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orangedodge · 3 years

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Not really an organized post, but I finished reading SWORD #6 and the September previews, and drew a bunch of probably incorrect conclusions for upcoming books:

I’m going to assume that the high profile “death” that Magneto is responsible for is a real thing, and not just the marketing department somehow phrasing things incorrectly. They’ve both made it clear that Magneto was never comfortable with any of the Wanda scapegoating that goes on in Krakoa, and (from Strange Academy, IIRC), that he’s wanted to reconnect with her and make it right for a while. And the writers/editors have always maintained that the “pretender” scapegoating happened on its own, owing to no one on Krakoa actually knowing the real story of M-Day, who wasn’t there to see it in person.

With that in mind I think what they’re suggesting right now is that Wanda is going to have a temporary death soon, and that they’re going to use that to undo the AXIS retcon, and finally clear the air for both the mutants and the wider global (and intergalactic) community. Given that Onslaught was present, sort of, in AXIS, and as Onslaught is currently one of the main villains of the Hickman run, I wonder if they’re just going to claim it was all a fabrication from the start?

An unrelated thing that caught my attention is how Victor’s suddenly turning up in a lot of X-Books. SWORD makes sense as the sister book to Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s also going to have a role in Excalibur (I assume as a tie-in to his upcoming Darkhold series, which itself could also be a Last Annihilation tie-in, given who the villain there is), and potentially at the Trial of Magneto as one of the global representatives. With Marauders having an upcoming space arc as well, it’s possible they’re also going to be involved in Last Annihilation in some peripheral way, which would also provide the opportunity for yet another X-Book appearance this year.

Victor’s overall role is difficult to parse for me since he’s obviously not an X-Character, and even the cosmic books have only, at most, shared use of him. Based on the X-Men / Fantastic Four crossover, they seem to have settled on an interpretation that Victor views Krakoa as an intellectual challenge as opposed to as a foe, and something to measure Latveria against. But that’s not really a direction for him, so much as a built in safeguard to avoid changing him in ways that conflict with Fantastic Four’s plans. So it’s really curious that he’s becoming so prominent this year.

I was also thinking about how Peter Quill references going to the Green Lagoon, implying he’s had a diplomatic invite to Krakoa, and how he also references catching up with Kitty. If that’s not just a random one-off, it’s a reminder that one of the X-Men has fairly strong ties to the Guardians of the Galaxy (and to the Shi’ar and Skrulls). Bobby and Bishop have also had their own space adventures, and wouldn’t be out of place traveling to other worlds. The Marauders are getting a space arc in a few months, and SWORD has already directly compared Brand’s plans for Mysterium to Xavier’s plans for the Krakoan Flowers.

So will the Hellfire Trading Company be responsible for distributing Mysterium too? They already have the space ships needed, and they’ve had a presence on Mars since HoxPox, and handling the intergalactic stuff would integrate them more strongly into the X-line’s wider world building after not really doing anything of note these last few months. I’d also be really interested in seeing if they’d start aiding alien mutants too, particularly after SWORD has started reminding readers that they exist. Traditionally the X-Men have gotten involved to protect Skrull mutants, for example, when they’re being mistreated, so that could be another neat way to make the HTC feel more relevant.

And honestly the HTC is a sneakily overpowered cast even without Storm around. Bobby is an Omega class mutant; and Bishop, Kitty, and Shaw have all done things so ridiculous in the past that they might as well be Omega class by another name. Emma herself is just as good as having Xavier or Jean in most situations. The general purpose of the Marauders, in protecting refugees, and in combating gentrification and capitalist colonialism, is a good role for them in the X-Books, but there are no actual real day-to-day threats on Earth that are worthy of a group this over-the-top in what they’re capable of. It makes more sense for them to expand and have the secondary characters, like Callisto and Marrow and now Banshee, take on more of routine shipping concerns, and reserve the main characters for crisis moments.

One last thing, I think I actually could see Ororo Munroe, Regent of Sol, and the new Planet X concept in general, remaining a fixture of the Marvel Universe for a good while. For one, if Wakanda is going to be an Intergalactic Empire for the foreseeable future, there’s not really a barrier on the X-Men having a presence on Mars. And this change had an immensely long buildup. Ororo taking on this role was one of the primary storylines to emerge from X of Swords, and her previous book lost an entire year of issues to it, so there’s been a serious time investment into establishing this as more than a detour for her.

I could see Mars and the people of Arakko outliving the Krakoa era itself, because 1. it’s fairly easy to just separate them from the rest of the X-Books and send them off to do their own thing, if the next writer doesn’t feel like using Hickman’s toys. 2. there’s not really a way to get rid of them that couldn’t be immediately undone, so it probably wouldn’t be worth trying 3. It actually solves a major problem for the cosmic setting.

If everything runs through Mars now, then Ewing, Cates, and their successors, are free to start involving the Solar System in crossover events without worrying about how it will effect life back on Earth. One of the major limiting factors in cosmic events has always been that you can’t fundamentally change the Earth itself. Any long term fallout from cosmic stories risks damaging its ability to serve as a mirror for the real world. Mars does not have this problem, because people do not live on Mars in reality. So by establishing this secondary setting, Ewing has allowed the Solar System to now function as both a real world analogue with Earth, but also as a near-future sci-fi setting through Mars.

#wednesday spoilers #x-men #swxrd #marvel #comics

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seven-oomen · 4 years

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Okay, so first off, Happy Birthday to your cat! I hope he got lots of his favorite treats. Glad to hear that today went as well as can be hoped for you. And overall today wasn’t too bad here. We got several big truck deliveries, but when I deal with those I tend to deal less with customers, so it sort of balances itself out. We’ve been told that we’ll be closing early all week because of the protests, so that’s been ramping the anxiety, but the internet has provided a number of pleasant distractions on my breaks.

Secondly, I would pick Noah for the one that has the second set of twins, for mainly two random reasons; 1) because last time it went Chris, then Noah, so it feels like it should do the same this time, and Chris already had Ben, 2) because it keeps the number of kids per family more balanced- 4 & 3 rather than 2 & 5. Idk, my brain just gets weird about symmetry and balance in things and I’ve never figured out if it’s an ADD related thing or just a me thing. Also, the idea of him trying to do his job while pregnant, with Chris and ESPECIALLY Peter trying to be super protective at the same time is just amusing to me.

And actually, thinking about that and the preview for the next chapter made me think of a couple things that didn’t make it into my reviews. When/how/from whom did Chris learn about the fire? Did Gerard or Kate tell him in a gloating sort of way and kind of tip him off that something was hinky about it, or was it through other hunter contacts, so the thought of outside involvement came later?

Was he still pregnant with Ben, or was it later on? Did he contact anyone in Beacon Hills about it for further info at any point before he showed back up in town? Because I was trying to think about some of the things that could turn up later for angst (why I was doing that to myself is anyone’s guess, but here we are…) and it occurred to me that if Noah was going to have any lingering upset over Chris leaving it would most likely (to me) be from the time right after the fire.

He’s just lost Claudia, and went off the rails from it, but at least he had Peter, and Laura, and the other Hales. Now Peter is in a coma, Laura’s left town, and the rest of his adopted/found family is dead. He has no idea where Chris is, or if he’s safe from whoever did this (does he know about what happened between Chris and Peter before Chris left again?, and he’s dealing a set of even more heavily traumatized twins right now. I feel like even the most understanding person is gonna have some stuff to work through there. (Also, Jesus, poor Melissa [possibly for multiple reasons])

Uhhh…sorry to send things into a drama tailspin there for a moment. Allow me to try and brighten things back up with the original impetus for me to make this a submission and not an ask; because you mentioned X-Men Halloween costumes and I have Thoughts. *takes super deep breath* Because omg, yes, so very many options.

Side note - I would be so happy if someone dressed as Nightcrawler. He is my precious fuzzy elfin bb, and I love him to bits and get so tired of him getting left out of things (looking at you Funko.) I feel like Stiles or Peter have the best attitude match (maybe, MAYBE Jackson), but don’t know if anyone would want to deal with the amount of makeup involved. But, anyway, just, the possibilities.

Stiles telling Malia she can’t just take the easy way out by going as Wolfsbane, so she takes one of her old white A New Hope Leia dresses and cuts it down into an old school Mystique costume.

Peter pulling rank and telling Derek he’s the Alpha so he gets to be Wolverine (this even works better height-wise [I didn’t realize you didn’t know their approximate heights. I’d looked them up before for…reasons. Having seen them standing next to each other repeatedly, I’m pretty sure any actual height advantage Ian has comes strictly from his hair], although when Stiles points this out he earns himself a hell of a glare.)

Naturally that means Chris has to be Cyclops, because, well, calm and serious. Noah realizes this means they expect him to be Jean Grey. (N: “Why can’t I ever be a character that wears normal pants?!” C: “Well I have to be the boring one all the time” P: “I mean, you are the closest to a telepath of the three of us. Don’t you want us mock fighting over you?” N: “…if we do this I get my pick of the Phoenix costumes.”)

Stiles and Noah trying to fight over getting to be Gambit so they can do exploding playing cards, but getting told they can’t be Gambit unless they can do the accent correctly (Gambit isn’t Gambit if he’s not Cajun, that’s just how it is, I don’t make the rules.) While part of me thinks it’d be funny to see Jackson as Nightcrawler because of the tail thing, I think Stiles would be more entertaining.

He’d make little smoke bomb things to fake the sulfur and brimstone effect of his teleporting. All the family members with enhanced senses would HATE him because they STANK something fierce, and it LINGERED. But anytime one of them tried to tackle him to get them away, he’d yell “BAMF!” throw on to the floor and run like hell.

Jackson would be Iceman so he could make it a crossover costume with the character from Top Gun so he could wear aviators and a leather bomber with his outfit. Allison could dress like Shadowcat from the early Excalibur run, and she could see if Ben would dress up as Lockheed with her (because that would be adorable).

Derek would decide that if he can’t be Wolverine and glare angrily at people the whole time, he’ll be Colossus so he can just stare with silent disappointment the whole time. Scott would decide he wants to be Cable (because “…he just looks so cool…”), so Melissa and Chris would dig through their old hunter gear to help him make his costume.

Melissa could be Jubilee, and rig up little flash bangs to fake the plasma bursts (unlike Noah she has absolutely no qualms about proving that she can still rock a pair of short shorts.) Lydia would either be Rogue to show off that SHE at least can manage a believable accent, or Emma Frost for the looks that costume would gain her from Allison.

Alternatively; both sets of twins argue over who gets to be Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, so they decide that one pair will do the classic comic version, and one will do either the Evolution cartoon version or the MCU version (though they are allowed to switch out the Quicksilver for the other film version if they choose).

Lydia claims Mystique instead (it’s tempting to make her Banshee, but that seems a bit TOO on the nose), or maybe one of the other Phoenix looks (when I say Phoenix looks I mean Jean’s Phoenix or Dark Phoenix suit from the comics, because I LOVE that outfit), and Ben dresses as Beast (because that would also be adorable). *finally stops to take another breath* …umm…so anyway, yeah, as a perennial X-men fan I think it’s safe to say I love this idea, and am so grateful for you putting it in my head… …sorry about the wall of text, I may have got a little carried away… …again…

I loved every single sentence of this wall of text, so never apologize. (Although I did break it up a little before posting because that makes it easier to read for other people.

I think all of my ideas for the middle of this fic where either based on questions you, or @artemisa97 asked me in reviews. So honestly, keep them coming if you want to ask them. They help me determine where the problem areas are, what kind of kinks I need to work out, so honestly, even the sad ones are a great help.

And yeah, I hadn’t looked up their heights yet, I just assumed Peter and Chris were a bit bigger than Noah, but I was delightfully wrong!

I do have one more gem to share, a height comparison of some of the boys and to show you just how tiny Ben is compared to the others.

Blue - Noah (182 cm / 6 ft)

Purple - Chris (177 cm / 5′10)

Red - Peter (178 cm / 5′10)

Yellow - Derek (183 cm / 6 ft)

Green - Ben (111 cm / 3′8)

Turquoise - Jackson (170 cm / 5′7)

Ben’s height is about average for someone between the age of 5 & 6, Jackson’s height is a little on the short side, but I’d imagine that he’d still grow a little until he’s like 20 and end up being around 175/176 cm.

I’d imagine Stiles to be a little taller around 172 cm, Allison is a little shorter at 165 cm and Malia is around 168 cm. (They will all still grow a bit, averaging between 173 (Allison) and 178 (Stiles) )

And the one thing I will say about whether or not Noah gets the twins, without getting too spoilery, or maybe it is, I’m sorry if it is but I can’t help not share.

Is that eventually both Noah and Chris have the same amount of kids from Peter. And one of them has twins. I’m still debating on names, in the deleted scene I named them Mikhail and Adeline, I currently have different names picked out.

And I think the balance thing is ADD related, because I had the same issue with planning the story XD. So yeah, Peter gets to have a lot of kids, and adopt a lot more into the pack, because Season 2 is kinda canon in this universe, in the sense that Isaac, Erica, and Boyd are still turned. Kira comes along, and of course Lydia. Considering what I have planned for Danny and Mack, I might add them to the pack as well.

And omg I LIVE for those X-men costume ideas <3 Omg. I love it. Considering Stiles’ abilities he would definitely be Nightcrawler and would probably use a quick spell or two to get the makeup in place. (A druid invented this fantastic spell to always get eyeliner on fucking point and shared it in their spellbook. Spoiler alert; said druid was Noah in his teenage punk years. Turns out, it works for other makeup too.)

And I’m in fucking love with all of these ideas actually, I can’t really say which I like more.

#once upon a time comments #ben says stuff #submission #once upon a time spoilers #kinda?

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comic-movieheroesranked · 7 years

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Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2009) Part One

It’s rough coming right after a fantastic year of movies (2008) but 2009 did pretty well for itself. Terminator Salvation is our only sequel and we also get an X-Men spinoff with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Kids favorite shows come out with Astro Boy, Dragonball: Evolution, and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, and we got a couple of thrillers with Whiteout and Surrogates. We also get the debut of the controversial Watchmen! Let’s get started with numbers #84-61!

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL HIGHLIGHTED MOVIES ABOVE*

Cameo Appreciation: The Minutemen (Watchmen)

The Minutemen consisted of Dollar Bill, Mothman, The Silhouette, Hooded Justice, and Captain Metropolis. They mainly appear in flashbacks as they all somehow die one by one. Dollar Bill dies after his cape gets caught on a revolving door, allowing the robbers to take aim and shoot. Captain Metropolis dies in a car accident, which was thought to be suicide. The Silhouette, who looked so damn fierce, was murdered in a homophobic hate crime with her lover. Hooded Justice's death isn't explained but we do see him stop The Comedian from raping Sally Jupiter. Mothman doesn't die but he ends up going crazy and is thrown into a psychiatric ward.

Cameo Appreciation: Professor X, Toad, Wind Dancer, Quicksilver, and Banshee (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

There were a lot of familiar faces among the mutants kidnapped by William Stryker. Those mutants were Toad, Wind Dancer, Quicksilver, and Banshee. When they escape with the help of Wolverine, Kayla, Emma, and Scott, they end up running into Professor X! With his jet ready, the professor rescues the group and takes them away to his school.

Cameo Appreciation: Sarah Connor (Terminator Salvation)

Even though she's not technically seen, Sarah Connor's voice is in the tapes she recorded for her son, John, to help him in the future. With her guidance, he's able to learn about his father, Kyle, who will eventually go to the past to help keep her safe.

84. Hollis Mason/Nite Owl (Watchmen)

"You were a better Nite Owl than I ever was, Danny boy."

One of the few Minutemen that's still alive, Hollis Mason was the original Nite Owl and is also one of the two heroes to reveal their identity to the public. He came out with a book about his life as a vigilante but after the hype of it died down he ends up opening an auto shop where he enjoys drinking occasionally with Dan.

83. The Hard Master (G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra)

"We need to invite him in and show him the path."

The Hard Master was the man who taught Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes everything they know. I kind of got a little favoritism coming from him when it came to Snake Eyes and it appeared that so did Storm Shadow, who kills him. Or so we think! At the end of the film Storm Shadow admits he didn't kill their master. So if he didn't, who did?!

82. Jared Canter (Surrogates)

"I'm not in the mood for opera."

Jared's murder started the entire film but it wasn't even him that was supposed to die in the first place. He had borrowed his father's surrogate, who was the actual target. His death is the first human murder in several years and starts Lionel Canter's quest for revenge.

81. Daniel DeCobray/The Baron (G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra)

"What a mysterious wife you are!"

The Baron got straight up PLAYED! The Baroness only marries him so Cobra can keep an eye on him and his work in the science field and is constantly leaving him, which makes him wonder where she goes all the time. When she reveals her true intentions, she forces him to weaponize the nanobite warheads before she tricks Storm Shadow into killing him.

80. Mr. Squeegee and Mr. Squirt (Astro Boy)

"I love happy endings!"

These two robots are designed to clean windows (One squirts the water, while the other wipes) in Metro City and are present when Astro discovers he's actually a robot. The two scenes they're in are for comedic relief and they show up at the end to celebrate Astro's victory over President Stone.

79. Travis and Heather Hudson (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

"We all got a choice, Son."

Travis and Heather start the ridiculous trend of everyone who is nice to Logan, will end up getting killed. After he shows up to their barn naked, the Hudson's cloth him, feed him, and give him advice on forgiveness and revenge. Their thanks? They get gunned down.

78. Courtney A. Krieger/Cover Girl (G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra)

"Their capabilities are beyond anything we've ever encountered."

Cover Girl was a supermodel before she found her true calling in the G.I. Joe department. She's mostly seen as Hawk's assitant, bringing him papers to sign as well as inform him of missions when he needs it. She's technically the only Joe with a revealed identity who dies, getting murdered by Zartan when Cobra invades the Joe facility.

77. Rubin, Mooney, and Weiss (Whiteout)

"Mooney said not to trust that guy."

Rubin, Mooney, and Weiss are the biologists that discover the lost Russian plane and are at the root of this whole murder investigation. It all starts when Weiss's body is found and later Carrie figures out that he was hit with an ax then thrown off a plane after injuring himself. When the investigation starts, Mooney calls Carrie and explains he'll tell her everything at the Russian base he's at. Of course when Carrie shows up he's lying in his own blood. Finally we have Rubin who actually manages to tell Carrie everything about his team finding the plane except for who was the guy killing them! He takes off because he gets spooked by Doc (who ends up working with Haden, the killer) and ends up getting his neck snapped by Haden when he tries to escape.

76. Moloch (Watchmen)

"I have cancer."

A villain in his time, Moloch is an old man who's given up on the crime life now that he's dying of cancer. He gets paid a visit by his drunk archnemesis, The Comedian, and ends up getting murdered by Adrian so the other could frame Rorschach.

75. Orrin (Astro Boy)

"I feel so nervous!"

Orrin is the nanny robot who works in Dr. Tenma's home and takes care of Toby before he's killed. Even though it's very clear that him and other robots have their own personalities, he's constantly belittled by Tenma for trying to enjoy things like playing with paper planes with Astro. It isn't until the end of the movie that Tenma finally treats Orrin a little nicer, even if Orrin still gets freaked out by the change of attitude.

74. Dr. Serena Kogan (Terminator Salvation)

"You're about to do an incredible thing."

Dying of cancer, Dr. Kogan is the one smart enough to come up with a plan to create a human/machine hybrid. She ends up getting Marcus to volunteer after he's sentenced to death. When he arrives at Skynet Headquarters in the future, the machine uses Serena's identity to talk to him.

73. Richard Nixon (Watchmen)

"We can't let these fuckers think we're weak!"

In this altered timeline, Richard Nixon is able to be re-elected for three more additional terms as well as take on Vietnam as a state. After he disbands the Watchmen, he focuses his attention on Russia and the threat of the nuclear war. After the most populated cities are destroyed, Nixon agrees to work with the other world leaders and untie in peace.

72. Miles Strickland (Surrogates)

"I couldn't tell you his name even if my life depended on it."

The dispensable hitman. Miles is a dread, a human who doesn't use surrogates, and is hired to use the new technology that kills a host through their surrogate on Lionel Canter. He's able to avoid police but ends up killed by his own people in The Prophet's community. It later makes sense as to why he died, seeing as The Prophet was actually a surrogate belonging to the man he tried to kill in the first place.

71. Bradley (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

"I always thought it would be Wade to come knocking on my door."

A mutant on Stryker's Special Ops team with the ability to control technology. Since he never participated in the killings of innocent citizens, I think Bradley also didn't agree with it but didn't have the courage to quit like Logan did. When he retires, he joins a circus but it isn't long before Victor shows up and takes him out.

70. Toby Tenma (Astro Boy)

"Up and onward."

Toby's death was so sad. He was such a bright kid and even if he had a crushing curiosity that eventually caused his downfall, a lot of his death could be blamed on his father's company as well as President Stone's arrogance. How did no one, human or robot, not notice the kid was in the room? With their technology so advanced they don't have scanners that alert every time someone enters? His death leaves his father in a huge depression which eventually leads to him creating Astro.

69. Zartan (G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra)

"This is going to be the achievement of a lifetime."

Zartan works for Cobra with a neat skill of blending in with his disguise. He's pretty decent, managing to sneak up on Hawk and Cover Girl and escaping the facility unharmed before he even gets his upgrade from The Doctor. After going through the procedure, Zartan can now physically alter his body to change into whoever he pleases. Who's his first target? None other that the President of the United States. Zartan kills him in secret before returning to the oval office, the U.S. government completely unaware about his true identity.

68. Janey Slater (Watchmen)

"I stuck by you and this is how you repay me!?"

The guys in this movie were pretty douche-y in this film and Dr. Manhattan was no exception when it came to his ex-girlfriend Janey. She was with him before his terrible accident and she stayed with him after. At first I thought he left her because she refused to be with him in his 'dying' moments, but he admits to leaving her because she's not as attractive as Laurie, which is just SO fucked up. It's also believed Jon gave her cancer, which she's dying from, but it was actually Adrian in his twisted plan to heal the world.

67. Barnes (Terminator Salvation)

"I didn't catch that last part."

Barnes is John Connor's right hand man in the resistance and is loyal to him with every decision he makes. With his brother dying early on in the film, his hatred for the machines makes things difficult when Blair tries to rescue Marcus. However once John deems Marcus ok, so does Barnes and he continues his job in the war against the machines.

66. ZOG (Astro Boy)

"I'm old school."

ZOG was one of the first robots ever created and was abandoned on the Surface World when he stopped working. More than fifty years later he gets revived by Astro using his blue core energy and ends up getting an entire makeover by the surface kids. When Hamegg proves to be a jerk, ZOG saves Astro and nearly kills Hamegg but Astro stops him. ZOG saves the day one last time when he uses the same blue core energy to revive Astro back to life.

65. Laird James McCullen XXIV/Destro (G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra)

"I've finally taken my place in the long line of McCullens."

Destro comes from a long line of weapon dealers who happens to be very power hungry. To have the world's leaders on their knees, he tricks the U.S. military to fund his work on the nanobite warheads then steals them back once they're finished. This starts an all out war with the G.I. Joe's. He successfully manages to bring down the Eiffel Tower in Paris but ends up burning most of his face off when he goes against Duke in his jealous rage over Ana. The Doctor saves him and uses the nanobite technology to harden his face, turning him to Destro soon after. And even after that, he gets arrested by the Joe's and is taken to a high guarded prison.

64. General Ashdown (Terminator Salvation)

"This is war, Connor. Leadership has its costs."

Many people in the resistance believe John Connor is the key to ending the war, General Ashdown isn't one of them. In fact, he flat out tells John that he believes he's actually a fake prophet. Since he's a leader of the resistance, you can see how this has them butt heads, especially when it comes to destroying Skynet Headquarters. At first they're on the same page but when John discovers there are human prisoners, including his future father, he tries to stop Ashdown, who believes casualties are necessary. In the end it's Ashdown and his leader that end up being casualties when they accidentally gives themselves up, allowing Skynet to blow them up.

63. Scott Summers/Cyclops and Emma Silverfox (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

"I can do this!"

It's our first time seeing a young Scott Summers and an Emma who isn't Emma Frost that can harden her skin to diamond. They're both kidnapped by Victor to be experimented by Stryker for Deadpool, Scott's optic blasts eventually making the cut. When Wolverine frees them, they take off with the other young mutants, Emma using her diamond skin to block students and Scott blasting away the shooters. Eventually they run into Professor X who takes them with him to his school of mutants.

62. Lord Piccolo (Dragonball: Evolution)

"With this Dragon Ball, I take my vengeance upon the Earth."

Once again we have a villain that was absolutely BORING!!! Nearly every time Piccolo was on the screen I got bored and there was a least one scene that my eyes got heavy and threatened to glaze over. For someone who was trapped for a thousand years, he was very calm once he was free. He spends the whole movie collecting the Dragon Balls only to be stopped pretty easily in the end.

61. Big Figure (Watchmen)

"While everyone's distracted, we thought we'd bring you a little housewarming gift."

Many criminals were put in jail because of Rorschach and Big Figure was one of them. When Rorschach is thrown in the same jail, Big Figure wastes no time in trying to kill him with his goons. His plan fails horribly, and he ends up getting killed by Rorschach by the end of it. They don't show what happens, only that there's a lot of blood and toilet water so the rest is really up to the imagination.

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

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100 Days of Comics! 101/100: Generation X #9 (1995)

Wait what??

So it transpires that I’m bad at counting and reading. The box of 100 comics was a box of 100 comics plus special guaranteed bonus of the Fathom comic. So here is the real, final book in the box.

And its another Generation X comic!

So with this we’ve come in a little late. The Generation X class is in a whimsical fairy tale land, as often happens to the X-Men for some reason, that is connected to Banshee’s castle what he owns.

The team is split up in different places, as often happens to the X-books, and Skin and Penance are guarding the castle doors from an unnamed cigar-chomping dragon while the other students are inside puzzling over the Glamour Machine.

See, when the Glamour Machine broke it put the dragon on top of the food pyramid and he likes things that way so he’s not keen on the kids fixing the thing.

Skin plays tough and threatens the dragon despite his fear which the dragon finds hilarious. So a glum Skin heads inside to find a sword or something.

The fairy queen? or whatever Grande Dame is a bit of an airhead, fixated on M fixing the machine but when she hears that the dragon is causing trouble she tells Skin that the dragon is a bully. And Skin doesn’t like a bully.

So he heads back out to fight him. But the dragon, crying from laughing so hard, points out that Skin forgot the sword he was going to get.

So Skin heads back inside, setting the dragon off to laugh harder. A very humorous exchange here.

Meanwhile, Emma Frost and Banshee are following a... gnome? and expositing. Banshee is complaining that Emma used her powers to turn off a troll’s mind temporarily. Emma doesn’t see it as very different from Banshee putting Black Air techs to sleep so they could investigate his ancestral castle. He insists that its obviously very different obviously obviously.

But anyway, he also wants to free the elves from the oppression of the fairies and the trolls and the dragon.

And then another troll attacks. And Banshee is like ‘hey emma take him down with your psionic powers’ and she’s like ‘hey no. Since you criticized me for doing that exact thing earlier, have fun fighting a troll alone.’

Nearby, Sync and Chamber have been led to an elf home so the elves can beg the heroes to hero and help them. Sync insists that they’re just students, not heroes. But Chamber is a soft heart and agrees to help the O’Donnel clan.

Then they hear Banshee through the wall and a double attack from the two collapses the ceiling on the troll. So for the records, shutting down a troll’s mind to end a fight with no bloodshed: bad. Crushing a troll under tons of rocks and stuff: a good thing to do. At least according to Banshee.

Meanwhile, Skin fights the dragon by Mister Fantasticing with his extra skin.

Meanwhile, with the Glamour Machine, M has gone into one of those trances she goes into, alarming Jubilee and Husk. But then M flies off.

Husk rips off her skin to become metal and with Jubilee’s firework help, she unjams a thingie on the Machine.

And then the other half of the cast shows up. Banshee, Emma, Sync, Chamber, buncha elves. And Banshee is going to put the Grand Dame out of business because in the time before the Glamour Machine broke, the fairies used the elves to manually run it.

But he’s interrupted by the elves who loudly chant stuff like “equal pay for equal work!” and also by M who reveals that there’s nothing more that she can do.

Meanwhile, outside, Skin continues to fight a dragon. And after tumbling down a hill its going bad for him. Thankfully, the basic facts of the situation have entered Penance’s head and she stabs the dragon in the ass.

Meanwhile inside, M clarifies that the Glamour Machine is totally fixed. But there’s a lack of a power source to keep it running.

And Banshee’s sonic power would be too physical. Emma’s psionic power too impure. The Grand Dame suggests using elves as kindling. “Not all of them. But there are thousands.”

But while everyone was arguing, Chamber figured out the answer and went in the chamber to unleash his power. And that gets it up and running.

Without needing to burn elves as kindling.

So now everything is good forever. The land is full of glamour which benefits everyone except the dragon since Chamber powered it.

Skin comes in gloating that he totally beat that dragon but Husk yells at him for raining on Chamber’s parade. This is his big day.

Later, at a bonfire celebration, Emma and M sneak off to have a conversation. Mostly about how M doesn’t consider it a victory because she didn’t fix everything herself. She holds herself to very high standards and she can’t bear the thought of Emma feeling sorry for her. And Emma says she never would.

SO that was a fun zany fairy tale adventure, of the likes that often happen to X-Men and related teams. Really feel like I’m missing a lot. Because no recap. And it feels like the trolls and fairies get off scott free after exploiting the elves as labor in the past. And even suggesting burning elves alive.

Its just sort of ‘well our exploitation engine runs on no-face power instead of exploitation now so lets let bygones be bygones.’

On the other hand, Penance beat a dragon by stabbing it in the ass. So it was good times.

And that's the real final comic in the box of 1001 comics. For serious and for reals.

I really feel that it ended on a higher note this way.

#100 Days of Comics!#Generation X

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ilikemovies26 · 7 years

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Whump List Request

Tortured Hero; Helpless Team - Whump List (Request)

So, a while back I was asked to do a list of episodes that contain the whump scenario that we all know and love: our favorite character gets kidnapped and tortured and his friends/team are forced to sit by and watch helplessly, either in person or via video. Here’s the list! I’ll add more as I think of more, and if you have any recommendations please inbox me and I will add them to the list! Enjoy.

1. Quantico: Season 1 episode 9. Booth has already been shot and had field surgery performed on him by a very nervous Alex. Now, he’s been kidnapped and tortured as he hangs from a ceiling. Alex can do nothing for most of the episode. Worth it worth it worth. Even if it’s just for the agonized screams.

2. Banshee: Season 1 episode 10. Banshee has an abundance of torture scenes for our antihero, Lucas. However, the best one has to be in the season 1 finale; Rabbit kidnaps Lucas, ties him to a chair and tortures him. His friends finally come to the rescue but not before Rabbit inflicts serious damage to Lucas.

3. Frontier: season 1 episode 5. Yes. Yes, I am well aware that I will find any excuse to include Frontier in any sort of post I make. No. No, I am not sorry, nor is it likely that I will stop doing this. Anyway, so Harp is kidnapped/arrested in front of his friends. He is then brutally tortured both emotionally and physically. His team misses most of the torture. But, Michael is brought in just in time to witness Harp at his lowest point: crying, yelling, screaming, and fucking bleeding all over the fucking place as he hangs from the ceiling. It clearly scares Michael to see him like that. It fucks with your emotions, man.

4. Homeland: season 5 episode 10. Quinn is god-knows-where, tied up and looking slightly worse for wear. He’s poisoned, and Carrie is forced to watch it in video format as he splutters, convulses, soils himself, and eventually collapses. It’s great acting all round, and pretty good whump if you’re into that kind of thing.

5. Outlander: season 1 episode 15. I really don’t think I could ever explain just how glorious this show is when it comes to whump and plot and characters. Jamie is shot; his shoulder is dislocated; he’s stabbed; he’s tortured. (Reminder to self: do a fucking twenty-page-long whump description of this show.) Anyway, the torture in this episode is insane. He’s taken by his arch nemesis, and his hand is smashed with a mallet and nailed to a table. This is done because his wife comes to save him after he’s taken, but they are caught before they can escape and - in an act to save his wife’s life - Jamie swears that he will give into Randall’s (aforementioned arch nemesis) wish to have his way with Jamie. In order to prove that his word is true, he allows Randall to nail his already shattered hand to the table as his wife, Claire, watches. It’s amazing acting and wonderful whump, but it is hard to watch, even for the most seasoned of whumpers. This torture scene has an abundance of pained cries and shattered bones, blood and gore… bruises everywhere; there’s enough of his loved ones watching this go down. (NOTE: the whump in the book is even harsher and far more detailed than the show. Read the books.) HOWEVER. This episode is unsettling because it details the rape and defamation of a character that you cannot help but love. This strong, gorgeous, stubborn man is reduced to nothing as he lets his past tormentor rape him over and over again. It’s terrible. It really is.

6. Outlander: season 1 episode 6. This episode is almost as hard to watch as the previously mentioned one. Jamie (who has already been flogged once before) is taken to be lashed one-hundred times. A crowd - consisting of strangers as well as his father and uncle - has gathered to watch. He is whipped until he is unconscious, hanging in a pool of his own blood, his back literally ripped to shreds. It’s not pretty; the makeup is fucking fantastic and just looking at his back - dangling skin and exposed bone - is sickening. The crowd can hardly watch… his father even has a heart attack. This show is amazing, but it’s certainly not light-hearted at times. Seriously, guys, why haven’t I done a whump profile for this yet?

7. Firefly: season 1 episode 10. Mal and Wash are kidnapped by Niska. They’re electrocuted over and over again. Zoe comes to save them but she’s only able to save Wash. Niska cuts off Mal’s ear and hands it to Zoe as a souvenir. Niska ends up torturing Mal until the latter dies, and Niska has to revive him once again. By the time his team arrives, Mal is a mess. Whilst his team misses most of the torture, Wash witnessed Mal suffering, and so does Zoe for a while. This show is great regardless, so I would watch it. There’s tons of whump in it.

8. Braveheart. So I’m pretty sure that everyone’s heard about this movie, which means that most people have heard about the brutal torture scene. Wallace is hanged, drawn and quartered as a horrified crowd (including two of his closest friends) watch. They can do nothing to stop it or help him other than to cry out for mercy, even when Wallace refuses to beg for it himself. This movie is most definitely worth it, and not just for the torture scene. I think this movie is a little harder to watch because it’s based on what we can only assume is a real historical figure (too many debates surrounding that topic even to go into); that said, it’s certainly the kind of movie that stays with you no matter what.

9. NCIS: Los Angeles. Season 4 episode 24. Deeks and Sam are kidnapped. They are then tortured - electrocution and teeth-drilling - and forced to watch each other in pain, and hear each other scream. They get rescued but not before the damage is done.

10. Reservoir Dogs. I watched this movie years ago… I think I might’ve been around 14 at the time so my memory is slightly fuzzy but I’ll do my best. There’s this fucking gruesome torture scene where Mr Blonde proves just how much of a sadistic sonofabitch he can be. Plus one of the characters gets shot in the stomach and spends the whole movie dying slowly as he bleeds out. He does not, however, die quietly despite his friends’ pleads.

11. Chicago PD. Season 3 episode 01. Jay Halstead - what a specimen of a man - is kidnapped and tortured. His team is forced to stand by and watch helplessly as this happens. He's hot and he whumps so well. Best part is: at the end of the episode, even though he can hardly stand or walk, he manages to fight through the pain one last time and save the day. I would like to thank @whumpified for the suggestion.

**Honorable Mention: Once Upon a Time. Season 5 episodes 12 - 15 (5x12 - 5x15). Hook - who is fucking gorgeous - is killed for the sake of greater good, and winds up in the underworld. We don’t see the torture but we get a slight glimpse of him initially while Emma looks for him; he’s covered in blood. When we get a closer look, he’s still covered in blood, but the one side of his face is also completely bruised and swollen, he can’t place any weight on his one leg, and his arm remains wrapped around his ribs. He can hardly breathe, nevermind walk or talk; queue the multiple pained gasps and strained wheezes. He gets captured by Hades and strung up with chains. Emma finds him hanging there, trembling and unable even to react when she calls his name. He spends the next episode and a half needing help from Emma to walk and stand as the team tries to find a way to get back out of the underworld. The reason this is an honorable mention is because: whilst the actual torture itself is lacking, the whump is fantastic! Really such a great example of whump done right.

Guys, honestly, I’m struggling with this list. I can think of a shit ton of shows where the character is tortured (Banshee, H50, Once Upon a Time, The Red Road - sorta, Payback, Conspiracy Theory) but not many of them actually include the team watching helplessly. Please, if you think of any other shows, let me know! I’ll add them to the list. Sorry about the lack of shows/movies on this list; my brain has turned to literal fucking mush.

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dweemeister · 7 years

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Initial reactions to the 89th Academy Awards

WOW.

18/24 on predictions. Started off poorly predictions-wise, had a solid middle of the ceremony... and, of course, that ending!

My heart feels for La La Land supporters tonight. I was definitely in both Moonlight and La La Land boats... but that has to be one of the most embarrassing ways to not win. With that, La La Land becomes the most nominated film in Oscar history to not win Best Picture - breaking a joint record that was held by Mary Poppins (1964), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Congratulations to Moonlight for winning Best Picture. For what it represents to the American film industry, I hope it will not be the last of its kind by any measure. May it inspire those following Barry Jenkins’ footsteps and all those who worked on the film. Both Moonlight and La La Land are movies for the ages, and instant American classics. This was a very good year and a very good Academy Awards.

For those still wondering what happened... from what I can tell, somebody backstage handed Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope (Best Actress instead of Best Picture). They announced La La Land, although Beatty hesitated because he saw Emma Stone’s name printed on the paper. Dunaway announced La La Land and the crew comes up. During the speeches, you could see a bunch of producers running around like banshees and I was wondering what was going on. They realized the mistake, the actual envelope was found, and Moonlight is your Academy Award winner for Best Picture.

That said, Casey Affleck? Really? Seriously? For Manchester by the Sea? I can’t even.

It’s also hard for me to wrap around the fact that Emma Stone is now an Oscar winner. I’m getting older to the point that the acting winners are getting closer to my age now... what am I doing with my life (also, Chazelle is a baby)?

Solid winners in the supporting categories, too - no one was better this year than Mahershala Ali (the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar) and Viola Davis in their respective roles. No one.

Plenty of politics all over. As necessary as all of that was, did red state America tune in? Hollywood should neither be a cultural bubble nor a political bubble, and I hope - in various ways - the industry continues to serve moviegoers a dose of films that also have political diversity too (no seriously, I want that).

Happy - for the most part - with the short films... even if they didn’t pick the films I would have liked to have seen win for Live Action and Documentary Short.

Academy Award winner Suicide Squad. For fuck’s sake, Star Trek, did you really have to continue your terrible run at the Academy Awards and lose to fucking Suicide Squad?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them becomes the first Harry Potter universe film to win an Academy Award... and it’s not even a proper Harry Potter movie!

Congratulations to 21-time nominee Kevin O’Connell, having finally won his first Oscar: Sound Mixing for Hacksaw Ridge. That’s the longest losing streak for an individual in Academy Awards history... I guess if that was destined to be, so was our furious finish.

Thanks to AMPAS president Cheryl Boone-Isaacs on presiding over her final ceremony before terming out. She’s been a good leader of the Academy these last few years (yes despite #oscarssowhite... she has brought in the stepping stones for a lot of necessary reform), and I wish her well for whatever she might be doing afterwards.

Seriously, I can’t get the ending of that overlong ceremony out of my head just now. Kimmel was flat and everything but... yeah, what a finish. WHAT A FINISH.

Five more days of 31 Days of Oscar. Can’t wait to feature some of this year’s films for next year’s marathon. I hope you enjoyed the proceedings tonight, all!

#89th Academy Awards #Oscars #31 Days of Oscar

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god-hunter · 7 years

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X-Men: Blue #8

Wow! This was a fantastic issue. X-Men Blue is doing the tie-in treatment correctly. This one definitely took us places.

So last time our O5 and Jimmy Hudson got rocked by a team of familiar mutants consisting of Wolfsbane, Firestar, Havok, Toad and others. They work for New Tian, which is basically Emma Frost’s version of Scott Summers Senior’s Utopia. I can’t exactly tell you why they’re fighting, other than maybe survival amongst the times. [If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em sort of thing, I guess?]

But our heroes refuse to fall in line with that. They were the rebels, and most of them just lost and were captured by New Tian’s X-Men.

However... in this issue, we find that Jean and Jimmy got out mostly unscathed.

[SPOILERS]

With the Blackbird, fully speaking to them as an A.I, the ship saved them.

Then, we get to see Cyclops and Emma talk at Utopia. This was a very interesting and mostly satisfying encounter. Emma seems to want to... make Scott her Old Scott.

“When I’m through... You’ll be whoever I want you to be!” - that one surprised me.

She definitely gets in his head and says that “In time, you’ll come to see things my way on your own. And then you’ll be free.”

[Whoa... Are we about to see the slow return of Revolutionary Cyclops??]

Iceman, Angel and Beast are stuck in a cell together with power dampeners as well. Hank is upset that he can’t use any of the spells he’s learned in this condition, while Warren kind of hopes that Magneto will save them. Bobby calls him a fool for thinking such a thing though. [And I just want to pause for a second to talk about how horribly inconsistent this book is with Angel’s hair. I’m always happy to see him with mid-long length of his hair, but the last issue gave him a short hair cut. I feel like that happened before too, but I didn’t mention anything. With his hair long again, I’m happy to see that, but I just wish they would stay consistent.]

Then we see that Briar Raleigh, (who really came into this book out of nowhere...) is not in a cell at all. She’s been given preferential treatment by Havok to be placed in basically a Hotel suite accommodation. With a nice bathroom, a luxurious bedroom, a nice TV, a sweet bathrobe... You get the idea. Briar asks what all of this is about and can already tell that the rest of her team isn’t being treated the same way. “You want something. And my guess is the White Queen is too busy to come and take it from me.”

She also mentions something about “Shi’ar Wetware” in her brain that I don’t really understand... I don’t understand her disposition here. She’s like super coy and almost flirting with Havok when she says, “Want to skip ahead to torture? Because that’ll be fun.”

...we cut to Magneto who talks to his Robotic Butler Ferris. He brings up why he hasn’t been doing anything yet. Especially in this extreme tie-in World. “I made a promise that I would stay out of the affairs of Hydra’s America and New Tian. I plan on honoring the terms of my agreement.”

He seems to have a box, holding Red Skull’s head. Then he closes it. “Even though my promises prevent me from helping the X-Men personally... I have arranged for them to have more-than adequate support when the time comes.”

[This line blew right by without any meaning until the very end.]

But we could sum it up by saying that Jimmy and Jean travel to New Tian by the Blackbird Jet, who is basically self-running on A.I Autopilot at this point.

They encounter Firestar, Wolfsbane and Marrow once again as well as a bunch of dreadnoughts, or whatever you call them.

Jean uses a sweet technique to scare all of them off, by pulling up a mental image of Wolverine, Cable, Colossus, Rogue, Sunfire, Sabertooth, James Proudstar, Storm, Gambit and Banshee.

Then the Blackbird descends and tells them to keep going while it protects them. It starts to dismantle itself and form itself into that of a Woman. Not just any woman though. - Danger!!!

[Whaaat!? Danger’s back!?? Sweet. I was kind of wondering where all these Blackbirds came from. I’m pretty sure Gold Team has the Jet too.]

They not only have help in the form of Danger, but when they get inside and encounter Havok, suddenly Polaris arrives too! She catches him off guard and blows up the wall nearby, knocking him over and surprising him.

“Hey, Alex. Long time no see. I hate to say it, but this is going to be a Painful Reunion.”

-To Be Continued!-

What makes this exciting, besides all of the surprise returns is that Polaris is Magneto’s other daughter. [Whether it’s confirmed that Wanda is or isn’t anymore...] They’ve still got Polaris! And she’s out here to help Magneto do his bidding. And if that means that she is a guest player on the X-Men Blue Team, I am all for it.

And I really like that Danger is still around too. She was always cool in the past.

So glad Cullen Bunn is writing this book in this way. Why couldn’t he do this type of stuff during his run of Uncanny??

Oh well. Looking forward to X-Men Blue #9

#X-Men Blue #Issue 8 #Cullen Bunn #Secret Empire tie-in #Marvel #NOW! 2017

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twistednuns · 5 years

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October 2018

Being so busy that I can hardly keep up with these lists anymore.

A fat, fluffy red cat keeping up with a running girl on the other side of the fence.

Working with clay.

Applying for an international education programme in Canada.

The evening at Oktoberfest with my colleagues. Dancing in front of Hexenschaukel as usual, right before going home.

An incredibly soft, bright red pencil. Japanese brush pens from Arket. Drawing. I never know that I miss it until I start scribbling again.

Spending the evening with Manu, Martin and Indian food. Playing SingStar. Laughing way more than we should about a set of 400 Chuck Norris jokes. Falling asleep with my head resting on Manu's shoulder. A weird half-conscious flashback, different places and childhood memories accompanied by calm, happy piano music.

Rosie Leizrowice: „When I find myself overwhelmed or in a stressful situation, I try to imagine myself from above, then pan backwards until I see the whole street, the city, the county, the country, Europe, this blue planet — then let it fade into darkness (this is also a meditation technique.) It works every time. Because once you visualise yourself as an insignificant speck, you realise how inconsequential just about everything is. And although that can be paralysing, it can also be liberating.”

Jonah Hill's role as the Icelander Snorri in episode 9 of Maniac's first season. But Emma Stone as a drunk elf is hilarious as well!

The fact that Google Maps now shows Earth as an actual globe. Makes exploring feel much more real!

A visit from Bibi on a Sunday evening. Looking for mushrooms in the forest, walking over the fields, petting a cat, visiting Tom at work. Perfect against Sunday blues.

KARAOKE!! Especially performing Tenacious D's Fuck Her Gently on stage with Manu.

Spending a lot of time with Doris during the preparations for the school anniversary. We're on really good terms at the moment. / Climbing onto the school's roof with Mr L. so we could apply the banner from above. Great view. / Founding a choir.

Going to bed on a Friday afternoon after the anniversary party. Finally I didn't have to stress anymore and spent the whole weekend in bed (because I got sick, yeehaa).

Meeting Franzi for drinks at Gärtnerplatz. She's going to be a mum next year, at the same time as Meghan Markle! I'm happy for her.

Satin headbands (hello, Blair Waldorf!) / dainty gold rings / huge, soft scarves / matte nail polish, still / dyke couture (lumberjack shirt)

Attending a workshop on English literature where a director from Residenztheater's youth department showed us how to teach Hamlet to our students. I had a lot of fun with the different kinds of games and acting in our own scenes. My favourite part was playing Hamlet's thoughts. Yep, that's a role, too.

Singing along to songs from Once More With Feeling, the best Buffy episode ever made. Finding out that Manu knows most of the lyrics by heart was fantastic, I didn't know that episode had more than one die-hard fan (=me).

Jumping on the trampolines at Maxx Arena with my class. Beating everyone at American Gladiator (boxing them off the beam into the foam cubes). Jumping down from a trapeze. Scary and my muscles were very sore the next day but it was a lot of fun.

Benedict Wells' reading his own short stories in Munich. He still has a very Southern German rolling r-sound going on. Charming!

My brother gave me Michael Greger's book How Not to Die and even though I started out very sceptic it gave me the last push I needed to go back to vegetarianism / semi-veganism. I'm probably not going to stop eating a little bit of yoghurt and cheese any time soon but meat, fish and eggs absolutely have to go. Yuck. I always have unsweetened almond milk at home - the perfect substitute for milk. And I love apple slices and a few almonds as a sweet snack.

Kurt Vile's Jesus Fever live in concert. Drifting off during the show, thinking about possible outcomes of my trip to Scotland. Meeting Ralf! / Related: Kurt Vile in conversation.

Realising that I can actually spend up to a third of a year travelling. Apparently the universe knew better then me when it created all those coincidences that made me become a teacher.

Doing sun salutations at home. Just because I had some extra energy that Friday evening.

Reading English magazine articles out loud to myself, in a posh voice. Feeling like a literary ASMR-tist.

Especially reading something about Australia which often seems like a forgotten country to me - that is the reason why stories about Australia, for example The Sunburnt Country in Believer Magazine, sometimes take on a fairytale-like character for me.

This is 18 - through photographs girls show what it is like to turn 18 in the year 2018.

I'm grateful for people who let me join their family occasionally. It's always both strange and nice since I'm not used to a family dynamic at all. Especially experiencing the presence of a father is so unfamiliar for me. Markus let me harvest honey with his parents in the summer and Manu asked his father to teach us woodcarving at his workshop. We ended up staying with his family until very late, drinking liqueur and playing board games.

Marzipan and buttered soft pretzels. Geez, I'm addicted.

Waking up from a very real nightmare in which I suddenly had a cat and a baby who I both neglected. Scary.

Colouring (IKEA's 'city overrun by monsters' drawing sheet).

Crystal encrusted hoop earrings from &otherstories.

A Star Is Born - this movie made me fall in love with Bradley Cooper AND Lady Gaga. Also, I'm obsessed with the song Shallow and the red leather boots Ally is wearing on the motorcycle.

Compliments from my art students - they compared my respect level to that of our principal. Woah.

Going to Scotland for the first time! Things I liked in no particular order: staying at Erika and Brendon's apartment - she is a lovely Bolivian and he is a co-author of the Rough Guide to Scotland; he told me about his favourite book by Sebald, a German author, and urged me to read it / Gatuso, the fluffiest cat / early mornings in the empty backyard, watching Gatuso strolling through the sunshine, seeing the white frost on the plants / Waitrose supermarkets / the Scottish accent / doing a walking tour with Stefanie, she was quite entertaining / trying 16-year-old smokey Scotch whiskey / going out with Rasmus and his friends, drinking at Banshee Labyrinth (the most haunted pub in Scotland apparently), admiring the costumes at the gay bar / a free impro comedy show on a lazy Sunday / old libraries / Banoffee Pie at Stockbridge Market / Greyfriar's kirkyard - the most beautiful graveyard with a very nostalgic, gothic atmosphere; maybe because you can see the grey buildings of the old town surrounding it and because of all the spooky stories / speaking of stories: there is so much folklore... about Maggie Dickson, Greyfriar's Bobby, the places that inspired the Harry Potter novels. Love it. / Blackwell's bookstore / my tour through the Highlands - gorgeous weather and autumn colours, such a spectacular landscape / rainbows over Edinburgh / My magic brings Voldemort to the yard and damn right it's hurting my scar / The old town, the quirky old-timey store fronts, the dark walls, architecture, little alleys. / the entrance hall of the National Scottish Portrait Gallery //

#things i love #present perfect #personal #october #2018 #october 2018

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mattmasdeu · 7 years

Text

Generation Next! (Uncanny X-Men 317 & X-Men 37)

Previously in X-Men: The Phalanx Covenant:

Banshee rejoins the X-Men only to discover the team has been replaced by an army of techno-organic beings known as the Phalanx! He assembles a ragtag team of X-Men, mostly made of prisoners lying around the Mansion. He, Jubilee, the White Queen and Sabretooth set out on a mission to protect the next generation of mutants starting with Thomas Everett, a teen from St. Louis. After saving Thomas, their alliance is no more, as Sabretooth escapes!

Vital Stats:

Uncanny X-Men #317 “The Phalanx Covenant, Generation Next Part 3: Enter freely and of your own will!”

Writer: Scott Lobdell

Penciller: Joe Madureira

Inker: Dan Green

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Colorist: Steve Buccellato

X-Men #37 “The Phalanx Covenant, Generation Next Part 4: The Currents Shift”

Writer: Fabian Nicieza

Penciler: Andy Kubert

Inker: Matt Ryan & Mike Sellers

Letterer: Bill Oakley

Color Art: Kevin Somers

Editor: Bob Harras

Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Publication Date: September 1994

Cover Price: $2.95

Re-Collection Price: Original

What Happens:

Part 3

Inside the Phalanx, Paige Guthrie awakens surrounded by what she thinks is a blanket but really is the stretched skin her fellow captive, Angelo...

...who has the mutant ability to stretch but lacks the elasticity of other heroes like Mr. Fantastic and Plastic Man which makes him kinda droopy. The captured mutant teens begin to access the situation, some are hopeless, Paige is hopeful and Monet, whom we met last issue, is catatonic. Paige then discovers that unlike the other mutants, she’s infected by the Phalanx and her assimilation has begun.

What’s left of the X-Men travel to San Francisco to the home of Emma Frost to access her computer, which contains the blueprints to the SHIELD base in the Bay Area, where they can pick up on any spikes in Techno-organic activity. Banshee and Emma leave to find out if SHIELD can help. Leaving Jubilee and Thomas to bond.

Frost mentallyblocks their bodies out from being able to be seen by the SHIELD agents but forgets to block the rain water dripping off them and they’re discovered.Banshee assists with a Sonic scream.

Meanwhile inside the Phalanx, Monet finally speaks and quickly disrupts the power source and takes out the big guy. She figured out he was a plant and part of the Phalanx.

She then busts them out, even taking the sick Paige, showing that they're now a team.

End Part 3

In San Diego Bay, the Phalanx, respond to the escape of their captives and have Clarice in their clutches. The others implore her to use her powers but she’s reluctant, finally she gives in and blinks them apart and Monet finishes the job. Only to discover that Harvest is back!

The X-Men arrive on the ship. As they enter the boat, Jubilee and the Emma discover that the Phalanx on the ship have even assimilated the rats on board. Jubilee acts as the exterminator.

As Harvest closes in on the teens, Sabretooth saves them, apparently he just escaped to get his costume. With Banshee’s help they stop Harvest temporarily.

They meet Paige and see that she’s infected and Sabretooth has a novel way to remove it by clawing at her. Paige completes the removal of the growth by showcasing her mutant power.

Harvest attacks again and gets the better of Banshee and Sabretooth. Clarice realizing that she’s their only hope sacrifices herself to save her new friends. She’s trapped by her own power. She and Harvest disappear from existence.

Skin, Paige, Jubilee, Thomas Everett and Monet regroup on the docks to mourn Clarice’s death.

End Generation Next

Continued After Ads:

Worth Re-Collecting?

One of the things that I liked about this series was the inserts with time lines of different X-Men characters, Bishop, Cyclops, Cable and Banshee, helping new readers learn about past X-Men stories. It was one of my favorite parts of the book as a kid yet I had forgotten all about it.

This series was fun to read. The Phalanx was hard to describe as a villain, it’s a sum of its assimilated. And as a result, it was interesting to have Harvest cut off from the hive, so that he could be beaten because he lacked the power of the collective and began showing signs of individuality, symptoms of his being unable to draw from the hive. He was desperate enough to assimilate rats to take their energy. I also liked how the team had to bond together over Clarice’s sacrifice and learn to work together.

Part of the point of Generation X was to have less glamorous mutants and they sure delivered. Skin is like Mr. Fantastic without the elasticity, so he looks like he has extra skin, Husk is the traditional blonde pretty girl who can rip her skin off, later we would meet Chamber, who has Cyclops’ power of energy blasts but emitting from his chest and he blew off his own jaw. These X-Men were grittier and certainly not prettier than their predecessors and it made for a fun read. This is also the first time we saw Emma Frost as a member of the X-Men, she would play a major role ever since. The series Generation X turned out to be pretty popular even resulting in a low budget TV movie on Fox, that had it been successful would have run after the X-Files! You can check out the whole movie here!

Next Issue:

We take a look at some classic stories from Batman's Crime Files. It's three classic Batman tales in Batman #218! See you next week

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