What's with the name of the blog?

 "Because I don't want to lose Jean Grey"

This is a piece of dialogue taken from Phoenix (our current 2024 run) issue no. 5.  

As of this writing (issue no. 9), the series has been writer Stephanie Phillips' exploration of Jean accepting her cosmic role while carefully wading in the cosmic waters so as to not drown in them.  She/they (noted because both Jean and the Phoenix are at the wheel with equal consciousness this time around) have already encountered the cosmic beings such as Eternity, Infinity, the Living Tribunal, and other friends:

Those would all be the new designs for the cosmic beings, as introduced in the recent G.O.D.S. run by Jonathon Hickman and Valerio Schiti.  As we can see, everyone is appearing to be having a dance, and Eternity is inviting Jeanix (as I call the combined entity) in to join them all in the cosmic ballet.  Jean is hesitant to dive in all the way, maybe because she is worried about getting into a dance off with Eternity, or...  She accepts that she and the cosmic bird of life are meant to be as one, but she is more than just a little hesitant to lose herself in the process.  This blog is all about the contact between mortals and the cosmic, and I chose to name it as such because of the two-way street that is such an interaction.  While it would seem likely that most mortals given a chance at godhood would embrace jumping all in, this is not always the case, and likewise, there are definitely cosmic beings who mourn the passing of relative innocence that came with any possible prior existence.  

In Jean's case, the reasons are somewhat obvious; the last time the pair gave in to power without limits, a planet and race were wiped out.  Likewise, as much as Jean and Phoenix both found new exciting possibilities in their shared union, Jean finds herself getting tired, despite no longer being affected by fatigue.  

Two powerful instances of a faint remembering of simpler times come to mind in this regard.  In Excalibur vol. 1 issue 61, the Phoenix Force has been healing host Rachel and comes across Galactus going to town on a planet.  Feeling a bit of empathy for what remains of life there, Rachelix gets into a fight with him, knocks him around a bit, at which point Galactus gives up, but not without a parting shot about one of the ways in which Phoenix draws energy:

In what almost looks like a mixture of guilt and shame, a little bit of Galen of Taa emerges from the otherwise usually stone faced Galactus the world devourer.  Granted, he might have also had a little bit of gas from partially consuming the depleted planet, but I would like to think that Big G has a little bit of his old self still inside there.  More on that for another time.  

In Silver Surfer vol. 2 issue 31, we find Norrin Radd and the Living Tribunal agreeing that they wish for simpler times.

Cosmic pimpin' ain't easy Cosmic living is heavy!  These are but two examples of how even cosmic gods in Marvel are not without reflective souls and a kind of mortal personhood themselves, except the Stranger, who is a bit of an asshole and has more ambition than even Thanos.  Seriously, the guy is a walking scowl, which issue 31 is pretty much an amazing gallery of.  Debby Downer that Scowler is, he does not exactly nod in agreement with LT, but I digress.  It begs the question about Living Tribunal, at least this incarnation of him, about what his ultimate origins are and just how much of said past he might hold onto.  I love this panel because it asks such questions, and I love it even more for still somewhat retaining the mystery of his innermost being.    

Gods and mortals in a dance locking eyes with one another trying to look inside... that's what is with the name of the blog.