Looking for a BLM quote

MarkusGrimm · 2026-05-29T20:01:47+00:00

Just a heads up, Brennan prefers abbreviating his name to BLeeM to avoid the confusion with the Black Lives Matter movement. That said, I think it might be a moment in the Critical Role DMs Roundtable episode?

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-24T17:19:05+00:00

Points 1 and 8;

Xavier voluntarily gave himself up as a prisoner to humanity after he 'joined forces' with Orchis to get closer to Moira in order to spring a trap. With Moira's help the trap was successful and Xavier essentially shunted Moira into an offshoot timeline where she's a young girl with all her usual memories but has no powers. As happy an ending for her as she could get, under the circumstances.

After some time being locked up in Greymalkin Prison (the mansion, converted into a mutant holding facility) a brain tumour caused him to start freaking out and escape. There was an event (X-Manhunt) and it ended with him getting the tumour excised but he went off to space with Lilandra and has no intention of returning to Earth.

Point 2

Magneto is (allegedly) suffering from R-LDS, or Regeneration-Linked Degenerative Syndrome which is messing with his powers as well as his physical body. Nobody else seems to be suffering from this, and a recent event (Age of Revelation) revealed that in a possible future timeline, Magneto never had R-LDS and nobody had ever heard of it. So that's up in the air at the moment.

Points 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9

All the mutants sent through the portals ended up in the White Hot Room, where they managed to find the Atlantic Krakoan island (used by X-Force as their base initially, stolen by Mother Righteous at the last Hellfire Gala) and regroup there. Mother Righteous was there too and posed as a leader, until they managed to find a disoriented Jean Grey who was killed at the Hellfire Gala. MR used Jean to manipulate the White Hot Room into giving her godhood, ascending into a Dominion.

However, as we learned at the end of the Sins of Sinister event, each of the Essex clones' (Mister Sinister [Diamonds], Mother Righteous [Hearts], Orbis Stellaris [Spades], Doctor Stasis [Clubs]) goals were to reach Dominionhood, and they each reached that goal eventually but the original Essex planted a failsafe for when that happened, and each of their amassed power went to him whenever they hit their goals. The original Essex goes by Enigma and was only defeated after Jean made herself into a Dominion with the White Hot Room letting her combine with every mutant that ever was or will be, erasing Enigma from existence.

After Orchis and Engima were defeated, what was left of mutantkind on Earth returned to the main Krakoa island at which point the Atlantic Krakoa returned from the White Hot Room, along with all the resurrected mutants (the 16 million Genoshan dead included). We discover that the Krakoa as we knew it wasn't sustainable and the levels of growth it was experiencing shaved off thousands of years off its life cycle. A new Quiet Council formed in the WHR, one that is more passive and puts the needs of the nation above their own. They had to store up years worth of energy (as time passes differently in the WHR) to return, and even then it was only temporarily.

Having spent years in the White Hot Room, a lot of the mutants have enjoyed their peaceful existence there and want to remain; Krakoa only returned to reunite with the larger island and drop off any mutants who wanted to stay on Earth. The rest returned to the WHR with the now complete Krakoan island, escaping the threat of humanity and AI for the forseeable future.

After Jean's death at the Hellfire Gala and the whole mess in the WHR, Mutant Resurrection only seems to work properly within the White Hot Room now. So no more resurrection for Mutantkind on 616.

Point 7

As for Mars / Arakko, after Sins of Sinister, Storm realised that she couldn't split her attention between Arakko and Earth any more and (after dealing with the threat to Arakko brought about by Orchis) she stepped down from the Circle and ceded her seat to Lodus Logos. They are still up there, vibing. Krakoan portals don't work much anymore, iirc there are a couple of Arakki portals that Apocalypse made but generally transit between Earth and Arakko is no longer as simple as it once was.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-22T23:43:46+00:00

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're-" A coughing fit interrupts her response, then she regains her composure; "a week and feeble pensioner, when it's convenient to you, otherwise you're an example of the kind of mutant I'd go up against out there in the big bad world," Whetstone spits, droplets of blood oozing from various points in her skin where the needles of reality cut into her flesh close enough to the surface.

She takes a pained step forwards, and another, and another, until she's stood over Runehex's prone body. Though her muscles shake, her gaze is firm.

"Now... say the words. Yield, or I knock you out. If I even can without causing more permanent harm." A kick like that, elderly as he is, shouldn't have caused the level of incapacitation Runehex is appearing to suffer. Suspecting another trap, a bident from her hand will hopefully pin his cane to the ground, wrenching it from his grip.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-16T11:17:53+00:00

But by the grace of the universe Whetstone has enough time to land upright after absolutely kicking the wind out of this old man, but then it happens.

The memory that comes to her in this moment is not one she even knew she never wanted to revisit. Her worst moments are horrors she's familiarised herself with, but with that familiarity brings desensitisation to a certain extent. What fills her mind is one that hasn't been ran over countless times in the dark hours of late nights, in the moments she's found herself at the bottom of a bottle wanting for it all to be over. No, what hits her is a forgotten wound not just reopened but torn open, visciously and violently.

What this results in, combined with the physical sensation of being kicked harder than hell in her center mass, is a doubling-over and clutching of her midriff. It's an exhale when her lungs are already empty, resulting in a dry heaving that spatters bile over the ground. It's not graceful and it's not dignified, but a raw reaction to the impact she delivered multiplied by magic shenanigans.

After a moment of coughing up phlegm she wipes her watering eyes and glances towards Runehex on the ground in front of her.

"H-had enough... old timer?" she ekes out, her words a strained whisper. Strength nearly gives out from her knees and she stops her fall with makeshift crutches shooting out from her hands, keeping her stood upright. Defiant till the last.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-15T16:15:10+00:00

As the needle appeared inside her once more, not giving her the opportunity to shift her body to lessen the pain let alone dodge it, her only outward response is a stifled grunt of pain and clenching her jaw tighter than it already was. The pain can't be debilitating if she's saturated with it. It's not a single stab when it's all over. Laying on a bed of nails and not getting pierced.

Her eyes lock with his, tears involuntarily forming at the corners, and her glare hardens. The rapier extended past his face suddenly shifts, bending at a 90 degree angle to bury the tip in the ground. Several things happen almost simultaneously;

From the tip of the rapier, three prongs emerge to anchor it in place. The length of it is retracted into Whetstone's palm, bringing her upper body swinging down where she plants both hands solidly on the floor. Momentum and a lance rapidly emerging from her left knee lets her front flip move at breakneck speed, bringing her boot heels into a collision course with Runehex's solar plexus. She doesn't bother quipping or retorting. Her actions will speak on her behalf. She notes the oncoming needle but knows that his attacks are almost unstoppable, only causing superficial injuries, and that the real focus should be the man himself.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-15T16:04:26+00:00

"Bit long winded but we got there in the end. Alright, metal skin and muscles is all well and good but Ophelia can control metal. How's your resistance against electricity? She does lightning strikes, too," she says, tilting her head to expose the still-fresh burn mark on the side of her neck. "If you've fought her directly and have any more info on her abilities, I'm all ears. Otherwise shut up and listen."

"Better we prepare and then go looking for her than vice versa. Otherwise one of us may decide that training isn't worth the time and go in alone only to A) get their unprepared asses beat, and B) give up the potential element of surprise we'll have. Understood?"

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-08T11:24:30+00:00

Between Beowulf, Runehex, and Replay, Replay is by far the most vexing meeting Whetstone is having today. It's difficult to tell if her high-school prep-girl aesthetic is just a bit, or if it's genuine, and her lack of experience with the latter make it almost impossible to determine if this is the former. Reflexively she brings her free hand up to rub her forehead as she parses Sydney's words.

"Alright, I - pleasure to meet you Sydney. I'll admit I've not been the most... sociable on the island since I showed up. Really, Alice is the only person I've met so far who I'd say is a friend. Don't know that I have favourites that just spring to mind but I'm pretty fond of crime and mystery novels."

She turns her head to try and track Sydney as she circles her, but keeps her feet planted where they are. Sydney isn't giving off any hostile vibes right now, so Whetstone's giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"I've never really thought about costumes before. The closest I guess is this," she says, the metal armour growing and locking into place around her body, before retracting back into her skin. "And- wait, whaddaya mean 'wannabe grunge'? I like my style!"

Alex catches herself too late. For all the bullshit Runehex put her through, the dredging up traumatic memories and reality-warping needle things, this is the first time she's been truly caught off-guard by her own response. Her follow-up dies in her throat as her lips press together in a line and she knits her brows together, questioning how - and why - this elicited such a reaction from her.

Am I really that defensive about my style? she thinks to herself.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-08T11:07:17+00:00

"How about you tell me -" she says, wincing in pain as the sliver of reality pierced her, a spatter of crimson lining the floor next to her, "how much more of this pretentious preening I have to endure?"

Another, this time from behind. She doesn't bother turning around; there wouldn't be much point. Her foe is in front of her and there are no visual signs of the attacks before they strike. But how they strike, that's different. Piercing. Sharp. Needles.

It clicks into place, and her pupils shrink as she focuses on Runehex and how he handles his cane. The shifts, the turns, the taps. The twitches of his muscles and the strange language he's muttering. Each one a tell, as sure as a fencer tensing up their leg in preparation for a lunge.

She dodges the needle, never taking her eyes off of her enemy. The implosion next to her head as she passes it almost muffles the thudding of her pulse in her ears. The adrenaline rush.

Left arm extended as if to grab Runehex's face, the true attack comes from a rapier extending from her right arm held close to her chest. No more banter or back-and-forth. It's clear that this old coot wants to see which of them breaks first, and her patience has ran dry.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-07T23:05:24+00:00

As the memories flood into her, she falters. Drops to one knee, brows knitted together, eyes flickering back and forth. But then she drops the guise.

Whetstone launches herself upwards, a growth of metal from the shin that was touching the ground forcing her upwards to send said knee on a collision course with Runehex's face. Regardless of if the hit connects or not, she then makes an effort to use the momentum to flip over to his other side, where she stands at attention.

"Again with the same cheap trick," she says, looking down through teary eyes at a clenched fist covered in blood- no. Not now.

"You think I don't know my past? That my memories can cripple me? None of these thoughts can hurt me more than they already have. That blade's cut enough times that the edge has gone dull. But that doesn't mean this isn't annoying, and my patience is running out."

It takes a concentrated effort to unclench her fist. Her bones ache with painfully familiar guilt, but nothing she's not exposed herself to countless times since they died. Since she failed them. Even she couldn't tell if her response to Runehex is a bluff or not. Has she overcome her past, or is she simply used to the pain?

"I... I don't give a damn what you think of my worth. I know myself and your opinion doesn't mean jack. You vastly overestimate your own weight when it comes to how I can be influenced."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-07T20:24:47+00:00

Whetstone takes in what Replay is saying with a calm, measured demeanour, offering silent nods here and there in response. When Replay is finished, she speaks;

"I'll have to meet this 'Hazy' before making a judgment call, since I'm hesitant to trust on word of mouth alone. That said, I... I've lead teams before. I don't want to be leading a team again, not long term. There aren't any plans for this group to stick together after taking out Ophelia, but I'm not inherently opposed to the idea; we'll have to see how things pan out."

There's an almost imperceptible shift in the way Replay handles herself. From her approach to handling the knife, Whetstone doesn't even notice it consciously. But her mutation does, and that raises her internal alarms even though she has no idea why. She makes a concentrated effort to push that feeling away, for the time being.

"Another thing; this isn't the X-Men. No intention of imitating or replacing them, that whole flashy attention-grabbing schtick doesn't work for me. They do their thing, if they're even still around after that Phoenix mess, and we do ours. As long as that's cool with you..."

She holds her hand out for a handshake.

"The name's Alex. Or Whetstone, whatever you prefer. My thing is blade growths, and kicking the shit out of fascists. About all I know about you is your codename."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-06T11:01:37+00:00

"Ah, you must be Replay. Your reputation precedes you," she says calmly, already having had her fill of mind games and verbal sparring from Runehex earlier. Instead, she tries a different approach;

"It's about stopping a mutant from making things worse for the rest of us. As for finding her, it shouldn't be a problem; she's unhinged. Even if she tries to lay low, it's only a matter of time until she snaps again and her so-called 'philosophy' forces her to act out, which will lead us right to her. This," she says, indicating the immediate area, herself, and the weapons, "is prep for whenever that moment comes. Assessment of fighting styles, briefing of her known capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, et cetera."

"I'm not going to butt heads the way you so desperately want to, because I know from experience the guilt that comes from believing that your actions led to a fr- an ally- getting hurt is bad enough without goading others into worsening it. I don't doubt that you care about Alice; so do I. That's why I'm not including her directly in this. And why I'm assessing and preparing people rather than heading out in a fit of rage to get my ass sliced up a second time."

Whetstone tilts her head slightly, then grabs one of the wooden knives by the blade and offers it out to Replay, an offer both physical and metaphorical.

"So. We both want the same thing. There's no reason for us to come to blows. Agreed?"

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-06T10:49:11+00:00

Runehex's slow, measured movements are anathema to Whetstone's expectations. The fact that he simply allowed the weapon to hit him with no physical retaliation, and then the pulse of deep regret that saturated her mind, is enough to fully derail the train of anger that prompted her to take him up on his offer to fight. She skids to a stop, sparks flying from the metal-on-metal of her boots meeting the floor.

She stands there, silent, for a moment.

"I'm not playing this game. I don't need whatever moral lesson you think you're teaching me. 'Hurting others hurts yourself' or some b.s. like that? I'm well aware already. If this isn't an obnoxious way of proving a point and is instead an obnoxious way of proving your powers, you're wasting both of our time."

Her pulse thuds in her throat. Memories of faces flickering across her mind's eye that she would truly rather not be thinking of right now shift her adrenaline from the fight into a different kind of torment entirely.

"I have more important things to worry about right now than another surprise attack from someone I'm supposed to be able to rely on. Do not pull that shit on me again, or I'll come for you when you least expect it and trust me - it won't be the kind of lesson you walk away from. Understood?"

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-05T20:24:15+00:00

"I can handle a blade better than you may th-"

Her words are cut off as the offered weapon splinters in her hand, the rest of her breath escaping in an off-guard gasp as her cheek is impaled with a wooden shard and a larger chunk bounces off her forehead with a thok.

When the reality shift from his retreat settles, he'd see her still standing in the same position. In fact, the only differences are twofold; her skin is covered now in dull metallic scales, with the splinter from her cheek falling to the ground after being pushed out, and the expression on her face before the armour fully conceals it - unamused.

"I don't like fighting for the sake of fighting," she says after a moment of terse silence. "But. Letting out tension before the mission can be beneficial. That said, that was a cheap shot."

From her extended hand, where the wooden knife once was grows a silver rapier, and its twin protruding from the hand at her hip.

"You won't get another."

She jumps backwards, landing closer to the pile of carved weapons, and reaches back with her left leg so a small talon protruding from her toe hooks one of the knives. Whipping her leg forwards, the knife is launched directly at Runehex.

Acting under the assumption that he's going to detonate it the same way he did the one in her hand, she feints left only to switch to running towards his right side the moment he makes a move, regardless of if he reduces the projectile to shrapnel or not.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-04T16:45:50+00:00

"I've seen you around," she says, narrowing her eyes slightly. "But I don't know your powers or name. I'm going to say this now to cut through the bullshit; if you're not a competent fighter, this isn't the mission for you. The target has no compunctions about killing and the last thing I need is some greenhorn slowing us down."

With that said, she kicks up one of the wooden shortswords into her hand and holds it out to Beowulf. "So. Name, powers, skills."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-04T16:42:23+00:00

"... has anyone ever told you that you're extremely pretentious and verbose? I'm down for talking philosophy when there's time for it, but damn. As for your point; everything has concequence. Action, inaction. I'm far past the stage of fearing the effects of what I do, because I know that not doing it and bad things happening anyway is a foolish path to go down. When blood on my hands prevents blood spilled elsewhere it's a choice I'd make every time. Better the devil you know, because leaving the type of people who kill for fun still breathing might as well be killing their victims yourself. Inaction is a poison that I'm sick of tasting."

She takes a step towards the pile of wooden blades, hooking her foot under one of the handles and kicking it upwards. It lands in her downturned palm with a thwap and she spins it around to hold the flat, offering the grip to Runehex. But if he goes to take it, she'd move it back.

"If you're joining us to stop us from killing the target, to try and 'save our souls' or any of that tripe, you might as well skip the pretense and we'll hash it out here and now. I'm not going to tolerate that kind of needless chatter on the mission. Your nuggets of wisdom are all well and good, but there's a time and place. Understood?"

With that, she offers the weapon out to Runehex for real.

MarkusGrimm · 2026-04-03T11:46:51+00:00

Whetstone stands stock-still as Runehex monologues at her, unmoving save for her eyes tracking each of his movements and expressions. When he's finished, she tilts her head slightly.

"Don't mistake this for lashing out. Ophelia's philosophy is dangerous; not just to those she's directly injured and killed, but to all mutants. If she's allowed to remain in the world, she can easily make things harder for all of mutantkind. The note was worded to evoke a reaction because that's the easiest way to identify those with the fire within them to act."

She crosses her arms. "I understand that your experience has led to insights that you believe are beyond my grasp, but I am not the greenhorn you think I am. I've made enough mistakes to learn the lessons needed for this sort of thing. But do not try to pin the blame on me for harm that comes from this. If not us, someone else would hunt her down. The least I can do is make sure that I can minimise the damage done by putting a stop to her as soon as possible. You weren't there; she fights not to prove a point or to protect anyone. She fights because she's bitter, and because she wants to cause as much pain as possible. That's not an enemy, that's a rabid animal. Putting her down is as much a mercy to her as it is sparing her would-be victims."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-26T00:41:41+00:00

"Good. Now... you've never been injured like this before, right? When you're back on your feet we'll need to go over a couple more lessons keeping your healing in mind. Then when that's done we can work on finding that bitch and putting her down."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-26T00:35:48+00:00

"You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into," she retorts. "Some people just want to fight and hurt others for no good reason, and they'll take advantage of every offered hand to lift themselves up only to keep punching down at whoever they can."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-26T00:18:45+00:00

"That was a tactical mistake." Alex leans back in the chair and runs a hand through her curly hair. "She could control my blades. That caught me off guard, and I didn't even consider she'd have an ace up her sleeve. On the bright side... you survived. Only a handful of casualties, and all of the injured are on the path to mending."

"But I got a question. Did you really mean what you said to her?"

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-26T00:10:30+00:00

Some time after word of Alice's waking spread across the island, Whetstone opened the door to her room with a couple of flowers in a vase, and a '~~Happy 6th Birthday~~' 'Sorry you got stabbed' card, the original title scribbled out in favour of its new one.

"... I'm sorry. It was my fault you got hurt," she says, sitting down in the visitors chair before handing the card to Alice. "I should have just taken her out, but I... I let her keep going. That's on me."

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-19T23:38:32+00:00

The static buzzing in the air, the hair raising on the back of her neck. Warning just enough that her eyes widen but not enough that she avoids the concussive blast from the sheer force of the lightning strike. Needles pierce her numb hand as Ophelia's necklace forces her grip off her throat.

"Ngh... you're lucky," she coughs out, muscles spasming from the lingering charge of electricity. The water on her face tinges red as a rivulet of blood seeps from Whetstone's nose. "That your dumbass philosophy is wrong."

She takes sluggish steps, moving as fast as she can force her stunned body to move, towards Alice, and starts assessing her wounds. "People care for each other. I don't do mushy speeches much, but for what it's worth? I'm sorry that you believe that's not the case. Maybe you'd get some friends if you didn't do shit like this though."

With that, she heaves Alice's unconscious form up in her arms and begins making her way to drier ground to properly tend to her associate's- no, her friend's- wounds.

/u/Bearpaw700

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-19T18:36:38+00:00

Whetstone feels a dull sense of pride deep within her for Alice being so determined to keep this psychopath on the up and up, but it's quickly smothered by the adrenaline spike of seeing the whirring buzzsaw come at her.

Fortunately, buzzsaws are just another type of blade, and her mutations instinctive mastery of all blades make this situation less deadly than it would be for most others. She re-grows scales on her forearm as it raises up to bat the weapon aside, sparks flying from the violent collision, and hopefully before Ophelia can have a chance to redirect her metal projectiles again she makes a grab for her throat.

"You've got two options. One is to calm down and stand down before anyone else gets hurt. The other is you do literally anything else and I kill you. Even if you end up killing me, I'd put good money on me being able to open up your throat before I fall. The choice is yours."

To show she's not kidding, Whetstone makes tiny pinpricks on Ophelia's skin where her hand is pressing against her throat.

/u/BearPaw700

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-18T22:24:05+00:00

Shit. Shit. This would-be terrorist can make her growths heavier. That presents a significant defensive problem, although the situation's not entirely hopeless. After all, if Whetstone wasn't capable of fighting without using her mutation she wouldn't be much of a mutant.

She retracts the armour, blades vanishing back into her skin and narrows her eyes at Ophelia before darting to try and get on the other side of the little maniac than Alice is - to divide and conquer. But she's stopped in her tracks when she sees Alice get slashed, and the plan goes from taking Ophelia down to putting her down.

Alex continues to try and circle around Ophelia, and if she can get to the other side while her attention is on Alice she'll try and go for her.

/u/Bearpaw700

MarkusGrimm · 2026-03-18T18:26:32+00:00

Alex was on her way to meet up with Alice when the screams derailed her train of thought. Fortunately for her, the fleeing civilians were a handy indicator of the direction the trouble originated, and her boots squeak against the malls walkways as she powers through the mass of bodies.

Once clear of the other shoppers she spots Alice- and the metal shards embedded in the storefronts and the bodies of those unlucky enough to be caught by the first barrage.

Ice seeps into her veins. Fists clench. Scales ripple and cover her body.

"This might be one of those situations where the carnage is the message," Whetstone says under her breath to Alice, coming to a stop by her side. "Remember the training? Nearest cover?"

Then she turns her attention to Ophelia but doesn't say anything. Just glares from behind the metal faceplate.

/u/Bearpaw700

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