Dandesun

Storm's non powered era lasted years but I understand how adaptations work so I wasn't expecting it to be particularly drawn out. I really wasn't expecting it after losing Gambit and Magneto. Do I believe those deaths will stick? Not really but status quo is that they're dead so Storm is needed again. I do like that they had Forge involved and was surprised that they brought the Adversary into it. For me? The Fall of the Mutants storyline was a really interesting one and it was the catalyst for bringing Storm's powers back and it led to one of my favorite periods which was the Outback period before Inferno. That's just me. And even in the books it wasn't an instantaneous thing... it was fast but it played out a little bit like here where she had access and it took her a hot minute to actively reach out and grab them again. I have had issues with XTAS doing comic storylines before in the initial installment of the show simply because they were using a current team with previous storylines but it never felt complete. I think at this point I've adapted myself and I think they're doing better taking pieces from different storylines and working them into their own established canon. Charles in Space, for example. The elements from a very specific storyline were there but altered enough to work for what they're doing. Charles' return to the X-books after some 70 issues after Lilandra came to get him to save his life was some more crazy space-faring stuff that involved Skrulls, a new re-aged and fully powered Storm (Claremont put Storm through the wringer, y'all) and another confrontation/cross-over on Genosha. Shit was INSANE! And then the X-Men got shunted off to space quite suddenly and crazy ass stuff was happening there! So while I'm glad we're not getting the Skrull storyline I was enjoying the nods to it all what with Charles' war costume and stuff. Although him going 'Okay, class is in session' was so quintessentially Charles I was laughing out loud. Oh... is that you Death-bit? Or just another nod? Storm's looks over the years have generally been cool as fuck (actually one of the ones I like least is the white 90's one that Jim Lee did that we all know from this series) but man that classic Byrne costume is classic for a reason. And they animated it beautifully. Sinister is responsible for the Genosha attack? Yeah, that works. Again, elements of comic stories combined into a new canon for XTAS97. I'm down with it. One thing I hope for? Scott to not stand for any shade Charles throws upon his return.

The Native American is James Proudstar aka Warpath and the (kind of bullshit) reason he's in the villain line up is that he started out as an antagonist because the "All New All Different" X-Men involved his older brother John aka Thunderbird who ended up dying on an early mission. James blamed Charles and actually did some serious damage to the X-Men's reputation in his quest for revenge as part of Emma Frost's Hellions. He did eventually see the light regarding Emma and left the Hellions and ended up with the New Mutants and then joined X-Force in the 90s with Cable and a bunch of former New Mutants. I do find it interesting that they replaced Jimmy with Emma... who also eventually became an X-man. Emma, at least, was a flat out villain for a good long time. Warpath was an antagonist because his reasons for hating Charles were valid and also he was a kid who was mourning his brother's death. AND he caught onto Emma and the Hellions stuff pretty quickly and told them all to fuck right the hell off. I don't think anyone knows who the bald guy was supposed to be.

Gen X here. Saw Bambi in the theaters when I was quite wee. Believe me, NO ONE missed out on what happened. The panic? The echoing gunshot? Bambi searching for her in the snow and becoming more and more scared when she didn't answer? And finally... "Your mother can't be with you any longer." It's traumatizing for a reason. We all got it.

I loved the first run of Marauders. When they went to space and Cassandra Nova was there... I struggled and then just flat out lost interest. I loved X-Factor and wish that one had continued.

Scott beginning to lean into his revolutionary period is something I'm here for. And as much as I don't like triangles I think the Scott centered one actually makes sense and is emotionally complicated and that is coming across. It's not as simple as 'well so and so is a hypocrite' to me. What I'm seeing is a group of people dealing with a lot of insane shit and that's totally okay for me. Could it get tired? Yes but I have a real fondness for Scott and Jean separately and together and while I never connected much with Maddy in the books I think she did get screwed and her coming back in Krakoa and Jean making peace with her was really really good stuff. And yes, I think Maddy/Alex works and I root for those two kids. Except that's not the case here in X97 so I'm interested in what comes next, I really am. In regards to Magneto and Rogue. Show-runner has gone on record to say that Rogue was in her early 20s when all of this initially went down with Magneto. I've never been a fan of this pairing simply because of the power imbalance and, gods, when they went whole hog with it in AoA I feel it was even grosser but... whatever. It's in the past and I don't give it a hell of a lot of thought anymore. Rogue ultimately making her choice and then realizing what she really wanted only to have it be too late is pure romantic tragedy. I've loved Rogue/Gambit since the 90s y'all, I wrote fanfic back in the day. I'm still friends with that crew! But man, the episode was so good that I can't even be mad at any part of it. I know in comics no one dies for long (there are precious few exceptions to that rule... like Uncle Ben or the Waynes... once upon a time I would have said Bucky but man Brubaker wrote the hell out of that one and I ain't sorry at all) and hell, they killed off Morph in the original series and brought him back. I've seen Magneto use his powers to keep his own heart beating when most of his chest was ripped out. I've seen him fall from orbit in Asteroid M and survive. I've seen Gambit going into the light while Rogue chased him and physically pulled him back. I've seen Gambit become the Horseman of Death for Apocalypse. I don't expect either of these deaths to take but that doesn't take anything away from how good they went out in this episode. X-Men are hard to kill. X-Men have trouble staying dead. Both of these things are true. And I can't wait.

Oh there were some rough patches and stuff I skipped but I went all in during the Krakoa Era. It was exciting in a way the X-Men hadn't been in ages. I will admit to being very frustrated with the Fall of X... I feel like it has draaaaaagged on so much but there are things in the Krakoa Era that I have just loved. Doug in the Inferno mini. The resurrection of Destiny and finally playing out the fact that Kurt is the son of Mystique and Destiny as Claremont intended back in the day. Maybe not all of Claremont's ideas should be kept sacred (*cough* Jean/Logan *cough*) but that one was a great idea and the seeds planted where Mystique had no problem killing Rogue but couldn't pull the trigger on Kurt when she worked on attacking the X-Men in whatever Danger Room-esque set up she had going on was good stuff. Lorna coming back into the spotlight. Apocalypse took a real interesting turn. The entirety of X-Men Red. Jean bitch slapping Nightmare and coming back to acknowledge that 'now and forever' she is Phoenix. What they did with Moira was amazing at the beginning. I'm not as thrilled with the now but, whatever, I'm interested in seeing what comes next far more than I have been in other eras. Gail Simone writing Uncanny where we have Gambit and Rogue taking the lead and starting down in New Orleans? YES! Kurt will be there too? YES YES!!

What an incredible episode. Really. I found Nightcrawler being the guide through Genosha for Rogue and Gambit to be very meta considering that he was the one being introduced to Genosha by Wanda in 'Wolverine & the X-Men.' Also, I still full on ship Kurt/Wanda because of that show. And I always LOVE seeing Kurt, he's one of my all time faves. The complicated mess that is Maddy/Scott/Jean... oh and Logan, I guess... is really rich and made far more complicated than I feel it was in the comics. As far as Scott knew, he WAS with Jean. And Maddy didn't die so his continued connection to her makes sense. Jean struggling with it also makes sense. In comics, Jean and Scott didn't just immediately reunite in X-Factor, it was messy and complicated because Jean had lost YEARS of her life as well as her telepathy and Scott was reeling from Jean being back and then Maddy and Nate being lost. Here is even more of a mess. Interesting that they went with the psychic affair that Scott had with Emma but switched it out with Maddy here. Although Emma looking on in Genosha was... interesting. The Scott/Jean showdown was really well written, I could see both sides of the argument. Logan. *ugh* I hate every incarnation of Logan/Jean. I really cannot stand it. But I could see the choices made here... Logan checking in, Jean struggling with her memories, and I even understand the choice to have Jean kiss Logan while she's struggling with her memories and the fact that Scott won't talk to her (and then find out he's psychically macking on Maddy and has been for the past month) especially since when he was trying to help in the Goblin Queen episode he gave her his feelings to focus on. But I am NOT rooting for Logan/Jean. That will never happen. Y'all saw the shadow of the Watcher in the skies, right? You know something is about to go down. I'm glad Rogue finally told Remy about her past with Magneto (although I was all 'Rogue, girl, you fucked your professor from college... that's what this looks like' in the flashbacks) and I'm also glad he pointed out that he followed her lead in not making it official between them and then saying Magneto would probably break her heart but until that they wouldn't be anything other than friends. (Pulling from a period in the comics where he let her go because he was tired of the push/pull and told her to go live her life but not to come back to him until she was ready to commit.) Then we have sexy mutant dancing between Rogue and Magneto (that dress she wore a callback to X-Men 4 and a date she went on with Remy. It got interrupted by Omega Red.) before Rogue admits that Gambit is right... some things go deeper than the skin, meaning, yeah she can touch Magneto but she's in love with Remy. Not that Remy saw, he noped out of there pretty quickly. Cable sighting! Maddy recognizing him as Nathan. Whatever he's trying to do doesn't work and then we get... ...a truly harrowing attack that includes elements of the last Hellfire Gala, the Mutant Massacre and E is for Extinction. That they were on the ground so you could see the fighting, the death, all of it was an amazing choice. It was all so visceral. Magneto's 'have no fear' in German as his last words... and Remy coming through with saving Rogue's life and then sacrificing himself to take out the tri-Sentinel. "Remember It" was always going to showcase Gambit, he used the words often enough in the original series but this was beautifully devastating. The way they showcased his fighting and then charging up the motorcycle to save Rogue and then charging up the tri-Sentinel to destroy it. Gambit is one of my favorites as well. I loved this episode for him, I truly did. Rogue weeping over him, 'I can't feel you' fade to black and the somber credits music. What an incredible episode.

Yeah, well, Claremont did write Kitty getting seduced by an evil version of Courtney Ross (Sat-Yr-9) on her 15th birthday in Excalibur. They didn't do anything overtly sexual but Claremont was very clear about what was happening and has used the term 'seduction' in reference to that story in the years since. So... yeah... look, like I said there are definite problematic elements in his writing and there are very definitely things that didn't age well AT ALL. As for Ellis, yes, I always assumed that Kitty was at least 18 when the stuff with Wisdom went down. I believe Ellis assumed the same. The age difference didn't bother me too much because considering Kitty's life she was wildly more mature and experienced than your every day 18 year old. I'll bring it back to the show, Jubilee is officially declared to be 18 which I appreciate but also consider all the things she's been through since she joined the X-men. On the upside, Roberto is clearly not over a decade older than her. They seem to be the same age so, yeah, kids... do what you're gonna do. Use protection!

I love that they highlighted several times that Jubilee was turning 18. Let me tell you, in comics she seemed to be 14 FOREVER, then they seemed to age her up then they de-aged her again. Yes, yes, sliding timescale but it was just weird af. Similar shit happened with Kitty. Hell, Claremont, who wasn't even writing her anymore had very specific opinions as to how old she was and wasn't shy about saying so. Look, I respect the hell out of Chris Claremont's work, problematic though a lot of it is, but there were some hills he chose to die on that I just can't even with. Kitty's age for one and deciding that Logan/Jean were the OTP after editorial decided to resurrect Jean and bring the OG5 back together. That is a bitter bitter road for me and the fact that we still have to deal with that toxic shit in this day and age is frustrating as fuck. Also... did anyone else get the impression from that fade to black kiss that 'Berto and Jubes might have banged it out? That's where my mind went. Messy, horny soap opera man.

That was the X-men at their messy finest!

Jean clone Maddy was not the first time Claremont used the name for a character. She was a character in Avengers Annual 10 - just a kid character with no connection. He got the name from Steeleye Span singer Maddy Prior. Sidenote, in the first Genosha storyline in Uncanny X-Men, Maddy is seen as a child singing a Steeleye Span song. Claremont loved doing shit like that. Okay, so... here's the deal, not only am I impressed that they even attempted to take on Inferno but they did it in one episode. Maddy being a clone was never the intention when she appeared in comics. She was meant to usher Cyclops off the scene completely because Claremont believed in characters that change, grow, move on and such so new characters could come in. Jean was dead in canon and that was against Claremont's wishes... he wanted her to be de-Phoenixed and basically 'psychically lobotomized' and the intention was to have her and Scott leave the team for good. Editorial decided that a) Phoenix had to die after eating the sun and killing the planet of broccoli people and b) let's get the original five back together... woo hoo! I have a lot of opinions about the canon story. First, I thought it was weird as fuck that Scott would meet someone who looked exactly like Jean, get involved with her and ultimately marry her and everyone was totally fine with it. You had people be really startled by the 'uncanny resemblance' but no one even suggested that this was maybe a tiny bit unhealthy? Second, the sheer amount of editorial nonsense that had Scott go alone to see Jean after she was pulled out of Jamaica Bay was kind of insulting. For one thing, the woman he watched kill herself in front of him is suddenly back, one of his oldest friends is the one to call him and tell him, and he's expected to... not do anything about it? Maddy herself should have recognized how important it was and GONE WITH HIM. But instead, he goes to see Jean in the flesh and then immediately returns to Alaska but discovers that Maddy (and baby) is not only gone but all trace of her existence is wiped out. And a significant amount of those early X-Factor stories are about Scott trying to find his son and any trace of Maddy. Was he perfect? No, but I never saw that initial 'I have to see this for myself' moment as character destroying the way Claremont insisted it was. So here we have a situation where we don't know WHEN or HOW Maddy and Jean were switched or anything. I like the mystery of that. I also like Maddy not wanting to stick around, after all she was trying to get Scott to leave the X-Men just one episode before. That all fits for me. And also, Jean reaching out to her at the end made me think of the very recent situation in comics canon where Jean advocated for Krakoa to bring Maddy back and after a Dark Web crossover involving Limbo and more than one clone absolutely had no issue with sharing all of her memories of raising Nathan with Maddy who was very much robbed of it. First by Sinister trying to kill her (several times) and then her deal with the devil bullshit with the Inferno demons S'ym and N'astirh. The entirety of the Inferno storyline is so rife with nonsense that I'm actually glad that they whittled it down to the core essence. We already know Sinister in the show. He's already fucked around with Scott and Jean. But this does open some questions and leave room for Maddy's return. Then they went ahead and did the Nate infected by the techno-organic virus and having to be sent to the future which was a big Apocalypse story so I wonder what's to come of that. Morph turned into Illyana? Have we even seen her in this series at all? And then Maddy turns Illyana/Magik into Darkchylde which is PERFECT for an Inferno story but if you don't know then it's just an Easter Egg for the rest of us. Gambit's vision of Rogue and Magneto was GROSS! Nice touch with the outfits being based off the UXM 269-275 Savage Land story arc but the skin melting? Ewwww. And we end with punk!Storm getting approached by Forge. Bring it.

That was Morph when they were falling from the jet. He also turned into Lady Deathstrike, Colossus and Kwannon/Psylocke in the fight at the courthouse/Hague or whatever. Yes they had the OG5 in the picture and it doesn’t necessarily go along with show canon but, you know what, whatever. If you know the X-men you know the original 5. They did establish Bobby/Iceman as a former student and I’m just going to say that the scenes with Warren centered more on Rogue interacting with him as opposed to Hank, Scott or Jean. It’s a reach but that’s what I’m going with.

Roberto is from Brazil, he speaks Portuguese and given how rich he is it doesn’t surprise me that he would speak excellent English with little to no accent. Claremont wrote his international team with heavy accents and phrases to show they were international but that was the 70s. ’Berto tossing in some Portuguese is fine, I don’t think he needs a heavy accent to drive the point home. Rogue has that covered.

Renee Elise Goldsberry is in Netflix' Girls5Eva and... just watch it, y'all.

Sounds like you suffered enough. Honestly, we're all better off just watching the Overly Sarcastic Productions run down of Iliad, Odyssey and anything related to mythology in general. I really hate... and I mean HAAAAATE that anyone tries to pass off Paris and Helen as a love story. It isn't. Helen was a commodity who had no choice in the matter and was handed over to a horny, short-sighted loser by a vain goddess so she could win a prize. I get just as mad when Romeo and Juliet is touted as a love story. IT'S NOT! It's a tragedy and they were two horny teenagers surrounded by a bunch of MORONS! Which isn't to say the two horny teenagers weren't also morons but they were TEENAGERS!! At least they have an excuse! Yeah the Troy movie making Achilles and Patroclus cousins? Really? That shit didn't work with the dub of Sailor Moon either. And these decision makers going the cousin route with these 'relationships' doesn't exactly cover them with glory, you know? Can someone do a legit House of Atreus mini-series? Because seeing Agamemnon get his and all the reasons WHY it's satisfying would be fucking GREAT!

Oh by the way, all of that with X-cutioner? I'm the one sitting there going 'I remember when Gambit took him out with gum.'

WELL!! I mean! There were definite surprises and I have not been actively looking for spoilers beforehand although I did see the list of episodes and it really left me wondering. I got some clarification on some things but I look forward to how this all plays out. I like the animation, I think it's cleaner and more active as well as being in the same style. Storm and Bishop are two characters of color who are different shades! I love that, to be honest. And Jubilee is definitely Asian (this has long been a thing in comics where all of a sudden she's just drawn and colored as a white girl... which she is not.) 'Berto's power animation looked cool as fuck. I kind of dig that Jubilee is playing mentor to the new kid as she was the new kid before. Just know, Jubes, that 'Berto's heterosexual life partner is Sam Guthrie and I don't care what part of the multiverse it is, I don't make the rules. Storm turning the desert into glass and then said glass into a tornado to rip apart Sentinels? Yes, it is important that we see how absolutely fucking awesome Storm is before the power negating gun. But I fear not... I know this story. "Once upon a time there was a woman who could fly." Storm's non-powered era is fucking epic, I am here for it. And Scott being bad-ass? YESSS. He doesn't shoot lasers out of his eyes! They are 'concussive force blasts' which is just comic speak for 'he can punch you with his eyes but more.' Getting down to earth after the Sentinels attacked, hell, taking some Sentinels out before all that, using his beams to move around... so good for Scott! I am always down for Gambit's ever present slut phase. He is a 90s man with his crop top to show off his abs but also to protect his nips while frying up some beignets. Also ready to rip the shirt off completely. Also, the little clap-clap with the tongs was a delightful detail for me. Look, there is no heterosexual explanation for Magneto. They work so hard to make his ass soooo straight in every conceivable outlet and it just never works. There he is with mourning Charles and swanning about with his Pantene hair, his magenta body stocking, his opera gloves and his cape and yet I'm supposed to buy that he's into Rogue? Seriously? I'd sooner believe that he's sidling up to her to make Gambit jealous. Gambit wears those gloves with the middle and ring fingers covered so he is clearly down for a little hand action at a moments notice. Is that crass? It's what the X-men do to me. They are a horny as fuck soap opera and sexuality is never set in stone but it always leans towards queer. Magneto's flex after Storm got shot? Hells yes motherfuckers! But, again, look at that fucking DRAMA QUEEN! His grand speech, his one perfect tear, his going on about his 'old friend' and of course his 'Don't make me let you down' mic drop. Magneto is That Bitch. I feel the Rogue/Magneto stuff smells more of 'oh, Rogue's keeping secrets, too' for me but love triangle angst is a soap staple. Ororo is on a personal journey and will be awesome. Can't wait for more Roberto DaCosta. And as for the ending? Jean? Maddie? Who is who? Will they attempt to do Inferno? I'd be shocked but also... why not? It's crazy. It's all fucking crazy. And I LOVE it.

Zeus gets horny and then turns into something completely different to get his rocks off. A swan (!!) -- that's how Helen came to be after all. A golden shower? (Kinky.) The doppleganger of the woman's husband?! (Dude.) Zeus fucks Leda in the shape of a swan and she lays two eggs, because, you know THAT'S normal and in one egg is Helen and Polydeucus (Pollux) -- Zeus' kids. And the other egg was Castor and Clytemnestra -- Tyndareus who was the Spartan king and Leda's husband. Agamemnon and Menelaus (members of the doomed House of Atreus) were staying with Tyndareus while in exile and they ended up marrying Clytemnestra and Helen respectively. Which really makes me wonder about the age differences but Menelaus was described as being handsome and with a pleasing personality so I often feel like he gets screwed over completely in retellings for the sake of 'romance' which Helen and Paris ARE NOT! The vow all the suitors for Helen make to defend her husband in a quarrel and then the idiot Paris going 'give me the hottest woman!' instead of taking either Hera's or Athena's offer results in the Trojan War. And then there are four different tellings of how Menelaus and Helen reunite. Apparently he intends to kill her for the betrayal but either felt sorry for her when she wept at his feet begging for her life and had all of his wrath leave him; was struck by her beauty and all of his wrath left him; she tore her gown and revealed her breasts and all of his wrath left him; or he handed her over to his men to be stoned to death and she tore her gown and showed them her breasts and everyone was struck by her beauty and everything was cool after that. So... go Helen, I guess? Use what the swan gave you or whatever. Oh and then there was the whole 'let's have Menelaus and Paris fight this out because this war is draggggging on' (did Odysseus - the only one with a consistently working brain cell nap for the first ten years?) and Menelaus was winning handily when Aphrodite interfered and rescued Paris. The thing is the stories leading up to the Trojan War are complicated enough to have their own movie or series, really, so I always hate that it gets boiled down to 'Helen runs off with Paris and everyone is annoyed by that' because it really makes Helen look bad when she gets too much shit as it is. Things that are constant? Paris sucks and is a coward. Hector was a tragic hero. Agamemnon is the worst and that's why he embodied the doomed aspects of his house. Menelaus was a pretty good guy all said and he and Helen reconciled and even reunited after death. Aphrodite really cause a mess with her shit.

Look, the Iliad is what it is. Achilles did in fact throw a gigantic hissy fit over Briseis but not because he was in love with her. She was his spoil of war and Agamemnon (who's just a dick, period, no matter the version of the story) had HIS spoil of war taken so he needed to be petty and take Achilles' -- that's what it was, douchey warriors fighting over women they claimed as prizes in battle. Achilles losing his shit over Patrolcus is a MAJOR thing in the Iliad. He was so distraught that he didn't just throw down with Hector but he desecrated his body afterwards which was an insult to the gods but because they can't allow gayness in the movie they don't go into that at all. As for Helen, she gets a raw deal period. She is given to Paris by Aphrodite as a reward so how much autonomy does Helen actually have? That's often glossed over. Stories show that she was quite happy with Menelaus before and after the war. And really the Judgement of Paris and the Iliad and the Odyssey highlighted the capriciousness of the gods and the effects of it on man. To have the movie make it all about Helen escaping an abusive husband and then war happening to get her back... Helen is nothing more than a MacGuffin in the movie. But then that's what she is in the stories, too, so...

I'm actually fine with this. Let the animated series exist in its own world given that we've seen X-Men in the MCU multiverse situations they're clearly building something there and I'm very eager to see it. Can I also say that I appreciate that they've finally drawn Gambit as legit hot? About freaking time. He's gone through some rough animated patches. (Wolverine & the X-Men was the worst offender there.) The usual suspects out there in Internetland are screaming about Morph being gender fluid and WOKE. *aggrieved sigh* Just admit you don't know anything about the X-men if you're going to start throwing 'woke' around as a bad thing. Cripes this is fatiguing. I do wonder what stories they'll come up with or draw from. They've got even more to pull from now than they did before so it will be interesting to see what they decide to adapt. I mean, it looks like Inferno might be in the cards somehow which... would be INSANE but I could be here for it. Depending... I do think it's interesting that the show runner Beau DeMayo is referring to Rogue and Gambit as the OTP... I'm down. I love them. Just enough with the touching angst! Since they've got past that in the comics it's been an absolute blast to have them deal with other shit. Play with it show-runner!!

Chris Potter, I've heard, will be voicing Cable.

Magneto coming in hot like Alexis Carrington? Hell fucking yes. 'My husband left me everything!' Jean being pregnant? I wonder if they're going to go Rachel or Nathan here... Inferno is so crazy and I know people love Maddie Pryor but man that's a gigantic mess so I could see them play this out as Jean having Nathan and them having to send him to the future and, boom, there's Cable! God I love this insane soap opera!

Fuck cancer.

You know how sometimes you go back and re-read a fic you wrote years later and realize that you actually wrote a boyfriend for Jack without meaning to and when you re-read you also realize they totally hooked up in college and fell in love? (This happened after the fic ended I would say...) Yep. I apparently did that.

Nice to know that I made the right decision not to bother. This was never a love/hate relationship. They both really just despised each other, particularly Blair. Bullshit officially erased from everything in my head. Forever.