Cosimo Galluzzi
Cosmic Funnies
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
One Nice Bug Per Day
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Keni
blake kathryn
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KIROKAZE
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Today's Document
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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if i look back, i am lost
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@dewyatt
Writers need to stop having Steve (and other heroes) hate mutants when heâs good friends either Logan
Also I want to be an uncle figure to Loganâs kids
I want to see it made a thing that Laura doesn't really like Steve because every time he turns up he messes up something in her life.
MY GOAT EXISTS
I think most fans expected an X-23 easter egg in a Weapon X episode. I think we'll see her come S3.
Funny enough, this scenes ALSO confirmed Kimura. Curious too see what direction they will eventually go with her.
Will 97 have the balls to be true to her comics origin? Or will they go for a watered-down version?
Least Effective Heel Turn Ever.
Office Space (1999)
The greatest thing about this movie is how much The Bobs love Peter.
By the end they are willing to go to war for him
I love that nothing Peter says here is wrong, too. Sure, committing a federal crime to screw over your company isn't the answer, but he's speaking pure truth
Just remember, Laura and Julian not getting together and Julian getting stabbed through the heart was a BAD future.
I just think itâs funny that in pretty much every AU for Laura⊠Hellion is always there⊠đ€Ł
Heâs basically her âJean Greyâ. Heâs just a âconstantâ. Sorry not sorry fans who hate him.
I still think Alex in LKS wasnât actually Zaneâs. In an entire family of clawed healers Lauraâs kid being a psionic has serious âone of these things is not like the othersâ vibes.
Just remember, Laura and Julian not getting together and Julian getting stabbed through the heart was a BAD future.
I really want Laura and Julian to be in a messy on again off again relationship where they just can't stop crawling back to each other, 2am phone calls asking if the other is up, walks of shame after the 4th regretful hookup that month, the other x-men being just... so tired of their shit. inevitably leading into a drunken marriage neither of them remember doing. Would be fun imo and make some hilarious drama as both of them get scolded by their friends for going back to the other
Yeah. I kind of miss the X-Men being a âsoap operaâ lol! đ
Everyone is so focused on âis this character a good personâ (EmmaâŠCyclopsâŠJeanâŠGambitâŠ): and I just donât give a shit! Let them be HOT MESSES AGAIN!
I donât care that Cyclops is a chronic covert HOE! I donât care that Emma is a borderline narcissist! I donât care that Mystique is a bad mom or Gambit is a kleptomaniac!
LET THEM BE MESSY! đ€Ł
Just how much of what did Laura drink to actually get so wasted she doesn't remember getting married, that wouldn't have outright killed Julian from acute alcohol poisoning?
I really fuck with with your recent posts because for years Iâve seen other Laura fans say things like âLaura shouldnât be with Julian because heâs an asshole and sheâs notâ and my reaction to that was always âwtf are you talking about?? neither of them are angelsâ
Iâve also seen a lot of weird implications that their relationship would turn abusive if it kept going which is so weird. Thereâs a double standard that people have about him where they think Julian isnât capable of bettering himself as a person. I find that idea so weird when a huge part of Lauraâs story is her trying to better herself even when others think she canât.
Honestly I think the âMisadventures in Babysittingâ panels are overblown by haters; Julian was kind of having a mental breakdown after losing his hands and thinking he killed Karima⊠and I thought her relationship with Warren was WAY WORSE!
Iâve always had more empathy for Hellion than I did Laura in âMisadventuresâ; I never really buy the fan argument that Julian was trying to pressure Laura into a relationship, if anything Julian really did just seem to want Laura to tell him heâs not a monster and did nothing wrong.
Laura basically spends the whole issue gaslighting him and telling him everything is fine while being weirdly angry at him. Honestly I never REALLY got why she in-story even bothered to see him (other than fans WANTED Hellion!), if she really was âdone withâ the relationship? She didnât HAVE to see him when she was there? Julian probably wouldnât have even known since he was staying in his room all the time depressed.
I kind of admittedly have a bias though (ironically people say Liu did too when she was writing this after a bad breakup! lol)- I first read Liuâs solo after a really bad âfriend breakupâ⊠so the story aspect of Julian feeling abandoned the minute he was struggling and feeling used by Laura after always being there FOR Laura⊠that REALLY resonated with me at the moment.
I think ultimately it taught me a good lesson that you need to have boundaries with how much you âdoâ for people and kind of realizing I was accepting toxic friendships because thatâs what I subconsciously thought I deserved⊠but yeah đ⊠it definitely colored and colors my reading.
I also really DONâT get fans arguments that âLaura shouldnât have to be Julianâs therapistâ- okay, fair⊠but anytime Laura acts shitty to someone else, they should have to accept it just because of her history of CA and because sheâs a victim?
The harsh fact of life is, at some point⊠it doesnât really matter WHAT the reason is that youâre doing what youâre doing. People can only put up with and tolerate so much. Most people arenât going to dig deeper to figure out why youâre behaving a certain way⊠theyâre just going to assume youâre a jerk!
While I think friendship is ultimately a âgive and takeâ and âpicking each other up at timesâ⊠I also donât really get this argument that Laura doesnât have to be sympathetic to Julian acting like an asshole because of trauma (again⊠fair!) but all the rest of the NXM need to give her a pass during this era of her talking shit because âLaura was traumatizedâ.
Itâs just a giant double standard that frankly only exists with fans because Julian is MALE and Laura is FEMALE.
I do think its a bit more nuanced than it just being a gender issue.
But there is a double standard for sure. A lot of people for a variety of reasons project themselves onto Laura because she inspires them and or they identify with her. And its hard to admit when your favorite is in the wrong because then it makes you confront that you maybe in the wrong.
Also I think a thing to consider is that usually when Julian is written at his worst its in a Laura Solo book. When theyre in a team setting theyre written with nuance and its compelling and its clear the writers enjoy both characters. Not so much for the Solos. Hell i think the only Solo Writer who seemed to enjoy having Julian around was Tom Taylor.
Idk- I can fully admit Julian is mean and a bully at times. Like Julian is my fav⊠but he definitely is FLAWED!
Same with most of my fav X-Men: Tabitha, Laura, Rogue, Logan, Gambit, Storm, Surge, Emma, ectâŠ
He was also getting development away from that until he lost his hands.
I really fuck with with your recent posts because for years Iâve seen other Laura fans say things like âLaura shouldnât be with Julian because heâs an asshole and sheâs notâ and my reaction to that was always âwtf are you talking about?? neither of them are angelsâ
Iâve also seen a lot of weird implications that their relationship would turn abusive if it kept going which is so weird. Thereâs a double standard that people have about him where they think Julian isnât capable of bettering himself as a person. I find that idea so weird when a huge part of Lauraâs story is her trying to better herself even when others think she canât.
Honestly I think the âMisadventures in Babysittingâ panels are overblown by haters; Julian was kind of having a mental breakdown after losing his hands and thinking he killed Karima⊠and I thought her relationship with Warren was WAY WORSE!
Iâve always had more empathy for Hellion than I did Laura in âMisadventuresâ; I never really buy the fan argument that Julian was trying to pressure Laura into a relationship, if anything Julian really did just seem to want Laura to tell him heâs not a monster and did nothing wrong.
Laura basically spends the whole issue gaslighting him and telling him everything is fine while being weirdly angry at him. Honestly I never REALLY got why she in-story even bothered to see him (other than fans WANTED Hellion!), if she really was âdone withâ the relationship? She didnât HAVE to see him when she was there? Julian probably wouldnât have even known since he was staying in his room all the time depressed.
I kind of admittedly have a bias though (ironically people say Liu did too when she was writing this after a bad breakup! lol)- I first read Liuâs solo after a really bad âfriend breakupâ⊠so the story aspect of Julian feeling abandoned the minute he was struggling and feeling used by Laura after always being there FOR Laura⊠that REALLY resonated with me at the moment.
I think ultimately it taught me a good lesson that you need to have boundaries with how much you âdoâ for people and kind of realizing I was accepting toxic friendships because thatâs what I subconsciously thought I deserved⊠but yeah đ⊠it definitely colored and colors my reading.
I also really DONâT get fans arguments that âLaura shouldnât have to be Julianâs therapistâ- okay, fair⊠but anytime Laura acts shitty to someone else, they should have to accept it just because of her history of CA and because sheâs a victim?
The harsh fact of life is, at some point⊠it doesnât really matter WHAT the reason is that youâre doing what youâre doing. People can only put up with and tolerate so much. Most people arenât going to dig deeper to figure out why youâre behaving a certain way⊠theyâre just going to assume youâre a jerk!
While I think friendship is ultimately a âgive and takeâ and âpicking each other up at timesâ⊠I also donât really get this argument that Laura doesnât have to be sympathetic to Julian acting like an asshole because of trauma (again⊠fair!) but all the rest of the NXM need to give her a pass during this era of her talking shit because âLaura was traumatizedâ.
Itâs just a giant double standard that frankly only exists with fans because Julian is MALE and Laura is FEMALE.
I do think its a bit more nuanced than it just being a gender issue.
But there is a double standard for sure. A lot of people for a variety of reasons project themselves onto Laura because she inspires them and or they identify with her. And its hard to admit when your favorite is in the wrong because then it makes you confront that you maybe in the wrong.
Also I think a thing to consider is that usually when Julian is written at his worst its in a Laura Solo book. When theyre in a team setting theyre written with nuance and its compelling and its clear the writers enjoy both characters. Not so much for the Solos. Hell i think the only Solo Writer who seemed to enjoy having Julian around was Tom Taylor.
And even then Julian only appeared in two panels of ANW; One of the invitees to Sarah's funeral, (which frankly should have been a far bigger deal than was shown) and in an AU where he's dead.
GABBY KINNEY/SCOUT + her LETTER to LAURA KINNEY/WOLVERINE in NEW MUTANTS (2019)
Laura really sucked during this era and LKW. đđ
I just pretend Krakoa was just a fever dream. That whole era just plain sucked for everybody.
Laura being an asshole is a prime example of the âcharacter has very consistent trait but itâs almost never acknowledgedâ thing that comics sadly have a tendency to do. And it confuses me so much because her dad and brother are both seen as assholes by various characters and writers. Im not saying that Laura is just a girl version of them but why is this where the similarities stop being acknowledged?
Fans also do her a great disservice, the amount of times Iâve seen people act like sheâs never rude is crazy. Instead of saying sheâs being mean they just say sheâs brooding, that or they say sheâs still not used to social norms and is just awkward.
Just to be clear, I absolutely love Laura and sheâs one of my all time favorites, this is not an anti Laura ask
Fully agree as someone who is a hardcore Laura fan, but is sick of fans completely minimizing her worst moments!
(Honestly I get A LOT of flack with Emma fans over this too because I dare to admit that Emma IS manipulative and has done terrible things. That LITERALLY the point of her character. Ditto with Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine. đ)
Itâs kind of like the âKamala sceneâ in NYX #1- Laura was a jerk. She may have emotional reasons for BEING a jerk that seem valid to Laura⊠but she was still being a jerk!
ââŠcharacter has very consistent trait but itâs almost never acknowledgedâ- I think is the main point; people keep arguing itâs an accidental flaw created by writers using Laura to push whatever teen group they wantâŠbut at this point, I donât think the reason for it MATTERS. It is at this point a consistent trait TO Laura, to the point that almost everyone is 99.9% sure she will totally abandon the Generated before the book is even over.
Itâs canon now, whether it was accidental or on purpose. Her talking shit throughout Avengers Academy and being a terrible friend IS canon, just like âMisadventures in Babysittingâ IS canon, whether Hellion fans like it or not. đ
Yet ironically the SAME people who will yell until they are blue in the face that Hellion fans need to accept âMisadventuresâ, will argue certain shitty moments with Laura âdonât countâ. đ
My issue with classifying her as a âmean girlâ is that it implies a level of intent to harm in her actions I donât think Laura had. Harm was CAUSED, but not intended.
I really wish we could get Surge, Elixir, and Prodigy in a book again!
We got Trance, Loa, Match, Indra, Wolf Cub, and Icarus in UnitedâŠwho were mostly background characters and treated like theyâre still students.
Tbh with the lack of respect Academy X gets from Marvel anymore (seriously, how the fuck are the Outliers, etc. now being treated as senior X-Men to them?!) theyâre probably better off.
If you could have any writer do an X-23 boo-
Greg Rucka. Greg Rucka. Greg Rucka!
I'd still love to see Stjepan Sejik. Especially for his art.
Kind of going off my âLaura was compelling when she was essentially growing past things Logan refuses to acknowledge about himselfââŠ
I already mentioned the ending of âAvengers Academyâ is really interesting because itâs essentially Finesse taking accountability for her actions in a way that Pietro, the team leader she most identifies with- never will.
Hellion and Emma also kind of fit this (and I will talk about it more in my Emma and her students write-up!); because I would say, again, Hellion eventually acknowledging his vanity, ego, and manipulative tendencies and growing past them has kind of put him on a better track than Emma! In many ways⊠I would say Hellion has kind of outgrown Emmaâs influence and really become his own person! Much like Warpath, heâs more or less surpassed Emma. (Itâs why I would actually be more interested in seeing Julian working with Jean instead of Emma!)
I canât really think of any characters in X-Mem/Marvel that really have this relationship with their mentorsâŠbut it IS really interesting!
Julian needs a new mentor, anyway, since Emma basically dropped him.
Seriously- if Laura was any OTHER character (Celeste or Esme Cuckoo, Noriko, Monet) we would be calling her a âmean girlâ but because itâs Laura, she always gets a pass. đđ
Fans can hate on Surge for hating Laura all they want, but I honestly believe Nori just saw through Lauraâs act and realized she was a âcovert mean girlâ⊠which is why I am always âteam Surgeâ.
Like at least Noriko OWNS it, over Lauraâs âwoe is me, everyone is actually MEAN to me! I am always the victim!â đ€Łđ
Some things I've been thinking about:
The extent of Laura's socialization as a child was brutal beatings, outright torture, and virtual isolation aimed specifically to leave her as emotionally stunted as possible. This is a case where I would argue her background is a justifiable excuse for her adult behavior, because any child who experienced the level of abuse Laura was subjected to would have been dead in real life. We have literally no precedent for just how badly what the Facility did to her would screw someone's development up since there's no one who would have actually survived it.
It's frankly a miracle Laura ended up able to function at all.
Now, I wish Marvel would actually acknowledge this. Honestly, in hindsight that's the one thing Hopeless did with her that I think works: The notion that whatever progress she's made, Laura is consciously projecting a false front that she's doing better than she actually is.
So the act isn't that Laura is a "mean girl" pretending she's not. It's that Laura is pretending she's mentally and emotionally healthier than she actually is. She's doing it because she feels she's "expected" to be better, when she's really deeply and fundamentally fucked up and struggling. She's no longer teetering on the edge of a total emotional collapse, but she's not a well person.
Such treatment by Surge is, IMO, only justifiable based on the surface impression, and the fact Laura doesn't let anyone know that she's barely holding it together. Not even Logan and Gabby get to see this, and in fact I think it's dubious they would even truly understand; Much of Logan's worst trauma came later in life, and Gabby was actively shielded by the other Sisters to protect her from Alchemax's abuse. Even Akihiro, as hard as his childhood was, can't compare to what Laura experienced.
The only two people that come to mind who could possibly relate to her are Bellona and Fantomex. Both of whom are very, very messed-up, albeit in quite different ways.
This kind of ties back to comments you've made before about wanting Laura to be allowed to be "weird" again. which is honestly kind of what you actually have. But it's not the amusing sort of weird of Laura making innocently offensive comments or strange behaviors because she doesn't know better. Instead it's manifesting in a very realistic manner; her personal relationships are a mess because she's emotionally incapable of forming and maintaining normal attachments. NYX #8 highlights this in its retcon of what happened during the Babysitting Arc, with Laura being incapable of recognizing that Julian was actually hurting and in need of help, and not that she was ruining him by her influence (or, more recently, that he was acting of his own volition and not being controlled by Empath).
Thinking about it more, I don't know that Laura does need to eat crow or be called out to fix her relationships with others. What she really needs to do is be honest and admit that she's not doing as well as she's tried to present (IMO they should also lean into her resurrection and the whole Talon business contributing by shattering her sense of self). She's still very messed up and floundering, but doesn't even know how to express it because she feels pressured to be seen as healthy because expectations and stigma. I think Schultz tried to hint at this with some of Laura's narration, but it ultimately didn't come across effectively.
Also, Xarus is kind of an unfair example to use considering Laura has very real reasons to be suspicious of him. Even by the sliding time scale his Face Turn was extremely recent, she not that long ago had to deal with his son making his and Dazzler's breakup everyone's problem, (with Xarus callously ordering Alex to dispose of them) and I would assume she'd know that Xarus was the one who turned Jubilee in the first place.
While I agree it is an accurate depiction of people who have undergone trauma- pushing people away⊠at some point I do feel like it doesnât completely excuse it either?
What Laura said to Finesse WAS mean. If I found out someone who I was super close with said âactually weâre not really friendsâ- I would be really hurt by that. Whether Laura did it to push people away or because she really âmeant itâ- kind of doesnât matter. That 100% would hurt Mercury or Dustâs feelings.
I do think Hellion was justified in feeling abandoned and hurt by Laura suddenly giving him the cold shoulder.
Gabby was obviously hurt by Lauraâs abandonment- and Gabby has herself gone through a lot the same trauma, along with losing her other clone sisters.
Itâs pretty much the same thing I would say about Logan in X-Force; Logan undoubtedly has PTSD, but it doesnât justify him telling Laura her life mattered less than Rahne because âRahne was more innocentâ. Itâs 100% a reflection of how Logan sees himself, yes⊠but it was still emotionally damaging to Laura.
I like Laura as a character, donât get me wrong- but I guess my problem with Laura is always how much fans will justify her behavior, in a way they would NEVER happen with Hellion, Surge, Elixir, ect.
The harsh truth to life is- everyone kind of has baggage theyâre working through.
Surge grew up homeless- it was still shitty what she said to Dust. Julian lost both his arms- he was still bitter and nasty to be around during âLegacyâ. Mercury had powers that limited her dating and ability to connect to others- she was still really mean to Laurie for basically no reason.
I think itâs fine to take Lauraâs past and trauma into account and be sympathetic towards it as readers - but when it turns into âLaura can never do anything wrongâ⊠thatâs when it just becomes super annoying for me. (And Iâve seen an uptick lately in those kinds of posts on the âLaura Kinney tagâ. Someone was literally last week arguing that Emma Frost and Laura werenât anti-heroes until they deleted it. đ)
Iâm fine with Laura being written as flawed and I actually like it and feel like it gives more layers to her character (honestly part of the reason I hated Tom Taylorâs run is because he basically made her âSaint Lauraâ)- what annoys me is fans hand waving every bad or kinda mean thing Laura has ever done.
I don't mean to say others feeling hurt by Laura's behavior is unjustified, either, just saying that it's a far more complex reality than "Laura was horrible to them and needs to apologize," and what she really needs to do is communicate that she's not actually doing as well as it seems (if we wanted to be completely realistic she should be in therapy, if not spend some time in a care facility, but you can say the same about 99.99999% of the heroes in Marvel) and that she's still struggling to process and manage emotional connections (if not in those words).
Also, keep in mind the sliding time scale. We may have had 20 years of stories, but for Laura only about 7-8 years have passed since her escape from the Facility, and only about 5 since she arrived at the Xavier School, so she would still barely be at the start of her recovery when you consider it can take decades to unravel the damage caused by childhood abuse.
Yeah- but I would also argue the reason people often continue patterns of behavior is because they refuse to address itâŠ. Which is kind of 100% Laura.
Itâs always everyone elseâs fault. âSurge is just being a b****â. âHellion was just toxicâ (until Lazing retconned her reasoning for leaving Hellion). âThe NXM actually werenât that great a friends and everything will be better now with this new teamâ. âIt Xarusâs fault Gabby and I arenât as close as we once wereâ. âStorm is demanding too much from meâ.
Laura deflects pretty much EVERY chance she gets or shuts down any real growth/help by suspecting the worst of people (Ororo!)⊠which is arguably why this cycle keeps repeating itself.
I do think Laura ultimately needs a moment to âapologizeâ or have that critical moment where she realizes she is f***ing up and pushing people away because in reality thatâs often the time people have epiphanies where they realize they need to change.
I do think Laura kind of needs that ârock bottomâ moment where sheâs realized sheâs pushed literally everyone sheâs ever cared about away.
I would compare it weirdly to âBatman Beyondâ- a lot of people hate that future and hate Timmâs representation of Bruce, but I always felt like Bruce Timm just acknowledged Batmanâs flaws and obsessive tendencies and made the most accurate portrayal of Bruceâs future. I frankly donât think Bruce can ever really have that epiphany that heâs pushed everyone away and ended up completely alone because of it. Bruce has never moved on from his parentâs death and I donât think he ever really will. Bruce is far too obsessive to âlet goâ of Batman. Itâs too fundamental to his own psyche and how heâs able to function.
Logan, in comparison⊠I think has actually really changed. He has allowed himself to get âcloserâ to people and really isnât the âlone wolfâ he used to be. Logan really had grown as a character and become better for it!
I definitely think Laura can too⊠but only if writers allow her to struggle. I think the big reason fans are losing interest in Laura in general is because she has objectively stagnated.
Going back to the Finesse scene- I think the reason I actually have more sympathy for Jeanne as a reader is that whole book is Jeanne essentially facing the consequences of her actions. Yet Jeanne is also on a âbetter pathâ than her stand-in character Quicksilver⊠because Jeanne is willing to admit to herself Reptil breaking up with her and Laura ending the friendship is her fault. Pietro canât ever take responsibility for how some of his life has played out and thatâs why heâs kind of always doomed to be unhappy.
Laura feels like such a ânon-characterâ in her own books because thereâs zero strife or accountability for Laura. The reason KYOST was compelling was because it was Laura growing in ways her original donor refused to. (Which is also why the movie âLoganâ worked so well!)
Now⊠I would actually say Logan is actually growing more than Laura, sadly.
Laura pushing people away is one of the things Schultz tried to address, especially with the Gabby arc, she just didn't do a great job committing to it.
Seriously- if Laura was any OTHER character (Celeste or Esme Cuckoo, Noriko, Monet) we would be calling her a âmean girlâ but because itâs Laura, she always gets a pass. đđ
Fans can hate on Surge for hating Laura all they want, but I honestly believe Nori just saw through Lauraâs act and realized she was a âcovert mean girlâ⊠which is why I am always âteam Surgeâ.
Like at least Noriko OWNS it, over Lauraâs âwoe is me, everyone is actually MEAN to me! I am always the victim!â đ€Łđ
Some things I've been thinking about:
The extent of Laura's socialization as a child was brutal beatings, outright torture, and virtual isolation aimed specifically to leave her as emotionally stunted as possible. This is a case where I would argue her background is a justifiable excuse for her adult behavior, because any child who experienced the level of abuse Laura was subjected to would have been dead in real life. We have literally no precedent for just how badly what the Facility did to her would screw someone's development up since there's no one who would have actually survived it.
It's frankly a miracle Laura ended up able to function at all.
Now, I wish Marvel would actually acknowledge this. Honestly, in hindsight that's the one thing Hopeless did with her that I think works: The notion that whatever progress she's made, Laura is consciously projecting a false front that she's doing better than she actually is.
So the act isn't that Laura is a "mean girl" pretending she's not. It's that Laura is pretending she's mentally and emotionally healthier than she actually is. She's doing it because she feels she's "expected" to be better, when she's really deeply and fundamentally fucked up and struggling. She's no longer teetering on the edge of a total emotional collapse, but she's not a well person.
Such treatment by Surge is, IMO, only justifiable based on the surface impression, and the fact Laura doesn't let anyone know that she's barely holding it together. Not even Logan and Gabby get to see this, and in fact I think it's dubious they would even truly understand; Much of Logan's worst trauma came later in life, and Gabby was actively shielded by the other Sisters to protect her from Alchemax's abuse. Even Akihiro, as hard as his childhood was, can't compare to what Laura experienced.
The only two people that come to mind who could possibly relate to her are Bellona and Fantomex. Both of whom are very, very messed-up, albeit in quite different ways.
This kind of ties back to comments you've made before about wanting Laura to be allowed to be "weird" again. which is honestly kind of what you actually have. But it's not the amusing sort of weird of Laura making innocently offensive comments or strange behaviors because she doesn't know better. Instead it's manifesting in a very realistic manner; her personal relationships are a mess because she's emotionally incapable of forming and maintaining normal attachments. NYX #8 highlights this in its retcon of what happened during the Babysitting Arc, with Laura being incapable of recognizing that Julian was actually hurting and in need of help, and not that she was ruining him by her influence (or, more recently, that he was acting of his own volition and not being controlled by Empath).
Thinking about it more, I don't know that Laura does need to eat crow or be called out to fix her relationships with others. What she really needs to do is be honest and admit that she's not doing as well as she's tried to present (IMO they should also lean into her resurrection and the whole Talon business contributing by shattering her sense of self). She's still very messed up and floundering, but doesn't even know how to express it because she feels pressured to be seen as healthy because expectations and stigma. I think Schultz tried to hint at this with some of Laura's narration, but it ultimately didn't come across effectively.
Also, Xarus is kind of an unfair example to use considering Laura has very real reasons to be suspicious of him. Even by the sliding time scale his Face Turn was extremely recent, she not that long ago had to deal with his son making his and Dazzler's breakup everyone's problem, (with Xarus callously ordering Alex to dispose of them) and I would assume she'd know that Xarus was the one who turned Jubilee in the first place.
While I agree it is an accurate depiction of people who have undergone trauma- pushing people away⊠at some point I do feel like it doesnât completely excuse it either?
What Laura said to Finesse WAS mean. If I found out someone who I was super close with said âactually weâre not really friendsâ- I would be really hurt by that. Whether Laura did it to push people away or because she really âmeant itâ- kind of doesnât matter. That 100% would hurt Mercury or Dustâs feelings.
I do think Hellion was justified in feeling abandoned and hurt by Laura suddenly giving him the cold shoulder.
Gabby was obviously hurt by Lauraâs abandonment- and Gabby has herself gone through a lot the same trauma, along with losing her other clone sisters.
Itâs pretty much the same thing I would say about Logan in X-Force; Logan undoubtedly has PTSD, but it doesnât justify him telling Laura her life mattered less than Rahne because âRahne was more innocentâ. Itâs 100% a reflection of how Logan sees himself, yes⊠but it was still emotionally damaging to Laura.
I like Laura as a character, donât get me wrong- but I guess my problem with Laura is always how much fans will justify her behavior, in a way they would NEVER happen with Hellion, Surge, Elixir, ect.
The harsh truth to life is- everyone kind of has baggage theyâre working through.
Surge grew up homeless- it was still shitty what she said to Dust. Julian lost both his arms- he was still bitter and nasty to be around during âLegacyâ. Mercury had powers that limited her dating and ability to connect to others- she was still really mean to Laurie for basically no reason.
I think itâs fine to take Lauraâs past and trauma into account and be sympathetic towards it as readers - but when it turns into âLaura can never do anything wrongâ⊠thatâs when it just becomes super annoying for me. (And Iâve seen an uptick lately in those kinds of posts on the âLaura Kinney tagâ. Someone was literally last week arguing that Emma Frost and Laura werenât anti-heroes until they deleted it. đ)
Iâm fine with Laura being written as flawed and I actually like it and feel like it gives more layers to her character (honestly part of the reason I hated Tom Taylorâs run is because he basically made her âSaint Lauraâ)- what annoys me is fans hand waving every bad or kinda mean thing Laura has ever done.
I don't mean to say others feeling hurt by Laura's behavior is unjustified, either, just saying that it's a far more complex reality than "Laura was horrible to them and needs to apologize," and what she really needs to do is communicate that she's not actually doing as well as it seems (if we wanted to be completely realistic she should be in therapy, if not spend some time in a care facility, but you can say the same about 99.99999% of the heroes in Marvel) and that she's still struggling to process and manage emotional connections (if not in those words).
Also, keep in mind the sliding time scale. We may have had 20 years of stories, but for Laura only about 7-8 years have passed since her escape from the Facility, and only about 5 since she arrived at the Xavier School, so she would still barely be at the start of her recovery when you consider it can take decades to unravel the damage caused by childhood abuse.
Seriously- if Laura was any OTHER character (Celeste or Esme Cuckoo, Noriko, Monet) we would be calling her a âmean girlâ but because itâs Laura, she always gets a pass. đđ
Fans can hate on Surge for hating Laura all they want, but I honestly believe Nori just saw through Lauraâs act and realized she was a âcovert mean girlâ⊠which is why I am always âteam Surgeâ.
Like at least Noriko OWNS it, over Lauraâs âwoe is me, everyone is actually MEAN to me! I am always the victim!â đ€Łđ
Some things I've been thinking about:
The extent of Laura's socialization as a child was brutal beatings, outright torture, and virtual isolation aimed specifically to leave her as emotionally stunted as possible. This is a case where I would argue her background is a justifiable excuse for her adult behavior, because any child who experienced the level of abuse Laura was subjected to would have been dead in real life. We have literally no precedent for just how badly what the Facility did to her would screw someone's development up since there's no one who would have actually survived it.
It's frankly a miracle Laura ended up able to function at all.
Now, I wish Marvel would actually acknowledge this. Honestly, in hindsight that's the one thing Hopeless did with her that I think works: The notion that whatever progress she's made, Laura is consciously projecting a false front that she's doing better than she actually is.
So the act isn't that Laura is a "mean girl" pretending she's not. It's that Laura is pretending she's mentally and emotionally healthier than she actually is. She's doing it because she feels she's "expected" to be better, when she's really deeply and fundamentally fucked up and struggling. She's no longer teetering on the edge of a total emotional collapse, but she's not a well person.
Such treatment by Surge is, IMO, only justifiable based on the surface impression, and the fact Laura doesn't let anyone know that she's barely holding it together. Not even Logan and Gabby get to see this, and in fact I think it's dubious they would even truly understand; Much of Logan's worst trauma came later in life, and Gabby was actively shielded by the other Sisters to protect her from Alchemax's abuse. Even Akihiro, as hard as his childhood was, can't compare to what Laura experienced.
The only two people that come to mind who could possibly relate to her are Bellona and Fantomex. Both of whom are very, very messed-up, albeit in quite different ways.
This kind of ties back to comments you've made before about wanting Laura to be allowed to be "weird" again. which is honestly kind of what you actually have. But it's not the amusing sort of weird of Laura making innocently offensive comments or strange behaviors because she doesn't know better. Instead it's manifesting in a very realistic manner; her personal relationships are a mess because she's emotionally incapable of forming and maintaining normal attachments. NYX #8 highlights this in its retcon of what happened during the Babysitting Arc, with Laura being incapable of recognizing that Julian was actually hurting and in need of help, and not that she was ruining him by her influence (or, more recently, that he was acting of his own volition and not being controlled by Empath).
Thinking about it more, I don't know that Laura does need to eat crow or be called out to fix her relationships with others. What she really needs to do is be honest and admit that she's not doing as well as she's tried to present (IMO they should also lean into her resurrection and the whole Talon business contributing by shattering her sense of self). She's still very messed up and floundering, but doesn't even know how to express it because she feels pressured to be seen as healthy because expectations and stigma. I think Schultz tried to hint at this with some of Laura's narration, but it ultimately didn't come across effectively.
Also, Xarus is kind of an unfair example to use considering Laura has very real reasons to be suspicious of him. Even by the sliding time scale his Face Turn was extremely recent, she not that long ago had to deal with his son making his and Dazzler's breakup everyone's problem, (with Xarus callously ordering Alex to dispose of them) and I would assume she'd know that Xarus was the one who turned Jubilee in the first place.
