with captain america?"Charles says slowly turning to tony. Tony's face becomes as red as a tomato, his hackles raising as he hisses "I TOLD YOU TO NEVER MENTION IT AGAIN!" Charles proceeds to hiss back "DO YOU OR DO YOU NOT STILL HAVE THAT CAPTAIN AMERICA BARISTA APERON!?!?" Tony blinks but nods slowly "y-yeah?what about-" then tony becomes white as a sheet and screeches at natasha. "OH NO! NO NO NO NO NO! THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL! I JUST BOUGHT THAT ON A BINGE OF WATCHING THE OLD CAPTAIN AMERICA CARTOONS! THAT'S NOT MEANT TO-" a shiver runs down tony's spine as he feels Natasha slowly turn to him. It's like he's already being stabbed in the back with a knife. Peter looks at his white faced friends then smirks "and whos going to make me and charles' one?" Charles snaps out of it and nods standing with Peter thinking they have got this. Then raven walks towards them menacingly as she reaches into Peters pocket and pulls out his phone. She scrolls thorough the contacts until she comes up to the name she's looking for. She taps it and as it rings the boys still look smug. Until a familiar voice rings across the room. "hello?" Mary Jane says through the speaker. "yo mj it's ya girl raven!" raven says looking Peter straight in the eye. "oh! Raven!! It's so good to hear from you!" mj answers happily. "yeah I know it's been forever, can you do me a favor beautiful?" raven says as the color drains off charles' and Peters face. "of course anything for you, you big blue whore." mj says as Peters eyes widen having never heard his best friend say such words. " these boys are starting a café and they need their" boyfriends" symbols to show who their hearts go out to think you can sow them a few up?" raven smirks wider looking at her. Nails nonechelontly. "of course blue girl I got you!". Mj replies with amusement in her voice. "thanks red spider I'll see you later.". Raven says as she hangs up the phone. Natasha smirks and sips her black coffee walking out the door. "then it's all set see you boys tommarow with your new aperons." Natasha and raven wave as all three boys just stand there regretting befriending these evil wemon. "why did we have to be gay?" tony groans into his arms as he shields himself from the world on the counter.

"Alright, does everyone have the confidence to go today?" Steve asked with his hands on his hips looking around the room. Erik was using his magnetic powers to create something out of metal while wade was pacing the floor. Wade looked up and smiled. " nope! I never have any confidence im a fucking wreck but let's do this anyways!" he said running his fingers through his blonde hair. Steve was confused wether or not they should go. Honestly, no matter how long he had been friends with wade he would never understand him. Wade looked around and smiled wider as he said "guys it's just dark humor!" both Erik and Steve sighed in relief. Even though wade was a little crazy they loved him to death. He was one of them for sure. "shouldn't we be going?" Erik said Gruffley as he stood up. Wade and Steve looked at eachother nodding as Erik walked out. Steve pouted whispering to wade as they followed him "I thought I was the leader" wade just shrugged honestly not caring. The closer and closer to the café the boys got the more they felt their hearts race. "wait!" wade said making them stop a few feet infront of the cafe. "Didn't raven and Natasha set this up?" wade asked as realization flooded Steve and erik's beings. Steve's look transformed into a look of battle. "we have to be ready!! We don't know how they look behind that door." Steve said in his captain America voice. "what if they look hella cute!?!" wade gasped as he cupped his face eyes wide. "WHAT IF WE CAN'T HANDLE IT?!?" Erik practically howled in fear. Steve gulped as he thought of how cute his Tony could look behind that door. "that's a risk we will have to take!" Steve said as he began walking again. Wade and Erik looked at eachother the went after steve. Steve slowly reached for the handle of the door and pushed it open. They all stepped into the cafe. Silence, well silence except for the bell above the door ringing and the sound of six hearts beating rappidly.

Tony, Charles and Peter were all hidden in the back room. "what do we do?!?" tony hissed as quiet as possible to Charles. "I-i don't know!" Charles stuttered as he could feel Erik's mind close to him. "Is anybody here?" Steve asked nicely to the empty room. "fuck fuck fuck!" tony almost screeched while he put a hand on his beating heart. "BE STILL!" He hissed to his heart. he was sure the other could hear it. Charles looked worriedly out the back doors window. "we can't just be rude and not come out!"Charles said looking at Peter and tony scornfully. Tony smirked evily as an idea popped in his head. Charles heard the idea and quickly waited for it to happen. Tony pushed Charles as Charles grabbed onto him. Tony and Charles stumbled out of the room groaning. The brawny blondes looked over the table to see who it was. Tony and Charles stood up dusting some dirt off of their barista aperons. "bloody hell that was a horrible idea!" Charles said with a hiss. " I realize that now, Charlie!" tony hissed back. Wade looked at the two as they kept hissing at eachother and trying to be taller than the other. "their like a bunch of cats." wade said as he looked over to the love sick puppy's Whose butts we're Of course wiggling at the sight of their beloved's. Charles and tony growled at eachother until Peter finally gave up and just came out. "STOP IT!" He growled back in the middle of the two boys. Charles hissed at tony then walked up to the counter as he fixed his hair. "what would you like to drink today?" Charles said with a sweet smile. "I'd like to know what your all wearing today!"wade said with a childish smile. All three of the boys blushed and looked down. "and where can I buy me some!excpecially caps abs! Tony where did you even get that?" wade asked jumping up and down. Tony ducked his head and blushed even deeper as he mumbled "it's limited edition you can't buy it." "yeah!" Peter said his face still flushed. "mj made these" Charles said pulling on his magneto barista aperon.

Erik slapped Steve's arm without looking away from Charles who was taking wades order. "Steeb! Steeb! Steeb! Remember what I said earlier?" Erik said lightly smacking Steve's arm. Steve's butt was wiggling as he took in his flushed tony wearing his barista aperon. Tony glared, smacking his hands on the counter. "AYE! You gotta order something! Comprende?!?"tony said with a glare. Steve looked at Erik for an idea of what to get. "just black coffee for us." Erik said with a somewhat smile. "y-yeah!"stuttered steve. "black as my soul!" he cried dramatically. Tony looked at him unimpressed "so" he started with a smirk. "lots of sugar in it and vanilla creamer?" "yes please" Steve said as he hung his head in shame. Tony chuckled cutely then quickly went over to make it. Charles, tony and Peter were like Balerinas behind the counter. Graceful, fluid, and never touching eachother but crossing paths. They were defiantly in their zone, and considering how much coffee the 3 brunettes drank it was honestly. No surprise. "I can't deal!". Both Steve and Erik whispered as tony and Charles dodged eachother gracefully. Tony leaned over the counter to give Steve his cofee. "here you go red white and blue" tony said with a wink. "enjoy!"Charles said as he handed Erik his with a sweet smile. Erik quickly sipped it to hide his blush and made his way to one of the café's tables. He ended up getting back up to drag Steve away because he would not stop staring at tony.

Peter gave wade his coffee with a soft smile then went back to conversing with freinds. "I wonder why their wearing our symbols"asked wade looking to his blushing freinds. "I mean it looks cute on Peter so much I'd like to squeeze myself into that tight ass or he can squeeze me to death with those thighs of his"wade drooled and practically moaned. "you know tony said that his aperon was one of a kind I wonder why that is?" Erik said looking at Steve who was still staring at tony, his butt still wiggling in the seat. "dunno, don't care, it looks fuckin' beautiful on him though"Steve said with Brooklyn twang and a dreamy sigh.

[1979semifinalist]

20 Best Rogue & Gambit Covers (Part II)

Here’s the same stuff I said before: 

For the hottest couple in the Marvel universe, there are surprisingly few truly great (and truly hot!) Rogue & Gambit covers to be published since the characters began flirting literal decades ago.

In the run up to our BIG RELEASE of Rogue & Gambit #1 on 1/3/18…and with a all of us aching for the lettered preview to drop, I thought I’d count down the 20 best Gambit & Rogue covers.

I AM including Kris Anka’s publicly released covers for our series in the running, even though they are not yet published…because…well, because this is the FIRST EVER ROGUE & GAMBIT COMIC AND HOW COULD I NOT???

If you think I missed something…it’s possible. But it’s also possible I’m just not a fan of that cover. To each their own as they say.

Most importantly…can anything we’ve seen yet beat the most iconic Rogue & Gambit cover of all time? (C’mon, you know the one!)

Anyway, here’s to A LOT MORE Gambit & Rogue hotness in our future and onto the list! :D

And HERE’S Covers #1 - #10!

10. X-MEN LEGACY #259 - CLAY MANN. Absolutely gorgeous. Again, BIG points off for Rogue bringing another dude to the party, but this is gorgeously illustrated, has a ton of tension and heat. What Mann manages to do with just Magneto’s hand on Rogue’s shoulder and Gambit’s on Rogue’s thigh and her hands on both of theirs is...sorta awe inspiring? And the fact that she’s got her eyes locked on the reader just puts it over the top intensity wise. It’s ironic, because this loses points for including Magneto...and yet the things that make it work like gangbusters demand that Magneto be there...conundrum. I think what it really highlights is what a shame it is that we never got a hot canon Rogue & Gambit cover from Mann.

09. GAMBIT #16 - YANICK PAQUETTE. Finally THEY. ARE. KISSING. Omg. I can’t believe we had to get to #9 before we’ve got them actually kissing! AHHHH. So. This is a great illustration. Beautiful treatment of both Gambit and Rogue...I love the body language especially. And I don’t mind the minimalist red background - and it might even be intended as a call back to the red background on that iconic Rogue & Gambit cover (you know the one). The big problem with this has nothing to do with Paquette’s lovely work at all...it’s that hideous absolutely massive “storyline banner” that takes up more than a fifth of the entire cover. It honestly wrecks EVERYTHING and makes me furious tbh. 

08. ROGUE & GAMBIT #1 - KRIS ANKA. Amazing energy and movement, love the confident use of white space, and the sassy attitude they both have in body language and expression. I am also a really big fan of the title block text as it is here...BUT that’s not how the final is going to look as it will have the “Marvel Legacy” trade dress...which is fine, but not as good as this. So slight points off there. I still like the actual “Rogue & Gambit” title block itself a lot. And the “Ring of Fire” part 1 text banner is small/high/unassuming, so it’s pretty good overall! You’ll see. And yes, I’m very biased here. Fully admit that. I’m a huge fan of Kris Anka’s work, he’s my friend, and this is my book. I come with ALL THE BIAS AND AM HAPPY TO ADMIT IT. ;D

07. X-MEN LEGACY #224 - LEE BERMEJO. This is a little dark compared to what we’re used to seeing for these two in covers and a little more realistic than I tend to prefer...but I totally dig it. It’s got a ton of intensity, and the body language and expression work is awesome. They really feel almost about to kiss, which, if you’re not going to get the actual kiss, is quintessential Gambit and Rogue, right? The title block stuff is really simple and unassuming as well.

06. UNCANNY AVENGERS #5 - CARLOS PACHECO. A really nice homage to the accepted most iconic Rogue & Gambit image of all time...it doesn’t beat it, but it’s totally lovely. A gorgeous illustration that feels like that old cover, but nicely updated and its own thing. It loses points for a little bit too much text nonsense going on...and the expressions don’t QUITE work for me, plus I’ll never love Rogue with short hair ;D but all in all, a beautiful piece.

05. ULTIMATE X-MEN #53 - ANDY KUBERT. If you can believe it...this is the only other cover on the list (ever?) with an actual lip lock! Crazy. But at least it’s GORGEOUS. I really do love this one - the blue tones, the rain, the intensity, the simplicity, I just love it. It loses a few points for really dumb stuff though. I hate the blue borders with the X symbols (so dumb) and some slightly obnoxious title block/giant numbers stuff, but mostly...I just...really hate Remy’s hair? Yeah, it just doesn’t look like Gambit with that weird wavy hair. That’s honestly my biggest beef with this otherwise gorgeous piece.

04. ROGUE & GAMBIT #2 - KRIS ANKA. Admittedly this is getting a bit of a pass for not having the title block on it, but since I know about what that will look like, I think I know enough to be okay with it. And I think people will love this cover even more when they see what’s inside the issue. But based on what we have here - it gets so many points for pure fun, plus it has great energy and movement. PLUS the obvious connection/chemistry between our leads. Bonus points for Rogue’s glorious thighs. Bonus points for Gambit’s conveniently torn uniform (and hairy chest). And Bonus points for Gambit’s perfect smirk! Again, noted that I’m highly biased...and I don’t care!

*runs away, fingers in ears*

03. X-MEN 92 #2 - PEPE LARRAZ. So here’s how much I love this cover...I don’t buy print comics any more (no room!) just digital and then trades for some stuff for my shelves. But for this I went out and bought a print copy. Had to have this in my hands. I love everything about it. Well, okay, in a PERFECT world Cassandra isn’t in the background, but everything else is perfection. The swooning, the love, the drama, even the little raven with the “heart” word balloon. LOVE IT. And no surprise really because Pepe Larraz is a hell of an artist who went on to draw a spectacular Rogue (and sometimes Gambit) in Uncanny Avengers!

02. ROGUE & GAMBIT #3 - KRIS ANKA. So...there are great, beautifully illustrated covers...and then there are great, beautifully illustrated covers that are also PERFECTLY CLEVER and instantly become iconic. That’s this one for me. As if a dozen versions of Gambit and Rogue weren’t fun enough, the heart shape they make... *kisses fingers* ...it’s perfection. I wish nothing more than us not having to put ANY text on this. I wish we could just send it out as is. Alas, no. And that is gonna knock it down JUST ENOUGH to NOT unseat the iconic classic. (But maybe issue #4 or #5 will??? We still have time!) :D

01. X-MEN #24 - ANDY KUBERT. It all comes down to this, as you knew it would. The classic cover that launched a thousand ships...or rather... CEMENTED them. It’s just gorgeous. It’s perfectly 90′s. It just BATHES in the nostalgia of classic Gambit and Rogue. it’s not afraid to cover up more than half the title block (YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE, YOU DON’T NEED NO PESKY TITLE BLOCK!). That it rocks the most classic, well-known, and beloved looks for both of them only cements things further. And because they were still doing the “no touching dance” in these early days...their state of almost touching is just...PALPABLE. I’ll also say that though Rogue’s face gets the focus, Gambit is just really lovingly rendered too.

HOTT.

So. There you have it. My picks for the 20 Best Rogue & Gambit covers of all time.

Don’t forget to hit up your LCS on Wednesday 1/3/18 (or Comixology) for Rogue & Gambit #1 and keep reading to see if we (ahem, KRIS ANKA) can unseat the 20+ year title holder of “Best Rogue & Gambit Cover of All Time”

No pressure, Kris! :D

[theliterateape]

Culture in Real Time

by Don Hall

“I have a surprise for you in honor of February!”

Dana and I have this thing we can’t quite find common ground upon concerning birthdays. She is a minimalist from a wholly unsentimental Pennsylvania family. I’m a materialist raised by a mother who calls presents “prizes” and gives gifts as a part of her love language.

While I’m old enough not to care, I still want my birthday to be a celebration of me. It’s small in spirit but, in that self-diagnosis we all attempt on our own psyches, I was the child of a beautiful woman who attracted men who wanted her but tolerated me. Birthdays were my mother’s way of reminding me that, at least to her, I was someone of note.

“I’m putting the blue in the toilet!”

Another unusual record skip in our marriage is those Tidy Bowl tablets you put in the tank and turns the water blue. To her, they are a sign of white trash, low culture, unnecessary expense. To me, they are an odd bluish signal of semi-wealth and extravagance. 

For the most part, the toilet remains clear. She likes it that way because she can then examine the color of her urine to see if she been hydrating properly (too yellow and she’s not). Once in a moon, she indulges me with a tab of unnatural blue with a hint of ammonia. It’s stupid but I love it every time.

We are both Aquarians which means we both are almost zealous in our personal independence and the sight of her in the bedroom and I on the couch, doing our separate things in the same space, is common. We do well together.

Our differences—in terms of how we view money, consumerism, art, reading, politics—are bizarrely cultural.

My DNA is mostly Irish. Some British, a bit African American, some Native American, but mostly Irish. I have the fair skin and propensity to addictive behavior of someone Irish but culturally I’m not one who embraces Ireland or her ways. Culturally, I’m a bit trailer trash, a dash biker gang, a sprinkling of Southern United States with a Midwestern sensibility.

I’m an American mutt.

A child of the seventies, a GenX guy who came of age in the 80’s, I’m the archetype of classic rock and slightly retrograde sexist attitudes that almost every Motley Crue and Scorpions song conveys. I still call women I meet “darlin’” and “honey” as a sign of friendliness. I prefer to throw the rock and roll horns to a thumbs up. I have tattoos but most are quotes from my favorite authors.

Culturally, I’m a fucking mess, man.

I have friends who live a more culturally identifiable life. I’ll admit to being somewhat envious of them.

Arlo is black. I mean, black black. He is originally from a tiny county in Georgia and laughs as I tell him how much he fits the stereotype of a sixty year old black man from Georgia.

"You could be played in a movie by Louis Gossett, Jr." and he cackles.

Arlo has a love/hate relationship with his cultural bedrock. He loves the food. "Barbecued pork, collared greens, black-eyed peas. My gramma's kitchen table was what I think Arab suicide bombers dream of instead of virgins." He loves the music. "Mississippi John Hurt, John Hooker, Buddy Guy? Sh-eee-it." He hates the drug culture which he was surrounded by growing up. He hates the idea that all black people can dance. "No one in my family had any of that. No dancing."

Jim (his Korean name is Junghoon but everyone who knows him calls him Jim) tells me he feels out of place when he sees his family. "I guess I'm like a self-loathing Jew in that I'm Korean but by way of Decatur, Illinois." Culturally, he is a "no zone" in that his parents tried to instill the cultural markers of a second-generation Korean kid but he was never really into it. "I always hated kimchi. Hot Pockets. Pepperoni. Keep your Bibimbap to yourself. Give me a bag of Doritos, please."

Culture is comprised of four things in increasing levels of significance: symbols, heroes, rituals and values.

What the three of us all have in common is comic books. All three of us claim to have learned to read courtesy of Stan Lee.

The Fantastic Four. The Avengers. The Amazing Spiderman. The X Men.

The difference between the DC world and the Marvel world was that the heroes in DC were gods and the heroes in Marvel (mostly) were humans with godlike power.

These were the legends and fables of growing up. These were the morality tales of my youth.

From Peter Parker I learned that with great power comes great responsibility. From Logan, his mantra that "The pain let's you know you're still alive" resonated. Daredevil showed that any liability can be overcome (with the help of some radiative waste). 

Bruce Banner instructed that anger can be managed. As an angry Irish-esque kid in Nowhere, Kansas during high school, I needed that lesson. Arlo loved Luke Cage ("But not the Netflix one. The one with the chains and the afro. I was country-black but he made city-black look cool.") and Jim was a huge fan of Ben Grimm ("He always felt like a freak but had his family to give him a purpose.").

I had girlfriends who had broken my heart but nothing I could compare to Peter Parker's grief from Amazing Spiderman #121-122 ("The Night Gwen Stacy Died"). Not only did he lose his great love, he snapped her neck trying to save her. Holy fuck! I was seven years old when I read that and the gravity of a beloved hero failing so horribly was traumatic and took me years to process.

Iron Man #120-128 has Tony Stark dealing full-bore with his alcoholism in "Demon in a Bottle." 

The entire early X Men storylines find an incredible synthesis of the civil rights issues of the late sixties. While the debates about discrimination, non-violent vs violent protest, and inclusion bypassed my ten year old brain, the ideological battles between Charles Xavier and Magneto set the groundwork for when I started reading James Baldwin in high school.

Even more pervasive in the Marvel Universe was the idea that heroes were as flawed as the villains. Doctor Octopus was the bad guy but not evil. Galactus was not evil but simply trying to survive and his means of staying alive involved eating planets. The crossover of villains to heroes was commonplace in the Marvel Universe cementing an ethic that anyone—even Magneto—could find redemption.

My friend has a kid who loves his superheroes. His introduction to them was the MCU and the films of the Avengers. One day, he and his kid were watching Captain America: Civil War and the child wanted to know if Tony Stark was a good guy or a bad guy. My buddy had a bit of a conundrum because in this case there was no easy answer.

This is a bedrock principle of Marvel: there are no good guys or bad guys. Every character is flawed and can make mistakes. Every hero gets to take turns being selfish, afraid, greedy, and enraged. Every villain has a tortured past and is only the villain out of misguided and traumatized perspective. Like the Netflix Daredevil series when Kingpin doesn't realize he's the bad guy until the thirteenth episode and then is astonished by it.

“Culture is how you were raised,” a friend tells me.

Comic books and the desire to be one of these flawed superheroes are culturally important to me. They are as defining of who I am and who I wish to be as natural hair on a black woman working in an office defines her or traditional prayer rituals are to someone raised in a church. These heroes have been a part of my life since I can remember having memories and I've been engaged with them since that nebulous time.

Isn't that culture? My cultural identity?

We GenX types were raised, in part, consuming pop culture in ways previous generations did not. Hours upon hours of televised stories infused into the soft tissue like an army of Manchurian candidates waiting for the buzzwords to activate our consumerist triggers. The advent of VHS tapes made viewing movies the ultimate babysitter. While a kid born and raised on the streets of Detroit might have very little in common with another born and raised in Idaho, both had cultural roots in their mutual boners for Jill Munroe and devastation over the death of Lt. Colonel Henry Blake. A black kid in Birmingham, Alabama could be as racially different from a white kid in Salt Lake City, Utah but both could bond over Star Warsand Nintendo.

As I read it, culture is comprised of four things in increasing levels of significance: symbols, heroes, rituals and values. By that quite academic frame, it seems that as we parse out our differences in our current multi-cultural war in America, it is a fixation on the symbols that trip us up. Skin color, hair, clothing and style, food, language, sexual proclivities and the presence of certain genitalia are all surface-level identifiers. They are the symbols of each human on display. 

I knew a (white) guy who grew up on the South side of Chicago, went to predominantly black populated schools, had mostly black teachers, and whose only friends were black. He dressed black, spoke black, acted black. Did any of that make him somehow less white and does that make any difference? I know a (black) woman—you'd know her, too, if I shared her New York Times Bestselling name—who, if you talk to her on the phone sounds like the secretary from Ferris Bueller's Day Off but looks like Weezy Jefferson from Good Times. Did her accent and nerdy mannerisms make make her less black and does that make any difference?

“Culture is how you were raised,” a friend tells me. “A lot of it is hidden in the back. It’s not just the food you ate growing up but why that food and not something else. It’s what your family decided to spend money on and what they wouldn’t spend money on. It’s those weird rituals you’d practice every holiday. It’s the clothes you wore but more deep than the fashion is why you wore those specific clothes.”

He tells me a story about clothes. His family didn’t have a lot of money so they saved cash by handing clothes down from one sibling to the next. It was frugal and smart with five kids. By the time my friend got the clothes (he was number four of the five) the strain of wear, the places his mother had stitched up, was obvious. And his little brother then got new clothes because four was the limit of the physical shirts and pants.

My friend spends a lot of money on fashion. He wears the latest trends and has a closet full of suits. He says he spends maybe a third of his take-home on shoes. “That’s culture in real time.”

I don’t dress up for much. I own no suits. I have ties but they’re mostly Marvel, Star Wars, and Beatles ties. My dress shoes are either decent tennis shoes or boots. When I was a kid, my mother wanted to please her aunt. Her aunt was a church-goer so we joined her church. I remember the day she told me I couldn’t go to church because my clothes weren’t up to snuff. “You can’t go to church dressed like that!” she guffawed.

I recall being embarrassed. I didn’t have anything nicer. She laughed at my best clothes. It obviously stuck because I still cringe at the memory. As a result, I bristle at the idea of dressing up for anything or for anybody and I do not go to church. “That’s culture in real time.”

While a follower of The Avengers as a kid, I was never a fan of Captain America. No good reason for that. Steve Rogers just never did it for me. That is, until Chris Evans portrayed the character in the MCU movies. Maybe it was my time to appreciate his retro-goodness; maybe I needed to be a bit older to fully appreciate his specific kind of superhero.

Perhaps I needed to live some life before the ideas that the “I can do this all day” persistence did me any good. The belief in something so strong that he’d go against all of his friends in a fight. His loyalty to Bucky despite the fact that his childhood friend had become a villain. His enduring love for Peggy Carter. His stalwart acceptance that he is almost a century older than he looks and most of his friends are long dead.

I didn’t need those values as a kid. I need those values today.

Dana is fourteen years younger than I am. No, I wasn’t looking for a third wife who was born when I was entering high school. It just worked out that way. The age difference feels sometimes like I was encased in ice for seventy-five years only to be resurrected long after the war was won.

The differences we have are bizarrely cultural. She is a free spirit. I am a worker bee. She is a poet in need of inspiration and subject to the mood swings of that breed of writer. I am an essayist who approaches writing like the laying of bricks to build a house who becomes more a follower of Stoicism the older I get. She grew up in the same house she was born in. I grew up moving from place to place with no true sense of a physical grounding. She is relentlessly frugal. I am an impulse buyer.

But we make it work.

Once in a while I wake up in the morning to take a leak and the toilet water is blue.

[typical-trope]

Where Senility Ends

Summary: Logan cares for Charles in the silo. Did I already write this setting? Too bad, have another one. I don’t even know if it’s heartbreaking or just worn out anymore.

WARNING: a rather graphic quote from x-men is used, regarding Auschwitz. It’s marked with a (5), and is that entire paragraph. It can be skipped

Logan walked into the fallen silo and slammed the door closed, making sure Charles wouldn’t be startled by his sudden appearance. It had taken him several months to realize the professor wasn’t always home anymore, and the times when he wasn’t were coming more and more frequently. Especially as Logan found the necessary medicines harder and harder to come by. It wasn’t that Chuck was becoming senile. He would just lose himself in his powers more often.

It hadn’t been so bad when Magneto had been around to help draw out the younger man. Logan had always admired Erik for his ability to remind Charles of just who and where he was. But the first of the seizures had taken that option out of the equation rather soundly.

Logan walked over to Charles bed and fell on the uncomfortable, stolen, hospital cot. He closed his eyes to the ranting professor, hoping to get some rest before he needed to go back out to the limo and pick up the next ungrateful fare.

“(1)We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. (2)The taxpayers should not be required to finance items which are not official business but which are primarily political business. (3)Destroy a whole generation of those who have known how to walk with heads erect in God’s free air, and the next generation will rise against the oppressors and restore freedom.”

Logan threw an arm over his eyes. He already knew blocking out the mishmash of rhetoric was impossible. He couldn’t even know why Chuck was quoting old speeches. He really wished it would stop, though. Just for a few minutes. Just long enough for him to get some fucking shut-eye.

“(4)Good evening my fellow citizens: This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet Military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.”

Logan groaned and turned on his side, pressing a pillow over his ears. He had heard the damn speech enough times to have it memorized himself, and he wasn’t even American. It had been one of the first things that really clued the Institute off that all might not be well with their beloved Professor.

And it had been the emotionally constipated Magneto to notice it.

Logan still wasn’t sure why that particular speech had been the one to set off alarm bells, but it had certainly gotten old metal-bender’s panties in a twist. Or it would have, if he’d ever worn any.

And now, it was the only speech Charles would actually finish with any consistency. Of course, the Emancipation Proclamation was also on the short list, but that one showed up rather infrequently.

“(5)My name is Max Eisenhardt. I’ve been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years. I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. I pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child’s body with an old man’s to make them burn better.

“Alright, bub. That’s it for today.” Logan rolled off the cot and stumbled over to the man pruning his tomato plants.

“Oh, Logan, when did you come in?” Cloudy blue eyes tried their hardest to focus on Logan, as aware of him as they ever could be.

“About ten minutes ago, Chuck. I think it’s time to go to bed now.” Logan leaned more heavily on the wheelchair than he typically would, using its sturdy build to keep his aching bones upright.

“I can see that the sun is still up. I don’t really see the need for that quite yet.”

“Well I want some sleep, and you know I always sleep better when I know where you are.” There had been a time when such a confession would have prompted a wave of affectionate amusement from the man. Now, though, the telepath was always so drugged up that he couldn’t focus on projecting emotions. Or, that’s what he always claimed. Logan had the sneaking suspicion that Charles was far more coherent than he let on, and was simply avoiding the one mind that could give him all the answers he feared knowing. Logan understood and even approved of the hesitancy. He already had to take the burden of the school’s death on his shoulders. He didn't need the added work of comforting a heartbroken nonagenarian.

“(6)He was not at all an unpleasant person really, but clever, quick, proud, passionate and ambitious. He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but

only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it.”

Logan huffed as he carefully set Charles on the mattress. Moving the blankets out from under thin legs was always the hardest part, if only because he was impatient to join the man. Having to listen to him spout off sonnets about dead people was just a bonus. “I know you love him, Chuck. You don’t have to remind me.”

“Why do you always assume I’m thinking of Erik?” Charles turned onto his side, expression soft and open as he watched Logan kick off his boots. “My words apply to you just as much as they ever do to him.” As soon as Logan was stretched out beside him, Charles nuzzled closer, wispy hair tangling with wiry beard. “It’s not my fault you’re an illiterate brute.”

Logan snorted and pulled the frail body closer to him, pressing in for comfort more than warmth. “(7)Well then, kiss me, – since my mother left her blessing on my brow, there has been a something wanting in my nature until now; I can dimly comprehend it, – that I might have been more kind.” Charles’ hand tightened its grip on Logan’s between them.

“Don’t leave me behind, Logan. I’m so alone already, and I don’t know why. I don’t know where my family has gone, and I’m rather afraid to ask.”

Logan’s old heart twisted at the way Charles’ voice shook. He swallowed hard against the lump in his throat, unable to present even a white lie. He knew it would ring false in their proximity. Instead, he kissed the bald pate below his chin, offering comfort and assurance of his presence. “I ain’t much anymore, Chuck, but you’re stuck with me.” He waited for a response, and glanced down when none came.

Charles was asleep, his breathing even, though his body still tense in fear. It would take a few minutes for Logan to relax, and cause a similar sensation of ease in the telepath. But it would happen. And in the evening, Caliban would enter and wake the pair. He wouldn’t comment on their intimate positions. Just on the lateness of the hour, and the need for a continued income, if they were to avoid unpleasant side effects.

It was one of the many reasons Logan managed not to stick his claws in the albino. Discretion. Dependability. Culinary skills. All were invaluable in the middle of the fucking desert Logan would call home until he had the funds to sail Charles out to sea, surrounded by water, surrounded by memories of Erik, and end their forsaken lives together.

Quoted speeches:

1. “I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King

2. “Checkers” Richard Nixon

3. “What is an American?” Harold Ickes

4. “On the Cuban Missile Crisis” John F. Kennedy

5. X-Men: Magneto Testament Vol 1 #14

6. “The Once and Future King” T.H.White

7. “From the Old Astronomer to his Pupil” Sarah Williams

[kurtty-drabbles]

Church au (3 way)

N/A: No real plot here, just a PWP

@djinmer4

The word retirement does carry weight for those who worked in the church, however, Kurt Szardos´s own name carries a bigger weight as even in retirement the church does not forget his services, in fact, the pope think the man should be reward even more for such services and a few suggestions were tossed, until, at the end of the day, the pope makes his final decision.

The day is far too hotter, to the point even Kurt Szardos is complaining of the weather, his fur is fluffy and the sweaty is not giving a nice look, Kate Szardos is fixing the air conditioner, once, as proofing the machine is beyond repairs, the only logical conclusion is to buy a new one.

Kurt Szardos is retired, yet, his name is more than enough to make the salesman regret getting the job. Kate can feel sorry for the poor man later. "Oh, I´m glad we get a new model, hope this one won´t show any default"

"Yeah, for their sake let´s hope so" Kurt answers and Kate shakes her head amused and already planning how to quench her husband bloodlust, when, she spots Father Pietro Maximoff and a woman wearing a thick white veil matching on the white robe she´s wearing.

Kurt is offering a smile. A polite one that hides the arrogance her beloved husband often display in such cases. Father Maximoff only sneer in response and forced by the church´s rule, a cruel reminder of their positions, Pietro bows as the woman did so, although Kate has the impression she´s a bit confused.

Kate side eye Kurt for a moment. Magneto is a personal hero for Kurt and is clear that Magneto is great in many things, sadly, Pietro does not think the older man is a great father(judging by his sneer at Kurt and the rumours) or maybe Pietro thinks Kurt is not worthy of his father´s attention.

"Father Maximoff, what I can do for you?" Kurt asked smiling and showing his fangs and Kitty is sure the man is teasing Pietro as he´s not using the name, and, to top all of the insults, is using the wrong title.

Thankfully, today, Pietro is not falling for the bait, as he asks for the woman to come closer. "The church believes you must be a reward for your services, so, hence your extra reward as living in your own castle in Italy wasn´t enough..." the last part is spoken with bitter.

The woman takes the veil and Kate is flabergast by this. "What?they clone me? WHY?" now, she´s mad and Kurt Szardos is studying the situation.

"Blame your husband, his ''love'' for you is so big that the church wants to use the multiple logic with your own clone" Pietro explained now pleased by Kate´s reaction as she´s not pleased and Kurt Szardos won´t have a nice day anymore.

"Have fun with your reward,Kurt" Pietro then uses his speed to leave and Kurt, Kate and the clone are alone now. ___________________________________________________________________________

The servants don´t live in the castle, well, Pietro was wrong, it was a big house, but, not a castle, it would be impossible to clean, however, the servants that help in keeping the house in a pristine state does not live there(are treated well and many forget Kurt is a vampire) and are not here today as is a holiday week.

Kate look at her mirror, at her clone and see some differences(for her sanity´s sake) the woman has long straight hair, is a tad bit taller(maybe is the high heels she´s wearing) and is wearing red lipstick.

"Do you have a name?" Kate asked trying to be as kind as possible, is not her fault the church is like that.

"They told me I´m your clone, that your name is Kate...but, I´m not really you, so, my name is Kitty..." there is uncertainty and Kate can understand that very well.

"Kitty, it is, are you feeling alright?" Kate asked noticing the thick robe.

"Yes, it´s a bit hot here, but, is ok, I´m not wearing anything under the robes" Kitty confessed and Kate replied by doing one thing.

"PERVERTS!"

_________________________________________________________________________

Kitty is younger than Kate, yet, few can guess what is Kate´s own age. In a sense, is almost like they are twins. Kitty is being encouraged to be as different from Kate as possible and even get a different haircut. Short straight hair and clothes that Kate never wore at any moment.

"Katzchen" Kurt speaks now noticing how Kitty is having way more autonomy. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"Yes, they clone me, Kurt, me...and I´ll be dammed if I´ll let the poor woman be nothing but a mere doll" she confessed and then notices his gaze.

"Do...you feel like a doll?"

"At the long way of your journey, sometimes, I did get the feeling" Kate answers calmly looking as Kitty is exploring the house freely without anyone giving orders.

"Do you love me?" Kurt asked and Kate is surprised by the question.

"Of course, I´d, silly bat, if not I would have run away from your scary talk a long time ago," she said lightly but Kurt stills gazes upon her "I love you, Kurt Szardos, and I´ll always choose you. Silly bat"

Now he smiles and let his tail plays with Kate´s fluffy hair.

________________________________________________________________________________

Kitty and Kate manage to form a friendship, a bond where they complain about the church, yet, she never really interact much with Kurt and the man wants to know why.

Corning the woman late at the night, as she wanted a glass of water in such time, wearing such outfit(or lack of, and Kurt´s imagination is too wild now) the man wants answers.

She has a fire on her eyes, yet, stays in the same place. "Why you never want to speak to me or even be in the same room with me?"

Kitty remains silent as Kurt goes on. "Do you think I´ll hurt you? Did I give this impression? I´m sorry"

The idea of Kate/Kitty avoiding him is ...unbearable.

Kitty only speaks one thing. "I´m not afraid of you, I´m afraid of me" and clap his face gently as she kissed him. It was like Kate´s first kiss, except, Kate was shy, Kitty is not.

____________________________________________________________________________

"Oh, you're attracted to him as well?" Kate asked without making a fuss and Kitty nods sadly, soon, the woman asks for forgiveness as she does not want to sleep with Kate´s husband. That is not what friends do and she does not want to split the couple.

Kurt would like to point out she was brought here for one reason, yet, that would be a tad bit cruel, maybe the retirement soft him a little or maybe he´s soft for anything related to his Katzchen.

"Kitty! If you feel that way about Kurt, why you didn´t tell me? We can share him" Kate concludes as this is a normal situation.

"You won´t be jealousy?" Kitty asked fearing how Kate would really take, she confesses to wanting to sleep with Kurt.

"Not at all, We´re different persons, yet, we´re both drawn to this old bat, same DNA, and the same love...I´d not see a reason for not share him with you, but, only you" Kate replied with a tad bit of possessiveness and Kurt is in awe.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Kurt Szardos is a man that enjoys control, too much if you ask Kate, so, the two women decide to teach him how can be good to let go of control, at least once in while.

Kurt is tied up, as Kate is holding her arms around his chest kissing his neck and cracking a few jokes about vampires. Kitty is kissing his lips and then kisses Kate with fervour.

"You´re virgin?" Kate asked and Kitty rolls her eyes and said how the church didn´t let her have any sexual contact. "Hypocrites, anyway, do you want to start by his first head or the second?" Kate jokes and before Kurt could protest she starts massaging his pointy ears. That and the fact Kate and Kitty are naked is more than enough to make him smile.

"Can I get his second head?" Kitty asked amused " You can get his tail" and said tail is touching Kate until the woman finally kisses the spandex part.

"Bat, this is for you, just enjoy the moment" Kate warns him and let him go as his body his the bed softly. The said tail is wrapped around her waist as if knowing what she will do.

Kitty prepares herself before positioned on his shaft as she gives a last passionate kiss on Kate, who is position herself on his face. "Be gentle, Kurt, you too, Kate, we want this moment to last as much we as possible" Kitty warns.

And Kate starts to move her body as Kate did the same. Kate´s body moves as his hip the same. Kitty clapped her hands as Kurt is giving attention to her second lips. His tongue is mimicking what is happening to Kitty.

Is not surprise that Kate and Kitty spell their seed at the same time. And as Kate warns, they won´t stop until they are without energy.

____________________________________________________________________________

Live in the big house of Szardos is new and exciting. The retirement life has some downsides, as Kurt can´t any longer work in the church and is searching for a hobby. Yet, life as some perks too.

Kitty is being bent down as Kurt is thrusting on the woman, faster and harder, to the point she´s seeing stars.

Kate is panting on the bed and is possible to see a bite on her neck and in her inner tight.

"So, what you think of bird watching?" Kurt suggested and Kate throws a pillow at him and Kitty, once recovery some of her senses did laugh at this exchange.

Yes, Kurt Szardos´s life is change. No longer in the church, but, now...he can focus on something more important than the church. His katzchens.

[star-lights-up]

we didn't need a bald charles origin story, we needed a white haired erik origin story.

Erik's hair should've turned white in XMA when he unlocked his full power, I don't make the rules

[kurtty-drabbles]

HUGE ASS ULTIMATE AU PART II

@djinmer4 @niuniente

Scott Summers, in life, was never a religious person in the slightest, therefore when people mention religious ceremonies the man never have much to say for himself.

In the end, Jean wants to do a funeral that honors Scott´s wish, nothing religious but at the same time something that could honor his life. Funny enough, in the funeral has fewer people than in the wedding ceremony.

The seventh-day mass is already over, but Jean Grey-Summers remain on the same spot, looking at the grave of her beloved husband, not crying, just feeling angry. This is her happy ending, and some people take this away from her.

Jean wanted to have a family, a life with the man she loves, but some other people have a better idea and think their feelings are more valid than hers. Those peoples named Professor X and Logan don´t matter anymore, she gets her revenge, but what matter is ...what to do with the X-men?

"May I join you?" a feminine voice snap Jean back to reality, Emma Frost is there along with Jean to mourn the loss of Scott´s life, she is not exactly welcome with the X-men, but, that is in the past. Nowadays, every rule is to throw at the window.

" Of course, I did invite you," Jean said noticing the woman is wearing a modest attire for once, the only extravagant thing on her right now is the blue lipstick. Then again, the only color on Jean is her red hair.

"I heard what happens, did you really killed them?" Emma asked eyeing the tombstone indicating where Scott is sleeping forever.

"Yes, and I don´t feel shame, I would do again if I could have saved Scott," Jean said coldly.

"Good, they deserve it, " Emma said easily and Jean is looking at her "Oh, no, Jean, we are not here to fight nor to give each other moral peep talk, thank god"

"I see," Jean said and then she replied, "you liked Scott didn´t you?"

"Yes, but he chooses you, and the only thing I could do, at that time, is to move on, if you want to know why I like him...is because he was a good man, despite the lack of good fashion sense, who wear Rudolph the red Renndeir for that long?"

"Well, he did, Scott always loved those sweaters, no matter what I told him" now Jean is smiling remembering fondly of the time Scott parade himself in their home wearing an ugly sweater.

"But aside from talking about ugly sweaters, there´s something I want to know, what will Jean Grey do with the X-men?" Emma asked straight to the point.

"Honestly, I ´ve no clue" Jean confessed " the school is divided some do believe I did the right thing, while others think what I did was bad"

"Do you want help? Because I have nothing better to do and why not? I´m done being a villain, is not as glamorous as you think"

"Oh, normally I would refuse but sure why not, the past days' everything was thrown at the window"

As the two telepath talk, their conversation is carefully watched by Storm and Shadowcat who are not happy with the White Queen presence in the school.

"I don't like this" Ororo said witness their exchange, Storm and the White Queen is never on the good side with each other, having faced each other countless time " however, there are many things in here I don´t like"

Kitty nods solemnly, not being the biggest fan of the White Queen either.

" The past days are very strange, however, we are the X-men, strange is something we deal daily" Kitty quip.

" True, but I don´t want Jean to be taken advantage" Ororo stated " The White Queen doesn´t change, she just uses people"

"Normally I would agree with you, however, there´s a time where I thought Professor X wasn´t a jerk, where we thought Logan would get over his crush for Jean, I´m not saying to be friends with Emma Frost, hell I certainly don´t want that fate to anyone, but...Isn´t the School supposed to give second chances to everyone who wants? Aren´t we all about acceptance and forgiveness. In Jewish culture, redemption can only be achieved if the person truly repent and work to get it, what I´m trying to say is if Emma is changed we´ll be seen sooner or later, and if not we can kick her ass"

Ororo looked at Kitty with an astonishing smile on her face, the older woman pats Kitty´s head gently.

"Sometimes, I forget that despite being so young my little Kitty is very wise" Ororo Joked " Scott often mention that" there´s a sad smile on her face now matching the crestfallen expression on Kitty.

"Yeah, I´m not that young, I have 23 years old," Kitty said trying to shake the sad mood " beside Kurt have 27 years old, and no one is impressed by his age and wisdom"

"Oh,  He told his age to you? Interesting, Kurt is often reserved about this aspect," she said chuckles a little.

"He´s afraid of getting white fur, I often tell him...that blue and white fur would make a cool look" Kitty replied and Ororo could swear she saw the young woman blushing a little.

" In that case, I don´t want to make any haste movement yet" Ororo´s eyes are focused on Emma and Jean who stop the conversation and are moving from the tombstone" The X-men did get unusual help before, how many times Magneto help us?"

"Is a conflictual cycle, sometimes he helps us, sometimes he tries to kill us. Is all about his mood really," Kitty replied remembering the few times she meets the man in question.

"True, Kitty, let´s head back and talk with Jean" Ororo replied and the both X-women follow the path Emma and Jean are heading. An awkward conversation is waiting for all of them.