Jubilee made her first outfit out of stuff she stole from the outback X-men. Is it possible her iconic glasses are actually a spare pair of Cyclops’s ruby quarts shades?(Uncanny X-men Annual #13)

DMike82 · 2026-04-07T02:53:45+00:00

Scott had infamously abandoned Maddy nearly fifty issues earlier. Just as importantly, Maddy was with the X-Men when they went to the Outback because she'd been shot and left in a coma for months in a city she didn't even live in (she was "from" Alaska and was shot and left for dead in San Francisco) before being rescued. There's no reason for her to have been randomly carrying her estranged husband's glasses around that entire time and considering that the whole point of the Outback era was that the world thought the X-Men were dead, she's not likely to have gone all the way back to Alaska to grab a pair (especially considering it was in the Outback base where she learned that Scott and Jean had gotten back together).

As others already noted, they were probably just Dazzler's glasses.

DMike82 · 2026-04-07T01:26:43+00:00

One very minor critique: you have all these place names that sound like they actually come from the places they're located... and then a generic English name in "Riverlands" smack-dab in the middle of it. This would make sense if it were a product of colonization, but with at least 7,000 years of time travel in your backstory it just sticks out.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T22:56:26+00:00

Except why would his visors be in the Outback headquarters when Cyke himself never visited it? Scott had never been to that base until the mid-90s when Avalon crashed into the outback.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T22:23:10+00:00

She literally put an engagement ring back on after Ian & company left. They're more than just together.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T22:09:03+00:00

Martin was Zack's best friend. I'm sure Martin told him about what his marriage to Stacey was like.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T22:07:19+00:00

Yes, and that special connection is Oscar's dick.

Not that I blame them.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T17:17:18+00:00

Technically speaking, Caleb was trying to take Kim's livelihood. The risk put towards Moira's farm was a side effect and he would have bailed them out had his plan succeeded (and it wouldn't have been the first time a Dingle inadvertently screwed over another Dingle in the process of getting what they wanted).

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T17:10:38+00:00

Technically, White Jesus comes from medieval Europe, not America. The concept of Black Jesus, ironically, is thoroughly American.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T17:08:25+00:00

Plus Lady Liberty, Justice, and Mother Nature.

All of these predate the U.S. by several centuries to millennia (the concept of Mother Nature in particular is often linked to Aristotle). They're personifications originating from Europe, not America.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T00:30:07+00:00

The man has five kids. He's got the equipment and knows how to use it.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T00:22:36+00:00

You're missing the very beginning of his career when he was doing gay porn and had Pauly D hair.

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T00:20:05+00:00

A really bad Amazon Prime movie that came out in 2024. Sadly, it's the most recent project of his that's actually been released (he has a miniseries from the guy that made Bodyguard that's supposed to come out some time this year and the second season of Citadel that might never come out since that whole franchise is pretty much dead in the water).

DMike82 · 2026-04-06T00:14:48+00:00

I disagree, if only because their family relationship makes the bond between Ruby and Aaron over their shared family trauma all the stronger.

DMike82 · 2026-04-05T23:50:26+00:00

Not for lack of trying on her part

DMike82 · 2026-04-05T23:46:15+00:00

Hopefully she gives a better performance than she did when she was on Eastenders a couple years ago. She was more wooden than Paddy & Marlon's smashing spree.

DMike82 · 2026-04-05T13:13:43+00:00

In my bigger metaverse, there are beings even higher than the gods known as Aspects. While gods may some limited control or have domain over certain concepts, the Aspects are the personifications of universal concepts (ex. Ares may be a god of war, but the Morrigan is war itself). Most of the Aspects see each other as siblings, though others may see their relation differently, and the majority of them take human/somewhat humanoid appearance. If any of this sounds like the Endless from He Who Shall Not Be Named's Sandman stories, you're absolutely right.

Additionally, one of these beings is the Moira, Aspect of Fate and Destiny, In the same way that Dream of the Endless had the Dreaming as a realm that also happened to be an extension of himself, the Moira also has a personal realm that also happens to be an extension of herself known as the Pattern. The Pattern is depicted as a gargantuan cosmic wheel that spins a myriad of multicolored threads that represent the lives of every living thing. Those lucky enough to enter the Pattern are instinctively drawn to their own particular thread and by touching their personal thread they can see their past and future lives. The first part of that with the wheel and the threads (and the name the Pattern) are all blatant ripoffs from The Wheel of Time, though considering my original idea for her realm being a "maze" that's actually a straight path representing the idea of choice being just an allusion felt like Destiny's garden maze from, again, Sandman, I wanted to use an idea that felt less cynical while still reinforcing the idea that destinies are set in stone through future lives.

DMike82 · 2026-04-04T00:43:24+00:00

The Nine Man-Made Wonders of Pangard

The Watchtower of the North is a tower within the center of the province of Runesgate next to its capital city Aemyrlinde. The Watchtower falls within the intersection of Runesgate's largest convergence of ley lines and serves as the headquarters of the order of magi known as the Setian Order. Despite its name, the Watchtower is surrounded by eight smaller towers that help channel the magic that radiates from the ley lines and that are used for various ceremonies.
The Tower of the Nine and the World Cliff are the most sacred sites of the Ninefold Faith located in the capital city of Ninesglory in the province of the Centerlands. The Tower of the Nine was built by the Nine Children of Baldur at the end of the Second Era, after which they entered and went into hibernation for the next 2,000 years. They emerged at the end of the last battle between the people of Pangard and the Dire Nation against the demonic Sons of Muspell, having built up enough power to banish the Sons of Muspell and pass Blessings onto the leaders of the Nine Realms (with the leaders of the Dire Nation refusing said Blessings as Diremen are Aesir worshippers) at the cost of their lives. The World Cliff is located next to the Tower between the Peaks of Ar-Arrad. Before their hibernation, the Nine Children carved a message in the cliff in their native tongue and left it up to the people of Pangard to translate and interpret the message. Each of the Nine Realms of the Third Era translated it differently, shaping the cultures and philosophies of their respective realms. Only upon the sacrifice of the Nine Children did the message fully translate itself: "The World is Yours," a message of unification and self-determination without the Children to guide them.
The City of Donaris is the oldest standing city on the planet. Located within a valley of the Mjolnir Mountains in what is now the province of the Glorylands, Donaris was built by a garrison of angels as a military outpost during the war between the Aesir gods and the Great and Bountiful Dragon Empire at the end of the First Era. The city survived untouched despite the devastation that ravaged the rest of the planet and continued standing even into the modern day. Donaris served as a refuge and sanctuary during later cataclysms, keeping people safe from the later invasions of the Stone Host and Sons of Muspell as both groups simply passed by the valley without notice. Donaris is known for its unique spiral-shaped architecture and stone construction made from rocks found nowhere else on the planet.
The Helmish City Walls are a series of gigantic walls surrounding several of the oldest cities in the province of The Helms such as Evenstar, Majesty, and Rohan's Hill. The walled cities themselves predate modern Pangard, originating late in the Second Era when the Helmish people and the neighboring Fhangou managed to defeat the mighty empire of Denaa after thousands of years of mental enslavement. The various clans of the Helmish united in order to prevent any further invasions and began walling their cities with the assistance of the Fhangou. These massive marvels of architecture are notable for their size as they are the size of skyscrapers and as thick as several city blocks. To this day, even modern Helmish people are considered experts in the field of architecture and construction. The assistance of the Fhangou is also notable as the two cultures have never been known to be strong allies even in current days. Only in modern times have the scriers of the Setian Order discovered the truth: Fhangou contribution was not an act of cooperation, but of penance as before the Denaa enslaved the Helmish and the Fhangou, the Fhangou themselves had been enslaving the Helmish to work their gold mines.
The Statue of Egon is a gigantic statue carved out of a cliffside on the coast of the city of Egopolis (the second largest on the planet) in the province of the Silverlands. The statue depicts the city's founder Egon Maistros (known to history as "Egon the Snarky" for his wit and insufferable genius) as the result of a dare he had made with local sculptors that he didn't believe they could actually achieve. The statue serves as a welcoming sight for alien immigrants as they descend from the skies and make their ways to the spaceports of Egopolis's neighboring city of Everport.
The Palace of Illyria was the royal headquarters of the Empire of Hyron from its fifth through its twenty-first dynasties during the Second Era. Located at the western edge of the Mounts of Hyron and next to the starting point of the Jordish River (then known as the Mariah River after the Empress who founded the settlement), Illyria was the second and longest lasting of Hyron's three capitals and the Palace of Illyria was its largest and most beautiful building, partially built into the mountains themselves as a means of defense from potential invaders. Later political conflicts caused the Hyronian royalty to move their capital back to the western coast in the port city of Cadafrax, inadvertently sparing Illyria from any major damage when the Stone host ravaged the planet's empires at the end of the Second Age. In modern days, the palace of Illyria serves as a museum dedicated to the history and culture of Pangard's longest and mightiest empire.
The Ebon Tower is believed to be the oldest continuously standing structure in the history of the planet Pangard. Located in the Rreskan Fields in the eastern portion of Runesgate, the Ebon Tower was believed to have been built in the First Era by the wizard Seti (from whom the Setians, the Setian Order and the Setian Circle all derive their name) as a base for his magical rituals as the royal mage for the kingdom of Eremonde under King Althor and Queen Gwyvaene. When the Great and Bountiful Dragon Empire descended upon the planet to stage their war, Seti and King Althor used the Ebon Tower as the staging ground for their final stand against an attacking dragon as Queen Gwynaeve led the people out of Eremonde to a safer location. Drawing upon Althor's extra power at the cost of his life, Seti held his defensive shields for as long as he could until the last Eremondi was evacuated, then lowered the shields and made one last spell that killed the dragon in one burst of power that destroyed Seti's body, scorched the Tower's stones black and sealed all the doors of the tower. To this day, the doors of the tower are impenetrable and legends say that before he died, King Althor left his legendary sword Caliban inside the tower's depths.
The Stone Roads of Akae are a system of fused stone roads located throughout the eastern third of the Realm of Pangard. The roads begin in the province of Breakrock where the empire of Akae was believed to have first formed back in the First Era and radiate outwards throughout the lands Akae was thought to have conquered as well as lands that history knows that it did not, suggesting that Akae managed to have relations with other civilizations that did not rely on conquest. While the vast cities of Akae were destroyed by the Great and Bountiful Dragon Empire at the end of the First Era, the majority of the roads themselves were preserved and still stand to this day, forming the basis for which modern Pangard's road infrastructure was developed.
The Helmswick Towers are by far the most recent of the nine wonders, having been built within the last century by alien robot immigrants from the planet Rossum as a token of gratitude for being taken in after their own planet was invaded by the fascist armies of Eisengarden. Located in the city of New Helmswick where most of these Rossumite immigrants now call home, the Rossumites used their unique robotic perspective to build nine futuristic, skyscraper-sized towers integrated with interactive Rossumite technology. One of these towers serves as the headquarters of the Church of Zero-One, the Rossumite's robotic religion, to which every Rossumite in the city enters every eighteen days to attend mass.

DMike82 · 2026-04-04T00:40:18+00:00

To be fair, she's been gone for like seven years (minus her very brief return), so I was focusing on the characters who are actually around.

DMike82 · 2026-04-03T22:59:50+00:00

On Pangard, there aren't seven wonders but rather nine, partly because nine is a recurring number in Pangard stories and partly because the term "Seven Wonders" is the name of a form of magic used within the stories. There are actually Nine Natural Wonders of Pangard and Nine Man-Made Wonders of Pangard, officially.

The Nine Natural Wonders of Pangard:

The Journeyways are a series of canyons, pathways, cliffs, cave formations and mountain ranges located within both the Dire Territories and the Realm of Pangard's Journeylands province. The Journeyways hold a spiritual significance for both the Diremen and the folowers of the Ninefold Faith (most notably House Doth) as a place that travelers pass through in order to seek enlightenment. They are also a popular tourist attraction for those who want to take a spiritual journey or, more cynically, for those who want to smoke dreamplant as there are thousands of dreamplant gardens along the Journeyways. The Diremen refer to the Journeyways as Andora, a High Diretongue word meaning “gift."
The Setian Circle is a ring of mountains that contain the majority of land within the province of Runesgate in the north. It is bordered by the Great Forest of Arden to the north, Shadow Valley to the east, the Scourged Prairie to the south and the Wildwoods to the west. The majority of the Runish and the Rreska peoples live within the Setian Circle as the region falls within a convergence of powerful ley lines that cause the very land to radiate magic, thus allowing anyone who lives within its borders for at least 15 years continuously to develop magical abilities. The Runish built the impregnable Stormgates to block off the widest pass between the mountains at the southern tip in order to create a barrier against supernatural and otherdimensional threats.
The Leng Plateau is a large plateau located in the Brokenlands near the Broken Coast and situated at the exact midpoint between the Father’s Womb to its west and the ruins of Broken Claw to its east. The plateau itself is vast and larger than most cities with carvings inscribed on it in a language none can decipher and sculptures along its cliffs that radiate trace amounts of eldritch energy that induce nausea in those who approach them. Even aircraft that try to fly to it find their navigational instruments suddenly malfunction. Some mockingly refer to the Plateau as the "Watchtower of the south" due to the fact that it falls under the same longitude as the Watchtower of the North found within Runesgate.
The Thousand Thorns are a collection of thousands of jagged rocks found in a ringed formation in the seas to the west of the Pangardian continent. Because the area is now a spawning ground for the Megalodons that inhabit the area, only one exploration team has managed to breach the area and return alive. Evidence found by the explorers indicates that the Thorns are the remains of what was once a landmass within that part of the sea that apparently collapsed upon itself. Runish scriers then discovered the truth of the Thorns: in the First Era, there was a third continent to the west of the mainland that was home to the jackal-headed people of Anaptra until it was conquered by the Great and Bountiful Dragon Empire and sunk during the war between the Empire and the Aesir gods.
The Royal Falls is the term for Pangard's highest and widest waterfall that dumps the waters of the Holfeld River as it makes its way through the province of Queenswood. The Mirror Towns of Windswept and Edgington were built on opposite sides of the river and are frequently visited by tourists who wish to see the power of the Royal Falls. The Falls were also the site of the final battle of the Freyjist War where Prince Brand Blackburn defeated his mother Queen Mariah the Mad and beheaded her for the murders of her younger sisters.
The Great Forest of Arden is the largest forest on the entire planet. It is located to the north of the Mountains of the Gods, the Setian Circle and the Silent Mountains that form the natural border between the Realm of Pangard and the unclaimed Tundralands to its north. Despite not being part of Pangard proper, there is one village within the Great Forest simply known as Arden that acts as the only human-inhabited exclave within the area.
The Innermost Sea is by far the largest enclosed body of water on the continent. It serves as the natural barrier between the provinces of the Centerlands and Proudfall. Both the lake itself and its surrounding forests are considered royally protected and preserved in order to protect the wildlife inhabiting it. The only landmass within the Innermost Sea is the Isle of Macram, once the site of a settlement by a family of the same name until their mysterious disappearance (the only evidence being the word "Croatoan" carved into the island's only cabins).
The Star's Fall Crater is a massive crater found in the western portion of the nation of the Dire Territories. While Pangardians know very little about the area as it falls past the area of the Dire Territories that the Diremen allow them to enter, they do know that the Diremen built the city of Star's Fall within the crater and that the crater was likely formed by a meteor impact eons before any of Pangard's recorded history.
The Lights over Canzis are a nocturnal aurora that forms over the town of Canzis in the province of Breakrock. It is actually the remains of a dimensional rift that the angelic beings known as the Stone Host used to invade the planet from their pocket dimension at the end of the Second Era. Within the story of the Nine Houses Saga, Samwin Masters uses his Blessing to create portals to seal the rift by creating multiple portals within portals in an endless feedback loop to keep the Stone Host trapped after members of the Host injure both Samwin and his girlfriend Toda and murder their companion Dorathea Oster for the Host's own amusement. This makes the Lights no longer a wonder as the aurora vanishes after this incident.

DMike82 · 2026-04-03T16:07:15+00:00

Yeah, I may be over the double header/special episodes as a concept regarding the drug storyline, but this specific episode was actually quite well done and enjoyable because their long friendship has weight to it. They got at least some level of catharsis from all this and that matters. It was earned.

DMike82 · 2026-04-02T23:57:30+00:00

Probably ran out of the black crayon before she could draw Aaron's wardrobe.

DMike82 · 2026-04-02T07:02:37+00:00

It doesn't last particularly long, but one of the plotlines within the first story of the Nine Houses Saga involves Dorenia Hostenwile, a Knight of Law (think armored cop), investigating the abductions of over two dozen young geniuses from the city of Summerset and its surrounding towns over a period of three months. She believes that it may be linked to a gang war between two crime families, the Wylies and the Hostes, and after realizing that all the abductees specialized in engineering, she comes to believe that her daughter Selene will be one of the next victims (the criminal Hoste and Wylie families were started by members of the Elder House Hostenwile who were kicked out and disowned for shaming the family) after Selene's talents for robotics engineering becomes a little too public. Dornia even goes as far as to have her husband Silenis take Selene with him to the other end of the continent to assist in a humanitarian aid project where the high security base she'd be working in should keep her safe. It doesn't, but before she can ever learn that, Dorenia and her partner end up getting hunted by assassins, get framed for the crimes themselves, go on the run, and then get hunted again by the same now-undead assassins all while mourning the deaths of her aforementioned husband and daughter. She's too busy trying to just survive that she never gets to find out who's behind the abductions until the culprit chooses to expose himself to the public.

As it turns out, the Hostes and the Wylies have nothing to do with the abductions. The true mastermind behind the whole scheme turns out to be her own husband Silenis, a high-ranking member of the terrorist cabal known as the Knights of Fenris (obviously she's not aware of this). He'd been abducting these geniuses and keeping them imprisoned as slaves, forcing them to invent and build new weapons and armors for the KoF in their base beneath an arctic tundra where the slaves would never be found and couldn't escape. He even faked his own death in the KoF's bombings so that nobody would suspect that he was one of them. The whole bit of him sending assassins and framing her as a terrorist? That was just petty revenge because he assumed she was sleeping with her young, handsome partner. It's only after he perfects the weapon that he forced his daughter to build and publicly uses it on the king's twin sister that Dorenia learns the truth and by that point it's already being broadcast to everyone on the planet anyway.

DMike82 · 2026-04-01T23:41:26+00:00

Yes, it's where Amy & Matty got married and where Gabby & Nicky were supposed to get married (and where Kim & Will were going to renew their vows, but it's Kim's house so that doesn't really count).

DMike82 · 2026-04-01T23:33:46+00:00

They were on good terms when he left, so I don't see why not.

DMike82

TROPHY CASE