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[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 4, Episode 6. X-Men ‘97 Spoiler Review

The Stereo Geeks review the first season of X-Men '97.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stereo Geeks. Today we’re chatting about season 1 of X-Men ‘97.

I’m Ron.

Mon: And, I’m Mon.

This episode is about the full season of X-Men ‘97, so yes, there will be spoilers. If you haven’t watched all ten episodes, go finish them and then return.

R: We had discussed the first three episodes of the show and our experience at the Toronto premiere–which we’ll link to in our show notes–but now we’re going to unleash all our thoughts. So, overall feelings about the show?

M: This show gave me life. 

R: Yep, loved every minute! Each episode stuck the landing in the most unexpected ways. It was obvious that the people behind this show loved the characters and the universe of X-Men.

M: Nothing can surpass the excitement of 2 months of X-Men day. I’m so glad we got to have this and spend time with the X-Men. 

The show’s animation is just gorgeous. The colours, the movement, the details–they added to the immersive experience of the story. 

The characterizations were stellar–characters who hadn’t been given their due came alive here, especially Jean and Gambit, as well as Storm, to an extent.

R: We got so many meaningful arcs for Cyclops, Rogue, Jean, Storm, Jubilee, even Cable.

There were so many fun cameos–Blob, Pixie, Exodus!

The dialogue this season–wow!

Every word Nightcrawler said was amazing. His eulogy for Gambit? Actual perfection.

Also, Xavier’s diatribe against the Shiar about equality? Print that and hand it out to politicians!

R: Some of the plots did feel curtailed though.

Madelyne Pryor’s arc could have been a couple of episodes. Would have been a great way to reintroduce Havok.

In fact, in the Krakoa comics, Maddy and Havok are together.

Lifedeath is another story that could definitely have been longer.

That teaser for the second season though. I can’t wait.

M: Honestly, the soap opera drama is why this show is killing it.

M: But, the show had issues

Morph being non-binary was a footnote, and they were the only character who had absolutely no story or arc

The characters of colour were shunted to the side–Storm being depowered meant she disappeared a lot, Forge was only shown in context of Storm, Bishop vanished after 3 episodes, and ‘Berto…

We love ‘Berto, but while Gui Augustini is Brazilian-born, he’s not Afro-Latino. I didn’t clock that ‘Berto’s comic origins were re-written on the show (because the OG is so ingrained in me). And then his skin colour just kept getting lighter. What the hell? People are rightfully angry about him. 

R: Yeah. I had mentioned the skin colour issue in our previous episode. It… did not get better. Sigh.

M: Shall we chat about the rest of the voice-cast? Because the voice-acting sold us on the stories and emotions. I loved Lenore Zann, who allowed her personal tragedy to inform her powerful and emotional performance as Rogue. 

R: The voice cast was stellar. Lenore Zann and Alyson Sealy-Smith were highlights for me.

The way Zann channelled Rogue’s grief and rage after Gambit’s death–I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

Sealy-Smith brings the regality to Storm that her character deserves. She’s got a majestic voice and was somehow even better in this season than the 92 show. I can now only read Storm in her voice now.

M: Alison Sealy-Smith was seamless, and powerful.

R: AJ LoCascio was such a delight as Gambit. He clearly adores the character and made such an impact in just five episodes.

M: The newcomers were all so good. Ray Chase (Cyclops), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Matthew Waterson (Magneto), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), and A.J. LoCascio were exactly what you’d expect these characters to sound like. Love love loved them. Chase is the voice of Scott for me now. And LoCascio’s love for Gambit came through in every scene of Gambit.

I also love that Catherine Disher came back but not as Jean Grey. She played the heck out of Val Cooper. She got an iconic monologue and said THE LINE - Magneto Was Right!

R: So many characters to love here. But do we have a favourite?

M: I think we may have the same favourite. 

R: I’ve loved Gambit for so long but this season was the first time I felt a story did him justice.

He’s got such a big heart and he loves Rogue completely. He doesn’t even care that she can’t touch him. I love that about him.

I also love that he took their breakup so well. 

I was so worried about that scene but Gambit still wants to be Rogue’s friend. It’s so sweet.

M: Yep, I concur. I am in love with Gambit. 

The creators purposely made him loveable, likeable and sexy. They made us want to fall in love with him, and they succeeded!

It’s the little things that made Gambit such a tragic hero.

He’s besotted with Rogue, he loves her even though physical touch is impossible for them, he is willing to let her go and love her as a friend when she chooses Magneto, and he dies for the people he loves. Tears all around. 

R: And that brings me to the best character arc. 

I’ve also loved Rogue for a very long time and I absolutely adore her arc in ‘97.

This show wasn’t afraid to dive into sexuality with Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto.

Gambit is so comfortable in his sexuality in the first episode.

But with Rogue not being able to touch people, this season really leaned into her indulging her physical requirements with Magneto because she needs that fulfilment in her life.

Loving Gambit isn’t enough for Rogue. I like a lady who takes charge of her desires!

Then there’s her anger at losing Gambit. She goes for the jugular with everyone who took her man. I loved seeing her fight and be ruthless.

Rogue and her brother, Nightcrawler, get such an incredible scene together.

You can really see how Rogue, who starts the show as a pacifist, by the end of the season, she’s throwing Trask out the window.

No wonder she joins Magneto. He’s the only one who understands her pain.

M: Rogue’s arc was undeniably great. But I’m going to go against the grain here and talk about our Team Leader, Cyclops.

I love Cyclops so much, and have for a very long time. 

He’s complicated and wrong, and sad, and human. 

He has a great arc because it’s about love and family. 

I think he really goes through it with his emotions because he’s in love with Jean, always has been, but then finds out he was with her clone

The fact that he goes from boy scout to pissed off when he has to justify himself and his reluctance to talk about his son to Trish Tilby the reporter, was, well, a choice. But it’s like the dam burst for him.

It’s a reflection of a very real problem. If you’re from a marginalized community, it’s assumed you can never be objective. But you can always be objective when you’re the ‘default’ community. 

So when Tilby is pushing Scott to explain why he’s supposedly lying about the existence of his child, she’s basically suggesting, as a mutant he has to be perfect, and Scott’s outburst is saying ‘no. if humans can be flawed and have secrets, so can he and mutantkind.’

He’s such a great human, though.

He’s willing to take the punches from the X-Cutioner in the second episode because he has to protect people from his blasts.

He’s willing to sacrifice himself in the finale so his son and the world can live.

He wants to give people a chance–save Magneto, appeal to Bastion–despite being a child soldier, he tries to break out of the mold that Charles has tried to shape him in

Scott’s love for Nathan is so dang palpable. You can almost feel his heart breaking for all the lost years.

And that bloody line of dialogue to Logan in the finale, ordering Logan to do what he’s best at, heal, so Logan doesn’t break Jean’s heart–Scott just wants Jean to be happy. 

R: Wow. We’re so predictable. 

M: Earlier, I mentioned the drama on the show. Talk about soap opera - who isn’t in love with the wrong person on this show!

R. Absolutely. A lot of the soap opera stuff has to do with the romances and love triangles/quadrangles!

R: I was uncomfortable with Magneto/Rogue/Gambit but I get it.

M: The Rogue/Magneto romance is still icky to me. There’s too large a gap and power-imbalance. But Maggie gives Rogue something no one else can, so I get why she turns to him. 

M: The Scott/Madelyne/Jean triangle is very complicated, and they wrote it well, where none of them are perfect, but they’re trying. 

Jean kissing Logan felt forced to me–Logan has been in love with her forever, but has she felt anything for him? Or is she, in a state of weakness, picking up his emotions and projecting back? 

Also, was ‘Berto introduced just to be Jubilee’s boyfriend? Boring.

I’m not convinced by Storm and Forge’s romance either. She went from feeling betrayed by the revelation that it was his invention that depowered her to being in love with him. superquick.

R: I see what you mean but I want Storm to find love with Forge.

R: I am very interested in Morph/Wolverine/Jean though.

In Fire Made Flesh, Morph’s demon takes the form of Wolverine saying he and everyone else know what Morph is. And Morph looks so scared.

I was wondering why Wolverine?

M: Why naked Wolverine?

R: Yeah right? 

I know they’re best friends in the show.

But the finale explains it–Morph is in love with Wolvie. Who wouldn’t be?

Of course, we know Logan’s been in love with Jeanie forever. So Morph takes Jean’s form to confess their love.

M: Morph being in love with Logan is unexpected–but again, why isn’t that part of the text of the show? Why is everything to do with Morph an afterthought?

I don’t hate that Morph’s feelings for Logan have evolved from platonic to romantic, considering Logan has been their biggest champion and friend and support from the get-go. The two of them have always been close. But we need to see their romance/friendship grow on screen!

R: I really want to see where this goes. Friends-to-lovers is a very popular fanfiction trope and Morph deserves it.

However, we can’t forget it’s 1997 in the show and being queer isn’t easy.

So, will Morph get a coming out story?

The X-Men have already accepted Morph’s non-binary identity. But would they feel the same way about Morph being a queer person in love with Wolverine?

Will Wolvie accept them?

I would hate for them to stop being friends over this!

How great would it be if Iceman joined the team in Season 2 and had his own coming out story?

X2, the film, was a coming out allegory so why not have a real coming out story?

I just want to see Bobby Drake!

M: Me too!

M: Best episode?

R: I was tempted to go with Remember It because of Gambit and Tolerance is Extinction Part 2 because of that Magneto vs Wolverine ending.

But, it’s episode 2 for me. Mutant Liberation Begins

This episode is the first season’s manifesto

Magneto does everything that humanity, and the X-Men, expect of him

And the humans still fight him; they take Storm’s power. They still choose hatred.

Magneto gave them chances and offered them harmony.

But they refused; humanity sided with Bastion, they destroyed Genosha, they shot nuclear missiles at Asteroid M

The human beings in the X-verse deserve whatever Magneto dishes out to them

M: Like you, for me it’s also Mutant Liberation Begins

This, to me, was one of the best episodes of television, ever

This was a clear reflection of the divisions of the real world–artificial divisions along the lines of race, class, ethnicity, and beliefs, that literally kill and maim people. 

The battle at the end where the X-Men are restraining themselves, getting beat down, while they protect the same class of people that are hurting them is poignant. 

The problem is, it doesn’t matter how much our art shows us we’re on the wrong side of history, people will purposely choose to be on the wrong side of it.

I also want to talk about S1.E5 ∙ Remember It

Honestly thought this was going to be a game-changer. The start of a Krakoa-like era where the X-Men and mutants have found a home for themselves. 

R: Never expect good things for the X-Men.

M:

And then we turn to the personal side of things when Rogue chooses Magneto over Gambit. I was like, ok, this is a character story, it’s about their arc.

And then boom, literally. You can have no peace in a world that actively hates you.

And lastly, S1.E10 ∙ Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3

I thought the penultimate episode was one of the weaker ones of the season, so I was concerned about the finale. I was wrong. 

It became about connections–Charles connecting with Magnus, Jean and Scott connecting with Nathan, Scott reaching out to Bastion in friendship. Very emotional.

R: This leads us to the most shocking moment. 

It has to be Gambit dying, right? He’s a core character and he’s very much alive and kicking in the comics.

M: Honestly, did not expect Gambit to die. Like, I’m still reeling. I can only cope by knowing that he’s alive in the comics. 

R: The show has done this before–Morph died in the pilot but they did come back eventually.

There’s speculation that Gambit will return but like, how? He dead-dead.

M: Another shocking moment was Rogue dropping Trask off the building–this was not something Rogue would do. I know she was angry, but she should have been beating him to a pulp, not letting him plummet to his death.

R: That was shocking but it felt right.

R: But also, Magneto ripping the adamantium out of Wolverine?

It’s straight from the comics! In fact, the animation was based on the panel in the comic.

Very exciting but poor Wolverine!

M: Hopes for season 2? 

R: More Morph! I want to see them take the spotlight. Get a great arc, lots of action, and a full-on love story with someone. It probably won’t be Wolverine, because I doubt Marvel will make Wolvie queer. But someone.

Also, Mystique and Destiny. I love them so much and I need to see more of them. In the comics, Mystique and Destiny are ready to destroy the universe to save each other. I need to see that passion on screen.

But I’m worried that without Beau DeMayo, or a queer presence behind the scenes, we won’t get fulfilling queer stories.

I’d also love to see lots of new and old X-Men. Bring me Polaris, Havok, Iceman, Dani Moonstar, Rayne Sinclair, Synch. I need more Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

M: I want more of the mutants showing up and helping Forge and team. Iceman, Archangel, the New Mutants. I’d like to see them become mainstays. 

I really want more queer storylines, arcs, and characters. For all the updated sensibilities of this show, the queerbaiting irritated me.

That ‘Berto is back, he’s his comic book colour, his origins are retconned, and, while I love Augustini’s voice acting, we need a representative actor voicing him. 

Someone please explain Val Cooper–something is up with her!

More soap opera drama and romantic entanglements. We live for this.

[lovecatsys]

okay since everything except for Uncanny Spider-Man is out now I'm gonna go ahead and give my reviews of Fall of X so far

First off, Immortal and Red continue to be masterpieces, no surprises there, both books however are clearly taking a turn in a different direction and I'm loving it for both of them.

Jean Grey is not what I expected it to be at all, but still an amazing character study of Jean, I expected nothing less from Simonson of course.

Invincible Iron Man and X Men are decent, not a fan of exactly whats going on with Kate, the Emma stuff is great though. Kamala should not be in this book. I hate the avengers by default but I don't exactly hate whats going on between Emma and Tony, though that might change. The "wedding" is going to be exactly what I expected it would be of course. Overall not Duggan's worst writing but I don't love it.

Uncanny Avengers is... meh, so far, Pietro is super OOC which is :/ but maybe he'll get some more focus later on, god I hope he does. But it's frustrating how little effort is going into portraying him as a visible person of color when a much greater effort is going into his sister. Monet used her telepathy which gives me hope for her! I'm down for more of her teaming up with Kwannon tbh, they make a good team.

Astonishing Iceman is a bit of an anomoly to me. It's very good writing so far, I'm loving how Orlando writes Bobby, but I'm really pissed that they've chosen to stick with Romeo as his love interest after he got aged up just to come back and fuck Bobby and for them to throw Christian to the side. No mention of Christian at all at the hellfire gala, Emma is not concerned with where he is like she is with the Cuckoos which :/. I'm honestly afraid he's being dropped as a character which fucking sucks. The thing I hate the most about how Romeo is there is that Christian could literally be in his place and it would be perfect to me. He has a power set that could absolutely work for this situation just how Romeo's is working! Who knows, maybe this relationship will grow on me. We'll see.

Alpha Flight is really good, I haven't delved into the world of AF comics yet but from everything I know it seems perfect. My man was only there for two seconds in the first issue but we'll see if he gets any panel time as it goes on. Even if he doesn't though, yeah I'll be a little pissed but it'll still probably be a good read, and at least he'll have made any appearance at all since Marauders. Oh and Puck making fun of his new codename was funny. Fang really is a dumb name.

X-Force is still garbage, but this weird plot twist with Quentin (whatever it is??) has me gritting my teeth. fucking get your hands off my boy Percy he does not deserve this. Curious to see whats going on with the Colossus plotline, just wish it was happening in a better book.

Children of the Vault is amazing, never cared for Bishop and haven't read much Cable yet but I'm still all in on it. One of those books where you don't have to care much for the characters to recognize its quality. also fun fact: its written by the comic writing mentor of my comic writing mentor. lol

Dark X-Men wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be, but its still good. Though it kinda feels like it has too many characters in it so far, I'm loving the Maddie content and it had some great dark humor in it. LOVED the children of the atom bits, im so curious whats going to go down with Carmen and I'm just glad her friends and her relationship with Buddy got some panel time tbh.

last and the actual best: Realm of X was SO FUCKING GOOD. I've had a little soft spot in my heart for Curse since her story started in X-Men Green, and it seems like she's going to be a huge part of this arc rather than just tagging along as a little kid which is great. Sooraya fucking stole the show, this new take on her power signature is amazing. In general love all these women (Typhoid Mary is growing on me, I'm going to call the awful things she's done that made me want to hate her poor writing choices, especially since shes a survivor of such acts in the first place.) SO curious with what's going on with Yana, and I love how devoted she is to keeping Curse safe. DID NOT expect Saturnyne to be the main villain but im down for it tbh. This book is my favorite already and i just cant wait for hte next issue!

[persephoneofhades]

Obviously they wanted someone to stay with Xander, but excluding Maddie from meeting Hope AT ALL this episode makes zero sense given that it was MADDIE who was there when Ryn found out Hope was alive and MADDIE who followed Ryn to the house where they were keeping Meredith and MADDIE who stayed with Ryn to make sure the birth went okay and MADDIE who had to call Ben MULTIPLE TIMES BECAUSE HE WAS SHOOTING UP WITH STEM CELLS just to get him to come be there.

They are ALL Hope’s family, MADDIE INCLUDED. Maddie was there at Hope’s birth as much as Ben was, she helped Ryn figure out formula and diapers just like Ben and Helen did, and she ALONE took Ryn to the library and sat with her at the mommy and me class. She was there when Ryn had to take Hope for her first transformation and she was there when Ryn had to send Hope back to the water with Levi and Mate.

She’s been included this whole time WHY EXCLUDE HER FROM IT NOW??

Shit was crazy this episode, sure, but we’ve never needed Maddie near Xander in order to follow his storyline and we didn’t need it this time. Helen was still there with Eliza for a time and Patty seemed to have disappeared later on, but there was no real reason for Maddie to have to stay with Xander and entirely miss out on meeting Hope in this episode.

She could even have left LATER the way Ben and Ryn do to go find her dad, AFTER she went with them to see Hope and get her somewhere safe.

[kaddytheh3xgirl]

I love love love Maddie and Ryn, and I know they’re telling us they’re still together but it really doesn’t feel like it when all they get are chaste cheek kisses and hand holding moments (which are sweet and I appreciate), yet Ben and Ryn get full on smooches, sex scenes, elaborate romantic moments (i.e. the ‘swim) and I just can’t ignore how the only times we’ve really seen Maddie and Ryn be sexually intimate with one another in that way was when Ben was there too.

And now that Robb’s kind of been pushed off to the side, it feels like Maddie doesn’t REALLY have anyone there for her like that anymore, which is why I really appreciated the dance with Xander, that was a sweet moment.

If Siren gets another season (and I really hope they do) I’d really like them to give Maddie and Robb their proper development and screentime.

Right now it just kind of feels like both Ben and Ryn’s characters are being ruined in what seems to be a very contrived relationship. It just doesn’t feel the same (for obvious reasons like Ben listening to the Song and the stem cells) but to me Ryn wouldn’t give up life in the ocean to stay on land for a human. It just doesn’t feel like her; I’m glad she changed her mind but it really just feels like the two of them are infatuated with one another.

This is so long but TLDR: Maddie and Ryn are still romantically involved and should be portrayed as such, Maddie and Robb also deserve better, I love Xander so much and the Bryn propaganda is ruining Ben and Ryn’s characters for me.

[barnes-107th]

Lmaooo I heard Siren got cancelled. Well it’s what they deserve after that shit they pulled by breaking up polymarine to cater to the hetero fans who just wanted to see Ben and Ryn bone.

[sakebytheriver]

Hey! Yeah I'm still salty about Siren and I'm not going to shut up about it! This show had a majority cast of color and the villains of the show were the US government and the entitled rich white family who's company ruined the small town's economy and environment, like what could go wrong? Well everything went wrong, bitch. The first season made us all nervous as hell as we were all so terrified they would turn the romance in the show into a love triangle that would ultimately cut out the main black woman on the show, but then the second season assured all of us that we were wrong this wasn't a love triangle, this was a polyamorous relationship forming! And guess what we were all so happy (except the racists but fuck them) and we went into the third season so ready for all the cute canon polymarine moments and then in the first goddamn episode the throuple breaks up! And over the course of another two episodes the black girl we were all so afraid would be abandoned was guess what? ABANDONED! And suddenly the show becomes all about the white couple as the white boy who before used to subvert a lot of dumbass tropes suddenly falls into the same category of every other stupid white male lead and we get some seriously questionable casting choices for the mermaid baby while our main mermaid suddenly only cares about her man and nothing else when her man was literally experimenting on himself with cells he stole from the body of one of her people which he got from desecrating their grave which we were told is something that messes with their afterlife experience and does he face any repercussions for his actions? NO! And where is our black girl lead during all this? Who the fuck knows?! And in the end everyone who cared about this show rage quit in shame, because we really thought this show would be different, but we were all so goddamn wrong, this show wasn't different, it was just waiting to be the same as every other piece of cliche garbage that doesn't give a shit about queer black women and we the fans are left feeling betrayed and dumb for ever expecting better

[larauthorized]

Clique Bait Book Analysis

Clique Bait was originally a Wattpad phenomenon written by Ann Valett titled previously as “High School’s Hit List” but upon the fame, it caught the eye of traditional publishing, “Harper Teen” but also Wattpad itself, where it led to the title we have now. For this review though, despite stumbling on the book through the website first, I’m going to use the one published traditionally for reference. 

The story starts every chapter with letter entries supposedly to Monica from best friend and also our protagonist, Chloe Whittaker. In each chapter, it’s divided by stages of Chloe’s ways in taking down every one in her hit list. The list involves five not only popular but ridiculously wealthy, elite teenagers (Lola Davenport, Sophie Rutherford, Francis Rutherford, Madeline Danton, Zachary Plympthon, and William Bishop) all of which might or might not be the cause or involved in Monica’s disappearance. Chloe insists on bringing the case of her best friend justice by messing up those said names above. 

In this book, we learn that Chloe is a very determined, well-structured girl who  thinks of every single thing to detail. She even maps out a chart of the school system, calling it as Level Five, Level Four, Level Three, Level Two, and the highest and untouched of them all, Level One. With her determination in exposing the truth on her best friend and critical thinking but also high on observation skills, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make each of every one on her list pay. Even the one whom she promises will stay on the safe zone, the one who will become her winning or breaking point - that is, if she plays her cards right and sticks to the plan. 

Through this scheme that she put out by herself, she learns that the Level One, in spite of how glamorous and powerful it might seem on the outside, is more complicated than she realizes. The more she sticks around, the more secrets that begin to unravel by themselves - be it with the help of Will or her own snooping self. When she finds out that the most golden couple isn’t what they lead people to believe, toxic for lack of a better word. And then there’s Maddy Danton who seems to be excluded by the other two girls, all because she’s always the one who only appears to get drunk in parties and possibly be a next target. One night, Will does something that drives her mad, so mad that she avoids him while still maintains appearances in the hallways. However, this act of silent treatment leads her to have yet another secret - a way to get the plan back in motion. She questions whether or not to it’s a good idea to use that for another leverage in taking all of them down. After all,  the cunning, wicked Sophie Rutherford came in with a threat. Her insecurity and mentally unstable self take over that she’s afraid that they may use it against her now that she’s gone down the same rabbit hole, just like her best friend did, especially with her feelings starting to show.  

Like any other teenager, Chloe is anything but easy. Her home life, though her parents were just as ridiculously rich, she knows that her mother is in denial about her father’s “business” trips that aren’t necessarily for business. Because of this, she’s the type to have deep trust issues, hence why she doesn’t like when she doesn’t have the upper hand after Will decides to take lead the first time she confronts him. She doesn’t usually rely on anyone, not since Monica anyway. Speaking of which, Monica’s the exact opposite of her. While she’d rather remain off the radar, Monica would want to be in the spotlight, which was what got her to be in a place where she was now, probably. Monica’s perfect and confident - the pretty one - as opposed to her. Sometimes, she mulls over how her best friend can be that way almost all of the time, and that she wishes that Monica would just want to stay invisible just so she could look after her easily. Even she knew that was too much to ask for considering Monica was anything but. 

With the Pretty Little Liars twist meet some Gossip Girl, this book is definitely worth checking out, because not only it has the main character plotting to seek for revenge, but it contains a slow-burn romance that might just be your cup of tea. You’ll also find yourself feeling sorry for the supposedly antagonist, Lola Davenport herself, all because she’s actually far more complex and vulnerable than she’s letting on. In the end, no one can really be trusted. Everybody gets what they deserve, even if it’s not what you expect, but it’s for the greater good. As all layers have been lifted, a shocking revelation might just fall on Chloe’s shoulders, making her choose one or the other. Either choices would either make or break her entire plan, it can even break some hearts in the process - even if it’s hers.  

[fastlikealambo]

ok mer fam, let’s talk siren:

SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW SAY SIKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW IS MY MAIN POINT THROUGH THIS AN ENTIRE EPISODE.

honestly replace this scene with sex scene with the eyes on fire song and i’m just watching a repeat of vampire diaries. I’m fucking a chaos bi cryptid and I felt absolutely nothing looking at ben and ryn sushi each other

I could care less about chris and what’s wrong with him, they only bring him back for filler most of the time and how did  he go from not remembering who calvin was to doing a choreographed dance with him, the donna being free explanation was flakey.

xander fucking leveled up this season, literally one of the only things this season did right was giving him a moral compass.

so is maddie just like a work colleague  now because they barely included her in this cannon rescue scene only to end with her to  more or less  be the bad guy to ben and ryn. she was spitting straight facts but the way she talked to ryn was just not MADDIE. Even when she is upset with ryn, there’s always been a gentleness in her tone and it’s just...gone.

I’m going to say it:ben straight up manipulated ryn during the cells scene.  I don’t believe that was the last of the cells, he manipulated ryn to try and get her to keep them.even though they threw them out, I was disgusted with ben. 

this scene with tia and dead guy was boring and predictable. she’s so mean to her own kind what’s she gonna do if she wins this war?  it never works out in the end for dictators of any species.

SO NO ONE TOLD RYN YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO WEAR WHITE TO A WEDDING. WE JUST GONNA SPEED PAST THAT ONE HUH

I know the point of these flashbacks were to show how ryn “didn’t belong” (which is bullshit btw, she was becoming her own person in bristol cove) but for me, it  kinda  looked like ryn was piecing together ben’s addiction to the song and how it was making him act in the present.

this wedding is hollow as fuck, they couldn’t be bothered to even get a scene of janine and calvin’s wedding vows to give them some sort of characterization?

what really pisses me off is that they took a maddie and ryn moment from earlier in the season where maddie explained to ryn the symbolism of wedding rings and gave that to bryn. ryn knows exactly what a wedding ring means,she proposed and he didn’t try to stop her or correct it. this is no longer the polymarine I know. 

i hope xander’s  going to survive. ALTHOUGH I’M SORRY WHAT MILLENNIAL ANSWERS A PHONE CALL FROM AN UNKNOWN NUMBER IN THE YEAR 2020. TIA BETTER LEARN HOW TO PUT HER SONG IN A TEXT SHE AIN’T GETTIN ME LIKE THAT

and this is where I attempt to talk through my anger:this show set up a healthy polyamorous relationship, one where problems were talked through,where careful loving affection between three people wasn’t portrayed as crude or morally deviant. there wasn’t a big coming out reveal, they were just together. 

all couples go through trials and tribulations but this was a chance to normalize a poorly underrepresented pairing and in the span of eight episodes they have absolutely ruined it MADDIE WASN’T EVEN SITTING NEXT TO THEM AT THE WEDDING. what does they say about real life  queer poly couples? ”sorry but only two of you are really in love, the rest are just clinging on until something else deigns to look at you?”  

I’m usually okay ship whatever you want but there have multiple articles,interviews saying that this was a canon couple,a canon couple to be treated with respect. if this season ends the way I think it will,all that will be left is disrespect and a bland romance that this show wasn’t built on which made me tune in the first place.

and the fact that yet another woc lead has been pushed to the side for white leads is bringing me to tears a little bit, I’m not going to lie. I know it’s just a tv show but as a black woman it stings just a little bit harder to see a vibrant lead of color barely present. like let’s be real as we begin to wrap up the season:aside from her subplot romance with robb, what are the other season defining moments has maddie had? because I can name a least five moments for ryn and ben. maddie bishop is a hero in her own right and deserves to be in every major moment, and that’s final. and the fact that the writers have seemingly began to listen to the racism in the siren fandom ( not really here but mostly twitter and facebook) and removed her from most of the action is really disturbing to me. to be blunt,I was positive towards the end of the episode that it was going to be maddie bleeding out on the floor for white pain. 

I fucking love Siren, it has some of the best lore on tv, I don’t feel like a creepy adult watching a teen drama, and I’ve been a fan of this show since the trailer aired.  I’m just so spent. where do we go from here? if this show gets renewed (which I want more than anything), how will it continue? only time will tell.

like i’m not trying to be a hater but like where do we go from here? anyway, I hope anything I wrote made some sense, it’s been a long day and maybe I’m way off base but this is how I feel in the moment. 

[siren-theories]

Maddie Bishop's treatment by the writers in Season 3

(tl, dr: Maddie deserved better this season) SPOILER WARNING: This post includes spoilers up to and including Episode 308 “Till Death do us part”.  I apologise to the readers for - after a long hiatus - not writing another analysis post first. But I felt the way Maddie was written in Season 3 deserves its own post. So let us take a look at the the way Maddie was written in Season 3, the inconsistencies with her earlier established character traits and the possible justifications for this treatment of her by the writers. 

I. Introduction

I generally do not like to post about a show which has not finished its current season. That is because a lot of developments only make sense in retrospect and only then the viewer can know why the writers decided to emphasize certain developments. As such, I am usually trying not to write episode reviews and engage in wild speculation about what will happen next episode. I much prefer writing after the end of a season. 

Looking back on all the shows I have seen in my life, there are only a few that come to mind that had a great third season. The West Wing and the Wire are the prominent examples that come to mind. 

(Shameless West Wing Plug. I so miss this show and its intelligent characters, especially in the current political climate). 

Other shows meanwhile go completely off the rails (like Andromeda, which never recovered from its Season 3). So in general I tend to be very forgiving to shows entering their third season, not expecting much. Thus I would usually not write something like this. 

But: I worry about the treatment of a character I feel very protective of, the chracter who is my favourite character in the show: Maddie Bishop. 

(Vivat regina.)

Her being my favourite character might be surprising to the reader considering most of the posts on this tumblr are about Ryn (and to a lesser degree Ben), while I have written only sparingly about Maddie. But that is simply because Ryn and Ben are more interesting characters to analyze. Emotionally, they tick the "lets root for them" box for me, despite - and because of -  their character flaws. Those flaws always add to the story in a fascinating and dramatic way. 

But Maddie Bishop I RESPECTED right from the start. This is in no small part because I always felt drawn to her analytical, logical, scientific side. In cheesy terms, I felt a bond with her because I could easily think of me acting the same way she did in many situations. For me, she was easy to emphatize with, easy to like and very easy to root for. 

But this season has been hard to swallow in some respects.

In the words of the Godfather: 

(Tremble in awe of my awesome MS Paint skills) 

Note that this does not apply to all of Maddie's actions. In fact, the vast majority of her actions this season are no big deal to me and fit her character. Many of the actions Maddie seems to catch a lot of flak for on other parts of the internet seem perfectly justifiable to me as they do not go against the core traits of her character. 

I have no issues with many major decisions Maddie made this season, including but not limited to: 

She is totally right to re-evaluate her relationship with Ben. Everybody should probably do so when their boyfriend confesses that he let somebody intentionally drown. (It also is not the first time they have broken up. One breakup per season seems to be the norm with those two, not the exception.)

Her hiding the fact of Ryn being her girlfriend to Robb was the right and logical choice. Most people do not talk about their sexuality in face-to-face situations with strangers.  Let’s remember that they all agreed to hide their relationship even when having dinner with Ben's family...so why would people expect Maddie to refer to Ryn as her girlfriend to strangers? 

I am also okay with her deciding to pursue a relationship with Robb. Even though I view him as a giant waste of screentime he seems like a good guy in total. (I really hope his introduction pays off in future seasons because right now it feels as if he has taken double or triple the screentime he should.) 

I could go on but I feel the point has been made. What I am however definitely not okay with are the instances where Maddie acts like a complete idiot. Those show a massive failure to respect established character traits by the writers.

Because one thing Maddie Bishop is not is an idiot. 

She probably is the smartest character on the whole show. And she is definitely not a hypocrite - in fact, her strong moral core is what made her that great of a character in Season 1 and 2. 

Let me just highlight a few situation this season where I disliked heavily how Maddie was written.  

II. Revealing the secrets of the Sirens and their existence to a total stranger ?

“Remember this big secret people are literally getting killed over? I wonder if I should talk about it to this guy I met for a few coffees...not like letting other people knowing about it has ever hurt somebody....Ian? What is an Ian?”

Over the span of a few days, Maddie does the following in Season 3:

Reveal information about the Sirens to a total stranger, even going so far as to show him secret Siren history in the cave

Bring a complete stranger into the maritime laboratory (what exactly could have been her thought process here, what did she hope to gain by this?)

Doing the above despite being repeatedly warned not to do so

I can live with Ben being an idiot and refusing to heed warnings until it almost kills him because that is who his character is - somebody who lets his emotion, empathy and character flaws get the better of him at times despite his good intentions. Him taking stem cells is thus consistent with his character and at the very least a justifiable writers decision. To a lesser degree this also applies to Ryn and her total lack of impulse control. Ben and Ryn making bad decisions it is very consistent with their characters - and yes, this even applies to making stupid decisions. (For Ryn, agreeing to work with the military in Episode 207 “Entrapment” is but one example). 

But this is NOT Maddie and never was.

The Maddie from previous seasons was so very invested in keeping the secret that she hid it from her own father in Season 1. This led to the awesome scene between her, her father Dale and Ryn In episode 107: “Dead in the water”.

She hid this secret from her own mother in Season 2 (heck, she even hid her relationship with Ryn from her). She hid Ryn from her best friends, her former boyfriend and her coworker. And yet, suddenly some stranger from outside town waltzes in and within the span of a few coffee dates she goes and spills the beans to him? After being explicitly warned not to do so? Without even being in a relationship with Robb at that point and knowing next to nothing about him?  If you had held a gun to my head and forced me to pick somebody who would be dumb enough to just reveal the secret of the Sirens to outsiders, Maddie Bishop never would have been my answer. 

I could see Ben “Bad Judgement” Pownall and Ryn “No brakes on this train” Fisher doing so. I expect Xander and Calvin to be trash at keeping secrets because that is consistent with their past behaviour. But Maddie? No. Not Maddie. Not the girl who hid her mother’s addiction from the world as best she could. Not the woman who was okay keeping Ryn a secret from her own father. And not to a total stranger. 

This is Ben-level stupidity. Actually, it is worse than that. Blabbing about the mermaids to a total stranger without being under any kind of duress is by far the most stupid thing any character has ever done in this show. It risks not only Maddie herself, but also the Sirens as a species. It is even worse than Xander telling Nicole about Helen's family burials at the end of season 2. It is irresponsible and completely outside Maddie's established character traits and her past actions. It is unbelievable. 

III. Killing is different when my (animal) girlfriend does it 

Besides turning her into an idiot, the writers also turned Maddie into a hypocrite in stating Ryn letting Ian drown is different than Ben doing the same. Nevermind the fact that Ryn has actively killed people (and probably will continue doing so). 

(Why is it different when two people react exactly the same?Because.....reasons. The best reasons. People tell me they are the best reasons. My uncle went to MIT and invented these reasons. Big brain time.) 

So the writers had Maddie claim it is different when Ryn does exactly the same thing as Ben. It also is okay for Ryn to kill somebody who was no real threat to Ryn (or Maddie with Ryn being there). Remember when Ryn killed the drug dealer in Episode 205? Ryn was toying with the guy throughout the whole fight and clearly enjoyed killing him in a brutal manner. She even grins during the fight once she realizes the guy has no chance against her.

And yet, Maddie was okay with this. But it is not okay for Ben to let somebody drown who was  a) a homocidal maniac who used his car as a deadly weapon, having attempted to run Ben over twice previously b) somebody who could not be trusted c) who had just kidnapped a drugged-up Ryn.

I cannot remember when I ever groaned in frustration at anything Maddie had done or said throughout the course of the show. This must have been the first time and it is especially jarring in response to the following scene in 206:

(Ryn does not. The writers might.) As I said above, I am more than okay with Maddie evaluating her relationship with Ben, what I am not okay with is her immediate declaration that Ryn killing people is different...because she is Ryn? And I hate how it has one particularly ugly implication - that to Maddie, Ryn killing people is just what she does. The conclusion to be drawn from that is that Ryn is indeed a predator/animal first to Maddie than a human being. 

And this is obviously inconsistent with Maddie's earlier actions. 

First, she did not mind somebody eliminating threats before. She was okay with potentially having to hurt people in order to defeat the sonic cannon in Season 2. She was “willing to fight” to protect Ryn and her species. And several times Maddie carried loaded guns and was ready to use them herself in the series. 

She also always believed in Ryn's humanity. I am sure the many scenes between Ryn and Maddie in Season 1 and 2 are fresh in everyone's mind. Suffice to say that Maddie has always believed in the humanity of Ryn, starting with the car scene between the two in Episode 102 or the trust scene in Episode 103, which I have linked below. 

(and where did this dynamic go btw?)  Which ties in neatly with my next point: 

IV. The Marginalization of Maddie regarding Ryn and Ben  

Let me start by saying that breaking up the trio to focus on Ben/Ryn (and probably continuing to focus on those two) is not something I want to critize from a storytelling perspective. Final judgement on the storytelling will be reserved until the end of the series. As this issue is inextricably linked with “shipping” preferences, I think at this point I have to explain where I stand on the issue. I would prefer Polymarine as I think it really fits the characters best...but I can live with Ben/Ryn. This is in no small part due to Eline Powell and Alex Roe doing some of their greatest work on this show playing off each other. See for example how in Episode 306 they improvised with her hair sticking to his body after a hug and turned that into a tender gesture...great impromptu acting without breaking character. If the writers want to explore this (or any other) relationship  further I can respect that decision from a storytelling perspective because I think the payoff will be satisfying to me as a viewer.  Even though I feel it would have been better to explore Ben/Ryn in the context of Polymarine I begrudgingly accept the right of the writers to tell the story the way they want to.  

And If nothing else it leads to stunning visuals - image credit to @crayonboxhearts, more gifs from this scene at the link. 

But I dislike the way in which the writers set it up and executed it this season because (as outlined above) it sacrificed some of Maddie’s core character tenets and had her acting out of character. 

Having the trio become a duo on its own in an organic way without the above would have been preferable IMO. There were enough angles the writers could have chosen to facilitate that in a believable manner. They could have focused on the connection Ryn has with Ben, they could have had family reasons...et cetera pp. And they also could have used some of the issues Maddie has in her own past to justify a breakup. All of this would have been (IMO) preferable to what we got. 

What we got was something that felt as if it was written to check some boxes to set up the future plotlines and in doing so marginalized Maddie with regards to her importance to Ryn, Ben and the overall story. 

Granted, the show tried to show Maddie and Ryn's feelings for each other and they spent some time showing Ben moping after her - but in light of the significant strides made in the Ben/Ryn dynamic these scenes feel more than a bit hollow. 

And anybody who has watched episodes 308 could just see the role of Maddie as it relates to interacting with Ryn and Ben getting smaller by the minute. Ryn and Ben now have their own little circle, one which only seems to include Maddie on the periphery. Nowhevere was this stronger on display than in Episode 308, with Ben and Ryn making lifelong promises to each other.

Ryn: “I will live on Land. With you.” Ben: “On land. You mean, stay human?”  Ryn: “Yes. Here. Together. Human.”  Ben: “What about Hope?”  Ryn: “She can be with us. As a family.” Ben: “I can’t ask you to do that.”  Ryn: “It is my choice. When it is time, I will be human with you.”

Notice how Maddie was not even mentioned once during that conversation? And yes maybe it would have been a bit weird to include her in the dialogue . However this is not an isolated incident.  Later on Maddie is not even in the same frame when Ryn and Ben actually exchange a wedding ring and make a “til death do us part” promise. Let me repreat this: They are exchanging wedding vows and Maddie is not even in the frame.

(Yes, technically not wedding vows, but only due to the circumstances surrounding them - the sentiment and meaning was there. FFS, she is even wearing white). 

And sometimes it is something as simple as Ryn in 308 kissing Maddie on the cheeks and Ben straight on the lips. 

There could not have been a more clearer message than the contrast here.  And this was clearly intentional on part of the director considering these frames followed each other immediately.  

And then of course we get the followup scene on the docks where Ben is literally standing in the middle between Maddie and Ryn, before turning and following Ryn, both leaving Maddie behind. Observe the contrast between that scene and the pier scene in Episode 203. 

203: 

308:

(Ngl,seeing her standing alone there in the dark hurt) And some of that can be viewed as a logical development of Maddie no longer being in a relationship with Ben (and whatever kind of relationship Maddie has with Ryn, it is clear that Ryn is not staying at Maddie’s place at all). Siren has always been about the relationship of the main characters within the tight-knit circle and it is clear that at this point in the story Maddie is not part of the inner circle anymore. 

V: Maddie’s role in the story

And if Maddie would be doing something else, something central to the story of Bristol Cove, something that would valiate her character and make her essential to the plot in other ways, it might be enough for me or at least end up softening the blow. But is that the case? 

The side characters that have the closest connection with her (Dale and her mother Susan) have not even appeared once this season. And we had Xander replace her in her role as the gun-carrying backup which Ben calls first when stuff goes down in episode 306. So far there has not been a critical “Maddie moment” this season that was absolutely essential to the plot. She figured out the reason why the pool was not working in Episode 307 but it was Ben who came up with an actual solution to the problem.

(A caveat: Ben usually is the one who figures out solutions in the show (cf 208) so I might just be overreacting here.) But what exactly is left of the crucial role that Maddie had at the start of this season? Is she still as important as the other two main characters with regards to story development? I really hope the Finale will make me look like a fool for even asking that question. But I hate having arrived at a point where it even is a question once can ask legitimately.

VI: Previous acts of plot

This is not the first time the writers have decided to ignore established character traits in order to tell a certain story.  I have written before how it made no sense for certain storylines of Season 2 to play out the way they did in Episode 214 and 215 - except in the context of them serving the overarching plot.

Specifically, Ryn not knowing Ben's last name despite living together for weeks and months and suddenly going haywire after hearing it made little sense. And yet it was clear why it had to happen - because the writers wanted to tell a specific story. (A longer argument for what happpened and why can be found in the middle of this post if you do not want to take my word for it.) They wanted to do so because it led to great payoffs for the viewer:

1) We had an awesome discussion between Maddie and Ryn in Episode 214 

(Remember how emotionally intelligent Maddie was in that situation? Where did scenes like that go?)

2.) It led to several great scenes between Ben and Ryn and also provided further justification for Ben’s choices in 216. 

In retrospect,  the plot contrivances of 214 were done by writer's fiat to setup a scenario that would test the relationship of the trio. This created more drama and paved the way for a satisfying payoff at the end of Episode 215/216. In doing so, the writers allowed character inconsistencies and plot contrivances to steer the story towards a predetermined outcome, to the detriment of character logic and past character developments. 

And we can see a similar trend developing here. The end goal of the writers seems to have been the rock scene between Ben and Ryn at the end of Episode 308. 

And if you assume this to be the end goal in the current plot development...if the goal was to focus on Ben and Ryn...then there needs to be a breakup. Because huge parts of the storyline (stemcells, them going swimming, them making promises to each other etc.) do not work with Maddie in the picture. 

But was it necessary to sacrifice parts of her character and have her acting in a manner inconsistent with her established traits in order to do so? (Maybe they had to rush it because of lack of episode time, but then why waste so much time on Robb and Helen’s ghost stories?). 

And there is another problem: The success of this plot development will heavily depend on whether it will fit the personal preferences of the viewership. As I said above, while I would have preferred Polymarine I can live with and enjoy Ben/Ryn or Maddie/Robb. 

But for die-hard polymarine and Maddie/Ryn shippers, I feel the results might be somewhat different. And this is only made worse by Maddie being unfairly treated by the writers in order to facilitate the overall plot development. I suspect many Maddie fans (regardless of their shipping preference) will have been disheartened about how the writers made Maddie behave this season. 

I know I was. 

VII: The parallels between Episodes 108 and 308 - and why they worry me

And there is another meta-reason why I am deeply worried about Maddie and her role going forward. And this has to do with the way in which Siren’s previous ten-episode season has been set up. In Season 1, it was Episode 108 that cemented the character development happening in that season. Episodes 109 and 110 served to defeat the big bad of the season and to introduce temporary setbacks that had to be solved at the start of the following season before the characters returned to the dynamics establied in 108. 

In short, while Episodes 9 and 10 were exciting, Episode 8 of Season 1 is the pivotal episode of the season. Ryn’s desire to learn and to stay on land, her first steps into human society...all those happened in that episode. There are also strong parallels in the way 108 and 308 treated Ryn’s relationship with Ben, even ending their screentime in the episode with a impactful scene between the two (”Will you sing to me” / “Til death do us part”). Other parallels include both episodes featuring an important event in a human’s life (a wake/a marriage), both episodes involving the whole Bristol Cove community etc. 

And like 108, 308 was (IMO) a near-perfect episode in terms of performances, pivotal scenes and dialogue. Just by the sheer number of extras, costumes etc. involved the writers clearly wanted it to be important. And it was important.  It greatly drove forward the plot and I personally rate it as one of my favourite episodes of the show on its own for that reason. 

But there is one major difference that seperates 108 and 308: Maddie was very much still in the picture (literally) and a plot-driving force in her own right.

And this worries me. 

I expect the final two episodes will be about defeating the big bad of the season, as it was with Season 1. Maybe the season will even end the same way as Season 1 - with Ryn being on her own for a bit. Maybe she even goes back to the water for a longer time (or is forced to do so due to circumstances). But I also expect character development in season 4 to largely use 308 as its base. 

And now you can see why I am getting concerned here about Maddie’s diminished role. I really hope the writers have not forgotten what a wonderful character they created in her and find better ways to use her in season 4.

There are plenty of options within Siren to give her meaningful screentime again (her spending more time with Xander and Calvin for example would also give more screentime to those two, which I would love to see). But whatever the writers chose to do in the future, I really hope that it does not involve Maddie acting out of character again. 

Conclusion:

The way the writers wrote Maddie in Season 3 is not something that I agree with, nor does her diminished role in the central dynamics of the story sit well with me. Did it completely ruin the show for me? No. The mysteries of the sirens, the Pownell family saga, the question of whether Ryn has to permanently return to the sea, her child and the whole Ryn/Ben dynamic kept me entertained - and will do so in the future.  

But Maddie being this off-base and not being in the main picture definitely does diminish the show for me - and I think I am not alone in this. When I look at the failed opportunities for her character it saddens me in a major way. Even though Season 3 is still an enjoyable and entertaining season for me, it could have been much more. 

[bigskydreaming]

thehollowprince said: And I also stand by the opinion that they could have just done a solo run of the O5 X-Men starting a new timeline with the information they got from the future.

thehollowprince said: Its not like Marvel doesn’t constantly do AUs and retcons

OMG Josh you have no idea how bad I wanted this. They could’ve done SO MUCH with that concept. Letting the 05 keep their foreknowledge and the world they could have created with that?

They could’ve averted the initial Krakoan mission and saved Darwin, Gabe, Petra and Sway in the first place. They could have all been X-Men from their Day One, Scott and Alex would have actually gotten to KNOW their brother and Gabe quite possibly would never have gone full Dark Side despite the writers apparently now seeming obsessed with the idea there’s just something innately bad within Gabe that’s always destined to bear fruit at some point, ugh, whatever, like who do you think you are, Kant?

They could’ve recruited the Giant Size X-Men lineup earlier, and saved John Proudstar, who side by side with his brother Jamie, are a force to be reckoned with. 

They could have convinced Pietro and Wanda to join them instead of the Avengers and been like no but seriously that way lies nothing but shitty storylines and bad decisions that will be blamed on you by your teammates despite the fact that any and all of the bad decisions that were ACTUALLY yours could have been averted if any of your teammates were capable of functioning as an actual support system. Come join us. We have actual support systems, except for the times when we don’t, but we recruited Deadpool to break the fourth wall and he and Logan are currently cutting through the ranks of every writer who would write as hating and fighting each other instead of being a loving fucking family goddammit.

Jean could have faced the Phoenix head-on when the time for that came, using her knowledge of the future not to fear an inevitable death, but rather to know she had nothing TO fear, that the power to not control this force, but just be ONE with it, with no NEED to control it or be controlled by it, a symbiotic union, two beings in harmony deciding on courses of action together. The Phoenix’s innate powers and prerogative of rebirth and destruction tempered by Jean’s mercy, aimed and focused by Jean’s reason, the double-edged sword that is fire capable of warming homes or destroying them completely combined with Jean’s conscience guiding it to use its power for the former rather than the latter.

They could have stopped the Legacy Virus from getting out and killing millions as well as spared us from migraines induced by an AIDS metaphor so shitty at being a metaphor most people forget it was literally written to be an AIDS metaphor.

The body swap would never have happened and Kwannon could have joined the X-Men as a full member from the time she was introduced, rather than dragged along in the wake of Betsy’s tangled storylines for a couple decades.

They could have stopped Fitzroy from killing the Hellions. Hell, if they train Illyana early enough and have her mentored by Wanda who is perfectly fucking competent when left to her own devices, then like, maybe they can even take a jaunt to the future to save Fitzroy from dying in the first place and being resurrected with no soul. Not gonna lie, ever since then I’ve kinda been seriously interested in what the hell would a hero version of Trevor freaking Fitzroy even BE like, y’know? Call it morbid fascination, but like. I kinda want it, guys. LOL.

Add to that note, they could have taken another jaunt to the future and rescued Rachel from being made into a Hound by Ahab. Through the power of some convoluted plot tangle I just made up for convenience, Scott still ends up in a relationship with Maddy briefly, in one of those self-fulfilling prophecy type things where he went into it with the full intention of just averting the future and saving Maddy from her fate as the Goblyn Queen, but somehow ended up in a love triangle with a very alive Jean and Maddy who is fully informed of Sinister’s shenanigans and quite displeased with that asshole, and look, I don’t know how all of this goes exactly, but let’s cut to the chase, my only real endgame with this is making sure that Nate’s born properly, saved from Apocalypse and the techno-virus by the combined efforts of Scott, Maddy and Jean as well as Uncles Warren, Bobby and Hank, and Jean calls up the Phoenix through some psychic bond or whatever and is like hey girl, can I hit you up for a loan real quick? Got some losers that need toasting. 

And in this AU the Phoenix totally has her back, and one brief cosmic power-up and gratuitous Sailor Moon transformation later, Jean glows and intones some epic one-liners with appropriate gravitas, and then just punts both Apocalypse and Sinister to the far side of the universe, never to be seen or heard from again. They like, hit a black hole on the way there I guess. It was very sad. Violin strings may commence with the requiem. Okay that’s enough, they can stop now.

So then through the plot contrivances of fuck you, I said so, Scott and Maddy ultimately part amicably and Scott and Jean get back together and the three of them civilly co-parent both baby Nate and Rachel, as Maddy keeps the healing powers she gained as Anodine and stays with the X-Men for her own reasons.

The telepaths are all better trained by the expertise Jean gained in her powers while in the future, so the next time the Shadow King comes bumming around looking to cause chaos, Betsy, Emma and Jean just look at each other and laugh and say nuh-uh before psychically squishing him into a marble.

Warren never becomes Archangel. Onslaught isn’t a thing. They make nice with Magneto and say okay you may have a couple points, let’s discuss. Bishop arrives in the past for reasons totally unrelated to his original story, has no traitor to seek out among the X-Men, and thus he and Gambit end up besties in complete defiance of that stupid fucking story and because I just think they’re neat together. Yes I said neat. Gambit and Bishop are just neat. Deal with it. 

Bishop still hates that Fitzroy guy though, he’s like, I don’t even know what it is about that guy, he just rubs me the wrong way, even though Fitzroy is not evil here and has always done good with his powers, which are channeled through a device Forge made him that lets him just absorb life force from a wide range around him, spread out and diluted enough that its like, the grass feels weird for a second, like whoa what even was that, and then its over. Actually, y’know what, scratch that. Fitzroy’s powers are stupid and unnecessary the way they are now anyway, so fuck it, this Fitzroy doesn’t need life force or whatever, he’s just a dude who makes time portals. He’s like Illyana with green hair and that ugly goatee. Hey I said this Fitzroy was non-evil, not that he was perfect.

Bobby’s out and proud since he was sixteen, and with actual competence and proficiency with his powers, which make him a Literal Unkillable Gay Icon, he’s an inspiration to LGBTQ+ teens everywhere and inspires other gay, bi and trans heroes to come out. He’s a big brother figure to all the baby gays that later join the X-Men, like, Rictor comes to him for advice back during the time equivalent to early X-Factor, when Rictor’s a trying-too-hard sixteen year old who thought college age Bobby was like the coolest, which is valid, because X-Factor Bobby was like A+ Bobby characterization and deserves more reads. 

So Rictor comes out earlier as well, and by the time they even meet Shatterstar, instead of a slow burn friends to roommates to lovers scenario, Rictor takes one look at the love of his life and wastes no time coming out swinging with an absolutely terrible pick up line. Look, I said his big brother figure Bobby was out and proud in this AU, not that he magically had a better sense of humor. Some things just don’t change, y’know? Luckily, Shatterstar is a weirdo, and thus he finds terrible pick-up lines charming. At least when its Rictor saying them. They walk off for a first date, already practically hand in hand, voices fading into the distance as Rictor asks “By the way, have you met Dazzler yet? According to Bobby, apparently she’s your mom. That Longshot dude with the mullet over there is your dad I guess. We should go say hi.”

Hank gets an assistant hand-picked by the rest of the original X-Men, and who has one job and one job only. To follow him around and observe all his experiments, and he has veto power over experiments that People With IQs As High As Yours Should Know Better But I Guess You’ve Got Reed Richards Syndrome.

Hank’s like, “Hmm, if I built a time machine I could go back to the Jurassic Period and observe whether my theory of - “

Hank’s assistant: “Veto.”

“Damn. Okay I was also thinking of making a deep space communicator that can reach into the farthest reaches of space beyond any known civilization and just say hi, y’know? See if anyone’s out there.”

“Veto.”

“If I combine these genetically modified antibodies here with this strain of of DNA from - “

“Veto.”

“Well Forge built this device that does this to mutant powers but I think I can make it do - “

“Veto.”

“These nanobots I - “

“VETO,”

“Honestly, at this point I think you’re just saying that just because you like saying it.”

“Dr. McCoy, I promise you, I’m really, really not.”

Logan finds out about his future clan of stabby children, and seeks them out. He rescues Daken from Romulus, somebody stabs that loser with the immortal-killing sword, I don’t even care who, and after a few tense months of Logan trying too hard, he and Daken eventually bond over how hockey just isn’t violent enough. If you’re going to make a sport all about hitting each other, just really go for it or don’t even bother, y’know? Logan claps him on the shoulder and sniffs. That’s my boy. Then they find and rescue Laura and Gabby and take a road trip to Earth 1610 to pick up Jimmy. They have a house on campus, and new students walking by it are used to hearing loud growling and even howls. They were assured during orientation that that’s nothing to worry about, it just means the House of Snikt are watching a game and are rooting for opposing sides. 

Emma’s recruited practically the day they get back. She’s only just started at the Hellfire Club and has only done a tiny bit of Evil when Warren schedules an appointment with her, and then he, Scott and Jean make a better pitch than Shaw and his ilk could ever match. They’ve been to the future. Come join with us and we’ll give you an all access pass to memories detailing exactly what’s going to happen in these particular areas and many more. All you have to do is ask. Oh and also please don’t seduce any married teammates. Its bad form. To be honest, I don’t think it’ll be an issue because Deadpool assures us Morrison has been taken care of, and don’t worry if that makes no sense to you, its a head-scratcher for us to. Just roll with it. 

Nate ages normally here so its not like he ends up besties with forty year old Wade, but the latter having his own plot-contrived knowledge of the future because He’s Just Like That, decides that he won’t be denied at least SOME kind of bond with The Bestie That Wasn’t. He becomes Nate’s official babysitter. Well, not official, seeing as how Scott, Jean and Maddy don’t hire him and are very clear that their son is not to be left alone with this man at any time, he is a terrible influence and he keeps giving our kid guns. But then Wade just shows up anytime they’re out because he just has a sixth sense for Making Trouble, and he terrifies away whatever babysitter’s there and greets the returning and exasperated parents with a cheery wave. 

“I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry, we didn’t do anything dangerous or against the law. All we did today was I taught him to make bombs, but we were very careful, we wore safety goggles and really, they were very little bombs. Not even anything atomic. I honestly don’t think any of them could have even blown up this whole house, and I’ve been meaning to say, I’m not impressed with the structural integrity of this place. Couldn’t you have picked something with a sturdier foundation? Its like you don’t even expect random space mercenaries to attack your place out of the blue every other month. Have any of you even read a single issue of your own comics?”

Scott’s jaw twitches Ominously. Wade starts gathering up his things. Jean rubs her forehead wearily.

“Wade, what do you even think ‘dangerous’ means?”

Wade pauses and cocks his head. Gives it a solid twenty seconds of thought. Then he shrugs. 

“I don’t know actually. Don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it. I always figured it was just one of those things people just say. Like, ‘oh, it looks like rain today,’ even if they’re not a forecaster and have no real meteorological credentials to speak of. ‘Oh, this mission will be dangerous,’ and I don’t even have to use up all my ammo and I only get shot twice. Y’know?”

“Leave,” Scott says. More like intones. House shakes a little bit but that might just be Wade’s imagination. Its very active.

“Leaving!” He says hastily. He jumps through the closed window and then teleports away amid the falling shower of broken glass. Why didn’t he do that while he was still inside the room? No one knows. Not even Wade knows. Why did the chicken cross the road? Who the fuck cares, now is it Original Recipe or Crispy?

Scott, Jean and Maddy search the house while Nate angelically claims they won’t find anything, Wade doesn’t even bring him cool stuff anymore cuz he knows you’ll just take it.

Maddy finds a high-tech laser space gun under a floorboard in the closet. She holds it up with one eyebrow raised pointedly. Scott and Jean flank her and their own eyebrows raise in solidarity. Well Jean’s does. Scott’s probably does but its hard to tell sometimes. Depends on what glasses or visor he’s wearing.

“That was already there,” Nate tries. Most powerful telepath and telekinetic in the world, but the kid can’t lie for shit. There’s not much point in trying when one of your moms is the freaking Phoenix, and that’s a skill that takes practice he just doesn’t have. 

The three sets of parental eyebrows make a V, judgingly.

“One month of no video games or TV?” Okay, so terrible liar but quick on his feet. At least he knows when he’s beat and jumps straight to trying to shape his own punishment proactively.

“Two months. And no flying lessons either,” Jean says. “And don’t pout at me, young man. You know the rules. No weapons inside the house unless your grandpa Corsair is visitng and we’re too tired to fight him on keeping knives under his pillow. This is a Do As We Say, Not As We Do house. Deal with it. Now, this is going with the others and you can have it back when you’re eighteen.”

It would have been three months, but Jean and Maddy caught a telepathic sniff from Scott. He’s just so proud of his kid thinking so tactically. He’s growing up so fast. Both women mentally roll their eyes. Why is he like this.

“I don’t see what the big deal is anyway,” Nate sulks. “Its just a stupid laser gun. I mean, Uncle Gabe blew up our last house with his brain.” 

“Yes and it was an accident and he feels absolutely terrible about that which is why we’re not going to bring it up when he and Armando come visit this weekend, right?”

“You can have my full compliance for two weeks off my sentence.”

“Or we can have your full compliance or two weeks will be added to your sentence,” Maddy says.

“You guys suck,” declares the ten year old vessel of near unlimited psychic might. He goes to his room, stomping all the way up the stairs so his grievances can be heard even by the House of Snikt next door. Course, they’ve already been listening to the whole thing with their enhanced hearing. There was nothing good on TV. Jimmy made popcorn and chewed with his mouth open just to piss off Daken. 

‘The second Father leaves the room, I am going to stab you in such a slow healing place you’ll still be bleeding at bed time.’ Daken mouths at his little brother from another universe. Jimmy scrunches his face in confusion. 

‘What?’ He mouths back. He’s terrible at reading lips. Or anything that isn’t skateboarding, really. And yet Father’s so happy that ‘at least one of my kids is content with stupid normal stuff and doesn’t go around drawing cover fire just because a mission is going so well its boring and they haven’t even gotten to pop their claws out yet.’

“That’s only because you’ve coddled him. He’s barely ever even been shot at. Just the one time on vacation in Majipoor and he wasn’t even the target, the assassin was aiming for me. If you would just let me take him on a proper outing to gain some real experience - “

“Not gonna happen.” Logan shuts that down real quick.

“Really Father, just look at him. He has zero situational awareness. I’ve been glaring a hole in the back of his head for a full minute now and he has no idea. That could just as easily be an actual laser scope, you know. He’s a disgrace to the whole family.”

“Daken, we’ve been over this,” Logan says firmly. “You have your sisters to bond with over gratuitous violence. Leave your brother alone. I don’t want anyone traumatizing him until trauma finds him all on its own. It’ll happen sooner or later, he’s as much a part of this family as anyone and that means its as good as done already, so there’s no need to hurry it along. If later on he decides he’s got a taste for it, you can take him on all the outings to get shot at that you want. But he’s gotta figure it out for himself first, and he doesn’t need his big brother being the one who introduces him to all that. He idolizes you, you know.”

Daken scoffs. He can’t even get the brat to chew with his mouth closed.

“He cut his hair from that style he liked so much, just because you hated it so much,” Logan says obliviously. Daken nods like he’s conceding the argument and hastens from the room while he can still keep his mouth shut. It won’t benefit anyone at this point to tell their father that Jimmy really only cut his hair because Daken told him he would set it on fire if he didn’t. 

Ugh, families are the worst. Don’t even get him started on Laura stealing some of his clothes to wear without asking. And then has the gall to yell back at him when he yells “Silk! Its the finest cut of silk! Does that mean nothing to you?” at her.

“Oh get over it. Its not like I asked for killer robots to interrupt my date.”

“Of course they were going to interrupt your date with that Julian boy. I keep telling you, he’s a magnet for trouble. I can tell. I’m one too, remember?”

“Fine, whatever, you’re right and I should just expect every date with Julian from now until the end of time to end with fire and disaster.”

“Well now you’re being melodramatic. There’s no way that boy makes it past twenty five. He doesn’t even have a healing factor.”

“Why do you hate him so much anyway? If you’d just give him a chance - “

“What are you talking about? I give him a chance every single time he’s here and I don’t kill him.”

“Ugh, I can’t even talk to you when you’re like this. You always do this, you just decide on something and then you commit to that like the fate of the world depends on you standing firm on what’s usually a completely arbitrary decision in the first place!”

Daken sniffs. “I can assure you, there’s absolutely nothing arbitrary about my disdain for the Keller boy.”

“His name is Julian,” Laura enunciates with a glare.

“I don’t care,” Daken enunciates with an expression of lofty superiority.

“You two are so dumb,” Gabby says from the end of the hallway. They both turn identical glares on her. They’d noticed her arrive several minutes ago but they weren’t about to be distracted from their battle of wills. “Laura, you know Daken isn’t actually going to kill Julian. He doesn’t do that anymore except for really bad people sometimes and he just talks about stabbing people or killing them cuz he thinks he’s funny and then he gets all pissy because nobody ever gets that he doesn’t really mean it. He doesn’t even hate Julian and he used to be fine with him before he started dating you, its just he doesn’t think he’s good enough for you.”

Daken frowns at the petite would-be peacemaker. Meddlesome toddler. “What are you even babbling about? None of that is remotely true.”

Gabby rolls her eyes up at her brother from her much lower height. She taps the side of her nose with emphasis. “You do know we all have the same abilities to smell and analyze scents as you do, right? And you know everything you can tell from peoples’ scent, right? Of course I’m right, I can smell it as clear as anything and so can Jimmy and Dad and we actually all know this and talk about it all the time, and its why Dad never actually gets mad at you for talking about killing people because he can smell you’re saying it just cuz you’re used to saying it but really you’re too marshmallowy on the inside now to do half the stuff you claim you’re gonna do. Hate to break it to you bro, but you’re a closet softie and you’ve been made. The nose doesn’t lie. Only reason Laura doesn’t know it is because you piss her off like its your favorite hobby and its probably impossible for her to smell anything beyond her own scent of Royally Pissed Off.”

Ugh. Meddlesome insightful toddler. Who asked for her intervention anyway? Daken crosses his arms in a way that’s decidedly aloof and not at all sulking.

Laura’s staring at their sister assessingly. “That’s really what you think is going on? And Jimmy and Dad think so too? You’re not just saying all that?”

Gabby bats her eyes up at them. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” Laura says without missing a beat.

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” Daken says dryly, right on her heels.

“For the sake of a candy bar,” Laura adds, because that really did happen.

“Or just boredom, because god forbid you pick up another hobby that isn’t just Chaos.”

“This from the guy who only has fun when there’s blood and bullets flying about,” Gabby fires back from a position of petite petulance.

Daken smirks down at her. “Didn’t you just say I don’t really mean it when I say all of that?”

Gabby narrows her eyes. “Touché. My own words thrown back at me. I am undone.”

“Yes, well - “

Daken’s cut off as Jimmy chooses that moment to walk past them down the hallway to the bathroom. He’s laughing and shaking his head.

“You guys are both so dumb. She plays you like this all the time, and you never see it.”

“Silence, mortal!” Gabby thunders at their brother menacingly. The effect is somewhat diminished by the fact that she can’t hit a baritone note to save her life.

“No, I’m interested in hearing what he has to say,” Daken says coolly. “For once. This is a moment without precedent and one unlikely to occur again, so let’s explore it a bit.”

Jimmy sighs and shakes his head without ever losing that amused smirk. “Had to tack on that last part, didn’t you. Just couldn’t help yourself.”

“I am a faithful student of the Truth,” Daken says, matching his brother smirk for smirk.

“The point, Jimmy?” Laura prods aggressively before that can erupt into a wholly separate thing she wants no part of.

“Oh, right.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Its kinda her thing with you two when you get like this. You pick a fight with Laura, Laura gets pissed off and succumbs to the family curse of Tunnel Vision at the Worst Possible Time, and you both go back and forth endlessly and like you have all the time in the world for your stupid tete a tete, because on account of you both being practically unkillable and immortal, you kinda do and you know it. And then whenever she gets bored of listening to you two, Gabby swoops in and draws both of your attention until you’re both so focused on being annoyed with her you don’t even realize you’re actually side by side agreeing with each other, and she keeps it up just long enough til she’s sure she can just say she’s bored now and just leave the room, leaving you both annoyed and frustrated by a fight you can’t even claim to have won because she really just kinda...left, in the middle of it, and you’re so focused on that, you’ve totally forgotten to be pissed at each other. And by the time you do remember, like, the moment has passed and peace has been returned to the kingdom. Or at least as peaceful as this place ever gets.”

Daken stares at his mistake of a brother in the hopes that if he stalled long enough, his senses would arrive at a different conclusion. But nope. Scents don’t lie, unlike baby sis, apparently. He’s telling the truth. And Daken really does not....care for that conclusion.

Gabby stamps her foot and glares up at their brother.

“You are such a tattletale. I am providing a service, by keeping this family free of these two constantly at each others throats, and how is that service repaid? With betrayal! I hate you, you’re dead to me. Never speak to me again or at least not until I’ve stopped being mad at you, but that could be like ten years or something, I don’t even know right now.”

She draws up to her full height and squares her shoulders as she thunders this Mighty Mouse style at the still laughing Jimmy. Then, seeing she’d yet to make a dent in his armor of amusement and he was failing to take her pronouncement seriously, she punctuated her declaration by spitting on their brother’s shoe. Daken’s eyebrows shoot up again, this time in amusement of his own. Gabby then spins around on her heel and stalks off down the hallway, muttering more dire threats under her breath as she goes, the sound of them nonetheless carrying clearly to three siblings with enhanced hearing of their own. And apparently, little sis could be quite creative. Who knew she’d been hiding such talent?

Jimmy barely even notices; he’s still staring down at his shoe.

“Dude, you spit on me! That’s so not cool.”

“Some things need to be expressed so strongly, mere words will not suffice,” Daken says loftily, savoring a slightly renewed sense of superiority.

One quickly dashed, of course, because apparently he just can’t have anything.

“Bold words from the seventy year old who needed the sixteen year old to clue him in he’s being regularly manipulated by the twelve year old,” Jimmy fires back. As a return volley, its obnoxiously effective, and Daken’s still grinding his teeth and searching for an adequate rejoinder as Jimmy just grins even wider and then strolls off down the hallway as well. Whistling either an absolutely hideous song or else proof that he’s absolutely hideous at whistling. Tough call. With him it could be either.

Daken and Laura both stare after him in silence as he rounds the corner and disappears, leaving only the lingering scent of smugness in his wake. Daken hates the scent of smugness. It has a particularly....cloying feel to it. Well not his of course. But everyone else’s, especially little brothers? Acrid is the only word adequate for that.

“Sometimes I really do want to stab him. Just a little bit. And I’m not even lying,” Daken says. Laura just nods, her own nose scrunched up in distaste as well.

“Honestly? Me too.”

Brother and sister enjoy the rare moment of solidarity.

“You know what’s really bugging me?” Laura says suddenly, still staring off down the hallway. Daken turns an inquiring eye on her, prompting elucidation. She frowns.

“Where the hell did he learn a phrase like tete a tete? I mean. Its Jimmy.”

Daken does know what she means, and frowns as the nagging awareness of that leaps from his sister to himself like memetic chain lightning.

“And he used it correctly. That’s....unexpected.”

“Sometimes I wonder if maybe he’s not as completely airheaded as he pretends, and the fact that he’s got everyone so convinced of that actually means he’s running circles around the rest of us,” Laura says. She shrugs. “Of course, then I have to question everything and who has that kind of time and also the very idea of genius mastermind Jimmy disturbs me on a deeply visceral level. So then I just. Stop doing that.”

Daken nods and sighs. “Sometimes, that’s all you can do.”

“Okay, this is annoying. I kinda still want to fight, but now fighting with you feels kinda anticlimactic. Ugh, siblings are the worst,” Laura declares with a glower. “They ruin everything.”

“On that, we can agree. With allowances for temporary occasions of some of them being bearable,” Daken says. “Some.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve never said to me, big brother,” Laura says lightly. Daken swiftly scowls but she holds up a hand to forestall any rebuttal. “Sorry, don’t mean to ruin the moment. I’m thinking about how else we can put all that frustrated energy to good use. Wanna go pick a fight with the Summers’ kids?”

A slow smile spreads across Daken’s face. “Well now. Finally, a family outing I can get behind. I believe that’s precisely what we need right now. Care to lead the way?”

He still hates her boyfriend, of course, but he supposes he can let that be. 

For now, at least.

[halfemptygirlrps-archive]

Maddie Bishop fucking deserves better

[sebastianshaw]

I'm not really familiar with the characters in your sketches, could you tell me a little about who they are?

Hey sure! Thank you for asking! So, they’re all canon X-Men characters, but the interactions depicted are NOT canon. The reason I call them “Alt-Marauders” is because this cast is my own fanfic-verse alternative to the present “Marauders” comic. It’s pretty much just for fun for me to bounce some characters off each other who don’t get attention anywhere else (and write a Marauders Shaw that I prefer) The slender guy with long-ish black hair is Shinobi Shaw, Sebastian’s son. They’ve been at each other’s throats for like 30 years of comic book history now due to Sebastian’s abuse of him when Shin was just a boy. In current canon, Shinobi is working with his father as Black Bishop to his Black King, and they’re the villains of Marauders. They’re not the antagonists in my Alt-Marauders (not because they’re not both terrible people but because my fics are less “hero vs villain” and more “here’s a bunch of villains and ex-villains and emotional vignettes between them in lieu of actual plot”) but their positions and relationship is the same, just with more spotlight given to their respective psyches. The other skinny guy, the one with the big curly hair, is Pyro aka St. John Allerdyce. He was the flame-controlling member of Mystique’s Brotherhood, now he’s a Marauder, and I liked that and I liked him and I kept him. I try to merge Duggan’s current “chaotic drunk dumbass” characterization of him with his previous canon characterization of being a more level-headed type who also writes Gothic romances, as well as using the original intention of his co-creator John Byrne that he be gay, since I feel bad he never got to be in canon because of when he was created. He’s never interacted with Shaw in current Marauders despite them being IN THE SAME COMIC but they have the most antagonistic relationship of my Alt-Marauders crew. Madelyne Pryor is the lady I draw either with a bob or her hair in a bun. Her history and how badly she was screwed over by her own story is too long and complicated to fully explain here but basically she’s Jean Grey’s clone and she has had a REALLY hard time, and writers consistently keep casting her as a Bitchy Jealous Ex in a skimpy costume LONG after it made any sense. Her entire saga is just de-personalization and loss after loss of agency, identity, her husband, her son, and being made the bad guy for it, and being KEPT the bad guy for it when far less victimized villains got a redemption arc long ago. She just keeps getting fucked and I’m really tired of it. She’s an interesting character, and she deserves to actually BE a character again and not a bundle of misogynistic cliches. She also has a surprisingly positive past with Shaw; they were a romantic item for awhile in the 90s, and he actually was a very good boyfriend to her. She left him because he was doing immoral shit that could hurt other people and MADDIE IS STILL A GOOD PERSON, and while he was bitter about that in the 90s (I mean, you give a girl everything and then one day she’s just gone?) I write him as having gotten over it and they’re amicable exes now. Claudine Renko aka Miss Sinister is the one with straight black hair that I usually draw in a cute little vest’n’pants combo. We don’t know too much about her except that she’s a woman whose body Sinister intended to take over when his own was destroyed, but instead she wound up essentially his female duplicate. She has to fight to retain her own personality and free will though. She’s worked with Shaw before, and she and Madelyne (as well as Shaw) all have pasts in which they had their autonomy violated by Sinister. And I’ve just always wanted to find out more about just who she is, since we never really get to know her and what her story is, beyond that she just wants to survive as herself and not a new body for Sinister. The woman in Indian clothing (saris, anarkalis, etc) with BIIIIG floofy black hair is Haven aka Radha Dastoor. Like Madelyne, she’s a former female villain who didn’t have a choice in it, and got really really badly fucked over by sexist storylines. As an all-compassionate pacifist and a normal human, I feel like she adds a unique aspect to a cast that’s otherwise superpowered and “morally gray/conflicted to downright dubious or worse”...plus I just really love her a lot, she’s my emotional support/comfort character. I feel like she makes a good contrast to Shaw in particular as they have totally opposite philosophies and ways of looking at the world, and yet her intent is to understand him and be understood in turn, rather than just verbally dominating him cuz he’s the bad guy. Haven really just loves everyone, and her interactions with everyone are very tender (except Shaw but that’s because he’s not letting her, SHE’S TRYING) Token morally pure team person! The kiddos are Manon (girl) and Maxime (boy) who weren’t originally supposed to be part of the cast, but ended up slipping in there as lesser characters, along with another kid, Alice. Alice is a teen girl who Claudine cloned with the intention of taking over HER body to escape Sinister, while Manon and Maxime were brainwashed into being mutant-hunters, and while they’ve been rescued, they still have a LOT of fucked-up behavior in terms of how they violate others agency and boundaries with their psychic powers, much like how real-life abused kids may hurt other kids as a symptom of that abuse. Manon and Maxime are current characters in the present New Mutants comics and I look forward to seeing more of them, but Alice is pretty much gone and I always wanted to see more of her. Pretty much everyone on the crew is either a present or former villain, pretty much all of them having been through something horrible and NOT come out better people for it, some did it TO EACH OTHER, they’re mostly NOT“good” victims/survivors, some aren’t even good PEOPLE, and they’re also not characters that have been given much exploration or opportunity to shine or live up to the potential they had in canon. So my intention is to just play around a lot with that, mostly just in my own head but when I have the time/ability I write it down or draw it. It’s really just for me to tell the stories *I* want to see Marvel do, but if other people enjoy that’s great too!

[persephoneofhades]

That hallucination at the end of Season 2 is so frustrating in hindsight because we all saw it as an indication of how important Maddie was to Ben and to the narrative, since it appears to be HER death that spurs Ben to leave Ian to drown.

But we should’ve seen it as a foretelling of how LITTLE Maddie matters to the story, of how LITTLE this show cares about her and her characterization, that they would 100% kill her off if it allowed Bryn to be together. Especially since Ben has not told Maddie about his fears ONCE in this season, that he let Ian die to save HER. It doesn’t matter in Season 3 because she breaks up with him immediately anyway and that was never going to be fixed. The showrunners never WANTED it to be fixed, so having Ben explain to Maddie that he did it, at least in part, for HER, because of how much he loves her, would no longer serve the narrative they want to tell.

[persephoneofhades]

me @ the Siren writers right now

[persephoneofhades]

Dear GOD the whole scene with Ben and Ryn at his place is SO BAD and is so telling about how dysfunctional their relationship is that neither one of them thinks about anyone other than each other while making these decisions.

It makes NO SENSE to dispose of the stem cells like that.

They turned Ben, a FULL BLOWN HUMAN, into someone who can grow gills and webbed hands in the water.

WHY WOULD YOU NOT GIVE THEM TO ROBB? REMEMBER ROBB? THE MERMAN WHO STAYED ON LAND TOO LONG TRYING TO CLEAN THE OCEAN AND NOW CANNOT TRANSFORM BACK INTO A MERMAN? MAYBE HE COULD USE SOMETHING LIKE THIS???

Neither of them is taking into account that Ryn and Maddie are STILL TOGETHER. This was established JUST last episode in the cabin, why would Ryn NOT include Maddie in the discussion about whether she’s going to stay on land or not?

And while Ryn certainly is allowed her choice as to whether she will become human or stay mermaid, her staying on land WITH HOPE takes that choice away from Hope FOREVER. And what about Ryn’s tribe? They’re DECIMATED and they need their Alpha now more than ever, neither of them even brings them up and what would happen to the tribe if Ryn just... abdicated her role as Alpha.

They are both being SO incredibly selfish in this scene, it’s INSANE.

And it goes against Ryn’s whole philosophy, the whole message this show has been preaching, that the land and sea don’t HAVE to be divided and in fact SHOULD be connected for the betterment of all. The whole scene, the whole EPISODE, acts like the situation is entirely black and white: either one of them has to give up their home to be together or neither do and the relationship ends. This show has never been about black and white scenarios, it just hasn’t.

[persephoneofhades]

I know they needed a way to explain why Dale wasn’t going to come back on the show and killing a character is obviously the cleanest way to do it, but COME ON THIS IS SO SAD AND YOU’VE ALREADY DONE MADDIE SO DIRTY THIS SEASON WHY WOULD YOU MAKE THIS THE SOLUTION.

WE HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN HIM THIS SEASON TO GIVE HIM A PROPER GOODBYE.