#chitteringabout

[thebettermccoy]

Marvel, please allow Hank McCoy to be bisexual. In this 30-slide powerpoint, I shall discuss the benefits of such a decision...

[thissquirrelgirl]

I crocheted a dragon. He's the first one I've ever made, so he's a little derpy. And I'm still trying to figure out some of the wiring to keep his wings from drooping... but he lives!!!

[itsaninfestation]

I'm thinking about removing this account and making another secondary account for Kylee under my @thissquirrelgirl account.

Having two separate accounts is a pain in the arse that has involved using two separate internet browsers on my laptop and an app that allows me to use two Tumblr accounts, but drains my battery like nobody's business.

It's easier to have everything in one place, and honestly, Kylee has little need for a primary account.

I'll probably be deleting it soonish. So if you like Kylee, please follow me at @bugginout

https://www.tumblr.com/bugginout?source=share

Jaded Writer and Marvel OC RP Blog

[thebettermccoy]

Finally got my AO3 account up and running. All I have is the first chapter of a longer slow-burn Hank/OC story and a Henry one-shot right now, but I promise that there will be more coming.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[thebettermccoy]

"They just used him as a nod to the fact that he was no longer the 'darkest beast'. Insinuating that 616 Hank has surpassed 295 Henry in level of scientific/moral evils. No other reason. Ugh."

Oh man I just realized that. Now I'm just sad. That's horrible and sort of sad excuse on their part? I wonder if this also to put down those theories of Dark Beast replacing Hank (again) or that there was some sort of error in the resurrection protocol. Where Krakoa confused them as the same.

Honestly, I think x-men fans writes better than the official writers. If somehow retconed. Would love to see either theories or how they'll tackle that.

Do you have any theories? Would love to hear them if there's any.

You got it exactly right.

Do you have any theories?

Yes. You see, it will be revealed that Sinister kept Dark Beast alive in order to replicate whatever changes he had made to his brain over the years so that he could secretly inject 616 with a case of the evil.( Which is why he went from morally questionable to 'muwahahaha evil" so quickly.) Not only to fuck with Krakoa in general, but with 295 Henry because why not?

This will all be revealed when some seemingly innocent person is the current lackey of 295 head-in-the-jar Henry, who is trying to do (insert randomly evil thing here) while also trying to get a new body...which he is going to take from reboot 616 Hank.

...Did you ever watch stupid soap operas on daytime television as a kid? Let's lean into that and do some Days of Our Mutant Lives.

...Is it a serious theory? No, but it's funny and still somewhat better than some of the actual published material.

[thebettermccoy]

What is your favorite comics of dark beast? What was your first comic that made you love him, thus this blog exists?

He's quite an interesting character. More preferable than what recent beast (ben percy) is. He'd probably be back in the future, but I don't think I'm ready how new writers will handle dark beast now that he's a head in a jar.

These are fantastic questions with answers that twist and branch into different directions like the roots of a gnarled old tree, but I'll try to keep my response 'brief', otherwise you're getting a novel of a response.

Let's start with your second question, as I'd like to start at the beginning. What was the first comic that made you love [Henry]?

I could say that it was his first appearance in Age of Apocalypse because that would be kind of true, but it isn't the full answer.

Age of Apocalypse was my first introduction to the X-Men. I saw the completed collection (four books in total) on the shelves of the Borders bookstore in 2006, and 13-year-old me thought they looked interesting. I begged my dad to buy me the first one. Then, eventually, he bought the rest for me because I had to know what happened next. Dark Beast was fun in a hokey mad scientist way. I was a sucker for the trope (and as far as appearances, I was beginning to learn that I had a type.)

But the collection stops after AoA does, and I had to know the different place he was teleported to. Still, I couldn't find further books with my limited resources at the time (as Borders had a sporadic stock of X-Men material).

So, when people said X-Men, they were talking about 616, but I associated them with 295. 295 was my canon for several months until my dad explained that the X-Men storyline was much, much larger than AoA. Knowing next to nothing about comics in general , I said I wanted to start at the very beginning so that this time, I would know the whole story and not miss out on anything.

I spent an entire year reading X-Men comics published in the 1960s and 1970s, which was an experience, to say the least, and very much a product of its time — X-Men vs. Frankenstein's monster about did me in — but I digress. Over this time, I developed a strong fondness for the OG5 Beast, which was both distinct yet loosely tied to Dark Beast. (I could go into the personal reasons for this fondness, but I'll save that for another time if there is any interest.)

To put it simply, Beast was solidified as my favorite 616 character throughout all of my reading. Intelligent, kind, funny, and a bit weird, I followed Hank's journey through the Avengers. The 80s were truly his prime, in my humble opinion.

Eventually, I got into the 90s era of X-Men and found myself right back where I started, this time with a new perspective and a strong focus on Henry McCoy. And I will say that the second read-through hit differently.

Here was my favorite character, twisted into a dark version of himself, molded by a cruel, unforgiving world...and he loved it. A fuzzy weirdo who was unapologetically evil in the name of science. I LOVED that.

But which version of Henry McCoy did I love more?

In 2007, X-Men: Endangered Species was released. Both versions of my favorite character together in multiple issues? I skipped right over the rest of the early 2000s to dive right into that. Hank was struggling and desperate to try and save the mutant species, and Henry was an absolute asshat -- and I fucking adored it. By a single gray hair, Dark Beast won out as my favorite.

This leads into your send question: What is your favorite comic of Dark Beast?

Well, for a long while, it was Endangered Species. I read that book All. The. Fucking. Time.

Then, I got ahold of the Dark X-Men collection in 2014/2015. I was a few years late to the game, but I had graduated from high school and gone off to college — you know the song and dance of early adulthood, where you're too busy to do anything more than work/school? Yeah, that.

Have you ever wanted Dark Beast portrayed with a dash of mania reminiscent of Avengers Hank, yet still absolutely evil? Have you ever wanted to read a nice short story (5 issues) on dysfunctional and amoral characters trying to be public 'heroes'? Read it. Read it. Read it. Henry is in the main cast, and every moment he is there is a fucking terrible delight. Fraction and Dodson, I tip my hat to you.

As for the blog, well. I was very hesitant to ever make it. As a woman, could I accurately portray an evil male character? Despite him being my favorite character for literally more than half my life -- I felt like I wouldn't do him justice.

However, I took the plunge after the Krakoa era revealed that his character had been reduced to a head in a jar, while at the same time, goddamn Apocalypse and Sinister were allowed to run amok, and 616 Hank became evil (self-sabotaging, self-righteous, fascist, for-the-greater-good, boring evil). Why the fuck wasn't my dude getting his fair share? (Like, wouldn't it have been interesting if the tables were turned and members of Karkoa/The Quiet Counsel realized that they somehow trusted Dark Beast more than Hank at this point? Either a storyline where Dark Beast becomes the lesser of two evils or where Dark Beast does something so drastic that it pulls Hank's head out of his own ass and is pushed back over the hero line?) But Percy hates Beast, so fuck anything actually interesting happening.

Fuck all that. I knew I could do better than that.

(Also, a little reassurance from @positivelybeastly that I wouldn't be stepping on their toes also helped.)

So what's next?

I don't know. I haven't read any of the post- Krakoa stuff (though I just bought the first volume, which should arrive this weekend). I didn't even read Krakoa; I learned all I needed to through social media and Google images.

Maybe he will be restored Deus Ex Sinister. I'd like to see a minor character, whether idiotic, ignorant, or desperate, find his head and give him a body... that would at least be something on screen instead of the Dark Beast reappearing again with another case of "I got better".

Marvel, please let me into the writing room when you want to bring him back. I don't even want credit. I want results.

(Did I say that I wasn't going to give you a novel? I didn't: I gave you a novella.)

TLDR: AoA was technically the first comic that made me love to hate (and hate to love) Henry, but Endangered Species solidified it. The Dark X-Men is my favorite comic featuring him. His head-in-a-jar status on Krakoa was a terrible decision, but it gave me the confidence to create this blog. Marvel: Please let me write his re-introduction.

[thebettermccoy]

I ordered this sticker and then immediately forgot, then received it today.

Gremlin Beast is the best Beast.

[thebettermccoy]

6. Do you believe in fate?

[No.

I see more beauty in the idea of randomness.

Think about it: every chance encounter and connection -- both good and bad -- that our ancestors made eventually led to our existence. Any other sequence of events, and we wouldn't exist.

In the words of Edith Finch: It's a lot to ask, but I don't want you to be sad that I'm gone. I want you to be amazed that any of us ever had a chance to be here at all. (What Remains of Edith Finch, video game)]