#why does everyone make our magneto so dirty

[theoneandonlyphoenix]

I'm sorry but why does everyone imagine that if the lords had escaped the village with miranda being dead,that..that karl would be a dirty mechanic???? Like????? All the brains and all the inventions that he once made??? Are GONE!!???okay like maybe he'd own a car company or some shit like maybe own the future in his hands because he would be that super genius that created robots??????????????????????

[tolcnsky]

SO

Re-watching X Men: Evolution as an adult who is pushing 30 was pretty eye-opening for me, and not just because I now know that high school is not nearly that exciting and that basically everyone in that show was out of dress code all the time. The two big things that I noticed this time around both have to do with Professor X and his Institute.

Let’s just say the man has a very “hands-off” method of dealing with children, which leads to problems, but also (and I’m just speculating here): I think Professor X doesn’t take on poor kids? Like, does the Institute have a tuition fee? Because I couldn’t help but notice that all of the kids in the Brotherhood, with the possible exception of Pietro and Wanda (does Magneto Money convert to American dollars?), are not well off.

And I’m not trying to find fault with our favorite Bald-Ass MotherFucker (the BAMF, as I have suddenly decided to call him), but I call it like I see it and unfortunately what I see of his attitude toward The Brotherhood is…let’s say it’s not what you would want in someone whose life’s pursuit is to help and educate children.  And in this show, The Brotherhood are, you know, children. I know any teenage readers may disagree with me on this point, but it’s true. The oldest among them is maybe eighteen, and the youngest is fourteen or fifteen, so they are no more mature or capable of making decisions than any of the show’s protagonists.

As an example, let’s look at Todd, whom Professor X tests in the very first episode in…honestly a really weird and deceptive way, by having him fight his other new student, Kurt, and giving neither of them a heads up about what the hell is going on. Then, when this (again) young kid flees in terror after being accidentally teleported into the room full of lasers and saws, aptly called the “Danger Room”, BAMF’s just like: ah well, he wasn’t ready.

WHO could have been ready for THAT? Also, is not being good at fighting really a good reason to not accept someone to your school where you’re going to teach them to fight anyway? You couldn’t take him aside like a normal person and go: hey, here’s what we’re about at the Institute... Nope, just send Storm at him with no context, that works. Oh, well, at least it was nice of the Professor to stop Wolverine from mercilessly shredding a fleeing teenager with his knife hands, right?

And then, just to pour salt in the wound, in the final episode of the first season, when Todd actually does prove his skills in combat by doing more than about half the core group of X Men did in the same episode, Professor X is like: Alex (who almost got us all killed just now) is always welcome at the Institute 😊 Oh, hey, The Brotherhood, do you kids need a ride back to your dilapidated house, where you live with no adult supervision*, or do you think you can walk home from here?

Now, I’m not saying that our dear BAMF doesn’t care about The Brotherhood, but I am saying that his hands-off approach to teaching valuable life lessons is, uh….well it just sucks.

His problem with these kids seems to be that they lack discipline, have attitude problems**, are just annoying etc. but, my man, is that not why you keep Wolverine around? To be an authority figure? I know you want to value these teens’ autonomy but I think their well-being should outweigh that. At a certain point you should really insist that they have somewhere safe to live that has things like *checks notes* uh, food and running water. Good thing you let them make their own decisions, Professor!

For real, can you imagine being any of Tabitha’s family who aren’t her jailbird dad and calling to check in and finding out that she got upset and ran away to live unsupervised with four teenage boys and this BAMF just let her do it?? I would lose my shit and no amount of calm assurances that it was her decision would make me not lose my shit. The point here being that there is a vast difference between encouraging kids to make informed decisions/allowing them to have agency, and allowing them to make decisions that have potential to ruin their life or, at the very least, make their life much more difficult than it would be if you were to say: “we can talk about your problems and work them out, you don’t have to live in a house where the water gets shut off.”

  Yeah, did I mention that the water at the boarding house gets shut off at one point? It happens one time but I think it’s worth mentioning because it joins my two points. The first point being what I just said about Professor X being lackadaisical when it comes to the well-being of minors (who he deems too irresponsible to join the X Men, but apparently not too irresponsible to look after themselves), and the second point being: hey, Professor. Do you accept poor kids?

You thought I wasn’t going to come back to this point, well you were wrong, here it is!

In the show, it’s kind of a running joke that Todd has bad personal hygiene (especially in the first episode) and from a storytelling perspective this is to establish that he’s a sleazy type of character. However, there’s never really an in-universe explanation given and, as an adult pushing 30, I am left to assume that he’s been living below the poverty line, as I feel most of the Brotherhood have been. As a kid watching the show, I was just like: lol smelly, but as an adult who spent a lot of time growing up hanging out with kids like Todd who would wear the same clothes every day and rarely bathed because they came from less than ideal living situations, I have a perspective that the show’s target audience doesn’t have. Which makes Professor X’s apparent disregard for the Brotherhood troubling to me.

Now, you might be thinking: it’s not that deep. The Brotherhood is dirty and their house is a wreck and they don’t pay the bills because they’re just bad people,right? To which I say: that’s actually a worse interpretation, but it’s also what we’ve been trained to believe by the media we consume.

And I want to make it known that I’m not blaming the writers of the show or saying they’re bad or the show is bad, I obviously don’t believe that. I think it’s complacency rather than spite that has allowed this trope to endure so long. Poverty is uncomfortable to talk about, especially in a reasonably light Saturday morning show, so tv and movies have a habit of framing poverty as a personal failure of the people it affects. It’s not that these kids live incredibly difficult lives because of any tragedy of failure of the system, it’s just that they make bad choices and it’s their fault.

And if that’s how you engage with this show and interpret its characters, that’s fine, they’re not real people. However, I would like to caution everyone reading this to be critical of this trope when it shows up and not to let it affect your perception of real life and real people who actually are suffering, not through any moral failure on their part, not because they’re the “bad guys”, but because they’ve been abandoned by an unfair system, or they’ve fallen on hard times and been unable to find support.

And I guess that’s really what kind of bothered me in my recent re-watch of the show: that Professor X is someone who is fully capable of giving much needed support to kids with hard lives, but doesn’t do it because he hopes that leaving them to make uninformed decisions before their brains are even finished developing will somehow build their character.

* Even when she’s around, Mystique does not count as “adult supervision”; if anything she’s the reason these kids need therapy

**And by the way, I question the decision to look at Lance, an aggressive teen with dangerous earthquake powers and be like: that problem will solve itself if we ignore it.

[what-the--curtains]

Braving the Elements

Chapter 15: Roman Defeated

Tw: Violence, Blood, Swearing

When you enter the facility

When the fight starts

A few days pass and with no activity on your monitors, you and Nat enter Romans cabin and remove any paper files marked as “Project X” from his office. You proceed to retrieve the surveillance cameras and pack up the truck to leave. You and Bucky hadn’t talked about the night you spent together. Neither of you knew why. You hoped he didn’t regret it, you knew you didn’t. You spend most of the ride home and most of the next day asleep, tired from the long shifts. Waking up at around 2pm you check your face in the mirror. The mark he'd left on your neck, the last bit of physical evidence of that night, has faded away. You make your way into the kitchen in sweatpants and a matching cropped sweater, hair done up in a bun. You find everyone else scattered between the kitchen and the living room. It seems like the missions went relatively smoothly, Roman hadn’t been at any of the houses. Though apparently Italy had had some problems based on the few bruises you can see on Sam and Clint's arms. Everyone’s managed to find the hard copies of the previously deleted files of which there were at least 60. At around 4PM you’re all called into the meeting room. Tony had sent copies of the files off to SHIELD in hopes that they would be able to piece them into a coherent report, but the originals were in the conference room spread across the long table. Taking a seat next to Wanda, you pick up a few of the files. You’re skimming through them when Shuri enters the room and pulls up a holographic of what appears to be the blueprints for some kind of fancy building.

“What is that?” you ask.

“That. Is what I found on one of those encrypted files you stole. It looks like it’s some kind of underground bunker.” she replies. “There’s two levels, the upper part seems to be various facilities, living rooms, gyms, bathrooms, etcetera, but the lower level is where they’re keeping the laboratories and medical bays.”

“Hidden in plain sight, allows him to do whatever he wants no questions asked.” You murmur.

“Do we know where it is?” Clint asks.

“Based on some shipment receipts we have a general idea, but we’ll need Sam to scan the area to get the proper locates. Now finding it should be easy enough, and since we have a floor plan of the facility we may even have an upper hand.” Tony explains.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever had the upper hand on Roman.” You state.

“You’re right we need to be prepared for anything.” Steve says.

“If we can bring him in alive, we could figure out where all the mutants in these files have gone.” Tony says, looking at you pointedly before repeating the word alive a decibel louder, but you’re not paying attention, you’ve noticed something in the files.

“There all alphas, looks like he’s even got some omegas.” you say skimming through the files

“They’re all what?” Vision asks, looking to Wanda for an explanation.

“The government classifies mutants into six general groups, epsilons,” Wanda starts

“Mutants with little to no powers but major physical presentation of the x-gene you’ll recognize them a mile away.” You explain.

“Deltas,” Wanda says, pausing in order to continue the back and forth exchange.

“Human presenting mutants with low level powers most of them don’t even know they have the gene. Asymptomatic carries if you will”

“Gammas”

“This is the base level of powerful mutants. They have powers yes, but they also have a distinct phenotypic presentation of the x-gene.” You see some of the people in the room looking confused “Phenotypic presentation meaning they present distinct physical traits. They’re often the most ostracized by you non-mutants. Think Beast, Mystic or Nightcrawler.” You clarify, unsure if the team knows who they are.

“Betas” Wanda continues.

“They’re just as powerful as Gamma’s, but they only have minor physical drawbacks, ones you won’t notice until you’re close up, like Wolverine, or Gambit.”

“Alphas,”

“Very powerful mutants with no phenotypic presentation of the gene some consider them to be the most dangerous because you can’t identify them, Wanda or myself, for example.” You smile at her.

“Then, then there’s omegas.” Wanda says

“These are mutants with the highest level of power. They’re also usually the ones with the hardest powers to control. The most dangerous of the alphas if you will. Jean, Magneto, Charles and Storm are all omegas, powerful ones.” You stop.

“So what does this mean? He’s gathering all the strongest mutants?” Sam asks.

“Looks that way.” Wanda says

“We’re going to need to take extra safety precautions. If they’re fighting with Roman they’ll be looking to kill, not wound, anyone who gets in there way” Tony says

“And what if they’re being held as prisoners?” Bucky asks, beating you to your own question.

“If they’re being held captive they may be angry, untrusting and ready to destroy anyone even if it's people looking to help.” You say “They’ll be scared and fear is dangerous, be careful when approaching them”

“Do we have any way of protecting ourselves?” Nat asks

“Yes,” Shuri pulls out a box with metal collars and a box of ammunition.

“These collars will ensure that whoever is wearing them has their powers disabled” she sees you give her a concerned look “just until we take them off I promise” she reassures. “Meanwhile, these are soaked with a heavy tranquilizer that knocks anyone out in seconds. I’ve hooked them up to best suit your weapons of choice.”

“How do we know it’ll knock out a mutant?” Peter asks.

“Well I tested it on my brother and it knocked him out for a good 5 hours, superpowers and all.” She says grinning from ear to ear causing you all to laugh.

Steve goes over the plans. “Alright troops, we’ll be proceeding into the building through the four main entrances as indicated on the map. We want to make sure that each team has at least one person trained in military combat leading the attack. So, Y/N you’ll go ahead with Wanda and Peter through the back entrance here. Myself and Tony will enter from the left, while Bucky and Sam will come up on the right. Nat, you’ll take Clint and Vision through the front. We’ll maneuver through our quadrants before meeting back here, at the center of the second level. From there we can continue our sweep of the building. Remember, we are not going in to kill, we need Roman alive in order to get information. Any prisoners are not to be harmed, you find them, you wait and Y/N and Wanda will go and make the call. Get your stuff together, we fly in 15.”

Throwing your arsenal into a bag and getting changed you make your way over to the jet.

You throw your duffel bag up to Sam, and he almost drops it underestimating how heavy it was going to be.

“Jesus what’s in here? A body?” he huffs.

“A lady never reveals her secrets” you say, placing your finger over your lips and making a shushing gesture causing Sam and Peter to giggle. You go to hoist yourself up but struggle as the jets entrance was higher off the ground than you had anticipated. Suddenly, two hands grab your waist and lift you up with familiar ease allowing you to reach Sam’s hand. He pulls you up asking you what’s got you all hot and bothered. You shoot him a death stare, leading him to lift his hands up as he walks away mumbling about how he was sorry for asking. You turn around and pull Bucky up “Didn’t think anything could fluster you.” he said quietly with a smile as he passes by, causing you to become even more flustered. What the hell was that all about? You think taking your seat next to Tony and clipping in your seatbelt.

“How was Russia?” Wanda asks while sitting with Visions arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“Fucking cold.” you reply, not making eye contact with Bucky, Nat or Steve afraid you may reveal yourself “Next time Tony we’re pulling name outta a hat so you can’t rig it.” He laughs and the flight takes off

“So what can we expect with this guy Roman?” Peter inquires.

“Well he doesn’t fight fair that’s for sure, but he never does any of his own dirty work he likes to be kept clean I honestly think he’s a germaphobe but I digress. Lots of brutes, usually without superpowers unless bashing someone head in with a baseball bat counts as a power. I don’t know if he’ll even be there.” You say tightening the strap of the holsters around your thighs and clipping your arm bands into place.

The jet lands a few blocks away from the supposed site. It’s a ghost town, run-down buildings that have been partially destroyed, potholes, broken glass, overlapping graffiti on every surface. This wasn’t Romans usual extravagant taste. What was he up to? He always wanted his accomplishments to be on display. Why was he hiding this one?

“Sam, you see anything up there?” Tony asks.

“Scanning one sec. Alright we’ve got a hit, under the old movie theater by the looks of it.” He responds, landing next to you.

“Get into teams, let’s get this asshole.” Bucky says, loading up his machine gun with the knockout bullets Shuri had made. Before you split up he looks over to you,

“Don’t do anything stupid, lots of people here would miss you if you died.”

“Are you including yourself on that list?” you ask, as you load up your own gun. He walks behind you placing a hand on your waist and whispers “What the hell do you think.” Before walking off towards Sam.

You, Wanda and Peter enter from the back. You lead them through the maze of hallways wielding a machine gun checking left and right into any doorways. You knock out the guards with the tranquilizer bullets and once they’re down Peter webs them up to the wall, ensuring they won’t be going anywhere. No signs of any mutants yet. You reach a hallway that diverts off to the side. Holding up your fist you stop before motioning to your two teammates to continue up the hallway while you check it out. You're about to clear the hall when you feel something thwack you in the back of the head, you must have missed a door. You drop your gun and turn around to see none other than your old driver Calvin holding a pistol to your head.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” He smiles cocking the gun. Before he can pull the trigger a ball of light hits him in the back. You look up to see Wanda standing behind him. You grab your gun and she pulls you up “Old friend of yours?” she asks, while Peter webs up Calvin. You exit the hallway and continue down your path until you reach a door that none of you recognize from the blueprints. “Sam you there?” Wanda asks into the earpiece

“What’s up.” He whispers.

“Send us your scan of the building we’ve reached undocumented territory.”

Wanda pulls up the blueprints. “It looks like this leads to a lower level.”

“Alright, were going in.” you say

“Be careful. Once we're done we’ll head your way. Send us your current location.” Steve’s voice commands.

“Copy.” you respond. Lifting your gun you proceed down the narrow hallway, single file.

You turn the corner, another door, you open it quickly scanning the room for potential threats. You turn on the lights revealing a large empty room, lowering your weapon you take in your surroundings. Then, you hear a clatter and fog canisters roll out in front of you reducing your visibility now unable to see even a few feet in front of you. You hear a crash and see a burst of red light in the fog. “Wanda” you whisper yell “Peter?”. You don’t shoot at the noise, not wanting to hit your two friends. The fog slowly begins to lift revealing Wanda and Peter chained to the floor by their wrists. You bend over to try and break them, but you can’t.

“Look out!” Peter warns. You turn around to see a man, you recognize his face but couldn’t quite remember his name. You blink and then there's 15 of him, carbon copies encircling you.

“ What the…” you start before being interrupted by the echo of slow claps coming from behind the multiples.

“Together at last! How I’ve missed you my freak of nature” a familiar voice calls out

“Now Romy is that any way to speak to an old friend?” you say through gritted teeth, standing up to face him.

“Friends don’t burn down each other’s building, steal from them and kill their guards” he shouts

“Ouf well I guess friends don’t really own each other either?” you snap back.

“Agree to disagree.” he says, finally appearing behind the multiples, sending him? them? back out to guard the door. The 15 men turn back to 1 and exit the room.

“Why are you even here Romy? It’s not like you to do grunt work. And besides, you know you can’t beat me” You exclaim raising your gun and taking aim.

“Maybe not under the usual circumstances, but recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve turned over a new leaf” he says. A burst of light leaves his hands and hits you hard in the stomach knocking the wind out of you. You topple over dropping the gun as you fall.

“But you see your powers are useless here, no water, no fire, no earth in sight.” He continues, kicking down hard on your back, splaying you across the floor. “And my new powers allow me to use electrical energy as a weapon. Isn’t that just so fun!” he kicks the gun away from your reach and lifts your chin up with the tip of his shoe

“Impossible.” You mutter trying to understand what you had just seen, he wasn’t a mutant.

“Not when you know the right people.” he laughs.

“I didn’t miss a room, you gave Calvin powers as well, how?”

“All in good time, but for now you’re going to come with me or I’m going to kill your little friends here as well as all the others currently sweeping the upper levels.” He says as you push yourself off the floor.

“Alright go ahead,” you stand up and make your way over to the door, “see if I care. You obviously need me alive so i'm gonna walk right outta here unharmed”

“Guess you’re still only looking out for number one” he says following behind you

“Always have been” you say, grabbing the handle of the door. “Oh and Romy.” you turn to face him

“Yes darling?” He asks with a snarl.

“Are you really as stupid as you look?” you ask.

“What?” he scowls.

“Do you really think we showed up here without a backup plan?” You knock him down with a gust of air, as he hits the floor he yells for his guards. One tries to grab the door handle, but you ignite your arm bands and touch the knob scolding the man’s hand badly, you can smell the burnt flesh as you let go. Using the water converter technology installed into your suit by Shuri you throw water over the chains confining your two friends, freezing it as it hits the metal. You walk over whacking the chains with the butt of your gun causing them to shatter. You help them up. “Nice acting.” Wanda says rubbing her wrists “Seriously where’s your Oscar?” Peter asks. “Aww thanks guys, you know maybe I should quit my day job!” you start, but quickly realize you have bigger fish to fry as the multiplier and several others enter into the room.

Wanda knocks down three of them with a single blast as Peter works on taking down another two. You're squaring off against a guy who must have superhuman strength, based on his height and intense muscles. “You know there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, seriously what are you on steroids?” You shoot at him but he catches the bullet and crushes it proving your theory. You drop the gun and run at him. Sliding between his legs you jump on his back , pulling out your knife you jab it into his shoulder and he lets out a yelp of pain. At least you knew he could bleed. You manage to wrestle off his helmet, as he reaches around to pull you off, you bite him. This makes him even angrier. He grabs you off his back and throws you against the wall. He’s learning over you as you attempt to make a grab at a knife, he steps on your wrist lifting his foot he aims at your head, you brace for impact. All of a sudden you hear a gun fire and the guy turns to face the shooter, Bucky. The rest of the crew have arrived just in time to help with the other guards. While the muscle man starts towards the winter soldier you grab the knife on the floor and slash the guy's Achilles causing him to fall to the ground. “Thanks for that.” you say wiping the blood of your knife “Right back at you, I was 10 seconds away from being a pancake.” he smiles at you before shooting down two of the guards. It doesn’t take long for you guys to take the rest of them out. Roman’s started moving towards the door amidst the chaos but he doesn't get far before one of Clint's arrows hits him in the leg. Still trying to drag his body out of the room you walk over to him and lift up his head by his hair “You seriously thought you and your run of the mill abusers could take down a team of nine superheroes.”

“Hero? Is that what you think you are? Your hubris will be your downfall.” He says spitting in your face before passing out.

“You get your touch for the dramatic from him?” Sam chuckles.

“Did you know he had powers?” Peter asks, while Bucky lifts up Romans limp body.

“That’s the thing he didn’t use too. Wanda, did you see any doors in that hallway where Calvin tried to kill me?” You say wiping the spit off your face.

“Where who tried to do what to you?” Bucky asks loudly.

“No. You think he had them as well?” Wanda responds, ignoring Bucky’s concern. You shrug.

“So how did he...” Tony starts.

”I don’t know.” you shake your head in confusion. “Someone call Shuri. I have a feeling she’s the only one who can crack this.”

[kurtty-drabbles]

Lara Croft au (Part 7)

N/A: I feel I´m dragging this plot a lot. Is just...is hard to make them arrive at the temple at the same time. So, let´s see what I can come up here and well, everything to move the plot forward.

@dannybagpipesarecalling @djinmer4 @bamfoftheundead @muninandhugin

In the circus, at least in the one Amanda/Jimaine grow, have a few laws and one of them is the most important of all them. Mother is always right. And Amanda used to believe in this rule with all her body and soul- her brother too. Their bodies used to worship her word as well as praise their name in a sacrilegious demonstration of love- until Margalia was killed off in a confrontation with Dr. Strange. It changes Amanda´s blind fate for good.

If she can die...she was wrong and if she was wrong...I need a new purpose.

Count Mordo offers a new way to Amanda and Amanda will follow until the end.

I can do it. Is all about power.

Dr. Rory wrapped his arms around Amanda kissing her neck in a butterfly kisses - a loving image. A loving plan B if anything is to turn souer- and the man points to the distance where her blue eyes can see the image of the temple of Pheonix and Zaorva.

Is a temple, not a pyramid as Amanda thought, and so far the security isn´t as tight as Amanda was hoping.

Oh, since they have a decoy...maybe they never thought in upgrade the security.

"Here is the temple of Zaorva and Pheonix. The tiaras are there." his voice still murmours in her ear and the ship is already porting on their destination, yet, the smile dies off as soon they noticed a new boat already in their place to port.

"What is this?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Kitty Pryde could tell something is wrong the moment she steps out of the boat-not in the literal exact moment, as she was so happy to be away from the boat in the first place- and Doug seems to receive the same message. "How many people know about the real temple? And I´m not asking this to avoid to talk about Larry here" and points to the chimera who has one of its heads above looking at Dr. Moira as if recognizing her and only her. "But...I feel we won´t have any easy"

And while Dr. Moira is gushing at the chimera as a mother to a small baby. A small baby who can devour the entire boat if so wishes.

Logan quips in his grumpy voice something more or less "And when our plan is ever easy?" and Kurt laughs amused- Kitty listen to the sound. She never heard this sound before- and adds "it wouldn't be fun if it was too easy" and well, Kitty can´t disagree.

"Oh, I knew the temple wouldn´t be a pyramid...still, do we have..." her words die on her lips as a new boat arrives with a blonde woman who is looking up and down to Kitty as if she´s a fat bug and sending a not so subtle look to Kurt.

Kitty suddenly has the compulsion to hit her face. No idea why, but, she does have the urge to bitch-slap her. Her eyes follow Kurt who is completely clueless or so appear to be. "Kurt, who is she?" she asked in a whisper.

And Kurt shurgs off not knowing what to say. And the blonde woman narrows her eyes at this. Dr. Rory is also not happy with this scene.

"Hello, Kurt. I´m happy to see you again. Not trying to do anything illegal, right?" Amanda asked flicking her blonde hair. Kurt noticed the man next to her who is throwing dirty glares at Kurt and only Kurt.

And Kitty could see the next move as Dr. Rory shots at them. Kitty uses her power and phases everyone, including Kurt, and soon Amanda shots at them with magic- as much Kitty can register- But as the chimera shows all its heads the fight stops.

Dr. Rory halts his hand. "A chimera is here...let´s not split blood now...Pheonix and Zaorva may be watching" Amanda make an ugly face at those words and Dr. Rory doesn´t mention anything.

Amanda cast a spell on them- her magic so dwindles it makes her panting and breath with some difficulty to cast this spell- and now the group can´t move.

"Next time, Kurt...I´ll murder you"

And Dr. Rory and Amanda enter in the temple. Once out of the view the chimera lick Dr. Moira and the spell is broken. "Chimeras can heal almost any curse" she explains to her friends. "few people know this" ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Count Mordo is finishing his duties as count. He may have magic, but, ruling a state still requires a sharp mind. Now, in his room, the man is glossing over the big mirror which is cover by a white sheet. A smile places in his face. Is more a smirk than anything else.

The man takes the sheet off and the mirror didn´t show his own reflection.  No. It shows Margalia Szardos looking furious at him. "Hello, you poor excuse of a witch. How is your staying in the mirror so far?"

"Release me Mordo or else..."

"Or else what? No one is after you and your daughter want your position. Not you."

"Then ...why keep me?" and she adds with confidence. "you know I have more knowledge in magic than you"

"No, I keep you because I know you´ll be a great sacrifice to one of my ...patrons, let´s say, and in fact, Margalia...you´ll meet one of them right now" and his smirk continues. "don´t worry...is possible your daughter will be there with you in a minute"

"If Jimaine can´t avenger me...Stefan will"

"Stefan? He´s far away as possible ...I think you should have re-think your strategy. Let´s be real...you don´t have time to do anything other than thinking"

And Margalia screams as the mirror is consumed by a green fire. Margalia is about to meet one of Mordo´s patrons.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

"Father!" Lorna asks as Magneto just concludes his work as king for the day. His attention is now solely on Lorna. "why you want those tiaras anyway?"

"I have my reasons, Lorna"

"Great way to say: none of your business, Lorna"

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Enchantress

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

I really feel bad for Enchantress. Like, she has such a cool design, she has such a cool concept, and Suicide Squad just does diddly squat with her. Part of it is obviously the jarring tonal clash of having a bunch of relatively normal criminals going up against a superpowered demon witch for their first mission, part of it is the awful writing for her holding her back, and all of it adds up to a disappointing mess that continued the proud DCEU trend of having dull, unengaging generic doomsday villains (a trend that wouldn’t truly be broken to any great extent until the release of Aquaman).

Actor: Cara Delevingne portrays the wicked witch of the DCEU, but sadly she doesn’t really get to showcase her acting chops here. Enchantress does nothing but writhe around like a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man, and June Moone is just a satellite character at best. She doesn’t bring anything to this role, but at the very least I can say the fault here much more squarely lays upon the shoulders of the writers, unlike with Jared Leto where it was clearly his suckiness that was ruining things.

Motivation/Goals: So, Enchantress discovers people don’t worship or even know who she is anymore, and instead worship machines. So, she decides to do the logical thing: build a giant magitek doomsday weapon to wipe out all technology, all while doing weird interpretive dance. Yeah, our villain is a demonic Luddite womanchild who hates that people aren’t paying attention to her and so throws an epic temper tantrum. Wonderful.

Personality: She’s crazy, selfish, and entitled, but really, the most we get from her is very surface-level observations, as she’s not really characterized all that well. There’s not much to even talk about here, becsue even what could normally be gleaned from watching a film like this is contradicted – she treats her brother like an expendable mook for the entire film (which he is, to be fair), but then when he dies she seems actually upset, and actually begs to be killed so she can be with him again. This comes so out of nowhere and flies in the face of how she’s been this whole movie that it feels like a flaccid attempt at pity for her than anything. It doesn’t help that Incubus isn’t exactly much of a character himself.

Final Fate: Flag kills her by crushing her heart, meaning she actually does get to go and be with her brother in the pile of dead, crappy villains.

Final Thoughts & Score: Enchantress just does not work in the confines of this film. Like, at all.

The whole entire concept of the movie is that the Suicide Squad is a black ops group of criminals roped by Amanda Waller to do the dirty work heroes can’t do. None of these criminals are so-called metahumans, save for Diablo. Most everyone here is just a regular person with really good skills in their respective fields, be that assassin (Deadshot), escape artist (Slipknot), boomerang-themed bank robber (Captain Boomerang), or clown (Harley). Now, when you look at this group, do they seem at all like the kind of group who, on their very first mission, one where they do not know each other and frankly can’t stand each other, should be going up against a magical, apocalyptic interdimensional witch demon and her army of zombies? Does that make any sort of sense?

Like I’m all for mashup movies but I really think something like this should have been saved for a sequel, perhaps after building up Enchantress more, giving her more of a character, and have her actively helping the Squad. As it stands, she comes off as a weak, generic, underwritten villain, and it’s a real shame, because her design and concept are top notch (at least until the final confrontation). On paper, she seems a really cool villain, but she’s just not a cool villain the Suicide Squad should be facing, and so she just comes off as an overwhelmingly large threat to a ridiculous degree. This movie is like what you’d get if you asked the Paw Patrol to take down SPECTRE; narratively, it could happen, but should it happen? Would it really be cool and satisfying? It hurts even more because the Joker is, like, right there, and I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say I would have loved to see Jared Leto get his face beat in.

As it stands, Enchantress is just an absolute tonal mess who does not fit the movie she’s in at all. She’s a ridculously powerful superhuman physical god in a movie about a bunch of jerks without superpowers being sent on a black ops government mission, and she just doesn’t gel with it at all. Ultimately she gets a 2/10, though I will say this: she doesn’t fill me with revulsion to the same degree Jared Leto’s Joker does, even if she has the same score. At least her design and the idea behind her are cool, and her actress seems like a nice person, which is more than can be said for Leto’s Joker and Leto himself, generally speaking. I really think Enchantress should have been saved for a sequel and been built up more, but I suppose nothing can be done about that now.

I really can’t stress enough though how much I love Enchantress’ design, though. It’s just so cool, and kinda hot in that evil stringy-haired ghost girl kind of way. Though the less said about that weird form she takes at the end, the better…

...Yeah. No. Maybe it doesn’t look so bad in a still screenshot, but in the film it is such awkward and terrible CGI it makes Delevingne look like a living bobblehead amd swan dives right into the uncanny valley. Give me the creepy witch demon, thank you very much.

That actually reminds me, there’s actually another villain related to Enchantress in Suicide Squad, though one who I really don’t think warrants his own review. So for the first time, we’re having a Two-For-One Analysis! This one’s gonna be quick because there’s not much to talk about, but still, get ready for...

Psycho Analysis: Incubus

Enchantress has a brother. I feel the need to say this because you probably forgot this guy even existed, which I think tells you almost all there is you need to know about him. Still, I decided I’m doing this, so I’m at least going to try and be fair here.

Actor: So the only reason I even bring up that he has an actor – Alain Chanoine is his name – is because I thought for the life of me this guy was just a big, ugly CGI creation. I didn’t even remember this guy speaking until I looked it up. That’s how little is brought to the table by his actor, but at the very least I don’t really blame him, because what exactly could he do with a character like this?

Motivation/Goals: He’s basically just assisting his sister. He really doesn’t have much more to him than that, he’s just the muscle.

Personality: So here’s his defining feature: His lack of personality. This guy hardly talks, hardly contributes to the plot, and just exists as an excuse for some fight scenes and to kill El Diablo, who dies heroically sacrificing himself. This guy is just so dull I forgot he was in this movie until I started writing the bit on his sister, and then decided maybe it would be good to just toss him in as a bonus.

Final Fate: El Diablo turns into a giant flaming Aztec skeleton (for… some reason) and fights him off, and then they blow him up with a bomb. Yeah, this ancient demon dies to a bomb, which is especially egregious since he takes worse in earlier scenes. Then again, a pathetic, stupid end to a pathetic, stupid villain is pretty much fitting for this guy.

Final Thoughts & Score: I already think that Enchantress was wasted in Suicide Squad, and if I think that, I feel it doubly for Incubus. This guy barely got to speak or do anything before unceremoniously being killed in an absolutely ridiculous way. Why was he even in the movie? It’s not like he’s a really famous villain to begin with. Why even bother using him if you’re just gonna dump all over him as a character like this? Like yeah, sure, he’s obscure and not a big name, but that’s the point of a movie like this: you should be taking these obscure villains and turning them into something memorable for the audience, so that they become household names. Look at villains like Ego or Thanos or Mysterio; they’re more villains that the comic book savvy would recognize on sight, and not what I would call household names like, say, Green Goblin or Joker or Magneto. But their movies helped elevate them to become truly iconic and well-known and well-regarded among even more casual fans. Here, though? They did the exact opposite somehow. They managed to make an obscure character so forgettable and pointless I forgot he was in the damn movie.

Incubus gets a 1/10, but obviously he’s not worse than Malekith. At the very least Incubus is just a crappy minor antagonist and not the main threat of the movie; his narrative function is basically as an elite mook serving his sister. He sucks, yes, but it’s hard to muster up the sheer revulsion I feel for a travesty like Malekith. There was just a lot less going for this guy in the first place, so when he failed to deliver, I wasn’t really surprised.

[meganmazing]

fics i read while on vacation

I went to australia to visit family last week, and boy oh boy are layovers and delays a joy - especially when you are not a person who easily sleeps on planes. To cope, I ended up downloading a bunch of long fics and binge read them all. The hardest part was just picking a few (lol) of what I read for this list.

Here are some of the ones I loved the most. They’re mostly cherik but there’s also a klance, a drarry, and a stony or two (or three) because those pairings are like my comfort food when it comes to fanfiction, and I needed that the past two weeks (hello, canceled flights and difficult support staff). These are also all rated either Mature or Explicit, so if that’s your thing, join me. This is a long one.

As always, if you want more recs from a whole host of pairings and more nonsensical gushing about why I love them, check out my bookmarks on my ao3: megamazing. All links below go to the ao3 version of the work. Click the titles for the link even if the little line doesn’t show up under them. And don’t forget to leave kudos for the authors and share the love!

CHERIK

No Longer in Silence by Black_Betty  26k  Rating: E

It has been eight years since Charles has seen Erik. Eight years since they parted under unkind circumstances and Erik went off to sea. The boy he once knew is Captain Lehnsherr now and they are as known to one another as strangers, and yet--Charles finds that eight years has done nothing to diminish the feelings he had when he was 16 and in love.

It's unfortunate then that Erik doesn't feel the same way.

(Persuasion AU)

The writing in this is incredible, truly. It’s in Charles’ perspective and the emotion coming from him throughout this one kills me in the worst and best ways. And Erik, my utter love. It’s based on Persuasion, so it’s Jane Austen, so you know damn well that there will be misunderstandings galore, and yet...

I usually avoid non-powered AU like the plague, but I gave this a shot and I am so, so glad that I did. Regardless of whether you like/know the story it’s based on, you will fall in love. It is heartwarmingly romantic, and still earns it’s rating in the end. This is a forever-rec, fit for everyone, and i will be shouting it from the rooftops forever.

Tessellation by nekosmuse  116k+  Rating: E

He had been following Xavier's career for years. He had read and reread and reread again everything the man had written. He had tried, on more occasions than he could count, to recruit Xavier into the Brotherhood, but each request for a meeting had been denied. Aside from his work, no one knew anything about Xavier. Not what he looked like, not the full extent of his power--though from what little they did know, he was by far the most powerful telepath in existence--and not what his intentions were.

The man was a recluse. As far as Magneto knew, Xavier had never once stepped foot outside his impenetrable Westchester manor. And now he was scheduled as the keynote speaker for the largest pro-mutant conference in the world.

This is the novel length cherik AU fic you didn’t know you needed. To be fair, I do not read many fics involving Genosha, but I may be reconsidering my preferences after this one because I WAS IN LOVE. It deals not only with all the romance/love/fluff/banter I adore with cherik, but it really gets into Charles and his disability as well as his relationship/history with alcohol. The relationship feels so genuine and believable that I was smiling and aching for these two by turns. I also love Emma in this? More Emma in fics, please.

Mutually Beneficial Transaction by Pookaseraph  41k+  Rating: E

In his sophomore year at Columbia University, Erik, feeling slowly strangled by his mounting college debt, places an add on a sugar daddies website. He doesn't know exactly what to expect from it, but when he's contacted by a man named Charles who seems less creepy than the other people who have responded to his profile, he decides to give it a shot. Charles is nothing like what he expected, and Erik finds himself slowly falling in love with his sugar daddy while trying to find out exactly what caused this amazing guy to buy his emotional and sexual intimacy when he clearly deserves so much more than that.

Pulled straight from the highly emotional comment I left on the fic immediately after reading: “This story is fucking fantastic. In every way. I usually steer clear of non-powered AUs, but holy shit I am so glad I clicked on this one. I'm in love with their love and you wrote this so fucking beautifully my emotions are all over the place. I will rec this until I die. All the love and kudos to you <3″ Here is me, holding up my end of the rec’ing bargain. I was in A State after finishing this story, if you couldn’t tell. The relationship between our boys here is so complicated and vastly different from what I've read before.  

If you are looking for sexy humor and angst for days, then look no further. I wanted to hug them both, constantly. They needed it.

Urban Legend by toesohnoes  10k+  Rating: M

They say that if you stand in front of a mirror and say his name three times Magneto will appear. Charles has never believed in urban legends and he's never been capable of turning down a dare.

Urban Legend was downright mesmerizing. It reads kind of like a campfire story (but with M rated bits, so maybe not one for the kiddies), and the atmosphere it created was elegantly creepy. Because i came in already loving Eric, part of me was rooting for him and Charles, while the other half was screaming for Charles to GTFO.

You Know My Name by dvs  11k+   Rating: M

Erik and Charles are spies with something in common.

Look. I know this isn't a Man From U.N.C.L.E. fic, but it gave me MFU feels and it does the Cherik relationship beautifully, so it pretty much has it all. Erik is Bond, Charles is charming, and I am craving more of this universe. It’s fast paced and from Erik’s POV, and tbh I just found the whole thing dangerously sexy. Plus, the plotty bits were right up my alley.

Tale As Old As Time by madneto  44k+   Rating: M

Charles is a bibliophile living with his stepbrother in a remote village. Erik is a lonely prince with an affliction he doesn't know how to control. Logan is the greatest hunter in the whole world.

Pretty much what it says on the tin. If you've seen Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" you know pretty much exactly what you're getting into. Lots of fluff.

So, you may or may not know I love Beauty and the Beast. And yet somehow, despite that, I wasn’t totally convinced that I was going to love this fic. WRONG. I was so wrong to doubt. It was everything you want out of this kind of AU, while still holding true to Charles and Erik. The story feels very much like it’s own thing, which is so important to me in AU stories. I also love the way the author played with mutations and the curse. I desperately want to give more specifics, but I feel like it would spoil things? Which is weird for a AU this well-known, but I really felt like this author made it their own.

Final quick mention: Love Runs Out by ikeracity   24k+   Rating: M

Just yes. This is one of my absolute favorite modern!AU with powers fics. It's just so sweet and loving and it makes me happy. Apartment complex neighbors, a whole host of mutants, and a community center that made me smile so much. You need a good, fluffy read every once in awhile, okay?

STONY

Rom-Commed By Fate (Or JARVIS) by leashy_bebes   14k+   Rating: E

The best thing about being an Artificial Intelligence is the ability to parse, filter and modify the things people say until you've got the cause to do exactly what you wanted in the first place. Or, in which JARVIS cock blocks Tony into having an actual relationship.

This has everything I love about stony in one form or another, and I was so jazzed to see that I hadn’t already read it! How I missed it, I have no idea. Steve’s characterization in particular really hit the nail on the head for me. It is so sweet (I am seriously understating the fluff here, trust me you will melt) and sexy, and like I said before, we all need some good, happy fics once in awhile. Break up the angst-fest with what I pretty much consider required reading for fans of stony. It’s like a little taste of everything there is to love, with minimal angst.

JARVIS is an honorary Avenger in my book, and I love the Avengers fam dynamics. Fight me.

Any Other Way of Loving by brandnewfashion  27k+   Rating: E

In which Steve is bad at dating, Tony isn’t, and neither of them are as subtle as they think.

I have re-read this one multiple times. Not even on purpose, just because I keep gravitating back to it somehow, and I love it more every single time. It’s fake dating, but is it? Totally. Maybe. Our boys are a bit slow on the uptake. I love their dialogue in this one. Bants for days. I will die on the hill of Tony Stark, and this fic has great Tony POV. Also, great pinning on both ends. (that sounds dirty, but I don’t actually mean it that way this time)

The Last Love Song of Anthony E. Stark by jibrailis   42k  Rating: E

After contracting an Asgardian virus, Tony starts forgetting things. And people. And Steve.

So if you read that summary above, you can probably guess that this one is not fluffy. There are wonderfully heartwarming and heart-wrenching moments that make you feel all the things, but I don’t think I would call it fluffy. It’s Tony POV all the way, and that makes the pain even worse! This story is so good. The writing is spot-on, and the style of storytelling had me hooked.  

Wanna feel pain and sadness and read a really moving story that has a genuine plot? What if I told you that there are also sexytimes, and pinning, and on-point jokes and moments that hurt my heart and melted it at the exact same time? Not convinced? Asgard roadtrip. With Loki and Sif. Also, Steve loves Animal Crossing. Did I mention the sexytimes?

Specifically, I found the way that Tony dealt with everything happening to be completely accurate for the character, and the same goes for Steve, Loki and Sif. And stony low-key feels until they are very much no longer low-key. But the memory loss hits you harder every time, and the aspect of unreliable narration absolutely killed it.

DRARRY

Reparatio by astolat   17k+   Rating: E

Draco snorted. “I’m not reduced to penury. I want something considerably beyond money, and I rather think you’re the only one can give it to me.”

“You want the Invisibility Cloak,” Harry said, flatly. He’d half expected as much; it was the only thing he had that Draco could want—

“Don’t be stupid, Potter,” Draco said. “I want my reputation back.”

It’s that thing that looks like fake dating, but is really, really not. You know what I’m talking about. It also looks like friends with benefits, but who are they kidding? Not me. Barely even kidding themselves, and even then it’s not for very long. Draco and Harry banter fuels me. This one is Harry POV, and it’s very well done. Draco is also cunning and strategic, which so many people tend to drop off in favor of just making him just a sassy prick, and I was so here for all of that. Pretty sure Harry was too, deep down.

The one thing that had me going, hmmmm, is that Ron and Hermione are not together, but there is no drama there so it’s really not a big enough deal to make me put it down. No character bashing, which is a must for me.  

KLANCE

Don’t Break Connection, Baby by princedeadend   38k+   Rating: M

Keith works part-time as a phone sex operator and receives a prank call from Lance. This does not go as planned for Lance. Thus begins the adventure of our dear sweet goofball continuing to call Keith to fuck with him (but not like fuck fuck with him...at least not yet). And y'know, eventually having legit conversations with him and getting attached and growing on Keith. Summaries are not my strong point, alright?

aka the phone sex operator fic no one asked for

Maybe no one asked for it, but I certainly needed it. This was one of those “why-not” clicks for me, since I don’t usually go for this kinda thing, but WHERE HAS THIS FIC BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I loved every second. The humor, the banter, the perfectly written sexytimes, and the awkwardness you just knew was gonna happen the minute you read the summary, were gorgeously timed and executed.

This is a rom-com in fic form, but a bit more graphic. Lance and Keith being happy and smile-y with each other is my kink. This fic also reminded me that phone sex is a great, great thing indeed. Not to mention, Lance has a bit of a praise kink? Sort of? Say what you want, I’m here for that.

[dageek87]

Nick Spencer doesn’t read about the comic book characters he writes: A treatise

Ok. So fans have gotten a lot of recent news about the upcoming Secret Empire event.  Needless to say, the girls are not pleased.  It seems as though the new Hydra contingent will not only be headed up by Steve Rogers but that the Master of Magnetism himself, Magneto, will be amongst the Hydra rank and file.

I remember back in the days of 2016 when the first issue of Steve Rogers: Captain America came out.  There was a civil war (teehee) amongst the fandom about Steve being revealed as a Hydra agent.  The against camp argued that it was an insult for Captain America, THE CAPTAIN AMERICA to be an agent of a Nazi Death Cult considering he was made by 2 Jewish people (Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, also WW2 veterans) to fight said Nazis. The for camp then countered with creative license and give the story a chance and technically they’ve done this story before.  

I was firmly in the against camp.  Not only was it insulting to the Jewish creators, readers, fans, etc.  It also didn’t make sense to me as I understood the character.  The thing that makes the charater is his moral center.  It is unshakeable not just because he was raised right or his life experiences. He is the way he is because he is.  He would be Steve Rogers: Captain America regardless of anything.  The man is incorruptable and he always bends to the side of goodness. Much like Tony Stark’s true superpower is his intelligence, Steve Rogers’s true superpower is his moral compass. This is why, depending on the times or the issues, Captain America is either with you or against you. And if he is against you, you are wrong.

However, after hearing all of these glowing “reviews” about the story, I relented and read. Don’t ask how I read the books. SHHH! Just don’t think about it! And my determination is that Nick Spencer’s run on Captain America and Marvel’s all around new direction with the character is good...if you don’t think about it too hard.

Like, no joke, if you know even a modicum about the CA continuity and that branch of the Marvel Universe, the story falls apart. While I was reading the comic, I was thinking wow this would be a great story if it was anyone else.  The facts about Steve Rogers do not match up to any of his actions in the story.  So here’s my issues and complaints. 

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1.  It is revealed in the 1st issue, that Elisa Sinclair is a woman in his altered memories that turned Sarah Rogers, Steve’s mother, into a Hydra activist. Elisa engineers both Steve’s parents murders and absconds with Steve to Europe. 1st of all it’s public record that Steve’s parents died of disease.  In the story they have yet to explain what happened to Steve’s grandfather (who was still alive when he was a child) or Steve’s childhood friend, Arnold Roth. This creates a problem because both characters would notice his kidnapping and fingers would be pointed at the weird woman who was constantly hanging around the house. Who also suddenly disappeared.

2. It is revealed in the run that Steve was sent to a Hydra school after he was kidnapped by Elisa. He develops a friendship with one Helmut Zemo, when Zemo defends him from some bullies. This is framed as a mirror of MCU Steve Rogers’s relationship with MCU Bucky.  However, in the continuity, Helmut wasn’t even alive at the time.  He was born well after CA “died.”

3.  In the 1st issue, Steve tosses Jack Flagg from a plane leading to his death.  Not only was it unnecessary, it was down right fucked up.  Regardless what happens next, Steve killed an innocent man. On purpose. How can the character recover from that?

4. Then there is the issue of the serum. Spencer already set up that in the alternative memories that Steve didn’t get the Super Soldier Serum from Erskine. But the explaination doesn’t hold up under examination. The serum is designed to work on a mentally, emotionally, (morally?) perfect human.  It’s almost magic. All other versions of the serum have failed to varying degrees on EVERYONE ELSE. Including the near perfect Isaiah Bradley because of flaws in character.  If Steve was trained to be a morally corrupt nazi, wouldn’t the serum fail him too?

5. Kobik is the key to all of this and that is a PROBLEM. Mind you, Kobik’s character is so vaguely and poorly written by multiple writers, we don’t really know how exactly her powers work.  I mean she has the power to turn Steve into...this with no resistance from him at all. We learn that she can change anything into something else in the Thunderbolts comics. She is the Cosmic Cube in the form of a 4 year old girl, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean.  And she has been turned by the likes of the goddamn Red Skull?! I get it she’s 4, but either she’s a child or a god. Either she can competently weild her powers or not. And depending on who’s writing her, it’s either or.

6.  Then there’s the biggest problem of all: Steve Rogers’s friends and the rest of the superhero community.  Bucky has been knowing Steve for years. Sharon and Steve share a bed. And Sam has done both (no joke).  If anyone knows anything about Steve, it’s them.  So there’s no real reason that they haven’t found it out yet. The only person who know’s Steve has been brainwashed is Kobik, Red Skull and a brainwashed Eric Selvig. The people who know him the least.  Now to be fair, they tried to explain why his friends wouldn’t suspect him. But that dog ain’t hunting.  Especially with Bucky, who knows firsthand what someone being turned looks like.

I could go on. It seems that Nick Spencer is a shock value type of writer.  He writes something shocking in one issue then tries to make it make sense later and it is not working out. It also seems like this dude really doesn’t like the character and really wanted to write him in the worst light.  Spencer has written a conniving, power hungry, meglomaniac, who hates doing his own dirty work. There is nothing honorable about this Captain America.  Nothing is redeemable about this Captain America.  And that’s the point.  Nick Spencer, much like Zach Snyder and Frank Miller with Superman, wanted to break this character.  Because it is fun.  It’s exicting to put our dark fantasies into the mouths of our icons.  It certainly is easier to write.

But therein lies the problem with life and comics.  No one walks away from their wrongdoings clean.  Hank Pym didn’t get redeemed after he beat Janet Van Dyne.  We’re still talking about how Iron Man betrayed and imprisoned his friends during the 1st Civil War. This fall from grace that the original Captain America is facing is a fall in the worst way.  Because it is not him, mainly.  But also, this a fall he won’t be able to walk away from.  I legit don’t know what they can do with Steve Rogers after this except kill the character and put him on the self.  For them to go be to the way he was: the occasionally self- righteous but good at heart Pater Familias would ring hypocritical.  It would be unearned.

And now he wants to do this same thing to one Eric Lensherr.  I hate Hydra Cap and I am sad that the character came to this.  But making Magneto Hydra is the greatest slap in the face to the people who made comics what it is today.  People have this notion that Magneto is a bad guy because he hates humans.  This is a false equivalency that is shared with his inspiration Malcolm X.  See they hate so they are just as bad as their enemies.  This is All Lives Matter at its worst.  Magneto has a right to be hostile!  Humanity, in particular the Nazis, killed the whole of his family.  Humanity was the reason his current family is broken.  He lost his whole life to the bigotry of man, so you damn right he hates humanity.  He learned how to hate and kill (to paraphrase) from the foot of his masters!  Magneto is an adversary, he is an antagonist, he may sometimes even be a villian.  But a bad man? How could he be when everything he does is for the betterment of his PEOPLE! The people who are being killed due to bigotry and bottom lines. And now the alledged House of Ideas is lumping him in with a group of people he fought his whole life against?!  A group of people who wouldn’t hesitate to kill super Jewish ass?!  If anybody was to be the hero of this Nazi Death Cult takeover story, IT’S MAX GODDAMN EISENHARDT because NOBODY knows better what Hydra is capable of than him!

Now, I’m hot.  Let me wrap this up.  I don’t want anybody to get me wrong.  I would love to see twists and changes in these characters.  Stasis is the death of characters like these because they do not live and die in just one book.  They are legacies, passed down through the years. So long as there are new and interesting stories to tell, they should be told.  Or else they go the way of Prince Valiant or the Shadow.  But these characters don’t just belong completely to one person.  They belong to the company, yes.  But without the consumer, without the fan.  They are worthless.  And there is only so much you can bend, and ignore the history of the character until you have warped it for good. Stories have meaning and a bad story leaves everyone worse off. My best advice to people who are mad at the direction Marvel is going with these characters is to read up and watch the stories where they get it right.  Then write, draw, envision the characters the way you see fit (within the legal limits though).  And lastly use your power as a consumer to show the company the way.  Boycott this event.  Support other artist who are doing the work and telling the stories, especially if they’re women and POC.  Hell, I might have to fall on the sword and see what the Distinguished Competition is up to.  Maybe they will fix it, maybe they won’t but it doesn’t have to be something you tolerate.

Fin

[kurtty-drabbles]

I'll be waiting in the shadow of the sun. (Evil Wizard AU)

@djinmer4  @dannybagpipesarecalling @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336 N/A: I love this Evil Wizard and I was thinking of putting a new form of Swan au here. Ok, explanation, in this AU many magical animals can turn into humans as they pleased(look at the boto, a Brazilian legend) as they are considering having far too high magical levels, yet, Kitty does not trust people to know about her past or this little fact as many magical animals have been prey to greedy of humans. Again, she has the conscience of a human and animal at the same time. She´s a magical(and sacred) animal.

Captain Britain is not sure about making deals a necromancer, no, he´s unsure about making deals with a man like this. The man is a leecher and charges far too much. And has the arrogant smile on his face as if knowing Excalibur can´t do anything unless they want Hellfire to win.

Meggan frowns at the Necromancer and even morphs to a bear warrior, the necromancer does not seem to mind as his eyes travel to Rachel who is gross-out (“you don´t have the right parts to attract my attention”) and before goes to Cerise. A new voice pipes in.

“WAIT” the other members look at Kitty in confusion “I can do it” Captain Brain looks confused as Meggan and the others go to talk to Kitty, ignoring the Necromancer for a solid minute.

“Shadowcat, can do it?” Cerise is a new member and does not know much about Kitty.

“Kiddo, you don´t need to do this, that man "Rachel look at Kurt who may or may not be hearing the conversation amused ” is gross, please don´t do this"

“What? No, I ´m not going to sleep with him. I can destroy the coup or at least, I can stop its power” Captain Brian and Meggan have questions and all Kitty offers as a reply “ when I use such ability It makes me weaker and you all know how I hate this…” Gloriana seems to understand the message “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don´t want. I need to do it” Kitty offers this as a response and even mentioned that once she does it, Excalibur will have one shoot to stop Hellfire. It´s decided.

“Necromancer, we don´t need you, It seems you have some better” Cerise unwisely told and now the man is not so amused. Stalking towards the team, either to ask or intimidate them, fails as Kitty grab his robes forcing his golden eyes to meet with her does eyes. They are on the same eye level.

“Thank you for the hospitality, maybe, in the future, we can make deals, for now, see you later, Oh evil Necromancer,” she said sarcastically and let the man go as the team leaves.

Kurt would laugh and call it a day, except, Logan after a few days saying their mission was a total success. “Poor Kitty, she uses too much magic and is still resting” and Kurt now demands to know more about this woman. Only Kurt can destroy the coup …as he is the one who created.

________________________________________________________________________

Excalibur is fated to meet him again. And this proves to be true as in their next mission, Kurt is there as well. Magneto pays a good amount of gold for Kurt to kill Maximilian(“A very long and complex family´s story”) as Excalibur receive a mission to assassinate the king´s consort for political reasons.

Kurt is a bit shock to see only Kitty to be set in such mission, for a moment, Kurt thought in berate Captain Brittain. How dare he sends such petite woman to a mission as dangerous as that, yet, the woman does not seem scared.

“Well, since we are going to kill different people, there´s no reason for us to be hostile, Hello, Necromancer” Kitty waves at him. Kurt only realizes why she was chosen for this mission as Kitty, in order to enter the city of Maximilian, have to take all her weapons and…how such a petite woman can carry such weapons.

As Kurt kills Maximilian there´s a sense of surprise and shock to know Kitty already did that and was waiting for him.

“You take a while, old man, but, is ok. Let´s hope our next meeting is nicer than that” Kitty then waves goodbye at Kurt who is dumbfounded. A simple intimidation tactic and Kurt found out Kitty has the best record on assassinations than all X-men…not even Logan.

And she destroyed my coup. Who are you, Kitty Pryde?

_________________________________________________________________________Their next meeting was purely by accident. Kitty returns to his place asking for help, not minding the zombies or animals there(no, Kurt saw, she was morbidly fascinated by that, how…odd)

“Kurt! came with me, the X-men need your help” Kitty has urgency in her voice and Kurt is feeling a bit petty. “Are sure you need my help? Last time you did manage fine on your own”

If the idea was to make Kitty beg or even ask “nicely” to Kurt, the plan fails to flatter, as Kitty once again grab his scarlet robes and look into his eyes(soul, for a moment, Kurt is sure she´s looking at his soul)“Listen here, you daughter Talia is a member of the X-men and Selene along with Blop are ready to kill all of them along with my friends, you´re evil and old as dirty to know they won´t be kind to an enemy, so, move your butt and go save them now” Kitty is practically growling like a wild beast and Kurt never  meet anyone like her.

Of course, this can wait, as Kurt has to save his daughter. Selene did have a bad day along Blop. Kitty is healing some of the most injured ones. She puts Talia´s head on her lap and removes the venom of her body.

The ones around mentioned they never saw such technic before. Talia opens her eyes, a bit confused and fearful and looking at Kitty only says “Oh, an angel! please take pity of my soul” and kissed Kitty´s neck as she´s back to sleep.

“This is normal, the antidote makes the people go a bit crazy? that´s the word? the last person tries to bite me” Kitty confirms. Salamander, her brother, was out with the others members of X-men and is now thanking Kitty for saving his sister “thank your evil asshole father, not me, my powers wouldn´t be enough against Selene”

_______________________________________________________________________

After that, Kurt makes his mission to know who this woman is and have her on his side. The few times watching her doing magic…her magic is different from everyone else, including him, sometimes the words of his daughter come to play"an angel" No, that´s just a myth. Said looking to the nearest temple of Zaorva.

Ok, let´s work with this hypothesis if she´s an angel. What does she want?

____________________________________________________________________-

“Katzchen!” Kurt greets and Kitty stops her chores to greet him, waving at the same way as always. Does she want to fly? Is Excalibur forcing her to work for them? No, her magic is far too superior for that and they don´t like slavery. “What are the odds to meet you here?”

“Doing chores? Pretty high, now, meet you doing chores that are not common, I always picture you as making your dumb and vile …animals work for you” her face change when she said that and for a moment she feels ashamed of herself “I don´t like them and I know they would hurt me and some did in the past, yet, I can´t help to feel bad for saying that”

“Why?”

“They did hurt in the past, but, they are just hungry” her response makes him even more confused “Katzchen, my animals wouldn´t attack anyone without my saying so”

“I know, that happens before you meet the wolf”

Now Kurt wants answers.________________________________________________________________________

Talia invites Excalibur to her birthday party and Kurt is invited out of fear. The man notices Kitty looking at the swan sculpture of ice and has a disturbing smile as Bobby is showing off his skills with ice.

“Oh, you just drawn the blind swan perfectly, Bobby, the blind swan was a creature cursed by God to never be able to see beauty and in such state, as many swans would feel, it breaks his mind and the blind swan starts to collect eyes, human eyes, like yours, Bobby” Kitty has such evil smile and Kurt is loving the expression.

(A petite woman smiling like that gets 100% more attractive)

“That´s…not funny” spoken Bobby believing in her words. “is not a real…”

“Oh, but it, "Kurt joins the conversation "The blind swan is real and likes pretty eyes, Bobby, someone ever told you had pretty eyes” Bobby run for his life. Now, Kurt whisper in her ear kindly “Is the blind swan related to you?”

“…sort of”

“Are you turned into a human or you are one of them?”

“The latter option” and adds “you won´t control me

"I don´t control you, I want you” Kurt stated wisely and Kitty blushes wondering how her heart is beating like that.“Keep trying”

“I´ll, Katzchen”