Age of X-Man: The X-Tremists #2 (spoilers/discussion)

[Anduinel]

Picking up from the preview:

- The team goes to set a wildfire so the X-Men can do some publicly-visible good. It's not clear if the team's responsible for every fire we've seen throughout AoXM thus far, but they've definitely had a hand in some of them.

- Back at HQ: Betsy is staying late. Jean-Paul informs her that Moneta is seeing to their pregnant "guest", Nezumi, which is worrisome given that Moneta is a heartless little ****, but JP can't be bothered to keep an eye on the situation himself.

- Once everyone else has gone, Fred notes that he's usually the one staying late. Betsy informs him that she's sensed his attraction to her. She assures him that she's sensed how hard he's tried to hide it, and knows he would never act on it. She offers to do him the favor of erasing the attraction, even saying she could implant some mild feelings of disgust toward her to make sure this doesn't happen again.

- Fred literally flees into the night and calls in sick the next three days.

- Moneta is frustrated with all the crimes that could be going unpunished while Fred is gone, and declares that she'll step in to take his place. No one is impressed. Moneta gets pissy over their lack of aggression and goes to interrogate their "guest".

- A note from Fred to Betsy: "I don't want to forget. Forgive me."

- Jubilee discovers that Moneta has been keeping Nezumi chained in the basement. She's horrified, but Moneta insists it's the level of humane treatment a "retrograde" deserves. Jubilee says she's going to tell the rest of the team; Moneta tries to stop her. When Nezumi mocks them, Moneta backhands her, calling her "poisonous to everything Hope Summers died for".

- Jubilee kicks Moneta out and tries to apologize for her, calling her "overzealous". Nezumi refuses to assuage her conscience, calling her out on her complicity and deliberate blindness to what's going on around her. Jubilee leaves the basement to tell the others what's been going on.

- Betsy goes to Fred's house to talk about his attraction. Fred confesses that he wants to keep his feelings intact. He says he has no intention of acting on them, but that he'd rather feel something, rather be sick with longing for Betsy, than to feel nothing at all. (Cue "the lesson of the moth" by Don Marquis.)



- Betsy responds by sharing a disturbing recurring dream she used to have, where she'd have to fish her mother's decaying corpse out of a pond to pay her respects. It infuriates her that she can somehow remember something so gruesome, but not the last time her mother held her.



- She approaches Fred bit by bit as she relates the nightmare. The issue ends with Betsy and Fred only inches apart, neither pushing the other away, and Betsy wanting to know, "Does it still hurt?"

Ooof. Man, this book is messed up in the best ways. I'm just waiting for the glorious implosion at this point.

[Nyssane]

Why is it always the King of Queens effect? Why can't a big gal ever have some hot Chris Hemsworth-lookin' dude crawl over the table to her?

[Havok83]

Here for it! Loved them

[Havok83]

double post

[Anduinel]

Why is it always the King of Queens effect? Why can't a big gal ever have some hot Chris Hemsworth-lookin' dude crawl over the table to her?

First step: Get the Big Two to actually spotlight some plus-sized heroines in a serious capacity.

[Gamall]

What a fan service. I doubt that would happen if Betsy was fat and Blob handsome.

[Nyssane]

First step: Get the Big Two to actually spotlight some plus-sized heroines in a serious capacity.

If they're going to pluck out villains like Blob and revamp them, there's always Pink Pearl, or Briquette, or Thumbelina, or Miss Mass. Let them get some hunky X-Man lovin'.

[Havok83]

What a fan service. I doubt that would happen if Betsy was fat and Blob handsome.

Blob is handsome and deserves love too

[Tycon]

I want to know what’s behind all the new mutants on Age of X-Man, because as much as I hate Moneta, I want her to be a 616 villain.

[Rosebunse]

Why is it always the King of Queens effect? Why can't a big gal ever have some hot Chris Hemsworth-lookin' dude crawl over the table to her?

It doesn't even need to be a non-attractive or fat woman, just any woman. Let us see men trying to seduce these ladies by being hot!

Let's have some sweet shots of Bucky shirtless or Loki chained up!

I mean...OK, we all know what I mean.

Also, I can't wait for Moneta to die or something. Actually, I would rather her get transferred over to 616 and just recoil in disgust and terror at people kissing and pregnant women.

[Anduinel]

I want to know what’s behind all the new mutants on Age of X-Man, because as much as I hate Moneta, I want her to be a 616 villain.

Dude, noooo. She's worse than the friggin' Hellfire Brats.

It doesn't even need to be a non-attractive or fat woman, just any woman. Let us see men trying to seduce these ladies by being hot!

Isn't this why Gambit exists? (JK!)

[Gamall]

It would. This is a world where there is no body shaming.

I’m talking about our world. And since most comic book readers are men, I doubt that Marvel will ever try to sell a story in which a woman is fat and a man is sporty.

[Silver Fang]

Why is it always the King of Queens effect? Why can't a big gal ever have some hot Chris Hemsworth-lookin' dude crawl over the table to her?

Late to the party. lol This came up in another thread. A tired trope of fat, ugly, or slouchy dudes getting hot women. All other pairings that could be focused on, and the X-Office has time to give us this. Granted, plenty of men read comics, so you want hot women. But women & gay men want a bit of fan-service & fantasy too. lol

At least Jean x Bishop wasn't as one-sided. lol

[Havok83]

I want to know what’s behind all the new mutants on Age of X-Man, because as much as I hate Moneta, I want her to be a 616 villain.

Agreed except Im loving her. She needs to be brought into 616 proper.

[Anduinel]

If they're going to pluck out villains like Blob and revamp them, there's always Pink Pearl, or Briquette, or Thumbelina, or Miss Mass. Let them get some hunky X-Man lovin'.

I'm kinda surprised we're going right for the villains instead of someone like Big Bertha who's basically good-hearted, but used as a (pretty gross) joke character most of the time. But I guess that just goes back to the point of being able to count the plus-sized women in the Marvel stable on one hand, and almost none of them are heroes and/or taken seriously.