#there is so much to discuss So Very Much

[lovecanbesostrange]

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #178 (1983) writer: Chris Claremont penciler: John Romita, Jr. inkers: Bob Wiacek & Brett Breeding

X-Men Blue: Origins (2023) writer: Si Spurrier artists: Wilton Santos (w/ Oren Junior, inks) & Marcus To color artist: Ceci De La Cruz

One thing that is canon in the 616 is the fact that Mystique took Rogue in and raised her as her daughter. The details on this have been vague, we have had different versions of their first meeting and we do not talk about the exact age of characters for various reasons.

Over the years Rogue and Mystique clashed a lot of times. Often depending on how far Mystique was on the villain scale and what twisted goal she was currently after. UXM #177 had her train in Murderworld against X-bots to kill them all, including Rogue herself, just to see if she could do it to get her daughter back. Because she was convinced that Professor Xavier had brainwashed her. Murder as means to an end is part of her charm.

Yet the confrontation in #178 makes it clear that Rogue chose to seek out help from the X-Men. It is her choice. For her own good. Because Mystique could not help her with the lack of control of her powers. But this is very much a mother-daughter conversation. "Mother knows best", well until she doesn't.

The thing I love about that moment from 40+ years ago - one of the earliest close-ups of this family relationship - is that Rogue never denies Mystique that role. She is her mother. And she was there to fight away nightmares. Once upon a time Rogue felt safe and protected. And it's so nice to see how the one-shot from 2023 runs with that. To give us a nice beginning.

"When Ah was a kid -- 'fore Ah developed mah power -- Ah remember you holdin' me, protectin' me from the badness an' nightmares."

Those panels from the Origin story make me believe in all of that. And oh the heartbreak from the moment Rogue's power did manifest and Mystique would no longer hold her like that. Afraid of her own daughter. Exquisite angst that was brushed off too often.

Also shown: Raven draws a gun on Irene. She is ready to shoot anybody, including people she loves. That's established. She does in fact shoot Rogue in the back at one point: in true Mystique fashion though it comes with the "for her own good"-thinking. Because Mystique has a plan that in the end does actually help Rogue. That's the best twisted part of it all. It's very important that from Mystique's POV her love for Rogue as her daughter is never in question. While for Rogue there are some complications in the mix (because Mystique absolutely did use her specifically for her power and pushed her into a life of crime and hate, the usual). So much to unpack and with the different writers going for different angles - often a bit too much abuse and not enough "it's complicated". But I really like putting these two moments - decades and decades apart - together for a little feeling of continuity.

[chimerafeathers]

i really love how intensely Mirabelle reacts to act 5 Siffrin botched friendquest.

Isabeau is mostly operating out of concern and, eventually, hurt. he already knows something’s up before Siffrin gets to him. he knows something truly awful must be wrong for Siffrin to be lashing out like they are, and as soon as he can’t handle the situation anymore, he leaves and asks (with strained cheer) for time apart to cool off.

most of Bonnie’s anger comes from being upset and afraid that Siffrin would willingly put themself in danger for no reason, when that’s exactly why they’ve been so unsettled since the eye incident. they hate that Siffrin values their own life so little, they hate that they’re the cause of any pain or loss for him, and here he is, putting himself in that situation AGAIN. on purpose. it’s loud and explosive, but it’s familiar, too, being “hated” by Bonnie for this reason.

Odile pushes, and keeps pushing, until her concern overwhelms Siffrin and they strike where they know she’s most vulnerable. she gets physical, just for a moment, grabbing his collar before controlling herself and letting go. her fury shuts down into cold detachment, and she walks away.

but Mirabelle—dear, sweet, gentle, loving Mirabelle, “the most wonderful being on earth,” with her secret “ruthless side” that largely involves lightly badmouthing people behind their backs and then apologizing—slaps them. immediately.

and then COMPLETELY RENOUNCES THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

not just “we’re not friends anymore,” but “we were never friends in the first place.”

that’s!!! pretty extreme!!!!

of course, she ALSO starts by asking what’s wrong. something must have happened for him to act like this. but as soon as Siffrin brushes her off, she jumps past that line of questioning and dives headfirst into re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about them as a a person.

if he could say something like that to her and not see anything wrong with it, then she was wrong to treat him as a friend, wrong to read camaraderie into his teasing, wrong to think they must care about them all under their aloof demeanor.

that’s how Mirabelle phrases it—“I was wrong about you”—but i think that there’s a hidden layer of I was right about you, too.

she talks about the way they tease her like she had to convince herself that he was doing it in a friendly way. she says they talk like they “know better than her” like that’s a thought she’s had for a LONG time.

“Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!”

none of this comes across as a new, sudden way to view Siffrin for her. it doesn’t shock or confuse her. it makes her angry, defensive, almost like she was waiting for something like this to happen at some point. the feeling of resentment, frustration, jealousy, being patronized and condescended to—this is something she’s been actively pushing down and rejecting this entire time, but they’ve given her ample reason for it all to boil to the surface. violently.

Mirabelle’s kindness is not inherent or easy. it’s a choice she’s making. she treats Siffrin warmly because she gives him the benefit of the doubt—refusing to act based on anxiety-fueled, cynical speculation, and reassuring herself that his actions are driven by care and friendship even if she can’t quite see it.

“I was wrong about you” doesn’t mean she always and without question believed them to be a fundamentally kind, caring person from the beginning—it’s that her first, colder instincts were right, and she was wrong to convince herself otherwise.

never mind that she asked what was wrong at first. she barely gives them time to speak in their own defense, to explain what they really meant by what they said. all of her suppressed doubts and frustrations are getting aired out now, now that all the trust she’d so deliberately placed in him has been betrayed. her pain feels bigger than this singular moment, so when she hurts him back, she makes sure it extends back through the entirety of their relationship for him, too.

“You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.”

like the others, she goes back to the clocktower and tells Siffrin not to come back until later. but there’s a finality to the way she ends this confrontation that isn’t quite there with the others. Isabeau and Odile reach their breaking point and remove themselves from the situation, asking for space to cool off but still somewhat leaving the door open for Siffrin to tell them what’s really going on at some point. Mirabelle is the only one who tries to fully cut ties—after everything else she says, her “I don’t want to see you until tonight” reads to me somewhat as “I don’t want to see you anymore unless I have to.”

I can’t wait to never see you again.

even back at the clocktower, Mirabelle doesn’t really defend Siffrin’s place in the party when Odile suggests leaving them behind out of concern for their trustworthiness on the most important day of the journey. Isabeau and Bonnie protest out of sentimentality and faith in Siffrin’s abilities and connection to them, and Mirabelle agrees, but…

“I agree, but... B-But would he even agree to come with us, still? Maybe they won't even come back tonight...”

she doesn’t say much outside of that. maybe the stutter and hesitation here are signs of regret about how things happened, but she lacks Isabeau and Bonnie’s confidence that Siffrin even wants to come back to them in the first place. she doesn’t trust that their bond was real anymore. maybe it never was in the first place, or maybe she broke whatever was there herself.

and she’s still mad when they finally catch up to Siffrin at the King! and she makes sure Siffrin knows that—after saving them, assuring him that he no longer needs to fight, that they’re all there for him. she still cares, of course she still cares—she’s still hurt, too, but they can figure that part out once there’s less world-ending stuff going on.

she’s the first to say that they all reserve the right to still be angry at Siffrin later—and that they’ve already forgiven him.

she’s also the first to say we want to stay with you, too. it’s not just you.

she was wrong! she thought they didn’t care but they care so much, it’s overwhelming, it’s world-ending.

i think she’s gonna be wallowing in guilt post-canon the moment she remembers what she said and did TO SIFFRIN and not just what Siffrin said to her. especially now that she knows Siffrin’s exact hangups, and especially especially if she figures out what Siffrin was trying to say.

they put themself through hell out of loneliness and fear that none of the others cared about him the way he cared about them, he was going insane from repetition and exhaustion and hunger and trying to keep them all safe and together, and all they did in the midst of all that was say something kind of mean to her one time (that turned out to not even be MEANT to be mean it was supposed to be HELPFUL they just SAID IT ALL WRONG) and she SLAPPED THEM? and told him that they WEREN’T FRIENDS AT ALL??? how could she!!! she should have known better!! what they said hurt a lot but still!!!

so when they eventually manage to try to talk about it, they end up almost in, like, a guilt competition.

Mirabelle apologizing for how she reacted, that she shouldn’t have yelled or hit him, that she doesn’t want to be the kind of person who acts that way out of anger and she’s sorry that she made Siffrin expect that reaction from her, she should have known better and believed in him more and they only messed up like that because they were losing their mind in a time loop but what’s HER excuse—

and Siffrin going nononono stop I deserved it—(HUH DON’T SAY THAT NO YOU DIDN’T)—and that he should never have said such awful things to her, ever, and she was under so much pressure already with the weight of the country and everyone’s lives and futures and her religion and their whole party counting on her to do this impossible task because she’s the only one who can, all this unbearable expectation and hope crushing her, and they KNEW that but they thought they could skip to the ending as though her feelings didn’t matter at all, like helping her wasn’t as important as saving a little time—

until they’re just. in tears together, apologizing for all the horrible things they did in between complimenting each other’s strength and kindness and resilience and how much they admire each other and saying that no, everything you did was completely understandable, actually, the only one who sucks here is me. which neither of them will accept coming from the other!!

they’re so similar, in ways they couldn’t really understand, before.

warm, affectionate, perfect Mirabelle, the resolute hero, a beacon of compassion and hope for all those around her, who wears her heart on her sleeve, her fear making her courage shine all the brighter—nothing like the insignificant, forgettable Siffrin, too terrified to be known, too fragile to touch, too selfish and disgusting to bear letting go.

cool, mysterious, unflappable Siffrin, the worldly traveler, as charming and silly as they are confident and skilled, who brushed off losing an eye like it was nothing, accepting the risks of this journey with barely more than a shrug—nothing like the anxious, stagnant, undeserving Mirabelle, a fraud and a nobody crumbling under the weight of a mission too important to be entrusted to someone like her, doubting herself, doubting her friends, doubting her mentor, doubting her faith, too weak and brittle to bend and change the way the world needs her to without breaking.

not worth bothering others with their problems. they should be able to handle this alone. stay positive, stay calm. breathe in, and out.

they’ll struggle with it, still—the hiding, the minimizing—but now, they understand each other a little better. they can hold each other accountable for what they leave unsaid.

it’ll get easier, eventually. they have plenty of time.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

News spreads fast.

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[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[pwhale6]

your lips my lips apocalypse

set in aziraphale's bookshop where they talked about the antichrist and got drunk af

also used "the kiss" by malcolm t. liepke as a reference cause it screams aziracrow

[jabberwockprince]

swings a pocket watch in front of you. oohhh you want to learn about afflatus. you want to understand the ecological cycle between them explained in the early stages of the game and the themes they represent. mineral and plant referring to community and groups vs beast and star referring to isolation and the individual. ohhhh you want to look into them. you want to understand the differences between how mineral refers to the solid systems and traditions and unmovable concepts that rule this world, manmade or not vs how plant refers to the everchanging adapting systems found in nature that inherently belong in this world

ohhhh yes you want to understand that the beast afflatus refers to the underdog's fight against an environment that doesnt allow space for them vs the star afflatus isolation of being singled out due to a trait or talent that sets you apart from your environment. hence why beast is weak against mineral (its an individual at disadvantage vs an entire system that works against them) and why mineral is weak against star (its the established rules and traditions vs the trailblazing genius that can topple societies. and why star is weak against plant (its the revolutionary against the rules of nature that states everything must change, you are not special for causing change) and why plant is weak against beast (its the harmony of a community being destroyed from inside by an individual seeking something for themselves)

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you want to study in-game details and analyze them to see the full picture of a character you want to understand that dikke is not a cruel judge because her incantations are attack and heal and they both have flavor text that differentiates between justice for those who need it and the abuse of power. because shes not heartless nor strictly cold, shes attempting to make a difference from inside a corrupt system.

ohhhhh you want to understand that pavia is not a broken person who is touchstarved for community because he has made himself his own community as seen with his incantations and gamemode that highlights he's much happier doing whatever the fuck he wants on his own without restraint. ohhhhhhh you want to understand the reason 37 and regulus butt heads so much is because they're two sides of the star afflatus experience, but both of them are equally as smart and equally as valid as geniuses in their own righ

o hhhhhhhhh you want to understand that afflatus refers to the experiences someone goes through and explains why they are like this as people, hence why life changing explanations can change your afflatus and this is why kakania was INTELLECT in 1.7 but she became PLANT in 1.9 in the main story oooooooooooooooooo

edit: hi if you got this far and you think this is interesting consider checking the beginning of my afflatus analysis here on my writing blog!

[turtleblogatlast]

I think a lot about Leo standing up for his brothers in the things that really matter to them.

Like- Leo is the one who immediately pushes Mikey and Donnie into finding Raph the second it’s clear that their oldest brother is missing because he knows Raph can’t handle being separated like that.

Leo is the one who stands up for Mikey when Mikey wants to go on a solo mission, actively vouching for him and being the one to convince Raph into letting Mikey go, because being independent and proving himself just as capable of standing on his own two feet as everyone else means so much to Mikey.

And Leo defends Donnie’s honor in particular when his brothers’ intelligence is insulted because Leo is well aware of how important Donnie’s smarts are to him - and how important having those smarts valued and acknowledged is as well.

All this goes right into just how well Leo knows his brothers. For as much as he’ll tease or fight with them, he knows them, and he loves them.

[bvckbiter]

fandom talks too little about hylla and reyna. reyna killed her father when she thought he'd killed hylla. hylla dragged them out of puerto rico and found them sanctuary and employment on circe's island AND became one of circe's favorites. then when they got captured by blackbeard hylla also got them out of that situation by out-pirating literal immortal pirates. then in a span of three years, they split up, found their own ways to the amazons and cj, and became the leaders of their respective factions. when hylla's queenship was being threatened by otrera in son, she plotted a counter-coup and defeated an amazon queen who couldn't die two nights in a row in one-on-one combat, THEN led her cavalry to camp jupiter. (ik this woman slept like a corpse for a week afterwards). hylla used reyna as an absolutely ruthless bait-and-switch to capture orion, and all reyna said in response to that was, "bet." reyna carries insurmountable amounts of both guilt and gratitude towards her sister. even though they havent seen each other in a while, hylla still drops everything and does everything in her power to save her baby sister when she knows reyna needs her.

[lizzibennet]

my favorite line in the barbie movie was “we’re going back for my doll” like i felt that so so deeply. it’s about the inherent connection a little girl has to her most beloved doll and the abject horror of realizing u accidentally left her behind somewhere. like u do not know what else is happening and do not care if it’s inconvenient you ARE coming back for that doll. similarly it’s about being an adult and feeling so lost and dejected and remembering when the world was yours to invent, yours to build, yours to take - all you needed was that little doll and you were set and it all seemed so simple and magical. it’s about reminiscing and realizing little you knew so, so much, she understood a lot you seem to be struggling with rn. it’s about coming back for and to little you. it’s about waving to the little girl you once were and being kind to her and asking what does she have to share with you today and tucking her in and knowing with absolute certainty what she knew back then: no matter what else is happening, no matter where you are, where you’ve gone, where she is, you are going back for that fucking doll, simply because you must

[graceofgondor]

hot take time!!

i've heard a lot of people say that todd gets mischaracterized in that people start blending ethan's personality with him to make him goofier or whatever, including like the deleted cave scene and whatnot.

but the thing to me is like, that is his character though—if you know what I mean. at that point in the story, it's evident he's come out of his shell a bit, he's gained some confidence, and more importantly, he feels like he fits in with the other boys. this is like SUPER evident the night of the play, he's messing around with them when they're getting ready, he's super duper excited to see neil, i mean—he's comfortable.

i think because it all gets taken away so quickly and BECAUSE we don't see that cave scene and his poem after the play, it just cuts so quickly to neil having died and a somewhat reversion to his previous self (albeit NOT entirely because he wouldn't have stood on the desk at the end if he didn't have an arc) people forget how much he had really opened up.

obviously, yes, neil was a huge part of it, and losing him made todd falter for SURE, especially beyond anyone else. but i think his arc is WHY that was so detrimental. neil (with the aid of mr keating as well) showed him the joys of opening up, of standing up for the inherent fact that you believe you should. so of course, that person that showed him everything being gone so suddenly would cut deep—but it doesn't mean that he hadn't changed, it doesn't mean he lost that will to stand, because he still did.

so to me, that little part of the story where he's almost extroverted in a sense, goofing around with the other boys, happy for neil, reading his own poem aloud, etc. is where he was more of himself than he had ever been, at least in a long time.

obviously i haven't psycho-analyzed todd's character nearly as much as some of the others, but that's how i see it. it's another case of, again, both lack of denouement and over-generalization by the fandom when it comes to the character, which creates that perception.

[terrorbirb]

I honestly think we should consider adding "anti-intersex" to "anti-trans legislation". I think intersex people are explicitly also the target as much as trans people. Hormones save lives for trans people, but they also do for intersex people? If I do not have access to hormones for my condition I would bleed out and literally perish. Like I understand how "biological gender is only male or female" hurts trans people, but I don't understand why it's not said that it hurts intersex people as well? I feel like intersex people are just a "gotcha" to conservatives and not seriously considered past that.

[lgbtlunaverse]

Most annoying NMJ or JC take is when someone that dislikes them is like "oh you're a fan of him? *scoff* Well obviously you've only seen cql, where he was super watered down. In the novel he's a dislikable asshole and that's the objectively superior canon I'm working from instead of your woobified fanfic." Meanwhile your main canon is novel canon and you genuinely find novel Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue complex sympathetic characters.

[codenameregnar]

Not to be too gushy and take silly gay aliens too seriously, but the fact that I get to type the phrase 'canon Garashir' is so powerful. Especially after decades of two very clearly queer characters being denied their personhood and forced to fit into a heteronormative mold that was so clearly ill fitting, all for the sake of the comfort of bigots. It's such a win and it is more gratifying than I can put to words. And the fact that they're allowed to be happy and comfortable and get to contribute in such meaningful ways withing their lives. It really does feel like every queer and neuro-divergent person who ever saw themselves in such rich and complex characters is now getting told "We really do see all of you. And you deserve a happy ending too."

[somegrumpynerd]

Actually it turns out I had more thoughts about that post that I forgot about lol

Would Nightmare actually give up his boys? Yes and no

If it was just a black and white situation of they're miserable, they don't wanna be here, they have somewhere better to be, then yes. He would leave them out to wherever they needed to be despite his own feelings and very quickly realise afterwards just how much he'd gotten used to the noise and company. I think he would get a little clingy with Dream about it, which I'm sure Dream would find very weird after everything but not unwelcome, he did miss his brother after all.

(If he couldn't attach himself to Dream's side for whatever reason, I think he might just sit in his castle and go insane. Or maybe he'd just spend all day at Ccino's trying really hard to project that he just likes the atmosphere and isn't lonely as hell)

But the thing is, most of them don't have somewhere better to be. Horror has his au, and Nightmare would keep up the supply of food even if Horror said he wanted to quit at this point, so he would understandably let him return home. Killer, Dust and Cross effectively don't have aus anymore though, and they tend to get into self-destructive habits when they're left to their own devices. (Obviously bringing Color and Epic into the mix to make sure Killer and Cross are taken care of eases matters, but Dust doesn't really have any friends outside their group he could go stay with - that Nightmare knows about at least).

The flipside of this is that his boys may not necessarily want to be given up. I think if Nightmare got really in his head about this he could easily end up convinced this is the right thing to do without ever asking them if it's what they want, with potentially terrible results. He's established such a pattern of always returning to find Killer when they get seperated, that if he never showed up Killer might just keep sitting there and waiting for him greyfriar's bobby style, refusing to leave because he's certain his boss is coming back.

[hopeinthebox]

bts + reductress headlines pt.12

[drenched-in-sunlight]

saying this as respectfully as possible but. Do not put fandom content creators on a pedestal. We are also just fans contributing to a community just as you are. We have boundary on our own work and that’s it. What I say is not and should not be considered sth the whole fandom should listen to. I’m just a normal ass person ranting about things on my blog. If it does not have a fandom tag for others to engage in, do not make it out to be me trying to start fights or addressing the whole community. Because it’s not.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, my art, my lore talk, is biased. I’ve never tried to hide that I view Marika a certain way and will always develop my theory following that base assumption.

Aside from translation stuffs and pointing out in-game items, everything else I say you can look at it, agree or disagree, and move on to form your own opinions. Just because I draw stuffs doesn’t mean you get to saddle me with responsibilities about managing fandom expectations. What the hell? I’m a fan artist, I’m the last person who you should look at for “leaderism” (?) WHAT?

I can and will be a hater in my own space, like I know sometimes other artists will just post their stuffs and not engage too heavily with fandom, and for a while I did try to do that here (because I’m already a dramatic ass on twitter), that’s just not me though.

You will get art and you will get my opinions as well.