the astonishing! the fantastic!

about guidelines verses

[veryiincredible]

indie kurt wagner / NIGHTCRAWLER of the x-men : xmcu inspired, headcanon-based. written by zen, 21+. est. 2016, remade 2025.

[veryiincredible]

@watsonjackpot followed! ↝

he's only visiting, a brief stopover, but the high-rise apartment blocks of the city do provide a breath-taking scene at night. but he'd BAMF'd in expecting nobody, and instead clearly surprised someone already enjoying the view.

"sorry to startle you -- i didn't realise this rooftop was already occupied." he waves away the last curls of dark smoke from the air. "i should come with a warning bell, i think. are you alright?"

[veryiincredible]

more edits cuz this hair is just so wagner-esque

[rvndrkhlme]

RAVEN HAS opinions on going from a ' freakshow ' to essentially having to put their lives on the line for humans , but she's not going to share those at this given moment . that's for a conversation with charles .

his question does , admittedly , bring a small amused smile to her lips . where did she grow up indeed .

❝ oh , hank ? no , not since we were kids . however - ❞ she gestures to the walls around them . ❝ i grew up HERE . with charles . we're not actually related , but he made people believe i was his sister . - - feels like a lifetime ago , now . . . . i suppose it has been . ❞

[veryiincredible]

before he'd met her, and she had been a distant figure on a grainy television screen, a fabled figure you'd only hear about in hushed tones, he didn't actually give much thought to where she might have come from, or where her home was. she'd seemed... mythical, like she might have just formed from words and the hopes of mutantkind alone.

but now that he knows her, is proud to consider himself a member of her team, he's started to become curious. he's gone from being the only blue person he's ever known to being one of three under the same roof, and that's thrilling.

"oh! so we have being adopted in common!" how exciting, to have something else to share besides their hue.

"hmm. so the professor is your jimaine. what was he like when he was younger? what were you like?"

[freezegirl]

"i deeply regret to inform you---" kie grins at him. "---that you have a side-along teleportation buddy for life now, mister wagner."

"nor am i. father is dutch, actually. hence, goossens. though his family moved to the states generations ago. mother has roots in india as well as surinam. but she and her family have lived here for a good long while, too. mostly i just tell people i'm american, if they ask. but if you really want to know: i am dutch-indian-surinamese." with a dash of american. a hint, really. "i was born and raised in maxville, though."

for a moment, she's quiet. mulls something over. then her entire face lights up when she comes to a conclusion: "wait, if you're german, and i'm dutch, then---oh my gosh! twinsies!"

sort of.

whatever, it totally counts.

[veryiincredible]

kurt nods, interested. he's never been certain of what his own ethnic background actually is -- certainly for the earliest part of his life a big part of him genuinely thought he might actually have been a literal demon from actual hell, though he doesn't think as such anymore.

"aha!" he says, alighting on her excitement as she realises their geographic connection. "so we are neighbours! i will take that. twins in our mutual european roots."

he gestures with a wide sweep of the arm to the statue once again. "and with that in mind, let us make one more big jump."

--------BAMF!

as the dark smoke clears, they've made it, from terra firma below to the dizzying heights up above, safe behind the railing atop the famous liberty torch.

"ah, i should have asked first... you aren't afraid of heights, are you?"

[veryiincredible]

busy busy busy! i owe replies i'm sure, and i'll try getting some writing time this week when i'm home.

also thinking of my old days of having a circus verse for kurt. AU where he never left, or maybe just "set before he was forced to go" kind of thing. he could have just SO many posters of himself.

[rvndrkhlme]

HER EYES darken at the memory of where she found him . of that reminder of her failure . she'd gone back , of course , used some AGGRESSIVE NEGOTIATIONS to get the ring shut down completely , but that doesn't mean she didn't fail kurt . if she couldn't even protect him , couldn't even keep HIM , of all people , from a fate like that , what use was she to anyone else ?

kurt's words tug her back to the present and the frown on her brow doesn't disappear . ❝ you're not a freakshow , ❞ she confirms for him , maybe a little too intensely , but there's no lack of conviction in her voice . ❝ you shouldn't have had to run . you should have been safe with your - family . ❞ and even if she second guesses her abilities , her place in this resistance , it's THAT right that keeps her going : the right for mutants to be safe . so even if she has no idea how much she can really do , she'll keep doing it .

[veryiincredible]

kurt nods slowly, hanging on every word. when she speaks, it's that tone that he feels can only speak truth. she says it like she's certain -- and he finds himself nodding.

"i -- yes. of course. no freakshow here," he straightens up, tapping a knuckle against his chest. "i'm an x-man!" then he laughs.

"but i do miss the gehlhaar. i guess you always miss your first home, huh?" he tucks the packing cylinder under his arm, he motions his other hand toward where his bedroom is, where the poster is likely to be relegated to after all.

"where did you grow up, frau raven?" he asks, suddenly curious, with the topic of home still so present in his mind. "i remember you told me in cairo that you had known herr mccoy a long time. since you were kids?"

[veryiincredible]

@bettertelepath followed! ↝

he hesitates before knocking -- once, he raises his hand. then falters. then again, until finally, his knuckles manage to tap on the door. it barely sounds like anything, but the young blue mutant is sure that the telepathic schoolmaster already knows he's there.

"professor," he starts, thoughts tumultuous. "are you-- may i come in?"

[veryiincredible]

more editing cuz i've always been enamoured with k/uroro... (& this pic is p cute on its own)

they put them together in that m&ms advert and they sure are standing next to each other in most of their (very brief) scenes in d/ark p/hoenix... always chasing those k/uroro crumbs...

[freezegirl]

"we do make quite a pair; i must say, we're rather dashing," kie shoots back, grinning. hold on tight, he says, and stay loose. which, yes, is a contradiction. but then again, aren't they all that, whether they're human, mutant, or something else entirely?

then, they're off like a shot. one jump, then another, and another. another, and then another, still. and when the smoke clears, they've arrived at their destination.

well, sort of.

either way, kie is absolutely delighted.

"oh my gosh! kurt!" warm laughter spills from her lips. "my heart is beating so fast right now! we should do that again; that was so cool!"

(though kie does make a mental note to make sure her newest friend gets some food and fluids in him at some point - not just because he's her ride home, but because she doesn't want him to faint on her.)

she casts her eyes up, feeling small but not in an awful way, more like in an awe-inducing way. "definitely."

[veryiincredible]

there's nothing like taking someone on their first teleportation -- he's glad she didn't hate it, and he's glad to only be doing it for a good time. he's lost count of how many of his fellow x-men have grimaced and groaned after a BAMF, but usually he's not prioritising comfort in the heat of a battle or a rescue.

"i'm happy you think so." he says, squeezing her arm. then he nods toward lady liberty, the imposing statue in all her turquoise-patina glory. it's only right they give her a fair moment of admiration before they BAMF their way up to his favourite view. and maybe he does need a little breather.

"she's french, i think. i'm not, but i was glad to see a fellow european when i first got here." a breezy laugh. "say, where are you from, kie? is new york your home, or somewhere else?"

[veryiincredible]

@holyblcd continued! ↝

a warm feeling of FAMILIARITY and safety spread through her body as he, the very incredible nightcrawler, told her these amazing adventures. it was impossible for michelle to not smile widely. to see her old friend after such a long time was almost unrealistic. UNREAL. it felt like the most wonderful dream. crimson red hands clapped, giving him a small applause.

" seems like you have been terribly busy, kurt. but i'm glad to hear that you are ENJOYING life. "

she tucked away a strand of black hair. it had become longer since the last time they met. " yes. i'm actually training to become an astronaut. it still feel very weird to say it out loud... "

"ah, you know. the life of an x-man. it keeps me very entertained, if not occasionally endangered."

his blue heart soars at her indulgent applause, and then higher still to hear good things in her present.

"an astronaut--" he echoes, and reaches forward to grasp her hands, squeezing gently. "that's incredible! how long have you been studying? how does space travel compare to our, ah, natural method of transportation?"

[veryiincredible]

editing d/ark p/hoenix red carpet pics of k.odi for wagner-esque reasons... absolutely tragic that he had burgundy eyes in the movie what happened to the red-rimmed amber smh

anyway considering his existing body mods with the tattoos and everything, they shoulda levelled up and added piercings too

[exglowsion-deactivated20240717]

you make me blue

[diam1nd-arc]

“ only all the time .. but seeing how much my bank account grows after reach event, makes it worth the pain.” in her usual white, the low neckline and choker accessory is outlined in pristine diamonds. emma’s height towers most, long legs and a powerful stance as she watches everyone arrive at the gala. “ do you dislike them as much as i do ?”

[veryiincredible]

she's a diamond come to life, and just as captivating. "it's... a different sort of performing than i'm used to. i spent my earliest years climbing every surface i could, with every adult telling me to stop acting an animal! a gala feels almost too civilised for me."

clawed hands smooth the dark jacket he wears -- there's not a crease in sight, but in her presence, he feels like a pauper, even in designer tailoring.

"less, ah-- room to improvise." then he chuckles. "but i can't deny, i admire the glamour. and you do wear it well, ms frost."

[veryiincredible]

have you been doing well since i saw you? (from michelle!)

golden eyes alight on a face as unusual as his own, and an irrepressible grin, sharp as anything, spreads across his face.

"i have crossed the globe, from my noble professor's home in england -- the food is terrible -- to the great state of oklahoma -- it's nothing like the musical. i just got back from visiting my own circus home at the gehlhaar, actually, though i wish i'd had time to take to the stage again."

he does a half-bow, imagining applause. "have you been doing well? it feels like years!"

[veryiincredible]

this is bigger than both of us.

"of course," he says, with an acquiescing sweep of the arm. the mission of the x-men. the march toward mutant liberation. the battles, always. but the feeling of the bruises along his ribs, the split lip he'd earned for all their trouble...

"i just hope it will be worth it." and then the deflection -- the practiced circus-star's smile. "if i have to keep taking these kind of punches, i will have to buy stock in band-aids..."

[veryiincredible]

"you're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

"what, accidentally turning the hallway into an ice slip-n-slide? may it be forever committed to the halls of memory."

after all, one indoor slip of freeze power like hers, accidental or not, can create seconds, nay, minutes of fun before someone more responsible hurries to shut it down.

"i would not let it go for all the world. i wish it had been a permanent feature!"