Something to fight

[laughing_tree]

From Onslaught Revelation #1...

Comments

[lordultimus]

Nope!

[iamrman]

I'm glad Kurt isn't going to fade back in to the background after this.

[onsokumaru]

So, after Apocalypse, Greycrow, Wilhelmina Whatshername and the Shadow King, it's Cortez' s turn to be humanized.
Heh. Why not. Maybe Selene and Sugar Man are next.

[lordy_co]

Eh, were Shadow King and Apocalypse humanised though? Apocalypse is still an immortal social darwinist — he's just found a less problematic way for his species to be on top of the food chain. And for Shadow King, we only got a flashback from when he was a kid and the Shadow King persona approached him, which doesn't really explain or justify any of his wrongdoings.

[scorntx]

X of Swords claims that actually instead of being brought up by crazed barbarians who shaped his worldview, Apocalypse actually had a wife and kids he wuved and missed, and that everything he'd done was all part of some scheme to get them back.
As opposed to doing random crap because he's a giant blue nutcase.

[lordy_co]

I must've missed something then because that's not the impression i got. Yeah, he's using the Krakoa situation to get the chance and reach back for Arakko and his family, but I don't recall that being the justification for any of his past behaviour.

[tinygaylaura]

That wasn't the case tho?

Everything he did after Krakoa was founded was to find a way to get his family back

None of his other past actions were

It did reveal that the reason he had such an obsession with "Surival of the Fittest" was because he believed that one day the same beings who he thought killed his wife and family would return and the world would have to be strong to face them which gave some explanation to why he was so fixated on this nonsense but I don't think explaining it is the same as saying "So that makes everything he did okay"

I wouldn't say that the story gave a glowing recommendation to that viewpoint given that his family nearly destroyed two entire dimensions and almost everyone called Apocalypse out on how he nearly doomed everyone

[donnblake]

Somehow I had it in my head that his "Survival of the Fittest," shtick was intended force humans/mutants to evolve in preparation for the return of and judgement of humanity by the Celestial Host, so I suppose that's a reasonably connected motivation.

(Although I don't recall if the argument was that he wanted to fight the Celestials, or just have evolved in interesting enough ways to get them to continue the experiment rather than toss Earth in the autoclave.

[tinygaylaura]

I mean in all honesty the writers didn't know what the hell his motivation was either

Some writers treated him as being a fanatic obsessed with the idea of just "Survival of the fittest" in general other times he was a megalomaniac who wanted to rule the world, sometimes it was implied it was all because he just wanted to pick the strongest mutant to transfer his mind into and really he didn't give a shit there was that whole story that implied he made a deal with the Celestials that was never followed up on and never will be and sometimes he was portrayed as genuinely caring about the world in his own weird way and just having this idea in his head that only by pushing people to become stronger through adversity would they survive things that were coming

End of the day he's just a weird motherfucker with a fixation on causing drama

Like Taylor Swift

And just like Taylor Swift, there will be multiple explanations offered for why he's doing this and what he hopes to gain and whether he's a hero, a villain or just a mess that desperately needs to find a healthier way to cope with their life

[donnblake]

I mean, given what we know of the Shadow King's modus operandi, just establishing that he and Farouk are indeed different entities goes a long way towards suggesting that the latter is at least in part a victim.

[lordy_co]

Fair point.

[bruinsfan]

True. It's worth remembering that the former once possessed Karma; I don't think anyone held her responsible for what she did while under his/its control.

[alliterator]

It was established that they were different entities before Krakoa, though.

[donnblake]

Now see, I had wondered about it myself, but I didn't know that!

[cainofdreaming]

Wasn't Greycrow kinda humanized already? I seem to recall a story with Nightcrawler that went that way.

[scorntx]

There was indeed.
In the two-shot X-Men: Manifest Destiny (sidenote: Oof.) title.
Nightcrawler poses as a priest... or a different priest, I guess, if he actually was one or... never mind. Anyhow, he pestered Greycrow for a while then lectured him on the nature of the soul, which seemed to convince him to give up shooting people for a while.
Of course, the next time Greycrow showed up, he was a villain again anyway. C'est vie.

[cainofdreaming]

Could have been a different clone. Marauders be like that.

[tinygaylaura]

Yeah

Greycrow was also never really portrayed as evil so much as he was forced to work for an evil person. The Marauders were Sinister's slaves. They did what he told them because he did awful things to them, including murdering them and forcing them to remember that murder when he brought them back to life if they didn't

It's easier to write a redemption arc for Greycrow because every bad thing he's done was something he did while under the control of a sadistic monster.

All of Fabian's bad deeds were his own choice and he doesn't have the excuse of a traumatic backstory or some belief that what he was doing was for some greater good, he's just a self absorbed asshole who'll happily do anything and kill anyone to make himself feel special

To do a comparison, it's the difference between Zuko and Kylo Ren.

[chalicother]

I don't hate this...

It keeps Fabian still a bad person but makes it sensible for why he is.

He can still be in a villainous role or have this followed up upon.

It's not needed, but it's not horrible....

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Sooooooo... what does it need more than anything?

[thezmage]

Peepers. Nightcrawler is hoping Fabian will introduce him

[alliterator]

"Strong links in the chain."

[icon_uk]

It's an interesting take on Cortez.

It doesn't so much humanise him as contextualise him, and does highlight the innate, if largely self inflicted issues of an entitled personality dealing with a power entirely based on making other people more powerful.

[didiji]

Nicely put, I agree it's indeed an interesting take on Cortez.

[tinygaylaura]

I think it says it all that he's excited at the idea that he might get to experience racism now he's a mutant

Fabian is a toxic mix of an emotional tourist and a full on psychopath

[donnblake]

"And remember, when I say 'sacred land,' what I mean is 'people.' That might seem confusing, but the fundamental basis of our nation's legal system is just whatever first three things came to mind while we were brainstorming, so you can expect that we're going be doing a lot of aggressive interpretation for the next couple decades."

(I honestly assumed that the 'Respect this Sacred Land,' thing was intended more along the lines of "Hey, remember how we're living on the back of a mutant island that has beat down entire teams of X-men, and our economy and culture is pretty heavily dependent on them growing the right kinds of magic plants, so, like, don't piss Krakoa off, mmkay?")

[mindsweeper]

I think that is what it meant. As I recall, Shaw wanted property rights and Doug reminded him that Krakoa is a person and he cannot own parts of it. Then they decided that they should respect it as the Mutant home. So, it was originally all about respecting Krakoa.

[tinygaylaura]

"You can't own people Sebastian"

"Well not with THAT sort of attitude you can't"

[tinygaylaura]

May I offer Fabian some cheese to go with all of that whine?

This actually made me despise Fabian even more than I did before so I'm baffled as to why the other mutant here says hearing this pitiful whining made her not hate him

He's every cishet white republican who desperately wants to feel like a victim. Who CRAVES what they see as the "Privelege" of being able to say they've suffered when they actually haven't. Fabian has never experienced a second of suffering in his life. And he RESENTS the fact he hasn't because other mutants have. He actually RESENTS the fact that his wealthy tolerant family, lack of any visible mutation and complete lack of any real struggles means he can't say he's been through hardship like other mutants have

He sees people who are ACTUALLY suffering and have suffered and instead of thinking "How can I help" he thinks "Why does no one feel sorry for ME like that?"

If Fabian hadn't been born a mutant he'd probably be doing a podcast where she shrieks and raves in his shrill little voice about how Conservatice Voices Are Being Silenced

There are few things I hate more in this world than whiny little dipshits like this who WANT to be victims because they think it'll make them feel special

[akodo_rokku]

I kinda dig that she stops hating him because he's just so damn pathetic, though.

[tinygaylaura]

That's true I supposed there's some comedy in the fact she views him as so pathetic it's not worth the energy it would take to hate him

[akodo_rokku]

Yeah, like there's no way she could ever hate him as much as he hates himself. So she can let that go and expend her focus in other ways.

[mastermahan]

Cortez, you fucking moron. You don't like your power? You won the goddamn power lottery. SWORD tolerated your bullshit for as long as they did precisely because your power is that good. You're disappointed you're not another guy with superstrength or flight? You just enabled one person to pull a moon out of the sky, and another to put it the fuck back.

[tinygaylaura]

But the thing is he doesn't care about achieving great things or doing good. He just cares about everyone patting him on the head and telling him how special he is

Cortez is toxic "Ally Culture". He doesn't give a shit about mutant rights. He only gives a shit about the idea of people viewing him as an important Mutant Rights Figure.

If Magneto is the mutant Martin Luther King, Cortez is the mutant Caitlyn Jenner

[mastermahan]

Hmmm. An unwanted asshole trying to insert themselves into a civil rights leadership position for their own self-aggrandizement? Viewed with distaste by the community they claim to represent? Good comparison.

Though it feels like the mutant Caitlyn Jenner would also join the Friends of Humanity and make public appearances with Reverend Stryker.

[tinygaylaura]

I wouldn't call them friends since I don't think Fabian has any but back when he was with the Upstarts Fabian was happy enough to work alongside Graydon Creed, the leader and founder of the Friends of Humanity. His only complaint was that Creed was human as opposed to the fact that he was, y'know, a genocidal fascist leading a white supremacist terrorist cult