1918 Wolverine Vol II

1918 Wolverine Vol II

Logan looks 21/22

Set around the battle of Château-Thierry.

Found inspiration from Savage Wolverine #21-22

It starts with a dream, as per the comics. Logan sees a German man in Paris listening to a record and handing Logan a bottle. When asked what they are celebrating, the man says "we are not celebrating".

Logan has been having this dream for a few nights now. He wakes.

He is the sergeant of a special unit in Northern France. The soldiers and officers are aware of his gifts and he is often tasked with using them to gain an advantage.

There is another gifted officer, Lieutenant Bellamy, who has psychic powers. Logan calls him Link. Bellamy doesn't like the nickname; he feels it marks him as "other" and he wants to be thought of as one of the team. Logan calls him Link regardless.

They are tasked with trying to take a bridge from the Germans without it being destroyed. Bellamy has been searching the mind of a German officer for several days in preparation.

A member of the unit, Mac, is suspicious and resentful of the specials.

Lt Bellamy gets them in and locates explosives rigged on the bridge using telepathy, through Logan and the German officer (Captain Hiban). They remove and reuse the explosives to save the bridge and blow up the German radio.

Their communications are seemingly destroyed and the Canadians advance on the German camp.

Captain Hiban, however, has a private radio in his tent and makes for it. Bellamy warns Logan, who charges through the field and gets the officer at gunpoint. He recognises Hiban as the man from his dreams and the resultant disorientation gets him shot through the eye. He realises Bellamy has been in his head too, creating a link between him and Hiban.

Logan recovers and surprises him, taking out the officer with his claws, leaving him for dead.

He returns as a one man reinforcement and starts taking out the enemy soldiers. He goes berserker, but realises the men are surrendering just in time.

Then the actual reinforcements arrive and the unit begin to congratulate themselves.

Logan then senses that Hiban, although nearly dead, has rallied enough to reach the radio.

Logan's reappearance and regeneration of his eye distracts Hiban. He no longer has the energy to carry out his plan.

Logan looks away in pity for the dying man and spots the record and the bottle from his dream. He engages him in conversation about the singer. Hiban passes listening to Scotti, his favourite singer.

Logan's unit is called back to Chateau de Thierry the next day, in preparation for a surprise 'over the top' offensive to push the Germans back.

When they arrive he is suddenly attacked from behind. There is a big scuffle and the other soldiers look concerned but Logan realises it is Victor and curses him. Victor is laughing raucously. They get up.

Victor's division is also there, preparing for battle behind the lines.

The regular soldiers get to know each other.

Victor: Oh, you should have seen your face! I'm going to do this on your birthday every year!

(Logan's comrades are surprised they didn't know it was Logan's birthday.)

Logan: In the circumstances, it didn't seem that important. 

Victor (to his unit): Hey! This is my little brother.

Logan (jokingly): Half…brother.

V (joining the joke): That hurts me Logan.

I haven't seen you since we enlisted. I was worried about you. 

L: Worry about yourself.

V: My brother…

L: Half…

V: …half brother is the best soldier I know.

L: Thank you Victor.

V: Well, second best.

Bellamy: Who's the best then?

V: Me.

The soldiers break out into laughter. The captain breaks it all up, reminds them that they are preparing to go over the top, so settle down. He needs all the officers for a debrief.

Victor is genuinely impressed that his little brother made NCO. Vic didn't want to be an officer so he could always be in the thick of it.

On the way to the debrief Bellamy asks Logan if his brother is "gifted" like them. Logan says they have a similar skill set.

Back amongst the soldiers, some of Logan's unit are asking about Victor's teeth (all the better to eat you with my dear). He asks why they want to know. They were wondering if he was "different" like Logan.

Victor is taken aback that they know about it. He is impressed that they admire and use Logan's talents. He wonders if maybe he could be accepted.

He confirms that he has similar talents. He says his are better.

Mac sneers, branding Vic, Logan and Bellamy as 'freaks'. Vic's bubble is truly burst. He squares up to Mac, claws out, Mac backs down immediately, but Vic is not letting it go. Logan's unit rally round Mac in a 'he's an a*hole but he's our a*hole' way.

In the debrief room the meeting is winding down. Bellamy senses extreme anger and hatred and disturbed by it.

The tension is broken by French and Moroccan soldiers arriving. Victor lets it go…for now. The captain gathers the Canadian men to give a rousing speech before they head to the front:-

"...to quote the French general Henri Gouraud…'The bombardment will be terrible. You will stand it without weakening. The assault will be fierce. . . . In your hearts beat the brave and strong hearts of free men. None shall look to the rear; none shall yield a step. . . . Each shall have but one thought, to kill, to kill plenty. . . .I say to you, ‘You will break this assault and it will be a glorious day.'"

Victor reasons that they can carry out the 'kill plenty' part, Logan gruffly agrees.

The men split into their groups after this and prepare to head to the front.

Lt. Bellamy is with Logan and tries to tell him about the dark visions he got when Victor confronted Mac.

Logan: Well Mac is an a*hole…and Victor can be pretty nasty when he's angry.

Bellamy: No, it's more than that. I felt that he enjoys it. He likes hurting people, killing them.

Logan: Well…we both have something…animal inside us. I had to stop myself from gunning down those Germans, after they had surrendered.

B: Is your brother able to…stop himself?

L: I'm worried that's he's starting not to care.

Fate later contrives for Logan and Victor to end up pinned down in the same trench. Logan asks about what happened with Mac.

Victor: He deserved it.

Logan: I don't doubt it. But you kill a soldier…an ally…you'll become a monster to them.

V: We already are.

L: They'd never stop hunting you down.

V: Let them try. I'll be ready.

L: That's what scares me…Bellamy said he saw a darkness in you. That you enjoy killing.

V (angered): That little runt was poking around in my head?

L (defensive): He can't help it, it's in his nature.

V: And this is ours, fighting, hunting, killing. We're good at it. Why shouldn't we enjoy it?

L: Because it's wrong.

V: You're telling me you don't feel the same? That rage?

L: I feel it. I just don’t give in to it. I try to keep my humanity. 

V: We're not human.

L: What are we then?

V: Something more. Something better. They should be afraid of us.

They take turns to watch and sleep. Then who should land in their trench but Mac and Lt. Bellamy.

Bellamy has Mac rest first as he is still feeling the wound he took in the previous battle. Logan says Bellamy should rest too. Bellamy pointedly says he wants to make sure Mac is safe.

Victor: Why? He doesn't give a rat's ass about you.

Bellamy: He needs me. He wouldn't have got this far without me.

V: But do you need him?

Logan: Victor, knock it off!

V: How far could you go without him?

L: Victor!

They argue and in doing so, they wake Mac. With the four of them stuck in this trench they get into quite the existential debate.

Mac is jealous and petty, feels that the 'freaks' aren't real soldiers because it's too easy for them.

Bellamy is an apologist for Mac and other regular humans.

Logan swings between anger at Mac, being annoyed by Bellamy and defending them both from Victor.

Victor toys with and teases to get reactions and rages when he gets them.

After one 'freaks' comment too many Victor suddenly goes for Mac, claws out. Logan has to fight him off. Amidst the very tense situation it is actually Bellamy that stabs Mac with his pocket knife.

This shocks the others into stopping their scuffle.

Bellamy sits there stunned at his action. Logan patches up Mac while Victor stands and laughs. He is pleased to see Bellamy's true nature.

Logan manages to stem the bleed; the pocket knife wasn't really big enough to do any serious damage. They stop talking/laughing and we only hear the sound of small arms and artillery.

Then their real truths start to emerge…

It turns out that Mac is tired of fighting and wants to go home to his family. Bellamy is tired of being a freak and is desperate to be normal. Victor feels rejected by everyone, even Logan went to a different unit when they enlisted. Logan just wants some peace but knows he will never find it.

Logan says that they are going to get Mac home but for God’s sake keep your mouth shut.

He tries to placate Bellamy, telling him that their (Vic and him) gift is a curse…only good for killing while not being able to die, his (Bellamy) was a gift, it forged a connection with Hiban, helped Logan find his humanity.

He tells Victor he had no choice and if they ever get separated he will find him, eventually. 

He asks Bellamy to stop the gun operators. Bellamy says he can't there's too many. Logan says just focus on the ones nearest to their trench, even a small window so they can go over the top and push forward.

Bellamy manages.

Mac goes first, then Victor, Bellamy starts on the ladder, stops and turns to Logan.

Bellamy: What will you do when the fighting is over?

Logan: The fighting is never over.

They climb up too and we see them charge together into the battlefield.

Mid credits:-

Logan, in Paris, hears Scotti on a record player and knows he is at the right street. He takes Hiban's bottle from his bag and raises it in remembrance of the German officer, his fallen comrades and the dead.

A passerby asks what he is celebrating. He replies, "We are not celebrating."

Post credits:-

Essex, now aged, finally finishes excavating the tomb of En Sabah Nur with his crew. He reactivates the process and sacrifices the entire team to bring him round.

Essex: I believe you were the first of your kind, a mutant.

En Sabah Nur: I was a god!

He needs more mutants to feed from to grow his power. Essex vows to find some.

hi everyone!!! i’ve noticed that lately i’ve been struggling with motivation to gif, and generally have been fairly inactive on here and i really want to try to overcome that and start posting more often again. so to celebrate the holiday season and appreciate my followers/mutuals for all of the love and support i’ve received in the past year, i thought i’d do something fun to help engage more with you all and give myself some ideas for gifsets.

with phase 4 of the mcu over, i thought it would be cool to make a poll and let you guys vote for your favorite characters in the phase. (i tried to include as many characters as possible, but i did omit some minor characters and characters that only appear in a post-credits scene.) once voting ends on friday december 23rd, i’ll make a gifset for each of the top 15 results!!!

this is the first of many polls that i plan to make, so stay tuned for more! you can vote multiple times (but try to keep voting to just once a day, to avoid spam voting) and vote for multiple characters at once. 

please like and reblog this post to spread the word! thank you ❤️

vote here

This would be such a great manga! Amazing artwork.

らくがき詰め合わせ2（だいぶ前に描いたものも一緒に）

This was written way before Wakanda Forever as I wanted to set up The Invaders with Cap and the original Human Torch. I really like how they brought Namor into the MCU and what they did with the backstory and mythology. The only way I could make this series work is to rewrite it based on the MCU mythology and I don't know anywhere near enough about Mayan and Aztec cultures to do so. I think I would have to cut this from the It's All Connected Universe :-(

Still, I wrote it so I'm putting it on here anyway!

1920 Atlantis (TV mini series)

The framing device is Fen recounting the past in English to the kids (Namor, Namora, Byrrah and Merrano) as she has decided her Atlantis should all speak English for when they make official contact with the surface dwellers. That way, the whole TV show can be in English.

The style for the show (and subsequent Namor movies) is Roman political intrigue/GoT style betrayals. Any surface dwellers should seem very normal by comparison. And Atlanteans, (apart from Namor who will be closer to his father's tone) are blue skinned.

Leonard Mckenzie captains his ship, Oracle, into Artic waters with Paul Destine (telepath). Destine's expedition is searching for the fabled city of Atlantis. As part of his extensive research, he came into possession of a journal in a script virtually unknown to modern linguists. He had only come across one other surviving document with that script, detailing a trade in Morocco, centuries ago. The Morrocan trader listed the buyer as Atlantean, and the buyer had signed in that script. Destine had then purchased an ancient jewellery box with the script carved into it at auction, spending more than he meant to, and traced it's origin to a beach on the coast of Chile. It only left him enough money to hire the Oracle and it's crew to take him there and thence to where his sixth sense took them.

Leonard is unconvinced and is worried about approaching ice, but Destine is paying and he feels they are close. So they set charges to clear a path.

We follow these charges, then the ice that they break off down the the bottom of the ocean and see... Atlantis!

But the ice crashes down on the city, wreaking havoc. Emperor Thakorr rages (Atlantean talk in their own underwater language, we get subtitles) and is harrying his court to organise an expedition to investigate the cause of the damage. However his daughter, convinces him to let her try to find a peaceful solution. Using the formula that lets homo mermanus breathe above water and heads for the site of the blast (Atlanteans are superhuman swimmers).

She sneaks on board, but is spotted by Leonard, who thinks she is a frozen stowaway (Atlanteans are blue). She beats the crap out of the crew as they try to help her, but they succeed in numbers. They get her into the cabin, but they don't understand Atlantean. Destine uses his abilities to interpret her gestures, eventually understanding.

He shows her the box, she becomes very excited. The two communicate with gestures and telepathy, while Leonard looks on. Destine is able to translate for her and she finds she can repeat some English words. Leonard is then able to join in. They learn her name (Princess Fen) and that she is indeed an Atlantean. Destine is overjoyed that he finally has proof. He tells the crew they will be rich because of their discovery. They congratulate eachother.

Amid the hubbub, Leonard asks what brought her to the surface. She doesn't understand, so he asks Destine to translate.

She tells him that people died because of their explosions and her father, the Emperor, is angry. As Destine translates her answer, the crew falls silent. Leonard explains what the charges were for, but the group all hang their heads in shame.

The conversation becomes more somber.

Over the course of a few days we see her talking to the crew, learning English from Leonard and Destine and chatting with Leonard in broken English.

Down below, Thakorr is becoming anxious. The explosions have stopped, but he has to go to the Pacific Ocean on royal business and didn't want to leave before Fen returns.

Ambitious Krang convinces him to travel, pledging that he will personally bring Fen home.

On the fifth evening, the crew are having a little party to celebrate their success and the coming together of their peoples. Fen is saying that she should go home, her father will be worried. Leonard asks for one more dance.

We fade to Krang's task force approaching the surface.

Ruckus!

The boat is destroyed and the crew dragged into the ocean. The princess convinces the Atlantean soldiers that Thakorr will want the humans brought back alive. Krang tries to overrule her, but she reminds him of his place. And so they flush water out of a compartment of their vehicle before submerging.

They are kept in a (drained?) cell. Krang wants to execute them, but Fen convinces the government that Thakorr should decide their fate. They agree.

Montage showing Fen visiting the crew during their incarceration and falling in love with Leonard.

When Thakorr returns, he says he sees that it was not deliberate, but the Atlantean people cannot forgive their actions as many died (also, Krang has been whispering in his ear). Fen appeals for clemency.

Thakorr will take three days to deliberate.

When she visits them in the cells, she warns them that Krang has the king's ear and is turning against them.

Suddenly, Destine senses a ship approaching. Fen quickly frees them and takes them to the vehicle, stealing a chest of ancient jewels and artefacts from the palace as payment to the ship for their voyage home.

Leonard asks her to come with them as she gets them on the ship, she reminds him that she can only breathe for a short time. We see Destine opening the treasure chest, but quickly cut back to the couple, only hearing the favourable response.

They both cry, she looks like she is about to tell him something, but then she thinks better of it and dives into the water. As she returns to the vehicle, the boat speeds away.

When she returns to the palace, they are in uproar as the prisoners have escaped. Krang sees Fen returning and seizes her "What did you do?!", but she will only speak to her father.

She confesses to Thakorr once alone. He is angry. She tells him she is pregnant. With a surface dweller's child. He is sad. He understands her actions, but says she cannot stay. She begs him to change his mind. He says her mother will take her to the new Atlantic Ocean settlement to live in exile, only returning when the child was ready to be groomed into their role as heir to the throne.

We see them leaving.

Atlanteans should be played by actors of various ethnicities so it doesn't just look like a bunch of angry white people in blue make up invading various countries.

Atlanteans migrated from the original Atlantis to the Antarctic and Fen's offshoot is in the Atlantic.

Marvel Entertainment

Namor In Comics Powers, Enemies, History | Marvel

Half-human and half-Atlantean, the mutant Namor the Sub-Mariner has fought both with and against mankind.

Tonight I gave Art Spiegelman the National Book Awards Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. And we're both being banned. Some of you may think this is a good thing because you don't like my books or you don't care for Maus. But I guarantee that there are books you love on the banned lists too. That's why libraries and librarians fight for their rights to have all the books on the shelves and for your rights to read them. And it's why I support them.

Tales of Asgard

Series 2, Episode 5

Balder the Brave part II

Again, this is mostly taken from The Warriors Teen comic. The main difference being that they are not teens here but young adults. And also they wear proper armour instead of tunics. The storyline was a good fit for where I wanted to take the characters and only needed a few little tweaks.

We join our trio sunbathing and bantering before making their way through the temperate rainforest to the dunes at the edge of Asgard where the mines of Jennia plunge below the surface of the desert.

Unlike the blatant excuse to build some sexual tension in the comics, Sif and the boys go to bathe separately. Loki uses illusion to mimic the boys and Sif and manages to separate them. Thor rushes back to Sif who is dressed and drying her hair. He realises it was a trick and they race to Balder who is being strangled by enchanted vines. They manage to free him in time.

Sif says Loki is here. Balder croakily concurs. Thor is wavering now. He calls Loki. Loki, of course, silently presses himself into the foliage. Balder croaks they should get out into the open.

They go back to get their gear from where they were sunbathing and are worried. If it was Loki, he seemed to be trying to kill Balder. It could be any one of them next. If it's not Loki they possess a very similar skillset. Thor asks why anyone would be trying to kill them? Let alone their brother. Sif says he's no brother of mine.

They warily set up camp in silence. Thor wants to take first watch but Sif insists. The boys have a heart to heart about the current state of their family. Sif tells them to get some sleep.

The mirror user observes the tense trio and notes that Odin's other son is glowering in the treeline. An unwitting ally as she says in the comics.

The next day there are a few quips but the group is not as bantery as before. No sexist comments from Thor like the comic though.

Also, Sif does not suddenly go all girly at the thought of jewels as in the comic.

Then gang are suddenly swallowed by quicksand one by one. Loki approaches and appears to shed a tear as he proclaims it done, though not by his hand. Then he too sinks.

The trio come to in a chamber surrounded by strange childlike creatures with glowing red eyes. Thor, already riled up tries to bat them away and they start to swarm him. They start to creep onto Sif as well. Balder recognises them as the Jennia, keepers of the jewels. The feed on emotion. He advises the others to be calm and rid themselves of emotion. They do and the Jennia retreat, leaving a jewel.

When Sif states that anyone with hatred in their heart would be in for a worser fate, we expect to see Loki engulfed by Jennia. Instead we cut to Loki having been rescued/captured by the magic mirror user who is revealed to be...Karnilla...

Karnilla is the Norn Queen and believes that Odin owes a large unpaid debt to the Fates of Norn as he gained knowledge of the runes without permission.

"Such powerful magic for less than half a soul? We would have charged a much steeper price if we had known."

The Fates (Skuld, Verandi and Urd) warn Loki that Odin will pay a terrible price. Karnilla says "exactly ". Loki tries to pretend he doesn't care. Verandi tells him that he longs for Odin to love him the way he loves his other sons. She tells them to be quiet, how Loki has no love for family. How she has seen him trying to murder both his brothers and their companion.

Urd says he made a pact with hatred.

Karnilla asks her elderly assistant Haag to still their wagging tongues.

K: How hard can it be to destabilise a royal family?

That first ungrateful wench...you give a girl a little power and...

Ah sorry, you can't speak about her at the moment can you?

Then if your foolish wife hadn't actually fallen in love with you this could all have been done by now.

L: Sigyn? You sent her?

K: Where do you think she learned all those things that your mother wouldn't teach you? She thought I was putting you on the throne. I just wanted the chaos.

But she had to get herself thrown in jail defending you. Now I shall just have to take care of things myself.

Cut to the trio in the forests of Lilitha. Thor is nostalgic for swimming and climbing there in his childhood. Balder has noticed the trees seem to be dying.

The comics go in for some love triangle nonsense here. Not us.

Then Loki apparates in, tears in his eyes, genuinely conflicted.

Thor asks him how he has appeared here and why? Has Odin sent him? Is Asgard in trouble?

Loki names Karnilla and tells of her plot to kill Odin and take Asgard with the Utgard giants and the creatures of Niflheim. How she captured him while he followed them and tried to turn him against Asgard. He refused, she admired his previously unobserved backbone and weirdly kissed him. This allowed him to steal a little of her power, which meant he could apparate.

Sif is enraged! She knew Loki had been conspiring against them! How he nearly killed Balder. The spiders...that was you too wasn't it?

Loki lies and says it was all Karnilla.

Sif wants to run him through with her blade. Balder muses that it could be a plot to make them fail the quest.

Thor puts it to him, Loki says no even after everything he still loves father and that he needs them all. They (Thor and Balder that is) choose to believe him.

Loki conjures them horses from the fallen leaves (they are stunned by his magic prowess, this makes Sif a little more suspicious) and they ride to Asgard. Thor stays to finish the quest as Odin may want Svadren for the fight. Loki leaves a horse for him.

He fights a conjured stone golem which he assumes was conjured by Karnilla. He fights with particular fierceness as he has no time to waste. When he finally reaches the lake he sees it is dry. Magically drained. He scoops some into a bottle as a reminder to never fail again then rides like the wind to Asgard.

He finds it under assault by the forces of Niflheim (giants, orcs, ogres and goblins) and storms his way through. This rallies the troops.

Thor finds Sif and Balder and tells them the quest has failed.

Odin battles his way to them and tells them there will be no talk of failure. Defend Asgard!

Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three defend one side of the gate, Balder and Heimdall the other. Odin holds fast in the middle. Einherjar are positioned strategically. Loki is murdering Niflheimers too.

They hold fast. The Utgard Giants et al, see defeat is coming and decide to retreat.

Just as the celebrations begin Karnilla apparates in and shoots Thor straight through the heart with an arrow. Then she apperates into the throne room. Balder warns a shocked Odin that she may go for his vault. Odin grabs Mjölnir, calls for Sleipnir and races upstairs. Epic battle between Odin, Frigga and Karnilla. Odin and Frigga eventually win.

Coming back down they see they have not been able to save Thor.

Odin ritualistically pours the sand from the bed of the Lake of Lilitha on to Thor's wound. He gives a regretful and moving speech while Frigga, Sif and Balder mourn. The Warriors Three cling to eachother for comfort. Heimdall and the Einherjar remove their helmets. Heads bowed.

Then as the tears of Frigga, Sif and Balder mingle with the sand it turns to water and heals the wound. Thor lives! They bottle the rest of the magical liquid.

Just as everyone is celebrating, a dishevelled Karnilla appears holding Loki at knifepoint. If she can't have the kingdom, she will have a sacrifice for the knowledge of the runes. One of your sons must forfeit their lives.

They all show concern for Loki. Even Odin. Karnilla scoffs that their lives would be much easier without him. All the trouble he caused. She blames Loki for all the things he blamed her for. Even the stone golem. That he followed them and sabotaged them because his heart was full of jealousy and hate.

Sif says she knew it. Thor cries out , "You lie, witch!". Balder reasons that this may all be true. But despite all that, knowing the consequences of being found out, Loki chose to do the right thing and saved all of Asgard.

Dialogue from the comic:

K:How can you defend him? His hands are as dirty as mine.

My hands...that will spill blood once more today.

B: If you must take a life this day...take mine.

I forfeit it in exchange for Loki's.

And if the denizens of Asgard hate Loki, as you say, won't my death better satisfy your need for revenge?

K (releasing Loki and pointing knife at Balder): You fool! What kind of man would sacrifice his life for that of his enemy?

B: A man who knows no enemy.

A man who believes in the value of all life.

A man who believes there is good in every soul.

Even in yours, Karnilla.

K (releasing him too): This is not over, Balder.

She apparates away. Odin confirms she is gone.

He vows to have the sword forged.

Sif and the Warriors Three are sent with the four elements to Nidavellir. In a month he there will be a ceremony to bestow the sword upon the winner. That he has much to deliberate upon. Now he would speak to his other son. But Loki is gone.

One month later, at the ceremony, Svadren is given to Balder for his mercy and compassion. Celebrations!

Some time after that Balder and Nanna, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three return to Lilitha with the last few drops remaining in the vial and empty them onto the lake bed. Slowly, the water returns. The friends swim, splash and horse about. Happy ending!

Post credits - Loki just sitting there in the family home hatred bubbling away under the surface. One of his boys runs through shouting for his father. Sigyn's mum comes and ushers him away as Loki glowers.