I wish I’d known about @xmenfemslashweek before today, cause I think I could’ve written something quick of Polaris x Dreamer for May 21, and its optional prompt for Life.
I know I can still do it, and I might tonight or tomorrow if I’m not too tired and still inspired.
PSA: journalists aren’t supposed to put names in the headlines if the person isn’t a public figure. It’s not a matter of maliciously not giving credit
^^^as a journalist, this is something that bothers me ALL THE TIME
A friend of mine on Twitter explained this the other day, so to elaborate based on what she said: If the name is not instantly recognizable the way a public figure is, then putting the name in the headline isn’t going to bring about any sort of recognition or connection in the reader, and doesn’t do much to draw the reader into the story. But something like “local teen” does create a connection by tying the person into the community, and encourages the reader to learn more about what this local teen has done. The name will be in the article itself, after the headline has done its job at getting the reader to look into it.
It’s worth noting too that usually, according to the Inverted Pyramid writing style used for journalism where the most important information is shared first, the person’s name is usually in the first sentence of the first paragraph.
Whenever I see someone get up at arms over a headline that says “Local Teen” and the first comment is “SAY THEIR NAME” I’m always like “hey, thanks for telling every journalist present that you don’t read articles and just skim headlines.” Really makes us feel appreciated.
I think this Onion headline illustrates the point pretty well
Have you ever really thought about how when you look at the moon, it’s the same moon Shakespeare and Marie Antoinette and Van Gogh and Cleopatra looked at.
I agree john mulaney is probably an immortal akin to beings such as keanu reeves and jeff goldblum but he’s like a new born baby immortal who is looking at the long long expanse of a lifetime he has in front of him and is already tired
jeff golblum is thousands of years old and loving it. john mulaney was born in 1901 and ever since 1924 it’s gone downhill for him
So to be clear, the immortal timeline seems to be:
John Mulaney – early 20th century
Eric Andre – Probably 17th century or so.
Taika Waititi – Elizabethan age, probably hung out with Shakespeare
Keanu Reeves – We think sometime around Alexander the Great, but he seems to have just sprung up fully formed.
Jeff Goldblum – 100% Biblical times, may or may not be King Solomon.
Tommy Wiseau – Indeterminate, may be the first Homo Sapiens.
how do we not know for sure that Taika wasn’t Shakespeare?
What I want to know is how none of them cut off each others’ heads yet.
Sweetie being an immortal kind of makes that impossible
I agree john mulaney is probably an immortal akin to beings such as keanu reeves and jeff goldblum but he’s like a new born baby immortal who is looking at the long long expanse of a lifetime he has in front of him and is already tired
jeff golblum is thousands of years old and loving it. john mulaney was born in 1901 and ever since 1924 it’s gone downhill for him
So to be clear, the immortal timeline seems to be:
John Mulaney – early 20th century
Eric Andre – Probably 17th century or so.
Taika Waititi – Elizabethan age, probably hung out with Shakespeare
Keanu Reeves – We think sometime around Alexander the Great, but he seems to have just sprung up fully formed.
Jeff Goldblum – 100% Biblical times, may or may not be King Solomon.
Tommy Wiseau – Indeterminate, may be the first Homo Sapiens.
how do we not know for sure that Taika wasn’t Shakespeare?
What I want to know is how none of them cut off each others’ heads yet.
I learned of her the exact same way I learned of Lorna: randomly. By pure chance. Pure luck. A TV I was near just happened to be on Kelly & Ryan this morning at the exact moment Briggs was performing, and the instant I saw her, I thought “Lorna.”
Everything I’ve seen since just reaffirms that feeling for me. Her songs have both heart and fire. So, so many of the pictures I’ve found of her have her either wearing green or accompanied by green lighting.
Discovering Polaris was the last time I had this type of strong, enlivening sensation.
Obviously, she’s not an actress. But she has the sort of spirit that I feel fits Lorna perfectly. And I can’t shake the feeling that I found out about her exactly when I needed to find out about her, just like when I found out about Lorna.
Admittedly, not all of Bishop Briggs’ songs that I’ve heard are “my thing,” but there’s never been a music artist whose songs I love all of.
This concludes my post. 💚
Went to bed listening to a few of the songs I bought, had Wild Horses on my mind as I fell asleep. Today, it’s White Flag that’s in my head.
Smoke, fire, it’s all goin’ up Don’t you know I ain’t afraid to shed a little blood? Smoke, fire, flares are goin’ up, flares are goin’ up
Oh, won’t wave my white flag, no This time I won’t let go I’d rather die Than give up the fight, give up the fight Give up the fight, give up the fight Won’t wave my white flag, no Oh, I won’t go down slow I’d rather die Than give up the fight, give up the fight Give up the fight, give up the fight Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Put an X on my chest, on my chest But I’m still standing cause I won’t forget The hell on earth you put me through I’ll save myself in spite of you
That “put an X on my chest” line gets me because it reorients my thoughts on the X-Men. I always understood the X to mean X-gene, to be related to Xavier, but I never thought of it as a target. Yet it’s so appropriate as iconography for the X-Men. They’re mutants, they’re feared and hated, and the X-Men being both the most powerful mutants and a force for good makes them especially bound to be targets.
Covers and solicits for Blue #33 and #34 came out today. These are for August, two months before Lorna’s 50th anniversary.
I have some things to say about assumptions I’ve seen concerning the cover for #34. But first, the cover and solicit for the issue it’s paired with.
X-MEN BLUE #34 CULLEN BUNN • MARCUS TO (A) Cover by R.B. Silva • Time-traveling Magneto must team up with the future counterpart X-Men in order to save mutantkind from extinction. • But in order to do so, will Magneto submit to his darker instincts? • Don’t miss a major turning point for the Master of Magnetism! 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
The solicit for #33 explains Magneto’s gone 20 years into the future, so this is with him still there.
I’ll also have some good things to say after I talk about assumptions.
First, there’s the assumption that this is Polaris on the lower left. It’s a perfectly fair, reasonable assumption given Lorna’s use on Blue and that the costume and hair match.
However, this is Marvel. This is the same company that tried to make Enchantress look like Lorna during Axis, and for the Shadowcat wedding issue last week, made Brand look like Lorna while placing her between two women who just happened to be wearing green dresses. Even though all signs point to Lorna, it’s important to be prepared for the chance Marvel’s doing that on purpose before revealing it’s an entirely different character.
Second, there’s an assumption that this is proof Lorna doesn’t get killed off in upcoming issues and Marvel acknowledges she has a future. For which this assumption has three mistakes.
Mistake #1: Lorna being alive in the future doesn’t mean she doesn’t die in the present. Characters die and come back to life often. This is important because if she gets killed off, Marvel telling us “she’ll be back” means little if they conveniently have her dead in October during the 50th anniversary of her creation.
Mistake #2: The future can change. Just because she’s alive in the future now doesn’t mean she’s promised a return if she’s killed off.
Mistake #3: If she’s killed off in coming issues, then even if Marvel of today intends to bring her back, plans can change. Someone else could take over and decide to keep her dead.
All in all, it’s nice to be optimistic and hope for good things to happen. Maybe they will. But with Marvel, it’s also important to be prepared for them trying to pull fast ones and steering people toward making assumptions that aren’t true.
I said I’d have some good things to say after I addressed assumptions, so here they are.
This cover is better than the coming cover for Blue #28. If that is Lorna on the lower left corner, Magneto isn’t just standing over her, he’s standing over all of them. It sends a message of Magneto overpowering all of them, not just Lorna.
If that is Lorna, I also really like that it appears the costume she’s wearing will be at least closer to her iconic costume. That’s become a lot more important to me than it already was after Marvel decided to give Havok a book to lead where he gets to wear his iconic costume, paired with the “making Brand look like Lorna” debacle from last week. Those two situations have made me a lot more opposed to the idea of Lorna in a generic team uniform than I used to be.
The glove reminds me slightly of Anka’s idea for a costume redesign, which is the only redesign I’ve seen and liked so far.
I think some people are assuming they see a part of Lorna’s headpiece on the right side, but I think that’s just a portion of cape sticking out. I could assume she’s missing the headpiece she should have cause I’d expect it to poke out, but I’ll wait under the idea that maybe her hair is blocking it.
However, this does remind me of back when I had to deal with hardcore Rydia fanboys for FF4 who claimed things like “Rydia was the real female lead of the game, Rosa was just a useless damsel in distress supporting character.” People eventually understood she’s the female lead that offered and represented a lot more than she was being given credit for.
Same with Lorna being the first female X-Men member to join, second longest history with the franchise.
Storm fans – and I mean real ones, not people trying to troll – have a couple claims to fame of their own though. Storm was the first woman of color to join the X-Men, and she’s been used enough to become a pretty famous character not just as a woman of color, but in comics in general.
But now it’s time for Lorna to get some decades-overdue love and respect too. Her status, history and potential have been ignored for far too long, and Lorna’s 50th anniversary of her creation is the perfect time for Marvel to commit to doing better for her going forward.
I reeeeeaaaally like these pictures for one very important reason: their very nature highlights Lorna’s long history with the X-Men and the fact she’s the second female X-Men member to join. The fact there are no other women in the second image besides Jean and Lorna says this loudly.
Which in turn also says a lot about Marvel for ignoring Lorna despite these qualities.
• MARCUS TO (A)
salarta 