#the ice no longer defines me | annie | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

persephone11110 · 1 year

Text

The Princess And The Rooster Chapter 02

Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Warnings: major character death(Ice), grief, sadness, slight talking, physical abuse, Bradley is a dick

–

San Diego, California -2019

Kiddo, I’m sorry”

She dreadfully listens to father on the phone as he tells her Uncle Ice has died.

Tom“Iceman”Kazansky was now apart of the dead. No longer a living human, no longer here on earth.

She knew it was coming, death was inevitable when you had cancer.

Death seemed to love ripping people away from her, always making it way back to people Percy loved.

Percy remembered back her conversation with Uncle Ice.

Percy hand was shaky as she ran her hand over the scar. Tear drops slide down her face, she was marked by him, by anger and almost death.

She was broken, ugly, to never be touched by a man again.

A makeup palette was discarded next to her on her bed. Millions of attempts were made to cover it up , the reminder she almost died by him, by the man who beat her relentlessly and was the father of their one year old daughter Olympia.

A voice appeared in her doorway. She jumped out of habit, expecting a item to thrown at or a speech of degradation.

She was no longer legally bound to that man. Percy was safe, Ollie was safe most importantly.

She didn’t have to get up at 2am cooking dinner, go on beer runs for him anymore.

“How ya doing sunshine?” his voice was gentle, a tone Percy hadn’t heard in awhile.

The bed sinks, as Ice sits down next to her. The sobs got louder-making it hard to talk, to talk about her pain.

Her head was buried in his chest, embracing Ice’s warmth and protective hug.

“The scar doesn’t define you, that scar shows how much of warrior you are” Ice says to Percy leaning down to kiss her head.

“B-but Uncle Ice I’m no Annie Greyson” Percy says“I’m not Annie Greyson, not a Marilyn Monroe” Her voice is wobbly as she speaks.

Annie Greyson haven’t heard that name in awhile, the woman was Bradley’s girlfriend before he left. The woman was gorgeous and had a high paying corporate job.

“Sweetheart what does these women have to do with you?”

Percy shrugged.

“I’m not them and never will be, I’m a monster ”

“Peresephone Katherine Mitchell”

Percy looks at him surprised. Well damn

“What…when Ollie gets older you’ll understand the use of how much a full name being used means”

“Look at them and then look at me, I’m a mom with stretch marks, and this ugly ass scar, and self confidence issues lower than hell while also having a kid… I am not the kind of woman men stop in the street and stare at I’m the kind where men run away from—”

NOPE NOT DOING THIS SHIT.

He releases her from hug–standing up and then kneeling infront of her, holding her hand.

Ice gently runs his hand over the scar. He kisses her cheek.

“Bull..shit” he says looking into her eyes, making sure he has her full attention. “I’ve never heard of someone say so much bullshit in my life before and I’ve known Sli and Maverick for how long?”

You know he’ll love you thick through thin.

Percy lets out a wet chuckle, before wiping her tears— that bastard didn’t deserve her tears.

“Ma….Ma” her voice getting louder as she got closer.

Olympia Margaret Mitchell, her little girl, the reason why she fought so hard to get out.

Her dad was there holding Ollie“Hey kiddo, I tried soothing her but I don’t have what she wants”

Percy laughed at her dad antics, lead it to her Uncle Ice and dad to cheer up.

“Come here Ollie-Girl, come to mama” Percy opened her hands up to Ollie, surely enough she went easily into her mother’s embrace knowing it was safe there.

A mother’s job is to protect her child.

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery—San Diego, California 2019

“Commander Mitchell, Ma’am there ready for your eulogy”

“Thank you, tell them I’m ready” She wiped her tears. Pushing the memory to back of her mind, pushing her emotions away.

The Navy needs Ambush, not Percy.

Percy stood at the podium, scanning the area before speaking– Uncle Ice always told her to get look of the audience before speaking, get the vibe of the room.

“Admiral Thomas“Iceman” Kazansky, A man, a father, a husband and one of the best naval aviators of history, the man was Ice-cold outside yet took great pride in helping others always going the extra mile for the others has passed away, but his legacy hasn’t. We may have lost him, but his legacy and story haven’t gone and never will”

She raised her hand, saluting to him. Goodbye Uncle Ice, I hope your okay up there with Uncle Ice and Aunt Carole.

I love you.

Percy watched as her dad punches Uncle Ice’s wings into his casket.

See you again.

She was standing in her office, looking at a picture of Ollie holding it close to her chest.

Death can take anyone from you, loved one, your enemy.

A knock made her almost drop the picture.

“Commander Mitchell, Vice Admiral Simpson is ready for you”

“Thank you Loot”, Percy walked to the office, her shoes making little no sounds as she approached.

She moved to knock on the door, making sounds that she was here“Come in Mitchell” Cyclone voice called out.

“Admiral Simpson, Bates”

“Have a seat Mitchell” Cyclone gestures to the seat infront of his desk.

“Sirs, may I ask what is the problem?”

“Well Commander, you and I both know your best of the best, always accomplishing the mission, never leaving anyone hanging.

“Sir?”

“I know you’ve heard of rumors of the impossible mission, well I need instructors”, he looked at her with a knowing look. “I have one instructor but, I need someone to contradict the other instructor, someone who flys just as ice-cold as Admiral Kazanksy”.

“You”

Percy flicked her eyes to Warlock in surprise. He smiled warmly at her.

“Commander, just this year you’ve flown five missions each one successful”

“What I’m saying is Mitchell, this mission needs your unique skill-set, your only with these skills”

“I accept sir, not because of an order, but because this country needs me” She replied with confidence something she was slowly getting back each day.

“Thank you Commander” both men nodded as she saluted before walking out the office.

Percy couldn’t believe it, she was chosen as one of the instructors.

Both Admirals's believed she could do it, knowing how Cyclone and Warlock operate, she knew this was serious and they practically needed all hands on deck.

Explains why so many aviators were in the bar that night, Percy wondered if Bradley was picked. What if dad was picked also?

Percy just buried an Uncle she doesn't want to have to bury her dad or an old friend.

She wondered who the other one was.

“Hey dad, Percy was enculfged by her dad and Ollie was wrapped around her leg.

“Looks like you guys missed me” she teased softly, her father kissing her cheek.

“Dad, you know about the uranium mission?”, Percy asked her father, watching his smile drop and his face going pale.

One Mitchell is enough havoc but two?.

Miramar California-2019

She saluted to guard as she walked on to base.

“Attention on deck!”

Warlock approached the students as they remained at attention, his eyes roamed the room like a predator picking out its prey. Eyeing each student in front of him.

“Morning students, Welcome to special training detachment—be seated” they all sat down in sync, all of them thinking about why they’ve been called back.

Each one of them already competing to be number one.

I’m Admiral Bates callsign Warlock, Your all top gun graduates the best there is, the elite each one of you have a special skill set to bring to the mission, yet only one of you will be team leader” he spoke to the daggers squad. “This mission needs to be successful, no room for error, no room for ego, just room for success”

“Half of you will stay, half of you will be cut”

Is that why they both picked me as an instructor, would I be to good, to be cut?

Anyone is replaceable, anyone can be number one.

“There is two instructors, one is known for his legendary exploits and he’s considered one of the pilots the top gun program ever produced. He flying is considered dangerous yet remarkable and effective”

“Your godfather …Iceman is only reason why your father is still here. Keep him tame please Commander, the last thing I want is for your father to forced into retirement” Percy thought back to earlier conversations held with Cyclone.

“The other instructor most of you all know her for skills, her skills help her lead her generation as the only woman and pilot to surpass being an ace”

“These two they contradict eachother one flies dangerous and like life his doesn’t depend on it, while the other pilot flies dangerous yet cold, without making mistakes, taking everything down”

“I give you Captain Pete Mitchell callsign Maverick, and Commander Percy Mitchell—callsign: Ambush”

Who would’ve thought the notorious father-daughter duo would be teaching a class.

Both Maverick and Percy made there way up front, Percy combat boot laces clicking aganist the floor each time she stepped.

Maverick walked up first nodding whilst also grinning like the idiot he is“Good Morning”.

She glanced at Bradley before her facial expression went cold “Lieutenants, Good Morning”. So much for being adults.

“See this text book, F-18 you know this book inside and out, so does your enemy”, he said tossing the textbook into the trashcan beside him.

“They don’t know your limits, they don’t know how you fly in the sky”

Percy took over the speech leave it up to her to give the ole death talk. “The mission needs the best of the best, the mission can’t make room for ego’s, error over who’s the better pilot, but it does have room for you come home in a casket, for your family to get the flag at your funeral”.

“This mission needs for you all work as a team, the second you get up there forget your grievances and push to come back home alive all of you” The coldness is Percy voice leaves no match for Iceman Kazansky.

The coldness sends chills down the aviator’s spine’s. Maverick was proud of his daughter, despite talking about death she was right Percy knew what it felt like to lose a friend to lose a wingman.

Lieutenant Margo “Venom” Rockwell.

“We don’t know your limits either, so we’re pushing them today, testing you, trying to scout which one of you, any of you can truly back-seat for me”

“Let plays a game, let see who’s has the talent to shoot me down”

“Good morning aviators, this is your Captain speaking, Welcome back to basic flight school”, Maverick spoke through the intercoms.

As we said earlier today lesson is dog fighting, all guns, no missiles. No going below the hard deck of five thousand feet, work together as a team, shoot me down or suffer the consequences”

“Conquences of what” Hangman asked as his southern accent thick with cockiness.

So much ego, no room for team working.

“I shoot back” Maverick supplied easily without saying thing else.

“No one has the balls to do so” Percy spoke up, eyeing for someone to fight back.

“And you can, Ambush?”, he said spitefully.

“Already have Bradshaw, about decade ago—before you came” Too much anger clouded her thoughts, he’s purposefully doing this, distracting her— the only person to how bad her anger issues were back then.

“Bet shall we Sir, Commander” Payback suggested

Percy turns her back away from Rooster, like a child would do. Like someone hiding from their problems.

“What do you have in mind Payback?”

“Whoever get shot down first has to do 275 push ups”

“Damn” Phoenix whistled

“Hangman you already feeling the push ups” Phoenix teased lightly.

“Don’t flatter yourself Lieutenant Trace”

“Up the stakes Captain Mitchell, 100 burpees”

“I understand your thinking Ambush” Maverick laughed already knowing his daughter angle.

“Deal, move pilots—move like your life depends on it”

Percy side step them walking back to the base “Your not playing Commander?” Rooster asked her.

“Nope Rooster, no need for me to play” she dragged the p“I’m hear to teach Lieutenant Bradshaw”

“This how were doing it Percy?” he asked her, how dare he act as if this is her fault.

“Lieutenant Bradshaw I think it’s in your best interest to leave and get started on your push ups” Percy replied cold, uninterested.

Bradley flys like his father just slower.

“Everyone you love leaves you, they leave for someone better” Rooster remarks before leaving her alone in the hangar.

Everyone does leave her. She isn’t worth loving.

“What was that Bradshaw, go get your push ups in—275, 100 burpees”

“He was off balance, I couldn’t mark the shot and take the kill” Rooster gave her a lame excuse, hoping for something, not leniency, can’t he knows better.

“Rules are Rules Bradshaw, report yourself to the tarmac now”

“You won’t be saying this when you cause a teammate or yourself to come home in caskets” Percy snapped before leaving him with Hondo”

“Make sure he does them all, Hondo”

“You got it Commander”, a reminder to not piss off Percy Mitchell, she’s slowly coming back.

One step closer, two steps back.

#top gun #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw

17 notes · View notes

uncloseted · 4 years

Note

Back again with the costume designer talk -- Yes, I agree with the mischaracterization of all the characters in s6. It felt like last series' plots and endings had been thrown out the window. While watching s6, it felt like a different show all together. Everything that made every character unique was gone. Was there any reason as to why Edward was gone? Also, you stated that Matty likes Victorian and gothic culture. What are other characters' interests? I know Alo's are nature/punk; Rich: metal

Totally. I think series 5 got a lot of backlash from older fans who no longer felt like the characters were relatable and were very vocal about that fact on Twitter, and so they decided to go completely in the opposite direction because maybe people would like that instead. And I think that’s a real shame, because like I’ve said before, I think series 5 is some of the best, tightest writing that Skins ever did. As far as Edward goes, I think he left to work on Secret Diary of a Call Girl. My impression is that he was trying to balance both jobs in 2010 and then felt like it was too much. Katie Newham, who took over, was Edward’s assistant costumer, so I think he assumed that she would be able to just pick up where he left off, which ended up totally not being the case (and which is what makes me think she comes from a styling/costume construction background as opposed to a costume design one).

Canonically in terms of interests, here’s what the characters like:

Franky likes “making stuff,” The Catcher in the Rye, The Little Prince, Clockwork Orange, Graphic Novels – Dark Knight, Manga - The Rose of Versailles, Arcade Fire, Burial, Crystal Castles, Nirvana, Corpse Bride, Seven Samurai, Let Me In, Bad Santa, Spirited Away, Vertigo, Harold Lloyd!, Dexter, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, and taking photos.

Alo likes his weed, his van, his dog, Youth in Revolt, The Dharma Bums, The Velveteen Rabbit, Blitzen Trapper, Wolf Parade, Dog is Dead, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's, Fruit Bats AND Filthy filthy filthy filthy filth. Borgore, Excision, DatSikk, Funtcase, 16 Bit, Into the Wild, Grizzly Man, Where the Wild Things Are, East of Eden, The Jungle Book, Backdoor Sluts 9, The Hangover, Ninja Warrior, Party Down. Summer Heights High. Babestation. South Park. Family Guy, Lookwell, porn, and Victorian porn.

Rich is mostly defined by what he doesn’t like: he doesn’t like pop music, Simon Cowell, beautiful people, Radio 1, ITV, rapping, beatboxing, middle-class wankers, racism, sexism, Death Cab For Cutie, The Smiths, religion, Downton Abby, Tracy Chevalier, nu-metal, Empire magazine, Kerrang (wankers), drum machines (except when carefully used in Grindcore or Cybergrind – see Cutting Pink With Knives and Noism), synthesizers, Beth Ditto, public displays of affection, the city centre at the weekend, trance, techno, house, dubstep or any music made by skinny white people with computers, Kanye West, JLS, any show about fucking cooking or cooks, townies, chavs, narcissistic politicians, teachers, the song ‘Wait and Bleed’, the second solo on ‘Master Of Puppets’, artichokes, JK Rowling, any film or tv show with fucking vampires or zombies made after 1986, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee. He does like metal (”ugly, angry music which you’d probably hate because you don’t understand it”), Atlas Shrugged, American Psycho, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Slayer, Napalm Death, Black Sabbath, Raging Speedhorn, Noism, Atari Teenage Riot, Venetian Snares, Behold The Arctopus, Godflesh, Cathedral, Sleep, Sepultura, Pantera, Soul Fly, Slipknot (2nd album only), PPK, Anal Cunt, Pig Destroyer, Jesu, Sunn 0))), James Plotkin, Earth, Brain Donor, Chrome Hoof, Hair Police, Mayhem, Wolves In The Throne Room, Burzum, Wolf Eyes, Ec8or, Dark City, Split Second, Blade Runner, Near Dark, Braindead, Halloween, The Thing, The Fly, and Alien.

Mini likes “Shopping. Shoes. Sushi. Sex. (”yes, always in that order.”) Sour apple martinis, putting effort into her appearance, Diana, Princess of Wales, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, yoga, Pilates, fashion, fragrances, dubstep, Katy Perry, Harry Potter, Twilight, Dreamgirls, Grease, Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman, The Hot Chick, Legally Blonde, Clueless, Mean Girls, Crossroads, Inbetweeners, Misfits, Come Dine With Me, Party Wars, True Blood, Gossip Girl, 90210, The Hills, and ANTM.

Liv likes dancing, HST, Philip K Dick, The Animals of Farthing Wood, Only Forward, Dubstep, Hard DnB, Die Antwoord, Kids, A Scanner Darkly, Dazed and Confused, Bright Young Things, Anchorman, Blades of Glory, The Other Guys, anything in which Mel Gibson dies, Banged Up Abroad, BSG, Firefly, South Park, Twin Peaks, Hollyoaks, The Gilmore Girls.

Nick likes Rugby, Sex, Winning, Drinking, being awesome, “all sorts” of music, R’n’B, Mumford and Sons, Rocky, Bourne, Borat, and anything with action or the funny, Sport and Friday Night Lights.

Matty likes absurdity, Friedrich Nietzsche, William S. Burroughs, Clive Barker, Hakim Bey, Splatterpunk, Maurice G. Dantec, Anton LaVey, Robert Walser, H.P. Lovecraft, Antonin Artaud, Raymond Abellio, The Art of War, everything Edgar Allen Poe would have listened to if the synthesizer was created before 1964, David Lynch, My Own Private Idaho, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and Shortbus.

Grace likes so many things. Jane Austen, ballet, theater, lucid dreaming, not having to wear a school uniform, collecting pennies, making wishes on things, animals, vanilla ice cream, The Big Book of Fairytales, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Northanger Abby, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Emma, Lolita, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Ballet Shoes, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Great Expectations, Tess of The D’Urbervilles, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Tom’s Midnight Garden. The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Tales From The Brothers Grimm, Matilda, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Death of a Salesman, Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, music that moves her, Casablanca. Sabrina. 42nd Street. Meet Me In St. Louis. A Star Is Born. The Wizard of Oz. An American In Paris. Mary Poppins. The Sound of Music. Annie. Singing In The Rain. Top Hat. The Gay Divorce. My Fair Lady. West Side Story. The Red Shoes. Grease. Fame. Dirty Dancing. Moulin Rouge. Chicago. Cleopatra. The Philadelphia Story. The Shop Around The Corner. An Affair To Remember. Some Like It Hot. Roman Holiday. Meet John Doe. La Belle Et La Bete. Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Romeo and Juliet. Disney films, Jeeves and Wooster. The One Show. Strictly Come Dancing. Anything on the Disney Channel. So You Think You Can Dance. Downton Abbey. Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The Forsythe Saga. Any Human Heart. Upstairs, Downstairs.

7 notes · View notes

xavierfiles-blog · 7 years

Text

Entry 072 - Iceman

Art by Chris Bachalo

Name: Robert Drake

Code Names: Iceman

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (Oct ’63)

Powers: Ice manipulation

Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Champions, Defenders, X-Factor

About

My first draft of this article had a pretentious quote from Watchmen (the Pagliacci joke) because I wanted to talk about how much Iceman avoided his real internal problems by being a clown. Then I realized that was the least Iceman way to open up this article. Instead, I am going to pull the equally pretentious trick from Sex Criminals where I break the fourth wall and just talk directly to the themes I am trying to discuss. That seems more up Bobby’s alley. So here is the deal, Bobby is the class clown. He also recently came out as gay as an adult (and at the same time as a teenager but don’t worry about it). His entire characterization in the modern age has been about holding back something. It just so happens that one of those somethings is his sexuality. He is still the Bobby we know and love, now with a twist! Anyway, here is the part of the article people actually care about.

Portrayed by Shawn Ashmore

Bobby Drake had a simple life on Long Island. His father could be overbearing, sure, but it wasn’t a bad life. While he was out on a date, like all boys his age were doing, Bobby was interrupted by the town bully and decided to reveal his secret. He shot a blast of ice out of his hand, freezing the ruffian in his tracks. The news about the Drake boy spread fast and a mob assembled to attack the young mutant. He was rescued by Professor Xavier and his recruit Cyclops. The Professor offered Bobby a spot at his school for gifted youngsters and erased the memory of Bobby’s powers from everyone in the town.

Art by George Tuska and John Verpoorten

Bobby took the name Iceman and trained in the use of his mutant powers. He discovered he could cover his body in snow, creates slides of ice, and freeze his enemies in their tracks. He formed a close bond with his teammate Beast and the two often went on double dates with some hip chicks from Café A-Go-Go. He had fun with the X-Men, they became like family, but soon new members appeared and Bobby realized it was time to move on.

Art by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman

His father always wanted him to have a respectable job so Iceman enrolled in the accounting program at UCLA. He and his roommate Angel got embroiled in a plot by the god of the underworld to defeat Hercules and had to team up with Ghost Rider and Black Widow to form The League of Leftover Heroes The Champions of Los Angeles. They quickly folded, realizing they had literally no reason to be a team and Bobby decided to head back east to finish school. His good buddy Beast enlisted him to join the New Defenders with Angel while trying to finish his accounting degree. He began a relationship with his gender fluid teammate Cloud but struggled to accept them for who they were. He felt a sense of emptiness when they left the group and the Defenders soon disbanded and Bobby finally got his CPA.

Art by Don Perlin

Bobby got a job at an accounting firm and quickly realized that he didn’t want to spend his days hunting for deductions. When he found out that the original X-Men were reuniting as X-Factor it took literally zero effort to convince him to be a superhero again. Iceman started mentoring their young wards, even if kids like Boom Boom pushed his patience to its’ limits. He was captured by Loki, who unlocked the potential in his powers, but Bobby didn’t want to put the effort into testing them further. He began dating record store employee, Opal Tanaka and was entangled in a power struggle involving her family’s branch of the Yakuza and Cyburai (who, yes, are cybernetic Samurai). X-Factor rejoined the X-Men and for the first time since the silver age, Bobby Drake was home.

Art by Whilce Portacio and Art Thibert

Speaking of home, Bobby decided to take Opal to meet his parents. His racist father didn’t approve of his son dating outside his race and refused to accept the relationship. Between Mr. Drake’s attitude and Opal’s Cyburai based issues, the two decided to split. Without a relationship to define him, Bobby felt aimless. This only got worse when a comatose Emma Frost took over his body and used his powers in ways he never dreamed of. Iceman was dejected that Emma was so much better with his powers and left the team to go on a soul-searching road trip with Rogue.

Art by Steve Epting, Dan Green, and Steve Buccellato

Iceman volunteered to by the X-Men’s spy in Graydon Creed’s presidential campaign and saw a different side to his family. His father attended a debate of Creed’s but surprisingly spoke out against the anti-mutant bigotry the candidate spewed. Bobby was touched by his father’s words and moved to action when Creed had him attacked for speaking out. Soon, Bastion’s Operation: Zero Tolerance was underway and Iceman was forced to recruit a team of ragtag mutants to combat it. He had grown as a leader and as an X-Man.

Art by Carlos Pacheco and Art Thibert

The X-Men grew again, enlisting Northstar into their ranks. The Canadian speedster made a pass at Iceman, assuming he was gay, and was strongly rebuffed (oh and Chuck Austen starts writing Bobby like a jerk here for absolutely no reason). In response, Iceman pursued a relationship with the X-Men nurse, Annie Ghazikhanian but also Polaris at the same time. It sure felt like he was overcompensating for something. Soon after, M-Day hit and it appeared that Iceman was among the mutants to lose their abilities. It turned out that his issues were psychosomatic and Bobby only thought he has lost his powers rendering the whole thing pointless. Boy was this a bad time to be reading X-Men.

Art by Sean Philips

He was recruited by Rogue to join her X-Men strike force. He fell for fellow teammate Mystique and was shocked by her sudden but inevitable betrayal. Iceman and Cannonball were the last men standing after her attack and led the counter-attack. He followed the X-Men to San Francisco and was a solid contributor to the team, with the most notable thing being the time he had his body blessed with holy water so he could fight a vampire army. He wasn’t being well utilized on the island and jumped at the opportunity to follow Wolverine back to Westchester to start the Jean Grey School.

Art by Billy Tan and Andres Mossa

Iceman finally put his degree to use as the school’s chief financial officer. He taught classes, had a fling with Kitty Pryde, and joined one of the field teams. He also gained better control over his powers, mastering the ability to create an army of ice men. On a mission battling Celestials, Iceman was infected with the Celestial Death Seed, and his inhibitions slowly slipped away. He gathered all his ex’s and kidnapped them, he needed them to see he was worth their love. He confronted his father, nearly killing him as he asked why he could never accept his son. But above all else, he called on all his powers to cast the world into Fimbulvetr, the Norse great winter. The X-Men stopped their ally, but something was different in Bobby. Knowing the anger inside him and the insecurity he had repressed, left a mark on Iceman. He knew he would have to confront this sooner rather than later.

Art by Gabriel Hernández Walta and Cris Peter

Beast decided the best way to teach Cyclops a lesson would be to totally mess up the space-time continuum and bring the original five X-Men forward from the past. Iceman got along pretty well with his younger self, maybe he hadn’t matured much past the class clown he was a 15. The young Iceman confronted his older self with the revelation he had come to. Iceman was gay. For years he put his energy into being a superhero, doing what his dad wanted, trying everything he could to avoid coming to terms with the truth, but he couldn’t hide any longer. Bobby decided to come out of the closet, but the M-Pox crisis put personal relationships on pause. Now that it is resolved, Iceman has an upcoming solo title that promises to explore what this new normal means for Bobby.

Art by Mahmud Asrar and Jason Keith

So before we get to the end lets talk about this retcon, because I know that’s all the comments are going to be about. There has been rumor and speculation that Iceman was gay since at least the 90’s (since that’s as far back as Dr. Internet can find but I won’t be shocked if it was before then). That doesn’t mean the subtext is textual, gay subtext is there for just about every member of the X-Men, but fans seemed to latch onto it with Iceman. There was even a gag on Family Guy about him being gay. I say all that just to point out that it wasn’t out of the blue. Now, it is obvious that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didn’t create him as a gay character in 1963 and most writers wrote him straight as a default (Majorie Liu being a notable exception). Characters change and I believe having his sexuality be part of Bobby’s long history with repression is a valid interpretation of his history as a character. Plenty of gay men date women, get married, and have children before coming out of the closet later in life. Him dating women in the past doesn’t invalidate his sexuality. There are plenty of other arguments to get into about the specific mechanics of how he was outed, none of which I feel like starting a debate over, but Iceman being gay fits for me. X-Men fans should be excited that a marginalized group has such a high profile character as a member, not upset that it may not fit into every detail of continuity.

Art by Kevin Wada

Must Read

Iceman is an interesting character to recommend a book for. He often works as a secondary character in an ensemble and his solo titles have been universally bad. The moments where major stories turn the focus to him, like Operation: Zero Tolerance or Austen’s X-Men have happened to single dark times for the books. Probably the most interesting Iceman story comes from Majorie Liu’s run on Astonishing X-Men with Gabriel Hernández Walta. In this story Iceman is forced to confront all his repressed feelings about his father, his sexuality, and the potential of his powers. Bobby questions himself in a deeper, more personal way than he had before. Walta provides stunning, moody art that he would go on to perfect in books like Magneto and Vision. It’s a little uneven but it is well worth a read in trades or on Marvel Unlimited.

Art by Phil Noto

Ranking

When Stan Lee talks about the creation of Iceman he discusses wanting the Human Torch but with the opposite powers, and that is exactly what Iceman is. He is a knock-off version of the worst member of the Fantastic Four. He has often been a one-note joker where the best thing you could say about him is that he has the potential to be really powerful. Writers have struggled to find a good angle for the character and Bobby largely gets put into prominence because of his status as an original X-Man and his arresting visual design. I do not understand why anyone thinks he needs more of a costume than just his iced-up bod, but I digress. It isn’t that Iceman is a bad character, it’s just that I can think of plenty of X-Men I would rather see fill the same niche. The only other O5 character on the list is Cyclops and Iceman doesn’t rank anywhere near that high. In the same way I don’t see him anywhere close to his long time love interest Polaris near the bottom of the list. When I started this, I put Rachel Summers as a weird dividing line, but I like Iceman has had a lot more consistency than Rach. As I scan up the list my eyes stop at Kid Omega, him staring in Generation X has me more excited than the upcoming Iceman solo series so that has to be the ceiling. Right below him is Dazzler, and I’d rather read a comic with Iceman than with her. That slides Iceman in as the new number 25 in the Xavier Files.

Iceman was requested by Patreon supporter /u/bendisisgod among others. Thank you for the request. If you have a request for how about you send it below? If you want to cut to the front of the two-year long line, we have a Patreon you can support Xavier Files for just $1 to get a line cutting reward.

Click here if you want to see the full ranked list, with links to every entry in the Xavier Files so far.

If you liked what you read be sure to follow Xavier Files on twitter, Tumblr, Facebook!

Check out my new podcast Xavier Files Reviews were I talk about the X-Books of each week! Subscribe on Google Play | Stitcher | RSS | iTunes

Next week we talk about the most X-Treme character in X-Men history! See you then!

Character Request

Who do you want me to write about? *

Who are you/what name do you want me to thank you as for the request?

Entry Key

Entry 072 – Iceman was originally published on Xavier Files

#Iceman #Sina Grace #X-Factor #X-Men

3 notes · View notes

rachelbethhines · 7 years

Text

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 131

“Hero to Zero In No Time At All” Sink or Spin I - Sonic the Hedgehog #150

Great, now I got that song from Hercules stuck in my head.

Today’s story involves Sonic taking a sudden interest in the ladies. Only it’s not really Sonic, it’s Scourge the Anti-Sonic. He hits on a bunch of the women of Knothole, including Bunnie.

I see Bunnie’s self esteem issues popping up again.

Also, why do you care Tails? What does “Sonic” and Bunnie dating have to do with you? Do you secretly have a crush on Sonic as well? Or are you just a hard core Buntoine shipper?

Now, logically you would think Bunnie would call things off here insisting “Sonic” go talk with Tails. But nope.

Now there’s a pretty popular interpretation of this scene, suggesting Bunnie and Scourge had sex during the time skip. It’s an interpretation that I fully reject for several reasons and here’s why.

I don’t give two shits what Penders’ original intent was, what he said after the fact, and/or weather or not he failed to deny this headcannon. At the end of the day I’m the one reading this. At the end of the day it’s my head cannon that counts when I’m reading. Not the one someone else came up with. And at some point you have to separate the author/artist from the work itself.

If sex was the original intent it’s very poorly presented. Like, I was a full grown adult when I first read this scene and it didn’t occur to me that that was what the writer was trying to convey, and I highly doubt any little kids reading at the time would have considered it as well.

I mean Bunnie’s not an idiot. Sure she makes knee-jerk decisions at times but sex on the first date seems pretty off. Especially when she was just berating “Sonic” for trying to make out after Tails got upset. What kind of sense does that make? Also, I’m no expert, but I don’t see any articles of clothing removed or mussed up hair or any of that messy stuff that comes with sex. It just seems like a leap in logic to me to automatically assume they did it, is what I’m saying.

We’re not even sure if Bunnie can have sex. Like we do find out later she is physically intimate with her husband, but in what way or to what extant is still left in the air. This is in part due to comic’s target audience being children and also because Bunnie’s robotics have never been clearly defined in how they work. And granted there is an interesting discussion to be had about her cybernetics and how they effect her love life but I’m saving that for a future review when its more appropriate.

This is still a kid’s comic! If Scourge did have sex with Bunnie it would qualify as rape because of false pretenses. Rape has no place in children’s media. Now I fully realize that Penders is oblivious to that fact and can’t tell his ass from his elbow, but the rest us know better. Why make yourselves more miserable then you have too by insisting this a thing that happened? The comic by no means shoves this interpretation down you’re throat, nor does it make any claims to be edgier than it is. If you see something that isn’t actually there than that’s all on you.

Now a head cannon is still a head cannon, and you’re allowed to keep which ever ones you want. Even if it flummoxes me personally as to why you would keep this particular one. However for myself, personally, I just see it as Bunnie and Scourge making out and nothing more. Sure it’s still sleazy on Scourge’s part and it’s still a stupid decision on Bunnie’s end, but at least it’s something everyone can walk away from with some amount of dignity.

Anyways now that that’s out of way, let’s get down to the real reason why we’re here. No doubt, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Ken Penders is today’s author and we finally get the reveal that “Antione” has been Patch all along.

Also pretty convenient that you shaved off his goatee with that sonic spin as well.

Now this is where I was getting at when I said you have to separate the creator from the work sometimes. I’ve noticed a growing trend where people let what an artist did or say in real life retroactively ruin a piece of art that they once enjoyed. Does that mean we should give creators a free pass when they do awful shit? Of course not! By all means continue calling Penders out on his bullshit, don’t let anyone forget that Woody Allen is a pedophile and a rapist, and always let the Chris Brown apologists know they are in the wrong. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop watching Annie Hall if you like it, or that you can no longer sing loudly to "No Air". (Note: I hate Annie Hall and I enjoy “No Air” but I don’t really listen to Chris Brown regularly. I’m just providing examples)

Nor does it mean you have to rip to shred every single thing Penders writes. I don’t care if Penders made a sexiest comment about Lupe once, I still think "Lupe: Family" is a decent story. I don’t give a damn if he claimed Rotor is gay, I’m still going to headcannon him as ace anyways. And I will always defend Ken’s decision to retcon Evil-Antoine into Anti-Antoine. Even if the way he went about it was extremely douchey.

Ya see, Penders didn’t “win out” because he had the best idea, he won because he went behind Bollers’ back and published this story before Bollers could even start on his original plans. Like, is that not the epitome of dickbaggery you’ve ever heard of? Hell yeah! Does that mean I wish Bollers got fair chance to tell his story? Hell no!

I’ve discussed in length back in issue 137 why Bollers plans for Antoine were crap, but the long and short of it is; if Bollers had his way Antoine’s character would have been assassinated beyond repair. Years of character development down the drain all for the sake of cheap, forced drama. But with Penders idea, not only does it keep Antoine’s development intact but actually builds upon it; adding new backstory to potentially explore and new hardships for Twan to overcome and grow from.

There’s also the added bonus of creating a new and very effective villain in Patch, while simultaneously giving Ant an arch nemesis. The fact that this all can be traced back to Scourge seeking revenge on Antoine for his embarrassment in #122 is just icing on the cake.

Now that doesn’t mean this story is without flaws. I’ve already talked about Tails’ weird freak out and that poorly laid out scene involving Bunnie and Scourge, but there’s also an icky romance between Rouge and Locke (eww) made even worse by later writers trying to pair her with Knuckles, and a confusing lack of continuity. Like with Sally suddenly having short hair or this scene.....

Umm...Antoine was trapped in Anti-Mobuis for at least 6 months or more and Scrouge only just now got the idea to come over to Mobius and take Sonic’s place. It also took Patch several months to earn King Max’s favor. Why would Twan just randomly be in Scourge’s room spying on Patch? Shouldn’t the scene with Patch receiving the promotion from King Max be after the whole threatening Ant scene? Doesn’t that flow better? Or is Scourge just torturing poor Antoine by forcing him to helplessly watch Patch ruin his life. Yeah you know, I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.

Oh man, does this mean Scourge has been forcing Twan to keep the disguise on this whole time? Like I just thought he did it as a way to keep the Suppression Squad from killing him out right, but nope apparently Scourge has been threatening him all for his own personal amusement. I guess that explains why he didn’t just run away or try to receive help from the good Doctor. That’s kind of horrifying, especially considering that he would have been forced to join in on the Suppression Squad’s escapades. And considering that they’re villains, well you can imagine that their idea of fun involves lots of violence.

That’s sadly why we’ll never see Antoine’s time in Anti-Mobius fully explored. To do so would get very dark and disturbing very quickly. But still, my poor baby!

The second story this issue is the second half of “The Chosen One” arc. The whole Tails is the Chosen One thing started way back in the Tails mini-series. Penders and company thought it would be a good idea to wrap up the sixth milestone by concluding this dangling plot thread and tying up the loose ends of the Zone Wars series. Not a bad idea in of itself, but it falls apart when the whole thing turns into a retread of “Night of a Thousand Sonics”.

I can fully understand why someone would hate this story, but for me it’s one of those “so bad it’s entertaining” type tales.

I mean just look at this! That is a thing of beauty right there! You couldn’t ask for a more shitposting meme worthy image even if you tried!

Next week will do the usual 25 recap and then continue on with the Sink or Swim arc after that.

#Antoine D'Coolette #Scourge The Hedgehog #patch d'coolette #Bunnie Rabbot #archie sonic #archie comics #sonic the hedgehog #ken penders #karl bollers

25 notes · View notes

annieintheaair · 5 years

Text

Back to Me

My writing here has been inconsistent lately, and by lately, I mean for the last year or so. As “annieintheaair” I feel like a lot of my identity over the last 4.5+ years has been tied to my life in the sky. My life as a flight attendant is what inspired me to start this blog. Flying became my inspiration for a lot of things and the way that I told stories about my life up there and my life on the ground. Have you ever felt like you just don’t know who you are anymore?

Since I’ve been off from work, I’ve gone back and forth about whether or not I even wanted to return to flying. Did I still want to be a flight attendant? I had so many questions and the further I got from having been at work, the more I questioned everything.

At the beginning of this summer, I started going to therapy. I knew that I would hopefully be returning to work soon and I wasn’t sure how to cope with all of the change. I hadn’t been in therapy since I was in college but then again, I hadn’t taken anti-depressants since college either but there I was, taking them once again. Aside from lots of prayers and connecting with God, I’m not sure how I would have gotten through this last year, had it not been for anti-depressants. What else would have stopped me from bawling my eyes out on a daily basis?

I see all the “perfect” lives on social media every day and I know they’re not all real. Most people will show you the highlights of the very best times. Sure, I really skipped out on updating my blog while my life has been pretty sad and boring this last year, but I know that I try my best to be real with everyone. I’ve never been one to completely hide the reality of my life. The truth is, not all days are amazing but how would we ever appreciate those incredible days if we never had disappointing ones every once in a while?

Depression has been a part of me since I was first diagnosed about 10 years ago. Just like everyone else, I have bad days, but depression makes those bad days just so much worse and much more frequent. I got to the point of feeling a lot better, off anti-depressants, and stopped seeing a therapist when I graduated from college and could no longer meet with the same one from my school. Up until falling down the escalator last year, I was doing really well.

The whole system has really beaten me down over the last 15 months. I know, 15 MONTHS! I don’t know where all of this time went but at the same time, it feels like I have been gone from work forever. It went fast and slow at the same time. Over the last few months, I’ve worked with my therapist about preparing for my return to work. Yesterday, I finally shared with her the news...

I’M GOING BACK TO WORK!

She was thrilled. I told her in both tears and laughs. I had no idea how to feel and really, I still don’t know how to feel. It doesn’t feel real and I’m a ball of emotions. It’s part excitement but nervous but great all in the same.

Monday night, even after knowing that I’m going back but not knowing when, I found myself in tears. It’s rare these days that I am actually bawling over anything but I couldn’t stop myself and just felt absolutely horrible. I went through so many tissues and at one point opened the fridge and was ready to grab myself an alcoholic beverage when I stopped myself. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with myself because I literally said, “Annie, alcohol is a depressant and you are already depressed. You do NOT need that right now!” Instead, I grabbed myself an ice cream sandwich from the freezer and called that dinner.

In therapy on Tuesday, we talked about how isolating and lonely it can be being out from work. While my job is usually pretty lonely anyway, being home, away from everything and separated from so much of my “normal” life (that isn’t really normal to people who aren’t flight crews), is actually at least ten times worse. We talked about how going to work makes you feel like you have a purpose and not going makes you wonder what you’re supposed to be doing. My therapist said that she was so happy that I’m going back, even if it might not be the best for my physical health, for my mental health it’s what I need right now.

Circling back to my point from the beginning, how many jobs out there create an identity for you? I know “flight attendant” isn’t the only one. You can be a firefighter, a doctor, a lawyer, and so many other things. When people ask what I do, I say, “I’m a flight attendant” instead of something like, “I work on the airplane ensuring safety for all passengers.” Why do we let our jobs define us? I’m not just a flight attendant. I’m a person who just happens to work on the plane. We need to change it. We need to stop saying, “I am” like it is somehow the definition of who we are. Your identity shouldn’t be based solely upon what you do to bring home a paycheck.

Letting “flight attendant” define me all of these years is a huge part of what made it so hard when I was told that I couldn’t return to work right away due to my injury. This year has helped me to redefine who I am in so many ways. After all, I wasn’t born a flight attendant and someday I won’t be one anymore.

Tonight, feeling more like myself, I actually made dinner. Yes, I made dinner! I used my oven and cooked up some real food, including chicken, green beans, and a casserole. Minimal effort, of course, but it was still a step in the right direction to getting myself back to me.

In preparation for my return to work, I’ve been ordering new shoes and I picked up some new pantyhose. I completed all of my online training, which was actually a good refresher for me this year. Shockingly, they already scheduled me for a training class THIS SUNDAY! I didn’t know it would be so soon but I am ready!

Obviously, there’s a lot of anxiety about returning to work after all of this time but I’m trying to stay calm and trust God that it’s all going to work out and be okay. I mean, my pantyhose were in stock today and they’re usually sold out so if that’s not a sign that it’s time to go back to work, then I don’t know what is!

No matter what you’re going through right now, you’re going to get through it; God is going to get you through it. Even for someone like me who is the definition of Murphy��s Law (everything that can go wrong, will go wrong), there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to find it.

xoxo

Annie(intheaair)

1 note · View note