#jonathan mercator

[cloudyappleart]

Still playing catch-up after posting mainly on twitter for years, and since I just made a Strangeworlds side blog I thought I'd focus on some of that fanart for a bit.

[cannonicly-kayden-cosplays]

GIYS PLEASE

I NEED PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAF THE STRANGE WORLDS TRAVEL AGENCY I READ THOSE BOOKS AND NOW IM OBSESSED EITH THAR LITTLE TRANS TWINK

[amalgamatedmuses]

@arcanescholxr || starter call

"Ah, Mr Blackburn, isn't it?" Jonathan offered a lightly excited smile as he greeted the other, thrusting a hand out for him to shake. "Jonathan Mercator, Head Custodian of the Strangeworlds Society."

A recent trip to another world in the multiverse had introduced Jonathan to a man named Elias; someone magically gifted enough to travel between realms without the use of a portal suitcase.

Jonathan had only known one other person to be able to do that, and so had been keen to learn more about the man. During their meeting he had come to learn about Dwight, and quickly made plans to visit the magic user that resided in the same world as Jonathan.

"Awfully exciting to meet you."

[codexnuminous]

MISS CHEERY? my beloved home train driver from the nevermoor books???

codex pal buddy how do we keep being into the same things. seriously. i.

anyways uh. so. uh. silverborn.

Silverborn. Slightly less than a year now! (Here's hoping - fingers crossed )

The most likely answer is - I read a LOT of books, plus- we're both on tumblr, so we clearly have at least somewhat similiar tastes. It is very fun to keep on finding out interests in common, though!

And speaking of which - Jonathan Mercator? My beloved, rather stressed interdimensional travel agency owner-ish from the Strangeworlds series?

[cosmic-nia]

if ya’ll are looking for book recommendations i highly recommend The Strangeworlds Travel Agency. i’m on book 3 rn and i love it sm waaghh😭💕💕

if yall are curious on what the book is about, basically its a fantasy adventure with dimension hopping but with suitcases lol (the main characters i drew here are Flick Hudson and Jonathan Mercator :DD)

[strangeworldstravelagency]

Welcome to the Strangeworlds Travel Agency!

Andrew Mercator, he/it, 28, Cymru.

I met LD through cosplay and followed them on twitter, and then discovered Strangeworlds through their tweets in the lead up to the first book being released and immediately fell in love. Jonathan is my favourite guy. I've cosplayed him, I rp as him, and my surname is legally Mercator because of him! I am also the Andrew mentioned in the acknowledgements page of TEOTO! I have a whole Strangeworlds shelf which is basically a shrine at this point, and it's my favourite book series, overtaking GO after 8 years of that being my no.1.

I saved a couple of Strangeworlds URLS and decided to make use of this one when I finally got desktop access to my Tumblr account again. Expect to see art, quotes, reviews and just general Strangeworlds vibes.

You can find me on the following accounts; 💼Main: @governmentgoldfish 💼Art: @cloudyappleart 💼Multimuse RP (Including Jonathan): @amalgamatedmuses

[heckyeaheatpoopyoucat]

#026C: "Around the shores of the Elegant Isles / Where the cat-fish bask and purr..."

Matte:

Around the shores of the Elegant Isles 

Where the cat-fish bask and purr 

And lick their paws with adhesive smiles 

And wriggle their fins of fur, 

They fly and fly ’neath the lilac sky – 

The frivolous cake, and the knife 

Who winketh his glamorous indigo eye 

In the wake of his future wife. 

The crumbs blow free down the pointless sea To the beat of a cakey heart 

And the sensitive steel of the knife can feel That love is a race apart.

In the speed of the lingering light are blown The crumbs to the hake above, 

And the tropical air vibrates to the drone 

Of a cake in the throes of love.

Meg:

Irene: The deranged knife shark chased the muffinfish while the purr-maids frolicked just offshore of the botanical beach.

Jonathan:

Rae: In the shallow, tropical waters off of Island Candytree, the Sad Muffinfish engages his invisibility cloak to evade a hungry Shark wielding his bread knife, while just above the surface of the water, a White-breasted Mercat sits quietly in her black hoodie, warms her tailfin on the rocks and waits for danger to pass.

The Dude:

Dan: Floating in the waters just off Candyland, the cupcake monkey threw its security blanket in the air in desperation - terrified by the approaching shark that menaced it with a pruning saw. From the shore opposite the candy cane palms, a mermaid kitty watched on in amusement. 

Audrey:

Briana: As we looked down on the Earth analog we noticed things were just a bit strange, on the distant shore what looked like palm trees had candy cane trunks, while a kitten mermaid swam in the shallows leaving a green slug trail; in the deeper ocean nearer us, a monkey wearing a cupcake cap with a cherry on top jumped off a flying carpet to join a shark and sunfish in the waters.

Heather:

DarkSparkle: Sisters Chloe and Zoe were scanning the candy cane palms and placid ocean scene populated by mercats, sunfish, and flapper sharks when Zoe spotted Apu crash landing the magic carpet and flailing around trying to keep his heavily iced cupcake hat from getting soggy.

[ivycryptid]

@nico-the-overlord @captainjackscoat and open tags because it is late and i am. tired.

I tag anyone who wants to do this.

[potentially-explosive]

Things I liked about strangeworlds travel agency book two the edge of the ocean in no particular order

 Spoilers many spoilers are under the read-more read at your own risk (also I’ve not read book three yet so please don’t spoil anything!)

alright first of all I love Nyfe as a character. bestie gave herself the title Pirate Queen, estranged herself from her father because he wouldn’t give her command of all his ships (all of them???) and is named Nyfe. Did she name herself at some point? Did her (scary, but) gentlehearted parents name her that? Either way it is hilarious and I love it

Pirates I just really like pirates

OH MY GOSH THE PLOT TWIST AT THE END?? ISAAC? TRISTYAN? JONATHAN’S DAD? SEREN?

Just.. all of Jonathan’s outfits

Avery and Flicks like crush/romance thing going on that was very cute 

When Jonathan gives Flick a pep talk and Avery is like “ugh I thought you were going to kiss” and they’re both absolutely disgusted 

the expression “the chamber pot was about to hit the propeller.”

I love the merpeople and how different they all are in terms of fishness

I love the way Flick describes magic, it’s so beautiful

I love the cover art (I have the North American edition I think? The one with Flick, Jonathan, and Avery on it)

I love how Jonathan basically flatters Flick’s mom into letting her go back to the travel agency

oh and how Flick and Avery try their best to help Jonathan when he realizes his dad is dead, even though neither of them really know what to do

and how Jonathan and Flick desperately are looking through the suitcases, trying to find a suitable one, before they run out of time 

AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF that I will probably add later 

I just love this series a lot 

[booksartanddragons]

REVIEW: The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

Little Wyverns seems a wholly unremarkable and dull place to have moved to until Flick discovers The Strangeworlds Travel Agency and its young apparent proprietor Jonathan Mercator. The revelation that this travel agency, with its stacks of strange bartered suitcases, is full of doorways to marvellous other worlds turns Flick’s quiet world upside down. She is soon a part of marvellous adventures with Jonathan, to worlds full of  strange and wonderful things and magic. 

But Jonathan’s father is missing and there is something very wrong beneath the surface of these worlds and perhaps Flick might just be the person to help figure out these mysteries.

This book is a whirlwind of charming imagination and delightfully strange characters in whose pages I was delighted to get lost. The pages teem with Neverland-esque forests of strange children, snowy mountains with Yetis and zany places where the very ground makes you bounce! The story is a Far Away Tree for older readers, imaginative, spellbindingly exciting and leaving me sat at the end desperately excited for another world to explore. I would highly recommend for kids and kids at heart, Lapinski has written a real gem!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

[cloudyappleart]

that line where Jonathan steps out of a case like a well dressed flamingo. Flick is a robin because i say so.

[offtoljubljana]

101. Ik ben weer een reisblog, geen glee blog

20/05/2020

Maar nu wordt ik heel eventjes een Avatar blog. Niemand herinnert dit, maar precies 50 posts geleden (wow), poste ik dat ik mega happy was dat Nickeoloden eindelijk na 13 lange jaren de hele final Avatar battle op YouTube had gezet en daarna schreef ik:

GUESS WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?

THANK YOU NICKELODEON!!! Eindelijk hoef ik niet meer shitty geknipte versies te kijken op YouTube. Deze scene is *chef’s kiss*. De muziek, de cinematografie, de “choreografie”, het kleurgebruik... Wow. 

Er is een hele Avatar Renaissance gaande, aangezien alle afleveringen eindelijk op de Amerikaanse Netflix staan. Ze staan al maanden op de Nederlandse Netflix.

Ik zeg altijd: “Glee is mijn favoriete show, maar Avatar is de beste show.”

En ugh, ik ga geen mega lang betoog schrijven over waarom Avatar zo goed is (lang verhaal kort: de complexiteit van morele ambiguïteit wordt geweldig vertoond in een cartoon, waardoor zowel kinderen als volwassenen deze show kunnen bekijken en waarderen), want heel veel anderen hebben al genoeg analyses gedaan.

Laat me zeggen: er is een reden dat ik mijn hele bachelorthesis eraan besteedde. Tenminste, dat was het idee voordat ik met mijn bachelorthesis kapte. Ik hoop eigenlijk nog steeds dat ik volgend jaar nog steeds verder kan met Avatar als onderwerp, want het gaat dus over moraliteit in de media, maar aangezien ik de doelgroep ga veranderen, is er een kans dat het niet door gaat.

F, please.

Fun fact, en hierna ga ik door met het normale “blog” gedoe, maar op een bepaald moment had ik bijna de hele DVD box gekocht om het a) zelf te kijken, obviously, en b) om Bram en Jasper het te laten zien, want ze zijn te jong om deze serie te kennen en dat is een schande! Nah, jk, maar serieus, Avatar is een aanrader.

... de sequel Avatar: The Legend of Korra is ook zeer goed, maar de eerste twee seizoenen zijn.... eh... uh.... dece?

Goed. Terug naar het blogging. Nieuws over Corona? Nou, nee, niet echt. Iets wat ik ook al tegen pa zei: er is gewoon niet veel nieuws. Alles is oké. Dit is niet zoals Nederland waar nog steeds grote dingen worden aangekondigd.

Natuurlijk is er altijd wel nieuws (gister 1 besmetting, 1 dode), maar het is niet zo groot dat ik elke dag een heel stuk erover hoef te schrijven. Nu is het gewoon afwachten: of de laatste dingen gaan open OF er komt een tweede golf. Als één van die dingen gebeurt, laat ik het zeker wel weten.

Ik heb gekookt en ik heb weer die pasta saus gemaakt en ingevroren. Net zoals vorige keer weet ik niets van kruiden en hoeveelheden dus ik heb gewoon van alles erin gegooid zonder na te denken en nu is het zeer zoet. Ik vind het wel fijn. Alweer een foto (sue me 🙄), maar ik moet nu laten zien dat ik spinaziepasta heb gekocht.

In plaats van Corona, heb ik nieuws over ~~sociale contacten~~. Wow! Gisteren heeft mijn Switch een kwartier vast gehangen toen ik met Maikel, Merel, Eef, Annika en Laura speelde! Hoera. Iedereen had hetzelfde probleem en we weten nog steeds niet wat er gebeurd is. Soms heb je wel lag of krijg je een communication error, maar nu hing iedereen gewoon voor een kwartier vast.

Nintendo, explain?

Hoe dan ook, alles is nu oké en alles doet het weer. Daarna konden we gewoon verder en opnieuw proberen. Just... wtf was that? Rond middernacht ben ik naar een eiland gegaan van een vreemde uit de Heartstopper server voor DIYs en blijkbaar kent deze persoon niet alle functies.

Rebecca/Pascal was shook.

Verder ben ik begonnen met kattenfoto’s naar Verena te sturen. Ze heeft een abonnement bij me voor “daily free serotonin” en katten zijn gewoon zo leuk. Hier, jullie krijgen ook een “test trial”:

Ook heeft Jonathan de Ier veel stres. Hij heeft mega veel vakken. Ik ben ook maar weer verder gegaan naar het onderzoeken van de dood. Blijkbaar is er een wetenschappelijk journal over de dood genaamd Mortality.

En toen ik voor de zoveelste keer het voornemen had om vroeg te slapen, zag ik dat Victor mij had toegevoegd op Facebook. Toch goed dat ik die vreselijke site nog gebruik. 

Sleep who idk her? We hebben tot 3:00 gepraat over musicals en films en Animal Crossing. Yup, hij heeft ook Animal Crossing. Hij heeft zelfs de fancy nieuwe special edition Animal Crossing Switch.

***

21/05/2020

Goed, oké, ik was vergeten dat deze post er nog was. Gisteren vond ik deze blog: https://socialcontextglee.tumblr.com/. Het zijn allemaal screencaps van glee in Corona tijd.

Inmiddels is het 13:31 en ik ben terug van de uni. Yeah, de uni. Ik moest nog dingen printen en ik ging kijken of de print shop open was, want die bij de Mercator was dicht.

De faciliteiten bij de faculteit zijn weer open, dus ook de print shop. Ik moet morgen terug voor Barbara, maar nu heb ik eindelijk mijn Mobility Form kunnen ondertekenen en ik heb het alweer opgestuurd naar Patrick van de RU. Huppa.

Op weg terug naar huis zag ik deze shits:

Wat zijn deze dingen? Vroeger plukte ik deze dingen altijd, maar wat zijn ze? 

En nu ga ik verder met leren, want mijn GLINT examen is op maandag. Hoera. En mijn werkstuk voor MC is bijna klaar (denk ik?) en daarna verder met de dood. Oh en shit, Professionalisering.

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski

I’ve been on a bit of a middle-grade kick recently and I’ve been hearing buzz about this one for a while. As we’re not allowed to physically travel at the moment, this magical debut is the perfect passport to a whimsical adventure.

Flick Hudson and her family are new in the village of Little Wyverns. While out exploring, she stumbles across the weird and wonderful Strangeworlds Travel Agency and its eccentric proprietor Jonathan Mercator. Inside she discovers walls of suitcases, each containing a different magical world. To travel to one of them, she must join the secret Strangeworlds society. But one of the worlds is in mortal danger, Jonathan has a mystery to solve and Flick is about to learn how very special she is...

Magic is very much a precious and elusive commodity, which creates the familiar warm glow that I love in middle-grade fantasy. The reader is let in on the secret of magic’s existence from the very beginning, which immediately draws you in like an invitation to a special club. This inclusivity wraps itself around the reader and gives them a lovely welcoming cuddle.

‘If she’d had to describe it, she would have said it was curiosity mixed with oranges.’

The above line comes from a very early scene where Flick is sussing out the situation at Strangeworlds. I had to mention it in this review because I’ve never heard of such a wonderfully strange description of a feeling that somehow still makes sense. Lapinski has a few of these little nuggets, glittering away in the narrative that show off a unique quirky style.

There is a lot of lovely messaging to take into reality, while we’re learning the secrets of world-travelling. The above quote alludes to the detrimental effect that being in a world where you don’t belong can have. It made me appreciate all of the people and places that mean home for me. They do quite literally give me life, so I was able to fully relate to the idea of always returning home after an adventure.

There’s also an eco-message that talks about the importance of looking after the world you inhabit. Of course, there has never been a better time for children to grow up being aware of their own carbon footprints and coming up with ideas for how to protect the planet. The existence of our world is magic in its most organic form and much like the worlds contained in the suitcases, it needs to be cared for.

My only real niggle about this book is that Flick reads quite a bit older than 12 to me. Having said that, I don’t know any 12-year-olds so maybe they are as quick-thinking and daring as she is but I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn’t at least 15. I also wasn’t sure that a 12-year-old would be as relaxed and confident about spending a night away from home without parental permission in a village that they’re new to. At the very end, we learn that her parents had been very worried about her which obviously clears up the usual ‘but where are the parents in all this?’ question that so often comes with middle-grade and YA fiction. However, I couldn’t help wondering if the concern was reciprocated at all. I don’t remember Flick worrying about her parents until she was about to go home and I know that at 12, I’d have been unable to think of anything else. Perhaps I’d have behaved a bit more inconsiderately as a teen, which is maybe why I thought Flick seemed to read a little bit older than she was.

Lapinski is fantastic at creating immersive, detailed worlds. The city of Five Lights was so well-written that I could almost smell and taste everything while wandering around the mystical, Spanish-style streets. It has definitely been a while since I experienced a fictional place so vividly and I loved it!

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency is the first in a new middle-grade fantasy series that is charmingly unique and so much fun. Each of these worlds have so much potential, so I can’t wait to revisit them and discover where else the Travel Agency can take me. There are also some fantastic side characters, who I suspect may show up again and a mystery that hasn’t been cleared up, so I’m definitely ready to keep reading any sequels! Big thank you to L. D. Lapinski for giving me the opportunity to visit a plethora of new worlds while being stuck inside!

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency by L. D. Lapinski will be published by Orion Children’s Books on 30th April 2020.

[ao3feed-themagnusarchives]

Mercator et Coffea

by faespresso

For some ungodly reason, a tattoo artist from across the street has decided to pay John and his coworker a visit every morning. This time, he brings more than small talk.

(Title roughly translates to: [the] Merchant and Coffee)

Words: 504, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, No Spoilers, of COURSE theres a ship tease, martins crush on john STAYS, Cannot emphasize that enough, my latin is super rusty please forgive me for the title

source http://archiveofourown.org/works/20512922

[france-germany-bondage-blog]

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[aion-rsa]

How X of Swords Changed the Marvel Universe Future of the X-Men

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

After 22 chapters, Marvel’s massive X-Men crossover event, X of Swords has come to a close, and with it, the Dawn of X era. The story touched every book in the X-Men family and brought us answers to a few of the lingering questions that were casually tossed at the audience during House of X/Powers of X. But X of Swords asked more questions than it answered. And heading into the next phase of X-Mastermind Jonathan Hickman and the rest of the magnificent team of X-Men creators’ big plan, that’s a very good thing.

To set the stage going into Reign of X, we’ve decided to lay out some of the big questions asked in X of Swords (and by the Reign of X teaser image you see at the top of the page).

WHAT HAPPENED IN X OF SWORDS?

X of Swords was primarily three stories: Betsy Braddock’s journey towards fully becoming Captain Britain; Saturnyne trying to get Betsy to accept being Captain Britain (and trying to nail her brother Brian, the previous Captain Britain); and the payoff to the Krakoa/Arakko schism first introduced in Powers of X. It did all of those things magnificently, telling what ended up being a definitive Apocalypse story reuniting him with his long lost family, and reestablishing the Captain Britain Corps of multiversal guardians under Saturnyne’s control. 

Along the way, the story also gave the X-team of creators a chance to cut loose and have a blast. The setup promised what was essentially a season of Dragon Ball Super in an X-Men comic: the battle for control of Krakoa and Arakko would come down to a tournament between 10 champions for each side, with each champion wielding a unique sword. The first half of the crossover followed several heroes as they tracked down their blades, and gave us some wonderful character moments with Magik, Cypher, Storm, the Braddocks, and others. 

But once the tournament started, it ended up being the fighting equivalent of Whose Line Is It Anyway – the rules were made up and the points didn’t matter. There were definitely sword fights, and when they happened they were usually excellent, but there was also a drinking contest between Storm and Wolverine, and Gorgon and Magik did a jigsaw puzzle together, Doug married Bei the Blood Moon, and Gorgon banged a boulder. 

When it came down to it, X of Swords was an Excalibur story, and it honored that book’s roots by being multiversal, very silly, and full of effective character growth. And very, very good.

In the end, Krakoa won the tournament when Apocalypse defeated his wife and the Annihilation Helm in single combat. Amenth did not take the loss well, and unleashed the full might of its army on Saturnyne and the Krakoans, but they were saved three times; first by the return of the full Captain Britain Corps; again when the X-Men rode in on the once and future S.W.O.R.D. headquarters and dumped a swarm of extradimensional cyborg virus people on the Amenthi monsters; and finally when Apocalypse claimed the Annihilation helmet, and ended the battle by surrendering to Saturnyne.

And at the end, when Saturnyne demanded an exchange of prisoners (sort of) between the two sides to seal the peace, Apocalypse decided to join his family on Amenth, and in return sent all of Arakko to join the Krakoans on Earth.

MILLIONS OF NEW MUTANTS AND A NEW LAND MASS JUST SHOWING UP IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE A THING, ISN’T IT?

For some people, sure. Presumably the already tense geopolitical situation created by a new mutant nation leveraging Krakoan superscience is going to have a little more pressure added to it when Krakoa doubles in physical size and adds millions of super powered beings born and raised in (approximately) hell.

Add to that the two open seats on the Quiet Council and you have a ton of politics that need examining, something that both X-Men and X-Force have done gladly since the relaunch.

WHAT TWO OPEN SEATS?

Apocalypse’s departure to wander Amenth with his wife and kids (honestly, this crossover is God-tier just for believably turning Apocalypse into a Wife Guy) left one Autumn seat open. The other open seat came when Marvel Girl joined Cyclops in some light insubordination at the climax of the story.

The Council repeatedly ruled against outside involvement in the Otherworld tournament – the 9 fighters could compete, but they weren’t sending anybody else (who mattered – more in a second), both because it wasn’t deemed safe for Krakoa to leave it unguarded, and because death on Otherworld scrambled the resurrection protocols. Cyclops and Marvel Girl decided that they couldn’t abide by that and rounded up an enormous crew of mutants, who they brought through on The Peak to save the day. However, when Marvel Girl joined, she resigned her seat on the Council.

That leaves two open seats, and speculation abounds about who might join their ranks. 

The Spring seat vacated by Marvel Girl should be filled by someone with more traditional X-Men ties. Smart money here is on Angel, with Penance being another possible addition, in part because of the teaser. It looks like the long-rumored (and subtly referenced in Empyre: X-Men) X-Corp book is finally on its way, and we know that the heads of the mutants’ non-Hellfire corporate interests are Warren Worthington III and Monet St. Croix. They would be a logical addition and a nice counterbalance to the Hellfire Trading Company, which looks like it’s about to descend into chaos as Marauders follows up on Kitty Pryde’s murder at the hands of Sebastian Shaw from before the crossover.

Apocalypse’s seat is a complete wild card. Other Autumn seats are held by Professor X and Magneto, and with Apocalypse, the three represented three pillars of mutant philosophy. It’s not immediately clear who might be a suitable fit in that framework, but an Amenthi representative does make a certain amount of sense. Some have speculated Isca the Unbeaten might join the council, but I’m not sure the mutants would want to include in private strategic discussions someone whose mutant power compels them to switch sides if they’re going to lose. 

WHAT IF THAT LAST SEAT GOES TO THE SHADOW KING?

Oh yeah that would really suck. Also, he’s prominently featured in the teaser, and it looks like he might be joining the cast of New Mutants when Vita Ayala takes over. That would be very, very bad. For the mutants. For us, that’s probably some good story.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BETSY?

It’s not entirely clear. She “died” in one of the earliest battles of the tournament, and we know from Rockslide’s death at the start of the crossover that dying on Otherworld scrambles your backups. What comes out of that egg is approximately whatever a slot machine that contains all of that person’s personalities from throughout the multiverse decides to shoot out.

However, when Captain Britain died in the tournament, she shattered into shards of stained glass. Shards that Saturnyne had collected, and then as all looked grim in the tournament, she pieced them back together and resurrected Betsy, and with her, a full Captain Britain Corps comprised of all the various Betsys from throughout the multiverse. 

The Captain Britain Corps, as a refresher, was created by Merlin as a group of protectors of every corner of the omniverse. They served in that function largely uninterrupted until the multiverse was destroyed in Jonathan Hickman’s massive Avengers story that culminated in Secret Wars, when the Corps was demolished in battle by the Beyonders. That destruction caused Saturnyne to close off the Starlight Citadel and led to turmoil among the realms of Otherworld, so presumably the return of the Corps is going to help with stability there. 

That said, Avalon is still governed by Jamie Braddock; Sevalith is a realm of vampires and has a possibly turned Death on it; Mercator is an unknown region, but sounds like it’s governed by another reality-altering omega mutant, Mister M; and the Crooked Market is administered by yet another reality warper, Mad Jim Jaspers. And Betsy Prime (or Betsy 616, as the main Marvel universe also reclaims its original number for the first time post-Secret Wars) is apparently missing. It would seem all of this will be followed up on in the pages of Tini Howard’s stellar Excalibur. 

Skipping the obvious ones that are asked in the story – what kind of drama will grow out of Storm’s theft of the Wakandan sword; can Bei, Doug and Warlock manage a throuple; what happens when arakko and krakoa bang it out; where’s solem.

DID ALL THOSE HELLIONS DIE ON OTHERWORLD?

The only book that was functionally superfluous to X of Swords was Hellions, but that’s okay because it was such a riot. Mister Sinister gathered up his team on a Quite Council-sanctioned mission into Otherworld to try and steal the Amenthi swords before the tournament started. Unfortunately, they were extremely late and couldn’t do anything to help their Krakoan countrymen. On the other hand, that was exactly Sinister’s plan. 

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Sinister went to Amenth to get genetic material from the Amenthi mutants, to add to his collection. While there, he and his team met Tarn the Uncaring, Sinister’s Amenthi equivalent. Tarn unleashed his Vile School mutants on the Hellions, and absolutely wrecked them: Nanny and Orphan Maker were killed very quickly; Wild Child stayed behind to buy Psylocke, Havok, Empath, and Greycrow time to escape with the genetic goods Sinister stole; and Sinister himself is pulled apart by Tarn in the fight (it’s fine, he was a clone).

However, it’s not entirely clear where those four died or if it will have any bearing on their resurrection (Sinister is fine, he’s got another clone waiting for the Hellions on the Krakoan side of the Otherworld gate so he can shoot them before they tell anyone what happened). Also, Tarn survived, and it looks like he’s coming back to haunt this team of misfits in upcoming issues of Hellions. 

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