#kevin mactaggert

[rei-ismyname]

Loser Husbands panic and slow clap

Yeah, why IS Proteus here? Mind your business, he can go where he wants. Why are YOU here?

It's all very touching, especially Proteus crying about his dead mam (who's hiding and scheming, verrrry much alive) and Hellfire opening a free hospital for all. Look at their faces and the insincere clapping - it's kinda wild that they managed to keep the secrets they did at times.

I could read an entire run of them being befuddled and awkward.

[thequiver]

X-Men: Revenant as Tweets, Part 1

[tilyoureninetyhughy]

Easter Eggs found on X2: X-Men United (2003)

[nitpickrider]

Charles has failed at more than his fair share in life. But he truly, honestly, is a VERY good teacher of mutants. X Men Unlimited Infinity 65

[heckcareoxytwit]

As the remaining Quiet Council are discussing family matters and their plans on going home, Kafka the winged mutant boy overhears the conversation and starts to have doubts. Kafka eventually talks to Exodus about his doubt about how the rest of the mutants may have to stay behind in White Hot Krakoa while some of the mutants are selected to go home (and fight Orchis). The Quiet Council and the chosen mutants prepare for a ritual which Mister Sinister empties a vial of Cypher's genes into the pool so that Krakoa could help them in teleporting the mutants back home. The Krakoan vines wrap around Mister Sinister & the mutants and turns them into buds. Hope Summers remains behind on White Hot Krakoa as she reminds herself that she has to bring Phoenix Force back and she has some Messiah shit to do. Back on Earth, Apocalypse is dragging Krakoa-Treant back to Krakoa island when the chosen mutants pop right out of the flowers.

Much later, Hope Summers is having much difficulty in dealing with the Phoenix Force and Jean Grey. In order to save all of mutantkind and resurrect both the Phoenix and Jean Grey, Hope alongside the help of Legion (as the talking Hope Gun) shot the Phoenix with the consequence being her sacrificing herself in the process. Jean and the Phoenix have come back but Hope is gone. Meanwhile, the mutants are fighting the Stark Sentinels on the ruins of Krakoa island when Exodus, Destiny and Mystique teleport in. The Hope Sword is back in Nightcrawler's hands. Even though Destiny hugs Nightcrawler after some getting her motherly memories back from Xavier, she gives the bad news - Hope Summers is dead. Exodus at first doesn't believe it then announces that Hope has returned to whence she came. "The word made flesh, the flesh made immortal. She is with Krakoa in exile in spirit." Nightcrawler says the Krakoan mutants are trapped in the White Hot Room, lost forever. But Exodus, returning to the fight and attacking a Sentinel, says the people of Krakoa will return, that the Krakoan age will come again. Nightcrawler asks Destiny if they can win but she still sees no victory.

The Krakoan mutants including the Five minus Hope and Jumbo Carnation are stuck in the White Hot Krakoan Room arguing around a table trying to figure out how they will function, who will do what, etc. Little Kafka gets annoyed and tells everyone to shut up. He tells the room that they have to be better than this, that they have no rulers, no leaders, no heroes. That they have to be the Quiet Council and that means they have to listen. He takes charge and starts working to assign tasks such as food supply, tutoring, teaching. It's a bittersweet last page as that little hero is determined to make Krakoa, despite being lost in the White Hot Room.

X-Men: Forever #2, 2024 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th pics)

Rise of the Powers of X #4, 2024 (7th and 8th pics)

X-Men: Forever #4, 2024 (10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th pics)

- - - -- --------

The trapped Krakoan mutants in the White Hot Room reminds me of the ending of Drifting Classroom manga when the elementary school students in the bad future dimension cannot go home after several tries. So the trapped students decide to stay and work together in the ruined future to build a new civilization.

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

s4e12

[yallemagne]

Season 4!!! Of X-Men: TAS!! This season was FUN. I've been taking notes while watching, that's probably apparent, it leads to more bullet points.

Episode 1: The Juggernaut Returns

SCOTT AND LOGAN WERE VISITING MORPH!!!!! <3333

“We’re saving Juggernaut’s sorry life. And don’t bother telling me you don’t like it.” “I don’t like it >:((.”

Charles trying to dig through Cain’s trauma, getting his own trauma instead and wondering “dog, why do I let this mf live, he sucks”

Chuck: “Don’t tell me to forgive my brother.” Storm: “I was literally just telling you to let him die, man.”

Cain literally knows why his father neglected him, he knows his father was a piece of shit after nothing but money… but he still scapegoats his brother. Dog. At least he doesn't beat Chuck's ass after the man saves his life. I guess.

Episode 2: A Deal With The Devil

Me: “Who’s the Devil in this scenario? Omega Red or whoever’s thawing him?” The people thawing him: *have American accents* Me: “Ah. Them.”

Dog… how you gonna be this stupid. FIRST OFF the Russian government just THREW HIM IN THE SNOW??? WhAT?? You had him in a locked up facility before!! And then the dumbass American government is like “not even the Soviet Union could handle Omega Red… get me my ice pick we’re diggin him up”. 

Omega Red: *makes fun of Wolverine’s PTSD* Me: “oh no a new problematic fav”

“I’ve been promised my humanity, Wolverine, something you above all others should be able to appreciate.” This hoe is so petty, I.. uhhhh...

Wolverine: *starting shit* Storm: “You dumbass, I’m about to have a panic attack.”

“Well, whattaya know, they oughta use this tub in one of those battery ads with the rabbit.”

The Way Omega Red Pronounces Colonel.

“What was I saying about not needing these lungs?”

Wolverine’s lines in this episode are only matched by Omega’s. Speaking of—

“My country created many great weapons but never had the will to use them! Is it not a great sadness, Storm? To be created, never to be used?” “Weapons do not have feelings.” “Oh, if only that were true.” WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME FEEL THINGS ABOUT OMEGA RED. 

And now he’s just. Down there. He’ll come back. Some other idiot country will fish him up and say “you gotta do this for us, but don’t you betray us, okay?”

Episode 3 & 4: Sanctuary

The US delegate blaming the Russians for the disappearances of engineers in space and the Russian delegate asking “DID WE STEAL OUR ENGINEERS TOO?? DICKHEAD??”

“The mutant race will no longer be managed, Mr. Delegate.” YASS QUEEEN tell him Magnus, tell him. 

Magneto HAS RECEIPTS. Uh wait… girl where did you get all this footage. Hahah using video of the X-Men like “LOOK AT ALL THEY HAVE DONE! MY STEP-CHILDREN!”

Apocalypse watching the broadcast on television. SINISTER WATCHING THE BROADCAST ON TELEVISION. Oh hey Mjnari, nice to see you.

Like okay dog, we can say Magneto is right about a lot of things, but KIDNAPPING MUTANT WORKERS and taking them to a centralized location where they will obviously be targeted even more harshly because there are no non mutants present? That’s bad. Like yeah a good lot of mutants went willingly but before that, many… didn’t… and were kept there. 

The haters protesting Asteroid M: “go home, muties, get out of here” …uh yeah dipshit. That’s literally what they’re doing. 

“You coming back, Cajun?” “Promise, chere.”

Cortez is sus. 

Amelia: “How dare you not want to live your entire life closeted? How dare you fight for the rights of the oppressed? You’re making good, unobtrusive mutants look bad!!” 

“So then Gambit become the first X-Man in orbit.”

ROGUE TEARING APART THE SHIP TO FIND GAMBIT!!!

I wanna put a bullet in Cortez’s head, he’s annoying… nah fr, he’s a fucking op. He’s a plant, there is no explanation for his stupidity other than that he wants to ensure the genocide of mutantkind himself.

“He wouldn’t have wanted a memorial, so I will keep this brief.” That explains why he didn’t have a funeral in ’97.

“The Earth’s magnetic field has healed me as a mother nourishes her son.” Dog that line is wiiiiild y'all driving me mad.

“Gambit!? COME IN YOU LOWLIFE SWAMP RAT!!” “Chére, it almost sound like you miss me.” “Remy! When I get my hands on you…” Romy fans are EATING with this one. 

Off topic... but we literally have an acknowledgment that Magneto wouldn't want a funeral but we're shown them having one. WHY WERE WE NEVER SHOWN MORpH'S FUNERAL??

Episode 5: Xavier Remembers

I love when I call shit. The attack at the start of the episode seemed suspicious and I was like “hmm, maybe this isn’t real. Maybe this is trauma.” And then the Sentinel head blew off and showed Evil Xavier’s face and I was like I KNEW IT. 

Chuck: “Mother! I never thought I’d ever see you again! Though, I don’t recall you being in bluescale...”

Is the void a harsh punishment for stealing? Sure. But that’s what the Shadow King gets for messing around with children.

Love that Jean and Xavier beat his ass with the power of teamwork. Xavier literally saves Jean from being trapped in the Astral Plane with a hug. 

Jean’s consciousness returns to her body and Scott is holding her bridal style, lol babygirl how long were you standing with her in your arms? Cute. 

Episode 6: Courage

“Eight hundred million on robots and the phones don’t work.” I hear ya.

A factory gets robbed by Sentinels and the report is that they think mutants did it. THEY’RE FUCKING COVERING IT UP. THAT’S THE ONLY EXPLANATION I WILL TOLERATE. Like, you’re telling me none of the witnesses mentioned the giant purple and red robots? Well, I say they did and their testimonies never got to news outlets because the government killed them to cover it up. And they aren’t even in charge of the Sentinels at this point! They’ve gone rogue! “We’re investigating, we think a mutant did it” with the fucking SENTINeL TRACKS??? It’s obviously like… they want to cover up how badly the government failed for even considering the Sentinel project by blaming the mutants who inevitably gotta clean up this whole mess. 

MORPH!!!! :DDD ALWAYS WITH THE JOKES!!! They soothe me, their presence heals me, I love them, I wanna kiss their forehead.

So Morph and Wolverine go to investigate and on the way they’re just glancing at each other like “would it be bad to make out on Morph's first mission back”

Logan wanting to evacuate as soon as possible because of sentinels :,0

“I-I froze, Logan.” “Oh, Morph.” OOOOH MORPH

GyrICK and TRASH are gay married (derogatory). This episode… this just reaffirms me asking what the FUCK about Trask and Gyrich reviving their Sentinels. What were they fucking thinking?

OMEGA RED, SASQUATCH, MIMIC, LONGSHOT, Morph really likes turning into Omega Red, huh? Morph is the MVP here, I love them.

NOOO MORPH!!! NOOOOOOOOO DON’T GOOOO

Episode 7: Secrets, Not Long Buried

I love it when Scott gets to be a cunt to people. He’s really super fun when he gets snippy. 

My biggest frustration here was really just that the villains were soooo childish. They behaved like playground bullies. But I guess that could be a parallel to the bullies at the start of the episode. Scott is just infinitely bulliable.

I appreciate that the town didn’t actually fall for Solarr’s nonsense, they were just waiting for the right moment to strike. It would have felt so stupid if they actually believed the guy and would have been too reminiscent of the bullshit with Cortez. 

Episode 8: Nightcrawler

“Man doesn’t break a sweat against Apocalypse or Magneto. So- so what nails him? A pine tree.”

I really love how Nightcrawler is written. It would be so easy to depict him just as blindly faithful, but he has layers. He has flaws he acknowledges that make him more sympathetic to those who wrong him, but his sympathy does not prevent him from feeling anger or bitterness, it just makes it easier for him to overcome those negative emotions.

Logan taking Kurt's words to heart :,0

I like that like Kurt's faith is treated with respect and so is Logan and Remy's lack of faith. It's totally understandable why they don't believe in God. Logan can't believe that there's a God that loves unconditionally with all the terrible shit he's witnessed and been put through. And Remy believes in chance, not some divine plan... but moreso Remy struggles with the idea of redemption.

Do we really never get an explanation for why that one monk tried to murder Gambit? Like roll back roll back WHY.

Episode 9 & 10: One Man’s Worth

Seeing the Age of Apocalypse crew was real fun. Also MORPH MORPH MORPH ONSCREEN CAMEO.

LOGAN AND ORORO ARE MARRIED <3333 I hate that the show tries to enforce the idea that they can only be together in the AoA timeline. Bullshit. They’re literally on a date in present day, don’t TEASE ME. 

I really like that they acknowledge that Logan doesn’t want to carry through with it for fear he and Storm will never be together, but it doesn’t make him betray the team, he continues on for the good of the future :,0. 

Does anyone else notice that they blatantly whitewashed Shard in the reboot?? Like they didn’t just lighten her already fairly light skin, they made her look like a white woman in '97, it’s so fucking weird. I wish I could say it was just weird lighting, but they whitewash so many other characters in the new series, it honestly puts me off. 

Episode 11 & 12: Proteus

Kevin’s innocence :,0 this, folks, is why you don’t hide from your kids that their father isn’t worth shit. Explain as early as you can in terms they can understand that their father is a no-good, deadbeat son of a bitch. 

Rogue feels for Kevin because her father was an ass too. 

Logan freezing up!!! AHHHHH. Rip that he was able to accept and account for Morph having trauma that caused them to freeze, but he won’t give himself that same grace.

The ending, for Proteus, doesn't really feel satisfactory bc you know Joe is just gonna go right back to being a shitty deadbeat after this. I would have liked it better if the lesson Kevin learned was that blood ties aren't guaranteed, that sometimes you choose your family.

Episode 13: Family Ties

Xavier not reacting when finding out that Magneto harmed Wolverine to get past security. And then sending Wolverine to play bodyguard for Magneto.

Magneto: "I gotta go do this thing. Do NOT interfere." Xavier: "Why did you break into my house if you didn't want me to interfere??? You inconsistent hoe."

The reference to Dr. Moreau was stellar. 

The conflict in this episode really pales in comparison to just the reveal of Pietro and Wanda’s parentage. Like I don’t care about this Moreau guy at all and I was paying so little attention I didn’t even catch how they defeated him.

Episode 14: Bloodlines

YOOOOO You got me acting crazy here. World’s most awkward family reunion.

Kurt is just. So good. I like that they don’t have him say a line like “I’ve already forgiven you” nah, he’ll pray for the strength to forgive. 

Mystique laments how being a shapeshifter means she is an outcast even among mutants because no one can trust who she is, which is a potent moment but… well telepaths are a thing… and you’ve literally hooked up with Sabretooth, who can sniff you out. I think people mostly distrust you because you are a liar and backstabber. 

I appreciate that the FoH won’t take Graydon back, he’s a little shit, and I think they should isolate him so hard that he give in to accepting his roots.

THEY DROP HIM OFF AT SABRETOOTH’S HOUSE. Look, I do not condone corporal punishment… but in this case, I am soooo for Sabretooth beating up his son.

Episode 15: Lotus and the Steel

Awww Jubilee going after Logan <333 I’m happy that she wasn’t like taken hostage or anything, wasn’t forced to be a burden on the plot

I’m pissed that Logan had to kiss that woman. Let this man meet a woman without having a romantic entanglement with her for fucks sake.

Episode 16: Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape

THEY MANUFACTURED THEIR TRAUMA??? DOG. That’s motherfucking wild, but I suppose you could say it was foreshadowed. They switch between showing Sabretooth in and out of costume attacking Silver Fox and Wolverine. I thought it was just the first was a dreams reinterpretation and the second was the real deal, but then they played the memory again and Sabretooth was costumed again.

Also it’s wild that the majority of the memories that the team were given were to create distrust in Sabretooth, they fuckin used him as a scapegoat. AND THEY GAVE HIM DADDY ISSUES. Some absolutely wild shit, this was a ride. 

I thought at first that Silverfox and Maverick wanted revenge on these two for leaving them behind and I was groaning a bit at that, but then it wasn’t that, it went five layers deeper, and it was revealed that that didn’t even happen. 

THEIR NAMES CARVED INTO THE TREE.

Episode 17: Have Yourself A Morlock Little Christmas

Everyone’s giving Storm shit for not prioritizing the Morlocks when they could literally just call. They’ve established that there’s an emergency line they could call.

Making a big deal of Storm relinquishing responsibility to Callisto… you already did that in the episode you became the Morlocks’ leader, you declared her the de facto leader. Also it’s not much of an honour to be told “these people are your responsibility” when you were already taking care of them. 

Jubilee shows amazing older sister potential giving attention to Mariana when all this is going down.

Jean and Gambit fighting over cooking was wiiiild. Jean was gonna kill him for wanting to season the meat.

Episode 18, 19, 20, 21: Beyond Good and Evil

“I’m not malevolent. I simply am.” I mean… nah you’re pretty evil, Apocalypse. It’s honestly really petty. 

I love that all it takes is Cable telling him that they’ll keep fighting to throw Apocalypse into a midlife crisis. 

I finally figured out why Sinister kidnaps only Jean anymore, Scott’s beams fucking fry him. 

I suspected that this would probably be the weakest part of the season since it’s a 4-parter… the Shi’ar showed up and I was like “there goes my enjoyment”… and then they had no bearing on the plot and all was well!

Mystique, as Shard: "LOOK OUT PSYLOCKE THAT'S MYSTIQUE! a SHAPESHIFTER!!!" Logan, who smells her, Psylocke, a telepath, and Shard, herself: "Do I look stupid to you?"

“How nice to see you, Logan, all tied up and nowhere to go.” Homosexual? Gay? Gambit, that's queer?

“Too bad we lost Sabretooth” I was like “y’all don’t care about him” but then I remembered he is Mystique’s baby daddy. I need the backstory on that big time. 

Poor Bishop, forced to be useless until the very end of the episode.

ALL THE TELEPATHS WRECKING APOCALYPSE'S SHIT!!

I love every time Scott and Jean reunite they share a kiss <333

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

[jojoseames]

The Uncanny X-Tober day 1: Life!

Ink & Watercolor, 6 x 9 inches JoJo Seames, 2024

[x-mental-idiots]

So! Good news and bad news. Bad news is that Chapter 8 is nowhere close to being done. The good news is that the reason why is that it’s easily going to be over 10k words and will end up being two chapters once they’re finished.

So I just need a few more days and then yall will get a DOUBLE UPDATE. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come.

—:—

“Oh hey- you’re awake!” A bright young voice chirped. There was a whoosh of air and then, standing at Erik’s bedside, was a young man.

Erik looked over and felt his eyes widen when they met this boy’s. Charles’ eyes stared back at him from a familiar face he’d last seen in the mirror that morning. His short white hair was windswept and he grinned Charles’ smile as he offered Erik a glass of water.

“How are you feeling? Anything out of the ordinary?”

Erik blinked and took a moment to think. “My head hurts but aside from that I think I am fine,” Erik sat up and took a cautious sip of water. “Where am I anyway? And who are you?”

“My name is Pietro and you are in the Brotherhood HQ,” the boy- Pietro- responded. “You seemed to have had a bad reaction to my dad’s powers so we brought you back to make sure you were okay.”

Erik felt his throat tighten at what Pietro had just thrown out so casually. My Dad. Of course Erik had realized as soon as he looked at the boy’s face who this person was but denial could be a powerful thing if you really didn’t want to face the truth.

But that wasn’t what was happening here. Magneto was Pietro’s dad and Pietro was obviously the biological child of himself and Charles. Even the ages were adding up.

Pietro was one of those babies. The ones that Xavier was still grieving so acutely. And yet here he was- alive and well and safe and calling Magnus dad- and yet Charles Xavier had not been informed.

The news that even one of those children had survived would mean everything to Xavier and yet his husband has withheld this crucial tidbit of information.

Erik felt his hands twitch, wanting to track down Magnus and punch him in the face. Repeatedly. Because this was too much. This was just cruel.

But Magnus wasn’t here and none of this was Pietro’s fault so Erik forced himself to keep his hands flat and breathe through the anger. Later.

“Where is your dad anyway?” Erik asked, managing to keep the rage out of his voice. “I have some questions for him.”

“He is dealing with the survivors from the fight,” Pietro chirped. Then, with a blur of movement, he pulled the chair in the corner with it’s paperback cracked open on its face over to Erik’s bedside and sat back in it to be at eye level with Erik.

Super speed. Interesting, but not important right now.

Erik raised an eyebrow, “by ‘dealing with’ do you mean executing?”

“If need be,” Pietro said matter of factly. “But probably not. He’s probably interrogating right now to determine how much of a threat they pose. If they aren’t a significant threat then dad will put them on a boat and send them back to the mainland with a warning to never come back.”

Erik nodded. That made perfect sense to him although this teenager’s blasé reaction to this kind of violence was…hm. Erik knew better than anyone about the importance of children learning to protect themselves but it felt very different seeing essentially his son so desensitized to it…

“This happens often then?” Erik asked.

“Often enough,” Pietro shrugged. “Of course, I’ve only seen the Brotherhood defend Genosha twice since I got here but according to dad and the others, they usually have to deal with some kind of hostile crossing the border at least once or twice a month.”

Erik blinked. “When did you get here?”

“Oh my sister and I planned mine and my brother’s escape from Sinister’s lab about a month ago,” Pietro held the paperback in his hand and used his thumb to flip through the closed pages over and over, fidgeting. “I wish we’d have done it sooner…”

Erik felt horror rising up to replace his anger. A month. Meaning that Sinister had his and Charles’ kids the entire time and had done god knows what to them in those 15 years.

Erik looked Pietro up and down. The young man seemed healthy enough- physically fit, energetic, smiling- but how much of that was a mask? As Charles loved to tell him, everyone has different reactions to trauma and different methods of coping.

Erik felt anger about what had been done to him and he coped through working out and fighting. Charles had anxiety and depression from his toxic upbringing that he learned to manage with his powers and his psychology classes.

There is no reason that Pietro couldn’t deal with his trauma by being overly happy and helpful. Before their mom had died, Ruthie had been a bit like that. Always trying to find the positives and keep their spirits up.

Erik hadn’t understood her then but he does now- thank you, Charles. Just because Erik struggles to implement his advice does not mean he does not listen to the advice.

“Woah you really are a young version of my dad- he made the exact same face!” Pietro grinned before it turned into a grimace. “But ah, at the time there were bigger issues to worry about. Anyway. What do you want me to call you?”

“Erik.”

“Well Erik, you said you had questions for my dad and I know allllll about having questions for him. I spend most of my time asking him questions so if you want, maybe I could answer some of them?” Pietro offered, still fanning the pages of the book with his thumb.

Erik bit back the instinctual dismissal that had sprang to his tongue. Pietro certainly would not have the answers to Erik’s most burning questions but the boy was offering him Free Information. It might not explain why Magneto is doing what he’s doing but children are more perceptive than people give them credit for.

But where to even start?

“You said you only arrived a month ago,” Erik set the mostly full glass of water on the bedside table. “And that your siblings helped you escape? How many siblings do you have and where are they?”

“I have 4 siblings- Wanda, Kevin, David, and Sydney,” Pietro looked down at the book. It was titled The Burning Within by S.J. Allerdyce and had a woman dressed in Victorian men’s wear embracing an injured man on the cover. The copy seemed to have seen better days, the spine nearly unreadable through all the cracks in the paper and the pages taking on the yellowed appearance of old pulp fiction. Pietro fanned the pages once again in what was obviously a nervous habit.

“David died about a year and a half ago. Kevin was devastated and refused to cooperate with the man who had killed his brother. Sinister made Sydney to replace David and was going to do something terrible so Wanda and I smuggled Sydney out. Things were okay for a while until Kevin just…stopped. Stopped talking, stopped eating, stopped moving and no one could snap him out of it. Not even Sinister’s torture. He was going to die if we didn’t get him help so Wanda and I staged another escape. I carried Kevin on my back and ran to Genosha while Wanda stayed behind. She was Sinister’s favorite.”

Pietro shuddered before looking up and offering a smile. “And as soon as dad opened the door everything has gotten better! Kevin is getting stronger and is even awake long enough most days to eat and bathe and take care of himself as long as someone helps him walk from the bed to the bathroom. And I’m allowed to go wherever I want, whenever I want and no one hurts me for talking too loud or too much. Sinister always said that Magneto had abandoned us because he didn’t want us but that wasn’t true at all.” Pietro’s blunt nails dug into the cover, belying his anger despite his light tone. “We’d been taken from him and he’d been trying to kill Sinister ever since. He hadn’t even known we were alive until I knocked on the door and as soon as he saw us, he took us in. Kevin isn’t even his kid- not like Wanda and I- but the way he carried Kevin to bed and knew how to help him… I’ve never felt so safe before.”

Erik struggled to say anything. He was so out of his depth here but he’d asked and Pietro had told him like it was. It’s just…

Whenever he thought it couldn’t get any worse, Pietro dropped another bomb. One child dead, another so depressed and hopeless they had just given up. Erik had seen that countless times in Auschwitz- had specifically seen the way some kids had just…given up after their twin died. They had been staying strong for them and now that they were gone there was no point.

Erik clearly remembered being glad that at least his twin had died quickly. That sweet, kind Ruthie hadn’t lived long enough to meet the Angel of Death. She’d already started to fade after their mother had died, Erik didn’t know if she’d have made it more than a few weeks in the camps.

But to see that again- to watch it happen to his children right in front of him and know that they were all looking to him to fix things-

Erik knew that he was better than most in a crisis, able to compartmentalize and act while others were paralyzed in fear. Charles had told him about the moment he fell in love with Magnus- how he’d been so sure he was about to die and then there he was. For some inexplicable reason his friend was there for him and despite everything Magnus had been decisive. Had taken charge and did what was necessary to get Charles to safety and get him help.

Erik had wondered if they had been talking about the same event because all he’d been able to think about was what would happen if he failed. If he wasn’t able to get to Charles in time or get him help before he succumbed to his injuries. He hadn’t known what to do or where to go or what to say but he’d known that Charles needed help and Erik was the only one who could help him so he’d just…figured it out.

That had been bad enough but Erik couldn’t even imagine having to do that for his child. His child who he hadn’t even known was alive until they were on his doorstep begging for help. Erik was positive that Magnus had not, in fact, known what to do in that situation.

Erik would be surprised if Magnus had been able to think of anything beyond the stubborn determination not to lose anyone else. His mother, his father, his twin sister, his friends, his comrades- his children. Sinister may not have killed all the babies the way they’d initially thought but what he did was worse in some ways.

A year and a half. That’s how long ago David died. Erik carefully swallowed a few gulps of water just to force himself to swallow down the anguish that thought brought him. He didn’t even know these children- had never seen their faces or held them in his arms- but he saw how much Xavier had loved them. Seen the way their absence had ripped Magnus and Xavier apart. Felt the horror and rage and betrayal and sadness it had inspired within when they were just a nebulous concept.

But now he had names and he knew these names. Erik knew that he had been the one to name Pietro and his sister Wanda- remembered the women who had given him everything they had and had died to protect their people. He remembered Charles’ sociology professor, David Gray, and the secret club Charles had convinced him to help establish in the memory of Professor Gray’s lover Kevin Stone. That club had been the first time Charles saw the need for something in the world and had managed to use his powers and his ability to connect with people to make it happen.

Kevin, David, Wanda, and Pietro. Xavier and Magnus’ children.

[spearclosetcomics]

X-Men #18 (2023) Gerry Duggan C.F. Villa

[summerstrash]

one thing I'm mad about vis a vis the krakoan era is the fact that it only remains implicit that moira's deadly genesis team were, in hindsight, a sort of proto-Five focused around the creation of a mutant state prior to having Krakoa itself on the board.

Like,

proteus was always going to be in her back pocket, trapped as he was. he's the only one to make it to the actual Five, in part because he was never a part of the initial team-building with the others. he's a reality warper and energy vampire, and if I'm not mistaken, omega-level as well.

petra is a geomorph who can generate diamonds with her powers; prior to the entry of krakoa and its flowers into the plan, she could've been absolutely pivotal to the physical and economic stability of a mutant state.

sway is a time manipulator who can replay things she has witnessed. she would be in the role of eva bell, if resurrection was on the table, and/or she could serve as an "objective" observer in a justice or surveillance system.

darwin is evolution itself; his powers appear to have no upper bound, though he is not "officially" classified as an omega-level mutant. I believe he would be a primarily political agent, as a symbol of the nation, given that he is a visible mutant who cannot be killed, but I also believe that his survival powers could perhaps be pushed, maybe with proteus or gabriel in a circuit with him, to create life.

vulcan is an omega level energy blaster with a deep wellspring of rage directed at the shi'ar empire, AND he's the lost summers brother. aware as Moira would likely have been of this, she would have seen the purpose of that blood tie between her team and charles' — the X-Men would have been less likely to cross her team if it holds a member of the summers family.

I also believe that Moira was planning from the beginning to hedge her bets — and this team is perfect for that, too, given that four of them would always be primarily loyal to her, the mother figure who pulled them from the gutters of grief, oppression, poverty, and self-loathing and gave them a new family.

a circuit between these five mutants might be just as potent at terraforming as the Twelve were — Gabriel providing the raw energetic reactions you'd find at the dawn of spacetime, the star at the center of the circuit, Petra giving it physical form and stability and blessing it with untold physical wealth and elemental resources, Suzanne giving it the time it needs to grow, and Proteus and/or Darwin giving it life.

imagine the devotion a populace might give the beings that created their home out of nothing. Imagine, in turn, the loyalty they'd pay to their dear mother.

and Moira, even, familiar as she is with the narrative of the history of mutantkind, would likely have been planning for that, too — by withholding her son from the others at first, she creates a divide that will make it psychologically easier for the rest of the team to sacrifice him for the cause, if he cannot be brought to heel, or if he threatens her all-important life. the tragedy of mutant x is a narrative you can build sainthood or demonization around, and countries and communities need their foundational myths, don't they?

I think it's a devilishly elegant plan, on her part, to find mutants who need her, mutants who can't clean up as well for the cameras or the judgment of a bigoted america as charles' beautiful lily-white teenagers do, and turn them into her own personal nation-building engine.

I also wonder deeply about the Destiny of it all — is sway on the team because, as a time-manipulator, she could move directly against the prophecies of Irene Adler in a way the others can't?

At what point does Moira choose to fully betray the cause? Is it maybe at the moment that her carefully-laid plans and carefully-chosen teenagers are torn out from under her? Did she, in her way, truly love them, like Charles, for all his foibles, loved his original five X-Men?

I don't think I'll ever know for sure, and it deeply rankles at me that it's so.

[rei-ismyname]

Let's talk R-LDS

R-LDS or Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness was alluded to in X-Men #4 and the Infinity Comics before being named in X-Men #7. We're told that Magneto has it and it's directly caused by Krakoan resurrection/The Five, kinda.

Here's Beast doing some alluding.

In the panels above, we learn that Hank McCoy is the only one working on the problem - the problem being Magneto's loss of his powers and his body breaking down rapidly - his very chromosomes unraveling. He seems quite sure that it could happen to 'any of us' though the lack of quarantine suggests it's not contagious.

The next bit of information we receive is from Magneto and Scott in conversation, reflecting on The Iron Night. They took down a wild sentinel that was attacking the town and Mags lost control over his powers immediately after, requiring Scott to knock him out for safety's sake. Scott is no scientist, and while Magneto is a genius polymath autodidact (with plenty of experience in genetics) it's not a character trait that's seen focus lately. Thus, I'm assuming they're discussing it as amateurs and as patient zero in Magneto's case.

Magneto confidently names the condition for the first time as well as using an acronym for it, suggesting it's confirmed to exist, he's had a positive diagnosis, and they're using the term enough to require shorthand. He even spells out the subtext for us - it was a hidden flaw in Krakoan resurrection. I'll come back to that notion. Scott says 'we don't know that for sure,' implying that R-LDS is just a theory or speculation, which Mags doesn't directly refute. Instead he lays out the worst case scenario. They can't both be right here, so what's the deal? Magneto's symptoms are obviously confirmed, but how did they get from there to here?

If Magneto is the first and only person affected by his condition, why are he and Beast so sure about its providence and everyone being in danger? How could they possibly link it to Krakoan resurrection? I'm no scientist but I do know that there's only so much you can conclude from a single data point. Magneto was indeed only resurrected by the Five once, but he died again after that on Arakko (X-Men Red #7). The body he's in came out of a portal from Overspace in Adam Brashear's underwater base (Resurrection of Magneto #3.) His body suffering a condition borne of something that happened to a different body doesn't make sense. Considering he's the only person to return to life that way AND the only one allegedly with R-LDS, that would be the place to start for Beast's sciencing.

There he is, good as new.

Word of God

In a recent AIPT interview, Tom Brevoort removed any ambiguity and just straight up confirmed it. With the caveat that his recent X-history knowledge seems pretty poor, he is the de jure ultimate authority on the matter. I don't agree with that, and not just because I don't respect him as a creator. This habit of on-panel ambiguity and editorialising in interviews is vexing.

It's especially vexing when he contradicts himself. He counterpoints his own information with some of what I just pointed out, but the fact that they've made a list of who was and wasn't resurrected suggests R-LDS is a plot point they're committed to. I have to wonder why he bothered giving a detailed answer to this question if it's 'yes,' then 'maybe', then 'it will definitely be a thing you'll see as we progress.' Saying all of that and then ending with 'we know very little so far' really makes me wonder what he's thinking. Tom Brevoort could have given his usual cagey answer about not wanting to spoil anything, but he didn't here. I'm saving most of my Brevoort-specific criticism for a separate piece, but this glib and irreverent tone is typical of his commentary - even managing a light jab at Jordan D White.

Frankly, I think it's a graceless and cynical development. There are so many character beats, mistakes, and conflicts to use from the First Krakoan Age that choosing to create R-LDS feels like a shot at the core of hopefulness and creativity that blew our socks off in 2019.

HoxPoX

House of X/Powers of X was hopeful and magical. After a decade plus of endless misery and genocides, dull stories and bizarre characterisation, for once mutants got a W. The ability to use mutants working together to right the horrendous wrongs they'd suffered was central to that - the power of community and cooperation. What they built wasn't perfect but The Five was something they got right.

What would possess someone to take the cornerstone of the greatest X-Men story of all time (don't @ me) and try to tear it down? Remember, when the dust settled we ended up in Moira X life 10E. In 10A, the original Krakoan experiment, the mutants won! They thrived and protected what was theirs against Dominions. It took a literal apex AI God existing outside of space and time directly opposing them to fail. Enigma, on the back foot, sent Omega Sentinel through time to start ORCHIS years early and ensure Krakoa's collapse. Am I to believe 'no, sorry. That was a dead end?'

Haven't we been here before?

We've had mutants suffer from the Legacy Virus and M-Pox already, and I might even be missing other examples of nebulous diseases that threatened to wipe out all mutants. Obviously it's the prerogative of the X-Office to use whatever plot points they want, but do we really have to do this again? There are plenty of ways to sideline Magneto as a combatant that don't require repackaging old storylines. We've even had Hank McCoy decades behind the curve desperately trying to catch up before - in All-New All-Different X-Men.

Small World

Defenders-era Hank McCoy might be the worst possible 616 scientist to tackle this problem. He's literally decades behind the science curve and doesn't have the experience in dealing with anything like this. He's not the same guy that worked on M-Pox or the Legacy Virus. He never set foot on Krakoa and has never met any of the Five. We don't know how much data was recorded or kept from The Five but Beast may not have access to it.

Why isn't he talking to Cecilia Reyes, Forge, Jean Grey, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Adam Brashear, Healer, Doctor Nemesis? Even doctor dickhead that extorted Storm has the ability to instantly diagnose anyone. It makes the world feel tiny, and when you're following an era of interconnectedness that's just so disappointing. Portraying him as supremely concerned about 'all of us being ticking time bombs' rings hollow if he's working on it solo. Hank McCoy has always had a sense of arrogance where his scientific ability is concerned but not to this degree. Look at the guy! He's hating the stress he's under.

Sins of Sinister and the White Hot Room

I have to wonder if the implications of linking Magneto's illness to The Five's resurrection have been fully considered. The Sins of Sinister timeline ran for a millennium with the Five resurrecting on an industrial scale. Rasputin IV would have noticed, or the Quiet Council. The mutants left behind in the White Hot Room in RotPox spent 15 years bringing back ALL the dead mutants. That's 16 million, minimum. 15 years is less than a thousand but it's still longer than the First Krakoan Age, several times over. Nobody noticed anything? Elixir, member of the Five and Omega biokinetic, with his unlimited mastery of DNA didn't notice anything? Destiny didn't see mutants falling apart? Sounds dubious as hell to me.

Towards the end of the era many humans were resurrected too. 5% of the Five's work was set aside for bringing back poor children etc through the Phoenix Foundation. Steve Rogers was resurrected into his current body on Judgement Day. I am extremely skeptical that this has been considered, and in Steve's case whether the X-Office can even use him.

Conclusion

Magneto's physical degradation has been swift. Here he is in Uncanny X-Men #700, implied to be at most 6 months before X-Men #1. I think I've demonstrated that the concept is nonsensical and to reiterate, I think it's a terrible narrative choice. If I'm being generous, it'll be interesting to see if they can explain R-LDS in a way that makes sense - if they can do something new and interesting with a tired concept. There's only been one issue since it was introduced, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun on breaking it down. Let's check back in 6 months.

What do you think of R-LDS? Do you think my reasoning is sound? As always, I'd love to hear what other fans think.

[drawing--potato]

Idk who was in charge of organizing the order for these episodes, but kudos to them for just going on a roll with the theme xD

[idnegrosupernegro]

I realized today that while magneto can't be revived due to having no backup in cerebro, that's not the only way to bring him back

We have eva (tempus) who can manipulate time and at this point can probably see through time (as in looking back on the timeline, if not hope could probably boost her a bit) so we have her look back to the point before erik dies (alternatively they can find someone else with time powers to contribute)

Then we have kevin (proteus) use his reality warping to copy erik's body (and even his mind because kevin is telepathic) then paste erik's body in the modern day on krakoa and either he or hope can put his mind into the body

If there's something wrong with the body, josh (elixir) can likely fix it

Basically, the resurrection process is expedited instead of having to wait for an egg to turn into a person

[heckcareoxytwit]

The Five had brought back many mutants from the dead and usually the resurrections involves in celebrations. However, not all resurrected mutants liked the return to the land of living. One such resurrected mutant was Jeffrey Garrett, the mutant boy who originally haunted the X-Mansion as a restless spirit. Prodigy visits The Five who told him that the resurrected Jeffrey had already teleported before anyone could visit him. Prodigy figures that Jeffrey Garrett was too bewildered and disoriented about the new changes so he goes off to look for him. Prodigy finds Jeffrey at the cliff of the waterfall to talk to him.

This short story of Prodigy and the X-Kids take place before the fateful Hellfire Gala attack.

X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #100, 2023