#The Ultimate Doom Brainwash

[mistyheartrbs]

cannot stop thinking about weird barbie and queercoding and how her subplot mirrors margot robbie barbie’s main plotline and the Implications of it all. because like. weird barbie is introduced as this outsider who lives on the fringes of barbieland society (it’s intentionally never made clear whether she was exiled or chose to set up camp there herself; the way mckinnon plays her makes me think probably a mix of both) who, as one of the other barbies (i want to say alexandra shipp/the author?) explains, was one of the prettiest barbies until a little girl played with her too hard, and now she’s an outcast. the barbies call her Weird Barbie behind her back and to her face. this is because of something she couldn’t control (first parallel to robbie’s barbie, whose crisis is brought on by gloria’s own feelings of negativity) and yet she’s forced away because of it. going to hop onto a brief tangent here and say one of the things that never sat right with me in toy story 3 was the weird...demonization? of the preschoolers who chew on/break/otherwise harm the toys because in a story where the Very Ultimate Dream of any toy is to be loved and played with it’s bizarre that they then seemed to be saying well, actually, there are Wrong ways to play with toys when these kids didn’t know any better. and it would’ve been easy for that to be weird barbie’s deal - a freaky little girl played with her in the “wrong” way and doomed her as a result. but she gets to be a hero! she leads the resistance!

robbie’s barbie is immune to ken’s brainwashing bc she experienced the real world’s misogyny and more specifically felt gloria’s messy complex human emotions - her “dark and crazy” drawings, as sasha calls them - stemming from the pain of being a woman in society. weird barbie has never been to the real world and still manages to stay immune, along with her mansion of misfit toys (including, as other tumblr users have pointed out, magic earring ken aka Gay Ken) - there’s layers to that. in both robbie’s barbie’s and weird barbie’s cases, their girls placed Weird and Unpleasant feelings onto the perfect ideal that is Barbie™ and absolutely upended their lives as a result - but they became fully realized people because of it. barbie chooses to go back to the real world to live as a human woman because she wants to feel all those messy and bizarre human feelings! she loves them! she loves humanity and the avenues through which she reaches that love are women being unabashedly freaky and weird both within and outside of her understanding of the world she lives in. what a queer experience. what a way to showcase that scary exciting feeling of being on the very fringes of girlhood and needing to define it for yourself. pink birkenstocks. she leaves barbieland better than she found it. she can’t stay there anymore. she loves the people around her and she loves herself and that self-love is something she’s earned now. weird barbie gets to run sanitation. gloria’s ideas for ordinary barbie foster understanding. barbie is sasha’s stepmom now probably. greta gerwig you’ve done it again.

#barbie #barbie (2023) #barbie spoilers #weird barbie #took like a ten minute break from writing this and thought 'weird barbie and jo march two sides of the same coin' so now that's there also #still thinking also about the fact that mckinnon and gerwig went to barnard college together #natsuki's terrible disco pants

[merakiui]

please tell me more about God!Floyd x Cultist!Reader. orz Maybe she was brought into the cult by her parents to be sacrificed. Her whole life’s purpose is to be Floyd’s and Floyd’s alone!!

orz orz omg that's amazing,,, your entire life has been built around your god's existence. If he doesn't exist, what other purpose do you have? Being raised to be the sweet, demure virgin who is ultimately doomed to be sacrificed to appease the god the cult worships so fervently. You've been brainwashed to think that this is the highest honor anyone could ever know in the compound, so you've been raised with this ideal that being a sacrifice is for the greater good.

Floyd who has observed you in secret silence ever since you were little, watching the cult raise you to be the sweetest sacrifice for him. Aaaa he'd be annoyed that they didn't give you chances to be your own person. He hates the idea that you only exist for one thing and that's to make him happy. >:/ he wants you to be happy, too! Shrimpy deserves to know the same amount of joy he feels whenever he looks at you. Maybe in the years leading up to your sacrifice he starts mingling amongst the cult as a human, meeting and befriending you to see if there's anything beyond the "pretty, perfect sacrifice" he knows you as.

He falls so hard for you. Of course it's already convenient that you belong to him, but being able to interact with you, hear your woes, listen to your successes, admire you up close like this....... it's lovely. Floyd convincing you to have sex with him because who cares what the elders are telling you about purity and virginity!! The two of you fucking in the flower field or in the berry fields!!!! Just,,,, tacky skin, the sweet smell of wildflowers or berries, the scent of moist earth,,,, soft grass!!!! Floyd is so romantic and gentle during your first time. He's just so in love with you.

Little do the cultists know you just gave yourself to your god early (i.e. Floyd was getting tired of waiting). But he'll still make a show out of the real sacrifice day. <3 only it's not you who'll be killed.

#twisted chit chat #pathosprit

[animentality]

For what it's worth, I adore your Durgetash thoughts. Please never stop posting 'em. As for Gort redemption arc... if Laezel, Minthara, and Astarion can have a positive character growth, then anyone's fair game.

I know I'm nuts on this, but I really, really think Gortash's entire motivation should've been that he's afraid of being forced to go back to the House of Hope.

Because listen.

Lae'zel, brainwashed by an evil, selfish god, but she's killed a lot of innocent people. Minthara, literally brainwashed and forced by Orin/ the Netherbrain to do evil things, but also not a good person, and still killed a lot of innocent people. Astarion, a victim of sexual abuse, but also a perpetrator of it, but also technically forced to do it.

Even Orin and the Dark Urge you could argue, evil, BUT.

Bhaal literally forces Orin to turn into the Slayer against her will, and he implies that the person known as Orin has been totally erased and obliterated. And the Dark Urge can be literally dissolved into nothing if they disobey their father.

So it would've been thematically appropriate, if Gortash was ALSO forced, in a way, to serve Bane, because he's a selfish little bastard and he would sacrifice the entire world to save his own sorry skin!!!

That's a complex villain, my dude (gn).

That's still a villain, but he makes more goddamn sense.

Him just being a dickbag who's just taking his resentment out on the world - yeah ok, fine, that can be fun.

But a dickbag who both resents the world AND has an interest in sacrificing it all so he can win his own freedom - like come on.

That's a way more compelling motivation for his character!!!

It also has parallels with Astarion seeking Ascension so he can be free, but ultimately dooming himself to another kind of enslavement, and the fact that all the bad endings end with the characters being trapped in service to evil forces.

But they just went with the whole "he kills children" approach.

Again, because, I suspect, they didn't have the time to finish the upper city, and they also didn't have the time to give Gortash a full arc, so they limited themselves to just making him a mini boss to kill in the end.

Disappointing.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #enver gortash

[notes-from-sarah]

Magneto: A Biographical Timeline, 1963-1991

Magneto just might be one of the most iconic comic book antagonists of all time. He was created in 1963 by Stan Lee and started out as the X-Men’s deadliest foe. Not much is revealed about Magneto through the 60’s but when author Chris Claremont takes over writing the X-Men starting in 1975 he began to develop the character and give him a complex backstory. Magneto quickly started his journey to being a hero and by the 80’s he was no longer a foe of the X-Men, but an ally, and eventually the leader of the Xavier Institute. After corporate meddling forced Magneto back into an antagonistic role in the 90’s, Magneto was eventually killed off and Claremont was fired. This was the end of a cohesive story and trajectory for the character.

Magneto’s backstory has become murky in the years since. The wiki pages (both fan wikis and wikipedia) often take the angle of attempting to synthesize everything ever said about the character into one cohesive story. That, of course, isn’t very helpful when there’s been sixty years of contradictory information and continual reboots – both hard and soft – of the character, his relationships and his backstory. Even his name has come to be muddled with every few years someone deciding to give him a new one. Below, I’ve compiled a list of all the relevant biographical details as they appeared in print from 1963 – 1991. This is a comprehensive overview of the character during his most iconic storylines, many of which have gone on to be adapted to both television and film.

I have included links to relevant historical information at various points as well as to an excellent 2018 documentary, available on YouTube so be sure to check that out as well.

1963

September

X-Men #1 published

1964

March

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #4 “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” by Stan Lee

Wanda and Pietro are introduced with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They are introduced as brother and sister, no last names are given.

Wanda owes Magneto a life debt because he prevented villagers in the heart of Europe from burning Wanda as a witch. Wanda and Pietro aren’t happy about being in the Brotherhood.

Magneto is described as tall.

1965

May

Avengers (1963) #16 “The Old Order Changeth!” by Stan Lee

Wanda and Pietro join the Avengers.

Wanda mentions that Pietro is older than her.

Wanda is described as “black-haired” (though in many later appearances she is most often drawn with brown or red hair)

1968

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #50 “Hail, Queen of Mutants” by Arnold Drake

Mesmero claims the Polaris (Lorna Dane) is Magneto’s daughter and attempts to brainwash her to join Magneto.

1969

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #52 “Twilight of the Mutants” by Arnold Drake

Iceman (Bobby Drake) reveals to Polaris that Magneto is not her father and is “conning” her.

July

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #58 “Mission Murder” by Roy Thomas

The Magneto who appeared in issues #49-52 is revealed to have been a robot all along and Magneto is unconnected to the plot of the robot Magneto.

December 1970 – June 1975

No new books are written for X-Men and the title exists solely as reprints of earlier issues. In effect, the book is dead.

1974

October

Defenders (1972) #16 “Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant” by Len Wein

Magneto is turned into a baby by the mutant Alpha.

1975

August

Chris Claremont begins writing for the Uncanny X-Men starting with issue #94.

1977

April

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #104 “The Gentleman’s Name is Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is returned to adulthood by Eric the Red.

November

The Champions (1975) #16 “A World Lost!” by Bill Mantlo

Magneto works with Beast (Hank McCoy) to free the former X-Men team from Doctor Doom’s mind control. (I believe this marks the beginning of Magneto’s turn to being a hero)

1978

May

Marvel Team-Up (1972) #69 Featuring Spider-Man and Havok “Night of the Living God” by Chris Claremont

Polaris reiterates that she is not Magneto’s daughter.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #112 “Magneto Triumphant” by Chris Claremont

Magneto reiterates that he never worked with Mesmero and the being who claimed to be Polaris’ father was a robot.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #113 “Showdown!” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Magneto’s Antarctic base is destroyed and with it the “work and memories of a lifetime.”

Magneto is sad to have the X-Men destroy everything but steels himself with the thought “I am alive.”

1979

August

Avengers (1963) #186 “Nights of Wundagore!” by Steven Grant, Mark Gruenwald and David Michelinie

Wanda and Pietro return to Transia looking for information about their past.

Transia is a German-speaking nation.

Their mother is revealed to be Magda, no last name is given for her.

Magda left her husband because she feared his powers and desire to rule the world. (This story will change somewhat as the idea is developed)

Magda ran away from Transia after giving birth.

The narrative implies she went into the wilderness to die.

Wanda and Pietro were then given to Django Maximoff and his wife to raise.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #125 “There’s Something Awful on Muir Island” by Chris Claremont

Magneto runs across an image of Magda on a memory tape and reminisces about his late wife thinking “Magda… my late wife. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful you were… How deeply it hurt when you ran away from me.”

This reveals him to the reader as the father of Wanda and Pietro.

1980

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #138 “Elegy” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Polaris is once again mentioned as not being the daughter of Magneto.

1981

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #141 “Days of Future Past” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

In a far distant possible future Magneto is revealed to be working with the X-Men after mutants face genocide and persecution.

Magneto’s name is revealed to be Magnus for the first time, no last name is given.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #148 “Cry, Mutant!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto meets Cyclops’ (Scott Summers) girlfriend, Aleytys “Lee” Forrester, for the first time on his island base in the Bermuda Triangle.

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #149 “And the Dead Shall Bury the Living” by Chris Claremont

Charles Xavier reveals that Magneto is “Caucasian, probably Nordic.”

Charles reflects that Magneto was “the first ‘evil’ mutant the X-Men fought.” (The use of quotes around the word evil is intentional to suggest that Magneto is not really evil)

Charles thinks that “Magneto and I are uncomfortably alike.”

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #150 “I, Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto learns of Jean Grey’s death and says that he grieves for her. He states “I know… something of grief. Search throughout my homeland, you will find none who bear my name. Mine was a large family, and it was slaughtered.”

Magneto speaks to the crew of the Soviet submarine Leningrad in Russian.

Magneto keeps his computer programming book written in a language neither Kitty nor Storm (Ororo Munroe) can read.

Later, after a fateful confrontation with the X-Men, Magneto thinks he’s killed Kitty Pryde. He is gripped with remorse saying “What have I done?!” and “Why did you not understand? Magda – my beloved wife – did not understand. When she saw me use my powers, she ran from me in terror. It did not matter that I was defending her… that I was avenging our murdered daughter. I swore then that I would not rest ‘til I had created a world where my kind – mutants – could live free and safe and unafraid. Where such as you, little one could be happy. Instead I have slain you. I remember my own childhood – the gas chambers as Auschwitz, the guards joking as they herded my family to their death. As our lives were nothing to them, so human lives became nothing to me.” (This is the first time Anya is mentioned even if she is not yet named, as well as the first time that Magneto is mentioned to be a Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor.)

Storm tells Magneto to pray to his deity as she intends to kill him for hurting Kitty. Magneto replies “As a boy, I believed. As a boy, I turned my back on God forever.”

When Storm suggests that his good dreams have been corrupted, Magneto insists that he is too old to change and has lived with his hatred too long.

Afterward, Charles offers that Magneto “Will emerge from this crucible the good man he once was and may yet be again.”

1982

September

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #161 “Gold Rush” by Chris Claremont

The narrative tells us the following took place twenty years ago placing these events around 1962.

Charles recalls meeting Magneto long ago in Israel when he went there to help treat Holocaust survivors.

Magneto is a volunteer at the hospital where Charles is working.

Magneto is introduced as Magnus, no last name is given.

Magneto reveals that he grew up in Auschwitz and states that “I have no family, Dr. Xavier. Anymore.”

The Auschwitz prisoner number tattooed on Magneto’s arm is revealed to be 214782.

The doctor Charles is working with says most of the volunteers were concentration camp survivors who “bring a degree of empathy to their work that the rest of us can’t match.”

Charles and Magneto grow close during their time together despite different views on the future of humans and mutants.

They also become close with Charles’ patient, Gaby Haller who is suffering severe psychic trauma from her experiences during the Holocaust.

Charles eventually comes to realize that “in many ways, Magnus has been as deeply scarred by his experiences as Gaby.”

Charles and Gaby start dating.

Eventually Charles and Magneto reveal to each other that they are mutants.

Charles and Magneto go to Kenya to rescue Gaby, who has been kidnapped by Hydra.

Magneto tells the Hydra leader, Baron Strucker, “You will find me considerably harder to slay than your countrymen did my family at Auschwitz.” and “Unfortunately, my power did not manifest itself ‘til I reached adulthood. By then the war was over. But had I possessed it in the camps, butcher, the tyranny of your Third Reich would have been ended overnight!”

They rescue Gaby and part ways still ultimately disagreeing about means and ends because of the violent methods Magneto used against Hydra.

Magneto flies off with an enormous stash of Nazi gold plundered from Hydra.

Until he disguises himself as Hydra, Magneto only wears white throughout the issue.

December

Marvel Graphic Novel #5 “X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills” by Chris Claremont

(This story is a stand-alone story, it doesn’t really get mentioned in the regular Uncanny X-Men timeline or referenced anywhere else, unlike the Dazzler graphic novel published in the same line. That does not necessarily mean it is out of continuity, just that it doesn’t ever get called back to during Claremont’s further writing.)

Magneto joins forces with the X-Men to save Charles from Reverend Stryker and prevent his anti-mutant genocide. He tells Cyclops “I am not your enemy, X-Men, nor do I consider you mine.”

Cyclops presses Magneto about his plan to become world dictator and Magneto replies “I have lived under a dictatorship… and seen my family butchered by its servants. When I rule, it will be for the betterment of all.” Cyclops asks who takes over after Magneto dies, Magneto responds “You, of course, Cyclops. And the X-Men. Why do you think I want you by my side?”

Charles refers to Magneto as Magnus.

Magneto asks Charles to join him and his cause after they defeat Stryker, and though tempted, Charles ultimately refuses holding on to his dream of human/mutant integration.

Magneto parts ways with the X-Men despite them asking him to stay.

1983

February

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4 “Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself…!” by Bill Mantlo

Magneto discovers what happened to Magda after she left him and finds out that he is Wanda and Pietro’s father.

Magda’s fate is more vague in this telling, saying only that she “fled into the night” without the implication that Magda wanted to die.

Magneto reveals this information to Wanda and Pietro. He meets Pietro’s daughter, his granddaughter, Luna.

Magneto asks Pietro and Wanda to accept him into their lives.

1984

May

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #1 “The War Begins” by Jim Shooter

(Though the Secret Wars story line continues to be published after this date, the event ends and the regular in-universe timeline resumes with Uncanny X-Men #181 published in May 1984.)

When the Beyonder transports heroes and villains to a far away planet to fight each other, Magneto is placed among the heroes.

The other non-mutant heroes are leery of Magneto so Magneto decides to leave and solve their predicament by himself.

July

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #3 “Tempest Without, Crisis Within!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto captures Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and brings her to his headquarters in hopes of convincing her to join forces with him

Wasp, addresses Magneto as Magnus.

Magneto and Wasp have sex.

August

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #4 “Situation: Hopeless” by Jim Shooter

The X-Men leave the other heroes and join Magneto to try and end the situation they were brought into.

November

The New Mutants (1983) #21 “Slumber Party!” by Chris Claremont

When Warlock falls from space he crashes into Asteroid M. Magneto attempts to create a force field to protect Asteroid M but is unable to do so. Asteroid M is destroyed and Magneto is apparently knocked to Earth from space.

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #188 “Legacy of the Lost” by Chris Claremont

Lee Forrester finds Magneto injured and floating in the water near the center of the Bermuda Triangle. She fights off a shark and brings him aboard her boat.

1985

January

New Mutants (1983) #23 “Shadowman” by Chris Claremont

Magneto insists on leaving the hospital and going back to his island base in the Bermuda Triangle.

Lee and Magneto journey there alone on Lee’s boat.

Magneto is seasick the entire way there.

On the island Lee challenges Magneto on his anti-human stances.

February

New Mutants (1983) #24 “Hollow Heart” by Chris Claremont

Magneto apologizes to Lee for being rude to her and compliments her appearance.

Lee begins to see Magneto in a new light.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #10 “Death to the Beyonder!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto is tempted to join forces with Doctor Doom, who the narrative implies is using some sort of power to sway Magneto to his side. Magneto “Reaches out to grasp Doom’s spectral hand – but then, he hesitates. His eyes find Xavier’s, and for an endless split-second, he trembles on the brink…”

April

New Mutants (1983) #26 “Legion” by Chris Claremont

Lee is awakened by Magneto having a bad dream, he is making noise and screaming.

Magneto is using his powers in his sleep and speaking in a language Lee doesn’t know.

She wakes Magneto before he causes himself harm and he is grateful to her for saving his life.

Magneto tells Lee that he was dreaming of “a time and place I thought forever… buried.” Lee says she’s never heard such desolation in his voice. Magneto replies “Death. Resurrection. I’d have died tonight, I think, if not for you. Twice now, I owe you my life.”

Magneto and Lee have sex.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #12 “...Nothing to Fear...” by Jim Shooter

It is reveled that the Beyonder placed Magneto in the hero team because “His desires seemed like theirs.”

June

New Mutants (1983) #28 “Soulwar” by Chris Claremont

Lee has second thoughts about Magneto the morning after.

Magneto brings her breakfast the next morning, complete with a rose.

Magneto uses his powers to prevent Lee from leaving their conversation and this frightens her.

Magneto pleads with her to give him a chance. He tells Lee how Magda left him after learning he was a mutant. “My wife, Magda, had such a look on her face – I had saved us both from a marauding patrol of secret police, yet all she saw was that I had used super-powers to do it. In that moment, I became different – our love meant nothing. I was no longer human. I was a mutant, a thing. She ran from me, in terror. I never saw her again. Never knew – until much later, far too late – that she had borne my children. Don’t – please Lee, don’t you run from me, too. I cannot bear to be alone and I am sick at heart at the realization of what I have become. Help me, Lee, I… beg you. I need you.” (In this telling there is no mention of Anya, only a reference to the twins – Wanda and Pietro)

Lee refuses Magneto leaving him brokenhearted.

July

New Mutants (1983) #29 “Meanwhile, Back at the Mansion” by Chris Claremont

Lee has time to reflect and realizes she does have feelings for Magneto. She confesses her feelings for him and they reconcile.

Magneto apologizes for using his powers in a high-handed way and promises to do better.

Charles asks Magneto to lead the X-Men and the New Mutants against the Beyonder.

Secret Wars II (1985) #1 “Earthfall!” by Jim Shooter

Magneto rallies the X-Men and the New Mutants to fight the Beyonder, and as the Blackbird is out of service, Magneto uses his powers to fly the Xavier institute limousine from New York to California.

August

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #196 “What was That?!!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is brought into the X-Men fold.

Magneto dissuades Rachel Summers from killing an anti-mutant extremest demonstrating his full acceptance of doing things the Xavier way.

Magneto states that “My children have disowned me.” Referring to Wanda and Pietro.

Magneto draws a parallel between himself and Rachel Summers saying that he “Like Rachel… has dwelled too long in the valley of the shadow of death. In too many tragic ways, we are kindred souls – survivors of the holocaust, children of the abyss.”

Kitty remarks that Magneto has the makings of a hero and Magneto replies “No. I am no hero, merely a man… who has seen and done and endured what can never be forgotten… or forgiven.”

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #199 “The Spiral Path” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Kitty attend a reception at the National Holocaust Center in Washington, D.C.

Kitty asks those in attendance if they have any news of her great-aunt Chava who lived in Warsaw before the war.

Magneto reveals that he knew Kitty’s aunt at Auschwitz. He also runs into some friends, other survivors who were at Auschwitz with him. They remark that Magneto helped to save them, and many others. (One could read this conversation as implying Magneto was Polish by nationality)

Magneto’s friends state that he had been in Auschwitz “from the very start.”

Neither of his friends use his name during the conversation.

Mystique and the Freedom Force arrest Magneto for the US Government. Magneto surrenders himself into their custody.

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #200 “The Trial of Magneto” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is put on trial before the World Court.

Gaby Haller acts as his defense attorney.

She argues that Magneto should only be judged for actions undertaken after his rebirth from infancy.

She reveals that Magneto was an inmate in Auschwitz “as an adolescent.”

Magneto is revealed to be, biologically, only in his early thirties.

The proceedings are interrupted by an attack. Charles and Magneto end up away from the court.

Charles entrusts the running of his institute and the keeping of his dream to Magneto telling him not to return to court to be martyred. Charles is then beamed aboard a spaceship for urgent medical care.

1986

January

New Mutants (1983) #35 “The Times, They Are A’changin’!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto takes up his post as the headmaster of the Xavier Institute. Magneto tells the New Mutants he is doing this to “honor that friendship” he has with Charles.

The New Mutants are skeptical of Magneto, but Magneto asks them to give him a chance. He says that both he and Charles view this as a way of “putting things right” after all the evil he has done in his life.

Magneto has doubts about his ability to run the institute.

Magneto wishes Lee were with him, but she’s running her ship. Magneto misses her which surprises him because Magneto “thought I was beyond such caring.”

Lee wrote Magneto a letter telling him that she loved him and calling him darling.

Mirage (Dani Moonstar) is attacked on her way home from town and once Mirage is safe, Magneto finds the attackers. He destroys their house and threatens “Once, with far less cause, I would quite cheerfully have slain you – rent your bodies limb from limb as easily as I did your house. Indeed, I am sorely tempted. The world would not miss such as you. But I am older, a littler sadder – and I hope, wiser. I have learned a better way.” and “Mine is the power to destroy – but I choose not to. Profit from my example. The evil you do others returns unto you a thousandfold – it scars both body and, far worse, soul. Continue down this cruel and bloody road you’ve chosen and one day, you’re certain to meet one not as forgiving as I. Is that what you want? The choice, as ever, remains your own.”

Mirage’s attackers turn themselves into the police.

February

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #202 “X-Men, I’ve Gone to Kill the Beyonder!” by Chris Claremont

Magneto uses Cerebro.

March

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #6 “No Strings Attached!” by Steve Englehart

Wanda invites Magneto to her thanksgiving dinner but ultimately tells him that he will have to prove himself before she’ll accept him into her life.

Magneto takes responsibility for being a bad father. (the author doesn’t write consistently on if Magneto knew he was the twins’ father or not, he also doesn’t seem to care if Pietro has any hard feelings about Magneto, Wanda is the only one who counts. Also, he has Magneto call pregnant Wanda hysterical for no reason, just fyi.)

April

New Mutants (1983) #38 “Aftermath!” by Chris Claremont

The New Mutants are collectively dealing with psychic shock after their meeting with the Beyonder. This includes nightly collective nightmares for the students and Magneto.

Magneto has doubts about his ability to help the students recover.

Emma Frost offers that Magneto should send the children to her Massachusetts Academy where she can use her powers to help them.

Magneto meets the Salem Center High principal Analie Hogarth. Magneto reveals that he is posing as Charles’ “mysterious older cousin” and going under the alias Michael Xavier, an identity Charles created for him.

One of Emma’s students, a Hellion named Empath (Manuel de la Rocha) is revealed to the reader as having manipulated Magneto to feel lost and confused.

Magneto tries throughout the issue to help the New Mutants, but nothing works. He finally agrees to Emma’s offer.

May

New Mutants (1983) #39 “Pawns of the White Queen” by Chris Claremont

Magneto goes into a spiral after sending the majority of the New Mutants away to Emma’s school, Mirage and Warlock being the only students who didn’t go. Mirage criticizes Magneto for not doing more before leaving to go back to her family.

Magneto swims.

Magneto shaves with a straight razor.

Magneto learns that he was manipulated into letting the New Mutants go to Emma’s school. Magneto proclaims Emma “Will learn – very soon and to her eternal sorrow – the Magneto is not a man… to have as one’s enemy!”

Emma alerts the police, telling them that Magneto is attempting to abduct her students knowing that the Avenger’s will try and stop him.

June

New Mutants (1983) #40 “Avengers Assemble!” by Chris Claremont

The Avengers are told Magneto is going to abduct children, all of them assume Magneto has gone bad again and wants to use the children to reboot the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with younger, more malleable minds.

Magneto has a conversation with Warlock reminding him to never take someone’s “lifeglow” aka their life force which would kill them.

The Avengers battle Magneto who tries to keep Warlock safe and not harm the Avengers. He attempts to explain himself but the Avengers refuse to listen. Captain America tells Magneto of Namor’s heroism during WWII, Magneto replies saying “How fortunate for him, Captain. At the time, I was but a victim of that self-same tyranny. Then, I lacked the strength to win my freedom – and save the lives of those I held dear – but Never Again!” Magneto insists that he has “learned a better way” and is no longer a villain.

The New Mutants rally together and come to Magneto’s aid giving Captain America pause to reflect that the Avengers have welcomed other reformed villains, why shouldn’t they also welcome Magneto.

Magneto and Emma work together to heal the New Mutants’ psychic shock. Emma “made their minds whole… but not their hearts, or souls. Now, at last, with their teachers’ help and support, they have faced their nightmares… and dealt with them… each in their own way.” Emma remarks that Magneto was able to reach the New Mutants on a deeper level which made a “crucial difference.”

September

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #12 “Double Size Climax!” by Steve Englehart

Magneto is invited to welcome Wanda and her twins home from the hospital after she gives birth.

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #210 “The Morning After” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is invited to take the place of the White King in the Hellfire Club.

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #211 “Massacre” by Chris Claremont

Magneto chides Kitty for eating junk food and tells her “Just don’t make a habit of such behavior.”

The X-Men discover that the Morlocks have been massacred. Magneto says “No! The horrors of my childhood, born again – only this time, mutants are the victims, instead of Jews.”

December

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #212 “The Last Run” by Chris Claremont

Magneto uses his powers to heal Colossus from grave injuries. The narrative states Magneto “Has taken life so often – brought harm so easily it became almost second nature. Now he has a chance to heal. He will die himself before he fails.”

1987

January

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #213 “Psylocke” by Chris Claremont

Magneto informs the X-Men that he intends to join forces with the Hellfire Club and have the X-Men work alongside the Hellfire Club against the Marauders. The X-Men agree.

New Mutants (1983) #47 “My Heart for the Highlands” by Chris Claremont

While dealing with the aftermath of the Morlock attack, Magneto urges Moira to eat and prepares a meal for the two of them to share, complete with full place settings and candelabra.

Magneto tells Moira “I have lived my whole life with despair, Moira, believing the worst of humanity. But since becoming headmaster of Xavier’s – more especially, by knowing the New Mutants – I have learned… the virtue and power of hope. This is a lesson I will not easily cast aside.”

February

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #1 “Are You Sure?!” by Chris Claremont

(This miniseries dovetails into the regular Uncanny X-Men timeline and even though it runs concurrently with the similarly titled “The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987)” these stories are not overlapping timeline wise and the events of the Fantastic Four miniseries only makes sense to have concluded before the Avengers miniseries begins.)

Kitty is in need of high tech medical care to resolidify herself after being stuck in a permanent phase. Without help she will eventually dissipate. Magneto goes to seek help from Reed Richards.

The Fantastic Four are suspicious of Magneto but agree to help.

Upon arriving at Moira’s Muir Island research facility, Reed has second thoughts and declines to help for fear he could outright kill Kitty accidentally. Magneto insists that he at least try and even attempts to steal Richards’ machine to use it himself, but the Fantastic Four thwart this plan and the X-Men are left without hope for Kitty.

New Mutants (1983) #48 “Ashes of the Heart” by Chris Claremont

Magneto is alone at the Mansion, the New Mutants having disappeared and by many are presumed dead.

Magneto goes through each New Mutant’s room and tidies it with the help of little robots he calls widgets.

Stevie Hunter, the school PE teacher, tells Magneto he should give up and face reality that the New Mutants are dead. Magneto tells her “I’ve come to know these children, and… care for them. Whatever I was, Stevie – whatever I become – they mean too much to me… to abandon them.”

March

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #2 “Truth and Consequences” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and the X-Men turn to Doctor Doom for help to save Kitty.

New Mutants (1983) #49 “Ashes of the Soul” by Chris Claremont

Magneto has a dream of when his family was killed by the German death squads known as the Einsatzgruppen.

It is spring time. A small group of people are gathered in front of a pit in the countryside.

Magneto is depicted as a young, black-haired boy, perhaps 10 years old, wearing short pants and long socks.

Magneto’s sister appears to be two or three years older than him.

German soldiers fire at the group of people killing all save Magneto. Without understanding what happens, Magneto’s powers manifest enough to spare him from death, “His mind burns, power he never dreamed existed coming alive.”

He is buried with his family and the rest of the victims, but since he did not die he climbs out of the pit.

Magneto is depicted breaking through the earth to the shock of the German soldiers. Magneto’s black hair has turned white.

Magneto wakes from his memory-dream thinking “So long ago, so far away. Yet the memories are still vivid. Every detail, etched with acid. My power – my mastery over magnetism – first manifested itself that morning. It saved me, why wouldn’t it do the same for those I loved?! The Germans were so astonished by my survival, the decided to spare my life. I was sent instead to a concentration camp. Auschwitz. Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t struggled so hard.”

Magneto wonders if his dream is a harbinger of mutantkind’s eventual fate.

Magneto is still undecided about joining the Hellfire Club thinking “If we stand alone, we could be destroyed. If I accept this alliance… we could be destroyed! The choice is mine – the responsibility is mine – but I don’t know what to do!”

April

The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987) #1 “Justice for All” by Roger Stern

The Avengers track down Magneto and insist they’re going to bring him back before the World Court and end his trail properly.

(Jim Shooter is fired as Editor in Chief from Marvel Comics this month leading to several years of corporate fuckery that resulted in erasing all of Magneto’s character development and pivoting him back to being an antagonist by the 90’s)

May

New Mutants (1983) #51 “Teacher’s Choice” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Storm work together to repair a failing breakwater and save a human community from a hurricane.

Storm urges Magneto to accept the position of White King in the Hellfire Club.

Magneto refers to his helmet as a symbol of his past life as a super-villain.

Magneto and Storm jointly accept the role of White King.

June

Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) #4 “A Matter of Faith” by Chris Claremont

Magneto confides in Storm his feelings of helplessness to do anything to save Kitty. He reflects on his past saying “Roughly five hundred miles in that direction is Auschwitz – the Nazi death camp – where my parents and sister were murdered. I should have died with them. And due west from Latveria is the Soviet city of Vinnitsa. There was a fire. I was injured saving my wife. My daughter remained trapped in the burning building. She was much like Kitty, my Anya. The most beautiful of children – two years old, Ororo, and she never cried. She only laughed – with wonder and joy – as though life was some magnificent adventure, staged for her alone.” (There is some contradiction between this telling and the others, some of the details change as ideas are developed even though the story remains wholly the same.)

He goes on to say “She burned, Storm! My power was weaker then. I used it to save my wife, but couldn’t reach Anya. A crowd had gathered. I begged for help. They refused me. They saw I was a mutant and some called for me to be hurled into the same flames that consumed my child. Too late – in rage and a grief that ravages me still – I came at last to my birthright: the absolute control over the forces and manifestations of magnetism that is the power of… Magneto! Magda… was so terrified of my power… and how I wielded it… that she fled from me. How different, I wonder, would the pathway of my life have been if she had not? In that awful moment, Storm, I lost everything.” (This telling of the story does not include the secret police)

Magneto tells Storm that he feels he is forever haunted by his past saying that people insist on seeing him as a villain even though he’s changed. He reflects that maybe he should have gone back to finish his trial.

Reed Richards finally comes to help them save Kitty and later Magneto and Richards make peace with each other.

July

The X-Men vs. the Avengers (1987) #4 “Day of Judgment” by Tom DeFalco

Magneto surrenders himself to the Avengers and agrees to finish his trial before the World Court.

Gaby Haller once again acts as his defense attorney.

Magneto uses his helmet and advanced technology circuits to influence the chief justice to rule in his favor. It is unclear, however, if he actually was able to influence the judge or if the judge ruled in Magneto’s favor of his own volition. The court declares it has no jurisdiction over Magneto.

Marvel Fanfare #33 “Shadows on the Soul” by Chris Claremont

(This story originally written for a different series but never released until 1987.)

Magneto and Lee are together and confess their feelings for each other.

Magneto calls the X-Men his friends.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #219 “Where Duty Lies” by Chris Claremont

It is revealed that Magneto has publicly assumed the identity as a cousin of Charles’ who also bears the last name Xavier.

August

Classic X-Men (1986) #12 by Chris Claremont

(Classic X-Men reprinted earlier Claremont X-Men stories but added new material (sometimes individual pages, sometimes additional short stories) to fill out the issue and tie into current comic continuity. Claremont wrote both the original X-Men issue that was being reprinted and the new material that was added.)

(New material that takes place directly after Uncanny X-Men (1963) #104)

Magneto is asleep not long after being resurrected by Eric the Red. He is dreaming “As always, the dream begins with Auschwitz… and Magda. More than a million people died in this camp. And with World War II ending – the Third Reich defeated – it’s guards wanted no witnesses left… to tell the tale of this horror.”

Magneto prevents a camp guard from killing Magda, then takes the guard’s gun and runs away with Magda.

Magneto is said to have “been here from the start… grown to manhood within its electrified barbed wire fence. If he was to die, it would not be in this abattoir… and not without a fight!”

Magneto and Magda run into the wilderness, eventually escaping into the Carpathian Mountains where they eventually settle and begin to build a life together. The page shows Magneto felling a tree, learning woodworking, studying, Magneto socializing with friends at a dinner table, getting married to Magda and cuddling his wife and newborn daughter, Anya.

Magneto is described as having “an insatiable hunger for knowledge, coupled with a wildfire intelligence” so eventually “he bade the village farewell and took his family eastward, into the Soviet Union, hoping to win a place at university” (This suggests that Magneto was living in a village in the Polish side of the Carpathians)

Magneto, Magda and Anya come to the “city of Vinnitsa, the biggest they’d ever seen.” (This suggests that Magneto and Magda came from a rural village or town before being sent to Auschwitz)

Magneto leaves his wife and daughter to go find work.

Anya is depicted as a child between 4-6 years old.

Magneto’s powers first manifest when he has a disagreement with another man. Magneto realizes the powers come from himself and isn’t sure what to make of it.

Magneto returns to the inn where he and his family are staying since this is their first day in the city. The inn is on fire and Anya is trapped on the second floor of the building.

Magda is in the building trying to save their daughter, Magneto uses his powers to get her to safety.

Magneto curses in Russian.

Magneto attempts to get to Anya but is prevented by secret police who are trying to arrest him for his earlier disagreement.

Anya dies in the fire, Magneto’s powers break loose killing those around him save for Magda.

Magda is terrified by what she just witnessed and runs away from Magneto.

Magneto wakes from his dream and uses his powers to save a nearby mother and child from a fire.

Magneto speaks French.

1988

January

New Mutants Annual (1984) #4 “Mind Games” by Louise Simonson

Magneto lectures Sunspot (Roberto da Costa) that the new Mutant Registration Act presents a real danger to all mutants. He states “There are diverse elements in the government who are eager to locate us mutants… in part through their Mutant Registration Act. Some of them would use us. The others would destroy us. I have staked my life that they will do neither.”

New Mutants (1983) #59 “Fang and Claw!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is overjoyed when Sunspot and Warlock return from an absence.

A villain pulls up a file on the New Mutants showing their images and listing everyone’s name, code-name and powers. Magneto’s profile lists him as “Magnus, Magneto, Master of Magnetism, School’s Headmaster” no last name is given.

February

Classic X-Men (1986) #18 by Chris Claremont

(Additional material to Uncanny X-Men (1963) #112)

Storm reflects on when Magneto was turned into an infant, thinking “He returned completely to a state of grace.”

March

(The X-Men are presumed dead after the events of Uncanny X-Men #227)

New Mutants (1983) #61 “Our Way!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto discovers one of the New Mutants, Cypher (Doug Ramsey) has been murdered after a misadventure. Magneto lashes out at the New Mutants for not protecting Doug and for disobeying him. Everyone is deeply upset.

Magneto goes to the infirmary where Doug’s body is laying. He pulls back the sheet covering Doug and looks at the boy thinking “Curse you Charles Xavier, for putting me in this position! I have no rapport with these children. Observe the bitter fruit of my labors!” Magneto kneels at the side of the table where Doug lays and weeps over his body. “An ill wind is coming… they are registering mutants like the once registered my people in Poland…! Who knows what horrors await us. But they are only children. How can they possibly understand… any of this.” (This suggests Magneto is Polish by birth)

Classic X-Men (1986) #19 by Chris Claremont

(Additional material to Uncanny X-Men (1963) #113)

Magneto is described thusly: “His wealth places him far beyond the dreams of avarice. And he numbers some of the finest minds on Earth among his acquaintances. The one facet of his personality that has not changed throughout the decades is his love of learning coupled with an insatiable curiosity about the universe.”

Magneto is a regular correspondent with Stephen Hawking.

Magneto is seen working with advanced scientific equipment making discoveries capable of revolutionizing particle physics and would qualify him for a Nobel prize.

Magneto remembers that Magda used to find him studying long hours to the point that he’d “forgotten food, and sleep, and even her.”

Magneto shaves with an electric razor.

Magneto thinks about Magda and Anya thinking since his resurrection he’s never been stronger or more haunted.

Magneto wonders if Magda is still alive and if she recognizes the famous “evil mutant” as her former husband.

Magneto describes Charles as his dearest friend.

(New material presented in the form of a backflash that takes place at some point after the Uncanny X-Men (1963) #161 story which details Charles and Magneto meeting for the first time. This story suggests that these events take place shortly before Uncanny X-Men #1 when the X-Men face Magneto for the first time in 1963.)

Magneto single-handedly takes out a secret Nazi base in South America and captures Oberstrumbanführer Hans Richter to be taken back to Israel and be put on trial.

After using his powers, Magneto suffers from debilitating psychic pain “Worse than the bite of the kapo’s whip, the murder of parents and family. The death of a child. The loss of a beloved wife. It passes quickly leaving him alive – and almost wishing he wasn’t.” Magneto observes that “These seizures strike now whenever I use my powers. More extreme my usage, more debilitating the attack.”

Magneto reports of the captured Nazi to a group called only “Control” (This seems to be a stand in for a Mossod style organization.)

Two weeks later, in Rio de Janiero, Magneto reads an article about Charles Xavier and wonders if he shouldn’t reconnect with him and seek help for his psychic attacks.

A woman in a bikini and sarong approaches Magneto asking why he’s dressed so formally in a suit and tie at a beach front cafe. Magneto replies “This, I’m afraid, is as uninhibited as I get.”

The woman turns out to be Magneto’s lover Isabelle, no last name is given.

Magneto recounts to Isabelle about how Anya died and Magda left him.

Control did not want Richter captured as he was a useful informant, so they send a squad to kill Isabelle and Magneto. They succeed in slaying Isabelle, but Magneto uses his powers to fight against them.

Magneto looks on Isabelle’s body completely disillusioned with humanity. The reader is told that “the dream dies… and the nightmare is born.”

June

New Mutants (1983) #64 “Instant Replay!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is disgusted with himself after being forced to lie about the circumstances of Cypher’s death. He tells the New Mutants “It’s wrong. His parents have the right to know the truth about their son… about the way he died. But I feel that it would be dangerous to reveal ourselves as mutants at this time.”

August

New Mutants (1983) #66 “Sorcerer’s Duel!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto is seen in his old purple and red villain costume for the first time since Uncanny X-Men #188 and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12. This seems to be the start of Magneto’s corporate mandated pivot back to being an antagonist.

November

New Mutants (1983) #69 “Bad Company” by Louise Simonson

Magneto, dressed once more in his traditional red and purple outfit, holds his helmet in his hands as he says “All I have ever wanted for mutantkind is peace and prosperity. I thought I had found a better way to achieve my goal… and eschewed my old, violent ways. I had hoped to find solace as teacher and protector of the young. But they refuse to be safeguarded, if they are on Earth, I will find them… and protect them actively in the way that I know best.” Magneto puts his helmet on.

1989

April

New Mutants (1983) #74 “The Right Stuff” by Louise Simonson

Shaw blames Magneto for damages to New York City caused by Magick’s (Illyana Rasputin) Limbo demons.

Magneto and Sebastian Shaw fight each other briefly, Magneto accuses Shaw of not caring for mutantkind.

Later, Magneto talks to Emma and suggests that Shaw was right to blame him.

May

New Mutants (1983) #75 “King of the Hill!” by Louise Simonson

Magneto fights with Shaw for control of the Hellfire Club.

Magneto comes out of the confrontation victorious and Shaw is expelled from the club.

Magneto and the New Mutants have a falling out and the New Mutants refuse to have anything more to do with him.

November

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #253 “Storm Warnings” by Chris Claremont

Magneto and Moira quarrel on Muir Island about him parting ways with the X-Men, the New Mutants and the Xavier Institute.

Magneto is convinced “There is a war coming, Moira. And you are a fool if you do not see it. We mutants cannot be wished away, we are here on this earth, more and more born every day. There are those who will accept us, and those who fear us and seek our destruction. And, worst of all, those like Genoshans… who desire to exploit us for their own power and profit. We must be strong enough – as a people – to survive without the sufferance of the one or the aggression of the others. I mean to ensure that. I must – because there is no one else.”

Magneto tells Banshee “I am sorry things have to end like this – but I suspect it’s for the best. Some roads are better traveled alone.”

Magneto leaves.

1990

October

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #269 “Rogue Redux” by Chris Claremont

Magneto intervenes to save Rogue’s life after she is reborn from another dimension without her mutant abilities. He attempts to return her to her previous strength and powers in his base in the Savage Lands.

1991

February

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #273 “Too Many Mutants” by Chris Claremont

Jean tells storm that she’s concerned Magneto is returning to his old ways.

March

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #274 “Crossroads” by Chris Claremont

Magneto narrates this issue: “All my life, I have been drawn to the wild and desolate places of the world. As a boy, I saw myself walking where no man ever had. Alone against the elements. The more I came to know of people… the more strongly that yearning dream spoke to me. As the fierce, unyielding emptiness without struck some resonant echo within my heart and soul. Yet for all of that… for all of life replete with it’s share and far more of rage and pain and suffering, as harshly given as endured… still I manage to find myself with allies. Who appear determined to stand by me, regardless. I wonder which are the greater fools: they for trying and trusting, or me for allowing it.”

Magneto is working with Ka-Zar and a depowered Rogue in the Savage Lands against the evil Zaladane.

When Rogue fights one of Zaladane’s goons, Magneto intervenes, thinking “I hear my daughter Anya scream as she burns before my eyes… hear Isabelle’s gasp of surprise as she is murdered… two I loved but were unable to save. Only avenge. It will not be that way with Rogue.”

Rogue presses Magneto to be merciful, saying “We’re the good guys, right?! We’re s’posed t’ stand for something better!” Magneto narrates “She actually believes that. Why can’t I? All I see is blood. That already spilled. That yet to be. I see my path so clearly. But I turn away.”

Magneto narrates “Later in my citadel, I reflect that ages ago – in what for me was another lifetime – I used my knowledge of genetics to mutate a band of swamp savages into super-powered beings. When they were no longer useful, I abandoned them to their fate, forgot their very existence. More of my past come back to haunt my present and threaten the future.” and in regards to his past as leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants “It is a goal I once had, in those long-gone days of madness, when I was reviled and condemned as a super-villain” and then later “My life’s ambition has been to safeguard my fellow mutants. Zaladane has no such compunction. And I hear the echo of Der Führer’s voice in the radio of memory, smell the awful stench of the sick and dying as the cattle cars brought the condemned to Auschwitz. I wear red, the color of blood, in tribute to their lost lives. And the harder I try to cast it aside, to find a gentler path… the more irresistibly I’m drawn back. I should have died myself, with those I loved. Instead, I carted the bodies by the hundred by the thousands… from the death house to the crematorium… and the ashes to the burial ground. Asking now what I could not then – why was I spared?! To bring others the death that passed me by?”

Magneto narrates on Zaladane “The more I come to know of her… the more I find myself trapped in a mirror… staring at a distorted vision of myself. Sleep is a mistake. But I’m so weary this once I can’t resist. Any more than I can hold at bay… the nightmares that come along. Flowers. Scent of growing things. Joyful sounds of life. So clear. So crisp, after more than half a century. Someone sobs. My sister holds tight my hand. My father still cannot believe this is happening. I hear laughter. The guns blaze, and I’m falling with the others. Into darkness. Loamy earth smell tainted by the acrid burning of lime. All of us pressed so tight together, embracing eternity. So easy to give up. Lie in my grave. Breathe my last. But I fight!” (This recounts the events around Magneto's family's death depicted in The New Mutants #49)

Rogue wakes Magneto and they share a moment before being interrupted by Ka-Zar. Magneto thinks “Am I imagining the sudden spark between us. Leaving Rogue as shaken as I? Leave well enough alone. I am pledged to another. As much as one can pledge a heart full of ghosts.”

Magneto narrates “I cannot recall a point in my life when I did not fight. Nor any longer of a time when war held the slightest horror for me.”

Magneto’s group is aided by Nick Fury’s group which includes the father of one of the Soviet sailors killed my Magneto on the submarine Leningrad. Magneto narrates “Again, a cry from the past. One father to another, in anguished grief for a slain child. At the time, my actions seemed quite appropriate. The Leningrad had fired a salvo of nuclear ballistic missiles at me, so I sank her, with all hands. Thinking of that crew not as people, but merely an object lesson: how dare they defy me, threaten me, these Russians whose countrymen let my daughter burn to death? There is too much history and hate between us. I cannot talk to these men.”

April

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #274 “The Path Not Taken” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

The Russian colonel guns down Magneto leading to him being captured by Zaladane. The colonel joins Zaladane. Zaladane uses a machine to try and transfer Magneto’s powers to herself. Under the influence of the machine Magneto narrates “Try as I might, I cannot stop this. And worst of all, as my life is torn from me, turned into a sideshow entertainment for the Brainchild’s sadistic pleasure… with my strength devoted wholly to that struggle, I have nothing left to block my emotional responses to the memories themselves. Once more, I hear myself howl ‘til my voice shatters at the sight of my daughter, Anya, burning to death before my eyes. Once more, hot blood mixes with salt tears as my beloved Isabelle’s throat is cut by those I thought my trusted friends. Once more, rage flashes through me… hand in hand with a terror I’d not felt since Auschwitz… as at last I confront the Shadow King. Followed by sick shame at the awful cost of my survival.”

Zaladane leaves Magneto with her minions. Rogue and her team have infiltrated Zaladanes stronghold and once Magneto realizes they are there, he strikes the minions unexpectedly. Magneto narrates “They think me beaten, finished. A mistake many have made in the past. As I found the strength, as a boy, to survive being machine gunned and buried alive, and later the unimaginable horror of Auschwitz… so do I find it in me, here and now, to break free.”

Magneto narrates “The primal, paramount lesson of my life is that I can depend on no one save myself.”

Magneto fights against the Russian colonel saying “I am sorry for your son, colonel. Which is more than I ever heard… for the slaughter of those I loved.” Colonel Semyanov says “Your… daughter you mean? And that absolves you of any crime?” Magneto replies “I never said it did. For who we are, and what we have done, comrade colonel… we are both of us condemned.”

Rogue and Magneto argue over how he intends to deal with Zaladane. Magneto says “The New Mutants were left in my charge and they suffered for it – because I tried to pattern myself after Charles Xavier. I am not Charles Xavier. I will never be Charles Xavier. I was a fool to try. As he was, for believing I could succeed. My people are in danger – more so now than ever before – from the Hellfire Club and their accursed Shadow Kind, from foul creatures such as this, perhaps even from the very United Nations which Colonel Fury loyally serves. And a kinder, gentler Magneto cannot save them.”

October

X-Men (1991) #1 “Rubicon” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Magneto has established a mutant haven on a new Asteroid M. World governments are wary of it and the X-Men are dispatched to discover what’s going on.

Magneto raises the submarine Leningrad (which he sank in Uncanny X-Men #150) from the sea floor. He finds some of the nuclear missiles the submarine was carrying are intact.

Inside the submarine, Magneto comes finds himself sitting among the bones of the Leningrad’s crew. “Now though, at last, he finds himself face to face with the consequence of his acts. And he remembers another time, other bodies, bones still coated with the flesh of family and friends, tossed into a lime-soaked pit and him along with them, only he was still alive. Somehow, he clawed his way to the surface.” (This again refers to the account of Magneto's family's death in The New Mutants #49)

Rogue tells Magneto that his actions are scaring people. Magneto says “I tried my best to change, I did my best to follow Xavier’s path to a peaceful co-existence between Homo Sapiens and Homo Sapiens Superior. And paid for that folly with the blood of innocents.”

Later on Asteroid M, Magneto ruminates on his latest conflict with the X-Men thinking of Wolverine in particular “For the brief time I worked with the X-Men, he accepted me wholeheartedly. If not as a friend, then at least as a comrade-in-arms. Why then has he turned on me? What has changed? Why must blood always come between me and others?” (Magneto has been working with the X-Men and the New Mutants since 1985)

Radical mutant acolytes that have decided to follow Magneto, led by Fabian Cortez, fight with the X-Men. Magneto puts a stop to it and says “All my life, I have seen people slaughtered wholesale for no more reason than the deity they worshipped, or the color of their skin – or the presence in their DNA of an extra, special gene. I cannot change the world but I can – and will – ensure that my race will never again suffer for its fear and prejudice. Henceforth, I declare Asteroid M a sovereign world. Home and haven to mutantkind. If you are born Homo Sapiens Superior, then you are automatically a citizen, entitled to safe haven above and security below. Even you X-Men – even your mentor, my old friend, Charles Xavier – are welcome here. But mark this and mark it well – harm done against any mutant is harm done to me. And I shall respond accordingly.”

November

X-Men (1991) #2 “Firestorm” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Beast says that the Genoshans are changing for the better, and asks why Magneto is going in the opposite direction. Magneto says “You know that answer, Beast… you would have to live my life. And I would not wish such a fate, even on my most hated enemy.”

Magneto abducts Charles and Moira looking for answers about his genetic structure. Moira admits that she saw there was a genetic instability in Magneto’s genetic matrix, and she tried to stabilize it when he was an infant in her care.

Magneto is infuriated that Moira conducted genetic experimentation on him in an attempt to change who he was. He questions every decision he’s made since his rebirth.

Moira is apologetic, but Magneto’s anger is unabated. He tells her “I heard those same rationales as a boy, in the Auschwitz death camp, from Dr. Josef Mengele himself!”

December

X-Men (1991) #3 “Fallout” by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

Moira reveals that the genetic experimentation she did on baby Magneto didn’t work.

Moira also points out that Cortez has been using his power to weaken Magneto.

Cortex flees Asteroid M and fires a shot at the complex that will kill all the inhabitants.

Charles and the X-Men prepare to leave in their spacecraft, but Magneto refuses to leave with them instead choosing to stay on the asteroid to preserve its integrity as long as possible using his powers. He tells Charles “My life was shaped by forces and events none of you can possibly understand. You speak to the best of humanity. I have endured the worst. You imagine the reality of the Holocaust, of the Nazi death camps. I grew up in one. Perhaps, as you say, I am tainted by blood and rage – and death. But perhaps as well, that blood and rage and death comprise the armor that will sustain me and those who stand by me through the ordeal to come. The past is prologue, old friend. And the future I behold for you is… war. We have already chosen our path.”

Asteroid M blows up just as the X-Men escape. Charles tells them all “At the last… he opened his thoughts to me. He is still the man I remember from younger, happier days – who was my friend – and yet… none of that matters anymore, does it? ‘I save you, X-Men,’ he said, ‘because that is my task in life: to safeguard my people – Homo Sapiens Superior – mutantkind – from those who would do us harm. And those forces are legion. In that and I suspect nothing else, Charles, we are much alike. I have survived one Holocaust, I could not tolerate another. Nor any who – by accident, by intent – act to bring it about. I bore no animus to you, old friend, or your students until you chose to oppose me. Then, I had no choice but to count you among my enemies. Have no illusions on that score. Perhaps it’s best it end this way, Charles. Best for my dream to end in flames and glory, here far above Earth… for if we were ever to meet again… I would have shown you no mercy. I give you your dream, Charles. But I fear, in time, your heart will break as you realize it has ever been a fool’s hope. Farewell, my friend.”

Chris Claremont was removed from the X-Men without explanation and left Marvel after this book. He had been writing for the X-Men for 17 years. To learn more about Chris Claremont and his work on the X-Men and the corporate fuckery that lead to him leaving watch the 2018 documentary Chris Claremont’s X-Men which is currently available free on YouTube.

If you feel like I’ve overlooked or left out an important issue from the 1963-1991 era, please contact me and let me know. I will update this list with more information if any comes to light.

#X-Men #xmen #Magneto #Erik Lehnsherr #Magneto/Magnus #New Mutants #Comics #Chris Claremont #Magda and Anya #Pietro Maximoff #Wanda Maximoff #The Scarlet Witch #Quicksilver #Charles Xavier #Professor X #Holocaust #Auschwitz #Jewish #Jewish Characters #70s #80s #90s #Bronze Age Comics #World War II #World War 2 #WWII #Long Post #10k Words #Max Eisenhardt

[conartisthaiji]

saw the barbie movie today and one of my favorite things was how the movie handled sasha's character and her role in the story (and by extension gloria)...spoilers for the barbie movie below 💗

the thing about barbie dolls is that they are largely considered a kid's toy. little girls play with barbie, and barbie inspires the girls to grow up and become leaders. this is what the barbies in barbieland believe. barbie even goes to weird barbie and weird barbie tells her that the girl who plays with barbie must've done something to her, and barbie has to fix whatever is wrong in that girl's world to save herself.

when barbie goes to the real world, she immediately starts looking for a kid. she sees visions of a woman and her daughter, and watches as the daughter grows up and eventually becomes "too old" to play with barbie and other toys. and within these memories, she gets her answer: a school. barbie has to go to a school and find the girl that plays (or played) with her.

except she finds the girl in the memory, and sasha hates her. and sasha doesn't like playing with barbie anymore. and barbie walks away from her in tears.

and then barbie gets picked up by the mattel workers as sasha is getting picked up from school, but sasha doesn't care about barbie's fate. it's gloria who says that they have to go after her (because gloria's the reason that barbie's here). and so gloria and sasha go after barbie, but sasha is literally just along for the ride, because she doesn't have a driver's license and is at the mercy of her mom's whims.

and that's the thing about sasha. she's just a kid; she's not the one who has to save barbie and barbieland. gloria was the one who started giving barbie thoughts of death and cellulite. gloria is the one who has to give the speech about womanhood to the barbies to help the barbies snap out of the brainwashing. sasha is there to reconnect with her mom and barbie and even her own femininity (side note: i also really appreciated how sasha's appearance changes over the movie. when we first meet her, she is your typical emo middle schooler: dark jacket, pants, her hair is long and unstyled. she progressively gets more and more colorful as the movie progresses, and by the end, sasha's hair has been curled and pinned up, and she's wearing a sparkly pink dress.)

so the thing about sasha is this: if barbie was a typical kids movie, sasha would be the hero. sasha would be the one who has to save barbieland; she'd be the one who gave barbie cellulite and thoughts of death and feelings of impending doom. the movie even sets up that expectation in the beginning: stating that barbies are for kids, weird barbie showing a smaller figure next to barbie as she explains that barbie has to find the girl who plays with her, barbie herself assuming that the little girl in gloria's memories is the one she has to find. but barbie's not a kids movie, and so sasha is ultimately allowed to be a kid. she doesn't need to save anyone, except maybe herself. she hangs out with her mom and the barbies and offers snarky comments because she's 13. and gloria's the one who does the saving.

#lyz talks #barbie #its sooooo important that glorias the one who called barbie to barbieland. and its soooooo important that sashas allowed to be a kid #like idk but i love sasha so much...!!! she is just a little 13 year old who ends up in barbieland!!! #but no one expects her to save anything...she's literally just a kid...she's allowed to be a kid... #GOD. i love this movie so much

[raayllum]

considering Rayla has absolutely buggered Aaravos’ plans multiple times in S6 if he were to posses Callum again do you think he’d go straight for killing Rayla?

Yeah she's been the last minute fuck up of Aaravos' plans now twice - which considering her "I am pretty awesome at everything... right up until the moment it really matters" choking at the finish line complex - is so on brand for them as a foils dynamic it actually drives me insane now that it's a parallel that could turn into a pattern. But post for another day

I think that if Runaan coin stuff leaves Ezran and Rayla at odds for a time in S6, wanting to save a brainwashed Callum may be what brings them back together in terms of that initial rift. As much as I want some broyals angst & fluff next season, I do think ultimately Rayla will have the bigger role to play in the possession plot line, simply because it's been set up that way, for a few years:

Aaravos specifically taunts Rayla with being unable to kill in 4x04 only for that to be precisely what Callum asks Rayla to do in 4x07. That's a plot beat / choice and set up that has to be paid off eventually

Furthermore, Rayla is the one emphasized more in said scenario. She's the one catching Callum and stepping toward him at first in 4x04, she's the one interrupting Callum with the mirror in 4x02, and she's the one to explicitly tell him he has another path in 4x07. They also cut to a shot with her directly when Callum says "he'll [...] hurt people I care about" which - Yeah

S5 actually furthered this thread of Aaravos-Rayla tethering. Whereas twice in S4 people think Callum is going to talk about Rayla when he actually talks about Aaravos, S5 switches it up with Callum's research into Aaravos being derailed by his devotion to Rayla (5x01: "Your elf friend is in trouble" / 5x04: "But you can trust me to stay focused" whereas Callum immediately loses focus because of her). 5x08, in which Callum is willing to help someone murder an Archdragon and to do dark magic in order to save her, likewise has the Callum-Aaravos intro.

Callum and Rayla watching a literal falling star together in 5x02, all of Rayla's associations of being light, etc.

This all ties together, then, of Rayla likely being the one to save Callum from the brainwashing (even if she also is, come hell or high water, what leads to him being brainwashed again in the first place - kinda like how Viren's love for his family doomed him at first and then also brought him back from the brink again in S5). This has been foreshadowed in a few ways / would be payoff for a few different ways.

Rayla being associated with light and Callum's agency (even if the light isn't always good and agency isn't always that simple, which is already in line with the flashing white cube in 4x04 and 5x08 as Callum is Aaravos' pawn). Also these lines from the book one novelization, which drive me crazy every time: “So they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said. “Exactly.” Rayla smiled. “Just like me.” (—Book One: Novelization)

S5 puts Rayla's selflessness on full display, as she doesn't prioritize her parents once and instead Callum is the one who pushes forward on that front, even while acknowledging that "The world needs me. Callum and Ezran need me" still go basically hand-in-hand with her. While the "stronger together" is something she's learning (with practice) and is something that Callum may need to re-learn to a degree, Rayla's tendency to sacrifice hasn't been really dismantled yet. Her refusing to sacrifice something - in this case, a possessed Callum - by refusing to kill him (even if it puts the world at risk) would be a big, meaningful step forward for her, and is I think where they're headed.

On that note: S4 opened up an interesting character aspect for her with "we can't save everyone" regarding the drake in 4x05 that again, S5 has kind of left unaddressed for now, so Rayla and Callum both reconciling their identities - Callum, through reconciling the light and dark inside him and being brought out of possession (moon arcanum time?); and Rayla, being someone who can save people and depend on them without always having to sacrifice herself - could work really well if she's the one who breaks him free. Chains and keys and "That's your name right - Callum?" and "She's not the elf, she's Rayla" and "You're the destiny is a book you write yourself guy" and "That's what makes her a hero. That's what makes her Rayla" etc.

Finnegrin implies that Callum's love for Rayla makes him weak ( "All that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain") and foolish. Impulsive, irrational. Opeli implies it to a much lesser degree, but that's still why she cautions Callum in 5x01. If "losing control" is synonymous with Rayla for Callum, it just means that Aaravos losing control of Callum probably will be as well.

Love is good and bad. Strength and weakness. The ocean and dark magic. Light and dark. Control and liberation.

I think we'll see all of that reflected in the possession plot line going ahead in S6.

#rayllum #i need you to kill me #arc 2 #thanks for asking #anonymous #devil and the lovers #s5 spoilers #long post #whoops #analysis series #theme: duality #tdp #the dragon prince #s6 speculation #s6 #predictions #tdp spoilers

[hostess-of-horror]

I've been binge-watching some indie horror games...

Specifically, Amanda the Adventurer and Poppy Playtime.

But I want to talk about Amanda because I have made a theory based on the lore behind it.

[Major Spoiler Warning! Plus, I will be delving into some disturbing or at least unsettling subject matter! If you feel uneasy or don't want to be spoiled, please do not proceed!]

Amanda the Adventurer is the creepy yet tragic tale of a man who had big dreams of bringing joy to local children. Still, he and his adopted daughter were manipulated by the higher-ups of a greedy corporation, which ultimately resulted in cursed VHS tapes that we the player have to solve.

Now, this interesting tidbit of lore seems pretty vague but straightforward, right? Well, it could be if there wasn't a spindly eldritch demon that attacks us when we don't do what Amanda says or mess up any of the puzzles.

We can all understand how Hameln, the corporation that got the rights to the TV show, took advantage of Rebecca Colton, the actress who played Amanda, but there's something that had been bothering me...

Why demons?

Why is Amanda the Adventurer demonic, and what were (or is) Hameln's true intentions? What was happening behind the scenes during the recording session in one of the secret tapes found in the game?

I may not have a concrete theory on this, but I have come up with two possibilities:

The CEO of Hameln struggled to get the corporation back on its feet so much that they made a deal with the Devil to do so but with a hefty cost.

Hameln, somehow, discovered that it was scientifically possible to use demonic energy from Hell and convert it into everyday objects, such as TVs (think of the video game, DOOM).

I do believe that these two theories can be one and the same, either the CEO makes the deal with the Devil and gains very strong yet evil powers or science had evolved into discovering the presence of Hell that Hameln decided to use it to their advantage. Either way, it's all fucked up.

In the recording session tape, we can hear Rebecca saying these words: "Bye yell. Bye yell. Bye yell... Pie man. Pie man. Pie man... Baa Lamb. Baa Lamb."

These words are not just some random words for Rebecca to exercise her voice with... They are the Infernal names of demons used in Satanic rituals.

"Bye Yell" is Bael, the first of the Ars Goetia and Head of the Infernal Power

"Pie Man" is Paimon, the 9th Pillar of the Ars Goetia and the Spirit of Arts, Music, and Punishment.

"Baa Lamb" is Balaam, the Hebrew devil of avarice and greed.

Hameln is tricking Rebbeca into summoning extremely powerful demons to make way for Amanda the Adventurer's "dynamic voice reaction." In other words, they're using the combination of advanced technology and Satanic rituals to create the most interactive kid's show ever to exist.

But that's not the end of it! No, it gets much worse...

In the very first secret tape we find in the game, there's a home video of a mother trying to get her daughter, Lauren downstairs for her birthday treat. But Lauren remains unresponsive, her eyes glued to Amanda the Adventurer. Once the mother tries again, she discovers that she's gone and the front door is left wide open.

Hameln's dynamic voice reaction technology is luring children into leaving their homes and brainwashing them into doing whatever it desires.

There's even a bigger picture to see here: Hameln's ultimate goal is to lead children astray from their parents and their homes in order to collect more victims. More "actors and actresses", including the unfortunate people who tried to bring light to the crimes, mean more souls for Bael, Paimon, and Balaam to consume. An insidious trade deal for money and fame...

----

Another theory I have is the real identity of the Entity, the demonic monster that attacks us at one of the game's endings.

Okay, I know what you're thinking, "But that's Amanda, we know this already! That's her real form! What are you talking about?" And I'd say you're right... partially.

Yes, the Entity we encounter does have some likeliness to Amanda (the little buns on its head), but I don't believe that it's really her.

In the "Everything Rots!" episode, Amanda says at she "sometimes feels [herself] rotting" but "it's far away now." Most would assume she's talking about her body rotting in some buried grave somewhere, but there's a slight detail that may suggest that's not true. Why would Amanda (or rather, Rebecca) say that "it's far away now"?

Rebecca may be stuck within the hellish VHS tapes as Amanda, but her body isn't. We mentioned the recording session tape earlier with her chanting the Infernal names, and this, I believe, contributed to the existence of the Entity. Considering that Hell and demons exist within the in-game universe of Amanda the Adventurer, chanting the names of very powerful demons would attract their attention, right?

What if Hameln, during their production of the TV show, made Rebecca continue this ritualistic "practice" via experimentation and it ended up summoning the Entity? And to add salt to the wound, Rebecca Colton, or rather her corpse, ended up possessed?

Amanda's "true form" is actually the body of a young orphan brought to life as a demon, roaming the earth to satiate its bloodlust and terrorize anyone who comes across the tapes.

Not convinced? How about this?

When the human body dies, it goes through the decaying process, which consists of five stages:

Fresh (Autolysis)

Bloat (Putrefaction)

Active Decay

Advanced Decay

Dry/Skeletonized

Once the body gets to the Advanced Decay and Dry/Skeletonized stages, it rots away until it's a leathery, gray husk of a human being.

And what color is the Entity?

Gray.

----

Now there you have it! My theories and takes on Amanda the Adventurer! I may be taking on some really far stretches in some areas, but I hope you all really appreciate these theories as I did!

#Amanda the Adventurer #ATA #indie horror games #game theory #horror games #Amanda the Adventurer Theory

[outlanderalien]

Physically incapable of thinking of anything rn other than Elias Mannix.

Spoilers under the cut

The man who created himself both literally and metaphorically.

Who was both his own great-great-grandfather and the influence that controlled his youth and brainwashed himself.

The unending echo-chamber of his existence. Justifying the actions he's taken to a version of himself that doesn't want to do them- But ultimately will.

His continued existence a sign that he will fail to do the right thing time and time again.

Spending his youth surrounded by fanatics of a cult that he will go on to create, willing him on to become their prophet and fulfil the destiny that is already a forgone conclusion.

By the time he's born it's already too late.

Was he ever free? Did he ever have a point where his life wasn't a loop? Was he always doomed to choose between a tortured existence and nothingness? Was he some kind of cosmic glitch? Was he always supposed to exist like this? Was there ever any hope?

I am losing my sanity.

#bodies #bodies spoilers #netflix bodies #elias mannix #Listen. I care him. I care him so fucking much. #He was a bastard entirely but he might be my poor little meow meow as well. #I feel agony thinking about him which alone qualifies him for poor little meow meow status. #bodies netflix

[velvet4510]

Omg, when you really think about Smeagol’s relationship with Deagol … it’s insane how similar and yet how critically different it is from Frodo’s relationship with Sam.

Smeagol refers to Deagol as “my love.” That in itself is just … wow. A good many pairs of close platonic friends in LOTR refer to each other affectionately like “my lad,” “my dear,” etc. But never “my love.” So … it seems to me that maybe these two actually were a couple at the time. They’re said to be cousins, but we don’t know exactly how distant their relation was. Plus romances between cousins were quite common back in the day, long before the realization that “first-cousin romance” was incest. And I wouldn’t put it past someone like Smeagol to be in an incestuous relationship. He always was a little…disturbed.

But … the implications of that, good grief. Deagol was the Sam to Smeagol’s Frodo. They were close. They loved each other. Then the Ring came along. It tore them apart. Then the Ring came to Frodo and Sam. They loved each other. And the Ring did not tear them apart; on the contrary, the journey caused by the Ring’s threat only brought them closer together.

Smeagol was willing to kill the love of his life to get that Ring literally 10 seconds after first seeing it. He didn’t care for Deagol enough to avoid harming him if it meant possessing the Ring. In that case, you can’t even call it love, can you?

But Frodo? He possessed that Ring for 17 years and then carried it around his neck for 6 months, and he never once even considered hurting Sam in any way. (That movie scene where he points his sword at Sam was a scriptwriters’ invention; it is nowhere to be found in Tolkien’s text.) Even when Sam took the Ring, Frodo’s rageful “give it to me” brainwashed mindset lasted for only 2 seconds before he came back to himself, apologized, and went back to doting on Sam, insisting that he eat something before they continue on. Deeper into Mordor, Frodo held onto himself enough to warn Sam not to try to take the Ring again because he knew he was on the verge of losing himself and didn’t want to hurt Sam. Unlike Smeagol, Frodo harbored a love which the Ring could not overpower or corrupt. That’s real love.

And I think a part of Smeagol was able to recognize this. This was why he hated Sam. Every time he looked at Sam, and saw him with Frodo, he thought of Deagol. In the poignant scene on the steps of Cirith Ungol, Smeagol saw something in Frodo and Sam (as they slept cuddled together) that he realized he never had. He saw what he and Deagol could’ve been, but never could be because he himself doomed their chance. And he was so moved that Frodo and Sam had found what he couldn’t that he very nearly repented and changed his mind about taking them to Shelob … Then Sam woke up and yelled at him. And it was as though Deagol was yelling at him from the grave, reminding him of how wretched and horrible he was, and refusing to offer forgiveness or compassion. And that was what killed what was left of Smeagol.

The fate of Middle-earth was ultimately determined by the fact that Frodo had a greater capacity for love than Smeagol did.

#lotr #frodo x sam #samfro #smeagol #gollum #jrr tolkien #deagol #smeagol and deagol #smeagol x deagol #the one ring #lotr parallels #lotr books

[mswyrr]

i've mentioned the thematic and character arc reasons why lucy and max approached each other with a kind of youthful innocence and why they haven't had sex in prior meta. but i wanted to point out the importance of lucy offering a relationship by inviting max to come live with her family in Vault 33 -- it accomplishes a couple things as a doomed invitation

1-it shows us how much lucy is still caught up in the brainwashing and needs to go on a journey to figure out who she is and what she wants before she can make a sincere offer coming from a place of knowing herself and what she wants vs. knowing what she's been told her whole life she should be and do.

2-it would be a false escape for max - running from the brotherhood into another cult. trying to fit a new mold of what people want instead of figure out what he wants. he needs to address the temptations and pain of what the brotherhood means to him so that he can figure out who he truly is and what he truly wants in life

3-as we see with the tragic romance between barb and cooper--a tragic romance in the past which is imo meant to contrast to the hopeful potential of max/lucy romance in the present and future--people can love each other but also come apart because they have conflicting ideas of how to express that love and what path they're going to walk together - lucy and max are separating to do that work of self-understanding so when they come together it's on a solid, shared foundation

4-it emphasizes that there are currently no great options for most people - and there *should* be. better than a choice of gross cults formed around the ambitions of the people who broke the world. there was - the NCR wasn't perfect, but it was full of possibility and it did actually achieve a lot. it's still around, but shattered. Vault 4 is a positive vision, but it's a small community with limits. these examples prove that better is possible, but more needs to be done to expand that if it's going to be a real option for people.

there might be another doomed offer--they might, in fact, come into conflict as part of their journey to actively choosing each other in truth rather than while mired in illusion/brainwashing--and they might end up salvaging more than one expects from the Brotherhood and Vault 33. and what they come up with will have its flaws, like the NCR did. but it will be theirs and available for other people. like Fallout 4, i think the goal of this is ultimately about rebuilding and expanding community, a hopeful vision. they both have the hearts for that kind of work -- currently their heads are misled by bs they need to work through though. it just will take a lot of work to get there.

#fallout 2024 #fallout tv #maximus fallout #lucy maclean #my meta #fallout meta

[haggishlyhagging]

I

In the Sado-Ritual we find, first, an obsession with purity. This obsession legitimates the fact that the women who are the primary victims of the original rites are erased physically as well as spiritually. These primary victims are often killed, as in the case of the rite of suttee. In other cases, such as Chinese footbinding, as we shall see later, they are physically and psychically maimed. This original erasure obviously keeps the primary victims from being witnesses. In the name of "purity," they are effectively silenced. Thus the widows' sexual purity is "safeguarded" by ritual murder. In preparation for this ultimate purification they are ceremoniously bathed, and care is taken to kill them at a "pure" time, that is, when they are not menstruating or pregnant. Thus "society" is purified of these "wicked" widows and also of all traces of female re-belliousness, for the women and girl-children who witness these events or hear of them must be perfectly brainwashed with terror of the same fate.

II

Second, there is total erasure of responsibility for the atrocities performed through such rituals. Those doing the destruction commonly have recourse to the idea that they are acting "under orders," or following tradition (serving a Higher Order). This allows the self as role-carrier to commit acts which the personal/private self would find frightening or evil.

III

Third, gynocidal ritual practices have an inherent tendency to "catch on" and spread, since they appeal to imaginations conditioned by the omnipresent ideology of male domination. Moreover, since the patriarchal imagination is hierarchical, there is a proliferation of atrocities from an elite to the upwardly aspiring lower echelons of society.

IV

Fourth, women are used as scapegoats and token torturers (for example, by the "setting up" of mothers-in-law as to blame for the widows' doom). This masks the male-centeredness of the ritualized atrocity and turns women against each other.

V

Fifth, we find compulsive orderliness, obsessive repetitiveness, and fixation upon minute details, which divert attention from the horror. In short, attention is focused upon what is proper and ceremonial, rather than upon the woman's horrible suffering and death.

VI

Sixth, behavior which at other times and places is unacceptable becomes acceptable and even normative as a consequence of conditioning through the ritual atrocity. Such value judgments are easily interchangeable in the swinging-pendulum society characterized by consciousness split into false opposites. Thus it is not surprising that the practice is desired and sometimes continued even after it has officially/legally been terminated, as in the recurring instances of "practical suttee."

VII

Seventh, there is legitimation of the ritual by the rituals of "objective" scholarship—despite appearances of disapproval. The basic cultural assumptions which make the atrocious ritual possible and plausible remain unquestioned, and the practice itself is misnamed and isolated from other parallel symptoms of the planetary patriarchal practice of female maiming and massacre. Jan Raymond has suggested that such scholarship could be called meta-ritual. The name is accurate, for this kind of writing not only "records" (erases) the original rituals but also provides "explanations" and legitimations for them, purporting to see beyond their materiality into their "soul" or meaning. This legitimation by the Rites of Re-search is an extension of the primordial gynocidal acts. The practitioners of these Last Rites re-enact the original rites by erasing their meaning and by effacing those Searchers who did weave their way through the mazes of re-search with integrity, dis-covering the forbidden fruit of their labors, that is, the facts.

-Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology

#mary daly #sado-ritual characteristics #female oppression #patriarchy #suttee #femicide

[kienansidhe]

heres an anecdote ive been thinking about.

i grew up in an evangelical christian cult under very extreme surveillance and censorship of incoming information. i didnt know the actual history of christianity, the real history, not the fake stuff i was taught, for many, many years. as far as i knew, the bible i read cover to cover every year was the only bible there had ever been, was the literal word of god, and the only issue was how to translate it from the original hebrew and greek. i had no reason to question this until high school, when my brother and i were sent walking around the neighborhood wearing brightly colored "ask me about jesus" tags.

an older neighbor working on his front lawn called us over. "okay," he said. "ill bite. tell me about jesus." so of course, we gave him the story we had been taught. original sin, hell, jesus dying on the cross, etc. etc. he listened patiently, then talked a bit abt his own personal spirituality. i dont remember the specifics, i think he actually was a sort of christian in a way, but only as a personal, private thing, no church, smth we had never encountered before. more importantly, he told us to look up the council of nicea.

our parents were very vague about their answer, so i ended up looking it up on wikipedia. i read that the bible as i knew it was only one canon, defined fairly recently, by one faction of the church. i learned about the existence of the apocrypha, that a bunch of old men had sat down and decided which books of the bible they considered the real word of god, which were fake.

of course, our upbringing had already provided their own magical answers for this kind of problem, but the seed was planted, alongside many other little seeds that were beginning to sink in and take root. what i knew came into direct conflict with the outside world, which gave me a point of entry for questions. how do we know which men were inspired by god? what did the other rejected books say? through this train of thought i came to find countless questions about the bible that were not as conclusively answered as i had been led to believe. prior to this, my conflicts with christianity had been on the basis of my own gut feelings. this feels wrong, arent i hurting people? but that one clue, the council of nicea, gave me a point of reference to start dismantling the whole theological basis for what i was taught.

eventually i found out that even the very concept of hell was a fabrication. i had read the bible faithfully for my whole life, once thru, cover to cover, every year. things like a lake of fire, eternity separated from god, a lot of the pieces that make up the popular concept of hell were there, scattered throughout, but when i realized that these fragments i had read had been manipulated and conflated to me from toddlerhood, that the bible never actually describes hell as i knew it, well. the whole tower crumbled.

for years i had struggled with the basic conflict of seeing with my own eyes that the things i said and did hurt people, that many horrible things had been done in the name of god. this was and always had been the original, basic instinct for my difficulty with christianity. but hell, hell had been the ultimate lynchpin. if hell was real, if not being christian doomed you to an eternity of literal torture, then any hurt i and other christians inflicted was justified. i truly evangelized and told people they were bad and going to hell out of a brainwashed desire to save them. i was terrified for them, for myself, for everyone. i dont think i will ever fully be able to convey how afraid i was, from my very first inklings of consciousness. hell tied it all together. i would do anything, anything to keep myself and those i cared about from suffering for eternity. even if my friends hated me, i had to plant the seed and pray for god to grow it in them. i had to.

once hell came into question, that fear finally began to lighten. cracks in my prison. a critical piece of information that had been carefully hidden my entire life. information that changed everything.

when youre sufficiently brainwashed, its hard to know where to even begin to question the world as you know it. your gut might tell you something is wrong, but when your world has self contained answers for everything, when it all seems to be one smooth globe around you, it can be hard to find the cracks. it seems impenetrable.

sometimes you need a little help to find the cracks.

i dont rlly have a point to this post, i just think about that weird old guy a lot. he sold heirloom tomato seedlings out of his backyard for $5 each, had torn up the entire yard without his landlords permission, and god those tomatoes were the best ive ever had. i wonder if hes still around, selling tomatoes, teaching people to question what theyve been told. id like to tell him how much he changed my life.

#headspace #idk just musing #this was gonna be another post but this anecdote took over so i cut the other stuff for later lol #i hope youre having a great time tomato guy

[bingobongobonko]

I opened tumblr n it was literally the first thing I saw. tell me about the campaign I have GOT TO KNOW!!!!!

falling to my knees. its so cool... this will be a lot of lancer jargon but basically we WERE sent in by Union to go to a charity event on Bo, a dying planet with about 50 yrs more or less, and they're raising money to get evacuations for the people en masse, but its a lancer campaign, something WILL go wrong. enter helios, a religious extremist order that seeks to follow the Oracle's prophesy, causes mass chaos day of. and then AFTER that battle + hostage situation is over, we're sent to egbert station to recover, but fucking helios!!!!!!!!!! helios!!!!!!!!!!!!! they brainwash the station's NHP, replacing all of their memories with that of a helios priest i thiiiiink(?). its been a while but it was spewing a buncha awful cryptic shit while it, its mech the literal equivalent of the sun, beat the shit out of us. eventually we destroy it but. i mean. it doesnt feel good. i remember it pretty vividly, yves didn't see it but the rest of the party did. while yves was in the main room trying to figure out how to reroute the explosion that was about to be set off in the station, the rest of the team is out in the hallway watching this mech burst into flames. and its less akin to that of metal melting, but. like. skin crackling and dissolving. at that point, after the explosion is rerouted to the evacuated city down under, and after we realize just what it is we've ended up getting into, at this rate the karakkin baronies on Bo set us as the planet's last stand against helios, we were supposed to find out what the oracle is and give the ppl of Bo time to get off the planet, but all of us have. problems. tldr, one of our pcs, Skink, is a clone of one of Helio's founding members, the Fool. another pc, Jeurgen, technically knew all of this was gonna happen and's become jaded with it (and now there's someone else in his mind, someone we don't know), Tellius is just fuckin driven by vengeance and can't seem to hold on to a party that's losing its mind, Kuru is just weird man he's weird (endearing but also something is actually really wrong), and yves is just kinda fucked up honestly. he's got real big undiscussed issues and it kind of ends up with him attempting to side with helios before ultimately being rejected by the oracle - forgot 2 mention we know who the Oracle is. yves met it aaaaaaaaand.. it called him a gutless coward basically and told him to fuck off before sending him 2 like. Hell. he saw the absence of space and time itself for an indeterminate amount of time, only to come out of it realizing that everything that's happened in the campaign has happened before. this is just a timeloop and they're gonna do it again. he's so sure they're gonna repeat this again soooooooooooooooo. the planet is seemingly doomed to die over and over again in the same instances: getting eaten inside out by nanites controlled by the oracle, or according to yves, God. that thing is god to him.

#there are many details im missing out but shit is fucked! shit is fucked! #my friends who play with me are here on tumblr they are !!!!!!!!!! so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #@spaginithethird #@localfool-thecreature #@cabletiesofficial #theyre so fucking.... OPGHHGHHHHGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #spaginis the dm!!!!!!! fool plays jeurgen n cable plays skink!!!!!

[shallowseeker]

In 14x06 Jack & Dean vow to look ahead with renewed optimism and hope. They silently agree to not look BACKWARDS.

They don't know that Jack's death looms on the horizon. And it's so much easier said than done to actually let go of someone you love. Loss is a harmonizing symphony of pain. You lose your parents, your siblings, your first loves, your second loves, the loves of your life, your spouses, your children.

The reality, for all of us, is that IF there were a way to get them back, we'd probably all do it.

It's the beginning of the end for Jack and Dean. (And it seems that Lucifer indirectly killed Jack, after all.)

Soon, even though Dean tries his hardest to be better and to accept Jack's death, they will become the off-key parental version of Harper and Vance, with Jack as an uneasy, doomed zombie. Dean can let many things go, but he cannot seem to let the ones he raised (his children) go. That's Dean's ultimate Achilles heel.

///

==In 14x06, Harper talks bad luck & optimism==

Trying to stay positive is hard. It feels impossible to leave the past in the past. Little does Jack know that he and Harper have something in common: a desperate need to be loved.

Harper revived her childhood boyfriend and oriented his attention to her. Jack revived his mother and appears to have brainwashed her to orient her attention on him. (He potentially did this with Cas, too.)

They're both outsiders pretending to be normal. Their worst selves want to be loved so badly that they force it to happen. Their emotional needs are reflective of one another.

(From above:) JACK: Without you? HARPER: I don't blame him. But that, well... that was the beginning. Of my bad luck. So many things that (she forces a smile)-- I try to stay optimistic. She seems to SHIFT ON A DIME. Or she's covering up the hurt. There's something about her that has Jack relating. JACK: Me, too, but...I've got bad stuff in my past, too. Trying to stay positive is hard. They connect. And then Jack's phone goes off. He awkwardly motions for Harper to give him a second and looks: TEXT FROM DEAN: "CALL ME NOW." And then Harper's hand comes into frame, gently pushing the phone down. Jack looks up. Harper is SMILING at him, EYES ALL MOONY.

///

==Despite Harper's obsession, the experience sparks learning & understanding with Jack & Dean==

Jack and Dean are both beaten down by their respective losses to AU Michael, trauma, guilt, and loneliness. But by the end of the case, they understand one another. They affirm one another.

Dean tells Jack he did good. Jack tells Dean that his wise words brought him comfort. They have an easy rapport with one another. Jack is cheeky--not too pushy about emotions or psychoanalytic.

It's almost like this conversation represents a promise between them, that, like Dean said in 13x23: "Every day, we can get better." They're focusing on a better future together, as the father and son they have come to be to one another.

This heavily contextualizes Dean's behavior in the upcoming episodes, Unhuman Nature and Byzantium. Dean's spending time with Jack and trying to carry out the funeral is his way of trying to make good on his own words to Jack in Optimism.

(From above:) JACK nods-- okay then... JACK: And...that's love? DEAN: Eh. It can be way crazier. And it might get crazier, with Harper still out there, but... (then) You did good, Jack. JACK: And? DEAN: And what? JACK: And I was right and you should be letting me go out on hunts now?

///

==Reciprocal empathy==

Jack appreciates Dean's words. They fill him with hope. It eases his feeling of failure. He too have been dealing with the guilt of not defeating AU Michael and not being fast enough to stop Lucifer.

Jack opens up by using a Cas-type communication pattern: by instinctually sharing his own vulnerability and inspiring the same vulnerability in Dean.

DEAN: Listen... we'll talk to Sam. And we need to get you a crate of cough drops, huh? JACK: I'm fine. (then) Dean, what you said to Vance, about looking ahead instead of back. I just-- I thought it made a lot of sense. DEAN: Yeah? JACK: I think... I should do more of that. Dean absorbs that, then-- DEAN: Me too, kid. It's a genuine, upbeat moment. The moment is broken when Jack starts COUGHING again. He turns his head away. Dean gets worried-- DEAN: Hey, you sure you're okay? Jack pulls his hand away, and it's BLOODY. He turns to Dean with BLOOD running from his nose. JACK: I don't know. Jack collapses on the ground. Dean rushes over as Jack, unconscious, continues to bleed. DEAN: Jack? Jack?!

///

==In 14x07, Dean tries to be healthy==

In light of their previous conversation, Dean tries. He tries very hard. With an understanding between them, Dean and Jack try to live up their words, to the ideal of healthily letting go of one another.

Of course, they fail.

(All of Team Free Will fails.)

In 14x07, Dean desperately looks to Cas to fix it:

The door opens and Cas comes out, only partially closing the door. He looks concerned. DEAN: Is he okay? CAS: I did what I could, but I'm not-- I don't know what's wrong with him. DEAN: So you'll figure it out, right?

///

At the hospital, Dean is frantic (as are the other village dads):

DEAN: Is he gonna be okay? Jack, we're right here.

//

DEAN: So we get him outta here. (then) We take the kid home. And we do what we do: we find a way. I was thinkin' maybe Rowena.

Here, Dean reaches for witchcraft, and suddenly Rowena is also paralleling Harper, as will they all: Rowena, Sam, Cas, Sergei, Dean, Lily. They become desperate. They can't help it.

///

At home, Dean is horrified. (SPOILER: AU Michael listens in, too, with the echoey visions--and he's probably overjoyed to hear of Jack's impending death. A powerful ally off the chessboard!)

DEAN (taking in news of Jack's impending death)-- None of this is what he wanted to hear. DEAN: How quick? NEW ANGLE-- It seems to be DEAN'S POV of the rest of the group. But it's TREATED: Fuzzy at the edges, a little warped. The voices have echo. What's going on?

///

As Jack dies, Jack tries to make use of the time he has left. Dean tries to look FORWARD, too. (Callback to Optimism.)

DEAN: Brought you some carbs. How you... (His voice trails off, seeing...There are neat stacks of Jack's clothes on the bed, which Jack is stuffing into a duffel. Dean sets down the tray.) DEAN: Uh, goin' somewhere? JACK: I thought I'd hit Vegas. Maybe Tahiti. Dean stares, tries to process. DEAN: Okay. Nice. You sure this is the best time? JACK: Pretty sure it is. DEAN: Jack...

And so, they have their day out. Sam continues to research. Cas is steely, going out on the road to Sergei and telling Sam and Dean that they need to "stay behind to be with Jack."

For Dean, the script continues to use words like "(forced smile), PAIN, REAL PAIN, AGONY, WORRY, QUIETLY NERVOUS."

He lashes out at Rowena at one point:

DEAN: What's happening? (to Rowena) Did you say the words right? ROWENA: I did! Jack begins to spasm. He's racked with pain! DEAN: Say them again! SAM: Jack! Jack crumples to the floor, crying out in pain. DEAN-- stares, stricken.

///

Dean, frantic, blames his outing with Jack on Jack's worsening state, rather than Sergei's treatment:

DEAN: I shouldn't have done it. Shouldn't have taken him out.

///

==In 14x08, the temptation to use power to revive Jack proves too great to overcome==

Music, love, and doom

We open with a reminder of JOHN WINCHESTER, an important foreshadowing of Castiel's impending deal with The Empty. Just as John traded his life for Dean's, Cas will trade his happiness (and unknowingly, Dean's happiness) for Jack's life.

The record player represents Dean's love language and his agony. (We get little hints throughout season 14 that much of Jack and Dean's bonding was over music and media.) In the next episode, 14x09 The Spear, the tapedeck will be broken, a symbol of the Dean's (romantic, mixtape) happiness going silent, even though he doesn't know why yet.

INT. MEN OF LETTERS - JACK'S ROOM - DAY 1 Open on a RECORD PLAYER. The tone arm swings in and the needle drops. Music kicks on...classic rock, the kind John Winchester might've put on after a particularly hard day. DEAN WINCHESTER stands over the record player, watching the disc go round and round. He watches this...because he can't face what's behind him: JACK KLINE lies in bed. He's sicker than when we last saw him, at the end of Unhuman Nature. He's moved back into his own room, to be more comfortable. An oxygen tank helps him breathe. Through the pain, Jack manages a smile up at SAM WINCHESTER and CASTIEL, who stand vigil at his bedside. Both trying to conceal their devastation. They know-- they all know-- Jack Kline is dying. Dean moves to join them as Jack strains to pull himself up a little. Sam is there in an instant, helping.

Now, it's true that Jack's nature is to try to make things easier on everyone, sure but I still think that Dean's words from Optimism are on his mind. (Look FORWARDS, not BACKWARDS.)

He's trying to be brave, to encourage them to move on.

///

And, so Jack dies. The dad village is devastated. Dean seems resolved to try to carry out a funeral, to think about "next steps." Tensions run high, and a deal is on everyone's minds even though they're trying not to go there. Though he's keeping it together on the outside, Dean shows signs of emotional volatility and whiplash irrationality, directed at his spouse. Floundering and stressed, he expects Cas to be strong, to keep the remaining family members safe, and to know exactly what to do.

Dean is trying to "be strong and make the proper decisions," too, but with Cas, the conflicting, volatile emotions can't help but leak out:

CAS'S TRUCK - NIGHT Cas white-knuckles the steering wheel. Dean sits shotgun, pissed off...and afraid. DEAN: --I can't believe you let him go. You saw how he was back there-- CAS: You said to give him space. DEAN: Yeah, Cas-- space. In the bunker. With us. Not friggin'...THIS.

//

But Cas is stressed, too. Jack is the one entity he was so sure would outlive even him. It was his immortal security of familial company. It's particularly devastating for Cas:

Cas takes a hard turn. Conflicted. Sad. ANGRY. CAS: But this isn't natural. Jack, taken before his time. Taken before me. Cas turns away. Dean puts a hand on his arm, locking eyes with Sam. And we live in the moment-- the three of them standing in the night air, united in misery.

///

A miracle, and the beginning of the end

The next morning, Sam and Cas leap into action, and Dean's uneasy about it. But when Lily Sunder shows up, they all go down the path of becoming a little like Harper, even Dean, who seemed to be the last holdout.

The temptation to cling is too great. Love is crazy. And irrational. Especially the love for a child.

DEAN: What kinda miracle? CAS: A way to bring Jack home. On Dean. Rocked. Of course he wants that too, more than anything, but it's a lot to digest. Dean gives a NOD-- DEAN: Okay. Do it.

//

But overall, he's still skeptical, untrusting. The soul thing sounds like a bad idea to him. And Lily Sunder's motive is definitely suss. Not too long ago, she was trying to kill his spouse, who killed her child. Why should she help them revive their own?

On Sam. Weighing it. Dean's still skeptical. He doesn't trust this-- or Lily. DEAN: And you'd do all that for us, huh? Out of the kindness of your heart?

///

And then there's the matter of eating up Jack's soul. The thought makes Dean sick. His gut says that the cost seems too high. When Sam doesn't listen, he appeals to Cas:

DEAN: Oh, well then... (to Cas) Tell you you're not cool with this. CAS: I think Jack should get to decide for himself.

///

Like Dean, Jack is initially nervous about the soul magic

For his part, Jack too is nervous. He's apprehensive about using his soul, just like Dean was about it. But at the same time, and with the threat of The Empty bearing down on them, he can't help but want to come back and be reunited with them. It's an uneasy push-pull.

He's an off-key parallel to Harper's Vance in this situation. He loves them! Maybe it doesn't matter if he comes back a little wrong.

You know the rest. The Empty comes for him, and Castiel saves him. The deal is done. Castiel becomes doomed, like John. Like Jimmy.

///

Dean can't help but want to reunite

On the cusp of getting Jack back, Dean loses his nerve and snaps, all but demanding Lily help them get their kid back. He becomes unhinged, and the conversation in 14x06 Optimism is forgotten. Dean's doesn't just look backward. He runs backward.

But Lily pauses. (Dean's) hit a nerve, and now he presses it. DEAN: Cause otherwise I don't understand how you could ever, EVER let another person go through what you did. The pain of losing a kid? On Lily, Dean's getting somewhere, pleading. DEAN: You can't-- (voice catching) Don't you do that to us.

///

And they become happy again, clinging

Tragically, they can't truly see how much it costs, and Cas and Jack don't tell them.

Open on...Jack ALIVE! Lily moves back, collapsing into a NEARBY CHAIR in exhaustion. Jack smiles up at the boys-- JACK: Hello. Sam and Dean are elated beyond words.

An emotional, happy reunion. Then-- DEAN: Lily, thank you.

///

And so, we return to the kitchen, where the love is stored, and the family reunites.

Jack is wrapped in a gray dead-guy robe, parallel to Cas wrapping him in his overcoat at the hospital. Here, he eats one of Dean's homemade burgers. He's home.

INT. MEN OF LETTERS - KITCHEN - LATER Jack takes a massive bite of a homemade cheeseburger. Chews. Looks up to see... Sam, Dean, and Cas staring at him like helicopter parents. Their own food untouched. He smiles, a little puzzled. JACK: Is something...wrong? Sam almost laughs-- it's exactly the opposite. SAM: No. DEAN: Just damn good to have you home. Dean's gaze shifts to Cas. DEAN: And Michael's location. (impressed) Don't know how you pulled that one off. CAS and JACK lock eyes-- they know exactly what Cas had to sacrifice. Cas shifts uncomfortably, playing it off.

Dean is impressed by Cas, maybe even a little teasing, perhaps in awe of him. It reminds me of the cut dialogue from 15x09 The Trap:

DEAN (to Cas): It's-- amazing. You did-- amazing.

How often did Dean think that to himself about Cas? Even when things went belly-up, Cas seemed to come back, to pull through against all the odds. Cas always seemed to inexplicably be there, always coming in clutch to protect the fam, even when he friggin' died.

We can't exactly blame Dean for having immense, overconfident faith and devotion in Cas. It'd be so tempting for anyone to fall into that way of thinking, given the circumstances.

It's just as Dean hoped in Unhuman Nature, that Cas would figure it out. That Cas would somehow take the pain away. ("You'll figure it out, right?") Dean leans on Cas again in The Spear, when he gazes pleadingly at Cas after Michael kidnaps Jack. We see it in Despair, when he whirls and calls out, "What do we do, Ca--?"

This time-tested lover-spouse-protector dynamic has Dean believing whole-heartedly in Cas, and that they actually caught a break here.

And finally, we have a tragic callback to Optimism as the script finishes up:

ON DEAN. Feeling optimistic for the first time in awhile.

Dean is elated. He's fired up to beat Michael. Just one more thing. One more evil to beat. One more Apocalypse. Then, he can finally be happy and move forward together with his makeshift little family, and 'everything he's ever wanted.'

Or so he tragically thinks. Cas just sold their joint happiness for Jack.

(Text Attributions// Supernatural scripts here via @spnscripthunt. Transcripts are located here via SPNWiki. Visit their Tumblr to donate.)

#spn 14x06 #14x06 optimism #spn optimism #harper sayles #jack stuff #jack kline #spn season 14 #spn steve yockey #jack relationships #the bunker kitchen #dean + kitchen #the kitchen is where the love is stored #dean/cas + the kitchen #important familial conversations happen in the kitchen #kitchen as parental domain #jack & dean + the kitchen #dean + caretaking #dean + hearth of the home #tfw + deaths #spn unhuman nature #spn bucklemming #14x07 #jack + illness #jack & dean #rowena macleod #jack + nephilim powers #nephilim + unnatural presence #the loss of the family child #spn 14x08

[yiippeeekaley]

I don't even like Forces, but anyone who says it's the worst thing in the franchise is delusional

The sonic crowd really brainwashed themselves into thinking being boring (forces) is worse than nearly killing off the series (06 and Rise of Lyric)

It's also surreal how there's a constant demand for do-overs of each poorly handled concept in the franchise unless it's related to forces. Colours Ultimate (before the patches) deserved way more hate than Forces, but fans were happily defending it despite the severe problems????

Forces is the least egregious of mediocre/bad sonic content, but everyone acts like it doomed sonic to decades of ridicule and humiliation. The general audience didn't even have that much of a negative reaction to Forces yet everyone acts like it's a failure on par with 06/rise of lyric/penders era archie.

Again, I don't care that much for Forces, but if you're gonna plead for a re-do of every mediocre or bad thing in the series, at least be fair.

[raayllum]

I'm a little confused because someone who didn't do anything to Rayla (Marcos) is very different from someone who will do bad things (Aaravos). And Rayla is willing to kill those she thinks fall in the latter category (as with Viren), yet it seems like Rayla could choose to let Aaravos do terrible things over harming Callum (like she implied in 4x07). So if Aaravos is released as a result of Rayla's choice, was that not already foreshadowed?

Again: that's the tricky thing. On the one hand, Rayla refusing to sacrifice Callum is a sign of growth, for someone who's regularly put herself and her wants and loved ones (her parents in S5, leaving Callum during the timeskip no matter how much she wanted to stay and even though she knew it would hurt him) on the back burner. On the other hand, Rayla framing it as only her taking this Risk to get him back, that it doesn't matter what Aaravos-Callum does to her so long as she saves him, is her same old pattern of behaviour.

But even if Rayla does refuse to kill Callum, and that does lead to Aaravos being released, all that means is that Callum's choices - to save her all the way back in 2x07, and to double down on it in 5x08, and possibly to choose to knowingly engage in a scenario that would leave him vulnerable to being possessed again (as we don't know how that'd work without the mirror as an instigator) - have likewise led him to actually free Aaravos. The worst project partner team ever, tbh, because they both fumbled the bag by choosing each other over the world.

S5 made them pretty blatant callbacks to Bloodmoon Huntress' emotional core, not only in bringing in Kim'Dael, but also the whole "stronger together" theme and Rayllum's parallels to Ruthari / these panels.

E: Who I love, where I love, what I love, these are all specific. But to Runaan and those like your parents... Love is rooted in all families, in all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. [...] Sometimes helping others requires great feats of strength, Rayla. But you are right. Sometimes an act of caring is as simple as being there when it seems no one else is. Both are necessary. 

If 5x08 is Callum's equivalent of 'leaving' in TTM, then he also needs an in-show equivalent to Rayla trying to save him from possession. (Which literally everything indicates she will, ultimately, do so successfully; whether it'll be too late is what's up for speculation). We've seen this a little bit in Chasing Shadows already in terms of themes of loss of sense of self due to sacrifice/trauma + remembrance of self due to Callum and Rayla's bond but like

Literally every sign and plot point thus far has indicated that Callum will only be put into a position where, if he is the one freeing Aaravos, it'll be because he did something for Rayla. Whether that's the coins and the adjourning star magic being more complicated than usual leading to possession, or a more conscious choice regardless of brainwashing... These two and their arc and bond have been interwoven from the very start.

This is also why I've posited I could easily see a scenario where Rayla breaks Callum free of the brainwashing (reinstating her identity as "That's what makes her a hero, that's what makes her Rayla") but is hurt ("Or hurt people I care about" while it pans directly to Rayla / everything about 5x08) or captured or something, and that leads to Callum playing into Aaravos' hands anyway.

"Rayla sparing Callum will be responsible for freeing Aaravos" leaves out the fact that Callum is the one trying to free Aaravos (under possession), after all. Callum's choice was already made; Rayla's will just be a response to it

Callum and Rayla are gonna doom the world, and they're gonna do it together, lmao

#thanks for asking #anonymous #that said if rayla does try to kill him but can't or won't do it that'd be so juicy so either way it's gonna be fun #still on my 'they both get to save each other' train