"A beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel."
@positivelybeastly
The one, the only, the original - and the best. Original X-Man, Avenger, Defender, Agent of S.W.O.R.D, humanitarian, and true blue bon vivant. Welcome, friends! [616 comics based, with multiple verses, including From the Ashes. Please inquire within or check verses page for more info.]
#positivelybeastly is an independent, canon-divergent role play blog for Marvel Comics' Henry 'Hank' Philip McCoy, aka the Beast, written by Stars. This blog is purely 616 comics based and does not adhere to any of the cinematic versions of Beast that have been put to film over the years. Crossover and OC friendly - in the past, I've had threads with Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Heather Mason, a rice cooker, and more, so by all means, come write with me.
Owing to the numerous versions of Beast that have existed over the years, I have multiple verses ranging from Avengers Beast to X-Force. There is likely to be some degree of triggering content on this blog, due to the nature of X-Force's subject matter (including mind control, body horror, blood, genocide, and bad writing), but I will endeavour to tag it all. I am also duplicate friendly.
Mun is 29, and would prefer potential writing partners be 21+, but provided you adhere to trigger and adult content warnings, I write with anyone. Underage parties who attempt to initiate adult content will be blocked and reported. Let's not, shall we?
Originally known as #imyourblueberrymuffin, this blog was established in August 2013, stopped writing in 2015, and re-established in 2023.
About and Rules || Verses || Navigation || Dossier || Plot Wishlist
Presenting a gift I forgot I drew based on a photo I found from Its Always Sunny with the O5 boys
With my first teenage versions of the boys.
I mixed the jock and nerd for hank <3
"I remember that day.
Jean walked in on us, and told Warren not to stop, no matter what he did.
I don't think I've ever seen Scottie more startled."
OUAHGHHHHHHH . . . they're so beautiful . . .
I have to admit, I think you've captured, like, the platonic ideal for these lads. Warren's big foofy ethereal curly blond hair, Bobby's aggressively hip short brown hair and that EXPRESSION is pure Bobbert, I absolutely ADORE long haired ragamuffin 'how can you tell I used to live in an orphanage???' Scott, especially with the big eyes behind the glasses, and that Hank . . .
That Hank is the perfect 50/50 of jock-nerd. The Superman curl, the blue eyes, the Letterman jacket, the vest, it's THE APEX.
So, we open on Scott drowning his self-pitying sorrows in a six pack of beers, which you might think isn't quite like Scott, buuuut it does in fact have precedent.
Yeah, Scott gets a little listless from time to time. These are aspects of the character that are often lost in amongst the wider 'he's right about everything!!!' broad strokes characterisations - namely, that Scott is kind of a pile of emotional wreckage held together by industrial grade force of will, a tactical mind forged by years of child soldiering, and probably a fair amount of autism.
So, I appreciate this moment. Scott's allowed to get in his feelings, and any time someone is sarcastic to Magneto is a time to celebrate, imo.
Soft boy. Soft . . .
So, I do appreciate the amount of work being put into the Factory. There's been actual thought and reason and rhyme put into an ex-Sentinel factory being turned into an X-Men base - it made for a great punchline in X-Men #3 to Lundqvist, but here, it also makes practical sense as a great repository for high end spare parts that Hank can use for gizmos and more specialist mutant needs, such as X-gene detection tests!
Erik, you can't just keep bringing up the Shoah every time someone makes a good rhetorical point against you.
I mean, you can, but . . .
God damn it.
Man, that last panel bangs. I'm a complete and total sucker for shots of characters looking determined, half-cloaked in shadow, and Diaz does Idie proud here.
I also appreciate this note of characterisation for Kwannon. She clearly takes being an X-Man very seriously, likely holds it as a point of pride in comparison to what she was before this, and anything that threatens that needs to be addressed - to say nothing of the wider operational point that she's Scott's second in command, and she's going to act like it.
It may well be better to ask for forgiveness than permission, but people aren't always obliged to give you that forgiveness if they feel that what you've done wasn't worth the risk, or that it betrays a wider issue with your personality within a team.
I may have found a lot of late 00s and 10s X-Men grating for the sheer amount of dick suck going on for Scott in them, but I always had time for Scott and Erik's dynamic, where Scott is one of the people that Erik has come to genuinely respect as a true equal. You don't see him interacting this familiarly and casually with many people.
I also do love that, for as divisive as the Morrison jackets are in the fandom (some people hate them as a rejection of superhero attire, other people, like myself, love them as an iteration of rescue and responder gear that more suits a team like the X-Men), they've become the 'baseline' outfit, much like the yellow and blue training suits used to be. That's the casual X-look now, and one that Scott's worn before, as he did during the latter third of Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run. It's a stylish look that doesn't look as grandiose as Magneto's classic outfit, which suits the kind of interactions they're having in this issue.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but outside of the 70s X-Men team where Beast was on the Avengers, and the post-00s Schism teams where Hank and Scott were on the odds, Hank has historically always been on Scott's team. O5, X-Factor, Blue Team, New, Astonishing, etc.
Which makes it make perfect sense that Hank was, canonically, the one that Scott contacted immediately after this. He knows who he wants, who he trusts, and Hank is number one on that list. Granted, there may be a degree to which he just wants to keep an eye on him in the wake of X-Force, but I think it's pretty indisputable that Scott cares very deeply for Hank, and MacKay seems intent on showcasing that at every possible opportunity. More on that in a later issue . . .
. . . Huh. I didn't realise it at the time, but this feels very much like a call forward to Scott mentioning that he recruited Quentin as an anti-Phoenix contingency in a future issue, as well as his stance on psychic tumour/brain leaky Xavier in X-ManHunt. Well played, MacKay.
As for the R-LDS? I know it's controversial, that some people consider it a punitive measure for Krakoa's perfection that was completely unneeded, but, like. Guys, they conquered death. They were burning up bodies like cheap fashion. There were always going to be side-effects. Nothing in life is free - especially not life itself.
Sweetest shit I ever saw. Someone's going to look back on this run in a few years and go, man, what a great run for Idie. What an obvious labour of love that was for that character. Good for her. And you know what? They're right.
But, that's for later. For now?
Ooooooh, where you goin', Hank, on a date~?
Hank's right, y'know, the Mk1 Quinjet IS a design classic.
. . .
Hmm. I have two lines for this.
One: lol, get black bagged, idiot.
Two: well, that's not very cash money of you, Mr. Kidnapper.
You get to pick which one you feel is appropriate!
Next time!
Scott gets his shit rocked! Does he deserve it? Probably!
And just like that, he's gone again! Hank smiles and shakes his head, bringing a hand up to rub at his smooched cheek. It feels warm and it tingles a touch, a sensation that has nothing to do with the actual physical contact of the other man's lips to his kin, and everything to do with the meaning of such a lovely act.
"Such a rapscallion, disappearing before I can repay the favour."
What kind of pokemon would you have all the time Hank?
"Pokémon? What are you - oh, yes, the creatures from that game series. Ahm."
He glances over at his computer. He supposes he can spare a few minutes to glance through a Wiki, his centrifuges are still fairly early in their spin cycles.
"A moment, please? I need to do some research if I'm to answer properly."
"All right, after some careful investigation, I've narrowed it down to one of two candidates. First off?"
"Porygon. A fascinating creature - artificial in design, almost certainly patterned after the iconic drinking bird desk ornament, but functional, capable of transmitting data, working in a vacuum . . . even though I understand that it's somewhat 'outdated,' I would love to get to interact with one, work with it, perhaps even try to upgrade it and better understand it."
"My other candidate would be . . ."
"Slowking. A remarkably interesting specimen that exemplifies the kind of bizarre symbiotic relationships that arise in nature through mutually beneficial interactions. Quite apart from wanting to observe the phenomenon of the Shellder on its head boosting its intelligence, I understand that they seek to better understand humanity, communicate . . . they strive to learn. I empathise. I'd quite like to get to spend some time with one and see what kind of mutual understanding we might come to."
I agree with anon you are so fun to draw!! You're such a pretty colour and every single outfit you wear is such a slay
It takes Hank a moment to realise that the Anonymous questioner is not, in fact, accusing him of being a casual killer - he's heard the slang before from Jubilation, but he's still getting used to how it fits into the lexicon, as it were.
Give him time, he's old. He remembers when bellbottoms were the in thing.
"Well, I appreciate the thought. I can think of many worthier subjects that deserve immortalising more than I do, but, I suppose I shan't stand in the way of your artistic freedom."
"Yes, umm...what is your experience with multidimensional travel? I may have crashed and landed my team here, and I need supplies to fix it. Otherwise, we're stuck here for the next three to four months until maintenance reaches us, and I'm sure you probably wouldn't enjoy more versions of you hanging around your home dimension...So, any help would be mighty appreciated!"
- Retta from @mccoysofthemultiverse
If he's honest, he's acutely aware of the fact that this woman is another version of him long before Retta opens her mouth. He's seen countless versions of him before - versions with scales, versions who never mutated, versions who turned to religion, versions who went mad, versions who had yet to become him . . . he knows himself well by now.
And yet, he always finds himself thrown for a moment.
Still, he gives her a smile.
"Well, I do have to say that you're a damned sight more polite than most of the other variants I've met, so, you're already in with a good chance."
Reaching down by his foot, he picks up his toolbox, splaying it open and checking to make sure that it has everything he'll need - no doubt Retta can tell it's much deeper and bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, a fun facet of Shi'ar technology that most people tend to eschew in favour of the more immediately thrilling holographics and teleportation possibilities.
"I'm happy to provide all the assistance I can muster - naturally, I have my tools, but if you happen to have a list of the parts you need, I can check to see if I have them on site, or if I'll have to replicate them, order them in, requisition them from another lab, Miss . . ?"
He gestures at her.
"Apologies, I didn't catch your name, if you happened to pitch it my way. I'm Henry - Hank, or Doctor McCoy, if you're feeling nasty. But I imagine you already knew that. Might you perhaps be . . ." He thinks for a moment, flicking through the most likely female variations on his own name. Best to start with the most obvious and most likely, he supposes.
He blinks and stares, bringing a hand up to rub at his forehead.
Dazedly, he thinks that that might be the first time he's been kissed in this new body.
It's - strange. Familiar, and yet, the nerve endings aren't used to it. He knows what this is meant to feel like, and it does feel like that, but . . .
Hey friend, do you think you can help with that, and if you can, can you also send a donation? https://www.tumblr.com/youseffamily3/772721482018308096/new-link-on-chuffed?source=share
Happy to post this here, friend.
To all of my followers - if you're financially capable of doing so, please do consider donating to a vetted fundraiser or a verified charity.
Check this post, and this post also, and see what help you can provide.
Consider also checking this list of Palestinian charities, to see if there's a charity that speaks directly to you. I myself have donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund in the past. They're good causes.
Would love your thoughts on Hank's sense of style and what the big blue furball might do to spice up his wardrobe. Understandably, his size and the fur can make insulation and fitting a drag.
With he and Emma being friends in some iterations, I also wonder what he might look like in a Hellfire Gala outfit? Maybe a deep open-v suit?
With him being so theatrical and charming you can't help but wonder what it'd be like if he let himself dress up (or down, if he wants to be comfy)
"I believe it was Harry Winston, a luxury jeweller, who said that, 'people will stare. Make it worth their while.' You can understand why such a sentiment rings true for me.
I wouldn't say that I'm vain, but I do take a good amount of care in my appearance - how you dress, how you comport yourself, how you present, it all adds up to the impression you make and the way you live on in people's heads. Fashion and style are, naturally, an important part of that."
So, Hank is one of those characters for whom dress is an important facet of their personality and their presentation - in some ways, just as important as it is for, say, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Monet St. Croix, Janet van Dyne, Warren Worthington; it's a very particular kind of character that obsesses over these minute details, but Hank is unique among them because fashion feels as though it was, in some respects, something he had to start paying attention to, rather than being an indulgence born of wealth or an expectation that came about as a result of social class.
Hank, being a farmboy who grew up in Illinois, did not originally have the same expectation of standards for dress as, say, Emma or Warren. So, naturally, you see a fair amount of variation of casual clothing when he's younger. Black turtlenecks, shirts, and, especially when he became more athletically inclined, jerseys and the like.
It's an underrated aspect of Hank's character, but he's very much a social chameleon. In Defenders #116, he has this monologue:
"I developed an interesting skill. I learned how to recreate myself - how to construct new personalities to win people over, and protect me from them at the same time. In my X-Men days, it was the 'intellectual' game. That was the Hank McCoy you first met - the guy who hid behind a smokescreen of big words and big ideas.
But inside I was the same scared kid I always was. I thought I was beginning to find myself when I left Professor Xavier's school, and went out on my own - but then I accidentally turned myself into this overgrown Muppet, and it was back to square one! My whole world fell apart!
To keep myself together, I put on a new mask. No more stuffy, brainy Henry McCoy. Now I was Happy-Go-Lucky Hank, the man of a thousand jokes! I'll tell you, sometimes I don't know who I am!"
Naturally, this all goes part and parcel with his dress sense, and you see it again when he joins the X-Men - not only does he conform to the Professor's ideas of what was best to wear, usually a smart suit (which was the general expectation for a lot of young men in the 60s, and it's sort of 'artifacted' over even though he logically can't have been born in that decade anymore), but he also tends not to show much variation in his costumes, either.
And a general consideration that you always have to bear in mind with Hank, in ANY form, is that shoes are pretty much always painful. He finds any excuse to take them off, and when he does wear them, unless there's a requirement for them to be of a certain style, he usually opts for something like a sandal. This naturally impacts his stylistic choices to a degree.
But, even still, he's dressing fairly normally for the moment. One has to imagine his clothes are, if not tailored, then probably being bought from a specialist store designed for men with larger builds, which probably contributes to why he's not sticking out very much when it comes to his sartorial decisions - but, realistically speaking, it's a conscious choice: he's trying to blend in.
"Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life," said Bill Cunningham - well, I think that's certainly true for Hank in this stage of his life. But, naturally, things are going to change for Hank, and I've always found it significant that he initially tries to continue presenting as he has before, with a mix of make-up, binders and encompassing suits, to maintain a through-line of normality.
"I'm a man again!" Literally one of the single most trans coded characters in all of fiction if you bother to examine him closely enough, but, whatever, we're here to talk about fashion.
Now, eventually, he realises that he can't do this for the rest of his life - he has to come out of his shell and embrace who he is.
So, now we come to one of the first decisions of self-presentation that Hank has, largely, had to make for himself. Explicitly, this is his choice of how to be viewed . . . and it is brazen. He isn't wearing a costume, really, he isn't wearing a helmet or a mask, he is almost buck naked! He's cast off the armour, and embraced who he is.
Now, he's gonna go back and forth on this, he's gonna have his up days and his down days, but it's still an important part of his character in this form - think about what it says, to have made this mistake that's going to define you for the rest of your life, and then to wear it on your sleeve.
Think about what it says, that Hank turned blue and furry and bestial, and he said, fuck it, I'm going to show the world what and who I am. Honestly, it's a powerful statement! Lauren Hutton once said, "Fashion is what you're offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose." Well, Hank is choosing this!
But, there's two other factors to consider.
One! Hank is on a team with a noted fashion designer, Janet van Dyne, who has all kinds of experience with fabrics and fashions and designs that have to fit on unconventional body types (for those who don't know the name, she's the Wasp, and her partner was Ant-Man/Giant-Man), so I've always been of the belief that almost all of Hank's clothes from this point on are van Dyne originals, either given to him or bought using his Avengers wages, unless they seem like they wouldn't fit Janet's styles.
Two! Hank is a sexual being now.
This man is roughly 21 years old. He's a superhero. He lives life on the edge. Every day could be his last. He has disposable income, a muscular body, wit, charm, and boundless intelligence.
Which means he's gonna fuck. And let's be real here, the man can get away with wearing nothing, he's doing it most of the time, but people appreciate it when you put a little effort into what you wear. It shows that you care. So, now we start to see Hank indulging in fashion.
This is one of my favourite outfits for Hank, because it is so painfully 1970s, and yet. Iris Apfel once said, "Fashion you can buy, but style you possess. The key to style is learning who you are, which takes years. There's no how-to road map to style. It's about self expression and, above all, attitude."
Hank possesses self expression and attitude in spades. The clothes do not wear him, he wears them. If you aren't aware of Derek Guy, writer of Die, Workwear! then you should do a dive into some of his writing, but here's a Twitter thread talking about some peak 1970s tailoring, and if you look at it, it's clear that Hank is cutting edge.
This is not a fashion disaster. This is chic. This is a man who exudes confidence, who knows that bright colours suit a man with an uncommon complexion, who knows that a suit and tie aren't quite appropriate for clubbing in the '70s, so he's opted for something open, something daring, something loud, something that suits him.
This outfit from the same issue is the same - I'm awfully sad we don't get to see more of it. The purple shirt is such a nice touch, and yellow is a hard colour to pull off in real life, but Hank makes it work for him.
Classic panel, classic look! Because here's the thing - if you take a moment to really look at Hank and Simon here, if you can see past the colours that the 1970s allowed men to wear without being considered garish, again, this is a well tailored suit, with a shirt that speaks to confidence and self-assuredness, to individuality. Again, he's not wearing clothes that cover up who he is, he's matching his skin tone and pitching his clothing to match.
You need to know what colours complement you, and bright colours, especially yellow, have always suited Hank.
But! He also knows that different social occasions call for different things. After all, Oscar de la Renta once said, "Being well dressed hasn't much to do with having good clothes. It’s a question of good balance and good common sense." Meaning that you can't always be sporting bright colours, sometimes you have to dress a bit more modestly - but there's a difference between modest, and boring.
This is a lovely outfit for Hank - a bit later now, this is mid-1980s, and you would think that this is dressing down a bit so that he can give a lecture, but, befitting the tone of his address and his personality, his outfit is formal, yet still spirited! Slate grey complements his fur colour nicely, but there are a lot of fun touches to elevate what could be a boring outfit, such as the bright blue cummerbund and bowtie (which is a touch oversized), and the white piping along his pants.
The powder blue accentuates his natural colour while working in tandem with the shirt and suit - there is no clash here, apart from the bright yellow button, but, given that he's wearing a Church of the SubGenius badge here, a parody religion that used the tactic of culture jamming to promote an avoidance in mainstream commercialism and the belief in absolute truths, that's probably intentional! He wants you to notice it! Command of colour balance! It's important!
It's also interesting to compare it to two later outfits he would wear while in his feline form.
On the left, a darker blue suit, a less loud bowtie - in conjunction with the glasses, he's notably more official and formal looking, which is appropriate for the occasion (here, he's dismantling the old Xavier school after the X-Men have moved to San Francisco, so it's almost a kind of mourning outfit), but still tasteful. He is not stodgy or ill-dressed, it's just a different take on much the same outfit.
Compare and contrast with what he's wearing on the right - still slate grey, but with a brighter bowtie, a tasteful red, and a waistcoat. Notably more buttoned up, notably more prim, and the bowtie is notably pitched up to attract attention - all of which is intentional. He's attempting to control where you're looking in a way that the outfit on the left is not, even though it's ostensibly the exact same ensemble. The dark blue blends with his fur, the slate grey contrasts - the one on the right is notably 'louder' and commands attention. These are choices. These are choices being made by a man that has come to effortlessly manipulate clothing so that you see what he wants you to see.
Even when it comes to casual wear.
Think about what these choices say. They speak to relaxation, to ease, to the projection of casualness. This is not a man who is afraid of dressing up when the occasion calls for it - but that's the point, isn't it? When the occasion calls for it.
Now, with all that established, I'm gonna just showcase some other examples of Hank's style, in the form of a moodboard I made quite some time ago!
And I'm going to shout out a favourite of mine.
White suit, cream vest, red shirt, purple tie - such a mixture of colours, and yet. It all just sort of works, doesn't it?
Oh, oh, and another favourite of mine!
Pinstripe vest with the arms cut off for the gun show? I'm sorry, but that is incredible. That is a style icon. That's sportiness and formality in one outfit, that says I can lay you out with one punch but I'm not going to because I'm a man of grace and gentleness. Have you ever seen an outfit that's more effortlessly Hank McCoy?
Now, naturally, this all falls apart when we get to Krakoa . . .
Immediately a downgrade. The fit, at least here, looks fine, but it's just so boring and practical and blends in - and, yes, I understand that it's a Hellfire Gala at which X-Force is providing security, but it just doesn't feel like Hank to me? And, I hate to point this out, but if the objective is to blend in, then, surely, if you're at a party at which everyone is wearing things like this . . .
Then wearing something bland and nondescript only actually serves to make you stand out more? So it's in this weird halfway house of boring enough to mark you out as security, but too boring to make you actually blend in.
And that's before we get into the bolo tie. Bolo ties, a type of necktie consisting of a piece of cord or braided leather with decorative metal tips (called aiguillettes) and secured with an ornamental clasp or slide, are usually associated with Western cowboy culture - you see Wolverine wearing these things, and it just doesn't fit any version of Hank's aesthetic?
It's also just a very loud kind of neckwear to be wearing if we're going with the security aesthetic, it draws attention immediately, especially the splotch of red that makes the X stand out - if we're going for something subtle, surely black on white would have been a better choice? To say nothing of the shorts, which - like, usually, those make a ton of sense for Hank, he's wearing them with the pinstripe vest I highlighted above, but again, it contrasts so much with the stately, boring aesthetic of the outfit?
All it takes is one look at everyone's outfit to see that Hank got a uniquely raw deal here - Sage and Domino look great with the asymmetrical fits, to say nothing of it complementing their natural colour choices; Wolverine looks fine, the bolo tie suits him; Quentin looks, bleh, but it's serviceable; and then there's Hank. Being humiliated in this shitty little shorts suit with a bolo tie that doesn't suit him. It's just so unflattering.
This is the choice of a man who doesn't give a fuck, which is not Hank - but, then again, this is X-Force, are we remotely surprised that this isn't a very Hank thing to wear? Even the clothing choices are off-base. And one of the other instances that comes to mind . . .
Ugh. It's literally drawn to be as bulbous and ill-fitting and unpleasant as possible. Even details like the band of the bow tie being visible are all wrong. This is humiliation by fashion, and I refuse to believe that it wasn't intentional.
Now, as for what I would have wanted out of a Hellfire Gala outfit for Hank? Honestly, I found a lot of them to be particularly garish and loud, but something that's still befitting Hank's outspoken style while not being embarrassing would be nice. I think that something like Colman Domingo's style would be appropriate!
Something impressive, something loud, but not garish, something that complements and accentuates the body rather than overpowering it. Hell, consider the larger body type that Hank was sporting during Krakoa - something open, that showcased his musculature but also his pleasing roundness, would have been rather avant garde, honestly. Kris Anka, notably for his fashion sensibilities, has even drawn Hank in this form (albeit slimmer) before, and he came out with something really quite lovely! It's possible!
Finally, I'll leave off with a piece by Sam Johnstone, and I'd like to draw particular attention to his blurb:
"Dr. Hank McCoy AKA Beast! – Kicking off the second year of Mutant Mondays with one of the most well known X-Men there is. There have been so many versions of Beast over the years, from gregarious and avuncular to sociopathically pragmatic, and that breadth of representation is one of the reasons I put off drawing him – how do you pick which version of the character to focus on?
He’ll always be one of the most interesting characters from the perspective of ‘mutation’ – one of the few examples in Marvel comics where a character is not just allowed to change over time, but one who is defined by the incremental, unpredictable nature of that change, whether in his personality or in what literal form his body takes.
Like so many people, my first exposure was though the animated series, but the moment that unlocked him for me was in New X-Men, where he reckons with the fear of what his changing body means for his sense of self. When his appearance becomes more feline, and his hands grow into paws and he loses the dexterity that was always the one way his physical mutation actually complimented his brain instead of contrasted it. So that’s the era I’ve tapped into here. I’ve taken the feline-era’s lion-like features down a notch, and imagined a version of that approach that blended the more animalistic aspects of his mutation with his avengers physicality.
Now onto the fashion: I wanted to put him in some american ivy inspired menswear since I think his vanity is one of his most under-sung characteristics (and also, the browns compliment his fur), and the version of the character leaping around in underarmor is much less interesting to me than the version of the character who is definitely wearing fake lenses in his wire-rim frames. My ideal interpretation would have Hank really into tailoring, to balance form with function (Saying to cyclops "With the right materials and cut, you can do any amount of superheroing in a sport coat. Any choice not to is just personal style")."
I couldn't agree more with Mr. Johnstone here. Hank has a sense of vanity, an indisputable appreciation for what appearance means and what it communicates. I've talked at length about how his relationship with his body necessitates a degree of performance of not just humanity, but also specifically masculinity, a degree of gender presentation - he wants to be recognised as human, and not just specifically human, but warm blooded male, and his clothing sense should absolutely reflect that.
Also tagging @mccoysofthemultiverse because I'm sure their Hal has thoughts on all of this.
Doctor if you can look me straight in the eyes and say with an unwavering voice "I am a heterosexual cisgender man" then maybe you have a chance of me believing it for about 5 seconds but please be aware I can smell fear
There's a remarkably droll tone to Hank's voice as he balances his chin on his fist.
He's looking you straight in the eye (it's probably the only straight thing about him). His voice doesn't waver (unlike his sexuality).
"I, am a heterosexual cisgender man. There you go, are you happy now? Now, please do leave me in peace, some of us have valuable work we could be doing, instead of indulging childish antics."
