#“Jean is the Phoenix and the Phoenix is Jean- now and forever. But they are like planets orbiting—

[616nightcrawler]

SAY THE LINE JEAN!!!

[seaweedstarshine]

—on the topic of psychotic Summers brothers, I only just caught up with six months of X-Men after stopping for six months the topic of Gabriel referring to the tags of my last X-Men post a month ago — but I was happy to see Scott's torture-induced psychosis didn't (definitively) turn out just to be that he'd calculated what others hadn't. Yes, the woman he'd accurately calculated would save him was Dr. Gregor, not Jean, but that doesn't change that he remained unsure if Jean was real (and thought she was alive) while the all-seeing Enigma knew on the contrary that Scott was delusional because Phoenix thus equally (an equivocation which casts further doubt of Scott's fiery visions ever being genuine, as Jean's dying mind had departed Scott well before Mother Righteous sacrificed Jean's dead fragmented self for Dominion, before Scott was tortured) Jean — were so utterly dead that Rachel and Hope had to cancel out death to reverse it. Yet Scott, hyper-vigilant traumatized autistic brain-damaged neurodivergent soldier that he is, seemingly accomplished all these strategic calculations while having a psychotic “break,” which is extremely in character for him—

[farsight-the-char]

"Now and Forever"

youve died a thousand times before who caaares just climb out of this grave again & again &agaian & agaian & again & again & aga

[frereamour]

Isa frereamour's non-definitive gay incest book list

Here it is: a mix of stuff I've read and intend to read. Quality varies greatly. I'm omitting all examples of erotica because that doesn't interest me, even though many of these novels have sexual content. "But why isn't Game of Thrones, Flowers in the Attic etc here?" because I hate you and straight incest means nothing to me. The family relationship takes precedent over consanguinity. Random order.

BrotherBrother

The Carnivorous Lamb, Agustín Gomez Arcos - A classic, really romantic exploration of the relationship between the two brothers against the backdrop of Francoist Spain. You've read this, and probably reread it.

My Loose Thread, Dennis Cooper - Really intense and disquieting, typical of the author, although the relationship between the brothers is more central here than in other works where it's more peripheral. Recommend all oeuvre.

Not Forever, But For Now, Chuck Palahniuk- Some really interesting meditations on youth and growing out of being 'prey', but lost me in the end. We/us pronouns type brothers.

Querelle, Jean Genet - Thief, murderer, prostitute, brotherfucker. We all know and love Querelle. Movie good as well.

Gemini, Michel Tournier - Twincest, more we/us brothers. I have to be honest I stopped reading this because I started playing a video game, and by page 63 there still wasn't much in terms of incest. I want to finish it though. Jean Genet liked it.

The Power of the Dog, Thomas Savage - I asked my wife for recommendations and she mentioned the movie, which is based on this book. When I asked 'but wasn't it about the kid', she said 'no, it's about the brother, trust me'. I have watched neither movie nor read the book but I believe my baby.

Twins, Bari Wood - The book behind Dead Ringers. Twincest again. You also know this.

A God Against the Gods, Allen Drury - Details the power struggles of pharaoh Akhenaten to establish a monotheist religion in Egypt, the cult of the Solar Disc Aten, and his relationship with brother, lover and heir Smenkhara. Has a sequel.

The Winter Prince, Elizabeth Wein - This book keeps being recommended, one day I'll read it. The interest here are brothers Medraut and Lleu but there are other incestuous relationships (possibly mother-son? I don't care)

Brothers Bishop, by Bart Yates - To be honest this book is not very good but it does have an explicit relationship between the two brothers. Thanks Anon for the rec.

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin - Another fav!! All the incest happens before the book starts, but it's a big part of the background of one of the characters. The characters in question are actually not men, but the book uses he/him pronouns for them and refers to them as brothers. Thanks for the rec Anon, I've been meaning to read this for ages, completely unrelated to incest content

On the Black Hill, Bruce Chatwin - About two twins who run a farm together for 80 years. This book doesn't have anything explicit about their relationship but it's a similar dynamic to The Power of the Dog so I thought it might fit. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Salvation Army by Abdellah Taïa - Moroccan coming-of-age autobiography where the author remembers being in love with his older brother. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Thorngale, Phoenix Mendoza - In their neglected, decaying family estate on the cliffs of the northern Cornish coast, two Anglo-Catholic brothers grow up in parasitic isolation during a time marked by the decay of English nobility. Thanks for the rec cardinalgoffredotedesco!

The Twelfth Transforming, Pauline Gedge - More Smenkhkare/Akhenaten. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Akhenaten, Dorothy Porter - More Smenkhkare/Akhenaten this time in a verse novel. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Doctrine of Labyrinths series, Sarah Monette - Follows two brothers across four fantasy novels, one of them is in love with the other. A father is also involved even though not prominently. Thanks for the rec Rochu!

chinese webnovels:

Brother, 人体骨架 - Really lovely exploration of a relationship between an older brother who is the caretaker for his disabled younger brother (the nature of his condition is kept vague, a severe form of autism, perhaps)

Flying Gulls Never Land, 回南雀 - Younger brother goes to prison for murder and now that he's out there's only one thing on his mind. Really fun read.

Wu Chang Jie, 水千丞 - One of my favourite xianxia novels due to how balls to the wall crazy the protagonist younger brother is. Plot is somehow secondary to him making his older brother fall in love with him again after a lifetime of uhm let's call it torture to keep things classy. Best translation by Corgi unfortunately not available.

Can't be left behind, 尤萨阿里塔 - This isn't usually my style, and the writing isn't that great, but, when I started reading this I couldn't put it down, which must mean something. Younger brother runs away to live with older brother after parents divorce. Other incest novel by same author being translated in the same website, don't care for it, but check it out.

DadSon

Nocturnes for the King of Naples, Edmund White - Epistolary style novel in which the narrator addresses an older lover who, it becomes apparent, is an idealized version of his father, with none of his predatory nature, but all the wealth.

Nuestra Parte de Noche, Mariana Enríquez - There sure is a lot of child sexual abuse happening around this father and son, sure wonder what that could all mean, considering their own turbulent relationship. Guess we'll never know.

Pages from Cold Point and other Stories, Paul Bowles - Only the title short story is incestuous as far as I know, and it was pretty bad. Father deals with homophobic population complaining about his son sleeping with all the men by sleeping with him himself.

The Familia Grande, Camille Kouchner - Speaking of bad. Account of how the author's brother was raped by their stepfather and how this affected her. However, really fun example of women in male dominated fields if we consider it from the "how can I make this about me" angle. The brother didn't even want her to publish the book!

Fire from Heaven, Mary Renault - First book in the Persian Boy trilogy, detailing Alexander the Great's life from childhood to young adulthood. Much has been written about his relationship with mother Olympias but uhm, that takes second stage to what he and his father were doing to each other. Father anxious to ensure his son will be sexually dominant when having sex with other men, while struggling with the conflicting desire to dominate him sexually. Tale as old as time.

The Spanish Gardener, A. J. Cronin - Intensely jealous and controlling father suspects son's and gardener's relationship isn't just friendly.

Lost Souls, Poppy Z. Brite - All kinds of fun things can happen when your dad is a vampire. I actually really like two other characters in this, fun book all around.

The Chosen, Ricardo Pinto - Fantasy trilogy that keeps showing up when I look for both gay and incest. I haven't started reading it yet, but the dad is introduced with 'his father's beautiful face' so I'm making an educated guess about the nature of the incest in this book, but not ruling out that the protagonist might end up with a cousin, in which case we all kill ourselves or something.

Warchild, Karin Lowachee - Scifi trilogy that deals with children/teens at once recruited to be prostitutes or child soldiers, and the similarities between the two. Each book has a different protagonist, but they're all connected. Recommend the three books, love this series.

Dream Boy, Jim Grimsley - Teen boy victim of father's abuse, finds comfort in relationship with classmate, but homophobia threatens his happiness.

Try, Dennis Cooper - Heavily features adoptive father(s)/son sexual abuse. Thank you, Neil for the rec.

Arturo's Island, Elsa Morante - The main character is a young boy who's painfully in love with his father and is extremely angry when his dad brings home a new bride. Thanks Anon for the rec.

Henry Henry, Allen Bratton - Reimagining of Shakespeare's Henriad, transposing the legend of Henry V's wayward youth into 21st-century Britain. Thanks for the rec, problematicvacationbrothers!

Edward, Edward, Lolah Burford - It is a haunting tale of a strange romance between a worldly and dissolute man, James Noel Holland, Earl of Tyne, and the golden-haired young Edward, his ward-or perhaps his son. Thanks for the rec, titleleaf!

The Dark, John McGahern - set in Ireland's rural north-west, and it focuses on an adolescent and his emerging sexuality, as seen through the lens of the strained and complex relationship he has with his father, Mahoney. Thanks for the rec Anon!

chinese webnovels:

Blossom by River Country, 孔恰 - Translation work ongoing, which is why I haven't read this, but makes me really wish I could read chinese because I have a feeling the prose in its original form would be great. Slave boy adopted by intransigent general who learns to love him.

Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang), priest - Orphan boy adopted by cold and distant general who spends a lot of time away, despite this the two grow closer over the years. There's also a war or something, and big machines.

Imperial Uncle, 大风刮过 - (uncle x nephew) I haven't read this, but I kept getting recommended, since it's the only uncle x nephew example I'm sticking it here, until a beautiful time comes when I have enough recs for an uncle x nephew section by itself.

SisterSister

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn - You've probably also read this. Also a good example of momdaughter but as I have nothing else for that category I'm leaving it here.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson - Another classic. There are people who know this is a book about incest, and there are people who are dumb as rocks.

Into the Forest, Jean Hegland - Two sisters together at the end of the world. Very slow at times, but I liked the claustrophobia. Didn't like the random guy who showed up to mess up the vibe.

The Blindness of the Heart, Julia Franck - This is a war novel across several generations, I'm putting it here from a specific rec, but my interest in reading it is very slim.

Bright Lines, Tanwi Nandini Islam - Another book from a rec, three girls across two continents who discover family secrets. Really scared that this is just cousincest but being very hopeful and crossing my fingers and leaving it here.

The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield - Gothic suspense novel. Several examples of incest, but the focus here is pair of twin girls + their sister whose identity is a mystery for much of the novel.

The Sinner, Petra Hammesfahr - Another rec by mia belissima moglie, she's going off what happened in the tv show, but I'm trusting that the show follows the book. A woman who would do everything for her sister.

Sisters, Daisy Johnson - This cover and synopsis are very suggestive, and yet I wonder. However goodreads shelves indicate I shouldn't. And yet I can't trust like that. Hopefully one of you can let me know for sure.

Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker - One of my favs on this list! Cass is one of the best to every do it. She's gay, she's a twin, and she's pretty unashamedly in love with her sister. The book is about her sister's wedding which Cass, of course, tries to sabotage. Thanks for the rec Anon, I'm so hype for this one!

The Behaviour of Moths, Poppy Adams - From her lookout on the first floor, Ginny watches and waits for her younger sister to return to the crumbling mansion that was once their idyllic childhood home. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Honorable Mentions

Everything that is somehow adjacent, or in which gay incest isn't central but still shows up.

Nefando, Mónica Ojeda - Crazy good book that deals with themes of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Includes three siblings who have been abused by their father, the two girls and one boy are lovers as adults

Boys Alive, Pier Paolo Pasolini - Deals with the lives of destitute street boys in Rome, left to fend for themselves, many are neglected or abused by parents, all involved in petty theft and prostitution to some degree.

The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice - My favourite of the tvc books, and I think it's pretty easy to read Marius' relationship with Armand as well as the other boys as parental.

The Magician, Colm Tóibín - This is a loooong book and the incest is only nominal, which is why it's just an honorable mention. This is a novelization of the life of Thomas Mann, who wrote in his diaries that he was in love with his oldest son for a time. Thanks for the rec Anon

The Piano Teacher, Elfriede Jelinek - This book is absolutely wild in a lot of ways but one of the central themes is the protagonist trying to escape her domineering and possessive mother (who forces them to share a bed!). Thanks Anon for the rec!

Xenogenisis Trilogy, Octavia Butler - I hesitate to recommend this even though it's an amazing series. A lot of the incest is various brother/sister couples, but the two later books have a lot of characters who are a third gender (or not yet male or female) and there's a lot of general discussion of incest. Thanks for the rec Anon, I'll include it.

Out Of A Black Land, Kerry Greenwood - Novel set in ancient Egypt, with gay protagonists and where Smenkhkare/Akhenaten are background characters. Thanks for the rec Anon!

Patrick Melrose series, Edward St Aubyn - The titular character's sexual abuse at the hands of a father is present throughout the novels although not central. Thanks for the rec Anon!

[rei-ismyname]

Scott and Ilyana

Do you ever think about what it would be like if Scott (and Jean) just ... kept and raised Ilyana? Obviously you can't just keep people's kids if you like them, but Cyclops and Magik have ended up so close with a very interesting dynamic that I can't help but ponder. Better Scott than Belasco.

Two future War Captains of Krakoa, future Phoenix Five. All three are future Phoenix people, now and forever.

[velvet4510]

The implications of Charles and Erik seeking out Logan in The Wolverine post-credits scene together are so huge that they really should be talked about more.

This is clearly a few months to a few years after The Last Stand, and it’s the very first time Logan is learning Charles is alive, and yet Erik is already well aware of it and they are approaching him as a team just as they did 50 years earlier at the bar. Erik even gives Logan the most certain and assuring head-nod when Logan looks at him for silent confirmation that Charles is really there.

So … how long has Erik known Charles is alive? Could he have been the first person besides Moira to find out? Is Logan now the first of the X-Men to find out? You’d think Hank or Ororo would’ve called him as soon as they heard. What have Charles and Erik been doing up till now?

It really touches the Cherik shipper in me - it’s not at all outside the realm of possibility that once they reunited after Erik had temporarily lost his powers, they just completely went off the grid for a while to steal some time together and help each other before the Sentinel thing became impossible to ignore.

If you think about it, at that point in time between The Last Stand and The Wolverine - however long it was - they both were at their absolute lowest, physically and mentally/emotionally. Charles was adjusting to an entirely new body as a result of getting almost killed by his surrogate daughter who he failed to save, and it’s quite possible that his powers may have needed an adjustment period as well; he also likely heard about Jean’s death in the news and thus had to deal with the losses of two of his most beloved students who were like family to him and were probably his vision of the future of the X-Men for a long time. Erik was adjusting to suddenly living without the powers that were so essential to his identity, as well as dealing with the guilt of unintentionally unleashing the Phoenix more than once, and once again accidentally causing Charles to get badly hurt. They both were facing massive loss and massive identity crises and massive PTSD - and seeing Charles alive again would not automatically erase Erik’s memory of watching him get blown to smithereens in front of him and thinking he’d lost him forever. And while Erik’s process of regaining his powers is obvious, it’s likely that Charles too needed some time to get his bearings in terms of his own mutation, as well as everything else he was going through.

So this was really a time where they needed each other, more than ever. They both were so deeply broken and lost that they were on the same page and in the same place for the first time, honestly ever. As someone who’d experienced permanent loss after permanent loss after permanent loss over the course of his life, there’s no doubt that Erik vowed not to let his unexpected second chance with Charles go to waste. It probably didn’t take long for them to rekindle what they - in that timeline - hadn’t truly shared since 1962. I imagine it was not dissimilar to Wanda and Vision’s first scene together in Avengers: Infinity War - hiding away in an isolated place, stealing some peace and quiet, and just letting themselves spend precious time together. And there may have been even more “rage and serenity” moments as they helped each other nurse their powers back to life.

Since it was offscreen, we can only imagine how many tears of grief, joy, relief, frustration, and love were shed during that period, before they found Logan.

[verdantflamingo]

“Hear me, X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am Fire and Life incarnate! Now and forever - I am PHOENIX!” — Uncanny X-Men #101

A digital painting depicting Jean Grey's fateful transformation into the Phoenix. Inspired by the moment she crashes the X-Men’s jet near Jamaica Bay.

The background is sparse — trembling reflections of distant houses flicker uncertainly on the water's surface. Above, the sky glows with heat, disturbed by the fiery aura rising from Jean’s burning hair. A faint outline of the Phoenix emblem glows in the heavens, a harbinger of what is to come.

At the center — or what should be the center — Jean Grey emerges from the water. Only her face and neck are visible, cast in shadows dancing from unseen flames. Her red hair blurs into fire as it merges with the light. Beneath the surface, the true Jean Grey can be glimpsed — her face hidden within the depths, a subtle nod to the canon cocoon she sleeps in. Let’s call it artistic license...

[farsight-the-char]

Amy Reeder's cover for Jean Grey #2

Fire and Life Incarnate

Now and Forever.

...

"The Dark Phoenix has haunted Jean Grey since it emerged from Jamaica Bay. But what if the Phoenix had chosen…someone else?" it reads. "The love story of Cyclops and Jean Grey is one of the most beloved in Marvel Comics' history. Now witness a legendary creator break their hearts – and their minds. But this is no 'what if.' Jean Grey is not where she is meant to be…and neither is the rest of mutantkind. Stunning secrets will be revealed as Jean Grey lays the groundwork for her next shocking appearance in 'Fall of X'!"

[50calmadeuce]

Ch. 20: The Wedding (R)

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.

The story and situation I am creating are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.

I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, but I do hope it gives you happy thoughts.

These stories are my own, so please do not take them and use them for yourself without my permission. If you see them somewhere else, please let me know. :)

The morning of the wedding was absolutely perfect. The sun beamed down, and only a few fluffy clouds dotted the sky. The temperature was expected to reach the upper 70s, with a light breeze that promised a comfortable day ahead—and no rain in sight.

Jake had spent the night in the bunkhouse, so the tradition of not seeing the bride the night before the wedding remained intact.

You sat in a chair, relaxed but focused, as the stylist worked on the final touches of your hair. Your makeup was already done, and everything was falling into place for the big day.

You had decided on a braid, delicate flowers woven throughout, which also served as a natural veil.

Phoenix opened the bedroom door and stepped inside.

“Y/N, you look beautiful!” she exclaimed, her voice filled with genuine admiration. “Wait until you see this.” She motioned toward the open door and called, “Come on in, buddy.”

Christian walked in, dressed in blue jeans, a white dress shirt, cowboy boots, and a black cowboy hat.

You smiled happily and picked him up.

“Yake say I cowboy.”

“Does he now?”

“Yup!”

You pressed a kiss to his cheek just as there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Phoenix called.

“It’s me,” Jake replied. “Is Christian in there?”

“Yeah. Hold on.”

You gently set Christian down, and he ran toward the door Phoenix had cracked open, closing it behind him.

“Mommy pretty,” you heard Christian say from outside.

“Mommy’s pretty every day, little man,” Jake replied with a chuckle.

“No. Super pretty!” Christian insisted, his voice fading as they walked further down the hall.

“All finished,” the stylist announced.

“Thank you,” you replied, your gaze meeting Phoenix’s in the mirror. She gave a subtle nod, signaling for the stylist to exit the room.

“You okay?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

You hesitated for a moment before replying. “I’ve been thinking about Christian a lot lately,” you admitted quietly.

Phoenix's expression softened, and she took a step closer, her hand gently resting on your arm. "I can imagine. It's a lot to process, especially with everything going on." Her voice was gentle, understanding.

You nodded, looking down for a moment, gathering your thoughts. "It’s just... there’s a part of me that feels guilty, you know? Moving on, getting married again." You took a deep breath, looking back at Phoenix. "But I also don’t want to live in the past forever."

Phoenix squeezed your arm reassuringly. "You’re allowed to love Christian and remember him. But you’re also allowed to open your heart again, Y/N. What you have with Jake—what you’re about to start—is a new chapter, not a betrayal."

You let out a shaky breath, her words offering you some comfort. "I just hope I’m doing the right thing."

Phoenix smiled warmly. "You’re doing what feels right for you. And that’s all anyone can ask for."

“I listened to a video he sent me when he was deployed years ago, a couple of days ago,” you confessed, your voice soft.

Phoenix’s expression softened as she listened, her eyes understanding. "That sounds like it was tough," she said gently.

You nodded, feeling the weight of the memory. "It was. Hearing his voice again… it just brought everything back. I still miss him. I always will." Your voice wavered slightly, and you quickly wiped away a stray tear.

Phoenix’s hand found yours, squeezing it reassuringly. "You don’t have to let go of him to move forward, Y/N. It’s not about forgetting. It’s about finding a way to live with both of those parts of your heart. Christian will always be a piece of you, but so will the love you’re building with Jake."

You took a deep breath, her words grounding you. "I know. I just… I want to make sure I’m being fair to both of them, you know?"

"I do," Phoenix replied. "And you're doing just that. You’re honoring the love you had and the one you're creating now." She gave you a small, encouraging smile. "Even though I still don't understand how you fell in love with the cockiest pilot I've ever met. You’ve got this."

You laughed softly. “If you’d ever seen Christian in uniform, you would’ve understood.”

“Come here,” Phoenix said, her voice gentle as she leaned in. The two of you embraced, the hug offering comfort without words.

An hour later, you stood with Phoenix on the back porch of the ranch, the sun beginning its descent in the sky.

“You ready to do this?” she asked, her voice calm but filled with excitement.

You glanced at her, taking a deep breath. “Yeah.”

Together, you started walking toward the side of the barn, where a vast pasture stretched out, with a small lake glistening in the distance. Your breath caught in your throat at the sight before you.

Sheila had truly outdone herself in just three days’ work. The setup was perfect. Off to the side of the western arch, you saw Jake and Javy standing tall in their Navy dress uniforms. When Jake spotted you, you swore you saw his eyes begin to water, but the look in them was pure happiness.

Mr. Whitaker had flown in to attend and to go over some paperwork, but other than him, the guests were mostly Jake’s neighbors—people who had known him since he was a boy.

Phoenix walked you down the aisle, her steps slow and deliberate, the weight of the moment settling in. When you reached the altar, you handed her your bouquet, your eyes locking with Jake’s as he gently took your hands into his.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here today to unite these two in holy matrimony…” the pastor began, his voice steady and warm.

As the pastor continued, you barely heard his words over the pounding of your heart. Your eyes stayed locked on Jake’s, and you could see the emotion in his gaze. It wasn’t just love; it was something deeper, something that spoke of years of waiting for this moment.

Jake gave you a soft, reassuring squeeze of the hands, his thumb gently stroking the back of your fingers, grounding you. It felt like the whole world had faded away, leaving just the two of you in this moment. You smiled, feeling a weight lift from your shoulders, replaced by a sense of peace.

The pastor’s voice brought you back to the present. “Do you, Jake Seresin, take Y/N to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish her for as long as you both shall live?”

Jake’s voice was steady, his answer certain. “I do.”

The pastor turned to you. “And do you, Y/N, take Jake Seresin to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and cherish him for as long as you both shall live?”

You looked up at Jake once more, your heart full. “I do,” you replied, your voice steady but full of emotion.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the pastor said with a smile. “You may kiss the bride.”

Jake leaned down, his lips finding yours in a kiss that felt like the culmination of everything that had brought you both here. It was soft at first, then deepened as if to reaffirm every word spoken.

The applause of the guests was distant, a gentle backdrop to the moment that would forever change your lives. As you pulled away, Jake’s eyes sparkled with joy. “I love you,” he whispered, his words a promise.

“I love you too,” you replied, your heart full and sure.

Tags: @smoothdogsgirl @alwayshave-faith @devil-angel-winchester @khouse712 @illisea @hookslove1592 @tgmreader @juliemarauderfan @djs8891

[astralpenguin]

tagged by @purplink8 (see their post here!) to share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have fewer) and tag ten people

thanks pink for the tag! here are the last ten fics i posted to ao3 and their first lines

honey (are you coming?) | maze runner | thomas/newt | 8k | wip

Sonya did not run through the hotel corridors.

we sang along to the start of forever | xmen movieverse / deadpool | wade/logan | 1k

Logan woke slowly.

everything that you're feeling (you wish you forgot) | xmen movieverse | logan & rogue, jean & rogue | 1k

Rogue entered the infirmary.

he runs | maze runner | minho & newt | 100 words

He runs.

so please don't stay in touch | maze runner | 100 words

Dear Creators, Please can you send us these medical supplies in the next Box:

well they encourage your complete cooperation | maze runner | 100 words

Sonya never went without a fight.

but calm enough to hold you in the morning | xmen movieverse | scott/jean/logan | 1k

He looked out at the lake.

all the words i never said crawl back into my mouth | death note | L/light | 1k

L was the only one monitoring those under confinement.

every reason feels a lot like an excuse | xmen movieverse | raven & charles | 1k

Mystique approached Cerebro.

all my pink skies have been painted red | xmen movieverse | jean & charles, jean & phoenix | 2.5k

Jean greeted Charles with a smile as the office door shut behind her with a click. She settled herself in the chair opposite him, tucking her feet beneath herself in a way that she already knew would become uncomfortable in a few minutes, but for now she didn’t care.

it's really interesting looking at all of these side by side and seeing what patterns there are! mostly past tense, no dialogue at all, nearly all of them are short sentences establishing an action in motion. it seems i have a particular style when it comes to starting my fics lmao

tagging (with zero pressure!): @persnickett, @pathsofoak, @fili-is-gone, @itsthemxze, @kestis-advent, @sampharos, @crestfallercanyon, @a-sentimental-man, @kerryweaverlesbian, @fellshish

[wellnoe]

What’s ur stance on Jean and the Phoenix being one in the same or not?

i really take a both are true approach to this question. jean and phoenix are the same, because jean embraces phoenix as a part of and as a version of herself and the 'now and forever' part of jean as phoenix means that we see jean being phoenix (without really being phoenix) as a child in some comics. some stories present the idea that phoenix first became aware of jean not in the shuttle crash but when annie died, when jean tried to save her, which alongside other stories which portray a young jean as phoenix makes it read as if jean is given the opportunity to become phoenix because jean is phoenix.

at the same time i think it is really important to how i see them and their relationship to think of this as a choice that they each make, to be each other and to be the same. jean chooses to become phoenix, to take on her actions as her own, and phoenix chooses to become jean, taking on her image and her actions so fully that she is indistinguishable from her. the level of identification we see between jean and phoenix is not something we see with other phoenix hosts, where phoenix is either completely subsumed or a completely separate entity being used. jean and phoenix, meanwhile, are one only through constant negotiation with each other, and they are not always on the same page in these negotiations! i think this is a way of reading them that allows for a lot of variety in their relationship across different comics and also acknowledges the ways in which jean's relationship with phoenix is different from other hosts' relationships with phoenix.

so my answer is that they are the same and they aren't all at the same time.

[jaidens]

pumpkin spice latte w/ extra whip and carmel w/ my baby rooster 😋😋 also completly disregard this plot if you want but seeing rooster after he’s been away yk at top gun for a while so r surprises him >:)))

And want you now, wanna need you forever In the heat of your electric touch, mm-mm

pairing [s] : bradley bradshaw x reader

warning [s] : mentions of : crying, making out, sex |

a/n [s] : my baby doll dal 🫶 requests are open!

It had been six continuous months without seeing your Bradley in real life. The scent of his cologne and musk had disappeared from your bed and his pillow, causing you to go after anything that has reminded you of him. Whenever you were invited to visit him in Top Gun after they were given a three-week break after a joyous win, you decided to immediately take it.

Deciding to not tell Bradley had killed you, as you watched him through the FaceTime call as he slept in a lonely house by himself. You told him your phone was getting repairs to cover up your five hour flight to where he was drafted, it worked surprisingly well. The flight was long, but your discount with it has given you First-Class seats with many helps from flight attendants to try and help your experiences.

When you landed in hot and humid, San Diego you were almost immediately dehydrated. You had called Penny and Maverick to pick you up from the airport, begging to keep everything a secret. Surprisingly, they kept it quiet and Pete told you he had told them he was taking Penny on a date tonight. The nerves were messing with your head as you mess with the hem of your (Bradley’s) Hawaiian shirt. It was a light and soft pink color, and you swore it looked better on him than it did you. Bradley would disagree, saying it was his favorite shirt you had worn.

“Hot as hell here, jeez.” You joke flapping a piece of paper against your face to try and cool yourself down. Even with the extreme cold air blasting on your face, sweat had still dripped from you. You couldn't tell if it was the nerves in your head about seeing Bradley, or the heat. If you had to assume it had probably been both electives. “I know. Bradley pretty much is shirtless half of the time. I’m tired of it.” Amy says next to you, tapping on her phone.

You laugh as you think of Bradley, who is extremely typical to get naked when it's over 95 degrees outside. You decided to call Jessica, Hangman's long-term girlfriend who had also decided to surprise her big hunk of man on the same day as you. She told you how the pilots were meeting at The Hard Deck and how most of the Navy wives were doing the same. You agreed with her and told Penny and Maverick to take you there for him.

Suddenly it all started to hit you: You would see Bradley in under three minutes after months of missing, crying, and taking screenshots of him on the phone. Maverick pulls into the sandy deck of the bar and parks the car. He looks in the mirror and looks at you. “You ready, kid?” He asks and you nod, opening the door and following after the older woman who had already been walking in. The bar wasn't that crowded, only having pilots and other people that had gotten off of work earlier. It was five o'clock when you landed, so now it was six.

The bar is playing some eighties hits loudly, some rowdy people dancing around with drinks in their hands. You touch yourself up in your phone camera, take a big breath in, and start walking into the back corner of the bar where the pilots stayed. That's whenever you saw Bradley, whooping and hollering about winning the 8-ball game with Phoenix and Bob. Jake and Jessica are rubbing up against each other, kissing and hugging on every second, looking like high school couples in the hallways.

You walk up behind Bradley and when he bends over to hit a ball, you slam up behind and put your hands in the front pockets of his 1980s Levi's jeans. “Wanna teach me how to play?” You tease and Bradley jumps up and wraps you in his arms. His hand goes to the back of your neck and he practically jumps while practically screaming your name in pure and utter excitement at your presence.

“You didn't tell me you were coming!” He pulls away for a second to look at your face, before pulling you back in and wrapping harder around your body. The feeling envelopes you tightly and you feel the need to melt in his arms. “It's a surprise, dummy. Are you surprised?” You ask and now he's nodding quickly before he drops you down and kisses you harshly. His lips are running across you as he pulls you into a bench in the other corner.

“Am I surprised? Of course!” He says sassily at you and brings you back into a deep kiss, his hand messing with the hem of your Hawaiian shirt and the other against your neck as he holds you up in the kiss with him. He's warm and touchy throughout the sweet moment and he takes like a Cranberry Vodka. “Love you, so much.”

“Awh, I love you too honey.” Your hand runs through his fluffy hair that's been lightened from hours of sun, and you stare at this tan skin with freckles littering against his cheeks and nose. His fingers mess with the rips on your shorts and he kisses against your cheek. “God, I missed you so much.” Jessica waves at you and giggles as Jake kisses her away from attention. You laugh at his antics before Bradley pulls your chin and kisses you once more, and you stare into his deep green eyes.

“Thank you for visiting, so much.” Bradley speaks softly in your ear. “Always, and forever when I can.”

[garagepaperback]

trash tuesdays:

thanks to the widely-coveted @yiiiiiiiikes25 for newly minting this approach to the day. i'm happy to have re-discovered this scrap from two months ago, which didn't go anywhere because i was like 'this is just about the nervous game', but now it can be that and also be here.

-

The night's half-past past sloppy, careening towards shit-show.

Everyone's focused, so intense that it’s kind of dumb, an over-acted show of dedication, but Harry keeps catching Dean’s eye, and Blaise’s—even Malfoy’s once. Soon, without really ever actually committing, he's entirely in.

“How fast are you supposed to move?” Ginny asks.

“Whatever pace you like, I think," Blaise smiles, a very public, somehow private way, turning it toward Malfoy this time. Malfoy’s cheek tugs up like Blaise caught it on a hook. 

Harry’s palm skims up Blaise’s trousers, black denim so sleek it seems insulting to think of the fabric as the same genus as jeans, like a phoenix and a pigeon both being associated with a feather, while Malfoy slides his hand, smirk blooming, to the inside of Ron’s thigh, flexing two fingers out long, then curling back, like pressing a slow-rolling quotation mark into the leg.

Ron yelps, jumping up, and almost taking Dean out of the game as well with the force of it.

“Well,” Malfoy announces, shifting with a little shake of his head, already smug.

“You only win if you don’t say you're nervous," Harry reminds him.

Malfoy sniffs, “Fine.”

Across the thin plane of Malfoy's thigh, Blaise's fingers press a tight circle, striking it through with a line and just before Harry realizes he's likely writing a word there, letter by letter, Dean's hand scales Harry's leg with a heavy sort of heat. Harry slides him a ratifying glance. And still, Harry stays half-stuck in the fence of Blaise’s gaze.

Harry hasn't noticed before, maybe, or not this close, or not also while he's got a hand on Blaise's leg—which is so warm, summer trapped in the lean length. And he's got these steady brown eyes, half-lidded, fixed and laden on Harry even as Malfoy slinks his legs open a little wider so that Blaise can stride his fingers teasingly up along the inseam. The bored look on Malfoy's face does nothing to stop the blatant flush sullying his throat, mottling his stern jaw.

Even sloshed, Dean moves cordially. He makes it to just about the bottom hem on one of Harry’s pant legs, rucked just slightly under his jeans, and Blaise tilts his head just as Harry surpasses probably that exact threshold. Though, he doesn’t really seem like the sort to wear pants. 

“All right,” Blaise sighs thickly, and Harry pulls away. They smile at each other as Harry’s spine sinks back slowly into the stingy padding of the booth for only a moment.

Malfoy's hands stays unsettled and slack against his seat, looking off to the side pointedly bored, even though he hasn't really been able to keep himself from looking down that end of the table. He doesn't even glance up as Blaise presses against him, settling back in to drag more letters on Malfoy's trouser leg. A t, Harry catches, then maybe a cursive ch.

It’s an odd combination, all of it. Buzzed and comfortable in the uncomfortable booth, heat licking all along Harry’s chest and shoulders, a swamp of it in the belly. This is the molten middle of the otherwise pretty forgettable evening; nothing, and sensation stacked, Blaise’s gaze and Dean’s hand, wank-fodder for a few solid months, even if Harry has to surgically remove Ginny, Ron, and probably Pansy from the situation. And Malfoy.

Harry's scalp feels tight, a prickling up the neck that’s way-back and familiar, just the same.

“They're going to go on forever,” Ginny declares, leaning her cheek onto the probably un-plush pillow of Pansy’s skull. “Can’t we call it a draw?”

“Kind of cheating to play with someone you’re shagging,” Harry says, rushing the words out to soften the way he adjusts in his seat. It spreads Blaise’s grin. 

“You and Thomas are shagging?” Blaise tilts his head mock-wondering, and Harry snorts. His hand drapes elegantly against Malfoy’s pleated trousers, an easy centerpiece to twill table. Or, if Malfoy’s button fly is the center, an uninteresting epergne, Blaise’s grasp is placed neatly, a well-stacked plate. 

“Not yet,” Dean replies cheerfully, and squeezes Harry’s bicep with his other arm.

If he were smart, he would call it. If this were just about a game, or salvaging the Friday for parts, trying to make something out of the last few hours, he would. He’d laugh and hold Dean’s hand when Dean reclaimed it from Harry's jeans, squeeze the soft of his palm, wait for a lull in everyone’s fractured goodbyes later and maybe grab it up again, quickly, to ask if he wanted to come back to his. But Malfoy’s staring at him now, the practiced way he's never managed to get good at that’s so fake and full of himself and perfectly, awfully Malfoy. And when Malfoy doesn't look over determinedly at Pansy, or reproachfully at Harry, or a little ransacked with Blaise, his gaze skitters back over to the floating bounty, the collected hoard of pocket gold hovering at the far end of the booth. Hungry. The way Blaise is looking at Harry, the way Dean’s hand feels.

-

tagging anyone who sees this! lemme see your scraps/darlings/deleted things!

[bamfdaddio]

X-Factor Abridged: 1986

X-Factor Investigations: for when you need a soapy covert-ops team of mutants that isn’t officially affiliated to the school. Perhaps the most fluid title in the X-Pantheon, they are nevertheless part of the X-Men’s long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Factor 1 - 7) - by Bob Layton, Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice, Keith Pollard, Joe Rubinstein, Mark Silvestri, Terry Shoemaker

X-Factor is what happens when somebody reads the sixties X-Men and thought: we need more of that! But soapier! Somebody really read Roy Thomas’ run and thought: this is the quality we should strive for. They keep trying to distract me from the mediocre plot with gratuitously naked Angel –  that keeps kind of working. 

One enjoyable thing is the weirdly queer undertones that were put into this first run. And I’m not just saying that because Warren is shirtless nearly every issue and Candy kicks us off with a thinly veiled gangbang joke within the first five pages of [X-Factor 1]

Roll Call

Cyclops - Scott Summers. Uncontrollable eye beams. Recently left the X-Men to raise his baby boy Nathan with his wife Madelyne Pryor in Alaska. Hold onto your butts, because we’re about to enter some heavy character derailment with this guy.

Jean Grey, officially Marvel Girl. Telepath, telekinetic, love of Scott’s life - before she died! It was a whole thing. I wonder how she joins the cast of this book…

Beast - Hank McCoy. Fuzzy, blue and acrobatic genius, back to his thesaurus swallowing ways. (Seriously, he instructs a villain to “orally extract embryonic fluid from a hen’s egg”. Not annoying at all.) Previously of the Defenders, currently looking for a job at a university.

Iceman - Bobby Drake. Subzero jokester. Previously of the Defenders, currently an accountant. My god, y’all are some boring dudes.

Angel - Warren Worthington III. Millionaire playboy with wings. Previously of the Defenders. Has the most boring superpower and personality, and yet still has the dubious honour of being the guy in this title I’d most like to fuck. This confession fills me with a deep yet vanilla shame. 

Madelyne Pryor, Scott’s wife, mother of his child. Also about to get derailed.

Candy Southern, Warren’s girlfriend. Likes swimming, shopping and getting railed, apparently.

Angel, who’s considering himself a washed-up superhero, is renovating his playboy mansion with his girlfriend, Candy Southern, when Reed Richards calls. Jean Grey - you know, who went Dark Phoenix and sacrificed herself on the dark side of moon - is somehow alive! Gasp! Shirtlessly, Warren boards his private plane and books it to New York City. (He is just such a relatable down-to-earth character.)

Angel briefly considers not calling Cyclops, because with Scott happily married in Alaska, Warren can finally make a move on Jean. I’d get mad that Warren disregards Candy Southern so casually, but ‘millionaire playboy’ has been part of his biography since forever. Scott, meanwhile, has married a harridan (allegedly):

I love how that baby just disappears in between panel 2 and 3. (X-Factor 1)

Getting upset that Cyclops is being a deadbeat dad? Good for her! Then minimizing the plight of the minority he belongs to and getting jealous of his dead wife? Nay, Maddie, nay. But hey, if we don’t make Mrs. Summers-Pryor a shrew ASAP, it doesn’t make sense for Scott to reconnect with Jean, so let’s throw in some shouting and yelling! And then, when Warren calls and Scott has to leave, she can throw in an ultimatum that if he leaves now, he doesn’t have to come back!

As sands through the hourglass, so are the mutants of our lives. 

Scott, of course, responds to Warren’s distress call, flies to New York and finds…

She looks pretty good for a dead bitch. (X-Factor 1)

So how is Jean alive? Well, the Avengers found a pod on the bottom of the Hudson Bay, from which Reed Richards extracted this Jean! Apparently, the cosmic entity of the Phoenix did not possess the actual Jean, but created a perfect copy of her and possessed that. That copy went and did the whole Phoenix Saga, while Jean lay dormant in the bay for the entire time.

Well, fuck that with a rake.

Imagine you’re Chris Claremont. You crafted the Phoenix Saga, but were told that Jean could not survive, because she genocided a planet of broccoli people. You rewrote your ending, so that Jean sacrificed itself. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it made the Phoenix Sage ever more poignant. And then editorial decided to piss all over that because they really really wanted the original five X-Men back and so they undid that beautiful ending by saying: “It was a clone all along” and, oh yeah, they also went ahead and assassinated the character of Cyclops. I can only imagine how steamed he was.

Why didn’t they just substitute Scott and Jean with Havok and Polaris? That way, Scott could have retired in Alaska with Maddy and Jean could have stayed dead. Ugh. UGH.

Oh, and somehow, Jean’s nap in the Hudson Bay got rid of her telepathic powers and she’s just  a full-on telekinetic now. Did I say ugh? Because UGH.

Anyway, Jean steps over her own miraculous resurrection right quick, points at the tv and newspaper and is all: “Look at this anti-mutant sentiment! Everybody hates us! We gotta do something! And we can’t return to the X-Men, because Magneto took over the school!” (So… you’re not even going to try and call your best friend, Ororo? Or was that relationship wiped out with your retcon-resurrection?) Warren agrees, something has to be done and then…

Time skip

We see that Beast is being rejected from his tenth interview at a university for being an obvious blue and furry mutant. (Sad!) Warren then recruits him for some new initiative and then gives Bobby a call:

Hilariously, it takes Iceman three mere weeks of being an accountant to say: fuck that (X-Factor 1)

Warren also picks up Cyclops, who has a beard of sorrow. He hasn’t talked to Jean or Madelyne in the past three weeks and apparently, that’s just how he rolls now. Whatever. Warren and Jean pitch their idea: X-Factor! They will pose as a group of mercenaries who hunt down mutants for a fee, while secretly helping these mutants in trouble! Warren will bankroll X-Factor, while Candy Southern will take care of his other business. They also introduce Cameron Hodge, Warren’s old college roommate who’s going to handle their PR. Everyone is on board, except Cyclops, who is still deeply embedded in paralysing angst. He hems and haws, not because this is a terrible idea rife with mistaken identities, but because he just doesn’t know what to do about his wife!

Fucking hell.

But then, their first job! In San Diego, a sailor, Rusty, is taken for a night on the town by his Captain, and then this happens:

So is Emma the Captain’s… girlfriend? Are they into threesomes? Is he her pimp? This relationship is weirdly unclear. (X-Factor 1)

I’m not a big fan of Rusty. Layton looked at the varied group of New Mutants that Claremont created and said: “I’ll have none of that. I’ll create a milquetoast dude with generic fire powers and call it a day.” The most interesting thing is that Rusty’s powers got triggered because he got sexually assaulted by a woman, but no writer will ever acknowledge that. Instead, it’s presented as Virgin Angst. 

Anyway, the captain, who’s a huge mutant-hater, calls X-Factor. They show up, snatch up a Rusty who’s freaking out and serve the captain a whopping bill for their services, which is a hilarious detail. The group is all: we could not have done this without Cyclops and his leadership skills and Scott is all: that sounds about right.

But what about Madelyne? Well…

I wonder what Carrie Bradshaw would have to say if you told her that your husband dumped you through a commercial that he made with the previous love of his life. (X-Factor 1)

I will mock this title a lot, but there are some things I like:

I like the pivot to X-Factor Investigations, giving this title a different spin than a regular X-Men title. I just wish they didn’t also pretend to be mutant-hunters.

Despite the throwback to the sixties, Marvel Girl has more agency and has a better use of her telekinesis. She’s one of the hard hitters now, as it should be.

There’s a throughline of anti-mutant sentiment, which pops up at every junction. It makes sense, considering that X-Factor is a lot more centered in NYC than the regular X-Men are.

The, eh, ridiculous amount of shirtless men. 

I wasn’t kidding: Warren is shirtless at least once an issue and, apparently, he has emotional heart-to-hearts with Scott wearing nothing but underwear and robes. It’s a wonder Scott can piece together a coherent sentence. (X-Factor 2)

What I really dislike is the obvious reverting to earlier times. The author revives the Scott/Warren/Jean triangle, even though that was done and dusted in the sixties. Jean is just a telekinetic, Beast is no longer blue and fuzzy��� Actually, that last bit doesn’t randomly happen: there’s some plot involved. Beast runs into another throwback to the past, his old stuffy librarian girlfriend called Vera, except…

Sufferin’ Sappho! Vera also runs a store for left wing music and South American literature. Apparently, we’re not meant to read through the lines and suss out that she might be a lesbian.  (X-Factor 2)

Beast is kidnapped from Vera’s by a bio-chemist named Carl, who has a mutant son named Arthur. (Artie! Bless! <3) Artie is a mute who can read and telepathically project his thoughts into images. He’s also disturbingly pink and bald, in an ugly cute kind of way. Carl, his father, uses Artie to spy on Beast’s thoughts, who’s fixing Carl’s equations as a thought experiment. With Beast’s help, Carl can fix his envelope-pushing treatment. What’s that treatment? Well, Carl can reverse mutations! Or he thinks he can. And before unleashing that treatment on his son, he needs a guinea pig.

Yeah, that’s exactly how Beast loses his blues. But first, we have to open the issue on yet another… suggestive picture:

It’s not just me, right? You’re all seeing this? (X-Factor 3)

Beast usually doesn’t do it for me, but this picture is… Er. I know that the X-Men have a reputation for being horny, but it’s usually not as explicit and male-oriented as this.

ANYWAY. 

X-Factor find a totally bandaged Beast in the basement of the compound where Carl is hiding. So, yes, there’s this trope in soap operas where somebody is completely wrapped up in bandages after a horrific accident, all to have a big reveal later when those bandages are removed and… gasp! The person underneath is completely changed! (Usually, because they hired a new actor.) This trope was so corny they spoofed it on Ugly Betty, and this comic just plays it completely straight.

Ugh.

ANYWAY

The bandages come off and Beast is all hairless. Good golly Miss Molly! Look like he just lost his most recent mutation!

Carl the crazy bio-chemist was apparently not supposed to be having a secret lab in the basement of an anti-mutant hate group, so when X-Factor comes a-knockin’, the guards of the compound start shooting. Carl sort-of tragically gets shot and implores X-Factor to take care of his boy, Artie, before he expires. 

So yes, that’s the second stray X-Factor takes in. Make that three, if we count Artie’s kitty, Muffin.

I’ve known Artie and Muffin for only three panels, but if anything happens to them, I’ll kill every other character in this book. (X-Factor 3)

Damn, little orphan Artie gets a real art upgrade in the nineties. There, he’s just a cute pink chibi kid, but now he’s a patchy-haired, liver-spotted Roswell E.T. without the charming green skin. I guess being uggo he engenders more sympathy. Not that leaving a kid with X-Factor is a stellar idea: Scott can barely take care of his own.

Yeah, you being a deadbeat dad is directly caused by the uncontrollable eyebeams you have, even though you’ve got ruby glasses to contain them. Fuck off, terribly written Scott. (X-Factor 2)

What follows are some clunky stories where a so-called Alliance of Evil try and pull various nefarious things for their shady master. They’re honestly a bunch of losers and the only name you need to remember is Frenzy. She’s cool. She almost pulls off kidnapping Rusty – but, like, why would you ever kidnap that dude? He’s about as exciting as wonderbread. Especially interesting considering that their master is none other than… Apocalypse!

Yo, Apocalypse, you used to hire these bozos? Man, you were really strapped for lackeys in between Horsemen, weren’t you?

Top to bottom, that’s discount!Ant-Man, discount!Multiple Man, discount!Boom Boom and… well  Frenzy. She gets a pass. (X-Factor 5)

Oh, and this is the last of the porn-y panels, I swear, but like: come on, there is no heterosexual explanation for this:

Ironic, how the only canonically gay one is wearing the most. (X-Factor 5)

Warren! That’s your work out… well, outfit is too strong a word. Work out briefs? Jesus Christ. 

If I gave this writer any credit, I’d say that the focus on Warren’s perfectly chiseled body might be serving as a contrast as to what happens with Warren later, after the Mutant Massacre. But alas, after the one-panel introduction of Apocalypse, Bob Layton fucks off from this title and gives the reins over to Louise Simonson. (I think she’s the first female writer for our merry mutants who is here to stay, so yay! Sadly, all the pin-ups of Warren stop.) I wonder what made Marvel pull Layton off this book mid-story. Maybe the sales were disappointing? Maybe emulating the run that got this shit cancelled in the sixties didn’t turn out to be such a hot money-maker after all? I guess we’ll never know.

Simonson gets saddled with an unfortunate plotline where a mutant named Michael uses heroine to block his uncontrollable powers. (His powers is that he can jumpcharge mutants nearby, making them tap into their untapped potential.) Everyone keeps calling him a junkie, even the heroes - like, Cyclops? Maybe a little sympathy for this dude? No? Anyway, Apocalypse is obviously interested in anyone that unlock anyone’s full genetic potential, and uses the guy’s girlfriend as leverage.

I’m not a huge fan of Simonson - while she’s leagues better than Bob Layton, characters still tend to make decisions for DRAMA instead of common sense - but she does bang out a few amazing plots and she’s created or molded a few great characters. Her characterization of Apocalypse is immediately spot on: 

Like Magneto, Apocalypse is a natural born drama queen. It helps to imagine all his hammy speeches in the voice he got in X-Men: the Animated Series. (X-Factor 6)

She also immediately clocks Warren’s greatest superpower: his wealth and his white privilege. Like, X-Factor accidentally destroys a residential home and Warren’s all:

Where did he keep that wad of cash? Should I be jealous of it? (X-Factor 6)

My god. This title has me simping for Warren. It truly is a barren wasteland if this is the character I'm most into.

In other tragic news, both Michael and his girlfriend perish while the Alliance and Apocalypse battle X-Factor. Sad. 

Because X-Factor arrived at the scene as mutant hunters and then changed into quick drag into mutant heroes, the Alliance suspects they are related. When reporters come to televise this whole mess – Michael’s house was destroyed – the anti-mutant X-Factor are linked to the pro-mutant ‘X-Terminators’ and the X-Factor compound immediately becomes the staging ground for a protest between pro- and anti-mutant people. 

Oh hey, it’s Trish Tilby reporting for duty! She’s like the X-Men’s Gale Weathers.

Anyway, Scott still can’t spit it out, even though he inadvertently calls Jean Maddie. Fuck, he really is his daughter’s father, isn’t he? And just when he finally has the backbone to confess he is married, Jean figures it out all on her own! She’s big mad. (Well, at least that makes sense. I’d also be mad if I was trapped in a clichéd soap opera plot.)

We end this plodding run on a B-plot that involves unhoused mutants living in a radioactive dump which is somehow also near New York. I know the Big Apple was bad in the eighties and I’ve also seen radioactive goop in Halloween: Freddy Takes Manhattan, so maybe this was just a thing back then so let’s not worry about it!

Anyway, Rusty meets a Morlock! A pretty Morlock, so we know she’ll be important. Sort of. Rusty and Skids don’t make it out of the nineties. (They don’t die, they’re just… narratively forgotten. A fate worse than death.) 

It’s hard to be a more boring character than Rusty, but Skids gives him a run for his money. (X-Factor 7)

Well, at least Skids has great outfits, but soon even that position will be usurped by Boom-Boom. Them’s the slip-slidey breaks, Skids.

Skids comes just in time to introduce the Morlocks to this title, because, well, we’ve got a big event coming up. During that event is actually when this title starts to gets some of its sea legs: it’ll spread its wings! So to speak. Poor Warren. Anyway, check back for the Mutant Massacre. (The first one.)

Best new character: Frenzy!

Most audacious retcon: It’s the worst! Not the whole Phoenix-cloned-Jean-and-took-her-place debacle. The fact that we never see Artie’s cat Muffin again!

What to read: Please don’t.

[dailyjeangrey]

“I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever — I am Phoenix” — Uncanny X-Men #101

Jean Grey/Phoenix + Aesthetic

[rei-ismyname]

Jean Grey kills God

It's the very end of the First Krakoan Age and it's up to Jean and Phoenix to fight the final boss. An apex AI God made by Nathaniel Essex - Enigma, the Dominion. Good thing they're freshly resurrected and full of Phoenix juice! In another timeline, The Phoenix killed a whole bunch of Dominions so he invited them ALL to help kill them.

Luckily, they only showed up to tell him he sucks and to wish Jean well. It's a nice moment, as this arrogant jerkoff is given the opportunity to learn a lesson. You won the game bro! Why are you terrorising mortal and linear beings? There'd be no fight if you didn't start it. Alas, he's too much of a God to remember being human and too human to enjoy being a god. Fear, power and hate is all that drives him.

Enigma isn't very happy about that, cursing his brethren as they bail to do God shit. Still, he's incredibly powerful and has mastery of all space and time. He doesn't have to worry about retconning himself, so he plans to do that to Jean or anyone else he feels is necessary. MF will kill Stan Lee's parents while replacing X-Men #1 with a random issue of Maxim, or worse. It's a chase through time with everything on the line!

He explains it pretty well as we shift into his POV. He's unraveling pieces of Jean's history to undo or subvert her - the omnitemporal equivalent of smothering her in the cradle while pulling every thread on her sweater. With every change he makes Jean spots it and undoes it.

He tries to prevent her going to Xavier's school. Overwrites Maddie with Jean at the point she gives the ultimatum. Delays discovery of Emma's 'psychic therapy' until much later. Replaces her younger self with a clone of himself. He even changes the Progenitor's judgement from fail to pass. Everything that led to this moment is on the chopping block but Jean is keeping up.

Enigma turns the sun into a Red Giant as he prevents humans from ever existing. There's no lengths he won't go to for victory. Jean catches them all, but he's tweaking everything, everywhere, everywhen. All Jean's history, all X-Men history, all living history. Evil only has to win once and everything is gone forever.

Luckily, Chuck is making a good decision for once. He convinces Moira to betray Enigma (it's really complicated), robbing him of his omnitemporal advantage and forcing him into a straight up fight. If he was from 2011 instead the 19th century, he'd say 'come at me bro.'

Jean and Phoenix don't give a fuck, standing tall against this obscene abomination with all the backup in the world. Drawing power from all the X-Men that ever lived, could live, or will live they declare 'you can't stop us all.' X-MEN THEME DOT EM PEE FOUR 🐦‍🔥🐦‍🔥🐦‍🔥

That's right you punk bitch. What have you got against the Phoenix with infinite Wolverine claws? Nothing. Desperate denial and delusions. Stabbity stab. Get Phoenix'd idiot!

Enigma does not die. Jean and Phoenix leave him at the moment of death, screaming forever. In every millisecond in every dimension and timeline that ever was or ever will be, screaming forever. His corpse fragments strewn across timespace of this reality, a symbol of victory and a warning to any other cosmic predators. His head on a spear saying 'fuck off, this is under our protection.' Go Jean!

The battle won, Jean and Phoenix return to ordinary time and space. 'Now,' if you like. To their lover's side, who never doubted them for a second. I wonder if she did tell Scott later. An abridged version, most likely, or perhaps a psychic projection of the experience. To celebrate - one last Krakoan party. The warriors put down their swords and dance, hug, kiss and all the rest. Except for Chuck, who's on pretty much everyone's shit list. Oh well, nothing like a Shi'Ar party.