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bimboficationblues · 5 months

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One Piece in Review, Part 2: Into the Grand Line (Ch. 42-100)

Welcome back to my One Piece reread review. In this part, we'll be covering the rest of the East Blue saga: Baratie [ch. 42-68], Arlong Park [ch. 69-95], and Loguetown [ch. 96-100]. Previous parts can be found here: Part 1 [1-41].

A number of major shifts happen in this segment of the story and it's for this reason that I think it's one of my favorite parts. At the conclusion of Syrup Village, our protagonists graduated from unnamed, utilitarian ships to their own caravel, the Going Merry, which allows them to be intentional about where they're heading. They also adopt a symbol, the skull and crossbones topped with Luffy's signature straw hat, which foretells how they'll eventually be dubbed the Straw Hat Pirates.

The creation of a flag and the addition of a ship with personality means that they now genuinely have something like a group identity, which is going to be tested quickly. And the increased size of the ship corresponds to the scope of the conflicts and world they're going to be involved in from here on out. As such, I think this segment of the story is a marked improvement along the dimensions of conflict, characterization, and scope. The main thrust of this story segment is getting the crew ready to enter the next phase of their journey - the Grand Line.

Villains/Conflicts:

Starting with the Baratie arc, the pattern established in the first three arcs - go to a new locale, confront a local villain while pursuing specific goals, recruit a new member - starts getting shaken up in unique ways or shifts away from that formula. For instance, after adding the ship's cook Sanji, the group's membership will not increase for about 80 chapters. In general, recruitment will become a lot more sparse throughout the remainder of the series, solidifying a central cast for the time being.

Also in Baratie we find a slightly more complex struggle at work. The main villain, Don Krieg, is in the unfortunate position of being sandwiched between two of the stronger early villains of One Piece, Captain Kuro and Arlong. He's something of a redundant character, repeating both Morgan and Kuro's respective traits of "belief in rank as strength" and "utilizing deception and underhanded tactics to advance his goals." He does have some good foil aspects, inverting Zoro's willingness to recognize a loss as such and Sanji's fundamental gratitude for what others have done for him. But what Krieg really does is give us 1) a rival in pursuit of the One Piece, and 2) an insight into the terrors of the Grand Line, explaining that he lost nearly his entire massive crew and fifty ships within one week there. It's a good way of setting the stakes in anticipation of finally making the voyage into this now repeatedly-teased part of the world.

In the prelude to the typical showdown between Luffy and Krieg, the figure of Dracule Mihawk comes in to basically disrupt the whole formula and tell everyone that these little backwater spats in the East Blue are not going to last, and we're not even *close* to the ceiling of how far things can escalate. Mihawk, while an antagonist, also isn't quite a villain: he basically shows up to fuck with the Krieg pirates like Bugs Bunny tormenting the opera singer, and only gets into a conflict with the Straw Hats when Zoro does something extremely, extremely dumb prideful. This is also kind of an upset, since it sees Zoro making a stab (ha) at his dream at a surprisingly early point. But the gulf between where the crew is at now, and where they need to end up, ends up being demonstrably enormous.

Though Krieg is a middling villain, the combined threat of him and Mihawk gives the Baratie arc its central thesis: willpower as its own kind of might. Luffy's battle against Krieg demonstrates how far willpower can take you, while Zoro's fight with Mihawk demonstrates that it's not sufficient without the force to substantively back it up. It also contrasts Zoro quite directly with Krieg, in that the latter persistently refuses to recognize when he's lost, while the former accepts defeat and (when given the opportunity to do so) learns from it, a lesson that will be necessary for taking the Grand Line seriously.

The titular antagonist of the next arc, Arlong, on the other hand, is an all-time great One Piece villain both for his place in the story now, and the long-term implications of his character as the story unfolds. The central conflicts of Arlong Park are about money, trust, and race. That last is probably the least substantively interesting right now, but becomes really fascinating later on. Arlong presents himself and his crew as "the master race," but in reality they come from a population that is socially subjected. But at this juncture of the story, we have a straightforward story about tributary exploitation. The sheer brutality of how Arlong treats the local humans he's extorting is unrivaled by anything prior to this, leaving lasting physical and psychological scars on the people. Since Arlong and his crew are explicitly presented as being products of the Grand Line, it really adds to the menace of that place.

Structurally, Arlong Park is also one of the most interesting of the early One Piece arcs, essentially split into two halves. The first is figuring out what's going on with Nami, why she's acting hostile to the others and why she's seemingly allied herself with Arlong, and reuniting the crew after a separation. This segment finds the group wheeling and dealing and clawing their way out of trouble, narrowly evading destruction by Arlong, as Nami in turn tries to push them away protectively while still preserving her plan and goals. After Nami's backstory is revealed, the story shifts into a more intense, battle-packed segment, with each Straw Hat confronting their own opponent for the first time, except for Nami, who stands alongside her community in support. They all work as a unit to overcome their opponents, learning more about how they interact and rely on each other. It has some of the genuinely most exciting and emotionally impactful storytelling in shonen manga that I've ever read.

The final arc of the East Blue saga, Loguetown, is one of many transitional arcs in the series (along with later arcs like Jaya, Long Ring Long Land, Amazon Lily, Zou, and the two "Post-" epilogue arcs). While these transitional arcs usually have their own conflicts, they are largely playing setup for upcoming ones. Loguetown is no exception, but it's the briefest of the bunch. A few key points:

Luffy gets his first bounty, 30 million beri. This is a big deal - while a lot of One Piece fans treat bounties like they represent power levels, they actually represent a social relationship between a pirate (or just an enemy of the government in general) and the World Government. With Luffy's bounty exceeding all of those he defeated so far in the East Blue, it illustrates that he's considered a substantive, if not huge, threat, and a sociopolitical indicator that he is ready for the Grand Line.

We get to see the place where the Pirate King died, but not only that, where he inaugurated a new historical epoch. This ties in heavily to another constant theme of One Piece, the idea of an inherited will: Luffy is nearly executed, and behaves in the exact same way that Gold Roger did when he was about to be executed. Visiting this place right before entering the next part of the sea suggests that Luffy is kind of picking up the spirit of Roger and starting his own legend from here on out.

We get the introduction of Captain Smoker, who is the first Marine in the series that isn't either a total bastard or a total incompetent, but remains an antagonistic force to the Straw Hats. This is used to plant the seed of different ideologies and conflict within the Marines as an institution. Smoker will be in pursuit of the Straw Hats throughout the next saga.

We get essentially the first taste of the Grand Line and what it's like: lots of Devil Fruit powers, new and strange technology, strong marine and pirate presence, major challenges, and the hint of deeper intrigue with the arrival of Dragon, who rescues Luffy from Smoker.

It's also in this series of arcs that I think we actually start to see Luffy and the crew meaningfully get challenged in terms of strength and ability. In previous situations, it was only contrivance or mistakes that got Luffy and the crew into trouble. But Krieg, while a blowhard, is definitely still a threat, whose unpredictability presents a serious challenge to Luffy (as does the environment in which they fight, as this is the first time we really get to see Luffy at risk from the tradeoff of the Devil Fruit). Arlong and his fishmen are the biggest threat that the whole crew has confronted so far, shown to be capable of upending entire villages. As fishmen, and former subordinates of a famous Grand Line pirate, they're also specifically denoted as products of the Grand Line, so confronting and successfully defeating them is an illustration of the fact that the Straw Hats are, at last, ready to enter that segment of the sea. And of course, Smoker and Mihawk outclass all of them easily for now, reminders that there is a long way to go.

Characterization:

Because of the increasing intensity and danger of the conflicts here, we get a lot more opportunities in this segment to see the Straw Hats develop and grow. In the first three arcs that I covered in the last post, the Straw Hats are visibly forming connections with each other; for instance, you can see it in the relaxed poses that Luffy and Usopp have around each other or the way the whole group drinks together. But it's only after the events of Baratie and especially Arlong Park that they begin to cohere as a group, rather than a bunch of individuals with their own self-interested goals that point in approximately the same direction. (I say "begin" because this is, as ever, a long game.)

Small or quiet character moments that were scattered throughout the previous three arcs start paying off, most notably for Nami in Arlong Park, but also for Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp. So, let's take them one by one (minus Zoro - I think I've exhausted what I have to say about him for the moment in the section on Mihawk above).

Usopp: Usopp doesn't get a lot to do in Baratie, mostly cowering on the sidelines with some minor character work, but in Arlong Park he basically has a miniature character arc which, in turn, sets up his long-term character arc. At its start, he's on some of his worst behavior, ditching Zoro potentially to die; while he has his heroic moments trying to protect Nojiko and Genzo from the Arlong crew's wrath, he repeatedly demonstrates having a somewhat blinkered view of the world, ranging from both the small (snide remarks about tattoos) to the big (his quickness to write Nami off and tendency to act rashly). It reveals a character that is struggling to understand his place in the world and the crew. At his lowest moment, when he's faked a death so that the Fishman Pirate he's fighting will leave him alone, he starts comparing himself to his crewmates, and their determination and willingness to put themselves on the line for each other.

At its conclusion, we finally get to see him stand on his own two feet (literally, since Zoro had to carry him during Syrup Village) in order to defeat a powerful opponent. We also really get to see him as a fighter, which is essentially a kind of guerilla-style, improvisational, hit-and-run approach, making him stand out within the crew's battle dynamics.

Luffy: I think Luffy sometimes gets regarded as a static or at least simplistic character, especially since what his Damage is doesn't get fully exposed until right before the timeskip. But what Luffy is going through in the first half of the series is the process of learning what it is to be a captain, and how to apply his philosophy of life to the process of leadership. This is illustrated by how he is contrasted against the various captains of other crews throughout the East Blue.

At the core of Luffy's character is an ideal of freedom. When Luffy inspires other people through his convictions and dedication to his dream of becoming Pirate King, there's certainly a typical shonen "power of friendship" vibe to it, fitting for the Romantic idealism (centered around willpower and emotions) that governs the logic of One Piece. But I think it's worth noting that Luffy usually removes obstacles in people's paths towards realizing the things they care about, rather than trying to impose his beliefs and choices onto them, or directly "liberate" them. One of the first things he did on his journey is liberate Coby, an enslaved child - not by first defeating his master, but by inspiring him to overcome the mental barriers that were preventing him from pursuing his goals. Free your mind and your ass will follow.

It's a recurrent element that Luffy basically does not give a shit about his friends' personal histories, and those histories are almost always presented through extended memory sequences (basically the character's internal thoughts) rather than literal explanations to other characters. Even in the rare instance where that isn't the case, like when Nojiko explains her sister Nami's personal history to Sanji, Usopp, and an unconscious Zoro, Luffy deliberately opts out. That's in part because, although *readers* need that information to give context and pathos to the characters, Luffy really doesn't. Luffy wants his friends to be able to live as they desire and that means moving forward, not back; the past, at a certain point, becomes another obstacle to pursuing one's dreams.

All four of the other main characters get inspired by the way Luffy acts and comports himself towards them in some way during this section of the story.

He disallows interference in Zoro's duel with Mihawk, but puts himself on the line after Zoro loses, demonstrating that he doesn't *just* care about his own dream but also Zoro's. This is where Zoro's loyalty to Luffy really cements, in his proclamation that he will never lose again and that Luffy is going to be the Pirate King.

He inspires Sanji to pursue his dreams by showing what it looks like to live life without regrets and to consistently put yourself on the line for your convictions, something Sanji is already familiar with but hesitant to fully embrace - and shows that sometimes causes seem more impossible than they actually are.

When Nami is at her lowest, darkest point, Luffy remains steadfast, even as she screams at him and tries to drive him away - and when, in a moment of peak vulnerability, she asks for his help and puts her trust in him out of desperation, he recognizes the pain she's been through and how hard it is for her to do so. In turn he gives her his hat to show that the relationship of trust is mutual: they can depend on each other, it is not weakness or a guaranteed loss of security.

But also, Luffy is learning from them, in a way. He's learning how to be their leader.

Nami: It's only in Arlong Park that we start to understand exactly what kind of strain Nami is under, but there have been hints leading up to it. I mean, look at this face:

Those are the eyes of a tired woman.

Nami's whole life has been governed by money. As a child she didn't have enough of it, it was simultaneously a source of strain on her relationship with her sister and mother and an aspiration to make her dream of mapping the world possible. Then, upon the arrival of Arlong, money is the thing that tears their family apart: Bellemere doesn't have enough to pay tribute for herself and her daughters, so she makes a calculated maternal sacrifice to preserve their well-being. This was an unqualifiedly kind thing to do, but the tragic irony is that in doing so, Nami was opened up to abuse and enslavement by Arlong, who makes use of her natural talents at map-making and sets her a "task": if she can gather 100 million beri for him, she can free herself and her village.

Nami learns a variety of lessons from this course of events. Her money-lust is one - because money, in her mind, offers a guarantee of safety and security, that the things you really value won't be taken away from you. But the others are: relying on people you love will only get them killed, and if you just persist, if you just maintain the will to keep going and survive, eventually you will be free. The combination of these lessons lead her to repeatedly reject the Straw Hats from helping her or letting them into her burden. Nami believes in her own, constant self-sacrifice. While the substantive conflict of Arlong Park is about defeating the evil pirate lording over innocent villagers, the thematic and structural conflict is for Nami to learn that she doesn't have to hold onto these beliefs.

There are some complaints that circulate about how Nami doesn't take an active role in the final fight. Given Oda's inconsistent habit of sidelining female characters from the action (and it is inconsistent), I understand the concern. But I actually really like this choice in this case. Because Nami has been fighting. For eight years she has scraped her way towards freedom, getting shot and risking imprisonment or death and serving someone who could and would crush her sister's skull on a whim if he wanted to. She banked everything on a plan that gave her a semblance of control, that wouldn't require her to ask for help because doing so would just get people she cares about killed. And when it turns out that the plan can be disrupted by corruption and half-truths, she breaks. Her footing has been pulled out from underneath her, so now she has to take a leap of faith, and put her trust in others.

At the end of it all, she has a scar from where Arlong's tattoo was on her. Arlong influenced her deeply, for good and ill, and it's impossible to let go of that history entirely. But in the process she forges a new tattoo: a pinwheel and a tangerine, symbols of her mother and her community leader/father figure, a representation of how she's forging a new path for herself.

Sanji: Then there's the new introduction, the crew's cook. Sanji is a character that inspires a lot of mixed feelings in people. We will definitely get to the problems he presents down the line, but at this point in the story, I think Sanji is actually my second-favorite character in the crew after Nami. Like the rest of the crew, he has some notable vices, namely a tendency towards womanizing and "lovesickness" (which will get boiled down for jokes into 'perversion' as the series goes on, frustratingly) and a uniquely hot head even compared to Luffy and Nami. At the same time he's capable of tremendous compassion, effortlessly witty and suave (at least when he's not distracted), and demonstrates great tactical intelligence, like when he deduces the fish-man Kuroobi's weakness in the middle of a literally high-pressure scenario.

But as with many of the core cast's virtues and vices, they are rooted in personal histories. Sanji owes his life to his father figure Zeff, despite a contentious relationship. This theme of gratitude is central to Baratie: Sanji feeds a starving subordinate of Krieg's, and then Krieg himself, even despite knowing that it's a bad idea. Because Sanji knows intimately what it's like to be hungry. The subordinate, Gin, is tremendously grateful, while Krieg behaves like a total ingrate, making him a foil to both character. While Sanji's gratitude to Zeff is a defining feature of his character that we slowly get to see unpacked throughout the arc, his gratitude is shown to not be taking on a healthy expression, keeping him stuck in a small pond when he could be out there pursuing the All Blue (a mythical ocean with fish from all over the world). Gratitude doesn't mean dying for somebody, but living for them.

We also get a sense of the unfortunate gendered emotional repression that Sanji's experienced, and though I'm not totally sure the author would agree with my assessment, it's clear that Sanji's relationship with Zeff is based on passive-aggression, each trying to get the other to cooperate with what they *think* the other wants without being forthright. Zeff is deliberately trying to strain their relationship so that Sanji will pursue his dreams. Sanji feels such a mix of survivor's guilt and loyalty to Zeff, along with fear that his dream is itself foolish or doomed to failure, that he doesn't dare pursue his goals, and as such gets incensed by Zeff's backhanded attempts to push him out of the nest, taking it as a dismissal of his skills. At this juncture of the story, this is easy to read as a little like "real men don't cry or talk," but what's notable is that in the end of the Baratie arc, Sanji pushes past all that crap, just for a moment, in a genuine moment of emotional honesty. But this central emotional issue is still something that will stick with him, and comes up post-timeskip during the Whole Cake Island arc.

Part of the reason I'm spending a lot of time talking about Sanji is that Baratie, and then Arlong Park, are the first arcs where the whole shape of the conflict really centers around a dilemma that one of the main characters is facing; Zoro and Nami's introductory arcs are a little sparse and utilitarian, and Usopp's emotional conflict at Syrup Village was similar but less actively tied into the ongoing conflict. Sanji has lofty aspirations, but he's selfless and loaded with a lot of complicated emotions that hold him back from pursuing them. So seeing Zoro and Luffy put themselves on the line both for his home, AND for their own selfish aspirations, is a big deal.

So, that's the Straw Hats' arcs, for the most part. What I think is core is that each of them is in the process of recognizing things about themselves and learning to be part of a team, how they fit into a "crew."

Additionally, it's in these three arcs that we start seeing increased characterization for secondary and tertiary characters as well as secondary antagonists. There's not a lot to hold onto when you look back at a lot of the minor allies and enemies of previous arcs. Compare them to how much ongoing attention and characterization Patty, Gin, Zeff, Nojiko, Genzo, Hatchan, and Bellemere get, as well as how actively present in the action they are. This goes a long way towards making the world feel more alive and also gives the conflicts more weight: we care what happens to the Baratie or to Arlong Park, much more than unnamed villagers. Oda's character writing is definitely improving.

Unfortunately it's in this expanded focus that we see what is, in my view, a key weakness of One Piece: sometimes it outgrows characters in a way that leaves the story feeling a little uneven or bloated. Tashigi is the worst example of this, in my view, as she and Smoker get a huge amount of attention in Loguetown and Alabasta, only to sort of peter out as the Straw Hats grow past the need for Marines hunting them down. That might not remain the case forever - I suspect and hope that Smoker and Tashigi get a good role to play in the final saga - but it's hard to say.

Setting and Scope:

As I mentioned, the introduction of a ship marks a profound change in the way that One Piece works. By giving the crew a means of travel that is sturdier and more reliable than the impromptu vessels they've been relying on so far, they now have something like a "home" as well as a means to make more deliberate decisions about their next destinations.

The world starts to take on a greater shape in some major ways, and most of them are directed towards sparking further intrigue about the Grand Line and establishing it as a credibly wondrous but dangerous place. For example, the existence of non-human species such as fishmen is introduced during Arlong Park, a story element that will have huge ramifications down the line. As another example, we get some more information about Devil Fruits and how they work, most notably by introducing the concept of different Devil Fruit "types." These are later elaborated on as Zoan (animal transformations), Logia (elemental bodies), and Paramecia (kind of a grab bag). We also get Krieg's observation that the Grand Line is practically lousy with Devil Fruit users, which bears out once the Straw Hats encounter Smoker, a now empowered and redesigned Alvida, and Buggy all in the same spot just outside of the Grand Line.

We also learn, by way of Mihawk, about the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" (who going forward I will alternately refer to as the Seven Warlords or the Shichibukai). Again, this shows how outclassed the Straw Hats are by the grander scope of their world, but what it also does is lay down the groundwork for one of the series' central conflicts, and I'd argue its most important: the corrupt and authoritarian World Government.

There's also, notably, a mention of "Three Powers" that control the Grand Line, and what the third one is will go unexplained until almost three hundred chapters later! I noted in the previous post that Oda, unlike someone like Akira Toriyama or Hirohiko Araki, doesn't write by the seat of his pants as much. This was maybe being charitable: instead what I'd say is that Oda rarely cheats. When Oda is backfilling or retroactively adding something, it rarely feels out of place, he usually leaves his mysteries and vague worldbuilding details open to enough interpretation that future explanations maintain their plausibility. This has a dual effect: it adds more fantastical details to the world, fitting as the crew gets closer to the super-fantastical Grand Line, but it also drives home how underprepared the crew is for some of the dangers they're going to encounter.

Another, smaller way that the world starts expanding in scope is the introduction of the "cover stories," many of which anime fans will miss out on. These are used not just to add fun details but to meaningfully flesh out later plot points. We get one story which documents the aftermath of Buggy's defeat which sets up his and Alvida's presence in Loguetown, and another about Coby's early days in the Marines that foreshadows important characters and points towards major growth for him.

The locations also take a step up from the somewhat dull environs of Shells Town and Syrup Village (I'm kind of an Orange Town defender now). The Baratie, for instance, is a delightfully charming setting that is fun to experience both when it's working as normal and when it turns into a combat zone. Arlong Park has a distinct geography and unique setting details like paddy fields, pools, and a Sea King that really make it feel dynamic and lived-in in a way that Syrup Village simply doesn't. Also, I believe it's the first time that Oda starts doing little maps as the characters plan out their next moves, which really helps ground the action and give an idea of how the setting works.

So, overall, this is actually one of my favorite segments of the early story. I think it clears away some of the growing pains of the early chapters, and shows that other aspects weren't in fact growing pains at all. It also introduces just an absolute mountain of motifs, characterization points, and setting details. This second half of East Blue is an excellent demonstration of the two things that Oda frequently excels at: an epic adventure full of fantastical things and places, and slow-burn character development for an ensemble cast. Additionally, the Romantic themes have started to lock into place: the ability to reshape the world through strength of will and commitment to one's convictions. Finally, I think Oda's artwork is steadily improving, though his extremities still need work.

I really like the take that these first 100 chapters form a sort of "prologue" for the series as a whole, since Chapter 100 is called "The Legend Begins," has a very explicit thesis statement, and ends with the crew reaffirming their individual dreams as a collective ritual before they enter the Grand Line.

In terms of the evaluation of each section: Baratie is a solid arc with a couple of things I could nitpick, but it's really carried by how different it feels from what's come before and the strength of Sanji's character arc within it. Arlong Park is one of the most emotionally moving in the whole series, and unquestionably has the best action of the East Blue. Finally, Loguetown is a thrilling cap-off to the first "part" as the series transitions into the next phase of the story: the Baroque Works Conspiracy.

Whew. This was a doozy to write, and to some extent it's possible I would have been better served dividing these arcs up to focus on them each in more detail...but here we are!

#op reread

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27-royal-teas · 10 months

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so I finally got my mom to listen to smfs because she’s coming w me to the fob concert next week, and she told me that some article or another had described the album as a ‘rock opera.’ and at the time I was kind of like ‘no, it’s not an opera, tf? pete writes a big chunk of text and then patrick dissects it or whatever and each song is a story but the album is not one huge consecutive story’ but then I thought about it more and it kind of is. I mean, I don’t think it’s quite an opera, but it DEFINITELY tells a story throughout the songs in the album, and they all lead to the same theme.

We’ve been told (by the band) that this album is about nihilism. honestly, I think this album is less of a story and more of an ongoing part. to be truthful I think every album by fob is a part in this goddamn autobiographical saga they’re writing. THIS part is about nihilism. it’s about hope and triumph and recovery that we can build BECAUSE of our nihilism. because if nothing matters, everything matters MORE, do you see what I’m saying? if nothing matters, then we can have as much fun as we want. if nothing matters, then our past is behind us and will stay behind us, and that is one of the main things this album is about. It’s about the freedom in these nihilistic views of the world. how can we use despair and turn it into something hopeful? and. Im just thinking. what would you trade the pain for? pain is a motif in fall out boy’s songs. it’s there consistently. other than patrick, pain is pete’s best friend. he knows his pain inside and out. i think smfs is really pete coming to terms with that because nothing matters. nothing matters, everything matters. nothing will ever not matter if you care enough. if the world doesn’t care, then you’re just going to have to care for the world.

pain is something that matters in the moment and it’s this feeling of despair, this ‘I will never stop feeling this way’ and- I don’t even know what I’m trying to say here, im pulling this whole post out of my ass- there’s something with the pain not mattering but it feels like it matters so much at the time. and what would you trade the pain for? @omegalomania mentioned this in their post— nothing. you wouldn’t trade the pain for anything because this question has been answered already, about eight years ago now- ‘I’d do it all again.’ Because nothing matters more than you. you will never not matter. I’d do it all for you. I’d never trade the pain if it means I didn’t have you. so is so much (for) stardust a rock opera? I don’t know, maybe, not quite. but it sure as hell tells a story.

#toby speaks #toby’s meta #fob #fall out boy #pete wentz #patrick stump #andy hurley #joe trohman #so much (for) stardust #smfs #idk what im talking about either man

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nayialovecat · 8 months

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The Ink Demonth 2023 - Day 12. Angel

Day 12. Angel Crossover: W.I.T.C.H. (comics) This could be true, if it weren't for the fact that Joey is probably canonically gay (but I'm not sure if it's a fact).

And now a bit of history. Comics W.I.T.C.H. in Poland were published for about ten years from 2002 and were extremely important to me. I bought this newspaper from the first to the last issue - I skipped maybe 3-4 issues when I was on vacation and couldn't find a shop that had the current press (I'll fill these holes someday). For me, this series was extremely important and played a big role for many reasons - firstly, it was how I learned to draw human figures and my style still somewhat resembles the style of W.I.T.C.H. Secondly - reading this comic coincided with the moment when I first started to suffer from depression and reading about magic, about friendship that works and that friends don't stab you in the back - made it easier for me to cope with reality. Finally, thirdly - I was then very into magic and I was looking for it in a more interesting form than the one presented in Harry Potter (where magic, by the way, is very boring and monothematic). In each issue, apart from the next part of the comics, there were interesting horoscopes from different parts of the world, methods of fortune telling and interesting facts about various magical things. This was the beginning of my collection of myths, spells, creatures and magical plants. But then the comic stopped being published, and then that nasty French series came out, which is one big abomination - and I completely forgot about W.I.T.C.H. for many, many years... But then, some time ago, my dad, who was cleaning out my old room (where he has his "office"), found a huge pile of my magazines and decided to bring them to me - among them were all my issues of W.I.T.C.H. magazine. When my daughter saw it, she was immediately delighted and asked if I could read it to her. Reading comics is difficult and unattractive to the listener, so I thought she would get boring quickly - but no... we're halfway through the first saga (about Merdian) and Ursa keeps asking for more. And when I read it to her, I take a sentimental journey back to my childhood, I'm moved again by the stories, I laugh at the jokes, I discover that I look at the characters differently, but like them the same, although for completely different things.

That's why I decided to include such an important element that made me who I am now in this year's Ink Demonth - and the slogan Angel seemed more than appropriate. Interestingly, the previous entry also fit here, and in order to include the Phantom of the Opera, I had to find another place for it, because - yes - it lost to W.I.T.C.H. However, this inconspicuous comic book for teenagers had a greater impact on me, my character, interests and who I am today - than the musical I saw several years ago or the book I read only this year. Sad but true.

I must admit that I had fun drawing and colouring this. And if someone asks: my favourite character is Will - not only because she is redhead and is (like me) a Capricorn, but many threads from her story were similar to mine. This hasn't changed. However, today I look more kindly at Cornelia, whom I once disliked, and a little less favorably at Irma, whom I once liked very much (the way she treats Martin at the beginning is terrible). While drawing them, I realized how unfairly Hay Lin is treated - her guardian outfit is the worst and least highlights her charms. However, after upgrading the outfits, she gains the most, while Cornelia's and Will's outfits are terrible. By the way, Taranee, what did they do to your hair, tell me? By the way, it was even fun to do something similar to the SATIM comic - was this comic always so electric yellow? It was very difficult for me to adapt to this...

Bendy and the Ink Machine (c) Joey Drew Studios Inc. W.I.T.C.H. (c) Disney Italy Sammy and the Ink Machine (c) Nayia Lovecat

#The Ink Demonth #Bendy and the Ink Machine #Sammy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #SATIM #WITCH #Will Vandom #Irma Lair #Taranee Cook #Cornelia Hale #Hay Lin #Bendy #Ink Bendy #Ink Demon #Sammy #The Ink Demonth 2023 #crossover

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championofravens · 1 year

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It literally doesnt matter to me what purpose "Cayde" will play in The Final Shape. There is not a single part of this I can like. I will now try to cover every reason why without getting outlandishly mad. Maybe some ppl will appreciate this.

1. Firstly, from a marketing stand point. I strongly dislike and disagree that our first ever teaser for The Final Shape is entirely a Cayde tease. Not just in the trailer but in the articles Bungie themselves posted, they are clearly pushing Cayde's "return" and his original VA as a big deal. The big deal. This is supposed to be why you preorder Final Shape, why you get excited for the very last expansion to this saga that's been building up for... eight, nine years? It's for the return of the dead franchise character. I feel this is a total disgrace and a complete slap in the face to any fan who cares about anything else in Destiny 2.

2. Secondly, there is right out the gate no way for me to like Cayde's return narratively. I am already braced that this is not actually Cayde, but it doesn't matter. What is this going to do to the plot of The Final Shape? What does this say about the upcoming story's focus? Lightfall literally just bombed on arrival for not answering questions, not having narrative focus, and for introducing and answering new mysteries in record time without tackling old mysteries. It was rushed sloppy and overly focused on showcasing Strand, the big *draw* for Lightfall, a new subclass. So this? Inspires no confidence.

3. What does Cayde coming back, even briefly, do to the last 3-4 years of storytelling since Forsaken? What does that do to the franchise's commitment for spending at least a full year tackling the issues of grief, rage, revenge in direct association with Cayde's story? This isn't including the continued storyline of Crow and Holliday who have served as legacy extensions of Cayde's story ever since. What does Cayde returning bring that is so essential to undermine and uproot so many months of well laid lessons on acceptance towards what a Guardian can and can't control?

4. Remember how Amanda Holliday just died? Remember how Holliday's last season was spent with her outright refusing to truly forgive Crow because Uldren killed Cayde, turning down his feelings for her? I don't think anyone is fully accepting that Holliday's only true story purpose since Beyond Light was to wrestle with her grief about Cayde in contrast to her budding relationship with Crow. And now she's dead. And now *Cayde's back*. It's almost comically cruel. And no, I don't think any of this would be "fixed" with Holliday coming back as a Guardian.

5. Cayde dying was, for so many people, a sort of narrative "promise" being made. Destiny was a narrarive with grim consequence, heavy themes, and now dead beloveds. No character is safe- this is how strongly the Darkness can play us even through like seven proxies. Cayde dying was the heartbreaking action of forces so much bigger than us playing a game we hadn't even yet conceptulized until his death. It was a turning point. Since then, Destiny has tried to find the right balance in who lives and dies in the story and the tone it wants to give to the spare opera. In my opinion, they haven't been striking out and this trailer truly spells to me that whatever promise fans thought they had made about the gravity of this story is squandered.

#destiny 2 #text #the final shape

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misskattylashes · 2 months

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EXCLUSIVE

Coming Summer 2024

The Fire & The Thud

Part two of the Milex Soulmates saga

London 1888, Miles Kane is part time boxer and part time barman in a rowdy East End pub. He is also full time dad to his ten year old son Max. But Miles has many secrets, one of them being he is a talented musician, and he gets a job in a West End music hall accompanying a famous opera singer, on piano. He meets the beautiful singer Lady Arabella, and falls in love at first sight, only to discover she isn’t quite what she seems.

Alex Turner is a celebrity within the higher echelons of London society. Known for his beauty and wit, he is quite the party boy. But like Miles, Alex is keeping a secret. He wants to escape the clutches of his benefactor and lover Lord Joshua Homme – a brutal man who belittles and humiliates him. He also wants to stop performing in the theatre and be taken seriously as a writer. When he writes a fantasy novel about a group of people being stranded on the moon he hopes it will be his way out.

When Miles and Alex meet, they feel an instant bond that both enriches and complicates their lives. Miles has finally found someone in which he can be his true self and Alex has finally found someone who is fascinated by his mind. The two men become firm friends, finding a way of bringing out the best in each other and becoming a creative force.

However, all the while a shady East End figure is trying to lure Miles back to the world of boxing, and controlling Joshua won’t let Alex go easily.

Before long, all Miles and Alex have is each other, and as they try to escape, will their deep friendship and unbreakable bond become something deeper?

#alex turner #miles kane #milex #arctic monkeys #tlsp #fan fiction #ao3 writer #milex smut #ao3 milex smut #ao3fic

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stillwinterair · 5 months

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Howdy kids

My name is Dee! It's not the name I went by for most of my years on Tumblr, but it's the one everyone knows me as. You might remember my url as nyriad, visovari... I went by a bunch of others too, but those are the only two I seem to remember now 😅

The last time I was on Tumblr, I was in the middle of a very difficult period of my life that I didn't really have the tools or support to navigate. But sometimes you gotta go a lil wacky and make some fresh new regrets so you can grow up a lil bit wiser and sexier

I quit the internet pretty much cold turkey for a while and it was one of the best things I ever did for myself. I spent a year pretty much focusing on nothing but my immediate surroundings, living in my own skin, learning how to love myself. I've gotten a lot more comfortable being myself, and have grown a lot more connected to the earth.

In my time away, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which even just the diagnosis has significantly improved almost every facet of my life. I've gotten so many new tools and so much new language to express myself and my needs. I've stopped feeling like there is something wrong with me and let go of a lot of shame that I held around myself, my work flow, my ability to focus, my needs for rest, etc. As I've met more people with ADHD, I've grown a lot more empowered and confident. I'm still figuring out what medication works for me (Adderall and Concerta are hell incarnate; Ritalin and Vyvanse are the bee's knees). It's been revolutionary and healing, honestly. Reading the book "Driven to Distraction" was an important first step that I recommend to everyone who's ever thought they might have ADHD, or if you were like me, always felt stupid and slow and always wondered why you never could quite get around to doing all the things you want to do.

I am also currently pursuing a diagnosis for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, as per my doctor's suggestion. I won't get into it too much here, but it is a chronic illness that has made the last year pretty difficult. I have a lot of severe chronic joint pain and lethargy, and it's been... a lot. I'm starting physical therapy soon. This part isn't fun to talk about, but it's becoming an important part of my identity.

I've also met the love of my life, my soon-to-be fiancee, Nathalie! We were inseparable pretty much from the day we met, and spent a year as best friends. And then after that year the sexual tension became too much to handle, and now another year later, here we are, stupidly in love, utterly obsessed with each other, turning every single day into a fun, wacky, new adventure lmao. We've built the most beautiful, trusting, communicative, intimate relationship I've ever experienced and I am so filled with pride and joy and love and happiness every day. We're still best friends -- no force on this earth could ever get us to shut up when we're in the same room. She just fills me with butterflies and glee and light. Nat has this burning desire to create in whatever the most tactile medium she can find is. She loves mechanisms and fibers and all of the ways different materials interact with each other. She inspires me every day to be more open and honest and to pursue whatever creative venture has caught my interest, and I do the same for her. We dance together, create together, and share big emotions and life goals and it's just the most beautiful thing I've ever felt, and this paragraph could go on forever if I don't end it right now

I've also finally started to settle into my writing flow. I've got a space opera that's really beginning to take shape and I'm pretty proud of what it's turning into :) I also have a fantasy saga that's following a few steps behind. Both are things I've been working on for nearly a decade in fits and spurts, but I've done more work on them in the last year than in all previous years combined. I've gotten into more artistic mediums as well: oil painting, photography, beading, and so on. And very into fashion, kind of. Y'all should see my wardrobe these days -- bright colors, crazy patterns, wacky silhouettes. I feel like I finally look like myself. I'm currently rocking a purple mullet and a mustache, so... yeah, I'm having fun with it

I'm not sure how many of my old friends and mutuals are still hanging around, but I wanted to say hey, track a few of you down, and give a little update on how things are going for me post-Tumblr. I am alive, and I'm pretty happy these days. Some days I miss it here, and while I'll never come back in the same capacity as I used to, I wanted to reconnect with some of my old friends that I used to talk to and hang around with every day! I'm gonna poke around over the next while and see who's still around :) honestly I still think about some of y'all on the daily, and I got too curious about how my old friends were doing.

If you want to keep in touch, I'm on Instagram as deehollandaise. I'm on Discord much less often, but if you want to connect there, shoot me a message and I'll share the deets. Warning that I am just straight up not involved in any fandom stuff these days. It's just not for me anymore.

I will be retiring this blog in the new year, setting the whole dang thing to private and probably starting a new one with which to share some of my creative projects. I'll let y'all know about it before that happens.

I don't know, this is all kinda word vomit, I guess I just wanted to let all my old friends know that I'm still here and that I'm finally figuring myself out. I've got a lot to be proud of and grateful for and I've barely scratched the surface, so I'll leave off with some recent photos. Have a hot & sweaty 2024, you sexy things 😘

- Dee

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lot666achandelierinpieces · 5 months

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all fans of the enigmatic world of "The Phantom of the Opera"

We are excited to present the first chapter of "Zariya Hollow - A Horror Anthology: Episode 13 - "The Ghost in The Opera House". This project, a labor of love spanning nine years, has been made possible in collaboration with phantomstheater.weebly.com. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Phantomstheater for providing access to their translation of the original Le Gaulois newspaper publication of Gaston Leroux's "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra", along with the comprehensive appendix. Discover more and stay updated at phantomstheater.weebly.com/Zariya-Hollow.

Zariya Hollow: Season 1, Episode 13 - "The Ghost In The Opera House" (Chapter 1)

In the gripping season finale opener, "The Ghost In The Opera House," we step into the mysterious corridors of Paris's famed Opera House, led by the enigmatic voice of Gaston Leroux. His narration not only brings the grand architecture to life but also whispers of the secrets and ghostly enigmas hidden within its walls.

This episode is a defining moment in the Opera House's chronicles, capturing the significant transfer of leadership from the old directors, Messieurs Debienne and Poligny, to the new custodians, Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard. The handover of the small master keys isn't merely a formal procedure; it signifies the dawn of a new era, riddled with unexpected challenges and eerie tales of a phantom lurking in the shadows.

As we navigate through Leroux's vividly painted scenes, we explore the Opera House's majestic underbelly, where the new directors grapple with the daunting rumors of a spectral inhabitant. Parallel to this, in the serene town of Perros-Guirec, another story starts to unfurl, intricately linking to the opera's own enigmatic saga.

Leroux's masterful storytelling skillfully blends reality with legend, weaving a narrative that captivates and haunts in equal measure. "The Ghost In The Opera House" is more than a tale of unspoken love and ghostly presence; it's an expedition into a realm where every hidden corner and echoing note tells its own story. As the tale progresses, Leroux sets the stage for a finale that is set to be as unforgettable as the legend of the Paris Opera House itself.

Tune in to this mesmerizing journey at anchor.fm/zariyahollow/episodes/Zariya-Hollow-S1Ep13--The-Ghost-In-The-Opera-House-Chapter-1-e2dlke1.

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lunarsilkscreen · 2 months

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FFXIII - and Lightning

I've been asked; if FXIII-Lightning Returns is your favorite *ever* Final Fantasy game; why don't you write more about it? Like your other multi-volume sagas on the other franchises you go on fanpages about?

Because most of what I would have to say about the 13 series as a whole would be critical in nature. FFXIII is the first game in the FF series that feels Rushed, Forced, and suffers from the the dreaded [hallway effect].

The hallway effect is what happens when you try to extend a Retro-Style side-scrolling game like [Ghosts and Goblins] or [Battletoads] into a 60 hour (minimum) endeavour.

And by 60 hour minimum; I mean regardless of skill level, replays, or skipping side-content you're sinking approximately 60 hours in from front to back. You can get it down to about 40 hours if you're really focused, but it is a slog.

And this is the first in the FF13 series. So it's hard to say "Wow, I love this game and you should too" when it feels more like a trap where you'd love to finish the game; but it feels less like a game and more like work.

That's not to say you shouldn't like the game. I'm hyper critical, despite thoroughly enjoying the story. Although... The [Day-time Soap Opera] feel if the game may lead other players to outright avoid it in it's entirety.

The world of FF13 is set in Gran Pulse's moon; Cocoon. And society has set up a safe haven because monsters have taken over the planet's surface. The government has created a sort of legal system that forces [Criminals] suspected of [Crimes] to face punishment or flee to the planet's surface (which is not an easy thing to do). The planet's surface is basically Australia.

So this reflects a lot of "penal colony" rhetoric from the [Colonial] days.

In between 13 and 13-2; the titular character [Final Fantasy XIII], I mean [Lightning] has gone missing. She just fell in a gap between dimensions and her friends and family have absolutely no idea where she went.

This leads to her sort of Adopted Son; Hope from the first game to set off on a frantic lifelong mission to find Lightning. Similar to the plot of Interstellar; but with more RPG elements. Hopes quest coincides with Noel's quest who, through Hopes dealings with the quantum space time [whatever's] and though the power of [Eidolons] (this installments version of the [Summon]) is forced from the future into the present world where Hope, the character, lives.

He informs Hope of the future; A world that has gone extinct. Not just Humans, the entire planet. And Noel, along with Caius who also disappeared between dimensions like Lightning did, are the last two humans on Gran Pulse. (Cocoon has since been evacuated so that humanity lives in Gran Pulse.)

Leading to an unending battle between Lightning and Caius until the events of FF13-LR.

FFXIII-2 has a more arcadey feel (despite the original game was designed to mimic an arcade experience) and IMO has the mechanics of what the original FFXIII should've had in the beginning.

I really feel that if FFXIII was originally released with a FFXIII-2's style, it would've had a bigger following. The original FFXIII, however, did something that I don't know if it was intentional; allowing freedom of movement on Gran Pulse when the player finally gets there (Gran Pulse feels like FFX's world where the calm lands are).

This makes the player think; Do I really want to go back to cocoon to finish this? Or just hang out here on Gran Pulse? At the part I arrived in this area, I wanted to do the side quests; but I was also so burned out on the game I just wanted to be done with the story. (And I didn't wanna watch a YouTube video.)

I HAVEN'T SINCE TOUCHED FFXIII or -2, despite having played LR 3 times. That's how much I enjoy LR; even now I would go back and play that and avoid xiii and -2 entirely.

Hope and crew put an immense effort into trying to contact Lightning; the only person they really feel like could save the planet from its eventually destruction; while simultaneously trying to defeat Caius and the dark Chaotic rifts that open up all over the planet; in the past, present, and future.

Serah, being a [Seer] Sees a vision of Lightning save the world at the end of XIII-2 before her ultimate death. [Seer Visions] being thought to eat a portion of the Seer's life is the documented reason why; but nobody knows for sure.

In Lighting Returns, [FFXIII]; I mean Lightning: appears as diety, working for the Christian God [Bhunivelze]. An all powerful entity who wishes to destroy Humanity, Gran Pulse, and reform it as whatever he thinks is a better version.

At first, Lightning is collecting Souls. She Operates in a similar facet to the Protagonist of Act Raiser; returning to a celestial [Home Point] in between each outing and trying to save as many people as she can; However; Bhunivelze, Hasn't told her about his true intentions, and keeps a Copy of [Hope] as she remembers him, a child from the first game. But Hope isn't really there; he's a construct controlled by Bhunivelze; an effort to control Lighting entirely.

It's at this point I stop to tell you may favorite connection between FF13 and the Lightning Saga to another lesser known game series on GameBoy: [Sa-Ga] or {Final Fantasy Legend} in the west. I'm sure there's many more references to the Romancing SaGa series as a whole, but it's the Gameboy games that I've played regularly.

The GameBoy games feature a lot of the same key story points (That I'm going to glaze over) such as time travel to save the world inside of a futuristic spaceship (Legends3), Fighting and taking the place of the divine being (Legend 1) and most notably (For me) Odin. Whom ressurects the Hero should they die, only for the main character to have to fight Him and take his place.

(The save/reload ability of the game can be interpreted as Odin's resurrection power in this case. Which is a detriment, because you can no longer be "reloaded" to right before you died.)

Odin in LR becomes Lightnings mighty Steed (Chocobo) who many players tend to rename to [d*face] prompting SquareEnix to remove the ability to rename your Chocobo in the PC ports.

While Lightning becomes Odin in this game, and has to make this decision; follow God's Will, OR; save the souls of humanity and ferry them to the new world like a modern Charron retelling.

Obviously; Lightning chooses to mimic Noah and save humanity (Possible after canonically failing her mission of 13 days in length several times. Due to needing to 100% the game basically in order to see the true ending.) and ferry's the souls of the damned to the new world; while Serah and Caius opt to stay in the [divine realm] in order to protect humanity from another would be Bhunivelze.

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dalekofchaos · 1 year

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Fancast masterpost

DCEU recast

Burtonverse Recast

90′s Justice League

Reevesverse Batman

Gunnverse Batman

Superman

Wonder Woman

The Flash

Green Lantern

Aquaman

Justice League

Green Arrow

Teen Titans

Suicide Squad

Justice League Dark

Batman Beyond

The Dark Knight Returns

Telltale’s Batman

Injustice

Legion Of Doom

Birds Of Prey

Marvel

Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man

X-Men

Fantastic 4

Dark Avengers

Masters Of Evil

Blade

Black Widow

X-Force

Wolverine

Spider-Verse

Other Marvel characters

Star Wars

Thrawn:A Star Wars Story Fancast

Canon Fancast

Legends

my KOTOR fancast

my KOTOR II fancast

The Force Unleashed

Shadows Of The Empire

Darth Plagueis

Boba Fett

90′s Thrawn Trilogy

The Thrawn Trilogy

Prequel Remake Trilogy

Original Remake Trilogy

Cara Dune recast

Star Trek

Pike

Kelvinverse AOS

Kelvinverse Next Generation

Kelvinverse DS9

Kelvinverse Voyager

Disney

Villains

Princesses

Video Games

FNAF

The Last Of Us

The Last Of Us Part II

Life Is Strange(New)

Life Is Strange Before The Storm(New)

Life Is Strange(Old)

Life Is Strange Before The Storm(Old)

Life Is Strange 2

Life Is Strange True Colors

Assassin’s Creed

Mass Effect

KOTOR

KOTOR II

The Force Unleashed

Resident Evil

Silent Hill

God Of War

God Of War Norse Saga

Mortal Kombat

Bioshock

Bioshock 2

Bioshock Infinite

Skyrim

Oblivion

Dead Rising

The Wolf Among Us

Telltale’s Game Of Thrones

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead The Final Season

Red Dead Redemption

LA Noire

Detroit:Become Human

Red Dead Redemption 2

The Sims

Harry Potter

The Greater Good

Tom Riddle

Hogwarts Founders

The Marauders

Anime

Hellsing

DBZ

ASOIAF

Targaryen

Robert’s Rebellion

House Targaryen(Dany’s family)

House Martell

House Baratheon

House Stark

House Lannister

House Tyrell

House Dayne

House Arryn

House Tully

House Greyjoy

Reboots/Misc

American Doctor Who

The Lost Boys

The Godfather

Scarface

Back To The Future

Terminator

Robocop

Universal Monsters

Jack The Ripper

James Bond

Bond Villains

Mortal Kombat Sequel

Dracula

The Addams Family

Elm Street

The Stand

The Shining

Hannibal season 4

Xena

Firefly

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The Vampire Chronicles

Sherlock Holmes

Phantom Of The Opera

Time Lords

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sammysdewysensitiveeyes · 11 months

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I have now shifted from reading the first X-Men run to reading the Claremont stuff, and of course I have opinions. (I'm nowhere near done with Claremont's run, just past Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past.)

I can honestly see why Claremont basically saved the X-Men franchise, his stuff is so much better than the first 66 issues. I'm sure part of it is a shift in comics writing style, from less adventure-of-the-month to more ongoing saga, soap opera style, but it's just good. It's really good. Claremont sets up plot points well in advance, he creates a team with distinct personalities, and friction (or friendships) that come with that. The prose is beautiful at times. I remember trying to read Claremont stuff after growing up with 90's X-Men, and thinking the writing sounded corny (and I know people who grew up reading later era X-Men feel the same way about 90's comics now). But after reading the first run, Claremont's X-Men hits differently, and it's so much easier to read, like I'm not forcing myself to slog through it.

Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga is genuinely a beautiful story. There's a lot to be said about the all-powerful female character being unable to control her power, and being essentially corrupted by lust (both physical lust and lust for power), and the weird virgin/whore dynamic Claremont has going with Jean. Like, there are absolutely weird sexist undertones. But if Jean absolutely had to be killed off, it's a well-written death, and I can see why adaptations keep going back to it, although I wish they'd stop, no one has gotten it right. I think the X-Men Animated Series actually did the best job, they stayed close to the original story (with the 90's cast) and went with a "Jean is possessed by Phoenix" angle rather than the "Jean was replaced by Phoenix" retcon in the actual comics. I can kind of see why the later retcon went with "cosmic firebird" to separate Phoenix from Jean, as even the way Jean talks about "Phoenix" in the original story, like she's tapped into some primal, cosmic power, sounds like it's some force outside of herself.

I totally forgot that Beast and Angel are both there for the final battle before Phoenix dies, Beast because he saw on an Avenger's monitor that the X-Men were in trouble. And Angel actually rejoins the team for awhile. Poor Bobby is the only one who gets left out.

There's a long period in the comics where Jean and Beast think the other X-Men are dead, and the X-Men think Jean and Beast are dead after the groups are separated escaping Magneto's lair, which fills with lava. I can understand Jean not being strong enough to do a psi-scan (she is exhausted from protecting herself and Beast, and they emerge in Antarctica, so they are struggling just to survive). But apparently when they report the news to Xavier, he just doesn't bother to do any kind of Cerebro search. "The X-Men are ambiguously dead with no bodies or real confirmation of their deaths, guess I won't bother to use this device that can locate mutants, I'm off to space with my bird girlfriend."

This was also the start of the "Professor Xavier is a jerk!" era. The first run had Xavier doing so very questionable stuff, but it was always treated in a "Father Knows Best" kind of way. Xavier was the mentor that they all obey without question, and he was basically always right. Claremont wrote an Xavier who is flawed and capable of making mistakes, although he still appears to be a man who loves his students like his own children. He gets distracted by his dreams of (and later romance with) Lilandra, he butts heads with Cyclops and tries to treat him like a child when Cyclops has been leading the team independently for a while. After Jean's death, when Cyclops is basically summarizing his entire life with the team, he criticizes a few of Xavier's decisions, and in particular thinks about how cruel the whole "fake death Changeling substitute" thing was. I know Claremont is also responsible for also fleshing out Magneto as a character and making him a much more nuanced figure, and I like it. To be honest, I think fan opinion lately has swung too far in the other direction, now we've got "Magneto was right" and "Xavier is the worst," and I don't fully agree with that, either. I think they are both deeply flawed leaders who are both capable of good and bad. I like flawed Xavier who is still a thoughtful and caring person.

This run also gets into Claremont fetish territory, big time. We've got the whole Jean seduction thing, the Hellfire club fetish gear (only for the women, of course!), Storm constantly getting naked, and that time Magneto turns the X-Men into adult babies. No, seriously, he is angry about being changed into a baby by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant (something that happened in another book between the first run and Claremont's run), and he wants to give them a taste of it. So he has them strapped into chairs with collars that shut off their powers and greatly restrict their movement and speech, while a robot nanny feeds them and brushes their hair, and yeah, it's really weird. He sort of makes it make sense, as Magneto claims that in baby form he could still remember who he was and what he had lost, and that actually sounds nightmarish. I can understand wanting to subject his enemies to the same indignity. But it's still weird.

Claremont really loves putting people in leather bondage outfits and the whole "you're mind-controlling me to be evil but I secretly like it" thing, starting with Jean. Even in the New Mutants and Excalibur we get some of this stuff, like Empath forcing Sharon and Tom to have sex with each other and put on weird bondage outfits. It's a whole thing with him. Storm is kind of like Starfire (who came later), in that she's a sexy, beautiful character who likes to get naked because she is comfortable that way, but she is not actively trying to be "sexy." I can kind of see it as "Storm is connected to nature," but otherwise I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't think female characters should have to dress in skimpy outfits because they are trying to be sexy, but at the same time we get sexy characters who aren't really "allowed" to own their own sexuality. I almost respect it more with characters like Emma who say, "Yes, I dress this way to be sexy." We just get a lot of Storm taking showers.

Poor Thunderbird, he only lasted like four issues. Sometimes I wonder how it would have been if Wolverine had died instead, and if Thunderbird would have become as big a character. Wolverine has the whole "Weapon X" past thing going for him, but it seems like that was added later to flesh the character out, they could have just as easily given Proudstar an interesting backstory. Thunderbird's death is interesting, because it's not really depicted as a necessary sacrifice. Thunderbird didn't have to stay on the plane with Nefaria, Banshee was right there and could have caught him in the air. It was less of a noble sacrifice and more like a character desperate to prove himself. I'm not trying to disrespect Proudstar here, I just think it's interesting. I wonder if this death was meant to show Cyclops/Xavier failing in leadership for the first time, that they didn't realize Thunderbird would do something like this. They sort of "bring him back" with James Proudstar/Thunderbird II/eventually Warpath in the Hellions. Normally I don't really like "replacement characters" that have the exact same powers and look very similar to the original except Madelyne but New Mutants did a good job of making James Proudstar his own character. He is connected to John as his brother, he wants revenge for his brother's death, but unlike John, James comes across as very calm and serious, the leader of the Hellions who is responsible for everyone. And hey, now they're both alive in current comics - if only they'd be allowed to actually interact.

Claremont starts with a big team and then does a lot of pushing characters out. The original team leaves except Scott. Thunderbird dies. Then Jean comes back as Phoenix (and dies). Sunfire goes on the Krakoa mission, then says "Fuck you, I'm out," which is kind of constant theme with him. Lorna and Alex are constantly on the periphery, occasionally getting dragged into stories (like when they are brainwashed by Erik the Red), but never full team members. At least Havok gets to properly join later, Polaris is constantly getting pushed aside. Banshee actually gets a proper run on the book and is there for the first Phoenix saga before Claremont eases him into retirement with an injury to his voice and a romance with Moira. I really like Banshee, it's neat to have an "older" character on a team full of kids (and even Wolverine is treated as a younger guy in his early appearances, before his backstory gets fleshed out), and he has his own backstory of being an Interpol agent, and an evil cousin who wants to kill him. He also has an ancestral castle with leprechauns, but we won't talk about that. Claremont sort of keeps the "Muir Island" characters in the loop for awhile, so occasionally Banshee, Moira, Multiple Man, and sometimes Lorna and Alex get drawn into the story again.

Erik the Red shows up as a Shiar agent, even though Erik the Red was a fake persona that Scott used in the first X-Men run, and I swear we never get an explanation as to why. Did the Shiar agent just find the costume and think it was cool? Or maybe it was the agent's costume the entire time and Scott found it somewhere, that would explain how Scott quickly cobbled together a villain disguise complete with laser gloves that mimicked powers. I think Claremont just saw the bondage gear and couldn't resist.

First appearance of Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy as a duo, and Juggernaut even dives into the sea to save Tom. These two, along with Pyro and Avalanche and Unus and Blob, are high on my "gay villain duo" list.

Mesmero hypnotizes the X-Men into thinking that they are carnival workers, and Magneto shows up and is like:

Magneto actually rescues the X-Men from Mesmero just so he can take revenge on them himself, and says that Mesmero was just working with a Magneto robot the whole time.

I probably make it no secret that Wolverine is very low on my favorite character list, but I like him more in the early days when he's not only allowed to be a massive asshole, but the narrative actually treats him like one. Wolverine bothers me the most in his over-hyped days, when he is basically, to borrow TV Tropes, a Jerkass-Sue, who always saves the day and is still loved and respected by almost everyone despite being a massive asshole. In the early days there are actually consequences for Wolverine being a massive asshole, people yell at him and put him in his place, he actually loses fights occasionally, he gradually develops and shows that he has a good heart and cares about his team-mates. He is actually part of the team, not the star. My favorite Wolverine is a character who fits in as part of the X-Men, while Wolverine on his own bores the shit out of me.

The Hellfire Club story really makes Mastermind an impressive villain. I always thought he was a creep, and Hellfire club elevates him to mega-creep, but it also shows him managing to work his way into this Inner Circle of powerful mutants, and gain control over Jean with his illusion powers. (And some help from a device that Emma made, current comics forget she is a tech whiz). Like this is a legitimately dangerous, threatening Mastermind, although not after Jean wipes the floor with him.

I wonder what fan reaction was like to Kitty Pryde - was she a welcome addition, or the "annoying child character," like Wesley Crusher? Personally, I like Kitty, and I appreciate her acting like an actual child, not a hyper-competent genius, although she is an actual genius. I don't mind her doing things like wandering into the Danger Room and forgetting to phase because she's so scared, it makes sense. She's like 13.

There's a lot more to be said about the introductions of Sebastian Shaw and Emma and my favorite Brotherhood, with Destiny, Mystique, Blob, Avalanche and Pyro, but this has gone on too long already. Claremont definitely gave us a lot of characters with staying power.

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